Good Week; Bad Week
A look at this week's winners and losers in the world of sports.
IT’S BEEN A GOOD WEEK FOR PHIL KESSEL: The Maple Leafs winger broke out in style on Thursday night, cracking home the winner for his first goal of the season as the Buds beat Winnipeg. In just his 11th game of the season, the Thrill not only pulled into a tie for 205th in the race for the Maurice (Rocket) Richard Trophy as the NHL’s leading goal scorer, he also drew level with such feared snipers as Marc Staal, Keith Yandle and, of course, teammate Cody Franson. Or put another way, it just shows that $5.1-million U.S. (his 2012-13 salary) doesn’t buy what it used toKevin Van Paassen/The Globe and Mail
IT’S BEEN A GOOD WEEK FOR RAY LEWIS: The Ravens linebacker may not have had the most dominating of Super Bowls, but the now retired Lewis still went out the way he would have wanted: as a champion. Still, there are those who will never let him forget his role in a double homicide after Super Bowl XXXIV, including bars and restaurants across North America. The Harbour Sports Grille in Toronto, for instance, offered a “Ray Lewis double murder burger” on its Super Sunday menu, with ketchup dribbled on top of the bun instead of inside it. As a man of God, Lewis is no doubt deeply offended.Steve Ruark/The Associated Press
IT’S BEEN A GOOD WEEK FOR ROB GRONKOWSKI: The Patriots tight end’s postseason may have ended when he broke his forearm in the divisional-round win over the Texans, but Gronk isn’t one to turn down a chance to party, reportedly showing up at a Las Vegas nightclub on Sunday and wrestling with his friend despite the protective sleeve on his arm. That TMZ-inspired publicity must have paid off, with UConn students now being invited to spend “An evening with GRONK” in three weeks. Like college students need an excuse to get drunk and take their shirts off.Elise Amendola/The Associated Press
IT’S BEEN A BAD WEEK FOR VLADIMIR PUTIN: The Russian prime minister visited Sochi on Wednesday amid reports that the Games may cost up to a whopping $50-billion (U.S.) and that preparations are among the most corrupt projects in Russia’s history. Case in point is the 45-kilometre road from Sochi to the mountain resort of Krasnaya Polyana, where the alpine events will take place. It will cost an eye-popping $200-million per kilometre, and as opposition leader Boris Nemtsov said, “You could have paved this road with five million tons of gold or black caviar and the price would have been the same.”Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters
IT’S BEEN A BAD WEEK FOR THE CAMERON HOUSE CRAZIES: Duke basketball fans have always prided themselves on supporting the game of college basketball the right way, but what occurred Thursday night in a 98-85 win over N.C. State clearly showed that standards must be slipping. When Wolfpack guard Tyler Lewis, whose grandmother passed away just last Friday, stepped to the free-throw line in the second half, fans taunted him with chants of “How’s your grandma?” Apparently class in Durham is just something you spend $56,000 a year to attend.The Associated Press