Land of the Leaf

Later this afternoon we’ll take a closer look at the upcoming Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints/Jays series.  You can expect us to probably drool a little over Roy Halladay and wear pants that fit a bit loose in the crotch area.

For now here’s a set of links to some good posts:

Brian Burke Goes Bananas On Watters Show

Oh man, this is too much.  There’s links to the audio piece at the end of the post, check it out.  Is the media getting to Burke, or is it the other way around?

Jaworski Says Trent Edwards Will Be Tremendous

And if that doesn’t quite work out there’s always the option of becoming a wrestler as Tremendous Trent Edwards.

Mock NBA Draft

Am I the only one who wants to see DeJuan Blair as a Raptor?

Alvin Williams A Raptor Again

Williams is joining the team as an assistant coach, show me Charles Oakley and I’ll start to believe.

Michael Bourn Nuts Himself

Bahahaha, ouch!  (bumps to Bugs and Cranks)

“That’s Bird” Series Preview: Jays @ Orioles

I wish I could say this series would be a serious beat-down.  I’m not ruling out a Jays’ offensive feast on some of Bodymore’s wonky arms, but my eyes are going bleary from looking at the RBI totals of Rios, Wells, and Lind over the team’s last six losses. I just can’t seem to find anything.  Oh, wait, there aren’t any because they didn’t drive in any fucking runs.  (bump-knuckles to The Tao of Stieb for the written reminder)

Vernon Wells: “You may run like Hayes. but you hit like shit”.  You’re making me sick with your all of your chopping and hacking at the plate.  Now do something, those stolen bases are just expensive.

A six-game skid isn’t exactly the end of the world.  Thankfully, the optimism preservation officer The Blue Jay Hunter points out that when you throw in names like Frank Thomas and John Gibbons, you’ll remember that things have been much worse.

The Orioles hope that Jeremy Guthrie can get his game together in the series opener this afternoon.  Jays throw the mustache (Brian Tallet).

Hey, It’s Leaf Rumours and Rumblings

It seems a set of twins are causing an uprising at Toronto Sports Media.  I agree, dreams of the Sedins are better left out of the minds of Maple Leaf fans. The same could be said for Brian Burke’s hype-crush on John Tavares.  It’s dumb, not going to happen.

We’ve even got something on the rumour radar that makes sense; Mike fackin’ Komisarek!  He hits with the weight of a metric shit-ton, he’s still relatively young (27), and it would fuel the Habs-Leafs rivalry much more furiously than a couple of Belarusian princes dancing around than ice.  (bumps to Maple Leafs Hot Stove)

Burke acknowledges that the impending dip in the salary cap means that managers need to be prepared for the long-term.  [Puck Daddy]

Obligatory Bills News:

The Bills have a scary set of receivers.  They’re deep at wide receiver, like maybe the deepest in the NFL.  And they’ve got Terrell Owens, and yes you’re going to keep hearing about Terrell Owens.

Jays Battle Song For Bodymore, Murdaland

Something tells me that Buffalo mayor Byron Brown will want that back in oh, let’s say about nine months.

Luke Schenn: International Stud
Luke Schenn is going to the World Hockey Championships to play for Canada. Not bad for the 19-year old centrepiece to the Leafs’ rebuilding plans. Ian White will be joining the club as well, laying some serious ’stache on the competition I hope.

Top 10 Leaf Moments of 2008-2009
An excellent list with video clips from the always reliable Down Goes Brown. You know your season was a complete washout when the number one moment is the honouring of a former player’s number. Still, great list.

What’s That You Say? Cheaper Bills Tickets?
Using “challenging economic times” as an excuse so as not to admit that they’re bumbling idiots, greedy fucks Rogers Communications Inc. are cutting the average ticket price by 17% to this year’s Buffalo Bills game in Toronto. [TSN]

Bills Draft Approach: Win Now
With a plethora of top-end talent to come off the books in 2010 and again in 2011, the Buffalo Bills appear to be moving toward being competitive this coming season. They’ll be looking for rookies that can step in and contribute immediately, rather than stockpiling for the future. [Buffalo Rumblings]

Drunk Jays Fans New Podcast Available
Bart Given was a guest on the second DJF podcast of 2009, and a pretty good guest at that. I mean, he’s no Keith Law, but who is? Check it out.

