Ottawa Sports Guy

We're Moving!

2009-04-29T10:23:00.003-04:00

Hey everyone,

www.ottawasportsguy.ca is our new home. Make sure you update your bookmarks, and for RSS feeds just click on the banner on the new page to subscribe.

Hope you like the new look at: www.ottawasportsguy.ca

Again, that's:

www.ottawasportsguy.ca

See you there!

The Twit: SIGN PEDRO Edition

2009-04-28T11:01:00.007-04:00

Sporting thoughts are rather scattered today, so I will go to the old Twit format on this one:

- Jays lose because of a young arm not finding the plate. These things kinds of games are going to happen. Ottawa Sports Guy Hex in full effect.

- I'm concerned for David Purcey; looked great in Grapefruit action, looked decent for his first couple of starts, can't hit the side of a barn in last two starts. If Brad Arnsberg can't fix this, no one can.

- Sign Pedro.

- The Flames were eliminated by the Blackhawks, and no tears were shed in the OSG household (yes, I did just link to myself - I'm that awesome). Three reasons; the Flames beat the Habs in the '89 final and delivered the first sports tears in the young OSG's life, the Blackhawks are a much more exciting team to watch, and, well, I have trouble accepting any joy for Calgary (yes, electoral results can taint my enthusiasm for a whole swath of the country).

- Ian Mendes has an interesting idea to determine playoff opponents. I'm afraid I don't share Ian's excitement for watching a guy in a suit flip a piece of cardboard (make it Evanka Osmak and now we're talking!), but I get what he's saying. My initial reaction is HELL NO, but the idea does have merit. I'd be concerned about it becoming a circus sideshow, however. My main playoff format gripe is awarding the third seed to a division winner, no matter if their points total is inferior to another team - I'd start there if I were to change the format.

- Not that I spend my days surfing the net for pictures of Evanka Osmak, but in the interest of providing eye candy for the blog, the pic to the right is the best one of the Sportsnet anchor. For shame.

- John Carver quit as Toronto FC's coach on Saturday, and I've yet to read one report that tells us why. Come on Toronto scribes, get to the bottom of this. What's the point of boasting about being chummy with the people you're supposed to cover if you can't get the scoop? (edit: apparently I don't check the Star's soccer coverage often enough)

-The Yankees are going to lose a lot of a games this year. Rejoice.

The Rosin Bag: The Streak Is Over

2009-04-27T15:56:00.002-04:00

If the Jays don't win another series this year, you can blame it on the Ottawa Sports Guy Hex. On Saturday my record streak of consecutive Blue Jays games watched to start a season came to a close as real life caught up to me and prevented me from tuning in to the 10-2 loss at the hands of the White Sox. It was worth it though: I was at a fantastic event organized by my beloved girlfriend Laura and our friend Lola (hint: it's not too late to donate to this great community cause).

And so if the Jays lose the upcoming series with the Royals, go ahead and blame me: perhaps my streak was somehow connected to the Jays streak of winning their first 6 series of the season. Good thing that in real life I'm the furthest thing from a fatalist as you can find.

I'm a bit concerned about the state of the four-spot in the Jays rotation. As long as Romero is out, I don't see Brian Burres securing many wins. I'll echo what the message boards are clamoring about: SIGN PEDRO. Seriously. That would be some major karma having Pedro Martinez and Kevin Millar in the same clubhouse again. Pedro was always destined to win a World Series for a Canadian team. Pedro could eat up innings at the end of the year when the Jays will have to scale back the workload on young arms like Romero, Purcey and whoever else comes up to fill the holes (Fabio Castro anyone? The Big Turk brought this to my attention: Castro had another strong outing today for New Hampshire. 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 7 K. His ERA dropped to 0.83 on the season (21.2 innings, 24/3 strikeout to walk ratio, 0 HR allowed). He already has MLB experience, so I would not be surprised if they promote him straight from AA to the Majors at some point this year). SIGN PEDRO. I love the Man. I love the Legend. SIGN PEDRO. Put me down for a Pedro Jays jersey right now if he signs. Come on JP: DO IT.

Anthems: Wake up! Time To Die!

2009-04-27T12:56:00.004-04:00

I'm a little late to the party here, but I'd like to use my corner of the intrawebs to lend my voice to the rising chorus of people who think national anthems should not be played before professional sporting events. I've been saying this amongst friends and family for years now, but only recently have I heard my sentiments echoed by prominent figures. Imagine my shock when uber-nationalist Don Cherry was one of them.

The issue recently saw a spike in attention after some Montreal Canadiens fans booed the American national anthem before a playoff game. This happens every couple of years. I wouldn't go so far as to boo their anthem, but I do sympathize to an extent. After the Iraq war began, my form of protest was to not remove my hat during the singing of the Star-Spangled Banner. Nonetheless, I don't really get why you would boo an anthem at a pro sports game: there are so many nationalities represented on both teams that it completely obfuscates any objective (which is presumably to piss off the opposing team?).

The issue isn't really the booing of the anthem but rather why the anthem is played in the first place. I'm told the playing of national anthems before professional sports games began after World War II to honour the men who had fought in that conflict. The thought behind this tradition is nice, but the execution is all messed up. We have Remembrance Day to honour our military heroes. On top of that, I doubt many people are thinking of military personnel when they rise for the anthem at a sporting event. Unscientific-off-the-top-of-my-head-thoughts-that-cross people's-minds-during-the-anthems:

1. That girl can't sing worth crap.

2. Is it disrespectful to take a swig of my beer during th - (gulp!).

3. The players look just as bored as me right now.

4. Dude next to me has got to stop brushing up against my arm.

5. ...stand on guard, for thee!!

The meaning behind the gesture has long since passed us by. Besides, we need less military cross-branding with sporting events, not more. We've seen a definite uptick in military tributes at sporting events in the past few years. In my opinion it's nothing more than an infiltration into our pastimes by warhawks and right-wing conservatives. Protest of any kind at these initiatives are met with accusations of unpatriotic sentiment or worse: pansification. Just take Carlos Delgado as an example: he was villified by the New York media for refusing to acknowledge God Bless America during Yankees games.

National anthems do have a place in sport. When matches are played between countries, it is more than appropriate to play the anthems. In fact, it adds to the spirit of the event. These renditions would take on even more significance if we weren't so bombarded by the anthems before every single game we watch. Canada playing the USA in hockey? Hell yes play the anthems! The songs resonate with fans, players, and coaches alike because we are pitting countries against one another. Montreal and Boston facing off has nothing to do with Oh Canada or the Star-Spangled banner, so get rid of them altogether. Anything else is just inviting trouble.

The pre-game anthem ceremonies at the FIFA World Cup are always so beautiful to watch, and are enhanced by the fact that God Save the Queen or La Marseillaise isn't played before every Premiership or French League match. When you line up the England team next to the French team and play those anthems it's difficult to feel indifferent, even if you have no ancestors from those countries (same goes for Brazil, Italy, Japan, etc.).

With all this said, however, I doubt any of the professional sports leagues in North America will have the courage to mandate a change in pre-game ceremonies. Those that would be opposed to the change would howl long and hard about the lack of patriotism such a gesture would symbolize (again, why is Don Cherry on my side on this???). I seem to recall George Steinbrenner publicly voicing his disgust with Blue Jays President Paul Godfrey for not playing God Bless America at Blue Jays home games during the seventh-inning stretch. Can you imagine the reaction from the faux-patriots if Gary Bettman instructed teams to drop the anthems before games?

The status quo will continue, but you have my go-ahead to keep your hat on while the "bombs burst in air".

Zoom Zoom: Bah-rain Boh-ring

2009-04-27T10:01:00.008-04:00

The Bahrain GP got off to one of the most exciting starts I can remember. There was passing, jostling, and more passing. Drivers jockeyed for position over the first couple of laps, highlighted by Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton trading 3rd place a few times. For a few moments, it looked like were going to witness a race for the ages - then it got as bland as the desert backdrop.

It's still refreshing to see Ferrari struggle and a new team dominate, as Brawn is doing by winning three of the first four races. But please allow me to indulge on getting a little something off my chest. Fuck You Bahrain. Fuck you and your desert track with 50,000 spectators being preferred for its petro-dollars over Montreal's lush scenery and feverish fans. Fuck you for painting cutesy little colours onto the SAND that lines the track. You're not fooling anyone. Buffalo N.Y., Joan Rivers and the Bahrain Grand Prix: three things you cannot "pretty up", no matter how much money you throw at it. Fuck you Bahrain.

I really have nothing against Bahrain and its desert. I'm just bitter about Montreal having its F1 race revoked after 44 of the past 46 years because of unpaid ransom demands by Bernie the Pirate, only to be replaced by locales that have no F1 tradition or even much interest. Sometimes I cannot contain it. As Zach de la Rocha once so eloquently put it: "I'll give you a dose but it could never come close to the rage built up inside of me".

Congrats to Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel and Jarno Trulli on their podium finishes. Word is that Ferrari will be upgrading their car significantly for the next race, two weeks from now in Barcelona. Can't wait to see if they can pull it off. It will also be a great opportunity to wish Fernando Alonso as little luck as possible on his home track (Lola is going to go apeshit when she reads that last part).

The Rosin Bag: Rogers Sportsnet v. TSN2

2009-04-24T11:09:00.005-04:00

Hi again, just wanted to point you towards two excellent posts regarding the war of attrition going on between Rogers Sportsnet and CTV Globemedia (TSN2). In case you're not aware, the first Jays series against the Red Sox was acquired by TSN. They then turned around and announced that it would be shown on TSN2, which Rogers customers don't have access to. Rogers owns the Blue Jays.

The Tao of Stieb lays it out no uncertain terms that the two companies are playing chicken, which could steer fans from both networks.

Out of Left Field points out that it's not the first time this happens, but this time the stakes are much higher because Blue Jays games attract exponentially more fans than Raptors or Eskimos games.

I don't have much to add to their excellent posts except to say that I've already gotten a subscription to MLB.tv, so you have to wonder how much longer I'll remain beholden to the traditional TV networks. They play this game at their own peril: I can stream from my PC to my TV so I'll get those hidden games in HD, which is exactly what Expressvu can offer*, even if I were deemed worthy of receiving it as a Rogers customer.

*Props to Zach for pointing out that TSN is offered in high definition

The Rosin Bag: Attrition

2009-04-24T08:56:00.005-04:00

1. Dustin McGowan
2. Shaun Marcum
3. Jesse Litsch
4. Ricky Romero

If you were the GM of an expansion team, wouldn't you be feeling pretty good about your team if those were your first four starters in the rotation? I bet you would be. The Jays would be happy to have them too, if they weren't all on the disabled list. You can also add B.J. Ryan to that list, but we'll notch that one up as addition by subtraction. My blood pressure thanks you, "tight trapezius muscle". I can just see the meeting in JP's office now:

Ricciardi: Robert Victor, are you SURE you're not injured? Like, pretty please?

Ryan: No JP, like I told you, I feel fine. I'm just sucking like a rented mule right now.

The Cito: I don't know B.J., or whatever your real name is. It looks to me like you have a tight trapezius muscle...

Ryan: Come again?

Ricciardi: Yeah B.J., like Cito said. A tight trapezoid is not something you want to mess with.

Ryan: (looking worried) Well, ummm, how would I know I have that?

The Cito: (reassuring nod and reaches out to squeeze B.J.'s forearm) You just leave that up to us, son.

All joking aside, didn't you feel 100x better seeing Scott Downs coming out of the pen for the save last night? No drama, no anxious moments, just 1-2-3 game over. As it should be. Also nice to see Rios start swinging the bat and actually getting on base. Welcome to the party, Alex. My buddy Big Turk and I were discussing his struggles the other night, and it's like being the parent of an underachieving teenager: you want to smack him because he doesn't seem to care that his grades are in the shitter. Of course we have to remind ourselves that Alex has never been one to exhibit much emotion, whether he's hitting .320 or .230.

Five series wins to start the season. They're now 12 wins away from the 14 I called for out of this 20-games-in 20-days stretch. Tonight the Jays begin a weekend series against the Chicago White Sox, who currently occupy first place in the Central with an 8-7 record. Brian Tallet gets his second start, facing off against Gavin Floyd. Could you give us another solid six innings Brian? Thanks.

Ce n'est qu'un au revoir...

2009-04-23T10:36:00.003-04:00

And so ends the Montreal Canadiens centennial season. I have to tread carefully here because so many of my friends and family are die-hard Habs fans. I was reminded of this yesterday when my cousin scolded me on Facebook after I mentioned in my status that I thought fans of the Tricolore take joy from booting people out of town. I should perhaps re-frame what I said.

Habs fans young and old have yet to adjust to the fact that their team are no longer an NHL juggernaut. In Canada we all grew up knowing that the Canadiens were the winningest franchise in hockey history, having won 24 Stanley Cups. And depending on your age, you probably grew up revering/fearing "Les Glorieux". The seven years between Cups in 1986-1993 seemed like a very unusual blip on their march to championships and the Montreal populace retained their arrogance/confidence/cockiness for years afterwards.

Years became a long decade, a decade that is stretching into two and the reaction in Montreal is nothing short of fevered panic. Since that last Cup, the Canadiens have made seven coaching changes. Every one of those coaches had a winning record (except for Alain Vigneault but only because ties count as losses in winning percentage). Yes, even Mario Tremblay was a winner in Montreal. Nonetheless, all these coaches were deemed unfit to continue in their duties as head coach of the team. Two of them were, however, good enough to coach the Canucks and Bruins to first-round sweeps this post-season. Ouch. I know that stung, my beloved friends and family.

And then there's all the captains that have been run out of town (yes, even - especially? - the French-Canadian ones). Guy Carbonneau, Kirk Muller, Mike Keane, Pierre Turgeon and Vincent Damphousse were all traded away and went on to very successful post-Canadiens careers. It's a wonder Saku Koivu lasted as long as he has, but that run is about to end (he will leave as a free agent in a refreshing twist). And let's not even get into the goaltending stigma in Montreal - my lunch is only an hour long.

My argument here is that stability creates a winning atmosphere. I thought the Canadiens had figured that out and I foolishly believed that Bob Gainey (pictured, right) and Guy Carbonneau would anchor the "bleu, blanc, rouge" for years to come. As seen earlier this season, though, patience is thin among the Canadiens fan base and they are hungry for blood. Never mind that their best player, Andrei Markov, missed the last part of the season and playoffs due to injury: someone must to pay for this embarrassing 4-game sweep. That person will almost surely be Bob Gainey. I urge you to look around the landscape and identify possible candidates to replace him, Habs fans. You'll see that a) there aren't very many good general managers available and b) those that are good are not likely to step into such a viper's pit. Gainey had assembled a team that was touted as a Stanley Cup contender by many experts at the beginning of the season (including most Habs fans). Now that it hasn't happened, you'll throw the guy out on the street? Come on now, take a deep breath.

This of course is just an opinion, and please remember that family sticks together through thick and thin...right? I love you too.

The Rosin Bag: 20 Games In 20 Days

2009-04-21T11:01:00.004-04:00

Twenty games in 20 days. That's what's staring the Blue Jays straight in the face right now. The opponents for these games will be; Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Anaheim Angels of Los Angeles in California of Earth in the Milky Way and the Oakland Athletics. Before the season started, you could have said with confidence that the Jays were better than the Rangers, Royals, Orioles and maybe the A's. The way they've played early on, the Jays could win every series. Surely they won't as the law of averages must catch up to them some time. But as commenter Jeremy at Batter's Box puts it:

A 10-10 split would put them at 20-14, a .588 percentage. Roughly a 95 win pace.

Then again if they go .500 the rest of the way they'll finish 6 games in the black, but that's no way of looking at the future. No, my rose-tinted glasses will remain firmly in place and I'll predict 14 wins out of the 20, putting them 24-10 for the season on May 11th.

It all starts tonight with the Jays hosting the 5-7 Texas Rangers. The Good Doctor takes to the mound for the Bluebirds, while Brandon McCarthy gets the nod for the Rangers. Halladay should be careful around Hank Blaylock: the third baseman is 11-for-33 career-wise against him.

8 hours to game time and I'm already giddy. This has to stop sometime, right? It's the first time in my life that I watch the first 14 games of the season. Can I pull a DiMaggio? Probably not. Real life is sure to interfere at some point. Does it count if I watch condensed games on MLB.tv? Nah, I didn't think so either.

The Twit: Jays Are Hot Edition

2009-04-20T11:30:00.005-04:00

Ah, so this is what fingers to keyboard feel like...I had forgotten! Taking a week and a half off has not been kind to my blogging schedule, but alas here I am with another edition of The Twit.

- I've obviously got to start with the red-hot Blue Jays. While my video game counterpart isn't doing all that well in MLB '09: The Show (current record: 3-9), the real life Jays are tearing up the junior circuit. They're doing it with an incredible display of early season hitting, combined with young arms complementing the old doctor very well. It's very rare for baseball teams to fire on all cylinders at once, though, as evidenced by Alex Rios and B.J. Ryan. But hell, I'm not going to dwell on that. Aaron Hill, Adam Lind, Marco Scutaro, Scott Rolen, Lyle Overbay et al. are fanning the flames of love in my heart. Haters will argue that it's a long season and a hot April doesn't mean much, but they're just jealous: when it comes right down to it the team you follow will either start the season well or it won't - no need to wonder what every person prefers.

- The Stanley Cup Playoffs are underway, and I'm casually interested. It's a fun tournament and I am a hockey fan (although as I've stated before I won't be writing about it much because the last thing we need is another Canadian writing a half-assed hockey blog). When your team isn't in the tournament, though, it becomes quite the test of endurance to watch hockey every night for 2 months. I'll watch the Jays instead, thank you very much. From what I have seen, however, the Bruins, Canucks and Blackhawks look real good. I'm still hoping the Capitals will squeeze their way past the Rangers because Alexander Ovechkin is the most exciting entity to watch on skates at the moment.

- When I woke up yesterday morning to watch my PVR'd Chinese Grand Prix and the first shots showed rain, I was excited. An F1 race in the rain is almost always an exciting time. I thought they coddled the drivers a little too much at first by having them start the race behind the safety car for the first 15 minutes. That was all forgotten once they got to racing. Sebastian Vettel was full value for the win, Red Bull Racing's first (Mark Webber finished second, also making this the first Red Bull one-two finish). Felipe Massa once again finished out of the points after his car died while the race was under caution: very embarassing for Ferrari. Brawn Racing was strong once again, finishing third and fourth. As an aside for those of you who follow F1 through this blog, the front defuser utilized by Brawn Racing was found to be legal by the court of arbitatrion last week. They therefore retain all their points and the rest of the grid can scramble to come up with their own variations of the Brawn Diffuser.

That's all I've got for now, but expect more posts soon!

The Rosin Bag: Deflation

2009-04-09T09:30:00.003-04:00

Dammit! And here I was starting to think the Jays would go 162-0! Ok maybe not, but that two game winning streak to start the season was fun, wasn't it? Didn't really feel like letting go of it, to be honest.

But here we are, and Jesse Litsch kinda wet the bed in his first outing. If Ricky Romero can give us a good performance today, all will be forgotten. Oh, and where did the bats go? Zach Miner giving the Jays hitters all kinsd of headaches? Yeesh. Third base coach Nick Leyva also needs to share part of the blame after killing a rally with an ill-advised green light given to Alex Rios on a sac fly with the bases juiced in the bottom of the first (result displayed in picture, right). At least Brian Tallet looked good (and I'm not just talking about his 'stache). Miguel Cabrera is on fire though, he'll be sad to leave Rogers Centre today - he's hitting .700 with 2 dingers.

It was nice to see the boys in HD last night, but today we revert back to what I presume will be Fox Sports Detroit's feed in standard definition, since we're being asked to tune in to the free preview channel. I guess I'll live. At least I'm home to watch the game (vacation coinciding with the start of the baseball season? What a coincidence!). I'm quite intrigued by this Romero business; 1st round pick looks like he's going to be a bust, then suddenly has a great spring and makes the team, both because of what he showed and the necessity to show that a first round pick was not wasted. I'm still somewhat of JP guy so I hope he does well.

That's all I've got this morning, so enjoy the game and I'll be back soon with something non-baseball related, most likely. Here's a drunk Red Sox dancer to lighten up your day!

Soccer Pimp: In Defence of Passion

2009-04-08T12:55:00.009-04:00

If you're a casual sports fan you may not be aware that the North American sports world is in the midst of a long-standing, ever-mutating battle between traditional "American" sports and soccer. This battle involves fans, owners and media, and it happens on both a conscious and sub-conscious level. The battle is the following; how to resist the growth of the world's most popular sports in its final holdout region, USA and Canada.

Despite a few blips, the Forces of Resistance have always had the upper hand on the Knights of Footy, thanks to an entrenched anti-soccer media. In the late 70's the NASL took North America by storm with the arrival of Pelé, who signed to play for the New York Cosmos. It was an explosion that couldn't be sustained. As soon as Pelé was gone the sport imploded for a multitude of reasons (I suggest watching Once In A Lifetime as an educational tool), sending it into a dark place where it remained for a few more decades. At the time, critics of the sport cited its un-American slant, and even went as far as to call it the sport of Communists (ah, the Cold War, how we miss you!).

When the US successfully bid on hosting the 1994 World Cup, FIFA forced a concession from the organizing committee; America would have to establish its own national soccer league. Major League Soccer was born, and this time the people put in charge did it the right way. They fostered a slow growth of the league, waiting until markets developed and genuine demand presented itself for expansion. The seed was planted. Now the naysayers claimed that a National league could never work, people didn't want the product shoved down their throats, the NASL proved that soccer could not sustain itself. Note the escalation in sophistication and volume of the arguments.

The success of the 1994 World Cup took many by surprise, and introduced many more to the beautiful game (including yours truly who was 18 at the time). Networks began to take note and began buying rights to broadcast matches from the best leagues in Europe. As more and more people grew interested in the game, resistance grew ever more feverish. The arguments of the time were that this was a sport for sissies, divers, immigrants, it was boring, there was no action. Media types began writing columns dismissing the sport, claiming to not "get" what the fuss was about, all a flash in the pan.

With more cable licences being awarded, and more and more sports channels becoming available, soccer continued to grow. Here in Canada, Sportsnet (first CTV, then Rogers) began pushing soccer in a major way, by signing an exclusivity contract with the Canadian Soccer Association to carry all national team games but more importantly, carrying several English Premiership matches every week. People around me, knowing I was a fan of the sport, started asking more and more pertinent questions about it: "How does it work?", "What is relegation?", "Why is Owen Hargreaves not playing for Canada?", etc. I even wrote a column on the Voyageurs website to give lovers of the sport a bit of ammunition against the multiplying howls of fury at the sport's growth.

Apparently the reporters being asked to cover soccer were not happy about it, and this translated to numerous sports personalities taking shots at the sport. I'll never forget the play-by-play voice of the Ottawa Senators, Dean Brown, on a CBC panel with the Ottawa Citizen's Wayne Scanlan debating the popularity of the sport and its potential in Canada. This was on the eve of the 2002 World Cup. Brown completely ripped soccer and the people who love it, such a vociferous, unwarranted attack that I will never forgive him for it. It was low-brow stuff, the typical macho, hockey-is-king bullshit. There was something about soccer that made these people's blood boil; even having to talk about it seemed like an insult to their manhood and fighting words would fly.

Seven years on, soccer's made some incredible strides. The signs are everywhere: Toronto FC selling out every home game they've ever played, Vancouver being awarded an MLS expansion franchise for 2011, Montreal and Ottawa practically begging for a franchise, 55,000+ at Olympic Stadium for a CONCACAF Champions League match, no less than three cable channels dedicated to soccer, UEFA Champions League matches every week on TSN, Premiership on Sportsnet and The Score. On Sunday night, I noticed something incredible during the broadcast of the Braves-Phillies MLB season kickoff; on the news crawler at the bottom of the screen, alongside fellow categories "MLB", "NBA", "NHL" and "NCAA" were "MLS" and "Soccer". When soccer's turn was up, scores from the English, Italian, Spanish and Mexican leagues flashed across the screen. I smiled. When the "Worldwide Leader" deems you worthy of real estate on its crawler, you've officially arrived.

And now we've come to the reason for this random defence of soccer, and more specifically its passionate fans. Over the last few weeks I've been reading and hearing many of the Forces of Resistance, in its death throes, argue that the fans of soccer who attend games are indeed poseurs, fakes, guilty of fabricated enthusiasm. When I hear this, I know the Knights of Footy have won. If your argument, your last stand against the invasion, is that the emotion and passion you witness is somehow "fake", it might be better to just sulk as you cry into your beverage. You've failed to get on board, you've erred in your assessment of the qualities of the sport, you are immune to the contagious quality of fan pro-activity. For what you deem "fabricated enthusiasm" is really proactive engagement from fans. Those passionate people you see on television supporting Toronto FC? They've met beforehand, they congregate on the internet, they invent chants, they create banners, they come to the stadium prepared to lift their team without the need for permission from jumbotron prompts. They have songs for individual players, individual occurrences, and they intimidate opposition players.

Soccer has arrived, and is here to stay. The media has finally evolved into embracing the sport. More and more news organizations, both online and traditional, have a soccer columnist on staff. Soccer highlights take up more and more time on sports news shows. The debate is no longer "can soccer catch on in Canada?", it is "how big will it get?". You think there's a lot of coverage now? Just wait until Canada's Mens National Team finally qualifies for the World Cup - only 5 years to Brazil 2014!

How long before the Forces of Resistance play their last card and start branding us all hooligans? Or has that already started?

The Rosin Bag: Respect The Purcey

2009-04-08T09:13:00.006-04:00

I'm a sucker for pitching duels. Pitching is my favourite aspect of baseball, and I love it when both pitchers are dialed in and making life miserable for opposing hitters. Clearly, I want the Jays offence to perform well and build up some solid numbers, but I'll take a game like last night every day of the week. Detroit's Edwin Jackson was the better of the two, pitching into the eighth inning while allowing a solitary run on two hits. David Purcey wasn't much worse, allowing two earned runs on five hits against a lineup stacked with all but one right-handed hitter.

Obviously the come from behind win by the Jays (woohoo!) is going to steal all the headlines, but the story last night was pitching, both good and bad. Great starting pitching gave way to mediocre relief, and it became a fight to see who would give up the last run. Shawn Camp relieved Purcey and got three outs (although it got dicey there for a bit with the bases loaded). Brandon Lyon replaced Jackson and allowed the Jays to come back and take the lead. Not to be outdone, B.J. Ryan pitched the top of the ninth and gave up a solo home run to Brandon Inge, blowing his first save opportunity (uh-oh).

The Jays showed some resilience (or was that Brandon Lyon showing incompetence?), and loaded the bases with one out for Rod Barajas, who drove in the winning run on a sac fly. Victory to the Jays, 2-0 for the first time in four years. Although Purcey did pitch well, there was cause for concern in that he didn't throw his change-up all night, relying solely on his heater and slider. Whatever works, I guess, but having two pitches won't cut it for 30 starts.

One thing that did bother me was Jerry Layne's strike zone. The only thing you ask from an umpire is consistency, and that is especially crucial for the home plate official. What we saw last night was consistent, but in the sense that Jackson kept getting a bunch of calls that were not given to Purcey, especially the low-inside pitch against righties. Jackson was getting that called a strike all night, but no luck for Purcey. Purcey was essentially working with a smaller strike zone. That kind of thing drives me nuts. Oh well, Jays win in the end.

