Hoser hoops heaven... Canada worlds-bound

Canada Basketball needed Friday night the way a man engulfed in flames could use a glass of water.

That's is a best stab at capturing the meaning of Canada earned a spot at the 2010 world basketball championship with an 80-76 win over the Dominican Republic at the qualifier in San Juan, Puerto Rico. As Doug Smith of the Toronto Star wrote, "The magnitude of the win cannot be overstated. With solid development programs at the under-19 and under-17 levels, Canada desperately needed to see some success at the senior level to give the teenagers something to aspire to."

There is hope, to borrow that overused one-word aphorism. It was furnished by Jermaine Anderson, Carl English, Levon Kendall, Andy Rautins, Jesse Young and a Carleton Raven, Aaron Doornekamp. None are household names with the rank-and-file Canadian sports fan, although Aaron might be pushing for the status of being Ernestown Secondary School's most famous alumnus after those two cooler-than-freon three-pointers he drained in the fourth quarter to keep the Dominicans at bay. Whatever is to come — and there is lots more to come — for Canada on the court, Friday felt like a catalytic event.

Please remember, if you are so inclined, which group of quote, unquote obscure Euro-ballers helped with this big step forward. Canada had only NBAer at this tournament, the Miami Heat forward Joel Anthony. The team was still celebrating when Leo Rautins told TrueHoop that he wants to have a few more NBA players next summer in Turkey. He's hoping Steve Nash will take time out from saving the world to lace up for his country one last time. The San Antonio Spurs forward Matt Bonner, an ex-Raptor who is married to a Toronto woman, is taking out citizenship. Bonner would be a good fit into the FIBA game, which prizes a big man who can shoot. Rautins is hopeful of getting Jamaal Magloire (don't hold your breath).

Meantime, as Smith alluded to, Canada has a lot of young talent coming up such as Junior Cadougan, Mangisto Arop, Kelly Olynyk, Cory Joseph and Tristan Thompson. Some of the guys who were on the floor Friday will be pushed out in the years to come, such is the nature of sports.

Perhaps the San Juan crew will stand out in time the way Blue Jays fans remember Doug Ault and Bob Bailor. They got it started.

It is understandable if people do not consider Canada earning its first world berth since 2002 as a big deal. The only Team Canada most people across this great country care about, let's be honest, is the one with skates and sticks which will hit the ice in Vancouver next February at the Olympics. That is fine. However, some do believe being a proud Canadian and having a serious basketball jones can overlap, no matter what is implied by Molson's ads.

Maybe there is no deeper meaning to that beyond just loving basketball. Cheering for Canada on the hardwood, with the U.S. having such a larger player pool and so many resources devoted to hoops, is a lesson in being an underdog. It also seems to evoke the doubt Canadians are always going to face. That's why it's awesome, speaking as someone from the same corner of the world, to see that Doornekamp played a significant role in the final minutes with those two threes. He's had doubters all along, being from Odessa, having played at a smaller high school, making the national team from a CIS school, and he has come out shining.


It is almost seems like living in the past to play up that Aaron is an ESS grad, but then again there are not many Eagles even compared to other Kingston-area high schools, so attention must be paid. Imagine some young baller, maybe in Toronto, or Vancouver, who will grow up to represent his country. He might never hear of places such as Odessa, or Patrick's Cove, N.L., Carl English's hometown, but a small debt will be owed to those places. And that's pretty cool.

Steve Nash could rule the world, and he's damned funny

There is another viral video of Canada's greatest Steve Nash in addition to the one of him on Letterman last night.

The one for his new not-for-profit social business, Football For Good, seems just as worthy of attention, as is the fact he will be involved in an ESPN documentary about the life of the late, great Terry Fox.

Steve Nash - 'The Player' from meathawk on Vimeo.

Football For Good speaks the whole notion of how the two-time NBA MVP from Victoria, B.C., is a sports hero for Generation X. From afar, he comes across like a guy who would be the last one to describe himself as the leader of a social movement. Like he told Chuck Klosterman for that Esquire piece in 2005, "I don't even like to use the word philosophy when describing what I do for a living; I don't want to glorify the idea of playing basketball. But if you give of yourself, you do get things back." Taking a simple step like soliciting $5 donations to build a football academy in a war-ravaged region of Africa fits right in with the notion of a "hundred million solutions." It's one of just many small ideas that can take what works in our culture and improve what doesn't.

Improving the world isn't going to come from the top down or big, sweeping ideas, policy changes or mission statements the highers-up at your work like to issue periodically (and please, forgiveness if this sounds way too sincere). As Gordinier said in X Saves the World, change comes in stealth. Steve Nash kind of embodies that, or at least does for these purposes. He can do the spotlight stuff, sit in the chair and joke with Dave, ask ESPN.com's Jeff Van Gundy if his brother Stan, the Orlando Magic coach, "got laid in high school," but all of that would be mental dross if it wasn't backed by the change in thinking he represents.

He stepped up to sponsor youth basketball leagues when NBA rules kept the Raptors from doing so outside of a certain geographical radius. That's important, since with divorced-from-sanity cost of hockey, it's important to introduce girls and boys to an affordable athletic option which cuts across cultural lines. He's invested in Women's Professional Soccer, which seems to be gaining some traction in the face of tough economic times. Others can speak better to this, but it's a fair bet that when — not if — WPS expands into Canada, Nash could end up having something to do with a Vancouver team which will (ahem) probably end up beating the pants off the Toronto team. Starting a football academy in Africa with $5 donations from well-off, middle-class North Americans, well, it's a simple idea: Build better stuff for people in need. And anyone who wants to help can. It's a very Generation X idea. Meantime, you respect who came before, as he's doing by, as Jonah Keri noted, "leading the effort on a documentary about Terry Fox."



Getting back to Nash ... The easy way out is to say, "Well, it's not hard to do all that when you're paid obscene amounts of money to play point guard." That might get the point upside-down and backwards. Nash needs that platform. He wouldn't be sitting next to Letterman, getting Dave to go heh-heh-heh, if he was a hockey player or was the central midfielder for the New York Red Bulls. It's as if, on a subconscious level, something told him that if he wanted to make a difference beyond playing a sport , he should play basketball. It's a relatively global game which also is popular in the United States.

A lot of what Nash does is purely for amusement, whether it's playing basketball or his Letterman appearance. The latter probably shows it's better to appear casual, since painfully earnest can backfire. Seeing what Steve Nash is up to raises hope any of us can have a small, goofy impact on our corner of the world. In this day and age, if you're going to have a hero, it better be a guy who can laugh at himself:



P.S. Incidentally, here's an update on the next Nash, Toronto point guard Junior Cadougan, who's going to Marquette:

"Cadougan's greatest strength, however, may be his high basketball IQ. Similar to Canada's most famous basketball product, two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash, Cadougan exemplifies complete body control and court vision. Whether it be a crossover dribble, pull-up jumpshot or pick and roll, seldom will you see Cadougan rush into an offensive set or force a play that is not there."

(Nash clip via Ben Rycroft at It's Called Football. Ben talks the footy talk regularly with Duane Rollins on a podcast of the same name.

