World Series '09

Well, here we are at the start of the League Championship Series for each league. Hasn't time flown by? It just seems like yesterday that we as Blue Jays fans were starting the 2009 MLB season with all kinds of positive thinking. The Jays rewarded that positive thinking with a great April/May record, and we all started to dream of October baseball returning to Toronto for the first time since 1993. Alas, we were so very, very wrong. The season turned into a disaster, with injuries to key players and bad management happening at all the wrong times. Enough of Jays though- let's turn our focus to the Dodgers, Phillies, Yankees, and Angels.

The ALCS is quite simply going to be an absolute barn burner. The Yanks and Angels have been two of the best teams all year, and so it is only fitting that they will fight it out to determine who is going on to the AL representative in the World Series. The Yankees have bought themselves an impressive lineup this year that features A-Rod, Teixeira, CC Sabathia and Rivera. After finding their stride early in the year, they have been dominant and have looked like the team to beat. The Angels have stayed under the radar though, and don't get the credit that they deserve. Boasting a starting 9 that can all hit for a .300 or better average, the Halos are the team that you just don't want to face. They can steal bases, hit for average, hit the ball out of the park when needed, and most importantly can pitch out of a jam. There's no doubt in my mind that this series will go right down to the wire, but I see the Angels moving on to the World Series with a Game 7 victory.

The NLCS is a match up from last year's playoffs, and the sequel will be better the the original in my opinion. The Dodgers and Phillies have shown what can happen if you develop players through the minor league system, give them a chance at the major league level, and keep the team together for a few years. The Dodgers boast Game 1 starter Clayton Kershaw, Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp, and Russell Martin as just a few examples of homegrown talent. The Phillies boast players like Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, and Game 1 starter Cole Hamels as their examples of players brought up through the system. This series will come down to clutch hitting in my opinion, and the Dodgers have the players to do just that. Manny will be Manny, Ethier and Kemp will become household names, and Russell Martin will be the next Canadian to play in a World Series. Dodgers in 6 games.

Sportsfans: It's Your Time

Alright, now this is what I'm talking about! This is absolutely the best time of year to be a sports fan. The MLB Playoffs has started, the NHL and NFL are in full swing, the NBA is less than 3 weeks from the start of the regular season, and soccer leagues around the world are in full swing.

Let's start with the Leafs and the 'dreaded' 0-3 start. Of course with the Leafs being in the market that they're in, people are starting to worry already. Now don't get me wrong, three straight losses is never good, but what did we really expect? Everyone had a great time watching the young guys do well in pre-season, but their performances seemed to cover up the bad play from some of the veterans (Toskala, Beauchemin). Now that games matter and the young guys are back in junior or with the AHL's Marlies, we are seeing the real Maple Leafs. And what are the Leafs? No, they won't finish last in the league, but they definitely need time to learn how to play together. Let's give them more than three games to figure it out.

The Raptors have finally returned! As a big fan of the team since the start of the Vince Carter era, I've gone through my ups and down to say the least. Ups being the Raptors playoff run in 2000-2001, the emergence of Vince Carter as a human highlight reel, the division championship team of 2006-2007, and the continuing development of Chris Bosh. Downs being the Kevin O'Neill run teams, the much too early playoff exit in 2007, and the 2002-2003 season ('nuff said). Now with the current management and coaching staff (led by BC and Triano), I definitely am excited for the next few years. Through the first couple of exhibition games, we've definitely seen a more concentrated effort on the defensive end, and it couldn't have come at a better time. Scoring hasn't been a major concern over the past couple of years, but stopping high scoring guards/wings has been. We've all seen Kobe's 81, Lebron's high scoring games, and countless other stars get their buckets. Things won't be so easy for the competition now that Reggie Evans, Rasho, and Antoine Wright are on the court, and that makes this fan smile.

Sundin's Final Goodbye

Mats has finally headed off into the sunset... or in his case, off to fishing and spending time with his new wife. Thank goodness for that too, because no one wanted to see him come back and play so far below his usual level, like he did last year.

My earliest memories of hockey include a young Mats Sundin, just after he had been traded to Toronto in 1994. I remember trying to copy his moves out in the driveway, and made sure that the number on the back of my jersey from then on would be #13. Now that I look back on it, he always had an unbelievable ability to make anyone who played with him a better player. Players like Jonas Hoglund, Steve Thomas, Sergei Berezin, and Gary Roberts suddenly became household names in Toronto because of the unbelievable skill level that their big Swedish linemate possessed.

