Please join us for Saturday's liveblog of the Yates Cup (1 p.m. ET, The Score), which will be simulcast with the Western Gazette. Andrew Bucholtz and Arden Zwelling have this well-covered.
Injured linebacker Thaine Carter has done his best to give Queen's and Kingston its version of Winfield-wants-noise. Ahead of Saturday's Yates Cup game vs. Western, last season's defensive player of the year (out after shoulder and knee surgeries) has penned an open letter to the Golden Gaels fanbase:
"We need everyone’s help to cheer us on to our first conference title since 1997.Queen's fans are noted for being rather, uh, pensive during the game. Another zinger is that you know the Gaels have a good team when present-day students say they've heard the school has a football team, although no, they haven't been to any games this season.
"I want to see the crowd jammed into Richardson Stadium like never before; let’s break an attendance record!! Western needs to fear our 13th man!! The stands need to shake and we need to make the Mustangs feel your presence!!
"The 13th man makes all the difference. Queen’s University and the City of Kingston will be on the map in front of a national audience. Let’s make it memorable, let’s make it loud and let's send the Purple Ponies home with their tails between their legs."
by Keith Borkowsky, The Curling Guy
As promised, here's a look at the women's pre-trials, which open today at Prince George, B.C. Like the men's draw, four teams will advance to the Roar of the Rings in Edmonton.
1. Kelly Scott, Kelowna, B.C. (25-9 in 2009-10 World Curling Tour games)
Scott, with third Jeanna Schraeder, second Sasha Carter and lead Jacquie Armstrong, recovered from a dismal 2008-09 eith one of the best 2009-10 results around. She's made two finals, won the Manitoba Lotteries Women's Classic and appears to be rolling at the right time. She'll face the winner of the eight vs nine game.
2. Sherry Middaugh, Coldwater, Ont. (9-8)
The only top-four seed without a payday, Middaugh, third Kirsten Wall, second Kim Moore and lead Andra Harmark, could make that point moot with a couple of wins this week. She gets the winner of the seven vs 10 matchup, and could lose if Amber Holland advances to that game.
3. Marie-France Larouche, St. Romuald, Que. (8-5)
One of the most enigmatic teams in the field. The past Quebec champion is joined by third Nancy Belanger, second Annie Lemay and lead Joelle Sabourin. They face a tough quarter-final matchup in either Homan or Belisle. If it's Belisle, there's some history as Belisle eliminated Larouche from the Shorty Jenkins Classic 7-6.
4. Michelle Englot, Regina, Sask. (9-11)
For most of the year, Englot has failed to make a mark. Reaching the quarters at the Colonial Square Classic netted the team of third Deanna Doig, second Roberta Materi and lead Cindy Simmons their only payday in four tries. The plus? It came in their most recent event. They will face the winner of the five vs 12 game.
Ranked by first round matchups, here's the rest of the A-side draw.
5. Heather Rankin, Calgary, Alta. (12-14) vs 12. Sherry Anderson, Delisle, Sask, (12-14)
The only real difference between these two squads is Rankin's won some cash. Her team of third Lisa Eyamie, second Heather Jensen and lead Kyla MacLaughlan have earned $3,700, with $3,500 coming from losing a quarter-final at the Schmirler Charity Curling Classic.
A former Saskatchewan champion, Anderson, third KIm Hodson, second Heather Walsh and lead Donna Gignac have played five events. Success has not followed, as they have only cashed in for $300 this year. Unless her fortunes change, she will likely be an early casualty.
6. Rachel Homan, Ottawa, Ont. (7-0) vs 11. Eve Belisle, Montreal, Que. (10-6)
By far the youngest team here, Homan, 20, with third Emma Miskew, 20, second Allison Kreviazuk, 21, and Lynn Kreviazuk, 18, have not played a ton heading into the Trials. Not sure why that is, but in Manitoba, there is a shortage of cashspiels for elite teams to compete at, leaving them with few options other than a heavy travel schedule to plat the best, or play locally. She qualified after a super 2008-09 campaign. She's only played the Shorty Jenkins Classic in September. She won it and beat her first round opponent, Eve Belisle, in the final.
Backed up by third Brenda Nicholls, second Martine Comeau and lead Julie Rainville, Belisle's best success came at the Shorty Jenkins. She's been paid twice in three events. Could be a an upset special if she gets going.
7. Crystal Webster, Calgary, Alta. (13-9) vs 10. Amber Holland, Kronau, Sask. (21-8)
Webster, with third Lori Olson-Johns, second Samantha Preston and lead Stephanie Malekoff lost a semifinal at the Twin Anchors Invitational in October.
Holland, with third Kim Schneider, second Tammy Schneider and lead Heather Seeley, beat Kelly Scott in the Schmirler Charity Curling Classic and were top-eight qualifiers in three events out of four. The edge goes to Holland, based on her record.
8. Cathy King, Edmonton ( 19-11) vs 9. Krista McCarville, Thunder Bay, Ont. (6-2)
King, with third Kaitlyn Lawes, second Raylene Rocque and lead Tracy Bush has earned cheques in three of five events, winning the CurlTV.com September Shootout.
