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Thursday, April 11, 2013

This and That

Just a weekly collection of thoughts going through my muddled mind

--We  haven't hit the 10 game mark  yet, but the Toronto Blue Jays are slowly sucking away the excitement that was created by their off-season acquisitions. Have any panned out? R-A Dickey, Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle certainly haven't started well, Emilio Bonafacio had a game with three errors and I'm not seeing a lot of Jose Reyes and Melky Cabrera in the boxscore. When I look at this start, I think of two things
  1)Tuesday on the Sportscage, Arash Madani correctly opined that we are just a few games into a 162 game season and that there is a lot of time to turn it around. Madani equated the ball schedule to being 10 games to a football team's one. I wouldn't worry about it now, but if things haven't improved by the 50 game mark, start asking questions.
 2) I forget what sportswriter it was that asked the question why there was so much excitement in getting everyone when both the Marlins and Mets were bad teams in the National League East while Cabrera was a druggie who was suspended. He said getting some of the top players from Florida and the Mets doesn't make you an upper echelon team. That statement is holding true right now.

--Hard to believe its been 10 years since Mike Weir won the green jacket at Augusta. I thought the half hour special on Weir's historic win Wednesday night was outstanding. It was great to see Weyburn's Graham DeLaet say that win was what propelled him to wanting to have a great career and that there has never been a better golfer than Mike Weir in this country. I can't disagree with that statement, but I think its safe to say the torch has been passed to DeLaet when it comes to this country's top golfer and that if (and when) Graham wins a major that he will spur a lot of kids to play the game---hopefully in this province.

--A story crossed the wire the other day saying the International Olympic Commission may consider BMX racing and three on three basketball as Olympic sports in the future. ?????? If you are going to have one of those sports in and not have wrestling, baseball or softball, then the Summer Olympics will have lost any remaining credibility they have with me. What a joke!!

--Where do I start the Lindy Ruff for coach and GM of the Oilers campaign?  I'm sorry, but I've had enough of Ralph Krueger and Steve Tambellini. This team should have made the playoffs this year and they won't.  I'm very disappointed by that development and the lack of urgency that they have shown in recent games.

--A well known hockey scout in this area has let it be known to some people that the Regina Pats will be about the same this year as they were last. I'm very disappointed by that development.

--The U of R Cougars held their awards nite Thursday night. A big congrats to not just those that took home some hardware, but for representing the U of R and this city in fine fashion. It doesn't matter if you got to a national championship game and lost or if you didn't make the playoffs, you did yourself proud. For a list of winners, click here

--Watching the great Vin Scully do L-A Dodgers baseball is just a treat. With Vin getting up there in age, the day will soon come when he hangs up the microphone. He simply is the best and there is no one better.

--There are people doing hockey on Canadian television that could not carry the microphones of Rod Pedersen and Peter Loubardias. Why aren't these two doing hockey and hockey at a high level.

--Kelly Remple with the help of some hockey connections has put up a top prospects list for the bantam draft on RP's blog. Am I the only one noticing there is a lack of Regina and Saskatchewan players on that list. That's not good!

--I can't wait for new "Arrested Development" episodes to show up on Netflix. There may never have been a more cleverly written show than that one.

--One of the best stories in sports this week involved new Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona. Francona lives two blocks from Progressive Field--the home of the Indians. He got lost walking to the park for opening day. How does one do that? Its not like the stadium wouldn't be seen with the lights and other things. He's two blocks away!! Can't he see the field from the window of his apartment? Funny stuff! At least Cleveland has a stadium where its OK to live two blocks away so you can walk to and fro. Lets just say I don't think Corey Chamblin would want to live two blocks from Mosaic.

--I have landed pretty good seats for UFC 161 in Winnipeg on Fathers Day weekend. Myself and 6 others will be going up. We have been told that we have a pretty good chance at getting into a Rashad Evans after-party. This makes me wonder if seven will be coming back. Actually, with two of them being together in a vehicle for eight hours, it makes me wonder if all seven of us will get to Winnipeg in one piece!

--In "Something to Mitch About" Monday, I said I liked Padraig Harrington to win the Masters. Padraig promptly went out and shot an opening round 78. It would appear Rob Vanstone is not the only one in this town to make horrid sports predictions. YEESH!!!

--If you can buy two litre bottles of Orange Crush, why can't you buy two litre bottles of Grape Crush?

--If you are one that likes to text and drive, I would please ask you to read this story.

--The story coming out of Nova Scotia this week is absolutely sickening on so many levels. If there is a picture of a sexual assault that has been distributed, how could the RCMP not charge anyone in connection with this. There are some people walking around that province that don't deserve to be walking down the street or any street.

--Its about damn time Dolph Ziggler cashed in his "Money In The Bank" briefcase and became the WWE heavyweight champ. Part of me actually thought that might happen after John Cena beat the Rock at Wrestlemania just so that Cena's "angst" could continue.

--Famed hypnotist Reveen died. I went to see his shows a couple of times. Surely, you must remember his ads.....THE MAN THEY CALLED REV-EEN!!! He was outstanding.

