Happy New Year!!!

On the last day of the year, it is always worthwhile to reflect on the year that has past, but also to look forward to what the future has to hold.

2010 was a great year for sports and entertainment and I really doubt 2011 will let us down. There will be lots of amazing events, people and controversies to write about.

As I did last year, I'm going to put some resolutions down on paper, so I have to follow through on them...

- finish writing that book
- develop my "bucket list"
- record my first podcast
- grow my Movember mustache to look like Rollie Fingers
- get to 1000 followers on twitter (currently at 250)
- learn to play cricket

And while I'm here, might as well go out on a limb and make some sports predictions for 2011;

- NHL: LA Kings win the Stanley Cup
- NFL: Baltimore Ravens vs. Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl, won by Baltimore.
- MLB: Boston Red Sox win the World Series
- NBA: Dallas Mavericks win the World Championship
- GOLF: Tiger Woods wins 2 majors
- and the worst prediction of all...the NBA and the NFL both have work stoppages.

I hope everyone had a great 2010 and wish everyone the best in 2011 and beyond.

Thanks for reading and following on twitter (@MMMMBLT)

Tournament Time

Around the holidays, many people spend the time with family and friends celebrating. In Canada, family and friends spend time around the fireplace and TV set watching the World Junior Hockey Tournament. The annual tournament starts on boxing day, and has become a tradition just like lining up at 8am for deals at Urban Behaviour. With the World Juniors getting underway yesterday, it got me thinking about the best tournaments out there. Here is my list. Comment below on what you think are the best tournaments...

5. World Junior Hockey Tournament
The World Junior tournament is played annually in different host cities. It has been dominated by Team Canada for the past decade or so. Winning 5 titles in a row twice. Although in recent years Team USA has challenged for the title, because of the dominance of Canada, this tournament comes in at #5. The other reason this particular tourney falls short of the title, is the fact that it is most popular only when it is hosted in a Canadian city or a Canadian border city like Minnesota or Buffalo. The arenas are full and a great atmosphere, but when it moves to Russia or Sweden the crowds are sparse, but the hockey is still great.

4. World Baseball Classic
The World Baseball Classic (WBC) has one thing very correct - play there tournament every three years. The WBC also has it right that they get the best players in the world to participate in their games. Since the tournament happens during the baseball off-season, players aren't inclined to decline the invitation to play for their country. The other positive this tournament has going for it, is that the favourite hasn't won yet. The USA, who you think would be the dominating force in this tourney, but they aren't. The Dominican Republic, Cuba, Venezuela, South Korea and the two time defending champions - Japan, have all medaled ahead of the USA.

3. Hong Kong Rugby Sevens
I'm not that well versed on this particular tournament, but I know that it has a reputation in the sporting community as one of the best played tournaments, along with some of the best action in the stands. Here is some information on the Hong Kong Sevens from wikipedia;
The Hong Kong Rugby Sevens is traditionally one of if not the biggest event on the Hong Kong sporting calendar. As such, there is a tremendous party atmosphere, with particular emphasis on the South Stand, where hordes of rugby fans dress up and dance for most of the duration. Activities that typically ensue as the weekend progresses include the throwing of empty beer jugs around the South Stand, Mexican waves, and streakers running across the pitch. Since 2007 the South Stand has been made officially accessible to over-18s only, due to its hyper and somewhat provocative atmosphere, although this rule is not strictly policed.

Bill McLaren, in his autobiography Talking of Rugby writes at length about his Hong Kong Sevens experiences:

"I remember a big South Sea islander saying that, in his view, the Hong Kong sevens were really the Olympic games of Rugby Union. Certainly, the Hong Kong event encapsulates all the really good things that the game has to offer–splendid organisation, wonderful sporting spirit, universal camaraderie, admirable field behaviour, the most enjoyable crowd participation, the chance for emergent rugby nations to lock horns with the mighty men of New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Wales, Scotland and the Barbarians. There is, too, scintillating running and handling which is what the game is supposed to be all about."

2. NCAA March Madness
The Cinderella teams, Gus Johnson, betting and Duke University are all things that make the Men's NCAA College basketball tournament so enjoyable. Every year in March 64 teams start with a chance to be crowned National Champions. Each weekend, games are played in a single elimination style tournament that eventually culminates in a great weekend of college hoops now known as the "final four". Besides the lose and your out style of the tournament, non-basketball fans get involved due to the betting that goes on during the tournament and of course everyone's hatred of Duke, which fuels fans from the other 63 schools involved. This makes for a fun time, for those in North America. Since March Madness is only really popular in North America, it holds it back from climbing higher in the rankings.

