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Tag: Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Let's talk about the Rouge Football playoffs and the MOP…the Blue-and-Gold's best in show head count…creepy things in sports that creep me out…Hot Dog! Phil's the NHL Iron Man…a rinky dink rink…jersey fling in the Republic of Tranna?…and other things on my mind…
Forget about the CFL gas bags on TSN. For the best take on all things Rouge Football, lend an ear to my two favorite gridiron girls, Lady Portage and Dame Main, both unabashed admirers of large lads in blue-and-gold. Take it away, ladies…
Lady Portage: "Well, girlfriend, another Canadian Football League regular season has arrived at the finish line and we move on to the playoffs to see if our Winnipeg Blue Bombers can threepeat."
Dame Main: "Oh, wouldn't that be special?"
Lady Portage: "You know it. Not even the Bombers of the glory days brought the Grey Cup home three years in a row. The Bombers of Kenny Ploen and Leo Lewis and Herbie Gray won the thing four times in five years back in the 1950s/60s, but not three straight."
Dame Main: "If they pull it off, wouldn't that make these the glory days?"
Lady Portage: "I suppose it would, for a younger generation. But it's going to be a tall task."
Dame Main: "You aren't sold on the Big Blue?"
Lady Portage: "I am. They've got the best quarterback in the league, Zach Collaros, and that rookie receiver, Dalton Schoen, has made people sit up and take notice. Richie Hall's D-dozen is as stout and as stingy as ever, and I imagine guys like Biggie Bighill and the J Men—Jefferson and Jeffcoat—are plenty geeked up about another championship ring. But I think the Calgary Stampeders will be a tough out. They've got a defence to match Winnipeg's, and their running back, Ka'Deem Carey, is a beast. If the weather's foul on Nov. 13, he could be the difference-maker. I like him more than our guy, Brady Oliveira.
Dame Main: "So you're saying the Stampeders will take out the B.C. Lions in the semifinal next weekend?"
Lady Portage: "The Leos are done like burnt toast. Hey, I'm sold on Lions QB Nathan Rourke—fan-tabulous!—but I'm not sold on him as a QB who's played part of one game since August."
Dame Main: "He didn't look like he was wearing a coat of rust against the Bombers on Friday night."
Lady Portage: "No, but he didn't look other-worldly, either. Not like before he suffered the foot owie that put him on the shelf for two months. If I can use just one word to describe his play, it would be 'meh'. I fear he's in for an afternoon of hurt courtesy the Stamps D-men. Total misery."
Dame Main: "What do you think would have happened if Rourke hadn't been injured? Think we'd be talking about Zach Collaros as Most Outstanding Player?"
Lady Portage: "What if Willie Jefferson had alligator arms instead of a wing span that stretches from Winnipeg to Kenora? I'm not into what-ifs, girlfriend. Rourke got hurt and played in 10 games. Zach didn't get hurt and led the league in TD tosses and wins."
Dame Main: "Ya, but the guy in Toronto, Mcleod Bethel-Thompson, had more passing yards and completions than Collaros. Maybe he's the MOP."
Lady Portage: "And maybe somebody spiked your tea. You and I will land a gig singing backup vocals for Lady Gaga before McBeth gets the nod as East Division MOP. The guy looks all-world for 30 minutes, then he looks like a kid trying to tie his laces with one hand. Sorry, but Eugene Lewis or Tim White deserves the East nomination. But, hey, the girls and boys on the beat are smitten with QBs, so…"
Dame Main: "I sure hope Zach wins. He seems like a wonderful young man, with an adorable family. And it's so nice that he's staying around for a few more years."
Lady Portage: "As sure as O-linemen like second helpings of mashed potatos and anything that moos, Zach repeats as MOP, then it's just a question of whether or not the Bombers threepeat. All they need is two more Ws—one vs. Calgary on our Frozen Tundra on Nov. 13, then vs. the Toronto Argos on the Flattest of Lands, Nov. 20.
Dame Main: "So that's your call? Bombers-Boatmen? Who wins the Grey Grail?"
Lady Portage: "The good guys, of course. Best QB always wins, and that's our boy Zach. He'll be flinging TD passes while Bethel-Thompson is trying to figure out how to tie his boot laces with one hand."
Dame Main: "Guess that's a wrap for us, girlfriend. We'll have to do this again Grey Cup week. Ya think the Calgary mob will bring a horse to Regina and clomp him into a hotel?"
Lady Portage: "For sure. And if the nag takes a dump in the hotel lobby, Rob Vanstone and the boys at the Regina Leader-Post can write it up as an editorial comment on the Saskatchewan Roughriders season."
So, Milt Stegall tells us the Bombers have enjoyed "sellouts through the season." I demand a recount. I mean, it's nice that Milt wants to tout Winnipeg FC as the showcase franchise in Rouge Football, but he doesn't need to fudge facts for the CFL on TSN panel. Here's the reality: The folks in Good Ol' Hometown packed the Football Field In Fort Garry twice this crusade, both times in September and both times with a Pil-swilling mob from the Flattest of Lands in town for a visit. But Milt's correct about the Blue-and-Gold being a model operation, on and off the gridiron. Head counts this year:
26,002 (Ottawa)
23,600 (Hamilton)
29,746 (Calgary)
31,053 (Montreal)
33,234 (Saskatchewan)
27,159 (Edmonton)
23,685 (B.C.)
Total: 28,641 average (best in show and up from 25,947 in 2021).
Dave Naylor asked this question of the TSN panel on Friday: "When's the last time Zach Collaros stunk the joint out?" Answer: July 22, vs. Edmonton Elks when he was 7/16, 188 yards, 2 TD, 2 picks. But, hey, the Bombers still won, 24-10.
Collaros and Nathan Rourke aside, I can't remember a more iffy crop of QBs in Rouge Football than what we've seen in the past two crusades. Bo Levi Mitchell and Cody Fajardo have become spare parts, Mcleod Bethel-Thompson is as uneven as the back roads in Alabama, we're still trying to get a reading on Dane Evans, Jeremiah Masoli and Trevor Harris, and Tayler Cornelius might be the next Mike Reilly in Edmonton or the next Great White Nope.
Bytown RedBlacks QB Caleb Evans rushed for a QB record 16 TDs this season. Total yards traveled on those 16 TD rushes: 16.
It's oft said that the CFL season doesn't truly begin until the Labor Day weekend, so here's how the nine teams stacked up in crunch time:
Ron MacLean
It's Halloween eve and it's scary out there, kids. Here are five things/people in sports that really, really creep me out:
1. Ron MacLean's puns and librarian-like references to ridiculously obscure footnotes about historical events/people. The puns are mostly lame and the detours into the unknown are as baffling as they are painful. Just tell the guy to put on a cardigan, call his Hockey Night in Canada gig Mr. MacLean's Neighborhood and be done with it. He's become creepy, kids.
2. Conor McGregor. He's rude, vulgar, obnoxious, a bully, objectionable on every level, and probably thinks mashed potatoes is finger food. Every time I see him on my flatscreen, I feel the need to hose down. He's creepy, kids.
3. Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. I don't know which of the two aging, slower-than-Sunday NFL quarterbacks creeps me out more. My problem with Brady is simple: His ego is the size of Texas, thus his plan apparently is to force himself upon us until he's older than every tortoise on the Galapagos Islands. (Fittingly, Brady and the turtles move at the same pace.) Rodgers, meanwhile, has a matching ego and seems to fancy himself as a svengali, determined to bend and shape the Green Bay Packers into his image with his every thought. Or maybe it's his idea of a Zen thing, where he props himself up as the Dalai QB. I'm uncertain. And when they lose? Never his fault. But it's creepy, kids.
4. Ever since Phil Mickelson teed it up on the Saudis' LIV Golf Series, he always looks like he needs a bath. That's creepy, kids.
5. The fawning by news snoops over Tiger Woods and Serena Williams, two more ego-fueled jocks who refuse to take the off-ramp. Woods has three tournament titles since 2013, his most recent in 2019, then he drove his SUV into a ravine. Williams has won one event since becoming a mom five years ago. Yet both are gabbed and written about like they've ended the scourge of global homelessness. Can Woods and Williams still win? I suppose, if all the planets align favorably, but they're both deep on the downside of the slope and I wonder what part of over-the-hill do the talking heads and scribes not understand? They're creepy, kids.
Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that Brady looks like he's on a hunger strike? I realize he's flying solo these days and probably can't be bothered cooking for himself, but has he not heard of Skip the Dishes?
Things you don't expect to read or hear in the same sentence: Donald Trump and humility. Andrea Bocelli and sour notes. Phil Kessel and NHL Iron Man. But a tip of the bonnet to Kessel, who hasn't skipped a day of work since 2009, or 991 games ago. Not too shabby for a guy reportedly on a tube steak-a-day diet.
Hey, fans have stopped flinging $250 jerseys on the ice in Vancouver, which can only mean the Canucks are no longer playing like a bunch of ankle-benders. Most likely next stop for the Jersey Fling: The Republic of Tranna. The Toronto Maple Elites, after all, are second-last in the Atlantic Division and run the risk of going 0-for-California tonight vs. the Disney Ducks in Anaheim. Another L makes them a sub.-500 outfit, and that simply won't do in a town where they're accustomed to winning the Stanley Cup every October. Ladies and gentlemen, start your jerseys.
Nothing but positive dispatches from Mullett Arena, jazzy new playpen of the Arizona Coyotes in Tempe. It's the size of a college dorm, which is fitting since it also houses college hockey, and we're told those 5,026 fans crammed into the joint can really raise a ruckus. Well, so do kids in an elementary school playground, but that doesn't make it college. A rinky dink rink is rinky dink rink is rinky dink rink.
Where did TSN dig up this Frankie Corrado dude? What are the bona fides that compelled TSN to prop him up as a hockey analyst? Well, Google tells me he spent time with 10 teams in 11 seasons of pro hockey, some of it in the NHL (76 games), some of it in Sweden and Russia, and that's fine. But this is part of a recent Q&A Frankie did with Ben Kuzma of Postmedia Vancouver:
Kuzma: "Why are the Canucks struggling?"
Frankie: "I think that team is in trouble."