--Speaking of outstanding, there may be no better "Twitter" account than that of "The Iron Sheik".

--That's about it...I will just leave you with this. Have a great weekend







22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice call on Harrington! Once again, this proves that you know nothing except what place has the best cheeseburger!

Anonymous said...

Rod is a great play by play guy. Be honest with yourself Mitch, Loubardias is terrible. I know guys 'in the business' like him because he's a nice guy, and when he was on sportsnet, he was still nice to the small market guys, but to the common fan he is quite annoying.

Anonymous said...

Well said on the Cougars, the Olympic sports and the Nova Scotia story.

JN

Anonymous said...

To the anti-Loubardias idiot. Tell me you would honestly rather have Rob Kerr than Lou? Rob Kerr is the worst p x p guy in the NHL. He isn't good enough to do Junior B hockey. I would rather have him than Kerr, Quinn, Mark Lee, and many others. You obviously know nothing about the game!

Darren

Anonymous said...

A couple notes for ya Mitch, I do agree with most of your Jays statements but Jose Reyes has not been the problem. He's the Jays best offensive player hitting .406 along with some unreal defence. Where it gets ugly is that the Jays are 29th in pitching as a team. Other then a couple bright spots in the pen with Cecil (big surprise) and Janssen they've been atrocious. Also tell me how a grown man is still into WWE? I like and respect you with your opinion's Blair but anyone that takes that 'sideshow' seriously makes me shake my head. Curt

Anonymous said...

I may not no as much as you..."Darren" when it comes to "the game", but I know that as an average fan, Kerr isn't awful and Loubardias' voice is the most unpleasant sound in sports since Monica Seles.

But this opinion differs from Mitch's so it likely won't get published.

Anonymous said...

And the 1st anon knows all. Yeah. Sure.

Anonymous said...

There was no better show than Arrested Development. So many funny moments. Can't wait for those shows to start up.

Allan

Anonymous said...

To the Loubardias hater.

If you think Rob Kerr isn't awful, I can only assume you are a member of the Kerr family.

not Darren, but another guy --one of many who thinks he is atrocious.

Anonymous said...

Rob Kerr does a decent enough job of telling me what's happening in the game. He tells me this in a voice that isn't annoying.

If Loubardias is so great, why is he intermission filler on low budget WHL Shaw broadcasts?

Anonymous said...

Rob Kerr ass-kissed his way to the top. he is by far the worst guy on tv, but has worn out his knees getting there so don't look for a change anytime soon. Pete is better, but still, that voice wears on you after awhile.

Anonymous said...

Mr Anti WWE:
Perhaps you should dig into the #'s and see how much money Vince McMahon is raking in. It would seem as if many (like me) enjoy teh entertainment that is put forth. I am guessing you think MMA is dumb too eh Curt?

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

OMG, anyone that thinks Rob Kerr is better than Peter Lou has taken an elbow to the head without a helmet on.

Anonymous said...

If Rod was so great, he'd be doing p x p elsewhere too. He's burned too many bridges and you know it and so does he. Will ya publish this ya big nutlicker?
The two of you are sickening!

Anonymous said...

The gutless, no class wonder is back again. She/he doesn't realize the joke is on them. Neil

Anonymous said...

Who the heck is Kelly Remple?

Anonymous said...

HockeyRegina is in denial again. Since the WHL draft began 20 players taken from Saskatoon and 3 from Regina. Board members and parents alike all want their kid to play AAA, even though its obvious they aren't good enough. Edmonton has over a million residents. They have four Bantam AAA teams. We have a little over 200,000 and have three teams. It's not wonder we can't compete or develop.

Anonymous said...

The well respected hockey scout who suggested the Pats may be the same as last year, could be right. We all hope he isn't but there is lots to suggest they might be poor again. Sacher is an average goalie who is bit small. Defence is small and only everage in ability. After Klimchuk there isn't much. Stephenson wasn't top shelf even after he got back from injury. He wasn't that good before. A lot of good sized but very marginally talented forwards coming back. They barely made the playoffs with Weal the year before. Last year they didn't have his skill or leadership. I still don't see a true leader on the team. A trade may change that.

The only caveat to this upcoming season is if the Pats can manage a couple of very good trades without selling the farm. Getting a high end forward in the Import draft would help greatly. Maybe somebody who isn't a Czech and will actually come here.

The Pats will have to think outside the box. Excuse the oft used pun but the team cannot stand pat. A couple of large veteran d-men, a couple of offensive guys, and a couple tough kids to ride shotgun. An upgrade in goal may be a card they also have to look at.

Anonymous said...

Hahaha the numbers and the dollars hey? Did I say anything about that? I do like the MMA a country mile over the WWE because wait for it........it's not fake!!!!!

mike from vita, mb said...

Rod Black is terrible- Loubardias has flair. Networks are idiots 4 not having Roddy & Pete as pxp announcers. Either one of them can replace jets announcer Beyak any day!

mike from vita, mb said...

You're sickening chump because you don't have the balls 2 sign your name- man up!