ON THE MARK.

KESSEL VS. BARGNANI.  WHO DO YOU LOVE?
Welcome to Southern Ontario, where the Toronto athletes who are most highly paid are raked over the coals with regularity.   Whether you prefer hockey to basketball as your winter choice (and hey, it's ok to love both sports equally) there's always a highly paid guy you can complain about.   But this year, there are two.   Phil Kessel's delicious 9 game goalless streak is taking on a life of it's own because it's Toronto and it's the Leafs and, well, you know how it goes.   Kessel's lucky his team is sitting at the .500 mark.  Imagine if they were playing like the Washington Caps.   In fact, imagine hitching your wagon to Alex Ovechkin.    The Leafs are not losing games because of Kessel's inability to score.  They might be a better team because they don't depend on his putting the puck in the net.  And besides, every player has slumps.  Especially young players.       Andrea Bargnani, like Kessel, has not lived up to expectations, but he's running out of excuses.  Injuries have now become a huge factor, and the Raptors are actually a better team with him out of the lineup.   He's expected to play tonight, but Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun wondered if anybody really cares whether or not he comes back.  Rudy Gay is the man now.  How ironic is that?  Kyle Lowry has barely played with Bargnani.  Same with JV.  Aaron Gray has earned playing time at the 5.  Amir or Gay can handle the 4.  There isn't much room for Bargnani in this lineup so I guess he'll have to make the most of his playing time.     And isn't that the way it should be?  I don't care how much money Kessel makes, or how many players and draft picks went to Boston to get him, he just has to show me that he can help the team win.  If he can't do that, he's got to spend more time on the bench.  The guys who produce are the guys who should get the most playing time. For Kessel, there's only one way to go, and that's up.  For Bargnani, it's doubtful he'll ever be more than a spare part, and an overpriced one at that. 
         I have this ongoing argument with myself.  Which sport do I prefer at this time of year, hockey or basketball?  Or does it depend on the circumstances?      For example, on Monday I had a choice of watching the Maple Leafs-Hurricanes game or the Pistons-Knicks.   The Leaf game wasn't a "sexy" matchup, but the debut of Jose Calderon for the Pistons playing at M.S.G. kind of turned me on.  Besides, the crowd at the Air Canada Centre is almost always dead for Leaf games.  The atmosphere at Madison Square Garden is always electric, whether it's the Knicks, the Rangers or the Westminster Dog Show.  So, I watched the basketball and kept an eye on Twitter for updates from the Leaf game.  It was great.  My wife knows I'm doing this, but to her it's way better than dial flipping the T.V, so she ignored me.   But then last night, I figured it would be worth a look to watch the Leafs play in Washington against Ovie and the slumping Caps.   The thing is, the game was on Leafs TV, which is a pay channel, which I refuse to pay for.  Too bad.  I watched the Lakers-Nets instead, kept a Twitter watch on the Leaf game and had another good night.  I guess I am preferring the basketball matchups right now, but pretty soon I'm sure a Montreal-Toronto or Rangers-Philly tilt will vie for my attention.    And by then, baseball will have started.     Oh yeah, we can add the Bluejays to the mix pretty soon.   That means we'll be paying VERY close attention to Ricky Romero.