Team Canada World Junior Team is Pretty Good

Team Canada just defeated Team Slovakia by a score 8-2. They are now 3-0 in the tournament. They have scored thirty goals. They have surrendered two goals. They hit, they score, and most importantly they win.

The tournament is not over. They still must face the Americans on New Year's Eve. It will probably be the toughest challenge they face. Sweden is pretty good too, so we will see.

If this tournament is any indication, and it probably is the best indicator out there, hockey development in Canada is very strong. The young players that are being produced are manhandling the rest of the world on the hockey rink. They look like they belong at another level.

All this is good for the Canadian program. You should never apologize for being good at something. I don't know how good this is for hockey as a sport throughout the world. The rest of the world needs to pull up their socks. It really isn't all that fun to be the best at something that no one else cares about.

I know they have not faced the Americans or the Swedes or even the Russians yet. These will be the true tests. These will be the games that will show if Canadian development is really head and shoulders above the rest. If you look at the facts it will take a lot for any of these teams to slow down this Canadian team. I don't think they can be stopped, they look just that good.

This Team Canada World Junior Team is pretty good.

The Colts

As I write this the Indianapolis Colts are undefeated. They are the only team who have not lost this year. Today they play the New York Jets in a late game. They should win. They may not. That's why they play the games, right.

To date they have won 14 games. To win 14 games in an NFL season is very difficult to do. To win those 14 games in a row is even a bit harder. To win the 14 games from the start of the season, is even a bit harder.

Next week they play the Buffalo Bills. They don't have a record as good as the Jets, so you could say that they have a real chance to go 16-0 in the regular season.

That would be impressive, very impressive but, we already know that. There are other things that make this really impressive. They have been in the national spotlight for the whole season. Peyton Manning is a bona fide star in the NFL and people watch him. They have a new head coach. They have been a good team for a long time but have remained very good longer than many players careers. They find guys to replace the old guard before its too late.

This is a class organization. When they drafted Payton Manning, oh so long ago now, they decided that they would become a winning franchise, and they have. They have stayed that way.

The Indianapolis Colts are probably going to go 15-0 by the end of the day today, and if they do that they will probably go 16-0 in the regular season. Measured with any device, you will come up with very impressive.

The End of an Era .... Again

On December 17, 2009 the Winnipeg Blue Bombers relieved Mike Kelly of his duties as head coach. It was quite the year both on and off the field. I'm not sure how the players feel about this. There has been some reaction in the media. There has been a lot of commentary in the media.

Here's what I know.

When Mike Kelly took over my beloved Bombers about a year ago it had an eerily similar feeling to when Jeff Reinbold took over the Bombers back in the 90's. There was a lot of talk early about how the team is going to be great. It wasn't.

As the season did not go as planned Mike Kelly became more and more confrontational with everyone outside the team and even swore at CJOB Sports Director and Hall of Fame Broadcaster Bob Irving.

It wasn't a good fit.

Maybe he is not meant to be a head coach. There are a lot of people who are really good in the #2 or #3 position but when you make them the boss they do not perform how everyone expected them to. That's part of being human.

So it appears that the Blue Bombers are accepting that they made a mistake. That is definitely a good first step, but now they have to get it together and find a guy that will make positive difference as a head coach.

I can say I was there when, ...., but I wish I couldn't

Welcome to Bomberland, Instability Ahead

So I as I was driving to work this morning I was thinking to myself, "I need to write on the sports blog, but I don't have too much to say on anything until some more football is played tonight." Then the Winnipeg Blue Bombers came to my rescue. That's right my home town and favourite team. The team that causes my sister's birth to be delayed a day so my parents could go to a game.

In one day, they gave us a lot to think about.

First, you know there is a lot if you start with first, CEO Lyle Bauer resigned from the club.

Then, Coach Mike Kelly was arrested in Pennsylvania.

I'm going out on a limb here, but things are going to look a bit different at Canad Inns Stadium come June.

Lyle Bauer did a good job. The football club was is pretty rough shape when he took over. He put the house in order and even has a rainy day fund. We will here in the coming days why he left. The story will come out, it always does.

As for the coach, this does not bode well for him. He is already heavily criticized by the fans and the media. He seems to have rubbed both groups the wrong way. A lot of people say he is a good guy but if he is guilty (I am not saying he is, these things can be very different than they initially look) he will lose some good guy points with the people who do support him. In pro sports winning cures nearly everything that ails you, well, I don't think he has done enough winning yet to let this slide.

In time the truth will come out about all that has gone on today. I don't know if this is good for the organization or if it is another setback in the quest for the former glory this team is trying to rekindle.

We will be watching Bomberland over the days, weeks, and months to come, but there could be a lot of turbulence on this trip.

OK Tiger

Tiger Woods is the best golfer in the world. He is head and shoulders above the rest. When he plays the questions is Tiger or the field. He plays so well out of bad lies, maybe that is one of the things that makes him so appealing. If he is playing out of a good lie his approach shot will land just inside yours so he can watch the line when you putt. He can handle the pressure of being a one man machine. No teammates, no coach, just him. Yes he has his caddy and yes a caddy is important, but no one ever says that was a caddy error. He wears all the mistakes on his own and takes all the glory on his own.

It's starting to look like golf is all he is good at.

There is a rather long list of women that he has been unfaithful to his (super hot) wife with. So being a good husband is not on his list of things that he has been very good at.

Once this list became public, he has not managed the situation very well. I realize that he has people that deal with this for him, but they are not doing a very good job and he should have noticed and put them on the right course.

He is not doing a very good job at fixing the problem. Changing everything at once is rarely successful and becoming a recluse will only to serve to keep this story alive a lot longer.

So what should he be doing?

If he wasn't ready to settle down he probably shouldn't have but we all make mistakes and truly you are measured on how you handle your mistakes. So he got married and was having a whole lot on the side. Apparently this was not in the deal when he got married. I'm not going to belabour this point.

So what should he be doing?

He should be making a public statement, in person, in front of camera and reporters. Postings on his website are cold and impersonal. It could be written by anyone, and probably was. He should spill the facts in a straight up manner. He should clear the air.

He also should be playing golf. The world we live in is a lot of 'what have you done for me lately.' Well, lately Tiger, you have been cheating. We need to see him golfing. We need to see him winning. That is familiar to us. It will feel right to us. We will fall back into that groove very quickly. Yes there will be a lot said about him on is comeback. Yes the commentators on TV will talk way too much about it. Yes all eyes will be on him, but this is what he is good at.

Many athletes have problems staying faithful. It's no secret these days. As long as they win we seem to forgive, or at least look the other way. We will be the same with Tiger. You may think it will be different but it won't. We may not look at him as squeaky clean again. He may seem a bit more human. We now know he is not perfect. That may change the mystique but if he wins we will invite him back into our hero basket and that is what he really needs.

OK Tiger, its your shot, you're deep in the rough, put in on the green near the pin like you so often do.

Canadian Hockey

It's and exciting year in hockey. With the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in February, Canada has an opportunity to shine on the international stage. One of the brightest jewels in the crown will be hockey.

I hope Team Canada wins every tournament it enters including the World Juniors, the Olympics, and the World Championships. I hope we do not lose a game, a period, a shift, or a battle in any of these tournaments. I am a proud Canadian and a big hockey fan.

I also hope the rest of the world gets better at hockey. That may sound a bit strange but I do not want to live in a country that is the best in the world in a three or four horse race. On the women's side that may even be a stretch.

I want Canadian hockey to continue to get better but it doesn't matter if no one else cares. It's a bit like being the tallest midget in the world. You are the top of the class but it is not relevant to most of the people out there.

Soccer's World Cup is a really big deal, arguably bigger than the Olympics. It is because nearly everyone in the world cares. Hockey is important in Canada, a few parts of the USA, Scandinavia, and Russia. It has a lesser following in several other countries. Being the best at hockey is being the best at something that doesn't matter to 9 out of 10 people on the planet. Is it truly relevant on the world stage. Do we want it to be?

In some ways being the best at hockey is very Canadian. We don't like to ruffle too many feathers. We are polite and apologize for being great. So, if we are great at something that doesn't matter to too many, then we won't upset the apple cart.

I want hockey to be more important. I want it to be a real struggle to win at it internationally. If it is not a sure thing then the reward is so much better when you do get it.

