Monthly Archives: June 2010

A Week Observing From the Peanut Gallery.

Posted on June 27, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

It was quite a week. Finished the contract to become the sports guy at NCI FM and Streetz 104.7 in Winnipeg, did three Goldeyes games on Shaw TV with Ken Wiebe and Jim Toth, finished four stories for the August edition of ONE Magazine, two stories for the next two issues of Senior Scope, three stories for the July issue of Grassroots News and a piece on Morgan de Pena for ManitobaScore.com.

In the meantime, watched the NHL draft, a load of baseball, a Bomber game and more World Cup matches than I care to remember.

Although I do remember the first thing I learned from all that World Cup craziness:

1) After England’s second goal against Germany on Sunday — the goal that would have tied the match — was ignored by a referee AND a linesman, it became clear that the silly position that people like FIFA president Sepp Blatter take on the use of instant replay is not just silly, it’s criminal.

“We need the human element that comes from having an official,” Blatter said earlier this month. “We will not be using replay any time soon.”

Blatter is a luddite who would rather be wrong than use the technology available to him. How do you rationalize pure idiocy? Ask this question: Would you prefer to be wrong rather than right? Blatter says, “Wrong, absolutely.” That borders on the insane. Sepp Blatter and everyone who thinks like Sepp Blatter is a moron.

Would England’s second goal have changed the outcome in a match that ended 4-1? Maybe. If England had scored two goals in two minutes and quickly come back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the match in the first half, it might have changed the approach of both teams. No one knows. But unless the call is made correctly, we’ll never know.

As long as the people who run FIFA allow players to dive all over the field as if they’ve been shot at point blank range, allow referees to make calls that they clearly did NOT see, and allow goals to be ignored that were actually scored, then soccer is just a silly game with rules that are made up as the morons go merrily along.

Just like baseball.

2) The Edmonton Oilers made the right call taking Taylor Hall ahead of Tyler Seguin with the No. 1 overall pick in Friday’s NHL draft.

Hall proved he was a leader and a winner at the Memorial Cup. That’s exactly what the sad-sack Oilers need.

3) It has apparently become the drink of choice for big-time U.S. professional athletes. It’s called “Purple Drank,” and it’s kind of nasty. Don’t understand why some jocks like it, but here’s what we know:

ESPN’s Outside the Lines recently did a major report on how this codeine-based drink is gaining popularity among athletes. The story starts with the arrest of Green Bay Packers lineman Johnny Jolly in 2008. When Jolly was pulled over, police noticed, “the smell of codeine” emanating from a Styrofoam cup filled with ice and a “purple liquid.” The drink was a concoction of prescription cough syrup, Sprite and Jolly Ranchers. Jolly was charged with felony drug possession.

BTW, that’s not a typo. Jolly Ranchers is correct. Who knew?

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At Home in the Whine Cellar

Posted on June 20, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

I arrived home on Friday rather shocked to see my wife in her favorite chair on the sundeck, reading a book and then hearing the droneful buzzing of what I thought were vuvuzelas. For a died-in-the-wool football and baseball fan, I would never have expected to see (or hear) my bride watch soccer.

“That’s not the soccer game,” she said without looking up from her book. “It’s the mosquitos. This is June in Winnipeg. Some of these mosquitos are bigger than wasps. I put out some coils. It’s not bad here.”

Silly me, and I thought it was the World Cup.

Speaking of the World Cup, there are two things that I love: (1) all the players who dive around as if they’ve been shot in the back of the head and (2) all the referees who call things they don’t see.

The officiating in the World Cup is silly. I wouldn’t call it bad. I’d just call it apochryphal. These guys make up fouls that don’t happen, they pick out one foul in a series of fouls , they call offsides or miss offsides when they don’t see it and on Sunday, the referee pulled a red card on Brazil’s Kaka when Kaka barely made contact with a player from Cote d’Ivoire who should have been kicked out for life for bad acting.

When I heard that FIFA might have sent Koman Coulybaly home for blowing the call on the Yanks’ third goal in the USA’s comeback 2-2 draw with Slovenia, I was marginally impressed. Only marginally, because FIFA didn’t suspend the dozen or so other referees who had made calls as egregiously bad.

The dude in that Brazil-Cote d’Ivoire match shouldn’t be allowed to officiate a match involving nine-year-olds, let alone a World Cup match. But, hey, I’m not the only won whining. The referees’ supporters should listen to the players and managers. It’s a joke.

