A day the world changed

Pardon the digression we’ll get mail later on.

Ten years.

Tough to believe, isn’t it?

It’s been a decade since the towers fell, a plane hit the ground in a Pennsylvania field, the Pentagon was attacked and so many thousands of innocent people lost their lives.

Ten years.

I’m sure we all remember exactly what we were doing at the moment the World Trade Centre was attacked, some of us were driving to work, incredulous at the news, unable to truly comprehend what was happening, some of us thought at first it was some horrible accident because it couldn’t have been something done on purpose.

Do you remember it as a day of utter confusion and fear, hours and hours of asking questions: Who is this Bin Laden? What is Al Qaeda? Is this war? What could possibly be next?

Do you remember the horror of the morning? Recall being unable to comprehend what we were seeing? Those were human beings falling from the sky, for goodness sake. We watched people jump to their deaths because they saw it as the only way out. What it must have felt like, hopeless, scared, is nothing we can even imagine.

Horror.

Confusion.

Fear.

It was the seminal moment in so many of our lives, the time we truly understood the depths of evil and hatred that could propel men to commit unspeakable acts of terror and cowardice.

Life changed forever.

But where are we now?

There are far more learned people than I who are trying to figure out what’s happened in the intervening decade, but the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 touched all of at some level, we live with the repercussions today.

Is a safer world?

No.

Have civil liberties been lost in the name of Homeland Security?

Far too many, far too often and that may be the longest-lasting legacy of that morning.

We live now, thanks to the fateful day, in what a friend once termed a state of Institutionalized Security Paranoia. We scan and we x-ray and we have to use silly little plastic bags to tote tiny tubes of toothpaste and shampoo from one country to the next.

We are, sadly in many cases, far less trusting, more fearful. There are people who cast more furtive glances at those who don’t look like us simply out of ignorance and fear brought on by that day. Many have decided not to expand their horizons but to close their minds; many don’t want to know.

It’s not that we were truly wide-eyed and innocent before that day but now? Now we have come to know the feelings that so many in so many other countries wracked by religion-based hatred but it happened here, not in some bazaar half a world away and it struck us at our very core.

There have been wars waged and more innocent victims of them as a result since that day; the world seems darker in some ways, doesn’t it?

Maybe we in Canada can’t quite understand the feelings of our neighbours to the south, who have always seemed to be a bit over-zealous anyway and are now more insular in many respects than they ever were.

But we were all touched by that tragedy, by those acts of incomprehensible violence and some more than others. The people who wandered the streets of Manhattan a decade ago now, covered in dust, wondering what was next may never be the same, a decade after, two decades after, three.

We saw them, the fear in their eyes. It will be the burning image in our minds for years to come.

We mourn those who died, we feel for the families who lost loved ones, we have a new appreciation for “first responders”, a term not many were familiar with 10 years and a day ago.

We will never forget that day, never should.

Our world is different, and not in any good way.

It was the morning we will never forget.

Ten years ago.

 

If it's Saturday, it's the start of the weekend mail, right?

Wow, you guys did a great job this week already.

Now, there’s a Mighty Rockies post-season celebration this afternoon and evening but if you’ve got something on your mind, you know what to do.

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Q: 2 Questions: 1. Who would you choose to be the next Team Canada basketball coach? 2. What are the top 5 sports events that you were present at?

David S, Toronto

A: I would presume you would have read Friday’s missive that says I defer any thought of a coach until 2013 so l’m going to let that part of that one go.

But …

If you’re looking for a top five, I’ll give you these quickly off the top of my head, in no particular order, and I’m sure I’m forgetting something I’ve previously mentioned:

1998 world basketball gold medal game in Athens, Yugoslavia-Russia

1992 Dream Team debut in Portland and gold medal win at Barcelona Olympics.

Donovan Bailey wins Olympic 100 metre gold in Atlanta.

2002 world basketball gold medal game in Indianapolis, Yugoslavia-Argentina.

2000 Sydney Olympics, Canada upsets Yugoslavia in men’s basketball.

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Q: Rasho retires, and children everywhere lose the opportunity to watch a true professional at play.

Colin K, Ann Arbor

A: All good thing must come to an end.

A Rasho story:

Heard the news he was hanging them up, sent him a congratulatory e-mail on a fine career and for being a great guy and told him he should come back and coach.

“No,” he says. “Maybe I become journalist.”

Joker.

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Q: Hey Doug, just thinking about women's sports. What would you say would be the top 5 watched women's sports? Quickly thinking I'll go Tennis, Golf, Gymnastics, Figure Skating, and .......... oh ya, Track and Field.

To go with this I was wondering if it has ever been talked about having a WNBA game prior to an NBA game. I know currently the seasons are different but that could change easily enough especially if the arena is already booked for basketball. The female sports that seem to thrive the most have men competing around the same time frame.