Tonight Jesse Litsch takes the mound against Zach Miner. Is 3-0 too much to ask?

Viewing Note: Rogers Sportsnet followed up their dismal opening night broadcast by relegating Jays fans to watching the Tigers local feed on Sportsnet Pacific. You have to start wondering if Rogers is so worried about it's on-field product that they're burying coverage in the 400 stratosphere of channels. Fox Sports Detroit was actually pretty decent. The announcers weren't total homers and I actually learned a few things. Tonight, the game will actually be available on Sportsnet HD; about freaking time!

The Rosin Bag: The Kids Are Alright

2009-04-07T08:40:00.004-04:00

I guess now we know why the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario revoked the Rogers Centre's liquor licence for a couple of games this year. Some Toronto fans brought themselves into disrepute last night after causing a 10-minute delay in which Jim Leyland pulled his players off the field because of projectiles being thrown onto the surface. Stay classy, Toronto.

It's easy to scold these miscreants, but which is better: the lifeless suits who fill Air Canada Centre for every Leafs game, or the small group of Toronto FC agitators who got themselves pepper-spayed and tasered in Columbus*, or these yahoos who threw baseballs at Detroit Tigers outfielders? Fan passion is a needed ingredient to a healthy sports franchise (just ask Toronto FC), but some residents of society's underbelly mistake passion for drunken tomfoolery. The crowd I was a part of for the USA v. Canada game at Rogers Centre presented a much better example of desired fan behaviour; passionate support that never crossed the line (despite much alcohol being consumed on that festive day as well).

The incident occurred in the bottom of the eighth, and for a time I thought the story might end up being how Jays fans at the game refused to let their dire predictions for the season go unfulfilled, and snatch victory from the players by forfeiting the game through hooliganism. Thankfully calm was restored and the Jays were able to claim their first victory of the season on the strength of young bats inserted into this season's lineup.

It's a strange occurrence when Roy Halladay is not the story on a night that he's the starter. No; this night belonged to the Jays bats, namely Adam Lind (4-5, 6 RBI) and Travis Snider (2-4, HR, 2B), who pushed 12 runs across, including eight against an over-matched Justin Verlander. Every Jay got a hit last night. It was great to see Aaron Hill turn a double play again and Lyle Overbay bashing a double to the gap, great to see Vernon Wells and Alex Rios having good performances overshadowed. Let's hope this fight for the spotlight happens many more times this year.

For at least one day the Jays are ahead of the Yankees (snicker, snicker C.C. Sabathia), Red Sox and Devil Rays. Tonight, another youngster features for the Jays. David Purcey takes to the mound and we'll get to evaluate whether his hot Spring was as irrelevant as most Spring statistics. Here's hoping he can mesmerize the Tigers hitters and keep this good feeling going.

Viewing note: Sportsnet dropped the ball last night. The game was NOT available in HD in the Ottawa region. Viewers had to tune in to Sportsnet Pacific to watch the game because the Ottawa Senators were playing, but here's what's puzzling; the Senators game was in standard definition. It boggles the mind as to why Sportsnet would put the Sens game on their HD feed and their Jays telecast on standard def. Only once the Sens game ended did the HD channel carry the remainder of the Jays game. What a debacle. Oh, and Sportsnet - that "beautiful" camera view from the 5th deck? There's a reason those are the cheapest seats in the place - you can't see shit.

*For the record, I believe the incident in Columbus had more to do with badly trained police officers, but it does point to a disturbing trend for Toronto sports fans. You can also point to the incident at the FIFA Under World Cup involving the Chilean National team. Perhaps Toronto fans have been going to too many Bills games at Orchard park and this is learned behaviour.

Soccer Pimp: To Find Inspiration

2009-04-06T15:33:00.006-04:00

There are moments in soccer that happen fairly frequently (certainly more frequently than in any other sport), which inspire me in a unique way. Moments of beauty that whether or not I am a fan of a particular team, I simply must put aside rivalries and tip my cap. Such a moment did not occur in Toronto FC's 2-0 loss at the hands of the expansion Seattle Sounders. However, Manchester United provided moments worthy of a fairy-tale on Sunday morning.

Aston Villa rolled into Old Trafford, a ground on which they had not won in 25 years. Between these two teams, I definitely wanted Villa to win. I cheer against United in almost any situation - Sir Alex Ferguson's arrogance assures this. For those not familiar with this guy, imagine Don Cherry's fiery temper mixed with Scotty Bowman's tenure and success (actually, just imagine Cherry had he been successful at coaching). That's Alex Ferguson. His squad has been decimated by injury and suspensions, and he was operating with a skeleton crew. On the bench were kids from the reserves, including a 17-year-old Italian kid who was about to have the best day in his young life.

The first three-quarters of the match were entertaining, featuring some skillful displays and a trio of goals that put Villa up 2-1. This was exciting in and of itself; a team about to break a 25-year-old hoodoo tends to be entertaining on its own merit. The football gods were not satisfied with this trivial matter, however, and the next 20 minutes were pure magic.

First, after what the announcer called the "Siege at the Stratford End" (that end of the pitch being the name of the stands in front of which Villa was painstakingly trying to keep the ball out of the net), Cristiano Ronaldo (pictured, right) had a beautiful goal that was just another example of his brilliance (I acknowledge this grudgingly). By this time, Ferguson had made a curious switch of personnel. In taking Nani out of the game, he had replaced him with an unknown striker name Federico Macheda, a young Italian who had been plucked a few years earlier from the Lazio youth system. United supporters were befuddled by this selection, since there was a better-known young phenom striker also sitting on the bench.

Even at 2-2 the match seemed unsettled - United kept charging and Villa looked exhausted. Ferguson worked his magic once more by intimidating the fourth official, hounding him while frantically gesticulating at his watch, claiming Villa was time wasting. It worked, and the board went up at 90 minutes indicating five extra minutes. There's no way there was five minutes lost during the second half, but I digress - this is part of the man's genius.

The assault on the Villa goal continued, which produced one of those moments I spoke of off the top. Here is what transpired (do hurry to watch this, these clips are usually removed from YouTube in a hurry):

I couldn't help but smile. This boy's dream had just been fulfilled, and who wouldn't be moved by that? It's the same reason that I can't help but enjoy every moment where a Championship is clinched, when the team storms the field. It is pure joy and even if I wasn't cheering for that particular team, I smile. I don't know what it is, but seeing a bunch of grown (and in this case not so grown) men jump for joy, hugging one another in unabated bliss fills my own heart with the same feeling. Sappy, I know.

And there you have it; Manchester United denied Villa their historic victory and the boys from Birmingham can try again next year.

Zoom Zoom: Play With Water, You Get Wet?

2009-04-06T10:53:00.010-04:00

NASCAR fans who read this column will be forgiven for feeling smug this morning as I write of an F1 race that had to be stopped because of rain; only a month ago I took a shot at NASCAR for ending their crown jewel race due to a rainshower. What goes around...

The Malaysian GP was stopped with 32 of 56 scheduled laps to go. What made this particular red flag situation unacceptable is that F1's brain trust had decided to push the start time of the race an hour later to better accommodate European television viewership. This was done despite the objections of local officials, who argued that at this time of year, at that time of day, Kuala Lumpur almost always receives a torrential downpour. I guess we notch this up as another feather in Bernie Ecclestone's cap.

What we were left with was another win for Jenson Button, followed by Nick Heidfeld of BMW and Timo Glock of Toyota. If you don't follow F1 closely, those are not household names. Ferrari once again was left pointless, and Lewis Hamilton of McLaren finished 7th (I wonder what rule FIA will invoke to strip of his points this week?). Because the race was stopped with less than 3/4 of the race finished, only half the usual points were awarded.

The saddest part of the whole situation is we had a great race going. There was a number of exciting battles on the circuit, notably a fight between Lewis Hamilton and Mark Weber that saw them switch position four or five times within a few laps. The threat of rain was making some teams lose their minds, as when Ferrari sent Kimi Raikonnen out on the track on "extreme wet" tires, even though not a drop had yet fallen. Three laps later, when the rain finally started coming down, the tires were shredded and he had to pit again. Good times.

Two races down in the calendar, and trends are starting to develop:

- Brawn GP is for real. Button qualified on the pole again, and Barrichello was fourth. Two straight wins for the team means they are the ones to beat until other teams find a way to improve their front wing, which is generally being credited for their quick start.

- Ferrari are hurting. Yes, I know they generally get out to a slow start, but this is different. They look terrible out there. If things don't shape up soon, I predict heads are gonna roll.

- Williams-Toyota are fast (in practice). It looks like the car is quick, and Niko Rosberg is putting down some really fast times in practice and qualifying, but they don't see to have the car where it needs to be to compete for the Championship. Don't be surprised if they pull off a couple of wins, though.

- Lewis Hamilton is one of the best drivers in the world. That much is becoming clear this season. Sure he won a Championship last season, but this year he doesn't have a car. Kovalainen isn't even in the same galaxy when you look at what each driver is getting out of that "bagnole".

The next stop is the Chinese GP on the weekend of April 17-19. Judging by the first two races, you don't wat to miss it.

The Twit: Weekend Plans Edition

2009-04-03T14:12:00.004-04:00

Quick thoughts on what I plan to watch this weekend:

F1 - Malaysian GP:

I'll be PVR-ing qualifying and the race, and will probably watch both on Sunday morning. Williams was fastest again in practice today. Should be interesting to see if Brawn GP can keep the momentum going forward. Will Ferrari and McLaren get any points this weekend?

ALMS - Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg:

The luster dulls a bit after Sebring this year, as Audi and Peugeot retreat to Europe to prepare for the 24 Hours of LeMans. Usually Audi have been regulars in this series, but they've blamed the economy to explain their absence this year. P1 will be Acura's playground, P2 will be a fight between an Acura and the Mazdas and GT1 is Corvette-only. Come to think of it, the only compelling class in ALMS this year is GT2. I hope that's how the sporscast treats it (ABC, 1:30 pm Eastern). I'll be watching to see what BMW did to improve on their dismal first race and if Panoz can continue running with the big boys.

MLS - Toronto FC v. Seattle Sounders:

Toronto FC's home opener should be a treat to watch. They went undefeated in their first two road games and the crowd will be as wild as ever at BMO Field. Haven't had a chance to catch either of their first two games, so this will be my first look at Canada's 2009 entry in MLS. I'll be checking for weaknesses that the Impact can exploit in the Voyageurs Cup! Interesting side note is that the Sounders' best striker, Fredy Montero, is staying behind to recover from what the team is calling "the flu". According to this report, that is quite the nasty flu.

MLB: Atlanta v. Philadelphia

Baseball is back, baby! Sunday night I'll be watching the World Series Champions take on the up and coming Atlanta Braves. It's been a long winter and the WBC disappointed, so my baseball taste buds need satiating! I normally would never watch the Braves play the Phillies in a regular season game, but it's opening night. John Miller will have the call, and we'll be treated to Citizens Bank Park in glorious high-definition. A Philadelphia night in early April can't be too warm, I imagine, but it can't be worse than game 6, err game 5, err game 5 and a half (?) of the World Series!

The Rosin Bag: Toronto Blue Jays Forecast

2009-04-03T11:38:00.004-04:00

Doom and gloom abounds when sifting through the piles of MLB previews and predictions concerning your 2009 Toronto Blue Jays. The obvious steps backwards taken by the franchise are easy to point out: losing A.J. Burnett, Shaun Marcum out for the year, Dustin McGowan doubtful in his ability contribute this year, two rookies in the starting rotation, no free agent activity to speak of...yup, that's the easy part.

The front office has announced that they're working towards contending - in 2010. The media has done a bang-up job of toeing the company line, predicting a dire 2009 season. Most outlets predict a finish no better than 4th place in the American League East. With the Rays, Yankees, Red Sox and Orioles rounding out the division, I can see the logic in that.

So with no expectations and such dire predictions to live up to, where are we really?

Pitching:

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2009 Blue Jays starting rotation:

1. Roy Halladay
2. David Purcey
3. Jesse Litsch
4. Ricky Romero
5. Scott Richmond

Although this does seem like the Jays are going into the season light on arms, it's not all that bad according to Batter's Box. Reading his post really lifted my spirits concerning this starting grid, and if things work out with just one of the youngsters, the Jays shouldn't be too far off of what they were in 2008.

The bullpen poses a lot of questions, mind you. Jeremy Accardo was just sent down to the minors and B.J. Ryan hasn't been able to hit any higher than 87 m.p.h. on the radar gun in Florida. Cito has actually begun musing about using Scott Downs in the closer role. Brandon League has had a fantastic Spring and Casey Janssen should be back to 100% after suffering through injuries. Jason Frasor is what he is, and the rest of the cast should be shuttling back and forth between Toronto and Las Vegas.

I get the feeling that watching the Jays pitch this summer will be anything but dull. How Brad Arnsberg manages the arms will be fun to monitor, and if one of the youngsters emerges as a stud we could be in for a heck of a fun ride.

Hitting:

Here's what I've got for a batting order this year:

1. Aaron Hill
2. Adam Lind
3. Alex Rios
4. Vernon Wells
5. Scott Rolen
6. Travis Snider
7. Lyle Overbay
8. Rod Barajas
9. Marco Scutaro

The Jays were near the basement in offense last season. Should a few "if's" come through, it will be fairly easy to surpass last year's numbers. The "if's" are the following:

- if Aaron Hill overcomes his concussion to return to 2007 form;
- if Adam Lind continues to improve;
- if Scott Rolen stays healthy and re-emerges as a slugging 3rd baseman;
- if Travis Snider is as good as advertised;
- if Lyle Overbay can start hitting doubles again;

If none of these happen, we have the 2008 Jays offense; nothing lost, nothing gained. If however some of these "if's" pull through, we've got something to cheer about it. It means the Jays can score more than one or two runs in support of Halladay. It means the young pitching staff can pitch with a lead on occasion. It means Wells and Rios can start taking more risks on the basepaths.

It means; a better offensive ball club than last year.

My advice to Jays fans watching their team this year is this; enjoy watching these young kids develop. It's going to be a hell of treat to watch Purcey, Lind, Snider and Romero come of age. Sprinkle a little greatness with Halladay, Wells and Rios and you've got a compelling product to follow. Some days will be frustrating, as stupid mistakes are inevitable with such a young team. But whatever you do, don't get down on these guys. Cito Gaston and Gene Tenace are going to work this bunch into a hitting powerhouse, and by the end of the season we'll have no trouble imagining a pennant in 2010.

My prediction for 2009? 84 wins and 3rd place in the division. That's right, only two wins less than last year. That's how much I think we've improved on offense, and I don't think we're as terrible on the mound as some are saying. The Yankees are nowhere near as good as advertised, and will miss the playoffs; they're the team the Blue Jays will beat for 3rd place.

Can't wait until Monday.

Zoom Zoom: Update on Hamilton Incident

2009-04-02T16:10:00.005-04:00

Here's what the report from the stewards says:

The FIA have revealed details of the new evidence that prompted stewards to strip McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton of this third place in the Australian Grand Prix and hand the place back to Toyota’s Jarno Trulli, who had originally been penalized for passing Hamilton under the safety car.

According to the FIA, in the original enquiry into the incident, both Hamilton and McLaren stated that they had not deliberately let Trulli pass. However, in interview footage recorded immediately after the race - and not originally seen by stewards - Hamilton says he was instructed to move over for the Italian.

Furthermore, the FIA say that McLaren radio recordings contain ‘two explicit orders’ given to Hamilton to let the Toyota pass. Based on this new evidence the stewards ‘felt strongly that they had been misled’ by the driver and team, resulting in their decision to disqualify the world champion.

Full statement from the FIA:

PENALTY IMPOSED ON DRIVER NO 1 LEWIS HAMILTON AND COMPETITOR VODAFONE MCLAREN MERCEDES

SUMMARY OF KEY CONSIDERATIONS

At the first hearing following the Australian Grand Prix the Stewards did not have the benefit of the radio exchanges between driver No 1 Lewis Hamilton and his Team Vodafone McLaren Mercedes nor did they have access to the comments to the Media given by Lewis Hamilton immediately after the end of the race.

From the video recordings available to the Stewards during the hearing it appeared that Jarno Trulli’s car left the track and car No 1 moved into third place. It then appeared that Trulli overtook Hamilton to regain third place, which at the time was prohibited as it was during the Safety Car period.

During the hearing, held approximately one hour after the end of the race, the Stewards and the Race Director questioned Lewis Hamilton and his Team Manager David Ryan specifically about whether there had been an instruction given to Hamilton to allow Trulli to overtake. Both the driver and the Team Manager stated that no such instruction had been given. The Race Director specifically asked Hamilton whether he had consciously allowed Trulli to overtake. Hamilton insisted that he had not done so.

The new elements presented to the Stewards several days after the 2009 Australian Grand Prix which led to the reconvened Stewards Meeting clearly show that:

a. Immediately after the race and before Lewis Hamilton attended the Stewards Meeting he gave an interview to the Media where he clearly stated that the Team had told him to let Trulli pass.

b. Furthermore, the radio exchanges between the driver and the Team contain two explicit orders from the Team to let the Toyota pass.

The Stewards, having learned about the radio exchanges and the Media interview, felt strongly that they had been misled by the driver and his Team Manager which led to Jarno Trulli being unfairly penalised and Lewis Hamilton gaining third place.

Transcript of the radio transmission between Lewis Hamilton and his team:

Team: OK Lewis, you should need to make sure your delta is positive over the safety car line. After the safety car line the delta doesn’t matter but no overtaking. No overtaking.

Lewis Hamilton: The Toyota went off in a line at the second corner, ..., is this OK?

Team: Understood, Lewis. We’ll confirm and get back to you.

LH: He was off the track. He went wide.

Team: Lewis, you need to allow the Toyota through. Allow the Toyota through now.

LH: OK.

LH: He’s slowed right down in front of me.

Team: OK, Lewis. Stay ahead for the time being. Stay ahead. We will get back to you. We are talking to Charlie.

LH: I let him past already.

Team: OK, Lewis. That’s fine. That’s fine. Hold position. Hold position.

LH: Tell Charlie I already overtook him. I just let him past.

Team: I understand Lewis. We are checking. Now can we go to yellow G 5, yellow Golf 5.

LH: I don’t have to let him past I should be able to take that position back, if he made a mistake.

Team: Yes, we understand Lewis. Let’s just do it by the book. We are asking Charlie now. You are in P4. If you hold this position. Just keep it together.

Team: OK Lewis, your KERS is full, your KERS is full. Just be aware. You can go back to black F2, black Foxtrott 2.

LH: Any news from Charlie whether I can take it back or not.

Team: Still waiting on a response Lewis, still waiting.

Team: Lewis, work on your brakes please. Front brakes are cold.

Team: If we are able to use one KERS that would be good. If you deploy KERS please do so now.

Team: OK, Lewis, this is the last lap of the race. At the end of the lap the safety car will come in, you just proceed over the line without overtaking, without overtaking. We are looking into the Trulli thing, but just hold position.

My questions are:

a) why was Trulli deemed allowed to pass Hamilton, if he had gone off the track?

b) knowing this, why did the team tell Hamilton let Trulli pass, then try and take it back and tell him not to let him pass?

c) why DID they lie to the stewards? Seems to me all they had to do was tell the truth and Trulli would have been punished for passing under yellow?

d) even in light of them lying, the facts remain that Trulli went off by mistake, Hamilton passed him legally, then Trulli passed Hamilton illegally. Why is Hamilton being stripped of his points (and not being awarded third position)?

Zoom Zoom: More Politicking In F1

2009-04-02T15:23:00.005-04:00

Let me set the stage for you on what happened at the end of the Malaysian GP: Robert Kubica and Sebastian Vettel are locked in a heated battle for second and third place on the podium with three laps to go. (In my view), Kubica is overly-aggressive and is at fault for causing both cars to wipe out, ending their race. A full-course yellow is then necessary and the race finishes under caution with Jensen Button coming first and Rubens Barichello coming second. Because of the crash, Jarno Trulli is now in third and Lewis Hamilton in fourth. This is where the shenanigans begin.

Depending on who you believe (shouldn't there be video of this!?!), Trulli somehow ran off the track. Seeing this, Hamilton passed him. Not sure if he was allowed to do this, Hamilton sought advice from his team and they told him to let Trulli pass him again, which he did. After the race, McLaren Mercedes filed a protest stating that Trulli passed Lewis Hamilton under caution (a no-no), and should be awarded third place. The protest is accepted and their positions were officially swapped.

Today, however, the decision was reversed and Hamilton was stripped of all points earned in the race because either he or the team lied to stewards about what really happened. I'm still trying to wade through the reports to figure out what truly (Trulli?) happened, but even if McLaren tried to gain an advantage by stretching the truth in their telling of the story, isn't stripping them of all points a little harsh?

And ask yourself this question in all seriousness: If you replace Hamilton with Felipe Massa of Ferrari in this situation, is the same judgment handed down?

Not only that, but Vettel was handed a 10 place grid penalty for his involvement in the Kubica crash. I've heard many opinions on this from experts and fans. At best, people thought it was a 50-50 blame share, a racing incident, and at worse it was Kubica's fault (my stance). The stewards once again saw it completely differently. Again, no explanation.

This is what disgusts me about F1. There are no legislated penalties for issues like this - the penalties are handed down subjectively and without proper explanation or justification. It leaves the door open to all kind of conspiracy talk. F1 would do itself a favour by being consistent in its rulings. Alas, Bernie and Max are the ones running this circus.

Spring Is In the Air

2009-03-31T12:04:00.003-04:00

Ok, well maybe not in Ottawa where it's currently 2 Celsius, but everywhere I look I see signs of baseball's return (again, not in Ottawa). The purpose of this post isn't to offer you my Blue Jays Season Forecast (I won't go so far as to call it a preview - calling it a forecast gives me as much leeway as a weatherman's predictions), but rather to plug a fantastic blog I've been reading the past couple weeks.

It's called Inside the Majors, and it's written by former Toronto Blue Jays Assistant General Manager Bart Given (that's a lot of CAPS). There's a tonne of great insight from a front office perspective - stuff you wouldn't see from beat reporters or other media sources.

I've added it to my Points of Interest for your to peruse, but a couple of posts that I particularly enjoyed were Second Guessing Managerial Decisions, which lifts the veil of secrecy on a Jim Fregosi "decision" from a few years ago, and You Be The GM - Travis Snider (pictured above). From the former:

After the game the media asked Fregosi about the move, and he replied with a statement along the line of “Sometimes the players make the decisions for you.”
No one presses him on it.

Well after the game, I found out the whole story.

It turns out Fregosi had no intention of hitting for Fullmer, but he never showed and none of the staff could find him in the clubhouse. I’m not sure exactly where he was, but knowing the ultra-intense Fullmer - he was likely waggling a bat somewhere working on his swing.

And from the latter:

A MLB player becomes eligible for free agency once he has amassed six full seasons of service time. If Snider breaks camp with the Blue Jays, he is on schedule to become a free agent after the 2014 season. If optioned until May 15, he wouldn’t have the ability to become a free agent until after the 2015 season. Isn’t six weeks of not having Snider in 2009 worth having him for six months in 2015?

It's rare to get such candor from a front-office type. As a fan, it's refreshing to get a look inside the nuts and bolts. Now that I've distracted you, I need to get to work on my "forecast".

Tiger Saves Golf

2009-03-30T15:19:00.004-04:00

I am not a fan of golf. In fact, there are many aspects of golf that I find repulsive. If forced to play 18 holes I usually want to go home by the eighth hole and watching it on TV is literally like watching grass grow. That doesn't mean I can't appreciate greatness when I see it.

I didn't do much this weekend as I was still recovering from my nasty cold, and by Sunday morning I was pretty bored with playing video games. I felt like being more passive in my couch potato-ism. The F1 did the trick in the morning, but the afternoon's television slate was filled with a triumvirate of things I don't care for: golf, basketball and NASCAR.

There was something about knowing that Tiger Woods being five shots back of the leader at the Arnold Palmer Invitational that appealed to me, however. Much like I could stand to watch basketball when Michael Jordan's Bulls were playing, Tiger is a compelling story. There's something about watching greatness at work that is attractive. Throw in the fact that he was in only his third tournament coming back from reconstructive knee surgery and you had a ready-made Hollywood script. And, of course, he delivered.

The prey on which Tiger set his sights was Shawn O'Hair, a young kid with an already impressive three PGA wins. Poor guy looked like a deer in the headlights most of Sunday though, as he was paired with Tiger and had to try and calm his nerves as an 18 wheeler bore down on him. He was only able to do so on the back nine but by that time it was too late - Tiger had caught up. Nonetheless, it all came down to Tiger's last shot, a 15-foot birdie that was as much a foregone conclusion as a dozen people yelling "GET IN THE HOLE!!" as soon as his putter hit the ball (one of my pet peeves about watching golf). It was exciting - no, it was exhilarating. You'll probably never see me write those words to describe golf again. Then again, perhaps I'll tune in again next time Tiger is hunting down an opponent.

Viewing note: The NBC coverage was brilliant. For the first time I can remember I wasn't rolling my eyes every couple of minutes during the broadcasting of a golf event. The info was relevent, and the miking up of the caddies really helped the layman understand the strategy behind golf. NBC's shot tracker was also spectacular, reminding me of the video game version of the sport and highlighting the acute skill these guys possess. One last thing about the coverage that I appreciated was that the guys in the studios weren't whispering. Nothing drove me more bonkers in the past than knowing that two guys in a studio were trying to be quiet when they weren't anywhere near the action.

Pro Baseball In Ottawa Dies

2009-03-30T15:11:00.003-04:00

The Voyageurs never got to take the field. Out of Left Field details what prompted the team to fold before it ever really took off. That's too bad, I really intended to spend a considerable chunk of free time at the ballpark this summer. I guess I'll have to mow the lawn or something.

Zoom Zoom: Australian GP

2009-03-30T13:50:00.007-04:00

As I settled in yesterday morning to watch the Australian GP, as that beautiful sound of F1 cars buzzing about reached my ears, as the sights being beamed from Melbourne reached my screen, it dawned on me: F1 is not coming to Montreal this year. It just felt so wrong as that reality began the process of settling in. No Montreal F1. No Canadian GP. Heck, no North American race.

An incredibly bittersweet feeling sat in the pit of my stomach as I watched and listened. Excited that F1 was back, devastated as I realized there would be no trip to see Montreal transformed into a big car festival this summer.

But then, as I surfed the net and emerged from my week-long slumber, I found a ray of hope. Turns out money can't buy you time, and the track being built in the United Arab Emirates is woefully behind schedule, and rumours were flying in Melbourne that Bernie would have to crawl back to the organizing committee of the Canadian GP to see if they could replace it with a race in November. This hasn't happened yet, but how fantastic would that be? Oh, and I fully support the stance organizers in Montreal are taking, basically saying "If you want back in, you come back for the long haul". That's right. You wanted to pound us with your stick when you had the long end, Bernie? Time for some payback.

As usual, politics off the track were threatening to overshadow the action that actually matters. Other than the Montreal talk, there were also a number of teams lodging protests against Brawn GP, the team that replaced Honda in the field, and their interpretation of the rules governing the front wing of the car. As I previously posted, many new rules were being brought into effect this season with the hope of cutting costs and leveling the playing field. Word is, however, that Brawn's offence is more against the "spirit" of the rule than any type of legality, so either the other teams will adapt or the FIA will clarify its rule: no sanctions are forthcoming against Brawn GP.