Hoserdome 2009: Setting up the second round

And it was all right...

• Sidney Crosby vs. Alex Ovechkin in a playoff series — you know you wanted to see that happen, although the league would have liked it to come one round later. The irony is Gary Bettman's hope was torpedoed by his darlings, the New Jersey Devils, losing to the lowest-seeded survivor, Carolina.
  
• The Carolina-Boston series starting on Friday is a bone of contention. Time was, teams who went the distance in the first round only got one night off before having to start the next series. The Bruins have had plenty of rest, but Carolina should have as little chance to catch its breath as possible. The league shouldn't diminish the reward of finishing in first place and then sweeping the opening-round series.
• It would be nice to be a fly on the wall at CBC Sports, which is due to make it two straight Saturdays without a game in the 7 p.m. Eastern timeslot. Game 2 of the Blackhawks-Canucks series is a 9 p.m. start.
• The Elias Sports Bureau had better burn the midnight oil to find out if a team ever lose a playoff series when it was leading in Game 7 with two minutes to play, let alone if that team's goalie was selected as his country's starter at the following Olympics. Martin Brodeur didn't look good on either Carolina's tying or winning goals, although that was a very good Game 7. Granted, as The Two-Line Pass noted, "if every NHL team shot at nothing but Henrik Lundqvist's high glove, his save percentage would be .657 and the Rangers would lose every game by 12.

Cheap commentary about the second round below...

WESTERN CONFERENCE

(5) CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS vs. (3) VANCOUVER CANUCKS

• Chicago, at least in the first round vs. Calgary, showed a tendency to take the higher-percentage shot, especially in the clincher when they dominated while being outshot almost three to one. That worked against the Flames, who aren't that good defensively or in goal (Miikka Kiprusoff was just overworked), but the Canucks keep a pretty tight ship in front of Roberto Luongo.
  
  
• Puck Prospectus figures the Canucks are the "third favourite" to be in the Stanley Cup final after Boston and Detroit.
  
  
• The irresistible force (Chicago's power play) vs. the immovable object (Vancouver's penalty killing, which did a number on a good St. Louis power play).
  
  
• The safe, gutless pick is to take Vancouver on goaltending, Roberto Luongo over the less consistent Nikolai Khabibulin.
  
  
• Is it possible to be pre-emptively sick of gratuitous references to Towel Power, since it originated from a Chicago-Vancouver series?
  
  
  
  What kind of punishment could Colin Campbell the player have expected from Colin Campbell the NHL disciplinarian?
  
  
• The same goes for the line brawl they had in the regular season, although it's a valid part of the discussion.
  


• The story making the rounds is that the the Hawks were rumoured to have been "Roxied," a reference to The Roxy, a legendary Vancouver nightclub, that has gobbled up many a visiting team."

Expect some live bloggage of the series.

(8) ANAHEIM DUCKS vs. (1) DETROIT RED WINGS

• The Ryan Getzlaf-Corey Perry-Bobby Ryan line could really wear out the Red Wings defencemen; they're some big dudes.
  
  
• Is it OK to just openly root for Red Wings centre Pavel Datsyuk to win the Hart Trophy? Sports trivia nerds would love to see a Hart-Selke-Lady Byng trifecta. Datsyuk wouldn't be the first forward to win the NHL MVP award with less than 100 points (Martin St-Louis had only 94 in 2003-04) or the first two-way centre to win (29-goal man Peter Forsberg in '02-03). However, it would be an indicator
  
  
• Anaheim will try to intimidate Detroit, who is probably used to that treatment by now.
  
  
• Detroit had 11 different goal scorers in a four-game first-round series, so they have the depth to fall back on if a few players go cold.
  


• If Chris Pronger does anything warranting a suspension, the NHL will give Donald Brashear a couple more games.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

(6) CAROLINA HURRICANES vs. (1) BOSTON BRUINS

• Honestly, not to sound like a defector to Red Sox Patriots Celtic Bruins Nation, but this has "sweep" written all over it. The Hurricanes got by New Jersey despite a flaccid power play (6.9%) and Eric Staal and Ray Whitney scoring almost half their goals.
  
  
• Boston got through the first round with very few nits to pick.
  

(5) PITTSBURGH CROSBYS vs. (2) WASHINGTON OVIES

• When the announcers mention that Washington won the season series 3-1, remember that the Penguins' one regular-season win over the Capitals came after they added Bill Guerin and Chris Kunitz. (Fist bump: PenBurgh.)


• The goaltending matchup is Simeon Varlamov vs. Marc-André Fleury. Sometimes, it's OK to fall back on experience, especially since Fleury has a good record vs. the Capitals.
  
  
• Alex Ovechkin had far and away more shots blocked this season (179) this season than any other NHLer. Does that explain why he stopped shooting?
  
  
• Remember, Ovechkin plays like Canadians did 30 years ago and Sidney Crosby plays like Russians did 30 years ago. Play around with that for a while.
  
  
• There is no getting around the fact that Wade Redden was on the ice when Sergei Fedorov snapped in the series-winning goal for the Capitals vs. the Rangers on Tuesday. Redden always seems to be around when someone else is knocking out his team (see New Jersey and Jeff Friesen in 2003 or Buffalo and Jason Pominville in 2006).

Forget not the fallen

• The runway is open for some columnist to take a run at the Sutter brothers. Brent couldn't win a playoff round with Martin Brodeur in goal and Darryl's Calgary Flames went out in Round 1 for the fourth season in a row, partly due to poor roster management that left them with a thin defence and no credible No. 2 goalie.


• History suggests the Sharks should not change too much. Teams which got knocked out in the first round after finishing first overall tend to win the Cup sooner or later.
  
  
• Darren Millard on Hockey Central just now, "If Gary Bettman does not at least look at putting a second NHL team in Toronto, he has no brain."
  
  
• Fun fact: Only one of the top 10 teams in penalty-killing is still alive in the playoffs.
  

LeBlanc impressive in WPS opener

A Canadian played a huge part in a big step forward for women's soccer in the United States.

Karina LeBlanc, the long-serving Canadian international (69 caps at the senior level), made several impressive saves to preserve a 2-0 victory for the Los Angeles Sol over the Washington Freedom in the first-ever game in Women's Professional Soccer.

It's been a long road to this point for LeBlanc. According to her bio page, she was born in Atlanta but moved to Maple Ridge, B.C. with her family at a young age. She went to Maple Ridge Secondary, where she didn't play high school soccer (as they didn't have a team at that point) but starred in basketball, track and field hockey. She then spent four very successful years playing soccer at the University of Nebraska — for coach John Walker, a Queen's grad — finishing with a career record of 67 wins, five losses and three draws and a career GAA of 0.56 (36 goals against in 79 games).

After that, she joined the Boston Breakers of WUSA, the last attempt at a high-profile women's pro league in the States. LeBlanc did well with them, but the league collapsed and she wound up in the lower-profile W-League, where she had stops with at least the Montreal XTreme and the New Jersey Wildcats (perhaps other teams as well, but none of the bios available seem to reflect them).