1. FIFA World Cup
As everyone saw this summer the World Cup has become the single largest sporting spectacle. With the popularity of soccer, the tournament is the culmination of national pride and the most popular sport. Even if your country is not represented (like Canada) you can still cheer for players that you follow in domestic leagues or the countries of your grandparents. The beautiful game has a great stage every four years. The players, coaches and FIFA all take great strides to make certain that the tournament runs smoothly. What helps make the FIFA World Cup so fascinating is that all the games are so competitive. Unlike some of the other tournaments where there are elite teams and some that are just happy to be there, the World Cup qualification tournament eliminates the bottom feeders to ensure a high quality product. The only downfall of the World Cup is that it happens only every 4 years, like the WBC they should make this tournament every 3 years since fans just can't get enough.

The Roots - A Christmas Song

Enjoy...

Top 5 of 2010

It creeped up on us, the end of the year. That means the influx of end of year lists. It seems this year there aren't as many "top ten" lists or "best of" lists. Maybe the end of the decade last year took the wind out of every one's sails. I will however not overlook 2010, and therefore present to you...the top 5 sporting events of 2010.

5. SF Giants win the World Series
Everyone went into the season thinking that the AL was hugely superior to the NL and that the AL East was the be all and end all of baseball. During the season that all got flipped on its head. Although the Yankees, Rays and Red Sox were all strong and even the Jays surprised it was two west division teams that met in the World Series. The Giants and Rangers clashed and again, even though most experts had the Rangers as the stronger team, it was the Giants and there outstanding pitching staff and make-shift line-up that ended up with the hardware. Everyone is already talking up the Phillies and Brewers for next year, but if history repeats itself we should be looking elsewhere.

4. Tiger Woods not winning a golf tournament
This might have nothing to do with sport. After the now infamous Thanksgiving day 2009 incident that took Tiger Woods from golfing legend and family man to philandering weekend hacker we had to find a new number 1 golfer in the world. For the first time since graduating from Stanford, Tiger Woods did not win a golf tournament and he was only in contention a handful of times. Without hoisting a trophy in 2010 Woods fell from the position of number one golfer in the world. No one doubts that Woods still has the talents to win many more championships, but now the bigger question is if he can break the majors record. Many advertisers hope that he returns to pre-2009 form.

3. Spain wins the World Cup (World Cup in general)
The whole month of World Cup soccer action was great. The excitement of waking up every morning knowing that the best players in the world, playing the beautiful game were going to put on a show. Spain has produced some of the best players in the world over the last 10 years. Four years ago, many assumed that the generation of Spanish talent that could have won a World Cup had passed, but led by Fernando Torres, David Villa and David Silva they conquered all comers. Other great moments included the scoring prowess of the Netherlands, Diego Maradonna's insane rants, the improbable run by Ghana and the one thing everyone expected - England's failure. Now FIFA makes us wait another four years till 2014 in Brazil...see you in Rio!

2. Miami Heat/LA Lakers
These two NBA stories aren't the same, but one came about primarily because of the other one. First, in June, the LA Lakers won their second straight NBA title over the Boston Celtics. Led by one of the best ever, Kobe Bryant and a very strong supporting cast in Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom. Threatening to become three time champs, the Lakers sat back in summer and watched the drama unfold. The summer of 2010 marked the biggest free agent class to ever hit the market. Three of the top 15 players in the NBA - LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh all became free agents, as did Amar'e Stoudamire, Joe Johnson and Carlos Boozer. Nobody had any idea where these players would end up. It turns out James, Wade and Bosh had been talking and they all ended up with the Miami Heat. Although, the three of them thought this was probably the best idea ever, fans didn't and the backlash commenced. The new super power team the Heat put together had a rough start to the season, but have picked up their game and will definitely be around this June, probably against the Lakers.

1. Canada wins Hockey Gold (Olympics)
The Olympics came to Canada for the first time since 1988 and it was finally time for Canada to win a gold medal on home soil. It was supposed to happen on the first night, but we had to wait until the second night and Alexandre Bilodeau in the moguls. It started off well and continued all the way until the final day of competition when Canada men's hockey team defeated the United States to win the gold medal. The game was in question when Canada blew a late lead and the US forced the game into overtime, but then Sidney Crosby came to the rescue with the golden gold. The closing ceremony was an ode to everything Canada and a great topper to a Canadian games.