Thank you for you thoughts

Andrew M, Charlottetown

A: I’d probably mirror most of your list of most-watched but I’d put basketball in and take track and field out, except for, you know, once every four years when casual fans pay casual attention.

The WNBA-NBA thing would make sense but it truly is a seasonal issue because most of the top women play in Europe in the winter. I have, though, been to a couple of WNBA games that coincided with NBA Finals games. Saw one in LA one year, one in San Antonio one year and, if memory serves, another in San Antonio or somewhere else.

But it would be a cool doubleheader if they could pull it off schedule-wise.

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Q: Love your blog - read it everyday with my cereal!!!

I would have to put Captain Crunch and Froot Loops at the top of my cereal list from former days - but alas it is usually Bran Flakes these days. While thinking of breakfast candy I got to thinking of "Chocolate Covered Sugar Bombs" and was wondering what your favourite cartoons were. For me Calvin and Hobbes is way out front, followed by For Better or For Worse. Workwise it's Doonesbury and Dilbert.

Art H , Sharbot Lake

A: Newspaper cartoons?

Now, I fully admit I haven’t looked consistently at the comics pages in eons but, for me, it stops and starts with The Far Side (and if it’s been discontinued, I’m sorry).

And I know it’s hokey and homespun and all that jazz but Peanuts was pretty good when Charles Schultz was still among us.

Dilbert, I like no question.

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Q: Hey Doug, I know people are disappointed but it wasn't overly pessimistic to expect this team wouldn't get through this tournament. In fact I think many who closely follow basketball in this country would say all expectations should be off the table until 2014 at the earliest, when our new crop of talent develops.

With all that said, is the negative reporting of the SMNT fair? I'm not a Leo supporter by any stretch (that job should have gone to someone with a whisper of experience). But isn't the decline of CB since 2000 more a systematic problem in that Canada didn't use the basketball boom (post 1992 Dream Team) to develop a true grassroots program the way a lot of European countries did. It seems to me like we've piggybacked off the U.S. system for too long and now we're a decade behind where we should be.

Nick A, Toronto

A: I think anyone who truly understands the nature of international basketball and Canada’s place in it would have – and did – suggest that the truly realistic goals were the 2014 world championships and the 2016 Olympics. Yes, the last-chance qualifier next year should have been on the radar and not getting there was a total failure but to expect to make it to London is pie-in-the-sky thinking by people who don’t know. So, in that regard, some of the negative commentary about this specific team was horribly unwarranted and borne of ignorance.

And yes, the leadership at Canada Basketball in the early-2000s – and I’m talking senior staff management – dropped the ball entirely and is primarily to blame for where they are and were.

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Q: Greetings, regarding the topic of head coach for our senior men's team. You offered up some potential points of attraction for this posting. Now I may be late to the party but would've Leo had the same aspirations as to where the experience may have taken him? For whatever reason I have never associated anything that occurs outside of the NBA as having much importance to those that comprise the upper levels of NBA-dom. Secondarily is the life of a NBA coach something to really aspire to?

Regarding breakfast cereals, SUGAR Frosted Flakes for sure, I always kind of preferred Frankenberry to Count Chocola, and what truly could be finer than a pucks game on the toob(1970 after all) and a big bag of puffed wheat, a bag of brown sugar and some milk?

Thanks for what you do.

Doug T, Brantford

A: I honestly believe Leo’s motives were pure, he wanted to help restore the program to its former position in the world; I don’t think he saw it as any kind of stepping stone.

Now, it may be that no NBA assistant would be interested but I would think the allure of running your own team – and making contacts and enhancing a reputation – would factor into it. Same for a college coach, who may do some surreptitious recruiting while coaching for, and against, a different country.

Now, as for the life of an NBA coach? I bet if you asked them honestly, they’d tell you it’s better to be an assistant because there are fewer tugs on your time and it is about teaching and coaching. That said, the compensation, first-class travel and other perks of the job make it a pretty lucrative situation that I would certainly aspire to.

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Q: In your daily blog I believe you prefer not to answer any pointed questions about the Raptors team or players. I propose you devote one day a week open to ANY! question concerning the Raptors. Are you brave enough?

Dave B

A: Are you going to be brave enough to ask a real question or will it be one of those idiotic queries like “should they trade Bargnani?” without a suggestion of who for and who might be available; or maybe it’ll be the equally ridiculous “who should they chase in free agency?” without knowing the economic parameters of a new CBA and what they might have to spend?

So when you bring something legit, I’ll consider it; ‘til then, thanks so much for the input.

It's time to take some time on coaches and, of course, some music

In a total throwback to the good old days, there’s lots of basketball in here today.

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You know who should be the next full-time head coach of Canada’s national men’s basketball team?

No one.

They don’t need one, shouldn’t pay one, can do without one.

Really.

