Here are the ten things I learned from last nights 122-83 Raptors win over the Wizards.

(1) Right from the get go you could tell the Wizards had no interest in being here. They had come off a huge OT win from the night before that left them totally gassed and were forced to give heavy minutes to the following cavalcade of stars: Dominic McGuire, Oleksiy Pecherov (Yes the Oleksiy Pecherov) and Nick Young. If there is one thing we know about the Raps it’s that they have incredible depth. No way were the Wizards were going to hang in for very long. Of course Washington quit so quickly that Chuck Swirsky could have started the game by saying “get out the salami and cheese this game is over.”

(2) Love the fact that MLSE keeps advertising for Toronto Marlies tickets. Shockingly good seats are still available. I wish I could write their ad slogan “Come see tomorrow’s crappy Maple Leafs today!” Who wouldn’t want to see the younger and less talented version of Matt Stajan?

(3) Jamario Moon may have put the Wiz away in the first couple minutes with a steal, a couple buckets and an offensive rebound. Toronto roared to a 12-0 start and Moon was driving the bus on that run.

(4) Brendan Haywood is a goon. He is so much bigger in person. Just a big hulking mass of six fouls. On one play he knocked down Chris Bosh WWE style while fighting for position on the offensive end. Also much like the WWE the NBA ref didn’t call a foul on the play.

(5) Roger Mason Junior you can’t stop him … you can only hope to contain him.

scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=280130028

(6) Give him points for trying, but Juan Dixon is not a point guard. I understand they need a #2 PG but why not let Carlos Delfino play some point? He played the position before he got to the NBA, he can shoot and would be the best defended on the floor.

(7) When it comes to excitement you just can’t do better than Jason Kapono. Watching him throw out the Raptors Top Five Plays of the week on the jumbotron was painful/hilarious. Kapono couldn’t have been more monotone, even Keanu Reeves has more range than Jason. The keyboard I’m writing this has more personality than Kapono did last night. The team should bring back Jerome Williams just to let him tape all the in game entertainment instead of forcing a miserable Kapono to stare dead eyed into a camera.

(8) Here is a sentence you will never hear:
“Joey Graham sets up Maceo Baston for a crazy dunk!”
Yes Maceo Baston got in the game. Not since Darko Milicic’s rookie year has there been such a clear cut “blowout” player like Mr. Baston. When Baston is in the game you are either up by 30 or down by 30, there is no middle ground.
One final Batson related note … Joey Graham, hang your head in shame. How does Baston get in the game ahead of you? What have you been doing in practice to piss off Sam Mitchell? Seriously, are you spending all your time on your blackberry during shooting drills?

(9) Favourite part of the game, betting with Darren Andrade from hoopsworld.com on who would score more points: Joey Graham or Maceo Baston. We didn’t count Baston’s first bucket since Joey wasn’t on the floor. It ended up being a 4-4 draw but those last five minutes of the game were riveting. If you want to have fun during a whitewash just pick two horrible players and make a wager on who will score more points. It makes the game fun, everyone around you will be confused about why you are screaming for some palooka to shoot the ball and best of all you’ll learn that it is possible to collect four fouls in nine minutes of meaningless action. Keep reaching for the stars Baston!

(10) Eric Smith on the jumbotron for the “bobblehead cam” being forced to nod his head while not smiling for 20 embarrassing seconds is just funny.

Gareth and I went to the Raptors / Wizards game last night. In a bit I’ll give you my observations from the game. But first, here is my assessment of Andrea Bargnani. I don’t remember ever concentrating on one player as much as I had with him. So here is a Coles Notes version of Bargnani’s game from last night:

He is so far away from being a reliable offensive option. First off you have to ignore the fact that he was the leading scorer in last nights Wizards game. The contest was blow out right from the get go. Bargnani scored most of his points after the team had a double digit lead.
What was disturbing was the fact that he was being ignored early in the game. On the first several possessions Jose Calderon would initiate the half court offense by passing to Jamario Moon instead of Bargnani, despite the fact that Bargnani was wide open. Think about that. The team’s starting point guard elected to go with the former Globe Trotter vs. a #1 overall draft pick.

Andrea is starting to get the Hoffa treatment, where no one wants to pass him the ball. It’s affecting his shot as well. Too many times he would rush a shot because in his mind he must be thinking “damm if I don’t shoot right now I may never see the ball again.”

As for rebounding, well let’s just say Bargnani is a couple years away from being the next Dennis Rodman. He just doesn’t seem to want to rebound the ball. You could make the case that he actually hates touching the ball considering his aversion for rebounding and his propensity for rushing his shots. I’m convinced someone has fooled him into believing that if he holds onto the ball for too long he’ll contract some horrible disease.

All right now for some positives. Bargnani didn’t pick up his first foul into 4:20 of the first quarter … baby steps! Second with about 1:30 left in the first half Bargnani drew shooting fouls on two of three offensive possessions. Again it is a little thing but it is a sign of offensive aggression, a sign of confidence and an easy way to collect your points.

Overall though I wish I could be more convinced that he is coming around. I just don’t see it yet.

