The Cheapseats

WBC - A work in progress

2009-03-12T12:59:00.006-04:00

Having attended all six World Baseball Classic games in Toronto, it's clear that there are three major issues that need addressing.

1. Better Pitching - There's an argument to be made for better players all together, but most teams in the WBC have been able to field reasonably good hitters.

However, in 2009 every national team has been refused by at least one high profile pitcher.

According to local radio broadcasts, Team USA had to make 60 phone calls to patch together their rotation. Fortunately, the United States has the largest population base of any country participating, and they were still able to turn up the likes of Jake Peavy, Roy Oswalt and J.J. Putz.

Other teams were not so fortunate.

Venezuala would undoubtedly be stronger with Johan Sanatana as their anchor, and it was apparent to all that the absence of Jeff Francis, Ryan Dempster, Rich Harden and Eric Bedard led to the early dismissal of Team Canada.

The lack of high-calibre pitching hurt the quality of the games. Instead of seeing great hitters battle through at bats, most outs came from ground balls and pop flys. Not exactly gripping drama.

2. Shorter Games - Major League Baseball is trying to sell baseball to the rest of the world. The targets aren't the United States, Cuba or Japan where baseball is already loved, but Australia, Canada, Italy, South Africa and the Netherlands. Bud Selig wants the sport to take off in countries that have disposable incomes but baseball is not popular.

But a four hour game between Italy and Canada? Six, seven, eight pitching changes per team? Brutal.

Long, boring games will not capture people's imaginations. Marathon games are no way to sell a sport to fans of fast-paced games like hockey, soccer and basketball.

3. Better Umpires - In fairness, the officiating at the SkyDome wasn't biased.

It was just bad in general.

Phantom tags. Fluctuating strike zones. The calls were inconsistent for all four teams, that I can only assume the players were pulling their hair out.

In particular, Marvin Hudson, the home plate umpire for the Italy/Canada game was troublesome. With him at the plate, pitches in the same location were called as both balls and strikes.

Again, if the WBC is meant to be an introduction to baseball, shouldn't the officiating be at the highest level as well?

The World Baseball Classic is a great concept and, with tweaking, should become a major global event. But before that can happen, these three issues need to be addressed.

Okay, one last lacrosse video...

2009-01-20T18:18:00.003-05:00

Ryan Powell and Kyle Harrison put on a shooting clinic reminiscent of Larry Bird and Michael Jordan's classic McDonald's commercial.

I'll get back to some real content soon, I promise.

Cool lacrosse tricks

2008-12-29T20:20:00.002-05:00

The National Lacrosse League season is just around the corner, so I thought I'd post a sweet video I found today of professional lacrosse players doing stick tricks. The music is kind of loud, so you might want to turn it down a bit before starting it up!

Book Review: The Fix by Declan Hill

2008-12-08T12:45:00.000-05:00

Sports fans like to see their favourite athletes giving it their all. Even in a lost cause, even against all odds, fans want to be inspired by all-out effort and exertion. That, I think, is one of the quiet appeals of March Madness; the players are going all out for an entire month, with (supposedly) no financial benefit. Fans want to see their heroes leave it all on the field.

Anything less is anathema.

Just ask Vince Carter. A team's supporters will turn on anyone who doesn't give 100% in a game. That is, after all, why the phrase "giving 110%" has become a sports cliche.

Declan Hill's The Fix shows that that core value is under attack and proves that sometimes the heart, the effort that your favourite player is exhibiting on the soccer pitch is an illusion.

It certainly is a bitter pill to swallow, but Hill conclusively proves that match fixing is reaching epidemic proportions in the world of soccer. His investigation reaped a shockingly large amount of circumstantial and conclusive evidence that soccer games at levels as high as the World Cup and Champions League have been fixed. By the end of The Fix his message is crystal clear: no level of soccer is safe, except perhaps the most impromptu of pick-up games.

The body of evidence he's compiled is impressive in its breadth and detail. Interviews with players, coaches, managers and owners as well as convicted and active match fixers. Statistical evidence. Memoirs and police reports. Photos of match fixers and confessions of guilt. It's an overwhelming deluge of information that will rock any fan of soccer, or of pure sport in general, to the core.

This is the only real flaw in the book.

It's hard to take. Hard to read. The first fifty pages left me so thoroughly disgusted that I wanted to fling the book down and never pick it up again.

The stories Hill has uncovered left me uncomfortable at first, and then increasingly cynical. I began searching for a silver lining and, eventually, I found several. For starters, I was relieved to note that my favourite side, Glasgow Rangers, is never mentioned. (Although, in my now cynical mind, that does not place them above suspicion.) Hill also included several stories of brave men and women standing up to corruption. Reporters in Malaysia exposing far reaching corruption as well as the uplifting story of girls amateur soccer in Nairobi are just two examples of people standing up to corruption. There is still a lot of good in the world of soccer. Hill leaves his readers with the sincere hope that these bastions of honesty and character can hold out and continue to fight the good fight.

The most important of all the good to come forward in The Fix is the book itself. The Fix gets the word out, putting Football Associations worldwide on notice that something is rotten in the state of soccer. As Hill points out in his blog: "We can do something about the corruption in football. The first thing is to ensure that there are effective well-staffed and well-resourced security departments in not just UEFA, but also at FIFA and in every National Football Association around the world. "

I've read a lot of books on soccer and sports, and The Fix is the first book that does more then earn a recommendation. It makes me want to sit soccer managers and Football Association administrators down and read the entire book to them. It makes me want to get involved and help stop the moral decay of the Beautiful Game.

I highly recommend this book to anyone, not just soccer fans or sports fans, but anyone with a passing interest in organized crime, corruption or globalization. It's a fascinating, ableit unsettling, read that is well written and incredibly informative.

The Sweet Science has Soured

2008-12-05T13:10:00.006-05:00

I know I am on the verge of being a curmudgeon, what with my complaints about the Canadian Football League, but being on the eve of the bout between Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao. The Dream Match, I feel I need to address boxing's downward spiral.

As Yahoo! Sports' Kevin Iole points out in his article "Boxing needs best-of-the-best bouts", there is definitely something wrong with the sport of boxing:

"The [Mayweather Jr. v. De La Hoya] match sold nearly 20 percent more on pay-per-view than the previous record and generated more than $170 million in gross revenue, or a ballpark amount the Yankees are willing to pay CC Sabathia to pitch for them over the next few years.

Ticket revenue alone counted for $18.4 million, with an average ticket sold at $1,078.53."

Despite the marquee match-up, and the huge bank the fight did, boxing is still in a serious state of decline. In Iole's words: "If anything, U.S. boxing in 2008 is in worse shape than it was in 2007. There’s less television, there are more empty seats and even relatively big fights are going unnoticed."

Iole offers a few ideas as to why the sport is suffering. As the title of his article implies, he sees the lack of big cards as the biggest problem. He wants big names on big cards to draw more attention to the sport. One of the promoters he interviews, Bob Arum, points out that it's because there's not enough boxing on free television.

I think they are, in part, both right. As Cheapseats reader Maria pointed out in her comment on my CFL article: "My big complaint is that the Grey Cup is broadcast on TSN, not on one of your basic cable channels. I only pay for basic cable. I was not able to watch the Grey Cup." Maria is right. Making events available to a wider audience is crucial to the success of the sport. Pay-per-view cards doesn't just limit your audience, it alienates them. I've never heard of Manny Pacquiao before, because he's rarely, if ever, mentioned on television.

Why are boxers not well known? I think it's because there's no major league of boxing. The best football players in the world play in the National Football League. The best hockey players (except Jaromir Jagr) play in the National Hockey League. In boxing? I have no idea which league is the "major" league. Do you? Likely not.

Instead, the talent is spread around and thinned out. Iole can't get his "big name, big card" because there is not a single boxing federation that has all the top stars. A fan trying to familiarize themselves with the sport can't follow just one promotion - - they need to follow three or four.

This disorder spills over to television as well. No major network wants to pick up boxing events because none of them can truly lay claim to being the best. All of the heavyweight championships that are floating around have lost their value because there are three others like them.

For boxing to get back up on its feet, to beat the count out decision, they need to start unifying events, promotions, and most importantly, the belts. Only then will fans be able to figure out whether or not a match is actually a competitive contest, and then boxing will be able to make it on to prime time network television. Without unification, boxing will continue to decay.

Why the Canadian Football League just does not appeal

2008-11-24T16:46:00.008-05:00

Yesterday the Calgary Stampeders won the 96th Grey Cup from the Montreal Alouettes in Montreal in front of 66,308 screaming fans. It was the second largest Grey Cup crowd in the championship's historic existence.

I was having a nap.

The Stamps had something of a vendetta against the Als - - they had been slighted by the CFL when they received no awards, while the Als had been met with critical acclaim. Although the Stamps' QB Henry Burris had had a career season, the Als' Anthony Calvillo was given the nod for Most Valuable Player in the CFL's regular season. The Stamps played with a passion rarely seen in any sport.

Or so I'm told. I was watching Charlie Wilson's War.

As you can tell, the CFL just does not appeal to me. A shocking but true fact as I am their ideal target audience. After all, I'm a middle class male between the ages of 18 and 45. Everyone wants my attention. If I may be so bold: I am the perfect CFL demographic. I love sports. I love football. I love Canada. I'm an ardent fan of all things Torontonian, and would naturally become a hardline fan of the Argos.

But the CFL just doesn't stick with me.

I absolutely love Canadian football, at least on paper. I think the game and rules of the CFL are far superior to the American game with higher scores. The three downs emphasize efficiency and speed, while the bigger field lets individual players shine. Unfortunately, most of the best football players in the world play in the NFL or NCAA. The cream of the crop in the CFL are always in danger of being scooped up by an NFL team for more money.

What immediately ruins the CFL for me are the television broadcasts. The production values are so low, and in particular, the commentators are so bad, that it is almost impossible to watch. On TSN's SportsCentre, the CFL analysts were interviewing a jubilant Henry Burris who was holding the Grey Cup at the table. Former CFL Quarterback and current grillmaster Matt Dunigan asked him how he felt after winning the championship and the Grey Cup MVP trophy. Seriously. Do we expect anything other then happiness from Burris? Is he going to break down into tears and apologize for an interception earlier in the game? Come on. He's won the championship, the MVP, and has a huge grin plastered on his face. Ask a tougher question.

The CFL has to operate on the assumption that there is little familiarity with the game, its players, and even its teams. At the same time, they have to make sure they do not condescend to the fans. I appreciate it's a fine line to walk, but it's a reality of sports today that all fans will become familiar with their product on television. If your television product isn't informative, entertaining and polished, people will flip the channel to something that is. The CFL is admittedly up against some tough competition in the form of America's National Football League which is as slick as it comes, but Chris Schultz meathead-esque explanations of plays can surely be refined.

Book Review: Everything They Had by David Halberstam

2008-11-18T12:32:00.009-05:00

I am trying very hard to fill out my collection of sports writing books. I want to be able to get a feel for all the different kinds of writers out there. Old, new, and different. To that end, I've read Stephen Brunt's Searching for Bobby Orr, John Feinstein's Living on the Black, Sam Sheridan's A Fighter's Heart and the classic Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger amongst many others.

They've all been very different, but enjoyable reads. Friday Night Lights stands out amongst the rest for the sheer intensity of the narrative, but they all had something to offer. A Fighter's Heart was surprisingly philosophical and sophisticated. Searching for Bobby Orr had a dark sense of mystery as Brunt tries, and in some ways, fails to illuminate Bobby Orr's life. Living on the Black is educational but light fare, despite the bulk and thickness of the book.

Everything They Had is, again, very different from these other books. It's not one continuous narrative, but a collection of articles and essays by Halberstam through out his life. The text smells of cigar smoke and Old Spice. Many of the stories amount to "things aren't the way they used to be, and I'm not sure I like it." But there's also a real sense of nostalgia, particularly articles like "The Good Old Days - for Baseball Owners" and "Maybe I Remember DiMaggio's Kick". Many of his most recent articles address Halberstam's post-9/11 reality, and how for him sports no longer hold the power they once did. His work has been dated by the passage of time. For example, as he writes in praise of Pedro Martinez, he talks about the astonishing longevity of Roger Clemens. Obviously, Clemens has been discredited thanks to the Mitchell Report. Similarly, he writes in praise of Steve Belichick and how he instilled such an impressive work ethic in his son Bill, the coach of the New England Patriots whose name has been tarnished by accusations that he video taped other teams' practices. However, this is not a criticism of Halberstam. Hindsight is 20/20, and Halberstam was writing in what were less cynical times.