Whatever they did to that front wing, it worked! Brawn GP, using a Mercedes engine, were 1-2 in qualifying and 1-2 in the race. It was only the third time that a new entry to F1 has won the race. Jenson Button ended up beating Rubens Barrichello at the finish, and Lewis Hamilton in his McLaren Mercedes took third spot despite being denied his spot on the podium as the stewards tried to figure out how Jarno Trulli passed him under caution three laps from the finish. Ferrari were out of the points (sad, I know), and whatever wishes the FIA had for leveling the playing field, they achieved. We'll just have to see how things play out over the course of the season.

One complaint I had is despite all these rule changes promising more competition and more battles on track, the latter did not materialize. Only a few times during the race did we see true battles (and unfortunately the best one was aborted when Robert Kubica foolishly tried to run Sebastian Vettel off the track with three laps to go), and if I'm not mistaken the lead never changed hands. I don't hide my disdain for NASCAR, but they've got us beat in terms of leader changes and wondering who will come out on top.

But this day belonged to Ross Brawn, the architect of this new F1 team. He was the genius who teamed up with Michael Schumacher at Benetton and Ferrari, and moved to Honda once Schumi retired. Forced to build a team within a few months after Honda pulled out, he has assembled a winner. Such last minute was this endeavour that they only announced their title sponsor shortly before qualifying on Saturday. Richard Branson is getting into the F1 game by making Virgin the eye candy on these un-sexy cars (pictured, right). Call me brainwashed, but there's just something odd about seeing a race car that isn't plastered with sponsor liveries . Something tells me that after this weekend, sponsorship money will come rolling in. Such is the life of winners.

If Your Life Was A Movie, What Would Be Its Soundtrack?

2009-03-30T11:25:00.004-04:00

Don't usually do these, but the randomness of it appealed to me (yes, I will mix in some music posts on here once in a while).

So here's how it works...

1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For the first question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button TWICE
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool...just type it in man!

1. Opening Credits
Pretty In Pink: The Psychedelic Furs

2. Waking Up:
Hello Dave - I Mother Earth

3. First Day at School:
Safe and Sound - Hawksley Workman

4. Falling in Love:
Fool To Cry - Rolling Stones

5. Losing Virginity:
Butterflies and Hurricanes - Muse

6. Fight Song:
In You Soul - Corey Hart

7. Breaking Up:
Things We Said Today - The Beatles

8. Prom:
Action - Sweet

9. Life:
Rebel Girl - Bikini Kill

10. Mental Breakdown:
Scarlet - U2

11. Driving:
Jizzlobber - Faith No More

12. Flashback:
Vertigo - Sarah Slean

13. Getting Back Together:
Perfect - Smashing Pumpkins

14. Wedding:
Brass In Pocket - The Pretenders

15. Birth of Child:
Rebellion (Lies) - Arcade Fire

16. Final Battle:
Haushinka - Green Day

17. Death Scene:
Tom Sawyer - Rush

18. Funeral Song:
Eyesight to the Blind - The Who

19.End Credits
NIB - Black Sabbath

The Twit: Sick As A Dog Edition

2009-03-30T09:02:00.007-04:00

Alright, considering it's been over a week since my last true post, I'll bring you up to date, Twitter style, on the subjects that caught my attention during that time, in 140 characters or less (I promise to break that last rule a few times).

The viewing of the 12 Hours of Sebring was a success, even though the race was surprisingly boring. Too few battles, only 3 cautions (which allowed the field to get very spread out). Father-in-law said he loved it, though, so it was a success in that sense.
Hats off to Curt Schilling, who retired after a remarkable career. I don't care whether or not the bloody sock was a put-on: it worked and added to a magical World Series run in 2004. Another favourite Schilling moment: draping a towel over his head every time Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams pitched in the 1993 World Series, unable to watch. His gut feeling was right, it turns out ("Touch 'em all, Joe!!").
Lots of back and forth about Montreal Canadiens ownership issues. I'm not convinced Gillett is serious about selling his sports assets. Just a gut feeling, but I think he might be genuine when he says it's simply an evaluation of assets and has no intention selling his stakes in Canadiens, NASCAR and Liverpool FC.
Great post over at Out of Left Field about the Rapidz suing the Can-Am league and the City of Ottawa. The only thing I'll say in defence of the Zipperheads is that they were hard done by the City for quadrupling stadium fees from $250,000 to $1,000,000 for the upcoming season, making the whole venture unsustainable. It's no secret as a baseball fan and player that the City of Ottawa is waging a war against the sport to squeeze it out of the landscape.
WBC crown stays with Japan for another four years. For some reason the magic that surrounded the original WBC failed to materialize this time around. Haven't put my finger on the cause, but expect a full WBC post-mortem on these pages in the coming weeks.
Toronto FC starts the season undefeated! Great win in Kansas City and a plucky effort for the draw in Columbus, where 1,500 TFC fans made the trip. When's the last time 1,500 fans of a Canadian professional sports team travelled to the rival city to cheer on their team? Probably last season, again when TFC played in Columbus. Come on soccer less-than-enthusiasts, GET ON THE BUS!
Dale Mitchell was fired as Canadian Men's National team head coach. Another indicator of the Canadian Soccer Association's incompetence: the man had driven the team into the ground during World Cup qualification despite our most talented team ever taking the pitch. The last game of that effort was in November. The team hasn't played since. It took them four months to determine he hadn't done a good job? Pathetic. Shameful. Ladies and gentlemen, the Canadian Soccer Association.

And there you have it. Did I miss anything (keeping in mind that I will have a full post on both Tiger's comeback and the Austalian GP)?

Life Is A Lemon

2009-03-26T12:24:00.001-04:00

Hey, just wanted to drop in and say I haven't renounced my blogging obligations, I'm just recovering from a bout of the flu with a heavy dose of a cold. I'll be back to catch up on all the events of the past week shortly.

If You Like To Laugh...

2009-03-20T12:30:00.005-04:00

...then make sure you watch this. I found it while reading the Sports and the City blog. This one's for you, B-Mac and Matty.

Zoom Zoom: 12 Hours To The 12 Hours

2009-03-20T09:27:00.006-04:00

After a long, sleepy winter devoid of any racing that fills my needs (sorry NASCAR), automotive excellence returns to my radar tomorrow with the 12 Hours of Sebring. As I wrote earlier, this is the kickoff event to the 2009 American LeMans Series. ALMS is a relative newcomer to the North American sports scene, its inaugural season coming in 1999.

Most people are familiar with the 24 Hours of LeMans, if only because of passing mentions in the media and Steve McQueen's classic movie "Le Mans". The European and American LeMans series are loosely affiliated in that the car classes have similar specs and that the winners of each class at the Petit LeMans, a 10-hour race in Atlanta in October, qualify for the 24-hour race in LeMans, France the following July.

The American series had been on a steady rise since its inaugural season, but some teams have pulled out this season, and the recession is probably to blame. Of note, Penske Racing and Andretti-Green racing, two giants of the racing world, will not be taking part this year. That is somewhat offset by the addition of Rahal-Letterman racing's two-car BMW entry in the GT2 class. There's no denying, though, that losing those two legends stings.

Another recent addition to the circuit, Gil de Ferran's Acura racing team (pic on the right) has claimed the overall pole position with his prototype entry (P1 is the top class in ALMS, followed by P2 and the two GT classes). It is shocking for him to beat the Audi and Peugeot's to the pole, but doesn't necessarily reflect who has the best car on the track. In a 12-hour race, having the fastest lap isn't enough - you have to be fast AND reliable.

My attention is usually focused on the GT classes. GT1 is kind of a wash - it consists exclusively of C6 Corvettes. No drama there. In GT2, however, there are 15 teams driving 8 different types of street cars: five Porsche 911's, three Ferrari 430's, the two aforementioned BMW E92 M3's, a Dodge Viper, a Panoz Esperante, a Ford GT MK7, an Aston Martin Vantage and a GT2-tuned Corvette C6. I don't really have a favourite, but I really want the BMW's to do well. In the prototype class, my French roots have my heartstrings being tugged by Peugeot.

We've made a mini-event of this in my home, with my in-laws coming over to watch it with me. A few firsts of note here; it will be the first time my in-laws spend a large chunk of time in our home, and it will be the first time my father-in-law watches this series (he prefers cars that go in circles and straight lines). So yeah, I'm a little nervous. Hopefully it's a good race. I think he'll really appreciate the strategy that goes into putting a car on track for 12 straight hours and everything that entails. Speed usually does a decent job of following the story lines and focusing on the racing. If the racing turns out to be a snoozer, I'll distract him with food. Hey, it works on me every time!

But seriously, if you find yourself twiddling your thumbs sometime tomorrow afternoon all the way to 10pm, tune in for a couple of minutes to check it out. ALMS might make a fan out of you.

The Pipe Dream Lives On

2009-03-19T14:27:00.003-04:00

A few years ago I wrote about the possibility of the Québec Nordiques coming back to the NHL. It eventually turned out that the rumours were but another tease for fans of the long-maligned franchise.

What's old is news again (French): former players Michel Goulet and Kevin Lowe are getting behind an effort to build an NHL-ready arena in Québec. So far the initiative looks a little shaky; there is no franchise available, expansion is a non-starter in this economy (aside: I've quickly grown tired of the expression "in this economy"), and NHL ticket prices are way out of reach for the old Nordiques fanbase.

So far it simply has the appearance of a couple of ex-NHLer's going out on a limb for an old buddy. I would be shocked if anything came of this particular effort. Besides, building an NHL-ready rink hasn't exactly made the Jets rush back to Winnipeg.

Soccer Pimp: Toronto FC - No Ticket To Be Had

2009-03-19T10:25:00.007-04:00

So much for those who said Toronto FC's success would be a flash in the pan, an anomaly that would right itself in time: for the third straight season, Toronto FC has sold every ticket of every game.

There's a wonderful write-up in the Globe and Mail by Neil Davidson, which explains how the stadium had a lot to do with the franchise's success. It's caught a lot of people by surprise, including those that brought the team to Toronto:

"I get asked this question all the time. 'Did you ever expect it to be so successful out of the gate?"' says Tom Anselmi, executive vice-president and CEO for Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment. "The answer is 'No, we didn't actually.'

"We believed that soccer was going to succeed in this market, we knew there's lots of soccer fans. The question was would they buy into Major League Soccer? We didn't really know that."

I have to admit that although I thought the team could thrive in the Toronto market, I wasn't expecting this kind of over-the-top success. No one did. The Toronto Lynx had toiled in obscurity for years in the USL, a league just one notch below Major League Soccer. In this respect, Montreal was a better logical fit for an MLS team, considering they had been drawing thousands of fans per game operating in the same league as the Lynx. However, the Toronto bid had the backing of the MLSE behemoth, and a soccer-specific stadium plan to go with it. I bet there was a lot of nail-biting from the MLS and MLSE offices once the franchise was awarded to Toronto.

I was present at that first home game in 2007. It was a chilly April afternoon and I had made the trip with my buddy Daddio, the tickets being a Christmas gift from Laura. I knew the game was sold out, but I didn't quite know what to expect. If anything I expected the typical Toronto crowd from Leafs and Jays games that sit on their hands. Boy was I wrong.

MLSE made the brilliant decision of assigning a section of the stadium to the most hardcore fans, the Red Patch Boys. These fans, many also associated to The Voyageurs, took the bull by the horns and created an atmosphere I had only experienced in European football stadiums and during the NHL playoffs (actually, it was better than the NHL playoffs). Singing, drumming, chanting, throwing streamers onto the field - they made a 1-0 defeat feel like a resounding victory. They showed everyone what an organized group of supporters could create, something North America is not used to (except for college football). BMO field became the story that day, and has continued to offer the best soccer atmosphere in North America. No one even comes close.

The success of Toronto FC is what has me optimistic about soccer's chances in other non-traditional Canadian markets. I'll have more on this in the future, but the tide is turning in this country, and the old guard better be on alert because the cliché, go-to put downs are becoming moot and their worst fears - a soccer renaissance in Canada - are coming true.

Soccer Pimp: Hooray! (I think?)

2009-03-18T14:40:00.009-04:00

And so the next frontier in Canadian soccer history has been breached: Vancouver will join MLS in 2011. They will join Toronto FC as the other Canadian entry in what is (in theory) an American soccer league (although with Montréal and Ottawa in the on deck circle, how far can we really be from a true North American league?).

Part of me is thrilled that Canada gets another top level professional soccer club to cheer on, but I can't help but feel that this was Montréal's time to get a franchise. The Impact have already built a soccer-specific stadium and fill it regularly for a team in a lower division than MLS. They recently filled Olympic Stadium with over 55,000 fans for a CONCACAF Champions League match (and would have done it again had the Impact not choked spectacularly down in Mexico!). They have strong ownership in the Saputo brand and are deeply involved in the community. Plus let's get real: Canadian or not, Vancouver is 5,000 kilometers away, making it cheaper for me to see a match in Columbus, or New York, or Boston.

It will potentially mean more MLS soccer on television and increased media coverage, and that's always a good thing. It will heighten the rivalry with Toronto FC, and make the Voyageurs Cup more competitive (now the Impact will have to defeat two MLS teams to represent Canada in the Champions League, not just one). It will pave the way to more Canadian teams joining the league. These are the positives. But I can't shake this feeling that Montreal got jobbed.

Montreal seemed well on it's way to be the next MLS team just a short year ago. It made the shortlist of potential expansion cities and all logic pointed to the awarding of a franchise in La Belle Province. So what happened?

The sequence of events is troubling. At first, all the right things on both sides were being said. "Great city, no brainer, foregone conclusion", etc, etc. Then at a press conference, MLS commissioner Don Garber announced that Montreal had withdrawn its expansion bid. This caught everyone by surprise, including Impact owner Joey Saputo, who denied anything of the sort! A few days went by and the right things were being said again: "Next round of expansion, tickets prices were an issue,"etc. The pricing thing made sense, since the Impact have prided themselves on low ticket prices that make the Impact an ideal family outing, and MLS have minimum ticket prices that could be difficult for Impact fans to stomach. That's fine. But was this the real reason, or was the veil being dropped over our eyes?

It's difficult to tell, but remember that George Gillett (pictured, right), owner of the Montreal Canadiens and Liverpool FC, has made it known he'd love an MLS franchise. It's not out of the realm of possibility that Don Garber is much less comfortable with a French-Italo-Canadian-cheese and Jos Louis maker than with a WASP Texas businessman with much deeper pockets that would immediately link his MLS club to the storied Liverpool FC.

If I'm right, and this is what truly happened, it would be quite unfair to the Saputo family. They have nurtured the soccer culture in Montreal from its embryonic stage to the solid franchise it is today. To have the rug swept from under them by a swaggering cowboy would be sad indeed.

But hey, today is day of celebration for Vancouver and its Whitecaps. Canadian soccer is a winner today. Let's keep this momentum going and hope Vancouver can be as wild about their soccer team as Toronto ended up being.

Zoom Zoom: Another Day, Another Blunder

2009-03-17T15:30:00.004-04:00

Fresh off yesterday's post announcing my tepid enthusiasm regarding the upcoming Formula 1 season, Bernie Ecclestone dropped another bomb on racing fans.

It appears Bernie thought that a points system didn't work. It appears he somehow thought that of all the things ailing F1, the way a champion is determined is what deserved his attention. Now, whichever driver wins the most races wins the Championship.

I wonder if it's just a coincidence that a Ferrari driver would have won the Championship had this rule been in effect last year? Having failed in all his attempts to foil Lewis Hamilton and McLaren last season, he will try to re-write the record books going forward. Of note: 13 past champions would not have won the championship if these rules had been in effect.

How are we to measure their accomplishments now? Have we empowered revisionists to claim: "Oh, he wasn't really a Champion, that's from the old era's rules"? Bernie has essentially opened the door to a "win at all costs" mentality that could lead to erratic teams and drivers winning the Championship in a best case scenario. Worst-case scenario? Drivers become dangerous to protect their place at the front of the pack.

Since there are 17 races this season, it is now a first past the poll system where 9 wins guarantees the Championship. And so if we get to round 13, the Italian GP, with a driver winning his 9th race - the season is over. No need to get up on Sunday morning anymore. And do you think teams will compete as hard as they can once a Champion is crowned in mid-season? Fat chance. Teams, including the Champion's team, will protect their assets, save on costs and start preparing for the following season.

One thing sports fans demand is consistency. Consistency in rules is the bedrock on which we can evaluate our current heroes against the annals of history. Is Lewis Hamilton as good as Ayrton Senna? Michael Schumacher or Jackie Stewart? It just got tougher to tell. You can change the rules governing the size of your rear wing and substitute slicks for grooved tires, but once you start messing with the barometer with which we crown our Champions, that's where we get ourselves in trouble.

Zoom Zoom: I Suck at Boycotts

2009-03-16T15:47:00.004-04:00

Here I was, all set to boycott F1 this year after Bernie Ecclestone yanked the series out of North America completely, choosing some oil-rich country with lots of money-filled envelopes over the 30-year loyalty of the Canadian GP. That, and the continuing bias towards Ferrari that the organizers have clearly demonstrated over recent years had me completely set on turning my back on this sport, which I love.

To quote Michael Corleone from the Godfather, Part 3: "Just when I thought I was out...they pull me back in." My brother Mathieu was the culprit this time around, courtesy of this informative video from Red Bull Racing:

The changes coming into play this season, which become mandatory in 2010, are very intriguing. This article about BMW is an indicator that we're in for an interesting season.

Zoom Zoom: ...and we're back!

2009-03-16T11:12:00.005-04:00

I had to curb my sports viewing over the past couple of days as our family welcomed its newest furry member, a puppy named Maya. It's my first puppy and as much as people warn you of the work that goes into training a dog, it is still overwhelming. Less sleep, less down time, always having to be alert as to what she's up to - it's very draining and doesn't allow for much sports viewing (but don't get me wrong - oh so worth it!).

Thankfully the early days of dog-rearing are out of the way and a semblance of my pre-Maya days can return. I'm happy to note that it doesn't appear that I've missed much over the past few days. March Madness began last night and I couldn't care less. The World Baseball Classic is falling flat to my great dismay. Sens are out of the playoff race. All in all, there's a lot of looking ahead going on, and not much living in the now.

One event beeping frantically on my radar is the 12 Hours of Sebring endurance race this coming Saturday. I became a fan of this automotive racing series, the American LeMans Series, three years ago when I watched Sebring for the first time. It turned out to be the most amazing race I've ever watched. Twelve hours of racing came down to a final lap showdown between a Porsche and Ferrari. Check it out below:

What I love about the ALMS is that there are 4 classes of cars on the track at once: two prototype classes and two GT classes, so there's a lot of traffic all the time. You really get to see top class drivers (there are former F1 and IndyCar drivers) having to negotiate a track that always has surprises up its sleeve. Not only that, but here's a world-class racing event that actually comes to Canada (fuck you Bernie!), gracing us with their presence at Mosport in August.

I won't bog you down with details, but if you like car racing check it out this Saturday from 10am on Speed (to watch the race from the point where there are no interruptions for NASCAR qualifying, tune in from 2pm to 10pm). I'll post my views on this year's edition of Sebring on Monday, and will continue to comment on it throughout the season. Of particular interest is the return of BMW to the series, and Audi returning but without a factory car.

One last note about Sebring: I'll be watching the race with my father-in-law, a die-hard NASCAR fan. This should be an interesting experiment. I hope it rains in Florida on Saturday so he can see what real drivers do when it starts raining (Mouah hahaha!). I kid, I kid. Wish me luck!

Dank U Wel

2009-03-11T11:11:00.003-04:00

Head? Consider yourself turned. Eyebrow? Inquisitively raised .

The Dutch have done it again. In an 11-inning thriller the Dutch National Baseball team upset the mighty Dominican Republic at the World Baseball Classic.

Despite Colorado Rockies pitcher Jubaldo Jimenez striking out 10 Dutch hitters in 4 innings (WOW!), the Nederlanders were also able to keep anyone from scoring until the top of of the 11th when Jose Reyes scored on an outfield error.

The game appeared to be lost for the plucky Dutchmen, but they managed to tie the game and score the game-winner, also on an fielding error.

So far this has been a tournament of upsets; the Dutch beating the DR twice, Australia thumping Mexico, Korea sinking Japan and Canada losing to Italy. Can the Cinderella stories continue?

No reason to think it won't. Go Oranje!

Montreal Media Strike Again

2009-03-10T13:20:00.003-04:00

I generally don't touch on hockey too much around these parts because the last thing we need is another hockey blog from a half-wit Canadian. I watch hockey and follow the Senators rather closely, but I am by no means an expert.

Having said that, I think most who are outside the Montreal media's direct range will probably agree with me that Guy Carbonneau had no business getting fired. Sure they've struggled a bit over the past couple months, but they're still in great shape to make the playoffs and actually make a run for the cup because they are well coached.

Guy has a 124-83 coaching record (I've taken overtime losses out of the equation because most coaches will gladly take a point out of most games). Show me a team that would thumb its nose at that record and I'll eat Taco Bell for a week. Oh wait, that record is not good enough for bloated Montreal media-types that sell papers and advertising revenue based on a culture that skewers coaches and management in an unending blood sport.

Television program likes "110%" and newspapers like "Le Journal de Montréal" would be out of business if they weren't second-guessing Canadiens management every single day in the paper. I swear that if the Canadiens beat the Red Wings 4-2 in a Stanley Cup Final series, these buffoons would ask for the coach's head on platter because the series was not wrapped up in five games. Such a result would be an affront to "Les Glorieux", the mythical pre-cursor to the modern-day Canadiens reality, where the Montreal Canadiens had a monopoly on players originating from Quebec. Hint: it hasn't been that way since the '70's and will never return. Today I guarantee you these parasites are cooking up the newest excuses to get rid of the replacement coach, Canadiens GM Bob Gainey. It's a never-ending cycle in that city.

I don't feel too bad for Carbonneau, though. If he chooses he'll simply become the latest former Montreal Canadiens head coach to have success elsewhere, in the line of Scotty Bowman, Jacques Lemaire, Alain Vigneault and Claude Julien.

People asked me why I switched allegiances from the Habs to the Sens in the mid-90's. Although there were plenty of factors, one of them was the unhealthy relationship that exists between the team, their fans and especially the media. Sure we have our issues in Ottawa with some media (*cough* Bruce Garrioch *cough*), but nothing even comes close to the toxic Montreal environment.

Note: I love the city of Montreal and its people, and Les Habitants still occupy a place in my heart, but I call it like I see it.

Loser's Lament: Canada Breaks Hearts (reprise)

2009-03-10T09:25:00.003-04:00

Someone will have to explain to me someday why I have a knack for picking losers in sporting events. I don't mean the throwaway selections one makes when your team is eliminated, like how I supported the Steelers in this year's Super Bowl, but rather those teams in which I invest emotionally. In my lifetime, I've been on the winning side of 5 Champions: 1986 Canadiens, 1992 and 1993 Blue Jays, 1993 Canadiens and France in the 1998 World Cup. The total goes up a bit if you include Donovan Bailey and also the 2002 Salt Lake City Men's hockey team (but really, cheering for Canada at a hockey tournament is a little redundant).

Granted, cheering for your country is not really an option (although let me assure you that my colleagues of Italian-descent don't make any bones about turning their back on the country in which they were born and raised in favour of the romanticized country they hear tales about from their grandparents). When Canada enters a tournament like the World Baseball Classic or World Cup Qualifying, I certainly have no other option of who to cheer for. It is ingrained in my DNA. The problem is the sports I care most about happen to be one we didn't invent. I think it's great that Canada dominates in hockey and curling in international tournaments but like I alluded to earlier, it doesn't give me any deep satisfaction.

Canada did it again to me last night. They did it to me 3 years ago as well when they barely beat South Africa and got thumped by Mexico, so much so that the "runs against" rule is what bounced them from the tourney (they were tied with the USA and Mexico with a 2-1 round robin record). This one stings a little more. Having played an excellent game against the USA before falling to them 6-5, everyone was feeling good about our chances to face Venezuela tonight. Problem was that too many people looked beyond Italy, including manager Ernie Whitt who chose to go with an unknown and untested starter instead of the "ace" of the staff Scott Richmond.

The logic was solid, and really I can't argue with it except in hindsight. Our hitting would power us over the Italians even if the pitching allowed a few runs here and there. Honestly, I would have made the same call, preserving Richmond against a powerhouse Venezuela team. And so on this night Canada was pinning its hopes on Vince Perkins, some dude who's bounced around the minors since 2000 and has never gotten beyond "AA" (that being double "A" baseball, not Alcoholics Anonymous, although last night's outing might lead him to the drink). He was full of gusto in pre-game interviews, boasting about how his arm hadn't felt this good since he was 18, and how he hoped to raise some major league eyebrows with his performance.

Well, he never got off the ground and the only facial expressions he inspired likely won't win him a promotion. He got the first batter he faced to hit a squibbler to the foot of the mound, but he bungled the ball and never got a throw off to first. Was that shaking hands I saw from Perkins as he fielded that ball? It might have been, and it jives with the rest of his outing, in which he couldn't find the strike zone and allowed 3 hits and 4 walks in 2+ innings. When he was mercifully pulled in the top of the third, Canada was down 3-0.

Not to take away anything from a plucky Italian team that played out of their minds. They were just as spectacular on defence as when they played Venezuela Saturday only this time they pushed runs across the plate, something Canada could not do, leaving 10 runners on base throughout the game. Time and again Votto, Morneau and Bay would be left on base by hitters who couldn't come close to making meaningful contact.

In the end, Canada's pitching was not sufficient to make any kind of dent in this tournament. They were let down by Ryan Dempster, Erik Bedard and Rich Harden, arguably Canada's best pitchers, who chose to decline an invitation to join the team for no good reason. They were also done in by a hitting lineup that was appallingly weak once you got past 2 through 6. Pete Orr, I'm looking right at you (not to mention Matt Stairs' golf swing).

And here I am left to dissect yet another stumble by a Canadian national team, much like I do whenever Canada's soccer team loses to the likes of Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. As always, we killed them on paper. Perhaps it's time for our teams to enter the digital age.

"Allez-up, Cascade!" Part Two

2009-03-09T14:52:00.003-04:00

Our stomachs rumbling, leaving the stadium in search of sustenance was our first order of business following the game. Clearing out 42,000 fans is no quick endeavor however, and it took a good 15 minutes from the time we left our seats to making it outside, where a light rain was complicating the exodus. We had a couple of yahoos behind us yelling for people to move faster, which grated on our nerves. The Waffle should have arranged for a police escort for us, but in this he fell way short of expectations (during the game Daddio suggested he grab the cute cop's hat and run around the field with it, but not enough drinks had been consumed - we might have gotten out of the stadium faster had he listened to that advice!).

We knew and accepted that getting a table at a restaurant close to Rogers Centre might be difficult; there were 42,000 of us from baseball and the Leafs were playing next door on Hockey Night in Canada. That's a lot of people looking for food. We had 3 hours to spare until the Italy v. Venezuela game, so we weren't too worried. Nothing prepared us for the level incompetence we were about to encounter, mind you.

