Into the weekend: Grey Cup libations

Lots to ponder as we head into a strenuous weekend of armchair sports, chief among it this proposition up on the JABS odds board: Kobe Bryant's points tonight vs. Frank Thomas's RBIs next season vs audience for the MLS expansion draft live on ESPN4.

Shot of beer nuts? Check.

It's the Friday roundup. But you knew that already. And while you mull over that last bet, which is almost lifelike, a little treat arrived in the email basket this week: The Gibson's Kicker, billed as the official cocktail of the Grey Cup: "Part smoke and part fire with a hint of fresh lime and paired with a shot of beer nuts". Sounds a bit like a Flaming Mo. I'll pair it with the fish sticks and get back to you.

Meantime, better make do with that Kobe vs Hurt vs. MLS expansion draft prop, because the government gambling shop has done it again. The Grey Cup line is B.C. -7 1/2 in the books, a little light according to my original reckoning. But folllowing along with the theme of almost lifelike, you won't be able to play it on Pro-Line's Point Spread game. Biggest game of the year, one that even casual fans notice, and there's no betting against the line. They're looking out for us. Everybody, now, raise your Flaming Mo or your Kicker or your Champale and toast 'em. Toast 'em good.

One last read. From the Guardian's Sports Blog, the best thing I've read on world footy since all those Zizou rumours. It's Marcela Mora y Araujo (no relation to Haffa, I presume), hanging with Boca's la Doce:

The thrill of the terraces and the beauty of the display of affection hardcore fans offer their team is not unique to Boca, nor indeed to Argentina. But it has an intensity there that has few equals. I once met a Malvinas war veteran in the Boca terraces and asked him if he thought there was a connection between the intoxication and loss of self of the terraces, and the atmosphere of a battlefield. No, he said. "Nobody hates war more than a soldier," he explained, before surveying the scenes on the terraces and concluding: "This is about love."
Later that same day, after Boca had lost 2-0 to River Plate, two River fans were shot dead. Around the city the following graffiti appeared: River 2-2 Boca.

One last piece of blogosphere news. Congratulations and good luck to Raptorblog ringmaster and footstool regular Scott Carefoot, on the move to Sympatico MSN's Sports Channel. That means, of course, that he'll have access to a press pass, poor guy.

One last curling update. George at the Curling News sends along this on those blog-favourite rockin' Norbergs.

One last view. This has been around a bit, but if you've missed it: Aries Spears does Mike and Shaq. (And if you liked that, check out this one sent over from TBJ.)

One last James Bond namedrop. Not much time for Bond. But I do like this.

One (two) last sponsorship deal. An English footy club has signed a marketing deal with Motorhead which includes an all-black uniform with the skull logo (which is just a cheap excuse, really, to revisit this QT-friendly video). And a link to Tom Benjamin for exposing this new NHL award for the runny nose that it is: "Is there anything Bettman won't do to squeeze out a few extra dollars?"

One last warning. This is pigskin freakout weekend, so if you find yourself on the couch a lot this weekend, do try to build in short breaks between the cheezie nibbling. It all starts with the CIS semifinals starting at noon Saturday. That OSU-Michigan thing goes midday (it'll be DVR'd in my house, so please, no giving away the ending before Saturday night). NFL all day Sunday and of course, the Grey Cup Sunday night.

One last Sam Mitchell laff. Two, actually, from TBJ, who I should just hand over the Friday roundup to, because it seems like every one of these has something from them -Coal Region Recipes with Sam Mitchell, and Searching for Sammy Mitchell. I'll miss this stuff when he's gone.

Sports around town. If you can tear yourself away from the couch - and you really should - U of T got its game on last weekend, and now it's York U's turn to start the party Saturday night. The Lions (got it right this time) host Waterloo up at the arena on the edge of forever, a doubleheader with the women at 6 p.m. and the men at 8. Bring your own pajamas. Honest.

