text:
An early-week smorgas-bored…and happy hockeying everybody…
And so it begins Wednesday night, a modified National Hockey League crusade featuring fewer games, expanded rosters, a Hoser Division, and a killer pandemic.
Make no mistake, this NHL do-si-do shall boogie along to the whims and cadence of COVID-19, which has already put the Dallas Stars in drydock and isn't likely to play favorites. We can expect more of same, and you can only hope the coronavirus doesn't take its biggest bite out of your hockey heroes.
We've seen how it works, of course, thanks to other leagues.
Every quarterback with a pulse on the Denver Broncos roster was sacked. The Cleveland Browns lost three coaches and four players in advance of their National Football League playoff skirmish v. the Pittsburgh Steelers. It took Tony Romo out of the CBS Sports blurt box. Etcetera, etcetera.
In short, COVID-19 has taken down more NFL players than Michael Strahan, Mean Joe Greene, Reggie White and Dick Butkus in their best years. Combined.
Over in the National Basketball Association, the Boston Celtics-Miami Heat joust was called off Sunday when there weren't enough healthy bodies to put a team on the hardwood. Two games were called off Monday. The Philly 76ers had the minimum of eight players available for their match v. the Denver Nuggets. The Dallas Mavericks closed their practice facility. Etcetera, etcetera.
So, really, all bets should be off before they drop the puck on the 2021 NHL season, even as Vegas bookies are offering odds on a Stanley Cup champion (the Winnipeg Jets, for those so inclined, were listed at 40/1 on Bodog last time I looked).
Similarly, it's folly to engage in the reading of tea leaves and/or tarot cards.
That's Gordie Tumilson, middle front row, beside Bobby Hull.
I mean, go ahead and toss out pre-play predictions if you like, but if COVID-19 were to slay Connor Hellebuyck and Laurent Brossoit, I don't like the Jets playoff chances with a Zamboni driver in the blue paint and Gordie Tumilson as backup.
That's no rap against old friend and former teammate Gordie, by the way. He's one of my favorite people, but I'm guessing the reflexes aren't quite as rapier-like as when he stopped rubber for the West Kildonan North Stars in 1969-70 and the Jets a few years later.
Thus, there shall be no prognostications from moi, except to say I expect the Toronto Maple Leafs to top the Hoser Division. (Then, as is their custom, they'll be excused in the opening round of Beard Season.) Otherwise, it's a complete crap shoot that, again, shall follow the dictates of COVID, whether we like it or not.
Let's just call it the COVID19-2021 season.
The gang at NHL.com wasn't shy about delivering predictions, and six of 15 observers believe the Jets have the right stuff to qualify for the Stanley Cup tournament. Adam Kimelman has the local lads finishing third, while Dave Stubbs, Shawn P. Roarke, Bill Price, Mike G. Morreale and Tracey Myers slot them in at fourth. USA Today, meanwhile, has the Jets penciled in for a sixth-place finish, ahead of only the Ottawa Senators.
Ray Ferraro
Here's what they're saying about the Jets hither and yon…
Ray Ferraro, TSN: "Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver, I've got those three kind of together (after Toronto, Montreal and Calgary). I'm not blown away by Winnipeg's defence. That's the one thing that gives me pause. But maybe one of those young guys is more ready than you think. Maybe you can climb a spot. Maybe you can put yourself in a different place. I don't know, is Hellebuyck gonna do that again this year, 'cause, man, he was the best goalie in the league last year. If he can, great. That erases a lot of the shortcomings perhaps of that defence."
Sean McIndoe, The Athletic: "The optimist's take on the Jets is that they were pretty good last year despite lots of doom and gloom about their thin blueline, then looked like a playoff team and only lost in the qualifying round because everyone got hurt. The pessimist would point out that 'pretty good' isn't all that great when you have a Vezina winner in goal, and the blueline isn't significantly better. If Connor Hellebuyck stands on his head again, cool. If he does like a lot of Vezina winners and regresses to the mean even a little, they might fall out of the playoff hunt. I realize 'they need their goalie to play well' is an insight that would apply to every team in the league, but it really applies to the Jets."
Greg Wyshynski, ESPN: "The Winnipeg Jets will ice another competitive team, backstopped by one of the league's elite netminders in Connor Hellebuyck. But as the team looks to push for another long playoff run, dark storm clouds are overhead, as trade rumors persist involving goal-scoring wizard Patrik Laine. (Paul) Stastny can't recapture the magic. On a contending team, Stastny is a valuable asset. He does a lot of the little things right that can make the difference in a playoff series. But the last time he was in Winnipeg, he was 32 years old and had a 0.65 points-per-game average between the Jets and Blues. Last season, in 71 games, that average dipped down to 0.54, the lowest of his career. Not a liability as a player, but maybe no longer the guy you want as your No. 2 centre. Then again, he did have impressive chemistry with (Nikolaj) Ehlers and Laine, so we could be wrong."
Joe Thornton
Random observations: I'm not convinced it's a given that the Ottawa Senators are destined to be Hoser Division bottom-feeders. Is it likely? Sure. Especially if bankroll Eugene Melnyk sticks his nose where it doesn't belong. Just don't sleep on them…The Montreal Canadiens are overrated. Ditto the Calgary Flames…When I submit that I expect the Maple Leafs to top the Hoser Division, it's based on a belief that aligning greybeard Joe Thornton with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner on the top line is a gimmick with a shelf life of about one week…How many people in the True North will pay attention to the standings south of the border? What the American teams do is irrelevant until the Stanley Cup tournament is down to the final four. So why tune in?…Just a reminder, the Jets were the last homebrew outfit to make it to the SC semifinals, in 2018. Seems like a decade ago, doesn't it?
The What Was Your First Clue Sherlock Award goes to the Drab Slab for this headline on the Jets playing in an empty Little Hockey House On The Prairie this season: "Bell MTS Place won't be same without fans." Ya think?
Mike Milbury
So, the other shoe has finally dropped for Mike Milbury, the former player, coach and GM most noted for clubbing a New York Rangers fan on the head with his footwear. NBC Sports has decided it can get along without Milbury's mumbled musings in the broadcast booth and/or studio this season, and they'll hand his mic to another defrocked NHL coach, Mike Babcock. No word on what Milbury plans to do with his free time, but apparently he'll begin a search for the real Space Needle. Hopefully, there'll be no women on site to "disrupt" his concentration.
Evander Kane and the infamous money phone.
Remember that money phone pic Evander Kane posted from Las Vegas during the 2012-13 NHL lockout? You know, the one with the stacks of American 100 dollar bills? Well, today old friend Evander is $26.8 million in the glue, and hands up anyone who's surprised to learn that he's in trouble again? Didn't think so. Kane, of course, isn't the first high-salaried athlete to squander a fortune, and he won't be the last. It's just that it's a particularly bad look for him, since a lot of the Jets faithful recall Kane flaunting his wealth with that money phone pic. Today he'd have to borrow a quarter to call someone who cares in Winnipeg, and that's sad.
Hayley Moore
Say, here's some good news: Add the name Hayley Moore to the growing list of women stepping into prominent positions in men's professional sports. The American Hockey League has recruited Hayley as its Vice President of Hockey Operations, and she'll be on the job early next month, once the National Women's Hockey League Isobel Cup tournament wraps up in Lake Placid. At present, she's president of the Boston Pride, after serving as team GM and deputy commissioner and director of player development for the NWHL.
There's a very good reason why copy editors exist: They can save a writer's bacon. Unfortunately, they were asleep on the rim when Steve Simmons of Postmedia Tranna filed this copy last weekend: "Yes, American hockey is pretty darn good," he wrote. "And no, that's not necessarily new. Twenty years ago, Sidney Crosby scored the Golden Goal in overtime. The opponent: Team USA, winner of the 1986 World Cup." D'oh! Twenty years ago, Crosby was in Junior High and the World Cup of Hockey didn't exist in 1986.
That reminds me of one of my worst gaffes, although not in a byline article. I referred to the Major League Baseball all-star game in July as the "annual Fall Classic." Gus Collins was on the sports desk that night at the Winnipeg Tribune, and he didn't catch the mistake. I noticed it at first light the following morning while eating breakfast. Scant seconds later, Gus was on the blower. "Did you see it?" he asked. To which I replied, "Sorry, Gus, I can't talk right now. I just choked on my Cheerios."
Donald Trump: No mulligans for you!
According to Maggie Haberman of the New York Times, Donald Trump is "gutted" over the PGA of America voting to remove its 2022 signature tournament from his Trump National golf course in Bedminster, N.J. Not to worry, Trumpsters. Apparently Rudy Giuliana is already on the case, arranging a press conference at a convenient Four Seasons Greenskeeper Shed, whereupon he will demand a mulligan for Trump and vow to challenge the vote in the highest Kangaroo Court he can find.
And, finally, golfers Gary Player and Annika Sorenstam accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Donald Trump last week, but New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, a one-time Trumpite, wants no part of the trinket. To get even for the betrayal, it's believed Trump stomped his feet, shook his tiny fists, and demanded his MAGA hat back.
Author pattidawnswanssonPosted on January 12, 2021 January 16, 2021 Categories SportsTags American Hockey League, Annika Sorenstam, Auston Matthews, Bell MTS Place, Bill Belichick, Bodog, Boston Celtics, Boston Pride, Calgary Flames, CBS Sports, Cleveland Browns, Connor Hellebuyck, COVID-19, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Broncos, Denver Nuggets, Dick Butkus, Donald Trump, ESPN, Evander Kane, Fall Classic, Gary Player, Gordie Tumilson, Greg Wyshynski, Hayley Moore, Isobel Cup, Joe Thornton, Las Vegas, Laurent Brossoit, MAGA hat, Maggie Haberman, Major League Baseball, Mean Joe Greene, Miami Heat, Michael Strahan, Mike Babcock, Mike Milbury, Mitch Marner, MLB all-star game, money phone, Montreal Canadiens, National Basketball Association, National Football League, National Hockey League, National Women's Hockey League, NBC Sports, New England Patriots, New York Times, NHL.com, Ottawa Senators, Philadelphia 76ers, Postmedia, Presidential Medal of Freedom, Ray Ferraro, Reggie White, Rudy Giuliani, Sean McIndoe, Sidney Crosby, Stanley Cup, Steve Simmons, The Athletic, Tony Romo, Trump National golf course, TSN, USA Hockey, West Kildonan North Stars, Winnipeg Jets, World Cup of Hockey, ZamboniLeave a comment on Let's talk about the NHL's COVID boogie…what they're saying about the Winnipeg Jets…one Mike drops the mic and another Mike picks it up…Citizen Kane's latest woes…the value of a good copy editor…and no mulligans for Trump
A one and a two—the second Sunday morning smorgas-bored of 2021…and the year's only going to get better, kids…
Oh, the humanity. CBS backup blurt box boy Boomer Esiason crapped on the Canadian Football League, and it was as if he'd peed on a Mountie's horse. During the Musical Ride.
I swear, we haven't heard this loud a hue and cry since Maggie Trudeau went clubbing with the Rolling Stones and hitched a late-night ride in Mick's limo.
If you missed it, Boomer worked the L.A. Rams-Arizona Cardinals skirmish last Sunday, a National Football League growler featuring former Winnipeg Blue Bombers backup quarterback, Grey Cup champion and resident party boy Chris Streveler. As it happened, Streveler hurled an ill-advised, second-quarter pass that was taken the other way for a pick-six by Roy Hill of the Rams.
Boomer Esiason in the Bow Wow Bungalow.
"What a horrific mistake by Reveler (sic), barked Boomer, who was keeping the broadcast booth seat warm for disabled talking head Tony Romo. "This isn't the Grey Cup. This isn't the CFL. You can't just take chances and throw the ball down the middle of the field and expect somebody not to come down with it. There's just no reason to throw the ball there."
Cue the outrage.
Players and coaches with the lived experience of actually suiting up in 12-man football took to social media and pounced on Boomer, like a panhandler spotting loose change on a sidewalk.
Many among the rabble and media pundits across the tundra also weighed in with wagging tongues and fingers, defending Rouge Football with the same fervor that Rudy Giuliani has Donald Trump's back (only without the black shoe polish dribbling down their faces and audible farting).
"That's a silly comment," one-time DB Davis Sanchez said of Boomer's cheap shot, in a natter with TSN's Kate Beirness that was meant to be a tsk-tsking of Esiason but instead detoured into a negative riff on the Arizona QB, leaving me to believe Streveler doesn't know how to bend down and tie his own boot laces, let alone fling a football.
"I get joy in watching guys in the CFL get a shot down there and succeed," Sanchez continued in his peculiar brand of English, "but when I'm looking at all the high-level quarterbacks we have in the CFL, Chris Streveler's not the guy I'm gonna put out there on display to represent the great quarterbacks we have in the CFL. They said that Chris Streveler, on the broadcast, was a star in Canada. Well, a little research may be necessary, Boomer. He wasn't a star. He's a star personality and a great athlete, but he was actually a backup quarterback. Actually, he was really the third-string quarterback, because when the quarterback got injured, instead of playing Chris Streveler at quarterback at the end of the season, they brought in a third-string quarterback, so he's a third-string quarterback."
