Week 5 NFL Picks

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Agent Michael Scarn Presents: 2007/2008 NHL Preview

Ah… another Wednesday, another blog. Soon two great times of the year will be upon us: the start of the NHL Season, and the start of Season 4 of The Office. So because of this (and partly because quoting makes column writing easier) here’s your 2007/2008 NHL Preview: "The Office" version…

"I have acted before. I was in a production of Oklahoma in the seventh grade. I played the part of Mutey, the mailman. They had too many kids so they made up roles like that... I was good."

The Teams: Columbus, Atlanta, Nashville, Minnesota, Florida, Phoenix, Carolina.

Similarly to Dwight's school play, the NHL has too many teams: in a lot of these cities, even the citizens wouldn’t notice if their NHL team vanished. And with the new parity of the Canadian dollar, arguments for cities such as Winnipeg, Quebec City and Hamilton have never been stronger.

"I, Michael Scott, am signing up with an online dating service. Thousands of people have done it, and I am going to do it. I need a username, and... I have a great one. "Little Kid Lover". That way people will know exactly where my priorities are at."

The Teams: San Jose, Chicago

These are the youngest teams in the league, and both are in the Western Conference: only the Sharks are going to be any good.

"In the wild, there is no health care. In the wild, health care is, "Ow, I hurt my leg. I can't run. A lion eats me and I'm dead." Well, I'm not dead. I'm the lion, you're dead."

The Team: Montreal

I don’t know who the most injured team was last year, but from the way you’d hear their fans bitch and complain, I’m guessing that it was Les Habitants.

Also … can we stop judging injuries by the term "man games"? Am I alone in thinking that this is a very homosexual term?

"We're like one of those classic famous teams. He's like Mozart and I'm like Mozart's friend. No, I'm like Butch Cassidy and Michael is like Mozart. You try and hurt Mozart, you're gonna get a bullet in your head, courtesy of Butch Cassidy"

The Teams: Pittsburgh and Washington

Sidney Crosby is on a team with Mark Recchi, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, and Petr Sykora…
… the additions of Viktor Kozlov and Michael Nylander were good… but Alexander Ovechkin is still as alone as Rocky Balboa on top of the mountain (that joke’s a bit of a stretch).

"You know what they say about a car wreck, where it's so awful you can't look away? The Dundees are like a car wreck that you want to look away from but you have to stare at it because your boss is making you."

The Teams: New York Islanders, Edmonton, Boston

All of the above will be awful this year. The worst part is, I’m an Edmonton Oilers fan: but the fact that free agents avoid the city like the plague and that Kevin Lowe is incompetent make me wonder if I made the right choice.

"I'm friends with everybody in this office. We're all best friends. I love everybody here. But sometimes your best friends start coming into work late and start having dentist appointments that aren't dentist appointments, and that is when it's nice to let them know that you could beat them up."

The Teams: Calgary, Tampa Bay

Ah… John Tortorella always found a way to keep the Tampa Bay Lightning in the news. And now that Mike Keenan’s coaching again, how long until a coach finally pulls a John Gibbons and challenges one of his players to a fight?

"Would I ever leave this company? Look, I'm all about loyalty. In fact, I feel like part of what I'm being paid for here is my loyalty. But if there were somewhere else that valued loyalty more highly, I'm going wherever they value loyalty the most."

The Teams: New York Rangers, Philadelphia, Buffalo

Remember how the salary cap was supposed to bring back competitive balance to the NHL? Now we’re 3 years removed from the infamy of the lockout and the Buffalo Sabres are once again being purged like the Red Army after their devastating military defeat at Leningrad.

Hmm… now… a World War II analogy for what the Rangers and Flyers did in the offseason: they would be like the Swedish or the Swiss: using their vast amounts of iron ore and other riches to profit while other countries struggle.

The worst part is, I actually have a Swedish reader … I’m sure he’ll let me know if that crosses the line.

"I’ve never met anyone with so little self awareness"

The Team: Toronto

Paul Maurice thinks that the Toronto Maple Leafs will make the playoffs, and challenge for the Stanley Cup. I think I’ve said enough about the Leafs in my previous column to let you know where I stand on this issue.

"When I was in the 6th grade I was a finalist in our school spelling bee. It was me against Raj Patel. I misspelled, in front of the entire school, the word "failure"."

