Joba (no...not those balls that asian's put in tea) Chamberlain struggles in first start

All this non-sense pitch count crap, put way too much pressure on Joba in his first major league start. Going into the game, he knew he was only allowed 70 pitches so he was aiming too much, and got wild and walked 4 in his 2 1/3 innings of work. I know the Yankees don’t want him to go the way of Mark Prior, but cmon. 70 pitches? Have you seen Chamberlain’s build. I think he can take it. At least better than he took those flies last September.

That being said Joba should have looked across the field at his opposing pitcher Roy Halladay to see how the pros do it. Halladay is a former cy young winner and perennially one of the best pitches in the game, but he gets no love cause he plays in Canada. I think the Yankees should worry more about Joba’s twinkie intake then his pitch count. Let the guy let it rip. Seattle last year let Felix Hernandez just pitch and the Angels just put Jared Weaver out there. And they both had outstanding years, and are off to good starts again. 260 pound kids no matter what age don’t need kid gloves. Just for some perspective, Joba is 2 months younger than the NBA’s Chris Paul. I think he is ready to play.

Au Revoir Montreal

This past weekend Shay Shay took in the lovely city of Montreal, Canada where hockey is the sport year-round and the French influence is always growing. Here is a random fact for you SportsToilet fans; There is a separate division of the Montreal Police department that enforces the signs in Montreal. Every sign must be in French or you will be reported and fined and after that you must fix the sign. Talk about hate of the English language. Anyways back to the home of the Montreal Canadians. If you thought hockey season was over for the Canadian fans you thought wrong. I happened to walk into a conversation by a fellow Canadian about off season plans for their beloved team. He was telling me that they should get rid of this guy and definitely sign a power player. He then asked me if he should change the location of his season tickets in order to make sure his 5 year old can go to every game. Their season just ended 3 weeks ago! The puck never stops in this city.

If you find yourself wanting to to visit Montreal anytime soon I would book a ticket for this weekend. Sorry for the late notice but this week the Grand Prix of Canada in association with F1 Motorsports will take place. As I was watching the city transform into a party town, I began to regret that I could not stay and party with fellow FI superstar Lewis Hamilton. This 23 year old phenom is a true shining star at such a bright young age. The city closes down the busiest streets in Montreal for the weekend and parties will continue at their clubs all night. Two picks for my fans. First Club Opera to party(just do it). Second, take Lewis Hamilton to win the race.

Last but not least I must touch on those Montreal Expos we use to know. The days of Delino Deshields, Pedro Martinez and Larry Walker . The times where the stadium was so empty the yellow chairs stood out more than the players. And who is ever going to forget Henry Rodriguez and the Oh Henry! bar explosion. One thing that is not missed in Montreal is the Expos. You will see a few Expo shirts lost in the thousands of Montreal Canadian jerseys. My reason for the failure in Expos baseball was the fact that Olympic stadium was so far from the heart of the city. The fact that they won 20 games a season didn't help either. Montreal is truly a beautiful city with so much class and ass and I encourage you to take time out and visit a true Canadian masterpiece.

Kimbo Slice, Eilte XC hits network TV

Last night's Elite XC card on CBS had its ups and downs. There were a few exciting fights including Robbie Lawler (15-4, 1 NC) and Scott Smith (15-4, 1 NC), and in a women’s bout Gina Carano (6-0) and Kaitlin Young (4-2). Carano is tough and for lack of a better word, she looked really really hot, in her victory. However, the whole event just seemed like amateur hour. To give you some perspective, Kimbo Slice’s headlining the first MMA card on national TV, would be like Skip to my Lou’s first NBADL game most people’s first introduction to pro basketball. I know, CBS wanted to jump on the MMA bandwagon, but I am afraid doing so is giving people an extremely watered down version of the sport.

I am not saying Slice doesn’t have potential, but he has no idea what he is doing in there. At one point, he had Jason Thompson hurt, and he attempted to apply a guillotine choke. He got his arm around Thompson’s neck, but instead of falling down and pulling guard, (putting his legs around Thompson’s body to prevent an escape), he merely laid down and tried to use his brute strength. While this would work in the backyard against most opponents, Thompson who has some jiu jitsu ability rolled forward and out of the hold. Slice did eventually get the victory when Thompson’s cauliflower ear literally exploded, but I thought it was a bullshit stoppage. Thompson wanted to keep going. If it had been on pay per view, not national TV they would have kept it going. Instead they let Slice escape in a fight that would have been very very close on the judges cards. (In fact I thought that almost every fight was stopped to fast, with a fighter wobbling, but before the final blow.) I don’t think Elite XC has enough quality fighters or personalities to really thrive on national TV, unless UFC fighters start a mass exodus to try to get more exposure. One last thing I wanted to mention. There is a WEC lightweight championship match on Versus Network tonight featuring Urijah Faber vs. Jens “lil evil” Pulver. Faber looks a little like Jeff Spicoli from “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” but he is explosive, exciting and quite possibly a top 5 or 10 pound for pound fighter in the world. I actually think he would give BJ Penn a better challenge for his own lightweight title than anyone in the UFC.

A Look Back

Talk about going your seperate ways
Visors really need to make a come back, those things were so fresh, earrings too and pretty much the 90's in general.

