This Week in Under 300 Words

Well, we’ve been busy at Nowpublic.com trying to kick start some sports debate on their site. Whether or not that happens, time will tell. Check out what we’ve been saying here and join in on the debate.  Just one word of advice.  Make sure you are using Firefox since IE seems to bog down on their site.  Firefox will avoid any lags and a ton of frustration.  We’ve even attempted a debate on fighting in hockey!  We must be nuts!

In other news:

• Sundin’s Debut was a bit of a bore.  At least he didn’t suffer the ever popular “groin” injury that most vets attain when they rush back info action!  I’m sure he’ll tally something by the end of the weekend.
• We’re trying to get to Montreal’s QV match in February.  More news on that in the weeks ahead.
• Road trip already planned for some Vancouver games in February! YAY!
• Can you  imagine getting a lashing from your coach in front of your fans?  Hull can.  Hope it helps their season and proves to be an effective one-off for the manager.  Talk about last resorts!  Didn’t Paul Maurice do that just b4 he was canned by the Leafs last year?
• Canada gets a D for fitness.  C’mon and get off the couch!  Who cares if its cold out?
• NFL pîcks this weekend are Giants, Carolina, Tennessee, Pittsburgh.  Yeah, its a bit of a stretch!
• and finally… somehow we were asleep at the wheel when this first came out but damn, the irony that …
  

  Steve Francis is a Grizzly again!

is beyond just being slightly funny! LOL!

Breaking Up is Hard to Do

Even when its on your own advice. Almost 2 months ago we blogged about ridding your fantasy teams of injury prone Canucks D-man, Sami Salo. But of course we held onto him in one of our deeper leagues thinking that maybe, just maybe this guy could avoid the IR for just once in his career. This guy was our dark horse for numerous years and when healthy, sure helped us out of a lot statistical jams. Now out again with a tweaked groin, we finally pulled the plug on our guy on the team that was our final holdout. Dropping one of our favourite Canucks for an average at best Columbus Blue Jacket defenseman will hopefully not give us any nightmares. Man, we are still having second thoughts… Which got us thinking…

Its easy for us to sit here and write things like JP should trade the Doc or encourage Bryan to entertain offers on Bosh. Until it hits us personally, that is when we learn the true worth of what being a good manager is all about. Man it was tough to let go of Salo and this was just in a fantasy league! The pressures on the real life GM’s of the world must be enormous and for now, we’ll give them a break for a bit. Its a tough to make deals, essentially give up on a player being a part of “your” team. Especially if you’ve gotten to know them face2face and/or you were the one who brought them into “your” team in the first place.  Sami Freakin’ Salo was just a favourite player of ours.  We had no connection to the guy outside of liking his blast from the point and frequent PP time.

Oh, is that break over yet? Because….

Now this morning we learn that the Phoenix Suns swung a deal for Jason Richardson for essentially two second line/second rate players. Man, the Toronto Raptors shoulda, coulda, woulda …. ok, enough with the break for the GM’s! Back to giving them the biz! WHY ISN’T Jason Richardson a TORONTO RAPTOR???? He’s an A list player that we could have had on the cheap!  Why aren’t the Raptors attempting to lure a now upset Steve Nash to Toronto? Why isn’t this blog giving the GM’s a break?  Cuz, that break was about 100 words ago… its still time to put up or shut up for Toronto’s GM’s!  Its game time so WAKE UP!

The Season is a Marathon, not a Sprint

When we first started his blog 2 months ago we didn’t want to just blah, blah, blah about just anything. There’s just too much junk and garbage already on the internet.  We didn’t want to become a blog that just kept posting so there was new material here often.  Rather, we want to post when we feel we have something to say.  Our mantra is to only post when the spirit moves us. What this means in a literal sense is our posts will only be made when the bell goes off in our heads and shouts “we can’t wait to write about this!“. If that doesn’t happen, then expect zilch at The Hills Are Alive.  The plan moving forward is that we do hope to get moved to write more and more and only time will tell of course if that happens.  In the meantime,  do stay tuned!

Having said that, recent news in the sporting world has once again moved us to write. With the Cirque de Burke now official in Toronto, the Raptors have replacing their head coach and Avery’s outburst all making headlines, we just had to have our say. But not about any of those things…..haha! Ok, enough with the kidding… we do want to address those things.

