Yes, we're here late but at least we're here

Grrr.

I hate when technology screws you around.

Wireless woes at Super Grandpa’s new abode along with some other responsibilities interceded early morning and I guess better late than never, right?

And if any of you thought I was really “tied up” I’m sorry to disappoint.

Anyway …

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So apparently there was some basketball “game” in Baltimore last night with LeBron and Carmelo and Durant and a gaggle of others.

Durant has like 59 points, reports vary on whether LeBron scored 38 or not and the final score was about a jillion to a billion.

Let the good times roll!

Seriously, I cannot get even remotely interested in Drew Leagues or Goodman Leagues or faux games where a bunch of guys just get out for a run and everyone gets all jazzed up about it.

It’s silly summer league basketball taken to a ridiculous level and if there wasn’t a lockout, I can’t imagine (a) any of these guys would be doing a thing and, therefore (b) no one in the media would care.

To me, the essence of sport is competition and effort, not showmanship and goofing around and certainly not basketball games with scoring in the 150s.

I honestly get the sense that these “games” are more about marketing and a brand more than anything else; someone’s making money off them – and I’m sure some charities are benefiting and that would the best thing about the whole affair – but to suggest they truly are doing things entirely out of the goodness of their hearts is a stretch.

What these “games” are is glorified practices or scrimmages or defence-free workouts that are a show. The cynic in me suggests they are attracting some major NBA names simply so the players can win the battle of public opinion in the lockout. Sort of a “hey, can’t you see we want to play the game we love?” kind of thing. I promise you they wouldn’t be doing this kind of thing if this was a normal summer, they’d be doing their normal summer kind of things, loafing a bit, working out, travelling with their business “partners” and so on.

The battle for public relations is probably working but it doesn’t really matter what the public thinks, actually. The real work is getting done today in New York when the heavyweights of the two sides sit down to chat.

These games?

Impressed or excited?

Nah.

But go ahead if you can be.

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Anybody see any of the FIBA Americas stuff yesterday?

I caught some highlights of Brazil-Venezuela later in the evening and actually came away unimpressed.

Guess the best thing from a Canada angle is that Brazil really needed to work hard to get the win and might be a tad weary when they meet tonight.

Speaking of, you know it’s on TSN2, right? At 7:30 p.m. our time and I’m glad this time around the network is showing stuff live rather than on tape delay. I guess the deal with Canada Basketball is they have to show it, not necessarily when it happens, but it’s nice that it’ll be in real time for the first round from Argentina.

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A Grunt’s Guide to a Happier Life

(A new, every now and then game we’ll play here)

Rule No. 1,202,492

The last thing you ingest before calling it a night should not be warmish black sambuca. Freshly cold out of the freezer is preferable.

Rule No. 11

A couch that looks and feels comfortable near the end of the evening will not be so cozy at 3 a.m.

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When in Niagara doing stuff …

Best Niagara Falls band ever?

I’d make that case. Not that there’s a whole lot of competition from the city, now that I think of it.

Check out the hair!

Besides, who among us doesn’t like a glimpse of the Mighty Falls every now and then?

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Let's get this started.

Mail. Here. Please. Now.

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I’m telling you, you folks are doing well on the Name The Canada Basketball Teams thing from yesterday.

I’m still thinking Canadian Shield’s got some love but there were all kinds of good ones.

Keep ‘em coming, ok?

We’re looking for something unisex, representative and original, or as close to original as we can get.

An aside: A friend thinks there’d be a couple of great, great long-time coaches out west who’d love Canadian Shield(s).

Anyway, figure we’ll come up with one Friday? Sound good?

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The plan was to get up, get through this usual stuff and maybe watch some basketball.

Best laid plans …

Although I do see Andrea had 22 as Italy lost to Serbia (I’m telling you, I like that Serbia team, Teodosic can play) and that Jose didn’t play very much as Spain edged Poland by five.

Lithuania’s got a late game, which will give me something to perhaps follow when it’s home time.

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Some return to glory for Brian Tallet to the TOD, no?

Ugh.

But I must admit I was glad not to have to write that buzzer beater.

One thing did strike me as I was watching, though and it might a legit question: Is Jose Bautista the best defensive right fielder since Jesse Barfield?

Man, that guy can go get ‘em and throw it, can’t he?

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A little late today

Note: Doug's tied up this morning and sends his apologies. Check back here around noon for today's post.

Big contest, little prize and the winner in Argentina

So, does Canada stand a chance?

A puncher’s chance, maybe. But it’d have to be some wild knockout punch to earn them a spot this week in next year’s Olympics.

The FIBA Americas Olympic qualifying tournament starts today – and that’s an unwieldy name, isn’t it? – with two London berths on the line and 10 countries chasing them.

How’s it going to play out?

Gold: Argentina.

You know when they won this? They won it the day the country beat out Canada and Brazil for the right to host it.

Sure, they have far and away the best talent but I’m not sure all that talent plays if they’d have to travel this summer. But they don’t, so they win.

But that’s not the race; the real race is to see who gets the other automatic bid and what three countries get to live for another summer with Olympic dreams intact.

Besides, if they don’t win, there’ll be some reason they have to make the results null and void and hold it again until they do.

Silver: Brazil.

Veterans, solid players, guys who have been around forever and a rich history of success. Can’t beat Argentina when it counts, though.

