Off the catwalk, off the jumbotron, nothing but net!

Now this kid needs to be in the next instalment of NBA All-Star game HORSE competition or star in the next version of the Jordan vs. Bird Mcdonald's commercials.

Too bad he is still at University and one that you probably won't see play this upcoming season.

H/T to Nextround.net for finding this...
How this video of Kansas State’s Denis Clemente hitting the most incredible horse shot (maybe) ever stayed buried for three weeks may go down as the greatest mystery of the 21st century. He totally called jumbotron.

Did You Miss?

So much as occurred since I last penned for the Sandwich Shoppe, so I am not really sure where to start...

1. "Drago's Cut" - Tiger Woods went down for the first time in a major after leading after 36 holes. He shot a very uncharacteristic 3 over on a Sunday to choke away the title to Y.E. Yang. Is this the end of Tiger's run as the dominant golfer of our generation? Everyone on the PGA tour would hope so, but I really doubt it. Tiger has been in contention in almost every tournament he has entered with the exception of the British Open. Tiger is still good, check that great and will be within a couple of shots of the top of the leaderboard in almost all of the tournaments he enters.

2. "Lookin' Good" - In a move only in Canada, Hockey Canada unveiled it's jersey for the 2010 Olympic games in August for February games. Most people would say - "hey, put that jersey in stores around October or November so that kids will all want it for a Christmas present." Not Hockey Canada, they understand that hockey is a twelve month a year passion in Canada so they jump the shark and unleashed it on the masses. As for the jersey itself, it isn't that bad looking, some nice details and they had to adapt because of the regulations of the IOC and not being able to use the association logo. As was noted in the press conference, many people will be wearing these jersey's in the middle of the winter.

3. From the "it just didn't just happen did it" file. Today was either the worst day ever to be a Packers fan or the best. I still can't figure it out. When Favre retired two seasons ago, I thought it was the right move for him and the Packers. A young QB in Aaron Rodgers was ready to take the lead for the franchise and Favre had set all the records that he wanted to accomplish. Then Favre made the radical decision to return to football and play with the NY Jets. He started the season out really well, but his age and nagging injuries caught up to him and the Jets faltered. Favre again decided to retire - this time for good in July, saying that his body could no longer take the punishment and he wouldn't regret the decision. I turn on the interweb today and what do I see - Brett Favre is wearing Viking purple.

The only thing I am happy about is that the saga is over. He signed and the soap opera is done. Favre is going to play football in the 2009 season. It sucks that he is back in the NFC North, it sucks that he is playing for one of the Packers arch rivals and it sucks for Tavaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels. As we saw last year, Favre is slightly passed his prime. He is still an NFL caliber quaterback but he will no doubt struggle at times and with all the lies to his former #1 and #2 quaterbacks I don't think Brad Childress is going to have an easy time going back to Jackson or Rosenfels during the season.

Brett Favre in purple won't be easy on the eyes, but no matter what he does in Minnesota he will still be enshrined in Canton as a Packer.

EPL Preview - Tottenham Hotspur

As some of you fans might be aware the Barclay (I still call it the English) Premier League starts up for real the weekend of August 15 and 16.

There were many changes in the EPL this off season. Manchester United lost the best player in the world in Ronaldo to Real Madrid, Arsenal dumped lots of salary and even typically bottom feeding clubs like Hull and Manchester City made big splashes.

My favorite club - Tottenham Hotspur were also busy during the transfer period and look to have a side that could challenge for a spot in Europe. Since the Spurs are my favorite team, they will be well represented in this blog and you my loyal readers will have to learn to love them. For you I present the top ten preview of the Spurs for the 2009/10 season.

Run Rios Run!

Well Toronto was the centre of the baseball world again for a night (half a night thanks to the Rockies Troy Tutolowski hitting for the cycle) when the Jays decided that they would let the Chicago White Sox complete their waiver wire claim for Alexis Rios.

This was a complicated and delicate maneuver for the Jays. When players get put on the waiver wire after the trade deadline, teams have one of three options: remove the player from the waiver wire and keep him, work out a trade with the team that put in the waiver claim and third let the team who put in the waiver claim have him for nothing.

A player with the talents of Rios generally would not have been giving away for nothing. A two time all-star, and although he has been struggling this year, deep down he has the talent to be a 20/20 player which you don't find all the time. The concern that Jays fans had this year is that Rios was making alot of money and wasn't performing up to his salary. Rios signed his big deal less than two years ago and at that time he was paid like the big time player he was (all star, 20+ HRs and 85+ rbi's). The going rate was what he got paid. Now that the economic climate has changed slightly, Rios is considered overpaid - GROSSLY!

So was this the right move for the Jays - in my opinion it was. They got rid of a player that the fan base has turned on and unless he turned into the second coming of Carlos Delgado he would never have got that confidence back. The Jays shed 7 years and $68 million in salary by letting Rios go, which they say will allow them to have more flexibility in the offseason. Even if they don't spend all of the money, giving it to Rios wasn't the best plan.