Davis Sanchez
Way to keep it classy, Davis. Crap on one guy by taking an even bigger dump on the other guy.
Meantime, Sanchez' loud-squawking colleague at TSN, Kayla Grey, tweeted, "the CFL slander has to stop."
Or what? She'll lecture Boomer with her phony southern "y'alls" and "thangs" at 150 decibels or higher?
Look, Rouge Football boosterism is great. Been there, been doing that since the 1950s. But let's not get our knickers in a twist just because Boomer Esiason doesn't know Flutie Flakes from Corn Flakes.
I mean, what do you expect? He's an American, and most Americans couldn't find Winnipeg if you plunked them down at Portage and Main. Think about it. Have you ever noticed the look on a Jeopardy! contestant's face when the category is anything Canada? That's right, it's the same look a dog gets when it sees itself in the mirror for the first time. You know, head cocked to one side, blank stare, curious, no clue.
The difference, I suppose, is that it's funny when a dog does it, not so much when it's a high-salaried football analyst on national TV in the stooge role.
But, hey, we don't kick the dog for being dumb. We laugh, call him over, rub his head and tell him he's "such a good boy."
Well, you're such a good boy, Boomer. Now go play fetch and bring Tony Romo back.
Cris Collinsworth
Since I've mentioned Jeopardy!, if there's any category that contestants know less about than Canada, it's sports, a truism underscored on the game show last Thursday. The clue: "The announcers on NBC Sunday Night Football are Al Michaels and this former wide receiver." None of the three contestants buzzed in to say, "Who is Cris Collinsworth?" even though the one-time Cincinnati Bengals pass-catcher has been providing the backup vocals for Michaels on the Peacock Network since 2009. A lot of women can relate. They talk and talk and talk, but their husbands/boyfriends don't hear a word they say.
Phil Kessel
Now that you've asked, no, I don't believe pasting corporate logos on players' helmets or attaching corporate names to National Hockey League divisions is a sign that the apocalypse is nigh. Matter of fact, I fully expect to see brand names on jerseys before long, although it will be subtle as opposed to the vulgar, billboardish displays in European shinny or NASCAR. I actually think players ought to be allowed to sell themselves, like they do in tennis and golf. Phil Kessel could skate about the freeze with a Nathan's Fabulous Franks patch on his Arizona Coyotes jersey. Auston Matthews, first at the NHL pay window, could be sponsored by Brinks. The possibilities are unlimited.
My first year in baseball, each of us kids on the Melrose Park Little League team had an individual sponsor, with the company name displayed on the back, directly above our uni number. Mine was Red Patch Taxi. By the end of the season, the C and H in Patch had disappeared, so I was Red Pat Taxi, something that did not escape the notice of my mom. "Why do you always come home with such a dirty and torn uniform when your brothers' are clean?" she demanded to know one day. I had no answer. She washed my uniform, put it in my closet, and I got it dirty again.
Lasord Jr. and Lasorda Sr.
As one who has bled Dodgers blue since their final days as "Dem Bums" in Brooklyn, Tommy Lasorda became one of my all-time favorite characters in baseball, and his passing the other day at age 93 brought two things to mind—sound bites and the denial of his son's homosexuality.
First the sound bites. These are my two favorite quotes from the longtime Los Angeles manager:
"I walk into the clubhouse today and it's like walking into the Mayo Clinic. We have four doctors, three therapists and five trainers. Back when I broke in, we had one trainer who carried a bottle of rubbing alcohol, and by the seventh inning he'd already drunk it."
Prior to the 1988 World Series between L.A. and Oakland, Lasorda approached A's slugger Jose Canseco and said: "Jose, I just want you to know, if we don't win this thing I hope you guys do."
Now the gay son part. Most tributes to Lasorda were glowing in praise and completely ignored, or merely glossed over, his relationship with Tommy Jr., who died of complications from AIDS at age 33. A year after Tommy Jr.'s death in 1991, Lasorda Sr. told Peter Richmond of GQ magazine that his son "wasn't gay. No way. No way. I read that in a paper. I also read in that paper that a lady gave birth to a fuckin' monkey, too. That's not the fuckin' truth. That's not the truth." He also denied that Tommy Jr. had died of AIDS. When Tommy Jr. began chumming around with the Dodgers Glenn Burke, known to his teammates and others in Major League Baseball as gay, the outfielder was promptly banished to Oakland. Those are the kind of words and actions that keep young gay people in the closet. Still.
Justin Thomas is another reason why gay youth remain hidden. The world No. 3 golfer coughed up a hairball on a five-foot par putt at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii on Saturday, then expressed his annoyance by dropping the homophobic F-bomb. "It's not who I am. It's not the kind of person that I am," he insisted while delivering a mea culpa. Except he went on to say it was only "when I was done with my round" that he realized he'd spewed the slur. That suggests this wasn't a one-off. It's just the first time he was caught on mic.
Tip of the bonnet No. 1: To Lance Hornby, who last week reached the 40-year signpost of scribbling boffo shinny stuff on the sports pages of the Toronto Sun. There are a lot of good people in jock journalism, and Lance certainly is one of them.
Tip of the bonnet No. 2: To Team USA's Theresa Feaster, the first female to be part of a coaching staff to win the World Junior Hockey Championship. Asked by Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic what message she has for mothers with young daughters, Feaster said: "Work hard and keep dreaming. Don't let naysayers or obstacles get in your way. You can achieve great things. Put your head down and work hard. You can accomplish great things." Exactly.
On the subject of ponytails and pucks, members of the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association spent the past three days in Florida, playing teenage boys from the United States Premier Hockey League. The women opened with a 5-3 win v. Tampa Bay Juniors, then dropped a 4-2 verdict to the South Shore Kings and absorbed a 5-zip whupping from the Philadelphia Hockey Club. It pains me to say it, but losing to teenage boys won't convince many people that Ponytail Puck is worth buying into.
MeTV is showing classic cartoons every morning, Monday-Saturday, with all the usual suspects—Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Popeye and Bluto, Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner, etc. What, there wasn't enough violence on TV already?
After 15 years together, Mookie Betts of the L.A. Dodgers has finally asked his childhood sweetheart Brianna Hammonds for her hand in matrimony. Talk about a human rain delay.
No surprise that there was plenty of political/social commentary from jock journos in the wake of the siege on the Capitol in Washington, D.C., last week, and I'm not one of those people who expect them to "stick to sports." I figure if they have a platform, use it. And did they ever. Examples:
Damien Cox of the Toronto Star called Rudy Giuliani a "moron" and Donald Trump "the Orange Clown," then attacked Ontario health officials and the government for allowing the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators to set up shop for the NHL season.
"WHY CAN THE NHL PLAY IN ONTARIO WHEN NONE OF US CAN PLAY A SPORT—ANY SPORT—INDOORS???" went his Twitter rant.
"Share your pain Damo," Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette moaned in concert. "Had to cancel my tennis after QC locked down this week and my gym has been closed since March."
Donald Trump in full incite mode.
Jack Todd of the Gazette on Trump: "One of the worst human beings who ever lived. Any country, any era. Given enough time and power, he would have gone into the history books with Hitler, Stalin and Caligula."
Bob Irving, CJOB: "As I anxiously await this weekend's NFL wildcard games, I also anxiously await the day when we're not hearing about or talking about the worst human being to ever lead the most powerful country in the free world."
Ken Campbell, The Hockey News: "Hockey icon Bobby Orr endorsed Donald Trump two months ago. Now it's time for him to repudiate the man who incited the violence and anarchy that was unleashed on the U.S. Capitol Wednesday."
Mad Mike McIntyre, the Drab Slab: "This is the America Trump created. This is the America Trump wanted. History will never forget that U.S. President Donald Trump said "we love you" today to a group of armed domestic terrorists who dropped pipe bombs and stormed the U.S. Capitol in his name (leaving at least one woman dead) while also calling them "very special."
Troy Westwood, 1290 TSN: "Donald Trump has been a horrible human being his entire adult life. His history is well documented. Yet tens of millions of people line up behind him as if he has the virtues of Jesus Christ. Please Trumpsters, Christians, Evangelicals, explain this to me."
Terry Jones, Postmedia Edmonton, after the Americans won gold at the World Junior Hockey Championship: "At least the USA has a fine group of young men with gold medals around their necks to be proud of today. Hard to believe they're from the same country as those that were part of the mob in Washington, D.C."
And finally, Space X guy Elon Musk is now richest man on the planet, with a worth of $188.5 billion. Just wondering: Do you think he'd be interested in bankrolling a quirky, three-downs football league? I really don't want to go another year without watching all those Rouge Football quarterbacks that Boomer Esiason thinks are lousy because they throw the ball down the middle of the field.
Author pattidawnswanssonPosted on January 10, 2021 January 11, 2021 Categories SportsTags Al Michaels, Arizona Cardinals, Arizona Coyotes, Auston Matthews, Bluto, Bob Irving, Boomer Esiason, Brianna Hammonds, Brinks, Bugs Bunny, Canadian Football League, CBS, Chris Streveler, Cincinnati Bengals, CJOB, Cris Collinsworth, Daffy Duck, Damien Cox, Davis Sanchez, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Flutie Flakes, Fluto Shinzawa, gay, Glenn Burke, Grey Cup, Jack Todd, Jeopardy!, Jesus Christ, Jose Canseco, Kate Beirness, Kayla Grey, Ken Campbell, Lance Hornby, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Rams, Major League Baseball, Mayo Clinic, Mike McIntyre, Montreal Gazette, Mookie Betts, Nathan's Franks, National Football League, National Hockey League, NBC, Oakland Athletics, Pat Hickey, Phil Kessel, Philadelphia Hockey Club, Popeye, Portage and Main, Postmedia, Professional Women's Hockey Players Association, Roy Hill, Rudy Giuliani, South Shore Kings, Space X, Tampa Bay Juniors, Terry Jones, The Athletic, The Hockey News, the Roadrunner, Theresa Feaster, Tommy Lasorda, Tommy Lasorda Jr., Toronto Star, Toronto Sun, Troy Westwood, TSN, TSN 1290, United States Premier Hockey League, Wile E. Coyote, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Winnipeg Free Press, world junior hockey championship, World Series1 Comment on Let's talk about Boomer and Rouge Football…Cris who?…ads on NHL unis…homophobia on the diamond and golf course…sticking to sports…and other things on my mind
Top o' the morning to you, Patrik Laine, or as I call you, Puck Finn.
So much for that gag order, eh kid?
Patrik Laine
I mean, the Winnipeg Jets wanted you to stuff a sock in it on Day One of their training exercises, but there you were on the witness stand on Monday, with news snoops poking and probing and expecting you to confess, like a shifty-eyed scofflaw crumbling under a withering Perry Mason cross-examination.
"Okay! Okay! I admit it! I admit it! I want out of this hellhole of a town!" they expected you to say.
Then, again, perhaps some of them were looking for the exact opposite.
"You've got it all wrong! You've got it all wrong! I love this city! I love the Jets! There's no place I'd rather be! Don't you remember what I said about Winnipeg in The Players' Tribune?"
Either way, you didn't crumble, did you, Patty?
Oh, there were moments when you had the look of a fidgety guy battling a fresh batch of hemorrhoids, rocking from one butt cheek to the other in considerable discomfort, but you gave them nothing more than a pocketful of hem and haw. Three times your interrogators demanded to know if you desire a new postal code, and three times you answered like a politician trying to justify a Christmas vacation on foreign soil during a pandemic.
"I'm here, aren't I?" was your dismissive parry to their initial thrust.
You then went on to invoke the name Wayne Gretzky, reminding all assembled for the Zoom natter that even the Great One was not so great that he went the distance in one locale. And, hey, if the Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers could learn to live without No. 99, surely the Winnipeg Jets would get along without you and your 30-plus goals, right Patty?
That's not to say the Jets are anxious to peddle you to the highest bidder, but it sure sounds like you're giving them no choice, just like Evander Kane and Jacob Trouba before you. It might not happen this year, but, as sure as Paul Maurice has a potty mouth, what's left of your shelf life in the Manitoba capital appears to be shorter than Brian Pallister's.
So never mind if you do or don't want out of Dodge. Here's the real question: Why, Patty, why?
All of us remember the cheery, lanky, freshly scrubbed kid from Finland who arrived in River City in 2016 and put goaltenders on notice with 36 snipes as a National Hockey League freshman. You followed that up with 44 and joined the Rocket Richard Trophy discussion, along with Auston Matthews and Ovi.
