By Derek Harmsworth… As first reported by TSN’s Darren Dreger last night, and now also being run in today’s Toronto Star, it looks as though the Toronto Maple Leafs have dipped their toes into the collegiate free agent pool.

It is expected today that the Maple Leafs will finalize a three year entry level deal with Christian Hanson, a star on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish team.  He is also the son of Dave Hanson, one third of the famous Hanson Brothers.

Hanson, a 6′4″, 225lbs centre, is considered a two-way player, known for both his offensive flair, and for his defensive ability.  He was one of the top faceoff men in the Collegiate system this year.

Aside from his offensive and defensive game, Hanson is also known as a great teammate, and according to one of his former coaches “reeks of character.”

If the Leafs are able to ink Hanson today as expected, it would be a real victory for Brian Burke.  The Maple Leafs are believed to have beat out 20 teams for his services.

It is also expected that the Maple Leafs will make an aggressive pitch today for Denver College free agent Tyler Bozak.  Though early reports were that Bozak could opt to sign with the Avalanche, to stay close to home.

The agent for Tyler Bozak, Don Meehan, said this weekend that his client should make a decision by Wednesday on where he would like to begin his NHL career.

As for Hanson, the Leafs organization reportedly see him as more of a skilled, finesse player, despite his size.  There are reports that he may also be tested out on the wing, as it may be the best fit for him at the NHL level.

Should the Leafs sign Hanson today as expected, it is very plausible that fans in Leafs Nation wouldn’t have to wait long to see him play.

While he is coming off the end of a long collegiate season, he is healthy, and in game shape.  It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him suit up for one of the Maple Leafs remaining games left in the season.

Check out Dereks Radio show “Leafs Talk Today” -  The show can be heard every Wednesday at 1:30 PM Eastern. For more on the show and to listen live, head over to www.leafstalktoday.webs.com

by Yoshi Farhi… Despite the Raptors’ dismal year, I remain optimistic toward the future.

Here’s why—the long awaited emergence of Bargnani as a legitimate player in this league is HUGE for this team.

He has put up very solid numbers of 19.2 points and 6.4 rebounds in 35.5 minutes per game since January, which would put him at 27th in the league in points per 48 minutes (right behind Joe Johnson).

Il Mago’s emergence gives the Raptors the possibility of having the highest-scoring big-man duo in the league. While it takes more to win than just points, Bargs is showing steady improvement all around, including rebounding and toughness.

Even though his game is far from perfect—his post game, rebounding, and defense still leave much to be desired—he has been the single bright spot this season and leaves hopes of a big turnaround next year.

Furthermore, Brian Colangelo is a proven GM in this league. Yes, he messed up with the JO trade last offseason, but Colangelo is a risk taker and risks don’t always pay off.

Even though JO was a bust, Colangelo has managed to soften the blow substantially. Similar to his first season, Colangelo has a large sum of money to work with this offseason and he knows the goal—a tough-minded slasher who can defend and score.

There are a number of free agents Colangelo is likely to look at this summer: Grant Hill (too worn out), Hedo Turkoglu (too much of a shooter?), Trevor Ariza or Odom (will the Lakers let either go?), Jamaal Crawford (could work, too risky maybe), Ron Artest (also risky), Ben Gordon (too much of a shooter?), and Iverson (expensive, but would work).

Since the list isn’t that impressive, Colangelo might needto facilitate some sort of trade—maybe a sign-and-trade of Marion—with all the cap room the team has and teams looking to unload cash before the big 2010 free-agent class.

Finally, the one good thing about the Raptors’ record is their presence in the lottery. While the Raps most likely won’t find their starting wing player in this poor class, there will surely be enough players in the lottery picks capable of holding their own as bench players.

The future doesn’t look so bad after all.

By Captain Fantabulous… With draft day fast approaching, I decided to take a meander down memory lane, and have a wee glance at the draft which I consider to be one of the strongest top five of all time—the almighty 1989 NFL draft.

