Odds and Ends

...Did you ever think that the only thing you needed for you life to be complete was Manny Ramirez's barbecue? Well let me tell you, it's your lucky day.

...I should mention (brag) while I have the opportunity that I correctly picked 30 of the 32 first round March Madness games, and one of those losses was in overtime (don't you always get a point for an overtime loss???). What happened in the second round...I'd rather not talk about.

...Check out this interview with the Calgary Flames' Craig Conroy on ESPN.com. He is easily the happiest man in hockey and is one of the few actual personalities in the game.

...In other Calgary Flames news (I've tried not to write about them too much because I don't want to be too much of a homer), the struggles of their rookie head coach Jim Playfair have finally garnered some national media attention. It's amazing how long it takes the national media to grasp on to a story coming out of Western Canada.
Due to his total lack of emotion and savvy behind the bench, me and my fellow Regina-based Flames pundit Cooper now both believe Playfair to be some sort of cyborg, but not the super-intelligent kind. He's the kind that runs on punch-cards, with the cards being manually fed, mostly incorrectly, by his assistant coaches.
Either that or he's a giant cold-blooded lizard with a fantastic camouflage ability. No living human being could be that emotionless.

...It was announced that this morning Toronto Raptors forward Andrea Bargnani underwent an emergency appendectomy surgery and is out indefinitely. This is a real shame as Bargnani is fast becoming more and more popular across the NBA and is a big part of any success the Raptors have. And let's be honest, I have a little bit of a man-crush on him at this point.

...My prediction for the Stanley Cup Finals? Pittsburgh vs. Vancouver. If recent history has shown us anything, it's that the NHL will mandate that one struggling U.S franchise and one Canadian franchise will make the finals. Think about it - Pittsburgh just got a deal for a new arena, they have a great crop of young talent, including the 'Saviour of the NHL' - wouldn't the NHL want to showcase that on their biggest stage? Just don't say I didn't warn you.

...You know what I can't wait for...the CFL season to begin. I know, I know, that's an absurd statement. It's not really the football I'm looking forward to as much as the local sports reporting on the subject here in Regina. There is growing dissatisfaction with the quality of sports coverage, mainly Saskatchewan Roughrider coverage, among intelligent sports fans that I talk to. As there is only one option for print media here in Regina, we only get one point of view on our sports scene. And that option is already so far up the Roughrider administration's (expletive deleted) that's it's not even funny...actually after thinking about it, it is pretty funny. You can read for yourself here. I am eager to give everyone a forum with which to discuss this subject in the upcoming months.

...It would have taken quite alot for me to not only realize there was a Cricket World Cup taking place right now...but for me to actually write about it...the odds on that a week ago would have been off the charts. But in order to satisfy the overseas readers (of which, you might be surprised to know, there are actually some) I will post something about cricket. Not that I have to make anything up here, the Cricket World Cup has been nothing short of interesting. First a huge upset by the Irish over Pakistan, followed the next day by the death of Pakistan's coach, which Jamaican officials are now calling 'suspicious'. Now just a few days later, the Irish have suffered a blow as their former Cricket Union president has died while at the world cup. And apparently Canada had a team in this tournament, which was soundly eliminated. Who knew there could be so much going on with a sport where they stop to eat lunch in the middle of playing it?

...Just because everybody should read him. Check out ESPN.com's Bill Simmons here. For my money he's the best sportswriter around at the moment. I would put Steven Brunt as a close second.