The Noise Factor

My apologies to some of my blog friends as I have decided to double-dip today. I would say about 40 writers know what I am talking about. That’s all I need before I begin to tackle some topics…

FOOTBALL

- The stage for the playoffs are nearly set as we conclude the 2007 season. It has been a sensational year for the New England Patriots - thus far.

I have been a Pats fan for now 14 years and despite what you may think I have no bias. Yes I am proud of the accomplishments they have had this year; Tom Brady putting up the greatest season by any QB ever, Randy Moss’s resurrection and the perfect 16-0 season. But I have my fears as their team defense has looked old and inconsistent down the stretch. What do you think will happen when they go up against Indy - IF they get to face Indy? New England better hope for poor weather because a mild day may be enough for Peyton to go off. A loss in the playoffs and that would be a disappointment. I don’t care about the perfect season if they don’t win the Lombardi Trophy.

But, Indy could be in line to face 1 of 3 teams that have given them problems over the years: San Diego, Pittsburgh or Jacksonville. Out of all the teams, San Diego has the best shot at Indy. If Peyton walks into the first half of a playoff game playing “Panic-Peyton” by overthrowing receivers and dancing in the pocket this could be a long one for Indy.

Pittsburgh hasn’t looked impressive over the last 6 weeks so I will go on a limb and say if they win against Jacksonville it will be thanks to J-Ville giving the game to them. Jacksonville should realize that despite playing on the road they are better than Pittsburgh.

- Also, I don’t care what you people think of the whole cheating fiasco with the Patriots. I’ve already given you a glimpse of how New England can lose to Indy so I am not afraid to roll on my own team. But how many teams have cheated in the NFL to go 16-0? We know cheating has been going on for years. Heck, nobody raised an eyebrow when the Denver Broncos won 2 super bowls despite being over the salary cap - which was brought to everyone’s attention a few years after the victories. So let’s assume teams have cheated in one form or another. That said, they haven’t gone 16-0. Give the Patriots some respect as they beat Indy, SD, Pitt and Dallas. Perhaps the 2nd-5th best teams in the NFL.

- But Green Bay could factor in too. However, this is where I get to do what I love to do and that’s discuss Brett Favre. Favre, by the way, is a Hall of Fame quarterback who has had a fabulous career. Quarterbacks would kill to have his career.

(HERE COMES THE “BUT”)

But, I love how the hypocrisy with the media shows up again. Favre throws a TD today and then celebrates with the referee. I will say right now that he will not get fined AND he was not penalized after the celebration. What is the difference between that and Chad Johnson grabbing a camera? When we deal with Brett Favre versus the rest of league why do we turn a blind eye? I have a multiple choice answer for you. Does Favre skate on his antics and selfishness because:

A) The media wants to suck his cock
B) The media is racist
C) We’re all just blind
D) All of the above

Let’s face it, if T.O. or Randy Moss did what Favre did today we’d be looking at them as goofballs. Favre does it and we say he’s ‘just having fun, acting like a kid at heart on the field!’. The double standard has always been there with #4 and a lot of it is NOT his fault. Then again he also refuses to celebrate touchdowns by his running backs the way he celebrates his throwing TD’s. And nobody dares to talk about the Super Bowl when he showed up New England running around the field with his helmet off when he threw a TD to make it…7-0. Again, check the multiple choice answers for assistance.

BASEBALL

- Jim Leyritz decided to get behind the wheel while intoxicated and killed someone. Just to brace you guys right now, he will not get too much jail time. If he doesn’t get at least 20 years in jail it’s a light sentence. If your mother, father, son or daughter or anyone close to you was fatally killed by Leyritz in this situation you would agree with me 100%. People go behind the wheel because they think they are suited to drive and they won’t be caught if something goes wrong. Obviously there are other factors as to why drunks decide to drive, but its time to make the decision an obvious “NO” by punishing those who drive under the influence and kill someone. Hopefully the judges in Leonard Little’s DUI cases is reading this.

- Jose Canseco plans to name more people in his book. He may be right with these names but I am curious as to why he protected his buddy Roger Clemens and who else he is protecting by NOT naming them in his books.

BASKETBALL

- How dangerous is Portland going to be next year when they get Greg Oden back? Or is he trying to rehab his way onto the team in mid-March? Doubt that will happen but I can’t believe they have been playing THIS hot. All the power to them.

