Only in Canada

The Canadian Football League has stepped it up in terms of ridiculous rulings in a desperate attempt to keep up with their Canadian brethren — the NHL. But this could be a landmark in stupidity we're looking at. What happened prior the CFL draft is even worse than the NHL changing a rule MID-PLAYOFFS. It's that bad.

Now, following in the NFL's and NBA's footsteps of stripping teams of first round picks for cheating (See: SpyGate), when the league found out that the Montreal Alouettes had violated salary cap rules by going over, the looked to punish them. Here's where the problem and stupidity comes in.

Montreal had traded away their pick to Hamilton before the draft.

Now common sense would tell you that Hamilton is not the team that the league was trying to punish for breaking a rule, therefore they could keep the pick since they traded for it before it was stripped. No. Hamilton lost the pick.

I could go on an angry rambling about how dumb this league is but, the way I see it, why complain about a minor league football organization. It's not like any of the guys could compete in the NFL.

What an NFL weekend

Sure the draft went down on Saturday and Sunday but there is a much more pressing subject that needs to be brought up. Brett Favre on the cover of Madden 09? This can mean one of two things: Either somebody thinks No. 4 is coming back this season or this is a good homage to a great quarterback who was one of Madden's boys forever. If the first scenario is the case, somebody should have told the Packers before they drafted Chad Henne. And we can all look forward to a lot of jokes along the lines of Favre never throwing another touchdown after getting the cursed cover.

As for my draft thoughts:

Picking Chris Long second makes sense for the Rams. If they had taken Glenn Dorsey there, Adam Carricker would have to switch positions again. Putting Long outside and having the former Cornhusker inside makes the most sense.

You heard it here first, Matt Ryan is going to be a dud in Atlanta. I can't wait to see the mocks three years from now with the Falcons taking another "stud" QB with a high pick. Either that or D.J. Shockley will have stepped it up by then.

I really hope nobody was shocked that the Raiders took Darren McFadden. It was out there from every insider for weeks now.

The Jets taking Vernon Gholston ahead of the Patriots is more than just a spite pick. Eric Mangini is going to love that guy.

Picking Felix Jones over the higher-ranked Rashard Mendenhall looks risky for the Cowboys. The clincher for Jones had to have been an acceptance of a supporting role to Marion Barber. Remember, Jones split time with McFadden at Arkansas.

And as for Mr. Irrelevant, David Vobora, an outside linebacker for Idaho, was the lucky guy taken last in the draft. Vobora was drafted with the 45th pick of the seventh round — 252nd overall — and will go down in history as a trivia answer. Congratulations buddy.

The end is near

It's the beginning of the end for a few things in the NFL. SpyGate may finally be resolved now that Matt Walsh is going to come forward and talk to the league and possibly produce the tape of the Rams' final walkthrough. This had better be worth the wait but after hearing what his demands were to talk — assurance that the Patriots will not sue him and a free flight to New York — it has to be something big and juicy. Why else would he want immunity if there was nothing that could get him in legal trouble?

Commissioner Goodell has also stated that if Walsh can produce evidence of the Patriots further cheating, New England is going to be hit by more fines and levies. If their first penalty was any indication of how serious this "crime" is, the Patriots should get ready for a huge blow.

And, what we, as sports fans, are all looking forward to ending is the millions of mock drafts that flood the internet this time of the year. How many different opinions of what *might* happen do we need? One per publication is about as much I need.

Then, even when it's all over, we'll be mowed down by NBA draft mocks.

NFL Trade mania

Strip club owners in the Dallas-Fort Worth area should be either jumping for joy or cowering in fear today. Pacman Jones is a Cowboy. According to ESPN and The Associated Press, the Cowboys and Titans came to an agreement on a deal yesterday but the paperwork on it won't be filed with the league office until today. This addresses needs for both teams; Dallas gets a very good corner to flank Terrence Newman while the Titans get rid of Pacman. Now the only hurdle for Dallas is getting Jones reinstated.

The Chiefs ensured they had enough picks early in the draft to help their ongoing rebuilding cause by dealing away franchise defensive end Jared Allen to Minnesota. This move gives the Vikes a very good shot at winning the NFC North — which may be quite easy with Favre "retired" — and maybe even win 10-12 games next season. Many teams are going to be having fits trying to block the defensive line of Minny that already had two Pro Bowlers before landing Allen. They'll just have to see how far Adrian Peterson can carry them.