Halberstam's writing doesn't focus on the games themselves. Indeed, I can't think of a single statistic he cites. Rarely does he provide even a specific date for an event. The minutiae of the games are covered with broad brush strokes. The real focus of his narratives, his tales, are the people. The athletes lives, who they are and what they've experienced are Halberstam's preoccupation. Stories about Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio and especially Jackie Robinson abound. In all honesty, he covers the three of them so much, his stories begin to repeat themselves and run together in my memory.

It reads like a conversation with your grandfather.

But that, is a good thing. A great thing, even. Halberstam is one of the great American journalists of the twentieth (and twenty-first) centuries, and to see him at work is excellent. His style is very different from anything I've read and really creates a sense of timelessness not just to his favourite sports, but to all his sports. As dated as some of his references may seem, they also ring true. As his father loved Christy Mathewson, he loved Joe DiMaggio and Jackie Robinson and contemporary New Yorkers love ARod and Derek Jeter (okay, maybe not). Because his tone is so conversational, you can forgive the repetitive nature of the book, and enjoy the true love and craftsmanship in every article.

The Case for Roy Halladay to win the Cy Young

2008-11-15T13:02:00.005-05:00

On Friday, left-hander Cliff Lee of the Cleveland Indians won the American League Cy Young Award, the annual award handed out to each league's best pitcher. While I don't doubt his 22 wins and only 3 losses were impressive, I think the Cy Young Electors made a mistake. They should have given it to Roy Halladay of the Toronto Blue Jays.

In 2008 Halladay and Lee were actually quite similar statistically:

Cliff Lee went 22-3 with a 2.54 ERA, a 1.11 whip and had 170 strikeouts.
Roy Halladay went 20-11 with a 2.78 ERA, a 1.05 WHIP and had 206 strikeouts.

Where Lee had a better won-loss record and ERA, Halladay is a strikeout artist and put fewer men on base.

But the Cy Young isn't just about wins and losses - - after all, closers like Eric Gagne have won it - - and there is more to baseball then just statistics.

Halladay led the league in complete games, with nine. That kind of consistency is crucial for a long season because it gives your bullpen an unscheduled day off. It also gives the entire team a sense of confidence, that they can rely on him to carry them through the game. Cliff Lee, who struggled mightily the previous season (5-8 record, 6.29 ERA) always had a sense of doom about him, even as he had a career season. Halladay's ability to finish a game is actually quite an accomplishment. In fact, Halladay had more complete games then the entire pitching staffs of any other team in the American League East. He had more complete games then the combined staffs of the Yankees and Red Sox.

Halladay did not have run support from his team. He had four games where he lost by a run, and two no-decisions where the Jays lost by a run. One heartbreaking day in late April Halladay lost 1-0 to the Boston Red Sox after pitching 8.2 innings. The key play was when Gold Glove-winning centre-fielder Vernon Wells' made a fielding error in the ninth inning. With the slow David Ortiz on second, Kevin Youkilis hit a single to centre that Wells picked up and then dropped, giving the lumbering Ortiz enough time to round third and head for home. If you make half of these one-run games go Halladay's way, he has a 23-9 record and an even stronger case for the Cy Young.

I know Woulda-Shoulda-Coulda is a dangerous game to play, but Halladay put in a career season that was only marred by Lee's impressive turnaround from the 2007 season. Granted, some sports writers did acknowledge Halladay's contributions to the Blue Jays, and he finished in second in the Cy Young balloting. However, if you put a premium on consistency and ability to raise a team up, Roy Halladay is your man for the 2008 American League Cy Young Award.

Is there some sort of terrible commissioner contest going on?

2008-10-28T10:12:00.005-04:00

Some days I really get the idea that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig are in some sort of perverse contest to see who can ruin their respective league's the fastest. What's that? You put hockey franchises in Phoenix and Atlanta? I'll end the All Star Game in a tie and introduce interleague play!

This week has been a classic example of this one downmanship.

It started with Bud Selig, or the office of the league commissioner deciding that the World Series games should all start at 8:30... sorry, 8:29 eastern standard time every night, even though both teams are in the eastern time zone. I am sure this was to make the World Series more accessible to the Midwest and West Coast fans. However, it means that young fans of the Tampa Bay Rays and Philadelphia Phillies have to stay up until at least 11:30 at night to watch their home teams play. Any sensible parent would have to send their kids to bed around 10 on a school night. How does a sport, recovering from a major faith-shaking scandal, expect to grow young fans and get them interested in the sport if they can't even watch the championship series in its entirety?

Apparently, Gary Bettman saw this and felt he could do better. (Worse?) After a week of excited speculation that a Western conference hockey team, likely the Nashville Predators, would be bought by Research in Motion co-owner Jim Balsille and moved to Toronto, Gary Bettman announced that it was a baseless rumour that would never happen. Why? He didn't say. One can only assume that he is against the idea of an unsuccessful and unpopular team being moved to a proven hockey hotbed that could easily support a second franchise because he dislikes the idea of people enjoying the National Hockey League.

Not to be outdone, Bud Selig decided that Game 5 of the World Series should be played even though it was raining and there was no sign of abatement. The hometown Phillies were starting ace Cole Hamels, and, if they won, would win the World Series. However, the rain was so bad that halfway through the sixth inning the game was suspended as a 2-2 tie. Hamels was still on the mound at the end of the game, can't possibly be expected to start the day after throwing six innings worth of pitches in the pouring rain and freezing temperatures. Essentially, his start last night has been wasted and has given the Rays another shot at winning the game.

I shudder to think how Bettman will top this disaster...

The UFC Drinking Game

2008-10-27T08:09:00.004-04:00

Watching Ultimate Fighting Championship cards is a popular pass time in my household. My girlfriend's brother-in-law fights professionally, and so we've all taken to watching fights. Obviously, UFC produces the best cards, but I'll also watch Bodog, and International Fight League. I even watched Elite XC one drunken night.

Since we're well groomed, experienced UFC viewers we have developed a UFC drinking game.

Here are the general rules:

The Ultimate Fighting Championship Drinking Game:

Take a drink every time someone falls.
Take a drink every time someone gets back up. (Yes, even if they're helped up by their corner at the end of a round or match)
Take a drink every time you see Joe Rogan's gigantic watch.
Take a drink every time a fighter is described as being "a complete fighter" or "well rounded".
Take a drink every time Joe Rogan talks about "focusing on" a particular skill "at camp".
Take a drink every time Joe Rogan mentions his own fighting career.
If you're feeling bold, take a drink every time Joe Rogan states the obvious.
Finish your drink every time Joe Rogan refers to "Mission Control".
Finish your drink if Mandy Moore appears on camera.
Finish your drink every time a former member of That 70's Show appears on camera.

As the night progresses, you can add on more rules, like taking a drink every time a fighter needs a translator. However, these are definitely a good guideline to add even more excitement to the next UFC PPV.

An ode to Jamie Moyer

2008-10-25T18:38:00.003-04:00

Tonight is game three of the 2008 World Series, and the series is moving to Citizen's Bank Park in Philadelphia. My prediction of a five game championship for the Tampa Bay Rays is holding up so far, and both teams have played well, despite some fielding errors and the Phillies avid interest in leaving their players on base.

Frankly, the games have been pretty slow, but there is definitely one point of interest tonight: the ball is going to be put into forty-five year old Jamie Moyer's hand. He had a good season with 16 wins, and 123 strikeouts, but he'll be sorely tested against twenty-five year old phenom Matt Garza. Insert joke about dusting off his best pitches here.

To put it in perspective, B.J. Upton, the Rays slugging center fielder and presumptive World Series MVP should the Rays pull off their miracle season, was born in 1984. Two years later, a young James Moyer took the mound for his first career start with the Chicago Cubs. And people say John McCain is old.

Be clear: This is not to mourn Jamie Moyer's life, but to celebrate it. He is, actually, one of the most dependable starters in baseball, and has been for, well, over two decades. Although he's only average just over 10 wins a season, he had a reduced workload when he was younger and had two injury shortened seasons. He was also, of course, affected by the shortened 1994 strike season. He's had a twenty win season and a twenty-one win season. He's likely not bound for the Hall of Fame, but he will be remembered as a hard working, conscientious player. In John Feinstein's Living on the Black, he is often quoted and comes across as intelligent, likeable and very respectful of the stars of the book, Tom Glavine and Mike Mussina. In particular, his reverence for Glavine's style of play is enlightening. This is why Moyer (who Feinstein describes as "Glavine-lite") will be interesting to watch tonight.

Moyer, like Glavine, will not overwhelm batters with speed. In fact, his fastball will likely top-out at an agonizing 89 kph. Instead, he'll use his perfect location and change-ups to keep the Rays off balance. He's mastered the circle change-up (you can see it in the above photo) and will work away at each one of the Rays batters. He will be is methodical and surgical. He'll have done his homework on each and every player on the Rays, and he'll take his time to throw the tough pitches. Moyer is going to be happy to have a ten pitch at bat, as long as it results in a strikeout.

All that matters to Moyer is to get the Phillies a win.

The ultimate plodding pitcher, old enough to be many players father, might actually be the most exciting story to unfold in tonight's World Series match-up.

World Series Prediction: Rays Your Expectations

2008-10-20T13:11:00.007-04:00

Last night the Tampa Bay Rays completed the rags-to-riches turn around that they'd been on the verge of for the past week - - going from worst to first in the American League in the span of a single season. Their game seven victory in the American League Championship Series finalized the World Series match-up: the Rays versus the Philadelphia Phillies, the National League champions.

A week ago, with both teams on the verge of winning their respective League's Championship Series, I would've picked the Philadelphia Phillies to win the World Series. They have a superb infield with Ryan Howard covering first, Jimmy Rollins in the gap between second and third, and Chase Utley, the best second baseman in Major League Baseball. They have the speedy Shane Victorino in the outfield and leading off their batting order, and consistent power hitter Pat Burrell also in the field. Coming off the bench they have known-Canadian Matt Stairs who can provide leadership and hitting when called upon. Their pitching is also impressive with Cole Hamels anchoring their rotation and the perfect Brad Lidge as their closer.

However, unlike the Phillies, the Rays lost their fifth and then their sixth league championship games to the Red Sox. Only in the seventh and deciding game were they able to bear down and gut out a 4-2 win over the reigning World Series Champions.

I think this is to Tampa Bay's advantage.

While the Phillies have been resting on their laurels, maybe getting a little stiff jointed from sitting at home and certainly losing any momentum they had, the Rays have still been battling. The Rays have the confidence boost of winning a hard fought series from the reigning champions, and haven't had enough time to breathe, let alone let any neuroses or doubt gnaw away at them.

Although the Phillies are definitely a strong team, they are in an odd place mentally. They can't claim to be underdogs, but they certainly aren't favourites. Although only a week has passed since their last game, it can seem like an eternity in the world of sports. Meanwhile, the Rays are riding a wave of good will and positive energy, one that goes far beyond any pun-based headlines. It's a positivity that comes from freshly won battles conquered by a team.

I am sure that it will be an entertaining World Series, but I also think it will be a short one with the surging Rays winning in five games.

Yet another reason why the NFL is the best league on Earth

2008-09-29T10:21:00.004-04:00

There are many reasons why the National Football League is one of the strongest sports product in the world. Its television deal, its marketing, the drawing power of the Super Bowl, and the parity of the league season-to-season all contribute to its stability and power as an entertainment tour de force. I think one of the most under-appreciated aspects of the NFL's business is its television production department, NFL Films.

Although they're not apparent to the average television viewer, much of the content provided for NFL broadcasts, particularly the on-the-sidelines coverage and behind the scenes stuff is provided by NFL Films. All those DVDs covering ascending franchises on their climbs to the Super Bowl and the Vince Lombardi Trophy are done by the fine folks at NFL Films too.

They are also the minds behind much of the NFL Networks programming including: NFL Total Access, Hard Knocks, Playbook, NFL Films Presents, Statefarm - NFL Matchup, NFL Replay, Film Session and my personal favourite, Hey Rookie! Welcome to the NFL!.