- Who walked up the ladder to smoke Yao Ming’s eyebrow?

- We’ve been waiting for the New York Knicks to make changes for over a year so why expect changes now? Even if they make changes they could mess that up too. They did put themselves in this position so how do you think they will get themselves out of the hole they dug in the first place?

HOCKEY

- 5 years and 37 million for Alexander Ovechkin is underpaying a guy who scores 30% of his teams goals. Asking for 9 million per season would be less than 20% of the team’s salary cap so his demands are not that outrageous. In my opinion, he is the best hockey player in the world and his numbers would be monsterous if he played with Evgeni Malkin or Martin St. Louis like Sidney Crosby and Vincent Lecavalier do respectfully. And if you want to add Ilya Kovalchuk into the conversation then Marian Hossa is better than anyone Ovechkin plays with. SHOW OVECHKIN THE MONEY!!!

- This is a little off people’s radar but the premise is something you have probably seen over time. The World Junior Hockey Championships have started and Canada just lost a game they had in control against Sweden. What bothers me about this team is they seem to be blaming goaltending even though goaltending hasn’t been the problem. The problem is simple: defense and coaching. The defense has been exposed badly over the tournament and the coaches mentality should have him NEVER allowed to coach again. Why? Well, he has decided that the top OHL player and the projected #1 overall pick in the 2008 draft are not suited to play on the top line because they are “very young”. WHAT!? You play them on the 3rd line because they are too young? Suck my dick coach! These guys would be #1 and #2 in the draft this year if the top OHL player, John Tavares, was old enough. Steve Stamkos got 3 assists ON THE 3RD LINE!!! Play the young guys more because they are the best players on your team. Past coaches have done the same thing and Canada has lost gold because of that stupidity. Play your best players - forget the age. If age was a problem then they wouldn’t allow these kids to play in this tournament.

REALSPORTS ADD-ONS…

- I have already put my own real sports bloggers TSN team (Sporting News). Everyday during the playoffs I plan to switch divisions and drop messages telling people to check us out. If we manage to obtain 1 writer to this site it means progress. I am all for that.

- I want to wish the people who write for this website a very happy new years celebration and all the best to each of you in 2008. Let’s make it a year to remember.

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“Dear Mr. Clemens - Happy Holidays to you and your family.  All the best!”

- Regards George Mitchell.

Doubt we’ll be seeing that anytime soon.  Then again, the present has already been dropped if you look at it from a different perspective.  Speaking of which I’ll just get to my points in 3…2…

- Once again people are taking shots at Curt Schilling for something he wrote on his blog.  It reminds me of when one of us decided to take shots at soccer back in the day when Real Sports Bloggers did not exist.  As usual, I agree with Curt.  I seem to ALWAYS agree with Curt and this is no different.  Now, certain portions of his argument are off.  Based on the storyline the 1997 CY Young award would still be Rogers to keep.  The drug fiasco allegedly went on in 1998.

That said, Schilling has a hell of a lot of respect for Clemens.  Schilling credits Clemens for his success as a pitcher.  Not too many guys would have the stones to say what he said on his blog about a guy who was very influential for his career.  If Curt was wrong I would take exception to the comments but he isn’t.  People are bothered with Curt despite being the anti-T.O. (which I will get to in a bit).  Curt has been clutch and I attribute that to his personality.  Clemens has rarely got it done in pressure situations because he’s just a big bully (No, winning Game 4 when up 3-0 in a series is not clutch).  I say lay off Curt because he isn’t the bad guy.  It’s not his fault Fox and ESPN want to expose his blog - I never asked my blog to be exposed on a certain site (which it has).  The Schilling bashing is nonsense when there is a drug problem in the MLB.

- Where do I start with T.O.?  His comments about Jessica Simpson were meant to be a joke.  I am still waiting for the funny part to come in.  Was I suppose to laugh?  Was there a punch-line?  I would have laughed at a cruel AIDS joke before that crap. 

This is a guy with a poor track record when it comes to ripping teammates so this is walking on a thin line for Me-O.  My theory is he shot his mouth off and then was asked to back-peddle.  He did it because someone must have gotten inside is head and said, “T.O., you have never had it better than you do right now with Dallas.  Fix this or you will get run out of town again and your career would be over.”  Maybe not over, but it would be one step closer to being buried. 

I’m down for a good joke or two but can you consider that lame crap a joke?  I think he nearly choked himself the way he did on the field last week. 