The Teams: Ottawa, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Vancouver, Dallas

All of the above have either never won a cup or are historic playoff underachievers. Or if you’re the Dallas Stars, you have a goalie who’s been labeled as a playoff choker … even when you come within a game of beating the amazing Roberto Luongo.

"You can’t be Slytherin, they’re the bad guys"

The Teams: Detroit Red Wings

I don’t like the Detroit Red Wings… how they’re good every year… meanwhile I’m stuck cheering for a team that let Ryan Smyth go because he wanted to get paid what he was worth… unbelievable… there’s no joke here… I’m too pissed off. I originally had the Colorado Avalanche on this list because Ryan Smyth should only be playing for the ‘Oil… but I can’t root against a team with Joe Sakic and Ryan Smyth… I can’t do it.

"It’s a big loss… Dwight was our top salesman"
"WAS … our top salesman"
"I said was"

The Team: Anaheim Ducks

Anaheim … I hate them… I hope they don’t repeat. The last three cup winners have been Anaheim, Carolina and Tampa Bay: somewhere Frank "Pud" Glass is turning over in his grave... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_%22Pud%22_Glass

2007/2008 Maple Leafs Preview

I love the Leafs and Leafs fans, purely for entertainment value. My favorite is the stereotypical Leaf fan, "Joe from Woodbridge", who's always on the radio call in shows making outlandish claims like Alex Ponikarovsky has 50 goal potential.

I'm constantly having an argument with a good buddy of mine, who claims that historically the Leafs are a better team than the Edmonton Oilers. I argue that since their inception, the Oilers have five cups to the Leafs zero, making the Oilers a historically better team. When that doesn't shut him up, I raise the point that the Leafs once brought Calle Johansson out of retirement for a playoff run ... Calle Johansson!

Anyways... onto the preview... because Karate Kid is the greatest movie of all time, each player will be compared to a character from the movie franchise:

Nik Antropov - Injured Daniel LaRusso (All Valley Karate Championship Version)


Much like our favourite beleagured martial artist, Nik Antropov has had knee issues, with three reconstructive surgeries in his career. Also, like Daniel LaRusso in his fight scenes, it appears as though Nik has absolutely no idea what he's doing when he's out there...

=====

Darcy Tucker - Tommy from the Kobra Kai ("Get him a body bag... YEAAAAHHH!!!)

Tommy was a hothead with marginal skill who frequently lost his cool: Darcy Tucker's just a hothead.

=====


Mark Bell - Mr. Miyagi (Drunk Version)

"Banzai!!!"

======


Alex Steen - Dutch (Played by Chad McQueen ... Steve McQueen's son)


Neither will ever step out of their father's shadow...


======


Mats Sundin - Johnny Lawrence

Every time I watch The Karate Kid I know that Johnny Lawrence is leading a gang that will eventually come up short in the end... I feel the same way when Mats Sundin takes the ice every October.


=====

Bryan McCabe - Chozen


For those of you unfamiliar with the plot details of Karate Kid II, Chozen is the villain who bilks peasants out of money by posing as a legitimate merchant: Bryan McCabe has bilked MLSE out of millions of dollars by posing as a legitimate defender.


=====

Pavel Kubina - Ali Mills (played by the breathtaking Elisabeth Shue)

None of the beauty, none of the grace, all of the toughness: he may have even sprained his wrist punching somebody.

=====

And Finally...


Paul Maurice - John Kreese (Sensei of the Kobra Kai dojo) ... Played by Martin Kove

Both experienced highlights of their careers in these respective roles ... both will be unemployed 10 months later.

Coming Soon: 2007 Maple Leafs Preview

I'll try and post once a week from my bunker here in the 'Saug ... but I've been really busy lately.

I tried to watch that new show "K-Ville" tonight ... but I can't take Anthony Anderson seriously in any role: I can only see him as the fat three point shooter on "Hang Time".

On the topic of "Hang Time" here's a pic of the lovely Daniella Deutscher, who played point guard Julie Connor for the Deering Tornadoes ... and may or may not be currently starring in late night cinema.

A Tribute to Gregg Zaun

Gregg Zaun is the epitome of grit and hustle. If that scowl had a caption, it would read: "I just ate a plate of glass for dinner ... and I'm washing it down with a bottle of tabasco sauce".

My favorite Gregg Zaun moments: knocking himself unconscious trying to break up a double play on May 8th, 2005 (wow, I looked something up), hitting a three run bomb that night my entire business class cheered him on drunkenly, and that time he threw out a runner trying to steal second.

