Hello-o-o-o-o-o!

Well... as hiatuses (hiatii?) go, this was one hell of a long one. But we can explain! I promise. I was doing a summer school program at Queen's castle in Herstmonceux (would recommend it to anyone who was pondering doing it), Phil's doing something important and Milway's extremely lazy.


But, I'm done my summer program, Phil remembered that he has opinions on things and Milway's still lazy, but also watching baseball, so this blog should get up and at 'em in short order.

On the docket for the near future:

I'll be talking about The Ashes cricket series between England and Australia (and will go on an Amrit-vs-CBC style rant... except about the BBC!!! DRAMA!), and who knows, maybe I'll delve into the Heatley thing... because that hasn't been done to death. Phil will be writing about the ridiculousness of the transfer window in football lately (non-Premier League too), and Milway might write something too. Who knows.

Anyways, once again - sorry for the extended break. I know all three of our readers have been pulling their hair out for months wondering where we went... well... we went to SchoolTown. Don't hate.

Expect new stuff tomorrow!

PS -- the picture. I typed "back from vacation" into Google Images and that popped up... it was so awesome I couldn't help but use it.

5 reasons we'll remember 2008

As we wrap up our first calender year of TINONFTSB*'s existence, we have a few things to celebrate.

1) The survival of this blog through all kinds of storms: work, school, exams, a terrorist attack, everyone losing all their money forevers, and the boring, boring period dead-space at the end of the summer.
2) Our 100th blog post
3) The addition of two great authors to this blog (and the continued writing of this fantastic, uber-amazing author)
4) The legitimization of this blog through friends at Scarlett Ice and Out of Left Field, not to mention a mention in Puck Daddy (marked on the calender as "The First 100 hit day!").
5) Google recognizing our amazingness (look up anything relating to "sens jersey" on Google, we'll be there. There's a bunch of other stuff too, but that one's the most common.

Things to look forward to in the New Year:

a) What will hopefully be a weekly LiveBlog on Premier League football with Andrew Bucholtz at Sporting Madness.
b) [Hopefully] More awesome posts from us about everything (sorry about the lack of posts of late... we need our break too!)
c) Foxy boxing... because one should always hope to witness foxy boxing.
d) The Sens making a miraculous comeback to win the Stanley Cup (it can happen if you close your eyes tight enough and wish hard enough).

Anyways, now for the promised countdown:

5) The ability for anything surrounding the Toronto Maple Leafs to capture headlines across the country
We're (for all intents and purposes**) a Canadian publication, and as such we need to have something distinctly Canadian. I continue to find it unbelievable that anything relating to the Toronto Maple Leafs can absolutely dominate the Sports sections of newspapers across the country, and dominate the headlines of every sports-related channel and news' sports-segment for weeks! Remember the Brian Burke thing? Will he? Won't he? He might! Good Lord, have you even seen so much talk dedicated to absolutely nothing. Then we remember the Sundin saga. The end of the season last year, and the Tank for Tavares idea gripped the nation... were the Leafs intentionally playing crappy hockey to try to finish in last? Why does anyone care!!! Dammit. Unbelievable.

4) Bizarre athlete injuries
This is nothing new, as you might remember Jason Spezza managed to miss a game after throwing his back out while grocery shopping. But this year (especially in the past 2 months or so) seems to have been rife with high-paid freak accidents. Giants' Plaxico Burris shot himself in the leg while attemping to 'club'. Bulls' Derrick Rose emo-kid'd*** himself while peeling an apple, requiring 10 stiches. Oh, and in order to avoid aggravating a back injury, Avalanche/Nordique**** legend Joe Sakic was taking time off at home, decided to plow the drive and mangled his hand in the snowblower. And let's not forget the Aussie surfer who twisted his knee standing in wet sand. Note: the picture with this blurb has nothing to do with any of those injuries, but it looks horribly unpleasant and is in fact the first photos that comes up when you type "ouch" into Google Images, so I felt it was appropriate.

3) The year sports got (even more) expensive
Yes, credit crunch or not, sports got even more ridiculous with monies this year. Look at the retarded amounts of money being thrown around during the NHL free agent sweepstake, mixed with the huge increase in the salary cap and floor, taking it to the point where some teams were spending ridiculous sums just to reach the salary floor. Then there was the takeover of Manchester City by an Arabian group, giving City the ability to dish out more money than Chelsea for footballers in their attempt to buy a title. Mind you, they're currently not doing much better than Spurs... who also splashed ridiculous amounts of money. I guess what it proves is that successful teams can't really be bought, they need a good manager and cohesion in order to be strong - there's a novel idea! Anyways, back to the original idea, sports got even more expensive this year... and the fans are (unfortunately) going to find themselves in the less-than-enviable position of picking up the tab come next September.

2) Politics and computers aside, the Olympics were (mostly) superb
Beijing's hosting of this year's summer Olympics was protested by all kinds of people, prompting my bile-filled response to the mixing of politics and sport. The Chinese were mostly unsuccessful in their attempts to look cleaned up - journalists weren't really allowed the free access they were promised, nor were protesters allowed the opportunity to voice their opinions as promised. Oh, and let's not forget the CG Opening Ceremonies, which reminded all of us that we need to question images we see. That aside though, the Olympics were absolutely superb, they were great to watch. Sherraine Schalm and Ara Abrahamian (who since asked for his medal back) prompted many to question sportsmanship, but the rest of it was sublime. Canada, at the end of the day, did relatively well, and it was great to see the athletes who'd worked so hard, some against impossible odds, representing their countries on the world's biggest athletics stage. And let's not forget the unbelievable performances from Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt. Fantastic!

1) On the Chinese Horoscope, 2008 was the Year of the Rat. For anyone who likes either version of football, 2008 was Year of the (under)Dog.
While the Red Wings stuck to the plan in winning the Stanley Cup, both kinds of football saw unlikely winners for the major cups (that I follow). The SuperBowl was won by the Giants, playing against the yet undefeated juggerNOT***** New England Patriots. The FA Cup was won by lowly Portsmouth (mind you, against lowlier Cardiff City). The Carling Cup was won by Tottenham Hotspur (first cup in nearly 10 years) against Chelsea, the team that proved money can only buy short-term happiness. Euro 2008 was won by Spain, their first cup in 44 years! Which means that England will win the next World Cup, it's only logical. Oh, and let's not forget the Grey Cup being won by the Calgary Stampeders against hometown Als. The Phillies finally won a World Series, and the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays went from the undisputed worst team in the MLB to one of the best. While we're on the topic of upsets... I'll very briefly mention Queen's football and rugby teams losing in the OUA semis and finals, respectively, to teams they really should have beaten... shut up. Note - that is, indeed, a picture of Underdog, the superhero!

Thanks for sticking with us this year folks, and here's to the next one! Happy New Year!!

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* Worst. Acronym. Ever.
** Don't you hate it when people say "For all intensive purposes"? Sigh
*** He slashed his arm
**** Depending which jersey you pick in NHL09
***** Trademark pending

Delayed but nevertheless

Who would've thunk it, I come back to school and I'm busier than I was all summer at work. Sorry for the dinstinct lack of posting, but I'm no longer spending 7.5 hours/day parked in front of the ordinateur*... doing nothing. Now the 7.5 hours/day I spend parked in front of the ordinateur are filled with... well, MSN, GoogleTalk, Facebook, FIFA 08, Weeds, Scrubs, and other fun-filled activities.

At any rate, some updates, then my post. Firstly, Milway isn't lazy, he has in fact written a new post. Unfortunately, it was written in MS Word, like all his other posts, but all of a sudden Blogger isn't letting me post it because of some HTML in the World file... even though I'm copying it into the blog word-entry thingamabob. I'm mighty confused, but I'm trying to get it up (that's what she said), because it's really good. The Seventh Inning Stretch is still alive and kicking though, not to worry baseball fans.

Now, for my posting of random thoughts:

1) ENGLAND FUCKING WON. In the event that you happen to live under a rock, England smacked Croatia about 4-1 in Zagreb, where the Croats (had) yet to lose. Boo. Fucking. Yeah. Theo Walcott had a hattrick, Rooney was setting up bloody everything and finally popped in his own goal. Of course, this was the game that I decided "fuck it what's the point", but from Phil's account, apparently England were playing beautiful flowing stuff, almost toying with the Croats, playing well, not Turkish, as they had against Andorra. They played with creativity, poise and ablity. I honestly could not be more pleased. Croatia may not seem like a strong adversary, but they're a damn good side and they'd never lost at home. England squeaked past Andorra.

2) The Premier League is becoming absolutely retarded. If Chelsea is Chelski, Man City is now Abu City, playing out of the Middle Eastlands.

3) Queen's men's rugby faces their first real test this weekend... in a friendly against the University of Ulster, who smacked Trent 64-3 on Tuesday. They also beat the balls out of Fleming College... we're playing for Canadian pride here, let's go Tricolour, come on you Gaels!!!