In the wake of Thursday’s news (here’s a link to a story from our paper today that some might have missed) the knee-jerk reaction is to think about a successor to Leo Rautins.

I heard a lot of love for Dave Smart at Carlton, Kevin Hanson of UBC, a few of you suggested Jay Triano come back and I haven’t look at the e-mail or twitter stuff yet his morning to see who else is on your list but if Greg Francis isn’t on it, something’s terribly wrong.

My question?

Why?

Why get anyone now when it’s entirely possible they mothball the full senior team next summer when there’s nothing to play for?

What they should probably do is run some sort of junior-senior combo team, work on skill development, perhaps make a quick trip to Europe or Asia (at the hosts cost) and get their heads handed to them by Olympic-bound teams.

I’d let Greg Francis, Renato Pasquali and Roy Rana coach it and make it all about development of youngsters who need to get their feet a wee bit wet internationally.

I’d wait on hiring anyone for the senior team until early 2013 when the run up to the qualification tournament for the 2014 world championships gets serious.

Then I’d give that guy no more than a contract for one year guaranteed with a Canada Basketball option for the next year, fully dependent on that guy getting the team to the worlds.

And why not expand the search since it’s going to be a short-term deal at, relatively, low cost. Why not see if there’s a hot NBA assistant or a big-name European who wants to take his shot at a big-time international event?

The issue with Canada Basketball is not, and never was, about coaching. Yes, I’m sure we can all point to a couple specific instances in specific games where we’d have thought other decisions were made and maybe there were some flaws in the systems used.

But the problems go deeper. They are systemic and have to do with skill development of the younger players, forging relationships with kids, their parents, their agents and those who lurk in the shadows pretending to have the best interest of the teens at heart.

That doesn’t have to be done by a coach; it can be done by people around the game, people in the organization, people with a passion for Canada Basketball.

(Hey, I think I just found Leo’s new gig)

Anyway, there should be no rush to hire anyone or even think about anyone as the next head coach of the team.

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So I’m guessing it was only because they knew I was the ballyard that the film festival folks didn’t ask me to wander down the red carpet with Bono and the lads last night for the debut of the U2 documentary, right?

Anyway, I didn’t see it (here’s what our chronicler said) but it got me thinking, as things do.

Best Rock Documentaries

(A disclaimer: I haven’t seen a lot, my musical tastes run more to the past than the present so …)

A top three, in order

The Last Waltz

Scorcese. The Band. Behind the scenes footage, more music than you could want.

It’s one of those things you should watch at least once a year, if not more frequently.

Gimme Shelter

Hey, why don’t we hold a big outdoor concert with a band that attracts a certain kind of fan and hire a motorcycle gang to do security?

What could go wrong?

Don’t Look Back

Sure, I could go with No Direction Home and give another nod to Scorcese but this one’s better, I think.

Now, I’m sure all of you have all kinds that may be better but I remain A Grunt Of A Certain Vintage and if those three played on an endless loop, I’d be fine.

I do recall one about the Ramones that was outstanding but I don’t recall the specifics; I presume it and The Kids Are All Right might round out a Top Five.

And, no, This Is Spinal Tap, while a classic, doesn’t count.

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Mail, please. Here. Thank you.

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Once more back to Canada Basketball.

I’m going to say this because I know it to be true from all the time I spent around that team and that program.

I don’t care what you think of his technical coaching abilities, there isn’t a guy who had, or has, more passion for the program than Leo.

As a coach, he had enough smarts to know what he didn’t know, if you know what I mean, which is why he added guys like Mike Malone, Renato Pasquale, Jim Todd and Scott Roth to his staff.

But as a guy who wanted the program to succeed and did all he could to build some bridges? No one tried harder or with more sincerity.

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Now that I think of it, would A Grunt Of A Certain Vintage be a fine epitaph?

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Man, we are full of Canada Basketball stuff.

Know what else is going on?

The world three-on-three tournament for teens over in Italy and Canada – so I hear from a spy over there – is already in action; the girls won their first game, the boys split their first two and there’s all kinds of action still going on. If you want to check it out, it’s here.

Now, I guess three-on-three is to real basketball what beach volleyball is to real basketball and despite my initial concerns about the bastardization of the sport, I can see where it’s a good thing.

Gets more kids playing, it truly does develop all around skills and that’s of paramount importance n this day and age. And we’re good at it, too.

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Oh, you’d probably want to take Spain over Serbia, Germany over Turkey and Lithuania over France if you’re thinking about EuroBasket today.

Speaking off, I’m told by people who’ve been or on the ground over in Lithuania that Jonas Valanciunas has become something of a rock star with the national team.

A combination of his youth, his skill and his exuberance has made him a huge fan favourite, and that’s a saying something in a country that takes its basketball as seriously as Lithuania does.

On the court, the thing everyone I’ve talked to is impressed with is how he’s been able to play and defend and not foul. That’s always a huge concern with young kids early in their senior international career and he’s handling it very well.

