A.J. BURNS NATS' BATS; LEAFS GIVE MCCABE DEADLINE

Items of interest as you bought supplies for your NBA Draft party.

• One win over the weak-hitting Washington Nationals proves little, but the $55 million man, A.J. Burnett, sure did bring it last night for the Jays in a 6-0 romp over The Team Formerly Known As The Expos. Washington hitters were popping up left and right whenever they weren't striking out. Too bad the Jays can't find a way to have A.J. and Roy Halladay make four out of every five starts, with Theodore Lilly taking the ball the odd time.
• The Toronto Star is reporting the Leafs have given defenceman Bryan McCabe an ultimatum -- sign by 6 p.m. Friday or they'll yank the five-year deal that was agreed on almost a month ago.
  
  Some of you will wonder if the Leafs are being so insistent because they might be trying to talk Edmonton into taking McCabe rather than Tomas Kaberle in a possible trade for Chris Pronger. Of course, McCabe probably doesn't want to be in Edmonton either, since like Pronger, there's the "wife thing" -- his spouse apparently wants to be closer to New York.
  
  Just to reiterate, it's really bad karma if the Leafs get Pronger under these circumstances. That said, Pronger is going somewhere, so it might as well be Toronto. Fatalism only goes so far.
• It's pretty obvious that it will be a surprise if the Raptors draft anyone but Andrea Bargnani tonight.
• You all knew this day would come: Deadspin is getting so big that it seems to be headed uptown. But if you've watched Almost Famous, oh, say 20 times, you can cope.
• The knives are out for Canadian TV sports 'personalities.' (Also see here and here.) Trust me, the only ones who should be mad are those who didn't rate a mention. But because thou art lukewarm, I will spue thee from my mouth. It's in Scriptures, people.

That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.