Mr. Canoehead ...

It's all raisins off an Oldsmobile, friends ... raisins off an Oldsmobile ...

NBA commissioner David Stern insisting players have to spend a year in college when six of the 10 starters in his league's championship series did not. Derrick Rose's obligatory season in the NCAA did wonders for the reputation of the University of Memphis, since he apparently wasn't eligible when he led them to the Final Four in 2008.

Sports media folk who still use "Motor City" in place of Detroit. That nickname should be retired on compassionate grounds.

The logic of typing, "there are children in Hamilton who will begin kindergarten this fall without ever having seen the local CFL team qualify for post-season play." It's hard to believe there are five-year-olds, even in the Hammer, who are that into the CFL.

Being able to respect the WNBA while still finding Family Guy funny. Seth MacFarlane is showing one can still be brilliant, even if he's threatened by tall women. We get it.

Alligator mouth and a hummingbird ...

Blue Jays outfielder Alex Rios didn't do himself any favours, swearing at some random jerk hours after wearing the golden sombrero (five strikeouts in one game) in a one-run loss to L.A. Angels.



Anyway, the man yelling at Rios and saying "remember where you came from" comes off like more of an ass. As for the kid who was denied an autograph, what was doing out that late on a school night? (And honestly, does this pass as news? Like Rios, sometimes the media needs to learn when to lay off.)

Chris Bosh to test waters, T.O. sports fans to test blood pressure

Sports in Toronto comes loaded with a bit of an inferiority complex, with a few exceptions to root for a team in Hogtown you need a little paranoia mixed with conspiracy theories and a whole lot of skepticism. It's not necessarily found in other Canadian cities but then again it's because Toronto is in a unique position with regards to professional sports in this country, and that's the heavy involvement in so many North American wide leagues.

While Vancouver got a fresh taste of it with Steve Francis' refusal to play in Vancouver, followed up by the loss of the entire Grizzlies franchise altogether, and Montreal also felt the brunt with the loss of the Expos, Toronto has the unenviable task of worrying about itself on a daily basis. And nowhere is this more pronounced, and maybe even a cause that has further enhanced the city's self esteem issues, than in the world of NBA basketball.

While spending a day at Woodbine Racetracks yesterday Chris Bosh was aproached by reporters and, surprise surprise, questioned about summer contract talks while at the race track (didn't see that one coming!). To these questions Bosh replied that things were being put on hold for now, as in for the entire summer, and while not stating it implied he would test the Free Agent market next year.

For the always cautious sporting Torontonian the skepticism kicked into full gear, while for the basketball fans in town - who have been discussing who Bosh can be traded for, and Shawn Marion signed-and-traded for, fo quite some time already - the words from Bosh just legitimized their concerns about Bosh.

Certainly as Vince Carter proved there's no way a player in their contract year would stay in Toronto when there are far more intriguing markets around the United States to play basketball. Honestly unless it's hockey the Toronto sports fan has little faith in any of their teams to not only attract but attract and then secure marquee players. Always on the defensive of criticism from Americans and fellow Canadians alike Toronto's sports scene needs to check into therapy and soon! Because the fact of the matter is just because the man wants to test the waters, it does not mean he's instantly leaving town.

There are some optimists out there such as Doug Smith of the Toronto Star who have asserted time and time again that if Toronto puts a winning product on the Court in 2009 then all signs point to Bosh resigning in 2010, regardless of all the hype surrounding the Free Agent class. The fact that Toronto can pay him more than any other team backs up this theory. A player like Chris Bosh is not one who broadcasts himself as a prima donna, in fact he projects loyalty above sponsorships and scenes. He has made it clear that he wants top dollar for his services but as a four time all star and one of the most touted names in next year's open market it seems more of a smart business move than act of arrogance.

It was reported earlier in the week that Bosh said keeping Shawn Marion would make him happy as he feels that with Marion in place as he was down the stretch the Raptors would produce a winning product. There are still pieces to fall into place, right now the biggest uncertainty is the Shooting Guard position (presently no one has been named to start), and this Raptors team is not a Championship calibe team more moves do need to happen.

But to re-sign Marion, a player who has played and lived in Phoenix and Miami and made it well known his extreme displeasure with colder climates, to the lone Canadian team in the NBA would be a good sign to players wary of coming to Canada (read: all NBA players who are NOT European or Canadian). It would not only help the club on the court but in terms of PR as well, and if the team wins maybe with the Bosh sweepstakes as well. And maybe, just maybe, help the Toronto sports fan to relax just a little bit.

Should Chris Bosh leave next summer the sport psyche in the city will likely take another hit. Even if it works out that the loss of Bosh actually improves the team (which could very well happen for, as talented as Bosh may be, there are holes apparent in his game), the fans -and more importantly the casual basketball fans - will certainly notice the departure of one of the top Free Agents in the NBA.

Nobody wants to be that person always waiting for the perfect match and in a way it's hard for Torontonians to not feel like that consistent bridesmaid of the basketball world. But before everyone jumps off the cliff there is still time to go and games to be played. The Raptors didn't meet expectations last season and if it happens again it will cost them, Bosh and maybe even GM Bryan Colangelo. According to Tim Micallef's Twitter entry after interviewing Bosh and Marion on The Score earlier he said not to worry, Bosh likes it here in Toronto likes the people and just has to work some things out. Hopefully Toronto can handle what happens, whatever the final outcome.

Bosh won't extend deal before 2010 (ESPN)
Bosh may seek to opt out in 2010 (National Post)

Frontenacs hosting a Memorial Cup: That Doug won't hunt

Hearing the little rich kid talking about his last-place team some day hosting a Memorial Cup is a little rich.

Poor Doug Springer. Here he is, tryin' to throw what's left of the Kingston Frontenacs fanbase a friggin' bone, he goes and gets the OHL All-Star Game for next February, and still people are cynical. God forbid they would be upon hearing that getting the all-star game makes getting the Memorial Cup likely, when that tends to rests more on a team's competitiveness than the opulence of their arena, as the Fronts found out once before. Seeing Springer trumpet this aggravates the accumulated frustration of the last 11 seasons and makes people all tense in the chestal region.

Damn that David Branch. Why did he have to play his consummate politician's role with platitudinous remarks such as, "Undoubtedly when you host an event like this, it only serves to enhance opportunities for going forward for other special events ... when teams held the all-star game or one of our Canada-Russia games, I think it held them in good stead when it came to successful bids (for the Memorial Cup)."

There is no begrudging David Branch for what he said. He's a politician. It's more of a fevered dream to imagine him getting his Dean Wormer on and putting the Frontenacs on double-secret probation instead of talking about them hosting a Memorial Cup.

Point being, people in K-town are right to scoff when they read or hear the Frontenacs owner saying, "We're thrilled the commissioner is looking at it that way. It's all possible because we have what we believe is the best facility in the Ontario Hockey League." The Frontenacs highers-up should maybe try to worry about winning a playoff series this century before they start bidding to host the Canadian Hockey League's championship tournament.

To sum up, the Frontenacs are hoping they will be competitive enough to host the Memorial Cup by 2014 (Windsor is a lock to get the tournament in 2011). Sure, and the Deltas in Animal House were hoping their midterm grades would really boost their average:




It's not that the hardy souls who have hung in through thin, thinner and Springer won't go to the OHL All-Star Game. There is nothing wrong with having the event; the complaints are more about the owner's perceived attitude.


It's by most accounts a decent enough event. It could also be a huge love-in for Kingston native Taylor Hall prior to the 2010 NHL draft, since his Windsor Spitfires team typically makes only one Eastern swing a year, usually during the first half of this season. There could be some fun, fan-friendly events with the players on the outdoor rink at, wait for it, Springer Market Square in downtown Kingston. The CHL Top Prospects Game is probably a sweeter plum, since outside the junior hockey diehards who have a Shea Kewin replica jersey, there's a better chance statistically of getting 40 players you'd want to see from the 60 CHL teams than the 20 in the OHL.

