Calgary Flames should sell all assets, Oilers getting great goaltending and leadership, SCHNEIDER taken the reins and running with it

Calgary need now kindling to restart their Flames and make them go higher

So the reality is that the Flames have two great assets in their organisation that other teams will want and the first one is of course Jarome Iginla who has 12 points in his first 23 games this season and looks like a shell of himself and does not look like a real leader as the team no sense of direction. He maybe gets re energized by joining a contending team and he has 7 million dollar a season for this season and next and if they can get a draft pick and/or a prospect for him along with a player who has close to the same salary for this season who can be turned into a free agent at the end of the season. The Calgary Flames got him from Dallas in '95 for Joe Nieuwendyk and they gotten so much out of Iginla and can still get more for him. The other asset is MIIKKA KIPRUSOFF who is a pretty good goalie and can help a contender most likely as a starter and they can get either a pick or prospect along with a player whose close to Kiprusoff's 5.8 million dollar contract and hopefully save money over the next two seasons as Kiprusoff has two more seasons of 5.8. So the reality is that they need break down the team to rebuild like their arc rivals down the road in Edmonton.

Oilers getting great goaltending and leadership

NIKOLAI KHABIBULIN has been reborn with a 9 and 5 record with an amazing save% of .936 and an even better goal against average of 1.88 and he has one more season of 3.75 million on his contract and Ryan Smyth who is on the final year of his contract and will be a free agent at season's end and right now is showing get leadership for the very young Oilers like Hall, Eberle, and RYAN NUGENT-HOPKINS. So will see if the Oilers can carry this momentum to getting into the playoff or at least give the fans hope that they can challenge for a playoff spot late in the season.

Cory Schneider is taken the reins

With Roberto Luongo not able to start a game in it has been Cory Schneider who has taken control of the Canucks' net and in the last 5 Canucks' games all started by Schneider they are 5 and 0 while he has a save% of .976 as he has stopped 164 of the 168 shots that he has face over those 5 games including two shutouts and a 0.80 GAA. So it looks like Schneider is the goalie to turn the Canucks' season around as just like last season the Canucks had a horrible start and then under the goaltending of Roberto Luongo the Canucks went onto being the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. This now begs the question of if U keep the pending free agent Cory Schneider as your starter and try to get something for Luongo which will be hard with his massive contract where he has 9 seasons left after this one where he is to make 5.3 for the next three seasons and has a no trade clause in his contract. The other thing is will the Canucks hold on to Schneider if at the trade deadline that Luongo is the starting back stop and risk losing him for nothing or trade him to get another valuable asset for the playoff run and see what the 25 year old can do leading another NHL team.

Always interesting in the western conference

Tom Mehegan

NHL fire your head coach day has eventful

So in Washington, DC and Carolina the head coaches have been wondering when this day would come and in Washington it may of come too late and in Carolina it was like the changing of the seasons as Carolina get ready to make their normal second half run of being unbeatable to make the playoffs but it was a little earlier than usually.

So in Washington, DC Bruce Boudreau who like a wrestler went from being a babyface (a players coach) to a heel (tougher on the players as he try to impalement a defense first approach) and just did not work just like wrestling fans sometimes do not buy into a wrestler turning the capitals players did not take the new heel Boudreau seriously and tuned him out. So Boudreau who is the fast coach to won 200 games in the NHL in the modern era but instead of that he will be remembered for barque sauce on his face and his rant of like 90 seconds where every other word was was censored during last season's 24/7 series leading into the Penguins hosting the Capitals in what would turn out to be Sidney Crosby's second last game for 11 months along with the Caps inability to play hard and go far in the playoffs.

So now U have Dale Hunter coming in from being a very successful coach in the PHL over the last 11 seasons with the London and is now coming back to the NHL and the Capitals were he was a goon for 20 seasons. The one moment hockey fans will remember him for is his violent attack with his hockey stick as a Capital in the open round of the '92-'93 Stanley Cup playoffs when after Pierre Turgeon scored a goal to make sure there was a game 7 Hunter came up behind him hit him and separating his shoulder and Hunter was given a 21 game suspension by now commissioner of the NHL Gary Bettman and now he has a second chance to make legacy for himself and that is by getting the most out of the very talented Capitals who right now look completely bored. So to start he needs to get ALEX OVECHKIN back on track because he just has not been the same player since 2009-10 and has even been carelessly floating nowhere near the action and his shots attempts have gone extremely south even though focusing on defense is important but so is getting the puck to the net and in the past Alex the Great has had over 500 shots and 50 goals and needs to get back to that. While ALEXANDER SEMIN has 64 points in 85 games since the beginning of the 2010-11 season after having 84 points in 73 games in 2009-10 and the free agent at the end of the season will need to get back to the 2009-10 stats if he wants a big deal and he has also been mentioned as the most talented Capitals player. Then there is Mike Green who after having over 70 points as a defenseman in both the 2008-09 and 2009-10 has compiled 30 points in 57 games when healthy as he has spent a lot of games out with an injury and these are the players the Capitals count on along with TOMAS VOKOUN needs to start making the keys saves to help the team get back on the winning track.

I do beleive that they will turn it around and their star players will be their star players and they will make the playoffs and then we will see how this team performs in the playoffs and can they play a playoff style game and can Vokoun steal them a game or two in the playoffs.

In Carolina the Hurricanes have not been getting the kind of performances they have come to expected from their leader Eric Staal who has been a shell of a player this season as he has 11 points in 25 games with a horrifically awful plus/minus of -17 but it is almost time for Staal to turn it on and make an incredible run at the playoffs like in past season like when Paul Maurice rejoined the Caines for the last 57 games of the 2008-09 season and they finished second in southern division and got all the way to the conference final. This is not a first for Paul Maurice as he was fired the first time in Carolina in the '03-04 season after 30 games and fired by the Leafs after two seasons of not making the playoffs so now Kirk Muller has 57 games to get things turned around with the team now 8-13-4 and second last in the Eastern Conference just in front of the New York Islanders. So Kirk Muller has a lot of work to do and maybe this team will not get into the playoffs but their past has shown that they will get close by the end of the regular season and the 19 seasons veteran in Muller with his tough as nail kind of grinder maybe the right voice this teams need.