Matt Cauz is the hardest working guy in the biz. Well, the hardest working guy I’ve seen anyways. Despite his contributions to the sports “department” here at Sun TV, there exist odd moments when I simply want to lay a Glaswegian Kiss on ‘em. That’s a head-butt.

It’s not because he has more money then me. That’s fine. He owns a car – a nice red one. Cool. He lives in the Distillery District. I love it there, I can deal with that. But here’s what I can’t deal with: Mocking me and my mates tendency to “mute n’ tunes”.

Before I tell you what “mute n’ tunes” means, let me set the scene:

I often watch sports with a bunch of hippies. Okay, they’re not exactly hippies but let me tell ya – they aren’t your typical run-of-the-mill sports fans. We dig the Brian Jonestown Massacre as much as we dig watching televised sports. And that is an intense hole, ‘cause we dig both – big time. When we get together we ALWAYS start the telecast (in this case, some rubbish Leafs game) with the audio up. That’s a certainty – we’re there, we’ve come together in the name of sports (and imported beer).

However, sometimes (and OFTEN this season re: the Leafs) half way through the game and a couple (or 5) beers in, it’s like “let’s listen to some tunes!” Hell yea! Let’s MUTE N’ TUNES. By now I’m sure you get it; keep the game on – we can see it - and click mute.

After describing this to Matt – he reacted with something like this:

“I find that unusual, peculiar. To sit around with a bunch of dudes and make the conscious decision to turn the TV off and the tunes up”

WHAT! It’s “peculiar” to listen to music with your friends??! Do you know how much more tolerable the Leafs are to watch if you’re distracted by the musical bliss of J. Spaceman or Robert Pollard?! Shoot, even the Acid House Kings make watching the Leafs more fun.

As I left the room before I had a chance to let my forehead make contact with Matt’s beak, I can only assume that his idea of a “good time” is to get him and his buddies together and watch the game with severe intensity and institute the “no talking until the commercial” rule.

Dear readers and Grill Room watchers (oh god, we love you) I’ll leave it up to you to decide which scenario you’d rather find yourself in on a Saturday night. If you agree with Matt, I can accept that. But I think your dry cleaning bill may be a bit too high.

Is it just me or does it feel like we're all getting 5-10 years younger? I thought as time went on things were supposed to change, not revert back to the same.

- Marv Levy coming back with the Bills in 2006 to try and help turn things around in Buffalo

- Cliff Fletcher rejoining the Leafs as the team's interim GM to help start turning things around in Leaf Land.

- Chris Webber going back to Golden State to give the team some experience to help build from last year's playoff appearance.

- My Dallas Cowboys bringing back Dave Campo as an assistant coach to help out with the secondary.

What's next, Damon Stoudamire coming back to the Raptors? Oh, wait a minute...


Take off,
Coco

Random Thoughts, courtesy of Wheeler …

- Great episode of E-60 (ESPN’s behind the scenes look at stories through the eyes of the reporter) last night. Particularly their look at street fighter turned mixed martial artist Kimbo Slice. I’m not condoning watching it, but Kimbo’s got some crazy clips on YouTube of him during his street fighting days. The man’s the scariest dude I think I’ve ever seen.

- Damon Stoudamire to the Raptors: I’m going to give it a big NO THANK YOU. He may be a short-term solution to fill some playing time, but there’s no way he makes this team anymore of a contender. No disrespect to Damon, but at this point in his career, he’s just not what the Raptors need.

- Anyone else think the Patriots will win by 20?

- Peter Bjorn and John was a pretty decent show. Started off slow but the second half of their set was really good.

- I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m one of those guys who wasn’t completely turned off by the NHL All-Star game and festivities this past weekend. I like Alyssa Milano. I like the Hives. I like the potential that’s in the NHL Skills Competition. Seriously, I really do like some of the ideas put out there, and loved seeing some of the old time Hockey guys in the crowd and actually looking like they were enjoying themselves. The same can’t be said for most of the players. While guys like Alexander Ovechkin and Rick DiPietro were a breath of fresh air, too many guys clearly would have rather been elsewhere, and were reportedly “bored” by the events Saturday. To me, this is unacceptable. The event isn’t about competition; it’s about entertainment. If the players can’t “fake it”, show some personality, and come up with a creative edge (ya, I’m talking to you Martin St. Louis), this league’s in more trouble then we all thought.

- Would anyone else like to see someone, ANYBODY, close the gap between Tiger and the field? Winning by 1 or 2 strokes is one thing, but 8! Come on … the guy’s good, but he’s human. Give him some competition to keep me watching.

- The new replay that showed the trajectory and flight path of the ball on the Buick Open broadcast was incredible. Kudos to the PGA for upping their anti in terms of coverage.

- Lebron or Kobe? … for me, it’s easy – Long Live the King!

- Is there a better soccer player in the world today than Cristiano Ronaldo?

gw

This is the last time I talk about why the Chargers should trade LaDainian Tomlinson, I promise.

