Alexandr Ovechkin scored five goals in two games last week to blow right by the fifty goal plateau. At 54 goals he's on course to become the first 60 goal scorer in the NHL in twelve years. Up to and including 1996 there were 35 players who had reached 60 goals including a member of the Washington Capitals; the forgotten Dennis Maruk. Maruk had the misfortune of scoring his 60 goals the same year Wayne Gretzky scored 92.
The question is, "Why has it taken 12 years to produce another 60 goal scorer?"
Part of the problem was that dreadful era of hooking and holding that preceded the lockout.
The goaltender equipment issue is reaching critical mass and will be addressed again by the league this summer. The "trap" employed especially by some of the less-talented teams has become a choke point for offenses in the league.
Still, in my opinion the quality of hockey in the NHL has never been better.
In recent years we've witnessed the advent of the 40-second shift and the all-out skating that it has produced. Players simply can't afford to coast even a single shift in today's game.
All things considered, reaching 60 goals is an incredible feat. It is another reason why it is insanity to try to compare statistical accomplishments from era to era. Rocket Richard was the king-of-hockey with 50-in-50 in 1945. Esposito shook the establishment with 76 goals in 1971.
Gretzky with his incredible 92 goal season in 1992. All of them would have been great goalscorers if through some sort of time warp they could be transplanted to 2008. And in all likelihood they would be battling Alexandr Ovechkin for the goalscoring lead at somewhere around 60 goals. Great players remain great players. Only the times and the context change.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Friday, March 7, 2008
March 1 2008
Friday night at the Bell Centre Lucien Bute defended his IBF World Super-Middleweight championship against an aging William Joppy. I don't want to diminish the considerable skills of Bute but being champion in the International Boxing Federation carries about as much weight as a dieting supermodel.
As we've said before, the only true rankings in boxing are carried by Ring Magazine. Joppy, who had a fair amount of success a few years ago was not included in their top 10 contenders.
That said; Bute went into last night's fight ranked as the third in his division behind one of the greatest champions of all time, Joe Calzaghe and Denmark's Mikkel Kessler.
But this is not about Bute. This is about this city, a city that has showcased in the past the likes of Johnny Greco, Yvon Durelle, Donato Paduano and the Hilton Brothers and has resurfaced as North America's boxing mecca. You can mention Las Vegas and Atlantic City where championship cards draw big crowds. But everything in the ring in those cities is imported.
Montreal consistantly puts locally developed boxers in the ring in front of major crowds. Not only do we have Bute and Joachim Alcine high up in the world rankings, but in the pipeline is a farm system of young boxers ready to tgake their place.
It is said that Montreal is an "event city". The 14 thousand at the Bell Centre Friday night tells us that Montrealers consider boxing to be a "big event".
As we've said before, the only true rankings in boxing are carried by Ring Magazine. Joppy, who had a fair amount of success a few years ago was not included in their top 10 contenders.
That said; Bute went into last night's fight ranked as the third in his division behind one of the greatest champions of all time, Joe Calzaghe and Denmark's Mikkel Kessler.
But this is not about Bute. This is about this city, a city that has showcased in the past the likes of Johnny Greco, Yvon Durelle, Donato Paduano and the Hilton Brothers and has resurfaced as North America's boxing mecca. You can mention Las Vegas and Atlantic City where championship cards draw big crowds. But everything in the ring in those cities is imported.
Montreal consistantly puts locally developed boxers in the ring in front of major crowds. Not only do we have Bute and Joachim Alcine high up in the world rankings, but in the pipeline is a farm system of young boxers ready to tgake their place.
It is said that Montreal is an "event city". The 14 thousand at the Bell Centre Friday night tells us that Montrealers consider boxing to be a "big event".
February 29 2008
Timelines seem to be all the rage right now. Permit me to give you an Ottawa Senators nine-month timeline.
Last June the general manager of the Senators was John Muckler. Under Muckler's leadership the Senators reached the Stanley Cup final. A month after their elimination at the hands of Anaheim the owner of the Senators Eugene Melnyk, apparently dissatisfied with the near miss,, fired Muckler and promoted head coach Bryan Murray to the job.
Murray then decided that a veteran team didn't require a veteran coach and promoted assistant John Paddock to the job.