Thanks for Reading

Tom Mehegan

the NBA lockout is over after 149 days of what if

So Saturday morning at 3 AM after 15 hours of negotiations the players and owners agreed that the NBA was a mess and they shook hands on the 149th day of the lockout and the second longest in NBA history to what maybe a 10 year deal but will be at least a 6 year deal. The deal includes a 300 million dollar cut in players salaries a season along with shorter contracts and lesser percentage of growth from contract to contract for the players as the players say goodbye to the 7 year/ 100 million dollar contracts and maybe even those 60 - 70 million dollar contracts over a 5 or 6 season length. On the owners side the wealthier owners will be hit with bigger penalties for going over the NBA fixable cap while the players and owners will split the 4 billion in revenue 50/50 and if the league turns around and the teams as a whole start making money the players will be able to make 51% but if the league continue in their downward spiral they could receive as little as 49%.

So the players need to reform their union for the 66 game NBA season start on Christmas Day with their traditional triple header which will be the Celtics @ Knicks followed by a rematch of last season's NBA final as reigning NBA champs the Mavericks will host the runners up the Heat and cap off the night Bulls will head to Los Angles to face the Lakers while the rest of the season schedule is TBA at this point.

So it will be a very interesting season as there are so many possibilities in a shortened season like which players will be out of shape going into the season will any team overhaul their roster and if so how will mash together i.e. simply look at the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL or how will new head coaches be able to fit their schemes into the systems the players are used to and how well will it work. Also how many players will be able to focus simply taken care of business instead of being down and frustrated that they have been schooled by the owners and have lost a ton of money in the case of superstars or the opportunity of making a boat load of money if U R a future prime time player. On the other hand will the owners be able to make smart business decisions or will they try and find loop holes in the deal that will make the contracts balloon again like what has happened in the NHL in what was supposed to be a owner friendly deal that is no longer looking like it.

So 10 million dollars off the top of every teams salary cap that is a real win for the owners so now they have to work together to strengthen the league so it is a win-win situation

Tom Mehegan

Hulk Hogan taken to the cleaners by ex-wife

Hulk Hogan real name Terry Bollea was recently fleeced in divorce court by his Ex-Wife Linda as she is set to get 7.44 million of the 10.41 million that had frozen in bank accounts since they separated and she is getting all the vehicles of a Mercedes-Benz, a Cadillac Escalade, a Corvette, a Rolls-Royce and various off-road vehicles. Along with that they are agreeing to put up their three homes they shared up for sale which of course of not come at a worst time because the real estate market is at the bottom of an ocean and will not be coming up for air in states for a very very long time so if they were to sell their Belleair Florida estate where most of the Hogan Knows best which they is worth 13.9 million they would simply get pennies on the dollar. In the end the real kicker is that Linda has a 40% stake in the Hogan brand going forward which means if Hogan turns TNA into a money maker and gets paid big bucks she gets 40 cents of every dollar he makes or if someone comes up with the next big thing and puts Hogan's name on it she gets 40 cents on the dollar but I still think that when he offered the grill before George Foreman and he turned them down was the biggest deal he did not make and it will never happen again.

So it looks like Hogan has decided to move on with his second wife Jennifer McDaniel and really had no foot to stand on as it was his affair with Christiane Plante in 2006 while she helping Hogan's daughter Brooke with her 2006 album. Also maybe his travels on the road also caught up to him as what happens on the road stays on the road may no longer for the Hulkster but at least he has some money to move on with which U can not say for most Wrestlers who can not leave the business not because they love it so much but because they need the money and this is the only way they now how to make a living.

Best wishes for Terry and Linda in their future endiverse

Tom Mehegan

Bruins win 10 in a row, Crosby sings the Blues, and Bryzgalov meets captain hook again

Bruins win 10 in a row as they entered the peaceful environment of the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York a week and a half after Milan Lucic ran over Buffalo's starting goalie Ryan Miller who is now out indiffidently with a concussion. The game began with fights galore with even Lucic dropping the gloves and fighting with PAUL GAUSTAD 1:23 into the game and then at 11:33 of the first period things came to a complete stop as ZDENO CHARA fought ROBYN REGEHR while COREY TROPP of the Sabres and ADAM MCQUAID of the Bruins were pushing and shoving with ADAM MCQUAID being the aggressor and getting the extra 2 minutes in the box and it took the Sabres 23 seconds to make him pay by putting the first puck past Tim Thomas. The Sabres then felt that was not enough as they went up 2-0 when THOMAS VANEK scored his 12th of the season three and a half minutes and they took the lead into the second where TYLER SEGUIN scored his 12th of the season for the Bruins to cut the lead in half 2-1 @ 3:37 but Sabres rookies TJ BRENNAN scored his first NHL goal @ 11:02 to restore the 2 goal lead until with 4 minutes left BRAD MARCHAND scored to make it 3-2. In the third the big man for the Bruins 6'9 ZDENO CHARA scored 3:30 minutes tie it @ 3 and the next 21 and a half minutes did not solve anything so they head to a shootout and the first 9 shooters were stop by the goalies and then the tenth shooter stepped up and it was the Bruins BENOIT POULIOT scored on Jhonas Enroth to give the Bruins their 10th win in a row in a very hard fought but clean game.

Sidney Crosby played tonight and was singing the Blues as he and his fellow Penguins teammates faced the St. Louis Blues which is a team he had not scored a goal against and tonight did not have a single point in the game while having 6 penalty minutes compared to his two shots on goal in just over 18 minutes. It got so bad for the penguins who were done 1-0 most of the game that both Crosby and Malkin were sent to the box 14 seconds apart in the second period but in the third STEVE SULLIVAN tied 3 minutes and the Blues JAMIE LANGENBRUNNER scored @ 10:45 to give them back the lead 2-1 until James Neal scored his 13th of the season to earn the Penguins a points as ALEX PIETRANGELO with less than a minute left in overtime won the game for the Blues while Malkin assisted on both Penguin goals.

Ilya Bryzgalov only lasted in net a period given up 3 goals on 9 shots and the Flyers headed into the second period down 3-1 after scoring first 18 seconds into the game and with a different goalie as Sergei Bobrovsky came in and saved all 23 shots he faced in 42 and a half minute and was winning goalie as DANNY BRIERE scored his second of the night half way though overtime when the Flyers finally killed a 4 on 3. So the Flyers goaltending musical goalie game continues as Bryzgalov does not look go under the heat lamp Philly has as their spotlight especially on goalies while the Islanders' kyle Okposo may of found the light as he scored his first two goals on his season in the game.