The Kingston area, for all the complaining about the K-Rock Centre's location and the total lack of attention of detail during its construction (the home team bench isn't connected to the dressing room, so if a player has an equipment problem, the trainer can't leave the bench until play is stopped, for instance), has come a long way in a short time in terms of hockey facilities. The Kingston Kimco Voyageurs, who play at the Invista Centre, are talking about hosting either a regional or national Junior A championship. The Clarkson Cup, the Canadian women's championship, was held at the K-Rock Centre in April. Neighbouring Napanee's less than five-year-old Strathcona Paper Centre was the site of last fall's national under-18 women's hockey championship and will be for the 2010 Ontario Tankard for men's curling.

There are a lot of hockey events out there which would probably work well in Kingston, such as the World Under-17 Challenge, the Telus Cup (Canadian midget championship) and perhaps an IIHF Women's World Championship, given that public enthusiasm for buying tickets to women's hockey might be on the wane. People shouldn't look down on bringing in any of those events. (Granted, it's not perfect, since Queen's has no campus arena and summer-sport athletes are somewhat SOL due to the lack of a proper outdoor running track. Kingston's high school track and field championships had to be held in Belleville).

By that token, though, at some point Springer has to figure out that he has stop trying to put a Mercedes-Benz façade on a broken-down beater of an OHL franchise. Trading off Doug Gilmour's celebrity as coach while retaining The Royal Mavesty (Rhymes With...) as general manager smacks of this. The same goes for getting the all-star game and talking about the Memorial Cup after a 50-loss season. Granted, after seeing talk that Kingston would likely stand a shot at hosting, "Well, 2014 is when Larry Mavety's 17-year plan should really kick in."

Springer isn't going anywhere. The best to hope for is attitude adjustment in the front office. The Frontenacs are in a Bill Wirtz scenario and are crying out for a Rocky Wirtz, who made over the Chicago Blackhawks after his dad died. It is possible for someone to go from a bad owner to a good owner. George Steinbrenner had that metamorphosis. Mark Cuban is headed in that direction.

Until that happens in Kingston, though, people are right to be cynics about anything coming from the Frontenacs. Right now, Doug Springer could find a way to make cars run on consommé and people would still turn up their noses.

It has been 591 days since Doug Springer promised to do "whatever it takes" to bring a winner to Kingston.

Related:
OHL boss hints at Memorial Cup (Doug Graham, Kingston Whig-Standard)

NBA Finals Preview

So the NBA Finals start tonight at 8:30 on ABC and yes the first thing on everyone's mind is, where's LeBron James...? Surely this season can't end without a Kobe-LeBron showdown! It's been hyped all season, it's been almost promised to us throughout the start of the playoffs, what about the puppets! Won't somebody please think of the puppets!!

But don't worry casual fan, there ARE reasons for you to tune into these NBA Finals, even in the much anticipated showdown between two of the greats of the game today aren't facing off against each other. I'm fairly certain that if Dwight Howard wasn't such a laid back type of person he'd take offence to that statement I just made, Superman is quite dominant in the low post. However in terms of marketability it's true, this does not have the same fanfare as a Cavs-Lakers matchup would contain. But NBA Commissioner David Stern can't get luck with two marquee matchups back-to-back in the Finas. But what the Commish might get instead is a better Finals Series overall, and that might be a pretty good consolation.

THESE TEAMS HAVE SOME DEPTH
Reason the first to watch this Series: the games will be pretty good contests. If it wasn't hammered home hard enough watching Orlando win the Eastern Conference Final the Magic have more depth than Cleveland - Sidney Crosby is feeling LeBron's pain right now as he deals with a supporting cast (beyond Malkin) not pulling their weight, I guarantee you if Bill Guerin could pull the trigger Sid the Kid wouldn't be -2 throughout the first 3 games!

But I digress, this is about basketball, and that ECF was about exploiting the lack of bench depth for the Cavs. It was also about Orlando's team defence, something overlooked a little more than it should have been. When a jumpshooting team goes cold there has to be something to hold them in there and the D is what kep Orlando not only relevant but in control of their destiny. This L.A. squad is also quite deep beyond a rather impressive starting lineup and had the Cavs made it all the way this would be an even bigger disaster than is already being predicted. The Lakers still hold the title of overwhelming favourites but the depth of the Magic - especially should Jameer Nelson return anywhere near top form and see some serious minutes - will make LA earn their rings.

WHERE HEROICS HAPPEN!
The path to his "own" Championship, his "own" ring, is well documented, and the Kobe saga will continue to be detailed relentlessly throughout this series. Even Lakers Coach Phil Jackson, the Zen Master himself, has something to prove - can he win it all without the greatest ever in Michael Jordan or one of the greatest tandems ever in Shaq and Kobe?

But the real heroics will likely be seen on the opposite side of the court. It will be seen by the play of Jameer Nelson returning from a season ending shoulder injury, especially if he becomes a capable contributor to the games, coming off injury and returning to the court. It will be seen in the play of the defenders marking Kobe, likely Mickael Pietrus and Courtney Lee. They didn't stop LeBron (quite obvious by the amazing numbers the King put up) but they did get in his face and made him work for it. A player like Bryant can absolutely take command of a game, and now that he's started to distribute the ball (which is huge, Black Mamba don't bounce pass!) he's looking even more dangerous. Some big stops would help to lift Orlando, and are a tall order for these players. And Hedo Turkoglu has become nothing short of a great player this postseason, especially down the stretch in games, and his skill and experience will come up more than once before the Champion is decided.

Even should the Magic fall short of their goal some of their players will step up in ways no one ever expected. And Bryant, looking to finally get the monkey off his back, will provide plenty of excitement throughout.

VAN GUNDY'S
One in the commentator booth, one flipping out on the sidelines. ABC has decided to stick with Jeff Van Gundy as a commentator even though his brother Stan Van Gundy is the Head Coach of the Orlando Magic, and that can only be a positive for us the viewers. Will Jeff criticize brother Stan? Will we get some insider information we would never be priviledged to in any other Finals matchup? (even if it's only by accident?). Jeff Van Gundy has turned into a rather outspoken NBA Commentator and his brother tan has been called the "Master of Panic" by none other than the Big Diesel Shaq himself and watching him out there it's hard to disagree, the man is quite animated. This combination should increase the entertainment value of the series and give a different perspective than previously witnessed.

So what's going to happen? Well the Lakers should win this one and rather easily, it's what most are saying it's true but really it's the logical conclusion. Should the Lakers not win this series there will be millions of questions in la-la-land and quite a story to be told about the Magic's incredible playoff run.

But even if Nelson makes a miraculous comeback, relieves Rafer Alston at the point and becomes a starter these Finals it's hard to say the Magic have a real advantage anywhere except with Dwight Howard matching up against Andrew Bynum, and seriously lack any player who matches up well with Bryant on either side of the ball. Miracles do happen in sports, and it might take another one of them to crown Orlando this year. However everyone was calling for Cleveland to easily walk thru Orlando, and the Cavs were lucky to put up such a fight when it was all said and done, I think it would be something to watch the overachieving Orlando Magic to give a serious push and take this all the way to Game 7 (if not win it all!).

But regardless of what happens you casual fans out there should not dismiss these Finals simply because the LeBron-Kobe matchup is not there, because in all likelihood this will be the better showdown. And while the marketing will suiffer in comparison, the entertainment value will far surpass.

Reality Check: Rogers Centre, 20 Years On

I will start this post by saying what most people already think: even now, 20 years after its much lauded opening, my relationship to the Rogers Centre is a lot like a couple married for 20 years: every year, I find more and more reasons to be irritated.

Truth be told, I can still vividly remember the first time I visited the place. It was July 1989 and, amazingly, my dad had managed to acquire tickets (which were incredibly hard to find back during the halcyon days of 48,000+ crowds every game from 1989 to 1994).

For a baseball crazy 12-year-old, it was a wonder to behold: good vantage points to the game, far superior ambience to the unpleasantness that was Exhibition Stadium and it felt, well, just better. Sure, it was cold, impersonal and chock-full of concrete, but after years of attending games at the Mistake-by-the-Lake – the coup de grâce being during a game in June 1988, when a young couple sitting two rows in front of my dad and I got pooped on by seagulls and, in a fit of anger, threw beer cups at them, beer still in the cups and drenching an old man in the process – it was a welcome, welcome relief. I’m sure many young men and women in their mid-20s to mid-30s feel the same way.

This being said, it’s never smart to trust your childhood memories.