The Senators then started the season 15-2. the entire front office was wearing itself out patting themselves on the back. The Senators came into Montreal on November 19th and beat the Canadiens 4-2. It seemed clear that the Senators were capable of being runaway winners of the Eastern Conference. From Montreal the Senators went to Buffalo and things began to fall apart. They lost in Buffalo. They lost 7 games in a row and the team has not recovered. Systems set in place by the former coach now turned general manager disintegrated. In panic mode the new coach started to overuse his key players. Goaltender Ray Emery's lack of respect for team
rules went mostly unaddressed. They became a team-divided. Last week the rookie coach was mercifly fired. Friday night the Senators lost first place in their division to the Canadiens.
Many think with team captain Daniel Alfredsson 35 years of age that the Senators may have blown their last shot at a Stanley Cup.
to every action there is a reaction. The domino effect of an owner firing a general manager who had engineered the Dany Heatley trade; drafted Chris Kelly and Andre Meszeros; signed free agent Brian McGratton and hired head coach Bryan Murray to coach a team that reached the Stanley cup final has been a disaster.
Montreal fans will recognize history repeated. Ron Corey, like Senators owner Melnyk was a non-hockey person with just enough information to royally screw things up. It's taken nearly a decade to recover from Ron Corey in Montreal. The fallout from the last nine months in Ottawa probably will have the same longterm effect.
Last June the general manager of the Senators was John Muckler. Under Muckler's leadership the Senators reached the Stanley Cup final. A month after their elimination at the hands of Anaheim the owner of the Senators Eugene Melnyk, apparently dissatisfied with the near miss,, fired Muckler and promoted head coach Bryan Murray to the job.
Murray then decided that a veteran team didn't require a veteran coach and promoted assistant John Paddock to the job.
The Senators then started the season 15-2. the entire front office was wearing itself out patting themselves on the back. The Senators came into Montreal on November 19th and beat the Canadiens 4-2. It seemed clear that the Senators were capable of being runaway winners of the Eastern Conference. From Montreal the Senators went to Buffalo and things began to fall apart. They lost in Buffalo. They lost 7 games in a row and the team has not recovered. Systems set in place by the former coach now turned general manager disintegrated. In panic mode the new coach started to overuse his key players. Goaltender Ray Emery's lack of respect for team
rules went mostly unaddressed. They became a team-divided. Last week the rookie coach was mercifly fired. Friday night the Senators lost first place in their division to the Canadiens.
Many think with team captain Daniel Alfredsson 35 years of age that the Senators may have blown their last shot at a Stanley Cup.
to every action there is a reaction. The domino effect of an owner firing a general manager who had engineered the Dany Heatley trade; drafted Chris Kelly and Andre Meszeros; signed free agent Brian McGratton and hired head coach Bryan Murray to coach a team that reached the Stanley cup final has been a disaster.
Montreal fans will recognize history repeated. Ron Corey, like Senators owner Melnyk was a non-hockey person with just enough information to royally screw things up. It's taken nearly a decade to recover from Ron Corey in Montreal. The fallout from the last nine months in Ottawa probably will have the same longterm effect.
Monday, February 25, 2008
February 23 2008
Yesterday one of the most ruiness battles in the history of sports came to an end when the Indy Racing League agreed to absorb the Champ Car Racing Series thus ending a twelve-year split that all but destroyed open-wheel racing in North America. Champ Car had the money but the IRL had the race; the Indy 500.
The IRL was founded to get rid of all of those foreign drivers who where invading what was the second richest racing series in the world. Twelve years later and who cares that they"re together again. To quote Gertrude Stein there simply is "no there, there".
Twelve years after the split the only marketable feature in North American Open-Wheel racing is a woman who has never won a race.
In the public consciousness "AJ", "Mario", "The Unsers" have been replaced by Dale Jr.,the Jeff Gordons, Tony Stewarts, Michael Waltrips and the like in NASCAR.
I there anyone out there who can name the last two or three Indy-500 winners. Well, maybe last year because it was Ashley Judd's husband. But even Dario Franchitti abandoned open-wheeled racing for NASCAR this year.
Champ Car had what seemed to be successful races in Canada, including the Villeneuve circuit. NASCAR pushed the Montreal race to the Laurentians as sponsorship money continued to dry up. This year we may have an IRL race in Edmonton but the Montreal and Toronto will be off the schedule.
Can Indy-type racing come back to it's once mythical stature? You can forget about it. As Abraham Lincoln said "A house divided can never stand." The house that was once built on the Indianapolis-500 has been demolished through a civil war that produced near total destruction.
