The Links

...I think this is the video of Cooper doing his header in Banff 4 years ago (that joke is so inside, only about 3 people reading this will get it).

...If you want to read a real story about Bill Walsh (as opposed to mine) check out Michael Wilbon's story from the Washington Post today. I'm not sure if you'll have to sign up to read it or not but it's well worth the 30 seconds it will take you. While you're at the Washington Post site you should check out Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser's Talking Points - it's pretty good sports talk and it's basically just them yelling at each other for 10 minutes. Think of it as the poor man's Pardon the Interruption. Oh, Wilbon's story also ran in the Leader-Post today, so you can check it out in there as well.

...Normally I try to keep everything on Sports As Life to a PG-13 standard - so I'm throwing up a parental advisory for this one, it's nothing too serious just a few choice words. But it's just too funny not to put up. It's Vince Vaughn busting Rory Cochrane hard on Dinner for Five - which might be the greatest TV show idea of all time.

...I know I've linked to Bill Simmons' podcasts before but not this one - his podcast with Adam Carolla from May 15th is a must listen. It's on the right hand side of the page - you'll see it.

...There is nothing funny about this at all but it is some pretty startling footage. It seems ridiculous that a bridge could just give way like that.

Artist of the Week

This week's Artist is a repeat, sort of... I know put up one of his clips in the Links previously. However, this week he's making the jump to the big show.

His name is Cas Haley, a reggae/roots musician from Texas who also happens to currently be on America's Got Talent. To combat the problem of having to watch him on reality TV, I've got an excellent system worked out. My Significant Other watches the show and then lets me know when he's on so that I can see him and only him. Good deal.

This is a clip of him doing Walking on the Moon by the Police. I know I've put this one up before but it's so good it deserves another look.

And this is him doing Higher and Higher by Jackie Wilson. Brings back fond memories of Ghostbusters 2 - as the song was the best part of that movie.

Here is the Myspace page for his actual band called Woodbelly.

If there was ever a person that would make me call in and vote on a reality program, he would be that person.

Toronto vs. Boston - But Not the Maple Leafs and Bruins

Nope, today we're talking about two teams that actually matter.

If the reports on ESPN.com and everywhere else are true - and I always operate under the assumption that everything I read on the Internet is factually-based - then the Boston Celtics have somehow managed to trade for Kevin Garnett, formerly of the Minnesota Timberwolves. I have no desire to write about Boston's reaction to the trade or how they pulled it off, if you're interested in such things, here is Bill Simmons' column from yesterday about the trade.

What my concern is with is how this trade is going to affect the Toronto Raptors, reigning Atlantic Division champs - who just happen to share a division with the Celtics. My initial reaction was that the addition of Garnett meant the Celtics were now favorites to win the Division and probably the whole Eastern Conference. However, upon further review I'm not so sure anymore.

Make no mistake, the Celtics probably have more star power than any other team in the East, including Miami, Detroit, and Cleveland - with Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. But can you name another player on their roster? Because the Celtics had to trade away 5 players to get Garnett, their depth chart is now slimmer than Michael Vick's chances of being an honorary judge at the Westminster Dog Show. That's going to mean an awful lot of minutes for 3 guys who are all in their 30's.

Which brings me to the Raptors. The idea behind this post was to show how the Raptors matched up against the Celtics - as they should be the 2 teams vying for the Atlantic Division - and honestly I didn't think the Raptors were going to match up very well. So I started by writing out the probable starting 5 for the Celtics - Kendrick Perkins, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo. Then I wrote out the Raptors that I thought would start at those corresponding positions - Rasho Nesterovic, Chris Bosh, Anthony Parker, Jason Kapono, T.J Ford.

However, as I was going down the Raptors roster I realized or remembered that the Raptors are a ridiculously deep team. These are the players that didn't make that starting 5 for the Raptors - Andrea Bargnani (my man Il Mago, who could easily be a starter, just needs some more experience), Jose Calderon (again could easily start in place of T.J Ford), Jorge Garbajosa ( a starter last season when Mo Pete was on the pine), Joey Graham (who was a bum in the playoffs, but played well in the regular season), and Carlos Delfino (by all accounts an above average defender who came over from Detroit - and averaged 16 minutes a game last year on a very good Detroit team). And my list of Raptors leaves out Kris Humphries, who I really like and was a great energy guy off the bench last year.