Other qualifiers: Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Canada.

Seems kind of obvious, doesn’t it? Three solid teams and a lot of drop off – or so it would seem – to the other five contenders. But, I tell you, Canada is in tough. Venezuela’s good, teams you think of as minnows --- like Uruguay or Cuba or Paraguay – are capable of winning games and if Canada takes anyone lightly, they’re dead.

And if they don’t make it, it is a catastrophe, to put it mildly.

If this program wants to grow, and continue the growth it’s had since about 2008, it has to make it at least to next summer’s last-chance tournament to keep up some momentum, keep awareness at a high level and be seen as some sort of validation for young kids coming up.

There is incredible pressure on the coaching and staff and players to get it done, it’ll be interesting to see how they react.

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Okay, we tried this before, last year at the worlds, actually.

We need a name for Canadian basketball teams.

You’ve got the Tall Blacks out of New Zealand, the Boomers out of Australia, I’m sure there are all kinds of nicknames for European teams – I’d say Azzurri for the Italians but I think that’s reserved for the footballers – and every American senior team seems to be named after some kind of riff on Dream Team.

Canada?

Nothing.

Now, I’m not sure trite and predictable are going to work: No Tall Maples, Mighty Leaves, Canadian Shield (ooh, wait, Canadian Shield isn’t too bad), or something like Prairie Dogs (whatever they are).

Now, we need something that’s adaptable to men and women, doesn’t have to be exact but it should be close. You’ve got the Opals to go with Boomers, for instance, and that’s a bit of a stretch.

I’ll give you a day or two to come up with something; I’ll put my thinking cap on and try to find three or four and by the end of the week, I think we’ll come up with the definitive name.

Now, this is exclusive to the hoops, although if we get something perfect maybe we can make the pucks and the soccer and the rugby and whatever come around to our way of thinking.

What’s the winner get?

Well, nothing, actually. But I promise to use it repeatedly here so that’s worth something, right?

That, plus the knowledge that the provided a service to our country.

Oh, and my thanks for making it easy on me.

I also reserve the right to come up with my own and claim ownership of the whole thing because, when it comes right down to it, it’s all about me.

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We’ve got all kinds of reasons to pay attention the Euros, right?

Jonas. Jose. Andrea. Great games.

Well, one more:

Omar Cook plays for Montenegro! With apparently far too much time on my hands, was flipping through EuroBasket stuff yesterday and was astounded to learn a New York-born ex-Rpator somehow got became a citizen of Montenegro and will play at the worlds.

Guess he’s Chris Kaman-lite or something.

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Now, all I know about Nancy Grace is that when I see her on TV I change the channel faster than I ever have so I think you know how I’ll feel about her on DWTS.

Hope she falls down.

But on this list of contestants for next year, I don’t see an early favourite.

In fact, there are some people I’ve never heard of.

Who do you like?

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You know, over the course of a life, or even a few months, you read about some despicable actions that make you fear for the future of civilization as we know it.

This is the single most absurd thing I’ve heard of in I can’t tell you how long. Two goofy kids of privilege sue their mom – with idiot dad acting as their lawyer – for bad parenting because she sent a birthday card without a cheque and made them put their seatbelts on when they were seven?

Honestly, I know the Americans are a litigious society beyond all acceptable norms – remember the idiot who sued McDonald’s because the coffee he spilled on himself was too hot? – but this takes the cake.

They need to take that father and his two ingrate kids, figure out how much money they wasted in court costs and legal fees, divide it by the absolute minimum hourly wage in that state and make them do that many hours of community service, perhaps picking up garbage in parks or just walking around wearing signboards that say: “I am an idiot and you should mock me until the day I die.”

(Oh, Super Son? If you’re reading this we don’t cotton to this kind of stupidity in Canada too well. In case you were thinking of something, that is)

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All right, another day in the Falls, coffee in the morning, a stool at night and I’ll try not to slip into a barrel and go for a ride.

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Who wins the Euros and time spent as a storm chaser

Man, I wish I were on a plane to Lithuania today.

No, not to visit Sonny but to see EuroBasket, which could turn out to be the best basketball tournament ever with so many good teams in such a delightful atmosphere and with so much at stake.

Seriously, I can’t tell you often enough the passion a European championship evokes, there’s nothing to compare it to over here at all. Forget any World Cup of pucks, never mind the small Olympic pucks tourney; I guess the closest you can come is if you remember the World Cup when it was in the States eons ago.

Now, I think it’s ridiculous that they’ve gone to 24 teams and a tournament that’s going to take almost three weeks to complete because there will be some dreadful first round games and it’s almost as much a case of surviving as winning.

But as an event – with only two Olympic berths at stake and just four other spots in that last-chance tournament next summer available --- it will be unrivalled.

Who wins?

Well, that’s the zillion dollar question, isn’t it?

I’ve followed the run-up fairly closely but will fully admit I’m not entirely up-to-date on who’s in top form and it’s impossible, really, to get a read off the exhibition and tournament results of the last few weeks because a lot of teams – make that every team – has a tendency to hold things back until the action begins for real Wednesday.

But from people I’ve spoken to, what I’ve read and what I know of the history of some of these players and teams, I feel fairly confident with these guesses:

Gold: Spain.

They are simply too good and too deep and too experienced.

