Men get started, junior women roll and some different football

And so it begins for semi-real for Canada’s senior men’s team.

A six-game tour of Europe starts today with one of two games in France – then they get Italy and Czech Republic – and as you can see from this Canada Basketball release, the roster is as we thought it would be:

It’s very rough and rudimentary and not really the team that’ll end up in Argentina in late August to try and qualify for the 2012 Olympics.

But here’s the thing:

The one big thing the regime at Canada Basketball has done over the last half decade or so is keep most of core groups together so there is already a level of familiarity and the integration of a few new faces isn’t as troubling or difficult as it’s been in the past.

Leo Rautins, junior coach Greg Francis and cadet coach Roy Rana have done an excellent job teaching the same basic philosophies and systems from the time kids are in their mid-teens, which also helps when they have such relatively little time to prepare for their biggest competition.

I don’t think anyone should be entirely too worried about whether the men win or lose on this tour – they are getting teams far ahead in their preparation since EuroBasket comes up before the FIBA Americas qualifier – but it is an okay first step.

The interesting thing is going to be seeing who’s on the team that heads to South America in late August.

There was an indication that Cory Joseph had his insurance issues taken care of and for a team that’s been starved for a point guard – no disrespect to Jermaine Anderson but it has been a spot that could use some improvement and depth – Joseph will be huge.

Now, there is also no indication that Tristan Thompson is going to play and that’s a shame, there’s a kid who could probably use some high-level competition before his first NBA camp and it’s a shame that it looks now like he won’t be playing.

But, again, I’ll say this: This roster is fluid and there’s no sense getting too worked up until we see who doesn’t get on the plane to Argentina in a month or so.

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For all of you who were super excited by the news that the NFL settled, I have two words:

Pre-season football.

Of all the exhibition junk fans are subjected to in all the sports – never-ending spring training, a billion pucks games, eight yawners in the basketball – nothing glazes over the eyes than pre-season football.

Can’t wait.

Of course, if it’s football like this …

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it’s four in a row for the Canadian junior women, who spanked Russia 66-50 to open the second round at the world championships down in Chile yesterday.

Guard Nirra Fields, who might be playing as well as anyone in the tournament, had 22 for Canada, who gets Japan today in the second, second-round game.

It’s one of those rather convoluted competitions – three first-round games, three second-round games, record from the first round carries over but only from games against the two other teams that advanced – so it’s impossible right now to say where they’ll finish.

But it’s been my experience that three wins (two that carried over from the unbeaten first round and the one yesterday) should be enough to guarantee a quarter-final berth and going 4-0 with a win over Japan today would clinch it.

I’m not 100 per cent sure on this, but I can pretty much assure you this is the first time any Canadian team at any age group championship has won its first four games.

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Ball yard tonight.

IGBT if you’d care to join in, let’s say 7ish?

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You know we’ve had a list a couple of times about sports events that had lost their luster, at least to me?

Toss the Skins Game onto that pile, for sure.

I can remember back in the day when you’d make sure to be near a TV to see guys like Fred Couples or even Jack Nicklaus or maybe John Daly take part.

Now?

Now I noticed on the TV after Mighty Rockies practice last night that the Canadian game was on and it had five guys and was on a beautiful course and I did nothing but yawn and not pay attention.

Or course, if those guys were ever playing for their own money – or hadn’t already been guaranteed ‘X’ dollars just for showing up I might be a tad more interested. But that’s asking way too much.

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Junior women, leagues settle lockouts and some good old TV

We really have to come up with another name for this thing given the dearth of Raptors stuff in here of late.

But we still manage to get it done every day.

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There’s quite a story developing down in Chile that we’ll pay closer attention to as the week unfolds.

The Canadian junior women finished the first round of the world championships with a perfect 3-0 record (they knocked off the defending European champions from Italy in the their third game) and head into the second round today.

You don’t know a lot of these young women – I don’t know a lot of these young women – but they are off to a rousing start down there and have every chance to make it to the knockout quarter-finals and the medal round.

Junior, or age-group, global basketball doesn’t get nearly the recognition it deserves, or warrants. It’s the breeding ground for future success and while you may not recognize the names Nirra Fields or Michelle Plouffe or Wumi Agunbiade at the moment, what they’re doing now could very well make them quite popular at things like Olympics and world championships over the next decade.

May as well jump on the bandwagon now so you’ve got front row seat in the next five or six years.

The junior women get Russia today, Japan tomorrow and the United States on Wednesday before we figure out what their quarter-finals and playoff round chances are.

Stick around, I see a developing basketball story and we could sure use one.

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Okay, the Pat Gillick speech at the Hall of Fame made me tear up; the Roberto Alomar speech sounded like a thank-you session at the Academy Awards.

Found it kind of interesting that Alomar singled out Cito Gaston while Gillick paid homage to scouts and personnel staffs.

Guess it’s got to do with history and your place in the game but I’d rather here stories than heartfelt thanks.

Wouldn’t you?

I will have to admit though, the ceremonies were among the best I’ve seen, I love the Field of Dreams/Woodstock outdoors event with people in lawn chairs on the ground watching.

It’s kind of informal and like a true celebration rather than being some stilted black-tie affair in ballroom or some hall.

The parade of Hall of Famers was long but not horribly so, it was very cool to see guys like Yogi and Al Kaline and Ferguson Jenkins.

Cements home the point that the national Baseball Hall of Fame eclipses all others, in my opinion.

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So, for some reason I found myself sitting at the desk for a minute early Sunday morning typing instead of on the deck and the TV’s on.

Super Son has some early-teens show going and it’s rather boring and predictable and I wonder why we can’t have Sunday morning shows like this any more.

And whatever happened to Tom and Jerry and Underdog and all those other ones anyway?

Ah, the good old days.

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So, is there anything to learn from the NFL lockout being settled for the folks in the NBA?

I don’t think so.

The two systems are so different, it’s virtually impossible to suggest the NFL deal could be matched in the NBA. The non-guaranteed nature of contracts, the signing bonuses that count against the cap and the greater revenue total really make it incomparable.

And that’s not even getting into the whole legal quagmire that existed until today through the decertification and no recertification process (I guess that’s something like a legal do-over?) and the various court appeals that dragged on and on.

So, yes, it’s good that the NFL is back – at least I guess it is, I’m not much of fan since all my fall and early winter Sundays are usually spent watching the HOTH – but to think that there’s a lesson to be learned on the NBA side is, I think, a bit of stretch.

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This is either delicious or disgusting, I’m not sure which.

The beancounters are all done their stuff in the 30 league offices and – lo and behold – revenues were up 4.8 per cent across the league, which means salaries are up 4.8 per cent across the league, which means the total Basketball Related Income was $3.817 BILLION last season.

That’s a whole lot of money they can’t figure out how to split and it kind of sickens one to think there seems to be an overwhelming feeling that games will be missed while they dither and hum and haw over how to split that pot equitably.

I am not at all against businesses trying to make a profit, nor am I against employees trying to maximize salaries and hang on to what they have.

I am dead set against that kind of money being at the root of a work stoppage.

Here’s Asch’s story on the situation.

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Hey, guess who’s Baseball Boy all week?

Yep.

Been conscripted to do games Tuesday night and Thursday, was already ready scheduled for the Texas series here on the weekend and with the Mighty Rockies working out tonight and opening the post-season on Wednesday, it’s going to be a week of ball.

I’m eventually going to tire of it.

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You check out the Canadian Open on the weekend? Good showing by the Hadwin kid in front of the home crowd and when he made those three birdies in a row on the back to get back into contention, had to move from the deck to the couch to check it out.

Too bad he came up short but, coming from a guy who walked the final round in ’04, I’m sure there was an electric feeling in the air.

Now, I know – and you should know – it’s tough enough to win any PGA Tour event, there are simply too many great players out there and too many variables that could work against you. To win one on home soil, with the inherent pressure, attention and expectations of the audience, is proving too much to handle.

It doesn’t mean that these guys can’t play, or that they won’t eventually win on Tour; it’s just a monumental task, everything has to go just perfectly and it doesn’t.

Too bad, would have been a helluva story.

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Some news and the end of the weekend mail

Excellent work again, kids.

Thanks.

Oh, and some news.

Remember I mentioned the Canadian junior women heading off to the world championships down in Chile the end of last week?

Well, they came through the first round unbeaten, having rolled past China, Egypt and Italy, the defending European champions.

Talked to someone who’s down there watching and the report is the Canadians might have the best halfcourt defence in the tournament and a quarter-final berth and a shot at a medal is certainly not out of the realm of possibility.

We’ll have more on them in the morning because today’s an off day and they get Russia, Japan and the United States in the next round starting Monday.

Now, we return you to your regularly-scheduled mail:

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Q: Hi Doug. One of the best comic bits ever...

Do you know where the world's largest living land lizard resides? Hint, it's an eastern archipelago.

Ask Wally Ballou. (Bob and Ray)

On a one to ten scale, how would you rank the current core strength of one Andrea Bargnani?

After McKechnie gets done with him?

Regards!

Bob E, Kanata

A: No number lower than one, eh?

Okay, let’s go with one and if he gets him to five it’ll be a wonderful accomplishment.

Now, everyone go google Bob and Ray.

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Q: My apologies if this has already been asked and answered: if there is no 2011-12 NBA season but the owners and the players reach an agreement in (say) February 2012, what happens to the 2012 draft?

Mike D, Wilds of 905

A: Oh, aren’t we cute?

(I keed, I keed)

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Q: Hey Doug.

Rocket Ismail.

Has there ever been a bigger coup for Canadian Sports over our national American inferiority complex?

Thanks

Rob N, London

A: None. Not sure there’d even be anything a close second.

We’re talking about the guy going to go No. 1 in the NFL draft and I remember it being late Saturday night when I got the call from an associate of Bruce McNall’s telling me it was done. I think the NFL draft might have been the next day and it was huge news.

Now, it might be biggest ever because it was a football “steal” and it’s not like that can even happen in any other sport.

But it was huge.

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Q: Hey Doug. I would be curious to know if a player gets any sort of financial benefit from being in the NBA Hall of Fame. Direct or indirect such as increased exposure or name recognition = more marketing or 'brand' dollars?

I like the multimedia work. Very hip.

Cluck K, Mississauga

A: No directly as in any cash award for being elected but I’m sure some of them parlay induction into such things as personal appearances, autograph sessions and the odd endorsement. But I don’t imagine that’s terribly lucrative for the majority of them, who’d already have that kind of thing on the go.

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Q: Hey Doug. Three part question about the behind the scenes elements of reporting.

With the UK phone hacking scandal going on, how true is the idea of the reporter's duty to 'get the story, no matter what?'

