Friday, November 30, 2007

Fire Doug Smith's Headline Writer

Headline reads:

Secret to beating the Cavs lies in dethroning the King

Tomorrow's headline in the Life section:

Secret to losing weight lies in eating less

Maybe you shouldn't tell the whole world about your basic shortcomings

So everyone called Doc Rivers a terrible coach last year because he had a terrible team and lost a shitload of games. This year, you would be hard pressed to find a negative word spoken about him. Maybe that's a mistake.
''I'm never great in math,'' Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. ''So I couldn't figure out if we were up by 30. I wasn't even paying a lot of attention to it. But I knew we were playing well and, obviously, I looked.''
I shouldn't even bother with a comment but did he really say that? "I can't subtract one small number from a slightly larger number and see if the answer is greater or less than 30". Fuck that's sad.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Can we make Doug Smith pay Garbo's contract?

Beatgrog:

Q: I have a bit of a gripe with you when you say (referring to player contracts), "unless it’s your money, who cares about the money?" The reason I care is because it is my money. When I buy tickets I'm helping to pay the players' salaries. When I buy merchandise, I'm helping to pay the player's salaries/ When I watch Raps TV, I'm buying B.C. a new collar. The fans have a right to be upset when they see frivolous spending.

Erick Isopp, Vancouver

A: Here’s the thing: It’s not extra spending. The Garbo contract we were talking about has to be paid.


Dear Mr. Smith,

If the Spanish national team's insurance won't cover the entire cost of Garbejosa's injury then the Raptors will be paying a gimp. Even if the entire injury is covered by insurance, the rates go up which costs the team more money and Jorge is still out for the season instead of playing basketball which is what we signed him to a multi-million dollar contract to do for us (instead of playing a meaningless tournament).

As well, as ZGall mentioned only a few days ago, IT DOESN'T MATTER IF IT'S NOT OUR MONEY BECAUSE THERE IS A MOTHER FUCKING SALARY CAP. This argument will henceforth be known as 'CAP CAP CAP' so we'll never be forced to waste our time articulating how dumb and uninformed you are about this issue.

Kind regards,

DaBittaUrb

The Dog Ate Matt Stajan's Common Sense

From The Star:
Concerning the shootout malaise:

"We're running into hot goalies maybe," said forward Matt Stajan. "I don't know what to say about the shootout.

That's it, Stajy. Every goalie goes hot just as they're about to face Leafs shooters.

"It just hasn't been our thing the last few years."

Neither has the playoffs.

Already this season the Maple Leafs are 0-3 in the shootout. They're 7-17 since it was introduced at the start of the 2005-06 season.

For a team that missed the playoffs by one point last year, and two points in 2005-06, that's a lot of opportunities missed.

Maybe there's something wrong with their sticks?

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Make Like a Tree and Get The Fuck Out

Dave Perkins from the Star writes:

Lack of damage control unseemly, even for Leafs


Credit the Maple Leafs for not taking the easy way out the door that Richard Peddie has opened for them by throwing his general manager under the bus.

For putting together such a masterful hockey team, Peddie should be giving John Ferguson Jr. foot rubs.

Not yet, anyway.

The players were given the opportunity to shrug their shoulders and blame strictly the GM for what ails this team, since upper management seems to have done so officially with its shabby public treatment of John Ferguson Jr.

"Not our fault," the players can say if they choose to look the other way while shaving.

No they can't! This ain't basketball. No one on this team is Kobe Bryant. The players can't blame the GM because Fergie's screw up was putting all these guys on a team and expecting them to win hockey games.

"Fire the GM," said Pavel Kubina yesterday after a predictable shootout loss to the Montreal Canadiens. "Any idiot who signs me to score points for their hockey team is obviously unqualified for their job."

They earned the benefit of the doubt last night against the Montreal Canadiens. They lost 4-3 in one of those damnable (especially for them) shootouts. It was the energizing cap to a drab kind of game, but one that got to extra time only because Montreal has a power play that works and Toronto, these days, doesn't.

The effort was there for the Leafs, but Carey Price, a confident-looking youngster, was there in the Montreal nets, which was the difference.

You're basically saying that any goalie in or near the league can stop our offense.

Still, it's now eight wins in 25 games, a performance that won't cool off either customers or chroniclers. None of this unpleasantness will go away until the players and coach Paul Maurice get the job done at ice level, starting tomorrow in Atlanta and beyond.

The Leafs, as usual, said the management whirlwind didn't blow into the dressing room.

"As players, we're the people who control what's going on, on the ice," said Mats Sundin, who fanned the flames of hope with a game-tying goal, his 400th as a Leaf, with 18 seconds remaining in regulation time. "We can't blame anyone, coaches or management, for how we're doing. We have to take our responsibilities as players and we have to get better."

Unfortunately y'all are old and/or lack talent. You could play better, yes, but you probably won't.

The Leafs GM, as everyone knows, is getting stick from both above and below and that isn't right. His superiors seem to lack the spine and/or the decency to either fire him and move forward, or shut up, stand back and let the man go about his job. Their job is to do one or the other, not to dump on Ferguson with this talk about mistakes and mentors.

I agree. Fire him or shut up.

Below Ferguson, the players – a lot of whom Ferguson made very wealthy – are not playing worth a damn from night to night. When do they step it up and start earning their money?

When does Jason Blake, to single out one of many underachievers, score again? He had 40 last season, but is stuck on two here and was the final Leaf stopped by Price in the shootout. He could have had two or three last night alone and went hard to the net to help set up Sundin's tying goal. So at least he's giving himself chances. But the clock is ticking, on their ever-shortening playoff chances, on everyone.

They never earn their money because John Ferguson, with the blessing of whoever contributes to the Maple Leafs way of doing business, gave them too much goddamn money.

No sports franchise escapes having dirty laundry aired now and then, but where's the damage control? The Leafs undercut their GM in the summer by actively interviewing "mentor" help they felt he needed. Bad idea, as is the apparent split on the board of directors, with Larry Tanenbaum's side constantly leaking details of his displeasure. How did all these guys get rich running their shops like this?

Couldn't agree more. MLSE lacks business sense or maybe just foresight. They are ultimately responsible for the downfall of this team. Tanenbaum should fire Peddie. Or Peddie should fire Tanenbaum. Or some retired teachers should fire everyone.

Tanenbaum, remember, wants to participate in bringing an NFL team here. Won't the NFL look beyond revenues and brand-marketing expertise, see one of the NHL's flagship franchises steered on to the rocks on his watch and wonder if this is the kind of owner they really want in the lodge?

It may. But look at the Raptors. A GM with vision was brought in and changes were made that allowed the Raptors to win the Atlantic Division. You can't turn around a hockey team as quickly for a lot of reasons, but you can get the fucking ball rolling and MLSE has done that for one if its pro teams. If we're tossing around blame, let's blame the blind-as-fuck Leafs fans who shell out limitless cash on this team whether they win or lose.

