The Buffalo Bills will cross the border and play five regular season games in Toronto over the next five seasons, becoming the first NFL team to play annual games outside of the U.S. And for their trouble, they’ll receive $78 million. Did the French and Indian War accomplish nothing?
The Toronto group is using the eight-game series to show the city can support its own NFL franchise. The Bills sought the agreement to generate additional revenues by expanding their market to Canada’s largest city and financial capital, a 90-minute drive from Buffalo. Ticket prices for the games in Toronto have not yet been released, but are expected to average more than $100 at a facility with a 54,000 seating capacity for football.
That would be the Rogers Centre, of course. The Toronto group, Rogers Communications, has already made 100,000 reservations for the series, with the idea being, I suppose, that they can sell that many tickets. So what does this mean for Buffalo fans? Over at the Bills blog Buffalo Rumblings, a commenter says: “This money is also known as the ‘Bill Cowher Fund’ “. Maybe, but this deal could also insure that the team won’t be relocating anytime soon.
The year is 1986. Out of Africa wins the Academy Award for best picture; the Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrates soon after launch over the coast of central Florida; and the Pittsburgh Pirates are wearing very tall hats. I came upon this glorious snapshot in time courtesy of The Ugly Baseball Card Blog; the site that allows us to fall in love with baseball cards once again.
From the site’s description of Jim Leyland’s ‘86 Topps card:
Oh, Jim. Before you go. One more thing. We almost forgot. You’ll still get the talent, and the raise, and the big chair, and all that. But you’re going to have to wear a hat made of mosquito netting. And it’s about three feet tall. It’s a completely ridiculous hat, Jim, but, well, we feel very strongly about this.
But my favorite card has to be the one below. Bottom of the ninth, down by three, bases loaded with two outs; the only thing that can save us now is a home run. Knoop, grab the biggest bat you can find and get in there!
I found this over at The Big Lead and couldn’t stop laughing. Why would Sports Illustrated do this to the Cubs? Chicago is in first place in the NL Central, a game ahead of the Cardinals, just minding their own business and enjoying their place in the sun for once … and then SI has to pummel them with their jinx bat? This is the sports equivalent of you stomping on the elaborate sand castle that your little brother had spent six hours constructing. The thing had a working drawbridge! Bastards.
Taken aback by this development, the Cubs began their inevitable fall from grace with a 10-7 loss to the Brewers, who collected 17 hits off of five Chicago pitchers (Jason Marquis started and went five innings, taking the loss). Mike Cameron, Corey Hart, Bill Hall and JJ “Kid Dyn-o-mite” Hardy all had three hits for the Brewers. With Alfonso Soriano returning from the DL on Thursday, the Cubs will get about beating this jinx business. But just in case, I’m learning how to say Epic Fail in Japanese.
• The Yankees Have Jumped The Shark. Alex Rodriguez has been placed on the 15-day DL, a development that has caused much wailing and gnashing of teeth in the Bronx, but at least Jorge Posada now has some company. The Yankees celebrated this news by losing 6-4 to the resurgent Tigers, as Gary Sheffield and Curtis Granderson had homers and Kenny Rogers earned the win. Detroit (12-15) has won six of its past eight.
• The Sky Is Falling On Roy Halladay. If you’ve got kids, you’ve probably seen the movie Chicken Little, and the baseball scene therein. In that scene Chicken hits a home run to win the game, and takes about an hour rounding the bases, with all manner of comical missteps along the way. Such was the scene on Tuesday with David Ortiz, who scored from second on Kevin Youkilis’ single in the ninth to give the Red Sox a 1-0 win over the Blue Jays. Vernon Wells helped by butchering the ball in center as Ortiz chugged around third. Jon Lester threw a one-hitter over eight innings for the win, and Roy Halladay went all the way for the loss; his fourth straight complete game, and third loss. Damn.
• The Joe Saunders Show. This Angels-Athletics rivalry is getting to be an entertaining thing. Joe Saunders went to 5-0 as LA/Anaheim/Fullerton beat Oakland 2-0, moving into a first-place tie with the Athletics in the West.
• Torre On A Roll? The offensive stylings of Jeff Kent — a two-out single in the ninth — broke a tie and gave the Dodgers their fourth straight win, 7-6, over your still-in-first-place Florida Marlins.
• Your Padres Update For Today. Maddux gives up, will skip over win No. 350 and go directly to No. 351.