Looking back on it, the Rogers Centre is, quite possibly, the kind of monument to Toronto that fits the place as well in 1989 as it does in 2009. Rogers Centre, like the City of Toronto itself, is a collection of competing interests and suffers from a mass scale inferiority complex. It is a soulless ode to the irritating, utilitarian ethic that plagues Toronto in almost every large-scale project this city undertakes.

As Bob McCown and Stephen Brunt discussed on Prime Time Sports on Wednesday night, Rogers Centre was borne out of a need to respond to political interests above all else. Toronto – a city that routinely declares itself as world-class, which automatically disqualifies it from actually being world-class – needed to make a statement to the world, at least in the cash-rich 1980s, that they were capable of competing with the urban big boys like Paris or New York City when it comes to large-scale projects. Being the first city on Earth to have a fully retractable roof was a golden selling point for Toronto – a city that was, to borrow a Simpsonian turn of phrase, "on the grow."

Of course, like all things in Canadian politics, a major project or sporting event -- cough Montreal, cough Olympics, cough -- is not about vision or a projection of the intrinsic values a community shares. Canadian politics is almost entirely about compromise, inclusion, cherry-picking certain groups' needs over others and balancing of specific and sometimes competing interests. This mindset can be positive in terms of local democracy, but is often hellish for developing unique symbols of Toronto's identity. It's hard to argue either way on this point, but this need to pile on an assortment of interests may have directed contributed to the outrageous costs of Rogers Centre (does anyone really believe a hotel and health club was sensible in a development-crazy city like Toronto?).

The Big Idea-driven stadium – think Camden Yards or Safeco Field – that appeal directly to deep-seeded signifiers and symbols in sports was never going to happen in Toronto. For the politicians of this beta-class city, it was always about what could appeal to the broadest community of interests and peoples possible. Don't care about baseball? Okay, sure, we’ll house the Argos here too! Don’t care about sports at all? Don’t worry, we’ve got the SkyTent so you can come watch Pink Floyd or the Backstreet Boys. Who cares if it has no soul or personality? As long as we can make it work for everyone, that will justify the cost.

But you can’t come down entirely on the politicians of this fair land. Naturally, Canadian corporations and various multinationals haven't stopped to keep this vision of hyper-pragmatism going. From Day One, Rogers Centre has been a corporate raider’s dream. Everything from the deeply short-sighted 10-year lease for corporate boxes (always the main money maker for any stadium or arena) to the Sickly Sweet Deal Rogers – once believed to be a godsend for the Jays and their stadium, now mostly tolerated as the quintessential "uninterested ownership" – managed to snag by buying the bankrupt SkyDome, it’s been a great deal for corporations. Of course, this is another aspect of Toronto many of us ponder with astonishment from time to time: the overwhelmingly pro-business, anti-investment conservatism that dominates our city's mindset. It’s quite telling that, as McCown and Brunt noted last night, that claims the Rogers Centre's gaudy, concrete façade was planned to be covered with more aesthetically pleasing panels was abandoned due to costs.

Thing is, and this may be hard to accept for some, is that Rogers Centre is exactly what we deserve.

I'm not going to come down on those loyal Jays fans that have suffered for years in front a sub-par product. I won't do that to Argos fans or those millions of people whom have seen concerts, trade shows and countless other events.

Yet it’s become harder and harder to ignore the reality that Toronto is a city that tends to gravitate toward the new and the trendy. You can see this in everything from our recent building projects like the Michael-Lee Chin Crystal at the Royal Ontario Museum to the condo building boom around the city’s southern edges. We’re a city that tends to follow the leader, whether that is ideas developed in Berlin or in Brisbane. We lack a signifying, unifying cultural meme that defines Toronto. We are constantly looking outside of ourselves to find meaning and identity – a trait that at one time might have been just cute and politically expedient, but is now just plain sad and frustrating to those of us looking for something more than just a “high-tech” building like Rogers Centre.

All the multi-coloured lights, HD screens and grilled Panini stations can’t change the fact we sacrificied vision in the name of political expediency. For that reason alone, we should keep Rogers Centre around for years to come.

CIS Corner: Longer hockey schedule for OUA

Notes on our athletes/teams of interest from The 613 ...

Ottawa Gee-Gees coach Dave Leger was kind enough to explain the tweaks to the OUA men's hockey league, both the schedule and playoff format.

The OUA has expanded the playoffs and eliminated the first-round playoff bye in the wake of a post-season where none of four playoff seeds made it to the Queen's Cup, the conference championship series. (Trois-Rivières was the only one to win a playoff round, and it needed two overtimes in the decider vs. Fred Parker's Carleton Ravens.) The trade-off is 16 of 19 teams will make the playoffs — 8-of-10 in the East, which adds the expansion Nipissing Lakers, 8-of-9 in the West.

It seems much tidier just to revise the post from earlier.

• The playoffs will be a true 1-through-8, meaning an end to barely .500 teams earning the No. 2 seed and getting a first-round bye. Last season's No. 2 seeds, Toronto in the East and York in the West, had the fourth- and fifth-best records in their conferences.
  
  "The main feature is having two more playoff teams on each side," Leger said. "We'll still have the four divisions, but the only purpose for those delineations is to help sort out the cross-over scheduling."
  
  
• There is more of an emphasis on conference play. Cross-over scheduling will be set up to "achieve balance over a period of time." It will take 3-4 years for everyone to play everyone, but the intention is to address concerns that certain teams played the Lakeheads of the world more often than some of their rivals.
  
  "There was a real appetite from the coaches to have a cross-over," Leger says. "There was talk about having all East teams play all West teams, but some of the coaches and athletic directors weren't too happy. However, there was a lot of interest to have a cross-over, and thankfully we're going to have one.
  
  "Having a strong team like a Waterloo or a Western is good for our team and good for our school."
  
  
• It seems like cross-over play, based on two teams' schedules which were posted online, will all take place before Jan. 1. That means teams will be going head-to-head during the closing sprint that begins on the first weekend of January, which is a positive development.
  
  Last season, Ottawa was dealing with an injury bug when it went just 1-2-1 during a four-game swing vs. Mid West teams, which made it harder for hold off Queen's for the final playoff spot.
  
  
• The schedule is sticking at 28 games. Lakehead and Queen's each posted schedules that had 30 conference games, but the schedule increase didn't get approval.
  

As a personal opinion, the net gain seems to be increasing the integrity of the post-season. There might be some sniping about increasing the size of the playoff tournament, especially after Canada West reduced its from six teams to four. However, the OUA is essentially doing the same thing, getting rid of byes in the post-season that can leave a team sitting around and doing special teams drills for a week.

Meantime, Leger did pass along some recruiting news with a Kingston angle. Stay-at-home defenceman Tyler Hill, who captained the Kingston Kimco Voyageurs team which won the Central Canadian title, is joining the Gee-Gees.

(Thanks to Todd Mathers for the tip. Cross-posted to cisblog.ca.)

Noteworthy

• It's a few days old, but Queen's linebacker Thaine Carter is vowing to play like an angry young man at the Winnipeg Blue Bombers training camp after going in the last round of the draft.
• Point guard Courtnay Pilypaitis, the Ottawa native who led the U of Vermont to the NCAA Tournament, has been named to Canada's women's basketball team for the 2009 World University Games, which begin July 1 in Belgrade, Serbia.
  
  This probably has to be folded into that omnibus post about how badly Canada Basketball is being hosed (by the media, corporate Canada, the federal ministry of sport assuming Canada still has one, and so on), but Canada is travelling with only 10 players. That is like sending a hockey team to the world juniors with only five defencemen.

Mornings with Mr. Canoehead...

It's all raisins off an Oldsmobile, friends ... raisins off an Oldsmobile ... hey, The Tao of Stieb was interviewed by the Las Vegas Sun, awesome.

Former Senators goalie Ray Emery possibly signing with the Philadelphia Flyers and becoming their No. 1 goalie. Rush Limbaugh wants you to know, "What we have here is a little social concern in the NHL. The media has been very desirous that a black goaltender do well. There is a little hope invested in Emery, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of the 2007 Senators team that he didn't deserve. The defense carried that team."

