From Cork to Toronto

The CBC's sports department is a rapidly shrinking animal given the loss of the Olympics, curling and CFL football so it is interesting that the Blue Jays are in talks with CBC to either have them replace TSN as secondary carrier of Jay games or to do so in addition to TSN, the current contract holder. Due to the mutual parentage of the Jays and Sportsnet under the Rogers corporate tent, the primary contract is not up for grabs. In NBA news - when Toronto got its 27th win last year it was April 15 and they had lost 55 games. This year they have lost 23 and are 9-1 in the last ten after their defeat of Kobe Bryant and the rest of the Lakers . As for the Leafs - after last night Nashville is still the only NHL team never to lose to Toronto, albeit over the short history of the franchise. This is a big sporting weekend for me, tomorrow morning will be spent watching United and Sunday morning (10am EST) the historic first international rugby game at Croke Park against France - an...

I have had a theory for some time that there is only one sporting brain in Toronto and the various franchises have to share it, given their notorious inconsistency. Nicole called me on this the other day since the Leafs and cRaptors were both sucking. I pointed out that so were the Jays in trade terms but the Argos clearly possessed the brain but it being the offseason weren't using it. With the defeat (slim though it was) of Tampa perhaps the brain has returned to the Leafs. What's worse is that next year they'll have to share with another franchise in an American league, Toronto FC.

Like many other things, the media loves to prognosticate about political term limits but would never seriously discuss the concept about itself. A few weeks back Bob Cole was joined in the Hockey Night in Canada Leaf game commentary box not by Harry Neale but by Cassie Campbell , who stood in when Neale was snowed in . As this was the first time a woman had acted as colour commentator on Hockey Night, much talk followed, not least that Campbell wasn't ready to fill in in the role, that she hadn't served her time , that presumably someone like the recently departed to the CFL anchor role Elliotte Friedman would have been a better choice if available. Now, having watched that game I thought she made a fair go of it. That the CBC decided to go with her when someone with more on-air experience was surely to be found a few streets away at CBC headquarters is the CBC's fault not Campbell's. However my reaction at the time was more - what the hell is the CBC, the state ...

Two captains in my thoughts - Mats Sundin of Sweden and the Toronto Maple Leafs and (it seems) Robbie Keane of the Republic of Ireland. First - Mats. Not my kind of captain really, but in my short hockey-following spell he's all we've had. Pretty different from the "blood, guts and guile" employed by Manchester United - Robson, Bruce, Cantona, Keane (we have yet to see Neville G exhibit guile). My wife regales me with tales of Doug Gilmour - who sounds like Robson in putting his body on the line but never making it to the ultimate prize. In any case, Mats and Krusty the Klown have been tearing it up in Torino and returning with gold medals. He's 35 now - a bit late to acquire a taste for championhood but even if the Stanley Cup is beyond us in 2006 I wish he would show some rage once in a while... unSwedish I suppose. God knows he has a lot to rage against if he took a notion to, since there are more passengers in the team than on the TTC and even Domi lo...

Okay, I think we've lulled them enough now . Another disaster on Monday in Scotiabank Place (so far from downtown Ottawa it might as well be in Nova Scotia) and maybe Pat really will be in trouble .