Category: Sport

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Some one hit the reset button

Carlos ZambranoI’m not one who gets full on into blogging about sports, but as a Cubs fan, it’s a little hard not to. And being all the way up in Vancouver, I think I’ve been doing a fairly good job paying attention to what’s been going on. Combining the powers of RSS feeds and podcasts, it’s easy to see that this season is turning more and more painful.

First, it was the broken wrist of Derek Lee. That should have clued all of us in as to what we were in store for. Wood and Prior have been nothing but a bag of problems, having something constantly dragging them down. I love them as pitchers, but kids, let this be a lesson to you. Being a pitcher can really mess your shoulder up, especially if you start throwing curve balls and junk at a young age.

Mark PriorI had a buddy growing up that could throw the most wicked curve, sinker, and slider, all at the age of fifteen. It was shortly after that age that I developed a disliking for organized sports in school, focusing more on the arts, but that other guy went on for just a few more seasons until struggles with tendinitis and reoccuring shoulder pain was common, all before we graduated high school.

When Woody and Prior are healthy, they are great, but this is another chapter in a growing list of problems for both of the guys. I’m not too sure that the Cubs should keep investing so much in the two of them if these problems keep happening. I don’t want to see them cut or traded, but at what point do you say enough is enough?

And to almost add even more crap onto what is turning into a crappy season, there’s Zambrano’s recent mishap.

In a bizarre accident, Zambrano’s right elbow was struck by the bat of a White Sox coach during the American League’s batting practice before Tuesday’s All-Star Game. […]

Zambrano was doing interviews with members of the Venezuelan media when he backed up into the swing of White Sox third base coach Joey Cora, who was hitting infield grounders.

The fungo bat slammed into Zambrano’s right elbow and he was taken to a local hospital, where X-rays were negative, according to a source close to the situation. The extent of the injury, and any effect it might have on Zambrano taking his turn in the rotation, is unknown. [mlb]

There’s talk of firing Dusty Baker, but is he really to blame? Look what they guy has to work with. People were starting to wonder about Juan Pierre and why the Cubs ever got him. Once Lee was back, he’s been producing some good numbers and the fans love him again, saying we need to sign him for next year already.

Cubs fan cryingEverything is seeming to be too little, too late. When certain things are going well, others aren’t. Listening to the CubsCast not long ago, they were going through a list of players from around the league that we should be watching out for in terms of next season. Next season?! Is it time to give up already?

Well, at 34-54, fifth place in the N.L. central, and 14.5 games out of first, there is a hell of a lot that needs to start going the right way. Never try to out guess the all-star break. It can do magical things to teams, good and bad. Let’s hope for good, eh? 

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Now they can act like they won the World Cup

Italy fans celebrating up and down Robson StreetIt was an amazing final. And to be completely honest, this is the first time that I’ve watched the final game in any World Cup be played, yet alone pay attention to one from beginning to end. The ’94 tournament in the U.S. got my attention, but my young mind got distracted half way through and never caught the final outcome.

I didn’t want Italy to win today[fifaworldcup]. I have not liked their style of play from the beginning of the tournament. Yes, I was cheering for the U.S.A. when they came up against each other, but during the entire match, their acting abilities of taking even the slightest nudge and turning it into a life threatening spectacle made me embarassed for futbol in general. It’s such an exciting game until faked dramatics steal the spotlight.

Out of the two teams in the final, this weighed heavy into picking my favorite, France, to take the match. Zidane[wiki] was going to retire, making this his final, professional appearence ever. France won the ’98 World Cup and took out the champs from last time around, Brazil, in the quarter-finals. They were hungry. Zidane would want to go out on top. It all seemed to make sense, right?


Zidane in today’s action.

Zidane scoring France's only goal in the World Cup finalWhat the hell, Zidane? All was far from lost for France, and you just lost control. Just minutes before he got that red card, we all saw what he could do with a header towards the goal. Buffon[wiki] made the save of the World Cup only to have it dimished when Zidane used that tool of the game as a weapon. I even said to Rebecca that it was almost a “Bertuzzi-esque move”, to which she replied that no one’s probably going to sue over it.

Shocking. I think I said “I can’t believe that just happened” about twenty times until the extra time expired. The penalty shootout didn’t even signify the end for France either, but the fact was that Zidane was gone. If France would have won, he wouldn’t have been there for the celebration. On top of that, there is no way that you can give him the benefit of a bad call by the officials. You have to give him credit though because in the end, he did go out with a bang.