Things were a whole lot easier for this team when the big topic was what Sean Avery said to Darcy Tucker.

Things will be a whole lot easer for this team when the big topic is their legitimate shot at the Stanley Cup.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

You are a reporter Doug, not an employee of the Raptors

Just chill a wee bit

You know what? Everybody’s just got to take a pill over this Garbo stuff.


I'm not that upset since I don't see Garbo as some sort of Raptors' saviour but I bet you I'm not going to like how Doug sees the situation.

He’s hurt, he has to have surgery and he could be back for the final few weeks of the season. He decided to play for Spain last summer – a decision I think is entirely justified, by the way – and his continued rehab since then didn’t go well.

Who are we to tell a guy he can’t play for his country? Who are we to know how his leg felt when he played? Rip him if you like but I can entirely understand a guy feeling no pain in his leg with medical clearance from doctors in his homeland deciding to go ahead and play.


Instead of asking ridiculous "Who are we?" questions, how about we look at the facts like a good reporter? (I will be taking the reporter role because Doug has passed on it for now.)

I would imagine that the Raptors, owing Garbo $8 million over this year and the next, felt pretty justified in telling him that he shouldn't be playing with a broken bone in his leg. When they went out and signed him, they reasonably expected that given the money they had agreed to pay him, his first loyalty would be to his NBA team and not to a team that is paying no money for his services and had already qualified for the Olympic qualifier next year. I will concede that it was understandable that Garbo wanted to play given that he is Spanish and the tourney was in Spain. That still doesn't make the decision to play on a broken bone the correct one.

As for the doctors in his homeland, I couldn't care less. First, it is entirely possible that they gave him the answer that he and the national team wanted to hear. Second, and much more importantly, if an x-ray shows a broken bone, your bone is broken. How hard is it to understand that? Was it really that difficult to see this entire situation coming?

The money? Unless it’s your money, who cares about the money?

Whenever a sports commentator uses this argument in reference to a league with a salary cap (number one offender, by the way, is Bob McCowan), I want to laugh at the lack of logic being used. I'll try and explain it simply. When there is a salary cap, that means that you cannot necessarily go out and sign another player if you threw away your money on a bad investment. Thus, even if I am not paying Garbo $4 million this year, I can still justifiably be upset because that $4 million cannot be paid to another basketball player who might provide more than Garbo's nothing.

The roster spot? With the salary slots they have available, they aren’t going to get anyone any better than anyone playing for them right now so that’s a moot point.

I'll concede this one to you, Doug.

Is Garbo ticked? Sure, he’s a basketball player who can’t play basketball. Are the Raptors ticked? Sure, one of their guys is hurt.

But let's be honest here. Garbo has only himself to blame. He was given solid medical advice to not play and have further surgery and he ignored it. Garbo built up a lot goodwill with Raptors' fans by being a rough and tough player who would do anything for his team if it helped lead to a win. I sincerely hope that he loses that goodwill as a result of his selfish decision.

Could they use him? Maybe. Maybe at 100 per cent he’s better than Rasho or Bosh or Bargnani, or Moon, Delfino or Kapono. Maybe.

It’s a crappy situation but there’s nothing that can be done about it now. The guy got hurt. That sucks. Deal with it and move on.


What a dishonest way to sum up the situation. Well done Doug.

Will Danny Ferry please show Sideshow Anderson the money?

Chadwick Von Ford writes about the Varejeo situation. If Cleveland is actually offering 4 years, $20 million for his services (and therefore values his contribution at about a Mo Peterson) they either have no intention of keeping him or they are severely delusional. I'm going with delusional.

Great quote from agent and supposedly huge a-hole Dan Fegan:

"It defies logic for the Cavs to accuse Anderson of demanding too much money on a long-term deal while at the same time refusing to allow Anderson to sign a one-year deal for less money, especially when they retain his Bird rights next year." Fegan said. "It begs the question: If their offer is truly fair, what are they afraid of?"

Man has a point. The offer should be 6 years, $42-44 million. If the terrible Cavs think Donyell Marshall and Damon Jones were good investments and Varejao isn't, I expect the reigning Eastern Conference champs to be fighting for the right to draft the next LeBron.

You can't help but laugh

No commentary. Just imagine how ridiculous this would be if it happened. Also, two prefatory notes. WP48 is wins produced per 48 minutes. Chris Bosh had 11 12.6 wins produced last year.

Okay, enough on Durant. Let’s turn to a player who entered the league with far less fanfare. Few people took notice when the Toronto Raptors signed the undrafted Jamario Moon this past summer. But after a few weeks of the 2007-08 season it looks like Moon will easily produce more wins this season than Durant. In fact, Moon might have already produced more wins than Durant will in 2007-08. After just ten games Moon has produced 1.4 victories. Durant is going to have to improve substantially to match that total this season.

Moon is not a scorer. He only averages 8.7 points per game and his shooting efficiency is only about average. Moon makes up for his lack of scoring by being well above average with respect to rebounds, steals, and blocked shots. Consequently this small forward has posted a 0.239 WP48 [average is 0.100]. If he continues to play 29 minutes a night he will play about 2,250 minutes before the season is over. If his per-minute performance continues, he will produce 11.2 wins, or about 6.5 wins more than an average small forward would offer in Moon’s time.

Friday, November 23, 2007

Mail Brog!

Q: Have you noticed that Sam frequently will call a timeout and not sub anyone in, only to bring in a sub about 5 seconds or so after the play starts back up?

Any rationale you can think of for that one?

Richard Niman

A: If I could think like Sam Mitchell, I'd be making four mil a year and ripping on beat grunts every day. But I'll give it a shot.

You heard it hear first. Doug Smith covets Sam Mitchell's mind.

Sometimes if there's a timeout called to address a particularly bone-headed play -- which is sometimes the case -- Mitchell (and other coaches) will do their ripping in the huddle and instead of showing up the perpetrator in front of 19,000 fans by immediately hooking him from the game, he'll let him go back out there for a possession or two to try and redeem himself. It's all part of the psychological aspects of coaching pro athletes.

Or maybe he just forgets what he wants to do.

Or maybe he's awful/stupid.

I dunno for sure.

You're definitely awful/stupid.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Only on TSN.ca

We harp a lot on the Toronto Star for all the poop they like to pass off as sports journalism. But the truth is, we hold the Star to the highest of standards because it is the top paper in the land and should therefore pump out the best sporty scribble. If the Star's sports section is the grand poo-bah of newspaper writing, then TSN is the daddy mack of sports television. Therefore, their own forays into Web 2.0 social media super community building blogs should be just as much fun as the Star's, right?

We're not disappointed.