Wow. Move aside, Sherlock Holmes. There's a new super sleuth in town. And, yes, that's sarcasm. I mean, the Canucks were the only NHL outfit without a W. What was Frankie's first clue? If that's the type of penetrating analysis he'll bring to TSN, I'll switch channels and listen to Ron MacLean's puns.
In a dog-bites-man story, this headline from The Athletic: "PWHPA still working toward a new women's pro hockey league." In other news, WWII is over, JFK is dead, Cassius Clay changed his name to Muhammad Ali, and The Beatles broke up. I mean, we've been hearing about a league for the Ponytail Puck renegades for nigh on four years. When will they tell us something we don't know?
Dusty Baker
How ironic that the first World Series since 1950 with zero U.S.-born Black players on either roster might be won by a Black manager, Dusty Baker of the Houston Astros. I've liked Dusty ever since my one and only visit to Dodger Stadium in the 1980s. Every inning when he trotted out to his post in left field, he'd stop and natter with us fans in the bleachers. Nice man.
I want to go on record as saying I like Camila Cabello and Gwen Stefani on The Voice. John Legend is agreeable and Blake Shelton is Terry Bradshaw with a good head of hair, but not necessarily a better singing voice. Hee haw.
Here's all you need to know about the Saudi/Greg Norman LIV Golf Series: PGA Tour defector Pat Perez was handed a four-year, $10 million deal, just to show up. "Look, I know I can't beat those kids anymore. This was a great opportunity for me. I have nothing against the PGA Tour; they did a lot for me, but I had to earn everything I got out there." What a concept. Earning your wages. Meantime, Peter Uihlein collected $11.3 million in seven LIV events, compared to $4 million in 126 PGA tournaments. But, remember, it isn't about the money.
Author pattidawnswanssonPosted on October 30, 2022 November 11, 2022 Categories SportsTags Aaron Rodgers, Andrea Bocelli, Arizona Coyotes, B.C. Lions, Blake Shelton, Bo Levi Mitchell, Calgary Stampeders, Camila Cabello, Canadian Football League, Cody Fajardo, Conor McGregor, Dalton Schoen, Dane Evans, Dave Naylor, Dodger Stadium, Donald Trump, Dusty Baker, Edmonton Elks, Eugene Lewis, Frankie Corrado, Greg Norman, Grey Cup, Gwen Stefani, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Hockey Night in Canada, Houston Astros, IG Field, Jackson Jeffcoat, Jeremiah Masoli, John Legend, Lady Gaga, LIV Golf Series, McLeod Bethel-Thompson, Milt Stegall, Montreal Alouettes, Mullett Arena, Nathan Rourke, National Hockey League, NFL, Ottawa RedBlacks, Pat Perez, Peter Uihelein, PGA Tour, Phil Kessel, Phil Mickelson, Postmedia Vancouver, Professional Women's Hockey Players Association, PWHPA, Richie Hall, Ron MacLean, Saskatchewan Roughriders, Serena Williams, Taylor Cornelius, Terry Bradshaw, The Athletic, The Voice, Tiger Woods, Tim White, Tom Brady, Toronto Argonauts, Toronto Maple Leafs, Trevor Harris, TSN, Vancouver Canucks, Willie Jefferson, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, World Series, Zach Collaros2 Comments on Let's talk about the Rouge Football playoffs and the MOP…the Blue-and-Gold's best in show head count…creepy things in sports that creep me out…Hot Dog! Phil's the NHL Iron Man…a rinky dink rink…jersey fling in the Republic of Tranna?…and other things on my mind…
Let's talk about Bones and the stripping of the 'C'…Blue Bombers D-Dozen…a Rouge Football rumble in the parking lot…horrors, an RBC logo on La Sainte-Flanelle…a fitting tribute for good guy Baiz…Roger, over and out…the MVP and the 'dissolvement of ego'…The Shark's raging PGA hate-on…bull droppings and the Golden Jet…and other things on my mind…
Top o' the morning to you, Rick Bowness.
Boy, you sure know how to make an entrance, don't you? I thought only Sinatra could "bring it" like that. I mean, you haven't even spent a nanosecond behind the Winnipeg Jets bench and you've already ripped the 'C' off Blake Wheeler's jersey. Ballsy move.
Mind you, that's the kind of decision you don't make without first getting the official okie-dokie from on high, which is to say Puck Pontiff Mark Chipman. After all, defrocking teacher's pet is like telling Tiger Woods he can't wear a red shirt on Sunday. Still, you pulled it off, and I just wish I'd been a fly on the wall during those discussions, because it must have been some juicy banter.
Whatever was said, Coach Bones, it's no more Captain Cranky Pants for Winnipeg HC, which means no more sourpuss sound bites from a guy who enjoyed his natters with news snoops the way Donald Trump likes the FBI knocking on his door.
Also no way of knowing if the stripping of the 'C' will translate to more Ws from the same old-same old National Hockey League outfit that you inherited due to GM Kevin Cheveldayoff's Summer of Nothing, but I guess we're about to find out.
One thing the Jets faithful need remember: Wheeler is now 'C'-less, but he's still in the dressing room and has no desire to fade into the background like an old piece of furniture destined for a yard sale. Anyone who thinks otherwise is "sorely mistaken," he told news snoops, adding "I don't envision changing my role at all" and "I'm still gonna be doing the things I would have done with the 'C' on my jersey." It sounded more like a threat than a promise.
Something I kept thinking after the big news broke on Friday: The Puck Pontiff and GM Kevin Cheveldayoff actually hitched their wagon to Wheeler instead of Patrik Laine. It was an astonishing blunder that will continue to bite them.
I note some Jets gathered for "informal" skates last week. In other words, just like most of their games last season.
Dane Evans
Missing Person's Alert! Richie Hall's D-Dozen. When last seen, they were making Dane Evans look like Patrick Mahomes and the Hamilton Tabbies offence look like the Kansas City Chiefs. If seen, call the missing persons hotline at 1-800-We STUNK. Seriously, a 48-31 paddywhacking? I don't think the Winnipeg Blue Bombers defence has surrendered more than 40 points since leather helmets. Scoring on the Bombers is normally more difficult than opening a bag of airline peanuts, especially in the second half. But the Winnipeg FC D-Dozen decided to sit this one out, and the Tabbies much-maligned QB, Evans, and his receivers were in full frolic, finding their way into the end zone five times Saturday at Timbits Field in the Hammer. But, hey, stuff happens. The Canadian Football League season is long and taxing, and the Bombers haven't had much time to catch their breath, with just one bye week since late May. We won't see them again until Sept. 30, by which time we can assume they'll have licked their wounds and won't be in the mood to play nice with Cody Fajardo and the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Speaking of Corn Dog Cody, he served some vintage whine after a 26-24 loss to the bottom-feeding E-Town Elks on Friday, suggesting folks on the Flattest of Lands displayed bad manners in booing their hometown heroes. "I feel like the whole world is basically against us," he moaned. "I'll be honest, it wasn't great when you hear your own fans booing you. It hurt." Yo! Cody! There's a cure for that. It's called winning.
Apparently, the B.C. Leos and Calgary Stampeders took their hostilities off the field and into the parking lot after their grass-grabber Saturday in the Alberta Foothills. Something was said, a punch was thrown (not necessarily in that order), and cops became involved out on the pavement at McMahon Stadium. The Leos won the quarrel over second seeding in the West Division, 31-29 in OT, and the two sides will do it all over again next Saturday, this time at B.C. Place Stadium. No word on whether they'll be selling ringside seats in the parking lot.
Anyone out there still not convinced Quebec is a different kind of world? If so, consider the appointment of Nick Suzuki as capitaine des Canadiens de Montréal. One look at the 'C' stitched on Nick's chest and Premier Francois Legault promptly inserted the matter into the provincial election campaign, insisting Suzuki "will have to learn French." Excusez-moi? It's essential that Suzuki learn to say "it sucks to miss the playoffs again" en francais? Only in Quebec.
At what age do people begin shouting at clouds and telling kids to get off the lawn over piffling things like tiny ads on hockey uniforms? Seriously, why would any noses be out of joint because an RBC logo is sewn onto the Montreal Canadiens' jersey? For cripes sake, man, it's a smelly hockey sweater. It's not like someone stitched a Burger King logo on the Shroud of Turin. Yet, many among the rabble (no doubt with grey hair and bladder-control issues) see this as blasphemy, even though it's done in every sport you'd care to name. The most famous uni in North American jockdom—the New York Yankees pinstripes—features a Nike swoosh. It didn't when Babe Ruth and Roger Maris were swatting 60 dingers in a season, but Aaron Judge wears one and it hasn't hindered his home run stroke. Something tells me an RBC patch on La Sainte-Flanelle won't slow down Nick Suzuki either.
The fear, of course, is that those 3×3.5-inch patches will grow into a monster skating billboard. The naysayers insist that, soon enough, NHL players will look like the people who drive fast cars in F1 and/or NASCAR, and civilization as we know it will collapse like Wall Street in 1929. Oh, please. NHL outfits are allowed two patches max (worth between $5 million to $10 million each) and, unlike soccer, the team logo remains the centrepiece of the jersey.
I think the Jets should wear a 7-Eleven logo. Good Ol' Hometown, after all, is the Slurpee Capital of the World.
Baiz
All-time good guy Don Baizley has been elected to the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in November as a builder/hockey, and I just wish he was still with us to enjoy the moment. Not that he would want a big fuss, understand. Baiz, a local lawyer who left us in June 2013 at age 71 after a battle with non-smoker's cancer, preferred any attention be kept on the down low, even though he had a client list that read like a who's who in hockey: AndersHeberg, Ulf Nilsson, Lars-Erik Sjoberg, Kent Nilsson, Willy Lindstrom, Peter Forsberg, Jari Kurri, Paul Kariya, Joe Sakic, Saku Koivu, etc. He surrounded himself with more Scandinavians than ABBA and was at the forefront of the European invasion, smoothing their path and transition to North American life and its oft-barbaric style of shinny. Listen to enough people in hockey, and they'll have you convinced there isn't a body of water on earth that Baiz didn't walk on. He's had more nice things said about him than Mr. Rogers. But perhaps Hedberg put it best when he described Baiz as "the kind of person we would like to be and our sons to become."
