Are you panicking? No, really. Three games in, have the alarm bells started to ring? When the Blue Jays were on their tear early on, where you ready to annoint them playoff bound? When a guy hits a homerun or scores a goal in game one of the season, do you project their season totals???? I mean really.

We Toronto Sports fans take a lot of shit. Some of it is deserved. Most of it is fabricated in attempt to sell papers (who reads em) or radio ads(who listens)… Listening and looking around this town, you would think the Maple Leafs are this years version of the Detroit Lions. Wholly smokes folks, it’s 3 stinking games. It’s three games with how many new faces? Get a grip.

The good news, I think is that most of the hysteria is media generated. No one I know has hit the panic button yet. It is way too early for that. With all due respect, those who call in to Leafs talk aren’t, in my mind anyways representative of Leafs fans. Seriously, do you know anyone who calls in to those shows? That is not to say that people don’t…It’s just that the notion that those who do are speaking for the larger group is bunk. I mean the larger group doesn’t think that the guy from Maple is bang on when he suggested the Jamal Mayers for a first round draft pick.

So, is it the media who creates hysteria and the fans feed off of it, or are fans really panicked as has been suggested. I am not buying that it is the fans. I don’t see it, I don’t hear it and it makes no sense. It makes about as much sense as the Bruce Garrioch Ron Wilson story today.

Look, this is really simple. If the Leafs are any worse than they were last year when the season ends and lottery positions are finalized, Brian Burke is going to have some explaining to do. If the Boston Bruins are on the podium with the Maple Leafs pick things have gone dramatically astray. If this team regresses after the overhaul the lineup has undergone, something is amiss. It’s really that simple. To reach that conclusion after game 3?????????? I am sorry. We aren’t, collectively anyways, that dumb are we???????

I certainly hope not. Saturday could be ugly by the way. If the same Leafs team shows up that did against Ottawa, Pittsburgh may have a field day.

Chins up leafs nation. It’s a long haul, and we’ve only just begun.

Back in Toronto after a wet weekend in New York. Had a great time but man it was miserable weather wise. So here is what I am hearing this evening on the Kessel front. Burke absolutely wants him. I am told from multiple people that he has presented three different scenarios (I say scenarios because I am not sure an actual offer has been made).

The first you may have seen on the net or twitter tonight, two first round picks and a second for Kessel.
The second is a first round pick plus a top 6 forward on the Maple Leafs who the Bruins are extremely high on and may actually be insisting on in any deal for Kessel, in return the Maple Leafs may actually get a pick back plus Kessel.
The third would involve a mix of prospects and picks in exchange for Kessel.

So there you have it. Personally, I despise the first scenario. I don’t like dealing 1st round draft picks, trading 2 of them has to be for a guaranteed home run. With all due respect to Kessel, he isn’t a guaranteed homerun. I like the second one, as I am not overly in love with any of the Maple Leaf forwards enough to say untouchable. The third scenario makes little sense to me. This is the first time we may actually have any prospects, dealing them now seems way too early. I will be really pissed if Burke deals Stalberg.

Word on the street is that Kessel will be dealt early this week and likely no later than Wednesday. We shall see I guess, but it could get very interesting around here over the next couple of days.

So, time flies when you are having fun. Hard to believe it was a year ago that Bryan Mccabe was ummmm, taken from us in a deal for Mike Van Ryn. This was, in Blue Jays terms and with all due respect to Van Ryn, equivalent to letting Alex Rios go on waivers. Mccabe, once the sweetheart of the Maple Leafs and fans was let go for a guy with ummmm injury problems. Not quite getting nothing in return, but this was a cash dump of massive proportions and also giving a guy in desperate need of a new start tha chance to renew his career.

