The Sports Truth

Toronto native and WWE superstar Edge recently took time away from body-slamming and pile-driving to give TheHockeyNews.com his exclusive picks for the first round…

Canucks vs. Stars: The Edge goes to the Canucks
“Luongo was a huge pickup for the Canucks and he will be the difference maker in the series. I have to vouch for every Canadian team in the NHL playoffs because there are just so few teams representing Canada.”

Sabres vs. Islanders: The Edge goes to the Sabres
“The Sabres may go all the way this year. They have the most depth of any team in the playoffs.”

Thrashers vs. Rangers: The Edge goes to Thrashers
“I have a soft spot for the Thrashers. I like to see new NHL franchises make hay in the playoffs. The Thrashers are stacked with so many solid snipers that they will take out the Rangers. As a diehard Devils fans – there is nothing I like better than the Rangers exiting the playoffs early. I like Brendan Shanahan, but that is about it.”

Senators vs. Penguins: The Edge goes to Penguins
“This is the toughest series to pick. Dany Heatley got his 50th goal of the year on the last game of the season, which was amazing, but Ottawa has a tendency to choke in the playoffs. The Penguins are a grinding team and I don’t think the Senators can take the package of Crosby, Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury.”

Predators vs. Sharks: The Edge goes to Sharks
“The Sharks put out the Predators in last year’s playoff and will do so again this year. Thornton and Cheechoo can rally the team, but it will be San Jose’s goaltending that will be the key to the series.”

Ducks vs. Wild: The Edge goes to Ducks
“The Wild could be the dark horse in these NHL playoffs, but the Ducks have the best defensive core in the NHL with Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger. Throw in Teemu Selanne and I can see the Ducks in the Western Conference final.”

Red Wings vs. Flames: The Edge goes to the Flames
“The Flames are my surprise team of 2007 and I foresee them taking out the Red Wings. I am going against the grain and going with Canada and the Flames. They have great heart and great goaltending and that is what you need in the playoffs.”

Devils vs. Lightning: The Edge goes to the Devils
“I like the Lightning because I own a home in Tampa, but I can’t go against Marty and my team. Martin Brodeur is an ironman and as I said before, goaltending is the key to the playoffs. Marty carries the Devils and they have a strong line of Elias, Brylin and Madden. From top to bottom they are a strong team and very similar to Buffalo. I just think they are the strongest team and it just so happens they are my personal favorite team. I am not just hopping on the bandwagon; I was rooting for the Devils during the lean years. I just feel that this

Jordin Sparks is gaining a great deal of momentum on American Idol.

And now the 17-year old daughter of a former Giants great is receiving support from a recently retired Giants great: Tiki Barber.

“I played with her father, Phillippe Sparks, about eight, ten years ago,” says Barber. “He was the cornerback. I remember Jordin when she was a little girl at the Giants games.”

Moreover, Jordin has fond memories of Barber, as well.

“I saw an interview that she did and she said her favorite player was me! It’s interesting how life brings itself back around ten years later,” Tiki told People magazine.

Interesting, sure, but doesn’t he need to be hitting phones on Tuesday nights to vote for his old teammate’s daughter?

“I know, right? I really do,” he says. “Maybe I’ll get all my friends to vote for her, too.”

Forget how dirty and self-serving Kobe Bryant is for a moment.

There’s now a Lakers fan that actually might beat him in both accounts! Britney Spears was recently spotted at a game. She was paying close attention, as you can tell:

Kristin Cavallari is best known for her rich, slutty ways on the former MTV reality series, Laguna Beach.

In other words: many men have rounded third base and headed for home with this beauty. Maybe that’s why she’s seen below, reading about the greatest baseball player of the steroids generation: Barry Bonds.

Coffee in hand, Kristin is set with Love Me, Hate Me: Barry Bonds and the Making of a an Antihero as she boards her flight from Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday. We hope Cavallari isn’t getting any ideas about bedding this slugger, though.

You know what steroids do to the genitals, right?

So, Phil Jackson says that the NBA is on a “witch hunt” with its recent punisments of Kobe Bryant, huh?

Because that makes a lot of sense. The league wants one of its best players to miss games and possess a dirty repuation, is that your angle, coach?

The only person who should be upset in any of this in former WWE star, Macha Man Randy Savage. After all, the elbow drop was his finishing move.

Tim Hardaway wants to make something clear: He doesn’t hate gay people.

In a February interview with a Miami radio station, Hardaway said he didn’t believe gay players should share a locker room with heterosexual players, adding: “I don’t like gay people, and I don’t like to be around gay people.”

Got that? He just doesn’t like them ok?

The former All-Star, of course, was reacting to the announcement by John Amaechi that he was a homosexual; Hardaway apologized soon after making the comments and said Tuesday he wants to make sure people know that he really doesn’t hate gay people. No, seriously.

“People have been trying to kick me when I’m down,” he cries to The Miami Herald. “The reaction was “very, very shocking. People saying my wife left me — that’s not true. My family is OK and my finances are OK.

“… I’m looking for a second chance and trying to clean up my image. I haven’t been in trouble with drugs or guns. I’m an upstanding citizen. Like I told my children, life is not easy. This is a big bump I have to overcome. I’m going to deal with it like a champ. I’ve got to make sure people know I don’t hate gay people.”

Got that, kids? When you go on a nationally syndicated talk show and say you wish gay individuals did not exist in this world, life is not easy. There really is a lesson in there somewhere.

Hardaway also told the Herald that he hasn’t spoken to Amaechi after making homophobic remarks. And why not?

