The Ryan brothers. If you are an NFL fan you have heard of these two clowns. They are both coaches following in their father, Buddy's footsteps. Then you think back to the day that Buddy Ryan, then Defensive Coordinator with the Houston Oilers sucker punched Offensive Coordinator, Kevin Gilbride on the sidelines MID game!
Rex is the head coach of one of the biggest three ring circus acts the NFL offers, the New York Jets. Two years ago Rex demonstrated his cockiness by providing his team with the schedule for the entire year in training camp. The schedule included the Superbowl parade. Regardless, this year was a joke if you are a fan of the Jets. I personally have never really cared for the Jets, a dislike exacerbated by the presence of the said, Rex Ryan as Head Coach. My reasons for my dislike, along with my sick pleasures include"
* He is a loud mouth to the ?th degree. If you ask him I'm sure he will tell you he is the greatest coach to ever grace God's green earth;
* He convinced management to move up and draft Mark Sanchez with the 6th overall pick three years ago. On a sidenote Mark Sanchez sucks.
* He traded for Tim Tebow, the worst QB the NFL has ever spent so much time talking about. He claimed that Tebow would help the Jets win; the Jets never won and Tebow never played.
* He has a tattoo of his wife wearing a Sanchez jersey; only slightly creepy
* And to cap it all off, after a season that was a complete disaster for the Jets, Rex Ryan stated in a press conference that he is the right man to coach the NY Jets. Sadly, I think he truly believes that.
On to his brother Rob, who on Tuesday was fired as Defensive Coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys lost on the final night of the season to miss the play - off's on yet another costly mistake by Tony Romo. The problem with the Cowboys this year was not Tony Romo, it was Rob's porous defense who would have been unable to stop molasses from moving uphill. Sure teams have bad years and guys get fired, but then, to prove he is his brother's brother he tells a reporter he is not worried as he will likely 'be out of work for about five minutes'. I hope he never gets another job again. I wouldn't hire this guy to coach my local six man High School team let alone pay him piles of money to accomplish so little.
Today is the WHL trade deadline, and I rarely talk about the WHL. I am not sure why, but when it comes to the WHL my fondness for the Regina Pats is about as miniscule as possible. They have been a disaster for over a decade now, and part of it lies in the way they run their hockey club. They don't seem to get Junior Hockey, or the idea of building a winner. Three years ago, a team that was going nowhere, the Pats balked on trading Jordan Eberle and Colton Teubert, a couple of guys they could have got a king's ransom for. Last year, a team who barely squeaked into the play - off's chose to mortgage the future to a degree by making a couple of acquisitions at the deadline. This year, they again are going pretty much nowhere yet don't appear willing to move any viable talent that is always a hot commodity at this time. Their GM was recently quoted as saying 'I like our team'. Really? Not many others do. Inevitably at some point, WHL GM's need to look at their team and choose to sacrifice a year or two of obscurity for a run in the future. Trade your studs for kids who will become studs. Somebody needs to send that message to the Regina Pats.
That is all I have today.
Later,
HM
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Monday, January 7, 2013
A Plethora of Ramblings
Having neglected the blog over the Christmas season and given the last week of sporting events worth discussing, I feel no better time than to sit down and let my voice be heard on a number of things.
First up...NFL football, namely Wild Card weekend, or as one tweeter tweeted this weekend, Mild Card weekend. What is usually a great weekend of football was for the most part anti - climatic with no real barn burner to watch. My analysis of each is as follows:
I knew if the Bengals were going to beat the Texans their defence would need to be up to the challenge and for the most part they were. What hurt the Bengals was struggles offensively. I didn't expect Andy Dalton, A.J. Green and Co. to light up the scoreboard but I did think they could put on a better show than the one they did Saturday afternoon at Reliant Stadium. I was really rooting for the Bengals to move on as A) I really like the direction that team is heading, B) One of my all time best buds has bled Bengal orange since the debacle that was Ki - Jana Carter and he deserves some play - off success, and C) Let's face it, watching a team move on after seemingly twenty years of irrelevance would have been nice. I can't help but wonder if the Bengal D could have held on had Dalton not overthrown a rather wide open A.J. Green in the endzone late in the 4th quarter. Mark my words though; with the Ravens aging as well as the Steelers, the AFC North is Cincinnati's division to lose next year.
Minnesota had a shot I thought. Even without Christian Ponder, I thought that if one individual could lead his team to a victory this weekend it was more than likely Adrian Peterson. Well the Packers did a pretty good job of containing him and scored enough points against a feisty Viking defence to move on. Minnesota laid a lot on the line the week before in their thrilling win at home to qualify for the dance and to repeat that in Lambeau was going to be a chore. Even though he was unable to run his team into the Divisional Round, Adrian Peterson is a pleasure to watch and he HAS to be the MVP this year. Remarkable considering a year earlier his knee was completely blown out. As they move forward, I have to wonder if this is a team on the rise, or if they simply played over their heads. Peterson is great, but is Christian Ponder the man to help them get to the next level?
The Colts were the Cinderella story of the season. They played for Chuck Pagano, whose battle with leukemia gave them a rallying call all season long. Who would have thought they would have got there, one year removed from a miserable season and the absence of Peyton Manning? Cudos to their accomplishments. The Ravens, largely motivated by the fact that Ray Lewis was playing his final home game in Charm City came out on top. Anquan Boldin was great for the Ravens, particularly in the second half and the Ravens became one of very few teams with at least one play - off win in five straight seasons. Good for them and good for Ray Lewis; their season and #52's career ends this weekend. There is no way they march into Denver and beat the Broncos.
And now onto the Redskins/Seahawks battle late yesterday afternoon. I have been a Redskins fan for years; I even managed to remain loyal during the Heath Shuler era (YUCK!) Their first two drives yesterday were awesome and I thought to myself, they can go a ways if they play this way and then......RGIII banged up his knee late in the second drive and was never the same. He limped rather than ran, was unable to plant his leg making passing the ball an adventure.
