Monday Headlines

Here they are again, back despite lack of popular or any other kind of demand...

SHOULD YOU HAVE EXPECTED ANYTHING BUT MANURE FROM COW-TOWN?

On the whole it was a pretty embarrassing 10 days for Calgary Flames fans. And I won't lie to you, I'm glad it's over. I couldn't bear to watch any more.

I can't believe this series went 6 games. If not for the otherworldly goal tending Calgary got from Miikka Kiprusoff, Detroit would have wrapped it up in 2 games - and that's not even possible. Calgary was nearly doubled in total shots for the series - 255 to 129, that's an average of 42.5 shots per game people. I don't care who you are (or think you are), you're never going to beat anyone giving up an average of 42.5 shots per game.

I would expect a big shake-up in the off season and it's probably going to start behind the bench. Rookie head coach Jim Playfair looked totally lost at times during the playoffs and absolutely lost control of his bench at the end of Game 5.

As a fan it's tough to swallow that a team with so much talent and potential underachieved so badly. Now I guess I know how Ottawa fans feel.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and make a prediction (and we all know how those turn out) - expect a Jarome Iginla trade, either at the draft or later this summer.

SIDNEY CROSBY'S FOOT, NHL'S HEART BROKEN

Apparently Sidney Crosby played the last couple weeks of the season and the playoffs with a broken foot. In all seriousness, good for him for sucking it up and playing through it. Still in all seriousness, how can I stop hating the guy when I can't stop hearing about him and his feet even they're all out of the playoffs.

Eventually I am going to get over all of this, I swear.

A side note: I've analyzed CBC's replay music/noise that was brought up here a couple weeks ago. My determination is that it's the beating of 1000 angel's wings followed by a metallic whoosh.

WHAT YOU MISSED IF YOU MADE THE MISTAKE OF WATCHING HOCKEY ON SUNDAY NIGHT

If you happened to be watching the 3rd inning of the Red Sox-Yankee game on Sunday night, as I was (no, I was not watching Calgary play like an AHL team), then you saw something pretty spectacular - back to back to back to back home runs. Manny Ramirez, J.D. Drew, Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek hit consecutive solo home runs. As someone who watched it happen, I can tell you it was surreal to see it unfold. It's one of those things that you may only see a couple times in your life.

See, there is stuff going on outside of the NHL playoffs.

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE ACC

In an effort to create a distinct home-court advantage, the Toronto Raptors handed out red T-shirts before Saturday's playoff game. They wanted to turn the Air Canada Centre in to a "sea of red." But in what has to be either one of the worst marketing blunders or one of the best pieces of gamesmanship in sports history, when the teams took the court, the New Jersey Nets came out in their seldom-seen red third-jerseys, rather than their usual road blues.

Now I'm no marketing expert, but since the Raptors wear white at home and you know the Nets have red jersey they could potentially wear, why not make it a "white out" and give out white shirts? Just a thought.

As an aside, whoever was in charge of the TSN broadcast for Saturday's game should be fired. Not only was the game not shot in HD but the colours were so fouled up in the broadcast that all the red in the crowd and on the court came out bright orange. It looked like a Syracuse game in there. The only two cameras that were broadcasting in the proper colours were the two automated cameras under the baskets.

Not a good start to the playoffs all around for the Raptors organization. (FYI: the Raps lost 96-91)

INSERT NBA RELATED HEADLINE HERE

If you consider yourself a fan of sport, do yourself a favour and check out the Phoenix Suns-L.A. Lakers playoff series - Game 2 is Tuesday night. You may never see a better illustration of two polar-opposite offensive strategies. The Lakers offence sets up like this: A) get the ball to Kobe Bryant B) everyone else stand around and let Kobe do his thing. The Lakers are so bad offensively that this is the only way they can compete. When Kobe is on, he is almost impossible to stop - as we saw in the first half of Game 1 yesterday. But when Kobe went witch's teat cold in the second half, the Lakers had no second option and they lost the game.

The Suns on the other hand have the most offensive talent in the league and can beat you about 17 different ways with the 5 guys they have on the floor. Watching Steve Nash distribute the ball and run Phoenix's offense is a pretty impressive thing to see.

It'll be interesting that in his best year yet, Nash probably won't win the MVP, after winning the last two.