In Tynes We Trust

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.