From former Star writer (yes folks, this man was paid to write for a living) and current gigantic head on the screen Bob McKenzie:


Only in Canada.

It was one of those "you had to be there" moments last night at TSN.

Yet, I have a feeling you're going to tell us anyways.

That's Hockey, with Gino Reda, was wrapping up and I was on the set answering One Timers, you know, short, snappy answers to a rapid-fire succession of questions.

One of them was asking if Hall of Famers Al MacInnis and Scott Stevens constituted the best junior hockey tandem ever when they played together on the 1982 Memorial Cup champion Kitchener Rangers.

I must have been washing my hair during this gripping segment.

Not having time to do any research of course, the easy or pat answer would have been to say, yes, they are, and as a matter of fact I was at that Memorial Cup week in Hull, Que., watching them and marveling especially at Stevens' take-no-prisoners physical edge that bordered on out of control at times.

The easy or pat move I could have made was to discontinue reading this "article." I either love you dear readers too much or hate myself that much more.

But no, I decide to get glib and cute. I responded, MacInnis and Stevens were great, but I'll go with Bobby Orr and whatever stiff he was playing with on the Oshawa Generals."

You get the point. I was saying Orr was so good by himself that it didn't matter who he was playing with, that tandem would be the best. Plus, I didn't know who Orr's partner was in Oshawa.

Wait a minute! Are you, Robert T. McKenzie Jr. saying that Orr was good enough by himself to be the best OHL pair of all time? That is both glib AND cute. Chuckle, chuckle guffaw! But really, please explain your point one more time.


The show ended and producer Geoff Macht told Gino and myself to sit tight for a moment because our audio guy was going to talk to us. There seemed to be a bit of a commotion in the control room and I immediately thought, I don't like the sound of this. Last time something like this happened, I found out what I thought was an off the air remark, a bit of an eff bomb, went out over the air.

Maybe Bobby was worried someone was going to run out of the audio booth and stab him in the jaw for making them listen to Bob McKenzie talk.

So the audio guy, Grant, comes on and says, "That stiff you talked about was my Dad."

Turns out Bobby Orr's partner in Oshawa was one Chris Roberts, who just happens to be the father of TSN audio technician Grant Roberts.

Grant was laughing. The rest of the control room was howling, especially when they recounted Grant's initial reaction as soon as the words came out of my mouth. He exclaimed: "That's my Dad."

No shit. Great story. Really. One time I was playing house league basketball and some dude gave me a hard foul as I went up for a layup. I called his mom a whore. Boy, did I turn red when a teammate whispered in my ear that this fellow's mom actually was a prostitute. True story. Okay, not really - but still much more entertaining than Bob's.

Chris Roberts played four years in Oshawa. He wore No. 4, Orr No. 2. A stay at home defenceman, Roberts had seven goals and 39 points and 205 PIMs in four seasons between 1963 and 1967. He is not credited for having played pro hockey after that, but suddenly, my "stiff" comment had a name and face to it and his kid was in our control room.

I told Bobby Orr about this morning. He laughed, long and hard. Grant was going home to tell his Dad about it. I hope he laughed, too. Nothing personal, Chris.

Was this a funny event, Bob? Did it make people laugh? Did someone call TBS to check before everyone's sides started splitting?

And that, my friends, is what Canada is all about.

You go on the air and make some obscure throwaway reference to a nameless, faceless "stiff" in junior hockey from the 60s, and the guy's kid turns out to be in the control room.

Only in Canada indeed.

Canada's about poor hockey players? Sparse populations leading to "small world" coincidences? Illiterate hockey analysts writing blogs? Name dropping Bobby Orr?

I would like to whip this guy with a beaver tail.

It's snowing out now and I blame Doug Smith

Let's start with this gem from the blog:

Oh yeah, Mitchell 1, Iavaroni 0

I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone would so shamelessly defend Sam Mitchell for his numerous poor decisions this year and attack every one of his many detractors unless you really liked the guy personally and depended on him liking you so that you could get a good quote. Well, at least I can't think of anyone who might fit into that category because that is a bad category for a journalist to be in.

On to our regularly-scheduled stuff. No pap. No drivel. We're going for insight today.

Pap.

Hey, stats freaks

Okay all you number crunchers out there, you know who you are. The dudes who think I’m a dinosaur ‘cause I haven’t bought into the plus-minus nonsense that’s all the rave.

Jose Calderon was a zero in Memphis, Darrick Martin was plus-6. That mean DMart wins the game for them.

Didn’t think so.


Hey Doug McSnarkerson. You are an idiot. No "stat freak" with half a brain would a) judge a player based on one game and b) use a stat as stupid as plus-minus. Do not transfer your poor logical thinking skills to us. Also, you are a dinosaur. You are fat and old and you will soon be extinct.

Q: My friend and I had a heated debate. Which former Raptor was the better player, Nate Huffman or Rafael Araujo.


Mike Yung, Hong Kong

A: That’s easy. Nate Huffman was better for the Raptors. All he cost them was money. Haffa cost them Andre Iguodala.


Ya because Rob Babcock certainly would have been smart enough to get Igoudala had Araujo not been in the running.

Everyone’s off today, the entire league, for Thanksgiving down there. (Why they don’t celebrate Thanksgiving like normal people do in October, I’ll never understand). Not a bad idea, though. Even if it means a dark night of TV. Wonder what zany reality show I can catch up on.

Why do you try and convince us that you are the folksiest guy on the entire planet? How does that image benefit the mighty beat grunt? I can't take your awful writing anymore. I am making it my life goal to replace you so that I don't have to read your wretched columns anymore.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Showing the score is harder than you might think

I recently e-mailed Sportsnet asking them why they cannot display the scoreboard on the screen during HD Leafs broadcasts. Their response is below.

Hello:

Thanks for your recent e-mail. We certainly appreciate the feedback.
Unfortunately, at this time we are currently working on ways to include
a scoreclock during our regional HD broadcasts this season.

Our apologies for any inconvenience that this may cause.

Sincerely,
Daniel Zaiontz
Audience Relations


So they are essentially saying that they just can't do it. How pathetic!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Why doesn't Doug Smith read Dave Feschuck?

From the grog:

Now, 5-5 isn’t 2-8, and they’ve got a couple new guys working their way in instead of nine, so it doesn’t suck. And given the sorry state of the East, they certainly haven’t played themselves out of anything yet. Of course, if they get to the end of the week 6-8, which is entirely possible, then I'm figuring Bryan Colangelo starts ramping up the calls to other GMs to see if there's a way to tweak this roster.

You're right, Doug. Don't question the coaching at all. The Raps should just trade everyone. I hear Antoine Walker is available.


Grey Cup: The people's football championship

A patriotic gem from Dave Perkins

All right, let's give a great big Toronto welcome to the Winnipeg-Saskatchewan Grey Cup.

Does that involve swearing in 17 languages?

