That's Sports

Ok, I know that my last few posts have only been on baseball, but I make no apologies for this.  Baseball is a game that few appreciate.  Or as Leo Durocher ("Leo the Lip") astutely pointed out, "Baseball is like church. Many attend, few understand." Homer Bailey of the Cincinnati Reds no-hit the Pittsburgh Pirates last night in Pittsburgh.  Ryan Hanigan anchored Bailey through nine innings of brilliance behind the plate. What is most remarkable is that Bailey only allowed one ball to leave the infield through the first 6 innings! This is the 7th no-hitter in the majors this season, so does that make this season "the year of the pitcher?"  As a former pitcher who threw a stellar 6 inning perfect game as a 12 year old, I am as happy as a clam in mud to see pitchers taking charge again, fresh off the the heels of a steroid stricken decade. I was sitting in the youth room after a typical Friday night youth group when I noticed an intriguing tweet -...

So this is the first season that Bud Selig and Major League Baseball have implemented 2 wild card teams from each league (National and American).  The announcement was made on November 11, 2011.  Prior to this season there was only ever 1 team who could attain the coveted honour of being the wildcard for their respective league.  This is a very exciting development, and I look forward to how this postseason might unfold in light of the 2nd team added. So this is the breakdown now: NL East - division winner (Washington Nationals) NL Central - division winner (Cincinnati Reds) NL West - division winner (San Francisco Giants) Wildcard 1 (Atlanta Braves) Wildcard 2 (St. Louis Cardinals) *L.A. Dodgers - 3.5 GB; Milwaukee Brewers - 3.5 GB (games back) AL East - division winner (New York Yankees) AL Central - division winner (Detroit Tigers) AL West - division winner (Texas Rangers) Wildcard 1 (Baltimore Orioles) Wildcard 2 (Oakland A's) *L.A. Angels -...

I think that the controversial call at the end of Monday night's Packers @ Seahawks game tells us one thing... "we need Hochuli to arm-wrestle someone and get the regular officials back calling the NFL games." I know that he's been hitting the gym while he's been "off-duty," so I truly feel that it shouldn't be a problem for him to take down whoever he needs to in a winner-take-all arm-wrestling match.  The only person I might be worried about is Lincoln Hawk from the 1987 film, "Over the Top." Bearing in mind the controversial call in the Sunday-nighter between the Pats and Ravens, this "Jennings-Tate" miscall shows that the time has never been more pressing - we need Hochuli and his biceps back in their proper place - on the NFL field. Kudos to Packers coach, Mike McCarthy for refusing to get caught up in the controversy.  McCarthy calmly stated when asked if this will motivate his team in a good way, "I don...

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-cant-miss-plays/0ap2000000064733/WK-3-Can-t-Miss-Play-Music-City-throwback Sports sometimes seem to repeat themselves.

Holy ca-mol-ey!  The Patriots have now lost 2 consecutive 1 point games!!! This is the absolute worst! And yet, there seems to be a silver lining.  I don't know if it stems from losing not one, but two Superbowls to the New York Football Giants, or what!?  The Giants have a great defence and a mediocre quarterback at best.  They now have some really good receivers surrounding Eli, but honestly, he is not that good of a player.  You may think that this is just a Pats fan who is venting because of past failures, but I assure you, I will give a player his due when he deserves it.  Manning and Co. have won 2 Superbowls and that is excellent!  Yet I feel that the best team did not win either of those games. Back to the game at hand.  New England were the bearers of a bad pass interference call in the closing two minutes of the game, and also some poor decision making on 3rd downs.  I am not one to (even for a second) point an accusatory f...

Alexander Ovechkin came into the lockout NHL and quickly became one of the most exciting players to watch-ever. His rare blend of physicality and “killer” instincts coupled with explosive skating and a bullet shot made him unstoppable. In the modern NHL where goals per game dropped way down, Ovechkin scored at a rate that would have made him one of the bests in any era. And he scored all of these goals while being one of the hardest hitters in the game. I got to see Alex play in Toronto during his second year in the league. I have never witnessed a single player dominate the game the way he did. But in the last two seasons we saw Ovechkin’s goal scoring start to decline. By the standards he set for himself earlier in his career, his play over the past two seasons has only been a glimmer of his capabilities. Numerous hockey analysts have tried to figure out what’s up with Ovi. The following have all been considered: (1) He doesn’t train hard enough. His lack of training and proper n...

