The Fifth Liners

We're one game into week four of the NFL and so far only three teams have maintained perfect records. The Cincinnati Bengals are the only team from the AFC to have no losses to their name.  The Baltimore Ravens were the first to fall, followed by the Atlanta Falcons and most recently the Tennessee Titans . Andy Dalton is the only Quarterback in the league to have not been sacked this season, testament to the strength of the pocket. The defense is also playing its part. The Bengals have only allowed an average of 11 points per game. The best in the NFL.  So why should the Bengals deserve your support? The world loves an underdog. Cincinnati may be top the AFC now but they've never lifted won a Super Bowl, they've only made it to the final twice and there's still 13 games left to play.  Off the field the Bengals have also made the headlines for right reasons. Defensive tackle Devon Still was dropped from the squad at the start of the season, but the Bengals

Last night, one of the modern greats of the game of Baseball, Derek Jeter retired in style as the New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 6-5 at Yankee Stadium. Fitting it was the Captain himself who delivered the game winning hit in front of a sea of emotional fans! As final games go, Jeter couldn't have asked for a better end to a stunning career. Winner of 5 World Series titles, including the MVP award in 2000, the renowned Shortstop has made no less than 14 All Star appearances, won 5 Golden Glove awards, 5 Silver Sluggers, 2 Hank Aaron Awards along with a career batting average of .309. One of the deadly men on planet earth with a bat, Jeter has notched up an incredible 3,461 hits which includes 260 home runs and 1,307 runs batted in! Globally this man is unmistakable and has succeeded in bring the Yankee franchise to a global audience. This has been one career has been anything but ordinary, baseball will miss you DJ! Thank you for the memories.

Remember last season when Nazem Kadri tried to wrangle a monster contract out of the Leafs and ended up with a two year bridging contract? Yeah? Well replace Kadri with Ryan Johansen and the Leafs with the Columbus Blue Jackets and it's the same story again. The BC native and the Blue Jackets aren't seeing eye to eye when it comes to contract negotiations. Now that training camp has started, there's even more pressure on the various parties to reach a deal. Johansen's agent, Kurt Overhardt has now reduced his price, down to $4.7 million per season from $6.8 million. So that's something but it's still miles away from the Blue Jackets' offer of $3 million per season. FYI $3 is David Legwand money. The 6'4" center notched 33 goals last regular season. This put him top the table in Columbus, and 12th overall in the NHL. That said, his great season follows two mediocre seasons at the Jackets. NHL teams crave consistency and one swallow doesn'

Casey Janssen may have been one of the more effective closing pitchers in baseball since 2012, but according to Sports Net it appears his time for the Toronto Blue Jays may be winding down. Although this would leave the Jays with a notable hole in the bullpen, you have to feel this decision has been coming. Making his debut in 2006, Janssen  currently holds a win/loss record of 29-34 with an ERA of 3.54 and has recorded 89 saves. But this season the man has looked a shadow of his former self and because of this loss of form, he has started to make fans nervous! On August 8 he notably gave up back to back home runs in the 9th inning a 5-4 loss to Detroit (to which I had the misfortune to witness), there has also been other poor recent performances in our recent series loss to the New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles. Although he is not entirely responsible for the Blues fall from first place in the AL East Division, his errors made have certainly made this ride less comfor

In the Czech League, former NHL bruiser Ryan Hollweg has made headlines again but this time not for any kind of bad play. Currently playing for HC Plzen , he become involved in an altercation with Slavia Praha player Tomas Vlasak, previously Hollweg served a 10 game ban for kneeing the same guy! The hilarious moment here is the reaction of Vlasak's team mate, Michal Poletin who at first acts tough- but upon Hollweg taking a swing he takes a flop worthy of Rivaldo! Click here to see just how cringing this moment is! Hockey humour always comes when you least expect it! How silly do you feel now Poletin?