There are several possible explanations as to why DeShawn Stevenson was wearing a Michael Vick jersey and an Atlanta Falcons’ hat at a Cleveland hotel before Game 5 of the playoffs. Somewhat likely: It’s a statement against his least favorite movie, Turner and Hooch. Most likely: His OJ Simpson jersey was in the wash. Dan Steinberg at DC Sports Bog goes on an amusing rant — with tons of link goodness — in connection with our favorite Wizards rapper. Enjoy.
The NBA Closer is written by Matt McHale, who is mourning the Suns today. When he’s not being bummed out, you can find him hating the Spurs atBasketbawful. Enjoy!
I feel like we’ve seen this before, Part I. Well, Dirk Nowitzki and his Mavericks got the playoff matchup they wanted…and five games later, they’re once again on the outside looking in. Surprise, surprise.
Chris Paul had a triple-double (24 points, 11 rebounds, 15 assists), David West scored at will (25 points, 10-for-17), Jannero Pargo gave a “suck it, Jason Kidd!” performance (17 points, 7-for-9) and the New Orleans Hornets are movin’ on up after a 99-94 victory. Man, what I wouldn’t have given to be on Bourbon St. last night.
The Mavs didn’t go down quietly. Or wisely. Jerry Stackhouse got himself ejected with 1:47 to play for batting the ball out of Paul’s hands during a stoppage in play. Then Stack got all up in West’s face. Brilliant moves, Jerry, both of them. Still, Dallas cut a 17-point lead to three with 33 seconds to go, and then they forced a big miss by Paul…but failed to grab the ensuing rebound. Tyson Chandler (10 points, 14 rebounds) smacked the rock out to Paul, who passed it to Peja Stojakovic, and Peja sealed the win with a couple freethrows.
Dirk Nowitzki (22 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists) did his best, but the results - as always - were the same. Still, Nowitzki offered that “We’re better than we showed this series.” Sure, Dirk. We hear that every year.
I feel like we’ve seen this before, Part II. Back in his MVP days, Shaq liked to quote Aristotle, who once said, “Excellence is not an act, but a habit.” Unfortunately for the Suns, they have a bad habit of losing big games to the Spurs. Over and over and over again…
Speed it up, slow it down, doesn’t matter. San Antonio eliminated Phoenix once again. And the 92-87 loss stung Amare Stoudemire as much as anybody else. “Every year it seems like we always play the Spurs, and they beat us every single time. As long as I’m here we’re going to break it sooner or later, because I’m tired of losing to these guys. I’m sick and fed up.”
And least Stoudemire is young enough to wait it out. Steve Nash - who lost the ball three big times down the stretch - might be out of time. And he knows what just happened to his team. “I think on paper we have more talent than they do. But I think their experience, their commitment and understanding of what they’re trying to do is greater than ours. Their ability to play together and make small plays on both ends of the floor is unsurpassed.”
As usual, the Spurs used two guys to do most of the damage. Tony Parker had 31 points and 8 assists, and Tim Duncan added 29 points and 17 rebounds. No other San Antonio player reached double figures, but, as Nash pointed out, they did all the little things champions do. And the Suns didn’t.
Smackdown in Motown. Random statistical phenomenon: The Philadelphia 76ers are now 0-1 since Samuel Dalembert got his crazy-ass new mohawk. And given the importance of the game in question, this was the worst possible time for Sam to go on a spectacular hair adventure.
The Pistons, who have apparently turned their targeting computers back on, hit 58 percent of their shots and regained the series lead with a signature 98-81 win. Chauncey Billups finally had a big game (21 points, 12 assists), Rip was his old basket-making self (20 points, 10-for-17), ‘Sheed did his ‘Sheed thang (19 points, 6 blocked shots), and Tayshaun Prince chipped in with 17 points.
You know how to tell that Detoit has become totally serious about finishing Philly off? The near-to-complete absence of overconfident trash talk. When asked about his team’s chances in Game 6, ‘Sheed said: “I don’t think they’re going to lay down at all. It’s do or die for them. It’s not going to be a cake walk.” Hey…who is that guy and what has he done with Rasheed Wallace?!
Andre Iguodala - who scored a career playoff-high 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting - finally figured out how to score against the Pistons. Unfortunately for the Sixers, most of his other players forgot. Louis Williams (16 points) and Andre Miller (13 points, 5-for-17) reached double figures, but that’s about it. And that amazing first round upset suddenly seems very far away…
Problem solved. The Houston Rockets finally figured out the best (and perhaps only) way to keep Tracy McGrady from suffering his patented fourth-quarter meltdown: Just end the fourth quarter with a commanding 19-point lead. Not to go all John Hollinger on you, but the Rockets win almost 100 percent of the games in which that happens. Behold the power of math!