I caught an episode of Hey Rookie! a couple of weeks ago, and it is an incredibly entertaining and informative show. The format is simple. Starting with the NFL draft in April, the cameras follow a group of four or five NFL rookies through the course of their first season in the NFL. This season, the focus has been on five players: Aqib Talib, Glenn Dorsey, Rashard Mendenhall, Caleb Campbell and Darren McFadden. It's interesting to see how the players prepare mentally and physically for the season, but it's amazing to see their different personalities and how they lead their lives.

For instance, cornerback Aqib Talib is fast talking but family oriented, illustrated by his decision to stay at home during the draft and watch it unfold on television with his family. However, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers draft him, he breaks out into an over-the-top dance and assures his new coach Jon Gruden that he's going to single-handedly shut down star wide-receiver Steve Smith. This is a stark contrast to Caleb Campbell, a dour graduate from Army. Campbell doesn't even get to sign his first professional contract before the Army changes their official policy and re-calls him to continue his tour of duty.

It's a fascinating show, and helps to flesh out what the National Football League is all about. They're such a strong feature of the NFL's production that it makes you wish that other leagues had such competent television and film producers. For instance, an NHL equivalent to Hey Rookie! would make for compelling television that could help fans new to the sport of hockey appreciate and understand the preparation and athleticism that goes into professional hockey.

A bitter Blue and White pill

2008-09-22T14:51:00.004-04:00

I take this blog and the Astonishing Dodgeblog pretty seriously. My goal is to hone my writing craft and develop the skills necessary to regularly write concise, informative articles that provide balanced viewpoints on the world of sports. Because of that, I try to avoid covering my local teams, or the teams I support as a fan.

That said, I cannot resist temptation any longer.... I need to talk about the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The past two years have been tremendously disappointing as a fan of the Leafs. It is the hope and expectation of every member of the Leafs nation that the Leafs will contend for the Cup every year, but since the NHL lockout, they have not even made the playoffs. Of course, both years they've been well over .500 and have been very close to making the playoffs. Two years ago they missed out by a half a game, and last year the Blue and White were eleven points out.

However, with expectations so consistently high, being average or even mediocre just is not good enough. So the Leafs fired former general manager John Ferguson Jr. (now with the San Jose Sharks as head scout) and hired former Leafs GM Cliff Fletcher and gave him the clear mandate of tearing apart the roster with a clear eye to re-building the Maple Leafs.

In that respect, Fletcher has delivered.

Darcy Tucker. Kyle Wellwood. Bryan McCabe. Andrew Raycroft. Possibly Mats Sundin. All gone.

To replace them a bunch of Whos? have been brought in, such as Jeff Finger and Nikolai Kulemin to be the foundations of the team. More significantly, Fletcher hired former San Jose Sharks coach Ron Wilson to give the team a new defense-first work ethic.

What Cliff Fletcher has not, will not, and can not deliver is a winning franchise.

The Leafs are going to stink this season. They will be in the bottom five of the league. Oddly, I expect them to be more competitive then the previous two seasons. They'll lose, and they'll lose often, but I wholly expect their goals against to be much lower. They'll get beaten a lot, but not badly. They'll lose by ones and twos, not by sixes and sevens as they have in previous years.

It's going to be a bitter pill to swallow, but this season will be the foundation of a much improved team.

Rugby and nationalism

2008-09-17T09:00:00.002-04:00

My friend Matt recently recommended an article to me that he read at the Economist.com on how Nelson Mandela became a fan of rugby so that he could relate to the stern warden of his prisoner, and that it later became a cultural touchstone for all South Africans to rally around as they began a new, more tolerant era in the early 1990s.

The article is inspired by the writing of journalist John Carlin, who has written extensively on the relationship between South Africa, rugby, and Nelson Mandela. I'm not going to reiterate the entire article, but instead encourage you to read it yourself. It's an excellent read and touches on some crucial points.

Sport is intertwined with almost all aspects of society. Ask a Glasgow Rangers fan about the relationship between religion and sport or a Pittsburgh Steelers fan about the relationship between the economy and sport.

John Carlin's work is not groundbreaking or new, but it is interesting and worthwhile to provide sports fans, and students of cultural history, with another fine example of how sport reflects and effects the world around it.

The psyche of Vince Young

2008-09-15T09:00:00.000-04:00

The National Football League's season is now in its second week, and there has been no shortage of storylines: Favre with the New York Jets, Pennington with the Miami Dolphins and then a host of injuries like Tom Brady's knee, Peyton Manning's knee, and, in the NCAA, Charlie Weiss' knee.

However, the story that interests me the most is the ongoing drama surrounding Vince Young. During their first week loss to their AFC South division rivals the Jacksonville Jaguars Young apparently repeatedly asked to be benched after being booed by the hometown crowd for throwing two interceptions.

After the game, Young was despondent to the point that his coach, Jeff Fisher, called the police to have Young tracked down and brought back to the Titans office for a long heart-to-heart about the game and Young's place on the team. According to recent reports, Young was talking about committing suicide. Young also had a sit-down with a team psychologist to discuss some of the problems he was facing. The media's coverage went in to overdrive as people asked themselves "What is the matter with Vince Young?!"

My friend Ruben forwarded me an excellent piece by FOX Sports columnist Jason Whitlock titled "Sad to say, but Young's problems were predictable". Whitlock's social commentary discusses how African Americans have to learn to look after each other. "Vince Young, like a lot of young African-American men, desperately needs to hear the truth from the people who love him." I'm not black, nor am I American, so I can't comment on the role race played in all this.

What I do know is that as spectacular an athlete Vince Young is, it's the mental game that really counts not just in football, but in every sport. Although pure skill and athleticism can triumph on most levels of sport, it is mental toughness, dedication and discipline that wins on every level of competition.

Right now, Vince Young does not have that mental toughness and it's eroding his dedication and discipline.

Vince Young needs his family and friends to rally around him and give him proper love and support, even if that means telling him to take time off from football, or even retire from the game altogether. NFL coaches are not a particularly touchy-feely group, so for Jeff Fisher to express such concern really is indicative of a problem with Young. He's clearly struggling on and off the field, so it's time for him to re-focus his energies, for the good of the Titans, and, more importantly, for his own good.

A blogging update

2008-09-12T12:44:00.002-04:00

I have been a little, actually, very, lackadasical in updating this blog. For my loyal readers, I apologize. You guys and girls deserve better then that.

This fall I am taking a semester off of school to focus on working and my writing. This is in preparation for beginning at Centennial College this January in their newest post-grad diploma: sports journalism. As you can imagine, I'm very excited.

I will be getting back to blogging here regularly, as practice for my new school. Further, I've started a second blog called the Astonishing Dodgeblog which is about my exciting life as a semi-pro dodgeball player in Toronto. By all means, visit both blogs regularly, since they're going to be alot more active in the coming days, weeks, and months.

Brett Favre: Sportsman of the Year

2008-08-13T11:14:00.007-04:00

Last December, Sports Illustrated named Brett Favre their 2007 Sportsman of the Year. He was awarded this honor for his dedication to the people of Green Bay and for his leadership. When interviewed about the award, Favre described leadership as "somehow getting 52 other guys to raise their level of play. To get them to believe in what we're trying to do. You do that by setting an example, by doing things the right way. I've always shown up, I've always been prepared, I practice every day. I practice hard. I study. No matter what happens on the field, I never point blame at anybody else. Everything I do comes back to leadership, the example I want to set."

"No matter what happens on the field, I never point blame at anybody else. Everything I do comes back to leadership, the example I want to set."

Is it too late to get an asterisk on this award?

As the Globe and Mail's Mark Healy outlined in his most recent article, the past six weeks has seen Brett Favre become the poster boy for classlessness.

Favre announced his retirement from the NFL at the conclusion of the 2007/2008 season to much fanfare and publicity. The Green Bay Packers, in preparation for the 2008 entry draft, made a point of repeatedly asking Favre if he might change his mind and come back. They made it clear that this was a point of no return. He confirmed that he was staying retired, and so they drafted a quarterback in the draft and announced that they were making Aaron Rodgers, Favre's back-up for the past three years, their guy.

Suddenly, Favre was asking to be the starter again, or for his unconditional release, likely to play for NFC North Division rivals the Minnesota Vikings or the Chicago Bears.

After a prolonged soap opera of he-said-they-said, Favre was traded to the AFC East New York Jets for conditional draft picks.

In my mind, this forever tarnishes Favre's legacy, starting with his Sportsman of the Year honors. His actions in the past six week totally negate what was said in the glowing ten page article about Favre's character and career.

Donald Driver, a wide receiver with the Packers for the past nine seasons said of Favre ""He means everything to these people. He's not only our leader -- he's the symbol of the franchise, of the whole town. There's a generation of fans in Green Bay who don't know this team ever existed without Brett."

Who'd have though that just nine months later the team would be without Favre, and would be glad for it.

Book Review: Living on the Black by John Feinstein

2008-06-10T13:00:00.002-04:00

Book Review: Living on the Black by John Feinstein

In a post-Mitchell Report world, baseball has to place emphasis on the finesse and strategy of the sport. John Feinstein's Living on the Black does just that, focusing on control and location pitchers Tom Glavine and Mike Mussina for the entirety of the 2007 season. Feinstein provides knowledge and insight to an aspect of the game that had long been ignored by Bud Selig and the powers that be in Major League Baseball, namely pitching.

In the 2007 season, veteran pitchers Mike Mussina and Tom Glavine were nearing important milestones in their careers. Mussina was seeking 250 wins, while Glavine was trying to achieve his 300th win, and an almost guaranteed place in Cooperstown. However, neither pitcher has ever really been a power thrower, with Glavine in particular having to rely on breaking balls and careful ball location over the plate.

The title of the book says it all: Living on the Black refers to home plate and the one inch of black rubber that serves as its border. A control pitcher wants his pitches to brush that inch of black so that umpires have to call the strike, but hitters are loathe to take a swing. The book details the intricate art of pitching and the amount of skill a pitcher must have to excel in the majors.

John Feinstein is considered one of the leading sports journalists in North America today. His articles are regularly published in the Washington Post's impressively well written sports section, and he has written over twenty-three books. Living on the Black was my introduction to him and his writing, and it was an impressively solid read.

More importantly, it is a well timed book. Although he'd been planning this project for nearly six years (originally with the Yankees' David Cone as the subject), he could not have picked a better year then 2007. Mussina did make his 250 wins. Glavine did make his 300 wins, possibly the last man to ever accomplish the feat. Most importantly, it preceded the Mitchell Report and serves as a harbinger of the new style of baseball that is going to be championed by Major League Baseball: small ball.

In fact, just this week Jose Mota had an article on what he calls "National League-style baseball" which emphasizes aggressive base-running, solid defense and generating runs. A rose by any other name is small ball. I expect that this is the tip of the iceberg. Soon many members of the baseball intelligentsia will be singing the praises of small ball and the importance of starting pitcher. Although I doubt this was Feinstein's intention, his well researched and interesting book Living on the Black will likely be the first major piece in this new wave of baseball thought. I recommend you give it a read and beat the curve.

New School Rivalry

2008-06-05T11:56:00.009-04:00

My first encounter with the National Basketball Association was, unfortunately, when Magic Johnson revealed that he had tested positive for HIV. My NBA world revolved around Michael Jordan and the Bulls, Shaquille O'Neal, and later the Toronto Raptors. Although I'm aware of the historic rivalry between the Lakers and the Celtics, I've never seen one of their historic match-ups.

But watching old games on ESPN Classic, seeing writers and journalists and other commentators talk about the match-up between East and West, white and black, Bird and Johnson, has made me feel that tension. It's a rivalry that echoes beyond just a simple sports rivalry and reflects societal values and issues. Like Glasgow Rangers and Celtic, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs, the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers have a rivalry that resonates with people on a deeper cultural frequency and reverberates with economic, political, and racial tensions that define America.

The Celtics were white, with an old school game that focused on fundamentals and had a large following not just in Boston, but in rural middle America, thanks largely to the presence of "The Hick from French Lick, Indiana's own Larry Bird. The Lakers were flashy, urban, and black and under the leadership of Earvin "Magic" Johnson earned the nickname "The Showtime Lakers". Their clash of styles and personalities played out as a microcosm of the politics of the United States.

