Saturday, September 1:
Here we go! The mighty Wolverines of Michigan take the field today for the 2007 season -- the 10-year anniversary of their national championship year. They should be superb on offence but defence wins championships. Michigan might have enough to win the Big-10 (although my money would be on Wisconsin) but the national crown will likely be won in either the SEC (LSU's my pick) of the Pac-10 (USC is everyone else's pick).
When I was about eight years old I asked my dad if I could cut the lawn some week. He grinned and said, "Not yet, son -- and be careful what you wish for." A few years later, the novelty quickly wore off and (aside from a few apartment years early in my working life) I've been slicing grass ever since. But this is a first: I've never gone throughout the month of August without cutting the lawn so much as once. This is the driest summer I've ever seen.
Sunday, September 2:
Let's scratch that "mighty" tag from the Michigan Wolverines, who bumbled and stumbled their way to the losing end of arguably the biggest upset in college football history. Yesterday's 34-32 loss to Appalachian State -- a Division 1-AA school -- is one for the ages. Michigan went in as the number-five team in the rankings, yet were totally unprepared to play a team that won a Tier-II championship a year ago and arrived in Ann Arbor with something to prove. And it would have been a travesty had Michigan won the game with its last-play field goal attempt, because the visiting Moutaineers dominated the game. In the off-season, there was plenty of talk about how Michigan had something to prove after closing the 2006 season with two defeats. It shouldn't have taken much to get this outfit prepared to play, and that has to fall on the shoulders of head coach Lloyd Carr. It won't happen, but he should be fired. Today.
Still, this is why I love college football (although that's tough to admit on this day).
"Will I jinx him if I watch?" The Bride (and Red Sox fan) asked as Boston rookie Clay Buchholz entered the ninth inning with a no-hitter. She need not have worried. Showing the poise of a 20-year veteran, Buchholz threw some incredible, gutsy off-speed pitches for strikes and finished off a 1-2-3 ninth by no-hitting the Baltimore Orioles in just his second major league start. The Sox had only called him up from the minors that afternoon. Incredible!
Monday, September 3:
Ah, Labour Day. The unofficial end of summer.
Sigh.
Whatever sports virus is settling in over the state of Michigan, I want no part of it. Just one day after the overconfident, unprepared and thoroughly unworthy-of-victory Michigan Wolverines gag away their opener to a Division 1-AA school, the Detroit Tigers blow a 7-0 lead in the middle of a pennant race and lose 8-7 at Oakland. The Detroit Lions make their season debut on the same field in a week's time and I don't like their chances. What's happening to my teams? Oh, and from here on in (I've heard it already), the term for a cocky Goliath getting its comeuppance is thus: "Getting Michiganed."
Thursday, September 6:
For Michigan football fans, this has been the week from hell. I've lost count of the number of e-mails I've been bombarded with, either from people who wanted to know what in thunder happened against Appalachian State or from folks simply wanting to rub it in, knowing my love for all things maize and blue. As for me, I had originally planned to take in a Tigers-Wolverines doubleheader this weekend. But I'm too burned up with both of them to spend my money in Motown and environs. So, it's off to the Keystone State for a Bucs baseball game tomorrow (against the playoff-contending Cubs) and then I'll make my first visit to Happy Valley Saturday evening for a match with the Fighting Irish. If I wasn't working the early morning shift Monday, I'd catch the Steelers and Browns in Cleveland on my way back. Instead, we'll get closer to home and watch Buffalo open against Denver.
Friday, September 7:
Or not. Woke up this morning to a great, late summer's day. And after working for seven straight days, the lure of the deck in the back yard and three days of leisure won out over three days of driving. Pittsburgh, Penn State and Buffalo aren't going anywhere, and -- God willing -- neither am I. So we'll make this trek on another day.
Sunday, September 9:
Oh, I'm just lovin' this football season (he said, sarcastically). Yesterday, Michigan gets demolished by Oregon to move to 0-and-2 and run their losing streak to four games. In fact, they weren't just demolished, they were made fools of. The Ducks showed the live-in-the-past Wolverine program what a modern-day offence looks like and left the Michigan defence embarrassed all afternoon.