Now there has been plenty of detractors through the years (my Dad included) who always faulted Mats for not leading the Leafs farther into the playoffs year after year, and here is why I think they are wrong. Mats' personality is not that of a dominant person who grabs a hold of your attention and won't let it go. He has always been (and will always be) the quiet type, who would rather lead by example than anything else. The management in Toronto just couldn't see that Mats needed other veterans around him to help be the vocal leaders in the locker room. If, for example, the Leafs would have kept Doug Gilmour as a captain and made Mats an assistant captain, the Leafs would have had much more success in grueling playoff series that required hard nosed leadership. Fletcher and co. never realized that until it was too late though, which really wasted some of Mats' best years in the NHL.

Mats brought all kinds of awesome memories to this Leafs fan, no doubt of it. I will always remember him as the reason behind my lucky #13, and the star of my favourite hockey team when I was growing up. This man is a first ballot Hall of Famer, and in my books is one of the top 5 Maple Leafs of all time.

Raptors Back In Town

The Raps are back in TO! Media Day is today for our only Canadian franchise, and other than a Bosh hamstring tweak (which will keep him out for two weeks at least) everything is looking up. There are plenty of articles out there talking about all of the changes to the roster and the chances of playoffs, so check them all out and get yourself informed. The management (like the Leafs) is finally stable and so we have nothing to worry about for the next few years. Brian Colangelo is a great G.M. and will continue to make sound decisions, so Raptors fans can sit back and let the genius do his work.

It would be an understatement to say that I'm excited for the upcoming season, and there are plenty of reasons why. First of all, the Raps addressed the biggest weaknesses that contributed to last year's failures. Even during their first round playoff series against the Magic in the spring of 2008, the team was lacking in rebounders, depth on the bench, and wing players. This off season saw the Raptors bring in all kinds of players with potential. I love the Reggie Evans signing because he will bring not only tough-as-nails defence and rebounding when called upon, but will push Andrea Bargnani, Chris Bosh, Patrick O'Bryant, and Amir Johnson to become better rebounders when they all work together in practices. Colangelo commented to The Star's Doug Smith that Evans has already been challenging Bargnani to get out of his comfort zone, and that makes me excited to see what kind of rebounding numbers Bargs can put up. Experts can scoff all they want and say that players can't learn to become great rebounders, but I want those same experts to check back with me 2 years from now and see where Bargs is at then. He may never live up to the Dirk Nowitzki comparisons (which were really unfair and unjustified), but he certainly will become a legit second option to Bosh for the foreseeable future.

Other signings/aquisitions that caught my eye include Jarrett Jack, Hedo Turkoglu and DeMar DeRozan. Jack is going to do so many great things for the backcourt. He is the type of quality guy that every team needs. He comes from a winning college program at Georgia Tech where he played with CB4, he's learned to become a great defender, and his offensive skills have steadily improved each year that he's been in the NBA. He'll also push Jose Calderon to play his best, because I'm sure Jay Triano will have no hesitation to put Jack in if Jose is getting beaten repeatedly on defense. Turkoglu was a bit of a suprise, but a great surprise none the less. The detractors have questioned why the Raps signed him for so many years when he is already into his thirties, but I believe that the way he plays will allow him to play at a high level deep into his thirties. He isn't a high flyer by any means, and plays the game with poise and control. Finally, DeRozan was an astute pick by Colangelo. He has all the athletic ability in the world, and now he needs to learn how to mould all that ability into an NBA wing player. I watched his highlights from summer league, and I can see the potential to be a great player. He is relentless around the basket, and won't stop until the play is dead or the ball is in the basket... and most importantly, he hardly ever settles for jumpers. DeRozan knows that his strength isn't as a spot up shooter, but as a drive-to-the-hole type player who forces defenses onto their heels.

This is the type of season that brings excitement and buzz back to the team, and the current management and coaches will ensure that winning will become a regular occurrence for the Raps. Who knew this would be possible back in 2004, when Vince was traded and the team was in disarray?