My Curling Woes

I play the fine old game of curling. It gives me something to do and work at through the winter. I enjoy playing it. A good curling game can be really exciting to be part of. I do admit I am not a big fan of watching it.

I'm pretty good. Not perfect by any means but I can make some pretty good shots, just not all the time.

That's the problem.

I seem to be making one really bad shot per game. I mean really bad. On Sunday I made a triple take-out. Yup, I managed to knock all three of our rocks out of the house with a single shot. We didn't win the game. Today, I missed my last shot horribly in one end, leaving them lying 5. The real problem was they still had a rock left, so they managed to pick up 6. Really bad if you ask me. We were not able to recover from that one.

I know I am never going to win a world championship or go to the Olympics and curl. The one bad shot I seem to make every game will definitely take care of it, but I usually have quite a bit of fun most of the time and that is probably what keeps me coming back.

Head Shots

Two major North American professional leagues are having a bit of a crisis with head injuries. Both the NFL and the NHL seem to be struggling with what to do about the apparent increase in concussions their players are suffering.

Here's what I have noticed so far.

Hockey players who, because they are on skates, are travelling twice as fast as football players and are wearing half the helmet of football players.

The worst hits in football are the helmet on helmet.

The worst hits in hockey are shoulder to helmet.

Fighter pilots can eject out of a supersonic aircraft that is coming apart and not suffer any head trauma.

Interesting.

I don't think the powers that be in either league will change the rules to influence how players play to better protect them. Honestly, I don't think I want them to but, maybe we can leverage some technology to increase the chance of a head shot not causing permanent neurological damage.

We need to explore covering more of a hockey players head. We need to make the exterior of hockey shoulder pads softer. We need to look at making the exterior of helmets in both sports softer so they absorb some energy and not transfer it to the skull and eventually the brain. If the shell of the helmet can absorb and dissipate some of the energy, and the padding inside can absorb the rest, both these sports will be much safer in the long run.

I think we can accept our professional athletes having arthritis from playing but we do not want them to lose their faculties and becoming drooling, incoherent blobs just to entertain and inspire us.

The answer is in technology, if the leagues will not embrace it the players must force the issue, or change will never come.

So The 13th Man Really Does Make A Difference

If you live under a rock, well you probably don't read this blog, otherwise you probably know that the Saskatchewan Roughriders didn't properly count their players on what should have been the last play of the game. As because of this horrible gaff, they did not win the Grey Cup.

Well there may be a bit more to it than that.

They were up by 16 points going into the fourth quarter. If they really deserved the cup there is no way they should have let the Alouettes come back to the point where they could kick a reasonable length field goal to win on the last play of the game. Yes Damon Duval missed wide right on what should have been the last play of the game but, the two touchdowns and the two point convert in the fourth quarter and to get the ball into field goal range should never have happened.

Most football games are won and lost in the fourth quarter. Teams play the whole game to set it up so they have a chance to win in the fourth quarter. The only time the score really matters is at the end of the fourth quarter. Players live to play in the fourth quarter. When the game is on the line is when stars and winners shine. The game is on the line in the fourth quarter. So even though the focus of the jokes and commentary will be on the 13th man on the field for (what should have been) the last play of the game, I think the Roughrider organization, both coaches and players, should take a long hard look at themselves and ask how they could have allowed the very good Montreal Alouettes back into it in the fourth quarter.

Their problems could also have been eliminated if they had just watched Sesame Street when they were growing up. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12........

Thanksgiving Football in Vegas

I was just in Las Vegas over American Thanksgiving. Football is central to this time of year and is even bigger in Sin City. There are plenty of opportunities to lay down a couple of bucks on a game there and plenty of games to bet on.

We have legalized sports betting in Canada in the form of Sport Select. It's ok. There are a few drawbacks to legal Canadian Sports betting. You can't bet on a single game and you can't put a

really big bet down. Us Canadians like moderation.

However in Las Vegas you can pretty much bet as much as you want, however you want. So I put down a bet on the late afternoon NFL game on Thanksgiving.

As you can see on the bet ticket I bet $100 on the Oakland Raider. The odds-maker gave me 13.5 points and the ticket would have paid $90.90 and I would have got my original $100 back if The Raiders won, the Cowboys and the Raiders tied, or The Raiders lost by less than 13.5 points. This was a big bet for me but I'm sure it was peanuts for what you see down there.

I can see how people get addicted to sports betting. I felt a rush of adrenaline as I told my bet to the bet writer. I also was wired as the game was coming to a close. The Cowboys were up 24-7 but the Raiders had the ball inside the Cowboys 20 at the 2 minute warning. If the Raiders were able to punch the ball in for a touchdown I would have won the bet.

The Raiders did not score.

The Cowboys won 24-7. I'll save you the math, that is 17 points.

I lost.

It definitely changed the experience of watching football. Even though the game was out of hand I still had a fairly realistic chance of winning my bet. It made it exciting.

Adding to the experience we watched most of the game in two different sports books. Much of the first half we watched in a fairly small sports book in Harrah's. For the second half we watched in the cavernous sports book in Caesar's Palace. As far as I could find this was the biggest sports book in Vegas. It definitely added to the experience.

Overall it was a good experience, it would have been better if the Raiders could have covered.

Out of the Finals into the Grey Cup

So once again I was one for two predicting CFL outcomes this week-end. Montreal looked great, and the Riders were good enough.

The Als drove over the Lions as if they were an earthworm on the interstate. The offence lit it up in the first half and the defence and special teams were amazing in the second half, not really allowing the offence to do much since they didn't even get onto the field a couple of times.

The Riders played good but Smiling Hank pretty much threw the game away. He did not play at a championship level and because of that he doesn't get to play for a championship. The Green and White did make plays but I think the Stamps definitely did not do enough to win.

So now we are headed to the Grey Cup in Calgary. The Montreal Alouettes will face the Saskatchewan Roughriders for all the marbles. If the Riders want to win they will have to play the perfect game. Montreal is real good. If you score over 50 points in a playoff game and give up under 20, you are real good. So the way I see it is the Als will beat the Riders. They seem to be really good this year. They had the best record by a lot, and put on a clinic yesterday.

At about 9:30 pm on Sunday we will know. It will be all over but the crying.

Football Baby

I am headed to fabulous Las Vegas next week. I will be in Sin City for the American version of Thanksgiving. Being Canadian this is not a holiday at all for me but their turkey day mean one thing to me. Football.

Since I will be in the only place in America you can legally bet on football, I may just have to lay down a bet on a game.

Here is Canada we have the government sponsored Sport Select. You can bet on sports however you can not bet on a single game. Down there that option is available. I'm sure a single game could be rather exciting if there is some money riding on it.

There are three choices on Thanksgiving for my betting pleasure:

Green Bay at Detroit

Oakland at Dallas

NY Giants at Denver.

I will probably lay a bet on the middle game. Here's my logic. I will probably not be up in time to bet on the first game and I don't want to wait for the end of the last game so it is Oakland at Dallas. I don't know who I will bet on yet. It depends on the spread when I lay the bet. I hope to place this bet in the famous sports book in Caesar's Palace. These teams still have to play this week and what happens this week may change what should happen next week.

It is exciting and I am glad I will have the opportunity in fabulous Las Vegas Nevada.

CFL Playoffs - Round Two

Well I was one for two last week-end on an overtime loss by the Ti-Cats after they came back in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter. The good part is this does not change my predictions for the finals this week-end.

East Final. The mighty machine known as the Montreal Alouettes will beat the BC Lions. The Leos had to go to overtime to beat Hamilton. They had to fly back to the left coast, prep and fly to Montreal for the game. The Als were relaxing and often win the East final.

West Final. This will go the way I though last week. The Calgary Stampeders will beat the Riders. Football is the only game in Regina and the city will be so wound up, it will be difficult for young Durant to live up to a win starved province's lofty expectations.

As for the Grey Cup I still think the Als will win. They are good no matter who is in the line-up. The two teams who really racked up yards against their defence are out of the playoffs.

We will know by suppertime on Sunday if I got it right this week.

Leafs Get Burned by Flames

The Calgary Flames beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 in front of a national audience on Hockey Night in Canada. The Flames didn't look real good. For a lot of the game they were playing flat footed and running around in their own end. Additionally, Calgary was out shot 40-22. So how did they win?

A couple of superstars came and played. Mikka Kiprusoff played very well making 38 saves and Jarome Iginla scored 2 goals on three shots tonight. That's really all you need to get the rest of the team through.

A bigger problem is the Leafs are not very good. They do not have very good goal tending. They do not have much for offence. Their defence does not prevent attackers from getting to good scoring chances. I don't want to keep ragging on the Leafs but they are just getting worse.

On the flip side, the Calgary Flames look like they have what it takes to go places. They have a coach who demands performance and is not afraid to let you know if you are not performing. They have a good defensive corps. They have scoring. They stand up for each other. They are physical. They are a team. Maybe we should see a lot more of Calgary on Hockey Night in Canada. It is becoming apparent to me they have a lot more going for them than the lowly Leafs.

When I really look at it I think there are two key problems with the Leafs.

They are the most valuable franchise in the NHL and put out one of the least valuable products.

They have an arrogant blowhard as a General Manager. Brian Burke sure likes to talk and be argumentative, but has not produced any results in Toronto.

I am going to continue to cheer for the Flames and rag on the Leafs as I see no other way.

CFL - How It Will Shake Out

I think part of having a sports blog is to look out to the future and prognosticate on some games, especially in the playoffs. On Sunday the CFL will start 3 weeks of excitement and here's how I see it shaking out.

East Semi-Final BC at Hamilton

BC has rotated enough guys through the quarterback position to ice a hockey team. Casey Printers thumb was smacked up last week but they say it is ok. The Ti-Cats have looked good the last two weeks and have found a way to win. I see Hamilton taking this one.

West Semi-Final Edmonton at Calgary

The battle of Alberta will heat up but ultimately the Eskimos have not looked so good since Labour Day and realistically don't have much of a chance against the the Stamps, who have been a bit streaky. I'll take streaky over tanking. Stampeders are going to win.

East Final Hamilton at Montreal.

Hamilton is much improved but the Als have shown it really doesn't matter who is in, when they want to win they win. Allouettes are headed back to the big game.

West Final Calgary at Saskatchewan

There is usually one upset in the playoffs every year in every sport. Sorry Rider Nation it will be your beloved Green Riders. I don't think that team has the fortitude to get though the West Final. The last time they finished first in the West I was still in my mother's womb. You are the only game in town and after two weeks of hype the team will be too set up to get it done.

Grey Cup Montreal at Calgary

Montreal is really good and Calgary will have the added pressure of playing at home. I see the Allouette machine taking this one.

There you go, this is my prediction of how things will go, on November 29, we will know if I was right.

Looking Back at the Season

Now that I am done licking my wounds from a Bomber failure I can look back at the season and see what really transpired.

One team won a lot of games.

One team lost a lot of games.

Six teams finished with seven to ten wins. There is a lot of parity if you have seventy-five percent of your league within that range. Seven wins will not get you into the playoffs. It probably shouldn't. This year an 8 and 10 record will get you into the playoffs. Maybe it should maybe it shouldn't, it is definitely on the line at the best of times.

Other good points to the season is the last game had playoff implications for both teams in the game and for teams not playing. That produces some good drama. Coming down to a win and you are in situation is all any team or league could ask for.

There were some great plays and some bad ones. There were old stars doing like they always do and some new stars emerging with promise to bring a lot more. Some teams are getting better, some are not. There will be a lot of off season searching, for souls and talent and will and pride.

Soon the snows will come and blanket our great nation, we will look to other sports for a while but when it warms up in the spring we will look to the grid-iron for another year of drama, excitement and debate. I hope next year will bring another great season and I hope the Bombers do a bit better.

Well, That's Over

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers dropped the ball yesterday at Canad Inns Stadium. They really couldn't have hoped for a better situation. All you you have to do is win and you are in. This is what you play for. The Bombers couldn't get it done. They let the Hamilton Tiger-Cats walk all over them. It wasn't even close at the end.

It was definitely an interesting year in Bomberland. A new coach came to town with a promise to change the Bombers. Well he did change them. They didn't make the playoffs this year. Two years ago they were in the Grey Cup now they don't even have a chance to be there. There is definitely change. Attendance is down and there is just a feeling the boat is about to sink. The team needs a consistent quarterback. The team needs an offensive system that works. The team needs logical play calling. The team needs to win more games than it loses.