But today, America and the NBA are both very different. Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski recently wrote that this is exactly what David Stern needed to revitalize the embattled NBA - - an old school, big market rivalry after the disastrous draft that saw the top picks go to small markets like Seattle, Portland and Memphis. "Even a seething Stern couldn’t have conceived that a wayward lottery would’ve triggered the events that led to his sport’s wildest dream – the Los Angeles Lakers-Boston Celtics NBA Finals," Wojnarowski correctly focuses on the impact of big media markets getting the finals after the Tim Donaghy scandal, Kobe Bryant's temper tantrums, and the disaster of the New Ball.

But there's more to it then that. Ignoring all the controversy surrounding the NBA, this is an opportunity for the new stars of the league like Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett to at last step out of the shadows of their predecessors like Michael Jordan and Bill Russell and make their own mark on the sport. Just like baseball's real turning point in the 20th century was when Roger Maris surpassed Babe Ruth, basketball needs its stars to step up and surpass the legends of yesterday.

Of course, with the Celtics jumping out to a two-nothing lead in the series, the surprise is who that superstar has turned out to be -- not reigning NBA MVP Kobe Bryant, but quiet Eastern Conference all-star Paul "The Truth" Pierce. Although only three teams have come back from such a deficit in the NBA Finals, there are still a lot of games to be played in this series, and a whole new generation of fans to impress.

Where the Lakers and Celtics of the 1970s and 1980s defined the NBA and served as a reflection of the social tensions of the time, this New School rivalry could not just serve as a reflection of new societal values, but a catalyst to help further change.

Ken Griffey Jr.'s fading milestone

2008-05-30T11:40:00.004-04:00

Growing up, I wasn't really into hockey, which is odd for a kid from a hockey obsessed town like Toronto. I was disinterested in it because I was (and am) a terrible skater. But baseball? Baseball I loved. After all, I was nine and ten years old when the Jays won their World Series, it was before the strike season, and dammit, I was good at baseball.

My favourite player was, easily, Ken Griffey Jr. He was classy but competitive, and tall and thin just like me. I used to stand in my driveway and practice swinging my bat, trying to emulate his swing. I now realize that I could not have chosen a better role model for my swing. It's picture perfect: full of grace and power, efficiently slicing through the air. Griffey's swing can put the ball anywhere on the field, or, if he chooses, past the outfield fences.

That's why I was saddened to read Tim Brown's article on Griffey and the Silent 600, which highlights something that I had also noticed: although Ken Griffey Jr. is approaching the impressive milestone of 600 career home runs, there is little fanfare or media coverage. Even the hometown Reds fans aren't excited about this milestone.

Of all the home run hitters in the modern era, he, along with Frank Thomas, are some of the few to have escaped without getting caught up in the steroid madness. Griffey's body doesn't fit the stereotypical HGHers mold, and there is no doubt that a lot of his success comes from the sweetness of his swing, not of a syringe.

For me, the defining moment of Griffey's career wasn't on the field, but instead at the end of his tenure with the Mariners. His teammate Alex Rodriguez had signed on with the Texas Rangers for the largest baseball contract of all time, and the New York Yankees were approaching Griffey with a similarly bloated offer. Instead, he chose to go to his hometown Cincinnati Reds for considerably less. Although this did nothing to stem the tide of outrageous contracts in the late 1990s, I still admired Griffey's priorities.

Similarly, Griffey is an iconoclast today. A man who's reached a milestone through all natural means, but gets no attention for it, unlike last years cavalcade of shame while Barry Bonds approached the all-time record.

Ultimately, I think this is going to be the aftermath of the post-strike steroid era. The public's trust has been broken, and the honest, hard working and clean ball players will suffer because they don't get the credit they deserve, while the puffed up home run heroes like Jason Giambi attract all the media coverage for apologies where they do not actually say what they're apologizing for.

But for me, I still have my Reds cap, and my Ken Griffey Jr. unauthorized biography comic book, and I can't wait for him to hit his 600th homerun and truly earn his way into Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, because he was, and is, one of my baseball heroes.

Book Review: A Fighter's Heart

2008-05-07T09:00:00.000-04:00

One of the fastest growing sub-genres in sports writing is that of Martial Arts, particularly, Mixed Martial Arts. Thanks to television shows like the Ultimate Fighter and feature films like Redbelt. There are books on how to roll, how to train, the importance of a good striking game, and, of course, the biographies of fighters like Chuck Liddell and Matt Hughes.

However, the book that stands head and shoulders above the rest is A Fighter's Heart by Sam Sheridan.

A Fighter's Heart is a memoir that details Sheridan's involvement and growing understanding of professional fighting. His story begins in Australia, where he takes up Muay Thai kickboxing as a way of staying fit and spending his considerable savings earned from being a ship's mate aboard a private yacht. He moves from Australia to the fabled Fairtex gym in Thailand, and then on to training with Pat Miletich in the American Midwest, he practices Brazilian Jiu-Jitsiu with Brazilian Top Team in Rio, trains with an Olympic boxer in Oakland, tries tai chi in New York City with a master and even goes to Myanmar to see dog and cock fighting; throughout the journey he reflects on fighting and why it fascinates us.

It is these reflections that make the book. There are already countless books on how to train, how to fight, which strategies are the best, all of that. Sheridan's book covers some of that, but really, it explores why we fight. Of particular interest is the concept of "gameness". Our fascination with the ability to keep fighting, past the thresholds of pain and logic. It's a fascinating concept, and Sheridan does a great job of exploring it.

Honestly, I didn't know what to expect when I began reading this book, but after skimming the first chapter while at the World's Biggest Bookstore, I was intrigued. Sheridan's writing is engaging, and definitely a page-turner, a rarity in the world of fighter's autobiographies that are too often ghost-written and/or uninspired. He drew me in with his story, and his reflections on the value of gameness have stuck with me.

This is a book that would appeal to fight fans and novices alike. Highly recommended.

The Mysteries of Baseball Management

2008-04-28T16:32:00.006-04:00

I love the sport of baseball. Although it definitely takes athletic prowess and skill, it really is a game that hinges on tactics and strategies. It takes a keen mind to conceive and execute a successful plan of attack in baseball.

With that in mind, I can see no method to the madness of JP Ricciardi, the brains behind the Toronto Blue Jays.

Two seasons ago, the Blue Jays finished in second place in the American League East. Their biggest gaps were at shortstop where John McDonald had played brilliant defense but struggled at the plate; middle relief that often put the game out of reach; and a dependable second or third starting pitcher, preferably a left-hander.

Ricciardi responded by signing aging slugger Frank Thomas to be the team's new designated hitter, even though they'd been one of the more offensively gifted clubs the year before. He made some other additions, but the Thomas acquisition was Ricciardi's biggest move.

In no way did this address any of the team's needs. Admittedly, Frank Thomas proved to be a considerable asset, leading the Jays last year in home runs and RBI. He also made the Jays a more difficult team to pitch against. Pitching around him only added to the bases for solid hitters Alex Rios, Matt Stairs and Vernon Wells. It also took alot of pressure of those hitters, and other players in the Jays' line-up.

Unfortunately, the Big Hurt is a notoriously slow starter, and he was struggling at the start of this season. After some heated exchanges between John Gibbons and Thomas, Thomas was given his release. Shortly afterwards, he was picked up by the Oakland Athletics, with the Blue Jays picking up his $7 million tab.

Maybe Thomas was a problem in the locker room. Maybe, as speculated in much of the press, it was a cost cutting measure. Even if both of those issues contributed to his release, the move still doesn't make sense.

In both cases, Ricciardi should have moved him in the offseason, either for some draft picks or, better yet, some farm hands. It would have reduced the media attention and also meant that the Jays would have gotten something in return for Thomas. Instead of getting some bench depth, the Jays are now paying Frank Thomas to jack home runs for the competition, with literally nothing in return.

This is madness.

Alex the Great

2008-04-23T11:56:00.003-04:00

Unfortunately, the Philadelphia Flyers downed the Washington Captials 3-2 in overtime, winning game seven of their playoff series. The Capitals could not match the physicality and veteran experience of the Flyers who were able to push their way into the next round.

But with the completion of Alexander Ovechkin's third season, we have seen the beginning of the new National Hockey League. We have seen him become the league's clear-cut MVP, with an electrifying brand of hockey that can excite even the most casual fan.

What I like best about Ovechkin isn't just his incendiary offense but how solid his overall play is. He doesn't just lead the Caps in goals and assists, he leads them in hits and plus/minus, showing that he has a well-rounded game that includes defensive prowess as well.

He has been the cornerstone of a revitalized Washington Capitals, and has helped carve out a niche for the Caps in the DC market. Really, a remarkable feat given that beyond the Redskins, the number one sport in Washington is in Congress.

There is, of course, the comparisons to Canada's own, Sidney Crosby. Where Crosby is taciturn with the media, underscoring years of practice having been under the spotlight since being an adolescent in Nova Scotia, Ovechkin is exuberant and goofy in front of the camera. Where Ovechkin plays up his awkward mastery of English and fools around with his teammates, Crosby is careful to say all the right things about the right people.

For years to come we're going to be treated to seeing Ovechkin grow, mature, and become an even more dominant force on the ice. What'll be interesting is if he can maintain his fun-loving zest for life. But if this post-season is any indication, he'll not only perform, he'll thrive under the increased spotlight.

Book Review: Searching for Bobby Orr by Stephen Brunt

2008-03-14T15:13:00.007-04:00

I have read many sports biographies, "auto"biographies where the writing is undoubtedly done by a ghost writer, legit autobiographies and other non-fiction accounts of sports. I've read Leigh Montville's biography of Ted Williams, Jim Bouton's memoir Ball Four, H.G. Bissinger's Friday Night Lights and more recent releases like :07 Seconds or Less and Fantasyland.

Searching for Bobby Orr is in a league of its own.

Stephen Brunt, a regular columnist for the Globe and Mail, truly does an excellent job detailing the life of Bobby Orr, a notoriously uncooperative interview subject. Because he was denied personal access, Brunt relies on tons of background research in magazines, newspapers, and interviews of the people around him. Although he knows his subject very well, Brunt never gets too close, too admiring of Orr, providing the reader with a fairly objective account of what Bobby Orr is like.

More impressively, Brunt even makes notorious lawyer-cum-fraud artist Alan Eagleson seem sympathetic. This is no easy task, especially for an audience of hockey fans who are more likely to sympathize with their on-ice heroes who were taken gross advantage of by Mr. Eagleson. However, Brunt is able to present both sides of the argument fairly, even scoring some fair points on behalf of Eagleson.

This is one of Brunt's strengths: he really humanizes the story. He has an empathetic writing style that humanizes the subject matter. For my part, I'd always heard of Bobby Orr, but certainly never seen him play. I never understood how important he was to the sport of hockey on or off the ice. I'd always grown up idolizing Paul Coffey's offensive-defensive style, and I now appreciate that Orr is Coffey's stylistic ancestor.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who's got even a passing interest in hockey. It's a great read.

Love them or hate them - - the Leafs are important

2008-03-11T14:52:00.004-04:00

I have many friends and family who are not fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs. My mother is from Montreal and is a die-hard Habs fan; my girlfriend is from Edmonton, a lifelong Oilers fan, even though they've had some serious struggles. I totally appreciate that - - you should cheer for your team through thick and thin. They represent you. However, many Canadians cheer for their local team, and, should their team be eliminated from the playoffs, they then cheer for other Canadian teams.

Except the Leafs.

People hate the Leafs. Loathe the Leafs. Win or lose, many Canadians despise the Leafs and want to kick them when they are down.

For those of you who are not Canadian, this is part of a bigger Canadian issue. This vitriol is actually a symptom of Canada's rampant regionalism and the somewhat justified resentment of a very decentralized nation that has much of its business and media power centralized in Toronto.

Resentment towards the Leafs stems from the fact that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - - an institution financially supported by the federal government - - always focuses Hockey Night in Canada on the Maple Leafs. They always play in the main 7 PM time slot, and are the focus of any hot-stove conversation. Defenders of HNIC would deny this charge, but there is a more obvious reason for this, recently underscored by an article in the Globe and Mail:

The producer of "MVP" says she was recently warned by CBC programming director Kirstine Layfield that if the Leafs failed to make the Stanley Cup playoffs this year, the public broadcaster's arts and entertainment division would take a $10-million hit that would put some of the network's much-heralded new shows at risk.

There are many Leafs fans across Canada, vestiges of a time when the Leafs were English-Canada's team. This fan base is particularly rabid. Regularly watching Leafs games can be somewhat confusing because Leafs fans are as loud on the road as they are at home. Often, you need to see the logo on centre ice to tell where the Buds are playing.