Randy Johnson, who got his first major-league win as a Montreal Expo, going for his 300th against the Washington Nationals. There's a good case to hope that he doesn't get it today in front of a empty stadium in Washington, but gets it in his next start in Arizona, where he used to pitch.

TSN's Rod Black saying, "The Jays have arguably the best hitting in the major leagues" during last night's Angels-Blue Jays game when they are seventh in runs scored in a 14-team league, eighth in home runs and fifth in both on-base and slugging percentages (oh, but first in batting average, love). Granted, everything is an "arguably." Nevertheles, it was a cruel, cruel joke to hear that brilliant bit of misinformation on a night when there was a fellow Napaneean in the broadcast booth. (Avril Lavigne was there.)

The reaction earlier this week to a WNBA team, the Phoenix Mercury, selling sponsorship on their jerseys. Practically every square inch of every professional sports venue in North America is covered in advertising. The second a women's league sells advertising on the jersey, it's considered blasphemy. How dare a league for female athletes say, "Us, too," and try to make a buck. By the way, if you read any of the coverage of the Mercury, you are hereby obligated to watch the WNBA.

The 20th anniversary of opening Rogers Centre being a bigger news story in Toronto than the 10th anniversary of the last game at Maple Leaf Gardens. The latter passed with hardly a peep in February. Typical Toronto. They celebrate a monstrosity and ignore a place which had soul, since being reminded how the Gardens has been left to rot is just too embarrassing.

(Torontoist chronicled how all the tire-kicking in the 1960s and '70s over building a domed stadium that presaged two generations of sports fans being stuck with Rogers Centre. In other words, they could have built a dome in 1965, been hailed as visionaries, then it would have been obsolete by the 1990s, right in time for the retro ballpark craze. Instead, as Dan Shulman put it on Prime Time Sports last night, Southern Ontario sports fans have Rogers Centre for the next "30, 40, 50 years ... no one is building a 40,000-seat baseball stadium in Toronto any time soon.")

Seeing a headline in the Kingston Whig-Standard which has both "Frontenacs" and "major coup," only to find that owner Doug Springer and general mangler (not a typo) Larry Mavety are still running the show.

(The Frontenacs are hosting the OHL all-star game. That's nice.)

The ol' alma mater, Queen's University, killing its homecoming weekend and calling the spring reunion weekend which replaced the best Homecoming weekend in Canada a "success." It's not much of success when it passes without most alumni, including this one, didn't even know it was held.

A little levity, a little Gary and little coming from MLSE

A little levity is always good with regard to the Phoenix Coyotes situation. Seeing Gary Bettman represented by Nathan Thurm, the chain-smoking lawyer character whom Martin Short played on the mid-'80s Saturday Night Live is almost as funny as the commish himselfclaiming the Coyotes "were never in jeopardy."



Meantime, and it's not as if people are unawares about this, but there is nothing-but-nothing coming out of MLSE about the possibilty of a team moving into Southern Ontario.

One would expect that to be the case, of course, and perhaps people who read the business section faithfully would have heard about the following. However, this section from a Phoenix Business Journal profile of Richard Rodier, Jim Balsillie's legal eagle, really shows how defensive MLSE is about the A-word, antitrust.

"At a 2008 sports business conference in Toronto run by then-Anaheim Ducks General Manager Brian Burke, several people in attendance recount a tense moment when Rodier posed an antitrust question to Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment President Richard Peddie at the end of a panel session.

" 'Why, if I’m in the city of Toronto, can’t I watch the Ottawa Senators?' Rodier asked.

" 'I’m not going to debate antitrust law with you,' said Peddie, who did not return calls requesting comment for this story.

"Rodier defended the question last week, saying that it was legitimate. 'To ask a question that makes someone who may be operating outside the law uncomfortable is not in my view a bad thing,' he said."

That can be backed 100 per cent. No doubt a few people have wondered about an antitrust suit against the NHL at some point down the line. A court has found that Major League Baseball's infamous antitrust exemption does not apply to the sale of franchises, so speaking as a layperson, it could be a legal tempest.

Also on this topic, this site's own Andrew Bucholtz was on a conference call where former CFL commish Tom Wright talked about Balsillie's application. Here's Part 1 and Part 2.

That's about it from here. It would be remiss not to pass along something from the article on Rodier that seemed funny, since it furthered the stereotype that all Canadians know each other.

"(Rodier) then went on to the University of Toronto Law School, earning a law degree in 1984 and coming to the Canadian bar in 1986.

"Balsillie graduated from the University of Toronto in 1984 with an undergraduate degree, but Rodier said they didn’t know each other at the time."

The U of T only has 60,000 students. There's a good chance a law student and an undergrad would not be acquainted.

(Pretty please keep in mind a much lazier man was earlier to the game with the Bettman-as-Thurm comparison. Granted, this space has also likened Bettman to the Chip Diller character in National Lampoon's Animal House ("Remain calm! All is well!) and the NHL to Cameron Frye in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.)

Sparing a thought for Joey Votto...

You probably read Joey Votto, the Cincinnati Reds' Canadian first baseman, is on the disabled list with stress-related issues. It's worth passing along what his manager, Dusty Baker, said about the hidden side of sports stardom.

"Sports is one of the few professions where you reach your goal at a very young age ...Most guys reach their goals between their 40s and 50s. Maintaining a balance in your life can be a very tough thing. The game can become all-encompassing, day and night. It wakes you up in the middle of the night. It does me and I'm not even playing."

Votto is the third major-leaguer in two months to need time off for mental health issues, along with St. Louis infielder Khalil Greene and Detroit Tigers left-handed pitcher Dontrelle Willis.

There is no timetable for the 26-year-old Votto's return. What Baker said does call to mind a good piece of advice that should be related to people at that stage of their life: Whatever is stressing you out, please keep in mind that 75% of your life is still ahead of you. It's way too early in the game to worry.

Lost Classic: George Plimpton's 'Open Net' back in print

It always seemed like people weren't aware the late George Plimpton penned a hockey book after attending Boston Bruins training camp as a goaltender and playing in an exhibition game.

Well, good news: Open Net will be back in print in September, along with the late author's four other participatory sports tomes, with identical cover designs (The Bogey Man, Paper Lion, Out Of My League and Shadow Box). Come on, you owe to yourself to read a book that has this description of playing goal:

"With the puck at the other end, it was not unlike (it occurred to me) standing at the edge of a mill pond, looking out across a quiet expanse at some vague activity at the opposite end almost too far to be discernible - could they be bass fishing out there? - but then suddenly the distant, aimless, waterbug scurrying becomes an oncoming surge of movement as everything - players, sticks, the puck - starts coming on a direct line, almost as if a tsunami, that awesome tidal wave of the South Pacific, had suddenly materialized at the far end of the mill pond and was beginning to sweep down toward one."

Presumably, the reason Open Net hasn't endured in memory the same way Plimpton's other books has to do with the fact it was essentially a late-'70s Sports Illustrated magazine article which he fleshed out to book length in 1985. It probably wouldn't have anything to do with hockey fans having very little appetite for an outsider's irreverent take on their sport.

However, the Bruins players accepted Plimpton as one of their own, for the most part. Some of them are still familiar names, since Don Cherry has name-dropping with Stan Jonathan and Wayne Cashman for the past 30 years.

Plimpton's portrayal of Cherry was also a far cry from Grapes' TV persona. Cherry came off as much less of a blowhard, with far less singularity to his personality than his critics and his defenders alike see in him three decades later. It's worth a read, for sure.

Here's what The New York Times had to say when Plimpton's book was published.)

Toronto FC - Vancouver Whitecaps live blog

It's almost time for what could be the crucial match of the Nutrilite Canadian Championship. Both Toronto FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps enter tonight's clash in Vancouver with six points, but Vancouver's played three matches and TFC only two. If Toronto wins or ties, they claim the Voyageurs Cup. For Vancouver to claim the trophy, they have to win tonight and then have Montreal either lose by a small margin or get a result against TFC in the final match. You can check out the full tie-breaking process in Duane's post here. This rivalry's been getting better all the time, so it should be a great match tonight! Join me in the live blog below for more coverage.

A Jay a Day: Adam Dunn is a left-handed thumper, eh

The word has travelled around the block that the Blue Jays would like to get "a thumper" if they can stay in the playoff race.

