Wednesday, February 1:
So, tomorrow is Groundhog Day. I know I should be careful of what I wish for, but here's hoping that furry little rodent sees his shadow and scurries back into his hole. Six more weeks of THIS winter, I can handle!
Saturday, February 4:
I wish I had the cojones to be the only person on the planet outside of the great Pacific Northwest to pick the Seattle Seahawks in tomorrow's Super Bowl. Just one problem: I just don't think they'll win the game.
PREDICTION: Super Bowl: Pittsburgh Steelers 24, Seattle Seahawks 19.
So the groundhog sees his shadow and predicts an early spring. And within hours, forecasters announce that February will be colder than first thought and that southern Ontario will get a winter blast this weekend.
Wreched rodent.
Sunday, February 5:
A few random thoughts after Pittsburgh's 21-10 Sub-par Bowl win over Seattle:
1) Has any team, anywhere done any less in a championship game and still win? Take three plays away from the Steelers and they're shut out.
2) Has any team shot itself in the foot more in a championship game than Seattle? Aim for the shins now guys, because the toes are LONG gone.
3) Who did the Seahawks hire for clock management? The white rabbit?!
4) The best quarterback on the field was Antwaan Randal El.
5) The officials were brutal. At least with yellow/gold flags and black and white stripes, they were in tune with the Steelers' colours. Seattle got jobbed repeatedly in this game. And folks, I didn't care which team won.
Because my Detroit Lions are mathematically eliminated by Labour Day each year, I never have a rooting interest in the Super Bowl. I just hope it's a great game. It was far from that this year -- a dud from start to end.
Tuesday, February 7:
Rick Tocchet.
Wayne Gretzky’s wife.
Six to 12 NHL players
A fired New Jersey state trooper.
An alleged gambling ring.
A possible link to organized crime.
If the dots connect, this is the last thing the NHL needs as it tries to rebuild after the lockout and prepares for Olympic hockey in Turin.
We haven’t heard the last of THIS one, my friends.
Wednesday, February 8:
“...You say Turin, I say Torino...Let’s call the whole thing off!”
Well, let’s not, because the Olympics mean a great deal to a great many people -- especially to hockey fans here in Canada.
Yet for a number of reasons, I can’t get interested in these games.
For the first time since 1988, I’m not involved in any way, as either an on-site reporter or a radio anchor. And I’m on vacation for all but the final four days of these games. Still, here’s hoping the Olympics are filled with outstanding performances and stay controversy-free.
Friday, February 10:
Cue the drummer -- cheap shot coming: Good to hear that Jose Theodore's positive drug test is all due to a hair-growing supplement. It certainly couldn't have been a performance-enhancing drug -- not THIS season.
Ba-da-boom!
If Wayne Gretzky says he didn't bet on sports, then that's good enough for me. It may be a zoo over there, but I think he has every right to go to Turin.
This was the first Olympic opening ceremony in 14 years that I actually got to watch at least bits and pieces of without the pressure of a deadline. It was great to see the Canadian athletes talking to their loved ones back here on cell phones while waving into CBC cameras at the same time.
Oh, and Danielle Goyette: Thanks!
Off on a Caribbean cruise tomorrow for a week of R&R. No cell phones, no computer -- no blog update for a week.
Sunday, February 19:
Who sang: "Make The World Go Away"? Eddy Arnold? He must have had a cruise in mind. If you can come up with the cake and have no qualms about being on the water, then cruising is just about the best vacation I can recommend. Various ports of call, service that's outta this world, luxurious ships -- and the food! Unbelievable! But the best part is meeting total strangers and becoming friends in no time flat. And you can stay as connected (with on-board computers) or as disconnected (as I was) from the world as you please. I loved every second of it (except for U.S. Airlines, which still hasn't found my luggage )!
Monday, February 20:
Congratulations to Canada's women's hockey team for successfully defending its Olympic gold medal with today's 4-1 win over Sweden in the championship game. And guys: scoring a goal would be nice one of these games.
Eureka! U.S. Airways finally delivered my luggage to the front door. The man tried to give me a bag that wasn't mine, but it was there -- "hidden" he called it. Could have been worse, I guess.
Tell ya what: Any Neanderthal who deliberately knocks a competitor off a race track at 190 mph and then says "he started it and I finished it," doesn't need a racing helmet because there's nothing up there worth protecting. Worst of all, Tony Stewart was the one preaching restraint and driving intelligence in the week leading up to the Daytona 500.
Tuesday, February 21:
A friend and colleague remarked upon hearing of Curt Gowdy's passing: "Part of my youth died with him." Same here. The ol' Cowboy was the last of his breed -- a network's signature sports voice, doing them all with style and brilliance. Gowdy, best known for baseball, was equally adept behind the mike calling basketball and football. If Curt Gowdy was calling it, it had to be big -- the World Series, the Super Bowl, the Rose Bowl, etc. And seeing Gowdy and Tony Kubek introduce baseball on the first Saturday in April for NBC's "Game of the Week" was as sure a sign that spring had arrived as the sighting of the first robin.
Wednesday, February 22:
First and foremost, it was a superb day for Canada at the Olympics. Four medals and the guarantee of another in curling. The hockey elimination should not overshadow these remarkable achievements.
But the hockey quarterfinal loss was certainly a kick in the teeth. What a difference four years makes (to say nothing of a new style of hockey and the fact that the "rest of the world" plays the game at least as well as we do now). And a check of the top-30 goal-scorers in the NHL would suggest the "rest of the world" has us beat when it comes to ruffling the twine. To have Canada's best shut out in 11 of the last 12 periods they played simply embarrassing. This edition never jelled as a unit, and just imagine how much more of a stink this would be if the Canadian goaltending had been any less than brilliant, which it was.
You might think Todd Bertuzzi would think on the ice before he reacts, especially with his recent history. He didn't today and it cost Canada dearly. No, one bad penalty on the part of an undisciplined player didn't cost Canada the game or the tournament but I never could understand his inclusion to the roster, Steve Moore or no Steve Moore. What was he supposed to bring to Team Canada in a wide-ice tournament with a high priority on speed and skill?
What a nightmare this has turned into for the NHL, which shut down the league for close to three weeks, only to have its North American fan base celebrate zero medals. Again, what a difference four years makes, when Canada and the U.S. won gold and silver, respectively. Now both teams slink home to offer alibis and excuses.
Saturday, February 25:
Twenty-four medals!!! Wow! And more than one-fifth of them from Cindy Klassen. What a tremendous Olympiad for Canada (and for North America, with the Americans sitting just ahead at 25). Two weeks ago, I didn't really care much about these games, and I actually missed the entire first week while on vacation. Now, I can't wait for 2010. Finally, we should be able to shed that long collar about the only host country never to win an Olympic gold medal (twice).
I keep hearing rumours that a truce and an agreement may be imminent in regards to ChampCar and the Indy Racing League. I'd love to see it happen -- I also won't believe it until it does. The big obstacle is IRL boss Tony George's enormous ego. He single-handedly destroyed open-wheel racing in North America by forcing ChampCar (then known as CART) out of his precious Indianapolis 500. In doing so, he lowered that race's prestige from the so-called "Greatest Spectacle In Racing" to something that's not even the greatest spectacle at his own track (NASCAR's Brickyard 400 is now). Attending the Indy 500 was once an annual ritual for me. Now, and until a truce is reached, I'll go to Monaco or Charlotte for my Memorial Day racing before I'll ever set foot inside the Indianapolis Motor Speedway again.
Tuesday, February 28:
Maybe it will grow on me, this upcoming World Baseball Classic. The Olympics did. But frankly, I can't get excited over it -- even with Canada involved. Go team go and all that, but I'm far more pumped about the two major league teams that matter to me and the questions they face at spring training: How will the Tigers fare under Jim Leyland and how much better will the Blue Jays be? March to me is spring training in Florida and Arizona.
