10 more days of this???

Hey Peeps and anyone else checking in. A special “Hey” goes out to Hazel Mae if she is checking in.

“The Counterpart” better known to those of you who check in here regularly as “Quikdraw” has made no bones about his dislike of the two week break between NFL Conference Championship games and Super Bowl Sunday; citing an over saturation of media coverage on everything from the mundane to the downright insane. After reading what is passing for news related to the Super Bowl – who in their right mind could disagree with him? (Except for the nonsense that would involve canceling any show that featured the lovely Hazel Mae – Quikdraw, you are a very very baaaaaad man).

It took less than a week for an intrepid reporter (Boston Herald) to break the first “billboard material” story of the Super Bowl. You’d think this kind of ridiculous stuff wouldn’t be given any credence – but hey, a story is a story right? (insert UGH) This time the media is going to fire up the hometown team with a story that Giants DE Osi Umenyiora is calling Patriots OL Matt Light dirty. It is summed up with:

“Umenyiora’s remarks, however, are coming 11 days shy of a Super Bowl date with the Patriots, who are the masters of utilizing bulletin-board material. Whatever his motivation, Umenyiora’s comments will be used to add spark and spice to the proceedings before and after the teams get to Arizona.”

That’s what you call “insight”. Jeezus.

If that wasn’t bad enough – leave it to Ron Jaworski to show you how much he more knows about football than you do, or anyone else for that matter (Boston Globe). While us dumb fans discussed Sunday’s games – Ron showed everyone why he is THE Monday Night Football guy (forget Kornheiser, he’s a donkey and his shtick stopped being mildly amusing years ago). Big Ron poured over the game tape of the New England/San Diego game to pinpoint the exact play that Pats QB Tom Brady (may have) injured his ankle. Actually, Ron is so damn thorough that he picked out, not one, but TWO plays.

“When I went back and looked at it from the sideline angle, the end zone angle, the TV angle, and some angles that NFL Films cameras had, I thought at the top of the drop[back] - it was a five-step drop - he rolled over his ankle a bit. It looked to me that he tweaked his ankle a bit; the delivery was very awkward. When he followed through, he brought his right leg around and didn't want to transfer weight on it. Then on one of the NFL Films cameras, you could see him looking back at the spot, almost as if he was asking, 'What did I hit?' His cleat got caught."

Big Ron didn’t stop there though – this guy is (should be) committed to providing the answers to the question that every Pats fan is asking.

“An early third-quarter play in which Brady was sacked by Chargers defensive end Luis Castillo also stood out to Jaworski. ‘As he was in the pile, he was hit a little higher on that same ankle,’ Jaworski said. ‘So on the first one, he rolled the ankle on the plant, and on this one, a body rolled over it on the pile and he got up a little gingerly.”

Methinks Ron needs to spend a little less time in the film room and a bit more time with his family – football fans across North America would welcome a timeout from the man aptly known as “Jaws”.

Almost as amusing as Jaws’ indepth analysis are the opinions volunteered by some of Boston’s finest (assumption) medical practioners who, while not treating Tom Brady’s suspected injury, are more than willing to provide a hypothetical diagonsis of his injury and serverity of said alleged injury and a prognosis for his availability to the big game. Paging Dr. Nick Riviera, Dr. Riviera.

Wow, if these guys have that much free time – send them up here; we have a shortage of qualified doctors in Canada. On second thought…no thanks.

Not to be outdone – Quikdraw’s favourite, ummmm “girls” (Boston Herald’s Inside Track girls) posted a story about the possibility that New England’s Champ of Champs, Tom Brady, may have hair plugs. This seems to have riled some of the girls’ readers who are standing up to defend their golden boy – while some point to this as some horrific character flaw. Still waiting for Seattle Seahawks QB, and former BC Eagle, Matt Hasselbeck to chyme in with a “Who cares?”

Well, so much for a recap of what the donkeys that make up Toronto’s sports media have to say about our (counting Hazel) beloved Toronto Maple Leafs.

WEDNESDAY’S THREE STARS
Toronto Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin scores the winner with less than 30 seconds left in regulation in the Leafs’ 3-2 win over Washington. For those of you counting, it was Sundin’s 544th goal, tying him for 24th on the all-time list with Maurice “The Rocket” Richard.

Toronto Maple Leafs G Vesa Toskala made 30 saves, including robbing Ovechkin more than once, in last night’s win.

Vancouver Canucks D Mattias Ohlund had two goals in regulation to help the Canucks get to a shootout, where they beat the Blues by a count of 3-2.


THURSDAY THREE PLAY
The week got off to a late start, but a good one with the Leafs and Canucks winning. Tonight’s suggestions:

Anaheim over Los Angeles – normally don’t like backing teams playing on consecutive nights, especially when they lose the night before – but the Ducks will make up for losing to the Wings last night when they travel across town to play the Kings. Lay $100 on the Ducks - $160.

Dallas over Buffalo – the Sabres are crashing right now, they can’t score on the power play and can’t kill off penalties; while the Stars have been one of the league’s better home teams. Lay $100 on the Stars - $155.

Philadelphia over Pittsburgh – the Flyers have played the Penguins well this year, and that was WITH Crosby in the lineup. Philly will be looking to atone for an embarrassing loss to the Devils earlier in the week. Lay $100 on the Flyers - $180.

Other suggestions: Tampa over Ottawa, Columbus over Chicago, and New Jersey over Montreal.

That’s it for today gang – thanks for taking the time to check in; scroll down to read the latest entries from Quikdraw.

Hazel, here’s hoping things are groovy in your world.

Out!