Monday, February 11, 2008
February 9 2008
Thirteen years ago Nike, the sports equipment manufacturer that gave us the 180 dollar basketball sneaker, decided to get into the hockey business.
They bought Montreal-based Canstar Sports and their Bauer product-line for
395 million dollars.
DNike then proceeded to re-invent the hockey marketing wheel. They moved their manufacturing facility to Asia and switched the head office from Montreal to New Hampshire. Basically, Nike was telling Canadians they knew nothing about hockey marketing. Their secret was, put the "Swish" logo on their skate and raise the price from four-hundred dollars a pair to seven hundred. No matter that the Made-In-Asia skates didn't fit North American players feet properly. The bright bulbs in New Hampshire also tried to foist white hockey skates on it's buying public in a not-so-subtle attempt at planned obselescence.
This kind of thing may have worked in the ghettos of the United States where kids were being murdered for 180-dollar shoes that cost 3-dollars to make in China. It failed to fool the hockey buyer.
This week Nike announced they were selling out. Financial analysts tell us they won't get half the price they paid for the company.
For once a corporate glutton like Nike with it's dispicable marketing and manufacturing strategies has run headlong into a wall.
Makes you feel warm and fuzzy.
They bought Montreal-based Canstar Sports and their Bauer product-line for
395 million dollars.
DNike then proceeded to re-invent the hockey marketing wheel. They moved their manufacturing facility to Asia and switched the head office from Montreal to New Hampshire. Basically, Nike was telling Canadians they knew nothing about hockey marketing. Their secret was, put the "Swish" logo on their skate and raise the price from four-hundred dollars a pair to seven hundred. No matter that the Made-In-Asia skates didn't fit North American players feet properly. The bright bulbs in New Hampshire also tried to foist white hockey skates on it's buying public in a not-so-subtle attempt at planned obselescence.
This kind of thing may have worked in the ghettos of the United States where kids were being murdered for 180-dollar shoes that cost 3-dollars to make in China. It failed to fool the hockey buyer.
This week Nike announced they were selling out. Financial analysts tell us they won't get half the price they paid for the company.
For once a corporate glutton like Nike with it's dispicable marketing and manufacturing strategies has run headlong into a wall.
Makes you feel warm and fuzzy.
February 2 2008
The Commissioner of the NFL held his state of the league news conference yesterday (February 1st) in Arizona and made it official. The Buffalo Bills will play eight home games in Toronto over the next five years. There was hardly a soul in the room who didn't think that the announcement marked the beginning of the end for the CFL.
Toronto is the media and marketing capital of Canada whether we like it or not. Ninety percent of the advertising and sponsorships come out of Toronto agencies. Whatever monies that went into the CFL will inevitably be channeled to the NFL. The NFL says it's going to take steps to protect the CFL but don't attempt to take that to the bank. The NFL just extricated itself from their NFL-Europe fiasco. They're not about to get into another money-pit .
In 1974 the World Football League was formed including the Toronto Northmen.
the minority Trudeau government of the time stepped in and threatened economic sanctions against what they considered a threat to the CFL. The franchise shifted to Memphis without ever playing a Toronto game. Don't expect the government, especially a conservative one, to step in and save the CFL this time.
So, say "goodbye" to the Argonauts and then the Tigercats and then in a slow agonizing death, the rest of a league that has existed in one form or the other sfor ninety-nine years.
What we have is another example of what's good for Toronto is good for the rest of the country no matter what is destroyed in the wake.
Toronto is the media and marketing capital of Canada whether we like it or not. Ninety percent of the advertising and sponsorships come out of Toronto agencies. Whatever monies that went into the CFL will inevitably be channeled to the NFL. The NFL says it's going to take steps to protect the CFL but don't attempt to take that to the bank. The NFL just extricated itself from their NFL-Europe fiasco. They're not about to get into another money-pit .
In 1974 the World Football League was formed including the Toronto Northmen.
the minority Trudeau government of the time stepped in and threatened economic sanctions against what they considered a threat to the CFL. The franchise shifted to Memphis without ever playing a Toronto game. Don't expect the government, especially a conservative one, to step in and save the CFL this time.
So, say "goodbye" to the Argonauts and then the Tigercats and then in a slow agonizing death, the rest of a league that has existed in one form or the other sfor ninety-nine years.
What we have is another example of what's good for Toronto is good for the rest of the country no matter what is destroyed in the wake.
