The laughingstock Lions... but be careful

Two pieces of writing relating to the Detroit Lions asbatively posilutely must be shared on the eve of Christmas Eve.

Dan Wetzel at Yahoo! Sports went back-to-back on the Lions on Sunday and Monday. The second is the real honey peach, chastising NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for not getting involved when a member team franchise decides to field something less than a pro team.

Kissing Suzy Kolber has its take posted.

The best of Wetzel:

"... football in Detroit is dead until there’s a change at the top.

"Goodell is doing the league and its fans a disservice by allowing such mismanagement. The Lions do not have NFL-caliber players or NFL-caliber coaches. It isn’t an NFL organization.

"He needs to step in and if not move Ford out, then at least demand he accepts league assistance to help the franchise become legitimate.

"...If Goodell can get tough with players for off-field misbehavior, then why not an owner for prolonged on-field crimes against the sport?

As for KSK, it has to be read in its entirety.

This is where I fail. No doubt, given the opportunity and the forum, I'd just say something sarcastic about how being 0-15 cannot be any more ignominious than fumbling seven times in a home game with the division title on the line, when you play in a domed stadium.

It is still win and you're in for the Minnesota Vikings. They should be able to beat the New York Giants, who have nothing at stake Sunday, and the Chicago Bears might have trouble on the road with the Houston Texans. For pity's sake, the Bears could barely muster 200 yards' offence at home against a depleted defence last night, yet won thanks to out-and-out nincompoopery (two missed field goals and a fumbled point) and some curious turns of fate. It serves any Vikes fan right for putting any hopes on the Green Bay Packers.

Related:
Detroit debacle must be stopped (Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports)
You suck. Now start acting like it (Kissing Suzy Kolber)

Stars protect world's children from menace Avery

You know what I love about this column by Kelly Hrudey? Its balance and mature tone. After all, it's not often that sports fans are granted the opportunity to read prose as eloquent as what Hrudey provides here

(Sean Avery) is a master manipulator of people and his “act” is just so transparent.
“Please forgive me, oh woe is me. Oh, boo hoo, I asked for forgiveness, I tried to apologize to everyone.”

Now, that's ritin'.

*cough*

So, yeah. Dallas cut ties with Avery today. They are going to eat his salary, electing not to seek a legal action to null the contract (likely because they would have their ass handed to them by any second year law student if they tried).

They say they will try and move him after he completes a program that is widely being described as anger management. What anger management has to do with someone acting like a frat boy is unclear, but that's what's going down.

But, Dallas isn't out to get Avery

This was not a witch hunt. We understand Sean had problems, people are human, we don't want to ruin Sean or his career

That would be Brett Hull speaking, a man that may have gotten himself in trouble a few times in his career for things he said. No, it's no witch hunt. It's far less rational than that.

I beat this to death last week, but it should be repeated. Sean Avery saying "sloppy seconds" = stupid and really crass. He's probably a bit of an ass. I'm not sure I'd want to have a beer with him. But, it was far less problematic than much of the violent behaviour that happens pretty much every week in the NHL. It certainly wasn't even close to being as bad as what Todd Bertuzzi did and the hockey world practically tripped over itself to forgive him (Steve Moore's the bad guy there, you know).

If the Dallas Stars want to screw themselves by eating a $15.5 million contract, that's their choice. It's a staggeringly bad choice, but it's theirs to make. If the NHL blacklists Avery -- if it truly colludes to ensure that he never plays again -- it will deserve whatever legal action that results.

Related: With his trademark understated, sharp logic Mirtle shows us why it isn't Avery's fault the Stars suck.

Able-bodied, liberal white guilt rules day in Lou Marsh voting

Of the 10 or so women in the world that race wheelchairs at an elite level, there is little doubt that Chantal Petitclerc is the best.

She's won 14 gold medals at the Paralympic Games, including five in Beijing. She will undoubtedly inspire the millions of Canadian girls that dream of growing up to be wheelchair racers.

What's that? You mean no one dreams of growing up to be a wheelchair racer and that Chantal Petitclerc competes in a sport that is not only limited to those with a physical disability, but is also limited to those that have a certain kind of physical disability. Suggesting that there are 10 women competing at an elite level is being liberal. It's probably more like three or four. The reason Petitclerc won so many distances (100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and 1,500m) is because there are too few people competing for athletes to specialize.

If that's the case, you might ask, how is it possible that Petitclerc has been named the winner of the Lou Marsh award as Canada's top athlete? Good question.