You were the darling of the rabble, Patty (give or take Big Buff), and they loved your gosh-darned innocence and quirky quips. Heck, the flock even forgave you your unfortunate bread-butter-and-eggman chin whiskers. The same could be said of news snoops. You were their gift from Sound Bites 'R' Us.
Yet something has soured you and, since you aren't prone to full disclosure, we're left to wonder what or whom has gotten so far up your nose that the jaws of life can't pry it out.
Blake Wheeler and Rink Rat Scheifele
Here's my guess: Head coach Paul Maurice and captain Blake Wheeler, with perhaps a small side order of Rink Rat Scheifele.
I'm just spitballing here, Patty, but I'm thinking that you just might be thinking what I'm thinking about Coach PoMo and Wheeler: Their bromance is kind of creepy. As far as I can tell, albeit from a distance, it's the only thing keeping you relegated to second-line duty, skating on greybeard Paul Stastny's right flank rather than beside the in-his-prime Scheifele.
I'm no Toe Blake, but I'd want my potential 50-goal winger (that's you, Patty) collaborating with my top centre-ice man (that's the Rink Rat), and I wouldn't be doing it just to keep you happy. I'd be doing it because I want to win hockey games.
I could be wrong, of course. Maybe everything's cool between Coach PoMo, Wheeler and yourself, Patty.
I just shudder to think they might be chasing you out of town.
Author pattidawnswanssonPosted on January 5, 2021 January 5, 2021 Categories Sports, Winnipeg JetsTags Alexander Ovechkin, Auston Matthews, Blake Wheeler, Brian Pallister, Edmonton Oilers, Evander Kane, Finland, Jacob Trouba, Los Angeles Kings, Mark Scheifele, New York Rangers, Patrik Laine, Paul Maurice, Paul Stastny, Perry Mason, Rocket Richard Trophy, St. Louis Blues, The Players' Tribune, Toe Blake, Wayne Gretzky, Winnipeg JetsLeave a comment on L'Affaire Laine: Are Paul Maurice and Blake Wheeler chasing Puck Finn out of town?
The first Sunday morning smorgas-bored of 2021…and I can't say how many more are to follow…
Puck Finn
Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed a trend with the Winnipeg Jets? Consider:
Evander Kane wanted out.
Jacob Trouba wanted out/tardy to training camp.
Josh Morrissey tardy to training camp.
Patrik Laine tardy to training camp.
Kyle Connor tardy to training camp.
Jack Roslovic wants out/tardy to training camp.
All young. All first-round draft picks.
Josh Morrissey
Of that bunch, only Morrissey and Connor are locked in longterm with the National Hockey League club. Kane and Trouba vamoosed. Laine's agents believe it would be "mutually beneficial" for Puck Finn and the Jets to part company, and if they're saying it we can assume Laine put the notion in their noggins. Roslovic, meanwhile, will likely sign, then bide his time playing third- or fourth-line minutes—or eating popcorn in the press box—for a very modest wage until his wish for a new postal code is granted.
Losing four young studs isn't how draft-and-develop is supposed to work. But when—yes, I said when—Laine and Roslovic are gone, it will have become the Winnipeg way. That's not a good look.
But, hey, Blake Wheeler will still be there to ride shotgun for Rink Rat Scheifele, and I sometimes think that's all that matters to the Holy Trinity of Jets co-bankroll Puck Pontiff Mark Chipman, general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff and head coach Paul Maurice.
That's not a good look, either.
Just a thought: Would the Holy Trinity ever part company with captain Wheeler the way the Boston Bruins discarded Zdeno Chara, the greybeard who wore the C for so many years? Not bloody likely. I say it's even money that Wheeler is still captain of Winnipeg HC—and playing right wing on the first line if Maurice is still behind the bench—when he's 43.
Kevin Cheveldayoff
Always get a giggle out of Chevy's gum-flappers, and he was in peak form last week during 40-plus minutes of to-and-fro with news snoops. The thing is, Chevy-speak usually requires de-coding because, when asked the time of day, the GM is apt to tell you how to build a watch. But that's why I'm here. To translate his natter.
On Laine's status and trade rumors lingering into the season…
What Chevy said: "I think, again, everybody is a professional and certainly, you know, I was a professional trying to do my job this summer in looking at all the different options, you know, to improve our team, and I think, you know, we have done that. As far as, you know, with Patrik, you know, again, I assume he's probably gonna have one of the best years of his career, you know, given the group of players that we have and the professionalism that is there and the maturity level that, you know, that all players gain, you know, year over year over year, I think just, you know, helps us move forward."
What Chevy really meant: "Sure other clubs called and asked if Patty's available, but do the names Teemu Selanne and John Paddock mean anything to you? What do people remember John for? That's right, for trading Teemu. You think I want them remembering me as the doofus who traded Patty for a couple of used jock straps? If he's gonna score 50 goals, it's gonna be here, not in Philly or Carolina."
Sami Niku
On the Jets maligned blueline, which has added only Derek Forbort…
What Chevy said (take a deep breath, kids): "Well, you know, again, we're excited, you know, the opportunity to have him. You know, he's someone that when he was in L.A., he put up some top minutes before he had an injury, put up some, you know, really good years playing against some good players, playing, you know, some shutdown roles, you know, he relishes the penalty kill, which is, you know, something that we, you know, look at improving. Obviously we're excited that Dylan DeMelo, you know, chose to stay with us, you know, from a free agent standpoint. I'm sure there was…I know there'd be lots of opportunity for him elsewhere, you know, judging by the phone calls I got after, you know, we got him signed, so, you know, again, excited about having that. Really excited about, you know, again, just the continuity of, you know, Josh taking another step and Neal Pionk taking another step. Tucker Poolman, you know, now got a year, you know, under his belt, Sami Niku, just, you know, really hope that he can, you know, just take, you know, use training camp as an opportunity to springboard because there's so much I think more, you know, in his game that unfortunately through, you know, injuries and the like…I guess we just have to make sure he doesn't drive to training camp so he doesn't get in a car accident and, you know, to kick things off. And then, you know, we've got some young players that, you know, looking forward to seeing. Dylan Samberg has not had the benefit of coming to an NHL training camp yet, so we really have, you know, we've kind of been frothing at the mouth for a couple years to get him into the pro ranks and, you know, now the time is here. Ville Heinola has had the benefit of playing over in Finland, you know, so his game, you know, hopefully will be at a level that will, you know, turn heads here, you know, right away. Obviously he had a great training camp last year and, you know, we're just looking for, you know, obviously for him to come in and have matured that much more, you know, over the course of time. And a player like Logan Stanley, who's had the opportunity to play two years of pro, you're looking for that development and you're looking for those guys to take that next step. We think we've got great depth and we've got a couple of guys that we think there's a lot of room to grow with."
What Chevy really meant: "Fingers and toes crossed. It's all on Connor Hellebuyck to, you know, give us Vezina Trophy goaltending again or, you know, we're up Schitt's Creek without a paddle."
Why are news snoops referring to it as the 2020-21 NHL season when all games will be played in 2021?
Zdeno Chara
I agree, after his lengthy tenure with the Bruins, it's going to be weird seeing Zdeno Chara in Washington Capitals garb this winter. It'll be kind of like Pope Francis holding mass in Wrangler jeans, Tony Lama snake skin boots and a Stetson instead of his robe and pointy hat.
Is it too much for Sportsnet to tell Elliotte Friedman to drag a hair brush across his scalp? The man looks absolutely disgraceful and, again, there's no chance a female broadcaster would be permitted to appear on camera looking like she spent the night sleeping in a back-alley dumpster.
Social note: Lindsey Vonn and P.K. Subban won't be exchanging wedding vows after all. Engaged in 2019, the sports power couple called the whole thing off last week, and it's hard to figure. After all, P.K. is one of the NHL's most notorious divers. And now he's not willing to take the plunge? Go figure.
Belmont Stakes winner Tiz the Law is now Tiz the Stud, and if you want the great bay stallion to service your mare the price tag is $40,000. Imagine that, $40,000 for sex. Tom Brady must feel ripped off. I mean, he screwed the New England Patriots and never got a dime for it.
Stevie Van Zandt
This is rich: In a Twitter hissing contest, Damien Cox of the Toronto Star scolded musician/actor Stevie Van Zandt, who had the (apparent) bad manners to trash talk news snoops for the lame questions they ask athletes. "Don't criticize things you've never done," the pompous Cox harrumphed. That just might be the dumbest tweet…by anyone… ever. It's a hot, steamy pile of stupid. Unless, of course, I was sleeping during those years when Cox played in the NHL, MLB, NBA, NFL and MLS. Seriously. The guy's made a career of crapping on athletes, coaches, managers, owners and officials. He's a recreational golfer and wannabe tennis player who pooh-poohs pros of all stripes. He's never spent five seconds in the White House, let alone presided over an entire nation, but he's spent the past four years crucifying Donald Trump. But, hey, don't you dare trash talk Cox or other news snoops unless you've held a notebook or microphone in a post-game scrum. As if. Like I said, a hot, steamy pile of stupid, and the Star continues to publish his alphabet farts.
Speaking of TorStar, it's added former NHLer and current TSN gab guy Dave Poulin to its stable of sports scribes. That would be the same Dave Poulin who, in 2018, left Connor McDavid off his all-star ballot, even though the Edmonton Oilers captain was the NHL scoring champion and winner of the Ted Lindsay Award as the best player in the world. Note to self: Cancel Toronto Star subscription first thing on Monday.
Becky the bench boss.
It's about Becky Hammon: Rock on, girl. Becky became the first female to coach a National Basketball Association team last week, taking the wheel of the San Antonio Spurs after bossman Gregg Popovich was told to leave the building in the second quarter of a skirmish v. the Los Angeles LeBrons. She joins a list of impressive "first" ladies in sports that includes Kim Ng, Katie Sowers, Kathryn Nesbitt, Callie Brownson and Alyssa Nakken, so don't tell me that nothing good happened in 2020.
I don't know about you, but I get a kick out of jock journos and others in the rag trade listing their top 10 or 20 articles/columns from 2020. Never mind that it's a rather arrogant exercise in ego-stroking, it seems to me that it's the readers who should decide something like that.
I can't remember 10 of my posts from last year, let alone 20, and I doubt the five or six people who read this blog can either. So I'll spare one and all my greatest hits.
Sean Fitz-Gerald of The Athletic lists his "top 10 Canadian sports media stories of 2020." Nos. 9 and 10 are strictly about radio in the Republic of Tranna. Sigh. Only someone from The ROT would presume to believe those of us who live/work in the colonies actually give a damn. Oh, and apparently we haven't been introduced to radio and TV, because not one of the "top 10" stories targets a Western Canada market. Or anywhere east of The ROT, for that matter. Double sigh.
There's an old Righteous Brothers song with the lyrics "If there's a rock and roll heaven, well you know they've got a hell of a band." Well, we can say the same about baseball, because the Big Ballpark In The Sky gained a helluva team last year. Included among the legends leaving our mortal coil were Bob Gibson, Tom Seaver, Whitey Ford and Phil Niekro, and how would you like to go into a World Series with those four as your starting rotation? Backing them up would be an infield of Bob Watson at first, Joe Morgan at second, Tony Fernandez at shortstop and Dick Allen at third, with Al Kaline, Lou Brock and Claudell Washington patrolling the outfield. The only position the Grim Reaper didn't tap on the shoulder was catcher.
Bo Levi Mitchell
Canadian Football League outfits are busy getting signatures on contracts for a 2021 season, and that's good news. The not-so-good news is that nobody has explained how Rouge Football works without people in the pews. As you know, commish Randy Ambrosie went panhandling on Parliament Hill last year, hoping for a pogey cheque to cover the costs of an abbreviated season, but the CFL fell off the grid when Trudeau the Younger and the feds rejected the beg. So how can it be doable this year? Even with a COVID vaccine available, head counts will be limited. Every skirmish will look like a Toronto Argos home game. And what's left of rainy day funds can't possibly cover operating costs of a full season, especially for community-run franchises like our Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Some players across the dominion have rejigged their contracts, but where's the revenue to pay Bo Levi Mitchell $541,000, Mike Reilly $525,000 and Cody Fajardo $405,000, to name just three high-salaried quarterbacks?
Count me as shocked when I called up the Winnipeg Sun this morning to see an article about girls high school volleyball on the sports front. The tabloid doesn't do local, other than the pro teams and curling. It doesn't do women's sports. So it was a pleasant surprise. Having said that, the Drab Slab continues to wallop the Sun in female sports coverage. Here are the numbers for exclusively female content in the 30 publishing days of December:
Sports front: 7
Articles/briefs: 32/11
Days with female sports coverage: 27 of 30.
Articles/briefs: 8/2 (plus one sentence on Sarah Fuller)
And finally, I keep reading and hearing people write and say if 2020 has taught us anything it's to be kind to one another. Seriously? You needed a killer pandemic to learn that?
