Stormin Norman Rumack

It seems that some media types in the United States, are criticizing Evan Longoria of the Tampa Bay Rays, for critical comments he made towards the fans of the Tampa Bay/St.Petersburg area, for their poor support for one of the best teams in baseball, since 2008, when they defeated the Red Sox in the ALCS, before losing to the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series.

I don’t understand what the media has to be critical about. It’s not as though Longoria made these remarks after just one game, or even one season. The Rays have a great team that is certainly capable of winning the World Series and they feature some of the best young players in the game, including Longoria, and starting pitcher David Price. The team deserves much better support than what they’ve been getting,

With only 12,446 fans showing up at Tropicana Field on Monday, when the Rays had a chance to clinch their second playoff birth in three years, Longoria thought the time was right to send a wake up call to the local sports fans....

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On Monday ,I attended the inaugural Plain And Simple charity golf tournament, at the very scenic and enjoyable Markland Wood Golf Club in Toronto, hosted by Michael “Pinball” Clemons, of Toronto Argonauts fame, and Steve Thomas, the former Toronto Maple Leaf. The event was arranged by Bryan Green, along with his partners, David McClean, Michael Clemons, Steve Thomas, and his hard working staff, including Susan Wall, Dom Murphy, and many other dedicated individuals who created and maintain this website.  There was an impressive list of former Leafs players, including Wendel Clark,and Gary Roberts, to go along with Steve Thomas.  That is a fair bit of skill, scoring and toughness at one event. The golf was certainly enjoyable, even while played in a steady rain, which actually made it more fun. The most important benefit of all of this, was the money raised for the charities, The Thomas and Tallis Foundation, along with the Michael Pinball Clemons Foundation. Raising money, having fun, enjoying fine food, listening...

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I attended the Leafs-Flyers exhibition game on Friday night at the Air Canada Centre, and it featured a little emotion, in terms of some scraps, but they were really more like wrestling matches, where the major maneuver was the sweater tug. There was even a punch or two that were thrown and landed. The best hit of the night, was the Flyers Darroll Powe on Dion Phaneuf, as he absolutely flattened the Leafs captain in the first period. The second best hit of the evening was in the third period, when the Flyers Jody Shelley caught Toronto’s Joey Crabb with his head down,and leveled him with a shoulder check under the chin. Much to the relief of their anxiety filled fans, Toronto even managed to score a power play goal, with former Blackhawk Kris Versteeg getting his first goal of the exhibition campaign. A little more than a minute later, the Leafs scored again, as Phil Kessel took advantage of a lot of traffic near the front of the Flyers net to make the score 2 – 0. As it turned out, the Leafs blew a 3-1 lead in...

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I’ve always found that making football selections, strictly on the basis of endless data, is obviously not a guarantee for success. So just for fun, I’m writing this, without obsessing over each and every single bit of information, that can put a hungry tiger to sleep. Every now and then, it’s refreshing to try something different. It makes the process of picking winners and losers more interesting.

 

Bengals at Panthers: Sooner or later, Palmer, Ochocinco and Owens have to put on a show. I say it happens in this game. Cincinnati wins 27-17.

Bills at New England: I’d like to pick Buffalo, just because I feel sorry for their fans, but it would be dishonest of me to do that. Even with the loss of Kevin Faulk, and the Patriots second half collapse against the Jets last week, I just can’t see Ryan Fitzpatrick engineering an upset in Foxboro.  Pats 28 Bills 16.

Cleveland at Baltimore: Joe Flacco can’t mess this game up, like he did last week, with four interceptions, and looking like a deer...

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For whatever it’s worth, when I was a youngster, we referred to the pre-season hockey games as exhibition. It may seem like making a big deal out of nothing but, so many fans and media take these games so seriously, and for no good reason. The primary purpose for these contests, is for coaches to get a look at players they feel are on the bubble, in terms of staying in the NHL, or being sent down to the minor leagues,and in some cases, back to junior hockey.

A note was left on my Facebook page, from a frantic Leafs fan, after their first exhibition game against Ottawa, expressing concern about the Toronto power play, which went 0-8 on their advantages, with most of their quality forwards not dressed for the game. I advised the frantic fan that exhibition games are exactly that, “exhibition”, and should be interpreted that way, win or lose.

Sure enough, as the second game of the Toronto pre-season got underway with the Senators on Wednesday night, the Leafs went on the power play, and on their first...