- Hockey once again proves that it is an inadequate league that does not deserve your attention or respect with the way they handled the Chris Simon incident.  After going Ryan Howard on another players face he kicks a player with his skate right in the achilles-area.  In case you Americans don’t know, skates can be pretty sharp.  So with this notorious bully in Simon the NHL could have set the bar so high that the league would have been sent a powerful message.  The message would have said, “This will not be tolerated in our sport.”  Instead, they have allowed this useless tool to come back to the NHL to hurt someone else badly again.  You can talk about him being a great teammate all you want but he bounces around the NHL for a good reason.  He’s a fucking dick and the NHL should be ashamed of themselves for giving him another opportunity to lace his skates up again. 

- The Portland Trail Blazers are ruining their draft position.  Getting Greg Oden and a top 3 pick this season could have put them over the top next year.  With their great play as of late they are killing their future.  I’m not asking them to lose - I’m TELLING them to lose.

- Geoff Jenkins is the left-handed version of Pat Burrell. 

- Ron Mahay is yet another reason why Kansas City are morons.  8 million over 2 years for that guy?  Can you guys be smart with your money?

- Alonzo Mourning should be proud of his career no matter what.  The guy busted his tail coming back from kidney disorder and was an effective NBA player.  At his best he was a perennial top 5 center in the league - some years top 3.  When I was younger I had Shaq, Hakeen, Ewing, Robinson and Mourning as the top 5 during the 1990’s.  That is a good class to be with.  Let the hall of fame debate rage…

- Seems the only time San Antonio loses is when both Tony Parker and Tim Duncan are absent from the lineup.  A healthy Parker beats the Suns.  And even though Boston is getting all the hype, the championship runs through San Antonio which is the way it should be.

- Not sure how Bill Parcells will do in Miami as they are a long way from being competitive.  Tough to gage how a guy will do in a management roll when his best work was done during practice as a head coach.  He seemed to squeeze the best out of guys.  I still contend that you will see a steady decline in Dallas over the next year or so under Wade Phillips which will further prove that Parcells did do a good job during his tenure in Dallas.  I’ll sit on that and say I told you so in due time.

Until then keep reading my blog.  Cheers.

I’ve recently hit the quarter-century mark and I certainly hope I hit it two more times with some spare change as an add on.  My father had a great quote today when I told him I hope he lives until he’s at least 75.

“That’s a fuckin’ cinch”.

But what insipres me to write THIS particular post?  Simple.  I spotted a blogger-turned author.  I am very happy for the guy because there is no doubt his heart is in the right place.  Sometimes you lose the heart and he is certainly one guy who hasn’t. 

Here comes the “but”…

But, I only ask that if I were to purchase a book I’d like to see proper spelling and grammar.  If that is not the case I’d rather read “see spot run”.  That said, why can’t I write an autobiography.  My theory is, if your write is worse than mine then there is a serious problem.  I run through posts like you can’t believe and rarely ever proof-read because I’m so excited/exhausted after completion where I say, “POST THE MOTHERFUCKER!!!”.  It’s a bad habit kids - don’t learn from me.

But let’s begin the autobiography of “The Dan”.

- Once upon a time there was a boy named Dan who lived near Toronto Canada.  He is Canadian.  His journey goes as such…

The 1980’s

- Dan missed out on the first 2 years but came in comfortably in late 1982.  This was in the midst of Loverboy’s success.  But his sports legacy did not begin until 1989 where he was the leadoff hitter and hitting machine in T-Ball.  He also watched the Toronto Blue Jays in awe as they climbed from obscurity to win the American League East.  Fred McGriff was, in Dan’s eyes, a great homerun hitter.  He led the league with 36 homeruns.

(36!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Are you kidding me????  Crime Dog was NOT juicing).

The early-mid 90’s: Pre-High School days

- Before blue balls, drivers licenses and Dawson’s Creek there was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Tonka Toys and Beverly Hills 90210.  Dan, however, was routinely getting cut from the Rep team.  Perhaps it was size but the message was sent: He wasn’t good enough.  Needless to say, it pissed Dan right the fuck off. 

