WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY?
Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Billy Loes once said he didn't want to be a 20 game winner "because then I'd be
expected to do it every year". Ah, expectations. They certainly can be sky-high for athletes, especially if they have a big year. Case in point, Mike Trout, rookie centrefielder for the Angels. He is having one of the greatest seasons EVER by a rookie, and has Mickey Mantle-like numbers. .325 batting average, 30 homers, 49 steals (out of 53 attempts), 2nd in the league in OPS, first in WAR (wins above replacement) and a terrific defensive outfielder. Oh yes, he just turned 21, and is the fourth youngest player in the major leagues. So, what's he going to do for an encore next year? Who knows, but we can't expect him to do this every year, can we? Did we not expect Dexy's Midnight Runners to come up with a huge hit after the success of "Come on Eileen"? Was it wrong to think that actor Adrien Brody would follow up his Oscar winning role in "The Pianist" with another great performance, rather than being in a razor commercial with Andre 3000? I'll be interested to see if Trout can come close to duplicating his numbers from 2012 next year. I "expect" he will, but I won't be disappointed if he comes back down to earth. Can you imagine hitting .300 with 25 homers and 40 steals and NOT meeting expectations?
Kudos to the NBA for two things. One, having a complete season this year after that 66 game mess that they tortured us with last year after their work stoppage. Two, the implementation of a new rule which, hopefully, will cut down on "flopping". In the past few years, NBA players have started to look like soccer stars by going down at the slightest contact in order to try and draw an offensive foul. I find this to be offensive, and the NBA has agreed. Now, if a player hits the deck and the refs think he's faking it, he gets a warning. The second time it happens, it's a 5 thousand dollar fine. Next time, it's 10 g's. A fourth time offender gets hit for 15 thousand and then the fifth offense results in a 30 thousand dollar fine. Luckily, this rule wasn't in place when I was in high school. I was a champion flopper at Newtonbrook S.S., able to hit the deck with the slightest of contact and make it appear as if the offensive player had committed a reckless foul, and done bodily injury to yours truly. Of course, when your coach sends you out there and tells you to "take one for the team", he doesn't mean take a jump shot.
People have been asking me how long I think the NHL lockout will go on for. Let's put it this way, when 100 or so players have already signed up to play overseas, that's a pretty good indicator that this will last at least a couple of months, and probably into mid-December. I'm sure the union has told the players that it's going to be a long haul, so go and make the best deal you can. I say the NHL will come back just before the Christmas holidays begin. Ho Ho Ho.
It's fun to see a little battle of words going on between Toronto Marlies coach Dallas Eakins and hockey commentator Don Cherry. When Eakins questioned the eating habits of young forward Nazem Kadri, Cherry came to the kid's defense, saying Eakins should lay off. Today, Eakins responded by saying that Cherry is pretty good at reading what somebody writes down for him. Ouch!
Have you noticed how much drama there is in the NFL this year. We're only 4 weeks in, and already we've had the replacement refs fiasco, the 0-4 New Orleans Saints, the Mark Sanchez-Tim Tebow hubbub, the Dallas Cowboys soap opera featuring Tony Romo, the dour Jay Cutler and the way he treats teammates and coaches, the comeback of Peyton Manning and the wonderful performances of the Cardinals, the Falcons and the Houston Texans.
In other news, the Hamilton Tiger Cats still haven't found a place to play their home games in 2013. London? Moncton? Toronto? Anywhere but Hamilton, although there is still talk that before they put a shovel in the ground, they might want to look at the old West Harbour site for the new stadium. Right now, they're planning on building a new stadium on the current Ivor Wynne site, but more than a few city councillors would love to see the West Harbour project re-visited. A while back, the TiCats said they would "never" play at that site. Maybe it's time to reconsider.
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