A couple of things irk me about yesterday. First off, the defence was porous at times. All too often, Marshawn Lynch ran off one, two even three tackles to gain positive yards. Secondly, Brandon Browner is a huge a&#hole. He was not simply playing bump and run against Pierre Garcon; he was assaulting him on every snap. Sure Pierre Garcon is a man and would not make excuses but I will. Brandon Browner could have been, and should have been flagged numerous times for illegal contact on a reciever. He never was, and to make matters worse the Redskins seemed to have ended a Seahawks drive in the third quarter only to have a first down awarded on a holding call on a reciever which would not have held up my grandmother. I know, one flag doesn't make the difference but that was some serious BS that they allowed to happen for one team all day.
As for the RGIII thing; he stayed in the game and gutted it out when he clearly was in pain. For that I give him credit. However at the same time, how does Mike Shanahan not see that he was entirely inneffective after the first two series? The offence was anemic for the last fifty minutes and when there defence was doing a good job of holding them in and getting stops, they were rewarded with four plays off before having to head right back out there. Kirk Cousins should have been inserted into that game well before RGIII went down. Not saying the Skins win with him but they certainly would not have been any worse and the future of the franchise would not have been in any jeopardy. The win now mentality is always going to be strong in sports, but at what cost does winning now come at? As a fan of the Redskins, RGIII and the NFL, I can only hope Washington didn't mortgage the future on 84 passing yards.
My picks this weekend; the Seahawks, 49ers, Broncos and Patriots. Gethca popcorn ready for next week's AFC Championship; it will be a beauty.
Sticking with football, it seems something is always cooking in Ridernation to stir up the locals. Craig Dickenson's sudden resignation last week followed by his almost equally quick signing on in Winnipeg has some locals steaming. I look at it this way, Craig Dickenson was an employee of the Roughriders, he wasn't married to the franchise. Clearly something took place that he couldn't commit to or didn't agree with and made a decision with his best interests in mind; good for him and I wish him luck in the future. As a Rider fan, rather than vent and sneer about tampering and loyalty, I put my faith in Corey Chamblin to find a comparable, perhaps even better replacement.
Still no news of player contracts from the Riders but I have read on a couple of blogs that announcements are to come in the not too distant future. I have already said who I would like to see back next year but that is my opinion. Brendan Taman doesn't tell me how to teach History so I sure as hell won't get worked up with the moves he makes. Well if he traded Dressler and Durant I would be angry but we all know that is not happening this year.
One final thought on the Riders, well the Grey Cup more for that matter. I was thoroughly disgusted prior to Christmas when I attempted to book a downtown Regina hotel room for Grey Cup weekend only to be told unless I was part of a corporate group I was out of luck. I, like many other season ticket holders do not live in Regina. In fact I put on approximately 700 kilometres round trip to attend home games. Others go further but that is not the point. You would think the Grey Cup Committee would have the common sense to realize that we are vital components of the success of the club and next year's event. While they can't make hotels set rooms aside, you would think they could suggest that some rooms be left aside for ticket holders like us. Sure I can hang my hat at the old man's house but that isn't the point. Maybe I am wrong on this but I am still angry.
And now hockey, and two stories I want to address, the World Junior's and the lockout, or end of now.
The Canadian entry at the WJHC in Ufa was not that good. I am as big a supporter of Hockey Canada as others but this year's team was just lacking in a few areas, and those came to the forefront when it counted. I really felt outside of our top line, the forwards were not overly dangerous. As an opponent I would not be intimidated or fearful of much this team presented aside from the Nuge. For a top three pick, Jonathan Huberdeau was awful in my mind, Mark Scheifle didn't stand out as a seventh overall pick should have and for a guy supposedly being bantered about as a first overall pick, Nathan McKinnon was non - existent except for some undisciplined penalties. I get that he is 17 and played on the third/fourth line but if he was good enough to take overseas and as talented as they claim, he looked average to me. Surely we could have taken a bigger, stronger forward that could have provided us with as much as him.
A lot of people complained about Malcolm Subban. I tell you what, without Malcolm Subban we would have been third in our pool. He stole the round robin game against the American's and played really well against the Russian's in the preliminaries as well. The loss in the semi to the American's is not on him, rather those in front of him who turned the puck over at an alarmingly regular rate. The defence on this team was not up to our regular standards. They lacked that electric offensive, puck moving guy we have had in the past like Ryan Ellis, or Dion Phaneuf even. When you lack offense in the back end, the need to be reliable and solid at home is magnified. This group didn't have that shut down pairing as we are accustomed to. There is always next year in Sweden.
I don't want to seem like I am down on Hockey Canada as it is a thankless job who unless the gold medal is won never get respected. They do a lot of work and put in several hours all year, not simply in the month prior to the event with the invitations, camp and pre - tournament games.
In saying that, we didn't only finish fourth because our team was weaker than in the past, or because they weren't as sharp as they could have been. The rest of the world is simply getting better. And to be honest, I firmly believe a lot of them are using the Canadian model as the backbone of their development programs. We are not deteriorating as a hockey nation, the rest of the world is simply improving. Look no further than Switzerland as your example; four losses in OT to some very good hockey nations was a great showing for them. A bounce here and there and the Swiss would have been playing for a medal.
Lastly, the best team in the tournament won the tournament. The American's were fast, dangerous, solid at home and all that combined with a great performance from netminder John Gibson equated to success for them. Congrats to Phil Housley and all of USA Hockey on a well deserved championship.
I like many other hockey fans became very sour and jaded with the NHL in the past three plus months. The game was as good as it has ever been in many areas aside from simply the actual showing on the ice when labour issues lead to the lockout. That being said, waking up yesterday morning to the news that a tentative agreement was in place and once the deal is raitfied (presumable Wednesday) the puck will once again drop on January 19th was almost better than Christmas for me.
The return of the NHL comes at a great time. The NFL Play - off's will be over in a month which without the NHL meant either watch the NBA or hold out for the beginning of MLB in April or the return of the Riders in June. This really helps to fill in those open schedules, particularly now that I can look forward to putting the kids to bed, hitting the Lazy Boy, cracking a beverage and watching the second half of Hockey Night in Canada, or the Monday night after that always tough first day back being able to sit down with my daughter and son and listen to the soothing sounds of Chris Cuthbert call a game on TSN. I may have talked a big game but it was simply that; talk. I love the NHL and am pleased they will be back soon.
If I have an issue with what transpired yesterday it was Ron Hainsey telling a reporter that it was really the pension issue which served as the hill the players were willing to die on. Are you kidding me, the league minimum is $700, 000 and the average salary is $2.4 million dollars. That means the average player makes in a year what I will make in my career and you are worried about money after you are done? Put 10% away a year, play for ten years and without interest you are sitting on over two million dollars. Come on!
It doesn't matter, it is over, and short of the ratification vote, signed, sealed and delivered.
As for the season that will transpire, a 48 game season will really put the honus on playing every game like it counts. Teams cannot afford to go through a eight to twelve game dry - spell as it will all but doom you. In that sense it will possibly make the game more exciting to watch as it could be very much like play - off hockey for the next five months. At the same time it could very well mean teams who deserve to make the second season won't and those that perhaps shouldn't qualify may very well sneak in.
As an Oiler's fan I really think they are in a good position given that the core of their young talent pool (Eberle, Hall and Schultz) have been playing in the AHL and at a very high level at that. Dubnyk played great at the Spengler Cup and most have been skating or playing some sort of professional hockey during this time. In a shortened season, where it will be a sprint from that start rather than the marathon that it usually becomes, the youth of the organziation could very well see them enter the dance for the Stanley Cup when all is said and done. I don't hold my breath on them being the last team standing, but I do think they get a ticket to the party, or at least hope they do.
Later,
HM
First up...NFL football, namely Wild Card weekend, or as one tweeter tweeted this weekend, Mild Card weekend. What is usually a great weekend of football was for the most part anti - climatic with no real barn burner to watch. My analysis of each is as follows:
I knew if the Bengals were going to beat the Texans their defence would need to be up to the challenge and for the most part they were. What hurt the Bengals was struggles offensively. I didn't expect Andy Dalton, A.J. Green and Co. to light up the scoreboard but I did think they could put on a better show than the one they did Saturday afternoon at Reliant Stadium. I was really rooting for the Bengals to move on as A) I really like the direction that team is heading, B) One of my all time best buds has bled Bengal orange since the debacle that was Ki - Jana Carter and he deserves some play - off success, and C) Let's face it, watching a team move on after seemingly twenty years of irrelevance would have been nice. I can't help but wonder if the Bengal D could have held on had Dalton not overthrown a rather wide open A.J. Green in the endzone late in the 4th quarter. Mark my words though; with the Ravens aging as well as the Steelers, the AFC North is Cincinnati's division to lose next year.
Minnesota had a shot I thought. Even without Christian Ponder, I thought that if one individual could lead his team to a victory this weekend it was more than likely Adrian Peterson. Well the Packers did a pretty good job of containing him and scored enough points against a feisty Viking defence to move on. Minnesota laid a lot on the line the week before in their thrilling win at home to qualify for the dance and to repeat that in Lambeau was going to be a chore. Even though he was unable to run his team into the Divisional Round, Adrian Peterson is a pleasure to watch and he HAS to be the MVP this year. Remarkable considering a year earlier his knee was completely blown out. As they move forward, I have to wonder if this is a team on the rise, or if they simply played over their heads. Peterson is great, but is Christian Ponder the man to help them get to the next level?
The Colts were the Cinderella story of the season. They played for Chuck Pagano, whose battle with leukemia gave them a rallying call all season long. Who would have thought they would have got there, one year removed from a miserable season and the absence of Peyton Manning? Cudos to their accomplishments. The Ravens, largely motivated by the fact that Ray Lewis was playing his final home game in Charm City came out on top. Anquan Boldin was great for the Ravens, particularly in the second half and the Ravens became one of very few teams with at least one play - off win in five straight seasons. Good for them and good for Ray Lewis; their season and #52's career ends this weekend. There is no way they march into Denver and beat the Broncos.
And now onto the Redskins/Seahawks battle late yesterday afternoon. I have been a Redskins fan for years; I even managed to remain loyal during the Heath Shuler era (YUCK!) Their first two drives yesterday were awesome and I thought to myself, they can go a ways if they play this way and then......RGIII banged up his knee late in the second drive and was never the same. He limped rather than ran, was unable to plant his leg making passing the ball an adventure.
A couple of things irk me about yesterday. First off, the defence was porous at times. All too often, Marshawn Lynch ran off one, two even three tackles to gain positive yards. Secondly, Brandon Browner is a huge a&#hole. He was not simply playing bump and run against Pierre Garcon; he was assaulting him on every snap. Sure Pierre Garcon is a man and would not make excuses but I will. Brandon Browner could have been, and should have been flagged numerous times for illegal contact on a reciever. He never was, and to make matters worse the Redskins seemed to have ended a Seahawks drive in the third quarter only to have a first down awarded on a holding call on a reciever which would not have held up my grandmother. I know, one flag doesn't make the difference but that was some serious BS that they allowed to happen for one team all day.
As for the RGIII thing; he stayed in the game and gutted it out when he clearly was in pain. For that I give him credit. However at the same time, how does Mike Shanahan not see that he was entirely inneffective after the first two series? The offence was anemic for the last fifty minutes and when there defence was doing a good job of holding them in and getting stops, they were rewarded with four plays off before having to head right back out there. Kirk Cousins should have been inserted into that game well before RGIII went down. Not saying the Skins win with him but they certainly would not have been any worse and the future of the franchise would not have been in any jeopardy. The win now mentality is always going to be strong in sports, but at what cost does winning now come at? As a fan of the Redskins, RGIII and the NFL, I can only hope Washington didn't mortgage the future on 84 passing yards.
My picks this weekend; the Seahawks, 49ers, Broncos and Patriots. Gethca popcorn ready for next week's AFC Championship; it will be a beauty.
Sticking with football, it seems something is always cooking in Ridernation to stir up the locals. Craig Dickenson's sudden resignation last week followed by his almost equally quick signing on in Winnipeg has some locals steaming. I look at it this way, Craig Dickenson was an employee of the Roughriders, he wasn't married to the franchise. Clearly something took place that he couldn't commit to or didn't agree with and made a decision with his best interests in mind; good for him and I wish him luck in the future. As a Rider fan, rather than vent and sneer about tampering and loyalty, I put my faith in Corey Chamblin to find a comparable, perhaps even better replacement.