Number one overall, HOF quarterback Troy Aikman.

Number three overall, HOF running back Barry Sanders.

Number four overall, HOF linebacker Derrick Thomas.

Number five overall, future HOF cornerback Deion Sanders.

You’re probably asking, “Who was number two in this once in a lifetime top five”? Who was the guy drafted ahead of Sanders, Thomas, and Sanders?

Well, it was Hall of Fame workout warrior, Tony Mandarich, who probably put in the greatest combine workout in NFL history. To such an extent that he made Sports Illustrated’s esteemed front cover, as “The best offensive line prospect ever.”

Mandarich was no one hit wonder. He had a stellar college career for Michigan State, being named as a first-team All-American, an Outland Award finalist, and a two-time Big Ten Lineman of the Year. But for all his obvious talent, he had “character issues” to match.

He was notorious for turning up to public meetings late, and sometimes drunk. He often missed team meetings because of hangovers. And of course, he notoriously laid out an open challenge to the then-heavyweight champion of the world, Mike Tyson, for a street fight, 2 weeks before draft day.

This wasn’t the guy to walk your mother to church on a Sunday.

However, his almost mythical workout numbers swept most of this under the carpet.  A potential problem player became merely “eccentric.”  “Troublesome” became “charismatic.”

And if you check out the guy’s combine, it’s hard not to see how teams got caught up in the moment.

Firstly, you have to understand that we are talking about a 6’6″, 330-pound offensive lineman here.  As a brief example, the top NFL line prospect in the ‘09 draft, Jason Smith, at an inch shorter, and 15 pounds lighter than Mandarich, put up these numbers:

· 40 time – 5.14 seconds

· Bench press – 33 reps

· Vertical leap – 25 inches

· Broad jump – eight feet

Jake Long, the uber-talented number-one overall pick of 2008:

· 40 time – 5.22

· Bench press – 37

· Vertical leap – 27 inches

· Broad jump – eight feet

That’s what we are talking here, in terms of an elite tackle prospect, and their combine performance. Now for Mandarich. I suggest you set your faces to “stun”.

Tony Mandarich, at 6′6″ and 325 pounds, ran an official 4.65-second 40 time, meaning this beast of a man covered 40 yards faster than future HOF players Emmitt Smith and Jerry Rice at their respective workouts.

He was only marginally slower than 2009 studs Knowshon Moreno and Aaron Curry. At 325 pounds. Unthinkable. Incomprehensible.

Unbelievable.

And no, this guy was no one-trick pony. He bench pressed 39 times (only two less than dumbbell wonder Jonathon Ogden). His vertical leap was an unbelievable 30 inches. His broad jump was over 10 feet.

All figures that are rarely touched by tackles in any draft class.

This, my friends, was probably the greatest single workout in combine history. And along with some stellar tackle drills, elevated Mandarich from mid first round to second overall.  His numbers made the Packers pass on three future HOF players for a guy who was fully recognised as a risk.

Like a lot of things that seem “too good to be true,” Mandarich was, sadly, too good to be true.

The whitewashed character issues soon came to a boil (such as calling Green Bay “a village” within months of joining the team), and Mandarich wouldn’t even start a game for the Packers for his first two seasons.

By then, the Packers had realized they had been duped, and soon shipped Mandarich out of Lambeau Field, and out of the NFL.

You see people, the whole Mandarich thing was a myth. A mirage. A carefully-planned assault by Tony on the NFL combine. To be fair to Mandarich, he knew the system and played it perfectly.

He managed to create this unbelievable shell for the scouts to drool over, but they were in no position to look at what lay beneath until they paid him big, and got him in training camp, to the determent of the Green Bay Packer coffers.

Mandarich was a steroid user, all through college. He faked his Rose Bowl tests weeks before the combine in fact, allowing him to sculpt a 330-pound bulk, with only 11 percent body fat. That, my friends, is how a 330-pound athlete works out like a 200-pound running back.

