Some long-neglected lists in some bonus mail

Okay, a couple of serious ones, a couple of not-so-serious ones, and a couple that have been hanging around for a while.

Now, don’t forget we’re here tonight for an IGBT, game’s at 8 and it might be the last one of the season. So bring your ‘A’ games.

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Q: Doug- NBA CBA - do you feel it is "just" millionaires vs. billionaires - or can we identify larger issues involving modern sport, labour relations, the current state of N Amer economy, etc? Please amplify.

How if at all do you think what Bosh-Wade-James did will influence the negotiations?

When we fans root for our team we are also rooting for the league for without the league we would have no team. But what does this mean for the current bargaining impasse?

 

Who do you think we should be rooting for in the negotiations?

Charles N, Toronto

A: I think the way the world is, economically, is making people care less and less about these talks than ever before and there’s a large measure of boredom.

With just about everyone hurting in some form, the appetite to learn the intricacies of how people will split a multi-billion-dollar pot is off-putting and the sense I get from friends is “wake me when it’s over.”

I’m not sure that James-Bosh-Wade are a driving factor in these negotiations but I do think that if the owners get what they want, a byproduct might be that there can’t be an orchestrated move by even two players to join a third.

Cheer for?

I can’t in all good conscience “cheer” for anything but the game because the game’s the thing. I just hope the resolution doesn’t take too long to reach and that they don’t change it too much.

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Q: Hi Doug! And welcome back to the home of the TOD! So, thinking of travel - and of much of it you have to do - we've frequently asked you for your "best of" things to eat, drink, listen to etc., etc. while you're out there doing your job. And perhaps because it's the "best of" that you're giving us there seems to be a sense that (other than your regular rants about Air Canada) you've pretty much got it made in the shade. So, in the interest of getting it right, or at least a little closer to your reality, can you describe for us (in any detail you want and giving names and dates, too!)

The Top 5 Most Unfortunate Culinary Experiences While On The Road? Cheers! And Thank You.

Lorie P, London

A: Not sure I’ve had five awful ones that come to mind, I tend to put them quickly out of my head but I will give you five things I hate about food on the road:

Anything on an airplane.

Yes, they tell you they’re fresh sandwiches and stuff but I’m not sure I believe them.

Awful room coffee

Sometimes there’s no Starbucks or anything close and you’re reduced to using the machines in the room and packets of coffee that could be decades old.

Cold concierge lounge breakfast

Yes, it’s a nice perk. No, it’s not often great food.

Press room meals

Some are okay, some are indiscernible meat byproducts passed off as dinner.

Bad post-game wings

No, it’s not dietary brilliance to go gobble up deep fried brown things at 1 a.m. after working but there’s something about a wing and a beer that ends a night well. And if they’re bad – not cooked enough, too sloppy, not hot enough – it really puts a damper on an evening.

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Q: Hey Doug. I agree when you remark that the Finals has been good, but so far lacking in WOW-factor. Which may be why I bring you this, oh worldy Doug:

"... the draught pump that’s in the middle of the table. Best. Invention. Ever."

Assuming this to be Numero Uno, can you share the rest of the Top Five culinary game-changers you've experienced while out covering the beat from Seattle to Italy and back again.

 

Cheers!

Andrew P, Toronto

A: Hmm, five?

Can I do three?

The Palm

Greatest restaurant discovery, that’s for sure. A consistently excellent hunk of red meat regardless of the city, always a comfortable stool and creamed spinach might be the best dessert vegetable ever invented.

Table-top grilling

Jose sent us to a place in Madrid where you cooked your own paper-thin beef on a hot stone. Had it one other time in, and I don’t remember where, but it’s a great meal.

Micro-brews

Yes, a trite answer but finding cool local brews has been a great part of the travel.

Am sure there are others but that’s what comes to mind.

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Q: Greetings. With HOTH out beating the undergrowth for candidates, if you could interview anyone in basketball history, who would be on your list.

With the team as young as they are, I would probably consider John Wooten at his prime, but I'm sure there are many other great college coaches too.

Actually could be a subject for a list: All-time greatest NBA coaches. I assume the likes of Riley and Auerbach would be high on the list along with Phil Jackson. With the Zen-Master out walking the beach and Mr. Sloan enjoying retirement, does "Best" current coach go to Popovich or does Carlisle get extra consideration for what he has done this year? I think I would exclude guys with big statistical records that are more related to longevity than quality of work, but as usual, it is your list, so it will be your criteria.

 

A great read, a must read, an always read.

Thanks

Lee H, Richmond Hill

A: My list of all-time great coaches goes like this right now, from top to bottom:

Red Auerbach

Phil Jackson

Jerry Sloan

And I’m going to put two on here to start a discussion maybe.

Jack Ramsay

Chuck Daly.

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Q: Speaking of burgers, what are your favorite burger joints in the GTA?

Paul E, Toronto

A: Well, this is a tough one and an admission first: I don’t get out of a lot here and am a bit of a creature of habit.

Anyway ….

Five Guys

It’s new to here in Hazelville but has vaulted to the top of the list.

Licks

Used to go to the one in the Beaches way back in the day and they were really, really good.

John Anderson

Tough to find but there’s one close to home that’s pretty good. And convenient too.

Rosedale Diner

It’s been a long time and I have no idea if they still have ‘em but I seem to recall them on some kind of pita bread that was great.

Apache Burger

Again, it’s been a while but it’s a diner setting and who doesn’t like an old school diner.

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Q: It has been said that if you are not "selling wins" then you better be "selling hope". I suppose that you can also add that if "hope" is not in the near future you can always "sell out" the coach.

First rant then question ... feel free to edit out the rant (rant).

I think Jay did a good job with what he had. DD was not a write in starter at the beginning of last year on a playoff team.