So if you're scoring at home, the Raptors have up to 11 guys (Nesterovic, Bosh, Parker, Kapono, Ford, Bargnani, Calderon, Garbajosa, Graham, Delfino and Humphries - pretty impressive when they're all listed in a row, eh?) that can contribute in big ways, as compared to Boston's 5 - well 6 I guess if rookie Glen "Big Baby" Davis can contribute.

Now don't get me wrong - Boston's Big Three are far and away better than anybody Toronto puts at those positions. I'm terrified the Garnett is going to eat Chris Bosh up every time they play. I don't know if Bosh has ever consistently faced a big man of Garnett's skill level and intensity. It's going to be a great challenge for Bosh at any rate - I'm hoping for some Optimus Prime vs. Megatron type battles from those 2 guys. And then Pierce and Allen are going to be better than anyone Toronto puts out there, unless Bargnani comes out and plays like a monster. At Center it's a wash between the two teams. The only position that Toronto has a clear advantage is at Point Guard - where both T.J Ford and Jose Calderon are going to be better than anybody Boston throws out there.

However, I don't know if you can win a championship or even a division with only 3 impact players playing big minutes over an 82 game season. I know that Toronto can't match the talent and star power of Boston's Big Three but I love Toronto's depth and I think that might be the key to them matching or surpassing what they did last year. I'm not going to say that Toronto is going to win the Atlantic Division and Boston isn't - but I think it might be closer than people think it's going to be.

All I know for sure is that I'm already all kinds of fired up for the NBA season to start. Toronto and Boston should have some epic battles this year - well, a guy can hope anyway.

This may be the year I break down and buy a Bargnani jersey.

Thank You Bill Walsh

It's been a tough couple of days.

First Tom Snyder on Sunday night. Then Bill Walsh and Ingmar Bergman yesterday - which Cooper very astutely equated with the day that Jim Henson and Sammy Davis Jr. died. And now today Britney Spears has finalized her divorce from K-Fed.

That may be the straw that breaks the camel's back.

No, in all seriousness I just wanted to say a couple quick words about legendary San Francisco 49er coach Bill Walsh. I'm not going to write about what a great man he was because I didn't know him. And I'm not going to write about him being my favorite coach of all time because quite frankly I don't really remember him coaching - he retired when I was 9. But he did build and coach the team that was my first NFL love, the 49ers. And he mentored the quarterback that was my idol growing up, Joe Montana. So I do have a strong connection with him even if I don't specifically remember him doing those things.

I don't want to say that Walsh revolutionized the NFL because that might be a little strong but he definitely changed the way that head coaches coach. Walsh was the first to script the first 15 plays his offence would run in a game - a practice that is now copied by almost all the head coaches in the NFL. But more importantly, Walsh created the West Coast Offence - which is used, at least in some form, by, I would guess, at least 65% of teams in the NFL. He didn't get the nickname 'The Genius' for nothing. His coaching tree, which includes Super Bowl winning coaches George Seifert, Mike Shanahan, Mike Holmgren, and Jon Gruden, is unrivaled in the NFL.

I hadn't really planned on writing anything about Bill Walsh, because really, who am I to write anything about him, but after I had received a few sympathetic emails from people who know of my affinity for the 49ers, especially those teams from the mid to late 80's, I thought that I should write something. And now that I'm looking back and thinking about everything - those Walsh-led 49er teams are the reason I started following the NFL and fell in love with 4 down football. Oh, I'm sure I would have found the NFL eventually anyway, but I probably would have ended up a Cowboys fan or something.

So thank you Bill Walsh. Thanks for Joe Montana, for Jerry Rice, for Tom Rathman, for Ronnie Lott, for Roger Craig. Thanks for 5 Super Bowl wins. And thanks for sparing me the indignity of becoming a Dallas Cowboys fan.