13 games and a lot of nail bitting

Tom Mehegan

Survivor Series 25 felt more like a WrestleMania because of the crowd and the Rock

So tonight sold out the house and I do not only mean Madison Square Gardens but he also sold out the Movie Theater I tried to get into and I was not the only one that was turned away because there had to be at least 50 other people in line when it was announced and I do not know how many were there for the next Twilight showing but lets just say that Rock's first match in 7 years and I guess teaming with Pebbles did not hurt it. So I came home and watched on my computer and U know what that means at least I tried to pay for it and what a great show it was indeed.

To start it was John Morrison Vs Dolph Ziggler and it was a long match with Vicki even broken up a pin fall for Morrison and got sent to the back but in the end Dolph got the zig zag on Morrison for the victory. Then the fans announced what they wanted from this match as they chanted for Ryder and after Dolph's music hit and he was ready to leave then Ryder's music hit and he attacked Dolph Ziggler to just tell him he will be the next champ woo woo woo U know it.

Then came the lumber Jill match that ended when Beth had Eva on the top rope and hit the glam slam for the win and after the match Natalia had to hold Beth up so she may be legit hurt which would be horrible even though we will not need to Eva for another 6 months.

Then Rock basically ran down his complete bio of the Gardens starting with his grandfather faced Superstar Billy Gramm in '77 and then 5 years later his father was in a tag match to the point where he was the sole survivor of his team in the '96 Survivor Series.

Then came the traditional Survivor Series match between Randy Orton's team Vs Wade Barrett's team and Ziggler was eliminated first then it was Kofi and from there Sin Ciara hiper extended his knee while hanging from the turnbuckle and was eliminated because he could not perform. The biggest pop of the night came next when Cody Rhoades pinned Mason Ryan and after Shamas would not broke a choke hold by the 5 count so it was four against 1 and it ended with Orton Vs both Barrett and Rhoades where they teamed up to beat Orton so the two of them were the Survivors.

Then a lot of filler to get the ring ready for Big show Vs Mark Henry and it included a segment with Del Rio and the Belles and then they showed the ring being reinforced and what happened last time.

The was hugely hot for Mark Henry but with the very slow bringing with Show trying to use wrestling moves and Henry just stepped out of the ring and the crowd turned and did a this is boring chant and later a Daniel Bryant chant. The match had some big moves with Henry driving Big Show through the barricade and Show got back into the ring with a 9 count and finally got control of the match with a superkick that brought a HBK chant and then it got very awkward when Show went to the top rope and it took a while but he finally did a bionic elbow that brought a Randy Savage chant. Then when Henry low blowed Show for the DQ to keep the title which got boos from the crowd and then Henry tried to break Show's leg again but he moved out of the way and then took out Henry who needed help to the back and may have to give up the title.

Then Striker interviewed Barrett who said he wanted to be the first English born heavy weight champ and was cut off by Awesome Truth where Truth talked about Rock and Pebbles being on the side of busses and not them and then mentioned that pigeons only shit and they are going to shit on Rock and Cena. Then going to a video package Lawler screwed up and said that the the Del Rio and Punk angle started at Survivor Series and U could hear Cole said that it was Summerslam as they went to the package.

Then the surprise of the night happened when it was announced that CM Punk had his own ring announce and Hall of Famer Howard Finkle came out to a huge pop and a Howard Finkle went up and then CM punk came out and it got even louder and a CM Punk chant was only stopped by a We want Ice Cream Bar chant. During the match there were a lot of high spots and near falls with Punk not able to get the go to sleep on so it came down to Del Rio throwing Punk into the ropes and he hit Rodriquez and then look at him and Del Rio rolled up Punk for two and then Punk got a pin for two and then beat Del Rio with the anaconda device and the best part of the match was when Punk did a proper bionic elbow with the arms in the air. Then he celebrated in the crowd while Finkle announced that CM Punk is the new World Champion and the crowd was on fire waiting for the next match.

But first they made them wait through a recap of the angle that brought together Rock and Pebbles and then Awesome Truth sang their way down to the ring and then the crowd chanted for the Rock and nothing happened for a minute which was followed by Pebbles coming down to the ring to cheer and Boos. Then the roof came off the building as the Rock made his way down to the ring and U could hear a Rocky chant while the music was playing and then it was ruined by the announcers talking when they should not of.

The match was brought down by the announcers in this match as they should of allowed the crowd to tell the story but instead they did not allow it to breath at all and Awesome True controlled the entire match until the end and Rock and pebbles were not on the same page as early Rock tried to tag Pebbles and he was not in position and when he finally got into the ring he got bet down and when he had his chance to tag the rock in he just tried to finish the match by himself and it never worked. Then when Rock got tagged in he got control of the match and did his people's elbow and then the sharp shooter to finish the match. After the match Rock invited Cena who was on the ramp to get back into the ring and they did a popularity contest and it finished with Rock given Cena the Rock Bottom and it was the time all match when they kept quiet.

The New York crowd made this Survivor Series like it was a Wrestle Mania and where hot for everything except for the lumber Jills match so I feel this most definitely be the PPV of the year at least it is in my books and it is all because of the New York Crowd.

Can not wait for Wrestle Mania 28 in Miami

Tom Mehegan

Sportsnet magazine spits in the face of true CFL fans

So Sportsnet known as Rogers Sportsnet has lost their roots because in the November 18th version of their brand new magazine did a rankings of the best and worst CFL franchises in history and except for the Edmonton Eskimos No. 1 the rest of the top 5 are the current Eastern Conference. Which including the Ti-Cats being No.2 and the Argos being N0. 4 with the Alouttes in the middle so U have teams based in Ontario the best teams where more people watch the NFL than the CFL with the exception of BC the rest of the country watches the CFL more than the NFL on any given Sunday. The Ontario teams are in desperately need revenue from the teams in the Western Conference including the worst franchise in CFL history according to them the Saskatchewan Roughriders who already bring money in for the Ontario teams with the spike in attendance as Roughriders are the mose well traveled team in the CFL. So first I guess they could not turn a blind eye to the 34 seasons in a row that the Eskimos had starting in 1972 and ended after they one their more recent Grey Cup in '05 and their 13 Grey Cups and 5 straight between 1978-82 and then looked at the numbers in winning Grey Cups and MVPs (regular season and Grey Cups) and paid attention to making the Grey Cup and the fan bases.

