Ok, so when I say this, I want to make it clear that I am not in anyway comparing sports to the tragedy of September 11. So for those who are going to go there, just stop.

I remember the time when a major news event happened when I used to stay up until 11:35 to see what Ted Koppel was going to say on Nightline. I knew Koppel would have the best guests and that was the way to get the best info. Fast forward x number of years to that dreaded day in September. There was no longer a need to wait up for nightline. CNN, MSNBC and whomever else covered the events of the day around the clock. The way we ingested and demanded news certainly has changed. Twitter has moved things to the news on demand realm.

The world of sports is no different. We used to have to wait for the morning paper to arrive (or for us to arrive at the subway station) to pick up the papers to get the facts and opinions we needed. Even as late as the last year we had to wait for the opinions from our favorite (or favorite to hate) to get memorialized in ink. Locally speaking, that has finally changed.

Consider that tonight at 10:01 Steve Simmons tweeted “Bryan Colangelo says – If you want to blame somebody for the Raptors, blame me – Read my column in Tuesday’s Sun …”

Or, you can read it now online at 10:02.

Dave Feschuk’s excellent opinion piece on the Raptors season was posted just moments before Simmons piece. Bruce Arthur’s Chris Bosh article that was in Monday’s paper similarly appeared Sunday night.

Point your browser over to search.twitter.com and enter the words Ovechkin suspended. You will find that before the suspension was made “public” by the league the Washington Post tweeted it, then published it and then the entire hockey world followed. Damien Cox first tweeted the news (a retweet of the Washington Post author Tarik El-Bashir post) and a little while later tweeted again that his opinion piece was now available on the Toronto Star’s website.

Thanks to twitter, RSS readers and feeds and incredible wesbites like Kuklas Korner the ability of fans to keep up to date in near real time is spectacular. For those of you who read this site on a regular basis are aware, I constantly say the NHL should buy twitter- I think it was made for the league. (yes I am saying it tongue in cheek). Consider that while the technology eyes are on SXSW this week, Twitter, during it’s presentation talked about, the little league that could:

“Twitter CEO Evan Williams showed off new technology Monday that lets content partners cleanly pull Twitter links and streams onto their Web site through JavaScript, instead of an API, but keep hush on advertising plans…..
…..Some features demonstrated by Williams at SXSW already exist. The National Hockey League (NHL) has been using a similar technology for months. In fact, the league attributes the technology to keeping fans glued to its site during the recent NHL draft picks.”

Don’t believe me yet…. Remember that little hockey game a few weeks ago between Canada and the USA?:

“Between 2:29 and 2:54 p.m. Pacific time, more than 3.5 million status updates were posted, which is twice the pace of the rest of the day.”

Back when I started this blog, the Globe and Mail was the leader in this new age era. They used to update their site nightly around 10 or 11pm with their feature stories for the next day. They, and the National Post left the Sun and Star behind. Now it appears that the tables have been turned. The Toronto Star has fully embraced the technology era. Their website, at least in the sports section is ever evolving. Not only do their writer write, they blog, live blog and tweet. The National Post and as evidenced by tonight’s Simmons column, Toronto Sun are slightly behind the Star. The Globe and Mail seems to have changed tactics, delaying the articles by their columnists a tad.

It’s funny that the Roy MacGregor writes a column this week that contains this gem:

“When newspapers start confusing “hits” with “circulation,” there is an undeniable danger to journalism.”

MacGregor is a legend. I am not sure there is a more well respected sports writer in the country. However, it says here that his column is off base.

“If, as increasingly appears to be the case in the uncertain world of Web publishing, traffic is what matters most – and may one day be the basis for figuring out how finally to make money out of Web content – then it only stands to reason that those working in the business will chase traffic harder than stories.

Why, given that traffic often increases when celebrity is involved, would a journalist risk a low-traffic day by introducing readers to someone they do not already know – regardless of how important that person’s story might be? ”

Is this any different in the electronic world as it was in the paper world?

I mean all that has really changed is that things are much more trackable. Do you think that what sells is different today then it was before? Rush Limbaugh didn’t need to track hits to know what would light up his switchboard did he? Al Strachan, John Robertson didn’t have the benefit of analytics to tell them what to write. I mean do we really need to watch Don Cherry to hear what he is going to say? Simmons Sunday column hasn’t changed one bit since the advent of the most modern technologies.