January 26 2008
We all know the word "obsolete". It means "out-of-date"; "out-of-fashion"; or even "passe".
Which ever definition you choose they describe perfectly the NHL All-Star game.
Like the baseball and especially the NBA and NFL all-star games, thde NHL verision has all the credibility of a carnival sideshow. The three-ring circus that has become the NHL version will be played tomorrow night (January 27) in Atlanta.
During the days of the Original-Six the defending Stanley Cup champions played the stars of the other five teams. The game was played at the end of training camp and was a true test of skill and pride. Now the game is an added burden to an already bloated NHL schedule.
The list of pleyrs who duck the game using one excuse or the other gets longer and longer with each passing year.
Being named to an all-star team has become a "sentence". Something like house arrest to be served in addition fo the 82 game schedule.
You don't have to be a star to play in the game, only popular or part of a quota. Look at the list of NHL stars who didn't fit either category who will not take part in tomorrow night's game. And to a man I'm sure they would say they're happy they're not.
Which ever definition you choose they describe perfectly the NHL All-Star game.
Like the baseball and especially the NBA and NFL all-star games, thde NHL verision has all the credibility of a carnival sideshow. The three-ring circus that has become the NHL version will be played tomorrow night (January 27) in Atlanta.
During the days of the Original-Six the defending Stanley Cup champions played the stars of the other five teams. The game was played at the end of training camp and was a true test of skill and pride. Now the game is an added burden to an already bloated NHL schedule.
The list of pleyrs who duck the game using one excuse or the other gets longer and longer with each passing year.
Being named to an all-star team has become a "sentence". Something like house arrest to be served in addition fo the 82 game schedule.
You don't have to be a star to play in the game, only popular or part of a quota. Look at the list of NHL stars who didn't fit either category who will not take part in tomorrow night's game. And to a man I'm sure they would say they're happy they're not.
Monday, January 28, 2008
January 26 2008
We all know the word "obsolete". It means "out-of-date", "out of fashion" or even "passe'". Whatever words you take, they describe perfectly the NHL All-Star Game. Like the baseball, and especilly the NBA and NFL All-Star Games, the NHL version has all of the credibility of a carnival side-show.
The three-ring circus that has become the NHL game wil be played tomorrow night in Atlanta. There was a time, during the days of the Original-Six when the defending Stanley Cup champions played the stars of the over five teams. The game was played at the end of training camp and was a true test of skill and pride. Now the game is an added burden to an already bloated NHL season schedule and the list of players who duck the game, using one excuse or another, gets longer and longer with each year. Being named to an all-star team has now become a "sentence"; something like house-arrest to be served in addition to the 82 game schedule.
You don't hve to be a star to play in the game, on popular or part of a quota. Look at the list of great players who will not play tomorrow night. And, to a man I'm sure they would say they"re happy they're not.
Monday, December 17, 2007
December 15 2007
The NHL is going through one of it's worst yers in terms of vilently aggressive on-ice behaviour. Would it be too much of a stretch to mention that, in light of developments in baseball this week, the league might take a closer look at steroids and their spinoff--the so-called 'roid rage.
The NHL has always had it's head in a rabbit hole when it comes to this subject. The company line has been; steroids can't help a hockey player. That is an absolute crock.
Anabolic steroids build muscle. More importantly, they also speed up recovery time. In a league that features an 82 game schedule (soon to be 84); In a league that forces teams to play five games in eight days in 5 different cities; in a league that tacks six weeks of gruelling playoff hockey onto it's schedule it would take someone of very strong will to say away from the temptation of steroids.
Dick Pound has called the NHL testing policy a "sham". He's right. The plicy allows for no more than two tests a year, both of them in-season. Once that second test has been taken the player is free to go on the juice until the start of the next season. Steroids are a training drug and most hockey training these days goes on during the summer. So far the NHL says there have been 3,000 tests and only one player has been caught. Are you kidding me? Only one?
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
December 8 2007
Twenty-five years ago a member of the Los Angeles Kings named Paul Mulvey ignited one of the worst public relations disasters the NHL had ever had to face. Don Perry, the Kings coach ordered Mulvey who was the Los Angeles tough-guy to start a bench clearing brawl against the Vancouver Canucks and Tiger Williams. Mulvey, who had just come off a suspension, refused to leave the bench with the words "I'm not going to be a designated assassin". Within hours the 23-year old Mulvey was placed on waivers and sent to the minors and ultimately never played another NHL game. The coach was fined and suspended and within a year was fired never to be heard from again. Mulvey eventually took a settlement on a 22-million dollar law suit against the Kings.
