Stormin Norman Rumack

Very quietly, one of the best comeback stories in the National hockey League has been that of the Detroit Red Wings. I remember attending an early season game in Buffalo in which Detroit were the visitors. The Red Wings executives at that early stage of the season were doubting that their team would be able to make the playoffs, when considering  injuries to important players on their roster, and adding in their off season defections of talented players. As things stand on March 30th, it’s looking like the NHL’s most recent dynasty, will continue the leagues longest running streak of consecutive playoff appearances at 19. This is truly amazing, when you closely consider the defections and injuries over this past year.

 

Lost to Detroit in the off season because of salary cap considerations, were Marian Hossa, a 40 goal scorer,Jiri Hudler, 23 goals, and Michael Samuelsson,a 19 goal producer. Injuries this season cost the Wings the services of Johan Franzen who has 15 points in just 20 games played...

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Once a year, I look forward to visiting with Carmelo Anthony, when the Denver Nuggets make their annual trip to Toronto. I know him well enough to say “hello “ and “How are you?”, “How’s your family?”, and of course I had to add in “Did you watch the (Syracuse) game last night?” Of course, I was referring to the NCAA tournament game, in which the Orange were eliminated by the Butler Bulldogs, during a sweet sixteen game on Thursday evening.

The abbreviated form of his given name, is a perfect description of his personality. He is very low key, and has the same demeanor as he did when he was playing college basketball at Syracuse. I first met the Nuggets star in December of 2002, at a time when he was just starting to make a name for himself as a freshman, in what what would turn out to be the first national championship title for Jim Boeheim’s Orange, in April of 2003.  Anthony expressed himself the exact same way then, very polite and of few words, as he does now. He has evolved into an NBA superstar,...

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Quite often, sports fans, friends and others who know me as an alumnus of Syracuse University, will ask me what I thought of a particular game or player pertaining to the Orange. After a tough loss, especially one that concludes a season,I get asked to comment quite often on either the game, or particular players on the team. In heading down to the Air Canada Centre for Fridays game with the Nuggets and Raptors, I knew that I would likely get asked multiple times over by media colleagues, about the Syracuse Orange loss to the Butler Bulldogs in the sweet sixteen game, by a 63-59 score Thursday night at the Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City.

It’s definitely disappointing, in light of Syracuse being a number one seed in the West region,as well as the Orange tripping themselves up by committing 18 turnovers, which was the most decisive factor in the outcome of the game. The Orange seemed to have greasy fingers at times, with the frequency in which they were giving up the possession to the Bulldogs....

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Well, here’s a shocker ladies and gentlemen. On Wednesday night at the Air Canada Centre, the Utah Jazz blew out the Toronto Raptors by a score of 113-87. Imagine, even though it may be difficult to do, the Raptors didn’t offer up much resistance on defense. What a shocking revelation that is ! Unfortunately, not only is it not shocking, in fact, discussion of the Raptors being soft physically and mentally, has become an ongoing theme for journalists like myself, and others who don’t hesitate to write or speak the truth, regarding the pathetic performances this team has provided against several of the Western Conference teams, who feature skill as well as physical and mental toughness. Toronto was absolutely humiliated on their recent western road trip, other than in one game against the Lakers,where the home team was victorious, courtesy of a buzzer beater by Raptor killer, Kobe Bryant. In spite of the win, Bryant acknowledged after the match, that the game was close because the Lakers played poorly. Toronto...

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There was a volcanic like eruption from the hockey media during the Winter Games in Vancouver, suggesting in no uncertain terms, that the superb hockey that was on display in February, would bring all kinds of new found fans to the game, and boost the National Hockey League’s product. It was suggested by many of these same media types, that the NHL would be ignorant not to agree to have its athletes participate in the next Winter Games, in Sochi, Russia, in 2014. There was an automatic assumption made, that exciting hockey at the Olympics, leads to packed houses at NHL games.

As it turns out, the hockey media were completely wrong. The NHL had asserted that the previous Winter Games in Nagano, Salt Lake City, and Turin, had done nothing to boost National Hockey League attendance or revenues. The league also expressed concern, and correctly so, that many of the players who participate in the Winter Games, are exhausted by the time the Stanley Cup playoffs begin, and some may return with injuries that can...

