Couple of wins is good; and some sports on TV is very bad

No, I didn’t see either of the Canada-Belgium games on the weekend because real life kind of took over but the reports are good, that’s for sure.

A couple of wins can’t be a bad thing – although I caution again, they were just exhibition games against a so-so opponent that had travelled from Europe – but I’m told the way they played, with some cohesion and teamwork was the most significant thing.

I think we can all agree that from a purely talent point of view, Canada is in tough every time it takes the court.

Leo’s told us a hundred times – and correctly every single time – that there is a very small margin for error with this team. They don’t have to be perfect every time out to win but they have to be darn close to it and that’s a tall order.

A couple of wins, regardless of the opponent, always affirms things that have been worked on in practice and that’s important.

There’s a week of work left here in Toronto – thankfully, because things are clear enough that I should get out there a couple of days – before they really get to see where they stand.

Integrating Cory Joseph is huge because he’s going to be a big key to whatever success they’ve had and because they’ve now had two games with him, and handful with the old guard, it’s going to be a bit easier to get done this week.

There’s a tournament in Dominican Republic next week that will really open some eyes because a lot of teams that’ll be in the Olympic qualifier and then it’s off to show.

I do think expectations have to be tempered. The main goal – and I think the realistic one – would be a top five finish at the qualifier so they have a shot next summer at getting one of the last Olympic berths.

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This is leftover from the mail and provides us with a list, thank you very much.

Q: So, God forbid, we have no NBA to watch this fall/winter, what will you be tuning into, Doug, with all that extra stool time?

Maybe the better question is, what won't you be tuning into? Care to offer up your TV Sports Bottom 5? For example, when did poker become a sport? Wasn't that thanks to some other lockout or something?

Thanks, Doug!

David M, Ottawa

A: These are the absolute worst “sport” on TV at this time of year, or ever, and should be avoided like the plague.

Poker

Silly faux drama, mostly luck as the determining factor.

Darts

They still put it on TV, I see. More skill needed than poker but it remains a sport built on imbibing.

Wrestling

Yes, I know no one considers it a sport but, still, it’s one of those sports channels.

Auto racing

I swear, if they were going around my crescent, I’d sit on the back deck with headphones on.

Golf

I used to watch it all the time, actually, but the fall series and silly season are, well, silly.

So, I’m figuring once the fall hits and the snow flies, if I’m not working six or seven days a week with the HOTH, it’ll be time to catch up on things like The Wire and other stuff that I’ve been missing out on.

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Speaking of the national team, they finally had a chance to recognize Levon Kendall on the weekend for going past 100 games in a Canadian uniform (I avoided the use of the term “capped” you’ll notice).

Hoped they had this music from his dad’s old band playing in the background.

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So Hobbs ties the game with a double in the bottom of the ninth, TOD wins in 10 on Sunday and I figure the next thing he does is solve the world’s economic issues.

Seriously, though, I cannot think of another rookie who arrived with such fanfare and such an impact. Maybe Vince way back in the day? Perhaps Carlos Delgado when he first showed up (I remember covering them and him hitting about a kabillion homers in his first or second month)?

Other than that, there hasn’t been a young ‘un who delivered so much so quickly as Brett Lawrie has.

Now, baseball is as much about managing failure as it is celebrating success and the interesting thing to see will be how he handles his first 0-for-16 stretch. It’s coming, no question, and that’s when the true test is upon him.

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Oh yeah, almost forgot:

MIGHTY ROCKIES RULE!

Yes, a tough, tense weekend ends with second playoff championship in two years (we’re not thinking of the two-win 2010 season, thank you very much) and I don’t know that I’ve been prouder of a group of kids.

They played hard all the time, tried their best, played for the guy sitting next to them and respected the game.

Excellent year.

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I would venture a guess that this last weekend was the first time in eons that I haven’t seen one shot struck in a major golf championship.

Now, I’ve never been all that enamoured of the PGA, actually, so that plus the absence of Mike Weir and Stephen Ames and the entirely ennui I feel for Tiger Woods made it understandable that I’d take the weekend off.

Anyone else feel that way?

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All right, I have to make my way to 1 Yonge, hope I remember how to get there. And hope there’s not a pile of work waiting for me.

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Comments

[Johnn19]

It might be instructive when considering Lawrie to consider what happend to Delgado after hitting 8 or 9 homers in his first go round, and how long it took him to establish himself as a full time player, and star..

[JW]

Wow Doug, going after Poker as a non-skilled game with "mostly luck as the determining factor". Couldn't disagree with you more. Yes luck is a factor in deep tournaments, but skill is also a huge factor in outlasting big fields. If luck was mostly the determining factor in winning tournaments, you could enter a tournament and have the same odds of winning as a professional. Try finding someone that will give you the same odds on winning a tournament as Phil Ivey.

[NC]

The Canada Basketball game was great, but I'm not sure Ryerson was a wise place to hold it. Seating at court level was wonderful, but if you were unfortunate enough to have to sit in the upper level (it was packed, which was great to see!!) , the support beams that feature very prominently obstructed upwards of 25% of your view of the court ... regardless of where you sat. It was a real downer to be quite honest.

I really hate to say this (honestly) as I love Canada Basketball and support it thoroughly, but I kind of wanted my money back after barely being able to get into the game due to the obstructed view ... and it was cheap!!