Some fans are under the impression that White Sox general manager Ken Williams fleeced the Jays. Just hold on a second Sox fans. Williams said in his press conference after the waiver claim became official that he put the claim on Rios to rekindle negotiations with the Jays. That means he wanted to unload some salary of his own on the Jays. Although the Jays get nothing in return for Rios, that is actually better than adding an overpaid, ageing outfielder to the roster.

Toronto fans should wish Rios all the best. He has the talent to become an all-star again and hitting in the power packed White Sox line-up his numbers might take a turn for the better. What Toronto fans need to hope for is that the two times a year the Sox and Jays play that Rios has off nights. Like so many other ex. Jays will be seeing his name on highlight shows plenty.

YO JOE!

Today is the day I have been waiting for since I was 8 years old. A GI Joe the Movie is released in theatres.

Now there was two animated movies that were released during the same time frame that the cartoon was on, but for some reason a live action movie always seemed feasible. There were no monsters to CGI or aliens to create, just some crazy army men running around shooting red and blue lasers at each other.

Early talk about the GI Joe movie has been pretty negative. The director left mid-way through shooting, there was script rewrites and they needed to re-film parts and they were going to have Snake Eyes be a talking character - WTF?? With all that being said I will still be in line tonight to see my favourite childhood toys battle it out.

I thought this would be a good time as any to name my top 5 GI Joe characters...

5. Shipwreck - He appeared in abnormally high amount of the cartoon episodes, never shied away from a fight and had some very witty one liners. Always one of the odd-ball characters and he managed to wear his sailor suit even when on missions in the Arctic. That is a real man.

4. The Ladies of GI Joe and Cobra (Scarlett, Lady J and Baroness) - The first love of every young pre-pubescent boy. There was something for every guy. The fiery red head Scarlett, the more tomboyish and athletic Lady J or the raven haired evil Baroness. These ladies never turned down an assignment or a fight - catfight catfight catfight (Kramer voice)

3. Destro - Chrome Dome as he was often referred, was Cobra Commander's sidekick and often the brain behind many of the Cobra operations. In the early cartoons Destro was actually a mercenary selling weapons to Cobra. The voice, the chrome head and his unwavering desire to take over the world puts Destro at number 3 on the list.

2. Storm Shadow - The first of two ninja's on the list. Storm Shadow was the ninja for Cobra. He was deadly, silent and dressed to kill in all white. He was loyal to Cobra without questioning Cobra Commander or Destro. As a kid you always wanted Storm Shadow to appear in episodes and when playing with the action figures you always wanted to use Storm Shadow.

1. Snake Eyes - The undisputed heavyweight of GI Joe characters. He is number 1 on everyones list. Dressed in all black, with his swords and faithful sidekick Timber, Snake Eyes was silent but violent. When Duke or Flint called on a mission that required stealth like cunning and determination to defeat the evil Cobra - Snake Eyes was the man. You could have always confused Snake Eyes as evil, but that was a big part of his charm.

Honourable Mention: These characters fell just short of making my top 5 - Roadblock, Tomax and Xamot, Zartan, Alpine and Bazooka

Surviving The Toronto Festival of Beer

How Not to Get Tapped Out. Surviving The Toronto Festival of Beer

Josh Rubin The Toronto Star beer reporter (could be the best job ever) wrote a short piece in Wednesday's paper on How to Survive the Toronto Festival of Beer. He provided readers with some insights on how to enjoy the day. Below, I have given my own advice based on years of experience on how to Survive the Beer Festival.

I missed the first year of the Beer Festival because I wasn't 19 yet, but ever since then I have made it a summer ritual, my own personal holiday if you will. Many of my best drinking stories start with "at the beer festival..." and usually include a guest appearance from my partner in crime - Big Country.

This year, we will be making another trek to the Festival. We needed to check out the new venue, see what it has to offer and if it isn't up to par with the older festivals it could be our last (gasp!).

Using The Star's Josh Rubin's categories, here is the Sandwich Shoppe version of how to survive the Festival of Beer;

Ease In: The Festival gates open at 1pm, so that means you have ample time to warm up before the actual festival. Ease in to the day with a Caesar or a Michelada. Light beers are good to start with, but basically get to the closest tent that is serving cold beer and start there - whether it be Guinness or Coors light it doesn't matter.

Don't Drink Alone: Bringing a friend along is necessary, because as you know if you drink alone you are an alcoholic. Also, who is going to distract the people behind the tent while you take bottle openers, t-shirts or anything else that isn't nailed down. The sharing of beer is a ridiculous option, man up and drink your own glass of beer - even if it is the worst tasting swill on earth.

Bring a Notepad: A great suggestion by Mr. Rubin as this will allow you to track how many beers you drank and brag to your friends for the next 10 years. Big Country and I did this a couple of years ago, putting a check mark next to each tent we visited. Let's just say the next morning we couldn't really recall putting all those check marks next to Church Key Brewery - oh that's right they were giving us free samples by the end of the day.

Hydrate and Eat: Some great food vendors do set up shop at the Beer Festival and therefore it is always good to have some snacks halfway through the day. Oysters, ribs and the best treat of all on a hot summer day - Greg's Ice Cream once made Beer Flavoured Ice Cream. Just don't waste too many of your precious beer tickets on food.

Branch Out: Mr. Rubin suggests trying beers that you don't normally have. A great idea, but don't skip beers you know and love just because there is a raspberry flavoured beer around the corner. You have 6 hours, just try them all. Pick a starting point and make your way around the tents, you'll get there.

Get there Safely: Getting there safely is the easy part, getting home safely is the hard part. The great part about the Beer Festival is that it was in a great location for TTC access and this year is just the same. Easy access via TTC and a $20 cab ride home!

Well, those are my tips for "surviving" the beer festival. Enjoy yourself, be safe and make sure you pour out a lil' liquor.

Snack of the Day

It is mid-week and I am hungry, so I thought the loyal readers deserved something pretty tasty to snack on.

Nothing gets you through the day like a Jamaican Beef Patty.

It is crunchy, spicy, greasy and just the right amount of food for a 3pm snack.

Eat up my friend.

Training Camp Battles

NFL training camps have started. As of Monday afternoon all 30 teams are now in action. For many fans this is the best time of year. Their favourite athletes in action, the chance to win a championship and of course fantasy football.

So, I guess the main reason NFL training camps are interesting these days is because of fantasy football. You need to know who is going to be the starting QB of the 49ers or who the "breakout" wide receiver or running back is. All for a chance at some bragging rights.

But, the training camp battles are interesting for another reason. The fights!

The first reported fight was today at the NY Jets camp. Actually the first three reported fights were today at the NY Jets camp. They were between lineman battling in the trenches. Really, these aren't a big deal and football is the one sport where it is probably easier to inflict punishment legally during a play, rather than punching another player.

The new Jets coach Rex Ryan addressed the fights after practice with a wry smile and said it was no big deal and only gave one rule for fighting in practice - defensive players should pull offensive players off the pile and vice versa. This is so you aren't pulling your own player off a pile and get him cheap shotted.

As a former player, who has been through training camps - fights do bring out the intensity for the remainder of that practice and every time those two guys happen to line up for the remainder of camp. After that, it is pretty much forgotten. As I mentioned earlier though, it is easier to get back at someone legally, rather than punching someone at the bottom of a pile. The one element that both Jets players and coaches echoed today was that once they get back in the dressing room all is forgotten. In my experience, that wasn't really the case. The reason for the fights was normally because two guys didn't get along off the field.

Enjoy training camps - the fights, position battles and twitters of players trying not to get fined.

Backward Sports

For the past week, we have been getting updates from the World Swimming Championships in Rome. There was even tape delay coverage on Saturday and Sunday, which is awful because all of the results had been reported, but that is beside the point. The bigger issue during these championship was the introduction of the super swim suit.

This new suit is made of polyurethane which allows the swimmers to be more buoyant, staying on top of the water so there is less drag and making them go faster. As a result 39 new world records at last count had been set. This should have been a proud moment for FINA. The sport was getting lots of attention and for good reasons - speed and performance not drugs.

Instead of embracing the new suit and the speed that comes with them, what does FINA do? They decide to ban them. No date was proposed for the ban was set and this caused lots of talk about how to handle all the world records that were being set. Would anyone ever come close to these times again? Should an asterisk be placed next to the records that were set by swimmers wearing the new suits? Then FINA moved up the ban date to January 1.

Why is FINA banning the suit? In my opinion, it is because one of the biggest sponsors, Speedo, isn't one of the makers of this new suit. Cash rules everything around and when one of the biggest contributors of cash isn't getting the return on what they are contributing to the sport they will seek change.

Should FINA ban the suit? Never. Advancement in technology happens in all sport. It is what makes them fun to follow. Whether it is new uniform fabrics like dri-fit, different wood for baseball bats or different material for hockey sticks. All these things have contributed to improving the sports. There is no way any major sport would turn back the clock to level the playing field.

Unfortunately, FINA isn't the only sport organization living in the past. The Formula 1 Association has a ban on "in season testing" for their race cars which meant that Ferrari - which lost Felippe Massa to injury last weekend and are replacing him with former world champion Michael Schumacher couldn't put him in the new car to test. Schumacher who is coming out of retirement to help his old team needed to race with a privately owned Ferrari to get back in the groove. Similar to FINA - why wouldn't the FIA let a driver and a team improve themselves during off weeks?

Isn't the whole purpose of these two sports to get faster and by banning the new swim suits and not allowing in season testing the sporting organizations are holding back development.