This year marks 10 years since 9/11. What were the challenges that you faced in covering basketball one day and a terrorist attack the next? How does a reporter change their mindset or focus?

What's the biggest sports/news story that you've ever covered or broken?

Thanks as always.

Mauro F, Hamilton

A: Fine trio of queries.

The idea of “get the story, no matter what” is, in my opinion, dead wrong. Yes, it’s nice to be first and all that but you need to operate within the bounds of laws, journalism ethics (be up front and honest) and common decency. Alas, that’s not always true.

Not sure the mindset changed at all in the wake of those terrorist attacks, or any for that matter. We realize that sports is more of an outlet – not without huge passion among the readers but an outlet from reality nonetheless – and perhaps that was hammered home a bit more after the towers fell, the Pentagon was attacked and the plane crashed in that Pennsylvania field. What it did for me, and I presume many others, was hammer home the dangers in the world that used to only be present in other countries and made some of us appreciate the dangers others live with every day.

Biggest story? Well, as many as have been broken have been broken on me but I will admit to being quite proud that our paper was the first to report the departure of Isiah Thomas and Vince’s desired to be traded.

But, honestly, it’s silly to keep score. A wise old boss once told me 90 per cent of stories are tied, you win five per cent and lose five per cent and you need to just toddle along every day doing the best you can.

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Q: In light of Yao's retirement, can you give us a list of:

The best players you saw that won't make the Hall of Fall because of injury.

The most significant injuries or changes in fortune you have seen in the league. (I don't think that these are the same question)

One other comment. You enjoy reporting on other sports in the off season, but have you had the chance to do some writing on Rugby, especially since it now going to be an Olympic sport in 2016. It's really a great game, that I'm only becoming more acquainted with.

Thanks

Stephen T, St. Catharines

A: To the first one, I’m not sure how long the list is but I’d put Bernard King at the very top of it. And who knows how a guy like maybe Penny Hardaway, Danny Manning or even Antonio McDyess would have had their careers play out had they not sufferer near catastrophic injuries early. But that’s all speculation, of course.

To the second one, man, that’s a hard one.

Trying to wrack my brain to back more than a few years and nothing really comes immediately to mind, although I’m sure there are lots.

Two I can think of off the top of my head:

I really would have liked to have seen the current version of the Portland Trail Blazers with a fully healthy Greg Oden and Brandon Roy, just as I would have liked to have seen the Portland Trail Blazers back in the day had Bill Walton not ruined his foot.

As, as my man Sam Mitchell often reminds me, the one time the Minnesota Timberwolves made it to the conference finals, they were too banged up to be really competitive.

Others? I’ve got one that might take some research by a few out there. Maurice Stokes, an old teammate of the great Wayne Embry, seemed destined for a brilliant career when he suffered a debilitating head injury that robbed the game of his talents.

Rugby? Did one Canada game up at Fletcher’s Field, I think it is, in a driving rainstorm and it was fun. And I would imagine I’ll do some more in the future.

The start of the weekend mail, again

This is starting to be a trend.

Smallish mail on Saturday because Friday night is a true night off and then we’ll fill the bag far more tomorrow morning after a lazy day puttering around.

Sound fair?

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Q: Might be a silly basketball question but, Who might the players miss most out of the non returning coaching staff? Alex English seemed like a great basketball mind and from what we all have read he was the reason most bigs improved. What might be your take?

As always, thanks.

Steph R, Glencoe

A: Alex and P.J. were two such diametrically opposite personalities, I think it’s probably impossible to say. PJ was loud and at-times profane in a good-natured way and was always in a talkative mood. Alex was more introspective and quiet and went about his business very much unnoticed.

But, because Alex worked more hands-on with more players – PJ was more of a tactician helping Jay – I’d say it’d be Alex.

But, for me, both will be missed equally; they are two great guys.

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Q: Hi Doug, If the lock-out continues and the ENTIRE 2012 season is gone, does that put a damper on your blog and/or job? I know some teams have already cut ties with some of its employee's. E.g. Bobcats and Pistons and I know you don't work for the Raptors, but this is considered a Raptors/basketball blog no? I hope not because I read your blog everyday...

Also what would happen in next year's draft if that’s the case? Would there be one and would it follow the same draft order as this year?

Gerdie S, Scarborough

A: Okay, you were No. 5 this week on the “what happens to the draft” contest. Told you, I’m running it once a week until everyone’s seen it.

We don’t know. No one knows. We’re months and months and months from even the postponement or cancellation of one game, let alone a season so there’s no sense thinking about the draft until, let’s say, January.

Oh, and I’m fully on Mother Star’s tab so we don’t have to worry about this going anywhere any time soon and as long as there’s baseball, Mighty Rockies, golf and, well, Old Songs About Strippers out there, we’ll keep going strong.

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Q: Any Doug Smith-Doug Smith (Ex Mizzou Tiger and one-time Raptor)?

Gary M, Brampton

A: Sadly, never met the guy because they took him in the original expansion draft but he never even got to training camp. I do, or did, have one of his rookie cards hanging around somewhere.

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Q: Hey Doug, totally agree with you on Ichiro being incredible to watch, and since you love lists, how about the 5 best baseball players you've ever seen?

Also, just saw your post of Buck O'Neill's Take Me Out To The Ballgame. With all the fun you're having lately covering the Jays, you have to add Ken Burns Baseball to your summer viewing, if you haven't seen it already. For the history of the game (good and bad), it's the best there is.