Author pattidawnswanssonPosted on January 3, 2021 January 3, 2021 Categories SportsTags Al Kaline, Alyssa Nakken, Becky Hammon, Belmont Stakes, Blake Wheeler, Bo Levi Mitchell, Bob Gibson, Bob Watson, Boston Bruins, Callie Brownson, Canadian Football League, Claudell Washington, Cody Fajardo, Connor Hellebuyck, Connor McDavid, Damien Cox, Dave Poulin, Derek Forbort, Dick Allen, Donald Trump, Dylan DeMelo, Dylan Samberg, Edmonton Oilers, Evander Kane, Gregg Popovich, Grim Reaper, Jack Roslovic, Jacob Trouba, Joe Morgan, John Paddock, Josh Morrissey, Justin Trudeau, Kathryn Nesbitt, Katie Sowers, Kevin Cheveldayoff, Kim Ng, Kyle Connor, Lindsey Vonn, Logan Stanley, Lou Brock, Mark Chipman, Mark Scheifele, Mike Reilly, MLB, MLS, National Hockey League, NBA, New England Patriots, NFL, NHL, P.K. Subban, Patrik Laine, Paul Maurice, Phil Niekro, Pope Francis, Sami Niku, San Antonio Spurs, Sean Fitz-Gerald, Stetson, Stevie Van Zandt, Teemu Selanne, The Athletic, Tiz the Law, Tom Brady, Tom Seaver, Tony Fernandez, Tony Lama, Toronto Star, Tucker Poolman, Ville Heinola, White House, Whitey Ford, Winnipeg Free Press, Winnipeg Jets, Winnipeg Sun, Wrangler jeans, Zdeno Chara4 Comments on Let's talk about Winnipeg Jets young studs skipping town and training camp tardiness…fresh Chevy-speak and what it means…Tiz the Stud…a Twitter hissing contest…no radio/TV in the colonies…heavenly baseball…where's the money?…and other things on my mind
Sad to report, my faithful seer Madam Redneck left the building this year and, try as I might, I've failed to conjure up her spirit and get a heads-up on what's in front of the girls and boys in the playground. My Ouija board is also on the fritz, thus there shall be no bold predictions for 2021. Instead, I give you 30 things I would like to know, see and/or hear—or not—in the New Year…
Scott Moir in full party mode.
I'd like to know why I keep seeing Tessa Virtue on TV, but not Scott Moir. Hey, I get the part about Tessa being a total babe, but our boy Scott isn't exactly Frankenskater. He's a good-looking guy, he won as many fancy-skating titles and medals as Tessa, and he knows how to put the hearty in party (see: 2018 Winter Olympics, beer swilling). How is it possible that he has zero marketability?
I'd like to know what makes Patrick Mahomes tick. I swear, there's a carnival between his ears. He isn't a quarterback, he's a carnival barker inviting one and all to come inside to enjoy his razzle and dazzle. If Barnum and Bailey aren't part of his receiving corps, they should be.
I'd like to know what's on Dustin Byfuglien's mind. I suspect it involves a fishing hut, a fishing hole, and a fishing pole, but it would be nice to hear Big Buff's version of events that led to his divorce from the Winnipeg Jets.
I'd like to see Kevin Cheveldayoff do something to upgrade the Jets Big Buff-less blueline. No way they can succeed with basically the same group that was found lacking last season, in and out of the E-Town bubble.
Mark Chipman, the Puck Pontiff.
I'd like to hear more from Puck Pontiff Mark Chipman. In the most unusual and demanding of years, the Jets co-bankroll had less to say than a street mime, and that simply won't do. I'm sure the faithful would like to know what he's thinking, if not plotting.
I'd like to see Jennifer Jones win another Scotties Tournament of Hearts. It would be Jen's seventh title and end any lingering discussion about the greatest female Canadian curler of all-time. Well, wouldn't it?
I'd like to see Chelsea Carey find some playmates. Still hard to believe that a two-time Scotties-winning skip remains a free agent.
I'd like to know who killed JFK and who thought it would be a good idea to put Cassie Campbell-Pascall in a TV blurt box and give her a microphone. Sorry, but she's nails on a chalkboard.
Randy Ambrosie
I'd like to hear Canadian Football League Commish Randy Ambrosie talk less about his pie-in-the-sky global scheme and more about bonfires on the home front. I don't know if Commish Randy's job is in jeopardy as a result of his totally botched beg for bailout bucks from the feds last spring/summer, but gushing about Greece and Italy and France is fine if you're discussing what's on the dinner menu. It certainly doesn't put people in the pews in Vancouver, Montreal and the Republic of Tranna.
I'd like to know who slides behind the microphone Chris Cuthbert abandoned on TSN's CFL coverage. Tell me Gord Miller gets the play-by-play gig and I'll be happy.
I'd like to see the rabble in The ROT marching to BMO Field on those nights/afternoons when the Argos are the only game in town. Once upon a time, when folks in The ROT had nothing to do other than watch the Maple Leafs lose, the Boatmen were the top draw in Rouge Football. We'll never see that again, but is an average head count of 20,000 too much to ask?
I'd like to hear less from members of the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association about what they "deserve," and I'd like them to show us how Ponytail Puck can work. Glorified scrimmages and waiting for the National Hockey League to adopt the Little Orphan Annies isn't much of a business plan.
I'd like to see TSN and Sportsnet pay more attention to the National Women's Hockey League, which now includes a Canadian entry, the Toronto Six. The NWHL will be doing the bubble thing next month in Lake Placid, and I can't think of any reason why their championship tournament should be ignored.
I'd like to see Serena Williams bow out gracefully, with or without a 24th tennis Grand Slam title, but when have we ever known Serena to be graceful about anything?
I'd like to see our Genie Bouchard put her clothes back on and rediscover her game.
I'd like to see a male tennis player not named Nadal, Federer or Djokovic win a Grand Slam tournament that includes the Big Three in the draw.
I'd like to see Patrik Laine find a home that makes him happy. If that's Good Ol' Hometown, terrific. If it means the Jets move Puck Finn to another locale, I'm okay with that as long as Chevy doesn't get fleeced.
I'd like to see the Jets hoist the Stanley Cup. During my current lifetime would be preferable and, at 70, they should know I don't have much runway left.
John Epping
I'd like to see John Epping win the Brier, because it would be a beautiful thing for the LGBT(etc.) community.
I'd like to see my longtime friend Dave Komosky inducted into the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame. I can't think of anyone who's been scribbling about our Pebble People longer than Davey, the sole exception possibly being Terry Jones of Postmedia Edmonton. Davey's done his thing in Good Ol' Hometown, Saskatoon, Calgary and now with Curling Canada, and he's been cranking out the good stuff since the very early 1970s.
I'd like to see some diversity in the Hockey Diversity Alliance.
I'd like to see the Yankee Doodle Damsels get their butts kicked in Olympic soccer next summer, preferably by Christine Sinclair, Desiree Scott and our Canadian women. But I'll settle for England, France, Germany, Sweden, Australia, the Netherlands, Brazil or Japan getting the job done.
I'd like to hear and see less of Bryson DeChambeau on my flatscreen. The bulked-up Frankengolfer seems to believe the game is a lab experiment, and he's a bit of a scary guy. I mean, his practice swings are violent, like he's preparing for a baby seal hunt. And the talking heads can't stop gabbing about him, even when he's 20 shots out of the lead.
I'd like to see our Brooke Henderson win another two or three tournaments on the LPGA Tour.
I'd like to hear the suits at Postmedia tell us they plan to make the Winnipeg Sun a local paper again, with a beefed-up sports section (seriously, two pages on Saturday?) and a beefed-up stable of sports scribes who actually cover local athletes other than the pros. Even better would be local interests taking the tabloid off Postmedia's hands and trashing all the Tranna-centric copy that's been filling the sports section for the past few years.
I'd like to see Scott Billeck back writing about pucks and powerplays rather than a pandemic and vaccines, and I'm guessing Scotty feels the same.
I'd like for news snoops in the Republic if Tranna to stop telling us in the colonies what we're feeling and thinking. Unless they actually spend time walking among us, they can't possibly know what turns our crank.
Tiger and Charlie.
I'd like to see Tiger Woods win one more tournament to tie Sam Snead for the most in PGA Tour history, then make way for his lad Charlie.
I'd like to see sports get through the year without hearing about another athlete beating up his wife or girlfriend, or both.
I'd like to hear and see less of Kayla Grey on TSN SportsCentre. She's too loud and there's a strong whiff of arrogance in her delivery.
And, finally, may the road rise to meet you, may the wind be to your back, and may the rain fall softly on your fields in the new year and all the years to follow.
Author pattidawnswanssonPosted on December 27, 2020 Categories Sports2 Comments on 30 things I'd like to see, hear and know in 2021
Blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda and the flapping of gums in 2020
Aren't we all happy that 2020 is coming to a close? You bet your sweet bippy, we are.
I mean, to say the year has been over, under, sideways, down and inside-out would be the biggest understatement since Rip Van Winkle said, "I think I'll take a wee nap." All sports fell off the grid due to COVID-19, and those that returned certainly didn't look the same.
In this strangest of years, the first leg of horse racing's Triple Crown, the Kentucky Derby, became the second leg, and the second leg, the Preakness Stakes, became the third leg, and the third leg, the Belmont Stakes, became the first leg. The Masters golf tournament was played in November instead of April, and the Open Championship and Wimbledon weren't played at all.
Major team sports went into bubbles and performed in mostly empty buildings, with fans replaced by cardboard cutouts of actual people and the soccer side FC Seoul using sex dolls to occupy the pews. The bad news: The faux fans were hell on beer sales. The good news: No long lineups at the washrooms.
There was, mind you, one constant: Athletes, coaches, managers, owners, talking heads and sports scribes continued to flap their gums, or write, often for the better but sometimes not so much.
And with that in mind, I give you the second annual RCR Awards, presented to those who delivered interesting sound bites in 2020.
Sean Payton
The QB Conundrum Cup: To New Orleans head coach Sean Payton, whose NFL club benefited from a COVID outbreak that put all three Denver Broncos quarterbacks in sick bay and ineligible to play his Saints. The Broncos were forced to use practice squad wide receiver Kendall Hinton at QB and the Saints whupped 'em easily, 31-3.
"I felt bad for the cardboard fans," Payton said.
The Sign Of The Times Shield: To comedy writer Brad Dickson, for his take on life in 2020.
"On the news tonight all they talked about were boycotts, protests, riots, violence, dissension, disease, lawsuits and court cases. And that was just the sportscast."
The Empty Nest Nick-Nack: To longtime Canadian national team goaltender Shannon Szabados, geeked up about the National Hockey League's return from a COVID shutdown for a summer playoff tournament in fan-free rinks in Edmonton and the Republic of Tranna.
"Happy the NHL will be back," she tweeted, "but without fans how do we expect players to know when to shoot the puck? How will opposing goalies know they suck?"
The Nothing Runs Like A Deere Diploma: To RJ Currie of sportsdeke.com, who's apparently familiar with the Saskatchewan Roughriders and their green-clad faithful on the Flattest of Lands.
"The Nebraska State Fair broke a record for the longest parade of old tractors when over 1,100 showed up. In Canada, that's just part of the last-minute Labour Day crowd at Mosaic Stadium."
The Jailhouse Rock Trophy: To Ryan Brown of WJOX Radio in Birmingham, not impressed after watching six straight quarters of Kentucky football.
"Hoping if I'm ever convicted of a major crime this will count as time served."
Mitch Marner
The Give Your Head A Shake Goblet: To Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner who, after observing the women's 3-on-3 game during NHL all-star novelty events, offered this analysis of the Ponytail Pucksters: "I think a lot of these players can play in (the NHL)."
Sure, Mitch. And some of Snow White's seven dwarfs can play O-line for the Green Bay Packers.
The Flip Him The Bird Bauble: To Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times, for his observation after Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler was scratched from a scheduled start because he tore the nail on his right middle finger while putting on his pants.
"As any good Philadelphian knows, what good is a guy if he can't use his middle finger?"
The Scripps Spelling Bee Shield: We have co-winners in this category. First to Craig Calcaterra of NBCsports.com, after Tres Barrera of the Washington Nationals was slapped with an 80-game ban following a positive test for the drug Dehydrochlormethyltestosterone.
"If he can spell it on the first try, they should reduce his suspension to 40 games."
And now to RJ Currie for this observation after the Toronto Blue Jays had released relief pitcher Marc Rzepczynski: "He was hampered by a high pitch count and a low vowel count."
The White Guys Can't Coach Hoops Cup: To Steve Simmons of Postmedia Tranna, for his incredibly tone-deaf attempt to shout down anyone with the (apparent) bad manners to suggest the appointment of Steve Nash as head coach of the Brooklyn Nets was a classic case of white privilege.
Simmons on Sept. 6: "Two words that never, ever, should be attached to Steve Nash: White privilege."
Nash on Sept. 9: "I have benefited from white privilege."
