Monday, April 18, 2005
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The final is set for the English FA Cup and it should be a humdinger. Manchester United and Arsenal both easily won their semi-final games this weekend and will play for glory in Cardiff on May 21st.
In Cardiff on Saturday Arsenal faced Blackburn Rovers and for the greater part of 85 minutes Rovers keeper Brad Freidel kept the Gunners at bay. Other than a 42nd minute goal by Robert Pires, Freidel had kept his team in the game. Unfortunately for the Rovers, Robin van Persie put the game away with 2 goals in the last 5 minutes to seal the deal.
In Cardiff on Sunday it was Manchester United beating Newcastle United 4-1 in a game the red devils dominated from the beginning. Ruud van Nistelrooy broke out of his 9 game scoring draught with 2 goals. Paul Scholes and Cristiano Ronaldo scored the other goals. Man of the match Ronaldo made an early mistake and was yellow carded for diving in the box but was flawless after that. His on the mark crosses allowed Ruud to tap in the first goal and Paul to glance a header in past Toons keeper Shay Givens. Ronaldo's and Wayne Rooney's speed and tanacity left the Newcastle defence in shatters and running around in circles.
The FA Cup final at Millenium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales should be an interesting game considering the bad blood between the 2 teams in recent history. I am sure the English FA will have some stern words of warning for the 2 teams before the game begins. The game represents that last chance for either team to collect some silverware this season. The defending champion Red Devils have won the cup a record 11 times but have never defended the cup so this could be a first in their long and illustrious history. Arsenal are hoping to have scoring champion Thiery Henry back from injury for the game. Remember May 21st and mark this one in your calendar if you are a fan of soccer. It has all the hype to be the game of the season.
[Tags: Manchester United Arsenal FA Cup]
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
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Edmonton Oiler favorite Ryan Smyth started his tour last night for charity. Smyth got several of his NHL buddies together to play 4 games for charity with the first game being last night at the Red Deer Centrium. Fans of the NHL made their point last night as only 800 people showed up to see the pond hockey game that was played. Pond hockey = no hitting, no checking and no defence shoot out game. Last nights charities were the Canadian Cancer Society and the Red Deer Minor Hockey.
Fans of the NHL are fed up with the big time hockey players and the amount of money they make. They are disgusted that there has been no NHL hockey this year. So how did they show it. In the hockey hotbed of Red Deer, the NHL players only drew 800 spectators to the 6000 seat Enbridge Centrium to watch this charity game. The WHL Red Deer Rebels are sold out virtually every game. This lack of support is a big slap in the face of the NHL players and if they are going to want to play next season and have the fans come back they had better do something now. If Ryan Smyth who hails from Banff, Alberta can't get more than 800 people in the seats then there isn't much hope for the other 3 games. Sorry to the charities involved but I hope the fans continue to stay away from these games in protest to the failed NHL season and the greedy players who caused the lost season.
[Tags: NHL NHL Labor Dispute NHLPA]
Sunday, March 20, 2005
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The top teams in the various soccer leagues in Europe are on top for a reason. They win. This weekend was one of those weekends when virtually all the league leaders won their games and showed why they are on top.
In the Barclays Premiership in England all three of the frontrunners were winners. At Old Trafford, second place Manchester United survived a scare near the end of the game and road Cristiano Ronaldo's 22nd minute goal to a 1-0 victory over Fulham. Not tested until the final few minutes keeper Tim Howard made a spectacular save to preserve the win. At Stamford Bridge league leaders Chelsea scored 3 times in the second half to break a 1-1 halftime tie with Crystal Palace. Third place Arsenal was away at Blackburn and came away with a 1-0 win on a Robin van Persie goal in the 43rd minute. In another EPL game of note today it was Liverpool winning the merseyside derby with a 2-1 over Everton at Anfield.
In the Spanish Primera Division league leaders Barcelona traveled to Estadio Riazor where they scored a 10th minute goal and survived playing shorthanded for 38 minutes as they beat Deportivo La Caruna 1-0. At Estadio Santiago Bernabeu second place Real Madrid's Brazilian defender Roberto Carlos scored a 61st minute goal to beat Malaga. 3rd place Real Betis was at home at Estadio Manuel Ruiz de Lopera where they beat cellar dwellers Albacete 2-1.
In the Italian Serie A all three of the top teams also picked up victories. Leaders AC Milan were at the Olimpico in Rome to face Roma and came away with a 2-0 win. Hernan Crespo and Andrea Pirlo with a penalty scored in the second half for the win. Roma ended the game with 9 players as 2 of their players picked up red cards in the second half, the first leading to Pirlo's penalty goal. At the Delle Alpi in Turin, Juventus got a 65th minute goal from Alessandro del Piero for a 1-0 victory over Reggina. At the San Siro Internazionale played host to Fiorentina and escaped with a 3-2 win. The win kept the Milan team ahead of 4th place Udinese.