4) Why won't hockey fucking start. Goddamit. I plan on getting NHL 09 at some point in the very near future, be excited for a review of that game, or, better yet, a review of what the game does to Test subject A (myself), B (Mike), and C (whoever is unfortunate enough to be C).
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* homage to the fact that I worked in Hull

Eric's Dream Team

Eric Rosdobutko is a third year engineering student at Queen's University. When he saw my dream team, he was taken aback. Hurt and shocked, one might say. So he made his own team. For the record, I say my team possesses more scoring ability than his, and I'd also venture that my goaltending is better, so in a game between TeamAmrit™ and TeamEric™ I'd predict the score to be about 12-7 for my boys.

This is my response to Amrit’s suspect all-time team. This is not my choice for my dream team, as is obvious by the fact that I’m missing the best five NHL players ever. This is what I consider to be the best possible team composed of players that Amrit did not include for his team. It is worth noting that the players on this team of “leftovers” would compose most of my own dream team even if every player was available.

Also, if these two teams were to play, I would predict victory for my team. Something like: 14-12. With a couple hundred minutes of penalties. Awesome!

GOALIES

Terry Sawchuk

The best goalie to ever play. Won four Stanley Cups with the Red Wings, (that’s four more than Luongo has won) and almost four decades after his retirement (well, actually his death) he still owns the NHL record for shutouts.

Ken Dryden

Almost unbeatable during his brief career, Dryden, unlike most of the best goalies of all-time, had the temperament to be a back-up goaltender.

DEFENSE

Denis Potvin - Eddie Shore

Both excellent two-way players who were the premier defensemen of their respective eras. Shore was the first premier offensive defenseman to play the game. He won four Hart Trophies (still the record for defensemen) and was one of the toughest SOB’s to ever play the game. Potvin was the catalyst of the Islanders’ dynasty of the early 80’s and arguably the best hip-checker of all-time. A scary duo.

Doug Harvey - Scott Niedermayer

Another pair of two-way forces. Widely considered to be the second-best defenseman in NHL history, Harvey played the game more like a quarterback than a defenseman, dictating the pace of the game with his vision and passing skills. Niedermayer is a magical skater who just wins. Everything. Literally. He also has a calm demeanor to counteract the fiery Harvey.

Larry Robinson - Paul Coffey

Paul Coffey is one of the best offensive players to play hockey at any position. Robinson was a big, defensive defenseman who never missed the playoffs in 20 seasons in the NHL.

FORWARDS

Howie Morenz - Jean Beliveau - Mike Bossy

My own French Connection line. Morenz was a phenomenal skater and the best player in the NHL before the Original Six Era. Mike Bossy was the best pure scorer to ever play, averaging 57 goals per season before retiring too early due to back problems. Distributing the puck to these snipers is Beliveau, who was also quite the goal-scorer himself, but I will use his size, strength and toughness (not to mention sublime passing skills) in a playmaking role. And if these three are on the ice for a powerplay, the puck is going to go in. Guaranteed

Mark Messier - Marcel Dionne - Guy Lafleur

The second and fifth highest scorers of all time, (Messier and Dionne) along with the dynamic Flower. Messier is the best second-liner in history. Dionne accomplished so much while playing on bad teams. Lafleur was the best player on the best team of all-time (1977 Canadians). All three guys on this line could skate, pass and shoot, and like the first line, there’s a little bit of toughness, too. Pucks would be going in left, right and centre with this line.

Bob Gainey - Steve Yzerman - Doug Gilmour

The checking line. Bob Gainey is widely considered to be the best defensive forward to ever play. The line also boasts two outstanding two-way players from the 90’s who would do anything to win, including assuming a defensive role on their team. Before committing himself to defense, Yzerman was also an elite offensive player. And Gilmour – well, there needed to be someone from the Leafs on this team.

Ted Lindsay - Stan Mikita - Brett Hull

The role-players line. Role players? But these guys are all scorers! Well that’s true, but you can never have enough scoring. Also, Lindsay and Mikita were both feared fighters (until Mikita gave up fighting to become a Lady Byng winner) Brett Hull would make a fine agitator. Like the third line, it is important that these guys are committed to winning and don’t let egos get in the way. Lindsay sacrificed the last years of his career to form the NHLPA. Brett Hull was an important contributor to the Red Wings’ Cup win in 2002 despite playing on the third line. Another priceless aspect that is brought by this line is innovation. Mikita introduced the curved stick, and creative thinking would be needed on a team like this to bring together all the different eras and styles of play.

ROVER

Red Kelly

The hardest guy to cut from this team, Kelly would be the man brought in to replace an injury. Besides being an extraordinarily talented two-way player, he could play any position. He won four Stanley Cups with Detroit as a defenseman and another four with Toronto as a forward. Oh yeah, dude could fight too. (Amrit's note - putting in a Rover is B/S, but I had two backup goalies so I can't say shit).

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Upcoming feature - another friend of mine is putting his own dream team together, and I will be posting it here when he's done.

