Monday, August 25, 2008

Snark break ... Thinking as Cleary as morning fog in St. John's

  • Have you heard the latest Newfie joke? The province's largest newspaper picked the 10 greatest athletes in Newfoundland & Labrador history -- and the Detroit Red Wings' Dan Cleary didn't crack the top five.

    Cleary, of the Detroit Red Wings and Harbour Grace, N.L., did just become the first Newfoundlander to get his name engraved on the Stanley Cup, but that was like two months ago. The rockheads also didn't have a single female on the list, which is a bit impolitic. Suffice to say, the commenters on The Telegram's website have let 'em have it.

    It's times like this that make it clear what it is about Newfoundland that made it a spawning grounde for the original This Hour Has 22 Minutes Cast -- Mary Walsh, Cathy Jones, Greg Thomey and the curly-haired fella who wasn't as funny.

    It's also clear why they left the place.
  • Phrase of the day: "Hot buttery garbage."
  • Speaking of which, Matt Leinart, might go down as the first quarterback in the NFL history who was actually washed up when he was still in college.

    (At least Leinart, this half-decade's Cade McNown, never claimed he was abstinent and then started dating a Playboy playmate.)
  • Michael Strahan cannot return to the New York Giants. Him on the Giants and Brett Favre on the Jets? The Meadowlands isn't built well-enough to contain that much self-satisfaction.
  • Lastly, with the Democrats gathering in Denver, keep in mind that there's already someone in Colorado who can be a uniter:

Stuff you might have missed:
  • One good read on this Monday morning: While Adrian Peterson gets ready for a second year of KATN for the Vikings, the best linebacker from his high school graduating class, Willie Williams, isn't even sure if he will be able to play for a Division 2 school in West Virginia.
  • Former Lynx Andy Tracy figured in a win in his first major-league action since 2004 -- he drew a walk that set up the Philadelphia Phillies' tying run in the ninth inning. They won in 11. (It was against the Dodgers, whose hitting is so bad they need to take five balls just to get a walk.

4 comments:

Dennis Prouse said...

This is the year that Leinart gets the Akili Smith/Joey Harrington/Ryan Leaf/Heath Shuler treatment, officially going from prospect to suspect. This is his third year, typically the year in which NFL teams expect a young star QB to take off the training wheels. Leinart's brutal performance against the Raiders indicates that he is not at all ready to start, even though the Cards were handing him the job on a silver platter.

You have to feel for Arizona, though -- Leinart certainly looked like the real deal coming out of USC. It's not like he was one of those dreaded "system QBs", running the shotgun spread against weak competition. He ran a pro style offense at USC against top shelf teams. I am always struck by how much goaltending in hockey, and the QB position in football are alike -- they are the most important position on the team, yet teams are often reluctant to spend high draft picks on the position due to the high possibility of failure. In both positions, the best ones often turn out to be late bloomers or guys who were passed over.

sager said...

How many bad or disappointing QBs are there who come from California -- Leinart, Alex Smith, Joey Harrington ... I had heard that high school coaches in that state sometimes have trouble filling out a roster -- every kind who tries out has blond hair, blue eyes, and is 6-foot-2 and a quarterback!

Robert C. said...

They're the only daily paper in entire province. Since they have the market to themselves I've learned to expect some wackiness from them. I'm from Newfoundland and I don't know some of the names on that list. No women either was funny in a pathetic way.

Guess Brad Gushue had no help from teammates to win Gold according to the Telegram. Number 2 by himself? Please.

sager said...

I wondered where Jack MacDuff, Newfoundland's only Brier-winning skip was, until I rememberd he was actually born in Nova Scotia.