“An American friend who now does a daily blog for a major U.S. newspaper says he came to realize there were certain tricks to Web journalism that did not apply during his many years as a hard-copy reporter.

The key to increased traffic, he says, lies in striking the hot buttons almost immediately – if possible, right in the headline.

If you can get as high up as possible those magic names and phrases that incite the American public – Sarah Palin, the Clintons, Tiger Woods, global warming, anything to do with sex – then the thousands upon thousands who have signed up for alerts on anything to do with Ms. Palin, Mr. Clinton, Mr. Woods, climate change, sex will come flooding to your page.”

None of that is new. What’s new is that idiots like me now, if we are willing to take the time can publish our own opinions. What has changed is the reach. Mr. MacGregor’s friend the blogger hard copy days never got beamed out to the world. With the exception of a few publications, very few stories in local papers ever got national let alone international attention. The pallet has changed and the audience size has changed, the game hasn’t. How many articles in tomorrow’s papers will be good news stories? Do we watch adoringly at the smooth pace of traffic along the 400 northbound on a Friday evening? No, we rubberneck at the poor guy who has wrapped his car around a pole. All the same things sell. The difference is that clicks and hits have replaced the physical sale of a tangible piece of paper. People used to buy the paper for what they could expect to find inside. We knew what our certain reporters were going to say on a subject and we were prepared to pay for it. Now we point our browser to our favourite outlets and we pay by having our eyeballs scan leaderboards and skyscrapers on a page.

So, no matter your poison, you can now have access to it sooner. That’s a good thing. Even better, there are more people writing on subjects we care about every day who never had a voice now do. I have 92 feeds in my rss reader. The vast majority are blogs. Of those, almost all are written by people who never before had a voice. Those who write for clicks will find that eventually the cream rises to the top and the quick buck will in fact end. The good writers, professional or blogger will survive and remain relevant.

As for me, my brain is in about 4 different time zones right now, as Tomas Kaberle says, I need a maintenance day.

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

Bruce Arthur’s Bosh story is here
Dave Feschuk’s Raptors story is here
Steve Simmons’ Toronto Raptors story is here
Roy MacGregor’s technology/journalism article is here

The Toronto Sun has been running, and re-running the “Maple Leafs suck, have always sucked, will always suck, it’s the fans fault” ticket for several weeks now. Bill Lankhoff has been leading the way, each article less intriguing then the next. Today’s 2 pager is no real exception.

Let me start my review by asking a series of questions:

What was it that everyone knew and wanted in a new GM?
What was it that everyone wanted the new GM to do?
Didn’t we all say that we had patience for the rebuild?

“Brian Burke promised there would be changes when he took over as general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

And, there have been.

It’s just that nobody expected it would be a change for the bad.”

We all wanted a GM who would come to Toronto, without blue and white colored lenses and would have the conviction to do the things that many of his predecessors didn’t. Yes, the goal is to win a stanley cup. However, we all knew that the goal ahead was to blow this team. We had seen the quick fixes. None of them fixed anything. What was needed was, as Steve Kee referred to as throwing the proverbial bomb in. Yet this time the bomb needed to be nuclear.

As Howard Berger wrote in his blog last week, of the thirty something players who wore the blue and white in 2007-2008 one remains, Tomas Kaberle. Next in line in terms of seniority is Kulemin only to be followed by the cagy old veteran, Luke Schenn.

“Toronto is now the only city in North America with two teams that have American Hockey League rosters.

In rebuilding the Leafs, Burke has left this team naked of much of its recent history.

Maybe, that isn’t such a bad thing.

Maybe this was a dirty job that someone had to do.”

Maybe?????

I’m told that the vast majority if not all of the candidates considered for the GM job when Burke was hired all said the same thing. The franchise had to be totally blown up. From the bottom up. Everyone acknowledges that this has been done.

“There is no denying that today’s roster is weaker than the one — flawed as it was — that Burke has blown up.

People want to believe in Burke.

They want to believe he can rebuild the Maple Leafs as he did the Anaheim Ducks.