With the Saskatchewan Roughriders ninth all-time behind even the Ottawa Roughrider who are not even the league until 2013 or 14 when the league will take their crack at making it in the Nation's Capital which is simply laughable. One of their main points to their argument is that the Roughriders have been to the Grey Cup 18 times in their history but only have 3 Grey Cup rings in their history and they pay more attention to the Roughriders losing the most games since 1949 with a winning percentage of .473 which is strangely higher than the fourth best franchise in the Argos with a winning percentage of .470 and the other Roughriders franchise with a winning percentage of .458. Then they talked about the run of 11 consecutive Western Conference final between 1966 and 1976 but paid more attention to the one Grey Cup ring and the falling apart act that the Team has done including losing in the Western Final in 1972 with the best record of all-time in the CFL of 14 and 2. Then they decided that the wait for next year approach is a negative along with the idea of having save our roughriders telethons in the 80's and 90's is just wrong but in Toronto they have a wait for next year approach but for a different team who just be in a championship game O wait just make the playoffs and if they could raise money through a telethon they would but what little fan base the Argos have are all outside Toronto.

So they had paid more attention to the fans and just wins and losses than the likes of Calgary and Saskatchewan would closer to the Eskimos than sixth for Calgary and ninth for the Roughriders because the culture in Alberta and Prairies is what the CFL is run on and if Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatchewan, and Winnipeg were not as big as they are in their communities the CFL would of gone like 20 to 25 years ago.

In the end Sportsnet is only competition for TSN because of Western Canada approach to broadcasting with a lot of their announcers coming to Toronto from out West and their idea of not thinking that the only thing that matters in what happens in Toronto unlike TSN and give the viewers in the West stories about their teams too. So with this story so Ontario driven they have lost their values a little and what makes them the alternative in sports broadcasting and gives them a chance to over take TSN as the sports leader they has been for over 25 years.

Please do not forget where U came from

Tom Mehegan

Will Zach Ryder get his title shot at Survivor Series ?

Zach Ryder in his backyard @ Madison Square Gardens will be a fan just like the 1996 and 2002 Survivor Series at the Garden but I believe that Zach Ryder will be the next United States Champion and after the reaction that he got at the end of Raw in Boston where the crowd chanted we want Ryder so loudly that CM Punk went back stage to get him for the live event finish. I do not know if some how John Morrison, who will be facing the United States Champion Dolph Ziggler on Sunday, will be taken out before the event starts and instead of Ziggler wrestling in the Survivor Series Match as a part of team Barrett only he will end up wrestling Zach Ryder with the pro Ryder crowd blowing the roof of MSG. So without question Zach Ryder will be the next United States Champion especially because he is without a doubt the third or fourth highest merchandise seller in the WWE as he has so many different items with at WWEshop.com like he has now a chain and a scarf to go along with the T-shirt, head band, the sunglasses, and the internet championship will be next so if he has all these things then it means that one fans are buying a lot of Ryder Merchandise and two he is making a bit of money for both the WWE and himself because he gets a cut of the sells.

When he does win the United States title at some point then it will be a huge thing and it will put a spot light on a non heavy weight championship which really has not happened in a long time and the closest maybe Cody Roades with the intercontinental but without the mask he is just another cookie cutter wrestler. So Ryder should get a couple of pay-per-view matches with the belt and maybe even head into Mania with it but that should be as big a title that he should win because if he becomes a World Champ it would not work because his character is not a top guy and he would lose his fan base because he has built it by being the underdog the WWE does not want to promote.

Long Island Ice Z rocks (Woo, Woo, Woo U Know it) so take care and USA (because Vince does not like SPIKE) your hair

Tom Mehegan

NHL Goalies are being taken out with an elbow to the head and it is a big black eye for the league

So right now NHL teams are looking at having a tough making the playoffs because of head hunting starting goalies which is quite a shame to see and it should not be happening at all as it is not a part of hockey.

First there is the whole Ryan Miller issue where even though he was not the usual Ryan Miller as he was 1 and 4 in his last 5 games where he gave up no less than 3 goals each game and only had one game where he had over a .900 save% the Sabres will be life and death to make the playoffs without Miller for a long stretch of time. Then when U look at Milan LUCIC head shot on Ryan Miller which took off Ryan Miller's mask off clean it looks like both parties are at fault for what happened as Ryan Miller was at the left side face off dot to try and get to the puck before Lucic and did but the reality is he was in no man's land and after clear the puck to the side boards just did not know what to do and was a target for a hit. On the other hand Milan Lucic did get a hit on Miller but it was an elbow to the head which is a move not to get an upper hand on him or even to shaken him up but the sole purpose of the elbow was to take him out for good and that is completely sickening to me because to go out of the way to pertinently injury a guy with no idea of when they will be back.

Also there is the issue of James Reimer getting clocked by Brian Gionta while still in his crease was a more clear black and white example of one player in the wrong and the other is a completely innocent bystander with Gionta taken clear advantage of getting an elbow to the head of James Reimer who was in his home. Brain Gionta took advantage of the situation because when he went across the crease Dion PHANEUF was battling with another Canadien player and they getting very close to the net and Gionta took advantage of what might of been Phaneuf slightly backing into Gionta at the end of the play. So now the Leafs have another rookie goalie named Ben SCRIVENS who is trying really hard to help the Leafs win games but then on the other hand U have the monster Jonas GUSTAVSSON is not a very strong net monster and is likely to heading back to Sweden sooner than later especially if the Leafs are now looking at bringing in Marty Turco who was close to have the monster backing him up in Dallas when he came over in 2009 from Sweden.

I would hope that these elbows to the head the NHL would have an automatic ejection from the game just like in the NFL if there is a hamlet to hamlet hit is an automatic 15 yard penalty as right now to teams are without their backbone out indiffidently and then the biggest star in the league Sidney Crosby has almost been out for a whole calender year because of a elbow to the head during an open ice hit.