We poked our noses into a couple prospective restaurants but were met with massive lineups, so we decided to move along each time. Finally we spotted Philthy McNasty's and the lineup didn't look to bad. Upon inquiring at the door, we were told that a 10 minute wait for a table was expected. This seemed reasonable to us and, in fact, were seated within five. Awesome. Perusing the menu, discussing our drink choices, turning on the television at our table, this distracted us for a bit. No waitress came during this time. Upon further observation, we saw that there were about 3 waitresses working for about 200 patrons. We also saw that people at other tables looked pretty pissed off repeatedly trying to attract their server's attention, only to be being waved off every time. It's about at this point that Moonturk said: "If the decision is to leave here and go elsewhere, I'll support it 100%". I checked my watch and we still had 2 1/2 hours left to game time. "Other than being hungry, we're in no rush and besides, we'll have to wait elsewhere anyway". We all agreed to wait it out.

Another 10 minutes went by before I caught the hostess and asked her over. "Nobody's been to see you yet, huh? Well, I'll try and see if someone can serve you." Ahem..."Try?" Yikes. We then noticed people going to the bar to get their own drinks and pitchers, because the waitresses were too overwhelmed. After another 10 minutes (by this time we had spent at least half an hour in the place), the hostess was able to grab the "manager" to come serve us. A stern, "no-bullshit" look was accompanied with "What do you guys want?", pencil to paper. The Waffle, in an attempt to change the tone, attempted a friendly "Busy night, huh?". No eye contact in the response "It's getting there. Listen, you guys should know that it'll be an hour for food." Thanks, but we were out of there. Farewell to "Philthy McNasty's: Our name describes our commitment to service".

Here's a question for the manager of the establishment: How is it that a restaurant, located in the tourist district of Toronto, within shouting distance of both the Rogers Centre and Air Canada Centre, on a night with two baseball and one hockey games is not prepared for a crowd? You would think that a place like that, on a night like this, would staff itself properly. But hey, I'm no MBA.

We ended up eating at Dunn's next door, who provided us with excellent food (Daddio said it was the best steak sandwich he'd ever eaten and my smoked meat sandwich was just a notch below Nate's Deli), excellent service and a much better atmosphere. They got us out of there in time to make the second game with time to spare. A tip of the hat to a fine establishment.

As soon as we entered the concourse to the stadium, we heard it: fans singing in unison. Oh yeah. Venezuela in the house and bringing a soccer atmosphere. Too bad there were only a few thousand of them, but it was a testament to how a few well-organized and dedicated fans can make a stadium sound full. Many jokes were being made pre-game about Italy's baseball prowess. Perusing the starting lineup did nothing to stem the flow of these jokes, since only Nick Punto, Frank Catalonotto, Mark Defelice and Jason Grilli had any kind of pedigree.

Turns out the Italians had a little sumthin' sumthin' in the tank after all. Our first wow moment came in the bottom of the first when Bobby Abreu lined a ball to the right/centre gap. What looked to be a sure hit was snagged by an incredible diving catch by "Super" Mario Chiarini. It would appear diving is an Italian specialty (sorry DeRosa, I couldn't resist:

Italian Soccer Diving

All kidding aside, the Italians were fairly impressive against a team loaded with MLB superstars, spreading a good bunch of hard hit balls into green spaces. They got to the 5th inning still scoreless until Italy made a strange decision in changing pitchers (the starter, Mark DeFelice was nowhere near the tournament-imposed 70 pitch limit). The skipper went to Jason Grilli who promptly gave up 3 runs while recording only one out, to the endless enjoyment of the Detroit Tigers fan behind us who was thrilled that the pitcher who was formerly on his team was now ruining another ball club).

The Venezuelans ran away for the rest of the game, eventually winning 7-0 in what turned out to be something of a boring game. I guess we started losing interest when the blowout began to materialize, but keep in mind we were somewhere near our 6th hour of baseball for the day. A few more drinks and a few more wings at a pub across from our hotel sealed the night, and we retired to our beds. At least that's the story we're sticking with.

The trip back was mainly uneventful save for the texting maniac on the 401 who almost ran herself into a barrier before realizing that driving might be a better option as her first priority. We also fooled Daddio's better half into believing we had taken a detour through Watertown, N.Y., when in fact he was only 15 minutes away from arriving home. She was very diplomatic, but I suspect it's only because she knew we were all listening to her through the OnStar system in Daddio's van. Still waiting to find out how that story concluded when he got home.

It was a very fun trip spent with close friends, with a good mix of baseball and decent food thrown into the pot. Can't wait for our next road trip.

Soccer Pimp: Celebrate in style

2009-03-09T14:29:00.003-04:00

I thought this was just too good to pass up.

"Allez-up, Cascade!"

2009-03-09T10:05:00.006-04:00

Not many things in life beat getting into a van with three close friends and hitting the road, the destination being a packed sports stadium. This is what The Waffle, Daddio, Moonturk and I set out to do on Saturday starting at 5:45. The World Baseball Classic at Rogers Centre beckoned. We answered the call.

Canada v. USA was tops on the agenda, with the added bonus of Italy v. Venezuela later. We weren't sure how well Canada would fare against the mighty American imperial superpower, but I'd say our hopes were cautiously optimistic. After all, we did beat them in the 2006 WBC.

After a four-hour commute that included Laura's cupcakes and Tim Horton's coffee, we checked into our hotel and sat down to lunch at Hoops on Yonge Street. We were waited on by the lovely Geneviève from Répentigny, who was thrilled to be serving "son peuple" in downtown Anglo-Saxonia. As we ate some decent pub fare, we watched The Netherlands take an early 3-0 lead against the Dominican Republic. That score couldn't possibly stand up over nine innings, right?

We cabbed it to the stadium in time to catch the Canadians taking batting practice. For all the hype about Canada's hitting prowess, we didn't see many BP homeruns. We then settled into our seats, which were four rows up in section 113. A bunch of USA players warmed up in front of the section, allowing us to hone our heckling skills. We got off a few good ones that elicited reactions from the players. To Adam Dunn, who was warming up with Ryan Braun and Jimmy Rollins: "Hey Adam, J.P. was right about you!". His fellow players immediately laughed and started poking fun at him. Here's why I said that:

"Let me ask you something. What do you know about Adam Dunn?" Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi said to the caller. "He's a lifetime .230, .240 hitter that strikes out a ton and hits home runs.

"Do you know that the guy really doesn't like baseball all that much?" Ricciardi continued. "Do you know the guy doesn't have a passion to play the game that much? How much do you know about the player? There's a reason why you're attracted to some players and there's a reason why you're not attracted to some players. I don't think you'd be very happy if we brought Adam Dunn here. ...

"We've done our homework on guys like Adam Dunn and there's a reason why we don't want Adam Dunn. I don't want to get into specifics."

Then, as Derek Jeter was close enough to reach out and touch him, The Waffle chimed in with: "Hey Jeter, you miss A-Roid yet?". That brought a grin to the Yankees shortstop. Yes, heckling is childish and impolite - but as long as it doesn't cross the bounds of good taste it can be funny, too.

In fact, Dunn was a good sport. He played right field for USA and the entire section behind him were chanting heckles at him throughout game. A few times he turned around and feigned a yawn. Good stuff. He got the last laugh, as well, as he had the game-winning RBI off a two-run homerun.

Speaking of which - there was a game! And what a game it was, kids. Canada took an early lead by roughing up a shaky Jake Peavy. The teams then traded runs and the Americans took a 6-3 lead. Canada showed a lot of grit to come back and make it an exciting finale. Trailing 6-4, Joey Votto, the best Canadian on the day, hit a double in the top of the ninth with 1 out that brought in a run. With Justin Morneau and Jason Bay coming up, things were looking good. With 42,000 of my closest friends standing and cheering as if in Game 7 of the World Series, J.J. Putz overcame the Canadian momentum to get the last 2 outs he needed for the save. Can't complain, though. We saw a great game and had a great time.

One of the highlights for me was seeing top Mariners prospect and Gatineau native Phillipe Aumont pitch the sixth inning. He gotten himself in trouble early, loading the bases with nobody out. At that point catcher Russell Martin and pitching coach Denis Boucher had a little chat with the youngster. Whatever they said worked wonders, as he retired the next three hitters, two of them via the strikeout. In fact, that was an ongoing theme for Canadian pitching staff. They would often get themselves in trouble, only to strike out the final out. It made for great theatre.

We exited the stadium and chased after dinner. More to come in Part Two...

"Yankee Go Home!"...ummm, I Mean "GO CANADA!!"

2009-03-06T15:32:00.007-05:00

The North American leg of the World Baseball Classic kicks off tomorrow and I'll be there, first base side, 4 rows in. The first match features Canada v. USA at 2pm (Sportsnet), followed by Venezuela v. Italy.

Canada sends Mike Johnson to the mound, a pitcher who left his Korean League team to play for Canada (how do you feel now, Rich Harden, Ryan Dempster, Eric Gagné et al.?). Can't say I know much about him. As far as I can tell, he was once a product of the Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles. In 2001. Never played in The Show. I wonder how well he'll fare against Derek Jeters, Dustin Pedroias and David Wrights of the world? Maybe I'll close my eyes when Canada is not hitting.

Jake Peavy gets the nod for the Americans.

Venezuela is expected to start Felix "THE KING" Hernandez against Italy, who doesn't have any recognizable names except Frank "The Cat" Catalonotto and Nick "Punta" Punto. This will likely be a blowout, but we'll get to see many MLB stars from Venezuela like Magglio Ordonez, Bobby Abreu and Carlos Guillen.

No matter what I'm just excited to see competitive baseball again, with an international flavour to boot.

I'm making the trek from Ottawa with three close friends, one of which is the author of The Waffle (any Toronto restaurants you feel should be covered by this sublime food critic? Let us know in the comments section!).

Soccer Pimp: Loser's Lament

2009-03-06T08:52:00.008-05:00

The first smile to cross my face this morning happened when I thought of myself sitting at Skydome tomorrow, watching the World Baseball Classic. The second smile appeared when the shuffle on my iPod offered me Hawksley Workman's Piano Blink. The rest of the commute was spent with a frown as I replayed the second half of the Impact-Santos Laguna match from last night in my head.

As I wrote yesterday, all the Impact had to do to progress to the semi-final round of the CONCACAF Champions League was not lose by 3 or more. This turned out to be a bridge too far for John Limniadis' valiant squad.

The Mexican champions got off to a quick start, netting a goal within 15 minutes. I lost a bit of hope at this point as it seemed that Santos were far superior to the Impact, a much different team than the one we saw at Olympic Stadium. My St. Thomas moment was fleeting, however, as the Impact quickly put together two goals and carried that lead into the half. As that second goal went in, I lifted my arms in victory but also in shock. It would not be the last shocking moment of the evening.

For those not familiar with the aggregate system in soccer, this basically meant that because of Montréal's 2-0 win back home last week, Santos had to score 4 goals in the second half to win the quarterfinal. Here's what I wrote on my Facebook page: "Ottawa Sports Guy is watching in disbelief as it seems the Impact are on their way!". What happened next will go down as one of the worst collapses in sports that I've ever witnessed.

When you're essentially up by four goals in soccer, it is perfectly natural to assume a defensive posture and let the action come to you, breaking up any attempt to score. Eleven men committed to this last night. Eleven others committed themselves to the opposite endeavour. Unfortunately, when a northern team travels to Central America in what becomes a battle of endurance, the weathered latin team's legs usually win out. It was no different on this night.

Wave after wave of attack beat down on the Impact's 18 yard box as Santos laid siege to the Montreal goal. For a while, the Impact were resolute in destroying whatever creativity was flung upon them. Right place, Right time, that kinda thing. Then the goals came. By the 90th minute, the score was 3-2 Santos and it looked like an Impact victory as we waited for the fourth official to signal the amount of stoppage time. The electronic board was raised above his head and flashed "4". Where he found four minutes, I'll never know. More on this later.

By this time, there were 11 white Impact jerseys jammed into the tight space of the 18-yard box. Their legs were visibly tired, and it seemed as though they hoped to build some sort of impenetrable wall to keep the ball out for four long, arduous minutes. The first goal went in, and the Santos players rushed back across the halfway line to get the game started again. It was too much for the tired Impact defenders. The last goal went in as the crowd went absolutely bonkers. If I wasn't cheering for the Impact I would have allowed myself a smile. Instead I sat in my La-z-boy in complete shock, my heart sinking into the pit of my stomach. How in the world had this turned into a Bill Simmons "gut-punch" game?

At a certain point in the second half, the referee lost the plot. A Santos player merited a red card on two incidents in the same sequence, for lifting his spikes at an incoming challenge and then raising his hands to the face of the defender when he called him on his intent to injure. All he got was a yellow, yet the rulebook is black and white about striking an opposing player's face with your hand. Then referee failed to call a penalty on the Santos keeper after he brought down the Impact striker in the box. Should have been a penalty shot, and Santos went straight back down the field and scored. And then there was the four minutes of stoppage time. Another dubious CONCACAF officiating decision that favours a Central Amercian team. Shameful, that. Now you know why I titled this thread "Loser's Lament".

All in all, we'll all have to take a deep breath and forget this unforgettable evening, instead remembering the year the Impact went on their improbable run to the quarterfinal of this prestigious competition and made Canada proud.

The first 2009 Voyageurs Cup match in Montreal takes place May 20th against Vancouver Whitecaps. Road trip, Waffle-Man?

Soccer Pimp: Journey to Torreon

2009-03-05T12:48:00.004-05:00

Last week I undertook a daring mid-week there and back again adventure to Montréal, in order to take in a historic moment in Canadian soccer history. The Impact were playing the first leg of a home-and-home quarterfinal match against Santos Laguna, the champions of last season's Mexican domestic league.

History was being made on the pitch, as Montréal was representing Canada's first entry in the CONCACAF Champions League, and doing so with aplomb. After securing the right to represent Canada by winning the Voyageurs Cup (a mini-tournament that took place over the length of the summer with Canada's other two notable professional teams, Vancouver Whitecaps and Toronto FC), they bowled over most of their opposition originating from clubs in Mexico, Guatemala and Trinidad & Tobago to reach the present quarterfinal stage.

History was also being made off the pitch with Olympic Stadium being reincarnated as a soccer mecca, attracting 55,571 of my closest friends. That ranked as the third highest attendance for a soccer match in the country, all-time.

Having arrived near the stadium in plenty of time before kickoff, we were nonetheless delayed from entering the venue due to a catastrophic lack of planning by organizers. It was no secret that the house was going to be rocking with a 50,000+ crowd, but organizers did nothing to facilitate the flow of humanity trying to get into the stadium. No police directing traffic at major intersections, no parking attendants to direct us to the nearest available parking. The end result is that we stood still in traffic for an hour, missing 30 minutes of the first half and the first goal 5 minutes in, and that only because our lovely companions urged us to hand over parking duties to them so we could go ahead. Our eternal thanks, ladies.

Despite the inconvenience and frustration of the arrival, all those feelings melted away as we found our section (and removing some fairly large Mexican supporters who were squatting in our seats - good thing my buddy Karl is so intimidating!). Being part of such a large crowd, a SOCCER crowd no less, tends to make you forget your worries other than the peaks and valleys of the action unfolding before you.

The match was already 1-0 to the Impact when we arrived, and within a few moments we could tell that the Impact had a fantastic game plan and were executing it to perfection. The skill level of the opposing team was superior, but Montréal's defend-and-counter strategy was too much for Santos Laguna to overcome. It almost seemed like the Mexican champions thought that by simply showing up the match was already won.

Adding a second half goal to make it 2-0, as well as having a keeper in Matt Jordan that dominated his area, was all the Impact needed to seal the first leg victory. The atmosphere was typical of a Montreal crowd: enthusiastic, passionate and in love with the big moment.

The return match is tonight in Torreon, Mexico in front of a hostile crowd and you can watch it at 10pm on CBC Bold or stream it at CBC.ca. Montréal will advance if the following happens:

Impact wins
Impact ties
Impact loses by 1
Impact loses by 2 but scores a goal

They've got one foot in the door already. Is it too early to dream of March 18th sold out semi-final match at the Big "O"?

Sunday Double Dip of Greatness

2008-07-08T08:26:00.004-04:00

Sunday turned out to be much more epic than I envisioned. The plan was to to get up early, watch the British F1 GP, and tune into the tennis match after the race. I had set my pvr to record the race in case I slept in, which I did. So I got up at 9 and thought: "Ok, well the race lasts until 10 and Wimbledon is starting right now, so I might as well watch the tennis match and then watch the race".

Now keep in mind I haven't "planned" to watch a tennis match in a long, long time. I just had a feeling something special was going to happen, especially considering how much of beat-down Nadal had put on Federer in Paris. I started watching the tennis match, fearing McEnroe would say something like "A great day for the British, as Jensen Button won the F1 race this afternoon in this country and now they get to watch a great tennis match." Turns out McEnroe held his tongue, or doesn't care about any other sport (probably the latter).

The tennis match was the best I've ever seen in my life. It beat DanielNestor vs. Stefan Edberg, Michael Chang v. Edberg at the 89 French, and those Jimmy Connors matches at the US Open when he put on that run in the twilight of his career. The quality of play from both players was unbelievable. The shots they made 3 and 4 and 5 times per rally made me shake my head. Nadal especially, he makes shots that you swear when they come off Federer's racket are winners, but Nadal tracks them down and makes head-scratching returns. And then Federer recovers to play a master shot, only to be countered, etc...Again, I had never seen anything like it.

What was kinda fun for me was the rain delays. Every time they covered the grass I'd switch to the race, one that was filled with incidents and one of the best driving performances I have ever seen. I know it's tempting to use the "BEST "X" EVAR" cliché, but for me I think I'm being honest. At least it felt like it. Lewis Hamilton put on a clinic on how to drive in the rain. At certain points he was lapping 5 and 6 seconds faster than anyone on the track, on the SAME TIRE COMPOUND. For those of you who don't follow F1, five or six seconds a lap is unfathomable. The announcers kept saying "we keep on getting letters from fans asking what is so special about Lewis Hamilton...well here it is". The only thing similar I can remember was Ayrton Senna at the Brazilian GP in the early nineties where he raced like nothing was wrong, only there was torrential rain beating down on Interlagos while Prost and the rest of the grid kept spinning and splashing all over the place.

Switching back to Wimbledon, it was amazing to watch a match that felt like it could go on forever (there is no 5th set tiebreaker at Wimbledon..you keep playing until someone gets two games ahead). Darkness encroaching (no lights either), both players holding serve like their lives depended on it. Finally, on his 4th match point, Nadal put the match away, winning the final set 9-7. I'm happy they got it done before it got too dark or I would have missed it Monday morning. It was awesome to watch the trophy ceremony in the dark. Totally surreal. The only way the week could have been better for the Spanish would have been for Alonso to win the British GP, but we all know that's not going to happen anytime soon (but hey, at least he's the number one driver on his team)!

Anyway, it was great enough for me to feel compelled to write you all about it.

Can't wait til the US Open and German GP!

Free Agent Dementia

2006-12-08T11:39:00.001-05:00

When I was a kid, I got a Sports Illustrated subscription for Christmas. One of the first magazines I received had an editorial by Leigh Montville that presented a fictional scenario where Jose Canseco and Roger Clemens were lying on a beach comparing their newly acquired $4 million dollar deals. In 1990, these deals were considered the pinnacle of out-of-control spending. Sixteen years later and a player strike later, a #3 starting pitcher with a track record for mediocrity is getting $11 million a year to play for the worst team in the Majors.

A few weeks ago, ESPN's Buster Olney suggested that the best thing some GM's could do in this baseball off-season would be to tell their respective owners to pocket their money in view of next season. Turns out he was bang on as usual. The ridiculous deals that are being struck because of a thin free agent market are going to haunt Major League Baseball for years to come. A few examples:

Coming off a year in which he missed 30 games and hit .270 with 26 home runs, Barry Bonds signed a one-year deal worth $16 million to play for the Giants. So much for the hometown discount.
Ted Lilly, a career .500 pitcher, signed a 4-year deal worth $40 million. He could have gotten $44 million to return to the Blue Jays.
Gil Meche, a similar player to Lilly, signed a 5-year deal worth $55 million to play for the Royals. The Blue Jays were offering a similar deal, but I guess their desire to win was too high. For four more million per year, the Royals would have been in the hunt for ace Jason Schmidt.
The Anaheim Angels signed Gary Matthews Jr., an outfielder with one good season (the Rangers had tried for years to rid themselves of him), to a 5-year, $50 million deal. If I'm Vernon Wells' agent, I'm salivating.

This is the most insane off-season I can remember. All this is going on without the Yankees even getting involved. My advice for J.P. Ricciardi: try and get Mark Redman, but don't overspend. Take all that cash you were going to splurge on Lilly/Meche and re-sign Wells (if he's willing - not a gimme). For a fifth starter, go with Josh Towers. Or Casey Janssen. Or Shaun Marcum. Easier said than done, yes, but we're already on Plan F here.

Update: Jays Pitching Wish List

2006-12-07T08:44:00.001-05:00

Update, 10:25 am: And now, the Globe and Mail is reporting that Gil Meche has informed the Blue Jays that he will not be joining the team. Plan 1a and 1b are now off the table, it's off to see if Suppan and Redman are interested.

_________________

As suspected, Ted Lilly has flown the coop. He probably never even wanted to return to Toronto in the first place, but knowing that the Jays were keen to re-sign him his agent smartly leveraged the Jays offer to get a good deal elsewhere. Theodore never seemed to find a comfort zone in Toronto, and it was wishful thinking to hope he would get past his dust up with John Gibbons and his testy relationship with pitching coach Brad Arnsberg. You have to suspect that if recent trends continue, he'll light it up in the National League with the Cubbies, and by August fickle Jays fans will be screaming bloody murder as a 20-game winner was allowed to "escape".

Bonus Coverage: Jason Schmidt leaving the Giants to go to the Dodgers reminds me of Sol Campbell going from Tottenham to Arsenal or Johnny Damon's voyage down I-95. Both players were labelled Judas for their perceived treachery, with Tottenham fans going as far as hanging an effigy of Campbell from the gates of White Hart Lane (their stadium). There is just as much rancour between both the Dodgers and Giants, so don't be surprisedwhen Schmidt get a less than embracing welcome when he returns to San Francisco.

3. Jeffrey Scot Suppan

Age on opening day 2007: 31

2006/Career E.R.A.: 4.12/ 4.60 2006

Win/Loss: 12-7

Career Starts per Win: 2.8

2006 K's per start: 3.3

Analysis: More likely to pick his spots than to blow you away (sounds like I'm talking about an ex-girlfriend), Suppan will consistently give you a question mark when he takes the mound: will it be the good Suppan or the bad Suppan (ladies and gentlemen: Ted Lilly!). He's a .500 pitcher who fills in nicely at the no. 4 spot.

4. Mark Allen Redman

Age on opening day 2007: 33

2006/Career E.R.A.: 5.71/ 4.65

2006 Win/Loss: 11-10

Career Starts per Win: 2.9

2006 K's per start: 2.6

Analysis: Can't wrinkle your nose too much at a guy with a winning record with the Royals. However, I wonder about a guy who's never spent more than one season with the same team (although he had two stints with the Twins). Under Godfrey's master plan (and since when does the President talk about the game plan? Who does this guy think he is, Larry Luchino?), Redman would be a fifth starter at best. That's not too bad.

Even if the Jays end up getting just one of these guys, they'll enter the 2007 season with four solid starters. Here's hoping that J.P. can execute Godfrey's plan.

Soccer Pimp: Update

2006-12-06T19:53:00.001-05:00

No sooner had I wondered if Jack Warner had somehow betrayed Sepp Blatter's loyalty is he cleared of all charges by FIFA's disciplinary committee. Allow me to go into further detail about why he got in trouble. Jack(ass) Warner was in hot water because the media caught wind of a racketeering operation involving his son, who sold around 9,000 World Cup tickets with heavy premiums to fans all over the world. The tickets were sold through a Trinidadian travel company owned by - you guessed it - Jack Warner. It is estimated the Warner family made off with close to a million dollars in sales from those tickets.

And now, once again, Jack Warner escapes unscathed. Accountability is not a FIFA value, evidently.

Soccer Pimp: News

2006-12-05T18:47:00.001-05:00

Old Sepp Blatter was at it again this week, urging the European leagues to embrace a harmonized schedule that calls for a winter break and a season that spans February to November. I don't really know where I come down on this issue, but I can assure you it will never come to pass. The English FA will secede from FIFA before they change what they've been doing since 1863, which is to play from August to April with the FA Cup being the culmination of the season in May. As stubborn as Sepp can be, he'll never let that happen.
A ruling is set to come down on Thursday in the case involving CONCACAF President Jack Warner. When people in soccer talk about corruption in FIFA, they can use Jack Warner as a poster boy. As President of our confederation, Warner has lined his pockets year in and year out, and has always made sure Trinidad and Tobago got favourable matchups in tournaments and friendlies (Warner is Trinidadian). What's gotten Warner in hot water this time is the allegation that he lined his pockets by selling his allocation of World Cup tickets this summer (someone get this guy in touch with Mike Tice!). What I find most intriguing about this turn of events is what Warner must have REALLY done to attract FIFA's disciplinary attention - scalping tickets is the least of Warner's crimes against humanity. Perhaps he betrayed Sepp Blatter's loyalty?
Jürgen Klinsmann, the man widely credited with steering Germany to a surprise semi-final appearance in last summer's World Cup, is set to be announced as the new manager of Team U.S.A. Hold on, hold on, don't let that feeling in the pit of your stomach take hold until you hear me out. Yes, I love to bash on America and cheer against their teams - except when it comes to soccer. I view American success in soccer as an indicator of Canadian opportunity in soccer. When teams from this confederation do well, as they did in the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan, we are rewarded with some extra spots for the next World Cup. Therefore, if the U.S.A. gets a world-class manager, and have some successes (no, I don't want them to win the World Cup, I won't go that far), then it gives Canada some extra shots at making it for the first time since 1986 (its only appearance on the world stage). FORZA U.S.A! (shoot me now)
Toronto FC news: FC's first ever match will come against Chivas USA in Carson, California. Their home opener will be April 28th (brrrrr) against the Kansas City Wizards (there's a team that needs a name change). Also, the FC rounded out its coaching staff with a bunch of guys I don't know.

The Pimple, Week 13

2006-12-04T19:48:00.001-05:00

I’m ready to say it out loud: parity sucks. Upsets shouldn’t be commonplace - that’s what makes them special. So far this season, underdogs have a winning record against the spread. That’s madness. I miss the days of being able to count on the Cowboys, Niners and Redskins to win games in the NFC and Dolphins, Bills and Broncos winning in the AFC. Back in the nineties, when those teams lost, it meant something. Was anyone really shocked that the Colts got beat by the Titans, or that the Bills came close to beating the Chargers yesterday?

Don’t get me wrong: a certain balance has to be struck. I’m not looking for a baseball-type system where 10 teams have absolutely no chance of winning, year-in, year-out (on the other hand, there hasn’t been a repeat winner of the World Series since the Yankees three-peat of 1998-2000, so I don’t know). However, the current NFL landscape could use a couple of powerhouses. Only New England qualifies right now, and they’re waning (as the mighty Dolphins grow in strength with every passing week!). It’s a tricky equation: you want everyone to feel they have a chance at the beginning of the season, but you also want to feel like there are sure bets. As my buddy Jason says:

“How the hell do the Titans beat the Colts and those same Colts humble the Pats and those same Pats beat the Bears despite the 5 turnovers and the Bears are the BEST team in the NFC? God help me...”