Look, Petitclerc deserves our respect. To use the old cliche, she made an awfully lot of lemon aid from that lemon. Good for her, really. She deserves all the respect and, more importantly, the title of athlete. But, through no fault of her own,she absolutely, without question, does not deserve to be called Canada's best athlete. Unless you really think that she has accomplished more than Steve Nash, Sidney Crosby, Julian de Guzman or Christine Sinclair -- athletes that excel in sports that are played by millions -- have.

Petitclerc's story is going to warm the hearts of a lot of non sports fans today. Ahh, isn't that swell that the crippled lady won the award. See kids, you can do anything that you put your mind to. But, it does a disservice to the award. It should be about celebrating those that transcend both their sport and this country. Petitclerc simply doesn't. She is an athlete that pushed herself, yes, but the best in the country? Please. This is a feel good story (a condescending one at that) that insults the intelligence of all thinking sports fans in Canada.

Disagree? It's dgrollins@gmail.com.

Get out and vote! I guess. If you want to, anyway.

No, you really should. Not that anyone will judge if you don't feel particularly inspired. Speaking as a reformed political junkie, I fully understand the desire to throw them all under the bus.

But, it's important and since policy has been in short supply in this New Kind of Strong Anyone But Harper Dion's Not a Leader Ontario NDP No you suck campaign....

Below the jump a summery of the Liberal, Green, Conservative and NDP platforms on sport and recreation.


The Conservatives are short on details, and are the only party that doesn't include sports and recreation policy with the health care platform--the CPC seems to view sport in the same way Reagan era Republicans did. It's a form of culture and nation building--something to get the juices flowing and the flags waved.

The platform reads:
A re-elected Conservative Government led by Stephen Harper will continue support for sport and amateur fitness in Canada, at both the elite and recreational levels. We will also enhance the Children's Fitness Tax Credit by making it refundable.

As said, a little short on the details. However, I'm sure a Conservative candidate would tell you that the government just did increase spending on Own the Podium by $10 million and that Stephen Harper really likes hockey. He's a Leafs fan. The opposition will tell you that the Conservatives aren't really offering anything of substance and that, other than a tax cut aimed at the middle class, they haven't really delivered over the past two years. Also, they would suggest, Stephen Harper is evil.

The Liberals don't offer a lot more detail than the Conservatives, although they do throw a number out--$3 billion. Tying the increased spending into the promotion of a healthier society, the Liberals seem to be suggesting that the majority of that money would go to improve sport infrastructure.

The platform reads:
...At least $3 billion for Sports and Recreational Facilities because an active
society is a healthier society and Canada must renew and expand its arenas
and other leisure facilities.

I'm sure the Conservatives would tell you that the Liberals had a decade plus in power where they paid little attention to the file. The Liberals would counter that that was then, under the leader with the funny accent (in either language) that they don't talk about, and that Stéphane
Dion really likes hockey. He's a Habs guy, clearly.

The NDP, always big fans of detailed policy, are a little more detailed in their plans. Again tying it into health care policy, the dippers are committing 1 per cent of federal health care spending to sport and recreation. Although they don't mention elite sport at all...they don't mention elite sport at all. The party's entire focus is on improving access to recreation for, (sigh), everyday working families.

The platform:
Dedicate one per cent of the Health Canada budget to physical fitness and amateur sports promotion, including:

Investing in the development of more community centres, seniors centres, recreational facilities and playing fields.

Launch a federal Determinants of Health Initiative with emphasis on clean air, safe water, reducing poverty and improving children's health and nutrition. We will ban trans fats and expand other initiatives to promote healthy foods and healthy eating, including:

Addressing the crisis of childhood obesity by implementing a pan-Canadian strategy, and limiting the exposure of children to "junk food" promotion.

Ensure that all infants in Canada have access to hearing testing, in cooperation with the provinces and territories.

Increase support for provincial and territorial health initiatives, including the Cancer Control System.

Invest in trails associations across the country, joining forces with Canadians who are blazing new trails by walking, cycling, wheeling, skiing and running their way to healthier, more active lifestyles.

The Grits and Tories will tell you that the NDP doesn't have a chance in hell of forming the government anyway, so they can promise anything they want (the Libs will have less of an argument about comparative relevancy than the CPC does) and they might point out that there is little for Canadian Olympic athletes in that platform. The NDP will counter by suggesting that there platform is the only one that focus on everyday needs of Canadians and that the creation of more bike paths is a unique green initiative that is overlooked by the traditional ruling parties. Also, Jack Layton really likes hockey. He cheers for the Parkdale Flames atom girls.