Still no news of player contracts from the Riders but I have read on a couple of blogs that announcements are to come in the not too distant future. I have already said who I would like to see back next year but that is my opinion. Brendan Taman doesn't tell me how to teach History so I sure as hell won't get worked up with the moves he makes. Well if he traded Dressler and Durant I would be angry but we all know that is not happening this year.
One final thought on the Riders, well the Grey Cup more for that matter. I was thoroughly disgusted prior to Christmas when I attempted to book a downtown Regina hotel room for Grey Cup weekend only to be told unless I was part of a corporate group I was out of luck. I, like many other season ticket holders do not live in Regina. In fact I put on approximately 700 kilometres round trip to attend home games. Others go further but that is not the point. You would think the Grey Cup Committee would have the common sense to realize that we are vital components of the success of the club and next year's event. While they can't make hotels set rooms aside, you would think they could suggest that some rooms be left aside for ticket holders like us. Sure I can hang my hat at the old man's house but that isn't the point. Maybe I am wrong on this but I am still angry.
And now hockey, and two stories I want to address, the World Junior's and the lockout, or end of now.
The Canadian entry at the WJHC in Ufa was not that good. I am as big a supporter of Hockey Canada as others but this year's team was just lacking in a few areas, and those came to the forefront when it counted. I really felt outside of our top line, the forwards were not overly dangerous. As an opponent I would not be intimidated or fearful of much this team presented aside from the Nuge. For a top three pick, Jonathan Huberdeau was awful in my mind, Mark Scheifle didn't stand out as a seventh overall pick should have and for a guy supposedly being bantered about as a first overall pick, Nathan McKinnon was non - existent except for some undisciplined penalties. I get that he is 17 and played on the third/fourth line but if he was good enough to take overseas and as talented as they claim, he looked average to me. Surely we could have taken a bigger, stronger forward that could have provided us with as much as him.
A lot of people complained about Malcolm Subban. I tell you what, without Malcolm Subban we would have been third in our pool. He stole the round robin game against the American's and played really well against the Russian's in the preliminaries as well. The loss in the semi to the American's is not on him, rather those in front of him who turned the puck over at an alarmingly regular rate. The defence on this team was not up to our regular standards. They lacked that electric offensive, puck moving guy we have had in the past like Ryan Ellis, or Dion Phaneuf even. When you lack offense in the back end, the need to be reliable and solid at home is magnified. This group didn't have that shut down pairing as we are accustomed to. There is always next year in Sweden.
I don't want to seem like I am down on Hockey Canada as it is a thankless job who unless the gold medal is won never get respected. They do a lot of work and put in several hours all year, not simply in the month prior to the event with the invitations, camp and pre - tournament games.
In saying that, we didn't only finish fourth because our team was weaker than in the past, or because they weren't as sharp as they could have been. The rest of the world is simply getting better. And to be honest, I firmly believe a lot of them are using the Canadian model as the backbone of their development programs. We are not deteriorating as a hockey nation, the rest of the world is simply improving. Look no further than Switzerland as your example; four losses in OT to some very good hockey nations was a great showing for them. A bounce here and there and the Swiss would have been playing for a medal.
Lastly, the best team in the tournament won the tournament. The American's were fast, dangerous, solid at home and all that combined with a great performance from netminder John Gibson equated to success for them. Congrats to Phil Housley and all of USA Hockey on a well deserved championship.
I like many other hockey fans became very sour and jaded with the NHL in the past three plus months. The game was as good as it has ever been in many areas aside from simply the actual showing on the ice when labour issues lead to the lockout. That being said, waking up yesterday morning to the news that a tentative agreement was in place and once the deal is raitfied (presumable Wednesday) the puck will once again drop on January 19th was almost better than Christmas for me.
The return of the NHL comes at a great time. The NFL Play - off's will be over in a month which without the NHL meant either watch the NBA or hold out for the beginning of MLB in April or the return of the Riders in June. This really helps to fill in those open schedules, particularly now that I can look forward to putting the kids to bed, hitting the Lazy Boy, cracking a beverage and watching the second half of Hockey Night in Canada, or the Monday night after that always tough first day back being able to sit down with my daughter and son and listen to the soothing sounds of Chris Cuthbert call a game on TSN. I may have talked a big game but it was simply that; talk. I love the NHL and am pleased they will be back soon.
If I have an issue with what transpired yesterday it was Ron Hainsey telling a reporter that it was really the pension issue which served as the hill the players were willing to die on. Are you kidding me, the league minimum is $700, 000 and the average salary is $2.4 million dollars. That means the average player makes in a year what I will make in my career and you are worried about money after you are done? Put 10% away a year, play for ten years and without interest you are sitting on over two million dollars. Come on!
It doesn't matter, it is over, and short of the ratification vote, signed, sealed and delivered.
As for the season that will transpire, a 48 game season will really put the honus on playing every game like it counts. Teams cannot afford to go through a eight to twelve game dry - spell as it will all but doom you. In that sense it will possibly make the game more exciting to watch as it could be very much like play - off hockey for the next five months. At the same time it could very well mean teams who deserve to make the second season won't and those that perhaps shouldn't qualify may very well sneak in.
As an Oiler's fan I really think they are in a good position given that the core of their young talent pool (Eberle, Hall and Schultz) have been playing in the AHL and at a very high level at that. Dubnyk played great at the Spengler Cup and most have been skating or playing some sort of professional hockey during this time. In a shortened season, where it will be a sprint from that start rather than the marathon that it usually becomes, the youth of the organziation could very well see them enter the dance for the Stanley Cup when all is said and done. I don't hold my breath on them being the last team standing, but I do think they get a ticket to the party, or at least hope they do.
Later,
HM
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Tuesday's Thoughts
YUCK! That one word is what most New York Jets fans went through last night. The feeling was probably doubly worse this morning as they woke up realizing they couldn't even drink their way into thinking the Jets were still of any relevance and now not only had to deal with the hangover of all hangovers, but also the realization that they are a mess.
Last night Tennessee's nineteen yard punt from their own end zone essentially gave the Jets a golden opportunity to steal a victory and maintain any hopes of a play - off berth. Ultimately, Mark Sanchez, the worst QB in the NFL proceeded to fumble the snap and turn the ball over. All this after ending the previous two offensive possessions with interceptions, including one inside the Titan's ten yard line.