McCarville has to battle geography to get competition. Her team of third Tara George, second Kari MacLean and lead Lorraine Lang made the semis in their only event of the season, the Manitoba Lotteries Women's Curling Classic. This one's a toss up. Both are former provincial champions, with King adding a Canadian title in 1998.
King, Holland, Scott and one team of your choice will advance. The fourth team could be McCarville, or Homan, but the B- and C-side draws will play a role on who gets the last spot.
... but have you seen many displayed on cars lately?
The Sens Army is lying pretty low.
There's a malaise in Hockey Country, no question. Ottawa Senators attendance is down more than 1,100 fans per game compared to the same point last season. (The average is 1,191 after Tuesday's game vs. Edmonton.) Take a look around the next time you're out, in a non-sports context. You could shoot a cannon through a Tim Hortons during the noon rush and not hit anyone wearing a Sens hat or hoodie in some parts of town.
(Update: Forbes magazine NHL valuations are out: Note which team lost money.)
There was "grumbling" (Ottawa Citizen) about the $14 cost for the tickets to the game the club's American Hockey League farm team played at Scotiabank Place last weekend. Two seasons ago, after the run to the Stanley Cup final, parents would have paid twice that to give their kids a Bag O' Glass if it had the Senators logo.
At the very least, though, the Senators' fall from grace is an issue. Will anyone write about it in this town? In Ottawa, make the barest inference the hockey team's doing poorly and you'll taste hemlock in your chicken shawarma. You're either a naysayer, a hater or a Leafs fan — theres always a label small minds fall back on. Plausible deniability, don't you know.
The media here is understandably in the tank for the organization. It's the city's only claim on major-league status. Pointing out anything negative is a sure ticket to the shit list. So, no one is going to suggest that the Senators can only be profitable and fill the arena when they're winning even though that's a bad business model in a salary capped-league. They only will if the Senators end up cap-in-hand again like they were in 1999 and 2003 and, personally, let us hope that does not recur.
People who are not beholden to the Senators for access are starting to ask these questions about owner Eugene Melnyk's plaything. Some mental red flags went off in October when there were 2,000 empty seats for a home game vs. the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins. Around the same time, James Mirtle made a parenthetical comment the Sennies "could lose millions this year if they miss the playoffs."
All told, the Sennies are down an average of 1,141 fans from the same point as last season (from 19,484 to 18,343 after nine home dates). Late last night, you could have gone on the team's website and reserved four 100-level tickets for Tuesday's home game vs. Edmonton without having to sit behind the net, even with the game a little more than 36 hours away. FOTB Jean-Pierre Allard reports, "The Orleans SENS Store has closed its doors with Christmas just around the corner."
It would be glib to say this points to a downward spiral that will end with the franchise becoming the Mississauga Senators between now and the next time the Leafs make the playoffs. To be clear, it's nowhere near that point. (Granted, that might explain why the Eunibomber lashed out at Jim Balsillie back in the summer when he was trying to move a team into Southern Ontario.)
There are outside influences weighing on the franchise. The NHL is a mess. Gary Bettman's NHL is designed to make all 30 teams semi-watchable about half the time. That has hurt the Senators, who had a stacked team from 2003 through '06, more than some franchises.
Many passive sports consumers who got on the Senators bandwagon might be backing another team. Most sports consumers in any city are fluid in their tastes. It's the nature of the beast, not matter how it angers the diehards who are there for all 82 games, since getting a life is not an option (GAC).
What's happened?
It's a combo of discontent with how the team has fallen (7-7 this season vs. a suspiciously spongy schedule), the economy, Ottawa's demographics and the city's cultural paternalism.
Ottawa is not a town of front-runners. You typically hear, "this city loves winners," when someone is trying to make an argument about bringing a CFL team back to town (and I do hope it works). That's off.
It is a town of followers which loves whatever maintains the status quo. People claim the CFL teams died because of poor on-field performance. However, the Rough Riders had decent support throughout the 1980s, when they didn't have a single winning season. It took a solid decade of losing, a league-wide crisis in the CFL and owners from (affects scary voice) out of town before people started staying away.
Institutions govern so much of life in Ottawa that people fall into herd mentalities. It happens to the best of us and most of us are nowhere near the best, present company included. Those government-town stereotypes are true to some extent. This is one of the few places where a team could even use a slogan as militaristic as "Sens Army" and "A Force United" (which some culture-jamming bloggers altered to "A Farce United" last season) without getting some media outcry.
Ottawa is like a city composed of insecure teenage girls. The analogy fits Toronto, too, except in T.O. the creature has sharper claws. If Toronto is the character Rachel McAdams played in Mean Girls, Ottawa is the one played by Lacey Chabert. Fitting in and doing whatever is popular at that moment is everything, because they know they can be cast out and won't be missed.
That seeps into sports. "Hey, let's get the CFL back! ... "Hey, Toronto has a World Series baseball team, so let's get a Triple-A club one year before a strike devastates the professional baseball industry and accelerates the death knell of the closest MLB team, the Montreal Expos." They were late to the party.