To make the Westerners feel at home, we should leave the roof open Sunday at the occasional future home of the Buffalo Bills.

Just a little joke there – in reality, here's hoping everyone has a good time and the game is its usual entertaining self. That way, we'll know it isn't a Super Bowl.

BUUUURRRRRRRRNNNNN SUPER BOWL!

Actually, this is nowhere near a Super Bowl and, for that, we should be thankful.

Take it from someone who has been to about 10 of the overblown U.S. championship games, seldom leaving impressed: The Grey Cup, bless its Canadian heart and soul, is the fans' game.

The Toronto Star has paid for Dave Perkins to go to the Super Bowl 10 times? There is no god.

The Super Bowl is all about corporations and excess. It is the expense account crowd, the year's top earners and best clients for whom the tickets, at $500 (U.S.) and $600 each but scalped for several times their face value, represent some company's tax write-off.

Fucking suits with their stock portfolios and private jets and peanutbutter and caviar sandwiches.

The Grey Cup certainly has its share of high-end, dress-up events. The swells, in any society, need to be catered to, and that's fine. But scan the list of events as constructed by a Grey Cup committee that has laboured long and hard, and it's easy to find plenty of events for participants who may not be arriving by limousine.

Dented pick up trucks only!

Various parties represent all of Canada. At a couple of them, word is if the action drags, they promise to show Jiri Tlusty home movies.

Oh you're baaaad, Dave Perkins!

There's the Calgary Pancake Breakfast on Front Street Friday at 11 a.m. (who eats breakfast at 11 a.m.? Are they staying on Alberta time?)

Then there's the famous Spirit of Edmonton with a "hospitality zone'' and game day breakfast. There's also the Atlantic Schooners Down East Kitchen Party, which sounds like fun, and traditional stopping-off points like Riderville and Tigertown. At a modest $5 or $10 to get in, who can resist?

Please just read the preceding paragraphs again.

This is the one big difference between Canada's game and the big one down south. Fans will always be front and centre at the Grey Cup, rather than a necessary afterthought.

The bigger contrast? Surely it's the quality of game – there have been a few good Super Bowls, but most have been duds. There have been, by comparison, a few dud Grey Cups, but most are pretty good matchups.

Yeah, the pre grame and halftime shows are the Super Bowl are overblown and boring. Okay. The games haven't always been close. Okay. But please don't compare the quality of football between the NFL and the CFL. You will not win. Also, "slot back" may be the most fun sports position to say out loud.

Here's one more advantage to Grey Cup week: A national championship college game blended in, played on Friday evening. Sure, Canadian university sports aren't the same life-and-death matter as in the Excited States, but at least we arrange, through a real playoff system, a no-doubts national champion, not a made-up title game based on a points and ranking system hardly anyone understands.

Take that Division 1 football! I'd take the York Yeomen over the Kansas Jayhawks any day.

It would have been nice to have the Argos participating in Sunday's Grey Cup, but enough of that.

Let's enjoy what we have, since there's no telling when we'll get another chance.

I'll take that Bills game right about now.

Monday, November 19, 2007

The Big Hurt - MVP Candidate?

As noted here, Frank Thomas got a vote for AL MVP. I was left speechless and I still am.

Dave > Doug

Dave Feschuck sums up what we are all feeling:

We understand the NBA's practice-time limitations. We understand Mitchell is the coach of the year. But that year is over. And this season could pose some problems for the Raptors if they don't adjust.

Nobody's calling for an overhaul. What the Raptors do is fundamentally sound and tough to stop.

But it might not hurt to make the opposing scouts work for a living. It might be a decent idea to run something other than the high screen and roll, the two-man bread-and-butter play that has become more like bread and water, as monotonous as a prison sentence.

An offensive tweak that gets the other three guys on the floor in motion wouldn't be a bad idea. Talking to hoopwise types around the league, you get the sense that the Raptors are being dismissed as easy to peg. And maybe you hear whispers that Mitchell is occasionally too stubborn to change.

Going .500 through the first 10 games is neither a disaster nor a triumph. The season's still an open page. But it's up to Mitchell and his staff to write a chapter that everyone in the league isn't expecting.

Amen.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Fire HonestReporting.ca?

A website I read regularly, HonestReporting.ca, monitors Canadian media for inaccuracies and bias as it relates to Israel and the Mideast. It is generally an excellent monitoring group and provides a valuable service.

However, their inexplicable support and kudos to Douglas Smith over his firecracker/Halpoel story has forced FDS to take away 1302 points.

(Emphatic bold text has been changed to italics)

Calling Terror By Its Name

Cudos to Toronto Star sports reporter Doug Smith for using the Terror word and its variants twice in a report on a firecracker that was tossed on to an Israeli pro-basketball court in a game between Halpoel Jerusalem and Holon.

Couldn't agree more that acts of terrorism should be referred to as "terrorism" and not confusingly neutral language. That is not the focus of this blog. Oh, by the way, there was no act of terrorism here. It was hooliganism, remember? Also, how hard is it to spell "kudos" considering almost every word processor and Internet browser now includes spell check?



His report then discussed the broader security situation in Israel noting that:

"A frightening chain of events that ended with a security guard's hand blown up, two of his fingers severed, an arena of fans in panic and players fearing – momentarily – for their lives.

How does this statement discuss the broader security situation in Israel?

“A frightful scene in a Jerusalem gymnasium, when terror met sports, the worst nightmare for athletes normally inured to the possibility that danger from the outside could invade their world."

Hool. ig. an. ism.

“Even in Israel, where citizens live with the spectre of terrorist attacks hovering over them daily, it was too much. It was basketball. And basketball is supposed to be free of such horror”

Hooray. In a painfully misguided article, Doug Smith did not say "freedom fighting happy fun attacks" when he meant "terrorism." Cudos to you, sir. Cudos to Jason Capono. Let's go fly a cite to Candahar.

We shouldn't be afraid to use strong language to describe real situations. We also shouldn't overuse that language so that it loses its meaning, right?



Did y'all see the Golden State Warriors carry out a Holocaust against the Raps in the 4th quarter today?

Saturday, November 17, 2007

No, but really. You're not cool, Doug Smith.

From the same article,

Garbajosa, who goes through life with a substantial level of bemusement about everything, wasn't buying into the whole retribution for benching; watch me, I can still play storyline that would have been so easy to develop.

Doug Smith doesn't play up ridiculous grudge stories like those hack sports writers who lack the beat gruntness to resist inventing epic drama out of regular season games. Never caught passing chips out on shoulders. Mole hills stay away from mountains.




From his blog last week:

Think Jose and Garbo won’t have a bit of an edge to them tonight when they see Utah’s Andrei Kirilenko.

It was back in September in Madrid when Calderon and Garbo were poised to be the darlings of their nation, ready to win the European basketball championships before an adoring home crowd.