Mark Sanchez has never been good. He has never put up good numbers. The only reason the Jets made it to two AFC Championships in the last three years was on the shoulders of that defence. Rex Ryan thought bringing in Tebow would be a benefit to his club. All he truly accomplished was it forced Sanchez into competition with a guy who honestly and truly would be just as accurate with his right hand. That was the straw that broke the camel's relatively weak back. A bad QB became a horrible QB, all the while Rex Ryan maintained his faith and confidence in a guy while at the same time never once giving Tim Tebow a shot. News that Greg McElroy will start this week means a couple of things for me:
(1) Rex has finally admitted, or been told, he was wrong. His career with the Jets will come to an end shortly after the season ends in two weeks time;
(2) Mark Sanchez will not be back with the Jets. They will give him the 8 million guaranteed he has coming to him in 2013 but there is no way they can even hope to move forward with Sanchez under centre; and,
(3) Tim Tebow has presumably become irrelevant as quickly as he rose to stardom.
Never been a Jets fan, always disliked the cocky and brash demeanor of Rex Ryan. This could not happen to a better guy.
Sticking with the NFL, I don't know who the fellow was but an ESPN television host has been suspended after more or less shaming RGIII publicly for being seen with a white woman. Uhm, it's the 21st century, we (society)are ok with this. RGIII is not Uncle Tom; he is a great QB who has a bright future in this league and he may or may not have a white girlfriend. I forget who said it yesterday on OTR but he said it best, they were wrong to suspend him; he should have been fired. I can't say I disagree.
The NHL and NHLPA continue to act like a couple of three year olds arguing over the last cookie in the jar. Guys, you both have LOTS of cookies. Furthermore, continue to bicker for much longer and the amount of cookies available will be less than ever. Neither side seems to realize that many have become so disenchanted with this league that most rinks will be empty when, or if, they ever hash out a deal.
Kent Austin is back in the CFL. Plenty of debate amongst Rider fans on this hiring; some say they love the fact he is back in the league, some say they are heart broken. I could care less. Sure Austin coached us to a Grey Cup title and lead us to one as a player in 1989. That is all irrelevant. Austin chose to leave the 'nation' after 2007 and has now decided to return to the CFL. I think the fact Hamilton gave him complete control of football and presumably a healthy salary helped but regardless, Kent Austin owes the Saskatchewan Roughriders nothing, not one single thing. Those that bitch they would rather have him as their coach than Corey Chamblin, go cheer for the Ti - Cats. In fact move out east and stop belly aching.
BIG curling night at the Norquay Curling Club as the undefeated Evan Rostotski rink (a team more or less being carried by third Heath Morin, yes that's me) look to run their record to a perfect 3 - 0. First rock at 7:30, first pop at 7:15. Is there anything these guys can't do? I can see this rink becoming the New York Yankees of regular curling; love them or hate them, you all wish you were them.
OUT!
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Tuesday's Tidbits
Been a week but I haven't forgot about you my loyal followers.
Obviously the story of the weekend was the atrocity that took place in Kansas City with Chiefs LB Javon Belcher. I don't want to go into a lot of here as it is one of those things where really no matter what you say could be misconstrued and taken as something it was never intended to be. I will say this, Javon Belcher was obviously troubled somewhere. You don't shoot the mother of your child nine times and then go thank your bosses for all they did for you just to turn around and take your own life. A terrible series of events, the worst of which, that must never be forgotten is that the death of Belcher and his girlfriend made an instant orphan of a three month old baby girl.
If you watched Football Night in America Sunday, Bob Costas paraphrased an article from a reporter in Kansas City who more or less said that American gun regulations are partially responsible for this. While guns may provide you with a greater sense of security, they also lead to unnecessary acts of violence such as this one. Sad, unfortunate, unfathomable yet entirely real.
On to a more positive note regarding the NFL, I hadn't really had much of an opportunity to watch a lot of football this year but was lucky enough to catch the Redskins in Prime Time the last two weeks. RGIII is a stud! The kid has a lightning quick release, has the same acceleration as Adrian Peterson and is just an all around talent. He, along with Alfred Morris have helped pull the once might Redskins from the shallows of mediocrity to a relevance and a force to be reckoned with in the NFC. We all knew they were on the right track but they may even sneak into the dance this year. Good for Washington, that city has been craving a quality football team since the mid 90's.
If you want my personal take on the NFL; anyone can win the Superbowl. I see no clear cut favorite in either the NFC or AFC. Before you point the finger to the fact that both the Texans and Falcons are 11 - 1, I say the Falcons have stumbled in the play -off's the last three years despite good records and the Texans, for what it is worth have played a whooping two play - off games...EVER.
The greatest time of the year to be a hockey fan is nearly upon us. There is nothing better than to couple the Xmas season with a frosty brew and the WJHC. While we have to listen to Gord Miller (who personally annoys me by the three minute mark of the 1st period) the hockey is tremendous. I never think twice to be up at 5:00 to watch the Canadians lives. There is just something to be said about watching it while it happens. Sure one could watch the replay but by then the social media has inundated you with the score, stats and the number of gallons of water used by the zamboni.
So the invites are out, and as always I look at the list and to steal a line from the cinematic phenomenon that was Major League; the construction workers are reading the roster of the Indians and one say's "Who the F%#k are these guys?" Well that's me for most players outside of the WHL, and even then there are some questions. Regardless here is what you need to know no matter who makes the final cut. We will by physical, very physical. We will get called for penalties that should not be; just because a rugged D-man who spends the summer flipping cows and chucking bales catches little Mikko from Finland with his head down does not mean a two minute charging call is necessary. Inevitbaly one line will gel and absolutely scare the bejeezus out of opponents (See Tavares and Eberle; Heatley and Cammalleri; Lindros and Mike Craig, etc) and we will be there in the end. We will finish 1st or 2nd in our pool, play in a Semi - Final and walk away with a medal. That my friends is one of the perks of being a Canadian hockey fan; we seem to be the only nation who never struggles.
In my twenty plus years of watching this tournament, only once, 1995 did we struggle. That year we finished eighth, including a loss to Kazakhstan. That was terrible but had nothing to do with the talent on the ice, rather the chemistry that existed.
