Trading places not in cards for Nash
Blue Jackets GM throws captain under the bus
WItems that may grow up to be columns, Vol. XIV, Chapter 4: ant a testament to the arse- backwardness of the player- team relationship in modern sports?
Columbus Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson’s Monday afternoon revelation that captain Rick Nash asked to be traded weeks ago is regarded as a betrayal, a breaking of the code, or to use the tired cliché, “throwing him under the bus.”
That it happens to be true, apparently, is beside the point.
Nash has had enough of losing after 10 seasons. Any player would. He couldn’t see any improvement in sight, even with a strong pair of binoculars, so he said, “Get me out of here.” When Howson, his own job hanging by a thread, couldn’t hit a home run at the trade deadline for his No. 1 asset, he had to explain why — and the explanation, of course, is that the short list of teams for which Nash would waive his no- move clause was too short to get much of a bidding war going, so Howson will have to try again at the draft.
On Tuesday, Nash cast himself as the reluctant martyr, willing to be moved for the greater good of the franchise, though he, of course, would never desert the perpetually sinking ship that is the Blue Jackets ... unless there was a really good place to go.
Funniest, though, after the Howson- Nash exchange, was the notion that because the GM blew the whistle on his captain’s wish to be freed from the Gulag, free agents henceforth would be reluctant to sign in Columbus.
As if one look at the cumulative standings since the franchise’s birth wouldn’t be reason enough to send them running in the other direction.
RUNNING ON EMPTY: Is there any commodity in all of sports more apparently disposable than a Canadian Football League import running back?
Watching the passing parade this winter, and over the past few, makes a guy wonder when GMS came to the conclusion that last year’s model is nothing special and there’s always another one waiting in the hopper. And cheaper, probably.
This off- season has been brutal. Primary running backs cut include Wes Cates, Avon Cobourne, Joffrey Reynolds and Fred Reid – though more than one of whom could yet be signed elsewhere. And Jerome Messam has taken his talents south to the NFL. Of the top 10 rushers of 2010 ( per TSN panelist Milt Stegall), only three are still employed in the CFL: Toronto’s Cory Boyd, Calgary’s Jon Cornish and Saskatchewan’s Darian Durant, who’s not a running back.
Just in the last four seasons of Wally Buono’s reign, the B. C. Lions went through Joe Smith, Stefan Logan, Martell Mallett, Tyler Ebell, A. J. Harris, Yonus Davis, Charles Roberts, Jamal Robertson ... and probably a couple we’ve forgotten.
Moral of the story: if you’re an import RB, don’t buy green bananas.
ALES IN WONDERLAND: That is, wonder how the chronically promising Ales Hemsky got a two- year, $ 10- million deal out of the Edmonton Oilers?
Observers from outside the 780 area code were, let us say, stunningly unimpressed.
From the safety of retirement, soon to be Hall- of- Famer Mike Modano (@ 9modano) tweeted: “2 yrs/ 10 million for hemsky. Scored over 20 goals twice in 9yrs.. WTF..!!?” This was followed by journeyman defenceman Jamie Rivers (@ Jamierivers08), also now out of hockey, retweeting Modano’s critique and adding: “SERIOUSLY!! that guy barely shows up half the time. What a joke. Low- budget teams have to overpay guys just to get to the floor.” At this point, it appears Rivers was bombarded with negative reaction from Oiler fans, so he responded: “People of Edmonton, can u not realize that I’m on your side?? I love Edmonton and I’m tired of u guys being at the bottom # signacharacterguy.”
Adding to the chorus, from Russian hockey blogger Dmitry Chesnokov (@ dchesnokov): “One Russian sports reporter on the Hemsky deal: ‘ And we all thought there was no money laundering in the NHL.’ ” THAT’S TALENT: CBS Golf commentator Ian BakerFinch (@ Ibfinchy) had his Blackberry in a back pocket when he sat down for a flight from Dallas to Palm Beach on Monday, and accidentally sent a series of short, garbled tweets. Some of them a few letters, some longer, all gobbledygook except for one which, in the middle of a bunch of x’s and k’s and z’s, included the word “Damask.” World No. 1 Luke Donald follows Baker- Finch, and tweeted: “finchy, you having a stroke on us???”
IT’S NOT DIRT, IT’S HISTORY: S. I.’ s latest book project, Fenway: A Fascinating First Century, comes out next week. Evidently, the historical artifact photos do not include one of my dry cleaning bill from the 1990 Stanley Cup Final when an off- day from the hockey wars provided an opportunity to see a ball game in the old pile of bricks and green paint.
Back at the hotel, I found my jeans and the back of my sports jacket caked in grime from however many generations of soda- spilling patrons and mustardleaking hotdogs and cottoncandy- dropping urchins had previously graced that particular pew, 15 or so rows up behind first base.
The low- budget replacement sports jacket from Filene’s Basement may or may not have gone onto the expense report as drinks with an Oilers assistant coach, whose name may or may not have rhymed with Ron Low. OLDEN BEAR: Why does this seem inexpressibly sad? Jack Nicklaus, at a press conference he gave Tuesday in advance of this week’s Honda Classic: “I don’t play much golf any more.” MEMORIES FLOODING BACK: This one’s a few weeks old now, but ... from Sports Illustrated’s gifted wordsmith Steve Rushin: “Happy 110th birthday to Frank Zamboni, who left us in 1988 but still resurfaces periodically.”