New Tyson Documentary

Director, James Toback, fresh off his film's introduction to Cannes, speaks about his chronicles of Mike Tyson. Plenty of footage from Mike's prime and what has happened to Iron Mike since his title reigns. It seems pretty interesting. Anytime you get to see Tyson kicking the shit out of people in the later 80's is just a phenomenal sight. Before he was a canibal and a C list celebrity rapist, this guys fucked up everyone! "Tyson," which is due to be released later this year will surely be a success and hopefully will get Mike on his feet again. Hopefully he doesn't blow all the cash getting the other side of his face tattooed.
Hopefully this revival for Mike will inspire Nintendo Wii to release the third enstallment of the Mike Tyson's Punch Out series. Those games are good, really good.
Check out the video

In other boxing news...
Hasim Rachman has agreed to fight James Toney in July, according to Top Rank.

First Aston Martins, Now Snakes?

Yes, Kobe is at it again. After jumping over an Aston Martin racing towards him on top of a Los Angeles rooftop, he will now take on joins the Jackass guys for some stunts with snakes.
Take a look...

They call me the Turiaf

Heart, Passion, Soul, Fire are some things will never burn out in Mr. Turiaf. That is simply the mantra of one of the SportsToilet's favorite athletes, Ronny Turiaf. We like to call him Turier (Too ree yay) at loud volumes as he dances his way to the Western Conference Championship. The story of this young man from Martinique, is one of perseverance and the will to never to fail. Just 4 weeks after the LA Lakers drafted him from Gonzaga, at pick 37, he was found to have an enlarge heart. I personally remember watching the draft as well as the interview where he broke down and cried in front of the media, i knew right then in their that his heart was what makes him special. I remember Ronny saying the medical breakdown was just another obstacle he would overcome and he did just that, overcome. Now, Ronny Turiaf is in a contract year and playing the best basketball of his life. If only Shay-Shay had a dollar for everytime a player had a breakout season in his contract year. Anyways, this kid is worth the money. He plays with so much passion and love for the game. He single-handedly sparked the Lakers comeback in Game 1 of this year's series against the Spurs. It doesn't show up in the boxscore but the true fans know his value. Most importantly his sideline antics and personality are second to none. Check out the video below to see what I'm talking about. Ronny and his wild dancing and lingo are second to none. So when the summer comes around I look for Ronny to take less and stay in LA as a symbol of thanks for their support through his medical hardships. That's just Ronny being Ronny..

Welcome back Mr.Collins...

I was listening to Dan Patrick early this morning when the story broke that Doug Collins is coming back to coach the Chicago Bulls. Doug, i just want to say how happy I am that I and fellow SportsToilet fans don't have to hear your analysis on TNT anymore. If only we could get Jeff Van Gundy to make it to every game in the playoffs, this world could be a much better place.
Lets break down Doug's decision on why he decided to come back. First, that's just it, FIRST pick in the NBA Draft this summer. As soon as the Bulls stole the #1 pick from other NBA teams in need of the first pick like the Seatlle Supersonics or the Charlotte Bobcats. Doug's people put a call into Chi-town, knowing they needed a big name. Shit, I would put a call in to promote Shay-Shay to be the next coach. It's not like Doug is stepping into a franchise like the Clippers or the Bobcats. Chicago is a loaded team that has not learned how to play in the east. Once Doug and their #1 pick learn how to play semi-normally, they will be a top 3 team in the shitty eastern conference and Doug will ride out on top.

Mr.Collin's wants redemption very badly. After his firing in 1989, the Chicago Bulls started their run in becoming one of the most storied franchises of all time. Under the guidance of the brilliant Phil Jackson, the Bulls were the crowned ,"team of the 90's." Shay Shay wonders if during this time Doug Collin's sat at home and thought ",this should have been me." Now he is making one more run at coaching while Phil Jackson goes for another ring with the purple and gold. Doug Collins was the one who bred Jordan, drafted Pippen and did all the dirty work in his early days with the 80's Bulls. Mr. Collin's is out to prove just one more time why he loves his Chicago Bulls, and maybe why he should have never been fired in the first place. Think of his other option, coaching the Phoenix Suns, I think not.

Then and Now

With the Lakers on the verge of sending the Spurs back to San Antoino empty handed and the Celtics looking like the winners of the minor league championship(The East), it is only fitting to go back to the future. I'm setting the Delorean for 1985 in attempt to hype the probable championship of 2008. The dials are set, the flux capacitor is fluxing, the speed is 88, the jello is jigling, the butter is getting hard and away we go....

Can you S-P-E-L-L Excitement?

Yes, it's that time again folks, the annual Scripps Spelling Bee is just around the corner. The event that should really air on ESPN "The Ocho", will air the Semi-finals on ESPN and the finals will air on ABC! This is a serious fucking red carpet they are rolling out for these prepubescents, don't you think? I know it's better than most ABC reality programming but come on? I didn't know this many paederasts had TVs, aren't they locked up? If I wanted to see four 12 year olds struggling on a stage I'd go to a strip club in Bangkok, Thailand. I have to say, if you are a music head and love celebrities, this is one of the few events that you can catch Michael Jackson and Pee Wee Herman court side taking it in, in shades, like Jack Nicholson and Lou Adler at a Laker game. In all seriousness, I couldn't spell for shit when I was younger and still can't, if you read this site daily you would know this. The kids are under extreme pressure and really give it their all. I don't know how they do it, they have to know like 98% of the English language and they aren't even allowed to use the 7 dirty words that are banned from TV and radio. At least I have that on them. Check here for air times and enjoy the competition.
My pick is the 12-year-old sixth grader, So-Young Iris Chung, out of Peoria, Arizona. Chances are if shecan spell her name right she should be able to spell most of the oddballs they throw at her on Saturday.