Oh and talks continue with the NHL in regards to their lockout; is there still even hope for a season? Walk away...scrap the season...teach them all a lesson. I said this months ago, Donald Fehr will ruin hockey as he nearly did baseball. Good hire by the PA...a guy who has no problems holding a season and a league hostage to make himself look good. For Christmas I hope he gets a big ol'.....waith this is PG 14. Use your imagination but he won't be recieving the family photo complete with Christmas card and letter from the Morin clan.
Later, must go prepare. Tonight is step #1 in my journey to the Brier. Regular Curling at the Norquay Curling Rink...Team Rostotski on the ice at 730. The arrival of Vic Rauter is still up in the air.
Obviously the story of the weekend was the atrocity that took place in Kansas City with Chiefs LB Javon Belcher. I don't want to go into a lot of here as it is one of those things where really no matter what you say could be misconstrued and taken as something it was never intended to be. I will say this, Javon Belcher was obviously troubled somewhere. You don't shoot the mother of your child nine times and then go thank your bosses for all they did for you just to turn around and take your own life. A terrible series of events, the worst of which, that must never be forgotten is that the death of Belcher and his girlfriend made an instant orphan of a three month old baby girl.
If you watched Football Night in America Sunday, Bob Costas paraphrased an article from a reporter in Kansas City who more or less said that American gun regulations are partially responsible for this. While guns may provide you with a greater sense of security, they also lead to unnecessary acts of violence such as this one. Sad, unfortunate, unfathomable yet entirely real.
On to a more positive note regarding the NFL, I hadn't really had much of an opportunity to watch a lot of football this year but was lucky enough to catch the Redskins in Prime Time the last two weeks. RGIII is a stud! The kid has a lightning quick release, has the same acceleration as Adrian Peterson and is just an all around talent. He, along with Alfred Morris have helped pull the once might Redskins from the shallows of mediocrity to a relevance and a force to be reckoned with in the NFC. We all knew they were on the right track but they may even sneak into the dance this year. Good for Washington, that city has been craving a quality football team since the mid 90's.
If you want my personal take on the NFL; anyone can win the Superbowl. I see no clear cut favorite in either the NFC or AFC. Before you point the finger to the fact that both the Texans and Falcons are 11 - 1, I say the Falcons have stumbled in the play -off's the last three years despite good records and the Texans, for what it is worth have played a whooping two play - off games...EVER.
The greatest time of the year to be a hockey fan is nearly upon us. There is nothing better than to couple the Xmas season with a frosty brew and the WJHC. While we have to listen to Gord Miller (who personally annoys me by the three minute mark of the 1st period) the hockey is tremendous. I never think twice to be up at 5:00 to watch the Canadians lives. There is just something to be said about watching it while it happens. Sure one could watch the replay but by then the social media has inundated you with the score, stats and the number of gallons of water used by the zamboni.
So the invites are out, and as always I look at the list and to steal a line from the cinematic phenomenon that was Major League; the construction workers are reading the roster of the Indians and one say's "Who the F%#k are these guys?" Well that's me for most players outside of the WHL, and even then there are some questions. Regardless here is what you need to know no matter who makes the final cut. We will by physical, very physical. We will get called for penalties that should not be; just because a rugged D-man who spends the summer flipping cows and chucking bales catches little Mikko from Finland with his head down does not mean a two minute charging call is necessary. Inevitbaly one line will gel and absolutely scare the bejeezus out of opponents (See Tavares and Eberle; Heatley and Cammalleri; Lindros and Mike Craig, etc) and we will be there in the end. We will finish 1st or 2nd in our pool, play in a Semi - Final and walk away with a medal. That my friends is one of the perks of being a Canadian hockey fan; we seem to be the only nation who never struggles.
In my twenty plus years of watching this tournament, only once, 1995 did we struggle. That year we finished eighth, including a loss to Kazakhstan. That was terrible but had nothing to do with the talent on the ice, rather the chemistry that existed.
Oh and talks continue with the NHL in regards to their lockout; is there still even hope for a season? Walk away...scrap the season...teach them all a lesson. I said this months ago, Donald Fehr will ruin hockey as he nearly did baseball. Good hire by the PA...a guy who has no problems holding a season and a league hostage to make himself look good. For Christmas I hope he gets a big ol'.....waith this is PG 14. Use your imagination but he won't be recieving the family photo complete with Christmas card and letter from the Morin clan.
Later, must go prepare. Tonight is step #1 in my journey to the Brier. Regular Curling at the Norquay Curling Rink...Team Rostotski on the ice at 730. The arrival of Vic Rauter is still up in the air.
Monday, November 26, 2012
At Least it Wasn't the Stamps..
While I found it hard to really get excited about the 100th Grey Cup yesterday (it tends to be that way without the Riders) I found myself pleased to have put the hammer and tools down to watch the game. I would also like to thank Mrs. Morin for allowing me the opportunity to put the renovations in the downstairs office on hold so I could watch the game and have a cold one. Anyways, back to the game. My Rider Pride is evident, and to me the greatest rival we have, or at least the team I hate losing to the most is Calgary. Watching them get beaten everywhere on the Rogers Centre turf yesterday really made an otherwise disappointing season bearable.
The Argos kicked them around from beginning to end and I loved it. Having watched them for years, their cockiness and overly inflated egos have gotten to be something that riles me up like few others can. Their pre - game introduction was enough to turn the non - biased fan into an Argo lover almost instantly. Those guys are ultra annoying when they simply catch an eight yard out, imagine had they actually won? For that I personally thank the entire Toronto Argonaut organization with an empahsis on Chad Kackert, Ricky Ray and D Coordinator Chris Jones.
The only bad thing about Toronto winning was Kevin Glenn not winning. The guy has been a warrior for years and a player I truly respect. He got his chance finally and really he and his team weren't sharp at all. I would like to see Glenn get a ring someday; I just hope he doesn't do it in a Stamps uniform.
So the last two Grey Cups have been won by the host team...here's hoping for the trifecta in 2013.
I will admit I have my moments of weakness but who saw Morehead State's men's basketball coach go off last week on one of his players. From what I saw, the kid fouled out and was a little slow coming off the court. The coach then lost it, berating the kid for what seemed like an eternity. And just when you think he was done, he went back and gave him some more. The kid looked close to tears and I can't help but think it was all he could do NOT to drive him into next week.