When the CFL comes back, people will attend because Roger Greenberg, Bill Shenkman, John Ruddy, Jeff Hunt and whoever becomes mayor after Legal Suit Larry O'Brien say they should. The culture is that top-down.
The Senators are not as much of a thing to do among people who only get into sports when it's part of a socially approved mass movement, the ones who are needed to sell out the building and make impulse buys. It's of a piece with having a well-educated populace which has spent a tremendous amount of time in institutions like universities, which are paternalism in a can.
Never mind that mindset has actually put the team behind the 8-ball since the early days and that they've managed to make it work as much as they can. Institutionalized NIMBYism (in the form of the National Capital Commission) eventually led to the Senators building an arena way out yonder in Kanata in the mid-1990s, far from the city's population core. In Toronto, the teams might (might?!) suck and blow, but at least you're downtown once the Blue Jays, Raptors, or TFC are through indulging their flair for mediocre public display.
In Ottawa, you're stuck waiting a half-hour to get out of the parking lot before driving home. People in the public sector were willing to trade sleep for seeing enthralling, winning hockey, as opposed to what they're getting.
That should hopefully help explain there are somee small warning signs are there. It's certainly fair game at a time whe the Canadian hockey mafia start speculating whenever any U.S.-based team has a small crowd (granted, we're talking less than 10,000 in some places), but oh no, you couldn't possibly suggest Bettman's idiotic-times-eight business practices will impact a small-market franchise in Canada playing in a poorly located arena.
As for the Senators organization, as someone who's interested in successful group dynamics and leaderships — call it compensation for some career-related issues — one does wonder who keeps Melnyk in line. (This is speculative, to be sure.) Former GM John Muckler and former president Roy Mlakar were old-time hockey guys. One can imagine them telling Melnyk to shut up and that the only thing he knows about ice is that it's needed to make diaquiris. You wonder who's there to tell Melnyk he's not going to recover that $4-million bonus he had to pay Dany Heatley since it was a binding contract, or that suggesting fans and critics should "get a bomb and blow themselves up" is unbecoming.
Deny, deny, deny, all you want, but the Senators have some issues off the ice (as for on the ice, let's leave that to the professional sportswriters). The easy way out is to say it's the economy, calibre of opponents or people staying home to save local television by making sure they watch all 3 CSIs on CTV.
It will get harder to ignore if the Senators keep sliding. No one can stand here in 2009 and tell you where the NHL will have teams in 2019. Just don't be too smug.
(For anyone doubting the 1,191 figure, I counted. Bear in mind it's a small sample size and there are variables such as day of the week and opponent. For instance, last season's 10th home game was on Saturday afternoon, this season it was Tuesday:) Opponent '08-09 '09-10 Total
Det/NYI 20,182 18,075 -2,107
Phx/Atl 20,179 19,360 -819
Bos/Pit 19,318 17,014 -2,304
Fla/TB 18,952 17,732 -1,220
Ana/Nsh 19,762 18,970 -792
Wsh/Bos 18,485 20,154 +1,669
Phi/Atl 18,938 17,297 -1,641
NY/TB 19,061 17,511 -1,550
Mtl/NJ 20,475 18,971 -1,504
NYR/Edm 19,619 17,977 -1,642
Avg. 19,497 18,306 -1,191
It's a thrill to be to pass along news Abraham Donzo, a teenaged Ottawa soccer player, has earned a "3-month invitation with Everton’s academy in the hopes of landing a professional contract."
It's pretty tough to do justice to the story of Abraham Donzo, but it was a honour to have been able to take a stab at it a month ago. Sportswriters are not supposed to cheerlead, but having been let in on what he's gone through and how he and his Canadian parents Phil and Sue Roberts have made it work, well, I defy you not to cheer for him.Oct. 8, 2009
Not just in it for kicks
Soccer prodigy hopes long journey leads to pro deal
Abraham Donzo is as tough to label as he is to mark on the pitch.
That's a way to relate how far and fast the footy prodigy has come since arriving in Ottawa in 2005 from a refugee camp in Liberia. The label doesn't stick. It's there, but the only mention of pain that comes up while talking to Donzo relates to rehabbing his right knee after he tore an ACL in May 2008.
He's a well-adjusted 16-year-old Colonel By student, supported by loving parents, educators Sue and Phil Roberts. The hook is he is jetting across the Atlantic next Wednesday for a fourth trial with Everton FC of the English Premier League.
"My journey started kind of sad, but now it's going in a good way," says Donzo, who starred with the Ontario provincial team this summer, scoring all of its goals in 5-of-6 games at nationals.
"When I was leaving my family in Liberia I was sad, but they wanted me to come here, to have a chance at a future, so I was happy they did that."
The ACL injury meant Donzo was not 100% match-fit the last time he was at Everton. Getting into an EPL team's academy is as vital for a 16-year-old footballer as the NHL draft is for a teen hockey player. Ottawa Fury president John Pugh notes, "this is the probably the time" that Everton will decide whether to add Donzo to its academy. He'll likely find out in January.
"I know this is my last chance with Everton," the 5-foot-11, 160-lb. striker says. "I feel good, skill-wise. The only thing I am worried about is the physical play. They're big guys and they're tough."