World championships, Olympics, European championships, EuroLeague experience, NBA history to draw on.

I honestly can’t see them losing.

Of course, that means they will.

Silver: Lithuania.

You cannot discount the impact of being at home in this type of tournament and I cannot explain, lo though I’ve tried, how rabid and supportive the Lithuanian fans are.

Referees, shoddy at times, can be intimidated, even some opponents can be taken aback but how raucous and loud – and well-behaved – those fans are. Oh, and Lithuania’s good, too.

Other qualifiers: France, Serbia, Greece, Slovenia.

There are questions about all of them. Can France score enough? Is Serbia deep enough? Is Greece big enough? Does Slovenia have enough big-game experience?

It’s going to be an absolute dog fight once the quarter-final round comes around the pressure is truly turned up beyond belief. I just have a feeling about those four, but I’m sure you’ve got equally strong feelings about others. Besides, who can pick against a team that Rasho's involved with?

I only wish some TV network over here would give us at least a game of the day but that’s not going to happen. Guess we’ll have to find some time to watch live streaming on tiny screens and get our fill that way.

I have a feeling it’s going to be an incredible ride once the first round is over.

Tomorrow: FIBA Americas.

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Well, if those weren’t the two worst baseball games I’ve seen back-to-back since the 2-14 Mighty Yankees of 2010, I don’t know what were.

Dreadful. Long. Boring. Uneventful.

Glad I don’t have to see ‘em again until Thursday in New York.

Guy I feel the worst for?

Wil Ledezma.

Because the bullpen’s worn out because the starters have been bad, they had to leave him hanging out there for six runs, five hits and three walks in what might be the worst major league inning I’ve ever seen pitched.

And they designated him for assignment, perhaps ending his major league career.

Tough day at the office.

Now, I know they didn’t want to leave him out there to suffer like that, and I’d imagine there were thoughts of designating him regardless of how that inning turned out but it was still tough to see him suffer through it.

Worst thing?

We walk into the clubhouse after the Faux Manager does his bit and who’s the only guy sitting at his locker?

Wil Ledezma.

Talk about your Dead Man Sitting.

Now, we didn’t approach him, there was no reason to interrupt his thoughts.

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So we’ve got Irene in the news and I’m wondering if you’ve ever heard the one about the hurricane and I?

Had to be 2000, maybe 2001, and I’m dispatched by The Tall Foreheads to Daytona Beach to talk to this young basketballer that was all the rage back then. Not sure if HWSNBN was having a charity game or a golf tournament or whatever but we were going.

So was a big storm, as it turns out.

I get there about a day before it’s supposed to hit – I guess they didn’t have the same quality of forecasts back then – and with the winds howling and rain coming any second they decide to cancel the event and the Carter clan moves over to Orlando or somewhere else inland.

And, like a dope, I stay.

End up interviewing a bunch of people buying all the plywood – for windows – and masking tape – for smaller upper windows because if you tape them diagonally it helps keep them together – at some Home Depot for a nice little story.

And then, like even more of a dope, I decide that it’d be cool to meet up with our photographer anyway and chase the storm, which has now taken a more northern track.

We drive up north and turn right and somehow find our way to – I believe – Myrtle Beach, where the full impact is supposed to be felt.

I tell you, we’re driving in the dark in sideways rain with winds that could topple giant trees and I’m seriously considering a career change.

We get to Myrtle Beach, do the requisite “storm is coming” story and pictures and bunk in with a bunch other photogs. We’re on about the fourth floor of this hotel and, I swear, rain is coming in the window like we were standing out in it and I’m thinking the wind’s going to knock the whole place down.

Storm subsides, we drive over to Charlotte, I guess, the next day, catch a flight home and immediately tell the boss that the next time we want the Vince At Home yarn, someone else can do it.

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Ron Artest might be on DWTS next season?

That’s got crazy good written all over it.

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Speaking of hurricanes …

You know I had to do that, right?

Dylan’s classic.

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Tunisia?

Yep, Tunisia.

In what has to be one of the more unexpected results of the international basketball season, Tunisia won the African championship and joins the United States (world champs) and Great Britain (hosts) as the three teams in the men’s 2012 Olympic tournament today.

Tunisia beat Angola – which had won every AfroBasket title since 1997 – and will play at the Olympics for the first time.

Kinda cool; never covered a Canada-Tunisia event, hope I get a chance to.

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Hey!

How could you people not have reminded me the MVA thing was on last night!

Really.

That kind of relative freak show is something no self-respecting 50-something should miss, just for mocking reasons alone.

Seriously.

How much fun could a fellow have with this?

Oh, and I went to bed not knowing Beyonce is with child?

I tell you, you folks have to be better.

Or I have to be more hip, if that’s still a word.

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All right, off to the Falls and real life, will get to comments when I can, hope the Mick and Angelo's borrowed wireless from the hotel next door is working.

 

 

And the end of the weekend mail

A big long mailbag here, folks, to get you through a Sunday. Have fun while I’m at the ballyard chronicling the late-season demise of TOD.

See you back here in the morning as we get set for a big week that includes – get this! – basketball in Lithuania and Argentina.

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Q: Hi Doug... Did your dad ever see Evil Kanevil's goal against the Toronto Toros? Did this really happen?

Why do the High Schools not use FIBA rules? Is it the cost of the 30 second clock?