Mercis to Greg Wyshynski for his link to my dream team yesterday (and his ability to spell my name right). The badassery of the moment where I saw my name on PuckDaddy is pretty unparralled.

Hockey and football, please don't be sad, but I'm watching a new sport

Actually, I watch many other sports. I'm an avid curling fan during the Olympics (I shit you not, I've been known to yell "SWEEP" at pubs in moments of euphoria and forgetfulness... yes, that's what we'll call it), I love playing and watching cricket, I started watching and somewhat understanding rugby (league and union) last year, I've watched field hockey in moments of weakness, Wimbledon tends to be a summer fixture for me, and, well, various other Olympic sports.

But, I've finally started watching a sport which I've mocked others for watching in the past. No, fuck you, not billiards, pool, darts, poker or (seriously) blackjack. Those are all bullshit. I'm starting to pay attention to America's pass-time, baseball.

I know, I know, the shame of it all. You can blame these guys for getting me into it though. Actually, you can blame Mike for sending me a link to their Guide to the Wave way back in May, which got me into DJF in the first place.

I watched all 15 innings of the All-Star Game last night (well, I was awake for the first 9, then happened to wake up in time to see Justin Morneau [goood Canadian boy - Don Cherry voice] score the winning run in the 15th, lucky Amrit). I have yet to eat a hot dog this summer as I'm waiting to eat one at the SkyDome (apparently 'true Jays fans' still call it that, and I fully support not calling stadiums by corporate names) in August.

But, yes, moral of the story, I've started watching baseball. I can no longer mock baseball fans for watching the most boring game in the world, because I no longer find it incredibly boring.

In fact, keep your eyes peeled as a guest writer (Peter Milway) will be pitching up a baseball article for this blog sometime in the next few weeks, and as we head into playoffs he might wind up with something approaching a regular column.

Anyways, I've admitted it, my conscious is clear, time to get back to work.

Whiiiiiiiistle BOOM

Think of a bomb dropping. That's more or less what happened to the logical answers to the quarterfinals.

My quarterfinal picks were, for all intents and purposes, spot on. But semifinal picks...Jesus Murphy!

I got Germany right, I'm happy about that. The Turkey result, well, I've already given my opinion on that. Now for a brief rundown of the other two matches.

Netherlands v Russia

Netherlands got bowled out by an absolutely superb Russian side. The basics of football, mixed with just the right amount of skill and speed, are showing their worth. That said, the Dutch were way off their game. Whether it was because of a lack of chemistry, or a lack of heart, I don't know, but something was very different between that team and the side that dismantled France and Italy.


Russia...well what more can you say about that? Fast, skilled, more impressive football than I've seen in a while. Guus Hiddink took a team who got bowled over 7-1 by Poland, and turned them into a world class bunch. Concentrating on fitness and basic tactics, not to mention getting the players to leave their egos at the door, was all they needed to realize their potential. Russia is fantastic, I'm looking forward to their next few matches. Downside - they knocked out the team I called to win it. Shit.

Spain v Italy

What a boring game. This one was entirely up in the the air, defense vs attack. It was a snoozer to watch. Both teams seemed more than happy to play for penalties...unfortunately. I don't really know what else I can say about it. Torres was completely uninspired, his replacement was more than worse. Toni should be given a PhD in wasting chances. Di Natale was Italy's attacking saving grace, it was more than obvious that they were missing Pirlo. There were a few freekicks around the box they desperately needed to do convert, or at least create something, with.

Semifinal - Spain v Russia

The Spanish defense is showed a lot of holes against Italy, and they can't continue to rely on Puyol and Casillas to save their asses, especially against the talent posed by the invigorated Russian side.

The attack also needs to wake up, the Spanish can exploit the Russian counterattack for chances of their own. The Russians have a terrible habit of bringing everyone forward on the attack...which is great unless it doesn't work.

Russia has a lot of space to work in against Spain, I'm more than excited to watch two inspired, attacking sides face one-another. Hopefully they both bring their A-game!

As for a winner? Who the hell knows. Fuck it. Russia. Come on you (former) Reds!

Semifinal - Germany v Turkey

Well, I hate the Turks. I seem to be the only person who doesn't think they deserve to be where their are. The Germans have too much class for this ragtag bunch of non-deservants (is that a word?). Come on Germany.

To be featured later in this blog

All kinds of stuff in the world of sports making me scratch my noodle lately. Upcoming articles: Chelsea's everlong pursuit of buying the title through theft of Arshavin (sp?). Christiano Ronaldo's never-ending run to become the most dissapointing, annoying, godforsaken waste of talent the world has ever seen. Hell, who knows, maybe a little delving into the world of hockey too. Stay posted!