And at the time of posting this, I can still hear horns honking and cheers for Italy in the west end of Vancouver.

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Free box seats to a Canadians game!

Rebecca’s mom is pretty awesome.  She scored us a couple of free tickets to a Vancouver Canadians game because she knew this boy from America would dig seeing a baseball game here in B.C.  To that I have to say, oh hell yes I would.

The Vancouver Canadians are the Single “A” Affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. We play in the Northwest League with seven other teams during the summer months each year. The team has a schedule of 76 games (38 home 38 away) and the season starts at the end of June each year. The team plays those 76 games in 79 days each year in a manner that can only be described as “traditional”. They make their way from stadium to stadium each game via bus, each player trying to hone their skills with the hopes of one day making it to the major leagues.  [canadiansbaseball]

I think we’ll try to make it out for a game against the Boise Hawks.  They are a Chicago Cubs affiliate afterall.

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Burke is building an army

Anaheim is going to be a team to watch out for come this fall.

Chris Pronger, the biggest name on the summer trade block is going to California.

The Anaheim Ducks have traded Joffrey Lupul, one non-roster player and several conditional high-end draft picks to the Oilers in exchange for Pronger. [tsn]

You knew things were going to change around the league, but this is starting to get a little nuts.

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Jose + 10

I’m still caught up in the midst of World Cup action.  Everytime the Adidas commercials come on, no matter how many times I have seen them already, I stop to watch.  The two little kids remind me of something I would do when I was their age, although it would have been with futbol players.  Probably something more like baseball or American football stars.  The tune in this commerical gets stuck in my head all the time.

Check out the first part of the series as well as the making of.

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We’ve got Luongo locked in for four years

I like that we’ve got some one to answer our goalie prayers, and this is good news by all means.

Goaltender Roberto Luongo signed a $27 million, four-year deal with the Canucks on Thursday, less than a week after he was acquired in a trade from Florida.

“Roberto has proven himself to be an elite goaltender,” Vancouver general manager Dave Nonis said in a statement. “His international experience, Vezina Trophy nomination and ability to consistently play at the highest level are tremendous assets that we believe will make the Vancouver Canucks competitive each and every night.”

The new deal will pay Luongo $6 million in the first year, $6.5 million in the second year, $7 million in the third year, and $7.5 million in the final year. The contract also contains a no-trade clause for the final three years. [espn]

That’s a chunk of change for some one we just grabbed a week ago today. I think Luongo[canucks] is a good goalie, but there is something to be said about seeing how he handles Vancouver and the Canucks as a team. A “no-trade clause” means he’s our main man in the net for the next few years. Makes me curious about what’s going through Cloutier’s head right now.

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The Canucks world continues to turn

We are through one season of the “new NHL,” and adjustments to the way the league is structured has nearly every team scrambling to rethink how to tackle next season. Perhaps I’m wrong, but this rings true for the Canucks.

Bertuzzi is gone to Florida along with Auld and Allen, but Jovanovski appears anxious to join the trio there.

Ed Jovanovski is in Florida, waiting to see how many free agent offers come pouring in when he becomes an unrestricted free agent on Saturday.

According to the Palm Beach Post, the all-star defenceman would love to stay in the Sunshine State. The signs are certainly good for the Florida Panthers, who are expected to bid on his services. [tsn]

The NHL raised the salary cap to $44 million per team for the coming season, so Florida could comfortably bring Jovo on board. This adds to the holes that are opening up for Vancouver’s bench. Nonis has said that he’s not done making his changes to the team, and I expect to see a different look to the Canucks come this fall.

I also caught an interview with Bertuzzi on Sportsnet today about his trade, and, you guessed it, it popped up on YouTube. You always kind of knew that the Moore fallout was weighing on him during last season, and he finally admits it.

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Time well spent at the 2006 NHL draft

NHL 2006 Draft - behind the benchWe had a pretty jam packed weekend go by, so I’m just getting around to my thoughts on the 2006 NHL Draft that took place in Vancouver on Saturday. In a sense, I think we were milking the very last ounce of hockey goodness before summer takes full effect. Regardless, for $5, this event was well worth the time and very little money it took to get in. The frosty beverages were still outrageously over priced.

Granted that I could have really used my binoculars to see him, but I saw Gretzky[wiki]. He came on stage to announce their pick in the first round, and that’s when it hit me. All the way up in the second level of GM Place, I realized that all these guys walking around in suits were not just the business of hockey, but very important people in the history of the game.