Brendan Shannon this is your not challenge

Tom Mehegan

its going to be cold, cold winter for the NBA especially the players

Players do not understand the reality of the financial disaster that the NBA is in right now as the NHL has better audience numbers than the NBA has and a lot of teams play in half filled arenas and the majority of the owners in the NBA are better off not playing basketball at all under the past agreement. So if the players want to try and keep so of their benefits like guaranteed contracts and players still making 10 - 15 million dollars and maybe closer to 20 million a season. The reality is there is no way the owners will buckle and will want to make sure that they no longer have bench players making over 10 million dollars and if the players want to play this season every player will need to take a 20 to 25% pay cut off the top.

Right now there are 8 teams made a profit of 150 million and the other 22 teams lost a total of 450 million dollars which means that if the players do not give the owners a chance to make money than it will be a very cold winter for the NBA players who will be making little to nothing this season and really should be thankful for making a small piece of what they have been making over the last decade.

The idea of the players thinking about disbanding their union will only make things go from bad to worst because with no structure on the player side it will almost impossible and we are talking a month and a half before new years and if a deal is not done by then the season will almost completely lost because if the NBA wants to have a season they will need to be able to play at least a 40 game regular season. The players will also need to be better reps for the NBA because the more U hear about players running around with guns and getting themselves into trouble with the law it will be harder to get the fans back into the stands and the NBA is a gate driven league so if nobody goes to games then the teams loss money and if teams loss money then teams will fold which means less jobs for basketball players. If there are less opportunities to play basketball in North American will lead to even less money for the star players and the fringe player will never see the light of day so it is time for the players to learn the fairy tail life of the NBA is all over and need to come to grips that the owners have all the cards and nothing to lose so they need to get in bed with the owners to make the league financially viable for now and for the future.

The players have opportunity to save the season but the time is running out

Tom Mehegan

The Rock is going to be on Raw for the 3 hour go home show for Survivor Series

Heading into the 25th Survivor Series The Rock Dwayne Johnson will be live and in person this Monday's Raw to promote his first Wrestling match since 2004 and going into this Monday's show the WWE has truly dropped the ball on his first wrestling match in 7 years. The main reasons for this are that one Cena actually choose the Rock as his partner to face awesome true which sounded weird because it did not make sense as why would he team up with a guy that can not stand him which looked like Cena was beaten down and had given up but then Cena ended up beating the awesome true in a handicap match where he was beaten down and he used his Superman powers to beat them both. Then on Halloween night Rock joked around before he accepted Cena's offer to team up with him and then later in the night Cena took on the Miz and even after he was attacked by True he ended up destroying both of them by himself.

So on Raw something will have to happen to create friction between Cena and the Rock heading into Sunday's Survivor Series match and this should be that Cena gets attacked by awesome true ans the Rock is not in the build and is unable to come out and save Cena from getting beat down. Also the Rock will have to do a great promo to end the three hour Raw from Boston Massachusetts which is the hometown of Cena and he will need to hook the audience into watching Survivor Series and spending 50 or 60 dollars to buy the PPV because right now Survivor Series is looking at maybe 150,000 buys and they should of been looking at 250,000 buys if they had done a better building up the Rock's first match in 7 years.

In other news the outlook of the 3 hour Raw is not looking good because it looks like they are going to go through with the Jim Ross Vs Michael Cole match in a Cole challenge match where if Cole losses he will leave (mostly just RAW) and Jim Ross will get his announcer chair back but it is unlikely that the WWE will choose to take Cole off RAW. This will mean that Ross will be humiliated once again by Vince and it will leave a very bad taste in the audience's mouth going into what should be the second biggest PPV buy for the WWE in 2011 next to WrestleMania 28.

Lets hope it is an entertainment 3 hours of Raw

Tom Mehegan

Tim Micallef says farewell to the Score and the Score and OUA thank him for his years of professionalism

Today was Tim Micallef last OUA game in his 10 season career covering the Ontario University Football as a part of the TV network and the OUA showed their appreciation by given him a football before the game on the field with his phrase "special players make special plays in big games" inscribed on it. This was extremely overdue because without Tim's knowledge and Enthusiasm for OUA football has brought in such a huge crowd that the Semi-final of the Vanier Cup games and the Vanier Cup itself have moved to TSN and the contract for these games is more profitable than the games all season long on the Score for the OUA and Tim is reason that the OUA have got this profitably contract.

Also during halftime of the Yates cup between Macmaster and Western the score aired the ball ceremony and then paid their own respects to Tim by playing a package of his greatest calls in his 10 seasons and spliced in comments from players and coaches a like which was a very nice thing to do for Tim and hundreds of thousands of Tim fan club.

Without question after the finale of Gillette Drafted 3, which will be Sid Seixeiro last on air appearance with the Score, there will be a huge video package just like the Score did for Cabby for Tim and his tag team partner Sid Seixeiro and it will be a great showcase of both of their talents. Tim has been the center piece for the Score's biggest accomplishments over his 14 + years at the score including Score Tonight which changed the way sports were report and delivered to the audience. He was also the master of controls for court cuts which brought a greater insight into the players in the NBA and not just the Raptors which eventually brought the NBA to TSN as well and the NCAA March madness coverage he did shined a brighter light on the tournament and more importantly the players in the tournament and even though with TSN now having it with their two stations will not make the fabulous cover the score provided thanks to Tim's brilliance knowing what is exciting and bringing it to the audience.

It will have Sid's funniness and his arguments on the topics on the day and they be put on TV to do the plays on the week along with the famous plays of the month on Sportsnet even though the middle man Cabby whose over TSN but they will find away to make it work. Also I really, really hope that they are going to be apart of the end of the year top 50 plays of the year which they have been doing at the Score for years and I would truly miss it if they do not get it and Tim and Sid need something to do with a week or two of their month just waiting for December 12th to happen and they can start their career @ Rogers Sportsnet 590, the FAN.

Thanks Tim for all your hard work @ the score

Tom Mehegan

programming ideas for Tim and Sid who start December 12th on Rogers Sportsnet 590

When Tim and Sid join the Rogers family on Monday December 12,2011 they should continue their format of just talking about all the days top stories and read tweets from listeners and then an added bonus they can interact with their fan club via the phone. They should only get guests that they want because their guest list for their over 250 podcasts is few and far between with Amir Johnson, Jay Triano, Bill Romanowski, Gus Johnson, Steve Sabo, Bob Cole, and George Stroumboulopoulos, George Larock, and a couple others and it is because they only interview the people want to.