And if you’re not going to take my word for it, or the word of the folks I talk to, here’s one about him you might want to read.

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Injured Raptors, morning eats and are you ready for some football?

Believe it or not, there is one snippet of Raptors stuff in here, along with the usual fun and frivolity.

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Okay, I’m going to say this knowing it’ll smack of homerism and boosterism but it really doesn’t matter.

FIBA screwed up with the format for the Olympic qualification event down in Argentina.

Knowing that positions three through five are significant because they earn entry into that last-gasp tournament next summer, it’s shameful they aren’t having a playoff round to determine the fifth place team.

I know it’s going to probably have a huge impact on Canada but I’ve felt that way since the draw was first made. With something as big on the line, I can’t imagine why they didn’t at least have the teams five through eight after the second round play a couple of more games to decide a final standing.

I can’t remember a FIBA tournament that didn’t have that kind of playoff, even with nothing on the line.

I’ve sat through “classification round” games for years, games that decided ninth through 12th or 16th at world championships or other qualifiers where there was really nothing at all to be gained by playing them.

It wouldn’t be hard to simply schedule two more games – fifth vs. eight, sixth vs. seventh after the second round, winners to play for the final spot next summer. The teams are there, there are games going on for the top four teams so it’s not like there’d be any hardship for the organizers and it might create some drama for the teams playing for that fifth spot.

There is a lot on the line for Canada, Venezuela, Uruguay and even Panama, to let it just end after a round-robin round makes no sense to me. They’re playing it out to the end over in Lithuania, they aren’t letting round robin standings determine spots three through six – which carry spots in next summer’s event – no reason they can’t be doing it here.

I know the players and coaches would love it, even if it meant two more games at the end of a really long slog. FIBA screwed it up, I would hope they get it fixed before the next one rolls around.

 

 

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NFL season?

Already?

Weren’t they locked out?

Anyway, you folks are in for a treat this season.

For some reason, the Tall Foreheads figure Uncle Cathal and I should become the NFL dudes around our place in some sort of to-and-fro, give-and-take, Sunday-Monday thingamabob that we’re still trying to work out.

Now, I’m pretty sure Doug Flutie isn’t quarterbacking the Bills and I understand Jim Brown’s not running for the Browns any more but I bet I could name all 32 teams although I probably couldn’t get them in their right conferences.

But I do know my way around a point spread and vig is a word with which I’m familiar so I do have some knowledge.

And, besides, if I’m “reacting” to stuff that Cathal does, there’ll be all sorts of material to play off.

Oh, and a disclaimer: Perk and Griff and a gaggle of other fellas got me roped into some pool where you pick teams and I’ve got Philly, the New York Football Giants, the Miamis and the Seahawks so I do have a rooting interest.

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Has to be good news that the NBA and union met Wednesday and are going to meet again today and may chat tomorrow, too.

And the fact they’re keeping things almost entirely under wraps – details of whatever it is they’re working through, I mean – has to be equally good.

The one thing that always seems to scuttle labour talks, or at least set them back, is rhetoric and leaks. One side rips the other for some specific part of the negotiations, the other side responds in kind and they waste time talking to each other through the media instead of trying to find some compromise.

I’ve always thought this would end with a quick and unexpected pronouncement that a deal had been reached without any build up and everything that’s happened this week makes me still think that way.

Guess I should probably start looking at the schedule to find out where I am when.

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So I’m sitting in the breakfast room at Super Grandpa’s new abode, doing the early-morning thing and the day usually starts with a bowl of cereal.

Got me thinking, which is always a dangerous idea:

Best Breakfast Cereals?

(Another disclaimer: Cereal is not a thing I do regularly anymore)

Cheerios

Yes, they have to top the list, or so I’m told by a cereal aficionado friend whose opinion I trust. I just remember them all over the floor when Super Son was a tot and eating them by the handful.

Sugar Frosted Flakes

Who among us didn’t love Tony The Tiger?

Never mind how good the cereal was, he was a giant of a pitchman.

Rice Krispies

Yes, a breakfast food you could melt down into a tasty snack. What an idea!

Shreddies

Nabisco, back when it made them, had a big old plant in Niagara Falls, I can still smell the aroma wafting over the city. Or was that Cyanamid?

Anyway, another good one.

Lucky Charms

Magically delicious, as they used to say.

What have you got?

Fruit Loops? Count Chocula? Fruity Pepples?

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Oh, some Raptors stuff?

I’m hearing through spies in Lithuania that Linas Kleiza’s on schedule in his rehab from knee surgery. He’s been doing some broadcasting over at the European championships and is due back in North America later this month to be seen by the doctors who did the surgery out in Colorado.

He’s still looking at a couple of months before he can get back on the court but things are coming along as well as can be expected.

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Hey, who’s crazy idea was it to have another election?