NHL 2006 Draft - Scottie!Gary Bettman[wiki] is a real human being, not just some CGI character that the NHL brings on the TV from time to time. The same goes for Wayne Gretzky. He’s real, too, albeit from a distance. And Ovechkin[wiki] is really from Russia because his accent made it really difficult to understand the name he announced when the Capitols sent him up on stage to do the honors. Without all his hockey gear on, he seemed just like a happy go lucky kid, just bouncing around from corner to corner of floor. The trophies the players get are very, very real, and are some of the most impressive pieces of hockey history that I have come into contact with yet.

After the Canucks made their pick in the first round, over half of the place cleared out. It made sense being that the next pick for the local favorites wouldn’t be coming again until the third round. We made our way towards some seats closer to the floor until we were directly behind one of the benches. We were just off to the side from the families of these young players that were being swept off to their dreams.

NHL 2006 Draft - On the way there; the Bertuzzi era is overIt was really exciting to hear when players were being traded along with swapping draft picks. People were screaming for some teams to pick this guy, trade some one from this team to that team, etc. It made the announcements of teams swapping fourth round picks for sixth round picks seem boring.

I did quite a bit of recording for the podcast, so I don’t want to get into too much detail. There’s a lot more that speaks for itself there that documents the experience. Rebecca already made her post and you can check out some pics on my Flickr as well as hers. Might be some duplicates, but oh well, that happens.

Overall, it was a really good time. There were high points and long points. By the end of the night, the die hards were all that were left. I don’t know if that includes us, but we stuck it out till the very end.

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Bertuzzi, Auld, and Allen are heading south

Big news for Canucks fans.

The Vancouver Canucks and Florida Panthers have completed a multi-player trade involving some big names on the eve of the NHL Draft.

The Panthers have confirmed that they acquired Todd Bertuzzi, Bryan Allen and Alexander Auld from the Canucks in exchange for Roberto Luongo and Lukas Krajicek and a 2006 sixth round pick.  [tsn]

Personally, I am sad to see Auld go.  That is my initial reaction at least.  I’m a goalie nerd and wannabe, but his filling in for Cloutier last season made me a fan.  Bertuzzi?  You kinda knew that it was coming, but replacing such a player won’t be easy.  Sure, his performance has slacked from the Bert that fans got accustomed to, but the strength he brought to the ice is not something that comes with filling in another body in his slot on the roster.

Luongo fills in that gap in the net that we’ve been looking for, and that makes this a pretty spectacular grab for the Canucks.  Krajicek is young, not to mention that he is yet another man to add to the defence.  With Bertuzzi off to the sunshine state, where does that put the team in terms of forwards, not to mention the big line?

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Man of the match

Jose FonsecaSure, he’s the most popular player in Mexico. He’s also one of the wealthiest now, being that he was apart of a $3.5 million transfer to join Cruz Azul[wiki] in La Primera División de México[wiki]. This is what you discover when you have your laptop in front of the TV while Mexico is playing the World Cup. It’s incredibly fascinating to find out how popular one person can be in another country when you’ve only heard their name twice.

With all that being said, Jose Fonseca[fifaworldcup] is really fun to watch. He’s one of those players where you can understand why he is so well liked, and it goes beyond simple good looks. Even though Mexico lost, the guy played his heart out, almost proving to the world that he’s worth the price. With only ten men against Portugal, he had the only goal, plus being named the man of the match. Not too bad.

Go Mexico!It’s when I watch these games and hear all the American grumbles of futbol not being entertaining that it confounds me as to all the arguments.

Jay Leno:
In Germany hundreds of soccer hooligans have been arrested for flipping over cars, starting fires and throwing bottles at police. How about they put that on TV? I’ll watch that over the World Cup. [newsmax]

David Letterman:
Are you excited about the World Cup? Of course not. You’re Americans. [nytimes]

It’s not entertaining enough to watch this sport? Are you kidding me? If it’s not the sense of national pride, then maybe you need to consider the ninety minutes of consuming the alcoholic beverage of your choice. And being Americans, one word: tailgating.

Drop that majestic sense of “entertain me” and become apart of the entertainment. Root, cheer, hollar. Do you hear those fans in the stands with their horns and drums and chants? That is the sound of people living and enjoying life. It’s a sport. A game. And if you think this just applies to the game of futbol, check out professional baseball in Japan. It changed my life and rediscovered my love for the game.