I guess that’s why I like the FIFA World Cup so much. Every four years, you know that Brazil, Germany, Italy and France are the teams to beat. You’ve got a second tier of teams that are always dangerous like the Dutch, England and Argentina. Meanwhile, you know there’s going to be a dark horse that everyone’s going to love and ride until they get bounced, like South Korea in 2002 or Croatia in 1998.

In this case I offer a problem and no solution, because frankly I don’t think there’s an easy fix. The salary cap is blamed in most circles for the current parity, since low-profile but high-impact players like offensive linemen move around from team to team as the Peyton Mannings and Ray Lewis’ of the world get paid big money to stay. The axles and ball bearings of the NFL don’t get nearly enough credit – it’s the spoilers and rims that bring in the sponsorship money! It’s also these non-glamourous position players that are the key to dynasties. Without Leon Lett and Larry Brown, Troy Aikman and especially Emmitt Smith are not Hall of Famers.

Perhaps the solution lies in allowing teams two or three superstar allotments, where they can pay those three players as much as they want, leaving the salary cap for the bricks and mortar of the team. Player movement would go down in most cases, and fans would see some continuity return to their teams. The MLS is about to start the experiment, and maybe the NFL is watching closely to see how it plays out.

I had to work this weekend, and at first I wasn’t too upset about it because looking ahead to the one o’clock games from Sunday there didn’t seem to be many exciting matchups. Sure, I held a sliver of hope that Vince Young would take it to Peyton’s Colts, and my fantasy monsters were in action (Brady and LaDainian), but I didn’t expect fireworks from K.C. v. Cleveland or a fourth quarter comeback from the Patriots against the Lions.

Gratefully, Football Night in America has been top notch in its inaugural season (so much so that I think they deserve a full banner plug), so I got to see extended highlights for most games. How ‘bout that Rob Bironas! And what’s with 60+ yard field goals to win games this year? Eagles fans will surely remember Matt Bryant’s 62 yarder to win the game for the Bucs (sorry Ital-Dean). Dick Pound, take note!

What I was really looking forward to were the four o’clock games, more specifically my Dolphins testing their new-found legs on the Jaguars and the only matchup in the NFC that mattered, Cowboys v. Giants. I won’t dwell too much on the Dolphins game, only to say that my kiss of death reared its ugly head once more: the moment I endorse The Joey he forgets to make good decisions (just ask Gérard Gallant about my kiss of death. Word is he seeks my address to thank me). It must also be said that the Mammals had the misfortune of running into the “good” Jaguars. Final word on the Dolphins to, once again, my buddy Jason who was on fire with his Sunday post-mortem:

“God bless your Dolphins they sure do try hard once they are 5 games under .500. They are like the Toronto Blue Jays of the NFL. They always make you think they are one year away.”

Great. I’m a fan of both.

Cowboys-Giants was everything it was billed to be. Eli had a slightly better day than Romo statistically, but did it really feel that way? The Cowboys are on a list of two teams I refuse to cheer for, along with the Buffalo Bills. This immutable law’s only exception extends to individuals, and one of these individuals is Eli Manning. Manning 10’s place in my heart was sealed when he refused to play for San Diego not because he was from New York (he isn’t), not because the Giants were a much better team than the Chargers (they weren’t), but because playing for the Chargers would cap his endorsement opportunities. As far as I’m concerned, any failure he suffers on the football field can be traced to the Football Gods exacting revenge. If he ever wins a championship I will scream then jump off a bridge, because it would be proof that there really isn’t any justice in the world. On top of that, it’s saying something that I would cheer for a team with Terrell Owens on it than Eli Manning – that is a deep dislike. You can therefore imagine my glee when Tony Romo answered Manning 10’s game-tying touchdown pass by rolling left, throwing across his body and connecting with Jason Witten for a 42 yard gain that put the Cowboys in field goal range with a minute left. The only thing missing was a Grammatica pirouette, but I guess he was too busy being carried off the field by his teammates to indulge me.

Clunk (soundtrack to the beginning of the Jay Cutler Era). The Sunday night game also had some game-ending drama in a tilt that was otherwise devoid of any fireworks. You get the feeling that the Broncos had the wind sucked out of them after Al Wilson was carried off the field on a stretcher. Jay Cutler came out looking as nervous as a rookie making his debut at home at Mile High Stadium after 12 weeks of the hometown fans and media pining for the end of the walking disaster that is Jake Plummer. Poor kid. He’ll be fine, but he won’t see the playoffs this year.

Tonight’s game features the Carolina Panthers against the Philadelphia Eagles. Fire up the Xbox!

The Rosin Bag: Blue Jays Pitching Wish List

2006-12-03T14:06:00.001-05:00

According to Blue Jays President Paul Godfrey, the Jays are going to be aggressive in their pursuit of starting pitching. They will be looking to sign two of the following four candidates: Ted Lilly, Gil Meche, Jeff Suppan and Mark Redman. Considering the quality of the starters the Jays already possess (Roy Halladay, A.J. Burnett, Gustavo Chacin), signing any of the two mentioned would make the Jays staff one of the best in the Majors. However, saying and doing are two different things, and in this pitcher-thin free agent market, signing two of those pitchers is about as likely as Sacha Baron-Cohen getting the keys to the city of Astana.

Nonetheless, here's a primer on four potential Blue Jays:

1. Theodore Roosevelt Lilly

Age on opening day 2007: 31

2006/Career E.R.A.: 4.31 / 4.60

2006 Win/Loss: 15-10

Career Starts per Win: 2.7 (i.e. wins every 2.7 games he starts)

2006 K's per start: 5

Analysis: Lilly is the cream of the second-tier starters available this off-season. Personally, I would be shocked if he re-signed with the Blue Jays, considering he got into a fist-fight with manager John Gibbons last season and has a mostly confrontational relationship with pitching coach Brad Arnsberg. Lilly has expressed his desire to return to his home state of California, and that's where I think he's going, unless the Yankees blow him away with an offer he can't refuse.

2. Gilbert Allen Meche

Age on opening day 2007: 29

2006/Career E.R.A.: 4.48 / 4.65

2006 Win/Loss: 11-8

Career Starts per Win: 2.6

2006 K's per start: 4.9

Analysis: Meche and Lilly are basically the same guy, except Meche is two years younger (although Lilly has only thrown 100 more innings). My thought is that the Jays, at best, get one of the two, and they might as well get a fresh start with Meche.

3. Jeffrey Scot Suppan

Age on opening day 2007: 31

2006/Career E.R.A.: 4.12/ 4.60 2006

Win/Loss: 12-7

Career Starts per Win: 2.8

2006 K's per start: 3.3

Analysis: More likely to pick his spots than to blow you away (sounds like I'm talking about an ex-girlfriend), Suppan will consistently give you a question mark when he takes the mound: will it be the good Suppan or the bad Suppan (ladies and gentlemen: Ted Lilly!). He's a .500 pitcher who fills in nicely at the no. 4 spot.

4. Mark Allen Redman

Age on opening day 2007: 33

2006/Career E.R.A.: 5.71/ 4.65

2006 Win/Loss: 11-10

Career Starts per Win: 2.9

2006 K's per start: 2.6

Analysis: Can't wrinkle your nose too much at a guy with a winning record with the Royals. However, I wonder about a guy who's never spent more than one season with the same team (although he had two stints with the Twins). Under Godfrey's master plan (and since when does the President talk about the game plan? Who does this guy think he is, Larry Luchino?), Redman would be a fifth starter at best. That's not too bad.

Even if the Jays end up getting just one of these guys, they'll enter the 2007 season with four solid starters. Here's hoping that J.P. can execute Godfrey's plan.

The Death of Sportsnet

2006-12-02T10:20:00.000-05:00

An ominous bell tolled last night for Canadian broadcaster Rogers Sportsnet, as it was announced that The Score had reached an agreement with the English Premier League to broadcast its games for the next five years, commencing in 2007.

The Premier League was one of Sportsnet's most prized assets, along with the Toronto Blue Jays. Now the ailing network is left with Jays baseball, sporadic regional NHL coverage and poker. Lots and lots of poker. With the NHL, NFL, CFL and curling securely nestled in the crook of TSN's arm, and NBA and Premiership at The Score, there isn't much left for Sportsnet. Perhaps they could mould themselves as MLBTV North? Or put a television camera in radio stations across the country?

Poor Sportsnet can truly feel like the Montreal Expos of sports television. Eight years ago it took a chance on English soccer when no one believed people would watch foreigners play the game early on a Saturday morning. Slowly but surely a loyal following emerged and grew to the point where this year, because of interest produced by the FIFA World Cup, Sportsnet's soccer ratings doubled and were making a significant dent in the broadcasting landscape. Now The Score gets to reap the rewards (rumours are The Score will also get the rights to Toronto FC's games).

Sportsnet had also carefully cultivated a partnership with the Canadian Soccer Association, winning exclusive rights to both the men's and women's national teams. Then came the deal with the CBC to carry the FIFA Under-20 World Cup, as well as the 2010 and 2014 World Cups. Seems like, just as in sports, there is no loyalty in sports broadcasting.

Where does that leave us, the fans? The news that The Score will be broadcasting Premiership and probably Toronto FC matches is a little hard to take, quite frankly. When The Score does live sports broadcasting it always looks second rate, with a community TV feel. James Sharman will be an upgrade on Gerry Dobson as the in-studio host, while Craig Forrest is the dean of former players in Canada as well as a pretty good panelist, and will be missed. My bet is that the quickly gets scooped up. As for Toronto FC, let's hope they get someone in the booth who truly loves soccer. Say, Sid Seixeiro, with Tim Micallef as his wing man, and Cabbie as a sideline reporter. Throw it to James Sharman in the studio, joined by Craig Forrest or Dick Howard. Yeah, I could live with that.

The bigger question remains the future of Sportsnet. They're not likely to fade away into the sunset, considering the deep pockets propping it up. When the NFL finally comes into town with Ted Rogers as one of the owners, it will almost certainly pick up all the league's TV rights in Canada. Until then: more Jays, poker and Bob McCown?

_______________________

With all the changes, let's recap:

- English Premiership: The Score (August 2007)
- Toronto FC: The Score (probably)
- UEFA Champions League: TSN
- World Cup: CBC
- German, Italian, Spanish, Rest of World: Fox Sportsworld Canada

Random Scribblings

2006-11-30T18:42:00.000-05:00

- Toronto FC is set to announce their newest Canadian signing tomorrow, Men's National Team keeper Greg Sutton. Sutton comes to Toronto from the Montreal Impact, where he's built enough of a reputation that numerous MLS teams were seeking his signature this off-season. He also has MLS experience, having played for the Chicago Fire early in his career.

- Another day, another signing for the Jays. The infield is now set with the Royce Clayton signing. As Steph D says in a comment from a previous post, this means Aaron Hill moves back to 2nd base to make room at shortstop for Clayton. About 15 years ago, Serge the Psycho and I were hooked on Hardball 4 for the Sega Genesis. For some reason, we decided to play a season as the San Francisco Giants who had a young infielder by the name of Royce Clayton. Hard to believe he's still around. I tell you this story to illustrate how the ageless wonder is a stop-gap solution for the Jays, who must be hoping Russ Adams makes some sort of leap in development.

- If I had a vote, I would not give it to Mark McGuire. Not this year, not ever.

- I've been noticeably silent on the Sens for a while. It's a reflection of how much this team moves me. I hope to get excited about them again sometime soon: there's only two months of football remaining.

- Roger Goodell created a stir today by name-dropping Toronto as a possible expansion location. The usual hand-wringing followed in the Canadian media concerning the future of the Canadian Football League. One question, asked by Sportsnet, was: If the NFL expands to Toronto, will it kill the CFL? 72% responded yes. I disagree. I'm no CFL fan, but the league has done a great job of promoting itself at the grass-roots level. The Toronto media must think that Stampeders fans give a rat's ass about the Argos: they don't. People in B.C. won't stop watching the Lions just because there's an NFL team in Southern Ontario. The better question might be: If the NFL expands to Toronto, will it kill the Buffalo Bills? Absolutely.

Just Kidding!!

2006-11-29T14:49:00.000-05:00

That’s what Wednesday’s announcement that Greg Zaun was returning to the Jays amounted to, but I’m sure if we could get deep into J.P. Ricciardi’s mind we’d find something more akin to “oh how close I came to getting burned”.

J.P. played a dangerous love triangle between himself, Zaun and Rod Barajas. All indications early this week were that the Jays were ditching Zaun in favour of Rod Barajas, whose hitting prowess is more Nelson Santovenia than Joe Mauer. Then, on the eve of Barajas’ physical with the Jays he fired his agent over his unhappiness with the deal’s financials. That left J.P. having to crawl back to his scorned lover. Thankfully, Zaun has more compassion than Elizabeth Hurley (name-dropping for a great excuse to post a Hurley pic!), and welcomed J.P. with a tearful “Shut up. You had me at 6 million”.

All in all it’s good news for the Jays. They get to keep a solid catcher who is well-liked by his pitching staff and can put up above average numbers for a catcher. Whether he can stay healthy over the course of a full season remains to be seen, but that’s why they kept Jason Phillips around, isn’t it?

For now, here’s the Blue Jays line-up card if I were manager:

1. Reed Johnson LF
2. Aaron Hill SS
3. Vernon Wells CF
4. Frank Thomas DH
5. Troy Glaus 3B
6. Lyle Overbay 1B
7. Alexis Rios RF
8. Greg Zaun C
9. ?????? 2B

Rotation:

Doc
Burnett
Stavo
???
???

So we still need a second baseman and some pitching. Let's hope Adam Lind has a killer training camp and that J.P. isn't done acquiring talent.

Saha Goal

2006-11-28T22:40:00.000-05:00

Here's that amazing Saha goal I was telling you about :

I hadn't noticed the two amazing long passes that set up Saha, on his own, in front of two Chelsea defenders. Check the replays: there was no way to better defend him - he was just going to score.

The Pimple, Week 12

2006-11-28T18:32:00.001-05:00

Rex Grossman is standing in Chicago’s way to a Super Bowl. Although Trent Dilfer and Brad Johnson proved to everyone that you don’t need a superstar quarterback to win the Big One, Rex Grossman doesn’t fall within this category. Those two guys were great examples of quarterbacks that won’t lose you a game. They just go out there, find the safe outlet, keep turnovers to a minimum and let the running game or defence be the star. Rex believes in his abilities just a little too much to join their ranks. He’s got ability, but he can’t make all the throws he thinks he can, which often end up in defenders’ hands.

It just isn’t acceptable to have as bad a game as he did in Chicago’s loss to New England, a game many Bears players had labelled their most important to date this season. Not only was he picked three times (by Asante Samuel), but how bad he looked doing it. Tom Brady was picked twice, but both were off deflections from his receivers. You only have to look at Rex’s body of work over the past 6 games to see that he’s not making life easy for his team. He’s turned the ball over 16 times in that span. He’s got a 56% completion rate for the season.

The tricky thing with Grossman is that he’s shown moments of sheer brilliance, sometimes for an entire game. I remember a young Brett Favre giving Mike Holmgren headaches in the early going. Turned out great for Favre, but I don’t think Rex has the tools to be the next #4. Like I said, he believes in himself just a little too much. If he can learn to play it safe and within his abilities, he’ll be fine. For the moment he remains the biggest road block in the Chicago Bears’ road to the Super Bowl.

Romo-mentum? As if to add credence to the notion that the NFL is as unpredictable a sport as they come, and that the quarterbacking position is for the most part a crap-shoot, Tony Romo comes out of nowhere to become the league’s newest star. This a guy who was signed to an NFL roster after Quincy Carter got busted with cocaine and was subsequently released by the Cowboys. Three years later, Antonio Ramiro Romo is shredding really good defences and making fantasy owners who took a flyer on him look real good. I really think this guy is the real deal. I’ve watched his last couple of games and he makes throws that ooze confidence. He puts the ball exactly where it needs to be while looking composed and in charge. You can see the other players reacting to him – a stark contrast from doe-eyed Drew Bledsoe. Tony Romo, Philip Rivers, Matt Leinart, Vince Young: the future of the QB position looks bright!

In 1992, in a playoff game against the San Diego Chargers, Dolphins tight end Keith Jackson caught a pass from Dan Marino, turned, and found about 20 yards of open field before him. As he rumbled through a couple of Charger tackles he came to a stop, still standing. That’s when I saw the most bizarre call of my young life: Jackson hurled the ball another 10 yards up field where it was recovered by a Charger. After a conference with the officials (and my memory is murky here), they awarded the ball to the Dolphins at the spot where Jackson was tackled, minus five yards for an illegal forward pass. The Chargers went ballistic, claiming they had recovered a fumble. Even the announcers couldn’t believe it, and I was grinning like a Cheshire cat.

I was reminded of that play when San Diego rookie receiver Vincent Jackson caught a ball on Sunday, got up without being touched down and spun the ball forward in celebration, only to have it recovered by the Raiders defence. Just like 14 years earlier, the officials correctly gave the ball back to the Chargers, minus the five yards for an illegal forward pass. The Raiders went nuts and have been crying foul all week. Someone should give them the tape of that Dolphins game.

Well, so much for my Falcon-as-Super-Bowl-Champions prediction. I can take some solace in New England being on track and a sure-fire contender for the title. At this point, here are the teams I think have a shot to win it all (in no particular order): New England, Dallas, Indy, San Diego and Baltimore. In case you’re keeping score, that’s four AFC teams versus one NFC team. I really don’t see anyone from the blue conference beating Dallas at this point. Take that with a grain of salt, however, since my predictions almost never come true. They’re still amusing to make and give my friends a chance to criticize my otherwise flawless observations (smirk).

Giants-Titans saw a bizarre turn of events in the Oversized Mythological Figures Bowl. I feel kind of sorry for rookie defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka, who let Vince Young go instead of slamming him into the ground for the sack. Although it’s inexcusable to stop playing before the whistle is blown, you have to show a modicum of sympathy for the guys whose job it is to go after the quarterback. You can’t hit them high, you can’t hit them low, you can’t push them to the ground the nanosecond after they've released the ball and you can’t tackle them if they’re going into a slide. I know we need to protect the quarterbacks against these 350 pound monsters, but it borders on the ridiculous most of the time and I have no doubt that Kiwanuka had that at the back of his mind when he let Vince go. Despite everything I’ve said, though, it doesn’t forgive that he let go before he heard a whistle. His non-tackle gave Eli the opportunity he was waiting for to blow the game. Nicely done Eli. Come to think of it (apologies to my buddy Jason), Eli and Rex are one and the same: brilliant on some plays, putrid decision-making on others.

My MVP for the year is LaDainian Tomlinson. This guy is going to obliterate Shaun Alexander's record for rushing touchdowns in a season, so forget about all the other guys. Let me explain again using different words: he is going to have the best season of any running back in history. If he doesn't win, I give up. Drew Brees is having a great season. So are Peyton Manning, Brian Urlacher, Tom Brady and Frank Gore. Let's keep things in perspective, though. BEST SEASON EVAH!

Things I'm looking for in Week 13:

Baltimore ending Cincinnati's playoff aspirations
Miami doing the same to Jacksonville
Romo-mentum
The Jay Cutler Era (another post-Elway flop. I feel for you Bronco fans, we're still in the post-Marino era in Miami)
Vince Young v. Peyton Manning (and I'm dead serious)
Wishing MNF had the same flex schedule as SNF (Panthers at Eagles? Gag.)
40 more fantasy points from LaDainian, ho-hum (how do you like Michael Vick now, bitches?)

Jays Off-season – So Far, So Bad

2006-11-27T16:31:00.000-05:00

Pop quiz hotshot: what do you do when you get an extra $20 million in payroll, only have 3 starting pitchers locked up, no catchers, no 2nd baseman, you’re almost certain to lose your franchise player to either free agency in one year or trade this year, you have no catchers, a thin bullpen and an abundance of heavy hitters?

If you chose “Sign an over the hill, injury prone DH to a multi-year contract”, you and JP Ricciardi are soul mates. You also answered wrong. I have been trying to find the silver lining since the time this deal was announced, but I can’t quite grasp it. Maybe – and that’s a HUGE maybe – Frank Thomas can dip into the well one last time and hit 35 home runs, like he did this year for Oakland. Thomas was coming off a year in which he was unceremoniously dumped by his lifelong team and smeared in the press by that team’s general manager. He signed a one-year contract with Oakland where there was no doubt he was out to make his old team look bad. Mission accomplished: the White Sox missed the playoffs and he was the driving force behind Oakland’s pennant. Now what does he have to play for?

Two years, $18 million. Adam Kennedy, Mark Loretta and Tony Graffanino are available as quality 2nd basemen. It looks like Rod Barajas will be the starting catcher while Greg Zaun will walk. Frank Catalanotto is already gone. I’ve yet to hear a quality pitching free agent be associated with the Jays. What exactly is going on? High-octane teams rarely win pennants – good pitching does and defence does. Turns out we get zero defensive capabilities out of our big free agent signing.

Maybe J.P. has a huge trade in the works for Vernon Wells that will shore up the pitching situation and free up some salary. One can only hope at this point. I’m not holding my breath.

Soccer Pimp: Clash of Titans

2006-11-27T15:27:00.001-05:00

It was with great anticipation that I sat down to watch yesterday’s titanic clash between the best two clubs in Britain: Manchester United (34 pts) and Chelsea FC (31 pts). Not only was it going to be Chelsea’s shot at climbing atop Manchester United’s perch, but I would also get to see one of my favourite player matchups in soccer: Christiano Ronaldo (right midfielder) v. Ashley Cole (left back).

It’s difficult for me to admit that I like watching these two players go after each other because I despise them both. They are both notorious divers. They whine incessantly. Ronaldo, for all his brilliance, barely ever produces goals – except for free kicks garnered for his team by flopping to the ground (pictured, right). Cole, while playing for an Arsenal team that was a perennial contender for English and European trophies, determined it wasn’t enough and held illegal meetings with Chelsea FC to jump ship (obviously, he eventually got his way). They are both the types of players I love to hate. Regardless of this, every time they go head-to-head turns into an epic battle of speed, strength and nastiness that makes for a compelling drama.

There were other reasons to watch. Manchester’s Alex Ferguson is one the most belligerent managers in the game, a fierce competitor that rarely gives opponents credit. Jose Mourinho (the self-designated “special one”) is one of the sport’s most amusing characters – he usually spends the first half of games alternating between looking unmoved and looking like daddy took his cookie. Then, in the second half, he gets more and more agitated with every passing minute. By contrast, you can watch the pressure rise in Ferguson by the colour of his cheeks, which go from pasty white to rosy to crimson to vein-popping purple, until he finally loses his mind and gives one of his players or the 4th official a tongue-lashing – most often his foul temper extends into his post-game interview. Good times.

It must be said that I don’t find much endearing in both these teams. On top of the aforementioned distasteful characters you’ve also got Roman Abramovich, the Russian oil tycoon who bought Chelsea a few years ago and proceeded to dump hundreds of millions of dollars into acquiring the best players in the world, turning Chelsea from a perennial almost-have to a have-it-all. The club went from loveable losers to despicable opportunists overnight. It has an all-star at every position, plus it could field its second team and contend for the Premiership title.

They are who Manchester United used to be. In the nineties, Man U was a dynasty with no rival. With David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Roy Keane, Peter Schmeichel, Ryan Giggs, Dennis Irwin and Dwight Yorke, to name a few, that team won title after title including the European Champions’s League in 1999 (a year in which Man U completed the treble: Premiership, FA Cup and Champion’s League titles). Fairly or not, the overdog label has stuck to the Red Devils even as they fell on harder times at the turn of the millennium. They are now back to competing at the highest level.

It is against this backdrop that I sat down to watch these two teams face off. Within a few minutes it was clear they weren’t going to disappoint, giving poor referee Howard Webb more than he bargained for as he tried to calm everyone down. In a high-intensity match like this one it’s important for the official to lay down the law early, and he was able to do so without issuing any cards until the 21st minute, when he produced a yellow to Claude Makalélé after repeated warnings. This allowed the players to play a physical game while knowing that there were consequences to rash and violent actions. It’s a fine line only the better referees can straddle.

Cole and Ronaldo didn’t disappoint either. Manchester’s strategy early on was clearly to feed the ball to Ronaldo on the right side and have him carry the ball deep into Chelsea territory. The only problem was that his nemesis was always ready to stand in his way, Cole acting as an effective obstacle that would stretch Ronaldo’s abilities as far they could take him. It was, as always with these two, a clear cut case of top players making each other better through competition. If only they were model citizens!

Manchester’s Louis Saha put the Red Devils ahead in the 28th minute with a brilliant goal. At the top left of his opponents’ 18-yard box, Saha took the ball while Chelsea’s defence looked ready to impede him. Ricardo Carvalho was shadowing him closely, but Saha made the tiniest of sidesteps to his left and unleashed a curving drive that just slipped past Carlo Cudiccini’s hands and the post. The look on Carvalho’s face was priceless, as he looked incredulous that Saha had pulled it off – in his mind, it seemed he had done everything needed to stop him. That’s the sheer brilliance of soccer – moments of genius that come out of nowhere, against all odds. Four against one, Saha had struck the opening blow to the defending league champions.

Going down a goal seemed to bring Chelsea some vitality. Watching these two star-packed sides spar was a thing of beauty. Finally, in the 69th minute, Carvalho and Saha were back in the spotlight, but at the other end of the pitch. After Michel Essien had gone deep into Manchester territory and secured a corner kick, Mourinho directed his best ball-headers into the box, including Carvalho. From the right corner flag Frank Lampard swung the ball into the box, perfectly aimed at Carvalho’s head, which he redirected towards goal. Saha, defending the left post, rose to head the ball away but instead drove the ball into the top of the mesh. It seemed like Van der Sar would have gotten his hands to it but for Saha’s intervention, although none can fault him for trying to clear his line. You could see Carvalho’s relief and exultation at having redeemed his earlier underestimation of Saha’s skill, and to do it at the Frenchman’s expense must have felt pretty sweet.

The rest of game unfolded without too much drama and ended in a 1-1 draw, so a point to both competitors. The fireworks were not over, however. In his post-game spin session, Sir Alex went on to boast that Manchester United had proved they were the best team in the Premiership. Umm, you just drew your heated rival, in your own backyard, and you’re the best team? Come again? Mourinho, not to be outdone, claimed that Man U had blown its chance to put Chelsea away and now would face the consequences. On the day,

I would say that Mourinho was victorious. He brought his team to the league leader’s home turf and came from behind to share the spoils, a huge swing in a league that awards three points for victories. Chelsea remain three points out of first, and simply have to wait until Manchester succumbs to the pressure of leading. Can’t wait for the rematch in the new year!

Soccer Pimp Notes:

- Toronto FC signed three Canadian internationals last week: Marco Reda, Adam Braz and Chris Pozniak. All three are defenders, and if they can sign a fourth Canadian defender, our National program will benefit greatly from having a back line that plays together year-round.

- Speaking of our National program, our Canadian men lost 1-0 to Hungary in a friendly last week. Not a bad result, and according to those that saw the match Hungary made like thieves in the night after being dominated by Canada throughout the match. Many of our more prominent players were missing through injury or club commitments only to be replaced with a younger generation of Canucks, so that’s promising. It’s time to hire a full-time manager, though. Want to learn more about the sport in Canada? Make sure you check out www.canadian-soccer.com/forum

- Toronto FC has its first potential star: forward Edson Buddle. Mo Johnston acquired Buddle from New York Red Bull by trading away defender Tim Regan, a player chosen in the expansion draft. Buddle 33 goals in 54 career starts. Buddle is an American who’s played for Team USA at every competitive level. Who the hell is Tim Regan? Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing Jimmy Brennan and Ronnie O'Brien feed Buddle the ball.

