Saturday, July 17th, 2010...2:05 pm
Mostly Magic
GRID IRON…there is simply no question that a team will eventually pick up Terrell Owens. Injuries will begin rocking teams as the preseason unfolds and some team, hopefully not one I cheer for, will step into the breech and pluck out the malcontent…
ICE…when the dust settles, the Philadelphia Flyer acquisition of Nikolai Zherdev for 2 million a year could be the signing of the summer. Zherdev seems humbled and shaken after a year in the KHL and returns to the NHL with a new attitude. Will it last? At that price Zherdev, who could easily morph into a point a game player, is worth the risk…
…Ilya Kovalchuk’s refusal to sign with Atlanta clearly means he will have to settle for a deal that will net him about three million a year less than the Thrashers were willing to ante up. Would you want a sulky Kovalchuk on your team? Could questions about his mental approach be the real reason the Los Angeles Kings are waffling while standing at the altar? I’d let Ilya wander away if I were the Kings; I saw everything I needed while watching him sink the 2010 New Jersey Devil playoff hopes…
PUG LIFE…the on-again, off-again Floyd Mayweather - Manny Pacquiao fight is…off-again. Bob Arum will apparently move forward with plans to match the Pac Man with either Antonio Margarito or Miguel Cotto on Nov 13th…
PONIES…the local version of Affirmed - Alydar continues this afternoon in the Bold Venture Stakes as veteran champ Fatal Bullet again tackles the blisteringly fast upstart Hollywood Hit. Bullet, second in the 2008 Breeders Cup Sprint, was humiliated by the Hit when they slugged it out in the Vigil May 9th. In the interim Bullet was dismal attempting the two turn Eclipse while Hit has been ripping up the track in the AM, recently recording a 58 flat five furlong breeze. Sorry Fatal Bullet fans, this is not the time for the popular gelding to exact his revenge; he’s going to be walloped again…
…Hollywood Hit is being pointed towards this years Breeders Cup Sprint, a race he may have contested if he hadn’t failed a drug test in 2009. The gelding’s trainer, Terry Jordan, wins at about a 30% clip and received a 30 day suspension after his fleet gelding flunked the test. Jordan likely learned his lesson, telling the DRF he takes the horse off acepromazine, the drug in question, five days before a race to allow it to clear from his system. Jordan learned the correct lesson from his suspension, right?…
…I’m intrigued by second time starter Mostly Magic in the eighth. The Danny Vella charge adds Lasix and changes surfaces after an even beginning. He should improve significantly and is a play if you can get the generous 10-1 quoted in the morning line…
RANDOM…the only reasonable seats for last nights Manchester United - Celtic friendly at the Skydome were priced in the 170 dollar range. I’ll be fucked if I pay that much to watch laundry; Man U’s biggest stars were not in Toronto, instead recuperating from their World Cup campaigns…
…the big losers of the NBA off-season? The Sporting News points to Minnesota, New jersey and, of course, Toronto…
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