The Greens aren't going to get elected, but they do have a nice, detailed policy platform that addresses both elite and recreational sport. Here it is:

* Promote a broad-based national program of active living as a prescription for better health and lower health care costs, to be delivered in partnership with provincial, municipal and non-governmental bodies to achieve the goal agreed to by all ministers responsible for physical activity across Canada of increasing physical activity by 10% over the next five years.
* Introduce a national standard of daily, quality participation in physical activity in schools, colleges and universities to combat the epidemic of youth obesity.
* Make a strategic investment through Health Canada of $500 million over five years to aggressively address inactivity and obesity.
* Re-introduce a national school-based fitness-testing program.
* Promote the “Walking School Bus,” as developed by the Toronto Atmospheric Fund, in which adult volunteers supervise neighbourhood children walking to school thereby reducing pollution, improving fitness, and promoting community street safety.
* Endorse and promote the Olympic Movement’s Agenda 21 for Sport, which advocates sport and recreation management practices that are sustainable and encourages sustainable practices at all sports events and facilities.
* Establish an Olympic Spending Accountability Act, to ensure the effective long-term use of taxpayers dollars provided to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
* Support the development of high-performance athletes both by encouraging broad-based participation in sport, and by contributing to the provision of essential facilities, coaching and medical support for high-performance athletes, as outlined in the 2003 Canadian Sport Policy.
* Structure the spending for sports to ensure there is a practical progression of long-term financial support for sport at all levels in the sports continuum.
* Establish a Canadian Sports Spending Accountability Act, to ensure the effective long-term use of taxpayers dollars provided to high performance sports programs.

The other parties likely won't say much of anything about the Greens because they fear further legitimizing the party. The Greens will tell you that a green environment will allow for an overall healthier society and that their platform goes the furthest to address that. Also, Elizabeth May really likes hockey. She just knows that the Vancouver Blue Bombers are going to win the World Series this year.

I Be-Leaf! Oh yes I do!!

FREDERICTON—Seeing that I’m writing this from beautiful Fredericton, New Brunswick it’s only fitting that I talk about Toronto sports. What? Yes, I do think my current hometown is the Centre of the Universe ™, what’s your point?

Anyway…before I left the province at some ungodly time this morning I noted that the T.O. sports media was already working itself into a frenzy over Larry Tanenbaum’s comments a couple days ago that the Leafs would rather build a team that was good for the long run, rather than winning the Stanley Cup once then sucking for a bunch of years.

Tanenbaum suggested that MLSE would like the Leafs to be like the Detroit Red Wings. That’s great. I’d like to have Stephen Brunt’s job too.

Ok, here is the thing. As the grumpiest hockey writer on the planet, Damien Cox, pointed out today this latest proclamation from Leaf Land should be taken with an ample helping of salt. Sea salt even. MLSE says whatever MLSE thinks it should say to convince the delusional masses that this time they know what they are doing. Found that GM yet?

But, even if you do think that Tanenbaum and company are in this for the long haul and have finally figured out that the way to consistently win hockey games is to consistently develop good hockey players, one overriding thought has got to keep popping into even the most stupidly loyal Leaf lover:

No sh crap. That’s some deep thinking there. It’s better to be always in a position to win a championship than to mostly be awful but to win one once.

You know what else is good?

WINNING A BLOODY CHAMPIONSHIP MORE THAN ONCE EVERY 41 YEARS.

I think I speak for most of Leaf Nation (of which I’m a landed immigrant rather than a full citizen) when I suggest that the “deal with the devil” approach would be fine if it ended with a joyous parade up Young Street. That get as good as the Red Wings thing is a good idea too, but, you know…crawl before walking and all that.

In the meantime I’ve recently learned that the Leafs are in fact going to have to play in the NHL this season. There was some hope that they may have been relegated to the ECHL, but evidently they don’t do that in North America. So, we’re stuck with this mess. But, as I sit back and observe the activity at the ACC I can’t shake a funny feeling about this team. Maybe I’ve been slipped some Kool-Aid, but I can’t help but think that Ron Wilson’s humourless, systems-driven coaching combined with some of the gritty, bound to feature prominently on coach's corner “talent” the Leafs have brought in is going to mean two things.

1) – Toronto is going to be a God awful, trapping disaster that’s less entertaining than Bob Saget. And…

2) Against all odds they are going to grind their way into an eighth place finish and first round loss to Pittsburgh (in five. But, that game four OT win will cause riots on the street).

Yes, the Leafs are going to make the playoffs. Barely, and tragically. You read it here first.

NOTES: nothing to do with the topic at hand, but as I picked up the local rag here in Fredericton I couldn’t help but notice that the hockey heroes from a certain university located in south-eastern Ontario are here to play STU. In the advance story on the game, writer Bill Hunt informs his readers that said team’s nickname is…wait for it…the Golden Gaels.