There's also some non-trade mania heating up:

Cincinnati has told Chad Johnson that he's not getting dealt and may be sitting out this season. Looks like opening his mouth severely back-fired for Ocho Cinco. The Bengals may be painting themselves into a corner as well; turning down a trade off from the Redskins that would have netted two first-round picks could really hurt in the long run.

Another receiver the 'Skins tried and failed to pull in was Arizona's Anquan Boldin who's a bit bitter over his contract situation. The Cardinals may have turned down Washington's advance but if Philly keeps on dangling surplus corner Lito Sheppard we could have a swap on the board.

Some quick April ramblings

Jake Long's going to be the first-overall pick on Saturday in the NFL draft. Moves like these (signing no. 1 picks before the draft) takes all the suspension and anticipation out seeing the commissioner walk to the podium. The least the could do is negotiate a deal and keep it quiet.

The Seahawks did the right thing by cutting Shaun Alexander. If you watched him at all last season, you could tell he wasn't the same back that ran all the way to a touchdown record and a Madden cover shot. So is this the worst case of the Madden jinx yet?

The Sharks are lucky Jeremy Roenick didn't retire last summer. His performance in game 7 last night was off the hook and a huge reason why San Jose won.

The NHL lost out on a ton of ratings by seeing Alex Ovechkin and his Capitals lose. Had Washington beaten the Flyers, Alex the Great would have been facing off of with Sid the Kid in round two. Hockey could have gained a lot more fans watching those two go at it.

Looks like C.C. Sabathia reads this blog. He finally stepped up his game and got back to his winning ways last night. Now, I'm just going to have to wait to see if he can keep up this form against non-Royals.

The Raptors are outmatched by the Magic. They can win one game but I'd doubt if they can take two. That might have been the worst play I've ever seen drawn up to end a game last night.

The Suns had better start turning up the Heat on the Spurs if they don't want to make an early exit. They have to play as hard as they did in game one opposed to how the started to fade down the stretch in game two if this series is going to live up to its billing.

And congratulations to Jay-Z and Beyonce for finally getting married. Those two have been together for what? like ten years?

The NBA, It's draft-tastic!

I'm sure that's not a word but it sure was fun to write. There weren’t many more exciting days on the NBA calendar than the draft this year with amount of talent coming into the league. A lot can be also be said for the amount of rumours that were flying around leading up towards draft day.

While we knew that Oden and Durant would go one/two, the Hawks at three (new uniforms and all) were hard to predict because, well, they can be dumb at times. Selecting Al Horford and then grabbing Acie Law IV at 11 was probably the best they could've made out from their early picks.

The real shockers came in at the five and six slots though. First, Boston traded the number five pick of the draft, along with Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West to Seattle for Ray Allen and a pick that would turn out to be Glen "Big Baby" Davis in the second round. Seattle then used the fifth selection to take Jeff Green out of Georgetown. I think Danny Ainge proved himself as a better G.M. than he has a reputation of being (awful).

Next, already knowing that Yi doesn't particularly want to play in a city where he would be one of seven Chinese people, Milwaukee selected him. Well, good luck working out that contract guys; should be a ton of fun, most of it lost in translation.

In a trade that didn't involve any of the day's picks, Isiah Thomas made a great move bringing Zach Randolph to the Knicks from Portland for Channing Frye and Stevie Franchise. Coming along to MSG were also Dan Dickau and Fred Jones in the deal. I don't see how this deal makes sense for Portland, especially considering the front-court they could have had with Greg Oden and Randolph.

The NBA Draft is here!

That night that's been the focus of most NBA fans since San Antonio won the championship against Phoenix has finally arrived. Experts are calling this year's edition the deepest in recent memory and even a casual college basketball fan could tell that just by looking at the names being thrown around in the top-12 area.

While there is a fairly good debate over who should go first overall, it really depends on what school of thought you're into.

On one side, there's the seven-foot who's a monster on defense, can score in the paint and has a huge presence. There is no doubt that Greg Oden will be a franchise centre and can be a team's centre piece for years upon years to come. Centres like Oden will win you championships more often than a high scoring swingman.

But, when they high scoring wingman has a limitless ceiling like Kevin Durant does, who knows where he'll take you. After wowing everyone in North America with his amazing talent and versatility last season, he propelled himself into the rarefied air that Oden was occupying.

There's no doubt that both of these guys are destined for superstardom, unlike the top players of the last few drafts. Both men will be shock and awe the Pacific Northwest for many years to come, but, if it were up to me, Oden's my man.