More than half the teams in Rouge Football are playing sub-.500 football, and two of the five will qualify to chase the Grey Grail in November. A most unfortunate state of affairs, Stanley.
It's been a boffo year for the sale of used clothing. In May, the Hand of God jersey worn by Diego Maradona in the 1986 World Cup sold at auction for $9.8 million and, just this week, a Michael Jordan top from the 1998 NBA final went for $10.1 million. I'm not saying sports memorabilia collectors are suckers, but I understand they come in 50 flavors, from grape to "give your head a shake."
Rafa and Roger
Adios to Roger Federer, sublime tennis virtuoso who'll take his racquet and go home after this week's Laver Cup in London. The best ever? Always debatable. All-world classy? Never debatable. In a sport rife with me-myself-and-I boors who stomp their feet and hold their breath whenever their universe fails to unfold as it should, Federer was a beacon of all that is admirable in a professional athlete.
Both Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have superior mano-a-mano records vs. Federer (24-16 and 27-23, respectively), but this is the difference from my perch in the cheap seats: Rafa and Djokovic use a tennis racquet, Federer used an artist's brush and painted lovely pictures with the strokes of a genius.
Our guy Denis Shapovalov lists Federer as "a role model." In that case, Shapo should try to behave more like Roger and less like a brattish John McEnroe wannabe on court.
Chicago Bears placekick holder Trenton Gill was penalized 15 yards last Sunday for patting down a patch of soggy Soldier Field with a towel prior to a field goal attempt by Cairo Santos. Apparently that's unsportsmanlike conduct. Why didn't I think to tell my mom that whenever she ordered me to dry the dishes?
Just wondering: If you aren't a Cheese Head, which is to say one of the Green Bay Packers faithful, is it possible to like Aaron Rodgers? The guy's become all sorts of creepy weird. Seriously, I don't care what he smokes, drinks or eats, or if he dresses like he got lost on the way to Woodstock, but if he wants us to believe his Zen shtick about "dissolvement of the ego" he should probably stop reminding us about the MVP awards he's won. As the Wise Woman of the Village once said: "Clap with just one hand at your own good deeds."
Every time Greg Norman opens his cake hole, the more convinced I am that someone piddles on his Corn Flakes every morning. Is there a more bitter man in sports than the LIV Golf Series mouthpiece? Maybe all that anger stems back to the final round of the 1996 Masters, when the Shark authored one of golf's all-time gag jobs, taking 78 swings to blow a six-shot lead and lose to Nick Faldo by five strokes. Whatever the case, someone or something has really done a number on Norman.
Zach Collaros and Sara Orlesky
I've asked this before but, given the love and admiration heaped upon Sideline Sara Orlesky last weekend in Blue Bombersville, I again ask: Why it is that broadcasters become darlings of the rabble whereas newspaper scribes are lower than a guy who farts on a crowded elevator? No doubt Sara is a lovely person and the hosannas after working the Bombers beat for 14 years were warranted, but I have it on good authority that Paul Friesen of the Winnipeg Sun is also a lovely person who's been scribbling sterling stuff about the Bombers since the turn of the century. You think the rabble will rush for his autograph when he slaps a -30- on his final dispatch for the tabloid? You think Winnipeg FC CEO Wade Miller will present him with a team jersey in front of a packed house? You think Zach Collaros will give him a game ball? Hmph! King Charles III will stop counting all that money Mommy left him and fly into Good Ol' Hometown to knight Friesen and dub him Sir Paul of the Poison Pen before any of that happens.
I covered the Jets/NHL for 20 years and the Bombers/CFL for 20, and the closet thing I got to a salute was a bunch of middle fingers. And, you're right, I probably deserved every one of them.
The Sara Sendoff makes me wonder: Will she be the first female inducted into the ultimate all-boys club known as the Media Wing of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame? By my count, the current roll call is 101 men, 0 women, even though females have written and talked about the three-downs game from pee wee to the pros for decades, and that math just doesn't add up.
The Shoe
The show of affection for Sara (totally deserved) reminded me of my first encounter with Robert Marvin Hull, on my initial visit to the Winnipeg Jets lair. It was the season of 1977-78 and I sought sound bites from young Kent Nilsson, a dazzling young player in his freshman whirl. While talking to Kenta, I noted the Golden Jet and Lars-Erik (The Shoe) Sjoberg standing nearby, both of them clad only in white towels wrapped around their flat midsections. This was their conversation as they gave me the once-over:
The Shoe: "It looks like we've got a new reporter with the team."
Hull: "Just another asshole to try and stir up shit."
Yup, Hull could be a real charmer.
And, finally, old friend Peter Young confirms the Golden Jet's attendance at the WHA's 50th anniversary hooraw next month in Whistler. Hmmm. Maybe I should drop by. You know, just to stir up shite for old time's sake.
Author pattidawnswanssonPosted on September 18, 2022 September 18, 2022 Categories SportsTags 7-Eleven, Aaron Rodgers, Anthony Edwards, B.C. Lions, B.C. Place Stadium, Blake Wheeler, Bob Irving, Bobby Hull, Buck Pierce, Burger King, Canadian Football Hall of Fame, Canadian Football League, Cody Fajardo, Denis Shapovalov, Don Baizley, Edmonton Elks, F1, Francois Legault, French, Green Bay Packers, Greg Norman, Grey Cup, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, homophobia, John McEnroe, Kevin Cheveldayoff, King Charles III, Lars-Erik Sjoberg, Laver Cup, LIV Golf Seires, Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame, Maradona, Mark Chipman, Michael Jordan, Minnesota Timberwolves, Montreal Canadiens, NASCAR, National Hockey League, NBA, NFL, Nick Faldo, Nick Suzuki, Novak Djokovic, Paul Friesen, peter Young, queer, Rafael Nadal, RBC, Richie Hall, Rick Bowness, Roger Federer, Sara Orlesky, Saskatchewan Roughriders, Shroud of Turin, The Masters, Tiger Woods, TSN, Wade Miller, Whistler, Willie Jefferson, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Winnipeg Jets, Winnipeg Sun, Woodstock, World Cup, World Hockey Association, Zach Collaros, zen2 Comments on Let's talk about Bones and the stripping of the 'C'…Blue Bombers D-Dozen…a Rouge Football rumble in the parking lot…horrors, an RBC logo on La Sainte-Flanelle…a fitting tribute for good guy Baiz…Roger, over and out…the MVP and the 'dissolvement of ego'…The Shark's raging PGA hate-on…bull droppings and the Golden Jet…and other things on my mind…
Let's talk about Patrik Laine's adios…what the boys on the beat are saying…Grapes for GG of Canada…Bobby Hull dining on table scraps…Hammerin' Hank…the Mets and their oinker GM…and other things on my mind
Another Sunday smorgas-bored…and this blog is officially listed as day-to-day…
First of all, Patrik Laine wasn't a swing and a miss for Kevin Chevldayoff and his bird dogs.
When the ping pong balls bounced their way at the National Hockey League's 2016 draft lottery, they wisely used that good fortune to claim Puck Finn with the second shoutout at the annual auction of teenage wannabes.
Patrik Laine
The kid's a stud, and there's been scant second-guessing the Winnipeg Jets' choice, even if hindsight suggests a case can be made that Matthew Tkachuk might have been a better way to go.
Laine mostly delivered as the Jets had hoped, with 36-, 44-, 30- and 28-goal crusades, plus two more snipes in the opening gambit of his fifth season, which has been temporarily derailed due to an undisclosed upper-body owie of unknown origin.
Unfortunately, somewhere and somehow, the Jets-Laine union hit a very large pothole and we're left to wonder what went wrong.
None of the usual suspects were willing to drill down to the core of the matter on Saturday after Chevy had completed his latest bit of handiwork, sending Laine to the Columbus Blue Jackets in barter for Pierre-Luc Dubois. Puck Finn spoke. General manager Chevy spoke. Potty-mouth coach Paul Maurice spoke. Captain Blake Wheeler spoke. Trouble is, it was nothing but hollow blah, blah, blah. We still don't know why a 22-year-old stud with 140 notches on his shooting stick was expendable.
So we speculate, and here's my guess: Coach PottyMo and Wheeler chased him out of town.
Puck Finn and Blake Wheeler.
In his sole frolic this season, Laine was given 16 minutes, 20 seconds of ice. Wheeler logged 21:27. Maurice stubbornly insists that the 34-year-old captain is a better bet at right wing, and that wasn't about to change. No matter the numbers either player put up. So Puck Finn put a bug in his agent's ear, whispering something about the desire for a new zip code, and he'll now be collecting his fan mail at 200 W Nationwide Blvd., Columbus, OH 43215.
And that isn't a good optic for Chevy.
None of us knows for certain what it would have taken to make Laine happy, but we can assume that Chevy wasn't prepared to instruct Coach PottyMo to up the big Finn's ice time. We can also assume that the Puck Pontiff, Mark Chipman, had a sizable say in the matter, because you don't part company with a player of Laine's loft without the owner signing off on the deal. Which means he's okay with the reality that he's now had four first-round draft picks and/or their reps walk into the GM's office and request and receive a one-way ticket out of town—Evander Kane, Jacob Trouba, Puck Finn and Jack Roslovic.
So, rather than a mantra of draft-and-develop, it's become draft-develop-defect.
Paul Maurice
Oh, yes, I realize that a handful of the Jets young studs have locked in for the long haul, but having four walk away is at least three too many. And, in Laine's case, it didn't have to shake down this way.
Rather than reward Wheeler with a ridiculous five-year extension (including a No-Move Clause) in 2018 and stunt Laine's growth, Chevy and the Puck Pontiff should have cut the captain adrift. He would have fetched a handsome return, certainly better than he would today or two years from now given the dog ears on his birth certificate.
Instead, they opted to keep the senior citizen over the young gun, which I'm sure makes no sense to most of us outside the Jets think tank.
Hey, anyone can be traded, including Patrik Laine. And the Jets will learn to live without Puck Finn. But that doesn't mean anyone should be traded. Chevy and the Puck Pontiff bungled this one. Badly. And if they can't convince Dubois to sign up for the long haul, they'll really wear it.