GM J.P. Ricciardi dropped some hints to Jordan Bastian and FOXSports.com's man on the inside chimed in, "Club officials ... are more apt to pursue a left-handed slugger unless Travis Snider proves to be the answer. The Orioles' Aubrey Huff, Nationals' Nick Johnson and Pirates' Adam LaRoche all could fit for the Jays."

Lefty hitters have accounted for only 23% of the Jays' plate attendance, a far cry from the insanely balanced Tampa Bay Rays lineup. The need for a lefty bat is as obvious as the logic of trying Aaron Hill in the middle of the order, down in the order (Ken Rosenthal mentioned that, too) even if that's probably not happening. Vernon Wells is miscast as a cleanup hitter, as everyone knows. The Jays could better take advantage of Wells' superior baserunning if he was allowed to hit in the 2-hole.

Ken Rosenthal's latest, though, didn't mention the Washington Nationals' Adam Dunn, for reasons which are unclear. (Are riffs on Dunn not liking baseball that much still OK?) Dunn has a big deal ($10 million per), so that might make him off-limits. Anyway, it's a good jumping-off point for a discussion. The point isn't to say who the Jays should get if they're still a game out of the wild card on July 2. It's good to know who is out there.

• Adrian Gonzalez, San Diego: Mention Going, Going Gonzo once just to get it out of your system. The Padres ain't dealing.


• Aubrey Huff, Baltimore: If Huff talk starts to heat up, you will hear ad nauseam that he has always hit well at Rogers Centre (.321/.400/.546 with 14 homers in 73 games) and that he played for Tampa Bay when Jays pitcher Jesse Litsch was a batboy for the then-Devil Rays. That anecdote never gets old.
  
  Huff typically has been a better second-half hitter. The more one thinks of it, the more it might be palatable, although there is the taboo of trading within the division for three months of Aubrey Huff at-bats (he's a free agent after the season).
  
  
• Nick Johnson, Washington: He's an on-base machine with only modest power.


• Adam LaRoche, Pittsburgh: Over the past five years he's on-based .360 and slugged .548 in the second half of the season (sotto vote, in the National League), and like Johnson and Huff he's a free agent. He would not cost an arm and a leg.
  
  
• Jason Giambi, Oakland: Le snark just is be that Giambi oughta be grateful his struggles (.216/.355/.364, just six homers) are coming on a West Coast team which doesn't get much media attention. He's not as low-hanging fruit like David Ortiz.
  
  Giambi's splits are even uglier than sin (the ballpark isn't hurting his numbers, and only two of his six homers have been off righties). He's not necessarily washed up but the A's won't trade him unless he starts to hit (and he has hit .279/.366/.536 at Rogers Centre with 22 homers, more than he's hit anywhere else outside of his home parks.).
  


• Travis Hafner or Victor Martinez, Cleveland: Hey, the nine-games-under-.500 Indians aren't done yet ... wait, they are. However, Hafner is damaged goods and Martinez's flexibility as a catcher-first baseman means he's too valuable to the Clevelanders.
  


• David Ortiz, Red Sox: Just kidding. He's just in here for a cheap segue to Bill Simmons' column on the fall of Big Papi, who fallen into obsolescence faster than the Republican Party.

Damn, the Jays:

• FanGraphs can see four Jays in the All-Star game: Scott Downs, Roy Halladay, Aaron Hill and MAR-co SCU-ta-ro.


• Major reputation points to The Tao of Stieb for its Q&A with Ryan Greene, who covers the Triple-A team in Las Vegas. He had a profile of Travis Snider the other day. The player whom the FAN 590's Mike Toth intimated wasn't coachable seems pretty aware of what he needs to work on:

  "I'd say there was a period of time where I got outside of my approach and got really swing-happy, trying to hit off-speed pitches in the dirt instead of waiting for a fastball ....I think as you go through it and you start to chase those balls and you're not having the success that you want to, you start to try and change things instead of sticking with what you're doing and changing your approach."

  An uneducated guess is Snider doesn't return until after the all-star break.

CHL Playing Russian Roulette with KHL

Yesterday's Kontinental Hockey League (made up of teams from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Latvia) draft provided a few surprises for the North American, and particularly the Kingston hockey scene. The first surprise of course was when the hockey community over here discovered that this draft happened yesterday. In fact the 89th pick in the draft, Taylor Hall, says that he "didn't even know there was a draft." The second surprise for Kingston Frontenac fans came when they saw that Erik Gudbranson had been selected 62nd overall in the draft by Dynamo Moscow. This ending a week in which Gudbranson was called up to a Canadian Men's U-18 training camp as well.

After being drafted by Moscow, Gudbranson immediately confirmed that he plans to be at Frontenac training camp, come the start of the season. Hall will most likely ignore the call as well, opting to stay with Windsor for his last season before the NHL draft. So it looks as if the KHL's first attempt to pry young players away from the CHL, before they are eligible for the NHL draft, will not end well for the new look Russian League. It does however bring up a few interesting questions about the future of the CHL.

Gudbranson and Hall both indicated that impressing NHL scouts in their final season before their draft year, was the main reason they chose to stay in Ontario. The CHL has traditionally been the main route for players to enter the NHL draft. In the 2008 NHL draft twenty out of the thirty players taken in the first round, were taken from CHL teams. However the KHL and several other highly rated European Leagues may be challenging this old system.

Although popular in some countries like Sweden, and Russia the European Leagues receive next to nothing with respect to coverage in North America. In fact the most anyone ever hears about these leagues over here is during the Spengler Cup. On the other hand the CHL gets lots of coverage because it boasts "the next generation of NHL players". CHL attendances often shoot up when players like Tavares and in the past Crosby come to town. Local interest increases, as does national interest. Rogers Sportsnet often shows games featuring high profile players, and other sports stations give ample time on hockey shows to CHL prospects. The reason the CHL has this pull, is because of the high profile prospects that play in the league. European hockey leagues seem to be out to take away this pull and give North American hockey fans extra incentive to follow their leagues.

The CHL is a junior league, and a league in which most of the players will end up playing hockey as a past time. The KHL offers a very different proposition to young NHL draft prospects. It is a professional league, where young players will get exposure to a professional environment, and possibly higher level hockey. The biggest pull of the KHL to these young future-NHL players is the lower age restriction. To be drafted in the NHL the minimum age is eighteen. Gudbranson and Hall are both two young for this year's NHL draft, but both were selected in the KHL draft at the minimum age of seventeen. The KHL is trying to become the final step for junior players looking to get to the NHL.

The problem is until players start leaving to the KHL, the majority of scouts and media attention will stay in North America. So the players who are almost certainly NHL bound like Gudbranson and Hall won't want to take risks before their draft year. They are doing everything they can to ensure they are taken as high as possible in the NHL draft. The target of the KHL should be fringe players. The players who need that extra boost to make the NHL. These fringe players are the ones who are more likely to take that extra risk. The exposure to a professional environment may give these players that extra boost, and if they struggle at least they have a future in professional hockey even if it is not in the NHL. If these players start to make the jump to the KHL, other more established players may head to the KHL.

These new prospects would force the North American hockey crowd to start following and keeping tabs on the KHL. Although the limit on five foreigners per team in the KHL is not likely to change anytime soon, increasing the quality of these five players will attract this media attention to the domestic players as well. This is exactly what the KHL, and most European Leagues are looking for,but it also would represent all of the CHL's worst fears.

NOTE: Zach Kassian of the Peteborough Petes was also taken in the KHL draft 56th overall.

In the name of the father: Dexter Manley II, a Ticat

Presumably the Hamilton Tiger-Cats signed Dexter Manley II for purely PR reasons, as in pass rush.

It speaks to the burden of legacy, how what happens to us is what first happened to our parents. There is an obvious hook with Manley the second trying signing with a team in the league where Manley the first tried to revive his football career during his long slide down from NFL glory in Washington to stints in prison and medical problems. He plays the same position, too, defensive end. (Mister Irrelevant joked he should be signed by the Washington NFL team.) You'll remember that it was kind of a running gag in the CFL, since the elder Dexter Manley went wherever Bernie and Lonie Glieberman owned a team, first Ottawa, then Shreveport, Louisiana.