Andrew G, Toronto

A: Hmm. “Seen” as in one-game kind of deals? Or seen in my job-related activities?

I’m going to go with the first and hope I guessed right but don’t forget, it wasn’t until relatively recently that you could “see” a lot of out-of-market games on TV so that limits it a bit.

Greg Maddux.

Saw him pitch one day and was as mesmerized as the hitters. Okay, waaaaaaaay more mesmerized than the hitters but you know what I mean.

Roberto Alomar

I tell you, I have never, ever seen the kind of consistently stunning heads-up baseball defence.

Reggie Jackson

Oh, sure, there’ve been more prolific home run hitters but not too many made you stop what you were doing and watch at-bats.

Mickey Mantle

I was about 10 when he retired but I honestly remember Super Grandpa sitting in the living room watching Games of The Week on Saturday afternoons.

Ken Griffey, Jr.

I can only imagine how good he’d have been had the injury issue not come up. Incredible talent.

Five I wish I’d seen of the so-called Modern Era?

Joe DiMaggio.

Willie Mays.

Ted Williams.

Sandy Koufax.

Frank Robinson.

Oh, and I remember sitting on Sunday nights and watchings the Burns series unfold and I bet if I looked closely at the book shelf in the living room, I'd find the DVDs. Great documentary.

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Q: Hey Doug. I know the NBA/NBPA Grand-poo-baa-s won't be meeting until August, but I am confused by what is happening at the current "underling" talks. An article I read it mentioned that they are avoiding the big issues, but working on the finer workings of the salary cap. How can they do that if they don't know what kind of cap they are going to have? If it is a hard cap won't it need totally different provisions than a soft or flex cap?

Thanks

Rob N, London

A: Oh, there’s lots of ancillary things they can be working on if they want that aren’t tied to financial issues. Perhaps they want to make changes to the drug-testing provisions in the CBA, or the system of fines and suspensions or other items like that. They can usually be dealt with by relative underlings, which leaves the big shots deal with the most substantial issue, which is money and how to divide multiple billions of dollars.

And those staffers can also do things like look over books to make sure what they said they were going to see is actually what’s sitting in front of them.

Or maybe they’re just bored with nothing to do and want to show the fans they’re at least pretending to talk.

A hiring, a party, and, of course, some old video

Who says the HOTH can’t make moves during the lockout?

Kind of got wrapped up in real life things Thursday and didn’t get this toy you but they’ve made – or about to make – a somewhat significant hire.

(No, they aren’t poaching for some mid six-figure, five-year contract).

Alex McKechnie, the training guru who has spent eight seasons with the Lakers and who is one of the most respected men in his field, is coming aboard as director of sports science.

He’ll oversee the whole shebang and his contribution will be huge.

I’d heard his name kicked around a little bit a month or so ago but when things to put on hold league-wide everything got a little delayed.

Funny thing is, Alex is tight with Jay Triano – they’ve known each other for years, Alex is a Vancouver guy and worked at Simon Fraser – and I’m sure having at least one familiar face in the organization helped McKechnie think seriously about coming.

If there is a shortened season – and people a lot smarter than I are predicting it more often now – keeping players healthy is going to be even more important than usual and McKechnie’s pioneering work in such training facets as core strength will be huge.

This is not to diminish the fine work of athletic trainer Scott McCullough and his staff, or even the now-departed Francesco Cuzzolin, but having McKechnie around is big move.

And rest assured it’ll resonate through the league because now they’ve made significant moves with a respected coach – Dwane Casey – and McKechnie.

Now, when Bryan decides on a front office structure and comes up with whatever he comes up with, I have a sneaking suspicion it’ll boost the reputation of the team some more.

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Hey, Argos open tomorrow, right?

Wonder if there’s a party tonight to celebrate.

But I tell you, if there is, it won’t come close to being the best in franchise history, regardless of what happens.

That’s because I was at the one that will go down as the:

Best.

Sports team.

Party.

Ever.

It was the McNall, Gretzky, Candy opener in 1991, can’t remember if it was at the Horseshoe or the Phoenix but the Blues Brothers played, there were all kinds of Hollywood stars hanging around and I remember shooting pool with Wendel Clark just before dancing with Rocket Ismail’s mom.

No, they don’t make ‘me like that any more.

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Mail, please.

Here.

Innermost thoughts.

Thank you.

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Most ridiculous thing I’ve heard this week?

Kobe Bryant may play in Turkey if the lockout drags on.

Of all the fanciful boondoggles we’ve heard, this has to rank right up with the silliest of all time.

Let’s recap:

Kobe Bryant is 33 years old.

Kobe Bryant went to Germany to have his chronically sore knee looked at this summer.

Kobe Bryant has played 1,100 or so regular season games and a couple hundred more in the playoffs, the total is somewhere approaching 50,000 NBA minutes.

Kobe Bryant has made almost $200 million in his career and has more than $80 million left on his deal, money that would be at risk the second he stepped on the floor in Europe.

Kobe Bryant is going to play in Turkey for a team that can’t pay him unless it gets some sponsor to fork over the money because the club, Besiktas, is involved in a soccer match-fixing scandal and doesn’t have the money to pay him?

Yeah, right.

Come on. Who’s kidding whom here?

I’m not sure if it’s egomaniacs running Besiktas or Bryant’s people being adversely affected by the heatwave or what but Kobe Bryant playing a regular season game in Turkey makes as much sense as you playing a regular season game in Turkey.