In the German Bundesliga we find our only major upset of the weekend. Leaders Schalke 04 were away at the Stadion am Bruchweg to face Mainz where they gave up a first minute goal and never recovered as they lost 2-1. Mainz sits 13th in the 18 team league. Bayern Munich was at home at the Olympiastadion where they beat 17th place Hansa Rostock 3-1. Second half goals from Claudio Pizzaro and Michael Ballack broke the 1-1 half time tie. The win coupled with Schalke's loss allowed them to move back into first place on goal differential with 8 games left. Third place Vfb Stuttgart was home at the Gottlieb-Daimler Stadion where they managed a 1-0 victory on a 20th minute Markus Babbel goal over last place SC Frieberg.
In other European leagues it was French leaders Olympique Lyonnais beating Strasbourg 1-0 on the road. In Holland it was PSV Eindhoven beating Ajax in Amsterdam by a score of 4-0. Second place AZ Alkmaar was at home and defeated Vitesse Arnhem 3-0. In Scotland it was Celtic beating bottom of the table Dundee United in Dundee by a score of 3-2 with Newcastle United's on loan and banished striker Craig Bellamy scoring all three goals.
The many leagues of Europe are down to less than 10 games in all leagues and there are only a few left up for grabs. In Germany and in Italy there are 2 teams tied at the top and in Scotland there is only 2 points difference at the top. The rest of the leagues are pretty much foregone conclusions.
[Via: Soccernet] [Tags: soccer Manchester United AC Milan Real Madrid]
Saturday, March 12, 2005
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Manchester United and Arsenal both booked their trip to Millenium Stadium in Cardiff for the FA Cup semi-final in April. Manchester United cruised to an easy 4-0 victory today over Southampton. Man of the Match Wayne Rooney didn't find the net but was in control of the Saints defence all game and only a spectacular save by Saints keeper Paul Smith prevented the 19 year old wonder boy from scoring. Rooney teamed up excellent all game with Ruud van Nistelrooy and was instrumental in Cristiano Ronaldo's goal just before the half. Captain Roy Keane started things off only a 90 seconds in with a deflection goal that set the tome for the game and Paul Scholes scored 2 goals in the second half to assure the victory. After the poor effort in Milan earlier this week that saw United lose to AC Milan 1-0 for the second straight game and be knocked out of the Champions League, this game was what was expected.
At Bolton, Fredrick Ljungberg scored after the third minute for Arsenal and Bolton had one of their best players, El-Hadji Diouf red carded after 9 minutes to overcome their mid-week bumping from the Champion's League against Bayern Munich. Arsenal never really did take advantage of the 10 men Bolton and the Gunners played good enough to win. It wasn't spectacular but I guess they will take a semi-final trip for the FA Cup anyway. Bolton could have made this a different game if they had played the game with a full 11 men. Arsenal were also playing without their striker supreme, Thierry Henry as he is out for 3 weeks with an injury. Tomorrow sees Newcastle home to Tottenham and Blackburn home to Leicester in the other quarter-finals.
Saturday, March 05, 2005
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The Tim Horton's Brier is underway in Edmonton, Alberta and home town favorite Randy Ferbey is out to prove that he is the best curler ever in Canada. Edmonton is also going to prove that they are the best hosts too. A first round record 14001 watched the opening games this afternoon.
Randy Ferbey opened up his quest for 6 Brier championships with a very convincing 11-2 victory over Wade Blanchard of New Brunswick. The game wasn't close and only went 8 games. Brad Gushue from Newfoundland made a great shot with his last rock in the tenth end to count 2 and beat Northern Ontario's Mike Jakubo 11-10. It was the only game of the first draw that went the full 10 ends. Other games saw BC beat the Territories 10-5 and Manitoba beat Saskatchewan 6-3.
Randy Ferbey and his team took the year off work to prepare for this Brier at home and to prepare for the Olympic trials. It looks like his foursome including Marcel Rocque, Scott Pfiefer and Dave Nedohin are the team to beat. It should be a good week of curling and hopefully the CBC coverage is better than what they did for the Scott Tournament of Hearts 2 weeks ago. Follow the games on Curlcast if you can't watch on TV.
Thursday, March 03, 2005
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The new F1 season starts tomorrow in Australia. With the start of the new F1 season comes the beginning of the new blog dedicated to racing. The new blog is posted on by yours truly the SportsGuru and by Mastermaq. the new blog is called Racing Blogged and is located at www.racingblogged.com so take a trip on over there and enjoy reading about anything and everything racing. Give us your thoughts too and let us know if we are missing anything racing you would like to see covered.
A report from the NHL today says that Bain Capital Partners LLC and Game Plan LLC offered the NHL and the 30 teams about $3.5 billion to buy all the teams and the league. There was only a short presentation by the two groups and it was left at that.