Pooch punts. It's true - Jinks the Vizsla really is just as bad as all the other public handicappers out there. After another 2-3 weekend, here's the latest set of kibbles or cookies picks (bonus points, though, for the Grey Cup gobble):

Montreal (+7 1/2) over B.C.
St. Louis (+6 1/2) over CAROLINA
St. Louis-Carolina OVER 44
PHILADELPHIA (-13) over Tennessee
CLEVELAND (+ 3 1/2) over Pittsburgh

Have a great Grey Cup weekend.

Photo of the Day: Global warming

ILYA NAYMUSHIN/REUTERS

Siberia's warm winter has meant street sport opportunites, including this skateboarder in Krasnoyarsk.

Related: Insomniac bears scaring locals.

Leafs and penalties: A different look

Off the top of the season I decided to start tracking the Leafs’ penalty stats in a little different way – not only who’s commiting the fouls, but who’s getting fouled themselves - given that the NHL doesn't compile the latter data (why? No one seems to know. It is something that shows up in the play-by-play running at ESPN.com, but not on the league's house version). As I said in an earlier post, it's a stat I'd like to see.

I’ll break these out if there’s interest later on in the season as well. Here’s the first helping, through 19 games.

The ground rules are simple: only two-minute minors count (no majors or misconducts included) and a double-minor (say, for high sticking with blood, or a simple double) counts as two fouls. I haven’t broken it down from there, into what kind of penalties they’re committing or attracting, this being about as close as I come to getting in touch with my inner geek. Got it? Let’s go then. Er, after the jump ...

The Big Hurt - Yay or Nay?

First reaction to this?
How about huh? Seems a bit out of character for J.P. Ricciardi to go after a plodding 38-year-old bopper coming off a rebound season that followed two years of big hurts.
But this is DH'ing we're talking about. Take care of your body, four or five ABs a night, a veritable rocking chair - so goes the theory, anyway.

TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO

Winfield: The elderest Jays DH.

Frank Thomas will be 39 years old in May. Would that make him the oldest Blue Jays designated hitter? No - not yet, anyway. Using the Jays' all-time roster and baseball-reference.com, here's a list of the oldest Jays DH's, and how they managed (one omission, Dave Parker, came here at age 40 in '91 but really didn't play all that much, so I've left him off - anyone else I've missed, let me know):

Ron Fairly (39 in 1977) ... Played 58 games at DH, and a few more than that at 1B and OF. Batted .279 with 19 home runs, .465 slugging percentage.

Paul Molitor (38 in 1995) ...  Still had three years left in the tank after this season, when he batted an ordinary (for him) .270 and slumped to a .350 OBP.

Al Oliver (38 in 1985) ...  A valuable pickup in the middle of the Jays' first division-winning season, he batted .251 in his final big-league season.

Rico Carty (39 in 1979) ... He actually turned 40 at the end of this final big-league season, hit 12 HRs on a Jays team filled with kids.

Cliff Johnson (39 in 1986) ... Charles Oakley always reminded me of an NBA version of this guy. Had some good years here; 15 HRs and .250 BA.

Dave Winfield (40 in 1992) ... Slugged .491, drove in over 100 runs - the erstwhile Mr. May/seagull killer turned 41 in October, a few weeks before the Jays' first (and his only) World Series title. Pretty good pickup, no?

UPDATE: Report: Jays may have Barajas interest (TSN.ca)

Photo of the Day: Everybody Haka!

ROBERT PRATTA/REUTERS

The All Blacks do the Haka.

Related: The Haka, translated with links.

MLS expansion draft fever!

Just a reminder that Friday afternoon, just when you're trying to decide on your Grey Cup party options (CC or Champale?

REUTERS PHOTO

DeRosario: Protected.

Always a tough call, that), Toronto FC will be picking its team by adding 10 players from the existing MLS lineup (and no more than one from any of them. For the full list and rules, go here). It's the MLS expansion draft - catch the excitement!

With 2005 MLS MVP Dwayne DeRosario of Scarborough the apple of T'Citeh's eye, champions Houston have protected him - not much of a surprise there. If they want him, they're going to have to deal to get him. Won't be cheap, either.

Another Canuck, Adrian Serioux, is available (the only Canadian on the list, by my count), if they're interested.

AP PHOTO

Serioux: Available.