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“You’ll Never Walk Alone”, is the name of a 1963  hit song, by Rodgers and Hammerstein,popularized by the sixties British band, Gerry and the Pacemakers, founded by Gerry Marsden from Liverpool.  It is also the anthem for the Liverpool Football Club in the English Premiership. The Pacemakers are most fondly remembered for hit songs like “Ferry Cross the Mersey”, and “Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying.”

Walking alone is probably the prevalent feeling in Liverpool these days, as the outlook for the future of the team, is quite bleak at the moment. For several years, there has been a fear of financial peril for the club, because of the financial woes of Dallas,Texas based owner, Tom Hicks ( the team is partly (50%) owned by Hicks and former Montreal Canadiens owner George Gillett,Jr., and the two allegedly don’t get along, according to Wikipedia). Hicks had previously owned the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball, and is the current owner of the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League. There is now...

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The expression that I’ve used on the headline for this story, originates with the late coach of the Green Bay Packers, Vince Lombardi, one of the most revered coaches in the history of any sport. It seems to me that the longer you are around, the more this statement rings true. During Lombardi’s days,  winning didn’t have the same implications in terms of finances,as it does now. Professional athletes in all sports, earned average incomes in many cases, and you could legitimately say that they played for the love of the game.

Today’s professional athletes are usually well compensated, and in many cases are earning many millions of dollars. When it comes to the North American professional sports leagues, there is no question that the most successful operation is the National Football League. It has also managed to develop a bit of a global following, but for the most part, the sport dominates on a continental basis, with fans in Canada and Mexico, in addition to the league’s massive following in their home...

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For all the talk we’ve all heard and the numbers that have been cited, pertaining to the Canadian Football League and it’s popularity in the Toronto area, Sunday afternoon was an acid test for the Toronto Argonauts and their home game at the Rogers Centre against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The Double Blue broke off a three - game losing streak with their 35-31 victory, however the crowd of only 19,662, as detailed by the Star.com., paints the picture in terms of how the Boatmen stand, in comparison with the National Football League, in southern Ontario.

It is quite clear, that in spite of the glowing numbers that are reported for television viewership of the C.F.L., the Argos are not a very good sell, when competing with the N.F.L. Considering that it is still early in the N.F.L. season, you would think that Toronto would have a much better turn out than just under 20,000. I’m sure that somewhere or another, I will hear or read about some lame excuse or rationalization for the poor turnout, but there really...

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On Sunday night September 19th the WWE presented their Night Of Champions Pay Per View from Chicago, Ill. at the Allstate Arena the home of a few WrestleMaina's.Dolph Ziggler VS. Kofi Kingston: For the Intercontinental Title:Good opening bout.Started slow.13 min. Kingston missed the Trouble in paradise and Ziggler won clean with the zig zag.Winner:Dolph Ziggler in 13 min.Still Intercontinental Champ.Throughout the night they interviewed the combatants in the main event 6 pack challenge Big Show VS. C.M. Punk:5 min.Punk was the hometown favorite.He is from Chicago.Nothing match.Big Show won with the knockout punch. Highlight was C.M. Punk's Promo before the match ripping the fans.Winner: Big ShowDaniel Bryan VS. Miz: For the U.S.Title:Good match.Alex Riley interfered twice.A lot of near falls.Winner Daniel Bryan New U.S. Champ at 12:34 by SubmissionMichelle McCool VS. Melina: in a lumberjill match to unify the WWE Women's Championship and the Divas Championship:Lasted about 6 min.Typical ladies match.the lunberjills...

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Clinton Portis of the Washington Redskins should have been more careful with his comments, about the interpersonal dynamics of a professional locker room, where a female reporter is working. Even if every single word of what he said is true, what is the point in spelling out your sentiments on human sexuality, and then run the risk of offending someone ? It’s just not worth it.

 

Portis told a radio show his feelings about the sexual politics of a locker room environment when female reporters are present, this past Tuesday, as noted in an Associated Press article. “ You know, somebody got to spark her interest or she’s going to want somebody. I don’t know what kind of woman won’t, if you get to go and look at 53 men’s packages. I know you’re doing a job, but at the same time, the same way I’m going to cut my eye if I see somebody worth talking to. I’m sure they do the same thing.” Portis may be as smart as the popular social affairs commentator, “Dr. Phil”, but until he gets a degree in psychiatry...

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