Throughout her career, LeBlanc's been a tremendous representative for Canada. She was the No. 1 keeper for quite some time, but has more recently taken a back seat to Erin McLeod. However, she has still been a valuable presence for Canada and has proven very effective when called upon, as she was in the Olympics this summer against the United States after an injury to McLeod. I wrote at the time that LeBlanc was "a huge reason that the Canadians were even able to take the game to extra time." It's good to see her find success at the club level as well.

LeBlanc was the only Canadian international in this first game, at least according to the Washington and LA rosters online. However, there were still plenty of Canadian connections. As Neate pointed out long ago, one of the most prominent investors backing the league is Victoria's own Steve Nash (who's also now a co-owner of the Vancouver Whitecaps). Also, Canadian midfielder/forward Martina Franko is listed on the L.A. roster, although she didn't see action in this game. There aren't any details up about her yet on their site, so I'm guessing she's a recent signing. Franko has been another long-time stalwart for the national team and won W-League titles with the Vancouver Whitecaps women's team in 2004 and 2006. She's also perhaps the only Canadian women's soccer player to make it onto Jezebel.

The striker LeBlanc spectacularly denied twice was American star Abby Wambach. Wambach has been a thorn in the side of the Canadian women for years, including this past year's Olympics and the 2006 Gold Cup, so there perhaps is some poetic justice in having her stopped by LeBlanc.

Overall, it was a pretty good start for the WPS. The Sol (by the way, they should really look into Sol beer as a sponsor) and the Freedom played in front of 14,832 at the Home Depot Center in L.A., comparable to some MLS crowds. According to the CP article, organizers expected an attendance of 10,000, so this is a step up.

League superstar and World Player of the Year Marta set up the second Sol goal. In some nice continuity with the past, several long-time stars of the women's game were also involved, including Wambach and Washington goalkeeper Brianna Scurry. Mia Hamm, who perhaps has done more for the profile of women's soccer than any other person, was also recognized in a pre-game ceremony, which was good to see.

(By the way, if you've never read Gary Smith's Sports Illustrated 1999 profile of Hamm, you owe it to yourself to check it out).

That doesn't mean that the league will be a guaranteed success, though. As this excellent piece on Avoiding The Drop pointed out yesterday, there are still many concerns surrounding the league, including marketing and television. There's a lot of competition in the women's soccer market, including the NCAA game and the aforementioned W-League. Sports Business Journal's Bill King recently asked, is it really feasible to launch a new league during the current economic crisis?

I'd suggest enjoying the WPS for what it is and sending your best wishes to the Canadians involved. Games can be caught on Fox Sports World Canada every Sunday, and there's plenty of Maple Leaf-covered players, including Christine Sinclair (FC Gold Pride), Christine Latham and Candace Chapman (Boston), and Melissa Tancredi (St. Louis). We may even see Canadian-based teams some day, and WPS investors Nash and Whitecaps co-owner Jeff Mallett apparently even tried to have the Canadian senior national team (based out of Vancouver) join the WPS, but were shot down by the CSA [Marc Weber, The Vancouver Province]. That doesn't mean the dream of WPS in Canada down the road is dead either, though, as Whitecaps' president Bob Lenarduzzi left that door open with his comments in Weber's piece. Before then, if you want to see Canadian stars on Canadian soil, you should take Ben Knight's advice and head out to the Canada-Japan game on May 25.

(Cross-posted to Sporting Madness.)

Photo: Karina LeBlanc makes a save while training with the Canadian women's team in 2007 (Photo from CTV.ca).

Takes one to know one: Two minutes for unoriginality!

Anyone who uses a word such as "breastophobic" shouldn't get the time of day.

One is loath to link to something which has been Deadspinned. Long story short, it's hard not to laugh like hell seeing the American reaction to some Vancouver columnist named Mark Hasiuk calling the NBA "ghetto garbage," especially after you read his eponymous website.

It all comes back to a basic principle of writing online, not to be a pedantic putz about the whole thing: Consider the source. Ten minutes of Googling reveals that Hasiuk, God love him, seems to be a big of fan of wingnut tropes. Siding with hatemongers on the principle of free speech? Check. Warning of Canada becoming a Third World country due to immigration and the erosion of a "Euro-centric" culture? Check. Invoking the slippery slope -- that's a classic -- whenever possible, such as in a column about a clothing store in Vancouver allowing customers to breastfeed on the premises:

"But what about H&M's duty to its other customers? The staunchly religious, whose particular sect forbids public nudity. The squeamish or breastophobic, who prefer a definitive line between off-the-rack retailer and nursery. What about their expectations of comfort?

"H&M also set a dangerous precedent and exposed itself to future aggrieved groups of all stripes and persuasions that may choose H&M outlets to practice their own brand of necessity. Imagine a group of Salafi Muslims kneeling before Allah in H&M's men's clothing section. Or a woebegone narcoleptic who seeks shelter at H&M for his afternoon nap."

He used the word breastophobic without even a hint of irony. Far be it to wonder why he would go from the phrase "dangerous precedent" to the image of Muslims kneeling for prayers. For Allah/Buddha/Christ's sake, even George W. Bush conceded that Islam is a religion of peace. Question: In exactly what scenario are a group of Muslims going to end up needing to pray "in a clothing store known for two-for-one T-shirts and Madonna-inspired design," in Haisuk's phrase?

Way to think it through, sir, while you were busy crawling up your own arse.

Believe it or not, this is written in sympathy. The writer in question seems to be a fairly young guy who hasn't learned two basic rules of opinion writing. One comes from Don Henley -- "the more I know, the less I understand." The other is from W.B. Yeats -- "the best lack all conviction, the worst are full of passionate intensity."

This is written with full awareness that it's hacky to fall back on someone else's pithy phrase to back up your own bias. Haisuk seems fond of it, and you have to communicate with people in language they understand.

It is amusing to see someone drag out the same tired stereotypes -- "NBA players wear saggy shorts, roll in posses and cuss on camera" -- and people become indignant. Consider the source. For pity's sake, the man called Allen Iverson the greatest basketball talent of his generation, which sort of overlooks Ray Allen, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard, Dwyane Wade, Brandon Roy and Dirk Nowitzki, who obviously grew up in the ghetto in Germany.

It's understandable if people in Canada turn up their noses at the NBA. The season runs concurrently with the NHL, where half the players and 20% of the teams are Canadian, as opposed to a handful of players and one team in Canada witht the NBA. That is plenty good reason to make a decision and say, hey, time is valuable, there's only enough of it to follow one league. That's acceptable, although could people please stop saying they "only like college basketball," it's annoying.

At the same time, don't hate on it and call it the "worst of America." Look at the NFL. It doesn't offer guaranteed contracts or look after players who leave the game with a permanent disability -- ask Brian DeMarco.

Boxers have nothing to fall back on once they're past their best-before dates -- no pension plan, nothing. Evander Holyfield is still fighting, that's obscene. Basketball players, starting from about age 12 or younger, get shuffled through high schools and colleges. They might end up with their degree in communications, but are on their own when it comes to how to learn (aren't we al). Michael Lewis' The Blind Side laid out the student-athlete hoax in big-time college football.