Tomlinson is the best running back in the NFL, for now. The thing about NFL RB’s is you never know when they are going to break down. Often it just happens overnight. Shaun Alexander was the league MVP two years ago, but the Seahawks gave their 4th quarter carries to Maurice Morris (yes, THE Maurice Morris).

When Alexander was having his MVP season, the team was dragging their feet on a contract extension. Why? Because they knew overpaying for a running back who is close to 30 years old just doesn’t make sense. In the end, they reluctantly gave one to Shaun, and ever since he has been a complete shell of himself. He has been completely irrelevant for the past two seasons, averaging 800 yards with a sub 3.6 yards per carry.

Now let’s look at Tomlinson. He will be 29 years old when the season starts, and will have logged over 2900 touches for his career. During his first game, the team fed him the ball 36 times. He may be “only” 29 but that is in human years. In running back years he is more like 34. Also, you just know his suck job in the AFC Championship game has rubbed a number of Charger fans the wrong way. He may not have been able to play, but that is no reason for him to sulk on the bench with his head down and his helmet on. Doesn’t a leader at least try to, you know, cheer on the rest of the team instead of being a massive buzz kill?

That said, San Diego could get a king’s ransom of draft picks for him right now. The team is poised to be good for a long time. Why not stock up on draft picks, improve your depth and try to land a high-impact WR? The drop-off between Tomlinson and Michael Turner/Darren Sproles is not that great; Turner would be a 1300-yard back on this team.

So, who would be interested in Tomlinson? I’m glad you asked. Here are a couple teams who would have more than a passing interest:

Atlanta - If the team loved Jerious Norwood so much, how come they never gave him the ball? He only had one game with more than 9 carries. Also they need a marquee star with Vick behind bars.

Arizona -Edgerrin James is wearing down and just doesn’t provide the same explosive power that Tomlinson does.

Jets - Thomas Jones is not the answer.

Tampa Bay - The Cadillac may never be the same after his injury. Is Ernest Graham really a long-term answer? Plus, Gruden needs to put together back-to-back winning seasons.

The Chargers would get killed in the short term by the media but two years from now everyone would agree it was the right move. Too bad it probably won't happen.

Just wanted to say, hope you enjoy Jamario Moon on the Casino Rama Grill Room Thursday night at 11. I have to say, having him in studio today was an absolute pleasure. He’s just a really cool, down to earth guy. We can’t wait for him to join our panel next time on the show.

Be sure to vote for Jamario during the dunk contest at;

nba.com

This year, the fans will decide the winner. Also, for the chance to shoot some hoops with Jamario and Anthony Parker, enter the Raptors and Direct Energy contest at:

raptors.com/directenergycontest

For the winner, they’ll come to your house, set up nets, bring jersey and bevy’s for your whole crew. And knowing the competitor Jamario is – he will not take it easy on you!

If you’ve got any questions or comments, start blogging, right here at canoe.ca/grillroom ... We always love your feedback. You can also reach me personally at gareth.wheeler@suntv.canoe.ca

GW

I'd like to start off by saying yes, I did realize I spelt it "Y.J.D." instead of "J.Y.D." But I'm sure most of you know who I was talking about. If you didn't, then I am sorry for the confusion.

I'd also like to say that we are all excited, I think Cauz and Wheels are currently doing a pantless tango, to have Jamario Moon on for tonight's Grill Room. It'll be a 1-on-1 with Mr.Moon instead of the usual panel, so you'll be able to see and get to know the real Jamario. It airs at the usual time of 11:00pm tonight on SunTV, channel 15 on Rogers Cable. You can also catch a brief 1-on-1 with Jamario Moon on Canoe Live this evening as well at 5:30pm.


Take off,
Coco

Sooo... Now that I "blog", it'd be insane for me not to put out a few comments/observations I have re: the firing of Turd Ferguson and the overall state of the city's hockey franchise. I'm pretending that someone is interested in this.

Oh yea, and I know it's bad for "media-types" to admit they have favourtie teams. That's shite. I've loved the Leafs since I was a wee'in. So, trust me when I say this stuff matters to me.

1. Ferguson's Gone, Celebrate: Bottom line, this guy did a TERRIBLE job assessing player personnel. Sooo many terrible contracts, way too much tinkering with 3rd and 4th line players, an inability or simple disinterest in making a bold move and complete incompetence in at least making it seem like he knew what he was doing - the final nail in the coffin in a Leaf-mad city. No one ever looked at this guy, heard him speak, read what he said and thought "yup, he's capable!".

2. Shut-Up About "The Board": Simply put, if Turd has an ability to assemble talent and something that, at least, passes as a cohesive unit with potential NO ONE is even talking about "the board". Yes, the board seems annoying, yes it's "different" than other teams, but, frankly, Pat Quinn was forced to deal with the same crap and he was able to put together a team that appeared to have a chance. A good GM has this city talking about players, playoffs and line combinations NOT "the board".