Mind Over Matter

I was reminded tonight about how strong my mind can be when I really concentrate hard, no matter what my body is trying to tell me. Let me try to explain. I am one of the lucky (note the sarcasm) people who doesn't have a vehicle currently. This means that my transportation options are my bike, my two feet hitting the pavement, or taking the city bus. After my late supper tonight I decided to head to the YMCA to try to regain my basketball skills. I have concentrated on soccer for the past 5 months or so, but now that I'm done coaching and playing the beautiful game until late October I decided to get some shots up at the gym. Now the YMCA is a half hour walk away, and the bus would a) cost me money and b) take longer so the two wheeler, despite my inner complaining, was my best option tonight. The ride to the gym is a fairly easy one- mostly downhill, and it takes about 10 minutes if I really push myself hard. After pushing my body fairly hard for an hour and a half working on various parts of my game, I decided to head home. Now this is where the whole mind over matter comes into play. I'm sweaty, tired, and having the hardest time putting an effort into my ride home. This is of course when you see cars whizz by, heading to their destination with little effort... and this of course makes me feel even slower. But after a minute or two of cruising, I finally mentally kick myself in the butt and start hyping myself up. I keep on telling myself "Gotta keep going hard, gotta keep going hard...", and before I know it, I'm flying through the streets of my neighbourhood until I'm at the door of my house.

Anyway, the whole point of that long explanation was to try to show how I can keep my body going, even when my muscles are screaming to stop. I've been lucky enough to have more athletic ability than a large chunk of the population, and so I've played high level sports throughout my life. In every sport that I've played, I've had to will my body to keep going, even when it doesn't seem humanly possible. I can remember basketball tryouts in high school being so very painful, and volleyball practices in college being just plain crazy. Even though I could have slowed down and taken it easy, I just would kick it into gear and go even harder. It's funny because after I've pushed myself extremely hard, I just sit back and am in awe of how much farther I pushed myself than I expected. I think it's my competitive nature driving me... no matter what the circumstance (in sports, at least), I can't stand to lose. Loses eat away at me for days- girlfriends, friends, and my family can attest to that. I just wish I could transfer this competitive drive to other parts of my life. It's just that sports are such a natural thing for me. No matter how I'm feeling or what is happening in the rest of my life, I can always find comfort in playing one of my favourite sports. It's almost therapeutic. Crazy, eh?

New Leaf Phil Kessel

Now I know I'm a tad late in commenting on the Phil Kessel sign and trade, but here's my take on the situation. First of all, Brian Burke is the one reason that I can honestly say that the Leafs will become a winner within the next 3-4 years. The reason I can so strongly believe this is because Burke has been true to his word and has stuck with his plan and vision by building through young, talented players and keeping valuable veterans around to help teach them how to become good NHL players.

The Kessel signing has had some critics in Leaf Nation who say that this is just what the previous regime would do- trade away the future for the present. I disagree wholeheartedly. Burke has a 21 year old high scoring winger who is just at the very beginning of his NHL career. Yes, he is coming off of shoulder surgery, but don't you think Burke had the medical staff go over Kessel's post surgery reports with a fine toothed comb? You betcha! Kessel will be able to play for most of the season, and as long as expectations are kept realistic with him, he will be a huge asset for the Leafs for years to come. The big thing that isn't highlighted enough is that Kessel will attract top end free agents during the next two free agency periods, which Burke will be active in because of the lack of draft picks over the next two years.

Overall, this trade gets my stamp of approval. There is risk whenever two teams make a deal like this, but I think the Leafs will come out as the winners when we look back at this years from now.

The Rookie Debut

I'm not exactly sure how to start my first blog (ever), so here goes my best attempt!

I decided to create a blog for a number of different reasons. One reason is because I, along with everyone else, has been able to follow along with people's everyday thoughts, situations, and experiences. Being able to peer into someone's life and see the similarities and differences between theirs and mine is pretty amazing indeed, and so I want to allow others to peer into mine. Another reason I created this is because I've watched people gain a sort of therapy through posting something on their blog. It's almost like it's a digital version of talking to a friend or loved one and getting something off of your chest. Life can be overwhelming at times, and I am looking or the healthiest ways to get things off of my chest. One final reason for this blog is that I wanted to share with everyone the many different things that I'm passionate and interested in. Being able to comment on sports, politics, world events, music, literature, and anything else that comes across my path is awesome, and I'm very much looking forward to it.

Well that wasn't as difficult as it first seemed... whew! I should get some food in me and then head off to work now though, so until next time...