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

Tuesday’s Thoughts

While wondering if Ron Paul has approached Tim Thomas to be his running mate, here is what's on my mind this morning:

* The Maple Leafs begin a critical back-to-back series with the Penguins in Pittsburgh. The Leafs need to split these two games and win on Saturday against provincial rival Ottawa in order to start the remaining 33 games on the right track. After sweeping the Islanders before the All-Star break, the Leafs need to keep the momentum going as they are in a 3-way tie for the 7th and 8th spot in the Eastern Conference.

* Trade rumors are swirling throughout the NHL and nowhere do they swirl more than in the centre of the hockey universe: Toronto. Former Leaf GM Bill Watters reported a rumor that had the Leafs and Blue Jackets involved which had Rick Nash & Kristian Huselius going to Toronto for Mikhail Grabovski, Nazem Kadri, Luke Schenn and Mike Kommisarek. Not sure the Leafs make out in this trade. I like Nash a lot but they lose a center and that is a position they need to strengthen unless they were prepared to bring up Joe Colborne. Another rumor had the Leafs trading Luke Schenn, Clarke MacArthur and the Leafs 2012 first round pick for Eric Staal. This deal would seem to make more sense for the Leafs. One thing is for sure: I believe Brian Burke will make a trade before the February 27th deadline.

* Plenty of controversy over Alex Ovechkin sitting out the NHL All-Star Game. Ovechkin said it wasn't right for him to play while he was on suspension. Maybe the real reason was that he was afraid that he would have been picked last in the All-Star Fantasy Draft.

* Last Tuesday New York Yankee catcher Jorge Posada announced his retirement. Posada was a part of a Yankee dynasty built around home-grown players such as Bernie Williams, Andy Petitte, Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. Posada is another in a line of great Yankee catchers. With his retirement, only Jeter and Rivera are left from the dynasty core. Sad.

* Prince Fielder's signing with the Detroit Tigers made it even more imperative that the Yankees beef up their pitching. To represent the American League in the World Series will not be an easy task. It should make for an exciting summer.

* Last week, former Cincinnati Bengal quarterback Greg Cook passed away at the age of 65. Some of you may not know anything about Cook. He was the fifth pick overall in the 1969 NFL Draft by Paul Brown nad his Bengals. Cook's rookie season started out with impressive wins against the Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs. Cook suffered an injury to his shoulder in his third game but continued to play the rest of the season. He was named AFL Rookie of the Year. The shoulder injury ended up being a torn rotator cuff which was misdiagnosed. After 3 surgeries, his career was over. I had the opportunity to see Cook play at the old War Memorial Stadium against the Buffalo Bills. Bill Walsh, legendary Hall of Fame Coach of the 49ers, was an assistant coach for the Bengals at the time and said that if Cook wasn't injured he might have been the greatest quarterback of all time.

* As I had on a post a few days ago, the Cleveland Plain Dealer removed long-time Browns beat reporter, Tony Grossi from this assignment. Apparently, the Browns were not happy with a tweet that Grossi sent out inadvertently. Check out the article from Pro Football Talk

http://bleacherreport.com/tb/bdFW7?utm_source=&utm_medium=newsletter

* The Yankees have some interest in Bill Hall. Hall as a platoon player is not a bad move. I don't understand though why they would sign Manny Delcarmen. Really???? There has to be someone better than that.

* And finally, what are the odds that Darcy Reiger and Lindy Ruff are with the Sabres at the beginning of next season??? Indications from Sabres President, Ted Black, would lead one to believe that the misery will continue for awhile down at the FN Center.