Joey Harrington: Dolphins QB

2006-11-24T19:22:00.000-05:00

This will come as a shock to Bruce Mr. Turk, the man who, cursed with my friendship, has to sit there and take all my quirks. Why shock? Well, from the moment the Dolphins signed Joey Harrington to yesterday, I adopted a Parcells-esque manner in which to deal with with this development, namely by refusing to utter his name. That's right, from May 12th to yesterday I never referred to Joey Harrington and the Miami Dolphins in the same breath.

When Daunte Culpepper went down with an injury/suckiness, Harrington got a chance to prove everyone who ever doubted him (raising a guilty hand) wrong. At first he didn't show much, but then he didn't stink up the joint either. The Dolphins' success seems to have risen concurrently with his increasing comfort in the offence, with the culmination being the beat-down he laid on the best defence in the NFL (Chicago Bears), a performance I missed because I was sitting next to a guy yelling to a standing, overweight Packer fan to "SIT DOWN, SANTA!".

Although I've watched a few Dolphins games since Harrington took over, not until yesterday did I chart his performance à la Dr. Z. The following results aren't likely to interest anyone but hard-core Dolphins fans and fantasy junkies. What follows are the results of my study (and yes, I realize they were playing the Lions defence in an emotional return for the Joey to the place where he got labeled the Anti-Christ).

Yesterday against the Lions, Joey Harrington: Dolphins QB completed 19 of 29 passes for 213 yards. He threw 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. All of his 19 completions were thrown exactly where they needed to be - none his receivers had to make anything spectacular or adjust their route to make a catch. That is pretty amazing in and of itself.

Of his 10 incompletions, three were dropped, one was thrown out of bounds on purpose and one pass was tipped. In all, 5 of Harrington's 29 attempts were incompleted because of a lack of accuracy. It's not Brady-esque, but you can't ask much more from your QB. I was totally impressed.

Lions fans had to be shaking their heads. Was it really the team around him? Did Matt Millen mess up so bad that a good coach like Steve Mariucci totally tanked? Did Mike Martz forget how to coach an offence? Or did a light just turn on in Harrington's head in the off-season?

It's too early to answer those questions, but for the time being I will suspend my treatment of The Joey to incorporate his name into my Dolphins conversations. This will surely come as a relief to Bruce Mr. Turk. Now I will go watch Brian Pothier's Washington Capitals destroy the Buds.

The Pimple: Roadie Edition Part Two

2006-11-24T10:04:00.000-05:00

Read Part One here...

Before I continue with the conclusion to my little road trip story I'd like to mention that the trip has, like all good road trips, cast its hue on the everyday lives of those who took part. Last week a good friend of mine, Serge the Psycho, got some unwelcome news: his in-laws were extending their stay by five days (they stay at Serge's when they're in town). For the record, Serge doesn't dislike his in-laws, but they are in-laws. It also meant that he couldn't play his Xbox 360 until they left. Yesterday when they finally left, Serge (who didn't make the Buffalo trip) fired off an email to Bruce Mr. Turk and I exclaiming in Braveheart-like fashion: "FREEDOM!"

Now for those who haven't been to the States in the past five years, or haven't bothered watching the news during that time, you wouldn't know that the word "freedom" has been hijacked by certain elements of the Establishment and used as a political tool and propaganda mechanism. As terrible as that is, this amused us to no end while we were there (in a Bill Maher kind of way). In fact, the whole drive back sounded like a right-wing radio broadcast, as if Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter were in the car. It was one of those "had to be there" moments - "Freedom" was mentioned once or twice.

Now, back to Serge the Psycho and Bruce Mr. Turk: Bruce's response to Serge's exultation had its roots firmly planted in that drive back from Buffalo: "Congrats on the Freedom Serge! Freedom rocks! You should even rename your 360 as the 'Xbox 360 Freedom Edition'. I love Freedom!"

Ah yes, "Freedom" will live on for a long time in this incarnation.

Now where were we? Oh yeah, we had gone back to the hotel for a good night's sleep (if we could get past the drunk and rowdy "Go Leafs Go" Nation). The next morning, after having settled our hotel tab, we set out for Ralph Wilson Stadium (when did it change from Rich Stadium!?!?). We had been tipped off by a colleague of Bruce's that cheap parking was to be had just off the main drag, where we could avoid paying full price on Bills' land. I don't know how much parking at Rich, err Ralph Wilson, Stadium costs, but we paid $15 USD to park in a mud-bogged field where people were tearing down trees to feed their tailgating fires - nice (picture at right).

None of us had eaten breakfast yet, since we assumed there would be plenty of culinary opportunities in and around the stadium. Well, no so much. Everyone brings their own food to the stadium and cooks it on propane grills while drinking copious amounts of alcohol. Although we kind of knew this, we still thought there would be food merchants on the grounds. If there were, we didn't find any (except for the Dad selling his kid's school chocolates - brilliant idea!). We therefore poured into the stadium once the gates opened, famished and desperate for any kind of sustenance. That's probably a good thing since I would have probably emptied a half-full stomach upon tasting these stadium offerings anyway. That's an exaggeration, but let's just say that Ambrosia this was not. One interesting menu item was a complete rip-off of Ottawa's world-famous Beaver Tails. In Buffalo they are un-inspiringly named "Fried Dough". Although you had the option of putting brown sugar on your fried dough, most people were putting icing sugar on it. One kid had so much icing sugar on his that I originally mistook it for a Studio 54 tabletop.

We arrived early enough to have the stadium pretty much to ourselves. As people slowly filed into the stadium, a buzz began to build. I recognized the buzz from the first time I saw Wayne Gretzky's New York Rangers playing at the Corel Centre, or PhillipStadion in Amsterdam when David Beckham's Manchester United were about to take the field. It's the buzz you hear when you know a superstar is about to arrive, much like crickets cranking up their chirping when they anticipate rain. Everyone was keenly aware that this was to be Brett Favre's last game in Buffalo, and the feeling was electric. We spent most of our time watching the players warm up, trying to count how many names we knew from the Bills "Ring of Honor" (O.J. Simpson!) and witnessing the rabble that was slowly surrounding us.

We seemed to be seated in a predominantly Packer-friendly part of the stadium. Nevertheless, many Bills fans were around us and tension was thick. I thought Sens fans were territorial - that's nothing compared to working-class Buffalonians. When Peter King tells his readers that he wouldn't bring young children to a football game, I can now see why. The things that were said to Green Bay fans were shocking. I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing.

Finally, the teams took to the field. The manner in which they do is quite humourous. A big inflatable Bills helmet is brought out to about the 10 yard line. The players are to make their grand entrance by running through an arch in the helmet. However, everyone can see the players gathered behind the helmet, being moved along by a team rep. It makes for a very anti-climactic entrance, the exact opposite of the intended effect. And then we have the cheerleaders. Should I go on my cheerleader rant in this column? Ok why not...

Put me down as a cheerleader-hater. Yes, I am a straight male with a healthy libido. However, I can't stand cheerleaders (and no, I didn't get my heart stomped on by a cheerleader). They're very pretty, but that's about it. They look so out of place on a football sideline, it's ridiculous. For the Bills game there were 3 sets of about 10 cheerleaders. They stand with their backs to the stands until they decide it's time for a choreographed dance. Yippee. So they shake their ass and wave their pompoms, then turn their backs on the crowd again in a "I know you want me but you can't have me" manner. My goodness am I ever turned on. I think the worst part is that there's no hint on the part of these cheerleaders that they're in on the joke: they seem to take themselves so seriously. I am convinced that if you ask them, they'd tell you they contribute to the team's on-field success with their cheers. I don't doubt it for a second. They spend their entire week practicing their dance "moves", as if that's what we're judging them on. Yesterday during the Cowboys game one of the "Cowgirls" got bowled over by a player running out of bounds. I laughed and cheered. I am a very sick boy. By the ways, the Bills cheerleaders are called the "Jills" (gag).

Going into the game, I didn't have high expectations. I absolutely adore American Football of the NFL variety, which is the only reason I subject myself to the advertising barrage that is NFL programming every Sunday. I've always wondered if I'd enjoy the stop and start nature of an NFL football game live, in the flesh. Turns out I don't. Having commercials while watching it on TV allows you to either switch to another game or be otherwise entertained by another channel (Much Retro, for instance). In the stadium, you are a prisoner to your surroundings. What's worse is that you can see how absolutely pointless, in terms of the actual game, TV timeouts are. When people at home are watching commercials, the players stand around waiting. The referee stands in the middle of the field checking his watch, and when enough Budweisers and Bold Ford Moves have been hawked, he blows his whistle and everything resumes. This happens every couple of minutes. What you're left listening to is the collection of white trash and hooligans around you. On the upside, they fight a lot so there's at least that to keep you occupied staff Seriously, watching the small army of yellow-jacketed Event Staff is high entertainment! However, on the scale of spectator sports I've attended, NFL football ranks very low:

1. Soccer (White Hart Lane, Philips Stadion, Gillette Stadium, Commonwealth Stadium, Frank Clair Stadium, Richardson Stadium, U of T Stadium, Skydome)
2. Baseball (Fenway Park, Olympic Stadium, Skydome, Lynx Stadium)
3. Hockey (Scotiabank Place, Montreal Forum, Aréna Robert Guertin, Centre Bell, Civic Centre)
4. Formula 1 (Circuit Gilles Villeneuve)
5. NFL Football (Ralph Wilson Stadium, Olympic Stadium)
6. ATP Tennis (Jarry Park)

The game itself was fairly entertaining. It was close 'til the end and watching Favre have one of his patented "Either I'll win the game or lose the game by myself" displays was fantastic (this one was of the "lose" variety). The highlight came when the Packers were driving when the game was still close. The Packers were inside the 5-yard line, with Favre in the Shotgun. The snap came unexpectedly and boinked Brett in the helmet and the Bills recovered the fumble. It happened if front of the end zone where we were sitting, so it was pretty sweet (it's in the official video). In any case, the final score was 24-10 to the Jills, err Bills. I wonder if the cheerleaders took any credit in the post-game press conference?

Our return home was to begin straight after the game, but first we had to get out of the parking lot/farmer's field. It was quite funny to watch all the SUVs get stuck in the mud, while lighter cars easily pulled out (Too Smart To Be Categorized, and to negotiate tricky Buffalo mud). On the way to the car, Karl the Rabble-Rouser decided to make our Escape From Buffalo interesting, and so decided to speak French to strangers around us and scornfully pretended he didn't speak English - I even activated the child-lock on the windows. Karl has a lot of pent up anger for a socialist. As all this was happening, I was keeping a close eye on the gas gauge on my car, which was getting dangerously close to the "E". Since we weren't moving, I decided to kill the ignition. Just as I did, an old woman in a 1991 Zubaz Bills jacket walks up to our car. She was selling wonderfully ugly Bills t-shirts. Scott the Wing Man yells out to her that he wants one. We all start giggling, but it turns out he was serious and couldn't resist the unbelievable eyesore that was the tye-died Bills t-shirt (I wish we had taken a picture). Finally, and to my relief, we got out of there.

My relief was short-lived. The orange light on my gas gauge came on, and there didn't seem to be a gas station anywhere in the vicinity. I have a terrible record when it comes to keeping the gas tank filled during road trips (remember the Toronto trip, Steph?), and flashbacks to flagging down cars at 4:30 am from the side of the 417 and the sound of duelling banjos haunted my thoughts. Finally, on a whim, I took an exit and thankfully there was a gas station right there.

The trip home was a collection of "Freedom" jokes and "had to be there" moments while listening to the Pats-Colts game on the radio. Needless to say, the highlight of the trip for me was the voyage there and back again. At the Canada-U.S.A. border crossing, we had a scary moment. Bruce had packed some of his leftover rum, but the guys in the backseat didn't know this so when the border agent asked us whether we were carrying alcohol, all he got from us was a garbled cacophony of "yes-no-yes we do-no we don't". He looked me up and down and asked: "Well? Is it yes or is it no?" I turned to him and said "Yes, we do. It's in the trunk." He then looked at our passports again and inquired: "You're French? At least three of you?" to which I replied "Oui, 3 d'entre nous". In my head I was thinking "Ah shit, we've got a bigoted border guard". Quickly he says in perfect Québec slang: "Quossé vous faites avec l'angla?" (Lost in translation: Watcha doin' with the Anglo?" ). We erupted in laughter and he waved us through.

When we got home, Karl tried to unlock his car with his keyless remote. Nothing. "Strange, the remote's battery must be dead." He unlocks his car using the key and turns the ignition and - nothing. The car's battery was completely dead. A call to CAA and half an hour later, I was stepping into my apartment.

I don't know that I'd make the Buffalo trip again. If I do make another football trip, I'll get better seats in a better stadium in a better city. The camaraderie always makes or breaks these road trips, and in this case it saved it. Next road trip will most likely be a Blue Jays-Toronto FC double-bill in the spring, followed by (hopefully) Yankee Stadium in the summer. I bet you Yankees fans love freedom!

Calling All Ottawa-Area 360 Gamers

2006-11-23T22:26:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone!

If you play on XBox Live and live the in Ottawa area, I invite you to email bucketo@hotmail.com to get added to this website. It's a really cool site to keep track of what fellow gamers in the city are up to. Once Bucketo adds you, you don't have to do anything - your achievements are pumped into the system automatically.

Having said that, if you're looking for a quick pickup game of NHL or FIFA or whatever, get in touch with me. Another idea floating around in my brain, if this call picks up any traction, would be to host an NHL or FIFA tournament. Don't hesitate to get in touch with me!

mimglow@gmail.com

Appetite for Destruction

2006-11-20T15:28:00.000-05:00

In honour of Axl showing up in Ottawa and rocking out (according to the Ottawa Citizen), here is a review of Appetite for Destruction I wrote a few years ago.

Appetite For Destruction

We knew we were listening to something…different. My friends and I (average age 11 y/o at the time) were sitting around listening to the radio, when all of a sudden a hellish guitar riff flooded the airwave. It was Welcome to the Jungle, by Guns n’ Roses. GnR hit the rock scene like a tonne of bricks in 1987 with the release of Appetite For Destruction. Absent from these rockers were the makeup, the blow-dried hair, the on-stage acrobatics or the fake street cred. These fellas were for real, and were as in your face about it as you could get.

My close friends often have to suffer my diatribes about how Izzy is the soul of GnR. I honestly believe that without him, there was no band. Proof is in the pudding, and upon Izzy Stradlin’s departure from the band, GnR failed to record any original material as a band ever again. Sure, Slash’s genius cannot be denied, Duff’s bass lines were crafty and Axl provided the necessary rocker angst, but it was Izzy who was the backbone with his hook, line and sinkerish rhythm guitar riffs. I’ll expand a little more on this in the specific songs, but you only need to focus your ear on the rhythms of Paradise City or Mr. Browstone to realize that Izzy Stradlin is a rock God.

Welcome to the Jungle

Everyone knows the opening guitar riff to Welcome to the Jungle. Heard regularly in many formats, from sports stadiums to Jim Rome’s theme song, Jungle is an anthem to youth, sex, and survival to which many people relate. The song’s lyrics were written by Axl, and chronicle his difficult transition from small town Indiana to the bright lights of Sunset Boulevard. For me, it was an introduction to the seedier aspects of life, a portal into post-teendom that every pubescent adolescent aspires to. Axl empowered me to rebellion, Izzy created a backbeat that added a distinctive strut to my gait, and Slash made me want to wear top hats (ok, he did more than that, but I’ve got to keep stuff for the other songs! Haha)

It’s So Easy

In case Jungle wasn’t badass enough, the boys from Hollywood hit us with a song about sexual domination, and the objectification of women, born out of Axl’s disgust with the smuttiness of L.A. women. The song has grown on me over the years, as I’ve learned to appreciate Axl’s sleaziness, and the equally degradatory guitar licks that support it. Here’s a telling lyrical sample from Axl’s philosophy towards women (which would change over time):

"Turn around bitch I got a use for you
Besides you ain't got nothin' better to do...and I'm bored"

You’ll notice a pronounced change to Axl’s view of women in the Illusions albums, a reflection of falling in love HARD with Stephanie Seymour (who hasn't?).

Night Train

Axl chooses Night Train to introduce himself to the populace, and to tell us all what a badass he is. A night creature, Axl was a self-conscious and uncertain country kid looking to make a mark under the big city lights. Night Train reads like a mini mission statement, letting everyone know that he’s arrived and the road better be cleared for him.

"Said I'm a mean machine
Been drinkin' gasoline
And honey you can make my motor hum
Well I got one chance left
I'm a nine live cat
I got a dog eat dog sly smile
I got a Molotov cocktail with a match to go
I smoke my cigarette with style
An I can tell you honey
You can make my money tonight"

Out Ta Get Me

This one is another “Me v. the World” ditty that exposes the punk world’s influence on the band. This song earned the newly-minted “Explicit Lyrics” sticker for the cover.

Mr. Brownstone

An ode to heroin, I related to this song not for the drug undertones (I had no idea this song was about drugs when I was 11), but because of its procrastinating nature:

"I get up around seven
Get outta bed around nine
And I don't worry about
nothin' no
'Cause worrin's a waste of my... time"

…my teenage years in a nutshell, that. Steven Adler’s drum performance in this song is one of his best. He just keeps the song rolling along, as Slash and Izzy interlock in a beautiful rhythm/lead tandem.

Paradise City

One of the songs of the 80’s. A seven minute epic in a time where albums were over-produced to give us neat little 3 minute radio-friendly verse/chorus/verse/chorus/solo/chorus formulas. It starts out with a beautiful strumming intro by Slash, only to be railroaded (in a good way) by a heavy rhythm turn by Izzy. We get a glimpse into Axl’s soft core in this one, because the song is a tale of homesickness.

The final third of this song absolutely kicks ass. Played incredibly up-tempo and for a long while, it must have exhausted the boys in the band. Having seen this song performed live, I can attest that it grabs you out of your seat (if you have the gall to be sitting at a GnR show) and moves you every which way. There is no feeling like handing over total control of your body to a song (or a girl).

My Michelle

My Michelle is titled to give us the impression it’s another cute little ballad, but it’s actually a song about a bad girl gone good (and I’m not sure Axl approves). This one never really grabbed me in any way. Musically and lyrically it’s good, but just never stuck to me.

Think About You

Another one of those songs that slips under my radar. I quite enjoy the rolling rhythm guitar, and the hook of the chorus.

Sweet Child O’ Mine

"Her hair reminds me of a warm, safe place
Where as a child I’d hide. "

The song kicks off with one of the most unmistakable guitar hooks in music history. I wonder sometimes about the day Slash first unleashed this baby on the boys in the band, and what their reactions were. Did they know they had struck gold? You’d have to think so. The beauty of it is that the boys didn’t sit on the riff and ride it to glory – Sweet Child contains 4 guitar solos, impeccable rhythm guitar, forceful drum beats, a wonderful break-down ("Where do we go, Where do we go now?"), and lyrics to make any girl’s knees go weak. I really admire the guts it took to get away from the simplistic rock-ballad formula they could have stuck to and been guaranteed a top 10 hit. It worked out for them, but in doing so they broke the mold that was strangling rock n’ roll.

For me the song represents the youthful innocence with which you are filled every time you become infatuated with someone. It is also a reminder of how fragile we are when confronted with beauty. This song makes me want to run my fingers through her hair, leave a nail mark in her side and nibble on her neck. Mmmm…

You’re Crazy

This one has recently come to signify a part of my life. Isn’t it great when a song you’ve listened to your whole life suddenly morphs into a metaphor for a life situation, and you suddenly feel a bond with the singer? Well, in this case I have to remove the obvious anger Axl feels toward the girl he’s singing about. For me, saying “you’re crazy”, or in fact being told so, is a fun little teasing thing.

"I've been lookin' for a trace
Lookin' for a heart,
Lookin' for a lover
in a world that's much too dark
Because you don't want my love, no, no
You want satisfaction"

Damn straight, Axl.

Anything Goes

Just pure sex.

"My way, your way, anything goes tonight."

How could I possibly have anything to add to this?

Rocket Queen

This has come to be my favorite song on this album, if not my favorite GnR song. Rocket Queen has everything I love about GnR; sex, aggressiveness, vulnerability, great guitar hooks and tempo variations. Musicianship at its best. Just do yourself a favor one of these days and block out all other aspects of the song except Izzy’s rhythm guitar. It’s a mesmerizing performance, one in which Slash comes in and out, with Duff’s bass providing the skeleton. The meat is all Izzy, though.

I see you standing
Standing on your own
It's such a lonely place for you, for you to be
If you need a shoulder
Or if you need a friend
I'll be here standing
Until the bitter end

No one needs the sorrow
No one needs the pain
I hate to see you walking out there
Out in the rain

So don't chastise me
Or think I, I mean you harm
Of those that take you
Leave you strung out much too far
Baby-yeah

Don't ever leave me
Say you'll always be there
All I ever wanted
Was for you to know that I care

The Pimple: Roadie Edition

2006-11-18T09:25:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I mentioned I was going to Buffalo to see my first NFL football game. I promised to try and write a travelogue, and this is the ensuing attempt. It’s probably written more for those who were on the trip or who know someone who was on the trip, so I apologize to those that find this incredibly mundane.

The trip was to be made with seven other (ahem) gentlemen, in two cars. I drove my car with three gentlemen in tow: Bruce Mr. Turk, Karl the Rabble-Rouser and Scott the Wing Man. What follows is a breakdown of the low-lites.

Saturday, 10am:

Ottawa South

We set out in my car. I had picked up Bruce earlier in the morning while Karl drove Scott to my place and parked his car in my spot. Bruce was the navigator, as he always is on these roadtrips, with Karl and Scott in the back of my Mazda 3. Before I go on I should give you a small biography of the principle players:

Bruce Mr. Turk: works for a police agency, very knowledgeable when it comes to sports. Known him since I was eight, college roommate and a no-nonsense type. As you may already know, a huge Niners fan who loves to remind me our NFL teams suck.

Karl the Rabble-Rouser: plays a prominent role in a major political party. Funniest guy on the trip, but not in a hijinx kind of way. Sharp wit which turned out to be a little dangerous in northern New York. “You know, a drink can also…”

Scott the Wing Man: one of Karl’s colleagues in the aforementioned political party. Exactly what you would think of when you imagine a pol. He’s the guy in that Toyota road-trip (Fits Four…Friends) commercial who gets his Blackberry thrown out of the truck. The overtly intellectual of the group.

The other party included Matt, who seemed to be in both groups at once, and the other three who had their own road-trip going (no one’s fault, that. It’s bound to happen with such a big group). They ended up producing a kick-ass video of the roadie.

Saturday, 12:30

1000 Islands Border Crossing/Duty Free Shop

A few days before, Matt had sent us this email reminder: “Guys, make sure you stop at a smoke shop/variety store/gun shop on the way to Buffalo to get beer, since our hotel is in the middle of a war zone”. We decided to heed this message and stock up booze at the Duty Free. We wanted to be able drink good beer instead of getting stuck with Genesee or some similarly awful excuse for a beverage. It was beer for me, beer and rum for Bruce Mr. Turk while Karl and Scott loaded up on beer and gin. Looking at our loot from the Duty-Free, that’s where I started to get worried about the next 36 hours.

We get back in the car and get queue up for the border crossing. Bruce entices Karl: “I’ll give you 20 bucks if you get out of the car and RUN across the border”. Fortunately Karl wasn’t drunk yet. No worries, though, as Bruce got very creative in finding means of parting with his money.

After a few minutes of the boys harassing me about picking the wrong queue, we got to the crossing. We hand over our passports and the US border agent begins the questioning:

USBA: So you boyz going to the Bills game?

Ottawa Sports Guy: Umm, yeah. (my god, he’s psychic!)

USBA: You boyz got any alcohol in there?

OSG: Yes sir, in the trunk.

USBA: Alright, pop the trunk.

USBA proceeds to go through our stuff in the trunk and returns our passports.

USBA: Alright, you boyz are good to go…

OSG: What? You don’t care that we’re here to rape and pillage?

Fortunately the filter caught that last bit.

Saturday, 1:30 pm

Fort Drum, NY

The first thing that struck me about northern New York is the difference in advertising. It shouldn’t feel all that different, because we get most of the same ads in Canada. “It’s the little differences”, as Vincent Vega would say. This gigantic roadside billboard, for example: “Cigarettes: Lowest Prices Allowed Under the Law!!”or “ABORTION is MURDER!” You just know you’re not in Canada anymore.

We begin musing over lunch, and the decision was basically left to me. Choosing a restaurant for a group of people is one of my biggest pet peeves, but no one would bring forth any preferences. So I made an executive decision and decided to follow one of those “Fork and Knife” roadway signs (how assertive of me). Fifteen miles off the main highway later, we’re in Fort Drum (home the 10th Mountain Division) and there are two choices for fast food; McDonald’s and Arby’s (both located next to Freedom Plaza, the local mall – I wonder if you can park there without a “Support the Troops” magnet on your car?). Bruce and I had never had Arby’s so we decided to venture into a new culinary experience. Any of you who’ve ever been to an Arby’s are probably chuckling right now. I decided to play it safe and have a chicken sandwich, Bruce mirroring that choice. I don’t remember what Scott had, but I do remember Karl’s penny-saving decision: the special was four beef melts for $5, and Karl never met a deal on beef melts he didn’t like. This, however, was not the highlight of our stay in Fort Drum - on Karl’s soft-drink cup was an advertisement for Arby’s Jamocha Shake (I’m paraphrasing here because I must have heard it 50 times over the next 36 hours):

"You know, a drink can be both a drink and a dessert at the same time. Take our signature Jamocha Shake. Between bites it's a drink. After the meal, or on its own, it's dessert.
Way to go, Jamocha."

On the surface, that’s not very funny. But throw in Karl’s Québécois accent and the fact that soldiers from the 10th Mountain are in the restaurant, and he’s reading it so pretty much everyone can hear him, and we’re sinking into our chairs, desperately trying to mentally figure out how quick we can get out of here and if a Mazda 3 can outrun an Army Jeep: well, that’s high comedy (once you get home safely).

Saturday, 4:00 pm

Adam’s Mark Hotel, Buffalo, NY

After beating a hasty retreat from Fort Drum, our afternoon went by without further incident, except for Karl who would occasionally go into his “Way to go Jamocha” spiel. After parking the car in the hotel parking lot, we got into the elevator carrying our bags and beer cases, where we were joined by two mothers and their 6-7 year old daughters. They were obviously in a cheerleading troupe, their team jackets a dead giveaway. For some reason I couldn’t quite figure out which button to press to get to the hotel lobby, which led us on an elevator tour of the various parking garage floors. This lead to the mothers cracking jokes at my expense and, forgetting that there were young girls in the elevator, defending my actions by saying “Don’t worry, we’re just drunk”. Everyone started laughing except the little girls, whose panicked eyes brought me back to reality and an even more fervent “no, no, look, we haven’t had any yet!” while I pointed to the unopened beer case. Now everyone in the elevator is cracking up; my friends because they were embarrassed with nowhere to run, and the mothers out of fear because there was nowhere to run. I felt like such a dunce.