3. Woodbridge Arguement re: "The Board": This one is for all those misguided Leaf fans who call in to Norm Rumack's show and simply have no clue what their talking about. This is the one that kills me: "All they care about is making money"! Of course they want to make money, it's capitalism, the do it well - but do you honestly think they're stupid enough to sacrifice their individual integrity for the sake of cash? Wait, I should put that another way: Do you honestly think they're stupid enough to think that winning is nothing but good for their wallets. More wins means even more fans means a stronger brand means more cash. That's economics 101 and you don't need Naomi Klein to explain the whole "brand thing" to get this.

4. Fletcher's In: Good, not great. Obviosuly, bringing in a 72-year old man who was with the team more than a decade a go is not the BEST possible outcome. However, considering the corner that Turd backed this team into, and considering that the organization reacted waaaay too late re: his firing, how could we expect any better? We wanted an interim guy with some savvy who was connected and garners respect amongst the players and fellow managers throughout the league. Well, Fletch fits the bill.

5. Gut The Team: Honestly, Fletch, there's not single player you SHOULDN'T move for the right deal. If Kaberle, Toskala and Steen are still with this team next year, I won't freak - they all have decent salaries and play roles that all hockey teams need filled - but if another GM offers something of value for any of them, gas 'em! Make this as clean a slate as possible for whoever takes over...

6. The Next Guy: Everyone is up in arms because Richard Peddie has not completely removed himself from hockey operations. He, along with Gord Kirke (wtf?) and a lil' help from Fletch will find the next guy. Whatever, I'm not about to pretend I know exactly what goes on within the walls of MLSE (like a lot of media and people in general do - shame) but I will say this: Richard Peddie, like all people, are subject to being human. If Peddie were to step away now, when calls for his removal are in vogue, he'd be a loser. He'd look weak. Why would he do it now? Here's what happens: The 2.5 Amigos go out and get a Big Fish. They pay him HUGE cash and hand all hockey-related decisions to him. At that point, Peddie removes himself from the hockey side "for the good of the team" and he emerges as The Good Guy. I don't know Richard Peddie (he knows me, whammy!) but I refuse to believe this guy is going to put his own reputation at risk for the sake of approving a trade or two.

Whatever!

Jamario Moon is on the show tomorrow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FcCIBLoNQ8

All right before we get to looking back at NFC Championship Game let me say a quick word about all New York Giants fans.
Everyone is jumping on their (our) backs for not believing in this team. Many fans say we shouldn’t even be happy right now we never expected the Giants to go to the Super Bowl. In the past two days I have been accosted of not even being a “real” fan, of coming out of the wood work, plus getting the whole “wait a minute I thought you hated Eli Manning” accusation throw in my face.
Well let me defend my people for a moment.
There are many reasons why they (we) didn’t give the Giants a shot in the playoffs:

(1) First off New York wasn’t even that good in the regular season. They only outscored their opponent by 23 points all season, meaning their margin of victory was less than 1.5 points per game.

(2) They beat one playoff team all year while losing four other times getting out scored 133-78 in those losses for a margin of defeat of nearly two touchdowns.

(3) If you throw out the final regular season game vs. the Pats, Eli Manning had 8 interceptions, four touchdowns in his last five games. Also in three of those contests his completion percentage was below 50% and I don’t think any astute football mind could see what was coming from Eli.

So yes we were surprised they are headed to the Super Bowl. Yes we hated this team for most of the season but we were within our sporting right to have such negative feelings. Remember this is the same team that makes a habit of crumbling down the stretch and had not won a playoff game since crushing the Vikings in the 2001 NFC Championship team.
Watching the Giants playoff run is a perfect reminder why we watch sports. Anything can happen and sometimes, when were lucky, we get to see a player grow up in front of our eyes. The last three weeks has been an absolute treat for all of us suffering Giants fans and I am going to enjoy the two weeks of hype before the inevitable crushing defeat to the Patriots.

Anyway … moving on to the game.

Everyone has had their say by now, you have had heard a 100 different takes on what happened, who’s to blame, what happened to Favre and why did those women decide to wear bikini’s at Lambeau. So I’ll keep this brief.

(1) Corey Webster is starting to have the look of an elite corner. He shut down Joey Galloway, Terrell Owens and had the game winning interception. Yes he is responsible for the 90 yard play touchdown but one-on-one corners are going to get burnt. It’s part of the game.

(2) The biggest play of the game that may have gone unnoticed was the 3rd down tackle of Brandon Jackson by Antonio Pierce on a screen pass near the end of the 2nd quarter. Jackson was wide open with three blockers and 19 yards of open real estate to the end zone. If not for Pierce blowing that play up Green Bay would have gone up 14-6 at the half, completely changing the atmosphere of the second half.

(3) Tom Coughlin’s red face was just hilarious. I never got tired of FOX going back to that shot. I was hoping that Lawrence Tynes would slap him as hard as he could on the cheek to see if Coughlin could feel a thing.

(4) Finally the CTV promo department should be ashamed of themselves. I understand they wanted to plug ‘Medium’, ‘Corner Gas’ and about 17 different versions of CSI but at one point was everyone else sick and tired of those promos? I’m guessing the collective answer would be the two minute warning of the first half. No doubt these shows lost a number of fans who just got sick and tired defending them.