Slack testing laws in college and at the combine allowed Mandarich to abuse the system, and create this almost mythological projection of himself for the scouts. And make no bones about it, Tony planned it this way.

“I wanted to create as much hype as I could for many different reasons—exposure, negotiation leverage, you name it. And it all worked, except the performance wasn’t there when it was time to play football.”

However, becoming a professional athlete meant professional drug testing, and given a choice of fail (and default his multi million dollar contract) or fall, Mandarich chose the latter. His weight plummeted from 330 to 290 pounds in only a few seasons. His power and speed disappeared to such an extent that the Packers felt his only future in pro football was at the less-demanding guard position.

He dropped out of the NFL in 1998, making only 47 starts in 10 years. All the while, the Packers had to come to the realization that they passed on (Barry) Sanders, Thomas and (Deion) Sanders. For a combine myth.

The moral of the tale? The combine matters. But don’t rest your entire draft on it. Running a 4.7 forty doesn’t make you a bust (Rice). Running 4.65 for a tackle doesn’t make you a cert.

Just ask Tony Mandarich. The man that beat the system.

My Dirty Little Secrets: Steroids, Alcohol & God. A provocative title indeed! Click here to order an autographed book directly from Tony.

by Stoker Dafire… Early in 2005, the great Tito Trinidad’s tenure in the spotlight waned, and as a result Puerto Rico yearned for a new favorite son.

Making his debut in the talent-rich 140-pound division, a young fighter named Miguel Cotto left many Latino fans believing he would be the one.

However, in time, his growing difficulty to make weight threatened to dim the aura surrounding the rising young superstar.

In December of ‘06 Cotto made the inevitable move up in weight and got an immediate title shot against Carlos Quintana.

With a perfect left hook to the body of Quintana, Cotto began to dominate the star studded welterweight division.

With subsequent wins over top fighters like Shane Mosley and Zab Judah, suddenly many experts were touting Cotto as the successor or the heir-apparent to the great Trinidad.

Cotto possesses a tremendous body attack; he is a throwback to the great Julio Cesar Chavez, who had a trademark left hook to liver that once knocked Johnny Deplessis clean out of the ring.

However, lets be honest here, at 26 years of age, which is two years younger than Cotto is now, Trinidad already had defended titles 15 times, had beaten Whittaker and De La Hoya, and was a virtual boy wonder in his home country of Puerto Rico.

When he fought his successful comeback match against Ricardo Mayorga, after a 29 month layoff, the roar of his adoring fans at Madison Square Garden threatened to blow the roof off the boxing Mecca.

The look on the faces of ecstatic fans on this night was one of unadulterated worship.

However, you didn’t have to be from Puerto Rico or even Latino to appreciate Trinidad.

As a fan he is the sort of fighter who never disappointed me; even against the great Bernard Hopkins he fought his heart out, took his beating like a man, and went down swinging.

The above photo shows Miguel Cotto’s badly beaten face after his courageous match and subsequent loss to Antonio Margarito.

In hindsight, a strong argument could be made that these facial lacerations may have been the result of an illegal substance resembling plaster of Paris; the substance wasn’t found until Margarito’s fight with Mosley earlier this year.

In any event, Cotto has rallied back nicely, with a TKO win over Michael Jennings on Feb. 21, and he could very well be on a collision course for a superfight-rematch with Mosley.

If that mega fight comes to fruition and Cotto emerges the victor, he may just fit in those enormous shoes left behind by the legendary Trinidad.

Lloyd Bentsen: Senator Quayle, I served with Jack Kennedy: I knew Jack Kennedy; Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy. (Prolonged shouts and applause.)

by Aaron Neely… As the baseball season inches closer and closer to the opening pitch many questions are swirling around.

How will A-Rod do? How will the Yankees do? Manny in LA? San Fran looking to make their first real charge since the Bonds’ days.

Many questions, and we’ll have to wait along time for answers.

So let’s speculate!

When you think of the best teams in the Major Leagues, people automatically think about the Yankees and Red Sox…rightfully so.

