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Friday, November 20, 2009 11:03 AM
Cardinal rule of thumb
Cardinal rule of thumb in any sport: sit down, shut up, pay no attention to what the guys in suits or those of us in the media say and leave it in the hands of the athletes.
Remarkable. It makes me wonder how Maradona’s Hand of God goal would have been greeted had it occurred during this digital age.
Spending the weekend at the World Cup bobsleigh and skeleton at Lake Placid (I'm tweeting the results. Time for Canadians to start paying attention to these sports because if Canada is going to win the medals race, it’s going to take more than two hockey golds to get it done – not that the golds are a slam dunk in either of those sports, either. Interesting notion: Canada wins more golds than any other country but fails to get the gold medal in hockey. Love to write that story – just ‘cause.
Link to this postWednesday, November 18, 2009 10:51 PM
Henry just did what he had to
Hate the game, but don’t hate the playa. Anybody who thinks that Thierry Henry should not have tried to play the ball with his hand or alert referee Martin Hansson to his obvious handball in Wednesday’s crucial World Cup qualifier is not a realist.
Henry admitted after France’s 1-1 draw with Ireland that he twice handled the ball, stopping it from going out of play and then controlling it – to set up teammate William Gallas’s header that tied the score. Later, Henry said: “I will be honest, it was a handball. But I’m not the ref. I played it. The ref allowed it. That’s a question you should ask him.
“We suffered for two years. We have been having some problems with our press, our fans and other people. It would have been better to do it in another way, but as I said: I’m not the ref.”
It was remarkable how many soccer journalists – big names in the game – cried foul on Henry. Like they’ve never seen this done before in a sport where acting is accepted at every turn. Every other player would have at least attempted the same thing in Henry’s position, considering what was at stake. And don’t bring out that video replay nonsense. I prefer the method under discussion of having one added official behind each goal. This isn’t hockey; the pitch is too wide and the rules too open to interpretation for video replay to be of use. And if you think there’s already too much gimmickry with guys rolling around on the field, you go into a 100,000-seat stadium and try to maintain control after you’ve overturned a goal. This is soccer, not that fake North American Battle of Ontario drivel. People die.
(I’m sure the French crowd would have given Henry full marks for honesty, right? I’m sure they would have broken out in applause because, you know, it’s not like soccer players have ever been run out of their country or shot for screwing up in big games. Oh, wait ….)
I give Henry credit for manning up after the match. He admitted his handball and put the matter in FIFA’s court. Is his career sullied? Absolutely, but that was his call and he made it in order to get his country into the World Cup. Once hugely popular because of the elegance of his game, Henry will have to wear this for the rest of his career – which, if the reports are true, could very well include a stop in New York next season with Major League Soccer’s Red Bulls. Yeah, people will boo his ass – but at least he knows he can go home when it’s all done.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009 12:20 PM
Catching up with another Doc
I've told people that the two sweetest sights I saw covering the Montreal Expos were Rondell White's swing in BP and Doc Gooden's delivery whenever the Mets played Les Expos. Doc turned 45 (wow!) recently and Wayne Coffey of the New York Daily News has a nice read on the retired pitcher. Love the bit about Mantle saying one time that if he could be anybody, he'd want to be Gooden . . .
Friday, November 13, 2009 11:50 PM
Toews calls for more respect
Jonathan Toews knows BS when he hears it.
Back in the Chicago Blackhawks’ lineup after missing six games with a concussion, the second-year centre and captain is in a unique position to pass judgment on the NHL’s ham-handed approach to head shots and blind-side hits. Because of his game and personality, his could end up being a voice of authority. For now, he has no bully pulpit. Just honesty.
“It’s not a perfect world,” Toews said yesterday before the Blackhawks took on the Toronto Maple Leafs at the United Center. “Some guys do respect each other, and some guys don’t.
“Some of these hits … [players] are going in at an unnecessary speed. And if you’re going to sit there and answer questions after you hit somebody like that and say you didn’t want to hurt them … you’re lying through your teeth.”
The Blackhawks, contrary to what you might believe, were not scurrying around their dressing room high-fiving each other giddily over news that the Maple Leafs were starting Vesa Toskala. That was left to people who have Patrick Kane or Toews or Patrick Sharp on their fantasy teams.
Nor were they celebrating Forbes’s recent valuation of the team, which showed a whopping 26-per-cent increase in franchise value, significant because for years the Blackhawks had been the only Original Six team not in the top quarter.
This group has had a lot on its collective mind since they authored a memorable turnaround in 2008-09, becoming the league’s sexiest team, a group, finally, that matched the magnificence of the jersey.
General manager Dale Tallon was fired. Marian Hossa was signed to a 12-year, $62.8-million (all currency U.S.) free-agent contract and – good news! – he’s about a week away from taking part in full-contact practices. Goaltender Cristobal Huet is, well, you know, and now centre Dave Bolland is out for as much as four months after surgery on a herniated disc.
“We need to open up a bit of a gap between us and the other teams,” said Toews, who scored a power-play goal Monday in his first game back after suffering a concussion on a check by the Vancouver Canucks’ Willie Mitchell.
Toews was invited to the Canadian Olympic team camp last summer but seems to have put the possibility of being on the team out of his mind. “A minor goal,” is what he called it, not out of disrespect, but out of a realization that Canada has imposing depth.
Toews says Mitchell’s hit was clean, and is self-critical about his lack of on-ice awareness on the play. But what we’re talking about here is a workplace safety issue, and as a player who has a long career ahead of him – and will be often targeted – Toews didn’t take long to get over his initial reluctance to discuss the matter.
Maybe it’s because there are too many border-line former players making important decisions and standing on the soap boxes, but the NHL doesn’t do crisis well. General managers met in Toronto this week and resolved to do, well, something about blind-side hits and head shots.
Maybe, you know, it’s okay if the hits aren’t blind-side hits delivered with the shoulder. Maybe it’s okay if they’re delivered head-on. “A direct blow to the head, where there’s no other physical contact, might be a demarcation line,” Vancouver Canucks GM Mike Gillis told The Globe and Mail.
Contrast the NHL’s hand-wringing and hair-splitting with a Wall Street Journal story on helmets and helmet safety in which NFL spokesman Greg Aiello unequivocally says the NFL focuses on rules that “try to take the head out of the game.” There is no reason for a blow to be delivered to the head during a hockey game. Ever. Period.
“I don’t see what the difference is whether it’s an elbow or a shoulder, they’re both lethal if they’re right to the head,” Toews said. “I don’t see what the difference is, if the guy’s coming at you with a lot of speed.
“You could still make a clean check with your shoulder to the guy’s chest, or shoulder to shoulder, or something like that.”
NHL players haven’t had a good run. They have a collective agreement that imposes an escrow tax. The players’ association has been gelded, showing a disturbing tendency to follow the loudest voices in the room, when they’re paying attention at all. Donald Fehr will help fix the National Hockey League Players’ Association, but there are other ways in which the players can take control of the game. They don’t appear to respect each other in the boardroom, but the least they can do is respect each other on the ice before one of them dies.
Friday, November 13, 2009 12:55 PM
Walk softly. . . and avoid the logo
A lot of what passes for tradition in hockey is a load of crap, but some of the nuances can be pretty funny. Best moment of the day: watching Barry Davis of Rogers Sportsnet perform a remarkably athletic leap to avoid stepping on the Blackhawk logo on the floor in the middle of the Chicago Blackhawks dressing room. Davis successfully avoided making contact with The Chief, as several players shouted out good-natured warnings. The ‘Hawks aren’t the only team that does it and some clubs actually rope off the damned thing during the playoffs. I’m sure some sports psychologist made a fortune coming up with this drivel some place – and, you know, I’m a whatever-floats-your-boat kind of guy - but here’s a question that Davis posed later:
If the logo is so friggin’ sacred, what the hell is it doing on the floor anyhow? Good point. I'll have more from the Hawks room later, including some pretty pointed words from recently-concussed Jonathan Toews about players needing to show more respect when it comes to head shots. It's the third or fourth time I've spoken to the guy, and he's rapidly becoming a fave.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 02:23 PM
BMO Field no place for outdoor game
Tell you what: nothing says romance and returning to the roots of the game like an outdoor hockey game at BMO Field, right?