I’m just sayin’

(Insert "got what they paid for" joke here)

Really, this is too easy. MLSE tries to give away tickets to an exhibition game (that is taking place two--TWO!--days after training camp started) and a good quarter of the people don't bother to show up.

You can almost hear the snickering in Moose Jaw from here. Leafs fans are so bad...

Richard Peddie claimed that the empty seats were because the free seats "devalued" the product. That people don't prioritize going to something they didn't pay for. He's probably partly right. A lot of folks likely grabbed free seats back in the summer with the idea that they would wait and see what was going on in their life on game day. If they didn't go, it wasn't as if they were out any coin.

But, you have to wonder. Are the empty seats not also an ever so slight example of how the mighty, mighty Leafs hold on T.O. is slipping just a little bit. It's mostly anecdotal evidence, but you don't get the feeling that the city is living and dying with this hockey club anymore. Sure, it's still the most popular team in the city, but it's not the default choice of the new generation, or of new Canadians living in Toronto.

You wouldn’t necessarily notice any change if you looked at media coverage of T.O's teams. The city's hockey writers and broadcasters still obsessed over every (non) move of Mats Sundin this summer and Leafs talk is still choice one, two and three on the Fan590 and AM640. It's just not clear if as many people care. Is it possible that the entirety of Leafs Nation wasn't desperately seeking the latest David Shoalts offering to read with their morning coffee? Perhaps the cafes on College weren't alive with debates over Nick Kypreos' latest "scoop."

Just last month Peddie was quoted as saying that internal research is showing that the amount of season ticket holders that consider themselves "diehard" fans has slipped to 51 per cent from about two-thirds. And, that's the season ticket holders.

Bay Street will ensure that the seats are full for every game for some time, but Bay Street can't make Cabbagetown (or Newmarket, or Oakville, or Markham, or Ajax, or...) care. An entire generation has grown up to only know the Leafs as losers. The Raptors are a 416 fixture now and even soccer has made inroads. MLSE has said that it needs to do more to ensure that the Leafs are still the Leafs in 20 years. Outreaches such as yesterday's free game are part of that effort. So, as much as he wants to spin it otherwise, Peddie has to be just a little bit worried about those 4,000 empty seats.

Has it really been 15 years already? Time to head to Vegas

It was old news, but it's official now. Not only have the Blue Jays been officially eliminated, but Syracuse has cut the cord on its 31-year AAA affiliation with Toronto.

(Update: And the Jays are goin' to Vegas for the next two years.)

What was interesting was the AP story on the break-up said that Syracuse wanted out because of "its relationship with the Jays (had) suffered through the franchise's long history of losing."

Its long history of losing. Ouch. It has been a long time since the Jays were back-to-back world freakin' champions, hasn't it?

So, in an effort to attach themselves with a true winner Syracuse is now preparing for a hot affair with the Washington Nationals. Yes, that's right, those Washington Nationals.

Update, 1:20 p.m.: Via the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which has now become this site's favourite newspaper located in a Triple-A city (could have been you, Buffalo News), "The 51s and Toronto Blue Jays have agreed on a two-year player development contract and will announce the deal today in a news conference at Cashman Field.

"The unlikely pair wound up together by default after several major league clubs changed their Triple-A affiliations in the past few weeks."

One gut feeling and two mental pictures come to mind. The gut feeling is that this came about because no highers-up at Rogers really figure it makes any difference where the top farm club is located.

The first mental image is of Paul Godfrey bringing a map of the U.S. into Bob McCown's office, with pushpins denoting the available Triple-A franchises. "Bob, it's your birthday -- you pick where we put our farm team."

The other mental image is of Russ Adams, at 2:32 in the morning, leaving a voice mail for some girl: "Hi, uh, Nikki, this is Russ ... I just called to say that I had a great time... and you should call me tomorrow, or in two days, whatever. Anyway, my number is 213-555-4679 - (the machine beeps). "Hi, Nikki, this is Russ again. I just called cuz it sounded like your machine might've cut me off when I, before I finished leaving my number. Anyway, uh, and, y'know, and also, sorry to call so late, but you were still at the Dresden when I left so I knew I'd get your machine. Anyhow, uh, my number's 21-" (the machine beeps again.)