They want to believe he is constructing an Iron Curtain defence like he did in Vancouver. ”

Isn’t the notion that it’s weaker redundant? Look at the guys he has jettisoned. Their has to be 2 steps to this, knocking down and then building up. The vast majority of Burke’s work so far has been in the blowing up. For those, like Lankhoff bitching, consider all the crap that was leveled at the teams in the past. Look at the guys Burke has thrown over board in order to start again. He hasn’t lost or given up 1 player that you really wish he had kept(we’ll talk draft picks in a second).

The mere fact that he was able to get anything, let alone a guy like Phaneuf for the guys he got rid of remains nothing short of remarkable. You have to knock it down before you build it up. No matter what anyone, Lankhoff included thought, Burke wasn’t going to turn every piece of chicken bleep into a stud young player. As the guys on TSN said on deadline day, the Calgary Flames now contain a strong nucleus that was the Toronto Maple Leafs. The same Toronto Maple Leafs that owned the non-playoff track record. Burke can’t really be on the hook for last years miss. So his clock starts at 1 this year. Gone are, what really amount to, as the old saying goes, a bunch of over paid bums.

What’s left really is a bunch of maybes. At least these maybes are young. As with the Blue Jays, I am much happier watching a bunch of hungry kids losing yet trying then a “bunch of over paid bums”. I too am going to have to bite my tongue the rest of the way this season and most likely next as the losing mounts. Games like the one this past week against Carolina can’t be tolerated. Losing is okay, not showing up isn’t.

“But when looking at a roster of mostly college kids, untested rookies and a sprinkling of second-hand veterans that faith is being severely tested. People look at what Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment is selling and who can blame them for wondering about what they’re buying.”

Sorry, if your faith is being tested, your a tad clueless and your expectations aren’t realistic. The team was full of crap and this is part of the process. I will say this once again about prices, tickets etc. If you don’t like the prices, stop paying them. MLSE, the New York Yankees, Morton’s Steak House, the Four Seasons hotel will ONLY CHARGE WHAT THE MARKET WILL ALLOW. This constant chatter about shame on MLSE for doing what their doing is crap. They are a business. My company runs the same way. I am sure everyone who is reading that works, works for a company that is the same too. Private schools, restaurants, do it as well. No one is holding a gun to anyones head saying you must keep paying. If you are questioning anyone, question yourself. If you aren’t happy, stop buying.

“Plus, I personally share a pair of greens and they’re $180 a pair and my wife is a hockey nut too, so we’re there all the time. And, I’m looking at the roster. We have maybe seven bona fide NHLers and one top-six forward. If we’re an American Hockey league team and you can get top of the line tickets for twenty-five to fifty bucks why should I be paying this kind of money for a team when only 30% of the roster is NHL calibre.”

That’s crap. Go to a retailer in Toronto pick up most items, look at their price and then go home and see what you can pay for it in buffalo. My family is going to Las Vegas this summer. I need 4 plane tickets. The cheapest flight in Toronto is $504 roundtrip. They are flying from Detroit for $219! Don’t give me this crap about gas….4 people in one car, driving 4 hours each way will be in total an extra $120 TOTAL, not per person. Take a look at Buffalo Sabres tickets. Drive to Pittsburgh and see a game. “why should I be paying this kind of money for a team when only 30% of the roster is NHL calibre.”? Becuase your a fan, you want to go and that’s the price of tickets. IF you don’t like it, don’t pay it! I guarantee you there’s a ton of others out there who will.

“Fans expected that Burke would have to gut the place before rebuilding but few expected that the hole could get this dark and this deep.”

Then we (and me included) were idiots. You can’t get uperstars by trading collective crap. Answer me this. If Burke hadn’t traded our picks to Boston for Kessel, would Leaf Nation be elated? Would these articles be written? What were we expecting?

Now- the Kessel issue. Im not sure there’s been a more polarizing issue for Leaf fans since the whole Mats Sundin saga. The hard part to swallow with the Burke era so far is that Kessel appears to contradict what he is preaching. Trading picks for a player doesn’t flow the right way. Yes he got a kid back, but man he gave up a lot. The biggest problem is, is that Kessel has yet to capture the imagination of the Leafs fans. The biggest question is will he ever? Those who watch junior hockey are drooling over the the guys who could be drafted at the top of this year. On paper they appear to have much greater star value than Kessel. Burke argues that he likes the kid he has. A bird in the hand…..as the saying goes. What if Burke is right? What if the Kessel produces at a clip of 20-30 + goals a year and the guy Boston picks becomes the next Alexandre Daigle? I am not suggesting it will happen- but what if?