The Lou Marsh Award

A day late and a dollar short on the Lou Marsh award, which was handed out on Monday to Cincinnati Reds first baseman and native of Brampton, Ontario, Joey Votto. Votto faced some stiff competition to take home the award, and some say he won it over some other very deserving candidates.

Votto was definitely not a run away winner for the Lou Marsh award and he wasn’t a run away for the National League MVP either. Votto had a great season for the Reds. He was in the running for the Triple Crown all season and took the Reds to within games of the playoffs. The Baseball Writers of America are currently in give the MVP award to anyone but Albert Pujols mode. Realistically, Joey Votto should have been in the conversation for the NL MVP award, but probably shouldn’t have won the award and without the NL MVP he would never have won the Lou Marsh Award.

Since Joey Votto, in my opinion wasn’t the proper choice for the Lou Marsh award, there are many other deserving candidate that should've been given recognition this year. The athlete who should have won was Jonathan Toews of the Chicago Blackhawks. He took the Hawks to the Stanley Cup championship and won it for the city of Chicago for the first time since 19XX. He also lead team Canada to the gold medal in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, If Sidney Crosby had not scored the golden goal in overtime of the gold medal game, it would've been Toews, who would've received all the recognition for being the top forward at the Olympics. For someone who accomplished so much at a young age this would have been the icing on the cake to a great year.

Another athlete that the Canadian press could have considered was George St. Pierre. St. Pierre dominated the UFC this year and on the mixed martial arts scene and is considered one of the three best fighters pound for pound. He is the primary reason that the UFC is sanctioned now in Ontario and he better be on the card in Toronto on April 30. He dominated all his fights this year and was the star of the UFC Ultimate Fighter TV show. It would be tough to give him the award because he doesn’t fight that often and this will always make it difficult to win the award if you are not involved in one of the mainstream sports.

Another group of athletes that had a very small sample of competition but had great contribution were the Canadian Olympians from the Vancouver winter Olympics. In an Olympic year it always seems Olympians have a good chance of winning the Lou Marsh award. These athletes had all eyes on them for two straight weeks. The difference this year was the Olympians that made the biggest splash did not win multiple medals. Whether it was Alexandre Bilodeau or Joanie Rochette, there were some great stories but no one that could knock off Joey Votto.

In the end Votto is a great story for the Lou Marsh award. He overcame physical and mental challenges to rise to the top of his sport and was recognized, not only in the baseball world, but also by his country.

Monday Musings

Random thoughts on a Monday to recap some weird stories that happened the last couple of days...

1. Linus Omark - the Edmonton Oilers forward was part of a shootout victory over the weekend against the Tampa Bay Lighting. This would have been nothing more than a small footnote in the long season but Omark was a little too fancy for the Lighting players during his shootout attempt and goal. Omark built up lots of speed before picking up the puck at centre ice and then proceeded to do a spin with the puck between the red and blue line, took the puck directly at the net and then scored. He added a little flash, didn't show anybody (the goalie) up and then got attacked by Lighting players in the post game comments. The Tampa players need to check themselves because Omark will score more goals just like this.

2. On Sunday, a NY Jets coach was standing on the sidelines during the game when a Miami Dolphins player chasing a punt ran into the team bench area in an attempt to get down the field. Instead of moving out of the way, the coach stuck out his knee and tripped the player. The coach injured the Dolphins player. Today, the coach apologized for his action, but the debate rages about what should happen to him. Should he be fired, suspended or hung from the gallows? Bigger question is why is he on the sideline? He is the strength and conditioning coach. The man doesn't need to be on the field during games. Stick non-essential team personnel in their own luxury suite and this never occurs. So therefore, his punishment should be watching the rest of the games this season and every season going forward from the press box.

3. The Metrodome which houses the NFL Vikings collapsed on Sunday. Thankfully no one was in the building when it happened as the game had already been postponed because of the heavy snowfall in the Minnesota area. Instead of keeping the game in Minnesota (where they would have had to dig out the University of Minnesota stadium) the NFL has moved the game to Monday night in Detroit. Since the game is in Detroit and features the NY Giants and Minnesota Vikings, the NFL gave away tickets for free. This leads to the interesting question of how many people will show up for a free event. It also gives the league a great indication of how popular they are. The latest is that they have given away all the tickets to the game for tonight, which is a very impressive turnaround. The power of the league, social media and the Sunday night NBC game to get the word out to fans on the short notice has been unparalleled. This game will look like the Bills in Toronto series where fans will be fans of the NFL instead of just the home team.