A quarter-century later the NHL is feeling the public relations heat aain. Testimony under oath that Vancouver Coach Mark Crawford told his team that "Steve Moore must pay the price" words that led to the infamous Todd Bertuzzi incident. Thewre's a very winable 38 million lawsuit in the courts and Bertuzzi is apparently not going to take the rap alone. Andonce again the so-called 'hockey culture' is put under the microscope.
We're constantly told that players should be able to police the game themselves. As we watch player after player being carted off the ice on stretchers we have to say that not only are the players incapable of policing their game but neither is the NHL itself. And where does that leave us?
Monday, December 3, 2007
December 1 2007
The NHL approved the sale of the fan-challenged Nashville Predators this week to a consortium that has the look and feel of the one that took over the Expos and within a decade ran the team into oblivion. The NHL had a chance to go with a single owner, and a billionaire at that, but passed on that because Jim Balsillie was a little too opinionated for their taste. So instead of Nashville pulling up stakes next year it will be 4 or 5 years from now.
No league has been as injudicious about it's team ownership than the NHL. Unlike the NFL which will not allow large ownership groups, the NHL is filled with them. The NFL has been the North American sports icon because the league front office deals with individual owners rather than boards-of-directors.
In the NHL we have the Toronto Maple Leafs under the control of a teacher's union with all of the attention to product quality of a Chinese toy-manufacturer. We had the Canadiens for years owned by a brewery more concerned image than the team and thus ordering the general manager to unload, at any porice, such perceived liabilities as Chris Chelios, Shayne Corson, Guy Carbonneau and Mathieu Schneider. Only when the Canadiens returned to the single ownership of George Gillett did we see the beginnings of a return from the wilderness.
For all intents a consortium is a committee. And as Sir Alex Issigonis told us back in the 30's---"a camel is a horsedesigned by a committee". In the NHL there seem to be a lot of camels right now.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
November 24 2007
This is the week when the legal establishment finally ended it's relentless pursuit of Barry Bonds with a federal indictment. The charge is lying to a grand jury but let's face it; Bonds is being prosecuted, or perhaps persecuted for being the worst athletic jerk in baseball history this side of Mike Schmidt.
Bonds faces up to thirty years in jail for his sins despite the fact that he was not a distributor of drugs; only a customer for a drug that was not even illegal in baseball when he was a user. They tell me the U.S. legal sysem spent six million dollars to nail Bonds while ignoring Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro who in fact lied to Congress about his steroid use.
To me Barrfy Bonds' biggest sin was that he wouldn't give an inch to "the man". And if he somehow manages to beat the steroid rap the IRS is waiting in the wings to make sure they bring him to his knees.
Barry Bonds' biggest sin isn't steroid use or lying to a grand jury. It's thumbing his nose at the "system". The only thing missing is the lynching.
Bonds faces up to thirty years in jail for his sins despite the fact that he was not a distributor of drugs; only a customer for a drug that was not even illegal in baseball when he was a user. They tell me the U.S. legal sysem spent six million dollars to nail Bonds while ignoring Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro who in fact lied to Congress about his steroid use.
To me Barrfy Bonds' biggest sin was that he wouldn't give an inch to "the man". And if he somehow manages to beat the steroid rap the IRS is waiting in the wings to make sure they bring him to his knees.
Barry Bonds' biggest sin isn't steroid use or lying to a grand jury. It's thumbing his nose at the "system". The only thing missing is the lynching.
Monday, November 19, 2007
November 17 2007
A long time ago in an environment far removed from today's NHL Sam Pollock held the rest of the league by the entry-draft throat. From 1970 to '78 Sam hel 25 first round draft picks and with them he built a dynasty. When will the other general managers ever learn.
Three names in the hockey news over the past week; Don Waddell, Doug Armstrong and John Ferguson Junior.
Last February Atlanta General Manager Maddell traded two fiirst round draft picks to get Keith Tkaczuk for a playoff run that lasted four games.
In Dallas, Armstrong traded last year's first round draft pick to Phoenix for unrestricted free agent Ladislav Nagy and then next year's first round pick for defenseman Mattias Nordstrom of the Kings. Nagy jumped to Los Angeles in the off season and dallas" playoff run lasted seven games.