I'm no expert at all here, but after going down the list I'm going to hazard a guess that Nate Jaqua is high on their list - 25-year-old forward, proven scorer, a starter with Chicago, and how often do those kinds of prime candidates come along in these kind of drafts? - although Jamaican international Andy Williams will also attract attention. Colorado left open U.S. international Clint Mathis and Fabrice Noel. From the greybeard file, there's Tony Meola  and Cobi Jones.

As usual when there is precious little mainstream info out there, the blog world is the place to go for more. Heartening words here from The Crossbar, who's a lot more up on this stuff than I am:

Looking over the list of players, Toronto could build an incredibly good team; especially if they start from the back. It is safe to say that they will snatch any Canadian on the list. At the time being, it appears that Adrian Serioux is the only Canadian available in Friday's draft. So with Serioux and Brennan on the backline how will Toronto proceed?

Well, there's the question of the day.

Open thread: Fixing the Raptors

Going to keep this open all day, so let's meet up in the comments. Meantime, here's some observations, links and suggestions to put in the stew, with the Raptors carrying a 2-5 (going on 2-8 at this rate, with LeBron coming into the ACC after the road swing is over) record:

1. Defensive FG percentage. Where all the problems start. They defend with all the passion and commitment of a frog on the dissection table. A little chart, noting their opponents' overall FG percentage, and what they shot against the Raptors (for the first five games, I've used 05-06 final percentages because of lack of data):

AP FILE PHOTO

Mr. Parker, you got next.

Game......Opp FG%..Game %
at NJ..........44.0........51.3
v Mil...........45.3........44.2
v SA...........47.2........50.0
v Phil..........45.8........49.4
v Atl...........45.4........50.0
at Sac........39.9........48.7
at GS..........47.5........43.3

That's but one team they've held significantly under their established norm (that was last night, when the headache du jour showed up at the other end. They were flat outcoached by Warriors' Don Nelson, using a sagging zone to cover up his team's interior problems, and the Raptors took the bait and turned into a bunch of chuckers - not to pick on Fred Jones, because there's plenty of trouble to go around, but isn't this guy's game supposed to be all about slash 'n burn?).

But getting back to the original point, isn't team defence all about coaching?

2. Andrea Bargnani. Surely there's some out-of-work former top-drawer NBA interior defender who wants to coach in this league and has shown a lot of promise (hello, is Mr. Laimbeer in?) they can bring in to school the kid. Bargnani can shoot - we know that - and he's going to be fine, I reckon. But he's clueless defensively and that's one reason why he's not getting more minutes.

3. The 12-man rotation. We've seen this too many times already. Coaching by guesswork.

4. A snapshot. End of first half in Sacramento, inbounds play out of a timeout, shot clock off. Result: No movement, one weak, did-nothing screen (Peterson on Shareef; Garbajosa wasn't on the floor, would've been a perfect time to pick him up by putting him in and do something simple like set a good pick) and after 13 1/2 seconds, a 27-footer from Morris Peterson. No ideas = no execution = toss pen up in the air.

5. Over/under on Kobe. Friday's next, in L.A. First time to see Mamba since 81 last January. Paging Anthony Parker . . .

6. It's not all bad. The numbers guys at 82games.com confirm what the eyeballing suggests: Bosh, Parker and Calderon are playing positively - Bosh, in particular, evolving from best player to heart 'n soul, Parker showing a little more each night out and Calderon making a strong case for more p.t.

Photo of the Day: This sport rocks

ILYA NAYMUSHIN/REUTERS

World Cup speed climbing champion Tatiana Ruiga heads out for morning coffee.

Related: UIAA climbing World Cup results.

Photo of the Day: Heart to heart

RAY STUBBLEBINE/REUTERS

LeBron James and Nate Robinson share the moment.

Related: Romance on the Hardwood: Kobe and Andrew (The Basketball Jones).

Photo of the Day: Best fiver

PETER MORRISON/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Dickie Best, father of the late George Best, shows off new bank notes in Belfast.

Related: Rush for Bestie fivers begins today (Belfast Telegraph).

Best notes prompt auction fever (BBC News).