Alright... soooooo, needless to say, the "Battle Of The Sexes" experiment is OFF as, umm, you may have heard, Turd Ferguson has been fired.

Tune in tonight at 11 for complete analysis with Wheels, The Hockey News' Chris Tessaro, the host of "Leafs Lunch Weekends" on AM640 Steve Dankoff and the man of many jobs Roger "LaShwa" Lajoie...

Hello and welcome to the interweb. Did you know they have this thing on computers now? The wonders of technology.

Anywho, enough about Moore’s Law. I’m Corey, a.k.a. Coco, and I work on the Casino Rama Grill Room with the other three clowns…I mean master minds. The other hooligan you’ll be hearing from is Nick, a.k.a. Dugas, who’s a big sports nut like myself…and he’s also single ladies.

For a majority of my blog entries it’ll be Dugas and I giving our two cents on the current topics in the sports world. So feel free to tell us how wrong and stupid we are.


Fletcher, Rutherford, Poile & The Trade Deadline Oh My!
It seems like almost a done deal, so we'll assume that Fletcher takes over as interim GM and JFJ is fired. What moves would you consider doing from now until the deadline and who do you see taking over as the full time GM in the summer?

Dugas: Anything can happen still and I hate to assume, but I can see Fletcher coming in and disappointing us. Cliff is still living off of the Gilmour trade and I think he’s getting too much credit. He is knowledgeable but I can’t see him doing enough in such a short period of time to help us. Expect the usual Sundin rumours and not much else. This being said with likely a similar roster to what it is now, I would like to see the Leafs go hard after Jim Rutherford during the off-season to bring the glory back to Toronto.

Coco: I’m not too sure about that one. Cliff’s famous deal is the Gilmour one, but he did a great job bringing in Glenn Anderson and Dave Andreychuk as well. He also did a great job trading Wendel Clark for Mats Sundin and Doug Gilmour for Steve Sullivan, Alyn McCauley and Jason Smith. He did say “draft schmaft”, but that was over 10 years ago. As for the search for a full time GM, I think one of Jim Rutherford or David Poile would be a wise choice. Most people seem to think Poile won’t come, but Fletcher did work with him back when the Flames were in Atlanta. So if there’s anyone who could convince Mr.Poile to join the dark side, it would be Cliff Fletcher.

Rolen Out Glaus
A big trade that didn't get enough attention: Troy Glaus for Scott Rolen. Who do you think "won" this deal and how will it impact the Blue Jays?

Dugas: It's hard to pick a winner obviously when potentially both teams can lose this deal. However I really believe this is going to be one of those trades that really benefits both teams equally. The Cardinals get some protection for Pujols and the Blue Jays shore up the best defense in baseball with a capable bat more suitable to there line up. This deal allows Rios to bat in more of a Power Slot and utilize his RBI capabilities. With Glaus' big bat gone however, Vernon Wells is going to have to become a feared hitter again to help protect Thomas and Rios. All in all I am more intrigued by the Blue Jays end as it shapes the team up much differently.
Coco: I agree that both teams will benefit from this deal. To me it seems like whoever stays off the IR the most will come out with the better result. I do however, like the fact that Rolen brings better defense and a better batting average than Glaus. You can’t depend on the long ball to be successful and with Wells, Glaus, Thomas and Rios I find it hard to believe that wasn’t what J.P. was trying to do last year.

G-Men vs. Pats
Both teams took very different paths to the Super Bowl. The Patriots are undefeated and the Giants had a roller coaster of a season with Manning setting a new NFL record for most incompletions in a game against the Redskins and then guiding his team to three straight playoff road wins in Tampa Bay, Dallas and Green Bay. How do you think this game will pan out?

Dugas: It’s certainly hard to bet against the Patriots with what they have accomplished this season; it’s hard to think that anyone can beat them. They aren’t dominating the opponent anymore and have looked beatable on many occasions in the second half of the season including the regular season finale against these very Giants. Look to see Brady step up and at the very least do just enough to win. The Giants look great coming into this game having won 10 straight games on the road and look comfortable no matter who they’re facing; having taken out the #1 and #2 seeds in the NFC. I expect a good game, but in the end the Patriots are going to be too much to handle.

Coco: I agree that the Patriots will come out on top. The Giants didn’t make it this far by fluke and will keep it close but I’m looking for New England to start pulling away in the second half with Tom Brady being named the M.V.P….bold prediction I know.

In or Out
Jamario Moon is the real deal

Dugas: In, Jamario Moon will likely make his only All-Star weekend appearance this year in the Dunk Contest, but he is a hard worker who will bring energy and a positive vibe to a team.

Coco: I’m In as well. Jamario obviously won’t be in the running for the league lead in points, but as you said he’s a hard worker who brings lots of energy. Funny, sounds like a former Raptor fan favourite whose nickname initials were “Y.J.D.”.

Andrea Bargnani is a bad fit for the Raptors

Dugas: Out, Andrea is young and has a lot of time yet to develop. He is having a hard time finding his NBA game, whether it be inside or outside, but within a couple seasons he will be a consistent scoring threat.