Let’s let this nonsense die, okay?

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Yeah, I know it was Jim Belushi that I saw back at that Argo party but you have an idea of how my mind works so why not this little trip down Musical And Theatrical Memory Lane:

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Here’s the thing on Yao, one last time.

I was having dinner with the one and only Mike Farber – a giant, a Mount Rushmore guy – and we were talking about Halls of Fame.

He brought it up, a point made by another guy and for the life of me I can’t remember who it was, who said, in so many words: “Can you write the definitive history of the sport during Player X’s time without mentioning him? If you can’t, he has to be in the Hall.”

And since Yao was the first non-North American ever chosen No. 1 overall, the face of nation, an icon, and whatever else, I don’t think you can possibly write the last 10 years of basketball without mentioning him.

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Know what would make this heat more tolerable?

This.

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Speaking of the mail:

Q: Re: Roberto Alomar best athlete to ever play in Toronto

Hi Doug, you pose an interesting question here. I'm not certain about the ramifications you're putting on this, but my only argument would have to be Hakeem Olajuwan.

When in Toronto it is obvious that he was at the end of his career, and we did not witness him in his prime, but he surely a more impressive career than Roberto's.

Again I'm not sure if there's any rules to this, but that's my argument.

Drew F, Oshawa

A: The Dream’s an interesting topic when it comes to that whole discussion because he was, simply, a shell of his former self when he got here.

A good signing – he seemed to be the kind of veteran who would help an excellent youngish team over the top – one of the bigger issues, as it turns out, was that he and Lenny Wilkens didn’t quite get along all that well, an issue that dated back to the 1996 Olympics.

Anyway, if you want to take total career achievements into consideration and not limit it to only the years in Toronto, I think you can absolutely make the case for him being the best ever.

But when it comes to what the guys actually did when in a Toronto uniform, Hakeem’s way down the list.

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Hot enough for you? And Yao's a Hall of Famer for sure

We are all over the map today, folks.

I can’t believe we keep pumping stuff out five days a week and you seem to be all right with it.

Stick with me, there’ll be basketball sometime. I hope.

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Okay, this is officially ridiculous.

It’s like 7:30 a.m. and it’s already over 30 C and they are still talking about:

Hottest.

Day.

Ever.

Yuck.

So what would be the very worst job you could have on a day like today?

Paving driveways?

Roofing?

Working as a dry cleaner?

How delightful would any of those be?

I was trying to remember the hottest I’ve ever been and while the summer I spent directing traffic in a huge, wide open parking lot at Marineland might be up there but, hands down, it was the ’92 Barcelona Olympics.

I seem to recall it was about 40 every day, unrelenting heat and sun.

And, of course, the units in the condos/apartments/hovels that housed us were not air conditioned and until you’ve spent time with a few hundred journalists from all over the world – and each with his or her own unique idea of personal hygiene – you haven’t truly experienced one of the circles of hell.

There was a mall right across from where we were staying and the anchor store was a Carrefour, as I recall, which is something akin to a European Walmart. You could get delicious Spanish ham on one aisle and tires an aisle over.

But you know what you couldn’t get?

Fans.

Big, cooling, fans.

Guess they sold out to the locals, or the early arriving journalists and the idea of cooling down our rooms on our own dime went quickly by the board.

And we all spent three weeks dreaming of air conditioning.

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A digression for the ages:

How very cool is this.

Today’s July 21, right?

And I see in the early light of day that the space shuttle has landed back on earth for the very last time, ending a 30-year program.

Well, it was another July 21 and …

Not sure the date symmetry was planned or not but it is neat, isn’t it?

Now, you may have to be, um, Of A Certain Age to fully appreciate that, given where things have come in the last 42 years but that was a moment some us will never forget.

I wasn’t what you’d call a true Space Geek back in those days but I do remember sitting clued to the TV to watch that, I did once do a science project detailing how the ships would “dock” in space and I still find it kind of fascinating.

Anyway, history lesson for the day is over.

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Hey, there is real basketball going on as it turns it turns out.

It’s the Canadian junior women down in Chile at their world championships that begin today.

Canada’s in a group with China (who they play later this morning), Italy and Egypt and it’s the same deal as it was for the men, top three move on to the second round, three more games there and, perhaps, elimination quarter-finals.

I have to fully admit I don’t know an awful lot about this group of young women but I do know there’s a great, and perhaps greater, sense of optimism on where the women’s programs are going than there is for the men.

Yes, they swim in a somewhat shallower pool but if the end result is winning, who cares what the competition’s like. It is what it is, you play who’s in front of you and see where you stand.

We’ll try to catch up daily with this team – I can’t even figure out the time zones yet but I figure Chile has to be on Atlantic time at worse – and the tournament goes for about a week and half so there’s lots of time to get to know them.

For now, check out the Canada Basketball website if you like.

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There. That make you feel any better if you’re around these parts?

-

Baseball for a second, since we have no NBA?

I wondered about Travis Snider the second day I saw him, which was in the Jays clubhouse at Fenway and he was sitting there reading a book.

A hard cover book. One without a lot of pictures.

And it turns out it’s part of the reason for his resurgence since coming back from the minors, or so he told us last night after the game.

The book?

The Way of Baseball, by ex-Jay Shawn Green.

