[Video]
Yes, on national television (although it IS NBC) Adam Burish called Chris Pronger "the biggest idiot in the league."
The best case scenario for this is that it'll turn into a hilarious exchange between Pronger and some anonymous beatwriter.
Since being traded from St. Louis, Chris Pronger has reached the Cup Finals with every single team he's been with in his first year of play, meaning his trade stock would be at its all-time highest, if it weren't for that stupid 7-year, $34 million deal Philly gave him.
So, really, Adam, while I'm sure you're proud you won the Cup and all, it's not like Pronger has never done anything. I'm sure 'Chrissy' is going to go home, his hot wife, to his millions of dollars, to his Stanley Cup ring, to his two Olympic gold medals, to his World Championship gold, to his World Junior gold, and to his Hart Trophy, seriously reconsidering being "the biggest idiot in the league."
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Chicago Blackhawks win Stanley Cup (no... really)
-The last time Chicago won the Stanley Cup, sock-hop was popular, Kennedy was president, and Wayne Gretzky didn't even know how to crawl. It was a long, long time ago. But, championship droughts, like the hopes of Michael Leighton signing a big contract, must come to an end. It really is a pity that it came against the very likeable Philadelphia Flyers and their classy fans.
-The NHL moved the trophy presentation from the traditional centre ice spot to the zamboni entrance, presumably because Philly fans are prone to violence. Never mind that they appeared to do that last year in Detroit when Pittsburgh won.
-Jonathan Toews became the fourth (fifth, or sixth, depending on how you order them) player to win the Stanley Cup and Olympic gold medal in the same year, but also was named the top forward at the Olympics as well as winning the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP (finals apparently not included in the voting for some reason) which is truly amazing. At just 22 years old, the man has all that, plus a World Junior gold medal to his name as well as a World Championship. I was born just a couple of months after the guy, and here I am eating cheetos in some god forsaken basement blogging. That son of a bitch.
-Patrick Kane's goal... was it the most anti-climatic moment in sports history? Only Kane, Patrick Sharp and Darryl Powe seem to notice that the puck went in. The referee, goal judge, and even Jim Hughson were flummoxed as to what had happened, and as the Blackhawks poured onto the ice in utter confusion, only then was the puck fished out of the net. Not fished out of the net? Michael Leighton's signing bonus.
-Transcript of the goal call:
Jim Hughson: "Campbell, holds the puck in at the line, turns, won't shoot. Kane, watched by Kimmo Timonen, to the net... ... ... Leighton stopped it! It came loose on the other side of the net!"
Craig Simpson: "It's in."
Jim: "It's over! Patrick Kane has scored the goal! The Chicago Blackhawks long drought is over!"
-Although that beats the hell out of the Bob Cole/Harry Neale version of the call, which I imagine would have gone as follows.
Bob Cole: "Philadelphia, in the orange, still can't seem to get the puck out of the zone and the white team keeps it in..."
Harry Neale: "They're applying a lot of pressure here Bob!"
Bob: "Look at the moves by the young Chicago forward, Patrick Kane that is! He takes the puck in front and he shoots and he went wide with it. Chicago retreats, and... oh my... it looks like Chicago will get a penalty here, the play is called."
Harry: "That could be a too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty, Bob. They're all out there. It's been an epidemic this postseason, and now Philadelphia is going to have a powerplay chance to end the game and send this series back to Toronto for Game 7."
-Ron MacLean opened the night by awkwardly standing in front of the Flyers loosening up playing soccer and reading poetry. It wasn't quite Don Cherry at the organ bad, but I'm wondering what the hell CBC could have done for an intro if a 7th game was forced. Thankfully, we are done with these until next June. I never imagined I would possibly long for the days of Scott Oake's pre-recorded interviews with assistant coaches before games.
-In other dumb studio host news, here is a video of Jeremy Roenick crying on NBC.
-With four different 24-hour sports channels in this country, we tend to overanalyze everything. Tune into TSN or Sportsnet tomorrow to see what Nick Kypreos or Darren Dreger or some other brainstem says what the turning point in the series was. The turning point in the series, actually, came three years ago, when a ping pong ball fell into the right place to give Chicago the first overall pick. They took Kane. The Flyers picked second, and ended up with James Van Riemsdyk, who was only in the lineup this series because he isn't a huge idiot like Daniel Carcillo.
-Baseball happened. Toronto lost. Morneau got a hit. Bay's game was postponed.
-The CFL is joining the 21st century which will give quarterbacks headsets and allow them to communicate with their coach between plays. The headsets delivered to Blue Bombers camp allow members of the team to communicate with the defense lawyers between aggravated assaults.
