Remembering AI

Allen Iverson announced his retirement today. He was easily among the most naturally-gifted scorers ever, with a killer instinct, an even more diabolical crossover, a crazy step-back, a feather-soft touch with the ball and an unteachable, utterly incredible ability to find the basket regardless where he was on the floor.

Take a look at these highlights:

Remembering McGrady

As Tracy McGrady announces his retirement ("from the NBA", that is...) and we pause to remember how much fun he was to watch, it's bittersweet to wonder "what might have been" had he and Vince Carter stayed and grown together in Toronto as Raptors instead of McGrady finding a better opportunity with the Orlando Magic to win his two consecutive scoring titles in 2003-2004.

Que cera, cera...here's ten great memories...

Goalies, goalies, goalies

Tuukka Rask took a risk - and also took years off the life of every Bruins fan...

Have we not talked about this? Why yes, we have. But clearly it needs to be shouted from the rafters - goalies, please stay in your crease. We need you to stop pucks that are shot at the net. 

For 99% of you goaltenders out there, nothing good comes from leaving the crease to pretend you can handle the puck and help your teammates. Stop thinking you are adding value. You are not. 

Enough already.

[Sidenote - I just realized that all my articles with the goaltenders tag feature the Boston Bruins. Why this is, I know not, 'cause I sure ain't no Bruins fan...is it jealousy (being in Toronto and all), or perhaps some dark expression of respect? Yikes.]

At it again? Overtly biased coverage against Blue Jays is outrageous

A few years ago I observed the biased manner in which the Blue Jays were covered in the media. It had appeared that they stopped doing this...but recently, I saw this list of headlines at Yahoo Sports:

This is so not cool.

What's wrong with this picture?

Here's a shot of the Leafs-Hurricanes game last night... we can see in the below image the kind of hockey the Leafs play that could only end in losing. 

Does it really take four Leafs to contend with two 'Canes in the corner, and isn't anyone going to pick up the 'Cane all alone in front of the net?  Anyone? Bueller?

Sheesh, I knew better than this as a kid playing house league.

"Mecca of hockey?" What a joke - guess that's why we call them the Maple Laughs. But the joke is really on the so-called fans who pay the princeliest price for a ticket in the league just to be treated to this garbage masquerading as professional hockey.

By the way, yes, the Laughs were leading 1-0 at this point in the game. However, they went on to lose 4-1. Hard to be surprised with positioning - for lack of a better term - such as the above.

 

Popovich is right, Stern is wrong

San Antonio Spurs coach Greg Popovich looked at this stretch of their schedule and decided to rest his big four starters in a game against the Miami Heat. NBA Commissioner David Stern apparently intends to sanction the Spurs. 

This is very simple. Pop is right, Stern is wrong, and it's high time more teams or the players association itself forces the NBA to do a better job of scheduling. The brutal stretches with consecutive days of games and long road trips erodes the quality of play and exposes the players to a higher risk of injury. How could this kind of scheduling possibly be argued as good for the game, the league, the players or the fans?

It can't. So stop it.

Now is a great time to gain some real traction towards sanity.

Lions Thanksgiving tradition is quite refreshing

Like many people, I finally decided to find out why the Detroit Lions get the privilege of playing football on Thanksgiving and came to understand that it was the Lions franchise, way back in 1934, that started the tradition. It's not so much an NFL tradition - it is a Lions tradition. Simple enough.

Or is it? Some remain perplexed - how can, or better yet, why should - the Lions, one of the league's woebegone franchises (how many teams can boast an 0-16 season?) manage to keep getting these games even though they're such a bad team? Shouldn't the NFL showcase good teams? 

The answer is both yes and no - and the league has responded very well to both.