None of that is any reason to become NBA fan. The point is, get some perspective. As an entertaiment venture, the NBA is doing pretty well. It's hilarious someone would rather focus on the "thug culture" than on what Van City might have had if the Grizzlies had not left in 2001. They would have got to see Steve Nash play meaningful games in his home province. Chinese-Canadians would have had two visits a year from Yao Ming.

It's just too bad all those African-American players had to wear those saggy shorts, eh Mark?

Related:
NBA: a ghetto gutter run by money grubbers (Mark Hasiuk, Vancouver Courier)

A final word on DeRo (for now)

It's still settling in. For the non-soccer folks out there allow me to draw an analogy.

This was Nash to the Raptors. Obviously the scale is a little smaller, but to soccer fans in this city it's a near perfect comparison.

I wrote yesterday about the emotion of the move -- and that's still where my head is on this -- but there is an on-the-pitch factor to look at too. I went down that road tonight over at The 24th Minute.

The potential for offense in the TFC line-up for next year is staggering. The lack of depth at forward and the lack of a centreback, period, are frightening. I'll leave it at that, here.

From a TFC perspective, most of the reaction to the trade has been positive (and by most I mean all). Although many are suggesting that there is a certain amount of logic behind the move by Houston.

To their credit, Houston fans have largely stayed classy. DeRo will not get vincecartered when he goes back to H-Town.

Toronto fans are pretty much losing their mind with joy.

And, so they should.

Now about bringing that point guard north from Phoenix...

The final seven

There were no surprise bids today when MLS announced the seven cities that have officially bid for a team. Well, Ottawa was the surprise, but, of course, we've known about that bid for sometime.

The league must also be disappointed that the second New York bid did not materialize.

The cities and a few comments on each below the jump.


Montreal (The Saputo's and Gillett's) - There is lots of money and a bare bones stadium already up. Additionally, Montreal has a strong USL history, is a natural rival for Toronto (as well as Boston and New York) and has pre-existing supporter's culture. However, Montreal has been lukewarm about MLS at times and the stadium really isn't remotely close to being MLS standard. Still...Chance of success - 90%

St. Louis (an investment group) - Show me the money. MLS has long wanted in to St. Louis, but St. Louis has never been able to find the type of rich investor that the other bids have. In the free falling economy, that might be deadly (MLS might be leery of dealing with 15 individual investors, any one of which could end up being Boots Del Biaggio. The rest of the bid is solid. Chance of success - 70%

Vancouver (Greg Kerfoot, Steve Nash and Jeff Mallett) - If they weren't planning on playing out of BC Place the Whitecaps could likely start selling the season tickets. Everything else is there--a committed ownership with deep pockets, a passionate supporter's culture, soccer tradition and a great point guard. But that stadium plan. And, the whole more than one team in Canada thing. Chance of success - 66%

Atlanta (Arthur Blank) - Backed by some big NFL money Atlanta has the advantage of representing a region that currently does not have a MLS team--the American south-east. Of course, Atlanta is a notoriously poor sports market, the bid is late to the game and the stadium plan is vague at best. Chance of success: 50%

Miami (FC Barcelona and Marcelo Claure) - It's unclear how much Barcelona is actually involved in the bid at this time. Some are suggesting that the club is full on into this, while others are suggesting that its involvement is symbolic at best. The market has a lot of potential soccer fans, but it failed once before. There is next to no stadium plan. Chance of success - 33%

Ottawa (Eugene Melnyk) - Solid ownership and a nice little stadium plan. That's good. No soccer tradition and a tiny little market. Not so much. Plus, is it really likely that two Canadian teams will get in? It seems like Melnyk might be planting a seed rather than seriously going for it for 2011. Chance of success - 20%

Portland (The Paulson's) - A wonderful pre-existing supporter's culture and, well...they are everyone's favourite. That's only going to get Portland so far. The money seems shaky, they play in a AAA baseball park (an old AAA baseball park) and the bid is relying on way too much public money. Chance of success - 10%

The more the bids shake out, the more it becomes apparent that the best two bids are from Canada. The only reason not to put both teams here is to not put both teams here.

It's likely MLS will give into pressure from a small, but loud group that does not want Canadian involvement in the league by compromising with the single new Canuck team for 2011.

Regardless, you can expect as many as four to five of these cities to eventually get teams. Some through the expansion from 18 to 20 teams and others through relocation.

Related:

• Expansion discussion board chatter
• Las Vegas not out of expansion plans
  
• (Barcelona president) Laporta thrilled by MLS opportunity
• Whitecaps confident on the pitch
• Seven's not heaven in MLS bidding
• Mets' MLS bid put off to 2012
  

To dream the impossible (and really getting old) dream

It looks like Michael Grange was bored this morning. Or, he's not convinced anyone is reading his blog. Looking for a hit bounce, and restricted by the Globe's stuffy "no porn" policy, he went for the surefire attention grabber.

Steve Nash to the Raps.

Of course there isn't any substantive, you know, evidence of that particular dream ever happening (nor, is it even a logical fit for either side). However, that doesn't stop it from popping up fairly consistently in Canadian media (although usually not in the bloody Globe and Mail).

Look, we all love Steve Nash. He ain't ever playing in Toronto (unless it's at BMO as part of a celebrity soccer game). If the Raps are interested in the development of a homegrown NBA star they should keep up the youth initiatives in Regent Park (and Leaside, we don't want to get all profile-ie here).

Besides, Jose Calderon kinda seems Canadian anyway.

Snark break... You had us at 'Canadian pig vomit'

OK, so you can count John Ralston Saul out for the big road trip to Ottawa next month...

• The Josh Howard controversy didn't seem worth getting into last night. A multimillionaire celebrity saying some ill-conceived and inconsiderate? It's not worth calling Reuters over, even with Skype.
  
  However, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban defended his employee the best way possible late last night, by simply, wait for it, reprinting the ugly, hate-filled anti-Howard e-mails, complete with names and e-mail addresses. The balls it took to do that are not sold in any sporting goods store.
  
  Who knows what NBA commish David Stern is going to think.
  
  You'll love the one who refers to Steve Nash as "the anti-American Canadian pig vomit," and just to get the point across, types in ALL CAPS. Really, you made your point with the Canadian pig vomit.
  
  Seriously, when NBA players are standing for the anthem (or anthems, if they're playing the Raptors), the War of 1812 is about the farthest thing from their minds. Meantime, Josh Howard could make nice by shooting all of his three-pointers from the right wing.
  
• This is going to be heard all over the place in a couple weeks, so get started early on building up a tolerance to Eddie Vedder's Cubs song.
  
  
  
  It's no surprise coming from Vedder. Pearl Jam was pretty much to grunge's Rolling Stones to Nirvana's Beatles -- they never apologized for not being first, or for selling more albums. Nor should have they. You play for the fans, not the bleedin' critics.
  
  There's an obvious joke that you never would have seen Kurt Cobain, had he lived, writing an anthem about the 2008 Seattle Mariners. After all, their season's been too depressing to contemplate, even for him. Erik Bedard is probably out for about half of 2009, by the way.
• As for the Vikings' QB switch, Tarvaris Jackson was betrayed, but his team isn't going to win with him in the No. 1 job.
  