Coco: In, Andrea is a talented young player, but I find his game to be quite similar to Bosh’s but with even less presence in the paint. Bargnani will definitely be a good, if not great, player in the NBA. I just find that his style of play, a big man who can shoot threes, doesn’t fit the Raptors as they already have a bunch of shooters. I think someone like a LaMarcus Aldridge who’s currently averaging 7.4 rebounds a game this year would be a better fit and something the team could use more of.

Ozzy

Lastly, I would like to finish off by saying that the Prince of Darkness isn’t dead yet, not by a long shot. I was at the Ozzy concert this past Saturday in London, Ontario and it was worth every penny. Great versions of Crazy Train, Suicide Solution, Bark At The Moon, Mama I’m Comin’ Home, a Zakk Wylde 20 minute guitar solo and then Paranoid to finish it all off. Ozzy said it best, “Forty years -- and they still can't kill me”.

All right, before we get to the crazy Giants Packers game, let’s break down what we saw in the AFC Championship Game.

(1) I thought I was watching a CFL game with the amount of times both teams were operating out of the shotgun despite the cold weather.

(2) The Chargers actually had a shot to beat the Pats if it wasn’t for their lousy red zone offence. New England only had 36 more yards, but San Diego had to kick field goals from the 9, 6, 23 and 7 yard lines. You can’t beat the Patriots with field goals. Just ain’t gonna happen.

(3) Kevin Faulk once again came up big in the playoffs. People forget just how important he is to this team. The last time the Pats won the Super Bowl, Faulk had one of the biggest plays of the 2005 playoffs. In New England’s 20-3 win over the Colts, the Patriots faced a third-and-ten at their own six-yard line, up by only 10 points early in the 4th quarter. Faulk made his only catch of the game: an athletic 11-yard catch to convert that third down. The Pats went on to score a touchdown on that drive, and that catch ended any chances of a Colts comeback.

(4) The fact that Randy Moss had only one catch is much ado about nothing. He was the ultimate decoy and allowed Welker and Faulk to collect 15 catches.

(5) Brady had the flu, but still he was mediocre at best yesterday. His end zone interception was brutal. He locked on to a well covered Welker in the right flat, and then tried to force the ball to Ben Watson in the back of the endzone. Brady should have known better-- throw the ball out of bounds and take the three points.

(6) Best play of the game: Reserve WR Kelley Washington downing a Pats punt inside the five-yard line. Asante Samuel picked off Rivers five plays later, and the Pats scored quickly to take a 7-6 lead... a lead they would never relinquish.

(7) On a scale of 1-10, how angry do you think Fantasy Owners of Laurence Maroney are right now? He had only one game all year where he had more than 20 carries during the regular season, but has 47 carries in two playoff games.

(8) This might sound crazy but I say the Chargers should trade LaDainian Tomlinson right now. He will be 29 years old when the 2008 NFL season starts, and has about 3,000 carries/receptions on his career. The team would get multiple high draft picks, and would still have the effective combo of Michael Turner and Darren Sproles to run the ball. Did the Giants have a drop off after losing Tiki Barber? The Patriots were just as effective with Heath Evans as the tailback (yes, THE Heath Evans) as they were with Maroney. If there is anything we know about winning in the NFL, it’s that having an elite single RB is way down on the list of top priorities.

... as a Giants fan I need some more time to get my thoughts around what happened on Sunday. More to come on Tuesday.

Let’s get this blog thing going, shall we. Yes, I’ve finally entered the ‘Blog Generation’ … so let the corruption and blogging begin.

Now, before you all starting assessing my on-air likeness (and yes, I’m all natural), you’ve got to check out this guy. Remember the Boom-Goes-the-Dynamite dude? Who can forget that train-wreck? Well, this most recent ‘sports guy’ gives the Dynamite Kid a run for his money.

http://www.coedmagazine.com/entertainment/4884


That guy going on-air – bad decision. But it’s nowhere near as bad of a decision as this clown, deciding to tattoo the Patriots symbol on his head! What’s going through his head when he thought that was a good idea? Clearly, he wasn’t thinking about ever having a sex life again … EVER!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8guMii5Uuw


Anyway, let’s get to business and talk some footy. A story flying way under the radar last week managed to catch my eye. The coolest bald guy I know (aside from my father), the man, the icon, Zinedine Zidane expressed interest in following Mr. Beckham’s lead, coming to the MLS. To the North American soccer-hater out there (and we all know one of them), Zidane coming across the pond would give them more reason to think the league is on the road to bust. I can hear the comparisons to the NASL already! The same argument comes out every time – he’s a washed up soccer player, past there prime, coming to a league to make a lot of money while only helping the economics of the league short-term. The same person will also say in the MLS, a player like Zidane’s expected to score goals to appease the uneducated American soccer fan, which puts a premium on goal scoring and statistics instead of ball possession and mastery on the ball.

