Feast or famine in this city when it comes to reporters. In one corner, at least with Blue Jays we have Griffin, Blair, Elliott and Arthur in addition to a few others who can actually really write. On the other hand are the lazy Loewen’s of the world who can’t even be bothered to do any research before writing a column, or eek god, proof reading it. Before you shit on me for my shitty grammar or spelling, I don’t get paid to do this. I do it for fun. Get a load of this:

“Medicine jest

St. Louis Cardinals star Albert Pujols doesn’t have any problem if drug-testers want to visit him during the off-season.

“They can come and check every place in my house, they can even come with me in my bathtub. I have nothing to hide,” Pujols told ESPN.com.

Hey, Albert, they’re not checking for rubber ducks.”

That is not, I repeat how Loewen’s article appeared in the print version of today’s paper nor the electronic version until one Greg Brady bashed the living shit out Loewen both on the radio and on twitter. Loewen had Albert as Louis, not once but twice.

Meanwhile, down the paperbox is Bruce Arthur:

“Sure, Aaron Hill started in the All-Star Game, and Halladay met Barack Obama, and … uh, OK, they’ve kind of lost 12 of 15. There’s not a lot else to be excited about. But this team has been headed for a fork in the road for a long time, and what happens with Halladay is going to send them down one road or the other. Right now, the Jays are neither an entirely young team, nor an entirely veteran team. They have a 33-year-old shortstop, a 33-year-old catcher, a 34-year-old third baseman, and a 33-year-old closer; they also have a 25-year-old DH, a 24-year-old rookie-of-the-year candidate pitcher, injured 27- and 24-year-old pitchers, and Alex Rios, who at 28, has all the maturity of a seventh grader. And in the middle, in his prime, they have Roy Halladay. He is what gives any hope of eventual contention any whiff of legitimacy. Without Roy, the rotation is just a bunch of guys who aren’t ready, who might get healthy, or who are scraping out better-than-expected results, most of the time. A bunch of arms, but no spine.”

Ding Ding Ding. Give the man a prize. This, is a completely accurate assessment of the Jays. People say Leaf nation looks at the world through blue and white colored glasses, have you ever heard a shitty thing said about any Jay prospect?????? Arthur hits more homeruns in this column than Alex Rios has hit all year.

“Last night on The Fan 590 radio, Jays interim CEO Paul Beeston mentioned to host Bob McCown and to this reporter that he had not discussed a potential contract extension with Halladay, but that he would within a week, and said money would not be an issue were Halladay amenable to such a deal. Which makes it feel like it might be Halladay, 32, who has nudged this process into motion. Before this season started, Halladay said some things that look a lot more ominous today.”

Anyone who suggests this is about money with Roy isn’t telling the whole story. The Jays would give Roy a blank check. The problem is that JP has so poorly managed his money by signing “albatross” contracts that they have no money for anyone other than Roy! Do you blame Roy for wanting to say I have given you enough chances, I no longer believe?

“If Roy goes, this team will have decided what it is, and had better damned well commit to it. No more fantasies of beating the Yankees or the Red Sox or the Tampa Bay Rays right now. No more qualified promises that maybe, if everything breaks just right, the games might mean something again, just over the next hill. Instead, go the way of the Orioles, who have young talent, and some thin strands of hope. Become the team of Adam Lind and Travis Snider and Romero, rather than of Halladay and Vernon Wells and Rios. Spend the money smarter. You can keep Halladay or move Halladay, but one way or the other, have a plan. The Toronto Blue Jays don’t have to become Kansas City or Pittsburgh or Washington, stranded and lost. They just have to find a way, one day, to avoid being counted among them.”

I agree, you can’t be half pregnant. The problem is the deals JP has signed has tied his and the next GM’s hands. It would be nice to have a faith in a GM and his plans for the team. Right now the team is stuck in neutral. Sounds like another team in Toronto used to be until they found the right GM.

TSM

Arthur is here.

Some random thoughts while listening to Al Strachan yabber about nothing while on the Score. In case you missed Al tonight he:

1. Called MLSE “PIGS” for raising ticket prices
2. Claimed that MLSE weren’t listening to Obama’s economic stimulus plan and is sticking it to the little guy by raising ticket prices, charging too much to bars for leafstv, forcing raptors tickets on maple leafs season ticket holders, forcing personal seat licenses on people, forcing TFC ticket holders to buy Marlies tickets.