Mccabe: 2008-09 Florida Panthers NHL 69 15 24 39 41
Van Ryn: 2008-09 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 27 3 8 11 14

Fletcher was never going to get value for Mccabe, everyone knew he wanted to deal Mccabe. So it may not be entirely relevant what he got back, Van Ryn got off to a pretty good start before getting hurt again. One has to wonder what he could do if he stays healthy. One has to wonder what he has to do to stay healthy. By the sounds of things, Brian Burke and Ron Wilson have challenged all the Maple Leaf players to report in the best shape of their lives or risk playing for the Marlies if at all. This is his last year on his deal so, it’s put up, stay healthy or shut up time.

I wonder if Burke where here at this time last year if he would have dealt Mccabe. Something tells me he would have tried to make Wilson work with him. However, I thought the same thing about Pogge and his new goalie coach. Mccabe represented the last of the Maple Leaf problem children as described by Cliff as guys who had to move on. Not bad number by Mccabe however certianly not a return to what he once did. Are the days of ex-maple leafs performing better than when they were here finally behind us???

It is a different time for sure. There is more hope this year than last. Last year we were waiting on Burke. This year we are waiting to see if it was worth the wait.

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

Had a debate with a friend today. When it comes to sports radio, do you listen more for the host or for the guests?

Me, I am all about the guests. With all due respect to the various hosts, none keep my attention long enough if they are solo. If Mccown isn’t talking to someone I am interested in, then I am not going to listen. Similarly, Bill Hayes could be talking to Brian Burke and it would be worth listening to simply because the guest is good and it’s something I am interested in hearing. My friend on the other hand believes the audience is more balanced, that a show has to have more of an ebb and flow to it.

For me it’s simple. A bad host with a good guest is listenable. A great host with a bad host isn’t.

I am alone? Where do you sit?

TSM

Wow, with all due respect to the fine folks at both the Fan 590 and 640 Toronto, tonight was not your finest hour. The drive home shows tonight were, for lack of a better word, BRUTAL. Not one, both of them. How bad was it? I tuned into 550am to hear Buffalo Bills talking proud football radio. Consider:

Jim Kelley started Mccown’s PTS show flying solo. There is no question in my mind he was reading a script. His opening sounded as bad as his Mariott hotel commercial. He misprounced some words and then made inane arguments about the Blue Jays and other topics.

Up the dial it was no better. Brian Duff and Bill Watters talked Chicago Blackhawks hockey! Yes I know the Hossa contract is being investigated. It’s basbeall deadline day folks! Fake it! Bill Daily to talk hockey, geez! The Chicago beat reporter to talk Blackhawks? The slipper slope continued.

Meanwhile, Kelley fumbled along with Perkins, Shannon and Kirke. They spent a huge amount of time talking Argos Football.

Look, I am a big fan of sports radio. I really like both shows and the work that both stations produce. I say this a million times, the fact that they can find programming as often as they do is astounding. Especially at the Fan. There are times, and today was definitely one of them where I believe both stations blew it. Their prime shows were just plain unlistenable. Neither was compelling nor interesting.

Let’s hope this is not the sign of things to come over the next month as August can be preeeeeeety slow.

File this under things I didn’t know. An email sent me a link to a story that I simply don’t recall hearing anything about. Keep in mind that it was written in February of 2006 and I had litterally just moved back to Toronto with 2 kids, one who was born in November. Needless to say at that time, with new kid, new job and new home sports broadcasting wasn’t on the top of my list of priorities:

” Looks like Sportsnet Connected has been hit with a prominent short fuse.

A network source confirmed yesterday that Mike Toth, one of the network’s more colourful on-air personalities, is spending time in the penalty box.

Word is Toth mixed it up with a producer and was suspended. Already sidelined for a couple weeks, there’s no word when he will return as co-host of Connected. Toth is apparently still with the Rogers family, if his appearances on The Fan this week are an indication.

Before the recent tussle, Toth had made the occasional not-so-subtle on-air dig at the new direction the network is headed. ”

I had no clue “Tother” as he likes to refer to himself had it in him to “mix it up” or “tussle” . Can anyone shed some light on what exactly or allegedly happened??? Inquiring minds want to know! (that story, by the way can be found here)

Meanwhile here is a hillarious video of Toth from his early days where he used to imitate the great WWF wrestler the Honkey Tonk Man: