The plane took off and the satellite TV got switched on so I tuned into TSN. I was greeted by a message that advised me that due to normal movement of the aircraft that channel was not available. Strange, I did not have this problem on my earlier flight; does that mean the aircraft was moving abnormally during that flight? I don’t understand why normal movement of the aircraft interrupts the satellite TV but luckily before the draft actually started the plane began to stop moving normally, thus providing reception of TSN.
22/06: Welcome back Cito
As you probably know the
I like this move, the Jays hitting has been atrocious this season and sometimes a change in management can go a long way into changing how a team performs. It is a long way from a major league sports team but I will use an analogy from my own life. When I was working in the retail industry many moons ago I was assigned as an assistant manager to a struggling store. My first day at the new store was the day of our quarterly evaluation, we received a grade of below 50%. Three months later, during our next quarterly evaluation, we received a 97% grade. The only change in staff at the store during that time was my arrival. The staff worked hard for me, whereas they would not for our manager. The Jays were not hitting for Gibbons but maybe they will for Gaston.
It is very clear that the next to go will be General Manager J.P. Riccardi, I think the only thing that can save the embattled GM is either a playoff spot or a very near miss.
21/06: Back from the East Coast
At times very foggy:
And, at times a little silly:
We ate some great seafood (I had my first ever boiled lobster), played a little golf (badly), saw some wild life (rabbits, foxes and a coyote) and had a great time!
Well it appears to be over anyway. If my guess on the search being over is correct, the Leafs are going to have to wait about a year before they can actually sign their new GM. It is quite clear to me that the Leafs have settled on current Anaheim Ducks GM, Brian Burke to be the next man to lead hockey operations on
The media has reported that Burke’s wife has now quit her job in
Also, TSN.ca reported the numerous links between Burke and Wilson, so it appears that the Leafs are simply hiring Burke’s coach for him. It is a pretty bold move to leave the team in management limbo for a year and hope that Burke comes to
If I were the Ducks ownership I would release Burke and complain to the league about tampering. I am not sure if any direct tampering has occurred but it certainly appears that the road from
One of the most memorable experiences I have ever had at a Jays game was seeing Carlos Delgado launch four homeruns in a single game. It would not have been a memorable experience if I had seen Delgado hit a couple sack flies and a couple run scoring singles. I don’t know if Delgado was on the juice at the time and frankly I don’t care. Nothing will ever change the atmosphere and the excitement everyone at the ball park felt watching Carlos’ feat, you don’t get that with small ball.
21/05: Stanley Cup Finals
The Stanley Cup finals start this Saturday night, it will be a showdown between the youthful Pittsburgh Penguins led by 20-year-old Sidney Crosby and the veteran Detroit Red Wings led by 38-year-old Niklas Lidstrom. The age difference between the two teams is most apparent when you consider that Wings’ defenceman Chris Chelios has a Stanley Cup ring that is older then Crosby.
If I were in High School I would get partial credit for my Finals prediction. I labeled Detroit as a Stanley Cup contender and had the New York Rangers beating the Penguins in the Eastern Conference Finals while stating that the Pens were Cup Champs of the future. I am certainly no great prognosticator for predicting that the flightless arctic birds of Pennsylvania are going to win a Cup or two. Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury make for an impressive core of young players. The question is whether or not the Pens first Cup win will come in 2008.
The Wings have only lost four games in these playoffs, whereas the Pens have only lost three. This series has the markings of a classic seven game battle. Both teams have a dynamic offence. I would give the offensive edge to the Penguins but the defensive edge to the boys from Motor City. Goaltending is a tough call, Fleury has been great in the playoffs whereas the Wings have two great goalies in Chris Osgoode and Dominik Hasek. I think this series will go seven games and that Detroit’s home ice advantage and experience will be enough to quell Pittsburgh’s youthful insurrection. However, I am going to root for the Pens, I fell in love with Pittsburgh forward Gary Roberts when he was with the Leafs and I would love to see him win another Cup.