But what about that team that usually finishes third in that division? Are they maybe getting closer to surpassing one, or both of those teams?

The Toronto Blue Jays are a team notoriously famous for their “Next year is going to be our year” motto.

However, could it actually be that this is their year? Taking a look at their lineup in years past they have always had one of the three keys components to win games.

They either have a bullpen, pitching or hitting. This year, they are the closest they have ever been to having all three.

When you look at their lineup a few things come to mind. First off, you marvel at the pitching ace that is locked up long term as well as the other young arms.

Roy Halladay is a guaranteed 20+ wins a season as well as a very likely night off for any pitcher who usually comes out of the bullpen. He has and will continue to be a pitcher that competes for the Cy Young award yearly.

Taking over for A.J. Burnett is 24-year-old Jesse Litsch. Having pitched only two years in the majors he still has plenty more to offer. He won 13 games last year and if all things fall into place could push the 18 win marker.

Let’s say for a second that the Blue Jays can get 40 wins between Litsch and Halladay, if the rest of the rotation can play just above average the Yanks and Sox won’t be the only teams contending in the AL east.

Second off, the out field is something to die for. Vernon Wells is a gold glove candidate and as long as he stays healthy is good for 25+ home runs and 105+ RBIs. His swing is perfect and his speed is among the elite. All star? I think so.

Alex Rios is even younger and has even more potential that, if things go well, should be realized this season. He took a bit of a step back last year but came on strong towards the end however should be a shoe in for similar stats as Wells, if not even better.

Add in veterans like Overbay and Rolen as well as young bats Snider and Lind and the returning Aaron Hill who was a Gold Glove second baseman and a 85-RBI guy at the plate and that is a very solid lineup.

Now comes the third and final part, very fittingly as well because it is the part that finishes the game most nights.

Two years ago the Blue Jays through a long term big money contract at B.J Ryan and finally got rid of the issue of a shaky bullpen.

After that Shea Hillenbrand decided to go AWOL and force the Jays into trading him; they somehow acquired Jeremy Accardo for the nut job Hillenbrand.

Combine those two guys with hard throwing Brandon League, Scott Downs and Brian Wolfe and you have quite the bullpen. If their pitching is as good as it was last year then they have one of the best arms in the MLB.

Overall, the Jays are going to make some noise…everyone knows that. The big question is if it can be more noise then what is going to come from New York and Boston.

New York is a soap opera that every writer wishes they created and Boston is getting older but is quite the powerhouse. If Toronto can get past New York then they just might crack into September.

Toronto has what it takes if it can all fall into place. They have the All-Stars, they have the youth and they have the finishers. But can those players finish is what we need to wait and see on.

So unfortunately for A-Rod, Manny and Barry, Toronto might just steal some of your spotlight guys. And they will do it with character and professionalism, so hopefully those three guys can learn from Toronto and see what good news can do. That, however, is a completely different article.

by J.A. Allen… Andy Murray continues to confound critics and crooners alike. Sitting at No. 4 in the APT tennis standings inches behind No. 3-ranked Novak Djokovic, prognosticators predict that Murray will assuredly overtake the Serbian on his way up the ladder.

Eventually, they intone confidently, he will supersede the Swiss maestro Roger Federer at No. 2.

The nice thing about sitting back and saying these things is that you don’t have produce anything to make the statement. You just have to posture and wait for it to happen.

If you are Andy Murray, however, you have to endure the pressure of expectations heaped upon you as the “great hope of the Isles” and the No. 1 player of the English contingent.

There is perhaps no one more tormented by the prospect of promise than Murray as he struggles toward his perfected game. As his homeland awaits his arrival at the top of the men’s game, Murray survives the roller coaster rhythm of the tennis caravan.

In April of 2007 Andrew Murray advanced into the official ATP Top 10 for the first time. After the 2008 U.S. Open where he reached the final and lost to the eventual champion Federer, Murray reached a career-high of No. 4 in the world.