They had a guy named Rob Pizzeo was on every podcast and brought up more entertainment pieces or obscure sports topics and as Pizzeo is not coming with them so they should use the assets at the Rogers campus which are Barb DiGiulio who does the 20/20 updates during their show until 2:40 and has done the more entertainment side than the sports side. She has done a segment between 2:20 and 2:40 during Gord Stellick show and the Chuck Swirsky show and it would be a good spot for Barb Monday to Thursday. It would also be interesting to see how Sid's younger brother Alex Seixeiro would interacted with Tim and Sid and with his video game background along with doing a mixture sports and entertain in the 3 o'clock hour Monday to Friday.

They are coming 4 weeks Monday it will be exciting

Tom Mehegan

Eric Tillman and Wally Buono are headed to Toronto to steer the Argos toward being in the hundredth Grey Cup

Eric Tillman with babysitter gate aside did what nobody could do in 18 years in one season in Saskatchewan and that was bring Kent Austin when everybody else in the CFL thought bringing in an offensive coach was absolutely insane but they brought the 95th Grey Cup back to Saskatchewan. Then brought in the pieces that helped the Rough riders be a powerhouse for fourth straight seasons and making three Grey Cup appearances with the team he brought in. Then he goes to Edmonton within his first season he has put together a roster and the success the Eskimos have been lacking over the three or four seasons coming into this one and will be hosting a playoff game after outside looking in for so long in Edmonton terms as they had like 33 consecutive playoff appearances before this drought. He also was able to bring a very energetic head coach named Kavis Reed who had not been a head coach before but turned the whole CFL on its ear as they began their 5-0 and Eric Tillman will be a great Argo GM as he always starts his career in a place that team have always been successful.

Wally Buono is simply the best head coach in the CFL and he is coaching the BC Lions which are owed by David Braley who also owns the Toronto Argos and needs to make a big splash with the hundredth Grey Cup in Toronto next November and he has convinced Wally to head east to turn the Argos ship in the right direction and will be the glue that will bring the Argos back to power with Anthony Calvillo is heading into retirement. Braley is hoping this will bring fans back to Argo games but I really do not know if Henry Burris bringing the Grey Cup to the Argos will even make a difference in the stands.

Hundredth Grey Cup is in T.O. but how many people really seriously care in the city

Tom Mehegan

Davey Richards VS Eddie Edwards 3 - December 23Rd, 2011

Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards will be battling for their third time as it will be also the third ROH World Championship Match with both of them winning the title from each other with Eddie win the title first and then this past summer Davey returned the favor by winning the title back from Eddie.

There is a bit of a twist to the third match because Eddie on the November 5-6 version of ROH TV on Fox he mentioned that for this match he has gone out and found a new trainer to train him for the match because Davey trains so hard on everything that he could go kong fu on him ass but said he would not reveal who the trainer is.

Which means he may just go join the house of truth and with him and Richards Vs house of truth which is Elgin and Strong and Eddie will turn on Richards during the match. The reason most likely because Truth has got into Eddie's head and focused on him doubt of beating Richards that truth promised he will get the title back for him at Final battle.

If it is a true trainer it would be Brutal Bob as he is an actual trainer and would be a good fit for the angle and if not then it would be like a Steve Corino or a Rhino who are real wrestlers and would be able to help him in the match and get either of these two former high profiled wrestlers in the WWE and get them back on TV without have to wrestle.

This is going to more of a money match than any TNA match

Tom Mehegan

Leafs need to make it clear whatever is really happen to James Reimer

So James Reimer hasd been out of the Leafs net since first period of October 22 and the Leafs are saying that it is an upper body injury and that is all they are saying right now which is not enough information because if they are not clear what is actually is than Wilson and Burke along with the team will need to constantly answer the question. The huge problem about this is that it maybe very distracting to the team and the team may end up going into a tail spin and find themselves out of the playoff picture and Wilson is be out of a job. So it will be best if they come clean and tell the fans what really is going on and I believe that Burke should be in politics more than being a NHL GM as he uses the media to make his points and avoid the question on the things he wants to keep somewhat quiet.

So Reimer situation began as as neck whiplash and then has turned into a situation where he is experiencing "concussion like symptoms" and has been taken of the ice until Monday and has been off the ice since Friday and will not have a chance to play at least until Thursday in St. Louis at least as the Leafs say that as he is off the ice practice on Monday and Tuesday is not enough time for Reimer to play Florida at home on Tuesday.

This all means that Jonas Gustavsson has a chance to live up to his nick name as "the Monster" and become a monster in the net because if he starts falling on his face again he will end up back in Sweden where he came play two games a week at most and be set with his almost 10 million dollars that he has made since join the Maple Leafs at the beginning of the 2009 - 10 season. He is 3-1 in his last four starts with a GAA of around 2.75 and a save% of .908 and that is better than his season totals are 3.68 and .880 for 6 starts and 2 mop up situations.

If the monster is more like a dragon without fire and is not the guy to take the Leafs to the promise land and Reimer is not ready to come back yet than the Leafs maybe looking at the Leafs one-two punch for next season as Ben Scrivens will be given the ball to run with it and it would be interesting to see what happens as Scrivens was the better with the Marlies last season as he had a GAA of 2.33 and save% .924 and Reimer had 2.59 and .920 respectively.

So Ben Scrivens and James Reimer will be a good combo for next season but Wilson is be gone and Burke will be on a very hot seat next season if the Leafs do not make the playoffs

Tom Mehegan

#1 USC beats #2 Alabama as Alabama kicked the game away

Alabama missed three of fourth field goal in the first half but Jeremy Shelley hit a 34 yard field goal after having a 49-yard field goal blocked and Cade Foster missed a 44 and 50 yard field goal. USC tied the game on the last play of the first half when Drew Alleman had 20 yard FIELD GOAL and USC gave Alabama chances when their starting quarterback Jarrett Lee completed 3 passes to USC players and 2 passes to Alabama defenders.

In the second half Cade Foster kicked a 46 yard field goal to give Alabama a 6-3 lead and Drew Alleman hit a 30 yard field to tie the game at 6 at the beginning of the fourth quarter which was setup by a 33 yard interception by Claiborne to the 15 yard line of Alabama. Then later in the fourth quarter down by the USC end zone Maze throw an interception at the USC 2 yard line by Reid who went up and took a ball away from an Alabama receiver and this was right after a Richardson 24 yard run to put the ball at the USC 28 yard line and had woken up the Alabama home crowd.

