(NOT SO) Deep thoughts
A few random thoughts for National Ampersand Day. To which some of you are saying, and? …
THE NUMBERS GAME
With the announcement this week that John Gibbons and the Blue Jays would be parting ways at the end of the season, it seemed like a good time to revisit his illustrious playing career.
Eighteen big-league games played. Three different uniform numbers.
Pretty much covers it.
GOOD JUJU
You may have read a piece in The Spec the other day about a terminally ill gentleman who has been a Ticat season ticket holder since 1952. The story told of how three players — Jeremiah Masoli, Luke Tasker and Brandon Banks — came to visit him and spent an hour and a half at the hospice where he’s living his final days.
Perhaps it’s coincidence or perhaps it’s something else, but those exact three players were named CFL players of the week for their on-field performance this week.
MORE GOOD NEWS
That ailing Ticat fan’s name is Bill Hrasko. The best news of the week? He was able to get to the Labour Day game with his son and stayed for the entire thing.
NOT CHEAP
The AHL has announced new reduced prices for its streaming service that allows fans to watch every game from every team if they wish. This season, you can get AHL TV for $79.99. Combine that with the NHL Centre Ice Package — $219 — and you can see every game in both of the world’s two top leagues for $300.
Or the same price you would’ve paid last year for OHL Live, the Ontario Hockey League’s streaming service. Which suddenly seems terribly overpriced.
A LONG TIME
This week marked 45 years since Bob Irving started calling Blue Bombers games for CJOB radio in Winnipeg.
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats have had nine radio play-by-play voices and 10 colour commentators — which includes one season in which guest colour commentators handled the task, so really the number is higher — in that time.
ORNERY TIGERS
On the topic of sports broadcasters, a report in The Athletic says longtime Detroit Tigers voices Mario Impemba and Rod Allen got into a physical altercation after Tuesday night’s game.
Subsequent reports by The Sporting News and The Detroit News say they had to be separated after Allen put Impemba in a chokehold — the two have worked together for 16 years — in the broadcast booth. The issue?
A disagreement over a chair.
CROSSOVER AGAIN?
Is it too early to be talking about the crossover once again coming into play in the CFL?
Montreal and Toronto are both four points back of the thirdplace team in the West. The Argos have three games remaining against Western teams and the Alouettes have four. There’s little reason to believe either will win many of them. A losing record there would put them in an enormous hole.
They have two games remaining head-to-head. It’s beginning to look like one side will have to sweep that series to have a shot at a playoff spot.
It makes Saturday’s game against the Ticats close to a mustwin for the Argos.
BEST FOOTBALL FLICKS
With the NFL season starting and the CFL passing the midway point, argue among yourselves about what are the best football movies ever made. We’ll go with this list …
1. Rudy
2. Friday Night Lights
3. The Blind Side
4. Heaven Can Wait
5. Brian’s Song
GOOSEBUMPS
Speaking of football movies, if you’re looking for the most-motivating scene from a football movie, find “Facing The Giants” and watch the Death Crawl scene. Best five minutes ever.
THEY STINK
We all know how good the American League East is with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. But have you checked out how vomitously bad the AL Central is?
Other than one good Cleveland team — now featuring Josh Donaldson — no other squad is close to being above .500. Minnesota is in second place at 63-76.
Which means if the terrible Blue Jays were in that division, they’d be second.
SWING AND A MISS
Yes, he’s hit 33 homers and driven in 84 runs so far with those numbers destined to get considerably higher before the season ends. And yes, he has 146 hits which is tied for 27th best in baseball.
But if he whiffs 14 more times this season, New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton will hit the 200 mark for the season. That’s a whole lot of swinging and missing.
GAME, SET, MATCH
Some politicians in Quebec are upset that Genie Bouchard is now living in the Bahamas rather than in the province of her birth.
We’re not going to wade into those zany politics. But does this at least mean we can now focus on some other Canadian tennis players who don’t pose in swimsuit magazines, date guys they met on Twitter and sell chicken fingers but, y’know, win occasionally?
MOMENTARY MIRACLE
If you’re reading this on Saturday morning, the Buffalo Bills are in first place in the AFC East on the NFL’s official standings, ahead of the New England Patriots. For one day, at least.
Thank goodness for alphabetical order.
GULP
McMaster’s football team plays Western on Saturday afternoon in London.
Not to create concern or anything, but 10 times over the past four years, the Mustangs have scored 60 or more points in their home games. Five of those times, they’ve gone over 70.
Only four times have they surrendered 30 points or more.
The good news? Only once in the past four regular seasons have they been held below 20 at home. The opponent that day?
Mac.
GULP II
Speaking of Western, the Mustangs have scored 300 points or more in each of the past 11 seasons.
In that time, all the other Ontario university teams combined have done it 13 times.
FOR JACQUES
A number of NHL goalies have begun sending out pictures of their new masks for the coming season with all new designs. At the risk of sounding very old guy-ish, it really was better when goalies had one mask that they wore year after year that grew to be identifiable with them.