Then Kirilenko and Russia pull a huge upset in the final and Spain finishes second.

Yup.

You are still not cool Doug Smith

I do not understand what would prompt someone to write a sentence like this in a real newspaper.

Oh yeah, the Raptors shot the crap out of the ball, too, and making 12 of 23 three-point attempts will cover a multitude of sins.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

"He did play well for 20 games...How does 15 million sound?"

Free-agent catcher Yorvit Torrealba will agree to a three-year contract with the New York Mets on Thursday, according to Torrealba's agent, Melvin Roman.

If I were a Mets' fan, I'd be hoping the next line said something like, "The deal is expected to pay $6 million over the length of the contract". However, here is what it really said.

If Torrealba passes a physical, an announcement is expected in the next day or two. Newsday reported on its website that the contract will be worth $14.4 million over three years.

What? Hold on a moment everyone. This is a guy who has a career OPS+ of 80 and it has been on the decline in recent years. He was last a member of the Colorado Rockies, a team that plays in the best hitters' park. When that fact is taken into consideration, his numbers are staggeringly bad. I don't have any fancy stats for this but we'll just have to deal with what ESPN.com gives us.

Torrealba hit .296 with six homers and 34 RBIs in Denver, while he batted just .212 with two homers and 13 RBIs on the road.

So this guy can't hit at all unless aided by the best place ever to hit. If that is not bad enough, the article continues.

Rockies pitchers gave Torrealba a lot of credit for how he called a game, though he did not have a high success rate when trying to throw runners out.

Calling a good game is a great skill but I'd say that being able to throw runners out better than Greg Zaun is an essential skill at the MLB level.

Mets' fan - enjoy your starting catcher making starter money but playing with the skill of a backup.

Wait - are you sure know who that is?

So I'm listening to Steve Smith on The Score and they are talking about Yi Jianlian (pronounce that one properly and I'll give you $50). The host asks him to compare Yi to another basketball player and Steve Smith compares him to....Wang Zhizhi. I had my doubts about how apt this comparison was so I decided to write out a list of commonalities.

The list:
Chinese
Name is difficult to pronounce properly
Over 6'6"

Man, that is one impressive list. I'm in awe of Smitty From the City's analytical skills. (I looked him up on Wikipedia and that is the nickname given. Go figure.)

A coach that thinks? What has the world come to?

No commentary here. Just read and enjoy.

Now for some good news. There's a high school in Arkansas that has made the most significant football innovation we've seen since the veer option. This high school is tearing up its state and is on the verge of revolutionizing the way football is played. TMQ suspects that within a few years, the phrase "Pulaski theory" will be as widely known as the phrase "shotgun spread." In a copycat sport, Pulaski Academy of Little Rock has devised an offensive philosophy that is genuinely new, and it's winning games left and right.

Pulaski Academy does not punt. I first heard about Pulaski from Peter Giovannini of Morrilton, Ark., a high school football official who wrote me to report in astonishment that he had just worked a conference championship game in which the winning team never punted, even going for a first down on fourth-and-6 from its own 5-yard line early in the game. "As a devotee of TMQ, I thought you might like to know at least one coach in the vast football universe has experienced the epiphany and refuses to punt the ball away," Giovannini wrote.


That team was Pulaski -- 9-1-1 after having just won its opening-round
game in the Arkansas 5A playoffs. Coach Kevin Kelley reports that he stopped punting in 2005 -- after reading an academic study on the statistical consequences of going for the first down versus handing possession to the other team, plus reading Tuesday Morning Quarterback's relentless examples of when punting backfires but going for the first down works. In 2005, Pulaski reached the state quarterfinals by rarely punting. In 2006, Pulaski reached the state championship game, losing by one point -- and in the state championship game, Pulaski never punted, converting nine of 10 fourth-down attempts. Since the start of the 2006 season, Pulaski has had no punting unit and never practices punts. This year, Pulaski has punted just twice, both times when leading by a large margin and trying to hold down the final score. In its playoff victory Friday night, Pulaski did not punt, converting three of four fourth-down tries.

"They give you four downs, not three," Kelley told TMQ. "You should take advantage. Suppose we had punted from our own 5. The odds are the opposition will take over at about the 35, and from there the stats say they have an 80 percent chance of scoring. So even if you only have a 50 percent chance of converting the first down, isn't that better than giving the other side an 80 percent chance of scoring?" For fourth-and-short attempts, the odds of converting are a lot better than 50 percent.

As TMQ endlessly notes, NFL teams convert about 75 percent of fourth-and-1 tries. Yet highly paid professional coaches endlessly send in the punt unit on fourth-and-1, handing a scoring opportunity to the opposition. In the 2006 edition of my annual don't-punt column, I summarized the odds this way: "Nearly three-quarters of fourth-and-1 attempts succeed, while around one-third of possessions result in scores. Think about those fractions. Go for it four times on fourth-and-1: Odds are you will keep the ball three times, and three kept possessions each with a one-third chance of a score results in your team scoring once more than it otherwise would have. Punt the ball on all four fourth-and-1s, and you've given the opponents three additional possessions. (It would have gotten one possession anyway when you missed one of your fourth-and-1s.) Those three extra possessions, divided by the one-third chance to score, give the opponent an extra score."

Kelley says that when he began to shun the punt, people thought he was crazy: "It's like brainwashing, people believe you are required to punt." Players and the home crowd needed to get acclimated to it. "When we first started going on every fourth down," he says, "our home crowd would boo and the players would be distressed. You need to become accustomed to the philosophy and buy into the idea. Now our crowd and our players expect us to go for it, and get excited when no punting team comes onto the field. When my 10-year-old son sees NFL teams punting on short yardage on television, he gets upset because he's grown up with the idea that punting is usually bad."

Preparing the players for the no-punting future of football is a practical concern. If a coach unexpectedly kept his offense in on fourth down in his own territory, and failed to convert, the crowd would boo and the defensive players become demoralized. If the defensive players understood that a no-punting philosophy occasionally would hand great field position to the other side but overall would keep the other side off the field, they would buy into the idea. Imagine, in turn, the demoralizing effect on the opposition if its defense stops its opponent after three downs, only to realize that no punt will follow. For the 2007 edition of my anti-punting column, the stats service AccuScore did thousands of computer simulations based on 2006 NFL games and found that, on average, rarely punting added one point per game to the score of the teams that didn't punt, while not adding any points to their opponents' final scores. Computer simulations showed that rarely punting amounted to roughly one additional victory per season at the NFL level. At the college and high school levels, the bonus might be even higher.


