Teams don’t quit on their coach. They quit on each other. The biggest fraud among the reasons why Dwane Casey was fired as head coach of the Toronto Raptors has to be that his team quit on him.
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Because no one gets to break up with Toronto, the current humiliation of the Raptors by LeBron James is being seen as all about Hogtown. Sad. But when you’re the centre of your own universe, you think you should be able to buy, intimidate or use every means at your disposal to get what you want. Now.
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It was a moment of blissful self unawareness that makes the NHL so enduringly quaint.
Gary Bettman’s wind therapist, deputy commissioner Bill Daly, was hosting the annual draft lottery Saturday night before and during Game Two of the Las Vegas/ San Jose Western Conference semifinal. Arrayed behind him on the dais were representatives of the NHL’s huddled masses, the teams concentrated on one night in June rather than a playoff run in April or May.
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Postcards from the NHL playoffs: While the Boston Bruins have done well enough when he was injured this season, Patrice Bergeron clearly remains the straw that stirs the B’s drink. The 32-year-old centre doesn’t put up Alex Ovechkin numbers, but he is the kind of difference maker every team needs.
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We used to think it was all about the talent. Now, we think it’s all about the Benjamin’s. We’re still behind. Because in the NFL, it’s about the talent, the Benamin’s, and a a lot of context.
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April is best known for playoffs and spring. Seeing as how spring has failed to make an appearance so far, we shall content ourselves with the playoffs, NHL and NBA variety.
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In the sport of MMA, the biggest stars come from the UFC. Or do they? A closer look may reveal that the UFC corporate side has actually driven the product more than we may realize. Because the UFC doesn't build stars so much as it acquires them.
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The MLB season began this weekend, and already twelve teams have been eliminated from the playoffs. What, you might say? We are only three or four games into the season. How can teams already be eliminated?
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This has not been a vintage winter for hockey in the country that worships the game. Consider the wreckage:
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The first question anyone should ask is why in the name of Maradona’s Hand Of God would anyone want to do business with FIFA, the body governing world soccer?
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NFL Free Agency is like getting mail! It's like Christmas morning! Mom and Dad got you that 6'4", 215 pound receiver you've been asking for! Santa gave you a linebacker with 4.4 speed and cover skills! Life is good.
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One weekend makes no difference when you have been as terrible as the Browns. They’ve been so bad for so long that they've bridged generations. You could have been born before the new millennium and understand the Browns suck. One big weekend won't make any difference.
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credit: Reuters
It’s hard to find someone who doesn’t disapprove of his antics away from the office. Women, in general, can’t stand him. Despite all this, we can’t take our eyes off him.
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Roger Bannister, the first person to break the 4-minute mile, The Miracle Mile, died over the weekend at the age of 88. The Dowbboy was a toddler then but had the good fortune to interview Bannister and Landy at the 1996 Victoria Commonwealth Games.
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Don’t look now but Gary Bettman may be running out of second acts. The NHL commissioner for life has spent a good deal of time pushing off the dodgy reality of his league’s lace in the broadcast universe. He’s kept a marginal attraction afloat when ESPN and others ignore the league.
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I know it’s still four years till the next Winter Olympics in Japan. But when they start the planning for Canada’s next Winter Games, might I recommend that they let the freestylers run the show?
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Call them the Missing Olympics. The Pyeongchang Winter Games are missing a few of the staples of previous Olympics. And that’s bad. And it’s also good.
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Too often the hype for a fight is about the weapons. The hype for Luke Rockhold versus Yoel Romero was no different, with a lot of lip service paid to the things we love about Rockhold and Romero’s game – the athleticism, technical ability, and vicious finishing ability. But that hype blinded us to their shortcomings and ultiamtely the reason the fight went the way it did.
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A while back, broadcaster Bryant Gumbel groused that he never watches the Winter Olympics. Gumbel, who is black, reasoned that because there was little or no representation from Africa or other warm parts of the planet, who wanted to see a white Olympics with just half the nations of the world represented?
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We’re told that the sincerest form of flattery is imitation. If it’s the case that teams are imitating the Houston Astros, then it’s no surprise prominent agents for Major League Baseball players are screaming foul about the phony war going on in the baseball talent pool.
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