REALITY SHOW WINNER
You know about Donzo winning a reality show, Soccer Dreams, and catching Everton's eye. A bigger part of the backstory is the Roberts family. Donzo came to Canada with a male relative, Sekou Donzo. He eventually moved in with the Robertses, who are his legal guardians.
"They're always there for me," he says. "I was shy at first, but I get treated like a brother and I treat them (siblings Michelle, Amy and Meagan) like a sister."
His dad, who is the Ottawa Gee-Gees' special teams co-ordinator, might never forget the rush his spouse and daughters threw at him about adding Abraham to the brood.
"It just kind of fell into place," Phil Roberts says. "His uncle was working all the time and Abe is still in contact with him. Children's Aid approached us about him. They said to us, 'We've never done this, but he's doing well here in school, we don't want to have to switch.'
"When my daughters and wife cornered me about it, I went, 'Uh -oh, I'm not a young guy.' I was 49 years old at the time, we have three daughters, I'm coaching football all the time, coaching basketball at the high school. But within two weeks, I knew it was a good fit."
Roberts' contacts in the helmeted, hand-using version of football paid off when Donzo injured his knee. One of his former players, Western Mustangs assistant coach Mickey Donovan, helped connect them with Dr. Kevin Willits in London, Ont., for treatment. Willits also coaches at Western.
Of course, no one could rehab the knee for Donzo.
"He was ready to go after 4 1/2 months," Roberts says. "I'm a football guy, and I was just amazed. He was waking up at 6 a.m., icing it six times a day ... I know university, pro guys who couldn't do what he did."
What happens at Everton is not necessarily make-or-break. There are a lot of football teams.
When you go in there for a two-week trial, you've got to be better than what they've had in the academy," explains Steve Hill, Donzo's coach with the Ottawa Fury. "You can't be as good as, because they have people who have been there since the age of eight, nine, 10 years old, whom they've worked with 3-4 years. It's a bit cutthroat."
That's the kicker. The hard part is still ahead for Donzo, after leaving family, after the culture shock, after blowing out a knee. Is it in him?
"I'm not the kind of person who gives up," he says.
by Keith Borkowsky, The Curling Guy
There's plenty on the line this week in Prince George, B.C., where 24 of the top Canadian teams battle to determine the four men's and four women's teams that advance to the Canadian Olympic Trials.
So much, that there's rumours that some may retire if they don't advance.
For those that may know (and you're forgiven), Canada has a multi-step qualifying process to select it's Olympic curling teams. Earlier rounds require a PhD in mathematics, so we'll just focus on the present circumstances. Four men's and four women's teams have already qualified for the Canadian Olympic Trials. Four more spots remain. That's what's on the line starting Tuesday, with a triple-knockout draw. Teams can earn one of the four berths with either a perfect record through the A-side, one loss through the B-side or two losses on the C-side. Three losses kills your Olympic dream.
Here's a quick look at who's in the men's draw at the Canadian Pre-Olympic Trials (marketed as the Road to the Roar), which runs Nov. 10-14. Look for an upcoming post on the women's draw.
MEN
The top four rinks don't play first round games and have byes directly to the quarter-finals. They are seeded as follows:
1. Jeff Stoughton, Winnipeg (13-6 in 2009-10 World Curling Tour games)
Stoughton's had success this year, winning the Manitoba Lotteries Classic in Brandon and qualifying for the semifinals at the Meyers Norris Penny Prairie Classic in Portage la Prairie, Man., He's also suffered a 1-3 record at the Cactus Pheasant Classic in Brooks, Alta., in his final tune-up event leading into the trials.
Among Manitoba rinks, Stoughton is one of the most seasoned, mature rinks you'll find, as evidenced by a 5-0 record in one-point games. That's why they win when it matters. They haven't played as much as others, with only three World Tour events on the schedule so far. That was by design. Stoughton, and his rink of third Kevin Park, a past Canadian champion, second Rob Fowler and lead Steve Gould, wanted to build gradually towards the Olympic dream and peak at the right times.
As Stoughton faces the winner of eighth-seeded Bob Ursel of Kelowna, B.C., or ninth-seeded Ted Appelman of Edmonton, you'd wonder whether being the top seed really gives you an advantage. You'll see why later.
2. Wayne Middaugh, Toronto ( 7-4)
Another team that didn't play a heavy schedule leading into the Trials, and may not need it. Middaugh made his only appearance in the playoffs in Portage la Prairie, backed up by third Jon Mead of Winnipeg, second John Epping and lead Scott Bailey. He will face the winner of seventh-seeded Jean-Michel Menard or 10th-seeded Pat Simmons of Davidson, Sask.
3. Brad Gushue, St. John's N.L. (22-8)
For a minute, let's put aside the debate on how ridiculous it may be to have a defending Olympic gold medallist without a direct berth into the Roar of the Rings Canadian Olympic Trials. His team has changed — frequently — since 2006. But he's settled into a nice routine with third Mark Nicholls, second Ryan Fry and lead Jamie Korab. He won early and often in Baden, Switzerland and in Brockville, Ont., two September events, and made the semis at the World Cup of Curling in late October. He's currently ranked fourth in the world, and beats teams by an average of three points a game. It's a bad idea to let them have the hammer.