Seriously, we vote more often than any country on earth, it seems.

Now, I’m not complaining too much since Super Wife makes a penny or two off these various campaigns but, yeesh, aren’t you getting tired of ‘em?

But, and I’ll say this again, all you Irregular Ontarians better be ready to vote because it’s important.

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Kind of a dull day at the Euros today, isn’t it?

With all the top teams in Group E, the Group F days are going to feel like a letdown, I think. Not that there aren’t good teams there but they don’t have the cache of, say, Spain, Lithuania and France, who I still think finish one-two-three.

But today does have biggest overachieving team going and I’m quite interested to see how Macedonia makes out. It’s a team made up almost exclusively of guys who play there in the domestic league – the exception being American Bo McCalebb – and I defy any of you to name me four teams in the Macedonian professional league.

But they have rattled off four wins after losing their opener to Montenegro and are the biggest single surprise of the event.

It should go to show you that, yes, there is a lot of basketball talent in countries where you wouldn’t expect it, something you should keep in mind the next time Canada loses to a team you think it “should” beat.

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I’m guessing my invitations to all the Film Festival Galas are stuck in the mail somewhere. Hope they arrive today because there’s nothing I like better than preening on the red carpet for the paparazzi.

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Okay, I’m Mr. Baseball again tonight and tomorrow – I’ve seen the Orioles more than any human should – so there’ll be some time where I can get a start on the weekend mail.

You folks didn’t do that good a job yesterday, get cracking and send something now. Here. Please.

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Shields, songs and lookalikes; we're all over the map

A few more totally unrelated items for your reading pleasure.

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The Red Shield?

Not too protective yesterday, was it?

Not sure how much of it anyone saw but the lethargy in the first half was brutal, Leo said it was like they were “walking in cement” and I find that more troubling than anything.

This was the second-biggest game of the tournament (Venezuela was the most important and everyone knew it) and they had set it up so a lot of guys got some rest the night before in the Argentina game.

How’d that work for you?

Not so well, as it turns out.

Yes, they still have a mathematical chance to finish in the top five, they need two wins and a Venezuela loss in the last two days or perhaps one win and two Venezuela losses (although that could set up three-way ties and my mind can’t get around that math) but that’s the longest of shots.

What they needed to do was come up big in the two games they had to have – Venezuela and Puerto Rico – and they didn’t.

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Isn’t it supposed to still be summer?

Then why is it like 11 C outside this morning down here in the Falls?

Should have packed something other than shorts, I now realize.

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I’ve got Spain easily over Germany, France over Turkey and Lithuania over Germany today, by the way.

I do like the way they’ve set up the tournament, even if it does drag on and on.

There’s an off-day every other day in this round, the Group E games are today, Friday and Sunday; Group F goes Thursday, Saturday, Monday and it’s far better that way.

One of the biggest problems with these international events is that they can be more tests of survival when they run games daily through the first two rounds like they are in Argentina with the FIBA Americas thing.

I’m not sure when you push the games together like they tend to do that you get the best team winning all the time and the calibre of play diminishes the further you get into the tournament.

With something as significant as the European championship – with bragging rights as well as Olympic berths on the line – the extra days are worth it.

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This is a leftover but it fits perfectly into the regular routine, doesn’t it?

Q: You like to do music here, so I am wondering this what are your top 5 cover songs of all-time?

Mine are K.D. Lang's Hallelujah, Manfred Mann's Blinded by the Light, Hendrix All Along the Watchtower, and 2 Guns N Roses tunes, Live and Let Die and Knocking on Heavens Door and honourable mention to Metallica for Turn the Page.

Cheers...

Doug B, Toronto

A: Okay, I know it took some time to get to this, sorry about that. But it’s pretty cool.

A story: A friend’s sharing music one day and I’m not sure who was more surprised: Me by the fact Metallic did it or the friend by the Bob Seger version.

Now, I like the Mettalica version, sure, but it’s not Seger.

Anyway …

I’ll give you Knocking On Heaven’s Door without a doubt and will add these to the list, which is certainly not definitive but just ones I can remember:

With A Little Help From My Friends, Joe Cocker.

I know it’s blasphemous to cover The Beatles but, man, does Cocker do a good, soulful job.

I Fought The Law, The Clash

It’s the Clash! Doesn’t matter who did it first, they did it well.

Twist and Shout, The Beatles

Except for the screaming teeny-boppers in the videos I’ve seen of it, it’s really good.

Respect, Aretha Franklin

I wasn’t sure that this was cover, or remake, but something in the dark recesses of my mind told me it was. Yep, originally Otis Redding. But if anyone thinks it’s other than Aretha, that’s entirely understandable.

And this one, which is a classic video of a cover band and the original guy. Who doesn’t love Dylan? Who doesn’t love The Byrds? Who can’t listen to this without at least humming, if not singing?