Said Snider:

“It put a lot of things in perspective. A lot of things I read there made some sense as a hitter, as a player. Understanding the mindset we go through whether it’s our ego or the thoughts that go through your head.”

Now, most clubhouses pre-game are the scene of raucous dominos games, some TV watching, a lot of typing on some kind of tablet or phone; there’s usually very little serious reading going on but if guys get wind of what Snider’s doing, maybe it’ll start a trend.

Nah.

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There may not be basketball, but there are basketball questions and if you’ve got one about the game or anything else (and I don’t mind the anything else stuff) drop it here ‘cause it’s time to click, write, send and get the weekend going.

Q: Simple question but probably can be much debated, does Yao Ming go to the HOF?

J W, Columbus

A: I’m sure there will be debate in some circles but there won’t be in the ones I travel in.

Five years from now, he has to be a slam dunk (pardon the atrocious pun) first-ballot selection.

Now, understand this first off: The basketball Hall of Fame is far more than just NBA, too much perhaps. It’s about the colleges, the international game, the coaches, the officials; the selection process is shrouded in too much secrecy – one committee decides who’s on the ballot, another decides who gets in and we don’t know the makeup of either of them – but I do know they take great delight in looking at big picture angles and no one over the last decade has done more for the game in the big picture than Yao.

For what he alone did to bring the game to the billions in China, for the true global icon he’s become, I say he has to go into the Hall.

Yes, his on-court career was ruined by injury but even then, the guy had sublime skills for a man of his size. He could shoot, pass, defend and run like few other 7-5 guys ever could, or will.

I’m a big Yao fan and I cannot see a reason he shouldn’t be honoured.

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I was going to dump this in the IGBT last night during the seventh inning but I figure so few of you were there it would have had little impact.

This might be the coolest rendition of the song ever.

Enjoy.

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The Goods On The Game, Mariners at Jays, July 20

Yes, we're back, hoping for a better game this time around.

Hot enough for you?

Making the case for the best and Shaq's debut

Nice honour for Robbie Alomar, no?

First guy to ever have his number retired by TOD and if you’re going to do it, you may as well do it for him.

Quite aside from my basic aversion to retiring numbers – I think far too many teams do it far too often – I can get behind this one because there is no doubt in my mind that Alomar is the best position player to ever play for the Jays.

I was doing a little bit of baseball writing back in his heyday and the things that guy could do were unparalleled. He simply “thought” the game better than anyone I ever saw.

Okay, so digest this:

Roberto Alomar is the best athlete to ever play in Toronto.

Seriously. I’m not going bananas here. I think it’s a valid idea.

Okay, stop laughing and let’s limit it to, say, the last half century.

The guy was the best player on the best team in the game.

The guy was here in the true prime of his career and his best seasons with the Jays.

The guy was maybe the best all-around player in his sport for a while there.

The guy won championships, which has to be a major factor.

Now, it’s all very subjective, of course. And there is the taint of the spitting incident with the umpire but, really, come up with another athlete who played in Toronto in the last, say, 30 years who can match all those attributes.

Pucks? They don’t win and that’s a key point.

Hoops? Franchise is too young and the best player ever never really realized his potential.

Football? Don’t think so.

Soccer: Hahahahahahaha.

Maybe you can put Donovan Bailey in the conversation with Alomar but I still think I can win the discussion.

What do you think?

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Oh yeah, I’m very impressed to read a headline that suggests Thursday might be the Hottest. Day. Ever.

Really, really impressed.

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Here’s a Where Were You When, too.

Remember the Alomar homer off Eck in the 1992 ALCS? Two-run shot that tied the game the Jays would win?

(This is the only video I can find of it).

Now, I may be totally off-base here but I seem to recall it was a Thanksgiving Monday up here and I do recall sitting at the dinner table with the TV on in the other room and having to excuse myself to go watch it.

And this might be heresy but I can make the argument that it was an even more significant home than the one Joe Carter hit off Mitch Williams in ’93.

It brought the Jays back in a game that seemed lost, came off the most dominant reliever in the game at the time and gave the Jays more confidence than they ever had on the march to their first World Series.

Now, Carter’s shot was dramatic, no doubt. Won a World Series, for goodness sakes, but there was always going to at least be a Game 7 if he didn’t hit it and I bet Williams would have found a way to blow Game 6 even if he didn’t give up the shot to Carter.

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This is how my mind works and be prepared to shake your heads.

Got the comment from Irregular Doug about an Opposite Day where we do lists of worsts and it’s a very cool idea we will absolutely explore.

So I start thinking worst sitcoms and then it’s worst sitcom theme songs and then it’s just sitcom theme songs and I know I’ve got Green Acres at the top and Gilligan’s Island on the list but then I think: “Wait, I forgot one. The cousins. The girls. You know, one’s from Europe, the other’s North American, one gets in trouble all the time (oh, that zany Patty or zany Cathy, I can’t remember), and the other’s an angel. Who the heck were they?” and then I have to go to Google.

And look what I found.

Sometimes I worry about me.

A lot.

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I heard about this Shaq stuff on the NBA TV schedule waste of time (seriously, there are waaaaaaaay too many channels, as it turns out) where he talked about the Miami Big Two.

Gratuitous. Cheap.

And, having watched the post-season somewhat closely, I’d say dead wrong.

You can make the case that over four series Bosh could very well have been the second-best Miami player in last year’s playoffs. Now, that’s not going to be the case over the duration of a regular season but it’s rather dismissive.