*          *          *

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers were drilled 38-20 in Hamilton in their final pre-season game yesterday, proving once again that pre-season games don’t mean squat.

When you go from a 34-10 win over Montreal in your first pre-season game (read: practice scrimmage) to a 38-20 loss in your second, all it means is that head coach Paul LaPolice and his staff were looking to see who could play and who couldn’t. They got a better sense in Game 2.

Kevin Glenn, who should never have been released in Winnipeg, threw a pair of touchdown passes as he took the Bombers apart in the first quarter. Buck Pierce struggled and Steven Jyles looked good for Winnipeg. LaPolice appears to have a decision to make.

Regardless, after Hamilton leaves Winnipeg on July 2, we’ll all — and that includes the coaching staff — have a better idea as to where this Blue Bombers team actually stands in the CFL’s Eastern Conference. Those two practice games meant nothing.

*          *          *

Heading back to watch the golf. I’ll see how long it’ll be before I’m forced to hit the mute button. I don’t know about you, but I’m just so tired of Johnny Miller’s new full-time job as captain of the Phil Mickelson Cheerleading Team.

UPDATE: Miller just described a trap shot facing Ernie Els as “impossible to get close.” Els stiffed it. Just another day listening to Johnny Miller saying things are going to happen and they never do.

Golf is really quite enjoyable on CBS. Miller kills it on NBC.

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Lakers Are Champs in Worst Game Ever Played

Posted on June 18, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

As we expected, the Los Angeles Lakers won the 2010 NBA championship on Thursday night with an 83-79 win over the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of “The Finals.”

It was not so much a basketball game as a brick throwers convention. For example:

1. Boston’s Paul Pierce, a great shooter, went 5-for-15.

2. Boston’s Ray Allen, just as good a shooter, went three-for-14 (two-for-seven from the three-point line).

3. The Celtics shot 40.8 per cent as a team. Clang!

4. Kobe Bryant, the  best player on the floor and the championship MVP, went six-for-24 and 0-for-six from the three-point line.

5. Pau Gasol, the second best player in the game, went six-for-16. Ron Artest went seven-for-18. Andrew Bynum was one-for-five. Lamar Odom was three-for-eight.

6. As a team, the Lakers shot 27-for-83, 32.5 per cent.

Those lovers of professional basketball — and there are many — will tell you that a sensational defensive effort by each team was the reason for the pitiful shooting performances.

I like to think it’s the clear fact that referees refuse to protect the shooter anymore. If you have the basketball, you’re fair game.

Unless, of course, you’re one of the brick-throwing Lakers. Here’s the most important stat of the game: From the free throw line, the Celtics were 15-for-17. From the free-throw line, the Lakers were 25-for-37.

There’s the difference in the final. 20 freakin’ free throws. The Lakers made 10 more free throws than the Celtics (and they still weren’t worth a crap from the charity stripe).

Sorry, but just by looking at that stat, you have to figure hat the NBA had (has?) more than one Tim Donaghy.

Look, it was an exciting series. Badly played, but exciting. I’m afraid I’m just too old. I remember when pro basketball players could shoot. I also remember when almost every NBA game ended with two aggressive basketball teams going to the line about the same number of times.

I picked the Lakers. I’m happy that Kobe won his fifth title and was named series MVP.

I just can’t believe that such a lousy basketball game was the game that determined the 2010 NBA champion.

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Four Questions, Two-and-a-Half Answers

Posted on June 17, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

It’s been a week of golf here in the ‘Peg.

First, a terrific Variety charity event at Niakwa that was an absolutely fantastic day. Played with Gail Kennedy, who will be teeing it up in the Pro Am portion of the LPGA event at St. Charles next month and if she keeps her head, she will be every bit as good as the pros who play in Winnipeg.

After that, we played in the NCI-Streetz 104.7 invitational tournament at Buffalo Point’s magnificent Lake of the Sandhills Golf Course and it’s just too good to believe. What a golf course. And playing with Sam, Rube and Lou Edwardsen was great fun, too.

At both of these tournaments, I was asked four questions. Not one of them had anything to do with the upcoming civic election. Here goes:

(1) Who do you like in game 7 of the NBA Final?