Paul Stastny
Remember last October when Chevy brought Paul Stastny back on board? According to the pundits, it was a move designed to put a happy face on Laine. Mad Mike McIntyre of the Drab Slab, for example, wrote this: "One thing I no longer expect to see based on this week's events is a trade involving Patrik Laine. The Jets didn't bring Stastny and his big cap hit in just to send their Finnish sniper packing. They brought him in to play with Laine, a paring (along with Nikolaj Ehlers) that had great chemistry during the 2018 run to the Western Conference final." Others provided backup vocals. So how's that working out?
I always enjoy reading what the boys on the beat have to say about these big trades. Here's a sampling:
Paul Friesen, Winnipeg Sun: "The Winnipeg Jets' trading of Patrik Laine to the Columbus Blue Jacks is an abject organizational failure."
Ken Wiebe, Sportsnet: "By strengthening themselves down the middle, the Jets have taken an important—and necessary—step to widening their collective window of contention. It came at a significant cost, but this blockbuster was a risk worth taking for the Jets."
Murat Ates, The Athletic: "What does this acquisition mean for the rest of Winnipeg's roster? The shortest, simplest read is that the Jets want to build strength down the middle and just traded a power-play star at right wing for an even-strength star at centre. It also gives Winnipeg the best player in the trade, while acknowledging that Laine's potential for growth is as big of a wild card as he is."
Ted Wyman, Winnipeg Sun: "Cheveldayoff has to bear responsibility for what has happened here—the trading of a very popular young star. He was unable to get Laine signed to a long-term deal before last season and the Jets salary cap situation—based on long-term deals given to other players—made it unlikely they'd be able to do so after this season. The cost, as it turns out, is the Jets traded two first-round draft picks for a player who was taken third overall. On paper, it simply looks like too much. The pressure will be immense on Dubois to make it look more even."
Has there been a bigger swap involving local jocks than Laine-Dubois? I can think of just one—Dieter Brock to the Hamilton Tabbies for Tom Clements in 1983. Hall-of-fame quarterback for hall-of-fame quarterback. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers won the Grey Cup with Clements behind centre one year later, beating Brock and the Tabbies.
This is rich: Rebel News has started a petition to have disgraced hockey-talker Don Cherry succeed the disgraced Julie Payette as Governor General of Canada.
"He's a loyal monarchist, perhaps the most loyal monarchist in the county!" the far-right wingnuts at the Rebel write. "And he upholds our Canadian values. Unlike Payette, he represents what it means to be Canadian. There is nobody more dignified and worthy of filling this historic and noble role for Canadians than Don Cherry."
Hoo boy. That's a whole lot of stupid.
When last seen and heard, Grapes was on Hockey Night in Canada, demonizing "you people that come here" (read: immigrants) because they enjoy "our milk and honey" but have the (apparent) bad manners to not wear poppies for Remembrance Day. After decades of similar rants peppered with bigotry, zenophobia, misogyny and anti-Quebec sentiments, they finally took away the Lord of Loud's bully pulpit, yet now the Rebel would have him become Queen Liz's official rep and take up residence in Rideau Hall. What next? Ron MacLean at 24 Sussex Drive?
I'm sure Queen Liz has enough worries with the royal litter without having to explain Don Cherry and his wardrobe to her loyal subjects loitering outside Buckingham Palace.
Big tidings from the Toronto Blue Jays camp last week, with the addition of outfielder/slugger George Springer, late of the cheating Houston Astros. Apparently Springer leaked the news of his signing by banging on the lid of a trash can.
There's a fabulous anecdote about Bobby Hull, his boy Brett and Kelly Chase in James Duthie's book Beauties, whereby they let the wolf loose after a game one night in Chicago, returning to the Drake Hotel at 2 o'clock in the a.m.
"The Drake has this elderly gentleman working the elevators, all dressed up with white gloves on," Chase says. "He recognizes Bobby right away and says, 'Mr. Hull, pleasure to meet you.' Bobby says, 'Good evening, young man. Could you press floor one for me?' And Brett goes, 'No, dad, we're on three.' Bobby says, 'Goddamnit, I said press one!' And out he goes on the first floor.
"We go up to our room, and a few minutes later, in walks Bobby with this food tray. He's got a quarter of a clubhouse sandwich, a piece of pizza and a couple of chicken wings. I'm like, 'What the…?' And Bobby says, 'Wasteful bastards! This is how Stan Mikita and I ate in the old days. He took the even floors, I took the odd!'
"This is my idol! Then they bring the cot up, and Bobby is insisting on sleeping on the cot. Well, there is no way I am letting Bobby Hull sleep on a cot, so I take it. Bobby goes into the bathroom, comes out, whips the rug off his head, hangs it on the bedpost and gets in bed. The first time I meet my idol, and he's eating off food trays left outside people's doors and his hair is hanging on the bed!"
Ya, that sounds about right.
Can't let the day slip away without mentioning Henry Aaron, because the home run champ's death on Friday meant another chunk of my youth has been snatched away.
Hammerin' Hank, you see, was my older brother Richard's favorite baseball player. Mickey Mantle was my younger brother Mick's main man. Mine was Sandy Koufax. We'd squabble the way kids do, nattering about who was the best of the three—the rakish Black man from Mobile, Ala., the brawny Okie who spent his early off-seasons working in lead and zinc mines with his dad, or the soft-speaking Jewish kid from Brooklyn.
None of us budged from our positions. Still won't.
I do, however, concede and conclude that Aaron traveled a more challenging path to baseball immortality because, whereas both Mantle and Koufax wrestled with chronic ailments, it was death threats for Hammerin' Hank. Not just to him, but his family.
The nearer Aaron came to reeling in Babe Ruth and laying claim to the greatest record in sports—714 career home runs—the greater the peril for the Atlanta Braves outfielder. Not all of America was prepared to accept a Black man usurping the Sultan of Swat. Not in the 1970s. Yet Aaron soldiered on, swatting dingers and chasing the larger-than-life Bambino until the night of April 8, 1974, when he sent an Al Downing pitch over the left-field fence and into the Braves bullpen. He had touched 'em all for the 715th time.
"What a marvelous moment, for baseball, what a marvelous moment for Atlanta and the state of Georgia, what a marvelous moment for the country and the world. A Black man is getting a standing ovation in the Deep South for breaking a record of an all-time baseball idol. It's a marvelous, wonderful, enjoyable moment here in Atlanta," is how legendary broadcaster Vin Scully described it.
Shortly thereafter, I made my way to the Winnipeg Tribune building, anxious to lay out and design the next day's sports section. Even though the Jets had opened a playoff series vs. Houston Aeros that night, I relegated them to the inside pages. The sports front was reserved for the great Henry Aaron. Every inch of it.
Jared Porter
Jared Porter has been outed as an oinker of the highest rank and, thankfully, the New York Mets squandered nary a nano-second in defrocking their creepy general manager.
Mind you, it's not like the Amazins had any choice.
I mean, Porter's one-man crusade to bed an unidentified female reporter while overseeing the Chicago Cubs stable of scouts in 2016 was as relentless as it was disturbing. More than 60 times he hounded the woman with come-hither texts and pics, the last of which brought an erect penis into focus, and it doesn't matter that he claims the erect-penis pic he sent wasn't a pic of his erect penis.
"The more explicit ones are not of me," Porter assured ESPN. "Those are like, kinda like joke-stock images."
Oh, ya, unwelcomed graphic porn is a real knee-slapper, Jared.
Listen, most women I know appreciate a man with a healthy sense of humor, but some scuzzball visiting porn sites and playing copy-and-paste with images of boners doesn't qualify as giggle-worthy.
It's sad, pathetic, dangerous and no one's idea of slapstick.
Fortunately, the Mets did every female news snoop a solid by kicking Porter to the curb, and I can't imagine any other Major League Baseball team bringing him and his baggage on board.
I don't know about you, but I've grown weary of Postmedia treating the Winnipeg Sun like the red-hair, freckle-face step-child of the chain. When I call up the Postmedia tabloids in the Republic of Tranna, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver, I normally find seven or more pages in the sports section. In Good Ol' Hometown it's usually four pages. Some days just two. Other days there's two pages of sports near the front of the rag and two more near the back. Ridiculous.
And, finally, I don't like to say I told you so, but I did. At least six times between February 2019 and last week, I warned you that Patrik Laine would not finish his career in Good Ol' Hometown. Moreover, I posed this question in June 2016, days before the Jets drafted him: "Is the Flamboyant Finn and his loose lips a fit for the Winnipeg Jets or will he give them fits?" Puck Finn conceded on Saturday that "it wasn't the right fit for me and for the team."
Author pattidawnswanssonPosted on January 24, 2021 January 25, 2021 Categories SportsTags 24 Sussex Drive, Atlanta Braves, Babe Ruth, Beauties, Blake Wheeler, Bobby Hull, Brett Hull, Chicago, Chicago Cubs, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dieter Brock, Don Cherry, Drake Hotel, ESPN, Evander Kane, George Springer, Governor General of Canada, Grey Cup, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Hank Aaron, Hockey Night in Canada, Jack Roslovic, Jacob Trouba, James Duthie, Jared Porter, Julie Payette, Kelly Chase, Ken Wiebe, Kevin Cheveldayoff, Mark Chipman, Matthew Tkachuk, Mickey Mantle, Mike McIntyre, Murat Ates, National Hockey League, New York Mets, Nikolaj Ehlers, Patrik Laine, Paul Friesen, Paul Maurice, Paul Stastny, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Postmedia, Rebel News, Remembrance Day, Rideau Hall, Ron MacLean, Sandy Koufax, Sportsnet, Ted Wyman, The Athletic, Tom Clements, Toronto Blue Jays, Vic Scully, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Winnipeg Free Press, Winnipeg Jets, Winnipeg Sun, Winnipeg Tribune4 Comments on Let's talk about Patrik Laine's adios…what the boys on the beat are saying…Grapes for GG of Canada…Bobby Hull dining on table scraps…Hammerin' Hank…the Mets and their oinker GM…and other things on my mind
Let's talk about men in sports popping stupid pills…females and football…Jermain Franklin's soccer map…hypocrisy in print…hey, get a whiff of Drake…Snoop's Dogg-and-Phony Show…good reads in the Drab Slab…no love for the Winnipeg Jets…and other things on my mind
Another Sunday morning smorgas-bored…and, yes, I realize I said I'd be going into hiding for a month—unless stupid happens. Well, stupid happened…
So, Evander Kane and the Reaves brothers, Ryan and Jordan, engaged in a bit of name-calling on social media last week, the kind of empty-headed "my pop can beat up your pop" banter normally reserved for children in the schoolyard.