My favourite CFL franchise (Ottawa) doesn't exist anymore and likely never will again. The Western Mustangs fall to 0-and-2 for the first time in 37 years, losing at McMaster, the program new 'Stangs coach (and Western alum) Greg Marshall built from scratch.
Today, Buffalo loses when time expires as Denver hits a game-winning field goal, running the FG unit onto the field with the clock running down, looking like the Keystone Kops -- until the ball is snapped. Execution: perfect. Then the Detroit Lions, in their first possession of the season, march smartly down the field in Oakland -- and throw an interception in the end zone. Yep, I'm just lovin' this football season.
Monday, September 10:
Wow! Maybe I am going to enjoy this football season, after all. It's not so much that the Detroit Lions won a rare game yesterday, it's the way they did it. In typical Lions' fashion, they blew a 17-0 lead at Oakland, and when the Raiders came back to take a 21-20 lead, I was certain all was lost. In the past, it would have been for Detroit. But these guys came right back on the next possession to take the lead and then tacked on 10 more points before the day was done for added emphasis. Sure, it was Oakland, but this is a game the Lions would have lost in the past, especially after blowing a large lead. Maybe there's hope.
Tuesday, September 11:
Six years. And the first time it's fallen on a Tuesday.
Wednesday, September 12:
It's the best sporting news I've heard in a long time and it came after a very bleak Sunday in Buffalo. Doctors now believe Bills' tight end Kevin Everett stands a good chance to be able to walk again. Apparently, they applied some radical treatment when he was first injured in the loss to Denver and it looks as if it's paid off. Twenty-four hours earlier, his life was in danger, let alone having any chance of escaping a wheelchair for the rest of his days on earth. And now this! Football is obviously finished, but who cares? If Everett can have any semblance of a normal life in the months and years down the road, then that's just fantastic!
Saturday, September 15:
Being a reporter, I've always been fascinated in things that crash and burn. With that in mind, I was seriously considering a trip to Ann Arbor this week to see Notre Dame (0-and-2) play Michigan (0-and-2). The delirium eventually passed. Good thing, as I dreamt last night that Michigan lost 41-7. Not to Notre Dame, but to Navy!
So, how are things with the local six, you're asking? Just fine, thanks. The Stouffville Spirit opened the regular season by sweeping Collingwood in a home-and-home series. But the first big test comes tomorrow at Newmarket.
Sunday, September 16:
It was a train wreck all right, but only from a Notre Dame point of view. Michigan's 38-0 win was as thorough a football victory as we've seen in a long time. Which begs some questions: Is Michigan better than the first two weeks would indicate? Is Notre Dame that bad? And what happens when the Fighting Irish play top-ranked USC? And will Charlie Weis get the same quick hook as Ty Willingham received when Notre Dame played poorly in his second and third seasons? And if not, how can you not assume that race played no part in Willingham's dismissal?
Tuesday, September 18:
We're now officially RIP'ing the Detroit Tigers for 2007. Never have I seen a contending team blow up so spectacularly in the late innings of baseball games as these guys. Even a mediocre bullpen would have been enough to get the Tigers into the playoffs. Yes, the pitching staff has been hit hard by injuries but there's no excuse for the relief staff to be as bad as it's been this year. Every time manager Jim Leyland calls the bullpen, he gets a wrong number. Better luck next year, Detroit. The worst part of this is the fact the Yankees are going to make it to the post-season. And that means Mike Mussina has a chance at winning a ring. Which would fly in the face of all things fair and just.
The Detroit Lions are 2-and-0. In other news, keen-eyed observers have spotted the sun rising in the west, salt water from the Atlantic Ocean filling the Great Lakes and the Mississippi churning its way north from Louisiana to Minnesota.