The Hot Air Honorarium: To RJ Currie of sportsdeke.com, for this observation: "A Chinese man reportedly invented a car that can run on wind. A tentative name was Feng Chezi, which roughly translates to Don Cherry."
The Where's The Beef Bauble: To New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton, who doesn't eat anything that had four legs, hooves and lived in a barn yard or pasture.
"Just because I'm vegan doesn't mean I just go outside and pick up grass and, you know, put ranch on it. I still love good food."
The Tube Steak Trinket: To Bob Molinaro of pilotonline.com, noting that Nathan's annual pigout would go ahead as planned, even as COVID-19 raged in the U.S. "Social distancing will not interrupt the gluttony and star-spangled grossness of Nathan's July 4th Hot Dog Eating Contest. Contestants will be at least six foot-longs apart as they set out to determine who will be this year's wiener."
The Don't Give A Rat's Ass Award: To Ann Killion of the San Francisco Chronicle, for her take on the NCAA kicking off its football season during the killer COVID pandemic.
"The Power 5 conferences like to use the phrase 'student athlete'," she wrote. "Maybe 'lab rat' is more appropriate."
The Show Me The Money Medallion: To tennis legend and social activist Billie Jean King, who hopped on the Ponytail Puck bandwagon and urged the NHL to create a full-time women's professional league, because it would be "good business."
"They can do this. They can do this," she said. "Why can't we have 700 girls or a thousand girls playing in a league?"
What Billie Jean didn't do was explain where the NHL—or anyone—would find 700-1,000 elite-level female hockey players.
O.J. will find the real killers first.
The Allied Van Lines Award: To former Major League Baseball pitcher C.J. Nitkowski for this tweet: "My wife had an odd way of comforting my son after a rough pitching outing yesterday. 'Well, at least you still get to live in our house. When dad pitched bad, we usually had to move.'"
The Boys Will Be Boys Peeler Pole Plaque: To former NHLer Brett Hull, for his moronic comments after Brendan Leipsic of the Washington Capitals was booted out of the NHL for disgusting, degrading, disturbing and sexist language about women.
"We did the same things, we said the same things, but there was no way to get caught," said Hull, fondly recalling his playing days and confirming that he continues to live in another century. "We can go out after games, we can go to strip clubs, we can go to bars, and we could do whatever we wanted, and it would all be hearsay. The fun is gone. The game is not fun anymore to me."
The Will They Ever Grow Up Goblet: To Melissa Martin of the Winnipeg Free Press, reacting to oinker Leipsic's attack on women.
"To be honest," she tweeted, "I'm super burned out on writing about shitty men in sports."
The DUI Diploma: To Greg Cote of the Miami Herald, noting a NASCAR race in Homestead is called the Dixie Vodka 400.
"Hmmm. Should a bunch of guys driving 180 mph in heavy traffic be sponsored by vodka?"
The Divorce Lawyer Laurel: To syndicated columnist Norman Chad, who offered a unique pre-game analysis of a Green Bay Packers-Indianapolis Colts skirmish.
"Bettors love that the Colts are well rested. I was well-rested before my second marriage, and it didn't help."
The Treadmill Trophy: To Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union Tribune, who, like many sports writers, apparently doesn't spend a whole lot of time in the gym. When the 2020 American Fitness Index listed San Diego as the 11th-fittest city in the U.S., he wrote: "I'm thankful they didn't go house-to-house."
The Let's Play Hooky Honorarium: To comedy writer Alex Kaseberg, noting USC football players were part of a fraud investigation.
"The penalties could be stiff. Some of the players may be forced to attend classes."
The Centre Of The Universe Crock Pot: To Cathal Kelly of the Globe and Mail. Musing on the challenges of a global pandemic that had shut down 99.9 per cent of the sports world, Kelly took quill in hand and scribbled a thought that could only come from a jock journo in the Republic of Tranna.
"When I think of the very best of sports in the city I live in, I remember that night last May when the Toronto Raptors beat the Milwaukee Bucks for the NBA's Eastern Conference title. A lot of Canadians hadn't cared until that moment. Suddenly, every single one of us did."
Right. Except for the 30 million of us Canadians who were too busy that night to care.
The search was on for Bryson DeChambeau's ball.
The Finders Keepers Cup: To Bryson DeChambeau, the PGA Tour's Frankengolfer who apparently doesn't believe the rules of the game apply to him. After his tee shot on the 13th hole in the opening round of the Masters went wayward, a search party failed to find his ball in the allotted three minutes. At one point, the frustrated DeChambeau turned to a tournament rules official and asked: "So you're saying if we can't find it, it's a lost ball?" Well, duh. And if you don't shoot the lowest score, you don't get the green jacket and visit the Butler Cabin, either.
The Bare Face Bauble: To comedy writer Brad Dickson, for his take on Nebraska Cornhusker football fans.
"There's something seriously wrong with people who will wear a rubber corncob head on their noggin but won't be seen in public in a COVID mask."
The Greybeard Geezer Goblet: To rapper Snoop Dogg, who handled commentary for the fossil fist fight between fiftysomething boxers Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr.
"Like two of my uncles fighting at a barbeque."
Muppet heads Fozzy Bear and Colby Armstrong.
And, finally, the Born With A Silver Spoon(er) In His Mouth Medallion: To Sportsnet gab guy and muppet head Colby Armstrong, who went positively ga-ga in a truly embarrassing and butt-kissing blah, blah, blah session with Canadian national women's hockey team member Natalie Spooner.
"Thanks for joining us," he began. "Great seeing you as always and…we see you a lot, like we really get to see you a lot, and especially through (COVID) we get to see you out there a lot advocating for women's hockey. I have three little girls and you know they love you. They're big fans. What's it like being a role model? I've been able to watch you and see you deal with a lot of people and fans and little girls, and I think you have a great personality for it, so I think it's worked out. You're a very social person, like, fun to be around, high energy, probably the, you know, the person in the room or in the gym that keeps it bumping. You love singing, you love dancing…people follow Natalie Spooner on her, what do you have, Instagram? I don't have it. I tell my wife, we watch your stuff all the time. You found a way to entertain. Ya, very entertaining."
At last report, Armstrong remains in recovery following emergency surgery to have his lips removed from Spooner's butt cheeks.
Author pattidawnswanssonPosted on December 25, 2020 December 26, 2020 Categories SportsTags Alex Kaseberg, Ann Killion, Belmont Stakes, Billie Jean King, Bob Molinaro, Brad Cickson, Brendan Leipsic, Brett Hull, Brooklyn Nets, Bryson DeChambeau, Butler Cabin, C.J. Nitkowski, Cam Newton, Cathal Kelly, Colby Armstrong, COVID-19, Craig Calcaterra, Denver Broncos, Dixie Vodka 400, Dwight Perry, FC Seoul, Globe and Mail, Green Bay Packers, Greg Cote, Indianapolis Colts, Kentucky Derby, Major League Baseball, Marc Rzepczynski, Melissa Martin, Miami Herald, Mike Tyson, Milwaukee Bucks, Mitch Marner, Natalie Spooner, Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, NBC Sports, Nebraska Cornhuskers, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, Nick Canepa, Norman Chad, Open Championship, Postmedia Toronto, Preakness, RJ Currie, Roy Jones Jr., Ryan Brown, San Diego Union Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, Saskatchewan Roughriders, Sean Payton, Seattle Times, Shannon Szabados, Snoop Dogg, Sportsnet, Steve Nash, Steve Simmons, The Masters, Toronto Blue Jays, Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Tres Barrera, USC, Washington Capitals, Washington Nationals, Wimbledon, Winnipeg Free Press, WJOX Radio, Zack Wheeler4 Comments on Blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda and the flapping of gums in 2020
Let's talk about goals and lumps of coal in the toy department
Sports Santa arrives on the morrow and he's given us a sneak peak at what he has tucked inside his bag, so let's see if it's Goal or a Lump o' Coal for the good and not-so-good girls and boys in the toy department of life…
GOAL: If at first you don't succeed…get it right in an extra end. And that's what Kerri Einarson and her Buffalo girls—Val Sweeting, Shannon Birchard, Briane Mielleur, Jennifer Clark-Rouire, coach Patti Wuthrich—did to win the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Moose Jaw. Kerri had a chance to end it all in the 10th end of the title match vs. Rachel Homan and her Ontario group, but she was heavy with her last-rock draw to the four-foot. She got the job done in the 11th, though, sliding her final stone to the button for an 8-7 victory and the Canadian women's curling championship.
LUMP O' COAL: The year 2020. Seriously. Someone needs to give it a good, swift kick to the groin, and it's not too late.
GOAL: Connor Hellebuyck won the Vezina Trophy as top goaltender in the National Hockey League, putting a bit of shine on an otherwise empty season for the Winnipeg Jets.
LUMP O' COAL: Sportsnet was guilty of a blatant double standard when it allowed Elliotte Friedman to repeatedly appear on Hockey Night in Canada with a ghastly, unruly beard that made him look like he'd been sleeping under a bridge for three months. No chance a female broadcaster would be allowed on camera with a head of hair that looks like a cluster of dead animals.
GOAL: The Winnipeg Sun celebrated its 40th anniversary, not bad for a sheet that wasn't supposed to last much longer than a pint of beer in front of Chris Walby.
LUMP O' COAL: 50 Below Sports + Entertainment ignored provincial health rules and allowed Winnipeg Freeze and Winnipeg Blues of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League to practice outside the city. So make that two lumps o' coal, one for 50 Below bossman Greg Fettes and the other for bossman Matt Cockell.
GOAL: The good ol' boys in NASCAR banned the Confederate Flag from race sites. Full sets of teeth, corn squeezin's and MAGA caps remained optional.
LUMP O' COAL: Mike Milbury, Brendan Leipsic, Thom Brennaman, Cris Collinsworth, Brett Hull, Evander Kane spewed sexist, racist and/or homophobic slurs. Come on, guys. We're 21 years into the 21st century, and that language just doesn't cut it.
GOAL: Katie Sowers became the first female to coach in the Super Bowl, albeit in a losing role with the San Francisco 49ers, Kim Ng became the first female GM of a Major League Baseball team, Alyssa Nakken became the first uniformed female to coach on-field in MLB, Kathryn Nesbitt became the first female to referee in a Major League Soccer championship match, and Sarah Fuller became the first female to play in an NCAA Power 5 men's football game.
LUMP O' COAL: Canadian Football League commissioner Randy Ambrosie went panhandling on Parliament Hill, asking PM Trudeau the Younger for anywhere from $30 million to $150 million in welfare to get Rouge Football on the field during the COVID-19 pandemic. Trouble was, he failed to receive input from the Players Association, and the feds were not amused. Commish Cap-in-Hand was spurned repeatedly, and the CFL finally fell off the grid when Trudeau the Younger batted away his final Hail Mary beg in early August. Thus, there was no season, no Grey Cup week. Just a whole lot of radio silence from the commish.
GOAL: Kid curlers Jacques Gauthier and Mackenzie Zacharias joined Einarson in bringing more glory to Manitoba with their world junior championship wins in Russia.
LUMP O' COAL: Damien Cox and the Exalted Guardians of the Lou Marsh Trophy at the Toronto Star. The Marsh trinket is supposed to honor Canada's athlete-of-the-year, except Cox and Co. don't invite jock journos west of the Republic of Tranna to the top-jock party. Well, okay, that's not quite true. They granted a voice and a vote to four news snoops from the colonies. That would be four out of 37 voices and votes. How gracious of them.
GOAL: O-lineman Laurent Duvernay-Tardif walked away from the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and millions of American dollars to fight the good fight against COVID in long-term care homes.
LUMP O' COAL: TSN named its all-time Winnipeg Jets roster and didn't include the great Lars-Erik Sjoberg among the top six defencemen. But wait. The geniuses declared The Shoe to be the franchise's "foundational" player. Sigh. That's like telling Jesus he has to sit at the kids' table for the Last Supper. Neither the original Jets franchise nor the second coming knew a better blueliner than The Shoe.
GOAL: Paul Friesen of the Winnipeg Sun and Jeff Hamilton of the Drab Slab showed us their fab journalistic chops with fab features. Freezer relived the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 2019 Grey Cup championship with a nine-part series, while young Jeff took a deep, deep dive into the dark and sordid world of disgraced sexual predator and former hockey coach Graham James.
LUMP O' COAL: Mainstream jock journos, shinny division, held a group pity party when the NHL revealed it wouldn't make public the various owies suffered by players during the summer made-for-TV playoff tournament. It was as if they'd been ordered to gather in a small room to watch an Adam Sandler movie marathon, or listen to Barry Manilow's greatest hits 24/7.
GOAL: Various sports franchises played the name game, including the CFL team formerly known as the Edmonton Eskimos, the NFL team formerly known as the Washington Redskins, and the MLB team to be named something other than Cleveland Indians. We still don't know what any of them will be called, but it's believed the animal kingdom has the inside track and they can only hope the people at PETA don't have a beef with any new names.
