Two Words

Tommy John

Triple Crown

Triple crown anyone? Never been a huge fan to venture out into Etobicoke but if Votto was making an appearance back at home I would. Wouldn't it be amazing if the Jays could find a way to sign a high profile Canadian player who was in their prime like Votto. Having someone like Votto in the lineup would do wonders for the fans and the feel at the Skydome.

I shouldn't be complaining though. The Jays have a good team with a bright future. But no matter what life has in front of you, you should never stop dreaming.

Only If...

I have accepted that Halladay is gone and the resurgent Wells with his team are not going to the playoffs but this picture is a definite tear jerker. The Doc is doing his normal non-human attack on batters every 5th day and Wells is doing his best to keep the Jays rolling while trying to live up to his massive salary but the picture brings plenty of what ifs.

Wouldn't it be nice to see these two guys in the playoffs together throwing darts, intimidating batters, running down balls, and racking up the RBIs? It is always sad to see the face of a franchise leave but it kind of hurts, in a different way, when he comes back wearing foreign colours with foreign letters running across his chest.

Having Halladay pitching game 7 of the World Series at the Dome while Wells patrols the outfield would have a been a dream come true. I would put my paycheck on The Doc delivering a CG 3 hitter to earn MVP honours.

Reminiscing is great, too bad it's about something that never happened.

Money or Rings

The Raptors are back at square one...again! This is pretty pathetic and should never have happened. Chris Bosh is almost officially gone and the Raptors are going to get basically nothing in return. What do we have on our team? Seriously, what the hell happened to this organization. I was very optimistic after the hiring of Colangelo but since then, I have seen nothing. Hindsight is 20/20 and everyone seems to be a thousand times smarter after the fact but couldn't anyone see that our team was doomed when we went out and signed Hedo? Come on, guy is not worth 5 years. Did Colangelo sign him to try and entice Bosh to sign because if he did, he better share whatever he was smoking with me.

Miami, enjoy Bosh. Enjoy Wade. Oh yeah, come Thursday, you may even enjoy LeBron too. If all this talk coming from all the free agents about winning first is legitimate, then we will see LeBron go to Miami. Salary cap issues and of course position flexibility put a downer on the chances of a Wade/Bosh/James combo but it would be pretty sick to see these guys play together.

How about Amare signing with the Knicks. Pretty sad. Should have tried to team up with one of the big free agents. Amare, enjoy losing. Without Nash you are basically another ballplayer who plays with goggles.

Boozer must be pretty lucky because he just signed a pretty big and fat contract with the Bulls. Did the Raptors even have a chance to sign this guy? Another few seasons of losing and just maybe a lottery pick will turn out to be a future LeBron.

Emotions

Showing emotions on the bench and letting your teammate, who is suppose to be a team leader, is what I call the right move. Longoria let Upton know how he felt after Upton was a complete SOB during a hit into the gap. I have been criticised for being a little lazy on the field and for good reason. There for some days I was tired and didn't have all my heart into the game. Especially during ones against the bottom feeders of the league. But this was no excuse. I was called out and benched and I deserved it. I owned up to my mistake and I tried to never do it again. I've been on the other end and it sure felt good to tell my teammate he was messing up because sometimes everyone needs a kick in the ass to get back to the job at hand.

Mad props to Longoria for stepping up and being a leader on the field. As for Upton, a little maturing is needed. Sometimes talent spoiled individuals need a serious kick in their asses to get things straight.

Draft sans 1st Rounder

The 2010 NHL Draft is complete and what a sad day it was for yours truly. The Leafs didn't have a pick in the first round because of a previous deal, which I will not repeat here. If we had our pick and everything stayed constant, we might have had a nice Leafs jersey on one of the boys in the picture above.

The Leafs have some strong players and building a championship team in the NHL takes time and I understand that. Sometimes I do wish we could just sign and trade for a combo of players like the Big Three in Boston (Pierce, Allen, and Garnett) and be legit Stanley Cup contenders in one off-season. Dreaming never hurts.

It hurts to see the Leafs struggle year in and year out, especially at this time of year. The draft is suppose to be a promise of better things, a brighter future, a time when positives outweigh all the negatives but not with the Leafs. Not having a first round pick hurts and not seeing a high profile draftee, beaming with joy, putting on a Leafs jersey took a little out of me.

I do believe the Leafs have a bright future but the lack of a first rounder in the this year's draft took some wind out of my sails.

A New Leader

Good luck Mr. Phaneuf! I'm hoping you can lead the Leafs into the playoffs and eventually, sooner rather than later, bring us the Yonge St. parade we Leaf fans have been itching for since, well you know the year. The Leafs need some guy to take charge and lead while being the lightning rod for criticism that the big smoke is notorious for. Dion, I hope you know what you are agreeing and getting yourself into because this is no easy task. Good luck my friend!

Always Something

I have always been a little too in love with Jason Spezza ever since he broke into the NHL as the "rookie" to watch. Now that a few years have gone by, would it be possible for Spezza to finally play for the Leafs? The Senators obviously wanted to build a team around Spezza, Heatley, and Alfredsson but now that those Stanley Cup dreams have started to fade, maybe it is time for the some personnel changes.

Jason seems to be faltering and regressing with his last two seasons being sub-par. A change of scenery might be the cure. Just sad to see and hear that Spezza could never be a Leaf because of his contract. With a $7 million cap hit for 5 more seasons the Leafs are completely out of the picture.

The Leafs are in need of a guy who can light the lamp and with Spezza being a native of Mississauga this might give him a little more incentive to rack up the points and end the Stanley Cup drought.

If Spezza ever signs with the Leafs I will be the first in line to purchase his #19 jersey.

Change is Fast

In sports, opinions change on a dime with movement usually based on personal opinions and feelings over the sound judgment of statistics and normal common sense. Writers from major news outlets and the average blogger seem to jump ship just as fast as they jump onto the bandwagon. I just don't understand why people seem to jump back and forth so quickly.

Tiger Woods is a prime example. Everyone is writing the guy off. He's finished. The Major record is farther and farther than ever before. Note: Woods needs to 4 to tie and 5 to break the record. His game is on the decline. Seriously, where does all this come from. He has a personal life setback and the world is now ready to hand the world's #1 golfer title over to someone else.

Yes, Woods hasn't won a tournament since his "return" but how many people out there on the tour have won more than one major or more than 2-3 regular weekly tournaments? Tiger has earned the respect that we should be giving him while he is walking the fairways.

I have no doubt Woods will return to the winners circle but until then, all you writers out there, relax and stop writing all these articles about the beginning of the end unless you have some true hard facts and numbers. There are plenty of other great moments in sports to talk about.

If Woods wins the US Open next week at Pebble Beach, are you obligated to jump back on the Tiger will win 19 majors bandwagon?

Open Your Eyes

It wasn't an original 6 match-up but in my eyes it was just that. The bullies from Philadelphia against the true original 6 team from Chicago. When both teams made it to the Stanley Cup finals, it seemed kind of a perfect battle that the NHL needed, just something different than the Penguins and Red Wings.

There were plenty of story lines, Hossa, 7th seeded Philadelphia, and the drought both cities have endured but in my eyes the biggest story line was Mr. Gary Bettman. The message I would love to shout at him is,

"Look at the teams and the cities that are in the Stanley Cup finals and open your eyes to the fact that people from hockey cities deserve your attention. Instead of wasting time and money on non-traditional cities pay attention to the true hockey towns."

It pisses me off to see all the potential the NHL has as a league and be forced to watch an idiot like Bettman force NHL teams into American cities where hockey is basically a hobby and not a part of life. Hockey teams should be put into cities where arenas are going to sellout on a nightly basis, satisfying true blooded hockey fans and let's not leave out those owners who want to fatten up their bottom line. Win win situation!

The NHL and more importantly the loyal hockey fans deserve better.