Goodnight Irene by the Weavers or Telstar by The Hurricanes?

Bob E, Kanata

A: If it happened, I’ll have to ask if he was there, it’s not something he’d volunteer, as it turns out. I know he was at the Mud Bowl Grey Cup, too. Found that out about 35 years after the fact as well.

Anyway, since the entire world uses FIBA rules except that country to the south of us, probably makes sense that our high schoolers do. (I'm told Ontario doesn't; it should)

Oh, and Goodnight Irene by anyone, thank you very much.

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Q: I don't believe you have been asked this before. What 5 players would you choose as your fav team players of all time. Not all time best team but 5 players you enjoyed watching the most.

And you had to watch and remember clearly at least 5 years of their career, that's why Chamberlain isn't my centre.

Mine would be Dr. J, Kareem, Rodman, Jordan and Nash as I thoroughly enjoyed watching all 5.

Cheers.

Doug B, Toronto

A: Now, do these have to be by position? I hope not because I might have a couple duplicates in here. And this five-year rule’s tough (I keed, I keed).

I’m going with:

Magic Johnson

The gold standard for fun in his era.

Ernie D

From my olden days with the Braves, not sure it was five years but it felt like it; the dude had fun, or so it seemed.

Charles Barkley

Think anyone got more out of less? I mean for his size, he was astonishing.

Nash

Of course. Forget the passport, who doesn’t love to see him play?

Jordan

No one – no one – brought it every night like he did.

I’m giving honourable mentions to Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas, Karl Malone and Kareem.

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Q: Hey Doug. It's your self appointed music critic and not the Raptors trainer back with another comment/question.

Really liked your Teenage Head/Hamilton reference the other day. I must have seen them (back in the day) at least 40 times and no other Canadian band had a more entertaining live show than those lads.(R.I.P. Frank Kerr)

I got into NBA ball and the Raps back during the 1'st lockout in "99 and having just moved back to the big city and looking forward to live basketball again, what's your best guess as to when we actually we see this thing start up again? You may have already answered this in on way or another already...but I just read Tristan Thompson speculate January.

Scott M, Toronto

A: As I hope you understand, this is a total guess because even the people I trust best around the league don’t know or won’t say for certain what they’re hearing. I’m going on second- or third- or even fourth-hand information here.

But my best guess is that we will see NBA basketball at the start of November. We may not see a lengthy training camp (yay!) or we may not see a pre-season (double yay!) but my best guess is we won’t miss too many, if any, regular season games.

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Q: Doug. Right. I'm fully tapped out of basketball questions. No news for over a month will do that to a guy. Sooooo... In honour of Johnny Mac, who're the most random fan favourites we've had in Toronto sports history - players who on any other team would likely just be an end-of-the-bench name? Players like JYD and The Red Rocket come to mind for the Dudes of Dino, but what else is out there?

Cheers.

Christopher R, Vancouver

A: I think you might be diminishing the talents of Jerome and Bonner, who were more than end-of-the-bench guys on other teams, I’m sure Matt’s championship ring might be speak to that.

But, yes, their skills might not be commensurate to their talents, especially when they were in Toronto.

Trouble is, I don’t know enough about the pucks, or the football, to find examples there, although I’m sure there are. It seems to me that in the hockey in particular, they tend to rip guys who aren’t bad at all and that defenceman Murphy comes quickly to mind. Seems he did okay in Detroit, didn’t he?

So other than the three you mentioned, I’m not sure I can add to the list.

Can anyone?

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Q: Hello Doug! Maybe it's just a case of the West Coast being envious of the East Coast hogging the headlines lately. How else do you explain the head-scratching actions of the McCourt-Run-Dodgers-Organization who sent season ticket holder a survey, part of which was to evaluate the performance of one Vin Scully! Perhaps you've heard of him? Does a wee bit of broadcasting? Seriously! Subscribers were asked to rate Scully on (among other things): knowledge of baseball, knowledge of Dodgers' organization, focus on the game, storytelling abilities, style, overall performance. Good Grief! I can see asking them to rate the Gordon Biersh Garlic Fries, Carnation Malts or the legendary Dodger Dogs. But as one of the Dodger season ticket holders himself said, "This is like polling Catholics about Mother Teresa's work." So, Doug, my question - and I do have one - What on earth do you think the motivation could be in asking average Dodger Ticket Holder to rate Vin Scully's performance? And if you can!_ 't figure it out either, please vent your outrage! I'm sure you'll do it more eloquently than I did. Thanks!

Lorie P, London

A: I think this is clearly a case of some marketing company having absolutely no clue about the clientele it was surveying and no one connected with the Dodgers feeling the need to vet whatever went out under their name. That’s all I can think of because if, in fact, someone in the Dodger organization approved that question in that survey, he or she needs to be replaced. And fast.

As an aside, I did hear late Friday night that Scully said he’d be back next season for his 63rd year behind the microphone and he remains the gold standard for broadcasters.

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Q: Greetings, just read the reason for Mike Flanagan's demise. Holy crap. To someone who has never been driven to the mind space that sets the stage for something like that, there is absolutely no understanding as to why someone might take their own life. The journey of life is indeed an odd and varying adventure. For those that can find solace and meaning in their everyday existence, be thankful for that. To make someone a hero, or a star, as our society is prone to do may well be the worst thing, from a humanity perspective, that we could do. Perhaps at the end of the day we all should just be able to be satisfied that we are someone's Super Dad, Super Son or simply able to show kindness and consideration for our fellow humans. And that our inner selves are able to find the strength and satisfaction from that to allow us to greet the next day with a smile on our faces.