Why do coaches punt on fourth-and-short -- and worse, when trailing or in opposition territory? "Most punting is so the coach can avoid criticism," says Kelley, who has coached Pulaski for five years and got his start in high school coaching in football-crazed Texas. "If you go for it and fail, the first question in the postgame press conference will be, 'Aren't you to blame for losing the game because you didn't punt?' If the coach orders a punt, the media will blame the defense." TMQ has always speculated that the desire to shift blame explains why big-college and NFL coaches send in the punting team. But take note, these days, the media and the postgame news conference are factors even at the high school level.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Beat grunts of the world unite

I will post any stories mentioning Hoffa and beat grunts.

Why I like Anthony Parker and dislike other people (including Doug Smith)

From the Star:

Players, fans fear for lives after blast on court during Israeli league game

U.S.-born players like ex-Raptor Tucker ponder heading home after scary incident

Smoke. Explosion. Blood. Panic. Fear.

Really, does anyone set up suspense better? Eat your heart out Tom Clancy!

A frightful scene in a Jerusalem gymnasium, when terror met sports, the worst nightmare for athletes normally inured to the possibility that danger from the outside could invade their world.

For P.J. Tucker, the former Raptor trying to cling to a professional basketball career in the Jerusalem suburb of Holon, the moment was simply frightening.

Frightful and frightening? The great word choice is great. And 17 FDS points for locating PJ Tucker, whose career seems to be hanging in the balance, teetering on the brink of annihilation.

Also, not terrorism - insanely dangerous and stupid hooliganism.

"I've never seen anything like it," he told Eran Soroka, a journalist who covers the Hapoel Holon team.

"We thought somebody shot us."

It remains unclear what possessed a 20-year-old to toss the firecracker on the court 90 seconds from the end of a game between Hapoel Jerusalem and Holon on Sunday. Yossi Malakh is in custody in Jerusalem and may never admit precisely why he did what he did, but it set in motion of chain of frightening events that ended with a security guard's hand blown up, two of his fingers severed, an arena of fans in panic and players fearing – momentarily – for their lives.

I have tried for years to understand hooligan culture and I just can't do it. I wish they could ship this piece of shit to Syria or Iran to stand "trial."

Even in Israel, where citizens live with the spectre of terrorist attacks hovering over them daily, it was too much. It was basketball. And basketball is supposed to be free of such horror.

Again: hooliganism, not terrorism.

"That's never happened before," said Toronto's Anthony Parker, who played six seasons for Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Israeli league. "Usually when they throw anything on the floor, it's not something that blows up. Maybe one of those little flares or something, or a piece of paper but that's just – I don't know – too much."

That is an understatement, but yeah.

It might be enough to bring Tucker back home, to some North American minor league where he can try to work his way back to the NBA, where fan violence is practically nonexistent, where the thought of a firecracker – or some other bomb-like device – going off is unimaginable.

"My girlfriend was supposed to come to Israel next week and now she doesn't want to," Tucker told the Israeli journalist Soroka. "Right now, I'm here and I'm just taking everything day after day."

Good idea. There's clearly a paramilitary campaign to root out foreign basketball professionals. Get out of the war zone while you can, Tucker and Tucker's shorty.

Holon officials acted swiftly to ensure the players would be given whatever assistance they needed. There was a two-hour team counselling session on Monday and team owner-manager-coach Miki Dorsman has demanded better protection for his players and steadfastly supports whatever decision the American-born players reach – even if it means disbanding his team.

"There are a few foreign players who are undecided," he told the Haaretz newspaper. "We decided that if one of them leaves, we will all leave with them."

Perfect response from Dorsman, says this PR consultant. The incident was senseless and shocking and the team should be made to feel safe wherever they're playing.

The explosion, by far the most serious incident at an Israeli league basketball game, has led to calls from all quarters for increased security.

It has been difficult in the past to attract American-born players to Israel, precisely because of the threat of violence that pervades the area. Parker, a huge supporter of Israeli basketball who remains close friends with several former Maccabi teammates, and fellow Raptor Maceo Baston say the incident is so isolated, it shouldn't deter others from going or Tucker from staying.

"I was never worried, that's why it caught me off guard that it got that close to the players on the court," said Baston. "I never felt scared or anything; that was one of my fears, that I would be, but luckily in three years I never witnessed anything like that."

Doug, you're talking about terrorism. AP and Pass The Peas Baston are talking about hooliganism. Are you really still trying to bridge this thing?

"We went through some pretty big rivalries with Hapoel Tel Aviv team, or Jerusalem, we had some pretty intense battles but nothing other than flares going off. Nothing like this."

"I can see if it was my first year over there and something like that happening it would really shake me up but it's not something that you have to be afraid of," Parker said. "It's not something like suicide bombers bombing next to your house. It's not one of those situations."


Security at Israeli games is not unlike security at NBA games. Fans undergo a rudimentary search of bags and backpacks, although that's certain to be tightened in the wake of Sunday's incident. Fans of all sports in that area of the world and Europe are known for their passion and emotion but the Sunday scare went far over the line.

"I remember we were in Greece and they started throwing lighters and coins and spitting on you," said Parker. "I mean that was worse than anything that happened to me in Israel."

2324.9 context points for Parker. I understand the newsworthiness of players' safety being breached. But shut up with this terrorism shit. You're more at risk playing for the Wizards than any Israeli team.

How to feed an insatiable media appetite for a mediocre team

The front page of the sports section in the Sun today is dedicated to Leafs' rookie Jiri Tlusty's little photoshoot. We've had the violence, so I guess the nudity story was inevitable. (4 points for the copy editor for finding an apt rhyme for "Tlusty "in a headline)

Now, if I'm going to be reading about leaked nude shots of a celebrity, it better be Natalie Portman or the chick from Smallville - but that's not really why I'm posting this.

Check out this tasty nugget from reporter (and in Full House terms, giant "nerd bomber") Steve Simmons:

The Tlusty story is just the most recent example of youth tripping over technology and celebrity all at the same time. This has happened with people more famous, like Paris Hilton, and less famous, like the Saugeen stripper a few years back at the University of Western Ontario.

Ahh. 2 years out and my girl can still make headlines, in the sports section no less. I wonder how many times Simmons reviewed the Saugeen photos before including the mention. Though that raises the question: how many times has he reviewed the Tlusty pics?

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

2.3 points for Doug Smith

Great line from the BeatGrog today:

Will be nice to get a practice the day before the only Jazz visit of the season and not have to ask anyone about Hoffa.

Will be nice not to have to read about the answer.

An apples to morons comparison

Damien Cox thought "SpyGate" was no big deal. He also thinks the tiff between Darcy Tucker and Sean Avery is no big deal.

First it was Bill Belichick and SpyGate. I understood that he was breaking rules; I just also understood that stealing the other guy's signals was what every team was trying to do on a regular basis.

Or why would they need secret signals?

Not with secret cameras, they don't. And if they do, they should be found and penalized. NOT having secret cameras is not the same as forcing Tom Brady to yell "I'm passing it to Randy!"