The point is we all have to (and most of all me) take a deep breath and relax. Let’s enjoy the ride and watch this unfold. More bodies are going to go overboard this summer. No one saw or predicted the Phaneuf move. Right now the prospects of a gaining any forwards of any significance are slim given the UFA list. Let’s see what happens.

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

Even here in Milan the NBA All Star Game is big news. No, the talk around the water cooler isn’t whether this is Chris Bosh’s last ASG as a Toronto Raptor. Two really good stories on Bosh today that I thought I would point out:

First from ESPN, an unlikely source given the subject matter. Marc Stein though takes a good approach in his column:

““It’s funny you say that, because I was thinking about it. I was just looking at what people say and it’s like, ‘Chris is going to go here and play with him or this, this and that.’ I’m like, ‘Wait a minute.’ I feel like I should be built around. And maybe that’s just my ego talking, but I feel that I’m a very good player in this league and I’m only going to get better. So … maybe we should be getting somebody [in Toronto].”

Bosh is sure to field more probing questions about his future Friday when he meets the bulk of the media in town to cover All-Star Weekend. But the above comments, at the very least, give more insight into our assertion made back in November that Bosh likes his situation in Toronto more than many of us south of the border want to believe.”

That comment couldn’t be more accurate. Look, I don’t know if he is staying or not. Here is what I believe:

I don’t think Bosh is a liar. I don’t think he knows what he wants to do. If you read more of Stein’s column you will see that he want’s to be the guy and not the 2nd guy. He can be that in Toronto. I think the money is irrelevant as he will get it no matter what, here or there via sign and trade. What is important is winning. IF, and I say IF the Raptors can somehow go a run in the playoffs, I can’t see Bosh leaving. If they pull a Brady, and fizzle out early or not make the playoffs at all, I think all bets are off.

Now, Mike Ganter in today’s Toronto Sun hits a homerun (or a really long three pointer at the buzzer to win the game ):

” Maybe if the members of the American media throwing these blanket statements around so cavalierly had been in the countless pre-game, post-game, pre-shootaround, post-practice scrums that those of us who are actually around Bosh on a near daily basis have been, they wouldn’t be so quick to write off his Raptors future.

Now there’s no doubt that Bosh has confidantes in the media south of the border. He is an American. He grew up in Dallas. He helped his country win a gold medal in Beijing two summers ago. There is no way he hasn’t made those relationships.

He might even be more comfortable expressing future plans with that select few. We get that.

But Bosh has been so steadfastly adamant that he has not made up his mind about next season, let alone next week, that it’s hard to accept that anyone who has spent any time looking into his future could dismiss it. ”

It’s nice to know that the MSMers are getting us fed up with this bs as we fans are. Ganter does a great job running down all the accounts of Bosh’s exit and providing what I believe to be some real analysis on where things sit.

Marc Stein’s ESPN article on Chris Bosh can be found here.
Mike Ganter’s story on Chris Bosh is here.

What? No trades today!!! The nerve.  Lots of talk today, the good, the bad and the ugly.

First the good:

Steve Simmons, in tonight’s Toronto Sun wrote the kind of article I, as a fan have always wanted to read. The comments after the deal are okay, but I want to know the details, the how it happened story.  We don’t usually get to see that type of story.

“The meeting was convened on Nov. 15. That was the first time Dion Phaneuf’s name came up in any meaningful way with the Maple Leafs.

Frustrated over the fact the Leafs season had started so poorly, Brian Burke called a meeting of his top executives, Dave Nonis and Dave Poulin, and asked a rather basic question: How do we get better?

The three men were asked to rank the Leafs’ biggest needs in order.

“We all felt we needed a stud defenceman,” Burke said.”

And here we thought Burke was asleep at the wheel!  Not that it’s overly important, but are you surprised that Ron Wilson wasn’t involved?  I know that isn’t the normal role of the coach, but given the relationships here.  Also, what about Cliff?