Since that time he has been instrumental in reconfiguring the pack—now often referred to as the fabulous four—Rafael Nadal, Federer, Djokovic, and Murray…as fans and the media scramble to predict what spot each player will hold at the end of the year.

Murray’s best surfaces are hard courts and grass, although he has been working hard recently to shore up his clay court game.

In order to improve his play and increase his endurance, Murray works with a team of fitness experts. Miles Maclagan currently serves as his main coach.

His relationship with American Coach Brad Gilbert is well-documented. Gilbert’s tutelage improved Murray’s game immensely but their stormy relationship did not sit well with the moody Scott.

After splitting with Gilbert and enduring harsh critics again, Murray began his 2008 campaign stating he was in the best shape of his young life.

This could well have been true, but unfortunately for Murray he ran into a very, very hot Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the 2008 Australian Open and was summarily dismissed in the first round.

Humbled and abashed, Murray gathered his fragmented ego and moved on.

At his next tournament in Marseille, Murray won his fifth career title when he overcame Mario Ancic in the final. During Murray’s opening match in Dubai, he defeated world No. 1 Federer but was dismissed subsequently in the quarterfinals.

Murray lost early at the 2008 Masters Series events in Indian Wells and Miami. His 2008 clay court season was mediocre, as was his grass campaign, although he did win a thriller from Richard Gasquet at Wimbledon coming back from two sets down to win in the fifth. Nadal sent Murray home by defeating him in the quarterfinals.

Murray’s real triumphs began on the hardcourts during the summer of 2008.  He reached the semis at Toronto and he defeated Djokovic to take the title in Cincinnati. This win propelled him to No. 6 in the world.

At the U.S. Open, Murray defeated Nadal during the semifinals, allowing him to progress to the finals facing Federer—where he lost in straight sets.

By reaching the finals, Murray became the No. 4 ranked player in the world, a ranking he has maintained since last September.

He went on to win the Madrid Masters and followed that by winning in St. Petersburg.

At the year end Masters, Murray defeated Federer and eliminated him from the round robin competition in a hard fought contest. Murry then lost his next match to Nikolay Davydenko.

Starting his 2009 campaign strong, Murray won the Capitala World Championship in Abu Dhabi and followed that by a win in Doha at the Qatar Open.

Again a fan and book-maker favorite to win the 2009 Australian Open, Murray ran into another hot player, this time Fernando Verdasco and he lost in the fourth round.  The Australian Open has proven to be a heart-breaker for Murray fans.

Murray won the ABN AMRO in Rotterdam, defeating Nadal in the final.  After some injuries and illness, Murray jetted to Indian Wells where he defeated Federer in the semis. Murray made it to the finals, but lost to to Nadal, the eventual champion.

Murray has great aspirations for the current Masters event in Miami.

He possesses one of the most complete games on tour with few weaknesses. As he tightens his grasp, Murray’s backhand looms as a weapon of purest distinction. He is consistently capable of pinpointing winners cross-court or down the line with his backhand.

The most improved element of his game is his serve, although his formidable forehand often wreaks havoc with his opponent’s game plan.

Perhaps his best weapon remains his ability to anticipate and plan—his mental acumen is exceptional and his abilities as a tactician remain almost unequalled.

All players who reach the top of the men’s game have this ability—you have to be smart to win consistently.  Even Federer admits he has yet to figure out Murray’s game.

Murray will become the No. 3 player in the world if he reaches the finals in Miami this week.  In order to do that, he will probably have to defeat Nadal who stands directly in his path.

Murray seems to be moving forward faster than his competitors as his game falls steadily into place. While Djokovic teeters and Federer flails, Murray moves ahead always advancing on his talented rivals. The timing is right for the stolid Scotsman.

After all no one expects Federer to falter for long, nor for Djokovic to fade away.  If Murray is going to advance he must take advantage on this surface, his best, and Nadal’s worst.

Andrew Murray could leave Miami with the number three ranking in his pocket and with a less obstructed view to the top…stay tuned…