And in Toronto John Ferguson Junior traded away all four of his first round draft picks since joining the team. In return he received Brian Leetch and goaltenders Andrew Raycroft and Vesa Toskala. It will be a decade before the Leafs recover from that kind of mismanagement.
P.T. Barnum said there"s one born every minute. The NHL proves the adage.
The suckers are out there and they're not hard to find if you go looking for them.
Does anyone care to bet who will be the first to pick the pocket of new Dallas Stars general manager Brett Hull?
Three names in the hockey news over the past week; Don Waddell, Doug Armstrong and John Ferguson Junior.
Last February Atlanta General Manager Maddell traded two fiirst round draft picks to get Keith Tkaczuk for a playoff run that lasted four games.
In Dallas, Armstrong traded last year's first round draft pick to Phoenix for unrestricted free agent Ladislav Nagy and then next year's first round pick for defenseman Mattias Nordstrom of the Kings. Nagy jumped to Los Angeles in the off season and dallas" playoff run lasted seven games.
And in Toronto John Ferguson Junior traded away all four of his first round draft picks since joining the team. In return he received Brian Leetch and goaltenders Andrew Raycroft and Vesa Toskala. It will be a decade before the Leafs recover from that kind of mismanagement.
P.T. Barnum said there"s one born every minute. The NHL proves the adage.
The suckers are out there and they're not hard to find if you go looking for them.
Does anyone care to bet who will be the first to pick the pocket of new Dallas Stars general manager Brett Hull?
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
November 10 2007
I don't know whether the phrase is an anachronism (considering the times, it probably is) but when I was a kid it was drummed into my head that "cheaters never prosper". That was well before Bill Belichick, Pete Rose and most blantantly, the steroid users of sporting life.
And what a mess we have now. There's much talk of upgrading the medals of the runners who finished behind the now-disgraced Marion Jones at the Sydney Olympics. The problem is, in at least one instance and probably in every case the runner or runners that finished behind Jones were on the "juice" as well.
Ben Johnson won the 100 metres at Korea in 1988 and flunked doping. That moved Carl Lewis to gold and Linford Christie to silver. Later it was learned that four of the top five finishers used steroids including Lewis and Christie. Only Johnson lost a medal.
In 1976 Canada was the first host-nation to fail to win at least one gold medal. That was the year of the East German women swimmers. If the IOC were to strip all of those medals Canada would have become a swimming powerhouse with 4 silver medals and gold medals for Nancy Garapick and Cheryl Gibson.
This is the trap we're in. The fix was in for Sale and Pelletier in figure skating and Sylvie Frechette in synchronized swimming and the best the IOC could do to repair it was declare a tie for the gold. Steroids have turned sports into a hopeless swamp from which there appears to be no escape.
Monday, November 5, 2007
November 3 2007
Forgive me if you've heard this before. "Steroids are dangerous."
This week at a conference in Iceland a lengthy study was released of former East German athletes who were victims of the doping that surfaced during the
1976 Olympics here in Montreal. Among the horrifying results; among 52 female competitors who were forcefed anabolic steroids 38 percent suffered severe depression with suicidal tendancies. Thirty-two of the fifty-two underwent psychiatric therapy. And a quarter suffered from some form of cancer. The risk of miscarriage and stillbirth was thirty-two times higher than the normal German population. And, where one would expect the heredity of great athleticism to be passed on; of sixty-nine children what he have is a staggering number of physical deformities, mental handicap, allergies and asthma.
The DDR swimmers of 1976 are now in their early fifties and the bill has come due.
And still the chearing continues practically unabated. Latest from the steroid wars? It cost two-million dollars to formulate a test to discover EPO, the steroid of choice among cyclists. No sooner had the test been put into effect, the competitors with their backyard technology found a way to short circuit it by polluting the urine test with a few grains of common soap powder.
And so it goes in the unending and seemingly hopeless war on performance enhancers.
This week at a conference in Iceland a lengthy study was released of former East German athletes who were victims of the doping that surfaced during the
1976 Olympics here in Montreal. Among the horrifying results; among 52 female competitors who were forcefed anabolic steroids 38 percent suffered severe depression with suicidal tendancies. Thirty-two of the fifty-two underwent psychiatric therapy. And a quarter suffered from some form of cancer. The risk of miscarriage and stillbirth was thirty-two times higher than the normal German population. And, where one would expect the heredity of great athleticism to be passed on; of sixty-nine children what he have is a staggering number of physical deformities, mental handicap, allergies and asthma.