Now everybody's up in arms about Sean Avery after Saturday night's Rangers-Leafs game, and to be sure, this is a juicy story.

But outrage? I don't think so.

Peel away all the rhetoric and here's what you have: two guys pushed and shoved during the pre-game warmup, said nasty things to each other and then fought during the first period.

Big deal.

I agree with you completely! I'm not exactly sure who is outraged but if there are such people, they're dumb dumbs. You can lip read enough disgusting trash talking in the NHL to make Andrew Dice Clay blush. In a league where dudes get carried out on stretchers nightly, the talk is going to turn to nationality, race, disease and things you can but shouldn't do to grandmothers. The story is juicy because hockey fans love violent drama and because hockey has been so goddam boring save the huge, dirty hits.

There are 6 more paragraphs trying to analogize a covert cheating story and a name-calling during a fight story, to no avail. But good try, Coxy.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Fuck you Peter Gammons - I love my garage!

This is what we call a contrast post. It contrasts beautifully with the one below it. Here is how not to write a human interest story.

Want to know about winners? Pedroia gave up his scholarship at Arizona State to free up money to sign a much-needed pitcher, so when the Sun Devils reached the College World Series, coaches and players had "DP" on their caps in honor of their leader who never got to Omaha. The sabermetrics guys in their garages never understand these things.

Dustin Pedroia made an honourable decision here and he deserves to be commended for it. However, what the fuck is up with that last line? What is there to understand? Since I have a guess, I will make that guess and then analyze the position Mr. Gammons has taken. Petey is stating that having Dustin Pedroia on your team is a huge boost because he is a "good guy". Clearly, his excellent behaviour is worth at least 10 wins per season (which contrasts with Manny Ramirez whose lack of hustle and misinterpreted comments cost the team at least 12 wins). But you know why else Dustin Pedroia is a good guy to have on your team? Because the guy plays one of the most difficult positions in baseball very well and had a 112 OPS+ in his rookie season. He also made a whopping $380,000. End of argument.



You had me at free socks

We, here at FDS, must remember to showcase good sports writing as well as a reminder there is still hope in the world.

Dave Feschuk may be the only Toronto sports writer who can write human interest stories that are more interesting than cheesy.

A tasty little quotable from Derrick Martin on payday in the NBA:

"It never gets old," said Martin, speaking of the joy the 15th and 30th bring. "Especially when you've got kids. They get expensive."

Good thing their daddy gets paid $1 million a year to wear a suit and pat guys on the ass.

From the department of hypothetical good things Pinball Clemons might do

Should we change the name of this blog to Fire Damien Cox already?

From his The Spin blog (also, if you haven't yet, read the description of the blog)

Cox inexplicably pleads with Mike Clemons to stay in Toronto (was he leaving?) and demonstrating Clemons' goodguyness by postulating that had Pinball been the Minnesota Vikings' coach, he not only would have gave Troy Williamson a pass to go to his grandmother's funeral, he would have helped him plan it!

I guess when you read a story like this one about the Vikings, a franchise that has disgraced itself repeatedly in recent years, you understand that having a real man, a man who has his priorities straight, is an incredible treasure for GTA sporting scene.

Interesting to note, if Clemons was in a prize fight against Evander Holyfield, instead of biting Mr. Holyfield's ear off he would bake him cookies and rotate his tires.

Update: I had to add the description since it is too good.

Damien Cox, the Star's hockey columnist and associate sports editor takes turns stirring up trouble and chuckling at the foibles of the sporting world. He'll start with hockey, Canada's ongoing passion play, and stick his nose into a few other games and places where athletes reside. You'll love some of his thoughts, hate others and get a chance to give your two cents on all of them.

I want Damien's nose deep in basketball. And bowling.


Note to Damien: Words on a page do not necessarily equal writing

As seen here:

You don't think the Argos would have preferred to face Marcus Brady than Kevin Glenn and Charles Roberts with a trip to the Grey Cup on the line? C'mon.

You write for a major newspaper and this is the best you can do? C'mon.

Friday, November 9, 2007

This just in: playing better is good

Ignoring the non sequitor Penguins references (does the Globe and Mail believe no one will read a sports article unless it's analogized with hockey?) Larry Millson captures another Sam Mitchell gem:

"We've got to get back to play good, solid defence," Mitchell said. "And we know we've got to shoot the basketball better. Rebound the ball, better ball movement and the rest will come."

So... play better and you'll play better?

Unfortunately you can't teach that stuff, right Sammy?

The loser is actually the winner

Read the last line of this article and explain to me what the hell this man is talking about. In case the Star does a silent edit, the last line is the title of this post.

Update: It has been explained to me that in this case, the loser is ARod. Now that I know that, the line pisses me off even more. ARod might certainly be a strange guy and probably isn't someone I'd want to be friends with but you probably aren't a loser if you are the best player in your sport and will have made over $500 million playing baseball by the end of your career.

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Twas the best of games, twas the worst of games

Game summary from the Beat Grunt:

As the 10th straight shot to start the night clanked off the rim, as the early deficit grew and the frustration mounted and fans got more restless, the dark cloud over the Raptors grew more foreboding.

As the beginning of a newspaper article, as the premiere basketball journalist in this fair nation, the depths of hyperbolic, descriptive language protrudes from the valley of the writer's loins, reaching the triumphant summit of overblown scene-setting with the courageous moxie of ten mighty warriors.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Damien Cox - When asked why he doesn't gamble, he replied that he doesn't know the outcome in advance

Senators might be too smart for own good

Let’s start with this headline. This is going to be a difficult point for Cox to prove. People who are smart generally know what is good for them. The phrase “too smart for your own good” is what a mother says to her smartass son and is not usually used to refer to a hockey team’s management.

Hockey spirits are riding high in Ottawa these days, and so they should be.
Rather than taking a step backwards after their flaccid performance in the Stanley Cup final against Anaheim last spring, the Sens have come flying out of the gate this fall, winning 12 of 13.
As it is, who could blame the Ottawa skaters for being overconfident when the puck is dropped tonight against the Maple Leafs and their league-worst defence?
Many canny personnel moves, needless to say, have been made by a variety of people in the nation's capital in recent years and some are raving over the fact that the Sens locked up centre Jason Spezza for seven years at the princely cost of $49 million (all figures U.S.) last week as though this was a resourceful act born of divine inspiration.


I’m a Leafs fan but if I were a Sens fan, I’d be raving too since they have now locked up 2 of the best 20 players in the league as they enter their prime. In fact, they paid a very reasonable price compared to what was paid to players who are clearly not as good such as Scott Gomez and Thomas Vanek.
Also, note the last Damien Cox post where he claims that this was not necessarily a brilliant decision. Now he is making it out to be the obvious move. Which is it?

