A bitter Blue and White pill

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.