Okay, so now that garbage is out of the way, I’ll tell you what I think. Zidane to the MLS – make it happen, and make it happen now! Any soccer observer (casual or serious) will tell you the French playmaker was the best player (head-butts aside) in the 2006 World Cup. Theirs is no way a player of his pedigree’s skill-set has dropped significantly over the past year and a half. The reason why he retired after the 2006 World Cup had nothing to do with ability. He has now 35 and will undoubtedly be out to change the embarrassing image that brought an end to his illustrious career. What’s in it for the MLS?

I say instant credibility. It’s not as if Zidane’s a run of the mill veteran who performed well in some generic European league unbeknownst to the North American public. Zidane is an icon – dare I say the best of his generation. The influence he could have on the younger generations of Canadian and American players going through the MLS system could be invaluable. Zidane possesses the type of class and quality in his play that should be more readily preached in the MLS. To make it clear, I have no problem with the fast pace and long-ball driven style of the MLS. However, there are times when putting a foot on the ball and knocking it around not only provides style, but substance. If Zidane is actually serious about his desire to resurrect his career (and I think he is), the MLS should do all in there power to get his signature. The fans should not only demand it, but they deserve it! Hey, isn’t Toronto FC in the market for some good players?


What else’s on The Grill?
- I’ll be going 1-on-1 with Raptors rookie Jamario Moon Thursday night. Got a question for Jamario? Email me at gareth.wheeler@suntv.canoe.ca
- ‘Rock Band’ for Xbox 360 is amazing. It’s the ultimate party game.
- Check out HBO’s ROME. Although the series wasn’t picked up for a third season, the first two are definitely worth a watch.
- I’m going to see Peter, Bjorn and John Tuesday. I’ll let you know how it was.
- Also, Sun TV’s very own Tara Slone is playing the Tattoo Rock Bar on Queen St. Wednesday night. Tickets are $10. Drowning Girl is also playing.
- Chicago Bulls second-round draft pick Jameson Curry was arrested last week at 2:25am in Idaho last week for … get this, PUBLIC URINATION! Two questions: 1) What’s he doing out in Idaho at 2:25 am, and 2) Who hasn’t taken a leak in public?
- The Bud Light “dude” commercial … INCREDIBLE!
- Consider the Bills playing a regular season game in Toronto next season to be the equivalent of having one-foot out the door. Sorry fine citizens of Buffalo … I do sympathize.

I always love hearing from you - got a question or comment? Drop me a line at gareth.wheeler@suntv.canoe.ca

GW

Tonight's show:
-went really well, good chemistry btw. JACK ARMSTRONG, NEIL LUMSDEN & NORM RUMACK.
-Best part was Block 2 when both Neil and Jack had very strong and relevant opinions re: NFL owner's approroval of the Bills playing a regular season game in Toronto next season. Jack is a native of Western New York and, of course, Neil won 3 Grey Cups in his CFL career and has a son (Jesse) who many consider the brightest star in the league... Sun TV tonight @ 11:00pm.

Tomorrow's show:
-doing something a little different: A "battle of the sexes" show.
-Two hotties, Jill Clark (host of twentysomethingtv.com) and "The World's Sexiest Comedian" Nicole Arbour join the panel with the idiots Cauz and Wheeler. This could be extremely sexist. Personally, somewhat concerned in that we've never done a show like this, but whatever - worth a gamble.

And here's my favourite sports story of the day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAY0ISAWMW4

I've even heard a broadcaster or two in this city say this "blowing their wad" on-air and it leads me to this: WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH PEOPLE SAYING THIS? I mean, "blowing your wad"??? It's funny but almost timid, juvenile and entirely uncreative, ya know? I'm not so much offended as I am disappointed that they couldn't come up with something stronger. Something that's not such a "slip of the tongue" and more WOW-factor. And, if I'm right, if it IS a slip of the tongue, are these guys actually saying this in conversation? If you're with your friends, it better be sicker. If you're with the ladies, it best be slicker... man! Bust a nut!

I. can't. belive. I'm. blogging.

Not "wow, I've made it!". Not at all. More like, "this-shit-must-be-way-too-easy"...

So here I am. I'm Robert Gibson. I produce the show. If there's an authoritative voice on the life and times of The (Casino Rama) Grill Room, I'm the dude. I was "associate producing" the show in it's early days, when it was decided that the set should include as much blue as to insult you; when Wheeler WASN'T the host, when Steve Buffery was on the show every day (insane, I know, but I survived) and when we sat at a desk big enought to accomodate Roger Clemens' ENTIRE legal staff.

If you're reading this blog, my assumption is you will probably agree with the follwoing statement: Man, the show has come a logn way in 2+ years.

Wheeler has brought a style that no other sports show can bring. Have you seen this dude? What other host would even consider wearing vest after vest UNDER a sweater with a rock shirt - ON TV! Mad risspeck. More importantly, he has a unique view of the sporting world and he subscribes to the same tonic I do when it comes to the sports media: JUST 'CAUSE YOUR A SPORTS GUY, DOESN'T MEAN YOU NEED TO CARRY THE JOCK TORCH. Lighten up! Listen to some Echo and the Bunnymen, don't wear runners with your suit and for god sake, it's cool to admit your interest lie outside of the sporting world.

