Another Day...

Making the news today.....

I will start by admitting fault. As a self annointed 'sports buff' I am ashmaed to admit I forgot that Monday marked the one year anniversary of 'the golden goal'. While this was obviously one of the greatest moments in Canadian hockey history, the moment was tainted for me. I am fully aware that what I am about to say will ruffle some feathers but frankly I don't care. What ruined this glorious moment in hockey history for me was the fact that it was scored by Sidney Crosby. Why does someone who is continually whining to the ref have to score this goal and become the new face of Hockey Canada? Why can't someone who just goes out, plays the game and keeps his mouth shut, like Toews or Getzlaf score the goal. Those are the guys I want my daughter looking up to. They play the game, they don't complain and are in my mind simply greater role models for young hockey fans in this country.

Moving on...it has been reported that the owner of the Boston Red Sox, John Henry has been fined $500, 000 by Major League Baseball for comments he made about the league's revenue sharing policy. Apparently Henry had an issue with the fact that what he refers to as seven 'non - competitive teams' were awarded nearly $1 billion in revenue from the league. Hey Henry, how in the world do you expect small market teams to get any better??? This comment just proves you, like many others are selfish and not thinking about the league as a whole. We all know that what is best for any sports league is as little parity, and as much competition as possible. So without sharing in the revenue how do you expect small market teams like the Kansas City Royals to ever become competitive and relevant? All idiots like this guy and Hank Steinbrenner do is throw huge amounts of money at free agents, which in part is ruining baseball. Why don't fans of those franchises deserve to be given the opportunity to to watch a team compete with the likes of the Yanks, Phillies, Red Sox, etc?

Speaking of money and revenue, the NFL is growing dangerously close to a lockout, which could seriously put next season at risk. What scares me even more is a report on CNN that says the league would be able to survive two years without playing a game before finances became a little shaky. How huge is your league when you can afford to wipe the slate clean and not worry about going broke for two years?

The problem the NFL is having in terms of a new CBA between the Owner's and the NFLPA comes down to the all mighty dollar. Last year revenues for the NFL were in excess of $9 billion dollars. The problem, rather than share this revenue evenly amongst the players and the owners, the owners, who already take $1 billion off the top before splitting the pot now want to take more like $2 billion off the top which would mean 30 owners share in more than $5.5 billion dollars, leaving the players, totalling more than 2, 000 to share in the remaining $3.5 billion. You tell me how that is at all fair. The league doesn't make money because the fans like the owners, they make money off the players who go through six months of hell and abuse on their bodies to play a game they love. And honestly, as Redskins fan, I have a general dislike for Dan Snyder, their owner, and I also know that he isn't pinching his pennies to get by. As long as you continue to have selfish owners what is going to happen is there will be no NFL football for a long time or the players may be forced to cave in and give up dollars in order to be able to continue to play the game they love, all the while lining the pockets of greedy individuals like Al Davis, Dan Snyder, etc.

Now rather than take about greed, let's talk about someone who has their head on straight, Carson Palmer, of the Cincinnati Bengals...at least for now. When Palmer came out of College he was a much heralded QB who was lucky enough to end up with one of the most dysfunctional franchises in the league (sorry Skipper). For his part he was able to dig them out of inferiority to a state of mediocrity and beyond. He led them to a divison title and a couple of play - off appearances. However, the continued struggles of the franchise has appeared to sour Palmer on the Bengals. Listening to Chad Ochocino or Johnson or whatever his name is certainly doesn't make the job as the Bengals QB appealing. Anyhow, Palmer has now supposedly put his suburban Cincinnati house up for sale and told the franchise that he wants to be traded. He has gone so far as to say that if he is not traded, he will retire, and was quoted on one website as saying he will never step foot in Paul Brown Stadium, home of the Bengals ever again. He was also quoted as saying that he has $80 million in the bank, no longer needs to play the game for money and now just wants to play for the love of the game. Cudos to Carson Palmer, a guy who is playing the game for all the right reasons. I have to admit if I were in Cincinnati there is nothing to love about playing football for that franchise.

Barry Bonds is back in court on charges of perjury and lying to the government. I hope he is found guilty and sent to jail. While I hate the fact steroids totally inflated the numbers of a lot of players, I dislike Bonds more for who he is, probably one of the biggest jerks in sports in the last twenty years. A couple of months in jail could prove to Bonds that he ain't that tough.

To steal a little tidbit from Rob Vanstone of the Leader Post...good guys who deserve a shout out... Jon Keen, voice of the Kamloops Blazers, Scotty Giroux, Bryan Fleck, Tyler Eddy, Aaron Frank, Dan Miller, and my Dad. If I forgot you, I will remember you at some time in the future..

Till tomorrow..or Friday...