Stormin Norman Rumack

Dolphins at Bengals: No team has been more enigmatic this season than Cincinnati. It is almost impossible to know, what they are going to come up with from one week to the next. The Dolphins are going to make things difficult for them. The Bengals are allowing 118 rushing yards per game. Sounds good for Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams. The Dolphins are 3-0 on the road.

Miami 27 Cincinnati 14.

 

Jaguars at Cowboys: Not even Dallas can screw this up. In a way, the pressure is off the Cowboys, because of the Romo injury, and the expectations have been lowered substantially. It’s Jon Kitna versus David Garrard. Can’t wait for this one !!!

Dallas 28 Jacksonville 21.

 

Redskins at Lions: The Redskins have been one of this seasons pleasant surprises. With the Cowboys collapse, the door is open for Washington to have a decent season. The Lions are more competitive than they used to be, but they still have a long way to go. Washington’s Ryan Torain will be seeing a defense that...

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It was quite enjoyable for me to visit the Air Canada Centre, and see both Glen Grunwald, the former Raptors general manager, now an assistant general manager with the Knicks, and former Syracuse Orange guard, Andy Rautins, also on the Team Canada roster, making his regular season and professional debut. It would have been great to see Andy get some playing time, but as you would expect, he has a great attitude, and is looking forward to floor time, whenever coach Mike D’Antoni calls his number. I spoke with him before and after the game, and he told me that the most important advice he got from his father, former NBA player and Syracuse Orange star, Leo Rautins, as well as Jim Boeheim, the Hall Of Fame Syracuse coach, and assistant with Team U.S.A., was to never stop working hard, once you make the team, and to never doubt yourself as a player. The younger Rautins told me that, just as in college, when you are a 3 point shooter, even if you miss a few or several, you have to keep believing and shooting.

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The Maple Leafs hosting the Panthers was certainly not the marquee matchup of the night. Other than die hard Toronto fans, and whoever pays attention to Florida, most of the sporting world was focused on the NBA headline grabber, with the Celtics taking on the Miami fantasy league team. It was great that the Celtics won the game over the Heat’s fantasy free agent team.

For those who were focused on this hockey game, there were some interesting dynamics attached to it. Former Leafs defenseman Bryan McCabe was off to a good start with 5 assists in 6 games, before this one. He loves playing against his former team, and scoring against them. The expectations for the Panthers this season are not very good. No one expects them to be anywhere near a playoff spot. With that said, Florida has surprised so far, as they were 3-3-0 prior to the game.

General manager Dale Tallon is doing the right thing in stockpiling draft picks, (13 last year ) and building the team properly from the ground up. He did a tremendous...

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Last year, when John Terry, the Chelsea captain, and formerly the captain with England, was widely and understandably criticized, for allegedly having an affair with the former girlfriend of his former team-mate Wayne Bridge, I wondered what the reaction would be if a player attached to a more popular team, like Manchester United, were caught up in some kind of scandal ? Would that player be treated as harshly by the media and the fans as Terry was ?  As a result of the out-cry by the media and the public,Terry was stripped of his captaincy with England.

Sure enough, allegations swirled around Wayne Rooney in September, suggesting that he paid for the services of a prostitute while his wife was pregnant. Unlike the outrage that was oozing from near and far about Terry, the initial reaction from some media sources and fans, seemed to be very muted, only making reference to it in very sterile terms, generally referencing it as personal matters. There was initially, very little criticism that went along with...

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This was my kind of weekend, in terms of favorite teams getting wins. First, the Chelsea Blues won 2-0 over  Wolverhampton at Stamford Bridge, to temporarily move 5 points ahead of the pack in the Premiership. Considering that the Blues played and won a Champions League match over Spartak Moscow, in Russia on Tuesday, the win was significant, even if it was over a team that is without a win. Chelsea are just starting to get some injured players back, as Didier Drogba returned from having a fever, although he’s not quite in game condition, after resting from his illness. Jose Bosingwa, who played his first game in over a year at home, was very effective, nearly scoring in the 13th minute and also came close on a 25 yard shot in the 38th minute. Scoring for the Blues were new France captain Florent Malouda, and Ivory Coast national Salomon Kalou.

Manager Carlo Ancelotti smartly summarized his team’s play, and put a cautionary perspective on the Blues success in the game, and on the season so far, as detailed...