No question. The Lakers. They’re at home, Kobe’s going to win the MVP award and now that we’ve reached Game 7 there is no need for the league to worry about how much revenue it can suck out of the series.

Boston certainly has a chance. No doubt about it. But I’m buying a Sport Select ticket with Lakers on it today.

(2) Who do you like in the World Cup?

The experts (and that means my friend, soccer writer Jerrad Peters) like Brazil-Spain in the final. I like Brazil, Argentina, maybe England and perhaps even Germany.

So, do I get four choices?

(3) How are the Bombers going to do this year?

They could be a .500 team if the offensive line keeps Buck Pierce vertical. They could be 2-16 if Pierce suffers another head injury.

The simple answer is: Who knows?

The test is simple. If the Bombers win their first two games, both at home against Hamilton and Toronto, they’ll have a good season.

(4) Are the Jets coming back to Winnipeg?

Yes. And whomever acquires an NHL franchise had better call the team “the Jets.”

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Vuvuzelas Give Me a Headache and Other Thoughts from the Whine Cellar

Posted on June 15, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

Those who think the vuvuzela is cute and cultural simply refuse to believe that plastic really isn’t part of any nation’s culture.

1) The plastic horns that are “played” (how about “just blown into?”) from start to finish of every match at the 2010 World Cup in  South Africa have reached the point of stupid and annoying and while I love the British announcers who call the matches with both a rich vocabulary and soothing voices, the fact they’ve been drowned out by the incessant hum of the vuvuzela has made the mute button on the TV my most precious of possessions.

Monday, we got word that FIFA is considering banning the horns. According to yahoo.com sports, a precedent has already been set. Vuvuzelas were banned – confiscated from ticket holders upon entry to the stadium – from the World Cup Kickoff Concert in Soweto last Thursday.

I, frankly, don’t care what FIFA does at this stage. The mute button has done its job.

2) This Thursday is the sixth anniversary of the Mike Richards Show at Calgary’s The FAN 960. I’m proud to say I’ve been a part of it almost the entire six years. Richards is the best young broadcaster in the country and nothing on the radio dial is funnier than the fabulous Mike Richards Show.

3) No matter where I go in Winnipeg, I get asked the same question: “Are the Jets coming back?” I believe they are and the team coming to Winnipeg will likely be the Phoenix Coyotes.

However, I’m not convinced yet that it won’t be the Atlanta Thrashers. Friends inside the NHL office in New York tell me that if a team must move, and commissioner Gary Bettman does NOT want any team to move, Bettman would accept the move of a team from the Eastern Conference to the West. That means he can move the Detroit Red Wings to the East (Bettman believes teams in the Eastern time zone, like Detroit, should probably play in the Eastern Confernce).

Sure, all signs would point to the Coyotes leaving the desert and moving back to the prairie, however there appears to be enough resolve to keep the Coyotes in Phoenix now and if Ice Edge can get its financing in order, they’ll likely buy the team and keep them there.

But there are more non-traditional markets out there and committed fan bases are small in many of hockey’s Sun Belt communities. Before this whole issue is resolved, the next Winnipeg franchise could very well come from the Eastern Conference.

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Lots of Stuff From a Week at Home and on the Road

Posted on June 12, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Sitting in the hotel room on a rainy Saturday waiting for the England-USA World Cup match and hoping tonight’s Twins-Braves game is not rained out…

1) Visited $545 million Target Field for the first time last night and it’s better than advertised. A small park with fewer than 40,00 seats, it’s an absolutely perfect place to watch Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau.

The press box is one of the best I’ve ever experienced. Great food — cheap, too — and tremendous working areas.

The concourses are spacious and the Twins Store is beyond belief.

Here are some things to keep in mind if you’re visiting:  (a) If you don’t stay at a downtown hotel so you can walk to the park, do your best to park at an LRT lot and take the train. Parking is crazy near the ballpark and if you pay the big bucks to park near the stadium, you might never get out. (b) Some high seats in the 300 level in left centerfield have obstructed views (you can’t see the warning track). Standing room is a better seat choice than high upper deck outfield seats. As long as you can stand for three hours. (c)  The concessions are expensive ($6 for a small bowl of soup), so eat before you go.

It’s a marvelously beautiful Mankato limestone ballpark that cannot be compared to any other major league stadium — past or present. It’s small, intimate and perfect for a place like Minnesota. Progressive Field in Cleveland used to be my favorite big league park, but it’s Target Field now.

