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

Tuesday’s Thoughts

While wondering when Donald Trump became a political godfather that every Republican candidate for President needs to have an audience with him, here's what is on my mind this morning:

* The Leafs lost a tough one last night to the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 at the Wells Fargo Center in the City of Brotherly Love. Jonas Gustavsson had a strong game in goal for the Leafs easing the worries of Leaf Nation after his shaky relief appearance on Saturday night. The Flyer line of Jaromir Jagr-Claude Giroux-Scott Hartnell accounted for all of the Flyer goals as Hartnell had 2 and Jagr scored 2 on 3 breakaways against Gustavsson. Phil Kessel continued his hot start with his ninth goal giving the Leafs an early 1-0 lead. David Steckel scored with about 8 minutes left in the third period to close the margin to 3-2. Unfortunately, the Leafs were pressing for the tying goal and John-Michael Liles got caught in his own zone which led to Jagr's third breakaway and second goal that put the game away.

* The Leafs close out their road trip against the New York Rangers on Thursday night and it is being reported that James Reimer should be back along with Tyler Bozak and the long-awaited debut of Tim Connolly. What is amazing is how Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul have been able to perform quite well while having a different centers. I hope that Connolly will be able to kick-start the Leaf power play which has been less than adequate.

* While in Cleveland on Saturday night was at a sports bar called The Winking Lizard in downtown Cleveland to watch the Maple Leafs-Canadiens game. What was amazing was the number of Leafs fan in the bar. When Mikhail Grabovski scored the game winning goal in overtime, the place erupted with the chant of "Go Leafs Go". It was funny looking at the faces of the other bar patrons who were there watching college football or the World Series. Leaf Nation is everywhere and it was in full force in downtown Cleveland on Saturday. By the way, if you are in Cleveland and you want to watch a game go to the Winking Lizard. Good food, drink specials and plenty of TVs.

* John Kruk is the biggest blowhard on ESPN. The former Phillie first baseman tries to be outlandish making strong comments and being real authoritative. Sunday morning Kruk boldly stated that Albert Pujols' 5 for 6 three home run night was the greatest feat in World Series history. It surpassed Babe Ruth's two-3 home run games and Reggie Jackson's 3 home run night in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series. Kruk is way off base here . While I can't speak to Ruth's games, Jackson's 3 home runs were in the World Series clinching game. Jackson had 5 RBI's and the Yankees won the game 8-4. Reggie's home runs were the margin of victory. Pujols' home runs were not and it was in Game 3 in a World Series that finds his Cardinals one game from the brink of elimination. Once again Kruk has shot his mouth off. His anti-Yankee bias is disgusting.

* This NFL season has been a roller coaster ride as each week's designated super team stumbles. Last night on ESPN Sportscenter, Mike Greenberg anointed the Baltimore Ravens as the team to beat in the AFC. Lo and behold, on their way to the Super Bowl the Ravens were defeated by the Jacksonville Jaguars 12-7. You can say whatever you want but Joe Flacco does not inspire me as a franchise quarterback. He's a good quarterback but I don't believe he is a Super Bowl winning quarterback.

* The Mike Francesa-Darrell Revis flap has been really entertaining to follow. It appears that Mike has backed off a little by saying that there are others who believe that there was no pass interference on the play that involved Revis and Brandon Marshall last Monday night. One of those who thought it was a clean play was Phil Simms. It will be interesting to see if anything is brought up when Simms appears on Mike's NFL Now show on Sunday.

* Notre Dame's disappointing performance against USC Saturday night at South Bend makes it hard to consider the Irish back as a top football program. It is amazing that Notre Dame has killed itself throughout the season with self-inflicted wounds by committing turnovers in the red zone. If they were able to hang onto the ball, they could really only have one loss this year.

* And finally, this weekend the Buffalo Bills will be playing the Washington Redskins in Toronto and I'm sure we will here the yearly whining about having a game at Rogers Center. What people in WNY don't realize if it wasn't for this arrangement, Ralph Wilson would have been attempting to move the team years ago. With the Bills doing much better this year, I wonder how many Louie Lackawannas will make the trip up the QEW.