Deep Thoughts
The best soccer player of all time is who?
A few sporadic thoughts for National Brothers Day, the day we celebrate the highest-scoring sibling combination in NHL history. Namely, the Gretzkys (Wayne — 2,857 points, Brent — 4) …
Not good
The National Women’s Hockey League announced the name for its new Toronto team this week. The Six.
Sorry, that’s awful.
The nickname was stupid when Drake first coined it. It’s been horribly overused, is synonymous in some ways with basketball rather than hockey and is just lazy. Plus, the team colours look like the Ottawa Senators, which isn’t exactly the favourite team of folks in Toronto. In fact, it’s the opposite of that. What would be better? How about literally anything else.
Very good
The Grey Cup — if it’s played this season — will be hosted by the team that’s in the game that had the best record through the season rather than at a predetermined host city. Good.
Not only should this mean the Hamilton Tiger-Cats get to host two years in a row but it also gives one team a real home-field advantage and makes the regular season massively impactful in a league that admits all-but three teams to the post season. Let’s hope this idea sticks around after Hamilton and Regina’s promised games are done.
Wanna argue about it?
Not everyone agrees of course. “I’ve been at a Grey Cup where a rabid city hosts it. That was in 2013 in Regina and it sucked,” The Spectator’s Steve Milton says, arguing for tradition over this new plan — at least, long-term — on the Home Games YouTube channel. “It was great in a lot of ways but it sucked overall.”
You can find that debate between Milton, Bubba O’Neil from CHCH, Rick Zamperin from 900CHML
and I by going to YouTube and looking up Home Games Hamilton.
Sorry, he was what?
In one of the final episodes of The Last Dance, Bill Wennington said prior to the game Michael Jordan famously played with the flu — now believed to be food poisoning — he was in the dressing room hooked up to an IV and No. 23 was “chalky white.”
(Long pause to contemplate)
We knew it was bad but we had no idea it was that bad.
Not 20-20
In a related story, Bill Wennington has been eliminated as an eyewitness for any court case ever again.
Not making friends
Speaking of the documentary series that wrapped up this week, more than a few people who were shown are beginning to publicly take issue with their portrayal and the way Jordan framed them in the show. Former teammate Horace Grant says Jordan lied about him being a snitch to the media, former sidekick Scottie Pippen is reportedly furious with things said about him and even the pizza delivery guy in Utah is fighting back.
The caution here is the same we mentioned a couple weeks ago. When the star of the show is also involved in production, watch through a skeptical prism.
Great idea, but ...
Now we learn a multi-part documentary about Tom Brady is being made by ESPN. As a concept, that sounds terrific. There’s surely enough meat on the bones of the New England Patriots’ dynasty to keep us entertained and shocked and mesmerized for nine or 10 episodes. Except, helping produce this series is Brady’s own production company. If that didn’t cause you to think this might be little more than a video back rub to the legend, consider what he had to say about the direction of the show: “Through the series, we’re defining key moments and challenges that were seemingly insurmountable but, through hard work and perseverance, became career-defining triumphs, in both victory and defeat.”
Yeah, this is going to really probe and ask difficult questions and be hard-hitting. Or not.
Blech
The trailer for the Brady series can best be summed up in one word: Saccharine.
The best ever
After The Last Dance, a debate started online about who the greatest soccer player of all time is. A heated debate. Here’s the top five. Debate among yourselves.
1. Pele
2. Lionel Messi
3. Franz Beckenbauer
4. Diego Maradona
5. Johan Cruyff
Your Question
Four professional sports franchises call the Staples Center home. Name them. Answer below.
Makes the season meaningless
The NHL is apparently talking about a return this summer with 24 teams all participating in some kind of playoff tournament. Question: If 24 teams get in — meaning only seven don’t — what was the point of the regular season?
Blame the Habs
Cynical answer to the above question: Look who team No. 24 was in the standings. The Montreal Canadiens. If you’re going to play hockey in the heat of summer, do you not want one of your biggest markets engaged? If the Habs had finished 28th, we’d be talking about a 28team tournament.
Wash before cheering
A South Korean soccer club apologized this week after trying to make it look like there were fans in the stands for a game by filling some of the seats with lifelike sex dolls.
Not sure who owned them, how they had so many easily accessible and whether we should even want to know these things.
But, if we’re concerned about a catching a virus these days, the stands in Korea might be more dangerous than anywhere else.
Mac’s best
McMaster handed out its athletic awards in an online ceremony this week. Wrestler Ben Zahra was chosen as male athlete of the year and curler Kaelyn Gregory took the female athlete award.
Other winners were soccer player Stephanie Roberts (Directors Award), soccer player Christian Cossidente (graduating male student athlete), synchronized swimmer Daniella Lato (graduating female student-athlete), badminton player Talia Ng (female rookie of the year), rugby player Nathan Pinder (male rookie), lacrosse player Sabrina Schindel (Les Prince Award), Nordic skier Soren Meeuwisse (Bruce Cochrane Award) and the women’s hockey team earned the Joyce Wignall Award.
Your Answer
The Staples Center is home to the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Kings and Los Angeles Sparks.