We finally get to the lobby and find it to be buzzing with activity. Apparently the Bills game was only one of many events in Buffalo that weekend; the Leafs were in town for a Hockey Night in Canada tilt against the Sabres, and the rowdy “Go Leafs Go” chants made me think I was at Scotiabank Place during the playoffs, there a Cheerleading competition for little girls, the Marines had a gala event for young recruits being sent off to war and Packers fans were everywhere with their “Favre #4” jerseys. We even spotted Pierre Lebrun of the Canadian Press (I resisted the temptation to approach him and ask him whether people ask him if he’s my twin) and Al Strachan of the Toronto Sun. It was a rather hectic scene. We finally got our room keys and headed up to our road trip HQ.

A few hours later the second group arrived and we all gathered in our room for a game of poker. I had never played poker for real money before, and I made it out of there in good shape, doubling my original ante. Copious amounts of alcohol were being consumed in the meantime, and some Leafs fans were getting rowdy in the hallways. Karl the Rabble-Rouser, now fully lubed up with gin, decided to confront them. Having warned him that we didn’t have his back if he got himself into trouble, he ventured out there – this was to be a running theme throughout the evening. Turns out the gang was from Brockville, and he ended up making some friends in the hallway after some initial tense moments where both sides were sizing each other up.

Saturday, 11 pm

Downtown Buffalo

One of the members of the second group had been talking about this “awesome” bar in downtown Buffalo, hyping it up by telling us it was like nothing else in Ottawa. Turns out it was a dud (for me and Bruce, anyway – a dance club type place with 18 year-olds running around). However it got me out into downtown Buffalo. What shocked me was the beautiful architecture and the feeling of being in a historical setting. This was at night-time, which it turns out created its own set of optical illusions (take the photo of Buffalo City Hall on the left, for example. Seen at night and lit by strategically placed spotlights, it is stunning. When you see it during the day, it looks like it’s about to fall apart.) Bruce Mr. Turk and I decided to turn in early to get a good night’s rest. However, the Leafs had soundly beaten the best team in the NHL, and Buffalo became Toronto 2 for a night, with Leafs fans everywhere chanting “Go Leafs Go”. It was nice to see that they don’t reserve their annoying chanting for Ottawa. So much for a quiet night in Buffalo. That wouldn’t dampen our spirits, though: Our first NFL game was right around the corner!

Part 2 tomorrow…

Homecoming

2006-11-16T11:08:00.000-05:00

No, I didn’t get killed in Buffalo, although my buddy Karl did his damnedest to get us in trouble with the Amerkans (Way to go, Jamocha!).

I’m finding blogging regularly very challenging when big things are happening to me and the sports world takes a back seat. I wonder how the better amateur bloggers do it, like Neate over at Out of Left Field?

Anyway, the toughest thing to do when you’ve been away from your blog for an extended period is to figure out where to get started again. I suppose I’ll go with a story that really caught my attention this morning: the Evgeni Malkin court ruling.

Yesterday, a U.S. district court ruled in favour of the NHL against Russian hockey clubs that wanted to bar some of its players from playing in NHL games until a decision is made over compensation for those players. I imagine most NHL fans welcomed the news with a shrug of the shoulders and a “way to stick it to the Russians!”.

As is my nature, this turn of events has me wondering, especially on the heels of the Matsuzaka sweepstakes in baseball. The two cases are similar at their core: a bigger league covets a superstar in the making from a smaller league. This happens all the time in soccer, where one team will compensate the other with a “transfer fee”, usually in the millions of dollars (depending on the player, of course). This appears to be modus operandi for the Boston Red Sox, who have offered $51 million to the Seibu Lions should they succeed in signing their star pitcher.

Meanwhile, in what seems like another world, the Pittsburgh Penguins practically smuggled Evgeni Malkin away from Metallurg Magnitogorsk without compensation. This is a player that was under contract to the Russian club, and the Penguins were able to sign him to a contract and have him play.

How can two situations that seem so similar at their core produce such differing results? Imagine this scenario: have Sidney Crosby signed by, say, Spartak Moscow. For whatever reason, Crosby decides this is the right career move and leaves the Penguins for Russia while the Pens get nothing in return – like the NHL wouldn’t go all the way to the Supreme Court over something like this.

It’s been mentioned that it’s the Russian Federation’s fault for not signing an agreement with the NHL, which would have capped the amount of compensation given to Russian clubs at $200,000 per player. Can we blame them? 200 grand when the Penguins will make millions off this deal? There’s a certain hypocrisy from the NHL wanting to globalize the game, yet when rival leagues try to hold on to their talent (or get fair compensation for being pillaged), the NHL tries to kick them back into the backwater. It’s only a matter of time before the Russian league will be able to hold
its own against the NHL. Bettman and company need to embrace the fact that they’re succeeding in making the game a global success, and everything that comes with it, including successful leagues in foreign countries. It’s not because a bunch of NHL execs get together in a room once a year and decide who gets what (the NHL draft) that the rest of the world have to abide by these terms, as if we were back at Versailles in 1919.

I’ll say it again: North American sports leagues need to look at soccer for guidance on how to go global. The systems are mostly in place when it comes to soccer, and all the NHL needs to do is model themselves after them. Baseball seems to be getting the message, and the NHL, as usual, is lagging behind.

Random Scribbles

2006-11-03T13:56:00.000-05:00

- Nothing drives me higher up the wall than media hacks that try to create the news, which is exactly what some reporters are trying to accomplish with all this Alfie trade-talk. Alfie is the icon of this franchise, and should retire a Senator. I know that may sound a little idealistic considering the current sports climate, but if Stevie Y can do it, so can Alfie. Remember, trade rumours swirled constantly around Yzerman just before the Red Wings went on a run of league domination, both regular season and playoffs.

- I’m going to Buffalo this weekend to see my first meaningful NFL game (although dubbing a Packers-Bills game “meaningful” might be a stretch). When I was a kid (10 years old?), I saw an American Bowl game at the Big O between the New England Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers. The only thing I remember is that we were seated far from the action and that Bubby Brister was the Steelers QB. I’m also a little worried: I don't consider Buffalo a vacation destination - by showing up we'll remind them what people with real teeth look like. But you know, I feel a little bit Bono-esque with this voyage: it's important to visit third world countries and remind yourself just how lucky you are. Who knows, maybe I'll adopt a child from Cheektowaga (save the hate mail, Buffalo peeps. I’m a Dolphins fan, it’s my duty to rag on your city). I’m going to try and provide a travelogue upon my return, but I’m not sure if I can pull it off. Stay tuned…

- Congratulations to Vernon Wells on winning his third consecutive Gold Glove award. Hopefully he is sincere when he talks of signing a new contract with the Blue Jays. I’d hate to see anyone else patrol centre field for the Jays.

- NHL television ratings are down a little bit (9%), and this has given a kind of liquid courage to those who love to criticize the clampdown on interference and stick-related fouls. First of all, the ratings are down and this was expected: when you come back from missing an entire season of hockey, people are naturally going to watch more because they missed the product. Expecting to maintain those numbers was never plausible. Secondly, consider the whiners and their agenda:

1. Bill Waters: The clampdown has seriously affected his beloved Maple Leafs. Theirs was a team cynically built in the “old” NHL to slow down the opposition through clutching and grabbing. The rules have hurt the teams that have been unable to adapt, like the Leafs and the Flyers. Smarter GM’s have evolved with the times, like Lou Lamoriello in New Jersey.

2. Nick Kypreos: Try and follow the logic: the salary cap has created higher player turnaround, so the players don’t know their teammates as well, so they are forced to clutch and grab, which increases penalties, therefore the clampdown is hurting the NHL. That pretty much sums up this guy’s thinking. Kypreos and Glenn Healy whine and moan constantly – they are the player’s mouthpieces on network television. It’s no surprise he’s constantly bashing the salary cap. He will obviously reach for any argument, sane or not, to illustrate the evils of a system that prevents teams from giving the Bobby Holik’s of the world $10 million per season.

3. Don Cherry & Ron McLean: Yes, it has reached the point where I lump them in together. Cherry has finally broken McLean down. These two have a lofty perch from which to sermonize, and unfortunately they use it irresponsibly, such as when McLean endlessly criticizes referees. It isn’t too difficult to imagine where Cherry is coming from in his hate of the new enforcement of the old rules. Cherry is a macho man’s man who will stop at nothing to see a return to the 70’s style of brawling hockey. Sad (as in pathetic) thing is, he’ll never live to see it. He’s simply a bitter old curmudgeon at this point, and his ramblings constantly border on senility. Agree with him at your own peril.

Furthermore, if you look into the numbers a little deeper, there is good news. The demographic every advertiser lusts after, 18 to 34 year old males, is showing an astounding 40 per cent increase in NHL viewership. Ergo, the next generation loves the “new” NHL, and the rules changes are here to stay (if we can trust the governors to use sound judgment – never a gimme).

- Everton are making a case that they belong near the top of the Premiership table. Their draw at Arsenal on Saturday was an eye-opener, and the hope is that they can finish in the top four in order to earn a Champions League berth. I just picked up FIFA 07 for the 360 this week, and have played until my thumbs hurt. There’s nothing like video games to build an intimate knowledge of the players on your favourite teams, especially with the accuracy EA Sports pours in to individual attributes. In soccer that is especially true, as watching Everton play on TV doesn’t give you nearly the amount of depth that playing them with FIFA provides. Joseph Yobo and Arteta have never looked so good. Many of you have vowed to follow soccer more closely after last summer's World Cup: there's no better way to get attached to a club than through the FIFA series.

Soccer Pimp: A Great Decision

2006-11-01T11:17:00.001-05:00

You won't see these words written very often in this space, but today CONCACAF have announced a great decision (CONCACAF is the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football - UEFA's North American cousin). They've decided that the Gold Cup (Concacaf's version of the European Championships, or Euro)will no longer have "invitation" teams. What this means is that only teams from our Confederation will be allowed to play in our Championship. Having "invitation" teams was akin to having a European club team participate in the Stanley Cup playoffs because it was deemed that the 16th team wasn't strong enough to compete. It was a complete insult to the region, a slap in the face considering only 12 teams play in the Gold Cup.

Are there 12 world class teams in CONCACAF? No. Only Mexico and USA deserve that designation. However, why deny Nicaragua or Haiti the chance to play with the big boys in our regional championship? Latvia played in the last Euro, for crying out loud! We all know anything can happen in soccer, and Latvia proved that by drawing Germany in the group stage. Would you deny them that opportunity in favour of inviting South Korea or Ecuador? UEFA would never demean itself in such a way, and I'm glad to see CONCACAF come to their senses.

For the record, Canada won the Gold cup in 2000 and was 3rd in 2002. Yes, the championship is played every two years. This is the next battleground in the war between CONCACAF and Common Sense: let's have the championship played every four years, in the same year as the Euro. At the same time we can add four teams to bring it up to 16. In this way the Championship will gain credibility and cachet.

Great Quote

2006-10-31T19:24:00.000-05:00

I decided that tonight I'll be watching the Sens-Habs game on RDS, since I can't really stand Dean "Oh MY HEAVENS!!" Brown. So they have a pre-game show where they sit down with Guy Carbonneau, the Habs head coach, and the interviewer asks him:

- "Any changes to the lineup tonight, Guy?".

- With a wry smile he answers: "I've put Aaron Downey in the game tonight, since you never know with Neil and McGrattan."

Nice! Let's get it on!

The Pimple, Week 8

2006-10-30T21:10:00.000-05:00

Quick everyone, reach for your tissues. If we are to believe the football pundits this weekend, we're supposed to feel much pity for Shawn Merriman following his four game suspension for steroid use. Apparently, Merriman is a "good kid" who's a "team player" and "upstanding citizen".

Ummm, no. Merriman can now be placed on an infamous list that includes Ben Johnson ("Do you Cheetah?"), Jose Canseco and Lyle Alzado. He gets to rub shoulders with Marion Jones, Floyd Landis and Ken Caminiti (newsflash, Shawn, but two of those named have died because of steroid abuse). There is a phone number posted in every NFL locker room; a hotline for players who have doubts about the contents of various supplements. Over the weekend, Merriman's agent confirmed that his client had never made that call, and had never cross-checked the supplements he was using with the list of banned NFL substances. All these circumstances made for some very uncomfortable viewing this weekend, when I was watching him destroy the Rams offensive line. "Now wait a minute here," you say. "How could he have been playing if he was caught juicing?" Ah...great question Doctor Watson. The NFL (and every other pro sports league) allows players to appeal suspensions, and it's mostly used to pick and choose which games they are to miss. Got some tough games coming up? No problem - appeal the suspension and keep playing until you hit a soft patch. These derelicts make a mockery of the rules of the game and bend them to their advantage. And I'm supposed to give this kid the benefit of the doubt? I say let him sit until the league can hear his appeal. Let's see how strong a case he really feels he has.

Red Alert to all Billick haters: your boy gets to crow this week, after lighting up the Saints defence for five touchdowns. This comes in the first game since he fired Jim Fassell as his offensive coordinator and took over play-calling duties. The shameless self-promoter is sure to make the most of this - perhaps another book on his unquestionable genius?

Denver plays Cincinnati on Christmas Eve: don't say I didn't warn you, but this will be a golden opportunity for some producer to put up the "Silver Bells: Mike and Tatum" graphic. On a darker note, and I'm sorry Darrent Williams, but there's no gentler way of putting this: you got sodomized by Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne on Sunday.

My favourite quote of the week came courtesy of the Football Night in America panel. Bob Costas commenting on a Chris Henry touchdown reception says: "...and he can do it too...when he can make bail." This is followed by giggling "ooohs" and "ahhhs from the rest of the panel. Costas then says, laughing "What? He's been arrested like five times since January!" Collinsworth, unable to contain himself, quips: "Not in the past couple of weeks he hasn't!!" That had me in stitches. These guys are good.

And since I'm on a roll with broadcasting compliments, I have to send out some kudos to Matt Vasgersian and JC Pearson of Fox. They called the Seahawks and Chiefs beautifully. Insightful, accurate, working off each other, challenging one another on close plays (with sincerity, none of this mock confrontation). I hope they move up the ranks on Fox. Since I like them, that's as likely to happen as the Niners scoring a meaningful touchdown against the Bears in this decade.

Product tag line over which I'm still scratching my head: "Toyota Rav 4: Too intelligent to be categorized." Really? Looks like an SUV to me. Or maybe it's finally becoming uncool to own these death traps, so they prefer to say they don't have a category? And what does "Too intelligent to be categorized" mean? Come again? Is the truck intelligent? Someone please help me out.

My apologies for the short Pimple this week, but that's all I've got, and I refuse to babble for no good reason (some of you may think this was the case anyway!)

Note: It's 31-7 Patriots with 13 minutes to go. It's safe to go to bed right? Right? Maybe I should call Denny Green and ask what he thinks. "They WERE what we THOUGHT they were!!!"

The Soccer Pimp Revisited

2006-10-27T08:40:00.001-04:00

A few years ago (by the looks of it, back when I still had room for Michael Landsberg in my life), I wrote this little column for The Voyageurs website (check out their forum: It's the web's premium gathering place for Canadian soccer). I've dusted it off a bit and am offering it to you as a reminder that there are ways for soccer fans to survive in our American-centric sports landscape. Also check out Neate Seager's interesting blog on how he vows to become a soccer fan. I wonder if he was successful?

Survivor's Handbook in a Hostile Soccer Society

Dick Howard, TSN’s venerable soccer analyst, recently appeared on Michael Landsberg’s OTR along with the usual assortment of sportscaster, eye candy and Ignorant Loudmouth. OTR deserves credit for kicking off its show with a question we in the soccer community have been asking for years: “Will soccer ever become part of the mainstream in Canada”?It turns out that Ignorant Loud-Mouth was one of those “soccer sucks” blowhards. You know the type: the guy at the bar or family dinner who feels he has to come down hard on the sport with half-witted arguments, no matter if he’s alone or surrounded by 20 English hooligans. The problem with these Ignorants is that the people who might be prone to enjoy soccer if left to their own thoughts become useless lemmings in the company of Ignorant Loud-Mouth. They nod in fearful agreement to his discourse, which is usually just a regurgitation of something he heard on the Jim Rome Show. Ah, and the radio show analogy is a useful one in this case – these people remind me of the Right-Wing radio people across North America: the Rush Limbaughs, Lowell Greens and Bill O’Reilly’s of the world. It's quasi-impossible to turn these people into soccer fans, but you can at least stand your ground and give observers of the debate food for thought.

With that in mind, I thought I’d put together a quick-reference list of intelligent comebacks to these unsavory opinions, for use by you the reader the next time you encounter Ignorant Loudmouth.

Ignorant Loudmouth: I can’t get into a sport where the players flop and dive all over the place, as if they just got shot. Then they just get right back up like nothing happened.

Refined Soccer Enthusiast:

• You’re correct to say that some players dive, but the majority of the pain you see is genuine. The difference between soccer and other sports is the frequency at which studs are driven into various parts of the players legs. Just imagine I went into the closet and pulled out a soccer/baseball shoe, and drove the stud into your ankle right now. You would probably drop to the ground or hop around on your good foot. After about 10 seconds, the pain would subside and you would be good to go.

• If that's how you really feel about divers, then you'll be restricted to watching golf. Anytime a quarterback or kicker even feels an opposition player close to him after letting go of the ball, he'll go down and roll around, hoping to draw the roughing flag.

• Darcy Tucker.

• Baseball fans know what I’m talking about. Any time you see a runner slide into the 2nd baseman studs up, the next thing you see is that same second basemen rolling around on the ground. Rarely does that player need to be taken out of the game. The only difference is that it happens much less frequently.

Ignorant Loudmouth: Soccer players are sissies. They go down too easy.

Refined Soccer Enthusiast:

• That’s because you’re used to watching North American sports like American football, basketball and hockey where players use their hands. The reason soccer players go down so easy is because they are almost always off-balance – that’s the nature of having to dribble with your feet! When a running back plows into a defensive player he’s got a low centre of gravity because he is hugging the ball and lowering his shoulders. A soccer player doesn’t have that luxury: he has to be light on his feet in order to avoid the countless metal-spiked shoes flying at his ankles. (you can even demonstrate this by asking Ignorant Loudmouth to keep possession of a prop by holding it in his hands while you mock-tackle him, and then repeating with the prop at his feet. You’ll have illustrated your point beautifully!)

Ignorant Loudmouth: The field is too big.

Refined Soccer Enthusiast: Slightly bigger than an American football field, smaller in square feet to a baseball field.

Ignorant Loudmouth: I only like American sports.

Refined Soccer Enthusiast: There is no such thing (unless you count Roller Derby!!).

• Baseball is a modified version of Rounders and Cricket (Britain)
• Football is a modified version of Rugby (Britain)
• Basketball was invented by a Canadian, Dr. James Naismith
• Hockey was invented by Canadians
• Golf was invented in Scotland

Ignorant Loudmouth: It can’t hold my attention because there isn’t enough scoring.

Refined Soccer Enthusiast: Okay, let’s take American football for example. A respectable score in football is around 21-14, which equates to a 3-2 scoreline in soccer (not exactly unheard of). Considering that it takes 2 hours to watch a soccer match, and 3 ½ hours to watch a football match, there’s more scoring in soccer than your beloved football.

Ignorant Loudmouth: The game is so slow. It’s like watching paint dry…

Refined Soccer Enthusiast: …yet you love watching baseball and golf.

Ignorant Loudmouth: I don’t think I could ever get into a game where you don’t know when it will end.

Refined Soccer Enthusiast: In fact, a soccer match never goes beyond 2 hours (except in tournaments where extra time and penalty kicks can stretch the match to 3 hours). In basketball, the final 5 minutes can take up to 30 minutes of real time. In baseball, a game could technically go on indefinitely (ever read W.P. Kinsella’s Shoeless Joe?).

There are many more criticisms that Ignorant Loudmouth loves to jam down everyone’s throats, and I’m sure this column could go on for countless extra pages. I hope I’ve sufficiently armed you for your next encounter with Ignorant Loudmouth, and that you’ll successfully turn him round with his tail between his legs.

____________________

This weekend's soccer on tv:

Saturday:

7:30 am Sheffield United v. Chelsea (stay in bed) (Sportsnet)
10:00 am Liverpool v. Aston Villa (this should be a good match, with star players) (Sportsnet)
11:00 am Watford v Tottenham (Canadian Paul Stalteri plays for Tottenham) (FSW)
12:30 am Newcastle v. Charlton (Sportsnet)
2:30 pm MLS Playoffs: New England Revolution v. Chicago Fire (FSW)

Sunday:

8:00 am West Ham v. Blackburn (Sportsnet)
2:00 pm MLS Playoffs: Houston FC v. Chivas USA (FSW)

We Care, Already!

2006-10-26T13:51:00.000-04:00

Alright, it's time for me to get on my box (taking my box out of the closet, blowing the dust off, placing it in the middle of the room and climbing up).

Fans care about players cheating. Pure and simple. We do. That's a message for you in the media that don't think we care (led by Stephen Brunt in Canada, who loves to go on Bob McCown's show and tell everyone this. Note: I love Stephen Brunt and think he's one of the better sportswriters: he just happens to be on the wrong side of this issue). Every fan I've ever spoken to wants athletes to be clean of illegal substances. We care about stats and their integrity. We care about athletes and their health. We care about the rule book and following it.

It's time to turn the tide of propaganda from the school of thought that teaches that fans don't care as long as they don't know. The consequences of this reversal is that reporters would have to work harder to uncover the facts. They would have to display initiative beyond asking questions like: "What do you think was the turning point of the game?" or "How do you feel after such a big win?". It means journalists will have to develop more cojones when confronting athletes, instead of deferring to them with such reverence.

I've never been in a major sports locker room so I don't know what kind of questions are asked, and if athletes really are so good at spin that it's so difficult to get insightful answers. The only time an athlete will answer tough questions seems to be when a pack mentality forms with members of the press, as if strength in numbers will assure them that they can't all get their press passes revoked. Maybe this is true, but it would appear to me that it's simply a matter of group courage and individual cowardice.

For example, will Tom Verducci run into trouble in the Tigers locker room after writing such an accusatory column about the Kenny Rogers pine tar incident? Something tells me he might get a frostier welcome, but that he'll get just as much access. Does a reporter have to wait until he pays his dues and acquires a pedigree like Verducci has until he can work up the courage to really go in depth with less than rosy issues? Maybe, but if that's the case we're in trouble. If I were a Tigers fan, I'd be embarrassed that one of my players was caught cheating. If it was a Senators player, I'd want him suspended. Am I so unique? Yeah, right.

Sports long ago stopped being a fairy-tale land to which people travelled in order to admire the giants and myth-like figures. That veil was lifted decades ago. What we want is as even a playing field as possible, where athletic ability comes from hard work, talent and genetics, not a syringe or a bottle with green pills. We want regulation sticks and goalie equipment in hockey, balls that haven't been tampered with in baseball and the letter of the law enforced as it is written.

In short, we want fairness and a world to which we can point and say to our kids: "See that? He cheated and got punished. Don't cheat." (getting off my box and placing it neatly back in the closet)

Sharks Sighting

2006-10-25T21:13:00.000-04:00

A rare shark sighting in this part of the world, courtesy The NHL on TSN. With the World Series in a rain delay, it allowed me to check in on one of the top teams in the West, a privilege usually reserved for our Western compatriots and night owls with the Centre Ice package.

First impressions? These guys are good. They look like the Senators did a few years ago when they were buzzing over and around all the competition. Their transition game is probably the most impressive part of their game: these guys pounce on loose pucks like squirrels on cashews. Kyle McLaren really is impressive, it's like he's worked quite a lot on his finesse game. The guy is huge, but he's got such a sweet poke check, very Bourque-like. Patrick Marleau has also impressed me quite a bit, although I'm sure that wouldn't surprise anyone whose spent any amount of time watching the Sharks. It's 1-1 against the Red Wings in the third as I write, but there's no doubt which team is superior.

As much as I harp on announcers in this space, it's important for me to single out the quality when I see/hear it. Tonight's game is being described to us via Chris Cuthbert, and man is he smooth. The CBC unceremoniously laid this guy off when their alternative was Bob Cole? Cole must have some dirt on CBC executives that they don't want out in the public. How else do you explain it? Glenn Healy isn't nearly as bad when he's nowhere near a Leafs game or talking about player grievances.

Other notes:

It's official, Tony Romo replaces Drew Bledsoe as the starter in Dallas. After what I saw Monday night, I can't say this is an upgrade. Looks like a two-horse race in the NFC East (despite what Ital-Dean thinks).
Lots of banter on the Leafs-Senators rematch tomorrow. I suppose that's normal since TSN is broadcasting, so it's in their interest to hype it up as much as possible (not that I think they're doing it artificially - not in this case, anyway). I won't patronize you by reporting what Tie Domi thought of last night.
Line of the night: Sports Chickie, who is anglo-bilingual, spots an interesting name on the back of a Red Wings player's jersey: Leboa. She quips: "That's French for 'Big C*ck". Oh how I love this girl.

On Cue

2006-10-25T12:27:00.000-04:00

As if reacting to the media criticism before the game last night, the Leafs and Sens provided us with the sparks and fireworks that had been deemed missing in their first two meetings. If you're looking for a game to spiral out of control you need one of the teams to embarrass its opposition, and the Senators happily obliged. Feeling their masculinity and hockey skill questioned, the Leafs responded by resorting to the kind of goonery that will surely raise the temperature going into tomorrow night's return engagement.

The Sens will no doubt have an answer to Darcy Tucker's gutless display, when he challenged Patrick Eaves to a fight after having been knocked solidly (and legally) to the ice by the aforementioned Eaves. To Eaves' credit, he refused to back down and took his licks in his first NHL fight. Only Tucker would react in such a fashion, and he must know that payback is coming (Chris Neil basically guaranteed it in an intermission interview).

While the media and message boards were saturated with the Tucker incident, the major incident was still to come. As if Tucker's antics weren't enough to get the Battle of Ontario back to its former emotional levels, Chad Kilger, in reacting to a trip from Christof Schubert, got back up and speared the German defencemen in the nether regions. Strangely, I haven't found any print or internet media that addresses this sickening act. As soon as I saw it I thought: "There's a two-game suspension". Hopefully the league reacts much the way I did.

All this to say that we needn't worry for too long when this rivalry appears to go through a lull. It's just a matter of time before someone reaches for the kerosene.

Rekindling a Rivalry

2006-10-24T18:50:00.000-04:00

The topic du jour amongst hockey columnists in Ontario seems to be the absence of the usual ill will in the Battle of Ontario. Many of the usual suspects have gone; Domi, Roberts, Havlat, Quinn, Hossa. Daniel Alfredsson and Darcy Tucker seem to be the only holdovers from the "good old days". Perhaps that explains why so many people are playing up the Alfredsson vs. Sundin debates: there just doesn't seem to be much more to talk about.

I'd argue that there is a certain excitement to such a lull in the ebb and flow of the rivalry. Because of its geographical reality, there will always be a rivalry between the Leafs and Senators (such a rivalry that I felt guilty right there naming the Leafs before the Senators!). With such a guarantee in hand, we can look in tonight and in subsequent Sens-Leafs games with a sense of wonder at where the next incident might come from. And really, the sweetest part of any type of memorable sports incident comes when you are watching it live, when you become a true witness. I fondly remember when Alfie pretended to throw his broken stick into the crowd, clearly baiting his friend/nemesis Sundin. Or when Tucker found himself checked into the Ottawa bench and tried to fight the whole team. No true sports fan wants to walk into the office in the morning and hear "Dude, did you see that last night?" and have no idea what happened. If Patrick Eaves takes a run at Andrew Raycroft that incites an on-ice brawl, you want to be a part of it. If Kyle Wellwood throws his broken stick Dany Heatley, drawing blood and a suspension, you want to feel the moment.