Ordinarily, this sort of exercise in manhood-measuring would be ignored.
I mean, if three grown men choose to sound and act like total nincompoops, have at it, boys. It isn't the first time, nor will it be the last, especially in Kane's case.
Evander Kane
Except in his zest to discredit Reaves and Reaves as too frail or frightened to engage in fisticuffs, old friend Evander referred to his foil as "sisters," and we all know that's steering smack talk in the wrong direction. One guy labeling another guy a girl is a sexist trope that belongs in the same dust bin as anti-gay slurs, and it only serves to confirm that dinosaurs still walk among us.
Kane, of course, ought to know better.
The San Jose Sharks forward is co-founder of the Hockey Diversity Alliance, a group that, according to its website, aims to "inspire a new and diverse generation of hockey players and fans." It also boasts of making the game "accessible and safe for everyone."
One assumes that would include the 50 per cent of the population identifying as female, yet here we are, HDA co-founder Kane dipping into his trash talking tool box and using girls/women as an instrument to sissify Ryan Reaves, an on-ice foe with the Vegas Golden Knights, and Jordan Reaves, a D-Lineman with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Evander Kane and Ryan Reaves.
That is so 20th century.
No surprise that Kane was quick to delete his offensive tweet and deliver this mea culpa: "My intention wasn't for it to come across that way at all. I would like to apologize for using that term and to anyone who was offended by it. But remember no ones (sic) perfect, especially if your (sic) on Twitter."
Here's the deal with Kane, though: This wasn't the first time he's popped a stupid pill and let his thumbs do his talking.
I direct your attention to June 2013 when, observing a National Basketball Association playoff game, Kane suggested Chris Bosh "looked like a fairy going to the rim." Much tsk-tsking about his homophobic comment ensued, but Kane would have none of it.
"Man there's a lot of overly sensitive people on here," he tweeted in defiance. "It's unreal how some of you on here turn nothing into something so wrong. As I have said before and I'll say it again if you can't handle real talk #clickunfollow if you can't handle it."
Not until he engaged in a "real talk" parlez-vous with Patrick Burke of the You Can Play Project, also his employers with the Winnipeg Jets, did Kane retreat into recovery mode, apologizing and vowing "this will not happen again."
Well, it has happened. Again. Only this time the National Hockey League veteran is slagging women instead of gays.
Jordan Reaves
Kane and those of his ilk remain hard-wired to the notion that being female equals lesser-than. It's been drilled into them, and they've heard the echoes of sexist language for so long that using it as weaponry in a volley of smack talk is as routine as ordering a cup of java at Tim's. No matter how lame and antiquated it might be, it's one of the two main go-to insults in men's sports. Still.
But it's particularly objectionable when the dreck is coming from Kane's cake hole. He's a Black man who props himself up as a holier-than-thou champion of diversity, yet he's once again exposed himself as a chump in that arena, if not a fraud.
I'm thinking women, lesbian or straight, are tired of hearing the same dog-eared tropes from male athletes. I know I am.
Get some fresh material, boys.
Stupid Pill No. 2: Some among the rabble, and at least one news snoop, thought the Kane-Reaves dumb-and-dumber routine was boffo banter. You know, good for some boys-will-be-boys, knee-slapping yuks. Mad Mike McIntyre of the Drab Slab described it as "a refreshing change of pace," and "a breath of fresh air." No. Any discourse that includes the demeaning of women is just plain wrong. But whatever floats his boat, I guess.
Don't get me wrong. I'm all for trash talking—if it's witty, clever and humorous. What Kane and the Reaves bros delivered was funny like a dog bite.
Cris Collinsworth
Stupid Pill No. 3: Cris Collinsworth, one of my favorite TV gab guys, was gobsmacked and "wow, just blown away" to discover that "ladies" in Pittsburgh are football savvy. "They had really specific questions about the game," he gushed during NBC's coverage of last Wednesday's Steelers-Baltimore Ravens skirmish. Imagine that. Some women actually know a pigskin from a pedicure. Why, I'll just bet that the really, really smart ones don't even need their hubbies, beaus or Collinsworth to mansplain the difference between a false start and false labor. I declare, if this keeps up, we'll see women officiating and coaching in the National Football League any day now. Oh wait. Been there, doing that.
I've got a "specific question" for Collinsworth: Does he know what century this is?
Jermain Franklin
Stupid Pill No. 4: I don't know who writes Jermain Franklin's copy at TSN, but the SportsCentre anchor might want to call someone in rewrite. Talking about Forge FC's footy skirmish v. Haitian side Arcahaie last week, Franklin suggested a win by the Hamilton 11 "would officially put Canadian soccer on the map." Excuse me? Jermain Franklin, meet Christine Sinclair and our national women's soccer side, winner of two Olympic bronze medals and a Pan Am Games gold. I dare say, before Alphonso Davies came along, if you were to ask anyone in our vast land to name a Canadian soccer player, the most likely answer would have been Christine Sinclair. So I don't know what map Franklin is looking at, but mine has had Canadian soccer on it for many years, and it wears a ponytail.
I tested my theory on Saturday, asking my friend Cullen to name a Canadian soccer player. He is not a sports fan. I doubt he's ever watched a full game of soccer in his life, even if he wears a Pacific FC mask. He pondered for about 15 seconds, then said, "Christine." Point made.
Terence Davis
Stupid Pill No. 5: Steve Simmons of Postmedia Tranna has called out the Tranna Jurassics for "hypocrisy" in their kid-glove treatment of Terence Davis, a young player charged with assault after allegedly smacking his girlfriend in a New York City hotel.
Rather than put distance between themselves and Davis, Jurassics ownership/management is allowing the National Basketball Association to handle the investigation, thus he's in attendance for training exercises in Tampa until a court appearance on Dec. 11.
"It is his presence alone that sends the worst of all possible messages to those who care about the Raptors," Simmons harrumphed. "It says the Raptors will stand up for what's right, just not necessarily when it affects them. It says the Raptors will proudly wave flags for all the issues that matter, but when it involves one of their own, a young, promising, second year player of some magnitude, who was arrested in late October and charged with several counts of assault—essentially charged with domestic violence—they either say nothing, trip over their own words, or try to say they are respecting the process here."
That would be fine, except…this:
Here's Simmons on woman-beater Johnny Manziel in September 2017: "Personally, I think the CFL is stronger, maybe more fun, possibly more fan-appealing, with Manziel playing or trying to play the Canadian game."
And here he is when the woman-beating Manziel joined Hamilton Tabbies in May 2018: "Where do I sign up?"
And here he is on Euclid Cummings in March 2018, after the former B.C. Lions lineman was charged with sexual assault, assault and uttering threats to cause death: "Don't like the fact the CFL voids contracts after players are charged with a crime. Being charged is one thing. Being convicted is another. CFL shouldn't play judge and jury here with people's lives."
So, if you're keeping score at home, Simmons gets all giddy about the arrival of a woman-beating quarterback to the Canadian Football League, he believes the leaders of Rouge Football had no business punting a guy who beat and threatened to kill women, yet the Jurassics are bad guys for refusing to have one of their players drawn and quartered before his day in court.
That level of hypocrisy is a special kind of stupid.
I don't know if this will pass the sniff test, but noted Tranna Jurassics groupie Drake is marketing scented candles, one of which supposedly smells just like the rap star himself. Hmmm. Can't help but wonder if the candle smells like Drake before or after he's been chasing his hoops heroes around a basketball court for two hours.
Speaking of rappers, on the heels of his acclaimed gig as boxing commentator at the Mike Tyson-Roy Jones Jr. fossil fight last weekend, Snoop Dogg has created what he's calling The Fight Club, a series of boxing cards featuring knuckle-chucking between pro athletes, actors, musicians and social media celebs, but no boxers of note. Which, I suppose, makes it a real Dogg-and-Phony show.
Quick questions: If Snoop pulls off his quirky boxing cards, does that make it a legal Dogg fighting ring? If so, does Michael Vick land the commissioner's gig?
According to TMZ, some crackpot took a swing at Tyson while the former heavyweight boxing champion was signing autographs following his dust-up with Jones Jr. in L.A. No arrests have been made, but police are searching for a man who's lost his mind.
Rare job posting: Queen Liz II is looking for a personal assistant. If interested, apply to The Royal Household. So that's what we're calling Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle these days? A household?
Saw this headline on the CBS website the other day: "How to watch Jaguars at Vikings." Hey, it's the Jaguars. There's only one way to watch them—with your eyes closed.
If dispatches drifting from the Republic of Tranna are accurate, the Blue Jays are poised to sign every free agent who stepped onto a Major League Baseball diamond this past season. Except Dr. Anthony Fauci. The good doctor will require an emergency Trumpectomy on Jan. 20 and he isn't expected to fully recover in time for training camp.
A tip of the bonnet to Jason Bell of the Drab Slab for his fantastic feature spread on the Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League. It's the kind of copy a local newspaper is supposed to deliver.
Also kudos to Mad Mike McIntyre for his piece on Allan Walsh, the sometimes-too-vocal player agent who gets up so many NHL manager noses. More of same please, Mad Mike.
Nice to see Murat Ates has returned to the fray, which is to say the Winnipeg Jets beat for The Athletic. If you count yourself among the hard-core Jets mob, you'll want to dive into his deep dive on the local hockey heroes, but be warned: You might want to brew a pot of java and settle in, because his state-of-union is longer than a Winnipeg winter.