2) Speaking of Cleveland, Indians radio announcer Tom Hamilton had the line of the year this past week. As the Indians were beating the Red Sox 11-0, David Ortiz was called out on strikes and, of course, Big Papi had words for the home plate umpire. Hamilton watched this go on and said, matter-of-factly, “Why is it that all Red Sox and Yankees hitters are in shock whenever an umpire calls a strike on them? Nobody whines as much as Red Sox and Yankees hitters.” Hear, hear.

3) Next weekend, the University of Winnipeg will announce that the brand new Wesmen men’s and women’s soccer programs will begin play in the Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference this fall. The plan is to play in the MCAC for a year and then join the Canada West Universities Athletic Conference in 2011.

It will be great to have men’s and women’s soccer join men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball at Winnipeg’s downtown campus.

4) Gerrard just scored on Howard. The Liverpool captain scores on the Everton goalkeeper. Time to go watch the match.

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No Better Player Than Jonathan Toews

Posted on June 9, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

So what’s a kid do for an encore?

Wednesday night in Philadelphia, Patrick Kane scored a weak goal in overtime to give the Chicago Blackhawks a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final. It turned out to be the final game of the championship round of the NHL’s post-season and Chicago will now get to go home and have a parade.

Kane had a tremendous championship series, but not nearly as good a Stanley Cup playoff as Winnipeg’s own Jonathan Toews.

Toews was absolutely remarkable from the start of the playoffs right up to the last goal in Wednesday’s finale. He finished second in scoring in the post-season with 29 points (the Winnipeg Jets final draft pick, Daniel Briere won the scoring title with three points to Toews one in the final game to finish with 30 points). He was a leader in every respect and after the Hawks celebrated their victory, Toews was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP.

What a sensational year for Toews. Last fall there were people in the Eastern part of our nation who didn’t think Toews should be on Canada’s Olympic team. Not only did he make the team, he scored a big goal in the gold medal game, led Canada to a magnificent victory and was named the Olympic tournament’s top forward.

Wednesday night, Toews picked up an assist and played nearly 24 minutes (the most of any Blackhawks forward) as he led the Blackhawks to their first Stanley Cup since 1961. He was also the most valuable player at the most important time of the year.

And he’s only 22.

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Arniel Hired to Coach Blue Jackets

Posted on June 7, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

If any coach in the American Hockey League deserved a head job in the NHL, it’s Manitoba Moose boss Scott Arniel. Like Randy Carlyle and Alain Vigneault before him, Arniel has made the Moose one of the best teams in the AHL — even in those seasons when the Moose weren’t really that good (like 2009-2010 for instance).

And that’s why it was wonderful news when we heard this afternoon that Arniel had accepted an offer to become head coach of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets. The news conference in Columbus will be held at 11 a.m. CDT on Tuesday.

Arniel, who is 47, has been head coach of the Moose since the 2006-07 season. His record in Winnipeg has been sensational. He has never won fewer than 40 games, made the playoffs every year and took the Moose to the AHL final in 2009. His record in Winnipeg is 181-106-33.

He was also an excellent player. In 11 NHL seasons with the Winnipeg Jets, Buffalo Sabres, and Boston Bruins, he had 149 goals and 338 points.

Scott Arniel has all the tools to be a successful NHL coach. And if you consider the success Carlyle and Vigneault have had since leaving Winnipeg, it’s pretty obvious that a job as head coach of the Moose is just about the best training an NHL head coach could ever have.

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Lousy Goaltending Equals Great Entertainment

Posted on June 7, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

The Chicago Blackhawks took a 3-2 lead in the Stanley Cup final Sunday night. Antti Niemi outduelled both Michael Leighton and Brian Boucher.

Unfortunately for the Philadelphia Flyers, coach Peter Laviolette couldn’t put both Leighton and Boucher in the net at the same time.

Laviolette pulled Leighton in the second period after the darling of the Eastern Conference final allowed three goals in the 13 shots he faced. Boucher came in a gave up three goals on 14 shots. If the puck was as big as a football, the Flyers might be ahead in this series.

However, it’s not like Niemi has been the second coming of Glenn Hall. He allowed four goals on 27 shots and most NHL coaches would not be happy with a goalie whose series goals against average is now 3.80. His save percentage is below .900. That’s not good.