With the NHL teams reporting losses of over $500 million in the last 2 years and no season this year the 2 companies must have thought that everyone was ripe for the pickings. While this must have been thought provoking for the small market teams I doubt if teams like Toronto, Rangers, Boston and other large market teams would be accepting. This also appears that it would also have to be an all or nothing deal for the companies to proceed with the deal. No deals for the NHL on the ice or in the boardroom this year. Better luck next year.
Saturday, February 19, 2005
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Manchester United continued the roll they are on and traveled to Goodison Park to play Everton in a 5th round tie of the FA Cup. It was also the first time that Wayne Rooney had returned to Goodison Park since his £27 Million move from Everton to United last summer. He was expecting to get the razz from the fans and they didn't disappoint.
The Red Devils came out with their new 4-3-3 formation with Rooney up front centering Cristiano Ronaldo and Quentin Fortune. The Devils domination paid dividends in the 23rd minute as a great cross from Ronaldo found the open head of Fortune who nodded home the first goal of the game. It was the speed and footwork of Ronaldo though who froze the Toffees defence that allowed the cross to come across. In the 58th minute United sealed the deal as Cristiano Ronaldo pounced on a rebound to make it 2-0 and as it was that was the final score. Paul Scholes took a freekick from 25 yards out that seemed to deflect slightly off an Everton defender. Nigel Martyn was already moving the wrong way but had enough reaction to stop the deflected shot before Ronaldo slammed it home. 38 year old keeper Nigel Martyn was the player of the game for Everton as he made several good stops and kept the Toffees afloat for much of the game. He made a couple of great saves on Wayne Rooney preventing the 19 year old from celebrating a goal in his return. United played great as a team and I think the control of Roy Keane was the reason the United dominated the game. Roy Carroll was tested sparingly in the net for the Devils however a save off an open Marcus Bent kept Manchester up 1-0 at a critical point of the game. In a bad note, keeper Roy Carroll was hit in the head with an object thrown from the stands with about 10 minutes to go.
In other Saturday soccer news, Arsenal kept their FA cup hopes alive and settled for a 1-1 tie with Championship league team Sheffield United. It took 78 minutes for the Gunners to score on a goal by substitute Robert Pires. Andy Gray scored on a penalty in extra time to force the tie. Arsenal's Swiss defender Phillipe Senderos put a hand on the ball in the penalty box which gave Sheffield the penalty kick. It was the second time in a week that Arsenal Manager Arsene Wenger fielded a team with no English players. Unlike Monday when they beat Crystal Palace 5-1, the non-English side had a hard time getting things going and didn't show the panache that you usually expect from the Gunners. They will now have to travel to the Blades home to replay the tie. The winner will join Bolton, Leicester and Manchester United in the final 8 of the oldest cup in the world.
In Series A play it was Juventus being held to a 0-0 tie with Messina while defending champions AC MIlan took over first place on goal differential on a miracle goal from Brazilian Serginho in the second minute of extra time. It had appeared that Milan had failed in their attempt at closing the 8 point gap the Juventus had a month ago down to 0. Cagliari had held the powerhouse Milan to a scoreless draw until Cafu's cross was headed away only as far as the top of the box and onto the foot of Serginho who rifled a shot into the top corner. On a bad note, Milan lost superstar Andriy Shevchenko early in the game with a broken cheekbone suffered after a clash of heads with a Cagliari defender. It is unknown if he will be available for the Champions League clasch with Manchester United on Wednesday.
Upcoming games have Chelsea playing Newcastle in FA Cup action tomorrow before traveling to the Nou Camp to face Barcelona on Wednesday in Champions League. Other big games in Champions League action this week has Arsenal at Bayern Munich and Juventus at Real Madrid. The first games in the round of 16 look to be some of the best match-ups possible and the soccer should be awesome.
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
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Today is February 16, 2005 and it was a day filled with the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
Let's start with the Ugly. We will call the NHLPA the ugly. In a move that stinks to high heaven and shows how greedy the players are, the NHLPA didn't start seeing the big picture with the current NHL Labor Dispute until it was too late. They started talking about a salary cap at the very end. 5 months and it came to the end before they would consider it. Although the amount they wanted in the end was a little unrealistic. It wasn't enough though as the NHL did not consider their offer. 5 months they say no salary cap and by agreeing to one in the end even if it is an outrageous amount, they will have a hard time pulling it back off the table.
The Bad today is the NHL officially announcing the end of the NHL season. I will admit that I thought the owners would eventually cave in like last time but this time they held strong and finally got the NHLPA to agree to a salary cap. This is the future of the NHL and it is time that the NHLPA came to realize it. The system works very well in the NFL; a sport that is second to none in North American pro sports. The salary cap will work just fine in the NHL too. Now we just need to wait until the NHLPA can get off the high horse and agree to a number that will help maintain the small market franchises.
And finally the good. Today is the birthday of none other than the SportsGuru. Today I am....well I am old enough to remember the NHL teams that Kansas City, Cleveland and Oakland had.