It went into overtime and USC won the coin toss and made the obvious decision of given the ball first to Alabama in this defensive battle and it work out aces for them as Alabama quarterback McCarron had his receivers drop the ball and they also had a 5 yard penalty for having too many players in the huddle and on third down McCarron was sacked for 5 yards so after starting on the USC 25 they moved back 10 yards and had to try to kick a 52 yard field goal by Cade Foster that fell way short. Then USC got the ball and ran the ball at Alabama with Ware who ran 16 yards and could of run into the end zone but stepped out of bounds at the 7 yard line and USC had to take a timeout because everybody went crazy and ran onto the field thinking that it was touchdown so USC had to refocus the team to hold onto the ball for two more runs before Drew Alleman hit a 25 yard field goal to win the game.

USC throw the ball 17 times and completed it 9 times for 91 yards and they ran the ball 41 times for 148 and was lead by Michael Ford who had 11 carries for 72 yards while Alabama was 18 of 29 with A.J. McCarron being 18 of 28 for 199 with a very costly one pass by Marquis Maze but the surprising thing was Trent Richardson who had carry for 24 yards and then 22 carries for 65 yards in the game.

So USC has cemented themselves at #1 and have a good chance at being in the National Championship game while Alabama have shoot themselves in the foot and have little to no chance to be in the national game

Tom Mehegan

What is happening with RYAN NUGENT-HOPKINS, Jarome Iginla, and Roberto Luongo

The Oilers two major decisions in the off-season have pid off so far

RYAN NUGENT-HOPKINS has been the best thing to happen to the Edmonton Oilers in years as he has bettered fellow first overall pick Taylor Hall and Jordan EBERLE as the center of their line and is on a point a game pace(5 G 6A) through 11 games with Eberle (5G 5A) has 10 and Hall (3G 6A) has 9 in the same amount of games. While Hall had 42 points in 65 games and had a very slow start while Eberle had 43 points in 69 games last season and most importantly with this first line on fire is that they 7 wins in their first 11 games and 2 OTL for 16 points and last season with had only 25 wins and 62 points all season. Also with the addition of Ryan Smyth even with mystery around leaving LA he is the leadership that the Oilers have needed since their rebuild began and he also has 10 points (5G 5A) and then there is the goaltending of NIKOLAI KHABIBULIN who has been the best he has been in along time with a 5 and 0 and 2 OTL record with a 1.12 GAA and .960 save% with a shutout while DEVAN DUBNYK has played 4 games and is 2 and 2 with a 1.98 GAA and a .938 save% which is good.

What should the Flames do with Jarome Iginla

Jarome Iginia is a mystery to me and probably a lot of Flames fans as he has started horrible again and has 4 points in 10 games and if the Flames could get the remainder of his 7 million dollar a season over the next two seasons because he is holding back the team and is double the rest of the forwards. Jay Bouwmeester is the highest paid defenceman at 6.7 Million dollars and is a (-) 1 and has 3 points while Miikka Kiprusoff has a 2.50 GAA and a .913 save% and the team is third oldest team in the NHL with just over 29 years of age. Alex Tanguay is the most lively player on the team as he has 9 points in 10 games and the next closest is Olli Jokinen with 7 points in the same 10 games so if they get something for the future it would be the best for the Flames as they need to get younger as soon as possible.

Roberto Luongo or Cory Schneider should lead the Canucks into the future

Luongo has had another tough beginning to the season as he is 4 and 3 and 1 OTL in his 8 games with a 3.20 GAA and very weak .883 save% and he is likely to get better as the season continues and will put the Canucks close or ontop of the Western conference at the end of the regular season. While Cory Schneider is less experienced and is 2 and 2 in his 4 games with a 1.97 GAA and .927 save% and it would be interesting to see if he could handle the work load and play like at least half the games and then he has not been in pressure cooker of the playoffs except one start against the Blackhawks while Luongo has exercised his demons against the Blackhawks and hopful the experience in the finals will help him in the next playoffs.

So one I do not know if they could get rid of Luongo's contract and I do not know if trading Luongo for Vinny Lecavalier because Vinny has really been a subpar player since his 2004 season where he collect his huge paycheck and get his paws on Lord Stanley and I do not know what the risk of having Cory as the number 1 would be.

Lets see whats going to happen

Tom Mehegan

Lindsey Lohan is a great example what non-existent family can do to someone in the spotlight

So Lindsey Lohan is heading back to jail for 30 days as she admitted that she violated for probation as she has been missing court ordered therapy sessions and also being kicked out of Downtown Women's Center. ALL of Lindsay's community service must now be served at the L.A. County Morgue and if it is not then she will have a warrant out for her and 270 days of jail more but for right now she needs to serve 30 days in jail and she has to serve 20% of the sentence so she will be in jail for 6 days. The most interesting thing is that she is out for a week before having to serve the jail sentence and during this week she will be doing her playboy photo shoot which is likely the biggest payday that the 25-year-old Lohan has had in a very very long time and might not be seeing this kind of money for quite a while.

It was not always this way for Lohan who used to have a promising movie career which started in 1998 when she starred in the remake of the Parent trap and she was got good reviews like "the soul of this film as much as Hayley Mills was of the original" along with " she is more adept than her predecessor at creating two distinct personalities " and the movie grossed 92 million dollars. Then after a few quiet years where she made small Disney movies like Life-Size (2000) and Get a Clue (2002) before getting into her biggest period of her career of 2003-04 when she did Freaky Friday which is her top grossing movie by bring in 160 million dollars and got a very good review by Roger Ebert who said of Lohan "has that Jodie Foster sort of seriousness and intent focus beneath her teenage persona." Then followed that up with Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen which grossed 29 million dollars and got a good review from Brandon Gray of Box Office Mojo who said "well above expectations as it was strictly for young girls" and then came her high point in Mean Girls that grossed 126 million dollars and Brandon Gray said of her "cementing her status as the new teen movie queen," and Steve Rhodes wrote "Lohan dazzles us once more. The smartly written script is a perfect match for her intelligent brand of comedy." She also received breakout star at the 2004 teen choice awards and Best female performance at the 2005 awards.