  The gut feeling, and it's more than that is that the Vikings' stadium push gets about as far as a run up the middle on third-and-8. They'll play at the U of Minnesota while the Metrodome gets gutted and renovated.
• Ex-NHL pest Matthew Barnaby is reportedly headed for a gig at ESPN. Good for him.
• The Legend of Cecilio Guante visited Ottawa and found it much more to its liking than a certain husband of a former governor-general did.
• There's a video of Shaquille O'Neal being lifted by Wee Man from Jackass. Kobe Bryant probably say that and said, "Big deal, I carried him to three championships with the Lakers."

Did everyone see that the Carleton Ravens got a mention in a Sports Illustrated column? Also, three weeks later, people in Kansas still haven't got over Aaron Doornekamp's dad.

White is the colour, MLS the game

Photo: Whitecaps players pose with team officials and local politicians at the press conference Friday to announce the team's official bid for a MLS franchise (Andrew Bucholtz photo).

Friday's announcement that the Vancouver Whitecaps would officially launch a bid for an MLS expansion franchise, with Phoenix Suns' star Steve Nash as a co-owner, went down pretty much as anticipated. A massive amount of media (probably around 30-35 different media reps), along with dignitaries and team staff gathered in a luxurious room at the Pan-Pacific Hotel in downtown Vancouver to hear mostly what we'd already figured out. However, there were plenty of details revealed, many of which came out during an extended media Q and A with Nash (via phone, as he was in New York after attending Thursday night's MLS All-Star Game in Toronto). After the jump, you'll find some of the most interesting comments from the press conference together with my analysis, and then some overall thoughts on what this means for soccer in Canada.

Speaker: Bob Lenarduzzi, Whitecaps president.

Quotes:
- On why this is happening now: "I believe we're in the winds of change."
- On the team's MLS ambitions: "What we'd like to do as a club is prove that we are one of the best sides in North America."
- On the necessary fan support, suggesting that an MLS team would draw well in Vancouver: "It's evident we have a stranglehold on this market. ... We have support here from pretty much a cross-section of the community."
- On corporate support from the business leaders who had initially backed their bid for a new stadium: "We now know that they're still behind us" (included in the press package were numerous recent letters of support for a new stadium and an MLS bid from prominent Vancouver business associations)
- On the competition they'll face to get into MLS: "We know we're up against some pretty significant markets vying for those two spots. ... It's evident that we feel from an organizational perspective we meet all the requirements to be one of the two MLS franchises (accepted into the league for the 2011 season)."
- On the success of the recent Nutrilite Canadian Championship, and the Whitecaps' efforts to create that competition: "We had been championing that for three years now. ... I think as a result of the attention and the interest that was stimulated by that, obviously it was a success."
- On the rivalry between Vancouver and Toronto that developed during the championships: "If we're playing them on a regular basis, there will be even more of a rivalry."

Analysis: Lenarduzzi made a strong case for the Whitecaps' viability as a MLS franchise on several fronts, including the fan support, the support among business and political leaders, the natural rivalries with Toronto and Seattle (as well as Montreal, if they make it in as well) and the eventual waterfront soccer-specific stadium (if it goes ahead as planned). He presented a convincing argument for the bid.

Speaker: Wally Oppal, Member of Legislative Assembly (Vancouver-Fraserview), Provincial Attorney-General and Minister for Multiculturalism [for all you Easterners, a BC MLA is equivalent to an Ontario MPP].

Quotes:
- On the impact of the team here: "This is a great day for our province."
- On an MLS franchise's viability in Vancouver: "I have no doubt that with the history of soccer [here] that this franchise will thrive in our province."
- On the benefits a Vancouver MLS franchise would provide: "I think [an MLS franchise] would be a benefit, not only to this city and this province, but to the league."
- On the importance of professional sports: "We know how valuable professional sports franchises are to a city." [he backed this up with economic data about the impact the NHL lockout had on local restaurants, bars and other businesses].
- On Vancouver's suitability as a sports city: "When the Vancouver Grizzlies left here, they left a void, and now they're in Memphis playing for friends and relatives. Those close to the NBA will tell you that was a mistake."
- On the likelihood of the bid's acceptance: "I think it's a no-brainer for the league to award this franchise."

Analysis: Oppal also made a strong case for Vancouver as an MLS city, and more importantly, a pro sports city. It was refreshing to hear a prominent local politician arguing in favour of professional sports, given the struggles the Whitecaps have had with their waterfront stadium plan and the malaise towards pro sports that has developed among many politicians just down the road in Seattle, which ultimately resulted in the departure of the Sonics. Oppal's point about the Grizzlies was also well-taken: yes, they didn't do as well as they had hoped in Vancouver, which eventually led to Michael Heisley shipping the team off to Memphis, but they weren't really given the time to build a fan base and corporate connections, and they were legitimately horrible for the entire time they were here, which makes drawing crowds and sponsors tougher. Even with all that, as Oppal pointed out, they wound up worse off for leaving. I don't see similar problems arising with the Whitecaps as an MLS expansion franchise, as they have 35 years of history on their side with substantial high points in there (including the 1979 Soccer Bowl championship, the four consecutive Canadian Soccer League titles in the late 1980s and early 1990s and the 2006 USL First Division championship), an already-strong core fan base and an expanded fan base that's shown it will be there for the high-profile games, plenty of goodwill from the business community and a good deal of political support to boot. If an MLS expansion team comes to Vancouver, I'm predicting at least 20,000 people a game in B.C. Place, which compares very favourably with other MLS cities.

Speaker: Sam Sullivan, Mayor of Vancouver

Quote: "With [current owner] Greg Kerfoot, Steve Nash and Bob Lenarduzzi leading this charge, we're going to get this done."

Analysis: Sullivan only spoke briefly, but continued in the vein of tremendous optimism that was present at the conference. He pointed out that the city is contributing $150,000 to the B.C. Place renovations and still wants to eventually build the waterfront stadium. In fact, this official bid for MLS might be just what's needed to kickstart the political process on that front: it's tough to get into a league without a stadium, but the new B.C. Place will be great for a few years, and the promise of a top-flight team may motivate the city council more than just the abstract notion of one at some point.