ESPN's Tom Friend did a writeup a few years ago on the younger Manley when he was playing in junior college. This was before he passed through two college teams, Oregon and a small school, West Texas A&M. All throughout is kind of a theme of someone resisting his athletic destiny, plus it had an Ottawa reference!

"In 1992, Big Dexter signed with the CFL's Ottawa Rough Riders, and he invited Little Dexter to the press conference. The boy was in his bow tie, as usual, and afterward, he and Big Dexter raced each other in the empty stadium. That really was their last time running together on a football field."

As Friend related, Dexter Manley II played barely any football as a youth, instead focusing on hoops as wide-bodied, undersized power forward. He was playing junior college basketball in Southern California when some coaches basically said that with his genes, he was in the wrong sport:

"A couple of them had witnessed his (Charles) Barkley act on the court, and when they realized who he was, they asked him why he was playing a soft sport like basketball. 'Football's in your blood,' they said. They told him to come out for spring practice, that D1 scouts would see his speed and drool. A scholarship? His mom would love that. She worked at a Chico's in Atlanta, struggling to pay his juco tuition, and his dad hadn't made a child support payment since 1999.

"But more than that, football felt like home. He'd spent his life trying not to be Big Dexter, but he says the sound of cleats on concrete at spring practice made the hair on his neck stand on end. He'd hear one of his dad's favorite Luther Vandross songs and get emotional. 'I kind of forgave him,' he says.

"And get a load of what happened next: the coaches let Little Dexter Manley line up at defensive end. 'That's where I wanted to play," he says. 'If I was going to do it, I was going to do it all the way. I did it for my dad.' "

That part about tearing up when hearing a Luther Vandross song was jarring. Were this the movies, Manley would have made his peace with what Friend described as "carrying his father's demons." He seems to have the physical specs to play defensive end (6-foot-2, 280 lbs., timed at 4.6 seconds in the 40), but so do a lot of other guys coming out of a couple dozen other colleges. West Texas A&M, where he spent two injury-plagued seasons, isn't exactly a football factory. You know how some schools are known as Linebacker U or Quarterback U? West Texas A&M's football team could be Pro Wrestler U.

This is being written without knowing much about Dexter Manley II and how he can adapt to the CFL. Three-down football is not for everyone, especially with the adjustment defensive players have to make to lining up a yard off the ball. There is also the adjustment from playing at a U.S. school, where football is king, to playing in Canada, where it's a niche sport.

It's not as if the signing will set off a media circus, since Manley is just another rookie trying to make the team. The Ticats will probably try to shield him from the spotlight until he's assured a spot on the team. However, he has the pedigree and defensive ends who have played in Canada are somewhat in demand in the NFL, between former B.C. Lions sackmeister Cameron Wake signing a big deal with the Miami Dolphins and San Diego drafting Western's Vaughn Martin. Friend said of Manley's attempts to play football, "He's a bright kid. It's not too late."

The question is whether that still stands.

(It looks like he can get after the passer, but that clip is from a game three seasons ago.)

(Late) morning with Mr. Canoehead...

Stuff that should bounce off you like raisins off an Oldsmobile ...

Wondering how new Montreal Canadiens coach Jacques Martin will handle the insatiable Quebec media after being in a southern U.S. city and big-small-town Ottawa for so many years. Roy Mlakar won't be there to ride herd.

Hockey fans who complain "superstars get all the calls" in the NBA when the NHL did not suspend Penguins star Evgeni Malkin for starting a fight in the last five minutes of the game. Jeff Blair's suggested title for Colin Campbell: "NHL Vice-President and Director Of Figuring Out What’s A Cheap Shot." The greasiness was compounded by the fact the NHL announced Malkin was off the hook via a press release at 11:48 p.m. (literally, the 11th hour.)

Michael Vick being a contentious issue, while there is a barely a peep about current Atlanta Falcons player Quinn Ojinnaka being allowed to play in the NFL after he allegedly "spat at his bride, tossed her down some stairs and then threw her out of their Georgia home in the wee hours."

What Vick did was carried out over a number of years, but it's not as if striking a woman is completely random. Take it away, Bud Poliquin:

"What Vick, Ojinnaka's former Atlanta teammate, did to become a pariah will forever and properly be considered heinous. Training dogs to fight, and then executing those who don't win, is certainly reprehensible . . . and Vick has the shattered life, career and finances to prove it.

"But at the end of the day, shouldn't battering people be more prominently placed in the great photo of disgraces than any act of abusing (and, yes, killing) dogs? And isn't battering people made even more abominable when the alleged batterer is a 6-foot-5, 305-pound man, and the identified batteree is a woman of significantly less height and ballast?

The knowledge that HBO, which passed on Mad Men and Breaking Bad, has given Joe Buck his own show.



Conan O'Brien debuting tonight as host of The Tonight Show. The commitment NBC has made to Conan is truly amazing. They've given him the best lead-in that petty jealousies can buy.

(Lord, please forgive anyone whose reaction to seeing Jay Leno sign off last Friday night was to scream at the TV, "The show should have gone to Letterman in the first place!" The line of succession should have gone Carson-Letterman-Conan. It's a pain that never ends.

It's a sin to say that about Leno. Like Stewie Griffin once said, the fact is the man is out there every night with fresh material and he's charming.

Last but not least, having to be the guy who makes this joke: "Kingston Frontenacs defenceman Erik Gudbranson was taken in the Continental Hockey League draft today. Playing in Russia would be an easy switch since he's already in junior hockey's Siberia." So much for trying to quit making Frontenacs jokes.

(Kingston's own Taylor Hall was taken too. Three OHLers were taken and two had Kingston ties. Crazy.)

Bleeding Tricolour: Gaels' Allin headed to Alouettes training camp

A fun fact about Queen's Golden Gaels defensive back Jimmy Allin attending the Montréal Alouettes' upcoming rookie camp: It's a first step to competing for a spot against a guy whose record he broke.

Allin, as you might remember, set a record in the shuttle run at the CFL combine in March. The previous mark was held by current Alouettes safety Mathieu Proulx, which is kind of noteworthy (or not).

Speaking as a Gaels supporter, one has to have clear eyes. This could be seen as somewhat of a first step for Allin.

The Corbyville, Ont., native is headed to rookie camp as undrafted free agent who slipped through the CFL Canadian College Draft. That was perhaps since, as one can only assume he's sick of being reminded, he's undersized at 5-foot-10 and 170 lbs. However, Allin has some freaky athleticism, and he's also a very intelligent player (he took Life Sciences at Queen's, which is a bit more rigorous than English, eh).

The bottom line is Allin is going in as a bit of an underdog story, but there should be confidence he can at least earn a longer look from the CFL. To see him play is to know he's a unique talent. Queen's has a good track record with producing linemen, running backs and receivers who have rated a look from the pros, but Gaels d-backs getting such an opportunity has been fewer and farther between. Go get 'em, Jim.

(Cross-posted to cisblog.ca.

CBC Sports: The sticks are composite; Cherry's entrance was wooden

Don't ask how CBC Sports can reconcile Don Cherry ripping Alex Ovechkin for doing stuff that's "not part of hockey" and then waste airtime on something that's not part of hockey. At least Ovie's shenanigans are mostly kept to the regular season.



Far be it to say last night's Dos Equis parody was a bad idea, executed very poorly. It was actually a good diversionary tactic. It's more water cooler-worthy than Cherry's "claim Saturday that hockey players 'do not take drugs,' " (Chris Zelkovich, Toronto Star), which was either blissful ignorance or grossly irresponsible.

It was also pretty much exactly what Jeff Blair predicted would happen when news came out last week about a guy who'd been busted for selling steroids claiming he sold them to Washington Capitals players.

Anyway, here's what Blair said last week:

".. it will be fun to see how the NHL turtles in response to a report out of Central Florida that a man is claiming he's sold steroids to members of the Washington Capitals and Nationals. This is how baseball was ultimately outed. This is how the code of silence or more likely lack of interest or moral ambiguity on the part of those of us who covered the game was broken and the whole steroid mess unravelled. Considering how much of the stuff that goes on the ice smacks of good old-fashioned 'roid rage, my guess is there's some fire behind this smoke.

