Six Well Percolated Thoughts on a Wet Sunday
It has been a while since I posted anything. I wish there was a great reason for my lazy blog ways but really it’s just been a matter not getting it done. (Some of you might see a relation between me and my favorite team!) In the meantime, the sports world has served up a tonne of great gems despite the recent slide of the Raptors.
1. Kyle Lowry #allstarballot
Kyle has been having a great year. He is definitely an all-star; no doubt about it. Unfortunately, I believe the campaign to make him one is hurting the Raptors. Kyle does not need everyone telling the Raptors fan base to vote him in, we will do it naturally. Besides, even if we don’t, the coaches are bound to bring him to New York. I just find all of this individual attention is taking away from what makes the Raptors a strong organization. They have to grab their lunch pails and get back to work…. But more on that later.
2. Coach got it Wrong
Recently in California, a coach won a HS girls’ basketball game 161-2. He only received a two game suspension for running up the score. I personally believe this guy has no place in amateur sports. If you haven’t figured out how to keep the difference at 25 points or less, you are doing it wrong. Sometimes the score will get out of hand but this was so unnecessary. Warning the other coach beforehand was a sham as well. Full court pressing the entire first half cannot be justified. (104-1 at the half) Of course claimed he didn’t think the other team was that bad.
3. Would you take the punishment for an in game dunk?
I flirted with dunking as a high schooler. I threw some down but never in a game. I even have a dunking dream where I jump with the ball and wake up before I throw it through. (I've looked up what this means but there is nothing.) Jojo Mcglaston of Utah State had an amazing dunk this week… and then it all came crashing down. Not sure if this one was worth it.
4. Leafs want to be bad.
Sorry puckheads but the Leafs just want to be a bad hockey team. They had plenty of opportunity to fire Randy Carlyle in the past but chose to wait until the Leafs were in the hunt for a playoff spot. Seemed a little too conspicuous at the time and now they are comfortably out of the NHL's strange wildcard. The Leafs are the New York Knicks of the NHL. I do not foresee this team being anywhere near the Stanley Cup anytime soon. That said, my brother Darroch bet my Uncle Frank the Leafs would win Lord Stanley’s Mug in 2017. He even put $100 on it. Weirder things have happened.
5. The NCAA Taketh and then Returnth to Joe Pa
I’ve never understood the NCAA policy of revoking wins, trophies and championships. If you win a banner then it is yours. If the officials cannot point out the illegal activity before the final buzzer then so be it. When the whole disgusting Jerry Sandusky episode went down at Penn State, Joe Paterno had 111 wins removed from his record. Recently, those wins have been… re-awarded? This type of revisionist history is too Orwellian for sports. Penalize the team and ban them from bowl games but don’t go back and tell me something I saw happen actually didn't happen in your history books. That’s not how real life works and the NCAA does not have that type of power.
6. The Scott-Le Batard Award
I’m not sure if this will catch on but I think it has real teeth. If you watched any ESPN sports over the last month, you would have heard about the passing of Stuart Scott. Scott was a firecracker of an announcer who never shied away from a fight and was always entertaining. His death shook all of ESPN and tributes poured in left and right form many across the athletic world; none more powerful than Hannah Storm.
The next day, each radio show was filled with discussions of Scott and his contributions and breakthroughs. Then, on the Dan Le Batard Show, Le Batard took an interesting stance. He said how these tributes were great but it would have been nice if Scott could have heard them when he was alive and well. I am not sure of the history but it appears that Scott, like many before him, was appreciated more in death than in life. I believe this award should be given by everyone to anyone you appreciate. Let them know what they mean to you while they are still around, not after they are gone. (To be continued…)
*Raptors Watch*
Whoa Nellie it’s time to stop the slide. I was hoping to write about a quality win tonight and the rebound the team seems to be taking. Unfortunately, it was another loss and we fell to 26-14. That said, if we were told we could be 26-14 after 40 games, we would have taken it. I believe they looked better than they did against Atlanta but they are a step away from being the team they were in December. They are finishing the dog days of January and they need to find themselves again. If they go 24- 18 over the final 42 games, they do get 50 wins. I believe they need to put the blinders on and start over. Approach each game with a fresh attitude and stop compounding the issues by worrying about records and all-star voting and injuries; just play. Every team has bad losses this season and most have gone through a bad stretch from time to time. Get up and dust yourselves off and remember how good you are. Then play the remaining 42 games like you should play them, one at a time!
*Mes Observations des Mes Chevaliers*
5-5 and the season is almost done… sort of. We have two regular season games left, our Franco provincials, and then the playoffs.
We came back after Christmas and played very rusty but seem to have gotten it together recently. I’m hoping good things from this point forward and with a little luck…I won't say it.