Friday, September 21:
Back on January 21, 2002, when our dollar was worth less than 62 cents U.S., I never thought I would ever again see a day when it would reach parity with the greenback. But it has. And it's not that the loonie is THAT much stronger than it was then. It's the U.S. dollar that has suffered a complete meltdown. Back on that date in 2002, the emerging Euro was worth 88.41 cents U.S. and $1.43 Canadian. Today, it costs $1.41 in either currency to buy the same Euro. During that almost-six-year time frame, our dollar has actually gone down against the Euro, and the Australian dollar. Back in the day, motels and hotels in Florida would lure Canadians south by advertising Canadian money at par. The way it's going, travel to the U.S. will soon be a bargain and we may be offering Americans par for their dollar in an effort to get them to travel here.
Sunday, September 23:
I'd love to know what alternate universe college football is in this season. Notre Dame -- the second-winningest school in U.S. college football history -- is 0-and-4. Western Ontario -- winners of more Vanier Cups than any other school in Canada -- is 0-and-4. Michigan -- losers to Appalachian State -- is now 2-and-2 after beating 10th ranked Penn State. Strange days, indeed.
So if one Michigan team beats a Pennsylvania team, does that mean the Detroit Lions beat the Philadelphia Eagles today? Even though the Lions are 2-and-0 (!), I wouldn't bet on it. After their abysmal performance Monday, the Eagles will likely be ready for this one. If not, at least they can hide in their unfamiliar outfits -- Philly is wearing light blue and gold throwback uniforms today.
An update on the local six -- the Stouffville Spirit followed their 2-and-0 start with a tough one-goal loss at Newmarket, an even tougher shootout loss at home to national champion Aurora, and finally a 6-3 drubbing up in Huntsville. Put the parade on hold.
Monday, September 24:
Philadelphia 56, Detroit 21. Now THOSE are the Detroit Lions I've come to know and laugh at over the past five decades! All's normal with the football world again.
BIG win for Manchester United yesterday, dropping Chelsea 2-0 and seemingly righting the ship after a lousy start. One of my co-workers won't be glad to see the table today, now that Man-U is once again ahead of his beloved Manchester City. But what gives with Chelsea? The manager is let go a month into the season and the Blues appear to be a shadow of their former selves. Looks as if Arsenal may be the team to beat this season.
Thursday, September 27:
The Steve Downie hit: I thought it was sickening, entirely without merit and hope the NHL throws the book at him. What disgusts me more though are some of the comments from so-called hockey fans. One chowderhead said that, as a Leaf fan, the sight of a laid out Ottawa Senator was "awesome." Others who defended the hit all seem to come from places like Peterborough, Windsor and Kitchener, cities Downie called home in his junior hockey career. The conclusion is that on-ice mayhem of any way shape or form is just fine as long as it's "my guy" doing it to "your guy." I used to love hockey, I really did, but that love has been slowly evaporating over the decades. It's now far below football, baseball and auto racing on my personal preference list.
Friday, September 28:
Three days left in baseball's regular season and not a single National League team has qualified for the playoffs yet. Seven teams are seeking four spots and right now the team with the best chance of making it is -- wait for it -- the Chicago Cubs! -- even though they've lost three in a row and five other teams have better records. How crazy is that?
Sunday, September 30:
OK, here's my dream scenario for today: The Mets and Phillies both win. The Padres lose to Milwaukee and the Rockies beat Arizona. New York, Philadelphia, San Diego and Colorado would all have 89-73 records. The Mets and Phillies would have to play Monday for the National League East crown and the loser would then be part of a three-team wild card playoff to determine the final post-season berth. What a mess that would be. It's almost too delicious to contemplate!
Either the Michigan Wolverines didn't learn from taking opponents too lightly, or they really are lousy this year -- which makes you wonder how bad Penn State and the rest of the Big-10 is. We already know how dreadful Notre Dame is, now at 0-and-5. Michigan managed to come back and beat Northwestern yesterday but they didn't look very good doing it. Besides Ohio State, which should win the conference with ease, the team I'm most impressed with (despite their narrow loss at Wisconsin) is Michigan State. I think they'll handle Michigan when the rivals play at East Lansing in early November.