Cauz was brought in a year ago from TSN's "Off The Record" and offered two things, straight up: 1) The office is funnier now and 2) the man works harder than non-union types.

And then there's our latest addition: Coco. Corey Struthers started as an intern and still gets treated as one, even though we pay him now. The best of both worlds.

I have no idea what I'm going to do with this blog. It may be an outlet for me to vent on all things Norm Rumack. It could emerge as a portal for all stuff "I find cool". And the lack of interest the general public will have in that idea, may just lead me to use this as a place to post some sports stories and opinions that may have flown under the radar.

So, we'll see. In the meantime, keep watching the show, keep up with this blog (my god you're reading this, WE LOVE YOU) and let us know how we're doing.

With the NFL season done Gareth, Producer Robert Gibson, Jack of all trades Corey Struthers and myself will be turning our full attention to the Cansino Rama Grill Room Blog.

To get things started I went to the Kings/Raps game the other night. With Mike Bibby, Ron Artest and Brad Miller coming back form injury I figured I’d check out the game to see where each team was as we are nearing the half way point.

Here are the eight main observations I took from the game:

(1) No way was there 17,760 fans in attendance last night. Toronto is a solid basketball city but there is no way you can convince me that 17,000 fans were at the game last night. It was a Wednesday and Sacramento is not exactly a marquee team in the NBA so I can’t blame fans for staying away.

(2) Mike Bibby is a fraud. Is that statement a little harsh? Well yes it is and it certainly is filled with a knee jerk reaction on my part considering he just came back from an injury, but hear me out. Bibby is a great shooter, no question about it. But is he really a guy that can lead a team? I say no. The team quit in the 3rd quarter and looked lost for most of the night. The blame has to fall on a point guard considered by many to be among the best in the league. He is too small for the “2” but Bibby doesn’t have the court awareness to be considered an above average point guard. Basically he is an undersized “2” playing the point. The guy played 29 minutes last night and didn’t have a single assist! Are you kidding me? How does that happen when you’re the point guard? Did he just graduate from the Tyronn Lue school of basketball?

(3) Does anyone really know what kind of team the Kings are? Beyond Kevin Martin’s quirky greatness I just don’t think this team has any direction. Bibby is miscast. Artest is a great player, but how long will it be before he wants out? Brad Miller plays well for stretches but it bothered me that he seemed disinterested for much of the second half. He had 14 points in the first half and only two in the second. Not sure how much of that is on Brad and how much is on the PG’s for not getting him the ball.

(4) The smartest player on the floor for the Raptors was Anthony Parker. Parker was always one step ahead of the defence. His feel, his anticipation for where the ball was going led to three steals and a number of deflections. Parker was a force defensively. Throw in his 12 points, 5 assists and 50% shooting and you realize just how important Parker is for the Raptors.

(5) Joe Dumars is a brilliant GM but what was he thinking getting rid of Carlos Delfino? It’s not like Detroit has had a great bench over the years. They couldn’t find a spot for a great lockdown defender who is shooting over 40% from beyond the arc?

(6) The best part of Chris Bosh’s game wasn’t the ridiculous number of dunks he had. Rather, it was every time in the second half when the Kings even remotely looked like they had a pulse Bosh would take over and just drive to the net, get fouled and hit his free throws. Beyond everything else that is what you want from your best player. A guy who will take the ball and ram it down the other teams defence when your own team is sputtering offensively.

(7) Jose Calderon is as important to this team’s success as Chris Bosh, at least until TJ Ford comes back. When Calderon and Bosh left the floor the Raptors were up 44-35 with 6:49 to go in the second quarter. By the time Bosh had come back the score was 46-43. With that said the team can get away with Bosh being out, but not Jose. The drop off at point guard between Calderon and the frightening combo of Juan Dixon and Derrick Martin is massive. Dixon has no clue how to run a team and to be fair that really has never been his game.

(8) All right lets get to the 40 ton gorilla that we haven’t talked about, Andrea Bargnani. Now I don’t want to be one of those crazy reactionary types who claim the sky is falling after a couple bad games but it needs to be said, there is something horribly wrong with Bargnani right now.

-Forget about the fact that Kris Humphries outscored him last night.

-Forget about the fact that Bargnani was slow on his defensive rotations last night.

-Forget about the fact that in the months of December and January he has more fouls than rebounds.

All right that’s enough of that. But there is something rotten in the state of Italy. Bargnani looks lost on offence, tentative when he has the ball and his shot is no where to be seen. He is shooting .378 for the season and was horrible last night. During one stretch in the first quarter Bargnani took three shots in a row and missed everyone of them. To make matters worse teams are not exactly scheming to stop him. They are leaving him open and he is still missing his shots. Detroit did the same thing two nights ago.

Listen the Raptors will make the playoffs even with Bargnani giving them 25 minutes of nothing. Toronto could actually win more games without Bargnani playing. But for this team to go deep into the playoffs, for this team to become a year in year out threat to win the East Andrea is going to have to get better, much better.