The Rest of the 90’s: High School Years

- It’s hard to walk around the school with a woody.  Dan would have to sit in the front row to avoid poking some poor girl in front of him - not that he would have minded.  Now the guy became good enough; makes Varsity as a freshman and the highlight of the season was pitching BP and getting his arm sawed off by a liner off the bat of a senior - who happened to be Dan’s older brother.  He left his punk card on the pitchers mound but his brother nearly knocked the fences down twice that game.  Pussy couldn’t hit the ball 5 feet further for two bombs?  Get some air under that shit or take the damn needle. 

Early 2000’s: Teenage Legend

- Dan becomes a coach, wins 3 gold medals, 4 regional titles, 191 wins against 22 losses in 4 years and a big glass of orange juice.  Not bad for his first title coming at 17.  During the midst of all the success he grabs some MVP’s, loses his virginity and graduates high school - all in that order.  Goes to college, gets some more ass and graduates with 2 pieces of papers.  At 21, the real world calls.

After 21 - Holy Crap!

- This is the real world?  Damn, let me go back to getting cut from teams and make me go back to grade school.  Bring back recess!  School dances with Boyz II Men slow songs!  Get me back to a place when KFC was great and when Canada still had Olive Garden.  Don’t make me go into the real world!  AAAAAHHHHHH!

THE END

Now, wouldn’t that be a book to read or what?  Well, I think I have some epic stories up to now and I bet 10 years from now the stories will be off the charts compared to now.  So here’s to living the dream! 

(SNOW REPORT: Snow has slowed down and the temperature has warmed up.  At 9 this morning the temp was at 9 degrees farenhiet and at 11 PM it’s now up to 25.  So I’ll survive the night.  Cheers everyone)

Lenny Dykstra
David Segui
Larry Bigbie
Brian Roberts
Jack Cust
Tim Laker
Josias Manzanillo
Todd Hundley
Mark Carreon
Hal Morris
Matt Franco
Rondell White
Roger Clemens
Andy Pettitte
Chuck Knoblauch
Jason Grimsley
Gregg Zaun
David Justice
F.P. Santangelo
Glenallen Hill
Mo Vaughn
Denny Neagle
Ron Villone
Ryan Franklin
Chris Donnels
Todd Williams
Phil Hiatt
Todd Pratt
Kevin Young
Mike Lansing
Cody McKay
Kent Mercker
Adam Piatt
Miguel Tejada
Jason Christiansen
Mike Stanton
Stephen Randolph
Jerry Hairston
Paul Lo Duca
Adam Riggs
Bart Miadich
Fernando Vina
Kevin Brown
Eric Gagne
Mike Bell
Matt Herges
Gary Bennett, Jr.
Jim Parque
Brendan Donnelly
Chad Allen
Jeff Williams
Howie Clark
Nook Logan
Scott Schoeneweis
Jeremy Giambi
Jason Giambi
Aaron Boone
Bret Boone
Mark McGwire
Jose Canseco
Ozzie Canseco
Juan Gonzalez
Rafael Palmiero
Rick Ankiel
Troy Glaus
Jose Guillen
Jeff Bagwell
Brady Anderson
Manny Alexander
Rafael Bettencourt
Albert Belle
Albert Pujols
Ken Caminitti

If I have forgotten any names add to the list.  Some were added and I have only skimmed the entire report.   Any mistakes please point them out. 

The Mitchell Report is out and the list was slightly better than what I was expecting.  The expectations were very slim heading into today.  Now, certain names are not part of this list (See the New York Met clubhouse section in the report - 23 names are sealed), but if we combine all the names of the past and present we are looking at a total around 110 players - give or take a few.  We are talking about a list as big as 4+ 25-man rosters.  Sounds like it falls short of 50% which is the number Caminitti claimed prior to his death. 

The overall findings of Mitchell’s report leave baseball fans uncertain.  We still scratch our heads with more questions than ever before.  Information can do that to a person.  Because there are a guys - a LOT of guys - who bulked up during an off-season who is not on that list and the bulk is at least 20 pounds. 

I’m not here to speculate who was left off the list since we have about 20 years worth of steroid use prevalent in the game.  What I can say is there are a lot of disappointed fans of Roger Clemens and Greg Maddux has never looked better than he has today.

Football Playoffs

- I can’t decide if Buffalo is average or if they are really bad.  I have decided that the AFC East is NOT the worst division in Football.  It’s better than the NFC South and maybe the NFC West.  That aside, Buffalo hanging in there could be a reflection of the poor play of Miami and the New York Jets.  But here is how I see the AFC playing out:

New England
Indy
Pittsburgh
SD
Jacksonville
Cleveland

- The way it stands today is the way I see it going after week 17 is complete.  Here is the NFC:

Dallas
GB
Seattle
TB
NYG
NO

- Yes, the Saints will somehow slide into the playoffs.  I think they will run the table and get it done. They play 3 average teams (Zona, Philly, Chicago).  First two games at home.  I think they can do it. 