Sunday, February 13, 2005
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Today was the Manchester derby. For those of you not familiar with European soccer, a derby is when teams from the same city play each other. It would be like the Los Angeles Lakers playing the Los Angeles Clippers or the California Angels playing the Los Angeles Dodgers.
With Chelsea winning yesterday the pressure was on Manchester United to win today against Manchester City.The City of Manchester Stadium, home of City, was a place the Red Devils hadn't won in 4 years. On the line was United's 15 game undefeated streak in the EPL. For the first 65+ minutes it was a good battle with both teams missing glorious chances especially City's Steve McManaman who fired wide from less than 3 yards away in the first half. United enjoyed the better of the play but the stalward City defence refused to buckle under the pressure. Finally in the 68th minute it was 2 of the old guard setting up one of the new ones. Captain Roy Keane, who has been the best he has been in several years, held the ball long enough for Gary Neville to avoid his check deep in the City zone. Neville then took the pass in full flight and fired a beautiful pass across the Wayne Rooney who directed the ball at the net and unintentionally off Richard Dunn's foot past keeper David James. 1-0 United. Seven minutes later it was Wayne Rooney's turn to run by the City defenders and cross a ball towards the net from the right side. This time Richard Dunn stuck his foot out to deflect the pass away except he lazily deflected up and over James and into the net off the far post. 2-0 United. City came close about 5 minutes later but again Robbie Fowler skied one over the net from 6 yards out. It was obvious from today that City don't have a replacement for Nicolas Anelka who moved on to Turkish team Fenerbahce during the January transfer window. I must note that although United had much of the play during the game it wasn't until Cristiano Ronaldo came on for John O'Shea and Ryan Giggs came on for Darren Fletcher did they have the drive forward that won them the game. The extra speed brought on by the two seemed to have the CIty defence confused and took them off their strong game. It was the first time this year that City had given up more than 1 goal at home and only thier 5th loss with the first 4 all being 1-0 losses.
Manchester have again closed the gap on Chelsea to 9 points with 11 games left. While it seems unlikely they will win the title, placing second means they will avoid having to qualify for next years Champions League.
Friday, February 11, 2005
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Canada finally has another reason to watch F1 racing. For many years it has been the annual F1 race at the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit in Montreal and the racing of first Gilles Villeneuve and then his son Jacques Villeneuve. Now we have Alex Shnaider to thank for giving Canadians more of a reason to watch the great sport of F1.
Who is Alex Shnaider you ask? Shnaider is a 36 year old Russan born Canadian billionaire who is the co-founder and chairman of the Midland Group. What is he doing in F1? The Midland Group have purchased the Eddie Jordan F1 Racing team and will spend the 2005 year learning the ropes of F1 with Eddie Jordan staying onboard for this season. Starting in 2006 Midland F1 will run their own operation. The Midland Group, founded in 1994, is active in a wide variety of industries including commodities trading, steel manufacturing, transportation, construction and agriculture. Add to that list now F1 racing.
Originally Shnaider had approached Jaguar about purchasing their team however, the team was sold to major sponsor Red Bull. Shnaider was then rumored to be buying a franchise and starting a new team. Rumors even had him set to use an Italian chassis on his new car, however the opportunity to buy an existing team couldn't be overlooked and when Bernie Ecclestone introduced him to Eddie Jordan it was a done deal. Like soccer's new player, Roman Abromovich, Shnaider is not used to losing and his F1 team is going to become a hobby that he won't want to lose with. Give this team a couple of years and they will be competing with some of the big boys at the front of the pack. I, for one, am looking forward to it. I can feel the excitement already.
Thursday, February 10, 2005
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I hear Taps playing for the NHL season. Can you hear it too?
The NHL and NHLPA left meetings today produced absolutely nothing and the NHLs deadline of this weekend appears to be coming without any further talks planned. Everything that the NHL offered ended up with a salary cap at the end and the executive of the NHLPA were unable to accept that. What a greedy bunch of athletes (other words came to mind but I withheld it to keep it clean). How dare they say that a salary cap won't work. How dare they?
The NHLPA has said all along that a salary cap won't work. Do these morons that they are preaching this to a public that watches the NFL flourish with a salary cap in place. Revenue sahring and a salary cap and the attendance at NFL games continues to rise, and the TV viewership continues to increase. How dare they use the excuse that it won't work, the NFL has proved it works.
I find it very funny that the NHLPA are the ones that won't get serious in this dispute. Why should they? Bob Goodenow and his cronies are all getting paid. 3oo or so of the top players are playing hockey in Europe and getting paid. Many of the youngest players are back in the AHL earning a small cheque. Trevor Linden, the NHLPA president and Daniel Alfresson have both come out and said that they don't want the salary cap. Of course, shy should they care. They have both had good careers and have made enough money to live without working for the rest of their lives. What do they care if they play NHL hockey again. My guess is that if they were to let the membership vote on the NHLs offer that we would have hockey by now.