You can love or hate the Maple Leafs, you can even dislike the NHL or sports in general, but if you are Canadian you can not deny this fact: the Toronto Maple Leafs are culturally significant. Even when they are struggling and not living up to the very high standards that their fans hold them to, the Toronto Maple Leafs are the most important Canadian sports franchise. I daresay they are one of the more important businesses in this nation.

So important that their on-ice struggles have cost the CBC and will apparently mean the cancellation of popular shows MVP, Intelligence and JPod. Mary Young Leckie, creator of MVP said "It's just another good reason to hate the Leafs." Can you imagine Coronation Street's success being dependent on the fortunes of Manchester United? The renewal of Seinfeld relying on the Yankees winning the pennant? Really, it's a pretty unique situation.

I'm sorry that these shows have been canceled, and as a fan of the Leafs I'm sorry that they're not going to make the playoffs. But I think that fans of other teams have to ease off their loathing of the Leafs, at least to the point that they can appreciate that our public broadcaster has been built upon a foundation paid for by the fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs are, regrettably, a necessary evil in this country, and their success translates to the continued cultural growth of this country.

A guest blogger

2008-03-10T14:55:00.005-04:00

My dad saw that I haven't been able to post on this blog for awhile, so he kindly offered to write a post for me. In the next few days I should be able to have some more time to dedicate to posting regularly here and will be back on track with my Monday, Wednesday and Friday schedule.

FLASH! Leaf fans not as smart as they think!

Here are some facts so that Leaf fans can legitimately restore their high opinions of themselves:

1. 1983 was the last draft year that 100% of the players drafted in the first round actually made it to the NHL. In fact, only four times before that (post-expansion), namely 1973, 1977, 1978 and 1979 did 100% of the first-round selections make the NHL.

2. In 1967 (when Canadian-born players prevailed), only 3 out of a total of 18 first rounders made the NHL. These were Serge Bernier (selected 3rd); Battleship Bob Kelly (selected 16th) and Al Karlander (selected 17th). Consider that the league doubled in size within months after this 1967 draft! Yet only these 3 made it!

3. Alexander Steen was picked by the Leafs in the first round. Last year, he had a 40 game scoreless streak. This year, he will, again, not score even 20 goals in the season.

Conclusion: Having first round draft choices does not assure success for NHL teams. It's a crap shoot. So dumping Mats Sundin for a first round draft choice and one or two 2nd stringers would have been stupid.

Conclusion: Sundin saved the Leafs from such a foolish trade - if it could even have been made - given current revulsion of GM's to rent-a-players. Leaf fans should not hang Sundin in effigy. They should show some appreciation for him (not just because he is probably the greatest player in franchise history). Particularly stupid are those who claim that Sundin should have waived the no-trade clause out of loyalty to the team. They subscribe to the Titus Oates mentality that you can save the team by abandoning it. How stupid!

Conclusion: Those idiots who say that the Leafs should deliberately tank it so that they can participate in the 5-team lottery for the top draft choice are particularly dull-witted. They are also dishonest. Firstly, the Leafs can enhance the value of their entire team by making the playoffs. Cliff Fletcher will have a hard time making successful trades if he is seen as offering a bunch of losers (who couldn't make the playoffs and who tanked it). Secondly, apart from enhancing the market-value of players who make the playoffs, the young players on the Leafs will gain valuable experience by playing in the playoffs. That kind of exciting, desperate hockey is not matched by any playoff in any sport. It is irreplaceable. Thirdly, if the Leafs tank it, they still might not win the lottery for the first draft choice.

Finally, shame on Stormin' Norman Rumack and Mike Milbury. They have encouraged frustrated Leaf fans to vent their deficient analyses of the situation. Are they idiots too? Or are they cynical members of the media who are fanning the flames for ratings? Either way, shame on them!

With my apologies...

2008-02-19T09:37:00.002-05:00

This is reading week and I've got pressing deadlines both at work and at school, so, unfortunately, my focus is elsewhere.

But here, instead of spending about seven minutes reading my blog, you can watch seven minutes of NBA Slam Dunk contest:

The NBA's Western Conference Cold War continues

2008-02-15T15:50:00.003-05:00

It started with the Memphis Grizzlies trade of Pau Gasol to the Lakers for spare parts to create a better low-post scoring threat to balance Kobe Bryant's perimeter and slashing game.

Then, the much discussed trade of the Miami Heat's Shaquille O'Neal to the Phoenix Suns for Shawn Marion.

And now, at long last, the New Jersey Nets have pulled the trigger and sent Jason Kidd to the Dallas Mavericks.

Only the gun misfired.

The Nets and Mavs agreed to exchange Jason Kidd for Devin Harris, Jerry Stackhouse, DeSagana Diop, Devean George and others. The trade was all but done. On Wednesday night the Nets didn't play Kidd against the Toronto Raptors (and paid for it by losing 109-91 ) and the Mavericks didn't play Harris or Stackhouse. Everything was going smoothly.

Except Devean George refused to waive his no trade clause.

And now, while he is being persuaded to agree to spend some time in the Swamp, Jerry Stackhouse might be ruining the deal by implying that he and the Mavericks worked out a deal where he would get waived by the Nets and then return immediately to the Mavericks.

This situation has become a laughable mess.

But that's what happens in Cold Wars, isn't it? As tension builds, as sides begin to arm themselves and increasingly ridiculous and desperate moves are made, things get out of hand.

At this rate, I'd be surprised if there were any superstars left in the Eastern Conference by the end of the season!

Breaking the back of steroids

2008-02-13T12:06:00.008-05:00

For those of you who live in a cave, but, oddly, have an internet connection that allows you to view this blog exclusively, earlier this week surefire Hall of Famer Roger Clemens appeared before a Congressional hearing investigating the Mitchell Report and his claims that he did not, in fact, use Human Growth Hormones or any other banned substances.

I think we can now call him simply "Roger Clemens" and drop the "surefire Hall of Famer" bit.

Mr. Clemens, as the Congressmen who were questioning him called him, has made himself look very very bad. So bad that I think he's done playing baseball and has hurt his chances at entering the Hall of Fame.

His former trainer, Brian McNamee, was the main source of the controversial Mitchell Report's list of steroid users. Of those accused in the Report, most admitted that they had, indeed, used steroids, HGH, or other performance enhancing drugs. Although many relied on the "I only tried it once" line of defense, practically everyone acknowledged that yes, they took drugs.

Andy Pettitte was one such player who owned up (manned up?) and admitted to his steroid use. So did Chuck Knoblauch. Both men have much in common. Both were former teammates of Roger Clemens. Both testified against him in sworn affadavits last Wednesday.

As Tom Verducci said shortly after Wednesday's hearing: "Two months later and even after nearly five hours of testimony Wednesday in front of Congress, the issue of whether or not Roger Clemens used steroids is left in a suspended state of dilemma: it's Clemens' word vs. Brian McNamee's word. Still."

I agree, by and large. But there is growing circumstantial evidence building against Clemens. McNamee was right in over fifty other cases. Two of the men who have admitted to steroid use have also backed up McNamee. This isn't hard evidence, but there's no evidence to support Clemens' claim of innocence.

I'll say this. I do think that Major League Baseball and its comissioner Bud Selig have turned a corner: I think they're now ready to really start laying some heavy lumber on the issue of steroids in baseball, and I think that starting with the 2008 season they'll be able to start re-building the public's trust.

The NCAA is dropping the ball

2008-02-12T19:47:00.000-05:00

I was watching Pardon the Interruption yesterday afternoon, when Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon read out an email asking what they thought of this play from the UCLA Bruins/Washington Huskies basketball game this past weekend.

For those of you who don't watch that clip (and really, you should), the play that unfolds is this: Tim Morris of the Washington Huskies has to inbound the ball. However, the UCLA Bruins defense is tight enough that he can't find anyone open. His five seconds almost up, Morris pulls a school yard trick and bounces the ball off of UCLA's Alfred Aboya. But instead of a quick bounce off Aboya's feet or knee or something equally inoffensive, Morris throws the ball as hard as he can off Aboya's face.

There was no call made by the referees. To Aboya's credit, he did not retaliate beyond giving Morris a few choice words.

On PTI both Kornheiser and Wilbon agreed that the refs should have given Morris a technical foul for unsportsmanlike conduct. I agree with them completely.

However, since the on-court officials made no call, I think it is up to the NCAA disciplinary committee to suspend Tim Morris for at least a game. That kind of behavior cannot be tolerated. Even if the NCAA chooses to let Tim Morris to play, Washington's coach Lorenzo Romar should bench Morris for a game.

In any event, disciplinary action must be taken.

50th Anniversary of the Munich Air Disaster

2008-02-11T10:35:00.000-05:00

Browsing the back pages of sports websites is a favourite pastime of mine. That's where you learn the really interesting tidbits that can amaze friends and bore women.

For instance, last night I learned that Manchester City and Manchester United honoured the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster. I had never heard of the Munich air disaster, so I decided to look it up on the internet.

On February 6th 1958, returning from a match against Red Star Belgrade in the tournament play for the European Cup, Manchester United, their families, reporters and other members of their entourage was onboard a British European Airways Airspeed AS-57 Ambassador plane. Due to slush on the runway, the plane couldn't get to proper take-off speed and instead went off the runway. The plane's wing tore through the side of a house, and then the plane smashed into trees as well as a storage hut which was full of gasoline and tires. The hut exploded.

Of the forty passengers and four crew, twenty-three were killed including eight members of ManU, and all twenty-one survivors were injured.

Many of those survivors owe a debt of gratitude to Manchester United's goalkeeper at the time, North Irishman Harry Gregg. Gregg, who had managed to free himself from his chair restraints and slip through a hole torn in the fuselage, launched a one man rescue operation beginning with Dennis Violett and Bobby Charlton. Although he was sure that both were dead, he pulled them out of the wreckage by the waistbands of their trousers and then continued pulling more people from the wreckage. He succeeded in saving the lives of Jackie Blanchflower and club manager Sir Matt Busby as well as Vera Lukic, the pregnant wife of a Yugoslavian diplomat and her daughter Vesna, amongst others.

Although most of the team spent the rest of the season in hospitals or at home convalescing, Busby was able to prevent the club from slipping into relegation, and brought the club back stronger then ever for the 1960s, peaking in 1965 when Manchester United won the Football Association championship, and in 1966 when Bobby Charlton led the English national side to a World Cup championship.

Many were concerned that the 50th anniversary celebration would be marred by the misbehavior of Manchester City fans disrupting the ceremonies, but the ceremony was peacefully, and respectfully completed.

I hate to dwell but...

2008-02-08T13:47:00.000-05:00

I know I already wrote on this issue, but SI.com's Jack McCallum wrote a very interesting piece on the Shawn Marion-Shaquille O'Neal trade called The Other Guy. I agree with McCallum's assessment that this trade hurts the Suns already spotty defense, and they're now going to have to trade for a strong perimeter defender.

But what I found to be really interesting was his observations of Marion as a divisive figure in the Suns locker room. In the past, he has spoken of "Marion's paranoia, his preternatural preoccupation with being overlooked, and his frustration at playing third banana to Steve Nash and Amaré Stoudemire."

Usually, I dismiss journalists discussing locker room politics. They only catch a glimpse of what the teams interactions are like, and those interactions are almost always before and after games when emotions are running high.

But in this case, McCallum has better insight then the average fan or journalist, because for all intents and purposes he was a Sun. In his 2002 book :07 Seconds Or Less McCallum spent a season with the Suns, travelling with them, training with them. Sometimes he played, sometimes he was a coach, but he spent as much time with the team as any of the players or coaches.

In his article, McCallum talks about how Shaq, the Big Aristotle, will make all the difference off the court. That he'll lighten the mood and help the Suns get over that mental hump that has, apparently, been holding them back. "In the end, though, he was a major part of the Suns' dreary locker room that was getting drearier by the week, despite their outstanding record. Was he the whole problem? No. But if Marion has one weakness off the court, it's that he's not a leader." Shaq, however, is a leader. He's got four rings to prove it too. If McCallum is right, Shaq will fundamentally change the Suns locker room.

Honestly, I hope McCallum is right. I like the head coach of the Suns Mike D'Antoni, I like Steve Kerr, and I like Steve Nash, and I'd like to see them all win an NBA championship. But despite McCallum's reassurances, I still have my doubts.