Kevin Cheveldayoff
The Jets aren't feeling the love according to Pierre LeBrun of the Athletic. He quizzed 15 NHL coaches/execs/scouts on an all-Canadian division in the NHL, and nine of 15 peered into their tea leaves and had the Jets on the outside looking in, which is to say a fifth-place finish or worse, assuming there's a 2021 crusade. That isn't unexpected, I suppose, given that GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has basically ignored his most-pressing need—defence. Still, I don't see the Jets worse than any outfit other than the Tranna Maple Leafs, so I say they finish as high as second and as low as fifth.
Let's see if I've got this straight: The cash-strapped CFL has declared itself open for business at noon tomorrow, meaning the nine Rouge Football outfits can commence getting signatures on player contracts. Yet this is the same bunch that went panhandling on Parliament Hill last spring/summer, looking for anywhere from $30 million to $150 million to put an abbreviated season in motion. So, with zero revenue coming in, they'll pay these players how?
The Vancouver Canucks have kicked anthem singer Mark Donnelly to the curb because he's an anti-masker. Guess that rules out an appearance on The Masked Singer.
Kelly, Gwen, John and Blake.
And, finally, I tuned in to The Voice this season, and I'm really not sure why. Perhaps it was boredom, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that not one of the coaches' chairs is occupied by the insufferable Miley Cyrus, and that the Blake Shelton/Adam Levine bromance is no longer a thing. Having said that, the current coaches—Kelly Clarkson, John Legend, Gwen Stefani and her squeeze, cowboy Shelton—might be the the most dishonest group of people not working in the White House. I mean, they tell us every singer is fantastic, every performance is better than fantastic, no one is ever off-key, they're already superstars, every performance is better than the previous warble, and they could listen to every singer all day every day. I swear, they're feeding us so much sugar, I have to book a dentist appointment after every show.
Author pattidawnswanssonPosted on December 6, 2020 December 6, 2020 Categories Sports, sports and society, sports mediaTags Adam Levine, Alphonso Davies, B.C. Lions, Baltimore Ravens, Blake Shelton, Canadian Football League, CBS, Chris Bosh, Christine Sinclair, Cris Collinsworth, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Drake, Euclid Cummings, Evander Kane, Forge FC, Gwen Stefani, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Hockey Diversity Alliance, Jason Bell, Jermain Franklin, John Legend, Johnny Manziel, Jordan Reaves, Kelly Clarkson, Kevin Cheveldayoff, Major League Baseball, Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League, Mike McIntyre, Mike Tyson, Miley Cyrus, Murat Ates, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, NBC, New York City, Olympic Games, Pacific FC, Pan American Games, Patrick Burke, Pierre LeBrun, Pittsburgh Steelers, Postmedia, Queen Elizabeth II, Roy Jones Jr., Ryan Reaves, San Jose Sharks, Saskatchewan Roughriders, sexism, Snoop Dogg, Steve Simmons, Terence Davis, The Athletic, The Fight Club, The Voice, TMZ, Toronto Blue Jays, Toronto Raptors, TSN, Twitter, Vegas Golden Knights, White House, Winnipeg Free Press, Winnipeg Jets, You Can Play ProjectLeave a comment on Let's talk about men in sports popping stupid pills…females and football…Jermain Franklin's soccer map…hypocrisy in print…hey, get a whiff of Drake…Snoop's Dogg-and-Phony Show…good reads in the Drab Slab…no love for the Winnipeg Jets…and other things on my mind
Let's talk about "hub bubble hockey" and jock journos…Elvis and his Jailhouse Jock…John Fogerty plays centrefield…sticking to sports, or not…the race and gender scorecard…snack time for Iron Mike…Commish Randy's naked bootleg…and other things on my mind
Another Sunday smorgas-bored, and it's mostly quick hits this morning because my attention span is like the golf season in Good Ol' Hometown—short…
Okay, as far as I can determine, this is the National Hockey League road map to a reboot and the coronation of a 2020 Stanley Cup champion:
Summon the boys from hither and yon, put 24 teams in a "bubble" in a couple of "hub" cities, stick swabs up hundreds of noses every morning, noon and nighttime for three months, and play summer-stretched-into-winter shinny until either Alexander Ovechkin or Brett Hull is too drunk to stand during the post-playoff celebration.
Ya, sure, works for me.
Except I'm not on the beat.
NHL bubble hockey.
There's no sports editor instructing me to pack my bags and take enough clothes for a 90-day stay in one of those two "hub bubbles," and it seems to me that news snoops are the forgotten, or ignored, element in the NHL's quest to stem its financial blood-letting and, at the same time, determine a pandemic puck champion.
We know the rabble won't be invited inside the "hub bubbles," but what about sports scribes and natterbugs? Are they also persona non grata? Will those assigned to report on the goings-on in the "hub bubbles" be granted access to players, coaches, managers, etc.? If not (which is the most likely scenario), why bother going? If so, how many news snoops are willing to put their health, if not their lives, at risk?
I mean, people with medical diplomas on their office walls tell us that we can expect a surge of COVID-19 cases in the autumn, so do you really want to be in proximity to a bunch of guys who've been spitting and sweating on each other all day? That might be a tough sell on the home front.
A similar thought process would apply if the Canadian Football League sorts out its mess and establishes "hub bubbles" in two-to-four Prairie locales, for an abbreviated season that would commence in September and conclude in December.
I've long held that the toy departments of newspapers must discover fresh ways of doing business, given the immediacy of Internet news, the personal disclosures of athletes on social media forums, and the near-maniacal obsession of pro sports teams/organizations to control the message, so it could be that the COVID-19 pandemic will give sports editors no choice but to remake their sections in a significant way.
Same old, same old is done. Probably forever. Creativity must rule the day, and that will be a good thing.
Let's say you're a news snoop on the Winnipeg Jets beat and you're told to tag along with the team to a locale in the United States sometime late this summer/early autumn, when the NHL reboots. Maybe our Yankee Doodle neighbors will have a handle on the coronavirus by then. Maybe not. Maybe the streets of America will no longer be flooded with clashing rioters and storm-troopers after another rogue cop executes another Black man, seemingly for sport. Maybe they will be. So do you go?
Good work by a clever headline writer at the Drab Slab re the proposed Stanley Cup tournament cooked up by the mad scientists in NHL Commish Gary Bettman's lab: "The Franken-playoffs." It'll certainly be different, if only because the lads will be playing in echo chambers dressed up as hockey rinks.
Whichever outfit wins the Stanley Cup, it'll be the first time in history that no one from the winning outfit will shout, "We couldn't have done this without our fans!"
My favorite tweet last week was delivered by Shannon Szabados, our longtime women's national team goaltender: "Happy the NHL will be back, but without fans how do we expect players to know when to shoot the puck? How will opposing goalies know they suck?" That's my kind of humor.
Tommie Smith and John Carlos (Peter Norman on left).
I've never subscribed to the "stick to sports" mantra as it relates to jock journos, because societal issues and sports have been intersecting since David took out his slingshot and coldcocked Goliath. Think heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson and his white wives. Think Branch Rickey, Jackie Robinson and whites-only baseball. Think Muhammad Ali and the Vietnam War. Think Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the Mexico Olympics. Think Colin Kaepernick on one knee. Think Billie Jean King being outed as a lesbian. Think racist team names, like Washington's Redskins, and team logos, like Cleveland's clownish Chief Wahoo. Think Johnny Manziel, Ray Rice, Bobby Hull and numerous other male athletes and domestic violence. So good on Paul Friesen of the Winnipeg Sun for straying beyond the accepted boundaries of sports scribbling to serve up a column on the current ugliness and nastiness south of the great Canada-U.S. divide. Paul had a natter with former Winnipeg Blue Bombers DB Jovon Johnson, many times a victim of racist acts and language, and he wonders why white people aren't raising their voices against systemic racism while Minneapolis-St. Paul and other U.S. burgs burn and protesters are trampled by the hooves of cops' horses. It's a boffo read.
Why don't more sports scribes/sections tackle societal issues like racism, gender equality, homophobia, misogyny, domestic violence? Because most of them can't relate to the marginalized among us. Consider these numbers from the most recent Associated Press Sports Editors Racial and Gender Report Card (2018, a study of 75 newspapers/websites in Canada and the U.S.):
90 per cent of sports editors were male;
85 per cent of sports editors were white;
88.5 per cent of reporters were male;
83.4 per cent of columnists were male;
82.1 per cent of reporters were white;
80.3 per cent of columnists were white;
44 women were columnists at 'A' level newspapers/websites, and 38 worked for ESPN. If the ESPN female columnist were removed, the percentage of female columnists would drop to 2.9 per cent.
Birmingham, circa 1960s.
Curious tweet re U.S. rioting from Terry Jones of Postmedia E-Town: "No I wasn't endorsing police firing rubber bullets at members of the media. I just can't comprehend the racism that's behind all of this. It got Trump elected. And isn't this where I came in back in the 60s? Forget the cops. I'd bring in the fire department and turn on the hoses." I'm not sure what to make of that, but, as a product of the 1950s and '60s, I know I don't like the optics.
There's talk about a third fist fight between former heavyweight boxing champs Iron Mike Tyson and Evander (The Real Meal) Holyfield. Or, as Tyson likes to call it, "Leftovers."
Hey, look who's blah-blah-blahing about the CFL—Johnny Manziel. That's right, TSN's favorite lousy quarterback went on something called Golf's Subpar podcast the other day, and he informed listeners that he "loved Canada," even if the business side of Rouge Football is "a little bit ticky-tacky." Well, if anyone knows "tacky," it's Johnny Rotten. The former Montreal Larks/Hamilton Tabbies QB also confirmed his fondness for females and nightclubs, and added, "I got a good heart, I'm a good dude. I treat people the right way for the most part. Deep down, I truly am a good person." Ya, except for beating up and threatening to kill women, he's a swell guy.
Speaking of complete dinks, if any of you girls out there are looking to get that special man in your life something unique, how about Elvis Presley's old jockstrap? Straight goods. The very garment that once holstered the King's jewels in the 1970s is up for auction by Paul Fraser Collectibles, and this is no ordinary jockstrap. It's rhinestone-studded, "sexually potent" and, according to auction rep Daniel Wade, "the new owner won't be able to resist wearing it out on a Saturday night—the Elvis magic will work wonders." Oh, for sure, that's what every woman is hoping to discover about her man on a first date—his underwear is half a century old.