“The two general managers spoke regularly — as most GMs do — over the past months but something changed less than two weeks ago. Burke was talking to Sutter on the phone when the conversation shifted.

“He said: ‘I might move a defenceman.’ My ears perked up at that,” Burke said.”

I bet his ears perked up.  It’s amazing the timing of these things.  Once again, I will say it is stunning given how much money is spent on “insiders” that none of this broke.  Not a whisper or hint of this trade was anywhere!

“The trade talks with Toronto began in earnest that day. Burke said: “If you were going to put a guy like Phaneuf in play, what would it take?” Then the Leafs did what most NHL teams do when talking trade. They provided the Flames with a list of all their signed and unsigned players, indicating which players they would consider moving and which ones they wouldn’t move.

According to sources familiar with the deal, the first player Calgary asked for from the list was Hagman. They liked his scoring, his contract, and what he could do for the Flames. But the deal was never intended to be one-for-one.”

Now, you see, this is the type of stuff I find fascinating.  If this is true, I think it’s incredibly interesting.  Wouldn’t you have loved to be a fly on the wall when these talks were on going?

“The Leafs didn’t necessarily want to give White away. But for them to make the trade, White and Hagman had to be included.

The conversations then progressed. The Flames asked for Matt Stajan. Burke had every intention of trading Stajan, a soon-to-be free agent, at the upcoming deadline.

He had tried to deal him a year ago. Parting with Stajan wasn’t that difficult. But he didn’t want to make a 3-for-1 trade. He wanted to expand the deal.”

See, I just eat this stuff up.  I wonder if Burke wanted to deal Stajan last year why it took so long to deal him (a rhetorical questions).

“I think we both agreed it made sense on Friday,” Burke said. “I ran the deal by Richard Peddie. He ran the deal by his ownership group. It’s not necessarily for approval, just to let them know what’s going on. We wanted all hands on deck for Saturday. We had to get through the games on Saturday night with everybody healthy.

“I e-mailed (Sutter) after our game. He e-mailed me back after the second period of their game. I went to sleep after that.”

Now you see, there is respect there.  Burke alerting his bosses as to what is going on.  As if they were going to say boo.  It’s just neat knowing that this stuff goes on and how it goes on.  Now someone will interpret this as Burke had to get board permission but that clearly isn’t what is written here.

David Shoalts column is pretty bad in my opinion. In fact, I just don’t get where he is coming from. Most of the column is nothing new, then Shoalts throws this at you:

“In the long term, one theory is Burke – who has given mixed signals on such as proposal – will trade veteran defenceman Tomas Kaberle when his no-movement clause lifts at the end of the season for a scoring forward and/or a first-round draft pick he doesn’t have (thanks to the Kessel trade).

This, not to put too fine a point on it, would be madness. ”

Now, say what you want about Burke, but has anyone seen him give mixed messages on Tomas Kaberle? I mean, he has been totally consistent along the way. Now to suggest that trading Kaberle when the NTC is off the table in the summer would be “maddening” is odd. If Burke could land a first round pick and a scoring forward- how could that move be madness?

Shoalts discussed burying Jeff Finger on the Marlies in favour of keeping Kaberle. I am not against the move of Finger in principal irrespective of Kaberle. I am thinking that even 22m in defence is too much though.

“Offensively, the Leafs could be a lot better next season. It is not unreasonable to assume 2009 first-round pick Nazem Kadri will be one of the top three centres. That would leave the Leafs Bozak, Kadri and Mikhail Grabovski leading the way down the middle. ”

I’m a leafs fan, but I am sorry. That collection, given all we have seen right now doesn’t thrill me in the least bit. Now could that change? Of course. Would I take that to the bank? Hell NO! Not trading Kaberle for a scoring forward based on this thesis seems more madness to me.

The ugly won’t even get a link. Berger on the radio today was outright offensive to listen to. His glass half empty all the time routine is beyond discussing. His dictionary required blog post is equally as bad. Do your self a favor and don’t read it.

If you want a good read, check this out to see what “Bryan McCabe has to say about the Leafs/Flames trade.