I'm sure there will be a lot of head scratching at the corner of St James and Maroons Road. There will be promises to fix what was wrong. The good part is they have an extra week or two over most of the league to get it done, hopefully they will put the extra time to good use.

Yankees Win .... Again

The New York Yankees won Game 6 of the World Series 7-3 over the Philadelphia Phillies to win the Fall Classic for the 27th time.

Is this good for baseball?

Maybe.

The Yankees are dedicated to winning and take the necessary steps to give themselves a realistic chance of winning every year. They must be admired for this dedication. Players go to the Yankees not only for the money but they know that the team will be strong and they will have a shot at a title.

However, there is no parity in baseball. Several teams do not have the financial wherewithal to even consider competing with the Yankees and have written off the season before the first pitch is thrown on opening day.

Your position on this comes down to if you believe there should be parity in professional sport. If you believe every team should have a realistic chance if they run their organization properly then you will think the Yankees winning again is not good for baseball. If you think we should have epic dynasties that tower over the teams that play in fly-overs then you think the Yankees winning is good for baseball. Both sides have their merits and drawbacks.

I know this The New York Yankees are very good at what they do and for that, they should be applauded. The rest is a debate that will go on for a long time to come.

Fire the Coach

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers did not look very good as they were crushed in Montreal yesterday. They were sloppy, and appeared to have their minds elsewhere. Mike Kelly, coach of the Bombers took exception to being asked if the Bombers were lacking focus on the game they were currently in.

Here's the facts.

The game next week versus Hamilton is much more important to win. The winner of that game hosts the East Division Semi-Final. The loser may be out of the playoffs. After the Bombers performance on Sunday and the Eskimos winning the Bombers are out if they lose.

They were in Montreal, probably the best party city in the CFL maybe in all of Canada. Temptation is everywhere in that city. The women are beautiful and liberal. The adult entertainment is over the top. The language is entrancing. The party never stops. Now, I have no hard evidence to say there were some team members down on St Catherine's the night before the game but the Alouettes were undefeated at home. I'm sure the lure of the party probably got the better of a few players. I know it would be difficult to resist if I was there. I'm sure some of their focus may have been elsewhere.

The Bombers straight up did not play well. They couldn't move the ball or stop their very good opponents from moving the ball. That is usually due to a lack of focus.

I understand Mike Kelly's desire to defend the heart and determination of his team. I love how much passion he brings to his job. I've heard that and believe that he is a really good guy. Sitting having a couple of beers talking football with him would probably be an enjoyable experience.

I don't know if he is the right guy for the job. This blow up last night on the radio is just the latest in a long list of blunders the team, and most notably the coach seem to be making this year. I'm not in the dressing room, I don't know if they are a happy group, but when you barely show up and don't admit publicly that your head was not in the game I do hope that in the room they are honest with themselves and own up to each other that they were not focused or next week will be the last week that group of guys will call themselves a team.

The NHL Needs to Stop Rewarding Failure

Last night the Toronto Maple Leafs lost to the Montreal Canadiens in a shoot-out. This was the Leafs first shoot-out of the season. They lost three other games in the five minute four-on-four overtime period. They have one only one win so far this season in twelve games. Since the NHL awards one point to each team at the end of regulation the lowly Toronto Maple Leafs have 6 points this year. Four point have come from games they have lost and two points have come from games they have won.

The Leafs have more points from games they lost than games they won.

Does this seem strange to anyone else?

In the world of professional sport I don't think anyone should be rewarded for losing. We are not here to make the players and coaches feel good, we are here to see who is the best is. We are here to separate the men from the boys. We are here to pit the best against the best and the rest.

Now I realize the Leafs bad play has left them last in the league, and they have a long road to climb if they want to make any kind of impact this season. I just don't feel that a loss deserves any points.

I understand what the league wants. They want to see the teams play hard for the extra point, but I do not understand how the best hockey league in the world can justify handing out a reward for losing.

I Just Can't Count on the Riders

Being a Bomber fan its a good thing that they beat Montreal last week. By doing so they put their playoff lives in their own hands. Going into last week, I did some figuring. I figured that Hamilton would beat the Argos last week. I didn't count on the Bombers winning either game against the Montreal. As long as the Riders beat Hamilton this week, and at that point the the Tiger-Cats were not playing so well, the Bombers just had to beat Hamilton in the last game of the season and they would finish second and host the East Semi-Final.