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I have mentioned in my blog several times, how just about everybody can borrow life lessons from the world of sports, and apply them to their own lives, especially in dealing with adverse situations. So instead of just talking in general terms, I thought I’d reflect back on a specific sports oriented lesson I learned, although, at the time when it occurred, I didn’t realize how valuable it would be.

The specific learning scenario took place when I was training in Kung Fu, which is  now just referred to as Kick Boxing. I was being taught by the Twin Dragons Kick Boxing and Kung Fu Club, which is owned and operated by Mic and Martin McNamara. They spent their early years in life, growing up as Irish Catholics in Belfast, Northern Ireland, so you know that they had to be tough in that environment. Their original club at the time , in 1973, was on Yonge Street in Toronto, just north of Sheppard Avenue, in the north part of the city. I was a grade 13 high school student at the time, at Toronto’s Forest Hill...

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Probably one of the reasons that so many people enjoy March Madness, beyond those who are devout basketball or college basketball fans, is that almost anyone in any walk of life can be inspired in their own life, by someone else who is facing obstacles, challenges, difficulties, adversity and other circumstances that might be described as overwhelming odds. This years NCAA tournament seems to be precedent setting in terms of the nature of the upsets that have occurred in the first two rounds. The biggest stories in terms of the David versus Goliath scenarios, were the overall number one seed Kansas losing to Northern Iowa, in the second round of games. Not too far behind that match in terms of a surprising outcome was Villanova, the number 2 seed in the South region losing to the 10th seeded Saint Mary’s, also in round two of the games.

 

In reality, what we are seeing more of each year is the growing parity of American college basketball. There are some very logical reasons for this trend, highlighted...

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Robert Sacre, a North Vancouver, B.C. native, and 7 foot centre for the Gonzaga Bulldogs, might have grown up admiring Reggie Miller. Evidently, he emulated the trash talking element of the all time great Pacer, more than his big game instincts. Prior to the dismantling and manhandling of Sacre and his Bulldog teammates by the West Region top seeded Syracuse Orange, at HSBC arena in Buffalo, Sacre, according to ESPN, was overheard prior to the game as saying that Syracuse was “soft” and a bunch of “pretty boys”.  According to the scoreboard and the way the game played out, the only softness was with Gonzaga, judging by their 87-65 loss to the “pretty boys” of S.U.  Evidently, Sacre is unaware of his own team’s history in the tournament, with Gonzaga having failed to make it to the sweet 16 in seven of its last nine NCAA tournament appearances.  

 

The 30-4 Orange are headed to Salt Lake City, to continue their tournament run, as part of the sweet sixteen of March Madness. Sacre and the Bulldogs...

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I was out Thursday night at Woodbine Racetrack, located close to Pearson International Airport in Toronto,visiting with longtime friends who work there. It was an evening of reminiscing and talking shop, in terms of the broadcast industry and similarly, the aspect of sports entertainment that is both Harness and Thoroughbred racing. Everyone seemingly , has been touched by the dreadful economy. Housing and condo sales may be up, but discretionary money is still being held tightly, and for good reasons, with people either looking for work, or just trying to hang on to what they’ve got.

 

While we were dining in “Favorites”, as good of a restaurant dining experience that you could find anywhere, my friends updated me on a Harness driver who I had asked about and come to know over the years. I will not mention his name, and you’ll understand why as the story continues. The answer to my question about how he was doing was not what I expected to hear.  My friends told me that this particular driver was...

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There were some unexpected outcomes in day one of the NCAA tournament, otherwise referred to as March Madness. Nowadays however, it seems that it’s not such a big upset when a high seed goes out in the first round. It is quite clear that there is more parity than ever before in college basketball, which plays out in the kinds of results we saw in day one action of the event. Almost any school can get on TV, so there is no need to attend  a big name conference or school, if a players desire is to be seen on the small screen, and be scouted by the NBA. ESPN and the respective conferences have seemingly hundreds of games televised every year. The bottom line is that almost any school these days can get pretty good players. Most student athletes want playing time, so a commitment to a smaller school, as opposed to a high profile basketball program, might guarantee a freshman or sophomore greater playing time, and a chance to develop their game against other teams and players, and maybe get noticed by a professional...

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