The NHL continues to....well they still exist and that is about it. The news of the weekend was not the discussions or lack of but rather the absolute idiocy of Chicago Blackhawks forward Dave Bolland, who re - tweeted a tweet that openly supported the idea of Gary Bettman being killed. Are you honestly that stupid Dave Bolland? You know this twitter thing is pretty big right? You know somebody might read it and not find it funny, appropriate or necessary, right?
Clearly sometimes pro athletes are such morons. Last week Nik Lewis tweets about OJ glove's and such and now this. I am so sick of the "I never meant to....really regret it..." Come on, yes you are human but part of being human means you have a brain. THINK about it; you guys have thousands of followers; these poor judgements are going to resurface.
If you want to watch a compelling show about life in the WHL, check out Sportsnet's show "On the Edge". The program looks at the Saskatoon Blades season as they prepare to host the Memorial Cup in May. The first episdoe ended with Head Coach and GM Lorne Molleken having to release a twenty year old simply due to numbers. The player, Molleken and three others were in the room at the time and not a dry eye in the room as the young fella walked out. My heart broke for the kid but also for Molleken having to be the one to break the news to him. How do you tell a kid in his final year, we can't make room for you...tough job; great show.
Watching it reminds me of a story my buddy told me about playing Jr. Hockey. Long story short as his team is getting berated for playing a little too softly, my friend, head down in his hands takes the garbage can to the head after it was kicked by a steaming mad coach. Apparently his line was all of a sudden not so bad. Junior Hockey is full of great characters and even better stories. If you ever get a chance to talk to someone who has that experience; soak it up as there are hours of great tales to be told.
My final thoughts today...please, please please have a better half - time show next year. We will be cold already; you may as well not compound that problem with a pre - pubescent high pitched pretty boy OR if you do, make sure he wears the same muscle shirt. A horrible half - time show in Toronto but a good ending. Wonder if Eric Tillman tuned in to check it out? You think he would like to take back that trade which essentially was a Grey Cup champion for the third string QB on a team that BARELY squeaked into the dance? But he will be a GM again, right?
Canora Flames in action tonight at 9:00...check it out. Brick and I will be mucking it up on the fourth line.
Later.....
The Argos kicked them around from beginning to end and I loved it. Having watched them for years, their cockiness and overly inflated egos have gotten to be something that riles me up like few others can. Their pre - game introduction was enough to turn the non - biased fan into an Argo lover almost instantly. Those guys are ultra annoying when they simply catch an eight yard out, imagine had they actually won? For that I personally thank the entire Toronto Argonaut organization with an empahsis on Chad Kackert, Ricky Ray and D Coordinator Chris Jones.
The only bad thing about Toronto winning was Kevin Glenn not winning. The guy has been a warrior for years and a player I truly respect. He got his chance finally and really he and his team weren't sharp at all. I would like to see Glenn get a ring someday; I just hope he doesn't do it in a Stamps uniform.
So the last two Grey Cups have been won by the host team...here's hoping for the trifecta in 2013.
I will admit I have my moments of weakness but who saw Morehead State's men's basketball coach go off last week on one of his players. From what I saw, the kid fouled out and was a little slow coming off the court. The coach then lost it, berating the kid for what seemed like an eternity. And just when you think he was done, he went back and gave him some more. The kid looked close to tears and I can't help but think it was all he could do NOT to drive him into next week.
The NHL continues to....well they still exist and that is about it. The news of the weekend was not the discussions or lack of but rather the absolute idiocy of Chicago Blackhawks forward Dave Bolland, who re - tweeted a tweet that openly supported the idea of Gary Bettman being killed. Are you honestly that stupid Dave Bolland? You know this twitter thing is pretty big right? You know somebody might read it and not find it funny, appropriate or necessary, right?
Clearly sometimes pro athletes are such morons. Last week Nik Lewis tweets about OJ glove's and such and now this. I am so sick of the "I never meant to....really regret it..." Come on, yes you are human but part of being human means you have a brain. THINK about it; you guys have thousands of followers; these poor judgements are going to resurface.
If you want to watch a compelling show about life in the WHL, check out Sportsnet's show "On the Edge". The program looks at the Saskatoon Blades season as they prepare to host the Memorial Cup in May. The first episdoe ended with Head Coach and GM Lorne Molleken having to release a twenty year old simply due to numbers. The player, Molleken and three others were in the room at the time and not a dry eye in the room as the young fella walked out. My heart broke for the kid but also for Molleken having to be the one to break the news to him. How do you tell a kid in his final year, we can't make room for you...tough job; great show.
Watching it reminds me of a story my buddy told me about playing Jr. Hockey. Long story short as his team is getting berated for playing a little too softly, my friend, head down in his hands takes the garbage can to the head after it was kicked by a steaming mad coach. Apparently his line was all of a sudden not so bad. Junior Hockey is full of great characters and even better stories. If you ever get a chance to talk to someone who has that experience; soak it up as there are hours of great tales to be told.
My final thoughts today...please, please please have a better half - time show next year. We will be cold already; you may as well not compound that problem with a pre - pubescent high pitched pretty boy OR if you do, make sure he wears the same muscle shirt. A horrible half - time show in Toronto but a good ending. Wonder if Eric Tillman tuned in to check it out? You think he would like to take back that trade which essentially was a Grey Cup champion for the third string QB on a team that BARELY squeaked into the dance? But he will be a GM again, right?
Canora Flames in action tonight at 9:00...check it out. Brick and I will be mucking it up on the fourth line.
Later.....
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Back at er'
After a very long and drawn out absence I am back. Thanks to my loyal followers who reminded me that they did read this from time to time.
Let's start with MLB. The season is a meagre five months away but I can't recall being this excited about baseball in a long time. We're Canadian and we are supposed to cheer for Canadian teams but ever since Joe Carter took Mitch Williams deep in 1993 to claim the Jays second consecutive World Series crown, it has been tough to be a fan of this club.
The deal they made with the Marlins on Tuesday, aside from including many more players, reminds me a lot of the Fernandez/McGriff to the Padres for Alomar/Carter deal. That deal put the Jays over that proverbial hump. While they play in the toughest division in baseball, and possibly all of sports for that matter, they have made a statement. They are serious about bringing a competitive team to Toronto and are willing to spend money if necessary.