The Toronto sports media is constantly insinuating that the Toronto Maple Leafs organization is dysfunctional and inept. Well, it takes one to know one. The media coverage surrounding the firing of now former-Leaf head coach Paul Maurice and the search for a new general manager is bordering on the absurd. Check that, it has been completely absurd.
Toronto Star sports columnist Dave Perkins wrote in a column recently that the firing of Maurice was actually a smoke screen for the announcement of ticket prices for National Football League games at the Rogers Centre. Unfortunately, Mr. Perkins is being naive if he thinks that Maurice’s firing was the only distraction orchestrated by the Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Board of Directors. The transvestite prostitutes who soccer megastar Ronald picked up in Rio de Janeiro the week before were actually special Leaf operatives. The Leafs were attempting to create a perfect storm of sports news to distract football fans while they stole money from their wallets and replaced them with overpriced football tickets.
The true insanity is in the media rumour mill. It seems that every GM currently employed and firmly embedded has been rumoured to be coming to the Leafs. Why would a team, who has a good GM under contract, like the Anaheim Ducks with Brian Burke or the Detroit Red Wings with Ken Holland, let that GM go? The media doesn’t care; they just report completely unsubstantiated rumours without applying any critical thought.
Case in point is the rumour that Wayne Gretzky was on his way to Toronto to assume the Presidency of the Leafs. Wayne Gretzky the head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes. Wayne Gretzky the part-owner of the Phoenix Coyotes, whose family is happily settled in Phoenix. Wayne might as well have DESERT DOGS 4-EVER tattooed on his chest. But that did not stop the rumour mill. Somebody says “Hey wouldn’t Gretzky be a good choice as President?” and five hours later the media is at Pearson waiting for the Great One’s non-existent flight to arrive.
If someone said that the late Sam Pollock would have been a good fit as GM, the Toronto sports media would be dimwitted enough to flock to the legendary GM’s grave for a comment.
13/04: Seal hunt 2
Some quick comments on sports:
I was mucho happy to see BJ Ryan get the save in today’s Jays game.
I was mucho disappointed to see the Toronto Raptors lose to the Detroit Pistons backups.
Didn’t the Toronto FC play today? For that matter didn’t the Rock lose to someone yesterday?
Congrats to Trevor Immelman on winning the Masters.
I am very excited about the upcoming World Hockey Championships in Halifax and Quebec City. Too bad the women lost though.
And a huge shout out to my boy Kevin Martin on breaking his jinx in international play.
13/03: Why do I still Be-Leaf?
A couple local TV news stories and a couple newspaper articles suggested that all the Leafs needed to do was beat the Philadelphia Flyers and they would be back in the playoff hunt. So, like a sucker I started to Be-Leaf again. Why? The Leafs won both games but they are still five points out of a playoff spot with ten games left to go. The other problem the Leafs have is that there are three other teams also chasing that last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
This season is a write off for the Leafs. They should not be trying to lose, but they shouldn’t be pulling out all the stops in a hopeless effort to make the playoffs when all they are doing is hurting their draft position. Play the young players a little more, through the maligned backup goalie in there for a game or two. The Leafs should have dumped a lot of their high priced veterans at the trade deadline. But as you probably know the fabulous five (Mats Sundin, Tomas Kabrele, Darcy Tucker, Pavel Kubina and Bryan McCabe) all refused to waive their no trade clauses.
Can you really blame them though? Why would you want to keep working until perhaps June for no extra money when you can be on the golf course in April? If I were the Leafs General Manager I would have asked once for a list of teams those players were willing to be traded to. If that list was not forth coming I would have made it clear that they could either accept a trade or spend the rest of the season riding the bus in the minor league. Do they still take the bus in the minors? Well if they didn’t I made make those five players take the bus while the rest of the minor league team flew to the next city. That approach may seem cruel to some of you wimps out there in cyberspace, but you don’t truly know what cruel is until you have been a Leafs fan for any number of years.
