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Tuesday, June 1:
MILFORD, CT -- We stopped here to rest on our way from New Jersey to Boston for tonight's Red Sox-Athletics game. Nice to see NBC pick up the broadcast of game two of the Stanley Cup final. Can anyone tell me how in thunder Chicago won that game? Philadelphia completely owned the third period but could not get the equalizer. Nice to see the Blackhawks up two games to none but they'll have to play a whole better that this when they travel to Philly for games three and four.
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Wednesday, June 2:
BOSTON -- We managed to drive through the same thunderstorm three times on our way to Boston and it hung around to keep us from enjoying an afternoon stroll through one of our favourite cities. So we dropped into Jerry Remy's down the street from Fenway for a pre-game meal. The skies finally cleared and after a 20-minute delay, the game got started. A weird one. Oakland led 4-0, Boston won 9-4. Walks killed the Athletics and it was a typical Red Sox game -- well over three hours not including the delay at the start. Quite the night for Sox catcher Victor Martinez, though. A 5-for-5 night at the plate including four consecutive doubles. We also managed to visit both Yale and Harvard en route and when we get home, we'll post updated pics of both the Yale Bowl and Harvard Stadium.
Driving to the hotel after the game, we heard Charley Steiner on Dodgers' radio say this after a batter went down on three pitches: "Two change-ups and a fastball and thanks for playing our game."
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Thursday, June 3:
It's more than just umpire Jim Joyce costing Detroit's Armando Galarraga a perfect game last night with a horribly blown call at first base with two outs in the ninth (and yes, as a Tiger fan, I screamed a few unmentionables at my TV screen). But it's Bill Hohn blowing a sure strike three appeal call the night before that cost the Washington Nationals a win at Houston. It's Hohn ejecting Roy Oswalt Monday when Oswalt was letting off steam -- at himself, not Hohn -- for a missed pitch. It's Cowboy Joe West for tossing mild-mannered Mark Buehrle after the second of two balk calls last week in Cleveland (West appears to be the only umpire this side of the moon who believes Buehrle's pick-off move is illegal). I've said it before and will again -- it beats me why anyone would ever want to be an umpire/referee/official, but thank heavens they do. But I'm hard-pressed to remember a time when baseball officials have been so a) incompetent and b) thin-skinned. I'll give Joyce props for admitting his error -- he feels terrible about it -- but umpiring these days is at an all-time low.
I arrived back home to learn that our neighbour, a wonderful Italian gentleman who lives across the street, lost his wife earlier this week. She was 71. Far too young.
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Friday, June 4:
Ah, I'm torn. On one hand, there would be no harm if baseball commissioner Bud Selig allowed Armando Galarraga's soiled perfect game to stand. He admitted the call was wrong. Umpire Jim Joyce admitted the call was wrong. George Brett once had a disallowed home run reinstated because the call, while technically not wrong, enforced an obscure pine tar rule that did not give Brett any competitive advantage. On the other hand, where do you stop? Do you go back over the years and view replays from no-hitters that might have been perfect games, save for a walk or two, and make sure there were no borderline pitches that prevented the author of the no-hitter from even greater glory? Glad I don't have to make the decision.
I'm also glad Jim Leyland manages my favourite team. I'm glad Galarraga pitches for my favourite team. And I'm glad Jim Joyce -- horrible call aside -- is a major league umpire. In a display of sportsmanship rarely seen in the pros, Leyland had Galarraga carry out the line-up card to home plate yesterday for the meeting with the umps, whereupon the pitcher slapped Joyce on the back, getting one back in return. Galarraga's demeanour through all of this is a lesson in how to live life. So is Joyce's. He immediately apologized the other night and had tears in his eyes when he emerged from the tunnel yesterday. Yes, there were boos but lots of cheers as well for a man who made a serious error on the job, yet was man enough to admit it right away. Give me four Jim Joyce's on an umpiring crew any day over one Joe West, Angel Hernandez or Bill Hohn.
And I'm torn over whether Wrigley Field or Fenway Park is the best pure ballpark in baseball. I gave Wrigley that distinction in last month's blog after a recent visit to Chicago's north side but having hit the Fens this week, I'm just not sure. I once sat through a darkness delay at Wrigley before lights were installed there, as a nearby thunderstorm darkened the skies. Twenty minutes later, play resumed without so much as a single drop of rain. I thought that was the ultimate in baseball cool. But Fenway has a famous wall and some crazy nooks and crannies, including what they call "the triangle" in centre field. Equally cool. I guess I'll have to label them "1" and "1a."