Yesterday, it has emerged that the once strong image of the Toronto Maple Leafs has officially hit a new low as ESPN has ranked them as the least popular franchise in North American Sport. Money wise, this team can do no wrong since the Air Canada Centre is routinely packed out week to week with loyal fans. Problem is despite their bank balances singing loudly, there is an air apathy about this team and the fact that they haven't taken home a Stanley Cup since 1967 nor come close to challenging since doesn't justify value for money. Problem seems to be that the franchise doesn't appear to feel the need to challenge for glory, when they are in a stable financial position. Also the long suffering fans seem happy to pay what ever high prices the ACC deems fit to put in front of them. Despite the distinction of being one of the 'Original Six' of the NHL, the Maple Leafs name isn't considered among the league or sports elite any more (they placed lower than the Mi

The 'Spin-O-Rama' move, as described in Section 24.2 of the 2013-14 NHL Rule Book, will no longer be permitted either in Penalty Shot situations or in the Shootout. Noooo! Damn you NHL suits! While I accept that a lot of the rule changes introduced a week ago are good, especially the diving and overtime changes, banning the Spin-O-Rama is just not cool. The Spin-O-Rama is fun, it's a perfect example of skaters showing off, and why shouldn't they? The NHL is the best hockey league in the world. It's skaters have the best skills in the world. The issue with the Spin-O-Rama is that when taking a penalty shot, they puck isn't allowed to stop moving. With the 360 movement of the spin, the puck definitely looks like it stops. Whether it does or not has been debated in sports bars all over the world. Why not remove the constant movement rule? Instead of restricting the movements the attacking skater can make, let them do what they want, as long as it doesn'

There will be no player wearing the 'C' emblem next year at the Bell Centre as today it was announced that for the first time since 2009-10, the Montreal Canadiens will opt to have no official Captain on the ice and will instead go with four alternate captains instead. Andrei Markov , Max Pacioretty , Tomas Plekanec and P.K Subban have been chosen to fill the various leadership roles next season. Ever since former captain Brian Gionta opted to join the Buffalo Sabres as a free agent, the Habs franchise has been slow to appoint a successor, Subban appeared to be the main candidate, but it appears that he will not be the ruler on ice just yet. But what is the effect of selecting four different leaders? Well it does means that the Habs have a new flux of leadership on ice which could create better harmony on ice which will be needed after the problems that Subban's contract negotiation caused. However, with no out and out figure to guide them, it could cause issues wit

Normally I wouldn't blog about the NFL or go within a mile of its stats or play, but it seems this week I shall be breaking an age old tradition! It's football time again, and as another season starts without Tim Tebow , is there a place in the NFL for the former Heisman trophy winner? Ah yes, that man! Tim Tebow has gained many column inches for his beliefs and actions rather than his play on the field. The former quarterback for the Denver Broncos , New York Jets and more recently the New England Patriots was once the poster boy for college football and many expected him to raise his game early. But less than four years in, his pro career has basically washed out and he now turns to TV punditry to keep him in the public eye! So does he deserve a place among the NFL elite?  Well it has been noted that the QB class for 2014 is worryingly thin on the ground and many teams could well look towards a guy with over 2,422 passing yards, 17 touchdowns and 989 rushing yards. But

Today it was announced that one of the bravest and more inspiring figures of the NHL has called it a day. Finnish player, Saku Koivu has retired after 18 seasons at the highest level which included stints with the Montreal Canadiens (where he served as the first European captain) and more recently with the Anaheim Ducks . Selected 21st overall at the 1993 Entry Draft, Koivu has amassed a record of 1,124 regular-season games and appeared in over 80 Stanley Cup Playoff games. He has clocked up over 255 goals and had 832 points in the regular season alone, and has a playoff record of 18 goals and 59 points. Also he is a four time Winter Olympic Medalist with Finland, racking up three bronze medals at Lillehammer in 1994, Nagano in 1998  and Vancouver 2010 along with a silver medal in Turin 2006! But it was his courageous fight against Burkitt's Lymphoma back in 2002 that made him such an admired figure because only four months after being diagnosed, Koivu was back on the ice fo

Kellen Moore's regular season statistics make short reading. He doesn't have any. Moore dominated in college, attending Boise State and narrowly missing out on the Heisman Trophy in 2010, but when it came to the 2012 NFL Draft, he wasn't selected. Moore's comparatively short stature and perceived lack of athleticism led to him being snubbed in the draft, however the Detroit Lions spotted potential and he was snapped up as a free agent shortly after. Moore was never going to take Matthew Stafford's spot as starting quarterback, but the team allowed him to to compete against Shaun Hill for the position of back-up. The 2012 preseason wasn't Moore's strongest, his weak completion rate, intercepted throws and sacks left him with a QB rating of just 62.7 compared to Hill's 87.1 and Stafford's 116.9. It was no surprise that he didn't take a single snap the 2012 regular season. The following season saw a much better preseason performance from Moo