It would not come as a shock. Hockey players would not be any more immune to juicing up than their counterparts in baseball, basketball, soccer, football, mixed martial arts, cycling, the Olympics, and on, and on. The NHL doesn't drug-test in the off-season. There is plausible deniability, though:

"Al Strachan topped (Cherry) a period later. After blasting those who say hockey players just haven't been caught, he added, 'Using that logic, I guess, Mother Teresa was a mass murderer. They just never caught her killing people.' Ron MacLean rightly called that 'ridiculous.' "

The NHL, give it credit, seems aware that the public wants to see leagues at least say they're trying to get rid of the scourge of steroids, even though they help make it possible for players to put on such amazing performances over an eight-month-long season.

Anyway, back to the Dos Equis parody. Not to be Buzz Killington on this, but one would think one of those 553 middle managers at the CBC could have found a voice-over person who at least remotely sounded like the narrator in those commercials.

Those commercials are damn entertaining, but people are aware that they're a rip-off of something else, right?

"Improbable one-liners describing an allegedly interesting man flooded pop culture in 2005, with 'Chuck Norris Facts.' Chuck Norris can kill two stones with one bird. He sweats Gatorade. His tears cure cancer ... Too bad he's never cried. Etc., etc., etc.

"Some of those one liners, I have to say, are funny. But the larger theme under which they are generated is extremely tired. Chuck Norris Facts were spun off, and in some cases stolen from, the Vin Diesel Fact Generator (which also generated facts about Mr. T And Bob Saget). And the Vin Diesel Fact Generator was clearly a rip off of the 1996 Saturday Night Live sketch, Bill Brasky, which involved a couple of alcoholics sitting around reminiscing about their superhuman friend. Bill Brasky inhaled a seagull, scissor kicked Angela Landsbury, and sweated Gatorade, by the way."

In other words, Hockey Night in Canada was way late to the party with Cherry's entrance. Forgive them, though. Look at how long it took to face facts that Jim Hughson should supplant Bob Cole as their No. 1 play-by-play man. As a great man once said, that's the CBC for you!

Scott Harrington did go south — southwest Ontario

Apologies for having two junior hockey posts in one day, but it didn't escape noticeKingston native Scott Harrington attended a London Knights mini-camp. Presumably, he spent most of his time in the city checking out the girls the library at Western.

There is no begrudging Harrington and his people being disingenuous ahead of the OHL draft. He's a 16-year-old with a shot at the NHL The real beef is everyone — players, parents, agents, GMs, owners — is lying without consequences. That's a great lesson being imparted.

If you no rules, you have no game, it's that simple. A top prospect and his family should have some say in where he plays hockey at age 16. A commenter on one OHL forum nailed it — "Either you think that players should be slaves and report to whatever lame team drafts them, or you think that teams should be held accountable and stop running programs that people don't want to report to."

In the middle, there is a difference, though, between concerns about schooling and playing close to home and just doing it because of good old-fashioned under-the-table payola. There's also a difference between having a few teams you won't report to and gaming the system to go to one team.

It is noteworthy that one paper in an OHL market did say it's time to reform the draft. That was nice to see. (It would have been nicer if there hadn't been seven paragraphs spent on what Eric Lindros did 20 years ago; get over it.) That's neither here nor there. Take is away, Ady Vos:

The practice of players dictating where they will play still goes on. And it's wrong.

The latest example came just last month when the London Knights selected Kingston's Scott Harrington at the OHL Priority Draft.

Ranked by everyone as one of the top two players available, 18 teams bypassed the 16-year-old defenceman before the perennial powerhouse Knights called his name at the 19th position.

Eighteen teams decided to pass on a player scouts considered to be a sure thing.

Boy what a surprise. Or was it?

Harrington had been telling anyone who would listen that he planned to play college hockey in the United States. The OHL wasn't an option.

'Don't waste a pick on me, I'm going south of the border' was Harrington's repeated message to OHL teams.

That's great. U. S. scholarships are an avenue chosen by many players. But once a player declares he's going south, he should go south. Eliminate his name from the draft eligible list.

Mere minutes after the Knights made the announcement Harrington and his camp said they would at least listen to what London had to say.

Of course they did.

This sure smells like the two parties had an agreement before the draft.

While most teams didn't want to risk a first round pick on a player who said he wouldn't report, the Knights did just that and now it appears to be paying off.

Of course both sides will deny there was a deal in place before the draft.

... If Harrington does in fact play in London this year, the other OHL teams should file a protest. Players deceiving teams about their intentions shouldn't be allowed the privilege of playing in it. It makes a farce out of the draft.

Hey, it doesn't make a farce out of draft day any more than The Royal Mavesty (Rhymes With...) typically does.

Point being, though, fans are supporting the league on the presumption it's a fair fight and it clearly isn't. What goes on in the OHL shows clear disregard for the fans' trust. That's why what Harrington, et al., did sticks in people's craw, even if they understand why a player has to protect his self-interest. Meantime, it would be nice if the more major media stopped acting like nothing is amiss, when this clearly doesn't sit well with people.

The empathy is with fans, not the franchises. What's to stop Kingston Frontenacs owner Doug Springer from doing what London's Dale and Mark Hunter are clearly doing?

Related:
Time for OHL to clean up draft (Ady Vos, Belleville Intelligencer, May 27)

Tennis ethics are different when a Williams sister is affected

Your guess is as good as any how the wire-service reporter could get that the ball "appears to glance first off (Maria José) Martínez Sánchez's right forearm, then off her racket, before going over the net."



It quite something how the reaction could be so varied, when it's that bloody obvious that Serena Williams got hosed on that call. It's also beside the point if it did hit her opponent's racket, since the point should have been decided as soon as the ball hit her arm.

It's not clear what ism is really most at play, other than the media's need to create conflict when there really isn't one and pander to the knee-jerkers.

Yahoo! Sports attempted to characterize it as "a tough one," when it was not:

"If, as Williams claims, Martinez Sanchez knew the ball hit her and didn't say anything, it's not honest, but it's not an egregious violation of tennis ethics either. You can see where Serena is coming from, but what did she want Martinez Sanchez to do, overrule the chair umpire?

"Tennis players aren't responsible for their own calls."

However, over in London where they know their tennis and speak really good European, that's not how it's being seen. The Sunday Times believes there should be an investigation, while a lot of people here are saying in not so direct language, "Shut up, Serena."

"When Serena Williams accuses her Spanish opponent Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of cheating, then things need to be investigated. After all this is the sport where players admit that the ball bounced twice on their side of the net and the French Open is the place where competitors scuff out ball marks on the clay when they know they are out, to save the umpire the task of getting out of his chair to invigilate.

"... Those with a long memory immediately cited the case of Ken Flach in the 1985 US Open doubles final when he and Robert Seguso confronted Yannick Noah and Henri Leconte. Flach wore his hair stylishly shoulder long in those days and a drive from the French duo hit his flowing locks.

"Noah, very much a man of peace since his retirement, was incensed but Flach insisted he had no idea whether the ball touched his hair or not which quite conceivably have been the case. Long hair has no nerve endings in the follicles but anyone who has been dealt a heavy blow on the wrist of forearm will know what’s hit them."

The point is the obvious. There's a long history in tennis of players owning up to it when an incorrect call went in their favour. Even people who only pay attention during the Grand Slam events probably remember the story of what happened at the 1982 French Open, when Mats Wilander overruled the official on match point vs. José-Luis Clerc (and Wilander went on to win the replayed point and won the tournament).

However, suddenly when it happens to a outspoken player who is African-American, suddenly that's never happened. That's what you get when you have a media that is overly opinionated and undereducated.

Related:
Cheating and Racism at Roland Garros: Ahhhh, It Must Be Spring in Paris (Sports On My Mind)

Zen Dayley: About that college pitcher who threw 12 hitless innings

Texas Longhorns pitcher Austin Wood was so awesome the state capital has been renamed after him.

It's been Deadspinned. Nevertheless, it is impossible to resist passing along word about the longest college baseball game ever player, a 25-inning marathon between Texas and Boston College in a NCAA Regional game on Saturday Wood (pictured), Texas' senior closer, threw 12 1/3 innings of no-hit ball on a night when the game-time temperature was 95 F. He came on in the seventh inning and was pulled in the 20th after Boston College finally reached him for two hits. Austin Dicharry threw 5 2/3 innings of one-hit ball to earn credit for the 3-2 win.