Speaker: Steve Nash, two-time NBA MVP and new co-owner of the Whitecaps' prospective MLS franchise

Quotes:
- On the purpose of the conference: "I'm excited today to announce my support for the Whitecaps as an MLS franchise and my stake as an owner."
- On his ties to the team while growing up on Vancouver Island: "I've been a huge Whitecaps fan since I was a kid."
- On the chances of landing a franchise: "We believe we're going to have a franchise in the near future."
- On his percentage of the club: "While I will be far from a majority owner, I will have a significant stake in the club."
- On the quality of MLS: "What's exciting about the MLS is that it's continuing to grow, continuing to get better, continuing to develop."
- On the benefits of a MLS team to the city: "Great things come from having a pro sports franchise."
- On a potential waterfront stadium with a view of the mountains: "I think it would be one of the greatest soccer stadiums in the world."
- On playing at B.C. Place: "B.C. Place is great, it could be home forever... but how much more incredible to have a waterfront stadium."
- When asked if he might use his friendships [ESPN] with Thierry Henry and other soccer stars to lure them to a Whitecaps MLS franchise: "Now I start to see why I've been brought into this!" [laughter from media]. "It's not out of the question."
- On the flag/anthem incident at the all-star game and if it will hurt MLS officials' perception of Canada: "I think the MLS understands some fans act a little stupid, but still 25,000 fans singing their heart out, I'd like to see that in any other stadium."
- On the women's professional soccer league he's an investor in [The Associated Press via The Globe and Mail] and if the women's Whitecaps might wind up there: "It's a neat fit. For the league, Vancouver would be an ideal fit."
- On his goals for the franchise: "I just want to see [the stadium] full every night and see great soccer on the field."
- On when he started talking with Kerfoot about becoming a co-owner:
"It's been going on for over a year now."
- On how he and [new Whitecaps co-owner, part owner of the San Francisco Giants, and co-investor in the Women's Professional Soccer League] Jeff Mallett teamed up on this bid: "We both thought, hey, Vancouver is our community, and we've been supporters since the NASL days."
- On Kerfoot's reaction when he heard they were interested:
"Greg really responded and has been great to have aboard. Greg Kerfoot is just one incredible champion for soccer in B.C."
- On if he'd still be involved if the team didn't make it to MLS:
He said he hadn't thought about that, but then added "My ownership goes in once the bid is accepted."
- On what it would be like to own a team his brother Martin plays for: "He's probably going to steal from me in his next contract negotiations."

Analysis:
What I found most interesting about Nash's comments was how confident he seemed of getting an MLS franchise. In fact, he seemed somewhat surprised when he was asked if he'd still get involved if they didn't attain MLS status, and mostly dismissed the possibility. On the surface, that perhaps seems overconfident, as there are at least seven other cities [Ottawa Sun] vying for one of the two spots MLS has announced to be available in 2011. Fox Soccer Channel analyst Bobby McMahon has an excellent breakdown of the candidates on his website, and he thinks it will probably be difficult for both Montreal and Vancouver to get in due to the shortage of Canadian players available at the right price.

Edit: Duane clarified this in the comments. MLS tried to change the rules this year to allow everyone to use both American and Canadian players as "non-imports," but that fell through. TFC gets around the Canadian content rules via some complicated roster shenanigans by "Trader Mo" Johnson. If we got more Canadian teams, the movement to treat both Canadians and Americans as non-imports would gain momentum, though. It would mean we wouldn't see too many Canadians on each team at first, but I don't think this would eventually be a problem for Vancouver with their comprehensive residency and development squads that should eventually produce a strong crop of Canadian talent.

My thinking is that it makes more sense to add two more Canadian teams than one, and both cities are noted soccer hotbeds. Still, there are several strong contenders among the American cities mentioned, particularly St. Louis and Portland. In my mind, it would make sense to add four teams in 2011 instead of two: the two Canadian sides and St. Louis and Portland. Portland has the history of USL rivalry with Vancouver and Seattle, while St. Louis has always been a strong soccer hub and would balance the expansion geographically. All are markets with a high likelihood of initial success, and it doesn't make too much sense in my view to leave any of those cities out in the cold for at least three more years: some of the passion and excitement for MLS might die down by then. I'd rather see MLS commissioner Don Garber strike while the iron is still glowing.

In any case, MLS has issued statements supporting the idea of Canadian expansion [Doug McIntyre, ESPN Soccernet], but those statements have always been strictly regulated in scope (not very wide) and strength (not very powerful). On the other hand, Garber has seemed very excited both about Canadian expansion and about getting Nash on board, so perhaps there's real backroom support buttressing Nash's confidence.

Another part of Nash's comments that probably won't get too much attention but absolutely deserves to was his response to a question about bringing the women's Whitecaps squad into the new women's professional league he's funding (which Neate has written about here). Nash has said he thought they would be a "perfect fit", and I heartily agree. The women's squad has actually been even more impressive than the men's in recent times: they won W-League Championships in 2004 and 2006, and feature most of the members of the Canadian national team. They've also done a huge amount to advance soccer in Canada, with the national team residency program, the prospects and development squads (where new Queen's recruit Brienna Shaw hails from), and the regular high profile they bring to women's soccer. This season, they advanced to the Western Conference final despite having to use a record 39 different players (as many regulars were called away to play for either the senior national women's team or the younger national squads), but lost a heartbreaker to Seattle [Alan Douglas, whitecapsfc.com].They often get less coverage then the men and have to deal with huge numbers of players called to national team duty, but they never complain. Thus, it was pretty important that women's head coach Bob Birada and several of his players were present at the conference as well, as this was their moment too. Most of the stories will focus solely on Vancouver's MLS bid, but the men's team may not be the only one getting a new league.

Overall analysis: It was a very interesting conference, and it certainly looks like Vancouver's got a good shot at an MLS squad. They had massive support from political and business leaders as well, many of whom attended in person and others who sent letters or video clips of support (B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell being one of the latter crowd), which will also be crucial to success. Average fans are important, but in order to get franchises, build stadiums and make a profit running a pro sports franchise in this day and age, it's essential to have strong backing in the political and financial communities. The Whitecaps appear to have that in spades, which speaks well for the chances of their franchise bid. That's something that Canadian soccer fans should be excited about. Everyone saw how great the Nutrilite Canadian Championships were this year: now imagine if we got to see regular battles between Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, and if Canada became a huge player in MLS. Three MLS squads would also greatly improve player development in Canada, which might lead to further success on the international stage. We'll have to see what happens, but things are looking pretty good for the chances of Canadian expansion in my mind.

Related:
- Ben Knight has some great analysis over at the Globe's soccer blog [On Soccer].
- The Whitecaps may not be the only ones trying to land a Vancouver MLS franchise: there's speculation that Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini is interested in launching a competing bid [Jim Jamieson, The Province].
- Matthew Sekeres of the Globe and Mail has an interesting story on the Nash conference and the Aquilini connection, and includes the information that Nash and Kerfoot would supposedly run an MLS franchise as a not-for-profit organization to benefit amateur soccer in British Columbia. That would certainly be a different spin on a pro franchise, and might make Vancouver's bid even more attractive.
- Bob Mackin of 24 Hours Vancouver has a great profile of co-owner Jeff Mallett, who no one else seems to have focused on too much.

The future of Vancouver soccer

A quick note that I'll (in my capacity as a Langley Times reporter) be attending a Vancouver Whitecaps conference on "the future of soccer in Vancouver and British Columbia" later this morning (11:00 a.m. Pacific). The press release (shown below) gives practically no details, but there are a few important things that will likely be announced here.

The first one will likely be that Steve Nash is now a part owner of the team, given the comments he made on CBC's broadcast of the MLS All-Star Game yesterday and the rumours that have been flying for a while now. This could be huge for the Whitecaps. Nash is a favourite son in this province, but more importantly, he's a fantastic spokesman and a name that's known across the world. Bringing him on board will make the Whitecaps a far more desirable target for Major League Soccer expansion.