As always, thanks for HOW you do what you do.

Doug T, Brantford

A: I know there’s no question here but it was so well put I figured the Irregulars would benefit from it.

I’ve now known – and in the case of Flanagan, it certainly wasn’t a close relationship at all – two men who’ve taken their own lives after my good friend Matt Dobek of the Pistons did a year or so ago. I cannot fathom what drives people to that decision, I hope I never get close to finding out but if we all took some time every day to make sure those in our circle of family and friends is okay – especially our teens -- I think we might find ourselves in a better place as a society.

The start of this weekend's mail

Well played, so far, kids. And since I’m covering baseball today and that means some idle time during the actual playing of the game here’s one more shot to complete an almost-full Sunday edition.

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Q: Geez, Doug, this lockout has really cramped my style of asking unrealistic questions about the prospects of Raps journeymen, but as a loyal Irregular I felt compelled to contribute. So here goes: I have often wondered what the various HOTH (particularly the more cerebral or charismatic players) would do for a living if professional basketball didn't exist, and you seem to know many of them well. Could you give us a Top Five list of current and former HOTH and their hypothetical vocations if they had never played hoops? And you're not allowed to cheat by picking other professional sports or hoops-related stuff like coaching or commentating.

Mike D, Somewhere

A: Seriously? Or joking? How about a bit of both?

With the current guys?

Jose Calderon: A gentleman farmer, he’s already got a share of a pig co-op in Spain that ends up with some of the best jamon you’ll ever have.

Julian Wright: The dude can produce music like crazy, I’m told and it’s a passion of his.

Joey Dorsey: Well, how’s Olympic weightlifting champion sound to you? I know. It sounds good.

Amir Johnson: I’m sure he’d be running some great social media site, being the King O’ Tweets.

Jerryd Bayless: I bet he’d be a teacher, just something tells me he’d be good at it. Educator parents and a way about him.

With the past?

Oak: I tell you, there haven’t been many guys who knew their way around a kitchen like he did, bet he’d be running a string of restaurants perhaps attached to car washes.

Kevin Willis: He’d be doing what he’s been doing as a side gig since his playing days, designing clothes.

Doug Christie: House husband.

Jason Kapono: I bet he’d be trying to get a PGA card or Champions Tour card or hustling people on $100 Nassaus at the club.

Garbo: He’d just be the coolest guy in the world. Doing whatever he wanted to, having a smoke and a drink and just being Garbo.

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Q: Greetings, this weeks random pondering involves your chosen profession. While certainly the written word is still prevalent in this day of electronic media I find myself wondering if you as an established "grunt" see a new and vibrant class of future grunts taking their early steps in what you do? Or has the move away from the traditional business model of the daily newspaper caused a significant drop in available entry level positions?

As a second thought, while I certainly enjoyed the link to the Kansas tune in the IGBT the other night YouTube's list of suggestions that accompanied the video led me away from the blog for quite awhile. Doubt that really was an intended result on your part, as always, thanks for what you do.

Doug T, Brantford

A: It’s funny, the entry level people now are so well-versed in social media and multi-media as a means to make contacts, develop sources and as a research tool, a lot of them are teaching old codgers like us a thing or two about what’s at our disposal. Now, I do think there is nothing like true reporting experience, where you go and see people and have coffee and talk to them face-to-face so maybe there’s something the young ‘uns can learn from us, too.

The Kansas stuff? I envy you. Every time I put one of those things up, I wish I could go listen to more, too. Dang games keep getting in the way.

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Q: Hey Doug. I'm just starting to follow baseball this year and I have a quick baseball question for you. So yesterday Johnny Mac and Aaron Hill got traded, but wasn't the trade deadline back in July? How does this work? And is there a second trade deadline of some sort?

Thanks

Ray F, Toronto

A: Yeah, there are two deadlines, so to speak. Any player can be traded before Aug. 1 without having to clear “waivers” which would give other teams a chance to claim them and take their contracts on. After Aug. 1, players can still be traded but teams, in inverse order of the standings, have a shot to take them, if they want. Obviously, no one “claimed” Hill or McDonald so they could be dealt.

Oh, and wait until we get to the end of August because players traded after that aren’t eligible for post-season play.

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Q: Hi Doug Smith. I appreciate your blog for many reasons and one of the foremost is that it is easy to read from a layout point of view.

Other blogs on this paper tend to be huge slabs of unreadable, grey type. Yours is much more friendly on the eye. Is that your personal doing?

In your early days as a grunt-in-waiting (apprentice wretch, gruntette, etc.) did you ever do paste-up or layout?

Ditch D, Toronto

A: Well, it’s personal in that I do it all myself but only because people much wiser than I (Hi, Spencer; hello, Sarah!) showed me how to embed video and drop in pictures.

And, yes, I did an awful lot paste-up and layout early in my career and that, at one time, included taking my own pictures, developing the negatives and printing them. I know picas and points of leading and all sorts of old-school newspaper things that have gone the way of the dodo bird now.