Playoff predictions:

AFC: Cleveland upsets Pittsburgh, Jacksonville upsets San Diego, then both get blown by New England and Indy respectively.  Patriots edge the Colts in one of the greatest showdowns in history.

NFC: Seattle avenges last year’s lost to New Orleans and TB handles NYG.  Dallas disposes Tampa and Seattle upsets Green Bay - the way they should have in 2003.  Dallas beats Seattle to get thrashed by New England.

- Alex Rodriguez is apologetic after finalizing a 10 year-275 million dollar contract.  Save the apologies, shut your mouth, hit 50 bombs and bat .190 in the playoffs.  You do all that and avoid the strip clubs or busty blonds you should be ok. 

This is all I’ve got tonight.  Bring me names if I missed some.

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Tonight I walked into the Air Canada Center to watch the Dallas Mavericks play the hometown Toronto Raptors expecting a very tough game from a top Western Conference team.  What I saw tonight was a team out of sync, out of rhythm and completely not themselves. 

The Toronto Raptors, on the other hand, had a scare last night involving Point Guard T.J. Ford’s neck injury.  Ford, who has had known spinal cord problems in the past, showed up at the game tonight and received a standing ovation.  Though some people believe Al Hortford’s hack was ridiculous I still contend he was going for the ball and did not intend on planting Ford into a stretcher.  Regardless, the incident happened and seeing Ford in the crowd was a relief to several Raptor fans who packed the arena tonight.

But back to Dallas, I look at a team that is loaded with current or ex-20 point scorers.  It seems that if Dirk, Josh Howard and Jason Terry don’t take charge on the floor the team is in trouble.  When Dallas started mounting a comeback they had Terry getting hot.  But then Jerry Stackhouse decided he should control the fate of his team and ultimately closed the door to any opening their team had at a comeback. 

Nonetheless, Dallas won’t go far with that display tonight and if this is any indication of what’s to come in the future then this team may have to rebuild/reload itself - wondering what could have been and what should have been.

Now let’s get some quick hitters in here…

- People have seen the Steven A. Smith quote.  I have seen it from a couple bloggers who have posted his infamous words.  Here is my response: He is threatened.

See, when I was growing up I use to be very defensive whenever I felt threatened.  Whenever I felt secure I was calm and never paid attention to whatever anyone else was doing.  As someone who has caught a glimpse of the world of journalism and media, the business is extremely competitive.  Smith is a fortunate human being.  He has what I want - Me and thousands of people across North America would have a dream to be where he is.  So what if we write blogs that happen to go against structure.  You know what we have that journalists don’t?  The ability to take a run at an athlete who deserves to get blasted without any backlash from athletes.  You think Smith can blow up an athlete?  Hell no.  That athlete would use all the leverage he/she had on Smith - so he plays nice, just like he has with certain athletes who he’s allowed to skate for ridiculous acts.  He wouldn’t trade his position with any of us, but there are probably times where he’d love to play the role of the predator where athletes are his prey and he exploits their immaturity, selfishness and heinous dirty world they call “playing for a contract”, no matter what they do to get it.

What he doesn’t understand is he and us have a common bond where we are passionate about sports.  We just have a different way of expressing it.

- On the eve of the steroid report from George Mitchell I have this feeling we will be deceived.  This is in the pit of my stomach.  We will get the names linked from Jose Canseco, some New York Met players and maybe a couple guys from Jason Grimsley’s part of the world.  But will every area be noticed?  Will the Florida lab break out more names?  I just think we will get snow-jobbed out of a real deep investigation and thus steroid use will continue with those who won’t be implicated in tomorrow’s report.  When you hire someone who’s inside the game they tend to have this idea of protecting the game itself.  Had they hired someone outside of the sport they may have brought an edge to them that said, “I don’t care who you are I will come after you if you are breaking the law.”  I don’t get that feeling with Mitchell.  We’ll wait and see what this report says.

I’ll wait and see if one name Canseco DIDN’T mention makes the list.  I’ll say no, and you can guess who I am talking about (played with Jose in Boston, Toronto and New York).

