Sports Guy North

This one is for all of you out there, like me, who are already counting down the days until "it" is over. T minus 9 days, I believe.

Today was what should have been a big day in Toronto sports, as for the first time ever the Raptors had the first overall pick in the draft. Going into the draft, however, the only positive note I could come up with was, "well, at least its not 2000". Outside of that, there is no worse year to waste having the first overall pick in. Or any pick for that matter, as the Phoenix Suns clearly showed by giving away not one, but 2 picks for absolutely nothing. In fact, correct me if I'm wrong, but one of their "trades" on the night was as follows:

to boston:
21st pick (rajon rondo)
brian grant

to phoenix:
paid contract of brian grant (in other words, nothing)

They followed that up by selling their other pick to Portland. You can't help but respect that blatant and open disrespect for the talent in the 2006 NBA draft. And I can't help but agree with their assessment.

That's why when I heard rumours about the Raptors possibly trading the first overall pick and Alvin Williams for Brevin Knight and a second round pick, I couldn't believe the Raptors luck. When the rumour then turned into the third overall pick instead of a second round pick I was floored. There is no one in the draft that can have an impact like Knight is capable of - that being 8 assists per game and one of the best assist to turn over ratios around. Had they made this trade, their starting line could have been Knight, MoPe, Chuck, Bosh and the big man they stole in exchange for Matt Bonner. In the East, that's all you need to easily make the playoffs.

Apparently, though, that ship has sailed as the Rap's showed up at the draft and took the next great European disaster with the number one pick. At least Aldridge could, theoretically, eventually amount to something. This Italian Bargain is probably the 5th best Power Forward in the draft, and just has every sign of your typical draft day bust - as seen in this top twenty list which was assembled by Sports Illustrated before the draft - Top 20 NBA Draft Busts. Of note in the list are the entire 2000 first round, as well as former-Raptor (praise the lord!) Half-a Man Araujo rounding out the list at number 20 - getting the nod over fellow whitey's Darko and Big Country. I wouldn't be surprised, however, if the entire 2006 draft didn't knock him off the list in time, with the Italian Bargain leading the way. I just hope that the Knight rumours weren't true, and that the Raptors aren't forever cursed with Babcocky GM'ing. It's bad enough that the Leafs seem to be these days.

Speaking of which, it looks like McCabe finally signed the incomprehensible 69.3 billion dollar a year contract that the Leafs offered him. I may have stood up for McCabe over and over last season, but not to the point of condoning what they're wasting on him long term. And apparently his contract has a no buy out and no trade clause, somehow, so they're in it for the long run with him. 1/8th of every seasons salary cap will be pure McCabe for years to come. Guaranteed. At least this should put the Kaberle, Steen and a draft pick for the Super Hero of all Super Heros rumour to an end. And that means one less recurring nightmare for me. As these days in Toronto have been going, I'll certainly take it.

By the way, a few draft questions before i go: how do you take that guy first overall, and not end up with the freakiest looking guy in the draft? Does anyone in this draft other than Thomas have a chance at being a superstar? And if so, how did he go at #4? How will PJ Tucker do in the NBDL? Why did Philly pay for Edin? How badly is the Italian Bargain going to soccer things up in Toronto? And if you don't know what that last part means, I'm sure your best guess will do.

Oh, and and one last thing: can someone find out for me if this is, in fact, real - Discovery Channel Link

I sat down to write my first post in a month today and I found myself too overwhelmed with what to write about. So much happened in the last month, that there is just no way to jump into it without leaving something key out. Picking where to start was just too much of a challenge for me to handle: Carolina winning the Cup; How happy I was not to see Pronger win the MVP; How I couldn't even watch game seven for fear of the later occurring; Jagr's surprise award pickup; Jack Adams actually going where it was deserved; Soccer... So much diving... The penalty kick in the Australia game today, and how I've given up on soccer forever on account of it... More diving... Ways to fix soccer.... soccer soccer soccer... And how exactly does rolling around on the ground holding your face help a sore leg anyway?; David Wright making me look like a genius for taking him 3rd overall in my fantasy draft over Teixara, despite what everyone said at the time; Josh Towers; Tiger Woods missing the cut all three times I've picked him for my fantasy golf team; The Bertuzzi/Luongo trade; the Tanguay/Leopold trade; the Andre "Don't Call Me Jim Carey" Raycroft disaster in Toronto; the unbelievably frightening Pronger for Kaberle, Steen and a Draft Pick rumours that haunt my dreams; Shaq winning without Kobe; Wade winning without Shaq, ha; Brevin Knight for Alvin Williams and the first round pick rumours; The Red Rockets exodus, and it's effect on the psyche of Chuck Swirsky; The list just goes on and on and I had no idea where to start. And then I saw it: Ladies and gentlemen, Joe Mikulik of the Single A Asheville Tourists.



This just might be the best over-reaction, under-performing swan dive that you will ever see, assuming that you never played campus rec ball hockey on my team back in "the Ross days". And then it just keeps going and going and going. I'm not even sure I could say something to make this any funnier than it is on it's own. Just sit back and enjoy... and then explain to me what exactly he's doing with the water at the end there? It's like he's ruining his own sand castle that he got down on his hands and knees to make. He seriously got down on his hands and knees and piled dirt up over the plate. That is what a grown man did.

If I was an owner of a AA team, or even a Major League team for that matter, I would bring this guy in for an interview for a managing job. Not to hire him, but more like in the movie Fun With Dick and Jane, where Dick is out looking for a new job and they take him into the office because they all wanted to meet the guy that made such an ass of himself on national TV. Because this guy has guaranteed now that this is all he'll ever be. A footnote in the funny pages, and never, ever a coach again outside of the single A club he's temporarily with. I sure hope that sand castle was worth it.


Anyway, that's about all I have to say for today. Feel free to pick through the list above, or suggest anything else to me that happened in that last month that you'd like my take on. I'm open to any and all ideas right now. And with that, I'll leave you with this video that was sent to me by my buddy goober. It's a compilation of hockey goals from all over the world and all levels of play really. It calls itself a top ten, but there are a lot more goals thrown in there, and it is actually one of the better pieces I've seen. Of note are a Corey Perry goal (#4) in London, that by the looks of it I'm probably the only person out there who hasn't seen it. It's too much. Also, goal #3 is almost like out of a Mighty Ducks movie. The shot at the end where it kind of looks like the whole other team is just chasing after him and no one else is there has the same kind of fake movie feel to it. Only apparently it can really happen, so maybe the hockey scenes in those movies weren't as disturbingly unrealistic as they seemed. Maybe Iceland really is a hockey power that everyone should be scared of. Only time will tell, I suppose. Until then, just enjoy the footage, get your suggestions in, and I'm going back to bed. Goodnight everybody.

Just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone that sent their best wishes this past month. Once I get the strength up to write, the posts will start up again and soon enough I'm sure I'll be annoying you all with my illogical garbage once more.

Until then, if you have a dire need for illogical garbage I hear the World Cup is going on. I'm sure you can catch a game or two of that from your local television provider. Enjoy, and thanks again for your thoughts and wishes. They all meant something to me.

Peace,

KM.