Brian Burke is now the GM of the Leafs. What does this all mean? No much in the short term. He’s vowed to let the team personel prove their worth and even gave a trade moritorium over most of December. Essentially that means there will be no changes until the new year. The long term diagnosis is debateable. He definitely appears to be the right man for the job and has said all the right things during his brief press conference over the past weekend. We think Burke’s the man to lead the Leafs to the promised land. Just be patient in a Colangelo way Leaf fans and you’ll be rewarded.

Speaking of the Raps, we morn the loss of Coach Sam. His departure was written all over his face after the 39 point loss to Denver on Tuesday night. It was clear he had lost the players attention and when that happens, frontier justice is swift in the professional coaching world.  Bryan had pull the trigger.  Any GM worth a grain of salt would have done the same.  Sam, we will miss your bluntless, sense of humour and “matter of fact” approach.  Now the focus switches to the Canuck Jay Triano at least for the short term.  Enjoy your time in the limelight Jay as we predict you’ll have luke warm success but when Bryan’s man comes in, you’ll be finally shown the door.  But don’t fret, the NBA will still need ya!  Just you’ve been with the team for a long time already (in many capacities) and if the team is to move forward, a fresh bench is needed for long term success.

Sean Avery’s comments were horrible.  The punishment swift and just.  But consider a few things: 

• That the NHL needs Avery just like the NBA needed Denis Rodman.  The press this has gotten the NHL is something the league couldn’t buy with a million bucks.  Rodman had his time expire.  Avery has yet to reach that point.  NHL should milk Avery for every cent they can if they were smart (which is debateable).
• Avery is smart guy and only makes comments/actions thinking 2 steps ahead.  He got the NHL during the last playoffs to make a rule change (exposing the league for the blundering idiots they are.)  The NHL always say they can’t make rules changes without the Board of Governors consent and then go ahead on a whim and make a rule change right in the middle of the playoffs!  It remains to be seen what this exact outburst will bring but there is always something behind Avery’s actions and we doubt this case is no different.
• The comments were bad enough but did the sports media need to play it over and over and over again?  The answer is no.  Next time, bleep them out just like you would this you  $$^#*!@ jerks!  Where was the sensitivity in the media?  They were just as guilty as Avery IOHO.  As we write this its been more than 36 hours since the comments were made and they are still airing unbleeped in headlines everywhere on TV!  When will the shame on the game end?  Most likely never thanks to the media.
• Our Avery Prediciton?  We see him suspended til’ January.  Maybe longer by the Dallas Stars and then placed on waivers/traded.  The team will have to eat some of his salary but he’ll play again this year.  Just not as a Star.

Lastly, check out Toronto Sports Media for all things sports and media related.  We visit there often and recently enjoyed their take on the Toronto Sports Radio scene.

They’re Looking at 3rd Down & Forever

Prediction time!

This will be the Buffalo Bills coach’s last season.  Only a Super Bowl win can save Dick Jauron now.  The Bills in Toronto Debacle won’t be his last game no matter what the outcome.   Jauron will last the season but he won’t be back.  Speaking of Bills and blogs, why even bother with an official Blog for the Bills in Toronto if you don’t even bother writing in it during the week of?  (as we write, the last post was on Nov. 30th meaning 3 days away from the BIG game, the last post was on the last game day for the Buffalo Bills).  Honestly, if this was a big deal (we believe it is) , the blog should have daily if not, multiple daily posts counting down to the main event.  There’s more than enough story lines and material out there for the Historic NFL Event.  Talk about dropping the ball in the Red Zone!  Its the first NFL game ever in Canada!  Blog like the event deserves!

Things we’ve found interesting of late:

• Bryan Berard likes playing the in KHL. Whaaatttt?
• Six NBA games to watch in December is a good read.  Mark Christmas day down!
• The NHL was wrong to suspend Avery. 
• Avery is done in Dallas.  Hello Atlanta Thrashers!  They sure could use the profile!
• This Star article explains the reasoning for legalizing gambling which oddly echoes the same reasons for legalizing pot. Does this mean the paper will be coming out in favour of pot legalization too? When reading the article substitute the word “gambling” with ”marijuana” and you’ll see what we mean.
• Ted Rogers legacy will be long and lasting and he’ll still have an effect on the landscape moving forwards.  The 2010 Olympics will be considered the Cell Phone Games.  I can’t wait to watch it on my phone.  Whodathunkit?  Ah, Ted did and years ago.  Tuesday was a sad day indeed.