And while we all love Shaq for his sense of humour and we all think he’s going to be a good addition to the TV studio show but outlandish isn’t always the way to go. Needs some insight to go along with it.

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Speaking of the schedule, a rather ho-hum one for the HOTH.

Nothing horrible, it doesn’t seem; nothing too arduous at all.

In fact, from the Grunt side of things, it’s actually pretty good. You’ve got to like a season in which the longest road trip is only four games – and there are only three of them – and one that lets you be home for most of Christmas (figure it’ll be an evening flight to Cleveland to avoid weather-related driving hell) and one that includes lots of little one- and two-game trips.

Maybe the best part? The annual early-season trek to the west isn’t there; that’s a killer because you’re really not used to the grind of the travel that early in a season and the time zones are atrocious. And we all know it’s all about me, right?

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And speaking of …

Ballyard tonight, Jays-Mariners and that’s cool because I love to watch Ichiro play. He might be my favourite major leaguer.

Oh, we’ll try an IGBT, too, if you want. We’ll also try to find a way to jazz it up a bit for those slow periods during games.

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It's quiet because it's supposed to be; and a little comedy gold

Wistful feeling?

We know the NBA schedule is coming out this afternoon – a teaser of all teasers – and here’s another point that may stick in your craw.

It’s what, July 19? Just checked and last year, it wasn’t until Aug. 10 that it came out because the league sat around and waited for the flurry of hugely significant free agent signings before talking to its “TV partners” to maximize the impact of The Decision and the like.

This year?

Not so much.

And that gets me to the point of this whole exercise, or item.

Aside from the first 10 days or so of July, this is supposed to be the downtime for the league so that fact that nothing’s going on shouldn’t bother too many people.

About now, even summer league is shut down, team executives generally go into hiding for a few weeks to catch their breath and outside of a few relatively inconsequential transactions, nothing much happens between the middle of July and the middle of September.

It’s when international events take care of providing some semblance of basketball news – this year it’s the Olympic qualifiers, last year it was the World Championship, next year it’s the London Games – but as for the NBA?

These are the start of the dog days so dog days it shall be.

And I think that goes for the two sides in the labour dispute.

As I said to an Irregular in the mail, it hasn’t even been three weeks, there’s nothing going on and nothing being lost except a dreary free agent class and summer league being cancelled so I don’t imagine anyone should truly be surprised that it’s quiet.

I fully expect that in the next 10 days or two weeks there will be some movement at least towards starting up negotiations again but there is no pressure on either side and maybe taking three weeks or a month to calm down, study things more seriously and then get back at it makes sense.

For you?

Sure, it sucks that we missed a week of free-agent signings but, really, that’s about it.

So it’s cool, take it easy, find some other things to and they’ll be back when they’re back.

At least this afternoon you can dissect a season and I guarantee some of you will go game-by-game and come up with the final record for the HOTH.

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Things I Hate, Vol. 2,301, 475

Waking up about 6, stumbling down the stairs, opening the front door to pick up the newspaper and feeling like you’ve walked into a blast furnace ‘cause it’s already about 130 per cent humidity.

At 6 in the freaking morning.

Those who know me know I’m not particularly built for the heat so that truly sucks.

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I imagine most of you know that my tastes tend to run to things that are, um, older than some.

Movies: Rear Window, screen classics like Casablanca, Streetcar Named Desire (no, not just for the women’s name being screamed by Brando) and Godfather II

Music: Sinatra, please.

TV: Seinfeld, Magnum, too many others to mention.

Clothes: Oh, wait, that’s just a function of lack of style.

Well, anyway, we’re at the ballyard the other day, or talking about being at the ballyard the other day, or something like that.

Someone’s talking about how baseball lends itself to great cinematic comedy. Bull Durham’s in the conversation, so is Major League and a handful of others, too.

But then I’m thinking: Wait, you’re old. There’s far better comedy bits around baseball than that stuff, isn’t there?

Of course there is.

I’m not sure why, but it truly is a game that has a rich and storied past with yucks.

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One out of the mail.

Q: With all the soccer news these past few weeks (thank you ladies), I was wondering where you think soccer is sitting in the brains of sports fans in this country? How about your brain? Raising? Same indifference?

With a lack of basketball this summer, and the Mother Ship obviously wanting to use your vast talents, any chance of a IGBT at a TFC game?

Have you ever been to a TFC game? Any desire? I think it can be quite fun, and ranks of one the best sporting experiences in Toronto (having not been this year yet).

John D, Toronto

A: It’s funny, I was just thinking about that the other day when I was somewhere and people were paying rapt attention to the COPA America early rounds; and others were dissecting the women’s World Cup semis.

Anyway, I think history has shown that high-level soccer stirs passions for the old country like few things do across this country. I know I pay somewhat close attention to things like Champions League or COPA America and am all over the World Cup every four years. And I think the overall awareness is increasing, in part because it seems to get more play in the mainstream media than it ever did. I can remember when about the only game you ever saw on TV over here was the FA Cup final and that was on tape delay.

Me? I’ve never been to a TFC game, have always wanted to do but it’s never quite worked out schedule-wise and I know Super Son has mentioned it a couple of times. Maybe this summer we’ll get there.

IGBT? Not sure it works but it might be worth a try and, as you’ll read in a second, we’re trying to find stuff to do.

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Speaking of …

Oh yeah, scheduling change.