Steve Kerr... you're killing me

2008-02-06T12:00:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week I was toying with the idea of posting about how Steve Kerr, the general manager for the Phoenix Suns was doing such a great job. How I'd always respected his work as a writer at Yahoo! Sports, and was amazed at what a great shooter he was on the court. I wasn't the only one who thought this. A recent Yahoo! Sports article by Johnny Ludden discussed Kerr's progress as a general manager.

But then Bobby Knight, the greatest basketball coach in NCAA history retired, and I thought I should address that issue.

But Steve Kerr wanted my attention. No, not even. He demanded my attention. He grabbed my attention with one of the worst trades I've ever heard of:

Shaquille O'Neal for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks.

And I thought Kevin McHale was bad. This is franchise suicide at its finest.

The Suns had created a successful blueprint for a team focusing on the athletic play of power forward/centre Amare Stoudemire and small forward/shooting guard Shawn Marion guided by the sharp passing plays and floor awareness of Steve Nash. They've now traded away their best defensive stopper in Marion, and replaced him with Shaq, who is arguably the slowest man in the NBA today. They won't be fast anymore. They can't be fast anymore.

Although Shaq was once a great player, he is well past his prime. One Western Conference executive has remarked "Shaq retired two years ago."

What's even more mystifying is that, unlike McHale and the Timberwolves, the Suns are not a bad team. In fact, they have the best record in the Western Conference! Although they've often been knocked for not succeeding in the playoffs, most feel that last year they were a shifty suspension of Stoudemire and Raja Bell away from beating the San Antonio Spurs in the Conference finals.

Further, the Suns just finished integrating senior tour player Grant Hill into their rotation. To add another aging star to their squad is ridiculous. What's going to happen to that eight-seconds-or-less mentality that set the NBA on fire?

This isn't just going to put the Suns offensive firepower out, it's going to ruin their salary cap limitations. Shaq had been signed to a huge contract by the Heat's Pat Riley. Riley wanted to buy himself a championship, and he did. But now the Suns have acquired a player who is going to cost them $40 million over the next two years.

I understand what Kerr is trying to do. He's trying to find a viable option at centre to shift Stoudemire to his natural position at power forward. But this is too great a cost for a simple change at position. This could cost the Suns not just their season, but seasons to come. This is a terrible, terrible move by a man who had long been praised for his basketball sense.

Plaxico Burress - the self-fulfilling prophecy

2008-02-04T11:07:00.000-05:00

Before I went out to a Super Bowl party, my co-worker Grant asked me who I thought was going to win the Super Bowl. I replied "The only way the Patriots won't win is if they cancel the game." As everyone knows, I was wrong. The Giants won 17-14 after a spectacular drive engineered by Eli Manning and his wideouts Plaxico Burress and David Tyree. This is why I am not a prognosticator.

Burress should be though. The Giants' receiver had predicted a close, low-scoring victory for his team, and he was right. I have to say, I'm impressed with Burress. It's always playing with fire making a bold prediction like that. Yes, it's important to have confidence in yourself and your team, but to publicly announce that you are going to beat the best team in modern NFL history... well, that's a different matter entirely. That is bulletin board fodder for your opponents.

However, instead of a rout, Burress' prediction held true and sports fans around the globe were treated to one of the most exciting ten minutes of football they'll ever see. It really started with Eli Manning's miraculous escape from the clutches of Patriots defenders like Adalius Thomas and air it out 32 yards to Tyree who made a circus catch off of his helmet.

The Giants then continued down the field, finishing with the game winning touchdown from Manning to a wide-open Burress. Burress was instrumental in making his prediction a reality. Really, it's pretty ironic. The Patriots were reviled because of their perceived smugness and cockiness, and yet Burress is loved because he was able to call the outcome of the game.

I guess it comes down to what Julius Caesar said: It's only hubris if you fail.

Trade Winds Blow

2008-01-30T10:32:00.000-05:00

Once again, the trade winds are blowing around the world of professional sports. In the NHL, there's the usual talk of Mats Sundin or Olli Jokinen being moved to a playoff bound franchise. In Major League Baseball, ace Eric Bedard might be traded to the Mariners, while even bigger ace Johan Santana was traded to the Mets.

However, the big news. The really big news. Is that Jason Kidd wants to be traded from the New Jersey Nets. Again. As SI.com's Chris Mannix explains:

In 2005, Kidd, irate at management for letting Kenyon Martin leave via free agency, reportedly tried to force his way out of the Swamp. Right around this time last year, the Nets were trying to persuade the Lakers to part with Andrew Bynum in exchange for Kidd, only to have the Lakers balk.

Now Kidd has asked the Nets for a trade again, and it appears that this time he will be headed to Texas to play for the Dallas Mavericks. He wants a title before he retires, and it would take nothing short of a miracle for the Nets to get there. Although they are currently in eighth in the east, they have a 19-26 record, and snapped a nine game losing streak just last night.

I'm always torn about situations like this. While the possible Sundin, Jokinen, and Bedard trades are about the teams trying to improve themselves or shed contracts, the Kidd situation is different. Those other examples are teams making business decisions. Jason Kidd is asking to leave a team to improve his own chances at success. He did it publicly too, by speaking to ESPN magazine. In Kidd's own words:

"We tried to make this work. We've found out it doesn't. It's time for us all to move on."

But is that fair? Is it right? Apparently, the fans in the Swamp still support Kidd, but I can't believe they're not disappointed that their floor general is leaving them when they arguably need him most. By giving up on the Nets, he's probably hurt their chances of success even more. When your point guard and veteran leader says he wants to leave because you're not going to succeed, that is going to affect your play.

Basically, Kidd's trade request goes agaisnt the grain of sports ethos. We all subscribe to a team-first, win with your guts and own innovation mentality. So to have someone quit on a team and say "This isn't going to work, and I need to think about my career." is unsettling and disheartening. I'm not a Nets fan, but I do feel for all those involved whether they be Kidd, the owners, the coach, his teammates, and especially the fans. This is not a good situation.

Certainly, Kidd has done more harm then good by publicly announcing his desire to leave the Meadowlands. I hope that the Nets can still move him for some solid players to put Kidd and the fans out of their misery.

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
As a follow up to my last post, I'd like to point out two things. First, I wasn't the only one critical of Ross McKeon's claims that the All-Star Game was a success. His mailbag was full of dissenting opinions.

Also, if you look at my last post, anonymous poster "KL" made some excellent points about what can be done to make the NHL All-Star Game better.

I'm generally starved for attention and would like to have more input on my writing, so go check it out and feel free to weigh in.

Apparently, the NHL had an All-Star game this weekend...

2008-01-28T13:45:00.000-05:00

The NHL All-Star game has come and gone, and I felt nothing.

Thanks to the news read-outs on the subway this morning, I know that Eric Staal was the game's Most Valuable Player for scoring goals on behalf of the Eastern Conference, but it's taken some research to find out that the East won the exhibition game 8-7.

Before the game, I knew that Alexander Ovechkin was suiting up for the East, and that Tomas Kaberle was the only representative of the Toronto Maple Leafs. I was aware that alot of players were too injured to play, but that was because I'd seen a cartoon in the Toronto Sun poking fun at the dim star power of the event. Beyond that, I couldn't tell you a whole lot else about the game.

At least, not without surfing over to the pages dedicated to the NHL on SportsIllustrated.com or Yahoo! Sports. And I do mean go directly to the NHL pages, because it sure wasn't front page news.

And yet, Yahoo's Ross McKeon thinks that the game was good, great even. "This was the NHL All-Star game, and the fans got exactly what they wanted – lots of scoring, including a final-minute game-winner."

I couldn't disagree more.

Although scoring is great, and I am honestly glad that the new NHL rules have opened the game up, I disagree with the idea that that's what fans want. I think that hitting, penalties, and yes, even fights, are as much a part of hockey as scoring. Imagine watching a basketball game with only slam dunks. Sure it'd be exciting and good for highlight packages, but real fans can also appreciate a good jump shot or a vicious block. There is, after all, a reason why touch-football isn't a big spectator sport.

An even bigger worry is the lack of press that the NHL's All-Star game has garnered. I appreciate that it was in Atlanta, which is hardly a hot-bed of hockey. And I know that it was on Versus, a channel that most people in the United States don't get. But I live in Toronto, which definitely is a hockey city, and most people would have access to the game on TV.

But the game didn't make any waves.

I know we hear this, and we say this all the time. But Gary Bettman must be held accountable. He is the commissioner who established a team in Atlanta, he is the one who moved NHL games on to Versus, and he is the one who employed a marketing strategy that had one of the bigger hockey events totally flop.

Relegation - - protecting the EPL

2008-01-25T12:51:00.000-05:00

In North America, we believe we have passionate fans. While it is true we take our sports pretty seriously, we are nothing compared to the football fans in England.

For instance, Liverpool Football Club's American owners successfully refinanced themselves. And the fans of Liverpool are angry about it. There's increasing backlash over co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillet Jr.'s decision to refinance the team and, gasp, refurbish the stadium. Gillet also owns the Montreal Canadiens, the most successful hockey club in the history of the sport, and yet we don't hear of any Habs fans protesting the sound business practices of Mr. Gillet.

It reminds me of the ruckus caused over Malcolm Glazer, owner of the Tampa Bay Buccanneers, bought up the stock to Manchester United.

Manchester United had been a publicly traded company, and Malcolm Glazer was able to arrange the purchase of several large portions of the ownership. Fans responded by forming their own association to pool their resources and buy up stock to block him. Anti-Glazer websites sprang up over night.

Much like the Hicks and Gillet's refinancing, the July 2006 refinancing of ManU caused waves in the fan community.

The fan's concerns that the teams are going to suffer, or worse yet, fold, are really ill-founded. Unlike North American leagues, the system of relegation means that for a team to make money, they need to not just stay competitive, but stay top-of-the-tables competitive. Look at Manchester United. Glazer began his take-over in 2003. As of today, United is in first place in the English Premiere League -- tied with nemesis Arsenal at 54 points. However, the Red Devils have the edge with seventeen wins to the Gunners sixteen.

Yes, men like Glazer, Hicks, and Gillet are first and foremost businessmen. But European football fans have to relax. Thanks to their system of relegation and ranked leagues, for these men to make money, they need to make sure that their teams are constantly competitive.

Out with the old, in with the older

2008-01-23T10:41:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, the long anticipated news hit the airwaves in Toronto. The Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager John Ferguson Jr. was fired, and replaced by former GM Cliff Fletcher. Already, the local news outlets have begun to analyze this move and opine on the future performance of one of the most storied franchises in the NHL.

Truth be told, I've been avoiding this topic since I started this blog. Writing about the mismanagement of the Leafs has become the favourite sport amongst Torontonians. In the past three weeks the cacophony of voices demanding change has reached a deafening crescendo, and I really did not see any point in adding my voice to the debate.

However, the release of Ferguson, and the addition of Fletcher demands acknowledgement.

The Leafs, as a franchise, have come to a fork in the road. They can choose to continue on their current path made of half-measures that lead to mediocrity, or they can make some real, meaningful changes that will lead to a stronger team, possibly even a Stanley cup winning team.

The first step is to give Cliff Fletcher's a clear mandate: make savvy trades to deal the large contracts of aging stars like Mats Sundin, Darcy Tucker, Pavel Kubina and Andrew Raycroft with an eye to gaining young prospects and draft picks.

The second step should be to re-structure the front office. Money needs to be spent on a better scouting staff. A recent Globe and Mail article highlighted how bad their scouting has been - - Scott Thornton has been the Leafs highest scoring first round draft pick in the past twenty years. No offense to Mr. Thornton, but that is not good enough.

With a superior scouting system in place, MLSE needs to reduce Richard Peddie's role in operations, and do what they did with the Raptors -- find a Bryan Colangelo type who is a dyed-in-the-wool hockey man. Colangelo made an instant splash as the VP in charge of basketball operations for the Raptors, and won Executive of the Year from the NBA. He knows basketball and knows how to run a franchise. The Leafs need to find an equivalent hockey man.

Unfortunately, the Leafs have apparently alienated Scotty Bowman, and Brian Burke is under contract to the Anaheim Ducks. But the Maple Leafs still have an ace up their sleeve.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are the premiere franchise of the National Hockey League.

They've got more money, more fans, and most importantly, more prestige then any other hockey franchise in the world. The Leafs have the cultural cache to woo players, scouts, and coaches to Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment.