LUMP O' COAL: Former NBC Sports hockey gab guy Jeremy Roenick went on a podcast to declare his admiration for a co-worker's "ass and boobs" and mentioned something about three-way sex with his wife and the co-worker. He was promptly punted. But wait. There's more. Rather than go quietly into the night, Roenick decided to kick up a legal fuss and sued NBC Sports for wrongful dismissal, claiming discrimination based on his sexual orientation. His argument: If he was a gay man and said the things he said, he'd still have a job. But because he's a straight man, he's out of work. Ya, good luck with that, hetero boy.
GOAL: Sue Bird of the Seattle Storm won her fourth WNBA title and became engaged to soccer diva Megan Rapinoe, while another gay woman, triple jumper Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela, was named female athlete-of-the-year by World Athletics.
LUMP O' COAL: Bryson DeChambeau spouted off about Augusta National prior to the Masters in November, boasting that it would be a pitch-and-putt course for him while the mere mortals on the PGA Tour would be playing to par-72. "I'm looking at it as a par-67 for me," he said. In that case, DeChambeau shot 18-over par with rounds of 70-74-69-73, which left him tied for 34th, 18 swings behind winner Dustin Johnson and one behind 63-year-old Bernhard Langer.
GOAL: It was girl power on Sportsnet in March, when an all-female broadcast crew worked a Calgary Flames-Vegas Golden Knights skirmish on Hockey Night in Canada. Leah Hextall handled the play-by-play call, Cassie Campbell-Pascall delivered color commentary and Christine Simpson was rinkside. Question is: Was it a one-off, or will they be back?
LUMP O' COAL: Justin Turner of the Los Angeles Dodgers was yanked from the deciding game of the World Series due to a positive COVID test, but he returned to join his teammates in an on-field celebration and removed his mask. MLB chose not to punish Turner for allowing his bare face to hang out and expose L.A. players and hangers-on to the virus, so it gets a lump o' coal, too.
GOAL: Zamboni driver David Ayres took over the blue paint for the Carolina Hurricanes one night in the Republic of Tranna, and the emergency goaltender beat the Maple Leafs. Not since Sid Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon pulled into the Tim Hortons drive-thru has a Zamboni driver received so much attention.
LUMP O' COAL: Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz thought COVID-19 was a big joke, so he mocked news snoops about the virus at a press session. A couple days later, he tested positive and the kibitzing stopped. As did the NBA and the rest of the sports world.
GOAL: Our leading lady of soccer, Christine Sinclair, became the top goal-scorer of all time in international fitba. She finishes the year with 186, and there might be more to come if the women get back on the pitch in preparation for the Tokyo Olympics.
LUMP O' COAL: Novak Djokovic, who wears a tin-foil hat and might lead the sports world in hissy fits, ignored scientific and medical advice and staged a mini-tennis tour when almost all sports had shut down due to the COVID pandemic. Social distancing was ignored by players and fans, and the Joker was one of four players to test positive. The final tourney was canceled. Later, he was ushered out of the U.S. Open tennis tournament for whacking a lines judge in the face with a ball. What a doofus.
GOAL: Rafael Nadal won his 13th French Open title and his 20th tennis Gran Slam, at the same time running his career record at Roland Garros to 100-2.
LUMP O' COAL: Steve Simmons of Postmedia Toronto spent much of the year shaking his fists and shouting at clouds, as is his wont, and he reserved his most ignorant hit pieces for PM Trudeau the Younger and the National Women's Hockey League expansion franchise in the Republic of Tranna. He claimed Trudeau had "let us down again" by permitting the Blue Jays "to play their home games this summer in Toronto. That is beyond stupid." He later doubled down, calling the decision "beyond ridiculous." Except Trudeau and the feds never gave the Jays the okie-dokie to play in the Republic of Tranna. In fact, he told them to pack their bats and balls and find a home in the U.S., which they did in Buffalo. Meantime, Simmons assailed the NWHL when it would add a team in The ROT. "You don't gain credibility by announcing a team with no name, no place to play and no big-name players," he harrumphed. He also noted there was no team logo. "When you have all that in place, then make the announcement. The press release referred to the expansion team as a 'first-class team of professionals.' Time will answer that, but the new Toronto Whatevers are not off to a great start." Except he had no such harsh words for the NHL when it introduced expansion franchises in Las Vegas and Seattle. They were introduced without team names, without team logos, and without big-name players. They were the Vegas and Seattle Whatevers for two years. So let's see if I've got this straight: If women do it, bad; if men do it, cool. I believe we can file that under subtle sexism.
And, finally, GOAL: To everyone who indulged an old lady by visiting the River City Renegade. We've topped 57,000 views this year, and that's a new high-water mark for the third successive year. So thanks. Happy Christmas.
Author pattidawnswanssonPosted on December 24, 2020 December 29, 2020 Categories SportsTags 50 Below Sports + Entertainment, Alyssa Nakken, Augusta National, Bernhard Langer, Brendan Leipsic, Brett Hull, Briane Meilleur, Bryson DeChambeau, Calgary Flames, Canadian Football League, Carolina Hurricanes, Cassie Campbell-Pascall, Chris Walby, Christine Sinclair, Cleveland Indians, Confederate flag, Connor Hellebuyck, COVID-19, Cris Collinsworth, Curling, Damien Cox, David Ayres, Dustin Johnson, Edmonton Eskimos, Elliotte Friedman, Evander Kane, French Open, Graham James, Greg Fettes, Grey Cup, Hockey Night in Canada, Jacques Gauthier, Jeff Hamilton, Jennifer Clark-Rouire, Jeremy Roenick, Justin Trudeau, Justin Turner, Kansas City Chiefs, Kathryn Nesbitt, Katie Sowers, Kerri Einarson, Kim Ng, Lars-Erik Sjoberg, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, Leah Hextall, Los Angeles Dodgers, Lou Marsh Trophy, Mackenzie Zacharias, MAGA, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, Manitoba Junior Hockey League, Matt Cockell, Megan Rapinoe, Mike Milbury, NASCAR, Nathan MacKinnon, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, National Women's Hockey League, NBC Sports, NCAA, Novak Djokovic, Patti Wuthrich, Paul Friesen, PETA, PGA Tour, Postmedia Toronto, Power 5 football, Rachel Homan, Rafael Nadal, Randy Ambrosie, Roland Garros, Rudy Gobert, San Francisco 49ers, Santa Claus, Sarah Fuller, Scotties Tournament of Hearts, Seattle Kraken, Shannon Birchard, Sidney Crosby, Sportsnet, Steve Simmons, Sue Bird, The Masters, Thom Brennaman, Tim Hortons, Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Star, TSN, Utah Jazz, Val Sweeting, Vegas Golden Knights, Vezina Trophy, Washington Redskins, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Winnipeg Free Press, Winnipeg Jets, Winnipeg Sun, World Athletics, Yulimar Rojas, Zamboni1 Comment on Let's talk about goals and lumps of coal in the toy department
Let's take a trip down memory lane on Manitoba Hockey Heritage Day
This being Manitoba Hockey Heritage Day, it puts me in a reflective mood, pondering my former life as a rink rat.
It began as a wobbly, Bambi-legged urchin on the outdoor freezes at Melrose Park Community Club, Bronx Park and East End, then moved to shinny shacks both primitive and elegant, from Transcona to Texas, from Sargent Park to Stockholm, from the Old Barn On Maroons Road to the Forum in Montreal (best hot dogs, ever) and Maple Leaf Gardens.
It was a lengthy trip, 30 years of it scribbling for the Winnipeg Tribune and Winnipeg Sun (with a couple of brief pit stops in the Republic of Tranna and Calgary), and there were highs and lows and in-betweens. This is what's on my mind today:
The Old Barn On Maroons Road, when it had that new-rink smell.
I'm thinking about Mosie and the Winnipeg Warriors. I attended my first live pro game in the mid-1950s, a Western Hockey League skirmish featuring Billy Mosienko in the twilight years of a boffo career that included a 1952 record that stands uncontested to this day in the National Hockey League—three goals in the lickety-split time of 21 seconds. Mosie left the Chicago Blackhawks to wind it down with the Warriors in Good Ol' Hometown, and it was a treat beyond description for a six-year-old kid to observe hockey royalty in person, in a swanky, new Winnipeg Arena.
I'm thinking about Father David Bauer and our national men's team, based in River City during the 1960s. Our amateur Nats faced insurmountable odds in a quest to wrestle global supremacy from the U.S.S. R. "amateurs." We all knew the Soviets were "amateurs" like cherry Kool-Aid is Russian vodka.
I'm thinking about Benny Hatskin and the original Winnipeg Jets, a Junior outfit in the Western Canada Hockey League that engaged in epic battles with the Flin Flon Bombers of coach Paddy Ginnell. Come playoff time, they'd pack the joint.
I'm thinking about Bill Addison, longtime commissioner of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. As a journalist and rink rat, I can't think of anyone with whom I enjoyed talking all things puck more than Bill, a true gentleman in an era when a fellow would wear a necktie and a fedora to the rink.
I'm thinking about Frank McKinnon, the first sports figure I ever interviewed for the Trib, and the Manitoba Amateur Hockey Association was the subject matter of my first byline article on June 14, 1971. It was buried on the back pages of the sports section, surrounded by Harold Loster's horse racing copy, and it included a ghastly error—I wrote the MAHA had elected Frank president of the "1871-72" executive. What can I say? I'm an old soul. And, hey, I was only out by 100 years.
I'm thinking about Benny Hatskin signing Bobby Hull at Portage and Main in June 1972. I was a few blocks away in the Trib building when it all went down to change the shinny landscape forever. A younger generation might suggest Mark Chipman and David Thomson bringing the National Hockey League back to Good Ol' Hometown in 2011 was a bigger story, but no. Everything flowed from Benny getting Hull's signature on a World Hockey Association contract.
I'm thinking about the Jets introducing Anders Hedberg, Ulf Nilsson and Lars-Erik Sjoberg to the masses in May 1974. Some of us were convinced that Benny and his minions had lost the plot because Swedes, thought to be cottony soft, couldn't possibly survive vs. the barbarians who occupied too many roster spots on WHA outfits. Well, we now know they didn't simply survive, they excelled, and served as Pied Pipers to numerous Europeans who found their way to the Jets.
I'm thinking about Junior hockey. I remember my first road trip, a milk run from Winnipeg to Dauphin for MJHL playoffs, and there were other junkets on the iron lung with the Winnipeg Clubs and Monarchs. Kevin McCarthy was the most talented local kid I ever covered, and watching him and Doug Wilson anchor a powerplay was special. My old coach Gerry Brisson, who owned the Junior Jets/Clubs/Monarchs before whisking the WHL franchise to Calgary, was a different head of lettuce, and my favorite character was Muzz MacPherson, coach of the 1973 Centennial Cup champion Portage Terriers before moving behind Brisson's bench with the Clubs.
I'm thinking about the many hours I spent in the company of scouts, guys like Bob Goring, Bruce Cheatley, Jimmy Walker, Bruce Southern and Dino Ball, who made the down time more enjoyable.
I'm thinking about my favorite hockey people, in no particular order: Jeep Woolley, Tom McVie, Terry Hind, Earl Dawson, George Allard, Don Baizley, Gordie Pennell, Bill Addison, Frank McKinnon, Barry Bonni, Spider Mazur, Julie Klymkiw, Rudy Pilous, Teddy Foreman, Mike Doran, Sudsy, Aime Allaire, Bill Juzda, Bones Raleigh, Ed Sweeney, Billy Robinson, Aggie Kukulowicz, Marc Cloutier, Gordie Tumilson, Bill Bozak, John Ferguson, Peter Piper, Brian Gunn, Adam Tarnowski, Teddy Green, Laurie Boschman, the Swedes (all of them), Portage Terriers.
I'm thinking about covering both the Jets final skirmish in the WHA, vs. the Edmonton Oilers (a 7-3 win), and their NHL baptism, in Pittsburgh vs. the Penguins (a 4-2 loss). Reyn Davis and I were the beat writers of the day for both those games, and Friar Nicolson was the play-by-play guy on radio. Sadly, Reyn and Friar left us long ago.
I'm thinking about the 1975 World Junior tourney, with a group of WCHL all-stars facing off against the elite of the Soviet Union, Sweden, Finland, Czechoslovakia and the U.S. The lads from Mother Russia ruled the day, besting the our kids 4-3 in the final game, prompting this rather peculiar observation of the comrades from Bobby Hull: "I'd like to see those guys in the shower, I'll bet they're all muscle."
I'm thinking about Aime Allaire, the hard-luck case of my time covering shinny in Good Ol' Hometown. Aime did everything possible to bring Senior hockey's Allan Cup home, but his St. Boniface Mohawks always came up a day late and a dollar short. I rode the iron lung with the Mohawks one winter, and Aime once hired me to handle stats for the Central Amateur Senior Hockey League.