Do you hear that Bob Goodenow and Trevor Linden. We would have hockey by now. Maybe it is time you guys got off your high horse and out of the ivory tower and admit that your stance has no foundation. The salary cap will work and the majority of you members want to play hockey now. Do the right thing and let them members tell you whether it is what they want or not. DOn't make the decision for them.
Sunday, February 06, 2005
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One of the greatest shows on earth takes place 2 weeks from today. The Daytona 500 is Nascar's showcase event and one of the best races of the year. Every driver wants to win the Daytona 500 just like every football player wants to win the Superbowl. It is what driving Nascar is all about. With 2 weeks to go I have decided to ask all of you who you think will win the race. The poll is operating on the left side. I have listed 11 drivers so if your favorite isn't up there, choose other and send me a comment to let me know who you think it will be. I will give you my pick before the race.
Go Eagles Go!!! Ok, there you have my view on who I want to win today. My heart also says the Philadelphia will win. I think that they will be the hungrier of the 2 teams and Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook will spell the difference. My guess at the score will be 24-20. Let's hope we have a game as exciting as the Grey Cup usually is. The only bad thing is the stupid CRTC rule which has the local stations override all the good commercials. Oh well, we will have to watch them online after the game. Eagles soar all the way. Go Green.
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
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Gunners vs. Red Devils. Highbury. A Classic. You bet and this one had everything.
In a match befitting 2 heavyweight champions Manchester United pulled into London and extended their EPL streak to 14 games without a loss. The difference this game was the desire of the Red Devils to give up and the poor goaltending from the Gunners. Thiery Henry also extended his personal scoring draught to 7 games without a goal although he did set up both of Arsenal's goals. It was the teenagers from Manchester though that came to play yesterday. Portuguese sensation Cristiano Ronaldo scored 2 goals 3 minutes apart early in the second half to erase an Arsenal 2-1 lead at the half. Ryan Giggs was also at his best as he scored the Red Devils first goal and set up both of Ronaldo's goals. The trio of Rooney, Giggs and Ronaldo kept the Gunners defence off kilter all evening as they could have won the game by more. Rooney had several chances including a sublime 25 yard free kick that completely beat Almunia but went off the intersection of the crossbar and post. The Manchester defence played a strong game especially Argentine Gabriel Heinze who ran miles up and down the field and was strong against some bigger players although he couldn't handle the size and strength of Patrick Viera early on Arsenal's first goal. Bot clubs picked up some yellow cards and the lone bad spot in the game was Mikael Silvestre's red card for headbutting Freddie Ljungberg in the nose following an altercation with Dutchman Dennis Bergkamp. United though held tough during those last 20 minutes and eventually scored the insurance goal while shorthanded in the 88th minute as John O'Shea lobbed a beatiful shot over the Arsenal keeper's head and into the corner of the net. It was the second time that Arsenal keeper Almunia was caught out in no man's land.
The loss for Arsenal all but finished the defending champions shot at retaining their title and kept Uniteds slim chance alive although 8 points back of Chelsea with the Blues holding a game in hand is a long way to go. It can be done though. When Manchester last played Arsenal in October the Gunners held a 12 point lead on United. Since then Arsenal's problems have become evident as they have given up 17 goals in the last 14 games while the Red Devils have only conceded 6 during the same time frame. The problem is that Chelsea have given up even less and they enter action today having given up nothing in their last 7+ games.
Late game note had Chelsea beating Blackburn 1-0 today giving them an 11 point lead on United and 13 on the Gunners. The Blues were outplayed today by the Rovers but managed an early goal to win. Chelsea keeper Peter Cech stopped a penalty shot in the game and also broke the record of the longest streak without conceding a goal. The record was held by the great former Denmark and Red Devil keeper Peter Schmeichel. A great keeper and one that United haven't been able to replace since his move in 1999.
Saturday, January 22, 2005
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Wow...I sure didn't see that coming. 1/4 on the Conference semi finals in the NFL last week after going 3/4 the week before for the wild card games. What happened. The Colts jinx against the Patriots in Foxboro was evident again. I really thought Peyton and his weapons could pull it out. The same thing with Minnesota. Duante Culpepper was hot and the Eagles were coming off a week off and 2 games where the starters didn't p[lay much. I expected to see much rust on the Eagles but like the bird, the football team went about its business with precision and took the Minnesota attack away. The Steelers were the only game I was right with and even then it went to overtime. Home field is the only reason I gave that game to them and that seems to have been the difference over the Jets. In the other game it was the Falcon's running all over the Rams. I knew the Ram's defence wasn't that good but I thought their air game would do better and I didn't think that the Falcons would rush for over 300 yards. Warrick Dunn was a monster.