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How about those Argos, eh?

Doesn’t totally releasing your starting quarterback nine games into a season to replace him with a guy who hasn’t taken a snap the entire year smack of desperation?

I know the Lemon fellow didn’t look good too often but to cut him completely? I don’t know about that.

Maybe this Jyles guy is the answer, or maybe he’s not; but I do imagine there’ll come a point in time when they’d like to at least have the option of going to a guy who is familiar with the team, its system and the offence.

So far this season they’ve whacked a defensive co-ordinator – and that’s a silly move in the middle of CFL season because I don’t think new coaches can do much in such a short time frame – and now cut loose the starting quarterback.

And you wonder why they can’t win?

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Wanna start?

Mail. Here. Please.

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I have no idea how I got to be watching tennis the other day – it’s not something I generally do – but …

Novak Djokovic/Jason Kapono

Separated at birth? Or is my mind playing tricks on me?

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Let me get this straight.

There is going to be a month of practice and breathless analysis and eight games that don’t matter and all the Leaves fans have to worry about is who is going to make the third line?

And they say training camp and pretend games isn’t too long.

Seriously, if there were one thing I’d change about North American pro sports it would be to cut every training camp/exhibition season in half.

Every sport.

Four games (two for the football), a week or maybe 10 days of work and let’s get going; this endless nonsense of games that don’t matter and tedium of training camp bores me to death.

And, truth be told, it bores the players, too. I can’t tell you how many times a HOTH has mentioned how long and boring the pre-season is; they want to play games that count.

Let them.

End o’ rant.

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The name game, still; and it's Back To School day!

Well, you’ve spoken, I kind of listened and we’re pretty much deadlocked between Red Serge and Canadian Shield.

Really.

And I’m torn, actually.

The Serge is uniquely Canadian, represents our proud Mounties heritage and looks pretty darn cool, too.

The Shield is strong, uniquely Canadian again and stretches across vast parts of our great land.

I could live with either one – and, after all, it really is just for here because I don’t imagine it’ll catch on worldwide – but a decision has to be made and I’ve dawdled enough.

The Shield it shall be, okay?

(The complaint department will open momentarily).

I know it wasn’t one that came from the Solicitations Of Irregulars but enough of you were okay with it that I feel comfortable tossing it out there.

How, we have to come up with some kind of logo, don’t we?

I don’t mind this snapshot borrowed from a google search but give me a day or two and maybe we’ll find something better.

Anyway, this was the first time we’d done something silly like this, it seemed to work out okay and maybe we’ll come up with something similar again.

Suggestions welcome, as always.

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So, you get a look at the second-round groups at the EuroBasket 2011?

That Group E is a killer. Maybe the best second-round group at an international tournament ever.

Spain, Lithuania, France, Serbia, Turkey, Germany?

Yikes. And two of them will have no chance to make it to the quarter-finals.

Going by the tournament so far, and having spoken to a couple of spies over there, I’ve got Spain, Lithuania, France and Serbia moving on, with Turkey and Germany failing to make the final eight which will give them absolutely no chance to be at the 2012 London Olympics since only teams three to six get an invite.

That’s tough.

The other group?

I’ve got Russia, Slovenia, Macedonia and Greece moving on with Finland and Georgia being eliminated.

We’ll take a closer look tomorrow at the biggest of the games and when we can watch them on our computers.

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My Man Sheridan has struck out on his own.

ESPN’s loss is everyone’s gain, I would say; not too many people know labour, international stuff and the intricacies of the game like my guy does.

Do yourself a favour, check his site out, would you? It’s here.

(That’s after you click here every day, right?)

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Back to school?

Already?

Yeesh.

Where’d that summer go?

But, as Super Son was saying yesterday, it’s good to be going back, except for those pesky classes, that is.

Seeing the other urchins, catching up, planning escapades and shenanigans, it’s all part and parcel of ending a summer that can get boring as it drones on.

I’m a bit old to remember many back-to-school days but there was one time, at band camp … (Oh, wait, it wasn’t band camp).

It was senior elementary school, Princess Elizabeth as I recall and I think I’m about one of two kids from my Grade 6 class who went there, the rest lived in other districts.

Anyway, it’s the first day of school, lunch arrives and because we haven’t yet found the delights of the Towers lunch counter, we’re kind of lurking in the back school yard checking each other, a bunch of scared kids not sure what’s going on.

Well, we stand there for what seemed like an eternity waiting for the bell to ring to summon us back.

Little did we know that because we were grown ups in Grade 7 there was no bell, we were supposed to be able to tell time and get ourselves back to class, a point hammered home when some evil teacher came out and yelled at us about 15 minutes after we were supposed to be back.

Can’t remember being late again after that, except for the odd day when school was a bit too much.

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Oh yeah, there was absolutely nothing wrong with Canada taking the foot off the pedal a little bit against Argentina yesterday to get ready for today’s big one against Puerto Rico.

