Stormin Norman Rumack

The Super Bowl was a battle of two great quarterbacks, as most thought it would be. In this case, Drew Brees, was better than Peyton Manning.  Tracy Porter intercepted the Colts quarterback, as they were marching to try and tie the game. Trailing by seven, with 3;12 remaining, Porter made his read correctly,and that was the final dagger as it turned out, even with the Colts getting one more drive, before time ran out on them. Brees operated with the accuracy of a plastic surgeon ( a very good plastic surgeon of course), and tied Tom Brady for the most completions in Super Bowl history, with 32 of 39 attempts, for 288 yards,and  two touchdowns.

Peyton Manning was 31 of 45 in passing for 333 yards, with one touchdown, and one interception, which turned out to be Porter’s, going back for the touchdown. Both teams had 16 passing first downs, and the yards per pass, were almost identical, with Brees at 7.2, and Manning averaging 7.4. The total yards for the Colts was 432, and for the Saints, 332. In third down ...

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This game has the potential to be an all time classic. As to whether or not it becomes that, no genius or betting service can predict that, even though they’ll tell you they can. You’ve got two outstanding quarterbacks, who are going to be difficult to shut down. The biggest “X” factor in this game,  no doubt, will be the health and availability of All-Pro defensive end Dwight Freeney( 13.5 sacks this season).  I think you'd have to break both his legs, to keep the Syracuse ( you knew I wasn’t leaving that out) alumnus out of this game. He is feared by opposing quarterbacks and offensive linemen, due to his lightning speed, and in particular, his legendary “spin move”, which looks exactly like it sounds. Freeney ( 6’ 1, 268 pounds) spins himself past bigger linemen, with his speed and strength. With a torn ligament in his ankle, he hasn’t been able to practice this week, but with him being the best defender on either team in this game, I would bet that he’ll start the game, and hope that the Indianapolis...

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Just when some Toronto Maple Leafs fans and media had concluded that the blue and white had taken their Calgary counterparts to the cleaners on their recent blockbuster deal, the Flames responded by getting a badly needed win, against a weak opponent in Carolina, but, it was close to a must win, in terms of the playoff race,and a bit of a gut check, for some of the former Leafs who went west in the deal. There’s no question that Dion Phaneuf was the best player in the transaction. That goes almost without saying, but as I had stated in this blog previously, most trades can only be evaluated fairly, after a year or two, when long term observations can lead to conclusions, and even then, some swaps take longer, perhaps 3-5 years to assess. This is certainly the case, where draft picks are involved. How do those players develop after they are drafted ? Sometimes players acquired in a deal, are used as trade bait within a few months or a year, to bring in other players or draft picks, so it is foolish to...

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It’s certainly not everyday of the week, that you hear or read about an N.C.A.A., major division one, men’s basketball program, being led in part by not just one, but two Canadians, and that, I’m proud to say, is the case at my Alma Mater, Syracuse University. A historical plateau was reached Tuesday evening for the 4th ranked Orange, in their  85-68 victory over the Providence Friars.  They have won nine straight games and at 22-1, are off to the best start in school history. The previous best was 21-1 in the 1979/80 season. The best player for the Orange in this game, was Montreal native, and sophomore forward Kris Joseph. He finished  with a career high 23 points, to go along with 7 rebounds, and 4 steals. In 23 games, the 6’-7, 207 pound Joseph is averaging 11 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.5 steals in an average of 26.5 minutes per game. His field goal percentage is .527 and from the free throw line, makes 72% of his shots.

One of Joseph’s teammates, is Team Canada’s Andy Rautins, son of...

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The number one question I received after the three way trade involving ,Toronto, Calgary, and Anaheim, was who won the trade ?  It seems that a lot of the Toronto hockey media, have loudly and proudly declared the Maple Leafs the clear winners. There is no question that the best player in the swap was Dion Phaneuf. The big blue liner did have a solid debut with the blue and white on Tuesday,  leading the team with 6 hits,to go along with 3 blocked shots, and 4 shots on goal. But the reality is that it takes a season or two to observe how all the teams fare with their new players, before any degree of certainty can be attached to a team being a winner or a loser in any transaction. Pathetically, there might be some fans or media, who will come to a conclusion after Toronto’s game with New Jersey on Tuesday night, and no doubt will declare the Leafs the hands down winner in the deal. So how seriously did the New Jersey Devils take this game ? So seriously that Yann Danis was in goal instead of Martin Brodeur, and...

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England has as good a chance to win Soccer’s World Cup, as they have had, since their only world title, back in 1966.  They have been solid through their qualifying rounds.The Three Lions manager, Fabio Capello, has done an outstanding job molding the team. Now that they have a captaincy crises on their hands, with the revelations of team captain John Terry’s alleged affair with the former girlfriend of international team-mate,Wayne Bridge, what will be done to keep the focus of the team on football ?  The woman being referred to is Vanessa Perroncel, a French-born underwear model.

As team sports controversies go, it seems that this one is being handled properly. At the end of the day, England general manager Franco Baldini has to decide if John Terry still has the ear of the England squad.  Would his being kept on as team captain, cause any disruption to the team, on or off the pitch ? That should be the only question that matters. Do the rest of the players still want him to be their leader ? To what...

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Based on my conversation with several scouts, here is an objective assessment of the transactions. For the most part , the Toronto- Calgary deal, seems to have win-win potential for both clubs. The most talented player in the Toronto –Calgary trade is obviously Dion Phaneuf.  He is regarded as a number 2 or 3 defenseman in terms of where he is at right now. In other words, he is not in the Nicklas Lidstrom or Chris Pronger category of defensemen, but few players are.  It seems he had regressed somewhat under coaches Mike Keenan and Brent Sutter. Why is that ? As was explained to me, these coaches are “negative motivators”. This coaching tactic relies on fear, which can be effective, but can also “wear guys out”, as I was told. The fear is based on the coach sometimes belittling the player in question, or using threats. This tactic may have limited the further development of Dion Phaneuf. It could also be the case, that the bar was set too high, in terms of the expectations for Phanuef, from when he first entered...

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The CBC has done a terrific job, of making this day a marquee event across our country, and it’s always enjoyable watching the scenes from various communities, as the youngsters participate in their leagues at all levels.It always brings back the memories that many share, especially those of us who grew up learning the game, while playing outdoors.  I wish that I could recall the thousands of hours that I must have accumulated, in playing street hockey almost every Saturday and Sunday morning, on the street where I spent my childhood until age 14, when my parents moved from the Wilmington and Sheppard area of North York, further south to Bathurst and Glencairn, also in North York.

I can’t say for sure how long the games would go, but it must have been several hours. By the time the it was all over, we would sometimes need to warm our toes by the air vent because they felt numb. Every boy on the street, who was between 8 and 14 years of age, participated without fail, and keeping in mind that this was the...

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Should so called “advocacy” ads be run during the Super Bowl ? An excellent story focusing on that potentially explosive subject was printed in the Toronto Star on Friday, January 29, by sports writer Cathal Kelly. The story revolves around the University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, and his mother Pam, who are anti- abortion, and will share the story of Pam’s decision not to get an abortion when she was carrying Tim,even though a physician advised her too, while on a religious mission in the Philippines, where she became ill while pregnant. According to the Star story, the word “abortion”, will not be used in the advertisement. The theme being addressed in the spots is “Celebrate family;celebrate life”. The ad is funded by Focus on the Family, a conservative Christian group.

In the newspaper article, a CBS spokesperson explained the broadcasters position, on accepting the reported $2.5 to $3 million U.S. for the 30 seconds of air time. Said Dana McClintock: “ We have for some time moderated...

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