[sam]

There is a bit of a love-in with Lawire early in his Blue Jays career, but there are some other good news Blue Jays stories that need some attention.
Rasmus has been pretty solid defensively and had a some key hits - Bautista with his 34th homer yesterday - Lind with his grand slam on the weekend and EE is hitting at a pretty good clip - They might live up to the TOD moniker very soon.

There's nothing better than watching Golf on a cold fall afternoon. It's a great way to take a nap.
I stopped watching golf a few years back because of the Tiger Woods show - He could be 10 shots back with no hope of winning and still dominate the announcer chatter. Today some of the major golf publications and sports websites still seem to focus on him. I never felt he was a terribly engaging personality and not someone I'd cheer for.
When Darren Clark wins a tournament you feel good for him. Not so much for Tiger.

[John]

Yes, also disagree with the "mostly luck" factor in poker.
I agree that it's not the most exciting thing to watch, but poker is based heavily on a plethora of odds and statistics in which a good player has to take into account constantly. You tend to see the same faces at the tail ends of the big tourney's, this is not luck. To me that's like calling a successful investor "lucky". Luck is definately present (as it is in sports), but is not the most important factor.

[Cluck Kent]

I've never been a golfer, but I admit I was caught up in the early days of tigermania. I think there is something intriguing about watching someone who is the best of the best at what they do. But his escapades - or more correctly, the way that he dealt with his escapades - have exposed him for what he really is. Not having an abundance of time for the tube, golf fell back off my radar.

[Lorie]

Wow! All hail the Mighty Rockies! Congratulations to players, coaches and parents on another championship season. So, having conquered the diamonds of Mississauga, can the kids and coaches rest on their laurels, or does the team now qualify for possible Provincial Domination??? Cheers!

Blogger's note: We are done and resting on our laurels

[JHK]

Walked by 1 Yonge over the weekend, while visiting Toronto Island.
Thought of you when I walked by that building for some reason :s

[doug]

congrats on the Mighty Rockies win, your a dynasty and looks good on the new Mighty Yankees...they can steal your name but not the talent, and see coaching does make a difference...as far as poker goes it's obvious there is some talent involved but once your at the final table it is all luck, just poker players like to think they control the "river'., I think Bernie Madoff wants to talk to those players as he has a can't miss deal for them, plus in Poker let's admit it when we flick by and watch for 30 seconds, what's with these guys with shades? and trying to hide their look, come on, if you can't bluff without hiding are you even a poker player at all??....that old dude Doyle Brunson just plays the game how it should be played, his Cowboy hat on and just smiling and talking, same as that Canadian Kid Daniel Negreanu...these guys that play with the shades on all the time are a joke...in golf we have to me the worse broadcasting crew of all time in the CBS sports team...from Nantz who seems to be doing a skit from SNL as the eternal optimist, to Ian-Baker Finch who doesn't know what the word analyst means to Feherty-McCord who think they are this great comedy team (their not)...their a awful crew give me Miller-Maltbie over this CBS crew that seems to think their goal is to upstage and fight for air-time over one another...Hobbs just doesn't seem fazed at all, I can't wait to see the first home plate collision involving him and the unfortunate soul that's waiting for the ball....

[doug]

have you been following this reporters list over at S.I...he ranked in his opinion the Top 100 players in the NBA that are playing today..interesting, his top 10 is coming up, there are many I disagree with, but some interesting write-ups on each player..oh yea Barg's is 66th...

http://nba-point-forward.si.com/2011/08/15/top-100-nba-players-nos-11-20/?sct=hp_wr_a4&eref=sihp

[DavidT (Ottawa)]

doug (the small d one),

Thanks for finally pointing out one of my big pet peeves with poker. There's definitely an element of psychology going on in Poker, but the card flips are pretty much random (look up the mathematician/magician Diaconis who actually does a good job proving randomness of card shuffling).

I can't deny the skill needed to be good at poker (I have a friend who travels the world based solely off [online] poker winnings), but to allow guys to wear shades; I mean, sure, there are other physical cues, but really, there's no need for shades and if you're a pro, you should never need them to play, Last I checked, most of these games were held indoors.

[james]

Poker is not a sport, but it isn't mostly luck either. From what I get, it is a lot of math skills crossed with the ability to "read" your opponent. I'm not a religious watcher of poker, but you seem to see a fairly regular group of suspects at final tables. Obviously the "superstars" in poker aren't just lucky or they would be the luckiest people ever. (I did like watching Gus play a few years back)

[Lorie]

So, if poker is a sport, and the ability to bluff, bamboozle and hookwink is considered athletic, then I'm going to start lobbying to have our family games of "Go Fish" televised for you all to see. They're epic "sporting" events. And maybe then, with the right TV deal, we could afford to play for real money. Not buttons.

[Jamieson]

I think the PGA marketing department is entirely to blame for the waning interest in the Tour. As someone who used to watch a lot of golf growing up (The Greg Norman vs Nick Faldo Masters is burned into my mind).

My interest began to slide when the started showing nothing but Tiger Woods. There are hundreds of guys on tour and it was all Tiger this and Tiger that. I was actually excited about what the future would hold with Tiger taking the fall and all these young guns coming up the ranks, but the PGA has failed again by making everything all about Tiger.

If they want to showcase Tiger, then maybe they should be doing the old "Shell World of Golf" stuff where he just plays matches. If they want to spark renewed interest in golf, they need to forget the name Tiger Woods.

[Craig]

@Lorie

If you bluff in Go Fish you're a douch bag. You either have 2's or you dont