TFC Fans agree: Grass would make the Reds easier to watch

"Long term we'd like to consider going to natural grass. That is what authentic soccer is all about."
Tom Anselmi on Prime Time Sports
Aug 12, 2008

"It's not something that's hot on the radar. It's something we've thought about only because we're asked the question."
Tom Anselmi in the Toronto Star
Sept 18, 2008

It can be difficult to defend MLSE sometimes. Especially when its COO is so adept at talking out of both sides of his mouth. When the concept is abstract it’s OK to wax poetic about the authentic nature of a grass pitch. The Mayor of Toronto makes one candid statement and suddenly its time back waaaaaaay off.

TFC fans are not reacting well to the idea that MLSE is “only” started to think about it because they were asked. It's’ difficult to stomach the idea that the owner of your favourite team could possibly be so clueless about the single biggest obstacle to getting better that the team faces. Of course, why would the owner of your team care when you lead the league in in-stadium spending per ticket holder at $15 a game.

The possibility exists, of course, that Anselmi is exercising the default reaction of a sports executive to being asked a question—lie. Maybe MLSE understands the issue and is prepared to deal with it. With season ticket holders facing a 40 per cent increase from the first season, MLSE had better understand that having them absorb the $2 million-ish they gained from Mo Edu’s sale won’t sit well with the increasingly grumpy fan base.

But it would be inaccurate to suggest that the fans are holding out much hope.

Yeah, but have you re-signed Sundin yet?

MLSE is an easy target--they are rich, only interested in the bottom line, evil, whatever. Even here we have been known to do a little MLSE bashing from time to time.

So, I think, it's only fair that the critics take the time to point out when the company does something worthwhile.

It's easy to be cynical about the motivations of MLSE and Home Depot. However you have to be careful not to cross the line from cynical to bitter. Cynicism can be confused with wisdom, whereas bitterness is just kinda ugly.

Ultimately I doubt the kids that are playing hockey on the refurbished rinks next winter are going to care one bit that the two companies want to sell their mom a 10-game Raptors flex pack and their dad some new kitchen cabinets.

There is little doubt that MLSE understands how to make money and enjoys doing just that. So what? They aren't any different than any other big company and, the last I checked, we are still living in a capitalist society.

As a sports fan all you should care about is whether the suits are trying to put a winning product on the pitch/court/ice. There is no evidence MLSE isn't doing that.

Let me just repeat that:
There is no evidence that MLSE isn't trying to put a winning product on the pitch/court/ice.

Note that the suggestion here isn't that MLSE is any good at putting a winning product on the field. No, no one could possibly make that argument. But, they are trying. The Leafs have always spent a ton of money. The Raptors are $1,500 below the cap (I suppose you could argue that they should move into luxury tax zone, but we don't know that they won't if the Raps ever get close enough to make it worth their while). TFC, for all its faults, spends.

MLSE is not cheap. It's incompetent, but not particularly cheap.

But, none of that takes away from the fact that fixing up hockey rinks for kids is a nice thing to do. So, good on MLSE and Home Depot.

If it walks like a duck...

Yesterday was truly a WTF day for Canadian sports fans. First news comes out that the Canadian men’s basketball team has booted its best player because he was, um, well, something—no one is really saying—then the Leafs announce they are giving tickets away (like, free. Seriously. No, not the Intercounty baseball team. Hockey. The NHL. 1967. Those Leafs), then we heard that Ken Read is stepping down from Alpine Canada.

What. The. Flubber.

Like the basketball mystery, Read’s resignation appears to be about more than the official line suggests. It’s rumoured that he’s been battling with the board of directors of Alpine Canada for some time and the emergence of his son as a potential athlete was the perfect excuse to step aside without painting anyone as a bad guy.

Anyone with even a passing understanding of how amateur sports is run (into the ground) in this country will recognize the story line here. A Board of Directors, made up of volunteers and picked by the provinces, feuds with the professional they have hired to run their organization. You can pretty much bet that there was some kind of petty regional peeing match somewhere at the root of it all.

That’s Canadian sports in a nutshell. Alberta looks after Alberta, Ontario complains that it’s spending all the money and getting none back and PEI has way too much power. A sort of sporting version of the Peter Principle takes place at the BOD level, with a bunch of well meaning (we hope anyway) volunteers, way out of their element, unable to see beyond the concerns of their backyard.

It truly is a clusterflubber of a situation.

Of course it is possible that Read resigned for the exact reason he suggested. The Blue Jays could make the playoffs too.

In the meantime one of the most promising sport organizations under the COA umbrella has lost a key figure that looked to be leading Canada back to the top of the ski world. Hopefully whoever takes over from Read will have the good sense not to change a single thing he was doing. Otherwise, we could be shaking our heads (again) in 2010 wondering why Canada can’t seem to ever perform when it matters on the Olympic stage.