4. Mike McEwen, Winnipeg (18-12)
Consistent play is key for the best of the "next generation" of Manitoba's top teams. When they play well, they have beaten the Gushues, Middaughs, Stoughtons and the other top teams in Canada. A key stat to keep in mind. They are 7-2 in one-rock games, and 2-1 in extra-end games. They need to keep the game close, but can force the issue. The 2003 World University Games champion, McEwen plays with third B.J. Neufeld, second Matt Wozniak and lead Denni Neufeld. He will know his quarter-final opponent, as it will be either Kerry Burtnyk or Jason Gunnlaugson, both Manitobans. Burtnyk and McEwen also curl at the same club. And Gunnlaugson eliminated them from the Portage WCT event with a 7-2 loss. There will be an incentive to win.
There will be upsets at this event, at least on paper. That's the nature of curling, especially when the stakes are this high. Someone will come out of nowhere (as much as it applies at this level. As they are seeded in the draw, here's the rest of the field.
5. Kerry Burtnyk, Winnipeg (19-11)
Burtnyk is one of of two teams in this draw, aside from Stoughton, that knows what coming second at the Olympic Trials means. You watch on TV while the guy that beat you plays for gold. He's retired once after such a loss, and there are rumours he might do it again if he does not advance. Burtnyk's lineup of former world champion Don Walchuk at third, second Richard Daneault and lead Garth Smith won the Portage la Prairie WCT event with a field that included three of the top four seeds at Prince George. He has to beat fellow Manitoban Jason Gunnlaugson and McEwen to get to the A-semifinal, where he could meet Stoughton, the man that beat him in the 2009 Manitoba championship game.
6. Joel Jordison, Moose Jaw, Sask. (8-11)
Jordison, who won Saskatchewan last year, hasn't looked good all year. If that continues, he won't last long here. Jordison's lineup of third Scott Bitz, second Aryn Schmidt and lead Dean Hicke could get a first round win as they face 11th-ranked Greg McAulay of New Westminster, B.C., but the next game puts him against Gushue. If he qualifies, it will be from the B- or C-side unless his team gets their game in gear fast.
7. Jean-Michel Menard (10-3)
The rink from Quebec, which includes third Martin Crete, second Eric Sylvain and lead Jean Gagnon could be one of those teams that comes out of nowhere. Menard won the 2006 Canadian championship and could beat 10th-ranked Pat Simmons in his first game. He'd face Middaugh next if he did, and then all bets are off. While he hasn't played a lot on the World Tour, he won a smaller event, the Challenge Casino Lac Leamy. In those 13 games, Menard was aggressive, played well with the hammer and beat teams by an average of three points per game.
8. Ted Appelman, Edmonton (27-11)
It's hard to call a 27-11 team an upset special. But just like the March Madness college basketball tournament, there's upset specials waiting to happen. He's played five events, got paid at all of them and has built up a solid CV of success. If he played anywhere but Alberta, you would likely see his rink of third Tim Appelman, second Brandon Klassen and lead Brendan Melnyk at the Brier once in a while. playing a heavy schedule of 38 games, there's a risk he put it on the line too soon. But he's no worse off than his first round opponent, ninth-ranked Bob Ursel. And this young team has an experienced Don Bartlet as an alternate. Watch them.
9. Bob Ursel, Kelowna. B.C. (23-6)
One of those teams, where the skip doesn't throw last stone, Ursel has posted lopsided victories, beating teams by an average of more than three points per game. His team of fourth Jim Cotter, second Kevin Folk and lead Rick Sawatzky beat Kevin Martin at the Westcoast Curling Classic and went on to claim the title. He's lost two other finals. That sounds like a pretty good lead-up to the most important event in November, and is one reason the Stoughton rink may not see the top-seed as an advantage. Either Appelman or Ursel will play the Stroughton rink in the quarters.
10. Pat Simmons, Davidson, Sask. (25-7)
A past Saskatchewan champion, Simmons, third Gerry Adam, second Jeff Sharp and lead Steve Laycock have dominated with the hammer. They've been paid at all five events they have entered this season, winning the Horizon Laser Vision Centre Classic in Regina. It will be interesting to see how he plays Menard in his first-round game, as it could set the tone for a good week. A loss there wouldn't kill his chances.
11. Greg McAulay, New Westminster, B.C. (8-8)
A past World champion, McAulay brings experience. But at 49, his Olympic window could be closing. If Jordison wasn't struggling as much as it has this season, McAulay would probably be sent to the B-side early. A first-round win nets a showdown with Gushue, so he will likely have to make a run through the B- or C-sides, where luck of the draw plays as much a role as skill. He's backed up by third Ken Maskiewich, second Deane Horning and lead Aaron Watson.
12. Jason Gunnlaugson, Beausejour, Man. (21-12)
Gunnlaugson is a gambler. It says so right on his CCA bio, where he lists his career as poker player. So you know he's not going to be scared of facing Burtnyk, a legend he grew up watching, in his first round game. He's capable of throwing a takeout shot in four-seconds flat. Check it out on YouTube. There's evidence. The knock on Gunnlaugson in past years is he's been so eager to use it for a highlight reel shot that he's ignored easier options and missed his shot. This year's team is different and includes third Justin Richter, second Brayden Zawada and lead Tyler Forrest, the remnants of the Reid Carruthers rink that actually earned the spot in the pre-Trials. Like most young teams, when things go well, they storm the gates. When they go badly, games can fall apart. They have faced Burtnyk before this year, losing the final at Portage 6-2. Burtnyk opened the game scoring three and stole a single in the fourth end for a 4-0 lead. So a steady start will be crucial, and if they get it, they could do damage. However, 2014 may be a more realistic goal if this team stays together.
It all comes down to this. The 8-9 Edmonton Eskimos and B.C. Lions face off for the third and final playoff spot in the CFL's West Division. The winner's in, while the loser has to hope Hamilton beats Winnipeg on Sunday. To add even more drama, this is the last game that will be played in B.C. Place until 2011. The action starts at 10:30 Eastern; 7:30 Pacific. Come join me after the jump then for the live blog!
Well, it has been almost five years. Time heals all wounds and Vince Carter is a suspiciously quick healer when it suits him ...
"Raptors fans with long memories didn't get the chance to boo Magic SG Vince Carter, who was scratched with an injury on Sunday.C'est la Vince. A good hate-on is a good hate-on, but honestly, as you get older, you realize the absurdity of hating people who only appear to you as two-dimensional figures on a TV screen. Honestly, didn't all those Green Bay fans (well, most of them) look like a bunch of whiny ingrates booing Brett Favre on Sunday?
"But that opportunity might come Nov. 22 at Air Canada Centre when the player who demanded out of Toronto after six-plus seasons will be ... honored by the franchise as part of their 15th anniversary celebration.
"The Raptors say they will first ask Carter if he wants to go through with a ceremony, realizing the back-story.
" 'Everybody wants to know how we can do it, but Vince is part of the history here," Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo told the Sentinel. 'Most of the people that he had problems with here are gone.' " — Orlando Sentinel
(emphasis mine)
There's a Kingston connection with the awful story about Ben Fanelli, the Kitchener Rangers rookie defenceman who is in intensive care with skull and facial fractures.
The firsts-thing-first hoping Fanelli has a full recovery (not the same as whether he'll return to competitive hockey). It was not a head shot although it did look like Michael Lianbas, the 20-year-old Erie Otters player, took a good three full strides before hitting Fanelli, who had turned his back to play the puck up the boards behind his own goal.
The odd part is Fanelli went in the fourth round of the OHL draft in May, one round after the Rangers selected forward Keli Grant, a Kingston boy who attends Ernestown Secondary School, where my mother teaches. Mike Koreen, the Kingston Whig-Standard's excellent sports editor, wrote a while back about how Grant's experience this fall "will hit home for those who feel it's tough to force 15-or 16-year-olds to make such an important decision about their athletic future at an early age."
Perhaps that's where the debate is, whether it's necessarily good to force 16-year-olds to skate alongside 20-year-olds. For every player who's ready for it emotionally and physically, there are a few who are not, speaking generally.
The Rangers kept Fanelli instead of Grant to fill out their maximum allotment of three 16-year-old players. Grant ended up being caught up in a numbers game in Kitchener and with his hometown Kingston Kimco Voyageurs Junior A, who are only allowed two 16-year-olds (one of whom is his twin, Kris Grant.) He also lost his NCAA eligibility in the process by playing in an exhibition game with the Rangers.
Needless to say, all of that is a trifle compared to what is ahead for Fanelli and his family. Strange how that works. (Bob McKenzie might have Twitter updates on Fanelli later.)
Check in at 1 p.m. Saturday for another lively liveblog of the Guelph-Western OUA football quarter-final, which is live on The Score and 1290 AM in London.
(And please do it out of a commemorative Olympic glass. They've available at Petro-Canada now.)
Remember when you were a kid and wanted to do something and an adult would ask you why and you'd wail, "Because!" and be told, "Because is not a reason?" That's what comes to mind after seeing Scott Russell demand you respect his authoritah bestowed by his CBC Sports blazer (and expense account) and just shut up-shut up-shut up about the downside of taxpayers underwriting the cost of the 2010 CTV Olympics.
"It’s time for the dissent to stop and for us to be gracious hosts.Please. Aattitudes will soften as as the days draw down toward the opening ceremony. The snow will pile up outside. You'll start seeing "multi-ethnic" (Russell's term) photogenic tweens wearing Olympic apparel and it will be too cold to go out, so your defences against being colonized by the Olympic Spirit will wear down, especially since the government doesn't have vaccine against it like there is for H1N1.
"Incredibly, there are a significant number of people in this enlightened nation who don’t get it. They complain about everything from the corporate greed embodied by the Games to the fact that the torch relay was first conducted in 1936 in Berlin, the so-called 'Nazi Olympics.' "
Apologies for devoting a second post to this, but William Houston went off about Stephen Brunt, along other Globe & Mail reporters and two dozen-ish on-air people from the CTV/TSN corporate family, taking part in the Olympic torch relay (as noted previously).
Apparently Brunt's justification given on Prime Time Sports stuck in Houston's craw.
"But this is a commercial endeavor. The torch relay, God love it, which is going to make people tear up and is a lovely thing, and a way of including people in the Olympic process, is sponsored. And it is corporate and underwritten. And spots were sold as part of the sponsorship package. . . . This is all part of the machinery of the Olympic Games." (emphasis mine)
"Seriously? Because Brunt is going to run with the Olympic torch for a few hundred metres in Newfoundland, he is suddenly deemed biased toward the Vancouver Olympics? I’m all for critical thinking and cynicism, but it’s a joke to suggest that something this miniscule will affect anyone’s coverage, let alone Stephen Brunt’s."Honestly, if one didn't know better you'd think this all stemmed from older journos' propriety over ethics. Veteran TV writer Bill Brioux had a post at TV Feeds My Family that touched on all this being "a bit queasy for some of us who are old enough to remember journalistic standards to witness colleagues acting as cheerleaders." (Emphasis mine.) Brioux had a point media coverage is less adversarial, although that isn't necessarily because of the people on the writing side. Brioux was a good sport when called on it, as Brunt would be if people questioned his objectivity. Based on 20 years of reading his columns, it can probably be filed under "not an issue." Someone should tell Houston.
Media personality Mike Toth has inspired a few posts on this site during the 17 years we've been doing this blog.
It would remiss to overlook there is a Truth & Rumours report the Tother has been let go from Rogers Sportsnet. Toronto Sports Media chimes in "what that means exactly for his duties for the Fan 590 has yet to be decided," which is open to interpretation. It could mean something, or it could just mean it wasn't nailed down.
(Update: Well, that mystery is solved. He's staying on!)
Toth at least tried to make talking sports fun. He has been willing to go into the crevasse when it came sports topics that seldom get a good airing in Canada, like the Grey Cup's diminished standing, how culture played a factor in Ray Emery's departure from Ottawa (just as it does in the love-in the Ottawa Senators' for at-least-he's-local lunkhead Matt Carkner) or the way everyone pretends to be a huge junior hockey fan for during Christmas holidays because it "re-affirms our collective navel gazing tendencies," as Greg Hughes put it.
You could argue Toth's style is maybe on the wane. The Revenge of the Sports Nerd is at long last filtering up to sports talk radio, where the frat-boy mentality has long ruled the roost. No longer can you semi-seriously suggest Gary Carter would be a suitable manager for the Toronto Blue Jays, or say, "There are no female sportscasters that I can think of that have more knowledge than their male counterparts" without risking a bunch of swiftly well-organized wrath from the blogetariat and on Twitter. At the same time, if you start talking about WAR and VORP and quoting a bunch of statistics, people will change the station and Nelson Millman will put you on a diet of bread and water. It's a balancing act, people.
It's not negative. It keeps people honest, makes them challenge their thinking and become aware they don't live in the world they were born into. It's for the better, regardless of how much griping comes from misery-loves-company old media dinosaurs. There is the potential to cause people to offer tepid, inoffensive opinions, although if anything, maybe it will make people work harder to justify a minority opinion.
Personally speaking, Toth seemed all right. There are much worse things to be in life than someone trying to "stir the pot with a very short spoon," to quote Lloyd The Barber from Ghostrunner on First. It's also folly to take someone's on-air persona for the genuine article. Any communications medium has it limits and not everyone is the person you see and hear on TV and radio. Kinger, for one, swore by Toth, which says a ton.
Long story short, if Toth was shunted aside, it's a shame. We'll always have The Honky-Tonk Man.
Related:
Has Mike Toth Been Let Go From Sportsnet? (Toronto Sports Media)
Mike Toth dropped by Sportsnet (Truth & Rumours)
Alex Rodriguez is going to get a World Series ring. Mark McGwire's buddy gives him a job as a hitting coach.
Meantime, Barry Bonds, the one other tainted ballplayer who gets the descriptive "disgraced slugger" according to the Fake AP Stylebook is, well, somewhere, awaiting trial on something.
It's hard not to think of McGwire getting back in the big leagues as a St. Louis Cardinals coach — thanks to the beneficence of Tony La Russa, who was convicted of drunk driving not too long ago — without thinking about Bonds being erased from the sportgeist. It's not clear how much of that is related to time healing all wounds and how much is racial. The fact remains McGwire is back in the game and Bonds is off the grid. Why one and not the other?
The other polarizing pariah of a pituitary case is at least as eminently qualified as McGwire is to be a hitting instructor. Bonds would have the bona fides. Future Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox once said of him, "He might be the most observant hitter I've ever seen. He's on the bench, always talking about the hitters." (Sports Illustrated, July 26, 1993.) That sounds a lot like what a hitting instructor does. It's more consulting than coaching at the major-league level, offering advice, giving people a framework to make good decisions, like teaching hitters how to read pitchers.