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Sunday, June 6:
I finally saw what I've been looking for out of Danica Patrick for years -- a gutsy move on the race track as opposed to sitting back, playing the fuel strategy game and waiting for something to happen in front of her. There was a moment in last night's IRL race in Texas when her teammate Tony Kanaan attempted a pass. But Danica sliced him off and held her position. Bravo! She actually led late, passing eventual winner Ryan Briscoe who had just arrived from the pits on cold tires. Briscoe quickly got up to speed, zoomed by Patrick and with a faster car pulled away to take the checkered flag. But with a well-deserved second following a sixth last week at Indy, it may be a turning point for has been a dreadful season for the series' glamour girl.
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Monday, June 7:
I'm not Mike Wilner's biggest fan. But to have him yanked off the Toronto Blue Jays' broadcast team for the club's biggest series of the year is unbelievable. Wilner knows baseball inside and out, I'll give him that. And he has the sand to ask tough questions as he did with Cito Gaston earlier this week. That apparently earned him the three-day suspension for the Jays-Yankees weekend series. For what? Doing his job? Providing some balance and journalism? This is just wrong on so many levels. And I guess this is what happens when the same people own the ballclub and the radio station Wilner works for.
Just a hunch, but I'm going out on a limb here. Whichever team wins game six Wednesday night will win the Stanley Cup. Of course, that's a given if Chicago emerges victorious. But if Philadelphia holds serve at home, I think they'll prevail in a seventh game back in Chicago, just as Pittsburgh did last year in Detroit. After last night's first period, the Blackhawks should not have had any nervous moments the rest of the game. They had several. And that might bite them if the series goes the route.
Mission accomplished for my Boston Celtics -- a split in games one and two against the Lakers in Los Angeles. Unlike the Stanley Cup final, the NBA championship is a 2-3-2 format -- meaning the Celtics can win the series without having to go west again. Tall order but it may be their best chance.
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Wednesday, June 9:
Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. Four in the first three quarters. Six in the fourth and just like that, the home court advantage the Boston Celtics stole from Los Angeles the other night in the NBA final is gone. Poof. Up in smoke. Ray Allen, who poured in 32 points against the Lakers in game two, had two last night and was 0-for-8 from the field. Ouch! And if the Celtics are to win the series, they now have to do it on the left coast in L.A. and not the right, in front of their home fans.
It's not impossible. For instance, the Chicago Blackhawks will try to win the Stanley Cup tonight on the road. Any why not? The last time they captured it, 49 years ago, they sipped from Stanley after a game six road win at Detroit's Olympia Stadium. I'd love to see them do it tonight in Philly.
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Thursday, June 10:
There were about 11 minutes remaining in the third period last night when Mandy, the Wonder Pooch turned to me and said, "Dad, the Hawks are starting to go into a defensive shell and it's gonna cost them." I know to you, it might have sounded more like "Woof!" but trust me, I knew what she was really saying. And she was right. Not only did Chicago give up the tying goal, they almost coughed up the winner before hanging on 'til the welcome horn, allowing them to regroup for overtime. And the Philadelphia Flyers had the best chances in OT before Patrick Kane ended this unbelievable hockey season with as strange a Stanley Cup-winning goal as has ever been scored. I think Kane and Blackhawks linemate Patrick Sharp were the only people in the building who knew it was a goal right away. Five things quickly come to mind. 1) Flyers' coach Peter Laviolette may be regretting going back to Michael Leighton for game six as he gave up two terrible goals including the Cup-winner. 2) What a couple of hockey years for Windsor, Ontario (the city of my birth) with two straight Memorial Cup championships and Windsor native and good guy Joel Quenneville coaching the Hawks to the Cup. 3) With the goaltending we saw throughout the playoffs, I'm thinking of strapping the pads back on so I can try to hook up with some team as a free agent. I may be 57 with wonky knees but I can sure fill a 4-x-6 foot rectangle without moving much. 4) I'm glad the series ended in six for how would I be able to get away with watching game seven tomorrow night on our wedding anniversary? and 5) Chicago's Cup win now means the Toronto Maple Leafs have the longest Stanley Cup drought (tied with St. Louis and Los Angeles, but the Leafs get the nod because those teams have each been to at least one final). And I like that. Long may they reign!