I'm thinking about refereeing Winnipeg Colts tryout scrimmages for Stan Bradley and Harold Loster before they departed on their annual junket to a PeeWee tournament in Goderich, Ont.
I'm thinking about the night the Jets whupped the Soviet national side, 5-3, and Ulf Nilsson telling me in a noisy changing room that he was "proud to be a Canadian tonight."
Mikhail Smith
I'm thinking about Mike Smith, the egghead scout/coach/GM of the Jets who shall long be remembered for two things: 1) his make-work-for-Russians project; 2) running Ducky Hawerchuk out of town. The man I called Mikhail had a degree in Russian studies and a maniacal obsession with every Vladimir or Igor who laced up a pair of skates, and he attempted to transform the local shinny side into the Central Red Jets. The plan was a colossal flop and Hawerchuk became a casualty, moving to Buffalo.
I'm thinking about Billy Bozak, a very nice man known as Magic Fingers. Boz was responsible for healing the lame and halting among the Jets, and there wasn't an owie the longtime team trainer couldn't cure. How his healing hands made Terry Ruskowski suitable for combat in the 1979 WHA final I'll never know.
I'm thinking about the day of the long faces, which is to say the final farewell for the original Jets, who packed up and skedaddled lock, stock and jock strap to Arizona. There weren't many dry eyes in the joint on April 28, 1996, and it had nothing to do with a 4-1 playoff loss to the Detroit Red Wings. It had everything to do with a funeral. The NHL was dead in Good Ol' Hometown. It took 15 years for many among the rabble to recover from the Jets' departure. Many still mourn the loss.
I'm thinking about piggy banks and pucks and Peter Warren of CJOB roaming the landscape on a flatbed truck, accepting donations from the young, the old and the in-between in a bid to Save the Jets from extinction. It worked once or twice, but kids emptying their piggy banks and little, old ladies signing over pension cheques was never going to be the solution.
I'm thinking about Tuxedo Night and how snazzy all the luminaries and the Zamboni driver looked in their monkey suits. The promo was the brainchild of marketing guru Marc Cloutier, who wanted Good Ol' Hometown to look its spiffy best for the first appearance of NHL royalty, the Montreal Canadiens. Lafleur and Savard and Robinson and Gainey and Shutt et al were greeted by a gathering of 15,723 on Dec. 15, 1979, and the Jets faithful feared the worst. But a rag-tag roster filled with hand-me-downs rag-dolled the Stanley Cup champions, winning 6-2, with Willy Lindstrom scoring three goals and Peter Sullivan collecting five points.
I'm thinking about Bobby Hull and how he was greeted with such pomp and pageantry at Portage and Main in June 1972, and how he left the building in such an undignified manner seven years later. The Golden Jet was scheduled to be in the lineup for Tuxedo Night, nationally televised on Hockey Night in Canada, but he was confused about faceoff time and arrived late. Coach Tommy McVie, not one for bending rules, informed Hull that he'd be sitting this one out. When advised of Hull's punishment, GM John Ferguson pitched a fit, kicking a hole in a dressing room door. Didn't matter. Hull, one of the team owners, was out. He never wore Jets linen again.
I'm thinking about Teemu Selanne's astonishing 76-goal rookie season, in 1992-93, and GM John Paddock trading the Finnish Flash to the Disney Ducks three years later. D'oh!
I'm thinking about doing color commentary to Friar Nicolson's play-by-play on Jets radio broadcasts, in the WHA and NHL, and I'm sure I was awful.
Valeri Kharlamov
I'm thinking about tossing back vodka and beer with the Russians at the Viscount Gort during the Winnipeg portion of the 1981 Canada Cup tournament. They couldn't speak English, I couldn't speak Russian, but we managed to conduct an impromptu and teary-eyed wake for legendary Soviet forward Valeri Kharlamov, who was buried that day back home in Mother Russia.
I'm thinking about all the good guys no longer with us, too many to list.
I'm no longer a rink rat. I haven't attended a live hockey game since 1999, when I put Good Ol' Hometown in my rear view mirror after 30 years in the rag trade. But it was a rush. Some might even think of it as a bit of a charmed life, and I suppose watching hockey and writing about the game for a living was every bit of that.
The only thing missing was girls/women's hockey, and I hope Ponytail Puck receives more ink in the local dailies once it's back on the ice. Ditto Junior, university and high school shinny. I realize readers can't get enough of their Jets, but they weren't the only game in town during my time at the Trib and Sun, and they still aren't.
Happy Hockey Heritage Day.
Author pattidawnswanssonPosted on December 20, 2020 January 11, 2021 Categories Sports, Winnipeg, Winnipeg sportsTags Aime Allaire, Anders Hedberg, Ben Hatskin, Bill Addison, Bill Bozak, Bill Mosienko, Billy Robinson, Bob Goring, Bobby Hull, Bronx Park, Bruce Cheatley, Bruce Southern Dino Ball, Buffalo Sabres, Canada Cup, Centennial Cup, Central Amateur Senior Hockey League, Chicago Blackhawks, CJOB, Czechoslovakia, Dale Hawerchuk, David Thomson, Detroit Red Wings, Dino Ball, Edmonton Oilers, Father David Bauer, Finland, Flin Flon Bombers, Frank McKinnon, Friar Nicolson, Gerry Brisson, Golden Jet, Gordie Tumilson, Harold Loster, Jimmy Walker, John Ferguson, John Paddock, junior hockey, Kevin McCarthy, Lars-Erik Sjoberg, Manitoba Amateur Hockey Association, Manitoba Hockey Heritage Day, Manitoba Junior Hockey League, Maple Leaf Gardens, Marc Cloutier, Mark Chipman, Melrose Park, Mike Smith, Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Forum, Mother Russia, Muzz MacPherson, National Hockey League, Patty Ginnell, Peter Sullivan, Peter Warren, Portage Terriers, Reyn Davis, Russia, Save the Jets, Soviet Union, St. Boniface Mohawks, Stanley Cup, Sweden, Teemu Selanne, Terry Ruskowski, Tom McVie, Tuxedo Night, U.S., U.S.S.R., Ulf Nilsson, Valeri Kharlamov, Willy Lindstrom, Winnipeg Arena, Winnipeg Clubs, Winnipeg Jets, Winnipeg Monarchs, Winnipeg Sun, Winnipeg Tribune, Winnipeg Warriors, women's hockey, World Hockey Association, World Junior Hockey Championships4 Comments on Let's take a trip down memory lane on Manitoba Hockey Heritage Day
Let's talk about Rob the Rube and the Exalted Guardians of the Lou Marsh Trophy…LP records and bubble gum card regrets…the $405 million Winnipeg Jets…the Drama in Bahama…hits and misses in the rag trade…mum's the word for Kyrie…and Johnny Rotten's on his way back
Another Sunday morning smorgas-bored…and something tells me that Sarah Fuller's 15 minutes of fame is about to end now that she's kicked two converts…
There are a couple of things you need to know about the Lou Marsh Trophy.
Lou Marsh Trophy
First, it's a Toronto Star in-house trinket, named after a former sports editor at One Yonge Street in the Republic of Tranna and voted on by a cadre of news snoops mostly living and working within spitting distance of the CN Tower.
Second, here's what those big-city Tranna folk think of us out here in the colonies—hee haw!
That's right, country bumpkins.
We're the red-haired, freckle-faced, adopted daughters and sons of Confederation, all spread out in the wide-open sprawl of an oft-frozen tundra and hunkered down in a bunch of itty-bitty, backwater burgs named after animals and their body parts. Moose Jaw. Elkhorn. Pelican Narrows. Porcupine Plain.
Basically, they see us as Mayberry. You know, Andy, Barney, Goober, Floyd the Barber and Aunt Bee. Except we wear toques.
They think our idea of a high time is the Saturday night barn dance. Right after the big tractor pull. (That's only partially true. Sometimes we save the tractor pull until Sunday afternoon, right after we've collected all the eggs and milked the cows.)
They also know they've got the tall, imposing CN Tower and powerful Bay Street, while we have grain silos and Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo-Jump.
Little wonder, therefore, that the Exalted Guardians of the Marsh trinket limited the number of colonials in last week's discussion/vote to determine the finest athlete in our vast land during the past 12 months. Wouldn't want to give too many of the western rubes too loud a voice, right? Why, you get a whole passel of those hayseeds together and they're apt to organize a Western Bloc vote and choose Troy Dorchester, or some little, ol' gal who raised herself a prize-winning heifer at the Oxbow County Fair.
Next thing you know, One Yonge Street would be trying to explain to the world how a chuckwagon racer out of Westerose, Alta., came to be Canada's athlete-of-the-year. Or—eeks!—a pig-tailed 4H-clubber with a cow. Can't have that, now can we?
So the Exalted Guardians, headed by Damien Cox of the Star, played a game of eeny-meeny-miny-moe and plucked a fortunate four from the entire pool of jock journos who live and work west of Falcon Lake, which is just a hoot and a holler down the road from the Manitoba-Ontario divide.
"There's more rep from the West now than for the first 60 years of the award," Cox boasted in a tweet, as if he'd brought peace to the Middle East.
Oh my, what a dear, magnanimous man, permitting four among the great unwashed wretches of Western Canadian jock journalism to share his oxygen, albeit virtually. Alert the Vatican. Surely sainthood must be the reward for such unprecedented charity.
Laurent Duvernay-Tardif
The thing is, the overwhelming majority of voices at last week's virtual point-and-counterpoint—37 in number—belonged to news snoops who wouldn't know a silo from a swather, and the final head count was East 33, West 4.
But, hey, can we really blame the Exalted Guardians for putting a quota on country bumpkins?
I mean, they really pushed the envelop by giving four western rubes a voice and a vote. It was high risk, like letting Mike Tyson loose in a sorority house. And, sure enough, just look at what Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post did. He brought a banjo to the symphony.
Eighteen news snoops voted for Alphonso Davies and 18 voted for Laurent Duvernay-Tardif. But not our boy Rob. He delivered his shoutout to breakout basketball star Jamal Murray. (By gosh, that means he must have watched some hoops. On TV. Who knew they had electricity on the Flattest of Lands? Must have got it the same day as the indoor plumbing.)
Those who know him say Rob is an all-timer on the roll call of good guys, but he had some serious 'splaining to do. The Twitter hounds demanded answers. How could this sodbuster not possibly see what everyone else saw in Davies and Duvernay-Tardif?
Rob Vanstone
"My rationale: Murray had two 50-point games in the 2020 NBA playoffs, during which he helped the Denver Nuggets rally from 3-1 series deficits against the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers (see ya, Kawhi Leonard)," he wrote. "In 19 post-season games, the 6-foot-4 Murray averaged 26.5 points, 6.6 assists and 4.8 rebounds. That was after posting averages of 17.7 points, 4.8 assists and 4.0 rebounds during the regular season. Murray, from Kitchener, Ont., elevated his already impressive play when the games were most meaningful."
Rob also tweeted something about it being "a coin flip" between Murray and Davies, but he didn't really have to explain himself. In reality, he did everyone a favor. His vote meant joint top jocks, rather than one.
Atta boy, Rob the Rube. You've got a boffo story to tell at the next Saturday night barn dance. Hee Haw!
I have no quibble with Davies and Duvernay-Tardif sharing the Lou Marsh Trophy. For all I care, they can slice the thing in half or melt it down and make baubles, bangles and buckshot out of it. If not, I'm guessing it would make for a fabulous door stop or a paper weight. No matter, because this isn't about footy phenom Phonsie or the good doctor, who chose to save lives this year rather than protect Patrick Mahomes' backside in the Kansas City Chiefs' bid to repeat as rulers of the National Football League. They're champions and worthy winners, both of them, even if Phonsie did his thing on footy pitches on the other side of the world and Duvernay-Tardif did his thing in long-term care homes after collecting a Super Bowl ring. My issue is with the process. Is it truly a national award if half the country isn't given a voice? Hell no, it ain't. It's total BS. Until the Exalted Guardians allow everyone to play, it's a sham.
Something to ponder: For all the success we've had in Ponytail Puck, no female hockey player has ever won the Lou Marsh trinket. For all the success our Pebble People have had, no curler has ever won the Lou Marsh trinket. For all her accomplishments on the LPGA Tour, Brooke Henderson has never won the Lou Marsh trinket. Just saying.
A Wayne Gretzky rookie card fetched $1.29 million at auction last week. Every time I read a story like that, I cringe. How so? Because there was a bubble gum card in the back wheel of the Raleigh bike I sold to Dougie Cox for $10 while in high school in the 1960s. I don't recall whose pic was on that tiny piece of cardboard, but it might have been Bobby Orr, and one of No. 4's rookie cards sold for $204,000 last year. What did I do with the 10 bucks Dougie gave me for my bike? Bought the newest Beatles album, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. I still have the LP and bubble gum card regrets. I doubt Dougie has the bike.
