By JIMMY D / Blooper Bowl props contest a flop | Jimmy's archive

Jimmy got the coin toss wrong and it just kept getting worse from there.

Yes, Super Bowl XLI was a mess on the field (steady rain, eight turnovers) and on Jimmy’s contest and betting tickets too.

Devin Hester. Who in their right mind picks him to score the game’s first touchdown?

Muhsin Muhammad. Surely, more than three catches for the day? Wrong.
OVER 48.5. C’mon fellas, chip in a field goal in the fourth quarter for some insurance?

Peyton Manning. Dude, we needed two TD passes to go OVER 1.5.

At least there were some small victories, as Rex Grossman did not disappoint (OVER 1.5 interceptions) and Jimmy had the total-scoring zoned in (he predicted 27-21, which stayed in the winning 46-49 range).

Pretty sad to lose the Super Sunday props content to a goofy noofy who was so clever during the season that he traded away LaDainian Tomlinson.

And Jimmy did not see the halftime show, although we cannot diss Prince too much since the 45 of that classic 1999 is in Jimmy’s jukebox.

NHL sick bay

Jimmy doesn’t usually focus on injury reports in this once-weekly space, because of the difficulty in keeping things current with only a Tuesday column. But with several longer-term injury situations resolving this week or next, we’ll update you on the expected returns of several key players.

Todd Bertuzzi – Panthers. The burly, snarling winger is ahead of schedule in his rehab after back surgery. He played just seven games, before being shut down. Reports out of Miami are that he will join the team on this road swing and could even play tonight. With Roberto Luongo (remember the Luongo-Bertuzzi swap?) playing like a Vezina winner in Vancouver, Florida would love to get some production from Bert.

Scott Niedermayer – Ducks. The slick blueliner has not played since Jan. 19 but may go tonight against the Sharks. Time to get him back in your lineup pronto.

Manny Fernandez – Wild. Aggravated his knee injury and may miss more time than expected. Niklas Backstrom has won three straight starts including a 1-0 shutout of the Coyotes in the desert. Stay tuned, but for now, have a backup plan for Manny.

Pascal Leclaire - Blue Jackets. The former Moosey had knee surgery before Christmas and has been skating with the team, although he’s a longshot to start this week. The Jackets have been rotating Fredrik Norrena, Ty Conklin and rookie Tomas Popperle. They have lost two in a row on the heels of a puzzling four-game win streak.

Mike Modano – Stars. He returned last week, but he’s still not really back. He has just an assist and a -2 in three games since returning, but Dallas won two of those games. Keep an eye on his ice time. He’s getting old like Jimmy and that hip could keep flaring up.

Alexei Yashin – Islanders. Oh, how we enjoy disparaging Yashin. He has a sore knee to go with his sore attitude and has one goal since Dec. 19. He is listed as day-to-day, but tread carefully, especially as playoff time starts approaching and things get tougher for power-play floaters like Alexei.

Hoops shuffle

Speaking of injuries, Jimmy continues to take advantage of NBA injuries to bolster his fantasy roster. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

When Lamar Odom went down, we scooped up Luke Walton thinking his production alongside Kobe Bryant would increase. Good idea, but wrong.

When the Milwaukee Bucks were hit with a ton of injuries, we picked up Ruben Patterson and got some decent mileage out of him.

When Carlos Boozer went down, we grabbed the underachieving Andrei Kirilenko (the jury is still out on this one).

And this week, with Grant Hill hitting the injured list and since we needed some blocks and scoring (after ditching Alonzo Mourning because Shaq came back), we grabbed Darko Milicic in Orlando. That paid early dividends, but not enough for a rousing head-to-head win in the NBA league last week.

Global warming warning

OK, OK, so Jimmy badmouthed global warming a few weeks ago. He was just kidding! Sheesh, you didn’t have to send a team of 500 scientists out to prove him wrong and write that big, scary report. OK, it’s real. But can everyone quit complaining about the lack of winter when we get a mild snap of weather?

Stay busy, stay lucky.

Jimmy D