“I wasn’t interested in what he had to say about [my comments]. I’m not interested in trying to sell his book,” Hardaway said.

And it’s not as though the former point guard had any legitimate reason to apologize to a person he said he wished didn’t exist on this planet. Turns out Hardaway is quicker with back-tracking and changing facts that he was with that killer crossover.

Here’s the question: Was Alex Rodriguez threatening Yankees fans with his comments that they could actually boo him out of town? Or was he teasing them with the attractive possibility?

“It’s a do or die situation,” he said on WFAN-AM’s “Mike and the Mad Dog” show. “Either New York is going to kick me out of New York this year, say ‘I’ve had enough of this guy, get him the hell out of here,’ and we have an option. Or New York is going to say, ‘Hey, we won a world championship, you had a big year, you were a part of it and we want you back.’”

Wow. Who knew fans had such control over a player? Moreover, who knew an accomplished athlete would allow the common ticket holder to decide his fate? ARod sure is a sweetheart.

Until he took back those weird comments later in the same interview:

“I want to 100 percent stay in New York. Period. That’s it. I don’t know how many ways I can say it.”

Well, one way would be to avoid making the original statement, in which you made it sound like blame would fall on the fans who booed your underachieving glove and bat if you took your player’s option and skipped town after the 2007 season.

It’s hard to know what we make of Rodriguez. He’s never been fully embraced by the Yankees or their fans - yet he plays hard, puts up solid numbers, cedes the ledership role to Derek Jeter. But at the end of the day, he sounds like a politician yearning for your cheers.

And a bad one at that.

Richie Anderson is the new Eugene Robinson.

The former Atlanta defensive back should send the recently fired Arizona wide receivers coach a box of chocolates following his arrest in a police prostitution sting operation last week.

Anderson, a fullback in the NFL for 13 seasons, was hired by new Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt in January - and then let go when he was accused of soliciting an undercover Phoenix police officer posing as a prostitute Thursday nighy.

“I wanted a chance to review the details of the situation before making any decision,” Whisenhunt said in a statement released by the team. “While it’s disappointing, I’ve decided that this is clearly in the best interests of our team in this particular instance. Our focus is now on finding a replacement and I am confident we will be able to do that relatively soon.”

Anderson played for the New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys before retiring after the 2005 season. He was mostly used as a fullback, causing the whole hooker thing to be of less importance than this:

The Cardinals couldn’t find an actual wide receiver to coach this unit? No wonder they suck.

Louisiana State University learned about former head women’s basketball coach Pokey Chatman and her alleged sexual relationship with a former player from one of Chatman’s assistant coaches, multiple sources told ESPN.com.

Carla Berry, who has been an assistant for the Lady Tigers since 1999, first reported the allegation to university officials outside the athletic department. After determining that no current players aree involved, the university made athletic department officials aware of Berry’s allegation.

Berry didn’t respond to numerous requests for comment.

Chatman was not allowed to be alone with her players after Berry alleged improper conduct to the university, a school official with direct knowledge of the matter told The Associated Press on Monday.

Berry’s motivation for making the allegation to university officials isn’t clear. One athletic department insider said that Chatman continued to seek advice from Berry, a longtime friend and colleague, as late as Thursday, the day after Chatman unexpectedly resigned her position as head coach. By then, the scandal was reaching critical mass.

Berry, 37, played guard at LSU for Sue Gunter from 1989 to 1992, and she joined Gunter’s staff as an assistant coach in 1999. As LSU prepares for the NCAA Tournament — pairings are to be announced Monday night — Berry is still working as an assistant to interim head coach Bob Starkey.

Chatman abruptly stepped down Wednesday, saying she wanted to bang lots of women pursue other career opportunities.

Pity Lance Briggs.

The linebacker reportedly turned down a seven-year, $33 million deal in March 2006 and now the Bears general have placed the franchise player tag aroud his talented neck. This means the All-Pro will be forced to play the year for $7.2, missing out on the free agent riches that other, sub-par players have taken advantage of this off-season.

Or is he?

“I am now prepared to sit out the year if the Bears don’t trade me or release me,” Briggs told FoxSports.com on Monday night. “I’ve played my last snap for them. I’ll never play another down for Chicago again.”

Right. How dare the team agree with the rules made up by Briggs’ own player’s association and slap a franchise tag on him? Only $7.2 million? Merely the average of the five highest paid players at his position? That’s an insult that any hard-working Chicago fan paying hundreds of dollarsto attend a Bears game can fully relate to.

“People think I can’t afford to sit out the year — I can take out loans to get me through that year just fine because eventually I’ll have a deal somewhere,” Briggs told FoxSports.com. “There are things I can do to make sure I’m fine financially if I sit out. I can also decide what other course of action I can take as the season gets closer. The Bears have shown I’m not in their long-term plans so if that’s the case, I don’t want to be here.”

Is Lance Briggs saying he might apply for faxless payday loans? If so, we hope he’s aware of the triple digit APR on those resources?

But money might not be the only reason Briggs wants out of Chicago. He said he wants to be the leader of a team and knows he’ll never overtake Brian Urlacher in Chicago.

“I’ve talked to Brian about it,” Briggs said. “I’m a competitor and I want the same thing he has. I’ve learned a lot from Brian as a player and a leader and I eventually want to be ‘the man’ somewhere. I want to be like him and have everything put on me too. Obviously I’ll never be able to do that there.”

Maybe you should try to win a Super Bowl before you follow through on your personal, selfish dreams, Lance? Then again, without Thomas Jones - and with Rex Grossman still - that may not happen any time soon in Chicago.