This weekend is the conference finals with the winners traveling to Jacksonville, Florida for the Super Bowl on February 6th. So this weekends predictions are as follows: Big Ben's bubble will finally burst as the defending champion Patriots will exact some revenge for a loss to the Steelers earlier this season with a hard fought victory in the AFC. It's the battle of the birds in the NFC and it will be the hometown Eagles finally winning the NFC finals for the first time in 4 tries with another hard fought victory.
Saturday, January 15, 2005
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We are down to the conference finals in the NFL this year. My choice for the Super Bowl from the begining of the season, the Colts, are still in the hunt. Here are my predictions for this weekend:
There ya go. Go Colts Go.
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
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Canada is the world champions in hockey again. In a game that was supposed to be their toughest test, the Canadian Junior team went out and beat up on Russia to the tune of 6-1. It was the first gold medal for Canada at the junior tournament since 1997.
Canada went through the tournament undefeated with wins of 7-3, 8-1, 9-0, 8-1, 3-1 and 6-1. NHLer Patrice Bergeron lead the way with 13 points and Jeff Carter lead with 7 goals. This was arguably the best junior team that Canada has ever sent to this tournament. Congratulations boys on a well deserved victory. Canada is proud of you.
Canada now owns the championship in all the major hockey tournaments. They are the champions in Men's Olympic Gold Medal, Women's Olympic Gold Medal, Men's World Championship Gold Medal, Women's World Championship Gold Medal, Men's World Cup of Hockey Champions and the World Junior Championship. Not even the dreaded Russians or Americans can claim that. 6 championships. Canada rules at hockey once again.
Thursday, December 09, 2004
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For the first time in 3 months the NHL and the NHLPA got together to talk about the Collective Bargaining Agreement. With the first half of the season virtually gone, the NHLPA offered a new proposal to the NHL. Here are the major elements in the new proposal. According to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, the proposal makes a serious attempt at reconciliation. Enough so that the 2 sides will be getting back together on Tuesday to continue talks.
The one major flaw that I can see with this proposal is that it doesn't address the total cost certainty that the owners need. The proposal offers salary roll-backs and other cost savings that will help in the immediate future it doesn't protect the owners from the owners. It doesn't prevent some owner from deciding to offer huge salaries to players and pay the luxury tax that is offered. The one thing that a hard salary cap does is it prevents the owners from themselves; with the cap, the owners know that they can't just go out offering extravagant contracts to players. While I don't think that the owners can or will accept what the NHLPA has offered it is a step in the right direction and it shows that the players want to get back to playing. Replace the term "Luxury Tax" with "Salary Cap" in this latest proposal, keep the salary roll-backs and the revenue sharing in place and I think we will have hockey in January. No "Salary Cap" and there will be no hockey season this year. Hopefully the NHLPA realizes it and when Tuesday comes around they will give in.
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
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Manchester United won their 7th game in a row Saturday with a 3-0 win over Southampton. Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo all tallied in a game that was very onesided and could easily have been 6 or 7 nothing. Unfortunately for the Red Devils, Arsenal also won 3-0 over Birmingham and league leaders Chelsea won 4-0 over Newcastle. The top of the table remains the same with almost half the season gone. The one good thing so far is that Chelsea hasn't had their blip in the season yet and are due for one sooner or later.
Monday saw the Edmonton Eskimos announce their new head coach. Their man? Offensive coordinator Danny Maciocia. Maciocia has been with the team as the offensive coordinator for the last 3 seasons so he is quite aware of what the team has and what it needs in order to improve on their dismal 2004 season. He has been touted as one of the best young coaches in the game and I think that the team has moved in the right direction with this hiring. Good luck Danny.
In the NFL the Indianapolis Colts are on fire. On Sunday they hammered the Tennessee Titans by a score of 51-24 and on US Thanksgiving it was a 41-9 feast of plenty in Detroit for them. The games best player, quarterback Peyton Manning tied a Johnny Unitas' 45 year old record for throwing for multiple touchdowns in 12 straight games. Manning has also thrown for 44 touchdowns this season putting him within 4 TD passes of the record of Dan Marino's 48 in a season that he set in 1984. 4 more TD passes in the last 4 games? The record should be Mannings by 4:00pm EST. this coming Sunday as the Colts travel to Houston to meet the Texans. The Texans are the worst team in the league at giving up TD passes. New England, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia all continued their winning ways upping their records to 11-1.
After 2 great 6-1 weeks in my fantasy football leagues I came thumping back to earth with a 2-5 week. On a good note though I clinched a playoff spot in 3 of my leagues and I have clinched first place overall in one of those leagues. FInal games of the regular season in fantasy football this week and the playoffs are on the line in 2 of those games. Win and I am in with both teams, lose and I will probably miss. Unfortunately 2 of my teams were eliminated from playoff contention with losses this past week. Now I can be a spoiler. One of the games I lost this week was to my son Tom. we are in the same division and he has managed to beat me twice however I still lead the division by half a game. I could make all sorts of legitimate excuses about his beating me both times but I will be the bigger player and congratulate him for beating me twice. If we both win our games this week then we will both make the playoffs.