A general manager that actually has the power to make real decisions and really shape the franchise would be able to make the Toronto Maple Leafs a viable franchise not just in office towers, but on the ice again.

Here's the problem. The scenario above hinges on a big if. Namely, the nature of Cliff Fletcher's assignment. If he is being told to run the franchise as he sees fit, then the Maple Leafs might reach a Code: Ballard level emergency.

Cliff Fletcher, as former GM of the Maple Leafs is a big part of their Buds fine tradition of weak drafting. Not to be age-ist, but he's 72 years old, and being a general manager is a high pressure job that takes durability and energy, particularly if you're the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs. I'm not sure a seventy-two year old has those qualities.

Is Cliff Fletcher up to the task? I'm not sure. What I do know is that he is being thrown to the lion's den. Although Fletch survived it before, the lions have been starved for another decade since he was last here. They might be more wild.

Like I said above, the Leafs are at a crossroads, and the sign post is Cliff Fletcher. I think all of Toronto is hoping that he points the beloved Maple Leafs in the correct direction. Richard Peddie and Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment need to make some real changes or else there may be a riot on their hands.

In Tynes We Trust

2008-01-21T10:55:00.000-05:00

I spent most of yesterday with my muscles flexed until they became sore and knotted. My jaw was set and my teeth were clenched. I was living in mortal terror of the Green Bay Packers and the New England Patriots facing each other in Super Bowl XLII in Arizona. That would have been categorically awful. Worse then a Minnesota Wild-New Jersey Devils Stanley Cup final.

It would have been excruciating because the media is completely smitten with Brett Favre. Loves him. Eats him up with a spoon and then begs for more. Brett Favre can throw six interceptions in a game and the play-by-play man will laugh and say "That's just Brett being Brett! He's just having fun out there!"

Their love for Brett Favre is only surpassed by their adoration of the New England Patriots. Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and the rest of the Patriots are seen as being cold and calculating. Their every move so masterfully strategic that we mere mortals can't begin to conceive the import of even their most subtle of decisions. Tom Brady throws an incomplete pass? No, that's not because his opponent's secondary covered his receivers or because he was pressured by a confusing blitz package. Tom Brady was setting up the next play. He's tricking the defensive coordinator into pass-protection so that he can hand off the ball. It's all part of the Patriots carefully plotted plan.

Bill Belichick accidentally throws a challenge flag against the Colts? That's just a clever way of biding time instead of wasting a time out.

Eric Mangini calls the Patriots out on taping play signals? That's not cheating. That's sophisticated scouting that we shouldn't worry about. We should move on. It's in the past. Bill Belichick has moved on. Why haven't you?

It snows in Arizona in January? You don't even want to know what kind of dark occult rituals linebacker Junior Seau had to partake in to make that happen.

In short: the Super Bowl's hypemachine would have been in overdrive. Although I love the works of Peter King, Tony Kornheiser, Ron Jaworski and the lot, the collective orgasm of sports writers coast-to-coast over a Packers-Patriots championship would have been sickening. It would have prevented me from enjoying -- or even watching -- the Super Bowl.

I don't know anyone outside of Boston and the sportscasting brotherhood who likes the Patriots. I don't know anyone who wants them to win. I can't think of anyone who isn't tired of Brett Favre's inconsistent play being dismissed as boyish derring-do. The man is nearly 40, and has been a professional football player for close to two decades. He should not be making mental errors anymore.

What I do know is that when the New York Giant's Lawrence Tynes cleared the uprights in Lambeau Field and won the NFC championship in overtime, many of my friends were relieved.

Indeed, there but for the grace of Tynes, go I.

Although I am not a Giants fan, I am breathing a huge sigh of relief that they made the Super Bowl. It has cut down the overwhelming hype by at least half.

Bring on the inconsistent passes of Eli Manning (and not inconsistent in the oh-so-cutesy Favre way) and the rumbling drives of Brandon Jacobs. Let's showcase the heaven-sent foot of Larry Tynes.

I know who I am cheering for in this Super Bowl: balanced journalism over sensationalistic hype.

The Resurgent Lakers and Phil Jackson's best season ever

2008-01-19T10:37:00.000-05:00

Sports Illustrated's Arash Markazi recently discussed the Lakers who've become one of the best teams in the NBA's Western Conference. And since the Eastern Conference is strictly JV to the Western Conference, that makes them one of the best teams in the NBA.

For those of you who don't follow the Association, this is something of a surprise. The Los Angeles Lakers drama began in the 2003-2004 season when the team imploded under the stress of all the egos on the team. Hall of Fame bound centre Shaquille O'Neal got traded to the Miami Heat. Hall of Fame bound head coach Phil Jackson retired. And shooting guard (and noted diva) Kobe Bryant was left to carry the team on his broad shoulders.

The Lakers struggled with Bryant being their sole offensive and defensive threat, and so owner Jerry Buss appealed to Jackson and persuaded him to come back and right the ship. He met with some success, but Bryant still demanded trades.

Which brings us to this season where the Lakers are working effectively. They're tied with Dallas for the second best record in the West and fifth best in the NBA, and they're talking playoffs.

"If we can survive this period of time, we have a good chance of maintaining what we want to do. That's to finish in the top four in the Western Conference, which would get us home-court advantage in the first round. I think that's a realistic goal for this team."

I think that this is the final piece to Jackson's legacy. The knock of his previous championships had always been that he had teams that no one could lose with. The Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls. The O'Neal-Bryant Lakers. He's always been in positions to win.

But with this season, Jackson is taking a team poisoned by Kobe Bryant's ego ad loaded with Never-Wasses like Kwame Brown, and is making a serious run at the playoffs in a very competitive West. This should be one of the leading stories of the NBA this year: Phil Jackson is having the season of a lifetime - - and he's already won a record nine NBA championships.

A novel idea by Gary Bettman

2008-01-18T11:15:00.000-05:00

It's common sense in the sports world that what makes for really compelling and exciting action is rivalries. Whether it be teams versus teams, or players versus players, we can all name classic antagonisms. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickleson. The Old Firm rivalry in Scotland: Glasgow Rangers and Glasgow Celtic. Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs. The Bad Boys-era of the Detroit Pistons and the Michael Jordan led Chicago Bulls. The list goes on and on.

Rivalries are the lifeblood of professional sports. It usually develops when teams have to play each other regularly, preferably with serious stakes on the line. Familiarity breeds contempt.

But there is a sidebar to rivalries. An offshoot, if you will. That is, the professional punching bag. Or, as they are described in professional wrestling, jobbers. The Washington Generals of this world. Wikipedia tells me that

"From 1953 until 1995, the Generals played exhibitions against the Globetrotters, winning only six games, the last in 1971, and losing more than 13,000."

The Atlanta Hawks. Sergio Garcia. Those teams or athletes who are good enough to, you know, be professional, but not good enough to actually win.

One brave team has stepped up and taken on that role in the NHL: the Phoenix Coyotes.

It started two years ago with Alexander Ovechkin's incredible goal on two Coyotes defenders and goalie.

Then Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles King's wanted a crack at them...

And then there was last night's game versus the similarly moribund Columbus Blue Jackets, where Rick Nash danced his way between, you guessed it, two Coyotes defensemen and scored a similarly brilliant goal.

What do all these goals have in common? Beyond the involvement of the Coyotes? They were all scored by good players on bad teams. Very bad teams. The Kings, the Blue Jackets, and the Capitals are all actively bad teams, and yet they've all posterized the Coyotes.

Maybe this is what Gary Bettman intended when he facilitated the Winnipeg Jets move to Phoenix. A team in a market that will never draw fans, that can make other teams look much better then they are. Kind of like the Washington Generals of hockey. Really, Winnipeg should be grateful that they were spared this kind of embarrassment.

Minnesota Swarm the Toronto Rock in overtime

2008-01-14T12:14:00.000-05:00

Beyond my fanatical love of sports, one of the reasons why I've started this blog is to refine my sports-writing style. To that end, the following is a game report I wrote after attending a Toronto Rock lacrosse game this past Friday. Please feel free to give me constructive criticism.

Minnesota Swarm the Toronto Rock in overtime
By: John Chidley-Hill
January 11th 2008

It was only fitting that Ryan Cousins, captain of the Minnesota Swarm, scored the winning goal in the confines of the Toronto Rock’s Air Canada Centre tonight, since he grew up playing for the Toronto Beaches Lacrosse Club. Cousins potted the goal just a minute and twenty-seven seconds into overtime, giving the Swarm a 17-16 victory.

The goal was the Swarm’s third consecutive unanswered goal in just under five minutes as the Minneapolis based team rallied to tie, and then beat, the hometown Toronto Rock. It was Cousins first goal of the game and of the season.

National Lacrosse League Offensive Player of the Week Blaine Manning led the Rock in points with two goals and six assists. Toronto’s Josh Sanderson scored an impressive six goals including two back-to-back goals just twenty-seven seconds apart in the fourth quarter.

The Swarm had a more well-rounded attack, with Craig Point leading the Minnesota squad with two goals and six helpers. Player of the Game Ryan Ward found the back of the net five times and dished out two assists, while Andy Secore scored two goals and had four assists.

The game was a wild affair, with thirty-four penalties being whistled down, including three fights. Game misconducts were assessed to Minnesota’s Sean Pollock in the first quarter, Ryan Sharp in the second quarter, and Travis Hill and Toronto’s Cam Woods in the fourth quarter. Hill and Woods were also assessed second game misconducts for their tilt.

The first seven minutes of the game saw two penalties assessed to both teams, but the stellar play of the Swarm’s goalie Nick Patterson and the Rock’s goalie Bob Watson kept the game scoreless until Toronto’s Aaron Wilson scored an even-strength goal near the eight minute mark of the quarter. Both Patterson and Watson put on strong performances, each facing fifty-seven shots.

The match was the Toronto Rock’s home opener, and their second of the season, having won a week ago in Chicago. The game was also the first in a home-and-home series between the eastern conference rivals, with the second game being played tomorrow night in Minnesota’s Xcel Energy Center at 8 PM. The attendance for the game was 13,317 strong

Marion Jones' fall from grace is complete

2008-01-11T11:38:00.000-05:00

It was announced today in a White Plains, New York court room that Olympic gold medal sprinter Marion Jones has been sentenced for sixth months for lying under oath about her steroid use and for her involvement in a cheque-fraud scheme.

This, despite her pleading with the judge to not separate her from her children, even for a short period of time.

"I ask you to be as merciful as a human being can be,"

While I am truly sorry for Marion Jones' kids, who will be without the proper love and affection of their mother for the next half-year, I am also really tired of watching, listening, reading, and writing about the legal entanglements of professional athletes, particularly in relation to steroids.

Obviously, I love sports. That's why I follow them on TV and the Internet and why I write this blog. But I love them because I love fair competition, seeing underdogs triumph over adversity, and seeing intelligence, hard work, and guts pay off.

I'm tired of surfing to SportsIllustrated.com and seeing picture galleries of baseball's greatest cheaters of all time. Or seeing TSN bring in a legal analyst to discuss Michael Vick's options for parole. Reading about Reggie Bush's illicit sponsorship deals while still in college. I want my athlete's to play and excel at their sports, but not through cheating.

During sentencing today, District Judge Kenneth Karras said "Athletes in society have an elevated status, they entertain, they inspire, and perhaps, most important, they serve as role models."

I want athletes to be heroes again. Not just role models for people, but good role models for people. Great role models.

But that's where it gets tough. It's so easy to destroy something as fragile as faith and respect, but it takes years to rebuild. The Olympics, Major League Baseball, National Football League, and any other major sporting organization have to start building their audiences trust again, and they need to start right now.

Enough is enough, and it's time for a change.

Kevin McHale shows us how to not run a team

2008-01-09T10:47:00.000-05:00

In an article by Jerry Zgoda of the Minneaplois-St. Paul Star Tribune, Kevin McHale accepts blame for the Timberwolves terrible showing this season and then points out that his players have not played with alot of hustle and heart. According to McHale, it's that lack of moxie that has earned them a 5-29 record, including a 1-10 road record, and not a single win against their division rivals.

Although McHale acknowledged that he has put the Timberwolves into full re-building mode, mainly by trading Kevin Garnett to the surging Boston Celtics, he thinks his guys on the court lack drive,

"We have guys getting beat down and losing their competitive edge. You can't do that. You can do a lot of stuff, but you cannot not compete. I understand why it happens; it's human nature. You have to fight through tough times, and we're going through tough times."