The DDR swimmers of 1976 are now in their early fifties and the bill has come due.
And still the chearing continues practically unabated. Latest from the steroid wars? It cost two-million dollars to formulate a test to discover EPO, the steroid of choice among cyclists. No sooner had the test been put into effect, the competitors with their backyard technology found a way to short circuit it by polluting the urine test with a few grains of common soap powder.
And so it goes in the unending and seemingly hopeless war on performance enhancers.
Monday, October 29, 2007
October 27 2007
They have taken to calling the state for world professional boxing "alphabet soup". There's the WBO, WBA, WBC and IBF. All of them naming champions and contenders and seldom do the twain meet. For that reason most boxing enthusiasts look to Ring Magazine for the true picture.
Last Friday night in Montreal the IBF named Lucian Bute their junior middleweight champion after a TKO win over Alejandro Berria. While Berria had been listed the IBF champion, Ring Magazine did not recognize him among the top ten contenders. The best junior middleweight is the immensely talented Joe Calzaghe of England. Calzaghe has held the WBO title for ten years; successfully defending it 20 times. In two weeks he'll fight Ring's number one contender Mikkel Kessler of Denmark, the holder of the WBC and WBA titles.
So, while it's a Montreal feel-good story that Bute is undefeated and has a piece of a world title, in Ring Magazine all it got him was a one-notch bump in the rankings--to 4th. High altitude to be sure, but there's still a lot of work to be done.
Last Friday night in Montreal the IBF named Lucian Bute their junior middleweight champion after a TKO win over Alejandro Berria. While Berria had been listed the IBF champion, Ring Magazine did not recognize him among the top ten contenders. The best junior middleweight is the immensely talented Joe Calzaghe of England. Calzaghe has held the WBO title for ten years; successfully defending it 20 times. In two weeks he'll fight Ring's number one contender Mikkel Kessler of Denmark, the holder of the WBC and WBA titles.
So, while it's a Montreal feel-good story that Bute is undefeated and has a piece of a world title, in Ring Magazine all it got him was a one-notch bump in the rankings--to 4th. High altitude to be sure, but there's still a lot of work to be done.
Monday, October 22, 2007
October 23 2007
The problems that Guillaume Latendress and Maxime Lapierre have had finding consistancy in the NHL re-enforce theories about rushing the careers of young athletes.
Forget about hockey for a moment and consider the brutal mishandling of the Michelle Wie in golf. Egged on by parents and agents, she was forced, not only to onto the LPGA tour at the age of 14 but also in a monumental case of poor judgement she also played on the men's tour.
Wie turned 18 last week and a once promising career is now in shambles. Her scoring average was 76 this year. She did not shoot one round in the 60's. Wie made a tournament cut only twice. Rather than deal with the family any longer her agent quit this week after only one year.
There is a lesson here, one that has been taught dozens of times through the years. Unfortunately like many lessons there are those who fail to learn from them and find themselves doomed to repeat them. And, repeat we have seen and will continue to see as long as the dreams of parents and agents outstrip the welfare of their charges
Monday, October 15, 2007
October 13 2007
This week in the Gazette our friend Red Fisher is listing the greatest trades the Canadiens have made over the years which got me to thinking about the worst. And without a doubt the worst was Patrick Roy to the Colorado Avalance. Next to the Flyers trading for Eric Lindros it was probably the worst trade in NHL history. The Canadiens at the time had the perfect management storm; a president Ron Corey; a general manager - Rejean Houle and a coach- Mario Tremblay none of whom had a clue. Houle had been general manager only 5 weeks at the time.
So it became Patrick along with team captain Mike Keane to the Avalanche for Jocelyn Thibault, Martin Rucinsky and Andre Kovalenko. Looking down from the Forum Pressbox the next home game my first thought was ---for the first time in my memory there was not one potential Hall-of-Famer on the Canadiens. That was the major damage. The heart was taken right out of the organization.
Twelve years, six coaches and two general managers later the team is still trying to regain it's stature. They finally seem to be on the right track but, for all of those great trades over the years, the Canadiens were stung badly one time and it turned out to be a franchise breaker.