Even if they had played a perfect game, I don’t know that they could have won and with an evening game followed by one first thing the next morning, rest was more important than trying to pull off some monumental upset.

As I’ve come to learn after a few years of watching these tournaments, deciding when to get rest and maybe a sacrifice a game to be ready for another is as big as anything. You have to be prudent and know what’s at stake when, something the Canadians showed.

Now, I don’t know that they can beat Puerto Rico anyway but I do know they’ve set themselves up almost as well as they can to do it.

All I’ve got to do now is find a joint in Niagara Falls open at 10:30 with TSN2; or else be standing outside some 11 a.m. opening establishment ready to go.

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You had to know something like this was coming, right?

You got a favourite back to school thing?

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I swear, Hobbs is going to not only lead the TOD back to glory but I’m pretty sure he can solve the world economic crisis and figure out time travel, too.

That was some game, no?

I tell ya, there’s something about that kid.

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One last shameless plug for Skeets And Tas and the boys and girls at The Basketball Jones because this Rock The Court thing they’ve got going on with Matt Bonner and his friends is more than worthy of your support.

Check it out here and do what you can to help, please.

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A series of random, yet entertaining, points

For today’s reading and listening pleasure, a series of totally random items because there’s no one thing that really strikes me as important.

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Canada?

I fear dead.

I know wacky things happen at things like Olympic qualification tournaments but it’s going to take an act by some outside agency for Canada to even qualify for the last-chance tournament next year.

That loss to Venezuela was crushing, as it turns out. Looks like – and, again, odd things happen – Canada is going to need three wins in the four second round games to have a chance to move on.

A win over Argentina today is too much to ask for, even from the most optimistic among you, which means they’d have to get Puerto Rico tomorrow and then Uruguay and Panama. The last two are quite doable, the Puerto Rico game could be considered the most important game this team has played in many a year.

We’ll get more into this when this thing’s finally over but not having a senior team next summer – and if they did run a program, it’d be terrible scaled down with nothing significant to play for – would set the program back a long, long way.

We know the future still looks brighter than it has in years if the talent develops as expected and the team continues to improve.

But missing out on a summer will be costly in sponsorships (and money is a huge issue, still), public perception and global significance.

I’ve always maintained it would be nearly impossible for Canada to qualify for the 2012 London Games but not even having a chance next summer will be almost crippling to an ascendant program.

But, on the bright side, maybe more of you will pay closer attention the women’s team.

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Right, the name thing.

Well, here’s the thing: With a flight Thursday and games Friday night, Saturday afternoon, Sunday afternoon and a flight home last night, something had to fall through the cracks and trying to go through all the comments and votes on what to all the national basketball teams was it.

Tomorrow. Promise.

Besides, today is a holiday, and I’d imagine some of the Irregulars are off and won’t be able to stop by. So let’s wait and not take the surprise away from them.

Deal?

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Remember the saloon, PJ Clarke’s, that I was telling you about in New York. The one with the jukebox that had the Johnny Cash one?

Well, how about a Saturday night with a burger and my friend Stella and this little ditty comes on?

I tell you, that Les Brown could arrange some music; and Doris was a looker, as they say.

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Okay, I will fully admit that New Yorkers – especially the city’s sports fans – can be entirely too much. Too brash, too loud, too many, too everything.

But, I tell you, they do the coolest thing at Yankee Stadium.

Top of the first inning, Yankees take the field and the fans in the bleachers start chanting names.

Der-ek Je-ter, clap-clap, clap-clap-clap is one. They do every position player and they don’t stop until that players waves or doffs his cap or acknowledges them in some way.

It’s very, very cool; kind of like the fans and players saying hello.

Not sure why it struck me as so neat, but it did.

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We’re almost at the end of the first round over in Lithuania and I guess there are two or three things that jump out.

Spain’s on form and right now look unbeatable. You know how I was all over Lithuania being at home and being really good? Well, Spain dropping 62 points on them in a half was something quite unforeseen.

Oh, and you know how we always talk about being at home being a big deal? Well, Turkey got all the way to the world championships gold medal game in Istanbul a year ago and today they either have to beat Spain or get some help from Great Britain to even have a chance to scrape into the second round. It’ll be interesting to see how Spain handles the game, though. They’ve already clinched first place in their group, I’m hearing they might give Pau Gasol and Rudy Fernandez the day off and this exactly the kind of game some teams “take off” at this point in the long slog of a tournament.

Oh, and the other thing?

What the heck Macedonia?

Oh, I know what it is but what is it doing leading Group C with a chance to win it tomorrow when it finishes the first round? They drilled Greece, lost a tight one to Croatia and have two other wins under their belt. Not bad of a team of guys no one’s heard of and without a single NBA guy, isn’t it? There always seems to be one big surprise in these kinds of things; I’d say Macedonia is it right now.