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As we get further along into the NFL season, I find that the increasing volume of statistics becomes overwhelming, and the parity of the league continues to be a big story. There are only a couple of teams that anyone can feel confident about, in terms of being able to safely predict how they will perform from one week to the next.  Pittsburgh, Baltimore, New England,as well as the Jets are mostly consistent teams, and I would include the Colts if they were healthy, but they just keep losing players, as was the case with tight end Dallas Clark this week, joining Bob Sanders, and Melvin Bullitt as players who are out for the season. In the NFC, you might as well flip a coin, in terms of trying to get a feel for what might happen from one week to the next. To be perfectly fair, injuries have knocked the stuffing out of the Saints, Packers, and Vikings. It would no doubt be a much different story if those teams were at normal strength.

 

Bengals at Falcons: The Bengals are the biggest disappointment...

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When the New York Rangers visit the Air Canada Centre, it stirs some emotion, primarily due to the presence of Sean Avery, probably the NHL’s number one so called pest. He has been disciplined by the league for pushing the envelope too far, in terms of his attempts to get under the skin of opposing team’s and players, however when he keeps himself under control, he can be an asset. Going into Thursday’s game, he had 4 assists in 4 games, and the Rangers were 1-2-1, with 3 points.

The Maple Leafs were off to one of their best starts in years, at 4-0-1, for 9 points.

The almost mandatory clash of pugilists took place fairly early in the first period of this game, as Colton Orr and Derek Boogaard dropped their gloves and had an evenly fought match.

Toronto came out of the gate somewhat slower than they have in previous games, as they only had 4 shots on goal with 8:34 remaining in the period, in comparison to the Rangers 10 shots.

New York scored on a goal-mouth scramble at 16:11, as...

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I was at the Air Canada Centre on Wednesday night, for the pre-season game with the Bulls and the Raptors. To no one’s surprise, the arena looked to be about two-thirds empty. What must be scary for Maple Leaf Sports And Entertainment, is that with the realistic expectation of a difficult season with a lot of losses, there could be crowds of a similar size at several home games this season.  The Raptors season ticket base is thought to be around 8000, and that might even be somewhat on the high side. On nights when the Raptors are hosting teams not named Celtics, Lakers, and the Heat, it would be difficult to imagine that they will get walk up crowds of at least that many ticket seekers. Unless the Raptors shock the entire basketball world and win much more than expected, the Air Canada Centre could become a very quiet facility during NBA games. With the often dreadful product the Raptors have offered their fans for the last several seasons, and the departure of Chris Bosh for Florida, it shouldn’t come as a surprise...

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No soccer player in recent memory has received as much scorn during and after the World Cup, as did France and Chelsea striker, Nicolas Anelka. His allegedly expletive-laden comments during the half-time of a loss to Mexico, towards then Les Blues coach Raymond Domenech, led to his dismissal from the team. That resulted in a sympathetic players strike by his France team-mates, against the coach at a practice, prior to their final World Cup match in the group round, and subsequent 2-1  loss to the host nation, South Africa. Domenech was relieved of his coaching duties, shortly after the conclusion of an internal investigation into the upheaval at the World Cup. Former France World Cup hero Zinedine Zidane, was widely quoted in suggesting that Domenech never should have been coaching the team at any point in time.

For his part, Anelka received an 18 game ban from the national team, in part for not showing up for his disciplinary hearing with the French Football Federation, which  realistically translates...

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As I was getting seated in the press area for the game, it was a real eye opener to see the number of empty large suites that are situated near the top of the building, behind the nets.  I couldn’t see all of them because the Canadian flag obstructs my view, but from what I could see, there were at least 4 on the side the Islanders were defending in the first and third period,as well as 3 that I could see on the other end. Any talk of economic recovery in Ontario, is pure nonsense, and outrageously biased optimism bordering on propaganda, that has no basis in reality. Empty corporate suites at a Leafs game, are usually as reliable of an economic indicator, as you will find. No doubt, Toronto’s  poor performance since the lockout hasn’t helped their cause. but the belt tightening of the corporate sector is readily visible here.

It is pretty amazing to see 41 year-old Dwayne Roloson, the Simcoe, Ontario native, still playing goal for the Islanders. Last year, he stole a win for the Isles against the Maple...

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