- Isiah Thomas imploring fans to support the team better during games is mindblowing.  The Knick organization need to get rid of this guy now.  He has brought mediocrity and embarrassment to the organization and he has not had a great track record in the past.  Isiah is showing that people can indeed walk on water.

- I must get back to work, but doesn’t Jason Terry look like the black guy from “The 40 year-old virgin”?  Take a good look and I’ll see you in the morning.

This post is exclusively for this site.

Thought it would be appropriate since most of us started on another website and we look to grow this site into a well-known entity.  As I have made a transition from one walk of life to another I’ve learned a few things along the way, as we all do.  That said, I have a series of questions for all of you…

- What do you want to get out of this website?

- What do you want to see happen with the popularity of this site?

- Where do you want to see this a year from now?

- How can we improve the number of users?

I am not sure if anyone outside of Demon cares about the traffic on this website.  I guess this is just me being curious to see what the answers are to the questions I have posed.  Do I want to see this site blow up to be the site all sports fans go to?  It would be incredible to see it happen.  It is a symbolic reflection of teamwork.  The best sports teams win thanks to a team effort.  If we want to push the site to new heights it will take teamwork.

That said, I will do my part and get friends to join the site.  The best thing I can do is sell them on the idea of it.  If I bring in 1 person, I will be doing my part.  Referrals are always good.

That’s all I’ve got tonight.  I’m taking a break from work tomorrow night to watch the Toronto Raptors.  And then back to work.  It’s christmas time and I’ll get the rest in a couple weeks.  Cheers folks.

It’s past 1AM EST as I have been roped in to work some overnight producing for some college kid studying for exams. If I knew what studying was I’d be in medical school.

2 years ago I joined Foxsports blogs because I thought I could make a run for the NGS 1 competition - not knowing my ineligibility due to my Canadian status.

Today is also significant because this marks the 69th post for REAL SPORTS BLOGGERS. You can check out that site at www.realsportsbloggers.com. Some of the finest bloggers from this site over the last two years can also be found that website, developed by Demonicume. Any sports blogger would appreciate the time and effort Demon has put forth to develop this site for those who talk about sports passionately.

Over two years there have been some good times and bad. Some that I can think of off the top of my head are as follows…

- The training regimen I made for myself to prep for NGS 2. It consisted of no work, no sleep and lots of Orange Juice. That led to…

- The orange juice story. For a while bloggers would associate me with that drink. Been a while.

- Final Four blog tournament where I went to the elite 8. Despite not meeting a single person on this site I began to feel a sense of guilt ripping people who had been kind on my site.

- “If all sports were Soccer” - June 2006 which was a humerous look at the antics of soccer. It offended people but it is a trademark post.

- Valentines Day Love Letters. Still my personal favorites.

- My old show, BTN, and the blog contests and What’s The Deeley-O?. I enjoyed those posts and the people who participated.

- Fox Blog of Fame. Though I felt like the Goose Gossage of this blog site by falling just short twice, the darn thing was fake - I think.

- The Dan in Michigan, Vegas and Florida were good posts too. Writing on the south side of the border was a different feeling which I could not help. I realize that makes no sense but just trust me on that.

- Blog features: getting my blog linked to the front of the MLB section and a couple in the funhouse section was appreciative. Anytime someone feels your work is good enough to be recognized is rewarding.

- 1st Annual The Dan Invitational (Sept 2006). Great party that was.

- Being the Lizzards starting shortstop, 3-hole hitter and sex symbol has its perks but there is pressure to perform both on and off the field that only Derek Jeter knows too well. Shooter I need a contract extension with some clauses put in.

- Being Pig Roasted by FP was an incredible honor.

Special thanks to anyone that has ever stopped by to drop a line or two in my comment section. Whichever blog site you use, we are forever linked by one common bond: SPORTS. I appreciate what sports has brought to my life and I bet some of you feel the same. Whether you were a standout athlete in school or met some of your best friends through sports, we can find the positives that sports has brought to us. HERE’S TO ANOTHER YEAR! Cheers everyone!

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Canadian humor.  Laugh a little.  Because when this post is over you won’t want to laugh. 

Speaking of which, I can’t laugh at this Washington v. Chicago Thursday night game with the irritating Bryant Mumble calling the game.  Bad injuries, bad first half so far.  But there are more depressing topics to discuss.