Fortunately the Bombers hammered Montreal last week and I no longer have to rely on the Riders. Once again when the rubber meets the road the Riders crumble. They did not look very good today. They could not move the ball and missed multiple field goal attempts. They were fraught with turnovers. They did nothing to win and as such, didn't.

So this is were we are right now. Whoever wins in the Bomber, Ti-Cat game next week finishes second and hosts the East semi-final. Depending on what happens with Edmonton next week and in the Bomber, Als game tomorrow, the other team may not be in the playoffs. It's all coming down to the end. It's exciting. It's why they play and we watch.

In about eight days we will know how it all shakes out, until then we will definitely be talking about it, a lot.

Fall Classic Time

Well its is set. The New York Yankees will take on the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series. It should be exciting. A-Rod has finally showed up in the post-season. The Phillies looked pretty unstoppable in the playoffs, just like the Yankees. I don't know who is going to win. I am not going to prognosticate on this series.

I am going to talk about the effects of having both teams home parks within 90 miles of each other.

It isn't good for baseball.

I'm not saying that the teams deserve to be there, I'm saying that teams need to be geographically spread out to ensure more people can be engaged by baseball.

Playoff baseball is compelling. It is exciting. Every pitch matters. Unfortunately so many teams are out of the race so soon that people just quit watching by the time the playoffs roll around.

This series is going to be interesting. I will watch some of it. I hope anyone who likes baseball, even just a little bit, watches it. There will be drama.

With the parks only about 90 miles apart, I don't know how many people will really be watching.

Bombers Win...Really

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeated the Montreal Allouettes 41-24 yesterday. This was a huge win for the Big Blue as it sets up an interesting scenario. Irregardless of what happens next week, the Bombers will finish 2nd in the East Division and host a playoff game if they beat the Tiger-Cats on the last game of the year.

Here's how.

Winnipeg and Hamilton are currently tied in the standings and their season series is tied. So if Hamilton beats the Riders next week and the Bombers lose to Montreal the Bombers will be two points behind Hamilton going into the final game against the Tiger-Cats. If the Bombers win that game, they will finish tied with Hamilton but will win the season series 2-1 and therefore be placed second.

So the Bombers control their destiny and do not need help from anyone to finish 2nd. However, if they do not beat Hamilton in 2 weeks, they may not even make the playoffs. Edmonton is tied with Winnipeg and Hamilton and if they win their next 2 will get a crossover position as they will have a better record than the loser of the Winnipeg - Hamilton game.

So there it is, after a bizarre and crazy season in Bomberland they control their playoff destiny and do not need help from anyone to finish 2nd and host a playoff game.

The Bet

I made a bet last winter. I think it was a safe bet. I think I will eventually win. I don't know I will win, but there are several indicators that I have a reasonable chance to win. Of course if you have met me you may not be on my side.

I bet my friend Brad (who does amazing card tricks) that I will be married before the Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup.

I know what you are thinking, Brent is an amazing human being, how could he lose.

This is more a commentary on the Maple Leafs. This is not a comment on their failure on their spelling. This is a failure on their organization.

Here's the scoop. The Toronto Maple Leafs charge more for tickets than any other team in the league. I understand, they are part of one of the biggest hockey markets in the world and can charge the money they get. The seats are full for the start of every game.

The New York Yankees charge more than any team in Major League Baseball. I understand, they are part of one of the biggest markets in baseball markets in the world and can charge the money they get.

The difference is the Yankees win. A lot.

I do not have an intimate knowledge of either organization's business, but I believe that eventually you must have a winning team to keep the ball rolling.

The Leafs have not won a championship since expansion. This is whey I made The Bet.

A New Undertaking

This is the latest addition to the Flying Cookie empire. Ok, empire may be a bit of an overstatement however, this is another area that I enjoy to discuss and debate.

I have been a sports fan as long as I can remember. Sports are real. We do not know the outcome. We enjoy the human drama inside and beyond the game. Here I will discuss topics that do not fit well into my original blog, but none the less, I want to express. Topics will be at the pro and amateur level. Discussing the top performers and the grass-roots level. I am looking to discuss all aspects of sports.

Please join the conversation and share your thoughts, the world of sports will always give us something to talk about.