Canada's annual right of the holiday season began this week with the naming of the players who will be attending training camp in hopes of representing Canada's world junior hockey team. 32 players will be attending the camp from the 12th to the 16th when the final team of 2 goaltenders and 20 skaters will be announced. WIth the NHL season almost gone for good, there should be a good following by all hockey fans who should be crazed for some fresh action by the time the tournament begins on Christmas Day in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Speaking fo the NHL, the NHL and NHLPA big guns are all due to meet on Thursday and possibly Friday to see if they can work anything out. It has been rumored that the NHLPA is prepared to make an offer to the NHL and hopefully they have come to their senses and are prepared to settle for some sort of salary cap and not the luxury tax they have been foolishly offering.
Monday, November 22, 2004
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It appears that the fans in Detroit are missing hockey so much that they want to see fighting now in basketball. On Friday night the idiot fans decided that they would get themselves involved an an old fashioned donnybrook. And the players of the Pistons and Pacers decided to oblige them. Well after all was said and done with fans and players fighting with each other, the NBA issued their verdict and handed down penalties to 9 players. Hopefully the district attorney in Detroit hands down the same kind of penalties to the fans who started and were involved in the affair. Let me know what you think about the penalties handed down. Leave me a comment or answer the poll in the left hand column.
Thursday, November 18, 2004
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This past weekend saw the team favored to win the Grey Cup lose in the division finals. The Montreal Alouettes were defeated by the Toronto Argonauts by a score of 26-18. While I am not a big fan of any sports team based in Toronto I am glad they beat Don Matthews. A more arogant, pompous coach you will never meet. He makes even Bobby Knight look like a saint. At least Bobby Knight only has temper tantrums. Don Matthews thinks he is Gods gift to the CFL and watching him lose makes my day. In the western final it was the B.C. Lions unfortunately beating the Green Pride of the Saskatchewan (the Roughriders) by a score of by a score of 27-25 in overtime due to a missed fieldgoal by Saskatchewan kicker Paul McCallum. It was an unfortunate miss and the people of Regina took the miss hard. In fact they pelted his house with eggs, dumped manure on his lawn and even threatened him and his family. I am disgusted and appalled in this behavior from the people of Regina. I thought the people of Saskatchewan were a classy province of people but I guess I was wrong. Shame on you Regina!!! With the division finals out of the way it is on to the Grey Cup this weekend with the Argonauts and the Lions meeting for glory in Ottawa. My cheering will now ride with the western conference and the B.C. Lions.
In soccer news Manchester United got themselves back on track Sunday with a 3-1 victory over rivals Newcastle United. Ruud van Nistelrooy was back in the lineup after a 3 game ban for a nasty tackle on Ashley Cole of Arsenal. Teen sensation Wayne Rooney contributed 2 goals and Ruud netted a penalty as the Red Devils scored more than 2 goals on the road for the first time in 20 games. After the game most of the Red Devils were off for international duty as there were both World Cup qualifying games in Europe, CONCACAF and South America plus some international friendlies. England lost their international friendly to Spain by a score of 1-0 with Spain dominating the game. The game itself was not the news from the Santiago Bernabeu as reports of racism by the Spanish fans against the coloured players of England took center stage. Boo to the fans from Spain for their disgusting behavior. You deserve to be sanctioned for your next international home game. Maybe that will teach you a lesson. This week sees Manchester United at home to Charlton Athletic in the EPL and hopefully they can keep it going as they can't let Chelsea or Arsenal move any further in front. They are also at home on Tuesday against Lyon in Champions League action. A victory will assure them of a place in the knockout stage of the Championships joining Chelsea who have already advanced.
The Edmonton Roadrunners had a great week finishing their 6 game road trip with 4 straight victories. The Oiler's farm team currently lead the North Division of the Western Conference with 25 points and a 11W-3L-2OTL-1SOL record. The Roadrunners also have the most points in the AHL. The "beep, beep" Roadrunners start an 8 game homestand on the 21st so Edmonton fans get out and support the team. This team deserves your support.
The NFL this last week saw some pretty good games. The Indianapolis Colts hammered the Houston Texans 49-14 with MVP Peyton Manning throwing 5 touchdowns in a game for the 3rd time this year tieing the Vikings Duante Culpepper in this department. Speaking of the VIkings they lost their third straight game this time to the Green Bay Packers by a score of 34-31. It is coincidentally the third straight game they have played without superstar reciever Randy Moss who has been nursing a hamstring injury. Moss is also not expected to play this coming weekend either. In other action the Patriots moved to 8-1 with a 29-6 win over the Bills, the Eagles also moved to 8-1 with a 49-21 victory over the Cowboys and the Steelers moved to 8-1 with a 24-10 win over the Browns. In a fantasy football note, after going 6-1 last week I fell a bit back to earth finishing the week with a 4-3 record. I currently lead my division with 2 of my teams and have 4 others currently in playoff contention. 1 team I am afraid is left with being the spoiler.