So I know, this topic has been beating to death like a dead horse.  But, let's talk plainly just for a second. I understand that professional athletes are severely overpaid!  In comparison to the way the vast majority of the world lives, it is absolutely shameful for athletes to be paid as much as they are. Having said that, and maintaining to that throughout this entire article, I would like to say one thing.  In comparison to other sports, the NHL players are not being selfish. Since the lockout, as my colleague Kirk Lougheed aptly pointed out, the players have put a product on the ice that has resulted in the owners making THE MOST THEY HAVE EVER MADE!  The players have never been asking to be paid more but rather the same amount.  The owners want the players to take a cut from 57% of their teams' total revenue to 50%.  That is a significant hit when you consider that the best players in the NHL do not make over 10 million a year.  Again, t...

Well, who stole the show in week 2?  Instead, should I be asking, "what game stole the show in week 2?"  I think that is fairly obvious, it was the Cardinals at the Patriots.  Man, what a game! The Pats never seemed to be able to make that 4 yard throw for the first down or that tough 3 yard burst up the middle in the first half.  Consequently they settled for 4, (count 'em) 4 field goals!  Stephen Gostkowski looked good, but oh how things can change. Meanwhile, Arizona just seemed to hang around.  They have now won 8 consecutive regular season games dating back to last season.  They are on an emotional roll to say the least. But, didn't we all know that letting New England stay within 8 points would prove to be disastrous?  Well, it almost did. Ryan Williams will learn from his mistake and will bounce back better than before.  With the loss of his grandfather this week, a fumble is placed in its proper perspective. 'Zona only had t...

Many NHL players claim that the main principle which guides their careers is to “win the Stanley cup no matter what.” But after watching the trades and free agent signings that transpired over the summer of 2012 I find it hard to believe that very many players would unequivocally affirm this principle. I was shocked to hear that Jordan Staal had been traded from Pittsburgh to Carolina. I was further mystified to find out that he had been offered a long term deal by the Pens only to turn it down (rumour has it that it was 60 million over 10 years). Days after the trade to Carolina,  Staal signed a long-term deal with them worth (surprise, surprise) 60 million over 10 years. Clearly, getting to play with his older brother Eric was a huge reason he signed the long term deal. He also made it clear that he wanted more ice time in order to play a bigger offensive role. Jordan no longer wanted to play second fiddle to Malkin and Crosby. However, Jordan showed that he cares far more abou...

So last week the Washington Nationals' front office, with Manager Davey Johnson decided to pull the plug on Stephen Strasburg's season.  This is not only a poor decision in the now, but it shows how poor the Nationals' brains handled their ace throughout this season. Strasburg (15-6) this season with a 3.16 ERA and 197 strikeouts in 159.3 innings.  These are numbers that only a handful of pitchers in Major League Baseball can pull off.  He is a premier guy, and so the Nationals should have thought ahead to this moment many months ago. Why in June, when the Nationals were jockeying for first place in the NL East with the Atlanta Braves, did Johnson and Mike Rizzo (General Manager) not plan this one out?  Part of me gets it, the Nationals have not been in this position since they were the Montreal Expos in 1994, a season that ended with a heartbreaking lockout for Expos fans.  There was no way of knowing that their winning ways would continue this late into th...

Well football is alive and well again.  It has been a very very long since my last post.  I am so excited to write again about meaningless material, and yet something that I get a lot of enjoyment out of.  Here goes my early thoughts on how this season is shaping up, and I will finish with my Superbowl predictions. The San Francisco 49ers as a team and Robert Griffin III as an individual were the two major standouts for me in week 1.  I thought that the 49ers showed it all - depth, skill, speed, solid defence, clutch special team play.  They look to be the frontrunners (at least initially) in the NFC.  RGIII looked to be the real deal, but we will see if he has the horses to go with him going forward. The third standout for me was the play of Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos.  This is only week 1, and I cannot stress that enough, but man did he come to play!  He looked like the Peyton that we are all used to, with his arsenal of quick ...