Bryan Colangelo Rolls A Douby
B.C. and the Raptors have locked up Quincy Douby for the remainder of this season and for 2010 as well. You hear that? Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade, Lebron James, and Quincy Douby are all free agents after the 2010 season.[Inside Hoops]

Garner Leaves The Score?
According to The Toronto Star’s Chris Zelkovich, Drive This!’s other watchable personality and Producer, Richard Garner is leaving the show and ticker-laden sports network. He left a message to staff cryptically outlining plans to: “provide programming that focuses on the many similarities that all human beings share instead of the few differences.” Garner appeared on the program today. I don’t know what’s happening… anyone?

Steve Simmons Opts For Drive-Thru Over Journalism
Read this if you must, but beware; Steve Simmons says Wilson has done a remarkable job with the lousy Leafs roster. He also explains how Wilson could make himself more likable to the media and the fans, as though Wilson should give a fuck.

Bastian Reports That B.J. Ryan’s Velocity Is A Concern To Jays
Oh man, I don’t think this is good. Cito Gaston and Brad Arnsberg let their concerns be known about Ryan’s loss of velocity, his fastball is topping out at 86 mph. We might get to see what Brandon League can do in the 9th, I’m trying to be optimistic.

Weighing Potential Draft Options For The Raps, phdsteve Likes Shooting Guards
Steve the doctor at Raptors Republic discusses the possibilities of the Raptors pursuing a SG with their first-round pick. It makes sense, Anthony Parker is a free agent at season’s end and the crop of 2’s is pretty deep.

PPP’s Leaf of the Day, Luke Schenn He is Not
Poor Drake Berehowsky, his rookie card probably never fetched more than a dollar. If it did, it was surely before he ever actually played a game in the NHL.

Don’t Mess With The Drunks

Stoeten at drunkjaysfans is really pissed, first he took issue with Sportsnet’s handling of the World Baseball Classic and a wonderful shot at Jim Lang’s googely eyeballs.  Then he laid into Chippers Jones for taking a stab at the city of Toronto as a host for the WBC.   Incredible.

The Leafs Have Little To Play For

Toronto Sports Media posted the latest standings in the Tavares Cup, and the Leafs are not looking like they’re in the running, they’re not in the running for anything.

Lobbying For J-Bay Begins

Eyebleaf starts the lobbying for the Blue Jays to acquire the services of Jason Bay, he’s a free agent at season’s end and the Red Sox and Bay’s camp have broken off talks… for now.

Leo Rautins A Great Passer?  Pops Compared To Wendel Clark?  WTF?

Yeah those were the play-by-play highlights from The Raptors latest loss.  (Raptors Republic)

Alternative To Drinking Tonight

The Blue Jay Hunter is hosting a live chat tonight from 9-10 pm.  If you managed to drink yourself silly this afternoon or get booted from your local watering hole, grab a green beer and join the chat.

Jay Cutler to the Toronto Bills?

I’m not sure if you can read too much into this, but another big name without a home may be coming to Toronto with the Bills next season.  (Fan IQ)

Even if Rogers Communications fails to drop the average ticket price for their experimental Buffalo Bills games, they may have a little more ammo to fire at potential NFL fans in Toronto.  Yeah, Terrell Owens will be coming to Toronto.  I’m not going out on a limb here by saying that ultimately, the NFL in Toronto experiment may be a flop when all is said and done, but T.O. should make things interesting when he takes the stage here next season.  After all, he did say: “I’m leaving America’s team [for] North America’s team”.

The price of admission might be worth it if T.O. brings his antics to the Rogers Centre.  Check out the vid after the jump:  Top 10 T.O. Moments