===
Hockey is done. We're sad. But don't let it bring you down.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Pronger wears a skirt
Wednesday, June 9th
-Essentially all that happened today is the Chicago Tribune published a photoshopped picture of Masters Champion Chris Pronger wearing a skirt. Pronger responded by saying he "doesn't read what you [the media] write," but I'm pretty sure he's seen the picture, and thought it was just as lame as I do. This is something that would be moderately funny for somebody younger than 12, and frankly the Chicago Tribune look like dumb kids for running the picture.
Pronger has had a great playoffs. Nobody saw Philadelphia making it this far, and Pronger has pretty much lifted the team on his back and carried them to the finals. As much as we hate him, he's a great defenseman. His only two bad games of the playoffs are the games in which his goaltender(s) got absolutely shelled because they're bad goalies.
Also, did you know that the five times that the Conn Smythe Trophy was awarded to the losing team, twice it went to a member of the Flyers? There's a pretty high probability, given Jonathan Toews' no-show in the Finals (thanks in large part to Pronger dominating that line physically) that it could happen a third time.
-The Blue Jays had a chance to redeem themselves after blowing a pair of 9th inning leads to the Rays last week at home. Let's see how they did in the first of three against Tampa.
-Justin Morneau was one K short of the golden sombrero in an 0-for-4 night against Zack Grienke and the Royals. Jeff Francis gave up seven hits in as many innings, striking out one and getting a no-decision. Francis avoiding the loss thanks to an equally mediocre performance by his bullpen was the only bright spot in Canadian baseball today. Except for Stephen Strasburg of the Montreal Expos who had 14 Ks in his Major League debut. This is just what Montreal needs to get people back to the Big-O.
===
Game 6 is tonight, but mostly we're waiting for the World Cup, and its large Canadian contingent [K'Naan] to perform. With so few sports on TV, it's almost embarassing to have the TV on all the time, searching for something remotely watchable. Yesterday I settled on 'Jeopardy!' reruns.
-Essentially all that happened today is the Chicago Tribune published a photoshopped picture of Masters Champion Chris Pronger wearing a skirt. Pronger responded by saying he "doesn't read what you [the media] write," but I'm pretty sure he's seen the picture, and thought it was just as lame as I do. This is something that would be moderately funny for somebody younger than 12, and frankly the Chicago Tribune look like dumb kids for running the picture.
Pronger has had a great playoffs. Nobody saw Philadelphia making it this far, and Pronger has pretty much lifted the team on his back and carried them to the finals. As much as we hate him, he's a great defenseman. His only two bad games of the playoffs are the games in which his goaltender(s) got absolutely shelled because they're bad goalies.
Also, did you know that the five times that the Conn Smythe Trophy was awarded to the losing team, twice it went to a member of the Flyers? There's a pretty high probability, given Jonathan Toews' no-show in the Finals (thanks in large part to Pronger dominating that line physically) that it could happen a third time.
-The Blue Jays had a chance to redeem themselves after blowing a pair of 9th inning leads to the Rays last week at home. Let's see how they did in the first of three against Tampa.
-Justin Morneau was one K short of the golden sombrero in an 0-for-4 night against Zack Grienke and the Royals. Jeff Francis gave up seven hits in as many innings, striking out one and getting a no-decision. Francis avoiding the loss thanks to an equally mediocre performance by his bullpen was the only bright spot in Canadian baseball today. Except for Stephen Strasburg of the Montreal Expos who had 14 Ks in his Major League debut. This is just what Montreal needs to get people back to the Big-O.
===
Game 6 is tonight, but mostly we're waiting for the World Cup, and its large Canadian contingent [K'Naan] to perform. With so few sports on TV, it's almost embarassing to have the TV on all the time, searching for something remotely watchable. Yesterday I settled on 'Jeopardy!' reruns.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Neil owes $2.4 mil, idle Jays draft
Your Tuesday headlines
-Due to blogger being down yesterday, we could not bring you the headlines. Unfortunately, they were very funny, and only our esteemed editor had a chance to read them.
-First off, it appears that Ottawa Senators forward Chris Neil has been in debt for quite some time.
Luckily, the man has all kinds of talent to fall back on.
-The Blue Jays drafted Deck McGuire, a future KRIO Action 7! News team anchor, with the 11th pick in the draft. The guy sounds totally badass, and, as a Blue Jays right hander, would probably only blow 30 saves a year!