Monday Headlines

BEST FANS IN THE WORLD WILL SUPPORT THEIR TEAM AGAIN

- AT LEAST FOR THIS WEEK

I'm not entirely sure how/why/when the fans of the Saskatchewan Roughriders claimed the title of Best Fans in the World or the CFL but I'm beginning to think that neither title should apply. After every loss people here in Regina are on 24 hour suicide watch and sales of Prozac increase 10 fold. They rip everybody from the quarterback to the mascot. And then after every win, like Saturday's, those same people celebrate in the streets like the Berlin Wall just came down. Perspective, I suppose, is not high on the list here. More on this later in the week.

PUNS ARE THE HIGHEST FORM OF SPORTS JOURNALISM

Anybody who wrote one of the 28,193 articles (my estimate) over the last week titled Tour de Farce - including the one published in the Leader Post today - should never be allowed to allowed to write anything again - ever. They should have their journalism degrees from their community college's revoked and never be allowed to possess writing instruments again. This goes for anyone who makes a pun on a team or athlete name too. Can't you do any better than this?

100 MILLION OF YOUR HARD EARNED DOLLARS

As much as I dislike the local media (and I do), I've got to say that I like Rod Pedersen's blog. He had a an interesting bit today about a new football stadium for Regina - you can see it here. And while it's all well and good to dream big, rest assured if this ever came to pass and the team/city/province tried to build it with public funds (i.e - your tax dollars) I would be leading the revolt. Is there any reason to build a stadium like this? Unless the Roughriders can find a sugar daddy, like the Asper family in Winnipeg, to fund at least the majority of the stadium privately, I don't see any reason for it.

KEVIN LOWE SINGLE-HANDEDLY RUINS THE NHL

Last Thursday Edmonton Oiler General Manager signed restricted free-agent Dustin Penner to an offer sheet worth $21.25 million over 5 years - a move reeking so strongly of desperation it will linger for years. Penner made $450,000 last year with Anaheim and scored 45 points. Apparently 45 point players are now worth $4.25 million a year. One Oiler fan said to me, "Great another Duck to come over and do absolutely nothing." Can you feel the excitement Edmonton?

To no one's surprise, Duck's GM Brian Burke had strong words for Lowe. Now I have no problem with Lowe trying to sign restricted free agents but this salary is ridiculous. This is precisely the reason there was a lock out 3 years ago. I'm not sure how a league with absolutely no TV revenue and no exposure in the United States thinks it can sustain this kind of spending - ticket revenues will only take you so far. I'm not saying I guarantee it, but I can foresee a scenario in which the NHL no longer exists in 5-7 years.

R.I.P TOM SNYDER

I always liked Tom Snyder on the Late, Late Show. Although in all honesty I thought he passed away a couple years ago.

The Links

... This is what the Internet was created for. We can all go home now - the Internet has run its course and won't be needed anymore. I'd love to see the boys up in P.A pull something like this off.

... I think this is the exact video of why my NBA career never really materialized.

... Very interesting. In 5 years this guy will either be a multi-billionaire or dead at the hands of the Imperial Oil spokes-tiger.

... Classic. My personal favorite is the theft deterrent system. Although the Dr. Zaius, OBGYN is pretty good too.

... I was struggling for a 5th clip for today, so I decided to go back to the Letterman well - I know it's not him, but it's his show.

Artist of the Week

A day early I know but I'll be off tomorrow and it always seems I have more time to post at work than at home - funny that. So Artist of the Week and The Links should be up today.

So this week's Artist is Band of Horses. You can find their Myspace site here.

I like them because I have no idea how to describe them. All too often we talk about bands in terms of something else - as in, "You'll like them, they sound like _______." But as I'm sitting here trying to describe them to you, I find that I can't in terms of other bands, which is probably why I really like them - because of their original sound.

They're another one of those bands that I came across by accident. I was standing in HMV one day and they came on the stereo. Just one of those things.

Enjoy!