Please don't tell me you're surprised that the Winnipeg Jets have been given preferential treatment from provincial politicos and Manitoba's top docs in their quest to play hockey during a pandemic. You should know by now that there's one rule book for the regular rabble and another for the filthy rich and fabulous.
Let me go on record and say any member of our national women's hockey/soccer teams can call dibs and jump ahead of me in the vaccine queue if they feel so inclined. But the millionaire hockey players? Wait your turn, boys.
The Puck Pontiff
On the subject of wealth, the money crunchers at Forbes tell us the value of the Jets has dipped from US$420 million a year ago to $405M today. Put in perspective, the sticker price was $170M when co-bankrolls Puck Pontiff Mark Chipman and David Thomson purchased the National Hockey League franchise in 2011. Still, there's cause for concern. Assuming the NHL drops the puck next month, an empty Little Hockey House On The Prairie means no game-day revenue and staggering losses for Winnipeg HC and all NHL outfits. We know no one in the country has deeper pockets than Thomson, and there'll be no tag days for the Puck Pontiff, but hearing the New York Islanders dropped $39M in 2020 makes me a bit skittish.
Here's the Forbes breakdown on valuation for the NHL's Canadian-based franchises (year-over-year change in parenthesis):
2. Toronto Maple Leafs-$1.5 billion (0%)
3. Montreal $1.34B (0%)
10. Vancouver $725 million (-2%)
14. Edmonton $550M (-4%)
20. Calgary $480M (-4%)
26. Ottawa $430M (-3%)
27. Winnipeg $405M (-4%)
Interesting that Bill Foley of the Vegas Golden Knights felt obliged to snuff out trade talk involving forward Max Pacioretty. "We're not shopping Patches," the Knights bankroll told news snoops. "We do have cap issues, and so some of those things have to be resolved as we go forward, we started getting into the season. But he definitely is not being shopped." Is it just me, or does anyone else think that's exactly the kind of language we should be hearing from the Puck Pontiff re Patrik Laine?
Trevor Berbick and Muhammad Ali.
Thirty-nine years ago Friday, I sat ringside and watched Trevor Berbick box Muhammad Ali's ears for 10 rounds on a parched patch of earth on Paradise Island in The Bahamas. The great Ali was pathetic and Berbick, a Canadian by way of Jamaica, wasn't much better. It was a sordid affair that involved criminals, con men and the many human barnacles and leeches who clung to Ali, still convinced there was a buck to be made off the aging and bloated man. I didn't enjoy what I witnessed and heard that night, and thought it disturbing that Ali's fist-fighting career should end in such an undignified manner. It was like watching royalty carted off in a compost cart. The Drama in Bahama never should have happened but, oddly enough, I'm glad I was there for Ali's final bout.
It's official: Donald Trump and his wackadoo legal team headed by Rudy Giuliani has now suffered more losses than the Washington Generals. The Generals, of course, were the longtime patsy and loser of more than 17,000 games to the Harlem Globetrotters.
Hit and Misses in the local rag trade…
Hit: Call off the search party. Bring back the bloodhounds. The Drab Slab's fine, young scribe Jeff Hamilton is safe and scribbling again. We haven't seen Jeff's byline much this year, in large part due to the Canadian Football League falling off the grid, but he's back with a six-part epic on Graham James, the sexual predator former hockey coach. Do we need to read more about creepy James and his criminal acts? Probably not. But if his victims are talking, they deserve to be heard. Some of Part 1 is painful to read, because what James did to teenage boys was horrific and the coverup was unforgivable, but it's fabulous journalism from Jeff. Parts 2-6 in the series run online Monday-Friday and in print Tuesday-Saturday.
Miss: The Drab Slab couldn't find room on its sports pages for this year's list of inductees to the Manitoba Golf Hall of Fame—Rhonda Orr, 1967 junior men's interprovincial team champions Steve Bannatyne, Dave Hill, Ken Redfern, Dwight Parkinson, Manfred Broavac, and builders Brian Gilhuly and Tom Kinsman—but there was ample space for articles on Northern Ontario canceling its curling championships, breakdancing becoming an Olympic sport, COVID-19 and the Tranna Jurassics, new co-GMs for the B.C. Lions, the Montreal Impact and Toronto FC, and two NFL game stories. That's just wrong.
Miss: The Winnipeg Sun ran a brief on the golf hall-of-famers, but it should have been on the sports front rather than another bland, boring article on the Tranna Blue Jays written by a Tranna scribe. Seriously, what happened to putting local copy first and foremost?
Hit: Ted Wyman's two-parter on the state of curling in Canada and the changes Pebble People would like to see at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts and the Brier.
So, Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets says he won't be talking to news snoops (he calls them "pawns") before, during or after the National Basketball Association season. Give me a quarter and I'll call someone who might actually give a damn.
The NBA has fined Irving $25,000 for his cone of silence. Ya, like that's going to unzip his lips. The guy's due to collect $33 million for bouncing a ball in 2020-21.
And finally, according to TMZ, Johnny Manziel is about to sign a contract with the Zappers in something called Fan Controlled Football. Isn't there a vaccine to make him go away permanently?
Author pattidawnswanssonPosted on December 13, 2020 December 13, 2020 Categories Sports, sports mediaTags 4H Club, Alphonso Davies, B.C. Lions, Bay Street, Bill Foley, Bobby Orr, Brooklyn Nets, Calgary Flames, chuckwagon racing, CN Tower, COVID-19, Curling, Damien Cox, David Thomson, Denver Nuggets, Donald Trump, Drama in Bahama, Edmonton Oilers, Elkhorn, Falcon Lake, Fan Controlled Football, Forbes, Harlem Globetrotters, Head-Smashed-in-Buffalo-Jump, Jamal Murray, Jeff Hamilton, Johnny Manziel, Kansas City Chiefs, Kyrie Irving, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, Los Angeles Clippers, Lou Marsh Trophy, Manitoba Golf Hall of Fame, Mark Chipman, Max Pacioretty, Mayberry, Mike Tyson, Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Impact, Moose Jaw, Muhammad Ali, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, NFL, Ottawa Senators, Oxbow, Patrick Mahomes, Patrik Laine, Pelican Narrows, Porcupine Pla8in, Regina Leader-Post, Rob Vanstone, Rudy Giuliani, Sgt. Peppers, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, Ted Wyman, The Beatles, Toronto Blue Jays, Toronto FC, Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Toronto Star, Trevor Berbick, Troy Dorchester, Utah Jazz, Vancouver Canucks, Vegas Golden Knights, Washington Generals, Wayne Gretzky, Winnipeg Free Press, Winnipeg Jets, Winnipeg Sun, ZappersLeave a comment on Let's talk about Rob the Rube and the Exalted Guardians of the Lou Marsh Trophy…LP records and bubble gum card regrets…the $405 million Winnipeg Jets…the Drama in Bahama…hits and misses in the rag trade…mum's the word for Kyrie…and Johnny Rotten's on his way back
Let's talk about "Delicious Debbie's" gams and how the boys on the beat saw them
In another century that today seems so distant, the use of sexist language and stereotyping in sports was not uncommon, and that included the writing game.
I recall, for example, the great Jack Matheson using what now would be considered sexist terms when mentioning female athletes or politicians in his Winnipeg Tribune column. One might be "a doll" and another might be "a cutey." When Pierre Trudeau introduced Iona Campagnolo as his Minister of Sport in 1976, she became "Elegant Iona" to Matty, and it was true. She was elegant.
Other women were "beautiful" or "sweet" or "glamorous or "a dame" or "a broad."
Debbie Brill
High jumper Debbie Brill became "Darling Debbie" and "Delicious Debbie," and Matty made note of her long, shapely legs more than once.
"Indoor track fans always enjoy watching girls jump high," he wrote, "especially girls with legs like Debbie's."
Legendary sports scribe Trent Frayne similarly gazed upon the Brill gams with unreserved admiration, writing, "There she is, maybe 20 yards from the crossbar, calmly eyeing it, one foot slightly ahead of the other, teetering slowly, back and forth, back and forth, long legs bare and smooth and tanned, twin cynosures."
Seriously. Twin cynosures? I had to cozy up to my good friend Merriam-Webster to clue in. Means Debbie Brill's underpinnings were "the centre of attention or attraction."
So where am I going with this?
Trent Frayne
Well, it certainly isn't to discredit Matty, my first sports editor and the best jock essayist during my time in Good Ol' Hometown, or Trent, with whom I had the considerable good fortune of sharing a work space at the Toronto Sun. They weren't guilty of some heinous crime punishable by public flogging or prison time.
Those old boys wrote in the fashion of the 20th century, which allowed for descriptors not meant to be viewed through the judgmental lens of 2020. (Actually, reading it today, one might find humor in its antiquity. Like, they actually got away with writing that stuff?)
I don't suppose Matty or Trent would use many, if any, of those terms were they around today to crank out their cheeky, witty, sassy essays, because the Politically Correct Police would be knocking on their doors and it wouldn't be a social call. (Mind you, chances are Matty would tell them to shove it, but their visit might put him off his dinner, nonetheless.)
And it's not like they'd gone rogue in their scribblings.
Jocelyne Bourassa
As we learn from Maclean's magazine and The Girl and the Game: A History of Women's Sports in Canada by Margaret Ann Hall, it was commonplace for scribes, almost exclusively male, to wax poetically about the different "cynosures" of various female athletes, and it wasn't always flattering.
This, for example, is the way Jack Batten of Maclean's described the women on the LPGA Tour in 1973: "Tousle-haired, sunshiny, more muscular and perhaps more 'masculine' than most women, like a gang of phys-ed teachers, but fresh and appealing in an Anne Murray kind of way."
Of Canadian Jocelyne Bourassa, he wrote: "She's a husky woman, a little broad in the beam. Her face can't make up its mind whether it belongs to the cute kid next door or to a determined pug, someone with a tough style. It lets you know, anyway, that it is the face of someone independent, aggressive, a woman who can—what the hell—play touch football or baseball with the men." He added that, at a formal function, Bourassa "radiated an approachable tomboy charm."
Which is sort of like saying she wasn't full-on butch, but butch nonetheless.
Meanwhile, here's how journalist/author Paul Grescoe described members of the Vancouver Chimos volleyball team: "They are not the big, butch girls the male chauvenist might expect. Under their loose sweaters—'Up Your Volleyball,' the back of one reads—their baggy sweatpants and shorts, the protective pads on their knees, lurk some women who'd be whistled at in their civvies. Only thick thighs and the occasional masculine-muscled arm reflect their training."
Hmmm. Whistled at in their civvies. No doubt what every elite female athlete strives for—not!
An even more-blatant example of sexism in sports writing would be an Associated Press dispatch from the U.S. Women's National Open golf tournament in 1967. It mentioned that former champion Mrs. Murle Lindstrom was "a pretty divorcee of 28," but not as pretty as Sharron Moran, declared the "prettiest golfer" in America by Golf Digest. Marlene Bauer wasn't pretty, but she was "little and cute."
The article included this comment from tour director Leonard Wirtz: "A few paint on their shorts. If their figures are good, we don't say anything to them. But if some of the plumper girls do it, we give them a gentle hint. We figure it's good for them and the tour." So Jennifer Aniston would be permitted to "paint on" her shorts, but Amy Schumer would receive a verbal undressing (pun intended) if she teed off in anything more form-fitting than a hoop skirt.
When the U.S. Women's Open tees off later this week in Houston, I don't expect we'll be reading or hearing a discussion about butchness, hemlines, pretty divorcees and plump girls. The focus will be on their golf, not their gams.
Times change. Language changes. What's tolerable changes. What's acceptable changes.
I mean, it's one thing to mention that our Brooke Henderson has a fabulous smile and girl-next-door appeal, because it's true. She seems like an absolute delight. But her "babe" factor ought not come into play. Go ahead and describe her outfit, just don't tell us she'd look a whole lot "hotter" golfing in short skirts. Not unless a higher hemline would help her get the ball into the hole.
Female athletes have made strides in how they're perceived, but most still struggle to be taken seriously, just as female sports scribes and broadcasters do.
If only they didn't have those damn "twin cynosures" for the boys on the beat to gawk at.
Author pattidawnswanssonPosted on December 7, 2020 December 7, 2020 Categories Sports, sports and society, sports mediaTags Ann Hall, Anne Murray, Associated Press, Brooke Henderson, Debbie Brill, Golf Digest, Iona Campagnolo, Jack Batten, Jack Matheson, Jocelyne Bourassa, LPGA Tour, Maclean's, Paul Grescoe, Pierre Trudeau, The Girl and the Game: A History of Women's Sports in Canada, Toronto Sun, Trent Frayne, U.S. Women's Open, Vancouver Chimos, Winnipeg TribuneLeave a comment on Let's talk about "Delicious Debbie's" gams and how the boys on the beat saw them
the river city renegade Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.