-Here's a blog post comparing Chris Pronger to Gordie Howe in a way that does not stretch as much as it could. Pronger has had two horrible games these playoffs, in which times the goalie has been pulled.
-Joey Votto went 0-for-3. Had Michael Saunders not hit a three-run homer, we'd have been doomed at the next Baseball Classic.
===
Okay, we're done. We need sleepz.
-Due to blogger being down yesterday, we could not bring you the headlines. Unfortunately, they were very funny, and only our esteemed editor had a chance to read them.
-First off, it appears that Ottawa Senators forward Chris Neil has been in debt for quite some time.
Luckily, the man has all kinds of talent to fall back on.
-The Blue Jays drafted Deck McGuire, a future KRIO Action 7! News team anchor, with the 11th pick in the draft. The guy sounds totally badass, and, as a Blue Jays right hander, would probably only blow 30 saves a year!
-Here's a blog post comparing Chris Pronger to Gordie Howe in a way that does not stretch as much as it could. Pronger has had two horrible games these playoffs, in which times the goalie has been pulled.
-Joey Votto went 0-for-3. Had Michael Saunders not hit a three-run homer, we'd have been doomed at the next Baseball Classic.
===
Okay, we're done. We need sleepz.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
QMJHL draft-day trade shuts down Montreal radio
Your Sunday morning headlines
-Montreal Canadien draft-pick and future Hall of Fame winger Louis Leblanc, the hometown hero of Habstown, had his rights traded from Chicoutimi to the Montreal Junior 'Q' team, prompting speculation that he'll drop out of Harvard to play a year of junior in his hometown, giving Habs fans a reason to riot again.
You might not speak French, but you won't really want to. In this post, we're convinced that Leblanc can just as easily continue his studies at McGill University while he plays for the Junior. Hell, Bob McKenzie, a media leader in not jumping the shark, tweeted that he'd be "shocked if [Leblanc] doesn't leave Harvard for Q."
Anything to make people in Montreal care about the 'Q' again. The picture above Leblanc at Habs development camp yesterday, a snapshot that also made the rounds.
-From universal obsession to the completely overlooked, the Blue Jays beat the Yankees on a second straight day by a 3-2 score, with Aaron Hill knocking in the winning run in the bottom of the 14th in what was actually a pretty good game. Vernon Wells and Alex Gonzalez homered, bringing the team total to 96 on the year, 18 dingers above the next highest team in baseball, the Red Sox. The team has also struck out 427 batters, good for fourth in both leagues and just three behind the Dodgers, leading the category. Pretty soon there is going to be no reason to not watch the Blue Jays. It's a scary thought.
-Across town at BMO field, there is no danger of that happening with the local Reds, or 'Toronto FC' as they call them in soccer circles. They drew 0-0 on the road to the Kansas City Wizards yesterday, prompting one F.C. blogger to take pleasure in the upcoming World Cup break, since it means he won't have to watch F.C. for a while.
-Not his strongest outing of the year, but Ryan Dempster won another game, he's now 4-5 on the year, as the Cubs beat the Astros 8-5. He gave up six hits, two homers, and walked a couple, but managed to strike out seven. Justin Morneau was given the day off in a Twinkie 4-3 win over the As (although he managed to come in for a heroic pinch-hit walk in the 9th, before heroically being pulled for J.J. Hardy, who scored the winning run) and Jason Bay should have been given the day off. He went 0-for-4 with two Ks.
===
With the Belmont Stakes today, horse racing's triple crown season is over. Next up on jockey's to-do lists: workouts with the Montreal Canadiens.
-Montreal Canadien draft-pick and future Hall of Fame winger Louis Leblanc, the hometown hero of Habstown, had his rights traded from Chicoutimi to the Montreal Junior 'Q' team, prompting speculation that he'll drop out of Harvard to play a year of junior in his hometown, giving Habs fans a reason to riot again.
You might not speak French, but you won't really want to. In this post, we're convinced that Leblanc can just as easily continue his studies at McGill University while he plays for the Junior. Hell, Bob McKenzie, a media leader in not jumping the shark, tweeted that he'd be "shocked if [Leblanc] doesn't leave Harvard for Q."
Anything to make people in Montreal care about the 'Q' again. The picture above Leblanc at Habs development camp yesterday, a snapshot that also made the rounds.
-From universal obsession to the completely overlooked, the Blue Jays beat the Yankees on a second straight day by a 3-2 score, with Aaron Hill knocking in the winning run in the bottom of the 14th in what was actually a pretty good game. Vernon Wells and Alex Gonzalez homered, bringing the team total to 96 on the year, 18 dingers above the next highest team in baseball, the Red Sox. The team has also struck out 427 batters, good for fourth in both leagues and just three behind the Dodgers, leading the category. Pretty soon there is going to be no reason to not watch the Blue Jays. It's a scary thought.