It seems like a question worth asking, since ex-greats often do get coaching jobs — although how much coaching is actually involved seems rather dubious. Sooner or later, one of Bonds' old teams, or maybe one of his ex-managers, might invite him down to spring training as a guest instructor, try to get him back in the fold.
Imagine what's going to break out when that happens. It will strain the all that forgiveness and bygones-be-bygones sportswriters are willing to trade in today. The restoring of McGwire's image has begun in earnest. A column on FOXSports refers to McGwire returning from "eight years of a self-imposed exile," as if the public shaming was utterly undeserved.
A column out of St. Louis notes McGwire cannot expect to skate on The Steroid Question, noting "he can’t remain defiant, like Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds (or) offer mealy-mouthed recollections, as Alex Rodriguez did." At the same time, the writer, Jeff Gordon, like most of us, notes, "Personally, I’ve come to terms with the Canseco Era. PED abuse was rampant. Hitters juiced up to hit home runs. It was good for business, so commissioner Bud Selig looked the other way -– as did the owners, general managers, managers, player agents and players' association leaders." Four years ago, that was a minority opinion. It is now the majority.
Point being, it is easy enough to say when it's been eight years since McGwire stopped playing and four since his "I'm not here to talk about the past" appearance before the U.S. Congress in 2005, plus he's a white guy.
Meantime, Bonds is wearing the hair shirt. One would like to think it had to do with him being a cold, aloof prick more so than North America's racial politics. At the same time, people don't forget when a public figure who is visible minority who screws up, or has her/his human frailties exposed in a humiliating fashion. Nearly 30 years later, you can still find people making reference to former Montreal Expos star Tim Raines admitting to cocaine addiction, even though he got help and got clean. You never hear about the white jock who did blow, even though there's been a few.
Anyway, there's no beef with La Russa bringing McGwire back into the fold to try to get him into the good graces of the sportswriters who vote for the Baseball Hall of Fame. (Keep an eye on how much his support jumps in January after being around 25% the first two tries, right down in Tim Raines territory, coincidentally enough.)
It just seemed worth pointing out this will come with Bonds before long. There's been scarcely little in the news about the charges he's facing in U.S. federal court, which could lead one to believe that has run cold (Please do not remember who said, "He won't serve a day.) Major League has been trying to scrub away Bonds for the past five years, although people would have yelled rat if he hadn't been allowed to stay one and supplant Henry Aaron as the all-time home run leader. His name popped up a few times in 2008 whenever some team had a crying need for some left-handed home run power, then gradually that faded away as '08 became '09, although he could have done about as well as the .735 OPS the five-years-younger Ken Griffey Jr. posted in Seattle.
The ship's sailed on Bonds playing again, but someone might approach him about doing some coaching. Please keep an eye on how that's received.
This actually happened and can be corroborated.
Early Saturday afternoon. Two guys speed-walking through the parking lot at Lansdowne Park, where as per usual more people are trickling in for a trade show at Aberdeen Pavilion than an OUA football game at Frank Clair Stadium (official attendance was a pathetic 1,116 for the Windsor Lancers at the Ottawa Gee-Gees). As they walk, someone calls out, "Hey, what's with the Sweden shirt?" referring to one man's choice to wearing the bright gold Tre Kronor jersey to layer up against the fall chill.
What he said: "Bought it at the World Juniors, plus I have Swedish heritage."
What he could have said: "It's nice to wear a national team jersey that actually matches the country's flag." Who knew at the time Canada was preparing to wear a green jersey at the world juniors?
It's a crucial battle for playoff positioning in the CFL West Division, as the 8-6-1 Saskatchewan Roughriders take on the 8-7 B.C. Lions. Game time is 5:30 p.m. Eastern/2:30 p.m. Pacific. Join me in the live blog below!
I'll be live-blogging the McMaster-Guelph game today, which is on The Score's University Rush program at 1 p.m. Eastern/10 a.m. Pacific. I'll also have some thoughts on other CIS football games around the league, including the Queen's - Laurier clash, which I'll be listening to on CFRC. Come join after the jump for any and all CIS football talk! If the CFL is more your thing, I'll also be live-blogging the B.C. - Saskatchewan clash at 5 p.m. Eastern/2 p.m. Pacific.
Talk about fuel for the fire. The Toronto Star's Chris Young has added to the roaring debate about the Canadian quarterback with a feature on Queen's record-setting passer Danny Brannagan, whose "ice-blue eyes match a placid demeanour that seems antithetical to sports' chest-thumping, tattooed present."
"Golden Gaels centre Dan Bederman went to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats' training camp as a free agent last spring. And he's quite sure Brannagan belongs at the next level.It is past the point of saying, oh well, it would be nice if more "played-in-Canada" quarterbacks (Young's phrase) got a legitimate shot in the CFL. It goes deeper.
" 'I got to take an up-close look at the kind of quarterbacks there, and I'm not an expert, but I could see that in terms of QB talent, Danny is right there," Bederman said. "He deserves at least a shot. He can throw just as far, he's smart and can read a defence – the only knock on him is his height, but this is a league where Doug Flutie and Jeff Garcia showed you don't have to be that big to excel ... it's a shame.' "
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