Still, Ottawa appears to have, with its core in place and locked up, years of success ahead.
The key word there, of course, is "appears."
There's no guarantee that all of this will work out. Is it possible, for example, that both Spezza and Dany Heatley (six years, $45 million) will play superbly for the duration of their contracts, never once causing fans to gripe that they're stealing money?


Cox really is struggling in this mixed-up world of “uncertainty” and “risk”. Who knew that players do not always live up to expectations? However, barring the invention of time travel, we are going to have to go with what we call projections. Crazy, I know.

Right now, of course, everything looks just gorgeous. Even signing Martin Gerber last year now looks brilliant, and other than Spezza's balky groin, there seems not to be a cloud in the sunny, blue skies over Ottawa's red-hot hockey team.


Can someone please tell me why he keeps using words like “appear” and “seems”? Am I missing something? As far as I can tell, there isn’t much to be worried about if you are an Ottawa fan unless you are the type who also worries about when they are going to be a victim of the next terrorist attack.

But while everything Eugene Melnyk touches turns to gold, the Leafs are portrayed as the daft uncle down the road who can't read or write, the idiot team that can't skate straight.

I don’t think we need the word “portrayed” in there.

Now, we media types in the GTA have hammered the locals early and often this season, but at a certain point the burgeoning arrogance of the hockey faithful in Bytown – many of whom have clearly mastered email – starts to grate.
One might think they'd wait until the first Stanley Cup banner goes up at the place-your-corporate-name-here rink before losing their humble demeanour, but that's not the case.


First, great joke Damien. I’ve never heard anyone riff on the fact that arena names change constantly these days. Second, Ottawa is awesome. What is wrong with you? Yes, they didn’t win the Stanley Cup because short series are often decided by luck but they made it to the final four the year before that and I’d say the few years prior to the last two were pretty good for them as well.

Moreover, if the Sens are Mensa-smart for building slowly, drafting well and developing effectively, perhaps a look at the Leafs in that regard is instructive.
Ottawa, depending on its roster alignment tonight, will likely dress 12 or 13 drafted players. The Leafs, if Kyle Wellwood returns, may dress nine such players, unofficially the highest total for a Leaf team in a decade, possibly two.
Look back to the 2001-02 season, for example, and only one player who had been drafted by the Leafs and had played only for the Leafs skated in more than 25 games that season. The '93 Western Conference finalists had seven players of that description.
Six of the Leaf draftees in the lineup tonight, meanwhile, will be 24 years of age or younger, and John Ferguson's group believes that it has two 21-year-old stars of the future in Marlie goalie Justin Pogge and Nikolai Kulemin, a 12-goal shooter in 24 Russian league games this season.
All in all, that's progress, or at the very least, an intelligent change of approach for the Leaf hockey department despite all ownership has done to undermine those hired to make hockey decisions in order to find a shortcut to even two or three games of playoff revenue and feed the 22 per cent profit margin monster.
Ottawa, clearly, has used a logical draft-and-develop blueprint to build the terrific team it now ices on a nightly basis.
So maybe, to be fair, if they're geniuses in Ottawa – after all, they've got one Stanley Cup final victory now to lord over all – they can't be total dummies down south here in Ontario's second city of hockey.


I’m all for grand pronouncements in the concluding paragraph if you have actually proved something in the article. But this time, I’ll say no, you haven’t. Even if the Leafs have some decent young players, they have virtually nobody who is projected to be a star (let alone a superstar) and are also hamstrung by some lengthy, high-value contracts given to players who had one good season (or in McCabe’s case, half of a good season). The Leafs management is actually quite dumb. What team says that they are going to find a supervisor for their GM (strange enough to begin with) and then just gives up when the better candidates are smart enough to see what a terrible position they would be put in if they were to accept such a job? You didn’t prove anything, especially the headline. Let’s just hope you didn’t write that piece of trash. In fact, blame your editor for this whole debacle.

Damien Cox might be missing something here

From Mr. Cox's most recent blog

...What's amazing is that the Sens and owner Eugene Melnyk have committed those dollars to Heatley and now to Spezza without really being certain they can be the players who will deliver the Cup.

I hear you, Damien. How could you possibly be 100% certain that these guys are any good? I have a much better strategy for the Senators. First, you let these guys go and see how their careers play out. Then, in about 10-15 years time, you will have the full body of statistical evidence you need in order to know whether they are any good. At that point, you can probably sign them up for a bargain-basement price.


Neither performed particularly well in the one-sided loss to Anaheim in last spring's Stanley Cup final, but that was their first visit to that stage. Only the passage of time will tell if the Sens have bet on the right athletes.

They had a had a medicore stretch of five games against a very impressive Ducks team. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that isn't a good enough reason to not re-sign them.

You know, the comments thingy

From the fertile valley of basketball journalism known as Doug Smith's blog:

And another comment worth noting, this one from Blake Kennedy on yesterday’s item on Three Things I Learned:

"I disagree entirely on your assertion about Jason Kapono's defence.

"JK currently has a stop percentage of .524 _ which means 52.4% of the individual defensive possessions he's faced with, he provides a defensive stop. His defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) is 97.7, and the team's is 95.9. So he's barely above the team average in this case, and since 8.8 points per 100 possessions better than the league average of last year.

Stop percentages are a Dean Oliver/Hollinger stat, based on floor percentages. Aggregate defensive stats in basketball are not even close to perfect, but using a few metrics like d-ratings, defensive win scores and the d stats in PER help paint a better picture.

"He guarded Paul Pierce straight up most of the night, and did a fine job. He got beat off the bounce maybe once or twice, but that happens to the best defenders in the NBA by Paul Pierce.

"Bottom line is, Kapono has been giving the effort and intensity and playing smart team defence, just like the entire unit. I understand you have deadlines and you're a busy guy, but a little research would have given you the truth on this matter."

I'm going to have to agree with Mr. Kennedy on Kapono's defence (so far this season) It's been more than adequate.

I'll just say this about that: Stop percentage? Defensive rating? When did basketball become baseball? Have we got seamheads in this game?

Statistics? Witch! WITCH! Baseball nerrrrrrrrrrds!!!!! This is Dougie Smith, the people's beat grunt saying 'go back to your geek dugout you mathematrixter!'

I put very little trust in such esoteric individual stats in a free-flowing team game like basketball, which, as I’ve mentioned before, is a game far too dependent on what other players – teammates and opponents – do.

It's true. Those pesky esoteric, ivory tower number thingies are just hogwash's alchemy. To evaluate Jason Kapono's defensive performances, one must only measure "flow" with a little hint of "sass" and "togetherness."

The truth is, Kapono’s an okay defender. Not a great one; and he’s probably got a step or two to go to be even good. And that comes from the people who count – his coaches.


The truth, according to Raptors coaches: Kapono's D okay, could be better. Thanks for clearing that up, oligarchs of basketball knowledge.