They weren't going to fill any holes in their rotation via free agency. The only pitchers of any value, Annibal Sanchez (too much $$$ for the return) and Zach Grienke (openly stating he did not want to be a Blue Jay) meant a trade was their best option. It is early but if the injury bug takes off, unlike last year, this rotation could be as good as they come in the bigs. Johnson, Buehrle, Morrow and Romero are a great front four. Granted, Romero needs to return to form as does Johnson. As of Sunday, J.A. Happ was looking to be the third man in the rotation. As of today he will be in a dog fight just to grab a spot.
Never mind they brought in Jose Reyes. He along with Bonifacio and Gose will steal bases at a considerable rate. That should set up nicely for the like of Bautista, Encarnacion and Lawrie.
Look I get it is November and a lot can happen, but the one thing the Jays have built through this, and other transactions is a culture of never resorting to mediocrity.
The other team involved in that trade have in the past few days, come across, at least in my opinion as fraudulent and shameful. The City of Miami agrees ot build this very elaborate and fancy new stadium with a bill of more than $600M and in return they were very active in trying to improve their club and build a potential winner to play in front of the fans of Miami who essentially flipped the bill for this thing. One year and a few bumps in the road later, everyone is gone and the team that will take the field in April will be a who's who of minor league players with next to no hope of being a winner anytime soon. It's a shame really.
The NHL; what a bunch of greedy, selfish, self absorbed individuals. And I am speaking about the players. I have never in my life tried to come across as pro - management but when it comes to this lockout, the players and their fearless leader, Donald Fehr sour me more and more daily. Find me another business where the employees are paid as much or more than the owners. There argument that there wouldn't be a game without them is bogus. There are thousands of players around the world who would love to play, and would play for a percentage of what these guys feel they need to be paid.
At the end of the day, Donald Fehr is going to do what he did to baseball, nearly cripple the sport and leave them (the players) with an uphill battle in terms of winning back the hearts, and more importantly dollars of the fans who keep them employed. At this point, I could do without a season. Not because I don't like hockey but because I don't want to see these greedy bastards get what they believe they are entitled to.
One thing that does not help the cause is the fact the TSN, Sportsnet and other major sports networks continue to talk about the lockout daily. Shut up already! Don't give them an audience and soon enough nobody will care anymore. Prove to these guys that the world does NOT revolve around them; it might change their tune pretty quickly.
And now on to my beloved Riders. I love the Riders, I live the Riders and watching Romby Bryant sprint down the field on Sunday just about broke my heart; seriously. A big hug from Mrs. Morin was needed to console me.
Before I provide you my thoughts on the team, let me get something off my chest. The number of part time fans who stab this team in the back during the bad times but quickly jump back on the wagon during the good makes me sick. A true fan sticks with them....good and bad, win or lose.
One of my BIGGEST frustrations all year long was the tendency to blame every loss, or bump in the road on Darian Durant. Darian Durant is a marquee QB; Darian Durant WILL win us a Grey Cup (Hopefully next year at the madhouse that is Mosaic) and the effor the put in on Sunday proved that. Get off his back; he is the third best QB we have ever had, and in time he could supplant Kent Austin as number two behind only the Little General.
Offensively, we have many of the tools needed to be a high powered juggernaut similar to a couple of years ago. Kory Sheets is as good as a back as I have seen dawn the Green and White; fast, elusive and determined. Weston Dressler is a treat to watch week in, week out. Greg Carr gave the Rider Nation a lot of optimisim with his performance on Sunday in Calgary. Chris Getzlaf had an off year and will need to rebound. An effective Getzlaf and hopefully a healthy Rob Bagg can only improve things for next year. A guy I noticed made plays when given the chance was Brooks Foster; given the chance I think this guy can contribute. He didn't make many catches but those he did were more than 50% of the time for first down yeardage.
Jock Sanders was a STUD. A healthy Sanders provides us with a triple threat similar to Chad Owens in Toronto. He makes us much better and more dynamic on the offensive side of the ball.
Odell Willis is a bum; plain and simple. The man can dance as he demonstrated every home game. That being said he appeared allergic to the QB in the second half of the season and he can't take criticism. My friends and twitter followers can confirm that. In my opinion don't bring this headache back. We can get six sacks and less annoying antics out of several.
Defensively I really liked the way they adjusted as the year went on. They realized upgrades were needed and the likes of Joe Lobendahn and Diamond Ferri truly helped. I can only hope these guys are back in the fold come June. Macho Harris, the rookie DB out of Virginia Tech was a guy I really liked on Sunday. He and Maze on the corners would be an upgrade over this year. Tristan Jackson is a more than capable fill in on the corner as well, and his value as a returner makes him a guy we should bring back.
As for who can go? James Patrick was a BUST; zero picks and some of the worst tackling I have seen. I would also not be heart broken to see Eddie Russ and Chris Mackenzie be looking for employment next year. These guys were very inconsistent and when they were bad, they were awful whether it be blown coverage, horrific tackling or dumb penalites I felt they did more to hurt than help.
The Rider Nation loves Richie Hall. Sometimes you have to let good things go. He is a hell of a nice guy but his defense cost us games this year on too many occasions. All allegiances aside, he is not the best fit as our D Coordinator and I can only hope that Chamblin can bring the right guy in. While our D was ranked second when we stunk we stunk. When we needed a play, we couldn't get it. It seemed like 2nd and long was a sure thing for the opposition. Just my thoughts.
That's it. Enjoy.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
I Apologize.
I realized that it had been a while since I updated this blog; week two of the CFL season to be exact. I never gave it much thought until the last few days when two people questioned why I hadn't updated it in a while. To be honest I thought there was no interest in it anymore but since there is I am excited to resurrect the open forum for my views, opinions and insights.
Look for an update by the end of the week. Topics will include the Riders; a reflection of 2012 and a look ahead to 2013, the MASSIVE trade the Jays and Marlins swung yesterday, some NFL thoughts and a rant on why I have had about enough of the NHL.
Later,
HM
Look for an update by the end of the week. Topics will include the Riders; a reflection of 2012 and a look ahead to 2013, the MASSIVE trade the Jays and Marlins swung yesterday, some NFL thoughts and a rant on why I have had about enough of the NHL.
Later,
HM
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