We Snatched Victory out of the Jaws of Defeat

OMG!  So much to catch up on & read so here’s what we found curious:

• The Alex Burrows vs. Pierre-Marc Bouchard sparring from a Minny viewpoint.  Here’s the recap from the game on Saturday.  Nuthin’ happened between the two.  Pfft!
• Soccerlens.com was an interesting all-footie read if you don’t mind the ads that is…
• What???  The Columbus Blue Jackets are on a roll?  Find out why.
• Bryan Colangelo’s best/worst moves as the Raptors GM.  Read on and the article really heats up when it gets to the “worst” part.  Talk about venting!
• This past Thursday, the Vancouver Whitecaps and BC Pavilion Corporation made public a snapshot of how BC Place Stadium might be configured in order to best accommodate soccer events.
• MLS has a new trophy with a new name.  Too bad it snubs the previous namesake. 
• Congrats to Canadians Darus Suharto and Scott Montgomery at the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event.  To make it that far is an achievement is the purest sense and of course worthwhile for all the ca$h!
• & finally this NWT man is rolling his way across Canada in 100 days to commemorate 100th anniversary of 5-pin bowling!  WTG!!!

This Team is Searching to Find its Identity

Here’s a list of our mid-week fantasy sports moves:

• In EPL yahoo, we switched our team format from a 3-4-3 to a 3-5-2.  Dropped Adebayor (Arsenal) and picked up Lampard (Chelsea).  Just trying a different config to jump start some points and Chelsea is hot and the Gunners are having issues on and off the field.  After missing the first week (so we started with no points while every1 got some), our EPL team is finally within distance of getting out of the basement and into the fray of the league.
• In NBA Yahoo, we dropped PG Anthony Carter (Nuggets) for SG Raja Bell (Suns).  Starting tonight, Carter won’t see much time on the court now that Chauncey Billups is the starter in Denver.
• In NHL Fantasy, we’ve been waiting for Daniel Carcillo to heat up but the wait is over.  We were at least countin’ on him for some decent PiM’s but even that dept. has been a huge disappointment.  Picked up Nik Hagman in a tight roster league that only allows for 2 bench spots. 

We’re Going to Use This Win as a Building Block.

Here’s what we’ve got on our mind today:

• The IA trade wildcard in the matter appears to be that of Piston Coach, Michael Curry.  The rookie coach appeared slightly unconfident, unprepared and nervous when talking to reporters about the trade.  This is the guy that is supposed to lead the team to the promised land? His resume says differently (ie: praise for his leadership qualities, demeanour, etc) so maybe it was just a bad day at the office for Mr. Curry or something.  Regardless, we plan on closely monitoring his courtside manner tonight in Toronto to see what the real deal is. 
• The Wellwood Story in Vancouver is great.  Kudos to the guy for coming back from the minors and clearing waivers to lead the team to victory with some sweet goals.  Sometimes its not the goals themselves but how they were scored that matters.  That was the case last night.  Now we won’t jump on his bandwagon quite yet.  But if he could begin to contribute regularily that would be a start. That way we can at least stop worrying about him being in the lineup. 6 goals to lead the team is a decent way to get into our good books!  Keep ‘em coming!
• A good feature on Carolina Hurricanes’ Dan LaCouture coming back from the brink and now back in the NHL at age 31.
• The NHL numbers are in for October.  All positive it seems.  The most striking number is that the Chicago Blackhawks attendence is up a whopping 71%.  Was it really that bad there?  Guess so.
• It would be great to ollie around the Terry Fox monument in Thunder Bay.  Its close but not close enough.  Good on Tbay for getting a sk8park!  Check out the construction pics here!
• Finally, guys and girls take note of the Language of Beer survey results.  What does YOUR BEER say about you?  More things to consider when out at your fave watering spot!