The hmmmmm goes to Bill Houston. It’s not very often that you see a reporter go “personal” on another reporter. Now Houston is out of the “real game” having joined the wide world of blogs (no orange jackets required- phew). However I think those in the industry would still consider him “one of them”. Houston did take a mild shot across Darren Dreger’s bow yesterday:

“The “yes, but” qualifier has to do with Dreger’s connection to Dave Nonis, the senior vice-president of hockey operations for the Toronto Maple Leafs. They’re second cousins. Therefore, the perception by some will always be that Nonis is helping out cuz over at TSN with information.

I have no idea who Dreger’s sources are or now much, if at all, Nonis contributes. I don’t know how close they are. But none of it lessens the good work that Dreger along with Bob McKenzie and Gord Miller did by breaking blockbuster Leafs-Calgary Flames trade, the biggest NHL deal to come down the pike in years.”

Raise your hand if you knew that about Dreger. I for one certainly didn’t. Houston certainly laid it all out there, but then softened the blow with the latter part of quote. It is certainly interesting to see this type of comment in print. It’s not seen very often.

“Regarding Nonis, Dreger said in an email, “Up until a few years ago, Dave and I didn’t even know we were related. For anyone to suggest I’m the benefactor of ‘family favors’ is insulting to me and I suspect, insulting to Nonis as well.”

Well, I guess we know how Dreger feels.

Look, I am not saying it’s offside. Houston covers all the bases in his article. I’m just a little surprised that he wrote this, as the insinuation is now out there. It’s not out of line, it’s just personal. Maybe I am just naive.

Simmons is here

Shoalts is here

Houston is here

Anyone happen to see today’s Toronto Sun?  Cover story was the Raptors beating the NY Knicks.  First page stories were all Raptors, first there was the Raptors beating the Knicks and then Chris Bosh making the all star team and the increase of trade rumors involving Chris Bosh.  Page 2 was a Blue Jays story after the Jays held a gathering for season ticket holders.  It wasn’t until page 3 or 4 that the Leafs showed up.

Finally they get it right! I know, the Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t play last night and if they did….. well the Leafs didn’t play Sunday night either when the Raptors ended up on page 6 on Monday.

I will try not to harp on this too much anymore, but it shouldn’t be a competition. If the Raptors are the only ones playing, give them their due. If it’s the Leafs, or the Argo’s, Jays or TFC, same thing. It shouldn’t be leafs leafs leafs- and I am a big Leafs fan.

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

Many of you have emailed me about a twitter dialogue I had with Greg Brady a couple of days ago. As you know, I have been riding the local print media to shine the light a little brighter on the Toronto Raptors. Last Monday, after their big home win vs. the LA Lakers the Toronto Sun buried the Raptors on page 6. Mr. Brady’s point was, to summarize, that this is a Leafs town first, it’s suicide to cover the Raptors ahead of the Leafs until the Raptors win a playoff round and that regular season NBA game of a mediocre team didn’t demand more attention than the AFC/NFC title games.

All that Brady has said is in fact true. When he says that the Raptors haven’t won a playoff round in 15 years, he’s right. Their road record sucks, as he says it does. This was just one game in January. All true, and he is in fact entitled to his opinion.

Personally, I like Michael Grange’s take this morning:

“Regardless of what happens the rest of season, the Toronto Raptors have accomplished something vital by pulling themselves off the NBA scrap heap in the space of six crisp weeks.

They’ve made themselves relevant.”

Well, if the Raptors totally crumble and return to their earlier ways then it’s all for not. Having said that, in a town where our hockey team is so bad that Brady and Watters debated why people would even go to a home game, at the very least the Raptors are still playing meaningful games. Does that mean a whole lot? NO. Does it mean that I may actually follow their games- YES. We citizens of Loserville only want a team that we can actually watch around the midpoint of the season. Our iced prodcut hasn’t really been to that level in years. Their hardwood brothers are there right now.

“Last night, the Air Canada Centre was rocking again as an energized crowd of 18,265 came out to see the Raptors duel Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat, three days after the home team defeated Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers in front of one of the biggest crowds in franchise history. ”

Look, their is a buzz starting to be generated about this team. If this were, I don’t know a lesser team, would the ACC have been filled tonight????? Good question. Let’s see what happens over the next little while. It is a nice change to see a team in this town put together a string of wins though.

“And while any basketball fan would be entertained watching Wade weave, slither and explode for 35 points and 10 assists, a Raptors fan could take heart that – as they have almost every night since early December – their club competed and for the most part had answers.

The result was a 111-103 win that improved Toronto to 17-9 since their season-low point last Dec. 4. ”

Ya see, people say Leafs fans are pulling their hair out over the teams performance therefore a real rebuild wouldn’t be tolerated. That’s utter nonsense. It’s not the losing that bothers me. It’s the way in which the team is losing. The Leafs haven’t for the most part competed. If the Leafs were comprised of younger players who busted their butts night in and out and lost, that would at least be hope. We get none of the that right now.

“You want to become part of the conversation in your local sports market? How about winning 11 of your last 12 games on home court?

Last night, Toronto (24-22) did it in pleasing fashion. ”

I agree, it is something to take note of. In Brady’s defence, let’s not get ahead of ourselves and pat ourselves on the back yet. That doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy it while it lasts. It’s a hell of a lot more interesting to watch and talk about than which Leaf player floated the night before isn’t it. The Leafs these days are like a part of the Festivus ritual, the one where we tell someone all the ways they have disappointed us in the past year. Except with the Leafs we can do it about the previous night’s game.

By the way, most of the Toronto Sports Media personalities who are on twitter have really embraced it. They are not only commentating on twitter, they are part of the conversation. As a fan, I think that’s awesome. Guys like Brady do a phenomenal job on twitter.

So we here at TSM had a chance to speak with a very deep pocketed individual who happens to own a part of a professional sports team in one of the professional leagues (not NHL). We suggested to this person that they look hard at the Tampa Bay Lightning as it could be a good acquisition for this person, who has the wherewithal to pay cash for the team if it were for sale. The response was very telling. Basically, we were told that this person loves hockey, one of their favorite sports and at one time they considered buying a team. However, it won’t happen. The NHL, according to this person has “the worst TV deal and leadership (commissioners) in professional sports. Until both of those things change, “I have no interest”.

So, the Argos owners are looking to David Braley to buy them out, or so says the Globe and Mail’s David Naylor. I remember when I was younger having to explain to my American friend that there were other teams in the CFL than those named Roughriders. How the hell do you explain that own guy can own 2 teams in the same league when there are only 8 teams? Say this for Braley, 1/4 are great odds when it comes to winning isn’t it.

I love that Jamal Mayers and Exelby have asked to be traded. Don’t ya think that if Brian Burke could have he would have already?????

From Montreal

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

Grange is here

If I were in a US market where the non traditional hockey team was making strides and the traditional basketball team were down in the dumps again, I would hope that the local press would shine the light where it is deserved.

We consumers in this town let the sellers of information off to light. Our beloved Toronto Maple Leafs lost there last three games to bad teams in Atlanta, Tampa and sunrise. Our basketball team won it’s last 2. yesterdays game was fantastic, a nail biter down to last shot against the league best LA Lakers. The ACC was buzzing like a Mapl Leas playoff game. The Toronto Sun had the Raptors on page 6 of the sports page! Page freaking 6!

That’s after the leafs and the NFL. Now, you know I love the NFL. I want a team here. The same paper that editorializes on the failure of the games that have been here now puts a league that in their own words can’t make it here ahead of the NBA Toronto raptors???? When they are finally making noise!!!!!!

That’s messed up. Again, I love the leafs, I’m a huge NFL fan, but our one hope for any type of success may be on the brink and page 6??????

It’s unacceptable.

I love that the Vancouver Canucks aren’t talking to HNIC over pompus Ron gate. I’d love to see the Raptors do the same to the Sun, but the Raps need the attention.

We fans have to demand better quality.

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

Have you ever played a really shitty round of golf. You know, you lose a ball a hole at least, can’t drive, chip or putt. Until the last hole you drive the shit out of the ball- longest drive of your life- straight down the fairway. You then chip the ball on to the green only to be followed by the greatest putt ever. To the point that as you walk off the course, you say to yourself, hey, I’m not so bad, next time I will kick ass.