All the goodwill the Toronto Blue Jays gained with their wins last Friday and Saturday against Yankees may be lost forever if they don't salvage game three of their midweek set at league-leading Tampa Bay tonight. It's one thing to lose a close one to the Yanks Sunday, it's another to be outscored 19-1 in two straight games at the Trop. And with a weekend interleague trip to Denver at hand against a good club in a tricky ballpark, they can't afford to be swept.
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Friday, June 11:
I guess 27 years can go by in the blink of an eye when you're married to the greatest bride the Great Skipper ever placed on earth. Thanks, sweets!
And we'll celebrate our anniversary tonight by heading across town to see my man Grant Fullerton perform his show. The man's a genius with the axe. One of Canada's premier guitarists and a great guy to boot!
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Saturday, June 12:
The best-laid plans, etc. We made the short drive northeast to Uxbridge last night to have dinner at King Henry's Arms, an English pub that "gets it right." After our third astonishingly great meal in as many visits over the past few months, we retreated back home where we were too stuffed with food to do anything but watch a couple of taped episodes of "Coronation Street" and then go to bed. So with missed Grant Fullerton -- but not for long. He plays Stouffville quite frequently so we're sure to see him again before long.
In England, they call such a mistake "a howler" and so it was with Robert Green, who let in a terrible, terrible goal today in England's 1-1 draw with the United States at the World Cup in South Africa. If I heard it once, I heard it 50 times prior to the start of the tournament: If England has a weakness, it's in goal. No kidding. Green's "howler" reminded me of the just-completed Stanley Cup playoffs where, more often than not, it was a case of "last save wins."
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Sunday, June 13:
It might not be today. It might not be tomorrow. But we will get the updated photos of the Yale Bowl and Harvard Stadium up on the site sometime this week. Thanks for your patience!
So Nebraska is joining the Big-10 (or whatever they'll call it in 2011 when the Cornhuskers sign on). And Colorado is hitching its wagon to the Pac-10. Good moves, both -- but a bitter pill for the Big-12, especially if more schools decide to pull out. Whatever happens, U.S. college football's landscape is about to change in a big, big way.
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Wednesday, June 16:
Leave it to the Boston Celtics to do things the hard way. If they're to win an 18th championship this spring, they'll have to improve on the egg they dropped in game six last night. The Celts played as if they had a game in hand, which they do -- or did. But that's not wise on the road against the defending champion Lakers who now must like their chances tomorrow night at home in game seven. Yes, the Los Angeles was inspired last night but Boston didn't even show up.
As feared, the Blue Jays were swept in Denver. But they won two of three in San Diego, so there's still hope as they come home. Same for my Tigers who have had their way with Pittsburgh and Washington on this homestand.
The updated pictures of the Yale Bowl and Harvard Stadium are (finally!) up. Enjoy!
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Friday, June 18:
Blast it all, they led most of the game but not when it counted, as Boston fell 83-79 to the Lakers in game seven of the NBA final in Los Angeles. Frankly, the Celtics should have seized the series Tuesday but failed to play with any sort of desperation in game six's blowout loss. And like Liverpool looking over its shoulder at Manchester United, the Celtics are no longer the league's dynasty team. They remain stuck on 17 championships. The Lakers now have 16.
The high foreheads at the University of Waterloo keep insisting that the one-year shutdown of their football program is the right thing to do because they're "sending a message" and "looking at the big picture." The message is obviously that "innocent until proven guilty" doesn't apply there and the big picture must be that it doesn't matter whether or not you do the crime, if one of your mates does, then -- by association -- so do you. After all, there's no "I" in team right? In a classic case of turfing the baby with the bathwater, the school suspended its football program for 2010 because a handful of players tested positive for steroids. An overwhelming majority did not, yet they now either lose their year (especially galling for the innocent seniors) or will try to find a spot at another university. Remember, this is Canada where athletic scholarships don't exist in the same vein they do in the U.S., and where most players take part just for the fun of the game. The CIS, to its credit, waived the one-year hiatus it usually orders for transferring student-athletes but this is a train wreck. On top of everything else, it throws the OUA schedule into giant disarray. And one more thing. What would they find if other schools did similar internal testing on their football programs? And particularly the high-end constant winners, as opposed to the usually middle-of-the-park-or-worse Warriors? The answers might be interesting -- and a little scary.
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Sunday, June 20:
Happy Father's Day, pops of all ages! And hopefully, your dad is still with us. I lost mine at age 25, just when I started to realize I didn't know everything there was to know in the world. Just when I started to appreciate his experience and wisdom. So, if you still have a dad on earth, make today special for him!
We reside in lovely Stouffville, Ontario, Canada where they have just named the female mosquito as the town bird. In the 13 years we've been here, I cannot remember as bad a night for mosquitoes as last night. We finally waved the white flag and abandoned the back deck and hot tub at about 10:30 p.m.
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Monday, June 21:
Some baseball thoughts: 1) The Yankees are in first place. Do they run and hide from here on in? 2) Remember when everyone was writing off the Red Sox? They're now tied with Tampa Bay, just a game behind the Yanks. 3) Can we have interleague play all season long? It would benefit my Tigers, who are world-beaters against the National League (except, of course, in the 2006 World Series against St. Louis). 4) I'm toying with the idea of going to see the Cardinals this week in Toronto. But with G-20 security ramping up, I don't want to be in the city anymore than I have to. It will be crazy enough just going to work later this week. and 5) A few seasons ago, I picked Cincinnati as my dark horse. Looks as if they're finally legit, even though they just coughed up first place to the Cards over the weekend.
Congrats to Graeme McDowell, U.S. Open winner at Pebble Beach. And it may be wrong of me, but I'm glad Tiger Woods didn't win on Father's Day.
Nothing sweeter than enjoying Father's Day and knowing I have Monday off, too. But it will be a busy Monday. I have some errands to run, including a stop at the dentist to assess what's left of a busted filling that cracked open whilst eating a New York bagel a few weeks ago at our Indy reunion. And I also have to drop in to the doctor's office to set up an appointment for my right knee. Not sure if it's arthritis, but I've been limping for weeks now and it's getting worse, not better.
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Tuesday, June 22:
Some housecleaning: Last night we split the hockey page into pro and junior and the football page into pro and college. That should make it easier to find your team. (Because Colorado and Nebraska aren't switching conferences until next year, we're keeping them in the Big-12 for now). I think all the links have been updated but if you notice that I've missed one or a few, please drop me a line (just click on the envelope logo above). Thanks!
I really hope the Detroit Tigers play at home on this date in 2012, two years from today. I will certainly make the drive to mark 50 years since I saw my first major league baseball game (June 22, 1962 -- Yankees 5 at Tigers 7). And if they're at home to New York, that would be even better. No, it won't be at Tiger Stadium but you can't have everything!
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Wednesday, June 23:
Well, of course, they deserve induction! And it's long overdue. I can't believe anyone would oppose having Angela James and Cammi Granato elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Not only were they terrific hockey players in their prime, they inspired so many women to follow their lead and carry the torch, making women's hockey stronger in both Canada and the United States and helping light the fuse on what has turned out to be one terrific sports rivalry. And I'm also delighted both Jimmy Devellano (who did so much to build the Detroit Red Wings from the lean years) and Dino Ciccarelli made it, too. Dino scored more than 600 NHL goals -- and he arrived in the pros after a stellar career with the London Knights, a team I covered in my early days in radio. Good guy and a great player. And one of my favourite moments in sports came one afternoon when the Brantford Alexanders mascot (an alligator) decided to poke his long rubber snout over the glass into the middle of an on-ice altercation between the Knights and A's at the Brantford Civic Centre. Knowing it would not cause an injury, Ciccarelli whacked the snout with his stick. Ever pulled a door stopper to one side and let it go? That's what this was like. Thwiiiiiinnng! The rubber nose vibrated back and forth like a tuning fork. The Brantford fans booed vociferously but upstairs we almost fell out of the broadcast booth laughing. For that alone, Dino deserves to be in the hall!
What is disgusting is that Pat Burns, fighting the final stages of terminal cancer, did not get in. Just as baseball's Hall of Fame snubbed (and continues to snub) broadcaster Tom Cheek. Both will make it in some year. What would have been the crime to have them inducted while they were alive to enjoy the moment?
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Friday, June 25:
I was at work yesterday when the Azzurri went crashing out of the World Cup, falling 3-2 to Slovakia, so I didn't hear the doubtless wailing from the house next door. And Dino, Lucy and the kids were conspicuously absent from the front of their place when I arrived home last night. They would certainly have been crushed with Italy's loss and rubbing it in would have been fun -- but cruel. And doing so would make me a hypocrite. Ron lives two doors down in the other direction and he gave it to me pretty good a year ago when my Red Wings lost game seven of the Stanley Cup final to Pittsburgh. I told him that, as a Maple Leafs fan, he wasn't qualified to give me the gears! In soccer, if Canada's not (ha ha!) in it, I cheer for England. And their last World Cup win was in 1966, which was before the Maple Leafs' most recent Stanley Cup triumph. So, perhaps it's better that circumstances dictated I keep my lid shut!
I hate the business I'm in sometimes. Some very talented pals and colleagues were discharged from the local all-sports radio station yesterday. Same old story: They gain experience and excellence and then when it comes time to pay for that, they become expendable. Little wonder radio is in the state it's in, with bean-counters running the show instead of people with a feel, love and understanding of the industry.
The G-20 political summit invades downtown Toronto this weekend. And protesters along with it. Hopefully, peaceful ones.
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Sunday, June 27:
I got angry yesterday. And scared. Not scared for me, as I was cocooned inside a newsroom a few blocks away from the violence of a G-20 summit protest in downtown Toronto that got terribly out of hand. But I was scared for friends outside covering the event on the front line. My own CP colleagues, like reporter extraordinaire Terry Pedwell and our crackerjack team of photographers and videographers. Reporters and good friends from other media outlets who were also right there in the thick of things. And scared for the police and security personnel, entrusted with the job of keeping citizens -- and G-20 leaders -- safe. Angry, because the people doing the damage weren't part of the 98% of protesters who were following the rules. They weren't protesters at all. Toronto mayor David Miller calls them criminals. I'll go one better. They're criminals and gutless thugs, professional anarchists who don't have the sand to show their faces in public. Useless pieces of trash who would pee in their pants in terror should they ever be faced with anything approaching a fair fight. As always, the cops will weed them out and arrest them only to have our equally gutless "justice" system set them free. One other thing. The police were criticized in some corners for doing nothing while storefront windows were smashed, vehicles vandalized and cruisers torched. Well, property can always be replaced -- heads cannot. Responding with force is exactly what the criminals wanted. In such chaos, confusion reigns, innocent people get hurt or worse and true riots break out. This looked terrible -- but it was the right approach. The goal was to maintain security at the G-20 site. Job well done, for day one, at least.
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Monday, June 28:
Could the cops shine two days in a row? Uh, no. Perhaps stung by (in my estimation, unwarranted) criticism over their approach Saturday to maintain security at the G-20 site and avoid a riot at the expense of property damage and a few police cars, les gendarmes did a complete 360 yesterday. At the sight of a few people donning gas masks, riot police completely enclosed a downtown street corner, trapping hundreds of people -- some protesters, some media and the rest innocent bystanders -- and arrested them all! And they were none too gentle about it, either. This was done at the height of a rather violent thunderstorm. Everyone was later released unconditionally but it was a very heavy-handed and unnecessary approach by those in charge. I was impressed with the police Saturday -- disgusted with them yesterday.
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Tuesday, June 29:
Ah nuts. Loved almost everything about last night's ballgame in Minnesota, as the Tigers beat the Twins (!) 7-5 to take over first place in the American League Central. They jumped to quick 4-0 and 5-1 leads, let the Twins get close at 5-4 but then scored some insurance runs for a change and pulled it out. Closer Jose Valverde pitched a 1-2-3 ninth (nervy saves are rare for this guy, as opposed to Fernando Rodney). So it's all great, right? Nope. Set-up man Joel Zumaya threw out his arm in the eighth inning and crumbled to the ground in agony. It was sickening to watch. And unless he got very lucky, it could be a very serious injury. Sad on two fronts. 1) It's the latest setback for a guy who has fought through injuries for years, and 2) it puts a critical dent in the Tigers' pitching staff at a key moment of the season. Oh, and Magglio Ordoñez missed the game with soreness in his left side. Between injuries, umpires missing calls this month that cost Detroit both a perfect game and a tying run in the ninth over the weekend in Atlanta, this outfit appears snakebitten. Even in victory.
Now that U.S. and England are out (forget the blown call Saturday -- Germany was the better side), my World Cup faves are now the Netherlands. The Dutch won yesterday but now have to play Brazil in the quarterfinals. Tough chore.
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Wednesday, June 30:
It was the worst of news, it was the best of news. Joel Zumaya is out for the season after fracturing his elbow Monday night in Minnesota. The Tigers can ill afford to lose a pitcher of his ability. But there was no ligament damage and that's the bugaboo he's been battling for years. Oh, and first place didn't last long. The Tigers were slaughtered 11-4 last night to give it back to the Twins.
Where did June go? It always seems to be the fastest month to flee. Unless it's August, when we take our summer vacation.
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