It's important to remember that when these two teams meet, we are never far away from an explosion. The powder keg is nearby, and the tiniest of incidents could light the fuse, so tune in.

The Pimple, Week 7

2006-10-23T20:38:00.000-04:00

I come to you tonight live from my living room as I watch Monday Night Football. No, this is not a running diary but don't be surprised if random comments about the game make their into this week's Pimple. It's an appropriate setting as well since I wish to reflect on this year's MNF broadcast, its debut on ESPN.

According to the majority of what I've heard and read, the combination of Mike Tirico, Joe Theismann and Tony Kornheiser have not been well-received. As for myself, I'm still not sure. I enjoy Kornheiser in the booth, but he and Theismann have zero chemistry. It seems as though Joe has absolutely no sense of humour and takes everything Kornheiser says at face value, when most of the time he's using that New York sense of humour that made him so popular on Pardon the Interruption. Tirico doesn't make much of an impact - he seems to call a good game, and doesn't get too involved in the banter between Joe and Tony.

I should say that I've never been much of a Theismann fan. However, I always gave him the benefit of the doubt because he was paired with Paul Maguire for so long, who is some village's long lost idiot. The all-time king of "I'm gonna tell you what", I thought he was rubbing off on Theismann in a negative way. Perhaps Theismann is still adjusting to Kornheiser, and perhaps he's so defensive because that's the only recourse he had while sitting next to Maguire for so long. It's still early in their broadcasting partnership, so I think I'll reserve the pounding that Theismann probably deserves for a little later. Perhaps he can lighten up.

Mainly, the problem I have with the current broadcast team is that ESPN conscientiously went out and tried to re-create the formula they believe put MNF on the map; straight man play-by-play caller (Frank Gifford),
former player-turned analyst ("Dandy" Don Meredith), and the controversial know-it-all (Howard Cosell). Mind you, the only thing I know about that MNF team is what I've seen in grainy video clips and from "Monday Night Mayhem", a movie based on the Marc Gunther and Bill Carter novel of the same name, so judge my conclusions with that in mind. It seems to me that the chemistry within that team happened organically, a flukey twist of fate that just clicked. When TV execs believe that they're smart enough to re-create lightning in a bottle, we're in trouble.

Everything about the current sports broadcasting landscape is scripted and formulaic, and then they wonder why none of the combinations seem to hit it off with fans! Meanwhile, the greatest sports-talk show around is Pardon the Interruption with Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon. This show grew organically out of the genuine debates these two reporters would have in the Washington Post's news room. You see? A natural occurrence, lightning in a bottle - not some boardroom concoction. Perhaps the answer to Monday Night's football staleness is to have both Kornheiser and Wilbon in the booth.

This, however, is sports broadcasting heresy. Going without a former player or coach in the booth goes against convention, which says that only players and coaches can give proper insight into events unfolding on the field. Going against this unwritten broadcasting rule is a risk the executives of an established sports property would never take. Call it the "New Coke Syndrome". As long as the NFL product continues to rake in millions in advertising dollars, executives at ESPN and other networks will consider the product "ain't broke". And we all know what happens to things that "ain't broke". Therefore, we will continue to suffer through agonizingly condescending comments like "when there's under two minutes to go in a half, the replay has to come down from the booth", which celebrated its billionth utterance this past weekend. As Bruce Mr. Turk would say: "We know, already".

Speaking of Bruce Mr. Turk, he had the best line of the day on Sunday (as well as a Tomas Steen reference - Bruce Mr. Turk was on fire). Sometime during the 3rd quarter of the Dolphins game, I exploded:

- "Why the HELL do I always allow myself to get sucked in by this team? What could possibly compel me to think 'well, it's the Packers, they're sure to win this one' or 'Dolphins vs. Texans, I mean come on, they've got to win that one'. They've shown me nothing to persuade me that they're any good, so why in the world would I keep believing?"

- "See, I don't get why you hate on your team so much," countered Mr. Turk. "It's like you can't get excited about them, and you're just waiting for them to mess up. Yet you keep hoping. Just look at me, Dude. In my mind, my Niners are going 0-16 this year. When they do something positive, it's a celebration."

And then he dropped this gem on me: "Accept it. The Dolphins suck."

Wow, that was the intervention I was waiting for. It's good to know I can count on my closest friends to confront me with The Truth, and force me to come to my senses. Well, at least until next Sunday.

I have a friend and former colleague - we'll call him Ital-Dean - and he's a HUGE Eagles fan. If I can find any solace for my anger towards my team, it's that no matter how depressed I get about the Dolphins, Ital-Dean will find a way to agonize even more about the Eagles. I'm including a glimpse of an email I had waiting for me on Monday morning upon my arrival at work. Now keep in mind that Ital-Dean knows I support the Dolphins, and also knows that his team is far more successful this year than mine:

"I don't expect sympathy...but I hate the Eagles. They
gave games away to the Giants, Saints and Bucs. They have no idea how to close,
or start a game for that matter. They play in the 3rd quarter and that's it. If
I was Jeff Lurie, I would fine each of the player 3/4 of their salaries until
they decide to play 4 full quarters of football. I'm not even kidding, I don't
know if that's allowed by NFLPA standards but I would try. Why would I give
someone a full salary if they are only giving me 1/4 effort? There was a time
when I would say that the better team lost those games but no more.

Next week, they lose at home to the Jags. Write that down!

The only thing they are good for is fantasy points.

McNabb says they are a Superbowl team... they aren't even a
playoff team and should they by some freak chance make the playoffs, don't
deserve to be there."

Then we got on the topic of Nick Saban saying: "I don't know how to coach mess-ups", clearly in reference to his frustration that no matter what he says to the players, they are still making idiotic mistakes. Ital-Dean's take?

Hey I have no problem with that...

I think more coaches should do it, I wish Andy Reid would do it (although I often find myself questioning his choice of play calling). "Professional" (and I use that term
loosely) players are paid to play 4 quarters of football. By buying tickets to
the games, watching games on TV and buying the merchandise I, as a fan, am
paying for their salaries. In return I expect to see my team play 4 quarters of
football and if they don't, bench them, call them out, fine them, whatever
works.

And to think I was getting down on myself for hammering away at the Dolphins. I can certainly sympathize with Ital-Dean.

MNF Game Update: The Drew Bledsoe era is OVER. Tony Romo into the game at halftime. Now we'll see just what Cowboys fans were clammoring f- INTERCEPTION! On his first pass. Ladies and Gentlemen: Tony Romo.

Changing gears: something else I noticed is the unfortunate plight of every team that won a championship pre-merger. Although football has been played in the States for over 80 years, we only acknowledge the winners of the 40 Super Bowls. For example, we consider the Steelers and Cowboys to have won the most football championships with their five respective Super Bowl victories. Take a closer look, however, and you'll see that many teams have won more than five championships, including the Green Bay Packers (11 + 3 Super Bowls), Chicago Bears (8 + 1 Super Bowl), and New York Giants (4 + 2 Super Bowls). It just seems like we're short-changing the players and coaches of those past champions when we only glorify Super Bowl victors.

Non, TA mére!

With past legends in mind, I hearken back to last Monday's halftime celebration of former Cardinal great Dan Dierdorf. On the surface, everything about the ceremony was great; a fantastic former player getting recognized on a rare Monday Night performance for his former team, fans giving said player much adulation, former player getting teary-eyed as he gives the crowd a grateful wave. All good, right? Normally, no problem. Here's my beef: these were not his fans. The Arizona crowd never saw Dierdorf play, unless it was on TV, since his playing days were with the ST. LOUIS Cardinals. I acknowledge that this is a conundrum for franchises that have moved. But ask yourself this: wouldn't you feel awkward if the Phoenix Coyotes decided to raise Tomas Steen's jersey to the rafters of Glendale Arena? I don't think there's anything wrong with it, but it does feel a little "off".

You'll notice that one of the themes of this blog is certainly an impatience with the sports television product, as it is presented to us. I will often cite examples of instances where the television personalities will say something that simply make you scratch your head and wonder what planet they're from, or how dumb they think we are. One such example came Sunday afternoon. With eight minutes gone in the game, 1st quarter, the colour analyst for the Green Bay vs. Miami game lets this one fly: "Favre has been under duress for much of the afternoon." Really? We can say "afternoon" to represent two series? Or maybe this gentleman knew something we didn't, and Favre had been under duress in the locker room, or on the team bus to the stadium? If he did, he didn't tell us what it was. Perhaps Brett was ambushed by angry Cajuns because he lets his French name get massacred in the media? Or maybe Aaron Rodgers' mother keeps leaving threatening notes for Brett in his luggage? We'll never know. I realize the analyst's job is not an easy one, there's lots of pressure and the director is usually yelling stuff in your ear, but you have to wonder if a trained journalist could do a better job than these recycled jocks.

One of those recycled jocks, Troy Aikman, had a shocking moment on Sunday. During the Washington vs. Indianapolis game, Santana Moss took issue with a hard hit laid on him by Colts cornerback Jason David. In retaliation, Moss got up, rushed over to David (who was walking away) and head-butted him in the back of the neck. Aikman's reaction? Giggled like a little girl. Seriously! He started laughing and treating it like "boys will be boys". Two things allowed this happen, in my opinion:

1. Joe Buck, his regular broadcast partner, was not with him this week since he is doing the World Series for Fox. I can only imagine how "shocked" and "appalled" Buck would have been by such a "disgusting act" (actual quotes from Buck on other NFL related occurrences). Never would have Aikman even dared to laugh with Buck in the box with him.

2. Jason David is not a quarterback. Try imagining Aikman's reaction if, say, Shawn Taylor had done the same thing to Peyton Manning. Think he would have giggled and brushed it off?

And that's this week's Pimple.

My First New Jersey Devils Post

2006-10-23T20:33:00.000-04:00

One David "Pepper" DeRosa requested a few weeks ago that I stop focusing so much on the Senators and start talking about "winning" hockey teams, you know, like the New Jersey Devils. Well, I aim to please the people, so here it is. The Devils played Saturday night. They played and lost. They played and lost 8-1.

Next.

Ottawa Turning on Spezza

2006-10-21T23:52:00.000-04:00

For years now I've been harping about Jason Spezza's liabilities on the defensive end. In fact, it's triggered some pretty heated arguments betweens friends and colleagues. According to Chris Stevenson, the rest of the city appears to be waking up:

Boos for Spezza

Senators centre Jason Spezza heard it from the crowd at Scotiabank Place tonight when he turned the puck over on a Senators power play, an oft-repeated mistake which this time led to the short-handed winning goal by Colorado’s Brad Richardson.
When Spezza set up Dany Heatley for his first goal of the season (near as I can figure it took Heatley 22 shots before he got his first), both Spezza and Alfredsson were booed when Stuntman Stu announced the assists.
Help me out here, folks: I can’t remember the last time Senators fans booed one of their own. I know Alexei Yashin heard it, but that was because of the all contract stuff. The team has been booed collectively, for sure, but singling out one guy for on-ice performance?
It hasn’t happened often.
I’m not saying Spezza doesn’t deserve it. To make things worse, he turned around and put it right on the stick of an Avalanche player in the third when Ottawa was on the power play and trying to tie it up.
It’s unacceptable. Coach Bryan Murray has tried making his point face-to-face and in the media, but the same mistakes keep getting made. What’s next? Making Spezza a healthy scratch?
Who could argue against that move?

I would be the biggest Spezza fan if he didn't make that costly giveaway in almost every game. Spezza is an electrifying player, someone who creates a buzz in the stadium every time he's on the puck. However, as I've argued before, there's just no getting away from the fact that he can just as equally win us a game as lose us a game.

This is just a hunch, but I get the feeling that Spezza will be the first major Senators player to suit up for the Toronto Maple Leafs. As soon as his current deal in Ottawa expires, he'll be heading straight to the Queen City.

Quiet All the Doubters

2006-10-21T22:59:00.001-04:00

You know, I'm pretty sick of hearing about how bad the National League is when compared with the American League. Although I don't care much for the St. Louis Cardinals, and although the Tigers are a better feel-good story, I hope the Cardinals prove all the doubters wrong and win the World Series - emphatically at that.

I've only recently noticed how polarized people are when it comes to the two baseball leagues - seems like you're either an Amercian League or National League Guy. It's like everything else these days; either you're a Democrat or a Republican, a Harper supporter or a Leftist Commie. No chance for anyone out there to be balanced - you don't want to be caught believing in a strong defence but not support the war in Afghanistan, because you'll be painted as a hawkish dove!!

Anyway, that's way off topic. What I mean to say is, why does everyone think it's going to be such a cakewalk for the Tigers? Neate Sager over at Out of Left Field made the case this week that you don't have to win 100 games to win the World Series. Why can't the Cards be this year's '87 Twins?

Perhaps I've simply got a chronic need to support the underdog, but this week's National League bashing got a little out of hand in my view.

Note from Sunday morning: Oh look, it's already swung all the way to the other extreme:

This is big and bold and blunt, but so was what happened Saturday night at Comerica Park. There it was, so here it is: Detroit cannot beat this St. Louis team.

Where's the credibility?

Stop Me Now

2006-10-21T15:53:00.000-04:00

I'm talking myself into believing the Dolphins are going to beat the Packers tomorrow. I'm even thinking of laying money down and giving the Packer 5.5. It's time for a reader intervention, and fast. This is a cry for help.

Alright well since you asked, here's what I'm thinking:

the Packers are scrambling to find receivers. Since Koren Robinson got suspended last week, the Packers have been desperately searching for someone to replace him. After having no success on the free agent market (was Jerry Rice busy?), they promoted some dude off their practice roster.
Ahman Green is still hurt and may not play, while the old standby is a guy even the Houston Texans were eager to offload.
There's only so much you can do with Bubba Franks.
"The Joey", as my buddy and sometimes Lions fan Serge the Psycho calls him, has been pretty decent for Miami in his two starts.
As hard as I've been on my team, they've run into some bad luck this season. They're probably better than their 1-5 record indicates (see, this is where the "talking myself into it" part factors in).

The Pimple, Week 6

2006-10-17T08:51:00.000-04:00

Yes, I went to bed. After having resisted the urge to turn to my XBox 360 at halftime (20-0 Cardinals), and finally giving in to the Sandman after Rex Grossman's 4th pick late in the 4th quarter (23-10 Cardinals), I went to bed. I wake up this morning and go about my usual routine, turning on my XM radio as I leave my apartment and head to the bus stop. I tune in to XM Sports Nation 143, and hear this:

"Did you go to bed last night? Did you figure the Bears were done? That the undefeated season was toast? If you did, let me be the one to set you straight: Without scoring one offensive touchdown, the Bears rallied from 20-0 down at halftime to beat the hapless Arizona Cardinals 24-23."

And my jaw dropped.

For 3 and a half quarters, the Bears looked nowhere near able to win this game. Matt Leinart was handling himself like the winner he is, and Rex Grossman looked like Neil O'Donnell. Just brutal. Turns out they should have just trotted the defence out on the field every time they had the ball. The Bears became the first team in the 80+ year history of the NFL to come back from a 20 point deficit without scoring an offensive touchdown. That will teach me to stay up and watch the damn game!

A few things from the game did stand out for me. First and foremost, the game story was Matt Leinart. While he needs to work at being effective for four quarters, he is showing every sign of a wonderful career in the NFL. In fact, I can't recall a QB getting off to such a great start. I'm too young to remember Marino's first games, and Peyton Manning was shackled by a terrible team. The closest comparison I can think of without digging into stats and such is Tom Brady. There is a poise there that only the best possess, and Leinart definitely has it. I'm looking forward to watching this story progress. Now if only the Cards had a running game...

I love having players miked during sporting events, even if in most cases we never get any kind of insight. It's usually a collection of whoops and grunts, and some "Way to go guys, keep it up, this is our house" stuff. On top of that I'm always a little skeptical regarding the earnestness of such an exercise, since the player knows he's miked up, we're hearing is what he wants us to hear. What I really yearn for is a time in the future where there is a special "R" rated channel for certain sporting events, where microphones pick the real banter between players, coaches, referees and hecklers - quality family viewing that would be. Anyway, all this to say that I saw and heard something last night that made me re-think the low amount of respect I have for Kurt Warner. My former disdain for Kurt stemmed in large part from his crazy "Cruella De Vil" wife, and his attributing all his success to his Faith. I can't stand athletes who Jesus this and Jesus that.

Last night though, I saw Kurt Warner through the prism of ESPN's "Miked Up". What I saw was a benched Kurt Warner revelling in every Matt Leinart success, a benched Kurt Warner who was doing everything possible to help Matt Leinart be the best he could be. He seemed almost intoxicated by the moment, as if he was reliving his own early successes. When I contrast that to a certain #4 in Green Bay who flat-out refused to take Aaron Rodgers under his wing and show him the ropes, it gives pause for reflection. My view of Favre was dented by that petulant move just as much as I admired Warner for being so self-effacing.

For most of the second quarter last night, we had a 4-man booth. Charles Barkley was this week's celebrity guest on MNF, and he was the best so far. I love Chuck even though I can't stand basketball. However, is a 4-man booth really necessary? Bruce Mr. Turk disagrees vehemently with me on this, but I don't even like the 3-man booth. In fact, my favourite commentary is for soccer when there is only one man in the booth. Television never adapted when sports went from radio to TV. In radio, the play-by-play man had to describe everything that was happening, for obvious reasons. In radio, dead air is poison. In television, do we really need to fill up every moment with someone yacking? Does the play-by-play man really need to be telling me what I can see for myself? Just shut up already: when you have something insightful to say, then be my guest. And here I go with my desire for that "R" rated channel with only the sounds of the game to keep enlightened.

One positive improvement on the broadcasting side that I've noticed the past couple of weeks: it seems the networks have figured out how to use make-up in the HD era. Either they've figured it out or they've decided that because of the picture quality they don't need any makeup. I wish someone knew the answer to this. It was quite evident last night that Tirico, Theismann and Kornheiser had little or no makeup. Hurray for that. And is it just me or does TSN's Jennifer Hedger look better in HD? Too bad HD doesn't fix her voice.

One of the greatest things, no, THE greatest thing happening in sports right now is the Saints in New Orleans. What we are witnessing is sports at its best. From Drew Brees' decision to sign with the team, to opening night at the Superdome, to the last-minute FG in what will go down as the game of the year this past week: this is why we watch. Peter King describes the scenes in New Orleans much better than I ever could.

Depending on your point of view, there were some other feel-good stories in the NFL this weekend. People are rejoicing in Tennessee, Tampa and Detroit as their teams are now on a level playing field with Miami (sometimes you have to look REAL hard for the silver lining). For me, it means I lose in Dr Z. survivor pool, where you had to pick the last team to either be undefeated or winless (I had chosen the Titans). The Raiders, Colts and Bears are the only remaining options, and I won't embarrass myself by selecting one. Let's just leave it at that. Along the same lines, I'm hesitating to get on the Saints bandwagon, for fear of jinxing them - I'll just admire from a safe distance.

As undeserving of praise as Steve McNair was going into last weekend's game, it's not fair to pine for Kyle Boller following his exit due to injury. Boller had three seasons in which to stake his claim to the starting job in Raven-land, and he failed to do it. This whole situation speaks to sports fans' fickle attention-span, misplaced loyalties and failed collective memories. It's not just sports fans, either. Change for change's sake appears to be this generation's opium, as can be witnessed by the eagerness to go with the backup in every aspect of our society; from the Liberal leadership race to the Senators' goaltending situation to "new and improved" products, people always seem to be in a hurry to try the alternative. How else do you explain the current party in power in Ottawa? Get better, Steve McNair, and let's keep the clipboard firmly in Kyle Boller's hands.

From one current QB controversy to one from the past: Isn't it nice to see both Drew Brees and Phillip Rivers excel? Here are two guys that handled their head-to-head battle in stride, with class, and both are reaping the rewards. On the flip side of that, it wounds my soul when T.O. has success such as he did Sunday. Watching him celebrate, arms outstretched and looking to the heavens, as if he is some sort of apparition, some sort of saviour, turns my stomach.

Things to look for this week:

Rae Carruth signing with the Bengals, to "Get His" against the Panthers
Chuckie eating some bird
LJ vs. LDT
The former Cleveland Browns defence vs. the current Cleveland Browns offence
Leinart continuing his ascent to superstardom in the Black Hole (of Raider Wins)
Clinton Portis

Enjoy!

Bout of Concussion???

2006-10-16T21:27:00.000-04:00

I read this gem tonight on the Soccernet front page:

"Carlo Cudicini has targeted a return to action against Portsmouth in the Premiership on Saturday. The Chelsea keeper is recovering well from the bout of concussion he suffered in the closing stages of the 1-0 win over Reading on Saturday. Cudicini had replaced Petr Cech in the opening minute after he had suffered a head injury."

A bout of concussion? They make it sound like he had the flu! I guess the Brits haven't progressed as well as we have concerning the severity of head injuries.

Heatley: "Hey coach, why is Alfie insisting he's from Iqualuit?"

Coach Murray: "Oh, don't worry Dany, he's just fighting a bout of concussion. He'll be good to go in no time. Right Alfie?"

Alfie: "I like butterflies."

The Pimple, Week 5

2006-10-15T10:24:00.000-04:00

This will be a quick zip through my sporting thoughts of the week, considering I haven't found the time to find a dark corner and write.

Baseball Playoffs:

- Is it normal for me to dislike an athlete as much as I dislike Alex Rodriguez? Is there something wrong with me for wishing him such distress? I may need to seek help, because when I emerged from the woods on Monday and discovered that the Yankees had been bounced by the Tigers, and that A-Rod had been relegated to 8th in the batting order due to his playoff ineptitude, I felt a surge of unbridled joy that is unnatural. Anyone know a shrink I can speak to?

- It seemed as though everyone just rolled over their opponents in the Division Series. The only result I lamented was the Dodgers losing to the Mets.

- Anyone catch that one game in Minnesota where both teams were wearing their 3rd jerseys? For anyone who isn't yet aware, I'm something of a traditionalist when it comes to sports uniforms. I thought having both teams wear their 3rd jerseys looked
awful. Something was definitely "off", especially considering Oakland and Minnesota have some of the nicer jerseys out there. Forest green with grey bottoms, coupled with navy blue and white bottoms - yikes. Contrast those unis to the ones worn by the Tigers and Yankees on Saturday, and you'll know exactly where I'm coming from.

- In a way, I'm sad the Yankees kept the faith with Joe Torre. In which way is that? It would have made George Steinbrenner and the Evil Empire even more loathable. By keeping Torre, the man who has led his team to the playoffs for the past 10 seasons, George seems almost (egads!) sane.

- Some of those Tigers throw hard. 103 mph? Goodness. Even if the gun is generous by a few mph, that's still insanity.

NHL:

- Can't say I'm surprised at the Sens slow start, but it's the fashion in which they are doing it that disheartens. There seems to be zero emotion out on the ice (except for flashes during last night's game in Montréal).

- Martin Havlat and Marian Hossa have 11 goals between them. Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza have two. Yes, it's a cheap shot. No, I will not relent.

- Am I the only one who gets a really good feeling in the pit of my stomach every time I see Guy Carbonneau behind the Habs bench? It just LOOKS right.

- 3 natural hat-tricks in one night. That's the great thing about sports - you never know when you'll see something that's never been done.

NFL:

- Here's the problem when I don't blog regularly: people beat me to the punch. A few weeks ago, I scribbled down "everybody so eager to annoint McNair King of Baltimore...not so fast". What does McNair do next? Two weeks of near futility, and now everyone is on the "bash McNair" bandwagon. That'll teach me to be consistent.

- I was pondering the continued mediocrity of the Houston Texans, and couldn't help comparing them to the Senators early years. The Senators had 4 terrible seasons to begin their franchise history, while finding a glimmer of hope in season 5 (31 wins, made playoffs). The Texans have had a similarly time in their first 4 seasons. Although I don't see them matching Ottawa's 5th season playoffs appearence, I do see that glimmer of hope for them. The major factor in the Sens turnaround was bringing in a competent Head Coach for the first time, Jacques Martin. This mirrors the Texans acquisition of Gary Kubiak to replace Dom Capers. We've immediately witnessed a turnaround if not in their record, then in the play of perennial underachiever David Carr. I predict this season to be a springboard for the Texans which will lead them to be the dominant team in Texas in the next few years.

- Speaking of Texas football, how 'bout dem Cowboys!? You know, the T.O. Fiasco is exactly what any team deserves for signing him. It is only made sweeter by the fact that it's happening to Jerry Jones and his ego. The sports landscape is filled with these characters who have been so successful in every endeavour that they believe they can do anything, including bringing miscreants to heel. We are witnessing the third and probably final installment of the T.O. Homewreckin' Show. Savour it while you can.

- Admittedly, A-Rod and T.O. are not the same type of characters. Strangely, though, their failures bring about the same type of joy within me. Again, I need to see someone about this.

- With Paul Maguire's departure from the NFL commentator's booth, we have a new King of "I'm gonna tell you what..." His name: Steve Tasker. He is virtually unable to begin a sentence without telling me he's gonna tell me what. Steve, it's not a real sentence, and although I don't expect Nobel Laureates to analyze football games for me, I do expect a certain command of the English language. "I'm gonna tell you what..." grates on me like no other verbal crutch.

- Bruce Mr. Turk brought up an interesting point while watching one of the games a few weeks ago. The colour commentator (I forget which one) kept telling us something to the effect that "teams who come into this stadium will try and simulate crowd noise in practice all week". Bruce Mr. Turk's response? "We know already! Jeez, can't they talk to us like we've watched a few NFL games in our lifetime?". Bruce Mr. Turk was, as usual, bang on with is observation. I'm sick of being spoken to as if I was the lowest common denominator, as if I was flipping over to football during a commercial break for Desperate Housewives. These guys are supposed to be NFL experts, yet they talk to us like we're either 12 years old or have never watched a game before.

- My Dolphins have replaced Daunte with some guy who used to play for the Detroit Lions. He must have been good, because the Lions are 0-5 without him.

Soccer:

- I am slowly getting very excited with the addition of Toronto FC to Major League Soccer. They have now signed their first player in franchise history, Canadian National Team member and Toronto native
Jim Brennan. The National Soccer Stadium (recently renamed BMO Place) is quickly making its imprint on the Toronto cityscape, and the rumour out there is that by 2010 we might have 3 MLS teams in Canada (Montreal and Vancouver are apparently working overtime to get this done). Could we be on the verge of a new soccer revival in Canada? One can only hope.

- Manchester United are atop the league in England, against all odds considering what Chelsea FC is paying in player salary. What's wrong with the "Special One"? Also, Everton are looking good so far this season. I might have to get up next Saturday and watch some matches!

- Beckham to MLS? This is a constant wive's tale that surfaces every once in a while concerning Mr. Posh. Grant Wahl, however, makes a logical case that the timing is perfect for Beckham to make the jump right now. I'm on the fence concerning the arrival of Beckham to North America. On the one hand it would be great PR for the league. On the other hand, the league has been steadily growing at an organic rate since its inception. Introducing this foreign species to the MLS ecosystem might signal its extinction, à la NASL.