Then her parents got divorced in 2005 and made it official in 2007 and Lindsey career went south as she was partying very hard and working to hard as she was known to show up late to the filming of her next movie Herbie: Fully Loaded in 2004 she was hospitalized because of a kidney infection brought on by stress in her personal life and of recording her first album while the film was in production. The movie grossed big bucks with 144 million dollars but she did not get good pub she taken off the promotional tour and taken out of the movie poster but of her undisney like behavior and she was on again, off again Wilmer Valderrama that did not help things while her parents were more interested in their new found fame than looking after their daughter who was starting to become a mess. Then came just my luck that paid her big bucks in 7 million but did not bring in big bucks only 5.7 million opening week and brought her a golden Raspberry award nomination for worst actress and then came the limited release of A Prairie Home Companion and then a part in superstar movie in Bobby where she redeemed herself with a scene opposite Sharron Stone that she received favorable comments. Then in 2006 she had to go to Alcoholics Anonymous and even though she had had asthma she was a smoker and during I Know Who Killed Me she had to have an appendix surgery and then had to head to Wonderland Center rehabilitation facility and started withdrawing or fired from movies like A Woman of No Importance and The Edge of Love. Then just before the shooting of Poor Things she was arrested for DUI and usable amount cocaine in the car and she was sent back to rehab and after getting out of rehab she given a SCRAM bracelet to monitor her sobriety and then came another DUI.

Then everybody basically over the last three years and still the parents are nowhere to be seen except dad been reporting beating up his new girlfriend and mom had her E! which was a complete disaster and she partied hard with her girlfriend Samantha Ronson on and off.

So this whole ladies future went down the tubes because she had nobody to point her in the right direction or honestly look out for her best interest and it shows how a good family like the one Fred Savage had where he was a child star and then went to university and had a backup plan if working in front of a camera fell through and learned how to direct and had directed family shows and Daddy Day Camp in 2007.

So I hope Lindsey can find someone or something to help her turn her life around before it is too late

Tom Mehegan

Leafs and Senators are doing better than expected, the Jets are still on their honeymoon, and the Canadiens are trying to get off the titanic

IT'S PLAYOFFS OR BUST FOR WILSON AND BURKE IN TORONTO

Right now the Leafs are playing very good especially @ the ACC with a record of 5-0-1 and are 7-3-1-15 and Phil Kessel has been on FIRE with 10 goals and 8 assists in 18 points in the Leafs first 11 games. When Kessel cools down the Leafs will need the line of Grabovski-MacArthur-Kulemin who have started slow but will need to pick it up soon and Dion Phaneuf is putting up his best numbers early in seasons with 11 points and Joffrey Lupul is a pleasant surprised as Kessel's sidekick and already 11 points on the season. Ron Wilson contract extension with the Leaf lies in James Ramier's hands and until his neck stinger he was 4-0-1 in his 6 starts and had a 2.58 GAA and .912 save percentage and lets hope it is not a concussion and then there is Tim Connolly who is like a box of chocolate U never now what your going to get.

THE SENATORS AFTER A CLOSED DOOR MEETING THE SENATORS HAVE FIGURED OUT HOW TO PLAYED 60 MINUTES INSTEAD OF THE LAST 20 MINUTES

The Senators early on in the season got blown out completely in the first two periods and then in the third turned it on and fall short in the end but have won their last 6 games and have outscored their opponents 23-15 and has helped 7-5-0-14 in their first 12 games. Jason Spezza in this 6 game win streak has 4G-6A-10P and 15 points in the first 12 games while Milan Michalek has had 8 goals and 5 assists for 13 points and Erik Karlsson has 12 assists and 13 points to help the Senators have a well rounded team including a bounce back performance of Sergei Gonchar who has already got 9 points already this season after only having 27 points all of last season. Craig Anderson in his last 5 games is 5 and 0 with just over 2.50 GAA with a .910 save percentage.

THE JETS ARE STILL IN THE HONEYMOON FAZE

The Jets have been having problems with their defense and given up untimely goals in the early part of the season and they have won a game 9 - 8 against the Philadelphia Flyers and are 2-2 @ home and 2-4-1 on the road for a a record of 4-6-1 in their first 11 games back in the NHL. Kyle Wellwood is surprisingly leading the team with 5 goals when his career high is 18 when he was with the Canucks while Nik Antropov is leading the team in assists with 7 and points with 10 which one of his better starts of the season and Alexander Burmistrov has 9 points in his first 11 games of his sophomore season after having 20 points in 74 games as a rookie last season. The Scary thing is that Evander Kane has 4 goals and 2 assists in 10 games and the Jets need a lot more from him and Dustin Byfuglien has a goal and 3 assists in 11 games and since beginning late season on fire he has been a real non-factor when he is supposed to be the go to guy. Ondrej Pavelec has started 9 of the Jets 11 games and has a 3.63 GAA and a very weak .885 save percentage and he will need to make more changing saves to help the Jets battle harder and get more wins.

THE CANADIENS ARE SIMPLY ON THE TITANIC BUT THE WATER HAS BECOME CALMER

The Canadiens started the season 1-5-2 and the Montreal media and fans were looking for blood but thing have calmed down after reeling off three straight victories but the fact still remains that Andrei Markov is still not suited up for the team yet and he very much missed. Then there are Scott Gomez who has 1 point in 6 games and is one of the highest paid players in the NHL this season with a 7.3 million dollar salary for rhw next three seasons and then there is the Canadiens prized free agent pickup Erik Cole who has 4 points in 11 games and is making 4.5 Million dollars for the next four seasons. Also out of their top 5 highest paid forwards only Tomas Plekanec with 9 points in 11 games is even close to a point a game pace and their two highest paid defenceman who are Markov and Jaroslav Spacek have played 6 games and have got 2 points and a plus 2 so it looks like the Canadiens do not get very much bang for their buck. The Canadiens backbone is their starting goalie Carey Price who has a 2.59 GAA and .900 save percentage and has started 10 of the 11 Canadiens games so far and will be responsible for taken the Canadiens to the playoffs again but that looks to be a big task right now. The positives for the Canadiens are Max Pacioretty who has 9 points in 11 games and really was not noticed until he hit by Chara last season and is on his best pace in points as he had 24 in 37 games last season and then there is Josh Gorges who is the third highest paid defenceman at 2.5 million dollars and has 6 assists and is a positive 6 in the plus/minus which is the best of the Canadiens so far this season.

Lots of hockey still to be played

Tom Mehegan