The Bengals brief flirtation with free agent Terrell Owens ended with the tiger stripes signing Antonio Bryant instead. There are still many months for TO to find a new gig, but you have to wonder, if the Bengals didn’t want him, will anyone?

TO, for the most part, was on his best behavior last year in Buffalo. However, his numbers dropped significantly, and for the first time since 1999, he recorded less than 1000 yards in a season in which he played at least 14 games.

Milton Bradley is nuts.  You know it, I know it.  This insanity is clearly a large contributing factor to the reason he has gone through eight different teams over his 11 seasons in the big leagues.  That, or he really likes to move around a lot.

When I saw his recent ESPN interview, I began to wonder when exactly it all went bad for him. This prompted me to assemble a timeline made up solely of the uncooperative, batsh*t crazy, flat-out stupid things the habitually-troubled outfielder has done.  Keep in mind, the guy has talent in there somewhere.  And aren’t we all a little crazy?  Anyway, I don’t have all day, so we’re only going back as far as 2003.

June 2003: When Bradley was a young Indians outfielder, he got super pumped one time after he hit a home run.  Opposing Dodgers catcher Paul Lo Duca was not impressed that he snapped the Velcro on his batting gloves after the bomb, and confronted him after the game.  His response, like some sort of threatening nursery rhyme, was Classic Milton Bradley before Classic Milton Bradley even existed:

The last we heard from Polish strongman turned MMA fighter Mariusz Pudzianowski we reported on his proposed US debut against former UFC champ Tim Sylvia.  That was until I entered my local newsstand to see him leering at me from the cover of a MMA magazine (see photo) calling out current UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar.  Clearly, Pudzianowski has every reason to want to break into the lucrative US marketplace though I’m not sure the fight sport equivilaent of jumping in front of a speeding semi on the freeway is the best way to go about it.

Whether or not the Sylvia fight comes to fruition, Pudzianowski already has a future opponent.  He’s signed to meet another Polish sports star, Robert Paczków, in Katowice, Poland on May 7th.  Paczków is definitely a good match in terms of experience–he’s 1-0 in his MMA career with a win over James McSweeney (who would later be a cast member on ‘The Ultimate Fighter).  Paczków will be an interesting test since he’s not only a big dude himself going 6′2″ 310 but has a background in Greco-Roman wrestling and sumo.

Seriously, didn’t I just go off about the dangers of maple bats like a week ago?  Yes, it was last Tuesday, in fact.  Did I also not go on and on about the thrills and perils?  You bet I did.

The shattering of a flimsy maple bat, with its wooden shards sailing through the ballpark like stakes in a Buffy episode, gives the game an element of excitement that the casual fan craves. You know those folks who can’t understand how anyone could endure watching an entire baseball game on television without dying of boredom?  They are the ones who benefit here.

These fans – the same ones who watch hockey for the fights and figure skating for the falls – were treated during Wednesday’s Spring matchup between the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox.  In the bottom of the second inning, David Price was nailed in the right hand by the barrel of Adrian Beltre’s busted bat.

While basketball action is dominating the menu at sportsbooks there’s still plenty of NHL betting action out there.  We’ll take a look at an Eastern Conference game between the Carolina Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins.  The Penguins have the 2nd best record in the East, three points ahead of New Jersey and Buffalo.  The Hurricanes are still mired in 13th place but have been one of the hottest teams in the NHL of late winning 8 of their L10 games with only one loss in regulation.  They dug a huge hole for themselves earlier in the campaign and are still 8 points behind Boston for the final playoff spot in the conference.

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS VS. CAROLINA HURRICANES: