Sunday, April 1:
No April Fools jokes this year. Just to be different.
Have to admit we were surprised that Guelph and Owen Sound went a combined 0-for-8 in the OHL playoffs against admittedly superior opponents. We thought those clubs -- especially the Attack -- would be playoff sleepers. And if shots on goal decided hockey games, Owen Sound would have swept London instead of the other way around. But they don't, and despite a combined 205-103 shots edge -- virtually a 2-to-1 ratio -- it's the Knights and their superb goalie Steve Mason who move on.
We're off to the states for a few days and a few games. Keep an eye out for updates!
Monday, April 2:
WASHINGTON -- In a rare fit of energy, we were gone before the dawn yesterday and made the trek to New York in time to take in the Bruins-Devils matinee before driving under the Hudson for the Leafs-Rangers Sunday nighter. Then on to Baltimore where we finally crashed in advance of today's ballgame in Washington. Whew! What a day!
The Bruins-Devils' game was what you might expect from a visiting team out of the playoff picture and a home team that's about as exciting as watching milk turn at the best of times. No wonder no one goes to see the Devils.
Our pics from Madison Square Garden aren't the best quality as we were as far away from the action as we've ever been for hockey. But that was done on purpose. Every die-hard hockey fan should see at least one game from the famous blue seats that ring the top of the Manhattan arena. These are where the loudest, crudest hockey fans in the world reside - and it was all great fun!
Tuesday, April 3:
UNIONDALE, New York -- Ah, baseball. Nothing better than soaking up some sunshine watching the grand old game, and the weather gods smiled on the U.S. capital yesterday with an 85 degree (Fahrenheit) day. Perfect. The baseball gods did not smile on the home team as the Nationals were thumped 9-2 by Florida. Might be a long year for the Nats. No presidential first pitch, either. That's a tradition in Washington.
Yesterday's opener was the final one at 45-year-old RFK Stadium. A new ballpark is rising as we speak, a few miles to the southwest.
Wednesday, April 4:
MONTREAL -- From summer weather Monday in Washington to a blizzard today in Montreal. Ah, spring.
Last night's tilt on Long Island might be the best hockey game we've seen in many years. High-tempo hockey between two bitter rivals desperate to make the playoffs. Add to that, a raucous full house and it was marvelous entertainment. Hard to say if there were more Ranger fans in attendance but they were louder than their Islander cousins. But the Isles won the game, thanks to a shootout -- the first we've seen live outside of the Olympics. I still hate them.
Saturday, April 7:
Everyone in Montreal and Toronto is all agog over tonight's showdown between the Canadiens and Maple Leafs with the eighth and final playoff spot hanging in the balance. Toronto is at home while Montreal needs only an overtime or shootout loss to eliminate the Leafs. I think it would be marvelous if the Islanders win both their games over the weekend and leave both the Habs and Leafs on the outside, but I doubt the Isles can run the table. Tonight? The Leafs should win with ease. They've displayed remarkable resiliency down the stretch (with the exception of their two losses in the Big Apple this week) while the Canadiens played with almost no emotion Thursday against the Rangers. Another flat start, which is their trademark it seems, will doom them this evening.
Sunday, April 8:
HAPPY EASTER!
Well, I picked the right team last night, but easy it was not. Toronto beat Montreal 6-5 in a battle of which team could make the fewest mistakes. From that perspective, neither team deserved a thing last night. It was a sixty-minute display of missed assignments, so-so goaltending, stupid penalties, fluke goals and poor defence. Montreal deservedly missed the playoffs and hopefully the New York Islanders can beat New Jersey today, because Toronto deserves to miss them, too.
Tiger Woods is just a shot back and poised to win the Masters again but the real winner is Augusta National. The cold snap that has blanketed the continent has done a number on the golf. No one is within less than two shots of par through three rounds. Canada's Mike Weir, the 2003 champ, played himself out of contention with an 80 yesterday.
Uh-oh. Manchester United lost 2-1 at Portsmouth yesterday while Chelsea stopped Tottenham 1-0, so United's lead on the West Londoners is down to three points. And United also lost the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal last week, 2-1 at Roma. Thankfully they netted an away goal, so a 1-0 win Tuesday would see them through. But it's not a good time to experience a rough patch.
Monday, April 9:
When I was young, the concept of "90 years" was foreign to me. Now that I'm of an age where time flies by, it doesn't seem as if it was all that long ago. No, I wasn't alive (and wouldn't be for three-and-a-half decades) when Canadians fought and died at Vimy Ridge, 90 years ago today. But that victorious battle and others from the First World War are important to remember. I never met my grandfather, the man I was named after, as he died from wounds suffered overseas in that war. They say Canada became a nation on that day nine decades ago and some suggest a national holiday should be established on April 9. Fine with me. The battle of Vimy Ridge should be a date Canadians remember every year, not just on the milestone anniversaries like this one.
What an emotional roller-coaster for fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs. If Saturday night's flawed-but-thrilling win over Montreal wasn't tense enough, yesterday's Islanders-Devils game went right down to a shootout before the Isles won, eliminating the Leafs. With five minutes remaining, New Jersey was trailing 2-0 and Leafs fans were all but resigned to missing the playoffs. Then Jersey scored twice, including the tying goal with 0.9 seconds remaining. Suddenly the Leafs dreams were very much alive, only to be eventually dashed in the shootout that followed a scoreless overtime. So, two Canadian teams are eliminated in a 20-hour span and the sobs you hear are from the CBC offices now that their major cash cow is gone. Instead of five Canadian teams, we have three -- Vancouver, Ottawa and Calgary -- to cheer for in the post-season. Personally, we're glad the Islanders made it. They played the best hockey down the stretch and deserve their spot. And we're also glad to see most Maple Leaf fans aren't blasting the Devils for resting star goalie Martin Brodeur yesterday, and rightfully blaming the ninth-place finish on the Leafs' inability to take care of business themselves. I know Don Cherry and others disagree, but the truth of the matter is that if the roles were reversed -- that is, if the Leafs possessed a goalie of Brodeur's ability and were home free and playoff-bound and playing a meaningless game against a desperate team that needed a win -- Toronto would have done exactly the same thing and Grapes knows it.
Just as we expected. Three clutch birdies on the back nine. Steely nerves down the stretch. But it wasn't Tiger Woods, it was Zach Johnson doing those things to earn the green jacket at Augusta, just his second tournament win. Tiger briefly grabbed the lead at the Masters, but Johnson grabbed it when it mattered.
Congratulations to Glenn Howard and his teammates, world curling champions after an 8-3 romp over Germany's Andy Kapp in Edmonton. Last month, Becky Scott and her mates won the women's global crown in Japan, beating Denmark 8-4 in their final. For Howard, it was a sweet win, coming 14 years after he, Peter Corner and Wayne Middaugh helped his brother Russ take the world title in Geneva.
Wednesday, April 11:
I started this practice of poetry predictions years ago working in sports radio. And this year I completely forgot about doing them until today. If my daily ramblings don't bore you to tears, this surely will:
'Twas the night before playoffs, and that sobbing you hear,
Is from CBC 'zecutives with tears in their beer.
No Leafs or Canadiens, their cash cows are gone.
Just the Sens in the East for Bob Cole, Ron and Don.
What's worse, Saturday nights feature teams from the states.
The league gave the daytime to Sid and his mates.
So who do we like, who'll advance from round one?
And which teams start golfing 'fore April is done.
Youth will be served for Sid Crosby and friends.
And Pittsburgh in seven will upset the Sens.
New Jersey can trap, and Tampa can score.
But the Devils have Marty and will take them in four.
The Isles and Ted Nolan get the Sabres to start;
And will bow out in six, but show plenty of heart.
The Rangers have skill and a couple of bashers,
to slow down Atlanta and "five-game" the Thrashers.
To the west where Alberta eats Motown for lunch,
Not this time; Wings in six against Calgary's bunch.
Turco-Luongo. Two vets in the net.
Vancouver beats Dallas, seven games in this set.
Minnesota's dream died 'gainst the Ducks in oh-three
This time it's the Wild, round one winners, they'll be.
Six games for that series, and the last one as well.
San Jose gets by Nashville. Sharks have started to jell.
Yes, we stole that from last year (when the Sharks won in five).
But we see no real reason for the Preds to survive.
And so there, you have it. Have fun with the playoffs.
Use these picks at your peril if you're dreaming of payoffs.
OK, I'll stop. I hear you crying "uncle!"
Friday, April 13:
Good thing I'm not superstitious -- I might have missed something on this Friday the 13th. The Bride and I had the week off and we spent it doing about 10 years worth of spring cleaning. The curse of having two pack rats under the same roof. We now actually have a basement again! And whilst down there, I discovered three pictures taken by my pal and colleague Charlie Lemmex when we were both covering the 1993 ALCS between the Blue Jays and White Sox in Chicago. So I scanned them and added them to the web site. I haven't seen a game in that ballpark since game six of that series and I plan to be there next Tuesday night. The park has changed dramatically on the outside since then. I'm keen to see what it looks like now on the inside.
The middle of April and it still feels like early March. If this is indeed spring, I'd sure like to see some evidence of it.
Sunday, April 15:
This could be a very interesting opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Yesterday was superb, with all four visitors winning one-goal games. Five series have started with a split in games one and two, and Calgary can make it six if they upend Detroit this afternoon.
The Aurora Tigers lived up to their billing and whipped Wellington four games to one to win the Provincial Tier II junior crown 'round these parts. Losing to these guys is no sin and you have to wonder why Stouffville's coach and general manager paid the price for their round three defeat. At the OHL level, a win by Sault Ste. Marie at home today would force a seventh game with London (after the Knights won the first three). The series winner joins Plymouth, Belleville and Sudbury in the final four. A Soo-Sudbury final is what I'm cheering for. I think that would be ultra-cool for northern Ontario fans.
It's rare to have the Chicago Cubs and White Sox at home the same day -- especially at different times of the day. We took in this rare phenomenon 30 years ago and will do it again next Tuesday. A lot has changed in the three decades -- Wrigley Field didn't have lights in 1977 and the Sox played at the original Comiskey Park. Now they're across the street at what was born as Comiskey Park II and has since been morphed into yet another corporate-named ballpark. Yuk.
Snow today, they say. I'm blaming Steve, The World's Greatest Next-Door Neighbour. The minute he brought home and installed a beautiful new gazebo in the backyard, the temperature plummeted!
Monday, April 16:
And Sault Ste. Marie did win again, 5-4, to force a seventh game tonight in London. I like the Greyhounds' chances. London's defence is being exposed in this series and I wouldn't be surprised if the Hounds complete the comeback.
Goals are sure at a premium in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Especially in the Vancouver-Dallas series. Those guys have to be exhausted with two overtimes in three games.
Manchester United reached the FA Cup final Saturday, where they will play Chelsea. United could match its 1999 treble of the Premier League title, the FA Cup and the Champions League Cup. Of course, the Blues could even go further. They are still in contention for all three and have already won the League Cup. United has often prevailed this season when they don't play well but Chelsea reminds me of the 1999 Red Devils. They have pulled countless games out of the hat this season with injury-time winners.
We're getting the tail end of a nor'easter today, which we hope to drive out of early in the morning on our way to the Windy City. They're calling for sunshine/clear skies in three of the four ballgames we're planning on seeing this week. Only Wednesday's matinee in Motown is iffy.
Tuesday, April 17:
CHICAGO -- I remember very little of yesterday's nine-hour drive here. Only that I was glued to the radio and every hour the news got worse from the Virginia Tech campus. Thirty-three lives needlessly and senselessly lost. It's impossible to convey any proper words to post. It's also impossible to comprehend.
London won game seven last night, 8-4. The Cubs romped 12-4 in the game I saw.
Wednesday, April 18:
DETROIT -- The last time I took in a Cubs-daytime, White Sox-nighttime single day Chicago-style doubleheader was 30 years ago. The Cubs lost 4-3 in 13 innings to a west coast team (the Giants) and I barely made it from Wrigley over to the Dan Ryan expressway and south to Comiskey for the Sox-Yankees nightcap (where Chicago got drubbed). So yesterday, the Cubs lost 4-3 in 14 innings to a west coast team (the Padres). But I now know enough of the Windy City to take a different route to the south side. I made it in plenty of time to see the Sox get drubbed, this time by Texas. The icing on the cake was watching former Chicago star Sammy Sosa, booed all night by the Sox fans, crack a three-run homer to wrap up the scoring.
So I get back from the twin bill desperately needing a shower. I look in my hotel room's bathroom, only to see zero towels and six inches of standing water in the tub. That was strike two (number one was the smoking room they initially gave me by mistake). Strike three? They had no internet access as promised, and when I dialed the support number listed on the folder on the desk, the internet service folks said they didn't have any contract with that hotel (which they told me was the worst in the city). So I checked out and insisted on (and received) a complete refund. Folks, avoid the Days Inn on Mannheim near O'Hare airport in Chicago at all costs!
Thursday, April 19:
Not my day yesterday. First of all, the Detroit Tigers blew a 3-1 lead in the ninth and lost 4-3 to Kansas City in 10 innings. Then, halfway home in London, Ontario, where I stopped for dinner, I dropped a full slice of pizza down the front of my shirt at Tony's. Very classy indeed. But the topper was earlier at the Shell station off highway 401 at Tilbury where I somehow managed to stumble and, in a 1-in-500 chance, dropped my (only) credit card down a narrow opening and behind the metal cover of the gas pump. So the manager, two of his colleagues and I spent half an hour taking off the two metal covers, spotting the card two feet down in standing water at the bottom of the pumps and somehow fishing it out. Aside from feeling exactly like that guy we always say "just fell off the back of a turnip truck," I was extremely grateful to these guys for going 'way beyond the call.
And when I got home, I read that I missed seeing a live no-hitter by one night -- something I've never seen live despite many years of watching baseball. The White Sox' Mark Buehrle no-no'd Texas last night. No complaints, though. I saw 42 innings of baseball in 44 hours. Whew!
Saturday, April 21:
Somewhere down there, Mr. Applegate is smiling. Because only the devil would have conjured up a first-round playoff series between the Toronto Raptors and New Jersey Nets. Yes, Vince Carter returns to the city he once owned. Like most in the Toronto region, I’m no fan of Carter. He’s a mama’s boy who dogged it in his final years with the Raptors, so he could get away. And starting today, he’ll be booed and harassed in an unbelievable fashion at the Air Canada Centre. Which worries me. Because Carter has the ability when so motivated, to carry the Nets on his back. And he’ll be motivated, no doubt about it. Hate to say it, but Vince and the Nets, in six.
Sunday, April 22:
Nope, it won't be Vince Carter who kills the Toronto Raptors. It will be the rest of the New Jersey Nets. Yesterday it was Richard Jefferson and Jason Kidd who burned the Raps in the opener of their playoff series. Chris Bosh said later the Raptors didn't play "their" game. No kidding. Especially when Bosh was off the floor, like late in the first half when the Nets turned a three-point lead into a nine-point advantage in the blink of an eye. So, in one off-afternoon, the home-court advantage Toronto worked so hard to get, is now gone.
Wednesday, April 25:
Well, let's see how we did in round one: Six for eight, a .750 percentage, and we absolutely nailed Vancouver over Dallas in seven and Detroit over Calgary in six. Better than we usually do, but somehow we missed Ottawa's easy win over Pittsburgh and we thought Minnesota would upset the rough-and-tumble Anaheim Ducks. Round two? Lets say, New Jersey over Ottawa in six, Buffalo over the Rangers in five, San Jose over Detroit in seven and Vancouver over Anaheim in seven. Just for fun.
HUGE win for the Raptors last night. It would have been so easy to have stumbled again after Sunday's defeat, but now they head east to Jersey tied 1-1.
I have to laugh at the angst displayed by Torontonians over the tax hike they face this year while the city spends like a drunken sailor. You expected accountability from mayor David Miller and his trained seals? Hey Toronto, you voted him in, you have to live with it.
Friday, April 27:
It appears obvious -- the Ontario Hockey League wanted the Niagara region and if it wasn't going to get Niagara Falls on board, it would settle for St. Catharines. So -- pending league approval -- the Mississauga IceDogs are moving to 69-year-old Garden City Arena (now called Jack Gatecliffe Arena) and the Toronto St. Michael's Majors are filling the vacancy in Missy. St. Kitts, out of nowhere, gets a strong team in the IceDogs. Mississauga fans lose that strong team and get a weak one in a former rival, the Majors. And Toronto gets shut out (not that there was a great deal of fan support, anyway). The logical move of a franchise of course, was to North Bay. Failing that, Cornwall. Makes you wonder if either of those burgs will ever enjoy major junior hockey again.
Saturday, April 28:
With nobody booing him, Mama's Boy Vince Carter poured in 37 points and Jason Kidd was outstanding -- again. The Toronto Raptors are going to have to win a game in New Jersey if they're to advance out of round one of the NBA playoffs. Tall order methinks after last night's decisive win by the Nets in game three.
If the Vancouver Canucks ever make it out of the Western Conference, they may have nothing left for the Stanley Cup final. Another lengthy overtime game last night. Odds are, it will eventually take its toll. But they keep winning them and that's the main thing.
The Plymouth Whalers vs. the upstart Sudbury Wolves for the OHL championship. We'd love, love, to see the Wolves capture their first league title in their 35 years in Sudbury, but we think the Whalers are Memorial Cup-bound. Five games is our prediction.
About a month ago, we wished a happy 65th to Aretha Franklin, our favourite female vocalist by a country mile. Today (if our info is correct), it's a happy 61st to another fave, Beverly Bivens, lead singer of the '60's folk-rock group, We Five. Aretha has aged in lock-step with our own mortality -- year-by-year -- and seeing a picture of her today is no less familiar than seeing one from her "Queen of Soul" heyday in the '60's. So has Beverly Bivens of course, but seeing a picture of her today would be a shock. Bev disappeared from international public view right after We Five disbanded in 1967. That led to inaccurate rumours suggesting she had died at the time. She simply chose to shun the spotlight. So 61 years young then, but in our mind, Bev Bivens is forever 19, singing and dancing away on stage to "You Were On My Mind" -- one of our favourite memories from our favourite decade.
Sunday, April 29:
Speaking of birthdays, it's a happy XXth to my best friend and soul partner, the woman I adore. The Bride hits a milestone today and, no I'm not mentioning the number here in this blog. Suffice to say, she has been all of the above and as whole lot more to me for about two-and-a-half decades now. Thanks, babe!
Can you imagine the meltdown Lindy Ruff would have displayed if somehow his Buffalo Sabres had lost Friday night? He went berserk at the end of a Sabres playoff victory after he felt the officials missed a too-many-men-on-the-ice infraction (he was right) and an offside in the dying seconds (he was wrong). Ruff was always a ruff customer as a Sabres player. No doubt, after losing a Stanley Cup on an overtime goal that should have been ruled illegal, he must think the arbiters have something against Buffalo. They don't, but he's going to fight for everything, regardless. And here's the other half of my playoff prediction -- the Sabres win the east. (I've long had Vancouver as my pick in the west).
Monday, April 30:
School. Also known as Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Because that's where the Toronto Raptors have been given a crash-course in playoff basketball. Not only are the New Jersey Nets up three-games-to-one, they're making it look ridiculously easy.
I drove to work yesterday with the excited strains of Rick Jeanerette in my ears, working his magic at the playoff mike. He can make the most boring hockey game come alive and when I listen to him describe the Buffalo Sabres' exploits, I always get the feeling of, "man, I wish I was there!" I can't think of a greater gift for a radio play-by-play announcer than having that ability. Biased? A homer? Of course. But so is Joe Bowen in Toronto, Ken Kal in Detroit -- and the list goes on. One thing is certain. If the Sabres win the Stanley Cup this season, I'll turn the sound down on my TV and listen to Jeanerette describe the finish. And I wish every hockey fan was within broadcast earshot of Buffalo to do the same.