McHale thinks he went too young too soon, and that his team lacks that killer instinct that a more veteran squad would have.

I've got a lot of problems with this. First of all, as Chris Mannix illustrates in his article Trail Blazers Develop Winning Mix, a team can be young and effective as long as they are motivated and well-coached. I wouldn't pick a young team to win the NBA Championship, but they can definitely make the playoffs, and they'll definitely be fun to watch. My hometown Toronto Raptors have been like that.

Also, McHale has to appreciate that his team's youth is a direct result of his own decision making. No one twisted his arm and made him trade KG. No one has held a gun to his head and made him ignore veteran free agents.

As if to do damage control, McHale ended by saying:

"I can tell you that a veteran group going through this would not have the same resilience. A veteran group, they'd all be like, 'Get me out of there.' These guys are like, 'How do I get better?' Sometimes the youth is a positive. It is as good a group as I've had since I've been here. You put what has been happening with some other groups and it would have been an implosion of epic proportions. These guys are still trying, still working. The character is there."

What I think McHale has now done is take whatever energy and motivation his team may have had, and lost it. He's put the blame on his young team, even though he is their architect and given them a coach who is apparently struggling to make things happen.

What Kevin McHale, or any GM for that matter, should do is slowly rotate veterans out of their roster as they lose their effectiveness, and replace them through the draft or savvy free agent additions.

I'll admit, sometimes a team needs to be blown up, and the Timberwolves were definitely that stagnant. However, they were stagnant because of McHale, and they're the worst team in the league because of McHale. Not because of his inexperienced team.

Weekend Wrap-Up: 2008-01-07

2008-01-07T13:06:00.000-05:00

For sports fans everywhere, this was a great weekend. The IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship wrapped up with a Canadian gold for the fourth time in as many years. The National Football League's playoffs kicked off. The National Lacrosse League's regular season began. Perhaps most importantly, the ramifications of the Mitchell Report continued to be felt as Roger Clemens was besieged with mainstream press coverage demanding answers.

I'll touch on all these topics, but I need to talk about my road-trip to Pittsburgh, since it was so very sports-centric.

Pittsburgh is undoubtedly a sports town. In every window was a flag, a sticker, something supporting the Steelers, the UPitt Panthers, or the Penguins. Everywhere I went, someone had something to say about one of their teams, or about sports in general. People weren't just willing to talk about sports either. They were willing to listen as well. I had great conversations about the difference between the Pittsburgh market and the Toronto market, as well as different styles of play. I met one guy who loathed Vincent Lecavalier with a fiery passion. It was fantastic.

The thing that struck me most about Pittsburgh was just how different a market it was compared to my hometown Toronto. With the Steelers hosting the Jacksonville Jaguars for a play-off game, there was a strong football focus. But that focus wasn't just because of the playoffs. Pittsburgh loves its football, whether it be college or NFL. In my quest to catch the World Junior semi-finals, my friends and I went to six different bars, and only after we found the Prumanti Bros. in Southside could we find anywhere that carried the NHL Network.

This is what worries me. The good people of Pittsburgh love sports. It's a blue-collar town that will support any team bearing its colours. It's in the northern United States and there were hockey rinks everywhere. But no one had heard of the World Junior Hockey Championships. Worse yet, most bars were not carrying the NHL Network. This is a problem.

Most Canadians and true hockey fans talk about how lethal Gary Bettman's Sun Belt Expansion has been for the NHL. But for the NHL Network to be a non-entity in an ideal location like Pittsburgh? That means the NHL is in bigger trouble then we thought. After all, the Penguins have NHL poster boy Sidney Crosby and top picks Marc-Andre Fleury, Evengi Malkin and Jordan Staal. This should be the hottest NHL market in all the land. But it's not.

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

Anyway, here are some of my point form thoughts from this weekend:

- Darcy Tucker and Jarkko Ruutu had a hell of a tilt on Thursday night at Mellon Arena. The crowd went absolutely wild for the fight, and IO have to admit I was pretty happy that the refs let the fight last as long as it did. I didn't see Tucker after the fight, but Ruutu is an absolute mess right now. It was maybe a draw, or maybe a win of Ruutu. I love Tucker, but I also think age is catching up with his hard style of play and I've got a sneaking suspicion he is playing hurt.

- Roger Clemens should re-consider his current claims of innocence in relation to the Mitchell Report. There's an awful lot of evidence piling up against him, and in this current baseball climate your word is no longer good enough. If you're clean, only the hardest of evidence is going to be enough to keep your name clear. Unfortunately, baseball fans have become so jaded and cynical that you're now guilty until proven innocent.

- Mark the time: The Toronto Maple Leafs are not going to make the playoffs.

- I love the Pittsburgh Steelers' style of play. Smash-mouth football with a focus on running and defense. I was sorry to see them get knocked out of the playoffs so quickly, since I thought they had a good shot at knocking off the dreaded New England Patriots. Wait a second. The Jacksonville Jaguars have a strong running game and solid defense.

- The National Lacrosse League kicked off its season this weekend with the Colorado Mammoth taking out the Calgary Roughnecks 10-9, and the Toronto Rock in Chicago taking out the Shamrox 11-9. It's a great relief to me to have the NLL back after the very real threat of a lost season. I'm also pleased to see my Toronto Rock winning their opening game, even if it is against the expansion Shamrox. You've got to start somewhere.

Book Review: Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger

2007-12-31T11:23:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite movie speeches is the "Perfection" speech by Billy Bob Thorton in Friday Night Lights. It's touching, brilliant, and makes me all dewy-eyed. It was that kind of uplifting writing that I decided to read Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger, the basis of the movie and the ongoing NBC TV series. I didn't get that kind of motivational warm and fuzziness, but what I did get was much more compelling.

The world of Friday Night Lights is focussed around aging Ratliff Stadium, the 19,000+ high school football stadium in the east-end of Odessa, Texas in 1988. Bissinger had moved to Odessa in the summer of 1988 to follow the lives of six of the Permian Panthers and their senior years at Permian High School as they try to make the Texas State Championships. "Goin' State in '88!" is the rallying cry of the town of Odessa.

Although Bissinger focuses on the lives of these young men who carry the weight of their town's dreams and aspirations on their shoulders, he also looks at the context of those Friday night games. He examines the social and economic circumstances from the boom and bust oil economy, to the casual racism of Odessans, and the reality of the education crisis in the United States. It shows just how important sports can be to the make-up of society, and how it reflects culture, and culture reflects it.

It's an incredible piece of literature, and I definitely recommend it to football fans, fans of the movie or TV show, and anyone else. It really is one of the best books I've ever read.

Five out of five.

Shoot-out Specialists

2007-12-27T12:31:00.000-05:00

About ten days ago, Sports Illustrated's Michael Farber dedicated some space in his On The Fly column to talk about the Edmonton Oilers' domination in the shoot-out this season.

Combined with Christmas Day highlights of Jonathan Toews' dominant shootout performance in the 2006 World Junior Championship, it's clear that modern hockey franchises - NHL and otherwise - have to face the reality of the shoot-out.

Although the Oilers are currently a glum 16-18 this year, and are deep in the cellar of the Western conference, they are an impressive 10-1 when the game goes to a shoot-out. Consider how pathetic their record would be if they hadn't won those games in the 1-on-1!

Today, Canada beat Slovakia for their twentieth consecutive victory in the World Junior Championships. A record that would've been snapped four games ago if Jonathan Toews hadn't been so dominant with three goals to beat Team USA in the 2006 semi-finals.

Farber discussed the idea of teams employing shoot-out specialists. I agree - - that is an idea whose time has come. Every NHL team should now dedicate a large section of practice to the shoot-out. It'd be good for both the goaltenders and the shooters to practice.

With more then half of the Oilers' wins coming from their skill in the shoot-out, it's clear that the potential is there for the skills competition at the end of a game to make or break a team's season. General managers, coaches, and players should take notice and begin to adapt to an aspect of the game that is quickly growing.

The third and fourth-liners of the NHL should start dedicating chunks of their off-season to practicing their dekes and breakaway shots, while goalies across North America should start practicing as well - - the game is changing, and for the better.

And Major League Baseball reaches a new low...

2007-12-19T15:10:00.000-05:00

No, not just the Mitchell Report.

Pete Rose using the Mitchell Report as leverage to get into the Hall of Fame. That is an all time low.

It's bad enough that Andy Peittite, Miguel Tejada and surefire Hall of Famer Roger Clemens have either admitted to or been accused of taking steroids and/or Human Growth Hormones. We now have Charlie Hustle himself weighing in on the subject.

In an interview with Dennis Miller on the VERSUS network, Rose said:

"I've been suspended 18 years for betting on my own team to win," then he added "I was wrong ... but these guys today, if the allegations are true, they're making a mockery of the game."

I'm pretty sure that Pete Rose criticizing anyone, anywhere, for anything having to do with baseball should be dismissed out of hand. After all, when these guys supposedly took steroids, there were no rules against the use of performance enhancing drugs. When Rose bet on baseball, he was breaking a rule that had been in place since 1919. He has no right to cry foul.

But it gets better! He also complains about these players making a mockery of baseball. This from a man who has repeatedly dressed up as a chicken for World Wrestling Entertainment events, and been chased from the ring by a giant. Don't believe me? Check it out on YouTube and the WWE's own website.

So why is Pete speaking up now? "If you're going to put these guys that supposedly did steroids into the Hall of Fame, I mean I've got to get a shot somewhere," Ah. There you go. Self-promotion. Good job Mr. Rose.

Although Rose and his 4,256 hits have their place in history, more then just about anyone else, Pete Rose deserves to be kept out of the Hall of Fame.

The very best part is that when Miller asked Rose how the steroids would have affected his career hits record, he replied:

"I would have got 5,000 hits,"

To be absolutely clear on this:

Pete Rose (who definitely committed a cardinal sin) wants to be let into the Hall of Fame because people who did not break the rules might get in. He (the guy who dressed up as a chicken and acted like an oaf for Vince MacMahon) feels they made a mockery of the game. But if there were steroids available to him, he would have done the same thing.

Ladies and gentlemen: Pete Rose. Class act.

Response to Tim Layden's Worth Remembering...

2007-12-18T14:29:00.001-05:00

On SportsIllustrated.com today, Tim Layden posted a preview of his article on Kevin Everett's ongoing recovery cycle. The full article is going to be in SI's print edition, but the two online pages still made a hell of an impression.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the story, it's pretty straightforward. In the season opener, the Buffalo Bills hosted the Denver Broncos. Tight-end Kevin Everett went for a tackle and broke his neck. To be precise, his helmet collided with another helmet and snapped his head back, leaving him a quadriplegic on the field.

Thanks to the fantastic work of Buffalo Bills training staff, they were able to keep Everett's spinal column intact. Surgeon Dr. Andrew Cappuccino was able to perform a controversial procedure involving hypothermic treatment and his patient is saved.

Kevin Everett is able to walk again.

No, he'll never be a professional football player again. But who cares? A young man has avoided personal tragedy. That's much more important then some game.

I think one of the most frustrating, if not upsetting, parts of this story is that there is no one to blame. Sports is, by its nature, oppositional. If it is not a head-to-head game, there's at least someone you are competing against. Someone to other.

But in this case, there was no other. There was no one to blame.

Everett's hit was clean, and was a play that could happen to any player in the NFL or the Canadian Football League. Helmet-to-helmet collisions are a constant in the game, and can't be removed from North American football.

You can't levy a fine on bad luck and you can't suspend a bad break. Thank goodness Kevin Everett is not a quadriplegic.

Everett's temporary paralysis was the result of one of the standard risks of being a professional athlete. It is something that we, as fans, should keep in mind. Every time our favourite athletes step on to the field of play, they are taking enormous risks.

The Starting Line

2007-12-18T12:42:00.000-05:00

I'm a big fan of sports. Always have been. I watch all the major North American leagues, and even some less prominent ones like the National Lacrosse League. I also follow sports around the world, like the European Premiereships and even, on occasion, Australian Rules Football.

Given that my passion is sports, it's only natural that I begin writing down my thoughts and impressions of what consumes me. I read alot, so I expect I'll do book reviews as well and also discuss articles that I've read online and in the world of print.

Welcome to the Cheapseats. I hope you enjoy the view.