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Q: Hi Doug! I thought I'd get the mailbag off to an early start.

I was watching (OK, it was 'white noise' in the background while I was reading!) the Brewers-Mets game this past Saturday, and I thought of you, and your concerns over story deadlines.

I know that you like the result of the game to be determined fairly early, so that you can write the outline of your story, and just fill in some numbers and quotes.

 

The Brewers had a 7-1 lead going into the seventh. By the end of the eighth, they were down 9-7. They won 11-9 in the ninth.

Can you recall any games where you had your story written, had to do a quick re-write, and then another re-write?

Thanks again for finding ways to keep us entertained and informed during what is normally a dead part of the year for you - and even moreso this year!

Tim H, Windsor

A: Oh, man, that’s happened too many times to count and I try to put them out of mind sitting on a stool immediately after.

The most recent, so the one that sticks in my mind, would have been Game 5 of the NBA Eastern Conference final in Chicago.

It’d been a very busy day – we’d given Sam Smith the first Phil Jasner Award – and it was the middle of a long trip.

Remember? Chicago’s way up and it looks like we’re all going back to Miami. Then the Heat make a huge fourth quarter run and with so much at stake we’re all re-writing furiously because it’s a late start and deadlines are approaching.

Then Chicago has one last shot and because most of us have to file right at the buzzer, we have a second file open with yet another Bulls win story.

I bet that happens a couple of times a season but it goes into the dark recesses of the mind, never to be thought of again.

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Q: Sad to hear abut Pat Summit's medical condition but proud (but not surprised) at her focus and commitment to deal with this head on. Do you think she is under appreciated (even unknown) by the average fan because she coaches women’s b-ball? I think her accomplishments rival the great Wizard of Westwood. I think her career plus her incredible courage in face of her medical condition are a story that is a classic for the ages. Have you any Pat Summit stories or experiences that you can share first or second hand. Thanks.

Randy M, Crystal Beach

A: I wish I had some Pat Summit stories, I was fortunate enough to be introduced to her once, at a USA Basketball event and there really was a “presence” about her.

As for the story being relatively under-played here, I’m sure it has everything to do with our aversion to women’s sports in general and American women’s basketball in particular and, sadly, I don’t see that changing.

A sad anniversary, some Tristan Thompson and more TV ranks

So David and Billy and Adam and Derek are going to sit down in a room next week and the inexorable march to a resolution to this NBA lockout continues.

It’s a slow slog, as we’ve said, but the fact that the four main players – Stern, Hunter, Silver and Fisher – will chat carries one bit of significance.

The meeting will be unencumbered by lawyers or accountants or owners or other players and when it comes right down to it, those four guys are the men who’ll have to make a deal.

I don’t imagine they will next week, the chasm is still to wide, but this is another step.

One thing to remember:

The last time the league found itself in this predicament, back in 1999, they didn’t even start canceling pre-season games until well into September and didn’t even think about canceling regular season games until October.

It’s still August, it’s still dead time around the league, there is no pressure point looming. Let ‘em talk, take the next baby step and just relax a little bit.

No one has yet to lose a thing, no sense getting too worked up about it at the moment.

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Not sure how many I’ve had but there have been many notes and comments from people who are sure that Tristan Thompson’s decision not to play for Canada this summer has to do with some deep-felt animosity towards one of: Leo Rautins, Canada Basketball, Canada Basketball or Leo Rautins.

Surprise, surprise. No true.

As we’ve mentioned a time or two, the story is there’ve been other commitments in his life and The First Lady Of The Beat nails it with this story.

Seems this summer is dedicated to fulfilling a promise to his Mom. Not a bad thing at all.

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Sixty years ago today.

Two buddies, a fishing trip, a plane, a crash, a tragedy, a song.

And here’s the thing about Super Grandpa.

We’re sitting around the house a handful of years ago and for some reason Barilko’s name comes up in conversation, no idea how, but it does.

Now this isn’t more than five or seven years ago, I don’t think and out of the blue, The Old Man says:

“Yeah, I was at that game when he scored the goal.”

What? In all my 40-something years on the planet as that guy’s son and in all my, you know, sports writing years, you’d think that’d be a story I’d heard.

Nope.

Seems he and buddy drive up, grab standing room spots, watch the game, see one of the more celebrated goals in Leaves Pucks History and somehow we go 40-something years without knowing it.

Yeah, Dear Old Dad’s a piece of work.

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Yes, I did forget Law And Order, Trial Jury with Lilith Sternin, and Law And Order, UK with almost incomprehensible accents.

But I’m sure in this ranking I haven’t forgotten one:

CSI

The original’s still the best and I can’t wait for Ted Danson to take over, although I’ll miss Laurence Fishburne. Still the gold standard.

CSI New York

Guilty pleasure: I had a crush on Melina Kanakaredes from her days on Providence and her departure from CSI New York now is made a touch easier by the fact she’s being replaced by Sela Ward, equally crush-worthy. Oh, and the show’s good overall, too.

CSI Miami

If you can stomach the over-acting of the redheaded guy, who should never have left NYPD Blue, you’re a better person than I.

(Don’t tell anyone about that Providence thing, ok?)

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Speaking of Canada Basketball, and the men’s team was beaten by Puerto Rico last night, we’ve got this early out of the mail.