So it became Patrick along with team captain Mike Keane to the Avalanche for Jocelyn Thibault, Martin Rucinsky and Andre Kovalenko. Looking down from the Forum Pressbox the next home game my first thought was ---for the first time in my memory there was not one potential Hall-of-Famer on the Canadiens. That was the major damage. The heart was taken right out of the organization.
Twelve years, six coaches and two general managers later the team is still trying to regain it's stature. They finally seem to be on the right track but, for all of those great trades over the years, the Canadiens were stung badly one time and it turned out to be a franchise breaker.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
October 6 2007
Gambling and sports have long been uncomfortably wedded. For worse more than better. The possibility of easy money led to the Black Sox scandal in 1919; the college basektball point-shaving scandals of 1951 and 1978; Pete Rose in the 80's. The NHL had Don Gallinger and Billy Taylor in 1948 and Rick Tocchet last year.
Until recently the incidents were isolated but there have been six major betting scandals in the last seven years including Italian and German soccer, South African cricket and, of course the NBA's Tim Donaghy to name a some.
And now, tennis.
The Russian mafia reportedly offered Noval Djokovich two-hundred and fifty thousand dollars to throw a match in Moscow this year. The watch was put on Nikolai Davydenko after strange betting patterns before one of his matches in Poland.
Where the money's big the crooks will flock. It's unavoidable. The
sports talk stations feature dozens of commercials for on-line gambling.
The Quebec government flogs ttheir lotteries with a whispered and insincere "you have to be eighteen to gamble" at the end. And every day we become a little more cynical. And we have to ask ourselves "are the athletes doing their best or, are gamblers ensuring that they aren't."
Until recently the incidents were isolated but there have been six major betting scandals in the last seven years including Italian and German soccer, South African cricket and, of course the NBA's Tim Donaghy to name a some.
And now, tennis.
The Russian mafia reportedly offered Noval Djokovich two-hundred and fifty thousand dollars to throw a match in Moscow this year. The watch was put on Nikolai Davydenko after strange betting patterns before one of his matches in Poland.
Where the money's big the crooks will flock. It's unavoidable. The
sports talk stations feature dozens of commercials for on-line gambling.
The Quebec government flogs ttheir lotteries with a whispered and insincere "you have to be eighteen to gamble" at the end. And every day we become a little more cynical. And we have to ask ourselves "are the athletes doing their best or, are gamblers ensuring that they aren't."
Monday, September 24, 2007
September 22 2007
This week on Bryant Gumble's HBO show "Real Sports" Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb stated that black quarterbacks are criticized differently by the media and talk shows than their white bretheren. The mostly white media accused McNabb of "whining" because of his 0-2 start to the season despite the fact that the interview was taped during training camp in August.
Once again we don't allow "context" to interfere with a controversial story.
Talk shows and newspapers, mostly manned by whites, almost unanimously said McNabb didn't know what he was talking about. Their defense was the media attacks over the years on Peyton Manning and John Elway to name two.
But, McNabb says there's no categorizing Manning as a "white" quarterback while the subject of colour is constantly brought up when McNabb is being censured.
RFacial times have changed since, fifty years ago, a white Texan named John Griffin changes his skin colour so that he could find first hand the daily hostility and humiliation blacks in American undergo on a daily basis. The result was the best-selling book "Black Like Me".
Most people of colour will tell you that racisims has simply gone underground on this continent. Is McNabb right or wrong? I'm not sure it's wise to make judgement until, like John Griffin, I'm able to walk a mile in his shoes.
[FOR MCNABB'S ANSWER TOTHE RECENT CRITICISM LOG ON TO www.yardbird.com]
Once again we don't allow "context" to interfere with a controversial story.
Talk shows and newspapers, mostly manned by whites, almost unanimously said McNabb didn't know what he was talking about. Their defense was the media attacks over the years on Peyton Manning and John Elway to name two.
But, McNabb says there's no categorizing Manning as a "white" quarterback while the subject of colour is constantly brought up when McNabb is being censured.
RFacial times have changed since, fifty years ago, a white Texan named John Griffin changes his skin colour so that he could find first hand the daily hostility and humiliation blacks in American undergo on a daily basis. The result was the best-selling book "Black Like Me".
Most people of colour will tell you that racisims has simply gone underground on this continent. Is McNabb right or wrong? I'm not sure it's wise to make judgement until, like John Griffin, I'm able to walk a mile in his shoes.
[FOR MCNABB'S ANSWER TOTHE RECENT CRITICISM LOG ON TO www.yardbird.com]
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