tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

Tuesday’s Thoughts

While wondering who was the genius at CBS Sports who thought it was a good idea to have Ndamukong Suh on the NFL Today, here is what's on my mind this morning:

* The Maple Leafs begin a critical four game stretch at home tonight against the surging Ottawa Senators. The Leafs find themselves this morning in ninth place, one point behind both the Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Senators are in fifth place, seven points ahead of the Leafs but the Leafs do have three games in hand on their provincial rivals. Tonight marks the return of James Reimer in goal for the Leafs. This is a tremendous opportunity for Reimer to re-establish himself as the team's number one goalie.

* The Leafs will also have Tyler Bozak and Jake Gardiner back in the lineup. Bozak will center Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul and it is hoped that he will be able to get the high scoring pair back on track. I was happy to see that Gardiner is back in the lineup. Coach Ron Wilson has acknowledged that they need Gardiner's speed and ability to move the puck out of their own end to get their speed game going offensively. Gardiner will also be a much needed boost to a power play that stumbled over the weekend and hopefully will put an end to Tim Connolly or Clarke MacArthur being on the point with Dion Phaneuf.

* Bucky Gleason had a nice article Sunday about Brian Burke's rebuilding of the Maple Leafs. I have believed from the beginning that Burke was the right man for the job. He had received plenty of criticism from the Toronto media when he traded for Phil Kessel. But Burke had a plan and is not afraid of acknowledging a mistake (Beauchemin, Versteeg & Lebda and turned them into Gardiner, Lupul, Franson, Lombardi & a first round pick). I fully expect that Burkie will be making another move well before the February 27th deadline.

* Speaking of moves, the New York Yankees certainly had a busy Friday the 13th with the acquistion of Micahel Pineda and the signing of Hiroki Kuroda. Now there is plenty of discussion about who will be the DH. A point to consider is that ARod is probably going to DH at least 2 games a week depending upon his wonky hip and knee. The Yanks will also try to give Derek Jeter an occasional day as the DH. While it has been reported that the Yankees have contacted Hidecki Matsui and Johnny Damon, they could very well alternate Eduardo Nunez, Jeter and AROD between DH, third base and shortstop. Remember it was Nunez, not Jesus Montero, who Brian Cashman refused to part with in 2010 in order to get Cliff Lee from Seattle. The Yankees want to get Nunez more at bats and this would seem to be a way to do it.

* This year's Super Bowl has the makings for some interesting story lines regardless of which two teams get in. If San Francisco gets in and faces Baltimore, you will have the Harbaugh brothers coaching against each other in the Big Game. If San Francisco meets New England, you will have the Niners tough defense going up against the Patriots high-powered offense. If New York gets in, you will have a rematch of two recent Super Bowls: the Giants loss at the hands of the Ravens or the Giants upset win against the then undefeated Patriots. It's the first time since that Giant-Patriot Super Bowl that I'm actually going to look forward to the Big Game.

* I watched the last quarter of the Knicks-Magic game yesterday and it was a terrible performance by the Knicks down the stretch. Carmelo Anthony had a chance to draw the Knicks close and fired up an air ball. Can't see how New York can be considered a legitimate contender for the NBA title.

* Since the boring BCS Championship Game, there has been plenty of talk about the need for a playoff system. Apparently, the NCAA high muckity-mucks and the major conference presidents are going to be discussing the possibilities. The TV ratings indicate that this was the lowest rated BCS Game in history and this year's Orange Bowl was the lowest rated one in history. The sporting public has had it with this charade known as the BCS. If there was a semi-final featuring LSU vs Stanford and Alabama vs Oklahoma State, the ratings would have been through the roof. This can be done using the existing bowls. Let's see what happens but I'm not going to hold my breath.

* Kudos to Jerry Sullivan on his column yesterday taking the Sabres to task and specifically team owner Terry Pegula. Pegula's claim that injuries are the problem for the team's recent troubles contributes to the lack of accountability. Sullivan hit the nail on the head that the core of this team is under performing and that Darcy Reiger and Lindy Ruff are unable to turn things around.

* Interesting how WGR550's Jeremy White is raising the white flag on the 2011-12 season. He just tweeted that enough about this season and all moves should be made for next year. Really??? Last week, I got into with White on twitter after Paul "Gasbag" Hamilton tweeted that the Sabres could acquire Getzlaf and that he could be in the lineup for last Tuesday's game vs Toronto. The funny thing was that when I went out to get my Buffalo News, there was an article where Pegula said there was not going to be any major shake-up and that injuries were the problem. When I pointed out that Pegula said that there would be no trades, White went at me saying not to twist things. I went back at him reminding him that Hamilton said that a Getzlaf deal was imminent and that he could be in the lineup vs the Leafs. White is a joke. He is such a homer it's not even funny anymore.

* Once again yesterday morning, Sullivan had White all in a tizzy to the point where you could hear White whining to Howard Simon.

* I wonder if Ryan Miller wishes he was left behind in Detroit.

* Finally, can someone please check to see if Jeremy White is on the Pegula payroll???