-Across town at BMO field, there is no danger of that happening with the local Reds, or 'Toronto FC' as they call them in soccer circles. They drew 0-0 on the road to the Kansas City Wizards yesterday, prompting one F.C. blogger to take pleasure in the upcoming World Cup break, since it means he won't have to watch F.C. for a while.
-Not his strongest outing of the year, but Ryan Dempster won another game, he's now 4-5 on the year, as the Cubs beat the Astros 8-5. He gave up six hits, two homers, and walked a couple, but managed to strike out seven. Justin Morneau was given the day off in a Twinkie 4-3 win over the As (although he managed to come in for a heroic pinch-hit walk in the 9th, before heroically being pulled for J.J. Hardy, who scored the winning run) and Jason Bay should have been given the day off. He went 0-for-4 with two Ks.
===
With the Belmont Stakes today, horse racing's triple crown season is over. Next up on jockey's to-do lists: workouts with the Montreal Canadiens.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Blogger: Pha-noof to save Leafs with arbitrary stitching on jersey
Leafs defenseman to be introduced as captain this month. Maybe.
The blogosphere has taken off. Ron Wilson started it after the season when he said that most players on the team look up to Phaneuf as the leader.
Today, some blogger known as 'The Hockey Twit' has posted a mockup of the Leafs sweater with the "C" on it for Phaneuf.
It's eventually going to happen. Part of the reason why the Leafs haven't named a captain since Mats Sundin is because they didn't want it to go to some European player like Kaberle, who's been with the organization for a while, wants to stay even with all the people demanding he leave, garners respect around the league and is one of it's premier offensive defensemen.
Rather, they will wait to give it to Phaneuf, who most of the league hates, who's been there for only a few months, and is one of the league's premier defensemen at missing the net and being out of position.
It will happen. Maybe 'The Hockey Twit' is right and it will happen on June 15. If not, we'll have to wait a little longer before we can cue the "I haven't seen a Dion lead this bad since..." jokes.
The blogosphere has taken off. Ron Wilson started it after the season when he said that most players on the team look up to Phaneuf as the leader.
Today, some blogger known as 'The Hockey Twit' has posted a mockup of the Leafs sweater with the "C" on it for Phaneuf.
It's eventually going to happen. Part of the reason why the Leafs haven't named a captain since Mats Sundin is because they didn't want it to go to some European player like Kaberle, who's been with the organization for a while, wants to stay even with all the people demanding he leave, garners respect around the league and is one of it's premier offensive defensemen.
Rather, they will wait to give it to Phaneuf, who most of the league hates, who's been there for only a few months, and is one of the league's premier defensemen at missing the net and being out of position.
It will happen. Maybe 'The Hockey Twit' is right and it will happen on June 15. If not, we'll have to wait a little longer before we can cue the "I haven't seen a Dion lead this bad since..." jokes.
Morning Briefing - Saturday June 5th
Fin big in Game 4, Jays radio host suspended
-Ville Leino scored a lucky little goal off of the back of Kris Versteeg, and his Flyers survived a late charge to win 5-3 in Game 4, tying the series at two, bringing us back to Chicago. Patrick Kane finally got an assist in this one, but Jonathan Toews is still held off the scoresheet.
Captain Obvious sez: If the Chicago top line doesn't get it together, Philadelphia win this series. Joel Quenneville is making himself look stupid by continually allowing Philly to match up Chris Pronger with Dustin Byfuglien. Put Patrick Sharp back up on that line, make the line faster and skate around the guy.
Or, just keep doing what you're doing. You're the coach.
Also to note, how great has this series been?
-Here's a dissapointing story out of Toronto (surprisingly, that doesn't even involve the Leafs). Wilner, a host for the Toronto Blue Jays radio station, Fan 950, has the weekend off due to comments made about Cito Gaston after Gaston brutally mis-managed the final two games of the Tampa Bay series. Rogers Communications own the Blue Jays, the stadium, the Fan 950 and Rogers Sportsnet, who show every Blue Jays game this year.
Convergence is a wonderful thing. Oftentimes in sports we forget how important basic beat reporters are. People who cover the team and question decisions. This is a case of the Toronto Blue Jays attempting to control their communications, which they're fine to do, but the radio network and the Jays should work at arms length from each other.