It’s Easy to be a Tuesday Morning Quarterback

Nothing beats a good cliche to start the day:

• A good varied roundup of takes on Freddie Ljungberg’s signing with Major League Soccer & Seattle Sounders FC.
• Beckham could leave the MLS after 09 due to an opt out clause and he also has an option to buy a MLS team when he leaves?  Whoa!  His deal just keeps getting better! 
• A good midwest US take on what is wrong with hockey and what can be done to fix it.  We thought it to be ESSENTIAL READING. 
• Attention MLB teams!  K-Rod will be an overpaid five year flop if you pay him what is rumoured to be his asking price.  5 years for 75 million?  We realized he is only 26 but he’s logged a lot of innings and critical work during his tenure with the Angels.  Anything beyond half of his asking price/terms is taking a massive risk.  We give K-Rod 2 more good years until he sputters.  Of course, ppl said the same thing about Yankee Closer Mariano Rivera and he’s proven us wrong to date.  We think he’s one of a kind and the exception to the rule. 
• Kudos to the NBA for still doing trades involving stars.  In a cap ridden professional sports world these types of trades are too few and far between.  Good on both teams for taking a risk, shaking things up and making things interesting for the fans.  If only more teams would do this… (insert your fave team here).  This blog predicted and gave decent reasons for an IA trade way back in May!
• The Pressures of Youth Football (soccer) is a good post but the comments are what we found to be most interesting.  You can substitute “football” to any sport/arts/performance your child is enrolled in and make it applicable.  Parents take note!

Scary Sports! BOO!

Gotta prep for Hallowe’en so won’t be writing much today. Therefore, just a few tidbits:

• Don’t understand why everyone keeps dumping on Steve Nash.  Last time I looked his production wasn’t waning yet everyone seems to think the end is near for the former MVP.  If we were him, I’d take this slight and prove ‘em all wrong with your best season ever.  The better question about the Suns should be about the other parts of the team and not about Nash. 
• AJ Burnett’s agent says the pitcher will decide by Monday whether or not to leave 24 million on the table and use his player opt out clause.  At least that is one version of the story, the other is that AJ has until Monday to decide if he wants his agent to go to the Autumn GM meetings with him on the “currently available” roster.  Regardless, its difficult to imagine when 12 million a season is just not enough (sigh) but we think AJ has flown the Jays Coup for greener pastures.  The only reasons he returns to the Jays fold would be that he values the current comfort and pitching staff (Arnsberg) more than $$$ and that the current financial turmoil might have his agent thinking that he’s better off with his current deal and/or maybe they can swing a lucrative extension with the team.  Pfft!  Who are we kidding?  There’s always someone out there in MLB land with the cash.  See ya AJ!
• Daniel Alfredsson re-ups with the Ottawa Senators.  His relative cheap yearly salary of just over 5 million for 4 years has us thinking that this opens the vaults for free agent & fellow Swede Mats Sundin to join him.  “C’mon on down Mats!  You’re the next Senator on the Price is Right!”  So far so good for our prediction even though Mats was sighted at the Kings/Canucks game last night.
• We thought the parking woes of this NHL callup were hilarious!  Talk about only thinking of the short term!

Happy Hallowe’en Everyone! 

PS: Check out our growing Blogroll on the left hand side if you’ve got the time!

Shouts from the Top of the Hill!

Here’s some stuff we’re chewing on:

• Now that baseball is done, what is there on TV to fall asleep to?
• Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment employs 3 professional coaches in the Major leagues. Sam Mitchell (NBA Raptors), Ron Wilson (NHL Leafs), John Carver (MLS TFC). All cut from the same cloth? You can argue that all are no-nonsense, matter-of-fact, tempermental, tell-it-like-it-is coaches. A theme by MLSE? We think so. Discuss.
• Seriously, the Tennessee Titans need to make embattled QB Vince Young a running back. Its what he does best. They would win the Super Bowl with him in the equation.  Hands down.
• The Canada Sports Hall of Fame is granted to Calgary and is going to cost $50 Million. Meanwhile, Canadian Olympic athletes are beggin’ for private sector funding and recent polls seem to indicate that the populace supports more public funding for athletes. In these uncertain financial times do you support the past or the future or both or neither? We doubt there’s enough cash out there for everything so we’d choose to support athletes now. There’s always time for the HoF later.  Invest in the future!
• OMG! Tomorrow is Hallowe’en… Need a costume?