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File this under brimming with excitement: In the age of lame duck court-side reporters, isn't it a bit of fresh air to have Jalen Rose working the sidelines for TNT during the playoffs? Charisma, playoff availability, and 3/4 of a communications degree - I think Jalen will be ratings juggernaut as he turns out the first memorable side-line interviews in the post Kolber-Namath era. Craig Sager and Cheryl Miller be damned.
I will have more on the NBA later. Maybe tomorrow.
File this under 'did you just poop the bed?': why did the studio behind the English film version of The Rocket choose April 21 for distribution? Granted the film seems to be targeted to hockey historians and women - its just like a previously made Heritage Moment and it is sappy a la Cinderella Man - but wouldn't hockey fans in general be drawn to this film? And isn't this the first day of the NHL playoffs? I wonder why, when a Canadian film typically has shelf life of at most a couple of weeks in English theatres, a distributor would push this film out when the first weekend is a write-off for a large part of the targeted demographic? Mind you, i always thought that any film released between mid-January and late-April was a film that was marketable only in an unconventional sense. So perhaps with the Rocket, unconventional marketing calls for drowning the film in a slate of NHL playoff games. i dunno.
UPDATED!!!! Green is right; Red is wrong - and man, was i wrong. hilariously wrong.
My Quickee NHL Playoff Picks:
First Round
East
Ottawa over Tampa Bay in 5
Carolina over Montreal in 6
New York Rangers over New Jersey in 7
Philadelphia over Buffalo in 7
West
Detroit over Edmonton in 4
Dallas over Colorado in 5
Calgary over Anaheim in 7
San Jose over Nashville in 7 (it was 5 games not 7. but that is just splitting hairs)
Second Round
East
New York Rangers over Ottawa in 7
Carolina over Philadelphia in 6
West
Detroit over San Jose in 6
Dallas over Calgary in 7
Conference Finals
East
New York Rangers over Carolina in 6
West
Dallas over Detroit in 7
Stanley Cup
Dallas over New York Rangers in 6
Storyline: Bettman gets his big American market Stanley Cup; still, nobody watches.
Something to watch: Thanks to Gary Bettman pre-emptively calling out his officials, the refs are now even more important to the outcome of the game. No longer will refs just "let them play". Penalties will be called regardless of the score, time, or player. What could be scary, and what Don Cherry pointed out last night on Coach's Corner, will be if the officials will be so bent on sticking to Gary's mandate that they will call questionable penalties in crucial parts of games just to prove their loyalty to Gary. After seeing the Dan Boyle penalty in game one of the Tampa Bay-Ottawa series that lead to Jason Spezza's game winning powerplay goal, I think Don might be onto something.
Cool on the Inter-web:
Nice to see Midlake on the Toronto Star's Anti-Hit List for this week. Ignoring my conflict of interest with the song title, I know that 'Roscoe' will be on my Best of 2006 CD sampler. It's alt-rock-country at its psychodelic best.
How can you not make money on an alternative route/toll road in the traffic quagmire known as Toronto? I find this all a little suspicious. Mike Harris, you are looking well these days.
I heard about this film on the message board of the NBA Cares Celebrity Fantasy Basketball Challenge and thought it was an internet practical joke by Sam Jackson. Apparently, 'Snakes on a Plane' is really happening, and Sam Jackson is really in it. August 18th is the release date. And yes, the title really is that self-explanatory. Between now and then, expect tons of film-inspired, non-Studio promotion by people who find the film's title and premise too good not to skewer.
Apparently, today was the NHL Draft Lottery. The St. Louis Blues won, thereby retaining their number one pick overall.
But what I don't understand is how the NHL didn't make the lottery bigger deal. Granted this season's draft lacks the household name of a Sidney Crosby, last summer's draft lottery made for exciting television. All those GMs and Presidents of hopeful teams sweating out the wait in a ballroom in New York hoping to pick Sidney Crosby. It was tense. It was exciting. It was sport. More importantly, it worked.
My proposal for next year:
On the first day of the playoffs, delay the start of the first games by 15 minutes. During this time, gather representatives from all the non-playoff teams - yes, they will be available - and reveal the draft order on a nationally televised platform. You can even kill excess time by interviewing the representative from the team that wins the lottery. Hey, doesn't this sound a lot like the NBA Draft Lottery?
This is basic sports marketing, and the NHL, who is trying for greater interest and appeal, should know better.
np: Me Too - The Clipse ft. Pharrell
yes, "the e.lo and ross show" was put on hiatus for retooling earlier this year; perhaps there will be a comeback special in the fall. really, this is dependent upon your availability and salary demands.
here's hoping your next quarter century is even better than the last one.
np - Birthday Cake - Cibo Mato
despite their dreadful play in January and early February, the Leafs were in playoff contention into the Easter weekend. well, mathematical playoff contention certainly isn't a reflection of competitiveness, as the playoff-making Leafs would surely be a five game speedbump for either Ottawa or Carolina. so while the Leafs survived past Good Friday, they didn't make it to Easter Sunday. and Pat Quinn didn't even make to Jesus' resurrection.
so if you are scoring at home that is:
Leafs 0
Quinn 0
Jesus 1
in any event, MLSE just held the press conference announcing Pat Quinn's firing, which could have only been less surprising if Leafs TV had spliced footage of Pat walking to the rink with Sean Penn in "Dead Man Walking" and played it on the ACC Jumbotron.
so yes, we all saw this move coming - a move precipitated with the unceremonious revoking of his general manager duties in the summer of 2003.
but there is one surprise and that has to do with the timing of it all. rather than wait until saturday when the playoffs are in full swing or until after the marlies are eliminated from the playoffs, MLSE springs this announcement and all of its related intrigue on the toronto media today.
today there are no nhl games, no nba games, and no jays game. heck, they did this while the Raptors were just down the hall cleaning out their lockers. quinn's firing is the entire media's focus. is it any wonder that fergie was being grilled today? every media person was there. what was the announcement by the media relations department today? "chris bosh will be answering a couple of questions. oh, and while you are here, just down the hall..."
(btw: it was somewhat funny to see fergie lob up vague softball sized answers to journalists and not expect a pointed followup question. you could see fergie visibly tighten up whenever steve simmons had the floor. and when a sportswriter who is the antithesis of a 60 minute investigative journalist makes you cringe, you know your answers really are that empty. "we won a record 26 games at home this season." the outcomes are more absolute under the new rules. ties don't happen. of course records for wins would be broken, john.)
so now, we have the entire toronto hockey world speculating as to the coaching candidates, as well as the direction of the club, and looking for answers from any and all sources. wouldn't you love to be paul maurice trying to prepare the marlies for the playoffs today?
my prediction like everyone else in the sports world:
-current Marlies coach Paul Maurice gets a "promotion" to Leafs Head Coach once his team is eliminated by Grand Rapids
-former Leafs assistant coach turned candidate for other position in the organization Keith Acton becomes the Marlies head coach.
-Toronto Star writer Damien Cox sets a record for number of times he uses the "i told you so" face on television appearances.
this was the clandestine plan Fergie had all along. it's a shame that the Leafs entered the first post-lockout NHL season without putting this plan in motion and rather relying on the GM's assertion that that they will be competitive. but those talking points are just par for the course. after all, resurrecting a franchise nearly four decades removed from hockey dominance seems to have become more about faith than action.
hey, maybe Jesus is available?
np - The Libertine by Patrick Wolf