I mean, yeah, it’s great that the NHL wants to play hockey in those boring old places like Fenway Park and that it played its now-annual Winter Classic at Wrigley Field and in a place like Ralph Wilson Stadium where it could draw 60-some thousand. But really … what do those places have that BMO Field doesn’t have? I mean, aside from history, seating capacity, history, history and history.
Look: I have no problem with the fact the Toronto Maple Leafs want to play host to the NHL All-Star Game, as much of a fraudulent cash grab disguised as an afternoon skate as it is anyhow. But, honestly: by what stretch does BMO Field deserve to be the site of the annual outdoor game, an event that has had a surprising shelf life and if nothing else seems to be about the only time during the year anybody in the U.S. watches the game? Putting the game in as non-descript a facility as BMO Field would cheapen the event – although I’m sure that’s the only way the word “cheap” would be associated with it, since the mind boggles at how much Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment will charge for the game.
And just wait until you see those temporary bleachers they’ll probably set up, too. We all know that money is at the root of every single thing that every single pro sports league does. It’s why only a fool would believe that leagues don’t manipulate drug tests or discipline, why World Series games start so late and the NHL and NBA stretch their playoffs out for months. And money is the only reason the NHL plays its outdoor game. Still, the success of the game owes in part to the locale – the bitter cold of Edmonton or Buffalo, the niftiness and quaintess and novelty of Wrigley Field. Playing it at BMO Field would serve no purpose other than being a sop for MLSE – although as cynics will point out, currying favour with MLSE may not be such a bad thing if you really want to stick another NHL team in Southern Ontario. Which the NHL has apparently pledged to do some time before the end of time.
Monday, November 9, 2009 03:48 PM
Idle hands are the ...
I don’t know what the scariest revelation was about the NHL Saturday: that some people have so much time on their hands they’re trying to come up with new helmets to aid and abet fighting in hockey – which, by extension, would make these time-wasters culpable in the event of a serious injury – or that somehow Allan Walsh, the agent for Jaroslav Halak, was out of bounds when he “tweeted” that upon further review Carey Price hasn’t won many games lately.
Monday, November 2, 2009 02:36 PM
No rush for this Series to end
So. Reggie Jackson walks by my pal Howard Bryant of ESPN early Monday morning after the Yankees beat the Phillies and says to Bryant: “Tell the Phillies the varsity are in town.”
Indeed. By now, you’ve probably read about the Philadelphia Inquirer’s mistaken ad celebrating the Phillies' back-to-back World Series titles. It’s a funny little mistake that happens. No autopsy, no foul. It’s not even the funniest thing I’ve seen this week. When the Yankees beat the Phillies in Game 2, the Philadelphia Daily News’ front page read: “Yankees Avert Sweep.” That’s pretty cheeky.
Looking forward to seeing A.J. Burnett and Cliff Lee hook up Monday night. I had a chance to talk to Burnett for about 10 minutes Friday to see how his dad was doing. His father underwent triple-bypass heart surgery late in the season. Burnett said he was doing fine but that he was bitter about not being able to come down to New York to see his son pitch.
We reporters are a whiny lot, but this is one of the few series I’ve covered in recent years where there isn’t a mass hankering for the thing to end. Deep down, I think most of us would like to see this go back to New York and maybe see the Yankees win it at home in Game 6 with Andy Pettitte on the mound. Seems like a waste winning it here when there’s a perfectly good new ballpark sitting there in the Bronx just dying for some history.