That's probably what the second announcement will be about: official confirmation that Vancouver will push for MLS status by 2011. Again, not really news, as that's the only way the B.C. Place renovation really makes sense for them, but it will be good to have it out in the open. MLS commissioner Don Garber seemed pretty positive [Eric Koreen, National Post] about Vancouver at the All-Star game, so we'll see shortly if that was just pandering to the Canadian media or not. I'll have an update as soon as possible after the conference, either this afternoon or this evening.

Canada Basketball: Samuel Dalembert is French for 'Vic Hadfield'

You have to love Rowan Barrett's quote in the National Post, "We're not waiting for Steve Nash. We're not waiting for Samuel Dalembert. We have to do it with the guys that are here," after Canada stayed alive at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men with a 79-77 comeback win over Korea this morning in Athens.

Levon and the Hawks -- forward Levon Kendall took down 14 rebounds in Dalembert's absence -- were down 18 early in the second half and still trailed by 10 with two minutes left. In other words, you could say that it took them a game and a half to get it together, using Big Sam's departure as a rallying point as they kept breathing for another 48 hours. It will be Croatia-Canada in the quarter-final on Friday.

(Watching the re-broadcast on The Score, Rans Brempong came up big in the second half -- his length altered the game, and he started the comeback in earnest with a strong take inside that started an 8-1 run late in the third quarter.

The final two minutes was definitely a choking situation on Korea's part (Hey, Terry Murray is back behind a NHL bench, so that reference had to be used). They had a travel, two clanked free throws, a five-second call after a Canada basket, and some tentative possessions in the endgame.

It's probably more to Canada's benefit than Croatia's that there's a day of rest in between the group games and the quarter-final on Friday. Croatia shot the lights out in its 95-81 win over Puerto Rico -- 56% from the field, 89% from the free-throw line. Typically, as a fan, you'd like to see the other team have some time to cool off and maybe get a little overconfident before the next game. How often in basketball do you see a team just ride the crest of an emotional wave, when logic suggests they should be getting tired or at least regressing to their historical mean?

It's far better to have Croatia sit for a day. At least that's the hope, since a team that's shooting that well is going to be tough to beat, especially if Canada runs into any trouble trying to defend out on the perimeter.

The bottom line is it's win the next game and one more beyond and it's off to Beijing. A lot has to fall just so this scenario to kick in, but if Dalembert's out of the picture, does this mean Steve Nash could join the team without displacing anyone else from the roster?

The real killer with this filler...

There's irony in the fact the documentary Steve Nash is making about the greatest Canadian, Terry Fox, will be produced by ESPN.

Since TSN is a branch of the Worldwide Leader, the network will probably air it at some point. There'll be that air of self-satisfaction that a lot of sports news readers project on behalf of their overseers, even though TSN had nothing to do with the damn project and use it as filler program on some night when the Leafs are playing on Sportsnet.

Is there any chance CBC could outbid them for the Canadian rights, to get back for the Hockey Night in Canada fiasco?

Nash is too bandaged to play, Coach Rautins

This is as close as Canada Basketball's Leo Rautins will get to seeing Steve Nash this summer -- but we'll be seeing Leo's lads in Beijing. (You gotta believe!)

Nash (03)
by bsap11

This is Canadian insecurity writ large. Canada's Brendan Fraser can't do a promo with his sports star for his new movie -- unless it's a fellow Canadian. Like, get real, eh.

(Yes, Fraser was born in Indianapolis to Canadian parents and Nash was born in South Africa. Shut up, already.)

Incidentally, where does Nash rank among Canadian athletes in acting ability? He's no Mark Messier, but he's more at ease than Wayne Gretzky.

Steve Nash is not walking through that door

Some day, he said in the tone of George in Mice and Men, there will be a story about Canada's national basketball team that doesn't have Steve and/or Nash in the lead paragraph.

The Nash question has kind of pushed everything else about Canada Basketball out to the perimeter, which is too bad. You can just hear it now, "Steve Nash isn't playing for the national team, so why should I care?" That serves to cut off any in-depth discussion about where Leo Rautins' program, with Wayne Parrish on the corporate side, is headed in the long run.

Canada needs a lot more than Nash. It needs cash, from the corporate sector, it needs to have a profile outside of hoopheads and it needs depth, especially at the wing positions. Point guard, as the globesports.com story noted, wasn't even a weak spot for Canada at the FIBA Americas -- Jermaine Anderson did a superb job.

No doubt Nash coming aboard would be huge if Canada can get one of the last three spots in the Olympics, but he's 34, he's entering a season with the Phoenix Suns where he might be playing for his last contract (he can get out of his deal after this season, and given what's known about wingnut Suns owner Robert Sarver, who could blame him?). It's understandable if he passes.

In the long run, though, it's not about Nash. There's so much more involved in getting Canada back into the upper echolons of FIBA and everyone involved in the effort deserves a more in-depth treatment.

A little housekeeping: Carleton coach Dave Smart is back as a lead assistant. Ryan Bell and Aaron Doornekamp, along with his older brother, Nate Doornekamp, who plays from Bremerhaven in Germany, are on the 20-man training camp roster. As Mark Wacyk alerted everyone some time ago, incoming Minnesota Golden Gopher freshman guard Devoe Joseph is going to the camp. Has everyone seen the last-second shot he made to win OFSAA?

(Is it any surprise, by the way, that Steve Nash won the online staring contest on YouTube? He beat Jessica Alba's time, but you shouldn't rub it in -- it's not much of a man who trash-talks an expectant mother on the Internet.

Michael Grange has a blog post noting that some that MLSE corporate muckamucks were at Thursday's press conference. That's a good sign.)

BLOG BLAST PAST: THE END OF THE PHOENIX SUNS...

Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns are done after a five-game first-round loss vs. the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA playofs last night. Here's the post from Feb. 6, the day the Suns traded for superannuated Shaquille O'Neal, that intuited their early demise.

For a hoops nut, Shaq on the Suns is the equivalent of when Bob Dylan went electric.

Let's just say Phoenicians are not reacting favourably to the scuttlebutt that the running and gunning Suns are going to sacrifice Shawn Marion for a glacial Shaquille O'Neal.

This much is true: Every NBA Finals since the Michael Jordan Bulls broke up 10 years ago has included a dominant big man, either Shaq or Tim Duncan. This is the Suns, though, the team that defeats conventional wisdom, if not the San Antonio Spurs in a playoff series.

Oh, well. You know how there's that book about the Suns, 7 Seconds or Less? These days, that refers to how long it takes Shaq to post someone up.

Great simile from the Palm Beach Post on the phenomenon of acquiring an aging big man: "They say the two happiest days in a man's life are when he buys his boat -- and sells his boat."

There's a more topical post at With Malice. As for Suns coach Mike D'Antoni, he'll be looking for a new job, so let the Raptors speculation begin (although that's a pretty pricey coach for a .500 team). One other hoops note -- Spain is not counting on having Jorge Garbajosa for the Olympics in August, but how cool would it be to wear a red-and-gold José Calderón jersey?)

KNOWING BETTER THAN TO EVEN ASK...

The fact Game 1 of the San Antonio Spurs-Phoenix Suns playoff series wasn't being shown on one of the three Canadian sports networks didn't even sink in today.

