Trade Winds Blow

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.

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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...

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

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

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

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.