Something To "Mitch" About

Thanks for checking in, I am hoping it was a great Christmas for everyone and that everyonI thie had their fair share of turkey, visits and gifts galore that will go in the mancave or wherever.  There's a lot of things to get to so lets get started.


THE WORLD JUNIORS

  --What is now TSN's marquee event is once again a must-see. This tournament is getting better and better because the hockey being played across the world is getting better and better. Canada is 2-0 in their pool, but many will tell you they played the creampuffs in their pool and the tourney gets started for real today against the defending champs from Finland----the defending champs who were beaten by Slovakia who were beaten 8-0 the day before by Canada.. I think its going to be a great tournament with some games that will be talked about for a long time in our future.  It is surprising to see the Bell Centre and Air Canada Centre are not sold out for Canadian games though. Perhaps considering where the event is being played, its not though.

CONNOR MCDAVID

 --There is no doubt the kid is special and is worthy of being talked about for the number one pick in this year's draft. Is it just me though or does he hold on to the puck too long.

THE OILERS

  --There is no truth to the rumour that whatever teams finishes last at the World Juniors gets relegated with the Oilers taking their spot, but yeesh. It looked like the Xmas break did nothing for Edmonton who once again were down 3-0 early in a loss Saturday to Calgary. They look a little more interested under Todd Nelson than they did Dallas Eakins, but it is obvious that once the first little negative occurs that its game over for this team as they don't rebound or respond.  Lets just say this---it isn't getting any better and as long as Kevin Lowe is still a part of this team, it won't be. By the way, the Oilers had their skills competition Sunday afternoon. You can insert your own joke to that last sentence.

--Other NHL thoughts.  Was this the first time in recent memory that neither the Leafs, Canadiens or Canucks were on CBC Saturday night. I can't remember a time when we didn't see one of those three teams every Saturday night. I was OK with it.

--Without Toronto or Montreal playing, what will the numbers be especially with TSN showing the Canada-Germany game at the same time. The numbers will be interesting to digest when they come out.

THE RAPTORS

 --Start watching these guys everyone. They are fun to watch. The team is on a West Coast swing right now and took out one of the Western heavyweights--the LA Clippers on Saturday afternoon. They have a game against the Western Conference leading Golden State Warriors in what should be a battle of conference leaders. Both teams play high tempo games so it should be entertaining.  By the way, is it just me or did they screw up their new logo announcement. First off, the logo looks very similar to the Brooklyn Nets---and for that matter reminds one of the U of R Cougars with the slashed ball. The announcement was made, but in days before Christmas when you would think a team would want to get its merchandise out there for sale, there was nary an item that could be bought. It makes me think someone botched this thing big-time.

THE NFL'S LAST SUNDAY

 --The road to the Super Bowl will go through Foxboro and Seattle. Is a Patriots-Seahawks SB on the horizon? There is no reason to think Seattle won't use home-field advantage to get back to the big game but Green Bay and Dallas will be a challenge while in the AFC, one has to think another Brady-Manning battle is on tap but I get the feeling Pittsburgh is going to spoil the party.

--A gimpy Aaron Rodgers was still too much for Detroit. He is the MVP this season in my mind with all apologies to you Cowboys fans who think it should be Tony Romo.

--One has to wonder when exactly Jim Harbaugh's days with the 49ers officially ended. Teams usually wait until Monday to start firing coaches, but it seemed as if Harbaugh hadn't even showered yet before the team announced they were splitting ways with their head coach. I wonder if we will ever find out just what happened there because something did and it wasn't pretty. Harbaugh is now heading back to his almamater to coach the University of Michigan. As a guy who doesn't like Harbaugh and likes Michigan. I am not crazy with this. A Big Ten title or two may change my mind.

--Geno Smith had a perfect rating at QB for the Jets. He is the only QB in the NFL to have a 158.3 rating in a game this year. Manning didn't do it, Brady didn't do it, Rodgers didn't do it. and neither did Romo, Wilson or Roethlisberger-----it was the much maligned Geno Smith.

--Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is 36-12 to start off his NFL career. That's the best start of any quarterback over his first three years including Tom Brady. He just keeps getting it done and it seemingly keeps happening under the radar.


--CHANGING THE CIS FOOTBALL SKED

 --A great story by Saskatoon Star-Phoenix sports reporter Kevin Mitchell about a possible interlock coming to CIS football meaning Canada West teams would butt helmets with Eastern teams at times other than the national semi-finals and Vanier Cup. I would be all for this. I think it would be great to see some other schools come in to play the U of R and U of S and have them go other places as well.  Vancouver's Jim Mullin is extremely passionate about Canadian University Football and he is doing a lot of work behind the scenes to improve the product. Jim will be with me on the Sportscage Monday to discuss this.

WHO IS FRANK'S REPLACEMENT

 --I have heard the Rams coaching job has been offered to Mike Gibson and he is now deciding whether or not he wants the position. Whether its Gibson or not, I am expecting some kind of announcement early this week as the steering committee did indicate they wanted a new person in place by the end of the calendar year.


--DOUGHTY GETS ROBBED

 --I didn't have a problem with Kaillie Humphries getting the Canadian athlete of the year award even though I thought Eugenie Bouchard would get it. However, Milos Raonic over Drew Doughty is just wrong. Doughty won Olympic gold and the Stanley Cup which is may more than what the tennis player did. There is no way Raonic should be Canada's male athlete of 2014---at least not in this bloggers mind.