Of course, that’s what is going to make the next game or two spectacular. When there is a chance — a good chance — that Game 6 will finish 9-8, you can’t help but get fired up to watch. Fans wanted offence and thanks to three marginal goaltenders — and Flyers defenceman Chris Pronger who was a slick minus-5 on Sunday night — they now have offence.

It’s just too bad for the Flyers that ever since Bernie Parent retired, they haven’t had a chance to win a Cup. No goalie, no championship. This year, however, they get to play against Antti Niemi. Before it’s over, he could cough up ol’ Lord Stanley all by himself.

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A Week of Sloshing Around in the Rain and the Nonsense.

Posted on June 5, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

There is nothing like one good bad call to bring out the best and worst in people.

After the perfect game that was — and it was — posted by Detroit Tigers’ pitcher Armando Galarraga wound up being foiled on perhaps the worst call in baseball history, fans were first outraged and then overcome by the emotion — and accountability — the spewed forth from umpire Jim Joyce.

Joyce bawled his eyes out over the dreadful safe call at first on what should have been the 27th out of the ball game and while many people sympathized with Joyce, others looked at the replay and said, “How in God’s name did he miss that call? It wasn’t even close.”

Then along came Bud Selig who could have fixed it all just by doing the right thing, but as we noted, it’s understandable why he made the stupid decision he did. Ol’ Bud gets all frothy over the “human element” in baseball and didn’t have the cojones to simply overturn the call and give Galarraga the 21st perfect game in baseball history.

Perhaps Bud was just trying to punish Joyce who will have to live with the worst call in baseball history for the rest of his life. Or perhaps Bud was just being Bud, a weak commissioner who will talk about replay and improving the umpiring, but will probably do nothing at all.

As they say, baseball is successful despite the people who run it.

Back here in Paradise, it rained most of the week, we slogged around the wet basement, eventually got it dry and still had enough time to watch the silly world of sports and media. It’s a strange, strange place, as evidenced by…

1) The Philadelphia Flyers are destined to make a series out of the Stanley Cup final. Two big wins back in Philly — in two very good hockey games —  have the Flyers and Chicago BlackHawks deadlocked at 2-2 heading back to Chicago for Game 5 on Sunday night.

Historically, the Stanley Cup final is about great goaltending. In this series, there isn’t a decent goaltender to be found. Every game is a netminding adventure and one gets the sense a fluke or a bad goal will be the deciding factor.

2) The Winnipeg Blue Bombers had better win the Grey Cup this year. If they don’t, the local media might all have a collective heart attack.

The media cheerleading for the Bombers started this week and it’s only rookie camp. If new head coach Paul LaPolice doesn’t win his first half-dozen games, the scribes with their short skirts and pom-poms won’t be able to backpedal fast enough.

3) It’s rather sad that so many important people in baseball don’t want instant replay. They keep making the same old, used-up arguments about errors being part of the game and how important the human element is.

They’re idiots. They believe the wrong answer is a good thing. Replay has done nothing but good for football and hockey. Even basketball uses it from time-to-time and baseball’s experiment with home runs has been perfect.

And yet muttonheads throughout baseball still believe the “human element” is good for the game.

No sport needs replay more than baseball. From the 2009 playoffs until Joyce’s shit-kicking of that call at first on Wednesday night, major league baseball umpiring has been sickeningly bad (a big ball fan at the Goldeyes game Friday night said, “C.B. Bucknor should not be allowed on a ball field.”).

Join the 20th Century gentlemen.  It was really nice back then. Find a way to use replay and the heartache felt by far too many people on Wednesday night will never be felt again.

4) The world’s media went ape shit this week when Cote d’Ivoire superstar Didier Drogba broke his arm. Headlines flared: “Drogba Out of World Cup.”

This week, the Cote d’Ivoire medical team said Drogba was likely to play “some or all of World Cup 2010.” The Elephants don’t open until June 15 and there was one other important thing to note. It was his freakin’ arm. It’s soccer. You can’t even use your freakin’ arm.

NFL and CFL linemen often play a much tougher game with broken arms, wrists and hands almost as a matter of course. New Bomber quarterback Buck Pirece has played when he didn’t even know what province he was in. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Drogba in Cote d’Ivoire’s opener. Put an aspirin on it.

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