I once met Laura MacDonald, John MacDonald's wife, during a food drive: one of the first things I asked her was, "where's Gregg Zaun's wife?"

Zaun's got one of those great names that's pretty much a nickname built in: "Zauner"


Blue Jays Nicknames I've tried to get to catch on but have had no luck:

Ray "Tony" Olmedo
Aaron "Salisbury" Hill
Fatt Stairs
Jordan De "Youngblood"

Jamie Campbell's like a sly politician: but instead of promising health care and drug plans, he gains the support of the elderly by reminding them when it's their birthday.

Gretzpo

Gretzpo's World Cup of Rugby Primer

Here’s what I know about Rugby… I flatted with a guy in Budapest from New Zealand who owned a rugby ball: therefore my preview will be limited to countries in which I have comedic fodder…

Canada:

Why is it all former English colonies excel at field sports except for Canada?

Canadian coach Ric Suggit has said that "this team won’t lie down for anyone" … which usually translates into "we don’t have the ability to compete: but we’ll try hard". Which is all we expect from all of our Canadian teams that aren’t hockey teams: who have to win … even if it means Bobby Clarke has to break some Soviet ankles.

Highlight: Our coaches’ name is "Suggit".

Lowlight: Our world ranking of 13th sandwiches us between Fiji and Tonga.

_____________

England:

The 2003 defending champs have been struggling lately: but England fullback Mark Cueto believes that no one should "write off" the English side. Which is much better than the "this team won’t lie down for anyone" that the Canadian side offered up.

Highlight: The English squad faces the Americans in their first matchup, whom they defeated 106-8 in 1999.

Lowlight: This sounds like a wide margin of victory: but I really have no idea.

_____________

New Zealand:

My buddy Scott that I lived with in Budapest wore only two shirts the entire time I knew him: a green dress shirt and his All Blacks rugby jersey. One time he lost a shirt on a drunken ride home on a streetcar, but he had his jacket done up the entire time. Unbelievable…

And how about their colourful name, "The All Blacks". Could any other sport get away with this? Could you imagine a basketball team called "The All Blacks"? Or a fencing team called "The All Whites"?

Highlight: French soccer star Zinedine Zidane recently impressed All Black fly-half Dan Carter with his rugby skills.

Lowlight: The praise was under the threat of a devastating headbutt.

_____________

France:

Remember that scene in Last of the Mohicans where the English General questioned the courage of the French during the Seven Years War, saying they’d rather "make love with their mouths" than fight? I love that line.

Highlight: France has the edge of being the host country.

Lowlight: They’re already 0-1, having been upset by Argentina in the first match of the tournament: ruining my 2007 Rugby World Cup bracket.

_____________


All right… enough insightful rugby talk for now... I don't want to wear both of my readers out. I’ll be back next week with an in depth look at one of my favourite Blue Jay players.

An Open Letter To Rogers Sportsnet...

Typically, I'm not the type to e-mail and ask to have someone removed from the air... but enough is enough: you have got to fire Jamie Campbell. The guy's a nice guy... I WANT to like him... but he makes every single Jays game I watch less enjoyable.

He blows plays... his stories aren't interesting... and he has the worst depth perception of anyone in the history of the world... he often doesn't know it's a home run until it's over the wall... regardless of how well it's struck off the bat.

In a pivotal game against the BoSox Tuesday night ... the Jays have a chance to go to 4.5 games out of the wildcard and 5 games above .500 ... two on... a fly ball to left field off of Jesse Litsch:

"Not very deep"

As a Blue Jays fan... I breathe a sigh of relief... and take a swig of my refreshing cream soda...

"... But deep enough... it's gone!"

Wait a minute! I thought it "wasn't very deep"? ... now the Jays are down 3-1... and I just spat up an entire mouthful of cream soda on my favorite polo shirt.

Sorry... I'm doing my best to try and keep this succinct. Because commentating abilities are no laughing matter...

All I'm trying to say is that it's bad enough having to deal with the ups and downs inherent in following a sports team ... but now I have to deal with inept commentating flirting with my emotions?

I love the Jays ... I watch or go to every game I can: I think, as a fan, I deserve better than Jamie Campbell. And I know I'm not alone on this ... I've never once heard anyone compliment his abilities. So, please, for the 2008 season, give us better than Jamie Campbell.

Sincerely,

Gretzpo


Next time: A fearless look at the 2007 Rugby World Cup