Friday, November 12, 2004
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I was reading the other day that Chelsea and Romanian striker Adrian Mutu tested positive for having a banned substance in his system. For this indescretion he recieved a 7 month ban from soccer. He was also fired by his soccer team.
Ok, let me understand this...Adrian Mutu tests positive for having a banned substance in his system and he recieves a 7 month ban from playing soccer. Rio Ferdinand misses a drug test and gets an 8 month ban. Rio even offered to take the test he missed within 12 hours of missing the test. But according to FIFA he missed the scheduled test so he gets banned from playing for 8 months. Practicing is fine but no games of any sort for 8 months. So what I don't understand is this; what kind of message is FIFA and the rest of the soccer (football) world sending to the youth of the world? They are telling the kids that if you break the rules and do drugs and it is proven you will get a lighter sentence than if you are living your life clean and miss a test. Even if you realize you miss the test and want to take it. Rio wasn't even allowed to take the missed test.
Hey Sepp Blatter, wake up and smell the coffee. Banning someone who tests positive for drugs for less time than someone who misses a test is a gross miscarriage of justice. I thought the whole point of doing random tests in any sport is to make sure the athletes of the world are clean and everyone is playing on a equal level. Banning Adrian Mutu for less time than Rio Ferdinand is a disgrace to the sport. If this was an athlete in any other sport they would have recieved a 2 year ban. It is time that FIFA got off their high horse and did the right thing. 2 years is what Adrian Mutu deserves.
So if any of you reading this post can tell me why an athlete who test positive for using a banned substance gets a lighter sentence than what an athlete gets for missing a test please leave me a comment and let me know why.
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
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November 11th is Remembrance Day in Canada. Over 100,000 Canadians gave their lives in the wars of the 20th century. Millions stood beside them in personal sacrifice and loss, in the service of Canada, and the world. We owe the freedom we enjoy today to those brave individuals. Please take a moment tomorrow to give thanks to those who lost their life defending our rights.
I was going to do a big write-up on Remembrance Day with the poem "Flander's Field" but daughter Kimmi beat me to it. Read her posting here.
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
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So, the 2004 season has come to an unceremonious end. The 2003 champs turned into chumps in front of our very eyes. What happened? How can a team win the Grey Cup one year turn in such a stinker of a year with virtually the same team.
This team was an enigma the entire season. The only major change this year was Jason Maas instead of Ricky Ray. Was this season Jason's fault? No way! Jason threw for more yards than any Eskimo quarterback since the great Warren Moon. Maas even set a record for 24 straight completions in a game against Winnipeg. Hard to believe since many of the receivers dropped a ton of balls this season. Even the usually sure handed Terry Vaugn. 2003 Grey Cup MVP Jason Tucker even went through it. Great catches one minute for a touchdown and a ball in the hands dropped the next minute. Maas is not Ray when it comes to scrambling but it seems to me that Ricky Rays didn't have to run for his life half of every game. The offensive line was so porous at times this year that Roseanne could have been through the line chasing the QB. And what about the running game? What running game? Mike Pringle may have set a CFL record for rushing in a career but his better rushing days are behind him. Still a great blocker Mike Pringle will need to have a toned down role on this tema next year if he is back. The Eskimos need a bonafide rushing game again. Until that happens the offence won't be better.
Then there is the defence. Great at times and cleanly beaten the next. The aging defensive back can read a pick the next and be beaten cleanly the next. I don't remember an Eskimo defence getting called for pass interference so often. I think they were called at least once per game. And then there are the undisciplined penalties for roughing or offside. Penalties that shouldn't happen. Just when you think the "D" has the other team stopped, someone is delivering a late hit on the QB or is grabbing a face mask or delivering a late hit out of bounds. Discipline and youth needs to improve on this defence if things are to be better next year. Special teams were no better either. How many time did we have to see Sean Fleming have to make a tackle as the last one to stop a return man. Too many times. If the 11 guys that are supposed to tackle a return man don't why do we expect the kicker to stop him. Although Sean did this a couple of times this year he is a kicker for a reason. He doesn't know how to tackle. And in watching the game Sunday, he doesn't know how to throw a ball either.
What about the coaching this year. Too many wrong decisions this year punctuated by the third down gamble late in the second quarter. Maybe it is time for a change. The other teams know what the Eskimos are going to do before it happens. The coaching has become too predictable. Hugh, it is time to look to next year and changes need to be made for the good of the team.
So now the Eskimos season is over it is time to watch the rest of the playoffs without green and gold. I guess we will have to cheer for the green riders instead. It sure beats cheering for the Lions, Argos, or Als. Go Riders Go