The player I'm really curious about is, my boy, Arron Afflalo of UCLA. I've seen mock drafts putting him in the early twenties and some in the early second-round. Wherever he, goes, I'm cheering.

My First draft lottery

I’ll be honest: I’ve never watched the NBA’s draft lottery before; I never really cared to be frank. But this year I’ll be tuned in (and not because I work in the sports department of the paper). The draw for Oden/Durant is the most compelling since that of King LeBron, but I didn’t even bother tuning in for that one either. When the Raptors won the lottery last year, I didn’t know it even happened until reading about it on ESPN.com later that night. There’s too much at stake with these ping-pong balls to miss out.

When everything was said and done, it looks like one franchise might be saved but at the expense of another fan-bases suffering. As the envelopes were opened, the anticipation grew with no real surprises for the first while, until the owner of the fifth pick was announced: the Boston Celtics. The tortured fan base that openly rooted for their team to tank and gain a better draft pick apparently ate it in the karma department and will miss out on a possible saviour. Phoenix also lost out on when Atlanta drew into the top-3 meaning they could keep their pick.

The huge winners, without surprise, are the teams who won the lottery and jumped up into the top two picks. Seattle got into the two-spot, meaning they’ll likely land Kevin Durant who could potentially save their franchise from being moved to a place like Vegas or Oklahoma City. But the kings of the show were the Portland Trailblazers who came in with only a 5% chance to win and walked away at the top of draft chart. While speculation has it that Greg Oden will likely be their choice, Kevin Durant will fit in just as well and either will be a great improvement for the team. This also sets up a good feud between Durant and Oden as the two teams are division rivals and play each other several times over the season.

This lottery will be remembered as Oden/ Durant lottery and as just another time the Celtics got screwed.

Good times at the NFL Draft

With the Raiders taking JaMarcus Russell first overall on Saturday, there wasn’t much surprise at the top the off the draft, except, of course, for the freefall of Brady Quinn. Russell, who will get –if the past trends keep up- something in the $50-60 million range, is worth it on tape at least. This guy can launch a football 83-yards! Even if it’s nothing more than parlour-trick feat, he can also throw a football 63-yards from his knees. If that doesn’t score him a 99 throwing power in Madden 08, I don’t know what will.

The Detroit Lions took the highly touted Calvin Johnson in the two-slot to fill their pressing need at WR. That was obviously sarcasm but sometimes it doesn’t shine through in type. Johnson, who is 6’5” with blazing speed and is one of, if not, the highest rated WRs in the past 10 years of the draft. Too bad Jon Kitna’s throwing to him.

After Cleveland drafted their O-line’s anchor of the future, Joe Thomas, and Miami seriously screwed up their number nine pick by going off the board and selecting Ted Ginn Jr., pretty boy Brady Quinn of the hate-them-or-love-them Notre Dame Fighting Irish began freefalling down the draft board. Quinn, who had been invited to the draft by Commissioner Roger Goodell, was actually escorted into a private room to wait it out while teams without a need at QB passed him over. Finally, the Browns decided to trade away their number one pick next year as well as their second round pick this year to Dallas to take Quinn at number 22. The only upside for Quinn in this whole ordeal is that he now gets to play with lesser expectations of him and a sizable chip on his shoulder.

Former-Heisman trophy winner and BCS choker Troy Smith waited until the very end of the fifth round before he was taken by the Baltimore Ravens. This actually puts him into possibly the best situation of any of the QBs taken this year. Learning for Steve McNair and offensive guru Brian Billick while being on a winning team will help him develop quicker than playing on a Raiders team with absolutely no offensive talent at all, especially after giving away Randy Moss for next to nothing. They did bring in former first-round bust Mike Williams from Detroit, but that’s not going to help.

NBA lottery teams release their breath

The teams that didn’t make the NBA playoffs will exhale a loud sigh today when Greg Oden declares for the draft. Oden will be leaving Ohio State for the big time where he can start cashing in on his greatness and can, hopefully, turn around one of the hapless franchises that tanked games in order to get him. Oden’s Ohio teammates and fellow freshmen Mike Conley Jr. and Daequan Cook will also be declaring today but won’t garner nearly as much attention as Oden. It’s going to be a sad season next year at Ohio State.