4. The LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling who has had many problems over the years, both on the court, trying to put a good product there for the fans and off the court in his business dealings, has got into some more hot water over the weekend. Sterling who sits courtside for every game was heard heckling his own player, Baron Davis over the weekend. Sterling was questioning Davis's heart, telling him that he is out of shape, and questioning why he was in the game. I love that Sterling cares so much about his team that he goes to all the games and understands the game of basketball enough to see Baron Davis is out of shape and playing poorly over the first 25 games of the season. As much fun as it is to heckle and jeer players, if you are the owner, you have access to the players other fans and can tell them your are unimpressed with their actions. He didn't need to do it during a game.

5. After the ending of the Cowboys and Eagles, which the Cowboys lost 30-27, the players met at mid-field to shake hands, say good-game to each other and maybe even make some dinner plans. One player did something a little different. Cowboys running back Tashard Choice approached Eagles quarterback Michael Vick to get Vick's autograph. Vick signed Choice's glove, apparently for his 3 year old nephew. This got alot of attention because people questioned the appropriateness of the action. Most people were offended by the action, just that he should have done it off the field. I agree. Players are too friendly on and off the field compared to the "good ol' days" and this only confirms everyone's worst images that players are getting softer. The Cowboys play the Redskins next week, so we will have to wait and see if Choice asks Donovan McNabb for an autograph.

Bowled Over

The NCAA and all of its sponsors released the list of 35 bowl games that feature 70 out of the 116 teams, and because no one has time to watch all 35 games here is a cheat sheet on the 5 games you must watch this bowl season...

5. Sheraton Hawaii Bowl - No. 24 Hawaii vs. Tulsa
8 p.m. ET, Dec. 24

Because there is never anything else on Christmas eve anyway so why not pretend you are in Hawaii and you get to watch football! The Warriors always play an exciting brand of football and this year is no different. They lead the country in passing yards with 387.8 yards per game. With coaches wearing lei's look for this game to be wild.


4. New Era Pinstripe Bowl - Kansas State vs. Syracuse
3:20 p.m. ET, Dec. 30

This bowl gets the nod because of the great turnaround of the Syracuse football team. Just a few years ago the Orange were the laughing stock of the division one football. Now they are back and bowl eligible. Kansas State has also gone under a huge turnaround in the last few years, playing exciting football and turning themselves into a power. Also, this bowl will probably have the best swag of any for the players and sideline staff, thanks New Era.


3. Chick-fil-A Bowl - No. 20 South Carolina vs. No. 23 Florida State
7:30 p.m. ET, Dec. 31

This bowl game makes my list for a couple of reasons. One, some friends are alums of the USC and therefore I cheer on the Gamecocks every chance I get. Also, because of their good season, I've seen alot of freshman running back sensation Marcus Lattimore and he should be fun to watch in a bowl game. My other friend is an FSU fan so it is a grudge match with the added bonus that he and probably most of the Seminoles fans despise Steve Spurrier so it should be great on a bunch of different levels. Also, I might learn how to pronounce Chick-fil-a properly.


2. Hyundai Sun Bowl - Notre Dame vs. Miami
2 p.m. ET, Dec. 31

This isn't the heated rivalry it was in the mid-90's when both teams were always top 10 in the country, but it should still be a good game featuring two big programs. Notre Dame finished the year on quite a run beating Utah, Army and Southern California. The 'Canes on the other hand, lost two straight to close out the year and got their coach fired. Everyone from Luke to Donald Trump has weighed in on who should be the next coach.


1. Tostitos BCS National Championship Game - No. 2 Oregon vs. No. 1 Auburn
8:30 p.m. ET, Jan. 10

The grand daddy of them all? Not quite but it does feature two teams that have been the most consistent throughout the college season. Not only that, but it features probably the two best players in the nation - Heisman and tabloid favourite, Auburn's Cam Newton and likely Heisman runner up LaMichael James. The other thing to look for in this game will be the uniforms. The battle between Under Armour and Nike could get out of control. The Ducks are the guinea pigs for Nike and this is the biggest stage for Auburn and UA, so what is created for the field could be funky. Also, with the game on January 10, you don't have to be worried about being hung over for the New Year's bowl bonanza.


So enjoy as many games as you can over the holiday season.