Q: Hey Doug. Excellent blog, I read it as often as I can! I'm not sure if you can help me out with this one but here it goes. I was looking at the roster of the Canadian Men's Basketball Team this year and was wondering about the level of play of the European clubs some of these guys are playing for (ie. Denham Brown at Dnipro, Carl English at DKV Joventut etc.). I know these guys are playing at a very high level but I was wondering if some of these clubs listed on the Canada roster are in more competitive divisions or leagues than others?

Ben W, Southampton

A: The honest truth is that it’s not very high calibre at all and that’s an issue. There isn’t a guy on the national team who played in Europe last season who was with a domestic club that was in the EuroLeague aside from their own country’s leagues.

Yes, Canada has produced a few NBAers and there would seem to be more on the horizon but until our middle-of-the-road guys establish themselves as the highest level of European play, the program may tread water longer than it should. I know Maurizio Gherardini has been instrumental in helping Canadian kids get jobs over there, it’s now up to the players to improve so that they get to the upper echelons of European basketball.

Here’s a did you know:

Canada had zero players in the EuroLeague last season.

Belgium, at least the team Canada played here a couple of weeks ago, had four.

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Speaking of mail, I might have enough now for a good mailbag for Saturday but Sunday’s looking kind of bleak.

Help a fella out, will you.

Do it here.

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So, Griff writes about John Farrell having to leave the TOD game in the ninth for medical reasons and all I can think of is how in the world did I miss that one?

Anyway, I’ll be back to deal with the fallout tonight, which will give me a nice little story to work on during the game.

Toss that in with a whole bunch of other stuff going on and I don’t know that an IGBT’s a go tonight; let’s try for one in the afternoon Sunday to wrap up the series with Tampa, shall we?

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Statistical anomalies and cops and lawyer all-stars

 

We truly have a series of short, unrelated items here this morning for your reading and listening pleasure, mostly because there’s not an awful lot going on and I didn’t have a lot of time either last night or this morning to sit around dream stuff up.

Better tomorrow, promise.

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Yes, I did hear that Andrea Bargnani had 19 rebounds – yes, in ONE GAME! – as the Italian national team beat Brigham Young in an exhibition game yesterday.

All I can say is that never would have happened if Hoffa had been there.

But it does sort of go to show you that anyone can do anything one time and all we really need to do when we hear that kind of news or those kinds of stats is roll our eyes, smirk and get ready for the next report.

I did find it kind of interesting that with less than a week before EuroBasket 2011 that Italy is playing games against an obviously over-matched American college team. The other teams, I’m hearing, have finished their exhibition games and are now in final training camps before the tournament begins next Tuesday.

Am also trying to piece together some big preview for the weekend paper – that’ll be this morning’s task while sipping the quad vente latte here at Starbucks The Lane – and it’s hard to get my head around just how good this tournament will be.

I know we’ll have to pay particular attention to the one in Argentina because Canada’s in it and there’s so much on the line, but EuorBasket in Lithuania is shaping up as maybe the best basketball tournament ever.

Wish I was there but can’t wait to at least see some of it and have my spies report in on how intense it is.

I still contend the two best basketball games I ever saw were the 1998 world championships final between Russia and Yugoslavia and the ’02 words between Yugoslavia and Argentina and the level of intensity and competition in Lithuania starting next week – with two Olympic berths on the line, not to mention bragging rights – will be off the charts.

Too bad we’re not that good as a country, I’d love to see the day when our national team creates the furor and ignites the passion that others get to live every year or so.

I don’t imagine we’ll ever get there, but it’s a good dream to have.

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Holy crap.

It wasn’t three weeks ago that I was sitting in the Rogers Centre media dining room eating with and listening to Mike Flanagan tell stories.

And now he’s dead.

Man, it hits hard.

I know we hear all the time about former athletes passing away long before their time but this guy was only a few years older than I am and sat there telling tales without a care in the world.

I didn’t cover the Jays when he played in Toronto but all of my friends in the business tell me there might not have been a better quote in the business. Funny, understood it was a game first an foremost and always had time to share a story and provide a quip.

They don’t make ‘em like that any more.

Sucks.

Big time.

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So, not sure if you’ve heard but apparently Chris Bosh and Carmelo Anthony are going to make guest appearances on Law and Order, SVU next month.

Now, if I had to rank the Law and Orders, it’d go:

The real one.

SVU

Criminal Intent

The aberration that is Law and Order, Los Angeles.

Anyway, the news that those two athletes are going to be on there gets a guy to thinking …

A Law And Order All-star Team

Adam Schiff

Ben Stone

Abby Carmichael

Lenny Briscoe

Anita Van Buren.

That’s a Murderer’s Row of cops and lawyers, isn’t it?

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Okay, a tornado, apocalyptic rain, lightning and thunder and they traded Johnny Mac?

Where are the locusts?

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Holy smokes.

A friend reports – and it’s good to have friends with similar music tastes and radio listening talents – that there’s a plethora of birthdays today.

You’ve got Gene Simmons (who didn’t marvel at Kiss back in the day) and you’ve got Billy Ray Cyrus (who didn’t mock him back in the day) and you’ve got …

Who doesn’t love a little Elvis Costello.

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Mail?

Got some?

Get it in here.

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Hey, how’d I miss Hobbs going triple/game-winning homer?

I can only imagine what that was like in the ballpark.