Seriously, why was Elvis the Pelvis even wearing a jockstrap? Was there a chance his boys were going to pop out of his jumpsuit?
Oh, one final thing about Elvis' jockstrap: It's a size Medium, so maybe the King wasn't really the king after all, if you catch my meaning. (Thank you, thank you very much.)
CFL Commish Randy Ambrosie continues to panhandle on Parliament Hill, asking the feds for welfare payments from $30 million to $150 million. PM Trudeau the Younger can just send the cheque to Rouge Football headquarters at the new mailing address: c/o 2020 Skid Road.
The adult website Stripchat, which boasts of 60 million monthly visitors for its live webcam sex shows, is offering $15 million for naming rights to the Superdome in New Orleans, home of the National Football League Saints. Hearing that, CFL Commish Randy immediately contacted the porn masters at Stripchat and said, "Give us $15 million and we'll put your live sex shows on our Jumbotrons during TV timeouts. Hell, for an extra $15 million, we'll have our guys play naked, except the O-lineman, of course. Nobody wants to go there." We can just call it Commish Randy's naked bootleg.
John Fogerty and the kids.
Coolest thing I've seen in a long, long time was John Fogerty celebrating his 75th birthday by singing Centrefield in centrefield at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. He was joined by his kids Shane, Kelsy and Tyler, with Fogerty playing a custom-made Louisville Slugger guitar. Centrefield is only the best baseball song. Ever. And how cool it must be to have a 75-year-old dad that cool.
I'm not big on all the retro stuff that we've been force-fed during the pandemic, but Taylor Allen has a good read on Laurie Boschman in the Drab Slab. Bosch was one of the genuinely good guys to ever wear Jets linen.
Also good to see is a new feature in the Winnipeg Sun, Ted's Talk, which debuted on Saturday. Ted Wyman takes a wordy walkabout through the sports neighborhood, touching on a variety of issues, and I have to say it's bloody well time. I don't know how sassy, cheeky or irreverent Teddy Football plans to be with his new toy, but I hope he has fun with it. And takes no prisoners.
In late April, Postmedia slashed 80 jobs and shut down 15 papers. Last week, it was revealed that there'll be another 40 "permanent" reductions across the chain. Again, I wonder if Postmedia will be printing two papers in Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver by the time the COVID-19 pandemic has run its course.
And, finally, a lot of us can use a little good news these days, and watching the SpaceX rocket leave the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center and roar off into the wild, blue yonder on Saturday was quite an emotional moment. There wasn't a dry eye in my house. God speed to the two astronauts.
Author pattidawnswanssonPosted on May 31, 2020 May 31, 2020 Categories Sports, sports and societyTags 1950s, 1960s, Alexander Ovechkin, Associated Press, auction, Billie Jean King, Birmingham, Bobby Hull, boxing, Branch Rickey, Brett Hull, Canadian Football League, Centrefield, Chief Wahoo, Colin Kaepernick, COVID-19, Daniel Wade, David and Goliath, Dodger Stadium, Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, Elvis Presley, Evander Holyfield, Gary Bettman, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Jackie Robinson, jockstrap, John Carlos, John Fogerty, Johnny Manziel, Jovon Johnson, Kennedy Space Center, Laurie Boschman, Los Angeles, Mexico Olympics, Mike Tyson, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Montreal Alouettes, Muhammad Ali, National Hockey League, Parliament Hill, Paul Fraser Collectibles, Paul Friesen, Postmedia, Randy Ambrosie, Ray Rice, riots, Shannon Szabados, SpaceX, Stanley Cup, Stanley Cup tournament, Stripchat, table hockey, Taylor Allen, Ted Wyman, Terry Jones, Tommie Smith, TSN, United States, Washington Redskins, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Winnipeg Free Press, Winnipeg Jets, Winnipeg Sun3 Comments on Let's talk about "hub bubble hockey" and jock journos…Elvis and his Jailhouse Jock…John Fogerty plays centrefield…sticking to sports, or not…the race and gender scorecard…snack time for Iron Mike…Commish Randy's naked bootleg…and other things on my mind


Christmas Credits Air date December 17, 2003 Written by Phillip Stark Directed by David Trainer Christmas is the 7th episode of the sixth season of That '70s Show, and the 135th episode overall. Also, these particular episodes are often only aired Wiki christmas episodes first time during Christmastime (between late-November and early-January), as if to be elevated to the status of a primetime special.
Many series air their Christmas episodes in late-November, before going on a Christmas break lasting until about mid-January. Christmas Specials Wiki is a freely editable database containing information on Christmas specials, TV episodes, and movies, as well as a Christmas TV listing. The Christmas Specials Wiki is a website that anyone can edit about our favorite Christmas Specials, movies, TV episodes, characters from within these media and music from.
The Christmas Episode is a special Christmas episode of the Grossery Gang webseries. It was released on December 9th, 2017. This is a list of all the NCIS episodes that have aired days before Christmas. It should be noted that there is no NCIS Season 5 Christmas episode due to the fact that the season which aired was cut short due to the writers strike of 2008.
These are all episodes that have to do with the Christmas celebration in the main plot. This is a category of all Christmas themed episodes of Teen Titans Go!. Pages in category" Christmas Episodes" The following 21 pages are in this category, out of 21 total. This article is a list of Christmas episodes of regular United States television series. Contents. 1 Drama. 1. 1 Crime drama/Mystery.
Adam-12; Alfred. Lists of Christmas television episodes include: List of Christmas television episodes and specials in the United Kingdom · List of Christmas television specials. The following is a list of United Kingdom, Christmas television specials, as well as Christmas-themed episodes of regular television series.
Many television shows have an episode themed around Christmas. Some shows present their Christmas episodes with specially-made versions of the show's. Episodes The Christmas Specials Wiki is a website that anyone can edit about our favorite Christmas Specials, movies, TV episodes, characters from within these media. This category displays the episodes that center around Christmas, or winter in general.
The first five seasons of House each include a single episode set during the Christmas season which integrates a holiday theme. The first four of these episodes. The very first episode to premiere on Christmas Day was" The Feast of Steven"very nominally the seventh part of the 1965-1966 serial The Daleks' Master Plan. Season 2, Episode 11: " The Big How The Ex-Stole Christmas Episode" (December 15, 2003) Hearts Afire [ edit ] Season 1, Episode 12: " Everyday's a Holiday" (December 21, 1992) Many television shows have an episode themed around Christmas.
Some shows present their Wiki christmas episodes episodes with specially-made versions of the show's opening sequence (examples including Tiny Toon Adventures and Pinky and the Brain), or without the regular opening sequence at all (such as Hey.
Christmas Specials Wiki is a freely editable database containing information on Christmas specials, TV episodes, and movies, as well as a Christmas TV listing.


You may remember not so long ago we posted a blog about a Galileo (Traction 600) lift we installed in the new Argyll & Bute Council offices that were built in and next to the former Clyde Street School. A new office block was built on the former school's football pitch, joined to the old building with a glazed walkway where our Galileo lift was installed. The innovative lift brought many benefits to the project and in this article we're going to explain exactly how it helped the construction run as smoothly as possible.
The Galileo lift is one of the most versatile lifts that can be installed in a building and this certainly helped with the Clyde Street School project. Certified to the EN81-1 and EN81-21 Lift Directives for low pit and low headroom, the Galileo lift doesn't need the space to that other lifts might. This helped the architect of the project to choose a location for the lift without having to worry too much about locations where deep or high shafts may be an issue.
The Galileo is also versatile in its size, being able to cater for 3, 4, 6 or 8 passengers with weight handling of up to 450kg or 600kg, allowing the architect to choose the correct elevator for the project.
Like with most building constructions in the 21st century, the environmental impact of the building was a concern during the design phases. Whereas with some other lifts this may have been an issue, the Galileo lift is one that can actually be called eco-friendly due to its low power requirements. Even though the lift has a large capacity, the innovative technology and components that the lift use such as inverters and latest generation motors means that it can operate on just 2.2kW and is connected to a standard 220v single phase socket.
It's clear to see that the Galileo lift had a positive effect on this project with the combination of its low pit, low headroom requirements and eco-friendliness. It isn't just this project that the Traction 600 lift can be beneficial for, its versatility means that the Galileo will be able to help in a number of constructions. If you'd like more information about the Galileo passenger lifts, or anything else that we can provide, don't hesitate to contact our friendly team on 01200 405 005.


text:
HELIOS Theater moved from Cologne to Hamm in 1997. The ensemble followed the invitation of the City of Hamm, to set up the first professional theatre in the city of 180.000 inhabitants. An interesting challenge for an independent theatre company which had worked primarily as a touring theatre from Cologne. The desire for and interest in conceptional work and setting up structures for a theatre was big, and so HELIOS Theater moved from the "metropole" to the "countryside" in 1997. In the beginning, the performances took place in a shared space in the "Bürgersaal", but soon the ensemble started looking for a long term solution, a possible future theatre house.
After the first visit of the buildings of the former express mail station, it was obvious that this was the perfect place for the theatre, connected to and interesting developable outside terrain. Now the research for financial support for the reconstruction began. The old post-hovel was nice and well situated but old, wet and without any heating as well. An almost rotten building ensemble directly connected to the world by the central station.
The members of the theatre searched for possible reconstruction programmes by themselves and explored one of the last promoting programmes of the International Building Exhibition Emscherpark (IBA). The IBA worked for North Rhine-Westphalia and was instructed to reorganise disused industrial facilities. There was the possibility to support the reconstruction with 1.8 million DM (about 1 million €) if certain conceptual conditions were fulfilled. The City of Hamm and the "Deutsche Bahn AG" were supposed to add another 100,000 DM (about 50,000 €) each.
Then time stood still. The decision makers of the central station were hard to convince to support a project which included the rent-free use of a building for cultural use. Only a few individual supporters at the central station, the City of Hamm Barbara Kölling and Michael Lurse from HELIOS Theater as the moving spirit pushed the decision and took care that the raised funds would not expire until the restauration could start.