They spun the Wheel O’ Beats around the office yesterday and, as it turns out, the foray to be Golf Boy out in Vancouver has been changed.

I am now going to be Baseball Boy tomorrow night (yes, we’ll try an IGBT so tell your friends, Sunday was a slowish day) and deal with whatever else comes up the rest of the week.

Yes, I’ll miss the golf but a day at the ball park isn’t a bad replacement.

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Mighty Rockies X, Vanquished Opponents X minus 1.

One game left in the regular season to set up our playoff rotation.

Just in case you were wondering.

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A long, hard journey starts and the NBA will tease you tomorrow

Kind of lost this on the weekend because some other things got in the way but the senior men’s team is starting its first quick training camp as the run-up to the Olympic qualifier begins.

This is a rather brief appearance, they’ll be here a week before heading out to an exhibition tour in Europe (France, Italy, Czech Republic) and will get together again in August for a final camp.

The details are here, courtesy of our friends at Canada Basketball and I’ll find a day/night to get out there this week, I hope.

And the ramifications of the NBA lockout are going to be an issue as well, here and for the other countries taking part in the qualifier.

As always, insurance issues come in to play, although they’ve already resolved some of them here and given the rather fluid nature of who might come to what camp for which country when, it’s impossible to say today who’ll be in Argentina in late August when things get started for real.

But this week is the groundwork week, re-establishing some familiarity with the players on the court, getting them used to seeing and living with each other and the tour coming up – two games in each country – will be a good benchmark for how far they still have to go.

The road to the 2012 Olympics is hard. Very, very hard. Two countries come out of the FIBA Americas tournament, the next three teams get to go to a last-chance event next summer right before the London Games and I’ll say right now that if Canada qualifies, it will be a hugely significant step but if I had to guess – and this has been a long-held thought – I’d say 2016 is far more a reachable goal.

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So the story out of Britain today is that Darren Clarke stayed up all night hammering beer and red wine and soaking up his Open championship and if he’s not my new favourite golfer, I don’t know who is.

Really, what a great champion, great story, great guy.

It’s like someone you know, or someone you want to know, accomplished the greatest feat of his sporting career and took you along for the ride.

Perk did his usual bang-up job.

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Saved this one out of the mail the other day.

Q: Hi Doug! Take your pick (or both):

Best technological advancement for grunts?

Best non-NBA sports memory?

Hopefully, you got enough questions for the mailbag. My only 'must-read' on the web (including email) on a daily basis is your blog - or, should I follow the lead of the British Open, and refer to it as "THE Blog?"

Tim H, Windsor

A: Believe it or not, I honestly think the best technological advancement for us has been wireless. Even if it’s spotty – as it is in so many places so often – it does allow us to do our jobs more quickly and more comfortably.

Now, I’m old enough to remember these:

But I’ve also seen us move from huge, heavy computers that used phone couplers, to ones where we had a half dozen wires to hook up and needed a phone line to work.

Now? Not so much. We can do our jobs more easily, with less hassle and from any number of places.

Non-sports?

Super Son’s debut, of course.

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The next time someone tells you how easy it is to score on a soccer penalty kick, please bring up the women’s World Cup final, would you?

And you haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen a handful of baseball writers – and an interloper or two – standing in front of a TV in a press box, stories waiting to be finished, while they watch the drama unfold.

Just goes to show that any sport can capture the attention of almost anyone if there’s a compelling story line to follow and something of significance at stake.

It’s why some of us love the games. You just never know what will capture your imagination.

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Boy, some days you just get stinky baseball games to write about, I guess.

I know it’s a stupidly long season – which is the curse and the charm of the game – and some days things are just not going to be too exciting but, man.

A 7-2 game devoid of drama on the hottest day maybe ever, with no apparent story line ‘cause Cathal was writing about Jason Frasor.

Hopefully, the next time’s better.

Speaking of Frasor, it’s pretty impressive what he accomplished, isn’t it?

More mound appearances than any pitcher in franchise history – he went past Duane Ward when he pitched the ninth on Sunday – and for a middle reliever that’s quite something.

Those guys tend to be a dime a dozen and here’s one fact about that guy that I didn’t know:

He’s been here eight years and has had eight one-year contracts. Never had any job security to speak of, was playing a position where there’s always intense competition for jobs yet he’s stuck it out, keep getting employed and kept doing a good enough job that a series of managers has continued to trot him out night after night.

I’m trying to think if there’s a job with less security in sports; I’m sure there isn’t one in baseball and I guess maybe a backup lineman in football, with no guaranteed deal, would be on the list too but right-handed middle reliever on a team that doesn’t win tops my list. What’s on yours?

It’s not like he was ever going to move up and be a closer, or move up and be a starter but the kid hung in there.

Good for him.

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How weird is this.

Am reading that the NBA is going to release its 2011-12 schedule tomorrow.

Presume the headline will be:

“Hey, here’s what you might not see this fall.”

Nice.

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Rays-Red Sox got 16 innings on Sunday night?

Man, can you imagine an IGBT for that one?

It was tough enough keeping the attention of Irregulars here Sunday afternoon for a nine-inning snorefest, wonder how you’d ever get through 16 innings.

Not sure how the blog thing worked, actually. Let’s say the, um, pace of baseball makes it difficult to sustain much conversation and there wasn’t a lot of drama that unfolded.

I did, however, learn how to put a picture in it so that’s something to look forward to whenever basketball comes back.

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