Before I go any further, and further I shall I go, does anyone care to venture a guess as to whom Brian Burke was scouting while watching the Los Angeles Kings take on the Minnesota Wild this eve? I mean, for a GM to go see a game 7 days before the deadline has to mean something right?

Anyways, back to the Strachan comments. First let’s talk ticket increase. I don’t care what anyone says, this was just plain dumb on the part of MLSE. I know they can charge whatever the hell they want, but the optics of it just plain sucks. No matter what the reasons or the rationale the fact that they chose to do this now reeks of greed. Having said that, and no I am not going to try to defend it, but compare these two comments:

1. “We got to a point where we had to do it [raise ticket prices],” Anselmi said.”It always a challenge,” said Anselmi, when asked how MLSE weighs ticket increases against what the average fan can afford. “We know we ask a lot of our fans. We’re blessed to be in this market. We’re blessed to have the kind of loyalty we do. We don’t take that for granted for one second.”We just got to a place where costs keep going up and we felt we had to do it. We tried to minimize it and make it as painless as possible. I think our fans will understand and we hope they do.” that courtesy of globesports.com

2. “We still have a waiting list of 2,500 people,” said Richard Peddie, president of of MLSE, in describing the demand for Leafs tickets. “The problem is the waiting list only saw 24 seats come due last year.” “People say ‘How can you do this?’ but we have had cumulative price increase of 1% since the lockout,” said Mr. Peddie, whose hockey team looks poised to finish out of the playoffs for a fourth straight year. “We took it seriously because in this economy everybody is getting hammered.” “Selling hot dogs is harder,” said Mr. Peddie, who declined to say how much concession sales are down this year. that from the nationalpost.com

Now, whom do you have more respect for? Someone explain to me how Richard Peddie is allowed to speak to the press? You raise prices in the worst economic times of god knows how many years and you say we have over 2500 people on the waiting list? How arrogant are you. Selling hot dogs is harder???? Are you nuts? Are you expecting sympathy? What kind of comment is that? It is one thing to take advantage of the fact that you have a product that appears to have a ceilingless price and raise your prices, but to rub it in people’s faces at a time like this is deplorable. Anselmi’s comment are at least a little bit softer. They kind of cushion the blow don’t they?

It gets worse folks. Howie got a chance to track down Peddie at the outdoor leaf practice yesterday (why he was there is anyone guess, but I digress), get a load of some of this crap:

“We’re excited to see what Brian can do, but equally excited that we’ve surrounded him with people like Dave Nonis, Joe Nieuwendyk and Ron Wilson,” claimed the CEO. “When we started the [hiring] process a year ago, we wanted to beef up the I-Q, the experience, and the proven winning nature of our management team. I hope Leaf fans will agree that we now have the finest hockey group in my ten years with the company, and probably many years before that.”

Count the “we’s” folks…there are more “we’s” in that sentence then were wii’s at my local ebgames at Christmas! Someone please tel this guy that this team isn’t about him!

“I’ve got an inkling that Brian wants [the team] to get tougher, grittier; he wants to have two really solid lines then two kind of plumber lines to make sure the top six are not getting abused. He wants to do the same thing on the defensive side. We also want to go younger, and I can’t wait to see how he does all that.”

Just shoot me now. You have an inkling? That is all Burke has been saying in any interview he has given since he took the job including his opening press conference! An Inkling???!!!! Please, don’t talk hockey anymore. We will forget the past if you agree to just stop talking hockey.

““Of course we want to win and make the playoffs,” Peddie said. “The people on the board are fans, too. [Chairman] Larry Tanenbaum sits in the seventh row on the aisle and he feels it when the fans are not getting what they want. He hates it when we lose, as do I. And, we also feel losing on the business side.”

I am not sure, is that a dig at the owner for having good seats? Every game I have ever been at Peddie has been right down in that area as well! With ticket prices where they are and the product where it is, don’t take about feeling the losing on the business side; just don’t go there, no one is going to be the list bit sympathetic.

“First of all, we gave [the price hike] a lot of thought. In our math, over the past five years, our total price increase for tickets is one percent. And, what’s inflation over that time… 10, 12 percent? We’ve had a lot of costs go up. The new CBA hasn’t been a big benefit to us. We’re spending in the $50 [millions] on player contracts and we give $10 million to [NHL] revenue sharing. So that’s about a break-even for us — almost the same as it was before [the lockout]. We’ve also put an incredible amount of capital investment in the [Air Canada Centre]. This ticket increase, for instance, doesn’t even pay for half of the new Jumbotron scoreboard that everyone is enjoying this season.”

