If there was any way to disrupt player emotions Tuesday night, trading Steve Downie is definitely one of the top ways to do so.

GM Steve Yzerman admits that the timing may not have been the best, but trading Steve Downie to the Colorado Avalanche for a first round draft pick was the right thing to do.

"I'm trading players and popular players for draft picks. These moves are made for the future. My only message is I'm going to do what I feel is necessary to be a Stanley Cup contender, and I think these moves help us get going in that direction."

And getting the team going uin that direction he did. Getting Downie for a first round pick is incredible. Even National Hockey Writer Greg Wyshynski thinks so.

More than just a player, Downie was best friends with Steven Stamkos and Marty St. Louis, which mae the trade especially hard to cope with.

"You just try to take it as professional and business-like as possible," said Stamkos, who joined teammates Marty St. Louis, Ryan Malone, Teddy Purcell and Brett Clark in the players' parking lot as Downie's bon voyage committee. "Everyone knows how much he meant to out team and how close he was to everyone."

Click HERE for the full article.

There will be plenty of Tebowing during this offseason, but Brady Quinn won't be joining in. Quinn ripped Tim Tebow, saying Tebow is far from humble off the field with his religious views and that his play on the field is less than impressive.

"...The defensive line is chasing the quarterback around, and that wears down the pass rush. Meanwhile, the defensive backs are chasing receivers, but you only throw eight passes, so they start to feel lazy. It only takes that one play, that one big pass, for a touchdown."

How did the Broncos win then?

"We’ve had a lot of, I guess, luck, to put it simply." 

 Quinn isn't saying anything that hasn't been talked about for months, but bashing your quarterback in front of the media can't be good for your playing chances.

A day after making the comments Quinn apologized and said he would speak directly to Tebow to resolve any issues.

Click HERE for the full article.

What? You think we're going to tell you that J.P. Howell threw the ball well or something boring like that?

No. Tuesday's news from Port Charlotte was, now Evan Longoria has confirmed he is dating a Playmate.

Click HERE for a story which includes photos of Miss Edmonson.

What a great article this is in the Tampa Bay Times on the relationship between Joe Maddon and Andrew Friedman.

Dan asked Tuesday morning IF you had to keep one and lose the other, who would it be? Toughee but Dan said Friedman is more valuable.

Love the phrase Friedman uses, "credit seeker" -- as in, they can argue with each other but remain friends, because neither guy wants to take the credit/have to win the argument.

Click HERE for the article. 

Joe Maddon joined ESPN's "Outside the Lines" to discuss racial prejudice in his hometown of Hazelton, Pennsylvania.

Click HERE for the video courtesy of ESPN

Kevin Goldstein, columist for Baeball Prospectus, was on with Dan this morning to talk Rays baseball!

HERE is his list of the top 11 prospects for the Rays this year.

TBO is doing a 3 part series on the Rays' nine most pressing issues heading into the 2012 season. The most recent addition discusses relief pitching, veteran players, and the batting order.

The Rays are going into the season with one of the best pitching staffs in the league. Kyle Farnsworth was given the role of closer for the first time in his career last season, and responded with 25 saves. Joel Peralta was a valuable pickup. Rookies Jake McGee and Brandon Gomes helped down the stretch.

The emergence of those four enabled Friedman the luxury of looking for a specific skill-set this winter. His search landed Burke Badenhop, a right-hander who gets groundballs, hard-throwing Fernando Rodney, who has 87 career saves, including a career-high 37 in 2009, and Josh Lueke, a young arm who they acquired from the Mariners in a trade for catcher John Jaso.

If the rays were looking for a veteran utlity player they certainly found one in Jeff Keppinger. He gives them a strong bat against left-handed pitching, having compiled a career .324 average against lefties with a .371 on-base percentage and a .481 slugging percentage.

Finally, the batting order...

Maddon will undoubtedly change the lineup throughout the course of the season to get a feel for what certain combinations will produce.

Maddon's ideal batting order goes righty-lefty-righty-lefty and so on. That prevents the opposing manager from bringing in a left-handed reliever in the late innings to quell a rally by facing two or three consecutive left-handed batters.

Click HERE for the full article from TBO

Click HERE for Part 1 of the series

Anthony Collins scored a career-high 22 points to lead South Florida to a 56-47 win over Pittsburgh on Sunday night.

The victory guaranteed a winning record in Big East play for the Bulls (17-10, 10-4) for the first time since joining the conference in 2005.

J.J. Moore scored six straight points for Pitt (15-13, 4-11) to cut USF’s lead to 42-39 with 9:26 left in the game, but the Panthers couldn’t get any closer. Moore scored a career high 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting.

Victor Rudd Jr. added 11 points and six rebounds for the Bulls, who have won four straight games. Nasir Robinson scored nine points with 11 rebounds for the Panthers, losers of four straight.

The Bulls began the game on a 15-4 run as the shooting woes that plagued Pitt in its first game versus USF on Feb. 8 resurfaced tonight. The Panthers hit just one of their first 12 shots, but recovered to make eight of their next 10 and climb back into the game.

Moore led Pitt’s resurgence, as the sophomore forward scored 11 first-half points. His back-to-back fastbreak dunks tied the game at 22-all with 4:22 left in the first half. His 3-pointer from the wing with 1:43 left gave Pitt its first lead at 27-26. Rudd, Jr. responded with a basket and USF took a 28-27 lead into halftime.

The Panthers’ hot shooting wouldn’t last, though.

Pitt made just 9 of 30 second-half shots, and missed all seven of their second-half 3-point attempts, as USF led by as many as 15. The Bulls were effective down low, scoring 30 points in the paint and outrebounding the Panthers 36-30.

Pitt made a few runs despite the struggles of its starting backcourt, Ashton Gibbs and Tray Woodall. The duo, Pitt’s two leading scorers this season, combined for just four points on 2-of-11 shooting.

Woodall played only seven first-half minutes after getting whistled for his second foul less than five minutes into the game.

PITCHERS AND CATCHERS REPORT:  The four greatest words in sports?

The Tampa Bay Rays are headed to Port Charlotte and gearing up for another season of Major League Baseball.  We will be RAYS intensive today.....here is what's ON TAP!

6:35 - Steve Carney with the latest from Port Charlotte

6:50 - Replaying our interview with new Rays DH Luke Scott from Rays Fan Fest over the weekend. 

7:30 - Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times joins the program LIVE from Port Charlotte.

7:50 - Replaying our interview with James Shields from Rays Fan Fest over the weekend.

8:05 - Kevin Goldstein of BaseballProspectus.com stops by the program to talk Rays prospects and 2012 predictions!

8:30 - Steve Carney joins us LIVE from Port Charlotte with the latest on guys arriving for duty.

Join the conversation on our Facebook Page or get the latest info/updates on our Twitter Feed.

BASEBALL IS BACK!

-DS