Together with the participating architects a concept of reconstruction was followed that should preserve the old structure of the building with a cautious emphasis on the old architectural features. At the same time it was important to keep in mind the necessary functions of the house, being a theatre especially for children. It was not an easy task regarding the fixed amount of money of 1 million DM (about 500.000 €) for the entire reconstruction. Intensive investigations and a symposium about "Children Theatre Houses" in January 2004 supported the conceptual work and the plans for the interior design.
The result was a variable theatre hall with an area of more than 280 square meter and a height of 5 meter. Because of the telescopic tribune the stage can be seen from the front or as in an arena, so that the audience sits on two or three sides. All in all the room offers space for 200 people who have a perfect view of the stage from all seats.
After an enduring period of waiting, of defiant planning and stubborn convincing the reconstruction has been given the green light form all the participating parties. In September 2003 the reconstruction began with a ground-breaking ceremony. Due to the precise preorganisation and no big "surprises" throughout the period of reconstruction the interior work didn't take longer than 12 months.
It can be indicated from many subtleties that the theatre house focuses on children and teenagers: There is the children's foyer on the ground floor. Up to 150 children can take a seat on wooden furniture suitable for children before and after the performances, e.g. to have their breakfast together. It is also a perfect place to prepare the children for a play or to talk more extensively about performances afterwards. The furnishings have been made by a group of retired manual workers, created and built specially for the theatre. The complete furniture (even the cloak hooks and the counter) have been built in three different heights so that even three year old children are able to move independently, to hang up their jackets and to buy a ticket on their own. On the first floor there is another atmospherical room for workshops, rehearsals and also discussions.
With a three day theatre ceremony from September 10th to 12th 2004 the house was officially opened.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Profit Patterns : 30 Ways to Anticipate and Profit from Strategic Forces Reshaping Your Business by Adrian Slywotzky and David Morrison, Ted Moser, Kevin Mundt, James Quella is a very interesting book which explains dynamics in strategy. Review of Profit Patterns Profit Patterns begins with the interesting metaphor of business strategy is like Picasso's paintings.
Blue Zebra Strategy – What's In A Name & Image?
Competitive Rivalry : The Most Powerful Of The Five Forces?
Why Is Strategy Important ?


text:
package cn.fireworkstudio.java.tbschedule;

import com.taobao.pamirs.schedule.strategy.TBScheduleManagerFactory;
import org.springframework.context.ApplicationContext;
import org.springframework.context.support.ClassPathXmlApplicationContext;

import java.util.Properties;

public class Client {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        ApplicationContext ctx = new ClassPathXmlApplicationContext("spring/spring-tbschedule.xml");

        TBScheduleManagerFactory scheduleManagerFactory = new TBScheduleManagerFactory();

        Properties p = new Properties();
        p.put("zkConnectString", "localhost:2181");
        p.put("rootPath", "/fireworks");
        p.put("zkSessionTimeout", "60000");
        p.put("userName", "zookeeper");
        p.put("password", "zookeeper");
        p.put("isCheckParentPath", "true");
        scheduleManagerFactory.setApplicationContext(ctx);
        scheduleManagerFactory.init(p);
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
About Us / Mission Statement
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Kitted Football
Team Pack 2020
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Field Marking (Rugby)
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Wada Prohibited Substances
Shamrock Bowl Winners
IAFL 1
Youth Season 2019
Leagues Details
Emerald Bowl Winners
EBC 2019
GBC 2019
Irish Wolfhounds
Board Meetings & Annual General Meetings
Role Vacancies
Anti Doping Policy
IAFA Registration
Youth Championship Day 2019: Louth Mavericks
Interviews Junior Youth
With the Youth Championship Day on Sunday fast approaching, we wanted to chat with the coaches of this year's four playoff competitors about youth football in general and the interesting match ups that will determine the Youth National Champions. First up, we chatted to Aaron Finley of the Louth Mavericks.
Are your players excited to be playing for the right to be called national youth champions?
"Our players are extremely excited for the games this weekend! Throughout the season, they have been feeling pumped going into every game but the chance to play for a national championship brings a whole other level of excitement."
This is your first year fielding a youth team. Now that you've reached a successful result, can you describe what was the most difficult part of getting your club's youth program going?
"Recruitment was definitely the most challenging aspect of getting the program up and running. Take up was slow to begin with and at one stage we thought we might not gain enough players to enter a team this year. We were delighted to receive an influx of players just in time for the start of the season."
How much progression of the players and the team have you seen from day one to now?
"The majority of our players, bar 1 or 2 that had previously played on our flag football team, came to us with absolutely no experience or knowledge of American football and through hard work and commitment they have turned into competent players who would fit right in among our senior kitted team. I have no doubt that they will all continue to develop into great players. As a whole, the players have built a great bond with each other and are good friends on and off the field."
What do you think was the key element in the success of your squad?
"The key to our success this year has been down to the commitment and hardworking nature of the players. Attendance at training sessions was consistent and they gave it their all in every game, despite the fact that the entire team had to play ironman football."
Is there a particular player or players on your squad that demonstrates the kind of leadership skills that are so critical to success in American football? Where might you envision these guys' level of play in two or three years?
"I believe that all of our players have played a big part in us reaching the semi-finals, and without any of them we would not be in this position. One player that stands out as a leader within the group is our quarterback and captain, Nathan Hearty. He was one of the 3 original players at our very first training session and since day 1, he has led by example in everything that he does. He will be one to watch out for in the future."
Last time around you ended up with a tie against your semi-final opponent. How do you see your team breaking the impasse and coming out on top this Sunday?
"Our game against the Knights will be very interesting. When we last played them, it was our very first match in youth football. I feel that our players have grown since our first meeting with the Knights but I also anticipate that they will enter the game with a slightly different game plan now that they know our strengths and weaknesses. I expect a very close game, but I have every faith in our lads coming out on top."
As a coach, how rewarding is it for you to be a part of a young players initial development and introducing American football to a new generation?
"It has been very rewarding to see the players develop and grow. We put a lot of thought and effort into preparing effective training sessions so it's great to see this hard work pay off."
Now that the season is close to an end, regardless of what happens on Sunday, was it worth it for your club to expend the time, effort and resources on youth football?
"Yes, regardless of what happens on Sunday I am proud of our players for what they have achieved this season. However the season is not over yet and we will go out on Sunday leaving everything on the field."
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text:
Non-Invasive Instrumentation and Measurement in Medical Diagnosis
Robert B. Northrop
Published December 10, 2019 by CRC Press
Published October 24, 2017 by CRC Press
526 Pages 60 Color & 190 B/W Illustrations
Purchase eBook - $175.00 $140.00
12 Month Rental - $105.00
Non-Invasive Instrumentation and Measurement in Medical Diagnosis, Second Edition discusses NIMD as a rapidly growing, interdisciplinary field. The contents within this second edition text is derived from Professor Robert B. Northrop's experience teaching for over 35 years in the Biomedical Engineering Department at the University of Connecticut. The text focusses on the instruments and procedures which are used for non-invasive medical diagnosis and therapy, highlighting why NIMD is the preferred procedure, whenever possible, to avoid the risks and expenses associated with surgically opening the body surface. This second edition also covers a wide spectrum of NIMD topics including: x-ray bone densitometry by the DEXA method; tissue fluorescence spectroscopy; optical interferometric measurement of nanometer tissue displacements; laser Doppler velocimetry; pulse oximetry; and applications of Raman spectroscopy in detecting cancer, to name a few. This book is intended for use in an introductory classroom course on Non-Invasive Medical Instrumentation and Measurements taken by juniors, seniors, and graduate students in Biomedical Engineering. It will also serve as a reference book for medical students and other health professionals intrigued by the topic. Practicing physicians, nurses, physicists, and biophysicists interested in learning state of the art techniques in this critical field will also find this text valuable. Non-Invasive Instrumentation and Measurement in Medical Diagnosis, Second Edition concludes with an expansive index, bibliography, as well as a comprehensive glossary for future reference and reading.
Introduction. Visual Inspection of Tissues With Endoscopes and Other Optical Devices. Sounds From Within the Body. Measurement of Electrical Potentials and Magnetic Fields from the Body Surface. NI Measurements of Blood Pressure. Body Temperature Measurements. Non-Invasive Blood Gas Sensing With Electrodes. Tests on Naturally-Voided Body Fluids. Plethysmography. Pulmonary Function Tests. Measurement of Basal Metabolism. Ocular Tonometry. NI Tests Involving the Input of Audible Sound Energy. NI Tests Using Doppler Ultrasound. NI Applications of Photon Radiation. Survey of Medical Imaging Systems Trends in NI Genomic Measurements and Diagnostics A Review of NonInvasive Therapies
Professor Robert B. Northrop is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Connecticut. He was the original founding chairman of the department of biomedical engineering at U Conn. He has been an active instructor and researcher in medical instrumentation for over thirty years. He has authored 10 texts and reference works related to biomedical electronics, instrumentation, signal processing and genomics for biomedical engineers.
"Non-invasive medical diagnosis is already an important area in medicine and healthcare and it will be much more important in the future. This book is an excellent overview, very suitable for introductory courses where the objective is to provide the students with a complete tour over the instrumentation and techniques for non-invasive diagnosis currently available."
— António Miguel Morgado, University of Coimbra, Portugal
"The description of the text is powerful and scientific and yet written in a simple and easy to understand language conveying the meaning to the reader without any ambiguity. The book is a comprehensive treatise and covers the syllabi of the courses of non-invasive instrumentation approaches in the subject of Biomedical Instrumentation being taught at various levels, both the undergraduates and graduates, across many universities across the globe. An important landmark feature of the book is that the author has included the NMID techniques of the future which are at prototype stages, not yet commercialized and awaiting final approval by the Govt agencies. Overall, the book richly reflects the extensive teaching and research experience of the author in the subject area of the book."
— Vinay Sharma, Banasthali University, India
"The main objective of this book is to provide a brief introduction to the fields of non-invasive bio-instrumental systems, monitoring systems, applications, and implementation. To achieve these objectives, theoretical advances, concepts and its applications to real-life problems will be stressed. The book is structured so that the readers will find relevance as a textbook for undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in the introduction of Bio-instrumentation and special areas in Biomedical Engineering and health care system. It is expected that this book will provide a launching pad for future researchers."
— A K M Arifuzzman, Georgia Institute of Technolog


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