C'est la vie, if you live in Canada, appreciate all sports and believe that TSN, Hockey Night in Canada and all 807 or so hockey panels are suffocating the life out of hockey like women have with romance and Simon Cowell has with pop music. It was a given

San Antonio won in two OTs, 117-115, after the Suns, taking a page from Raptors coach Sam Mitchell's playbook, graciously accommodated Tim Duncan stepping outside his role and didn't foul intentionally before he hit a tying three-pointer to send the game to the second overtime.

There's nothing unique to say ahead of tomorrow's Game 1 of the Raptors-Magic series. Orlando, at this writing, still has 600 tickets available for a playoff game. What is this, Ottawa?

NASH BRIDGES GENDER GAP

Hope everyone saw the story about Steve Nash investing in a new women's professional soccer league.


Obviously, as a progressive in a conservative sports world, Nash comes at life from a different place than about 85-90 per cent of the male team sports athletes. It is also a bit of a sad commentary that this story only jumps out more due to the male athlete investing it, not any of the women who will be playing in the fledgling Women's Professional Soccer League. (If it gets Marta on to North American TV and stadia on a regular basis, that would be a good thing.)

Nash doing this does drive the point home there is an athletic class of women in team sports such as soccer and hockey who have the drive to be professionals and deserve to make a living wage. Men who've been blessed with that same gift should feel compelled to help. Look, 12-13 years people scoffed at the notion of the WNBA, saying stuff like, "If I wanted to watch a bunch of people 5-foot-11 and can't dunk, I'd go organize a pickup game," but the NBA saw an obligation and now it has a pretty healthy subsidiary. (A couple WNBA teams even have stand-alone ownership.)

It can be done. Steve Nash always seems to know where things are headed. It goes without saying this should raise questions about a certain pro sports league very near and dear to Canadians and what it's doing -- or not doing -- to foster the growth of women's hockey.

Related:
Cash splash from Nash (Ben Knight, globesports.com)

SUPER BOWL: MEASURE PLEASURE BY THE PATS' PAIN

The Super Bowl was last night, Eli Manning and the Giants won ... the form calls for a post.

• KSK took care of business: "The biggest choke job of all time."
• The parallels between Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll are just irresistible.
  
  Carroll is the anti-Belichick, the overmatched previous coach in New England who eventually found his own level coaching college football at Southern California. (This is more or less straight from the gospel of Bill Simmons.) He was the touchy-feely, rah-rah California guy whose failure with the Pats in the late '90s was the prologue for Coach Hoodie building his legend.
  
  The Patriots' gag job duplicated several elements of USC's loss to Texas in the 2006 Rose Bowl. They lost by three points on a last-minute touchdown after going unbeaten all season and having their glamour-boy QB reduced to a mere mortal.
  
  Tom Brady wasn't that bad, really. It was his turnstile of an offensive line, who easily had those worst performance by any group of five men at a Super Bowl since N*Sync performed at halftime in 2001.
  
  The big parallel to the Pats' duplicating USC's Rose Bowl loss was a failed fourth-down gamble. Belichick's decision to go for it on fourth-and-13 from the Giants 32 in the third quarter instead having Stephen Gostkowski try a long field goal probably won't stick in memory like the two failed fourth-and-1 gambles that Carroll and USC had in that bowl game, but it loomed just as large. (The second, for those of you who don't remember or could give a shit about college football, gave Vince Young with a short field for Texas' winning drive.)
  
  Like King Kaufman of Salon.com wrote about USC back in 2006, there might be a "cause and effect" with Belichick not being able to trust Gostkowski from 49 yards indoors. The Patriots frequently go for it on the fourth-down situations when a field goal would be dodgy, which is fine against the Bills or the Dolphins in October, but they couldn't get away with it against the New York Giants. It just begs the question of whether Gostkowski couldn't be trusted from 49, since he's used to the Pats going for it all the time.
  
  The Pats would have stood a much better chance if they had gone to the fourth quarter leading 10-3 instead of 7-3.
• Pride goeth before the fall: Howie Long pulling out the Red Sox hat during Fox's pre-game show was the first sign something was about to go dreadfully wrong. With a coif like this, Howie Long probably doesn't wear a hat too often.
• The Mighty MJD already has the takedown on Belichick leaving the field early.
• Eli Manning's scramble and David Tyree's catch, one more time:
  
  
  
• Some idiot went on the record -- tongue-in-cheek -- saying Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel would be the game MVP. Naturally, he dropped a potential interception on the Giants' winning drive. "DB hands," remarked a work colleague who played some wide receiver in his day.
• The wicked burns on Bill Simmons just keep on coming. (Former) readers of The Sports Guy know he hates Steve Nash (or is it just projecting?) and slagged his selection as NBA MVP, especially when he won in 2006. That couldn't have had anything to do with Nash telling NBC Sports before the game that he was taking the Giants, could it? Again, Steve Nash could rule the world.
• Obvious analog for the Giants? The 1993 Montreal Canadiens. Neither was very good, but ended up doing something that's statistically remote (winning 10 straight road games, winning 10 straight overtime playoff games).
• Randy Moss clearly just wasn't meant to earn a Super Bowl ring. Once a Vikings, always a Vikings.
• How did the 20th anniversary of Doug Williams becoming the first black quarterback to win the Super Bowl seemingly pass without any notice?

NO COUNTRY FOR ERIK BÉDARD

A strained oblique and some strained intellects — not to mention pitching for the terrible Baltimore Orioles — are helping kill Erik Bedard's profile in this country.

What does it say that the pride of Navan, Ont., east of Ottawa, did not finish in the top three in voting for The Canadian Press Male Athlete of the Year Award that was announced earlier today? The top baseball player in the balloting was another left-handed pitcher, Jeff Francis of the Colorado Rockies, even though Bédard had a far better season. 

Bédard was among the major-league leaders in the most important stat for a pitcher, earned-run average (3.16, a full run per game lower than Francis). He led both leagues in strikeouts per nine innings and gave up the fewest hits per nine innings in the AL. He authored one of the best-pitched games in the majors in 2007 on July 7 when he faced the minimum 27 hitters, striking out 15 and walking none, in a two-hit shutout against the Texas Rangers. His year wasn't as good as Steve Nash's or Sidney Crosby's, but it was better than any other Canadian ballplayer's. Somehow, though, Francis ends up third.

To some of the sports eds. who vote for the award, Francis "winning" 17 games and starting Game 1 of the World Series, when casual interest in baseball peaks, is important. Bédard's brilliant season, not to mention the fact he did better in in American League Cy Young Award balloting (fifth) than Francis (ninth) in the weaker National League, doesn't matter.

Hey, it's not like the Kenora Daily Miner should start basing hirings on who's the biggest baseball geek. The point is Bédard just has a lot of strikes against him when it comes to having a higher profile in Canada. He is a small-town guy, not overly quotable in either of his two languages. He isn't talked up much about the national media since he's on a low-profile team, and the Québec media probably passes him over since he's from Ontario. 

In 2007, he just had a hard row to hoe when it came to getting the media in his home and native land to appreciate that he's one hell of a pitcher.