Whether it's pro sports, amateur sports, or collegiate sports, no reporter who has been granted access should ever be barred from attending, asking questions, or reporting games. Newspapers and radio stations are not free advertising space for sports organizations, though it often works out that way.
I dislike Rogers Communications, and part of it comes from the way they have a monopoly on pro baseball in Canada. TSN and CBC no longer have the odd weekend games to show.
-Meanwhile, the Jays managed to hold onto a 9th inning lead for a change, winning 6-1 over the Yankees. Jose Bautista had two more home runs, and at one point was a trending topic on Twitter. Brett Cecil went eight strong, allowing just five hits.
I'm scared to write anything negative about the game, since the Jays might cut off my access to the team.
-Gibdan Hamdan, apparently a former NFL quarterback, retired from football at Argos camp today apparently after looking at himself in the mirror and decided he couldn't offer "100% dedication to the team."
Following his lead, the rest of the Argos left, citing the same problem. Like you would want to dress in powder blue on national TV and lose 15 games a year.
The development just means that we are ever so close to Glen Suitor publicly fellating Danny Brannagan when he throws a completion.
-Finally, Toronto's Laura Newcombe tied for 5th at the Scripps Spelling Bee after missing 'confiserie'. I can't really complain about her performance, because it took me three times to type the word with a cheet sheet on my other tab. There's a joke about the Canada's performances at international sporting events (specifically, the Olympics) somewhere in here, but I haven't found it yet.
At 11, the youngest speller in the final, it seems as if we have a child prodigy on our hands.
===
This is the Eh Factor, the 100% green-efficient sports blog. Suck it, BP.
-Ville Leino scored a lucky little goal off of the back of Kris Versteeg, and his Flyers survived a late charge to win 5-3 in Game 4, tying the series at two, bringing us back to Chicago. Patrick Kane finally got an assist in this one, but Jonathan Toews is still held off the scoresheet.
Captain Obvious sez: If the Chicago top line doesn't get it together, Philadelphia win this series. Joel Quenneville is making himself look stupid by continually allowing Philly to match up Chris Pronger with Dustin Byfuglien. Put Patrick Sharp back up on that line, make the line faster and skate around the guy.
Or, just keep doing what you're doing. You're the coach.
Also to note, how great has this series been?
-Here's a dissapointing story out of Toronto (surprisingly, that doesn't even involve the Leafs). Wilner, a host for the Toronto Blue Jays radio station, Fan 950, has the weekend off due to comments made about Cito Gaston after Gaston brutally mis-managed the final two games of the Tampa Bay series. Rogers Communications own the Blue Jays, the stadium, the Fan 950 and Rogers Sportsnet, who show every Blue Jays game this year.
Convergence is a wonderful thing. Oftentimes in sports we forget how important basic beat reporters are. People who cover the team and question decisions. This is a case of the Toronto Blue Jays attempting to control their communications, which they're fine to do, but the radio network and the Jays should work at arms length from each other.
Whether it's pro sports, amateur sports, or collegiate sports, no reporter who has been granted access should ever be barred from attending, asking questions, or reporting games. Newspapers and radio stations are not free advertising space for sports organizations, though it often works out that way.
I dislike Rogers Communications, and part of it comes from the way they have a monopoly on pro baseball in Canada. TSN and CBC no longer have the odd weekend games to show.
-Meanwhile, the Jays managed to hold onto a 9th inning lead for a change, winning 6-1 over the Yankees. Jose Bautista had two more home runs, and at one point was a trending topic on Twitter. Brett Cecil went eight strong, allowing just five hits.
I'm scared to write anything negative about the game, since the Jays might cut off my access to the team.
-Gibdan Hamdan, apparently a former NFL quarterback, retired from football at Argos camp today apparently after looking at himself in the mirror and decided he couldn't offer "100% dedication to the team."
Following his lead, the rest of the Argos left, citing the same problem. Like you would want to dress in powder blue on national TV and lose 15 games a year.
The development just means that we are ever so close to Glen Suitor publicly fellating Danny Brannagan when he throws a completion.
-Finally, Toronto's Laura Newcombe tied for 5th at the Scripps Spelling Bee after missing 'confiserie'. I can't really complain about her performance, because it took me three times to type the word with a cheet sheet on my other tab. There's a joke about the Canada's performances at international sporting events (specifically, the Olympics) somewhere in here, but I haven't found it yet.
At 11, the youngest speller in the final, it seems as if we have a child prodigy on our hands.
===
This is the Eh Factor, the 100% green-efficient sports blog. Suck it, BP.
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