- I have been sitting on this for a while because I wanted to choose my words properly.  My problem is I can’t seem to choose which words to keep or let loose.  It has something to do with a reputable award that is over-inflated and tainted.  That is called SI Sportsman on the year. 

When I found out it was Brett Favre I didn’t know whether to laugh or shake my head - so I did both.  As if the man needed any more unnecessary recognition he gets an award he did deserve.   Look, I know he broke Dan Marino’s record, I realize that.  But are you going to tell me he deserved this award over Peyton Manning and his climb to Super Bowl victory?  Who had more pressure on him than Peyton?  He answered his toughest critics by winning the big one.  Clearly he had a much tougher road THIS YEAR than Favre.  We’re talking about a sports calender year and not a total body of work. 

But this year the sportsman of the year should have been Roger Federer.  The guy had another phenomenal year and a better year than Favre.

What is hilarious about this is the term "sportsman".  You would think of a "sportsman" as a good teammate, selfless player and great team and individual achievement.  Selfless he isn’t.  Did you watch the Dallas game last Thursday?  Did you watch him go downtown a few times for no reason?  Did you see his disappointment in his face after Ryan Grant’s rushing touchdown?  Or what about the time he cost his kicker a chip-shot against Minnesota in the playoffs a few years ago because he underhanded a pass over the line of scrimmage to avoid a hit - a LAUGHED about it.  It cost his kicker yardage and he missed the field goal.  Or what about his indecision on playing in 2006?  That may make him a poor teammate by compromising the Green Bay Packers franchise - and perhaps using this strategy to leave town and play for a better team.  How about meddling with another player’s contract dispute (Javon Walker) - yet nobody will acknowledge Brett’s disloyalty or selfishness in that situation.  Face it people, he is in the same class(less) as other football players you call selfish (Owens, Moss, CJ etc.)  Wake up and watch his Jeckyl and Hyde reaction to passing and rushing touchdowns.

- In case the last paragraph rubbed people the wrong way I should dust off a previous post where I said the Cam Cameron hire was a terrible hire for Miami.  Had to find something a bit easier to validate.

- Anyone that feels sorry for small market teams like the Kansas City Royals should just forget about it because signing Jose Guillen to 36 for 3 is ridiculous.  And he will miss the first 15 games thanks to his love for juicing.  RED FLAGS.  If he has to play clean this year will he drive in nearly 100 runs like he did last year?  Don’t count on it.

- I was hoping Toronto would give Florida their entire farm system to get Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera but I forgot they don’t have one.  Nonetheless they want to trade their best player, Alex Rios, for either Matt Cain or Tim Lincecum.  Toronto fans are still waiting for a GM.

But Detroit has put themselves into a great position.  They have a young slugger that could be an incredible impact over the next decade.  Pudge and Guillen and Mags will not be around forever.  The pitching nucleus looks good for the Tigers.  The closer position seems to be the one weak spot. 

What does Detroit do with Brandon Inge?  They could have put Cabrera to the outfield except Detroit picked up Jacque Jones.  Inge will be moved - with the Tigers eating up some of his contract.

- Jason Kidd either had a migrane or is on strike - which one is it?  Either someone doesn’t want him in the organization or Kidd wants out.  Either way this doesn’t sound positive.  I can’t decide who’s at fault because Jason Kidd lacks credibility.  We know he can pass the ball, we know he can dent rims with his jump shot and we know he can beat his wife but I don’t know if he is telling the truth. 
  
- Went to the Raptor game last night to watch Phoenix and it was another incredible game to watch.  All I’ve got to say.

- Cleveland Cavaliers are breathing a sigh of relief thanks to Charlotte’s 17 for 3 offer for Anderson Varejao.  It is much better than 52 for 6 for a guy who averages under 7 points and 7 rebounds per game.

- Not a shock to hear Marc Crawford could have been the one telling his players to hurt Shane Moore.  It’s not the first time a coach has done that and it hasn’t been the last.  Still, people are missing some points…

1 - Bertuzzi issued the warning in a post-game interview prior to that game
2 - Matt Cooke dropped the gloves with Moore in period 1 - but lost the fight
3 - You get retribution early in the game and get it out of the way so we can move on.  We all thought the Cooke fight was the retribution but Vancouver broke the unwritten code - severely
4 - Bertuzzi has always been dirty - he once kicked a guy in junior and had an 8-game suspension another time. 
5 - It was a gutless attack and going face to face would have been more appropriate.