"With the game tied 2-2 in the 20th inning, the Longhorns finally decided it was time to lift Wood, who was visibly trying to stretch out because of cramps in his leg. But when he left the field, the 5,000 or so fans still at UFCU Disch-Falk Field gave him a standing ovation. Even the Boston College players got into the act." — Rivals.com

That's pretty cool, for lack of a more profound word, to see that kind of sportsmanship.

Wood threw 169 pitches (John Gibbons joke goes here), 120 for strikes, fanning 14 Boston College hitters. Guys on basketball message boards were hanging on every out. Rivals.com's Kendall Rogers called Woods' performance "one of the best ever by a UT pitcher," and before you spout back, "Gee, ya think?" please keep in mind that Roger Clemens is a Texas alumni.

The game was played a couple thousand miles away, in another world, really (Texas), but it was easy to imagine what it must have been like. It scarcely matters that college baseball, at least to a Canadian, has always seemed like a foreign curiosity.

There's that unsettling ping when someone makes contact with those metal bats that help entire teams hit .340 and lead to games being decided by football scores such as 19-10. That backdrop throws Wood's performance into even sharper relief. Throwing 13 shutout innings in high-run conditions such as that is like throwing back-to-back no-hitters at the new Yankee Stadium, on consecutive days.

Regardless, Austin Wood gave Seamheads everywhere something to marvel over. He's not a big-time prospect. He was a 36th-round draft choice by the Houston Astros last spring. Left unsaid is that major-league clubs are often wary of pitchers from top-ranked college teams. A big reason is that a head baseball coach (not manager, what's up with that?) will do something like letting a young pitcher throw close to 200 pitches in a weekend, since they put winning ahead of the health of young arms. (Wood threw 30 pitches in Texas' win Friday.) Who knows, perhaps Wood's performance shouldn't even be celebrated, but criticized.

Meantime, as Chris Lynch pointed out at A Large Regular, people should not forget this was made possible by some great pitching by Boston College. Reliever Mike Belfiore pitched the equivalent of a complete-game shutout, entering in the ninth and coming out after the 18th with the score still tied 2-2. He struck out 11 with no bases on balls.

However, there are times when you have to let up a little on the wonder-why and just get into the spirit of the thing. It was such a game that Boston College's head baseball coach, Mik Aoki, didn't even seem too bummed that his team lost. It was as if he realized a 25-inning game was bigger than anyone on the field.

Frontenacs: One of these days — pow, right to the Moon, Springer!

A discussion on NHL Home Ice about Kingston Frontenacs centre Nathan Moon spoke to the poor job junior hockey's longest-running gong show has done with player development.

Russ Cohen and Shane Malloy, during The Hockey Prospect show on Saturday, mentioned Moon while talking about Pittsburgh Penguins prospects.

Very little would come as a surprise to those who follow the Fronts closely, or are familiar with how general mangler (not a typo) Larry Mavety has kept the franchise in the stone age when it comes to nurturing talent, Doug Gilmour's presence as coach be damned.

Malloy: "He (Moon) makes nice passes, he does some offensive things, but he needs to learn play away from the puck. I'd like to see more intensity and dedication, see him win more of the 1-on-1 battles."

Cohen: "You do wonder how long he has been getting by on that really good offensive ability ... I know he had averaged a point a game the past two seasons, but you have to take those numbers with a grain of salt. He needs to be able to show a better all-around game." (Emphasis mine.)

Each stressed Gilmour's coaching could be a boon to Moon's development. That optimism is certainly appreciated, since it's an article of faith it will get better in Gilmour's first full season, since hey, it can't get worse than 50 losses in 68 games.

(Granted, one can hear the spin-doctoring from nine months away. It will be framed as a great triumph if Kingston merely makes the playoffs next season. This means ignoring that 80% of the teams in the OHL get in and owner Doug Springer said at the start of last season their goal was "top four" in the Eastern Conference.)

By most accounts Moon improved during the second half of last season, particularly after being made for a healthy scratchy for a game just after Christmas. The hope here is he'll blossom, although Cohen noted that he probably needs to be in a different NHL organization than the Penguins, who have Jared Staal as their flippin' third-line centre.

Point being, though, what Cohen and Malloy said about Moon's flaws was a familiar refrain to anyone who's had to suffer His Royal Mavesty's creaky act in Eastern Ontario for the past two decades. The man's concept of hockey was hermetically sealed some time around 1989.

That explains his line of thinking, so-called, that "we need goal scorers" when even an ass-talker can figure out an offensive defenceman is the biggest difference-maker in the OHL. Hockey has changed from a freelancing, offensive game to a more structured two-way game. Pure goal scorers, the Tim Kerr types, are about as pertinent to a struggling team as tits on a motorcycle.

Gilmour seems to get that the Fronts need to build from the defensive end. However, it will take years to undo the damage Mavety has inflicted, yet he's still there since Springer in his infinite wisdom has given him a new four-year contract.

It's pretty clear what is implied when learned hockey minds are wondering, as Cohen did about Moon, if an 18-year-old NHL-drafted player is just getting by on natural ability. It ties in with a previous point that the Frontenacs are, to bogart Bucholtz's phrasing, "Unimaginative talent evaluators (who) tend to go with guys who are generally thought to be good by the scouting community." They're slave to orthodoxy when it comes who to take and don't do enough to help them get better once they're there.

(To go back to that point about early-year bias in hockey scouting, Nathan Moon's birthday is January 4. Josh Brittain, the 2006 first-rounder who was traded away last fall, was born one day earlier, Jan. 3, 1990.)

To use an academic analogy, it's as if Kingston, thanks to teams drafting in reverse order of their finish in the standings, gets the players who, as 16-year-old midget players, could get "soft A's" without studying much. Unfortunately, under Professor Mav, they don't learn how to work.

Relatively few players can pull "soft A's" at the OHL level. Detroit Red Wings forward Dan Cleary, for several years, is an example of Mav's hockey machine. Cleary got by on ability when he played for Mavety in Belleville in the 1990s, but he floundered in the NHL until he was 27. It's not a coincidence that he struggled after spending three years for the losingest coach/GM in OHL history. Cleary found his way to a progressive NHL organization, eventually, and his career has taken off.

Meantime, the Frontenacs' former rivals down down Highway 401 seem to be able to find puck-chasers whose grades, to torture the analogy, were "good enough to get in." Cases in point from the Bulls would include Shawn Matthias, Mike Murphy, P.K. Subban and Eric Tangradi. None of them was a first-round pick in the OHL draft, but all are now rising prospects in a NHL's teams system. OHL Prospects also deems the Bulls to have had the league's best defensive forward, Cory Tanaka, whom Duane paid homage to a few months ago. Tanaka should get a shot at the pros.

The Bulls were able to realize if you took a 75% student who studied hard, they could be just as good. Instead of soft A's, they got "Hard B's."

Gilmour told Rogers Sportsnet on Friday that he has two years left on his contract. There's no getting past the fact Mavety is still around the organization. The game passed him by before most of the Frontenacs' current players were even born, yet Springer keeps him around instead of surrounding Gilmour with people whose experience and understanding are actually relevant.

It has been 556 days since Doug Springer promised to do "whatever it takes" to bring a winner to Kingston.

(Meantime, this is inside baseball, but do you think the Frontenacs website has any news about defenceman Erik Gudbranson, an Ottawa native, being invited to Canada's under-18 selection camp? Don't kid yourself. The Belleville Bulls, however, had a mention of Shawn Lalonde and Stephen Silas being invited to Hockey Canada camps.

Point being, this organization is no closer to learning how to do right by players just because it has a celebrity coach. Not to spread outhouse graffiti, but this might be the greatest message board comment ever left about the Kingston organization:

"Many years ago, a player was traded from Plymouth to Kingston. When the player left Plymouth, he was allowed to take his skates, his sticks, warm ups, pads, gloves, etc. Several years later, he was traded from Kingston. He had to return all of his equipment, right down to his jock strap. If you are a player, do you want to go to Kingston knowing that they are too cheap to let a player keep his jock? Or knowing that you may get a used jock? News of such cheapness gets around. Agents — oops, I mean advisers — let prospects know that some teams are better than others to play for.