Thanks to a 95-69 shot to Utah’s meaty flanks, the Rockets have lived to fail another day. McGrady finished with 29 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists, and he even managed to scored 8 points in the fourth quarter…thanks in part to the fact that the game had already been decided. Now the King of Martyrs is filled with a ridiculous confidence. “We’re in a great situation. We know we can win in Utah because we’ve done it before.”
You know, back in college I convinced a friend to hit me with his car after a night of drinking our way through a Jackie Chan marathon. Sure, I survived, but thanks to the wonders of sobriety, I realize that just because I lived through my stupidity once doesn’t mean I could necessarily do it every time. My point? Apparently, I’m an idiot.
Houston got some additional anti-elimination support from Luis Scola (18 points, 12 rebounds), Rafer Alston (14 points, 6 assists) and Creaky Mutombo (10 rebounds). Utah got double-doubles out of Carlos Boozer (19 points, 10 rebounds) and Mehmet Okur (14 points, 10 rebounds), but the Jazz shot 36 percent as a team and seemed to have developed a case of Let’swinitathomeitis.
We didn’t make it to the NFL Draft this weekend, because of a city ordinance that requires all professional bloggers to break out in hives when within a seven-mile radius of Mel Kiper. (That Bloomberg: Such a micromanager!) So we missed the brilliant fan getups on display.
No one can quite compare with Jim Thomas’ aunt last year, but, you know, they get big points for trying.
Today is the 25th anniversary of Lee Elia’s infamous tirade against Cubs fans (language in video uncensored, NSFW). Is it the most notable tirade in sports history? Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy’s “I’m a man! I’m 40!” rant gets more play, but has not yet stood the test of time. In the NFL, Jim Mora had a couple of great ones, and Denny Green’s “crown ‘em!” tirade when he coached the Arizona Cardinals was more comical than shocking. Bob Knight’s body of work needs no introduction, of course. But Elia’s may just be the gold standard.
The Cubs had lost that day in 1983 by one run to the Dodgers, dropping to 5-14, and Elia was responding to the booing of his team by the Wrigley crowd. The great thing about it was the Elia just kept going on and on, with 16 F-bombs, by my count. And then two hours later he was apologizing for the entire thing. Unlike, say, Lasorda’s notable harangue of a reporter following a 1985 playoff game with the Cardinals (Lasorda had stupidly elected to pitch to slugger Jack Clark with first base open, with predictable results), Elia’s diatribe seemed heartfelt, rather than staged. Here’s the money quote:
Eighty-five percent of the $%#@! world is working. The other fifteen come out here. A $%#@!’ playground for the %&*#suckers.
And now you can own a piece of history. Darren Rovell at CNBC points us to a company called A&R Collectibles, which is selling baseballs autographed by Elia which are stored in special cases that include a recording of the rant. Buy one for your son or daughter and share a lifetime of treasured Cub memories.
Forgive us for not posting the flashing alert siren on the top of the site now that Larry Brown is heading to the land of Charlotte. This will be his ninth NBA job, which is pretty insane; did Chris Gatling even bounce around that much? The real shock is that there was no Lupica column about it this morning. Alas, tomorrow.
So, the Bobcats blogs must be all a-twitter today, right?
The Buffalo Bills will cross the border and play five regular season games in Toronto over the next five seasons, becoming the first NFL team to play annual games outside of the U.S. And for their trouble, they’ll receive $78 million. Did the French and Indian War accomplish nothing?
The year is 1986. Out of Africa wins the Academy Award for best picture; the Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrates soon after launch over the coast of central Florida; and the Pittsburgh Pirates are wearing very tall hats. I came upon this glorious snapshot in time courtesy of The Ugly Baseball Card Blog; the site that allows us to 
I found this over at 
There are several possible explanations as to why DeShawn Stevenson was wearing a Michael Vick jersey and an Atlanta Falcons’ hat at a Cleveland hotel before Game 5 of the playoffs. Somewhat likely: It’s a statement against his least favorite movie, Turner and Hooch. Most likely: His OJ Simpson jersey was in the wash. 
The NBA Closer is written by Matt McHale, who is mourning the Suns today. When he’s not being bummed out, you can find him hating the Spurs at 
Forgive us for not posting the flashing alert siren on the top of the site now that Larry Brown is 