Crawford isn’t innocent.  He was smiling when Moore had his bloody face on the ice.  He is an embarrassment to mankind.  And he has never been a good coach.  Ask the 1998 Team Canada Olympic team.

It’s time for bed.  There is a feeling of ridicule coming on…

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Sports can be funny sometimes.  We can witness an outstanding team run through an entire regular season and then take the championship as if it was theirs from the beginning.  We can also watch a team dominate in the regular season and then fall apart when the W’s are more important.  We have also seen no clear cut favorite which increases intrigue amongst the viewing audience when the playoffs roll around.

Excuse me, did I say playoffs?

Indeed I did.  And I will apologize for that and for what I am about to say in regards to College Football: no team deserves to win the National Championship.

There has not been one single team this entire season that has stepped up and shown everyone that they are the team to beat.  Anytime a team would be ranked inside the top 3 they would become virtually allergic to their ranking and flame out against a team they should have whacked.  No clutchness at all from the teams that are playing for the National Championship. 

You can talk about parody all you want.  The National Championship lacks lustre this season thanks to certain teams inability to get the job done.  Someone will fall into winning the National Championship this year and many people will wonder if they truly deserved it.  The answer is no, and the solution is a tournament.  No matter how you attempt to schedule it and no matter where each game is played, this year is the clear-cut reason as to why a tournament needs to happen.  When every team has given us a reason not to be #1 you have a tough time arguing who really got screwed.  EVERY team did something to cost themselves a National Championships.  Unfortunately 2 teams had to attend and everyone figured LSU and Ohio State are the two that best fit.  Maybe.  I can’t agree or disagree.  A tourney is in order and it cannot come soon enough.

Other stuff…

- I know a lot of people enjoy trying to debate the MVP race in the NFL but there is no debate - Tom Brady is the MVP.  That is it, no more discussion.  Look, Randy Moss is a great wide receiver without question.  And yes, Brady’s numbers would not be as good without Moss.  Just like Moss’s numbers would be worse without Brady.  The other difference between the two: one of them has a shot at breaking all the single season records.  That would be Brady.

And we are watching someone who finally has a lot of talent around him.  No way Deion Branch catches some of the balls both Moss and Dante Stallworth have grabbed.  I’m not saying Stallworth is better than Branch, all I am saying is there are certain catches certain guys can make over others.  Brady has adjusted very well and that is what great quarterbacks do.

- Or you can adjust your game in a negative way and completely went out of his way to make pass attempts that you would think a brainless rookie would make.  Or a guy who wanted to be a hero.  Yes I am talking about your beloved Brett Favre.  Again he did not look all happy when Ryan Grant ran for a fabulous touchdown.  All of his questionable long bombs points to the direction that his game plan was not for the good of the team but for himself.  It took an injury to him to get Green Bay back into the game.  That along with a Terrell Owens drop in the end zone.  That was ugly. 

- Eli Manning clutched up this week.  He’s gotten beat up by the media more than Donovan McNabb.  Eli, in case you don’t know, is white.  But my issue isn’t race (obviously), its really if he truly deserves to get beaten up as much as he has by the fans and media.  There are certainly other quarterbacks who should be taking some more than Eli.

- Like Sean Taylor, the Washington Redskins lost to Buffalo because they didn’t use their brain.  If both used them, Taylor would be alive and Washington could have won.  Or not.

- If I am a team in need of a bat I would be going after Miguel Cabrera HARD.  Apparently the Angels think they are close and that would really boost their lineup.  But again, who is going to play short for them?

- The New York Mets held out for a long time only to trade Lastings Milledge for nothing.  Good work guys. 

- And Elijah Dukes will join Lastings in Washington.  He’s a character guy.

- I said before the NBA season that Tony Parker would shock everyone and win the MVP.  Yes I went out on a limb, and the prediction is a long shot.  But with Tim Duncan out for a bit this will be a good time to see if my Parker pick may actually be better than originally expected.  But he has never looked better in my opinion than he has this year.  He won’t get 10 assists but when he shoots well over 50%, plays adequate defense and runs the floor extremely well he shows he is one of the top point guards around.  Let’s see what he can do.

- Just looked up at the television screen and saw a picture of Ms. Puerto Rico who may not have been pepper sprayed after all.  You guys can take that line in any erec…sorry, direction you want.

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