Happy 4:20 everyone

While you’re trying to figure out why all the kids are acting weirder than usual and why their eyes are redder today, it seems only appropriate that during interviews at the NFL combine, three of this year’s top prospects (Calvin Johnson, Gaines Adams and Amobi Okoye) admitted to using marijuana in the past. If any team thinks that this fact actually matters and is relevant towards draft position, they’re in the Stone Age and would be turning their backs on players for an idiotic reason. Just because these guys smoked pot once upon a time, doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll turn into the next Ricky Williams or Pacman Jones.

Draft Declarations galore!

Kevin Durant ended the speculation that he would return to Texas for at least another year by declaring for the NBA draft. Durant, who won the John R. Wooden award that is given to the NCAA's best player, will either be drafted first or second depending on whom you talk to. The biggest factor, one would think, is the money that is awaiting him at a professional level, especially a shoe deal that should be worth at least $40 million. NBA GMs on floundering teams can breathe a bit easier knowing his intention now.

UCLA's Aaron Afflalo also declared for the draft yesterday after guiding the team to consecutive final fours. Afflalo declared last year but withdrew after some poor showings during evaluation camps. While he did win the Pac-10's player of the year award, he shouldn't figure into a lottery team's plans.

Another talented prospect who has committed himself to the draft is Julian Wright of Kansas. Wright is seen as one of the more versatile players in the draft, announced he would be leaving school on Monday. He should factor into the first five picks of the draft, going as high as third in some mock drafts

Florida repeats! Now what?

Despite Greg Oden’s best efforts and best game of the tournament, Florida’s all-around team play carried them to their second NCAA title in a row. Another factor in the loss that became glaringly obvious towards the end of the game was Thad Matta’s horrendous coaching job of Ohio. With Florida’s big men in foul trouble and Oden clearly dominating down low, the Buckeyes continually threw up ill-fated three point attempts instead of capitalizing on the single coverage and foul situations down low. If the phenom Oden had been able to draw four more fouls, there wouldn’t have been anybody left who could guard him down low while eliminating Al Horford and Joakim Noah on the offensive end. It was a sloppy job in my opinion.

The questions will now start coming up about whether or not college stars will enter the draft for NBA money or if they’ll stick around for an education. Florida could hypothetically bring back four of their starters again and bring a third straight title home. Oden, who admittedly likes going to school, may stay in college because he knows the money will always be waiting for him. Kevin Durant may stay at Texas to help the Longhorns get deeper in the tournament next year. These decisions will have a huge impact on the draft and must have lottery teams like Memphis and Boston, who have blatantly tanked games, praying that the young guns declare.

Durant named player of the year

Texas freshman Kevin Durant has been named the NCAA player of the year after a spectacular season where he became a household name and cemented himself as a top-2 pick in the upcoming draft. With the announcement, Durant becomes the first freshman to win the award in its history after receiving 70 or a possible 72 first place votes; Alando Tucker of Wisconsin got the other two. Even with this title around his waist, it’s still going to be a tough decision come draft time picking between Durant and Greg Oden who played the entire NCAA season in third-gear and still dominated. Needless to say, if you have a top-2 pick this upcoming draft, you’re team’s going to be set for a while. Unless the unthinkable happens and they both stay in school for another year which would actually be devastating.

Ohio State completes huge comeback

I never thought I would actually say that the consensus number 1 pick in this year’s NBA draft (Greg Oden) was better off being on the bench during last night’s 20 point come from behind victory against Tennessee. Oden, who got himself into foul trouble, something he does exceedingly well at, was on the bench for a large portion of last night’s game than I’m sure he wanted to be. The weird thing was, in his absence was the time that Ohio actually stepped it up. The play of his back up forward, a white boy named Terwilliger surprised me the most. From the looks of it, the back up had a starter calibre game. If this doesn’t seal the fate of Durant at number one, I’m not sure what does. But it still comes down to how the ping-pong balls fall and if Durant and Oden decide to declare or not.

The Battle to be Number 1

While the basketball season is only half way through, one of the most important races going on is in the NCAA instead of the NBA. The unanimous numbers 1 and 2 for the 2007 NBA draft are both looking better and better every day. Greg Oden, who has been looked at since he was in high school, is up against Kevin Durant of Texas to be first overall. Last night, in a game against Texas Tech, Durant absolutely dominated the game. Putting up 37 points while grabbing 23 rebounds, Durant is proving he's one of the best in NCAA. One must think that the draft will come down to what the bigger need for the team is; a phenom centre or a franchise foward. Either way you go, it's a virtual no-lose situation.