I tell you, there’s just something about that Lawrie kid that’s got greatness – or at least great moments – written all over it.

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Canada’s beaten by 18 by Brazil down at the Marchand Cup yesterday and it’s no big deal, really.

As we’ve said all along, nothing matters until the Olympic qualifying tournament begins next week so an 88-70 loss should probably do little more than evoke shrugs today.

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Talk is cheap and sometimes not necessary

So, this was a first.

Blown off by a pitcher.

The post-game drill at the TOD is routine, we go into an interview room to here John Farrell’s dissertation on what’s just transpired, ask him a few questions and toddle off to the clubhouse where we wait in a central area for them to bring us the guys we need to talk to.

Last night, of course, it’s Brandon Morrow and as we gather, he’s sitting over at his locker next to Ricky Romero and Brett Cecil with his back to us and body language suggests he’s less than happy.

It’s rather awkward, standing there with him knowing we’re waiting and no one’s going to approach him. Finally, he stands up, we figure we’re going to get some insight and, thankfully, deadline won’t be a problem.

Except he walks to the off-limits area, looking part dejected and part angry and we’re told a minute or two later that the “respectfully declines to speak to the media.”

Now, I have no real issue, I don’t think, with players not wanting to talk immediately after a game. Their emotions are running high, they may just want some time to decompress but that was the first time in my few instances with the Jays this season that the guy we wanted to talk to didn’t want to talk to us.

I’m told It’s not a common occurrence – might be the first time ever that Morrow hasn’t spoken following a start, one guy told me – and I’ll give him a pass.

Besides, what’s he going to say?

“I didn’t pitch well.”

“They hammered me.”

“Who cares what pitch it was the guy hit for a homer, it was a homer.”

The reliance we have on often milquetoast quotes sometimes irks me but I wait and get them anyway, and use them in stories.

I guess it’s traditional and readers come to expect it but the true talent in our craft is painting a picture with words, words that should be our own.

It’s something that’s bugged me for a little while; not sure I’ll ever be able to totally overcome the habit but I should work at it.

As we all should, really.

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Speaking of the baseball, a guy poaches a couple of ball games from an over-worked staff and gets:

Brett Travis Snider’s return from the minors.

Colby Rasmus being obtained in a trade.

Brett Lawrie’s debut and his grand slam a few games later.

Roberto Alomar Day.

The departure of the iconic John McDonald and Aaron Hill, too.

The spy in the stands.

Wonder what awaits me this weekend when Tampa’s in or the weekend after in New York?

I tell ya, other writers are going to run from the stadium like their hair is on fire when I show up if this continues.

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You know, I don’t care what they call it or how they dress it up, gas station coffee is still gas station coffee and the 5:15 a.m. trip to Niagara is tough to take when that’s the only convenient beverage available.

Someone at my Starbucks has to change the opening time to 5 a.m., please and thank you.

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But you know what makes a drive a wee bit better?

Listening to Q107 to get the adrenaline flowing and as you pass Hamilton and this song comes on from a band that’s local to the area.

Timing, as they say, is everything and what better than Teenage Head blaring as you mosey on down the highway.

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Oh, this is quite irksome.

Apparently, unbeknownst to me, someone or something has hacked into my Twitter account and if there’s anyone I know out there who got one from me suggesting they take some weight loss thing, that wasn’t me talking.

Honest.

Guess first order of business when I settle at my Starbucks here this morning is a password adjustment.

I know nothing about the inner workings of hacking or social networks or what have you but I do know that I’d never suggest publicly that friends need to lose weight.

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Canada gets Brazil, Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic in a basketball tournament down in Brazil starting (here’s a tiny item we had in the paper in case you missed it) and the one salient point I keep getting from Leo every time I talk to him is this:

They need to be healthy before the Olympic qualifier next week.

Sure, the addition of Cory Joseph and return to health of Jesse Young, Carl English and Andy Rautins, all hurt at the worlds last year, does deepen the pool significantly but the simple fact is Canada needs everyone at 100 per cent to have any chance to earn a London berth next week.

They might be able to sneak into the top five with a few people banged up but even that’d be a large task and if they have to live in bubbles between now and then to assure no one gets injured, then that’s what they’ll have to do.

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I see Canada’s Little Leaguers were eliminated by Japan yesterday at the World Series.

Had to read about it because, as you know, I have issues with it being on TV.

Too bad, but I imagine the kids had a blast and when you’re that age, it’s the experiences and the friendships developed that should count more than wins and losses. And that will be what endures.

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Mail?

Sure. Let’s start the whole process, again. Click here, please.

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And, finally.

Johnny Mac.

I tell you, I don’t know that I’ve seen a guy in Toronto – and certainly not a Blue Jay – more loved by the fans for the way he handles himself as a man far more than the way he handles himself as an athlete.

We appreciate – and we should – a guy who comports himself with class and dignity, a guy who doesn’t cheat the game or the fans or his family or himself and I can tell you unequivocally that McDonald was like that.

He wasn’t, and isn’t, blessed with the greatest of talent but he had a knack for the big play and he never, ever gave less of himself than 100 per cent.

He was respectful of his teammates and the people he came in contact with on a daily basis and, really, we need more like him.

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The Goods On The Game, Royals at Jays, Aug. 23

Hey, folks.

Remember me?

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