Michael Leighton should be thankful he's not a soccer goalie. The Philadelphia Flyers' netminder was ventilated for two soft goals - including the winner - in Chicago's Stanley Cup-winning game on Wednesday but about the strongest thing any of the TV talking heads said was, "He'd like to have that one back." You'd have thought Leighton was guilty of bad penmanship.
Robert Green wishes. The England goalie flubbed a gimme from Clint Dempsey of the United States on Saturday at the World Cup, keeping England to a tie. A tie mind you, not a loss. As opposed to hockey's kid-glove treatment, Green was roasted by the men broadcasting the game. "Rob Green's let it in ... it's a howler," said Martin Tyler, the Englishman calling the game for ABC in the United States. "[Green]has given away one of the softest goals you'll ever see at this level of football."
Tyler wasn't finished with Green. "If you're watching a game like this for the first time - and maybe some of you are - that just doesn't happen," he explained to the U.S. audience. "That really doesn't happen in schoolboy play, because it's tough on schoolboy goalkeepers to say that they would make a mistake like that."
On the BBC's game broadcast (used by CBC), John Helm gasped, "Oh, no ... It's a moment of horror for the West Ham goalkeeper ... to say that's a shock would be putting it mildly. The look on [English coach Fabio]Capello's face was one of despair ... that should have been a simple stop for a goalkeeper like Green."
CBC's host Scott Russell charitably described Dempsey's goal as "tricky" but former Celtic star John Collins was having none of it. "It's bread and butter to the goalkeeper," Hamilton burred. "That's got to stick to him. Poo-oor goalkeeping."
TOUCH LINES
Did the Americans lose a bet? Their sash-and-burn uniforms at the WC make them look like a bunch of Brownies. Where's the Friend To Animals badge? ... Really, who needs the Tony Awards after watching Serbia's Zdravko Kuzmanovic protest a handball that could be seen all the way back in Belgrade?
MITCH MUSIC
It's been an impressive climb for Mitch Peacock, from local radio host for the Calgary Flames to studio co-host for CBC's coverage of the World Cup. After leaving Calgary, Peacock moved up to a job with the Fox Soccer Report out of Winnipeg, doing soccer highlights for the cable TV outfit for five years. From there it was on to CBC's coverage of Toronto FC - after a 2008 audition was expedited by Hockey Night in Canada's Kelly Hrudey, a friend from Peacock's Calgary days.
"I grew up watching Bob Lenarduzzi playing for the Vancouver Whitecaps, and here I was doing a play-by-play with him for the under-20 tournament as an audition," said Peacock, of Castlegar, B.C. "It was a thrill. They must've heard something they liked."
So how did it feel on the opening day of the WC as the director counted him in? "It felt like a long way from calling the Bow Valley Eagles for $50 a week."
Peacock - who also is a sports host for CBC Winnipeg - likes the Brazilians to win the Cup. "All the Brazilians are so comfortable with the ball. Head to head with Spain ... that would be a beautiful matchup. But it would be good for soccer on this continent if the Americans could do well again."
PEBBLE'S REACH
As if the economy isn't limping enough, along comes this week's World Cup TV coverage during office hours - and the U.S. Open golf from Pebble Beach. The ocean-side course, which subdued Wayne Gretzky, Mark Wahlberg and Drew Brees (scores: 100, 97, 102) in a charity event last week, will be on full display. As opposed to the Masters, which rations its TV coverage in measly portions, the Open will have at least 30 hours of coverage. It's on ESPN and TSN on Thursday and Friday from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET. NBC and TSN picks up Saturday from 4:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET and on Sunday, from 3 p.m. till 9 p.m. ET. Better yet, phone in sick.