Now, consider our beloved Maple Leafs. Every time the sky seems to be falling, you know they can’t win a game, let alone kill a penalty, the are free falling in the standings, everyone including the press is writing them off and what do they do???? They go on a mini streak. Pucks start going in when they shouldn’t, goalies are making saves they have no business making and guys like Colton Orr actually win a fight or two.

Don’t get me wrong, they don’t rise meteorically to playoff levels, no, they win enough games to be considered back into the hunt, do well enough to draw us back in and then, they will return to their mediocrity that we know so well. They will lose like they are losing now….and all will appear almost lost again.

So that is where we are today. The Toronto Sun has an article which basically says Ron Wilson is starting to realize that he doesn’t have the troops to win the battle. The Toronto Star has one that says kids are so bored with the Maple Leafs they are playing video games as opposed to watching Leafs games. The Globe and Mail has one questioning whether Ron Wilson actually deserves the reputation of being a good penalty killing coach.

Every blog around (this one especially) has written this team and players off as crap. The stage is set. Get ready to be teased as we get every year. Its about to happen again. Yes Maple Leaf fans, this is the time when the Leafs are supposed to complete the swan song and nose dive right to the bottom. But no, instead I am certain they will do exactly what they have done in the past, they will pull it together just enough to get our hopes back up. You know, they will hit that tea shot, chip and putt to get us all thinking maybe they aren’t that bad after all…

Unfortunately, for us, like the beginning of Major League, when all the locals comment on just how shitty the Indians actually are, we too know the truth. This team is devoid of real talent. The wholes are big and numerous.

When Mats Sundin arrived, after the Gilmour era, every problem the Leafs revolved around the fact that the Maple Leafs were one dimensional. Every single forward of any name or value that was brought in was done to play with Mats. Only one problem. None could play with Mats. None were as good as Mats. Now, the pressure is on Burke to find someone to play with Kessel. Kessel won’t be a superstar here unless he has someone of equal value to play with. None of the role players will be able to play roles as long as we don’t have depth. It’s really that simple.

You know it’s coming when Damien’s latest article talks about the reason why the Leafs won’t tank this year. The Leafs never tank. They tease. This is the time they do it, at our darkest day, when all looks lost, they will become our short term oasis. Enjoy it while it lasts, but don’t get sucked in….it’s not real, and let’s hope our own talent evaluators know better.

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

Here’s your bikini of the day from bikinibeat.org:

On Fan 590 Tonight-

- Grapeline with Don Cherry & Brian Williams at 4:45
- Bob McCown’s co-host from 5:00 to 7:00 is Stephen Brunt
4:10-4:50 David Branch IN STUDIO
5:25 Bryan Colangelo, Raptors President & GM
5:42 Dave Van Horne, Former Voice of the Expos
6:06 Eddie Olczyk, NBC & Versus
6:30 Darren Rovell, CNBC
6:45 Bob Elliott, Toronto Sun

On 640 with Brady and Watters thanks to Mike S.:

- Hockey Hall of Fame member Bobby Clarke

- Rob Higgins, fantasy hockey expert

- Jolly Jonas Siegel from Philadelphia to preview tonight’s Leafs-Flyers game

- hockey insider Scott Morrison at 6:10

- show ends at 6:30 to make way for the Leafs pre-game show

Here’s your bikini of the day from bikinibeat.org:

On Fan 590 Tonight-

- open phones with McCown from 4:05 to 4:40
- Grapeline with Don Cherry & Brian Williams at 4:45
- co-host from 5:00 to 7:00 is Stephen Brunt
5:25 Bob Elliott, Toronto Sun
5:42 Bob Nicholson, Argos President & CEO
6:05 Iain Page, Golf Channel
6:30 Matthew Sanderson, Founder of Playoff PAC
6:45 Kevin Martin, Olympic Curler

On 640 with Brady and Watters thanks to Mike S.:

- Bryan Murray, general manager of the Senators

- Dave Poulin of the Maple Leafs front office

- Bob “The Bear” Cowan with his Monday NFL pick

- Jolly Jonas Siegel from the ACC to preview tonight’s Leafs-Senators game

- hockey insider Ray Ferraro at 6:10

- show ends at 6:30 to make way for the Leafs pre-game show