If you are speaking to corporate Toronto, stop. They don’t want to hear it. If you are talking to the average fan, they don’t give a rats ass about inflation. The reality in our world is that you now live in a cap world, you have fixed player costs, you aren’t spending to the cap, you had, for a short time a huge spike in the Canadian dollar, your building is full, you have tv rights and people are getting let go all over the place and you just raised ticket prices. I am surprised he didn’t try to stick to the fans for building condos! I mean look at the benefit to the fans by having the condos there There was no reason to go there. It’s better to say nothing. If you have to say something, keep it short, RESPECTFUL and simple.

Here is what I don’t understand. Peddie is clearly very bright. He has been very successful. Why can’t he keep his mouth shut? Why is he even the one talking on these issues? Isn’t Brian Burke the President of the Toronto Maple Leafs? When (and yes I said when) the Leafs win the cup is Peddie going to run onto the ice and take the cup from Captain Tavares (let me dream okay?)? He has looked the part of the fool on so many occasions in the past, I thought he would have learned to just shut up. I mean when he publicly said that hiring JFJ was a mistake, and JFJ was still a Maple Leaf employee… That was an employment lawyer’s wet dream. It is clear that Peddie works his magic in the business side of things. Why does he continually open his mouth to trip over every stinking word???? How or why was someone not said “we have to keep him in his cage (which is allegedly covered with photos of himself with famous athletes) and away from a microphone?” Since Burke was hired, have we had any more of those types of embarrassing comments? Not a one. With the Raptors reeling, and Colangelo firing a coach, I don’t recall seeing any dumb Peddie comments. Everything went through Bryan Colangelo. Now, as we are 7 days from the deadline he just can’t help himself…there is no I in team pal…stick to what you do best, leave the talking to someone who does that best.

Hi folks, I have a wicked cold and all the peeps viewing Obamamania this am slowing down the internets didn’t make me feel any better.

Here are some random mid-day thoughts:

1. Someone explain what the hell Lowen is talking about:

“For fans of the television series Lost, it returns on Wednesday with a brand new season.

For fans of the Maple Leafs and Raptors, they will all be reruns.”

HUH??? What the hell does that mean. Is he trying to say that MLSE is lost? Talk about a broken analogy….

2. Bruce Arthur’s article in Today’s national post is as good as I have seen on the Raptors. Consider these:

“Jose Calderon is close to coming back, and Marion would give this roster balance that it hasn’t had since general manager Bryan Colangelo assumed control nearly three years ago. A real small forward: imagine that.”
“No, the chief value of Marion’s theoretical arrival is that he would allow this team to embark on its latest repair job one season sooner — that is, one season before Chris Bosh opts out of his contract and is presented with the option to become a Detroit Piston, to become a New York Knick or to win several championships with LeBron James, in Cleveland or elsewhere.”
“For this franchise’s franchise player to remain, the Raptors will have to have made giant strides from their current state. And that means fielding a team that does not include the rather ridiculous sight of Jamario Moon hoisting up an entirely unnecessary three-pointer with 16 seconds left on the shot clock, and 35 seconds left in a one-point game, as he did yesterday.”

WOW- in depth analysis what a novel concept???

3. Interested in looking for the perfect hot dog down near the ACC??? These guys did a nice job!

4. I see the Toronto Rock fired their coaching staff, just 3 games in to the season. Did the head guy lie about being in Vietnam too? In any event, Mike S tells me that the lineup for Brady and Watters looks something like this:

4-5 the old rock coaching staff
5-6 the new rock coaching staff
6-7 great moments in rock history

5. Thanks to the folks aat Kuklas Korner for highlighting the greatest in arena promotion I have ever heard of (even better then my old favorite, the move of the game), If the blackhawks ever score a goal at exactly 10:00 of the second period one fan is awarded $1,000,000 by the Illinois lottery. Happened at a game last night. How cool is that?

more later this afternoon….

Anyone catch the headline in today’s Toronto Star????

Although it doesn’t show online, the headline reads:

Canada’s Version of Barack Obama?

Underneath is a picture of……

you ready for this????

Pinball Clemons!!!!!

What a joke, an insult, a total embarassment!  Besides being african american, they have nothing else in common.  Does the Star have no sense whatsoever???  I don’t care what the story says (http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/524815) or that Clemons himself has claimed to have no interest in politics, the headline says it all…STUPIDITY

The editors should be ashamed of themselves