Saturday, October 31, 2009 03:47 PM
Jays coaching moves make sense
It was Brad Arnsberg’s move to the Houston Astros that forced the Toronto Blue Jays to announce an overhaul of their coaching staff on the dinner hour Friday night.
And while I would be happier if Cito Gaston’s move into senior advisorhood was happening right now instead of after next year – because despite the spin being put on the end of season turmoil, the fact is that Gaston lost most of the influential players in the Blue Jays clubhouse weeks before – I’ll give new general manager Alex Anthopoulos the benefit of the doubt.
If it takes him a year to find the right guy to manage this team, he should take it. Suggesting publicly that Brian Butterfield might have a chance to manage the team after 2010 effectively limits the power of Gaston and Nick Leyva, his trusted lieutenant, although deep down I have a hard time seeing Butterfield getting the job. Want a long-shot? How about Paul Molitor?
At any rate, the Blue Jays 2011 manager is, I believe, currently employed elsewhere.
As for the other moves? I like the promotion of Rick Langford to bullpen coach. He’s done good work with those young arms in the minors. And Bruce Walton's work ethic was deservedly rewarded with a promotion to pitching coach.
Dwayne Murphy was a strong choice to replace Gene Tenace, since I’m told to begin with the Aaron Hills and Adam Linds of the world paid more attention to Murphy than Tenace.
So Friday was a good day for Blue Jays fans – could have been better but, hell, we’ll take what we can get, right?
Saturday, October 31, 2009 10:54 AM
Pinch-hitting for Torre: Manuel
Charlie Manuel is the new Joe Torre. OK, stylistically the two are as different as Sinatra and Hank Williams. But Manuel, the Philadelphia Phillies manager, has replaced Torre as the guy whose interview sessions are can’t miss.
I’d moved Manuel into my Top 5 managers during last year’s World Series. But Friday, in taking a not very thinly veiled shot at Tim McCarver, he’s cemented his place – because anybody who takes a shot at McCarver is, as far as I’m considered, automatically granted sainthood.
McCarver droned on ad nauseum in Game 2 after Manuel didn’t start the runners in a double play by Chase Utley that ended the eighth inning and effectively killed the Phillies chances.
Credit Jeter for making a tough throw, but the fact is that Utley was clearly safe at first base.
Manuel rankled slightly after the game when he was questioned about it. Friday, he revisited it with a vengeance. This is what I love about Manuel: second-guessing doesn’t bother him but keep your head up if you give him any logical opening.
“You know what: that’s bad baseball if Utley strikes out and (Jimmy) Rollins gets thrown out at third base. Or if we hit a line-drive double play and we run into a double play, we’ve got one of the best hitters in baseball standing on deck. Between Utley and Howard we’ve got 80 home runs. We’ve got over 200 runs batted in and things like that right there. That’s our game standing there, right in front of us."
“And it’s also an out elimination process. We have five outs left in the game, we’ve got our biggest offensive threat standing at the plate. Those guys have to hit for me. I’ll do that as long as I live. Actually, I get upset when somebody asks me that because that’s not baseball. I don’t give a damn who’s played 20 years or 50 years and think they know; that’s not the right way to play the game.”
Game 2 was a second-guesser’s delight. And it wasn’t just Manuel who received broadcast criticism. Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter was skewered for striking out in the seventh inning when he tried to drop a bunt with runners on first and second.
Manager Joe Girardi took the bunt sign off but Jeter – who appeared frustrated at times when facing Pedro Martinez and who has been coughing noticeably all week – tried it again on his own.
He called it a “stupid” play but said Friday he considered it to be more a matter of “stupid execution,” than stupid strategy. After answering a series of questions, he turned to Eric Hinske in an adjacent locker and said: “Man, imagine if we’d lost the game!”
Unwritten Rules Contributors
Jeff Blair
Jeff Blair is a general sports columnist with the Globe and Mail and previously worked at the Montreal Gazette, Calgary Herald and Winnipeg Free Press. You can also follow him on Twitter at @GloBlair.
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