Ed Davis has lots of potential but would he have played more than Tiago Splitter in San Antonio? The young guys developed nicely but it did cost some wins and the coaching record reflects it.

 

Q. In this star driven league which Raptor asset has the potential to be (or beget) the next Raptor all star? DD Ed Davis, Bargnani, 2011 5th pick, 2012 nth pick, trade exemption, cap space?

Jim S, Whitby

A: From our “impossible to tell” basket, we pull out Davis as the next Raptor all-star. Not sure why, maybe because of the position he plays but that’s what I’m going with.

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Q: Kinda funny how you've been the witness thingy for 2 drafts lotteries and Cleveland ends up winning both times. One has to wonder if you play a bigger role then your willing to admit in keeping a team in Cleveland. Best NBA draft lottery story lines?...I was gonna ask for 3 but I can think of 5 off the top of my head. Raps getting #1 in a year the consensus was a euro 7-footer was always kinda suspicious to me... not to suggest foul play, but I did think Khan had a point, I think Habit was the wrong word, habit implies motives and guilt.

 

But the draft does always seem to have a story. So what are your faves?

Marcus T, Newmarket

A: I am absolutely not getting into the conspiracy theories because, well, because they’re nonsense.

But I’ll give you these three as kind of cool and represented sea changes for their franchises:

Bulls go from No. 11 to No. 1 to draft Derrick Rose. And remember, when you’re handicapping drafts, there were those who felt they should have taken Michael Beasley.

Orlando wins two in a row in ’92 and ’93 and Pat Williams talks about his “Magic ping-pong balls.”

Spurs win in ’96 and it eventually leads to Rick Pitino leaving Boston because he put all his stock in getting Tim Duncan and there are lots of people I know who reveled in his misfortune.

Best local story, and this’ll kill all the revisionist historians out there.

HOTH win it in ’96 but can’t get No. 1. No way they were taking Iverson (they had that Stoudamire guy and Isiah loved him) and only their expansion agreement with the NBA precluded Marcus Camby from being a No. 1 overall selection.

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Q: Hi Doug. Here’s a follow up to a question I asked about a month ago about the best tear jerking moments in sports movie history. I thought I’d change the criteria a bit this time and ask for a list on the best or most memorable moments/scenes in sports movie history. Here is mine to get you started:

Bull Durham. I could almost pick the whole movie as I thinks it’s the best sports movie out there (serious moments combined with comedy) but I love the scene on the mound when Arli$$ comes out to break up the discussion and suggests candle sticks as a wedding present. Classic. Of course the MF scene can transcend baseball and be used with any sport movie.

Another classic: Hoosiers. Hackman measuring the rim height, nuff said

The Natural. Hitting the lights with a homerun, music in the background, even The Simpsons had fun with that one.

 

Major League. Uecker’s “Just a bit outside” is an all-time classic that everyone has used once in their life.

Heath M, Toronto

A: Most memorable moments?

Wow. So many to choose from and a lot come from the same movies, especially the comedy bits:

Here are a few:

Longest Yard

When they let the defensive lineman through only to be greeted by a pass to his, um, nether regions.

Caddyshack

Rodney Dangerfield buying up the shop for his foreign friends.

“Gimme three of those and four of those and put a couple of those in there, too.”

Or anything to do with Chevy Chase.

A League Of Their Own

“There is no crying in baseball.”

Bull Durham

I just tried to look up some dialogue to share it verbatim. This being a family blog, let’s just say there are some funny, funny moments.

Go check out the first time Annie Savoy ends a night with Nuke and Crash.

It ends with … “the small of a woman's back, the hanging curve ball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap. I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter. I believe in the sweet spot, soft-core pornography, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve and I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days.”

Now, here’s one that’s not at all a sports movie but maybe the best single sports scene in a movie ever:

The Naked Gun

It’s got The Queen, Leslie Neilsen as the umpire and over-the-top blooper reels on the scoreboard (shortstop, I think it was, gets run over by a car).

A great send-up of time at the ballyard and if you watch it and don’t laugh out loud, you’re not human.

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Q: Doug. With the possibility of a lockout becoming more likely, do you ever see the NBA bringing in replacement players like they did for the referees last year? I know the States isn't Union friendly, so is there any scenario where the Union could be de-certified and the NBA invite players to break union ranks and come and play basketball?

Dave B, Cornwall

A: I never see it and fans wouldn’t put up with it. Owners are far smarter than trying to foist replacement players on a paying public.

Now, I have no idea how a decertification process would unfold but to my rudimentary knowledge, wouldn’t that void all the precious guaranteed contracts the players have and hold so dear to their hearts?

 

 

Comments

[Keenan]

Doug,

"The Burger's Priest" (Queen & Coxwell), is a must-have.
Thank me later.

[Ken Leduc]

After you mentioned The Naked Gun baseball part I had to look it up on YouTube. Been years since I had seen the movie. Laughed just as hard watching Leslie call strikes while checking each player.

[Steph]

While on the topic of wings, what about favourite flavours. I prefer my wings dry, so Cajun & lemon pepper for me.

[Jacques]

what about Webers on Hwy 11

[Topper]

Nice edit job on my question.
Reads much crisper now.

[sportschick]

I loved the Bull Durham pitcher's mound conversation. That was definitely a classic moment in sports movies.

When Wade wasn't doing well, people were speculating that he was injured. Now that Lebron isn't living up to his hype (at least in the fourth quarter), I don't see speculation about any injury. Is that just because we all love to hate him, or is it that nothing suggests an injury?

Blogger's note: Nothing to suggest that

[VikZ]

So many lists today. I won't be surprised if you do a list of your favourite lists soon

[Jacques]

Doug, what's for dinner tonight :)