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You want the height of opulence?

The dugouts at Yankee Stadium are air-conditioned.

Five or six vents in the roof blow nice cool air all day; no way those highly-trained ball players are going to have to go too long in searing heat.

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The people you meet sitting on a stool.

Another PJ Clarke’s story – I know, it’s become something of a haven – but a good one.

Sitting there Saturday evening right by the maitre d’ spot and this older gentleman, quite gregarious, comes down to see about his table. It’s hugs and handshakes all around, he’s obviously well known and there’s something eerily familiar about him. Anyway, he looks over, I nod because that’s what you do when you’re hanging around and he wanders over, obviously wanting to kill some time before his family gets there.

“Hi,” he says, “my name’s Nick Bollettieri.”

Huh!

Yep, world famous tennis coach and we sit there for about 45 minutes telling tales. I hear about his nine ex-wives, the little boy he and the missus have just adopted from Ethiopia, about his son-in-law who’s the main model for Le Chateau and about his life story that’s coming out later this year.

We talk David Stern, who he knows; the late Dick Shaap, one of the giants of the broadcast industry; Carling Bassett, who was among his very first pupils; some other mutual friends and acquaintances and, all in all, was quite a fascinating time.

See? Who says cool things don’t happen when you’re sitting on a stool killing road time?

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Oh yeah.

It’s the 65th anniversary of the birth of Freddie Mercury.

So …

Will fully admit I wasn’t a huge Queen fan growing up – still aren’t, if truth be told – but the dude could sing.

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All right, folks. Enjoy your Labour Day; get the kidlets ready to head back to the grind tomorrow and it’s almost time to get into the rhythm of the fall.

Wonder when the Raptors will start trickling back into town to get ready for the season? Oh, yeah. They won’t.

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The end of the weekend mail, as usual

Sorry I’m a little later than usual for a Sunday, decided to get out to the stadium early so am finishing this off from there.

You came through as always with some good stuff and there are all kinds of music ones left over that I can use during the week in the never-ending search for something, um, different to do.

Back to the usual grind on the holiday Monday with all kins of weird stuff from a weekend in New York.

Have fun.

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Q: It is reported that Wilson Chandler signed a contract to play in China. Also, the CBA said they will not sign players with an opt out clause. As Wilson is a "Restricted" free agent, how is it possible for him to sign without an opt out clause?

Dave B, Cornwall

A: He doesn’t have one; he’ll have to spend the entire season in China, unable to come back when the NBA settles its new deal. A gamble by him, for sure. And when his deal in China is up, the Nuggets will still hold his NBA rights; same deal as when Carlos Delfino went to Russia as a restricted free agent with Toronto.

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Q: Doug, some tech type questions. I know answers will be roughly.

How many hits does the Star get?

How many hits does the blog get, (season and non-season?)

How many questions per week?

Just curious.

Bruce M, Winnipeg

A: I can’t really speak to the Star’s overall numbers but I can track those here and do every now and then. Not every day, of course, but once in a while I like to check in.

Now, these are rough numbers for sure but I’d guess we average somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000 a day in the off-season (it might spike to five figures on a day when there’s news) and we’ll get to about 12,000-14,000 on a regular in-season day. Again, they can spike if something happens.

I appreciate them all.

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Q: Long time reader, first time correspondent. A baseball question if you don't mind. Does a ground ball double play count as two ground ball outs when compiling the pitcher's stats?

Jim S, Belleville

A: This is a question that spawned a Friday night stool discussion that left the mattered unresolved. But after checking with a member of the crack TOD media relations staff on Saturday, I can dutifully report that, yes, a ground ball double play counts as two ground ball outs in the stats.

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Q: Hi Doug. I watched the game today and thought both teams had a great deal of difficulty adjusting to the officiating. With this in mind, how many of the young players going off to the NCAA this year (Pangos, etc) will either make the team or be ready to contribute if Canada (put nickname here) makes it to the qualifying tournament next year?

Kevin M, Maple

A: I obviously can’t say for sure because development times different for every player but I would be shocked if anyone other than Tristan Thompson (with an NBA season under his belt) and Matt Bonner (if he’s a citizen) play any kind of meaningful role.

I don’t see a kid with one year of college under his belt, or even less, being able to step in and play right away, especially any point guard who’d have to be better than Cory Joseph.

And I warn you: If Canada gets to that final tournament next year, it will be exponentially harder to earn one of three Olympic berths there than it is to get one of two in Argentina this year. There will be four European countries there that will have a far better chance than Canada does.

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Q: Hi Doug. Josh M. asked a question on Saturday about bringing your game every night. Building on his idea, what would be the factors in a perfect NBA schedule that would allow players to play their best on a more consistent basis?

Kevin M, Maple

A: I bet if you asked them honestly they would say a rhythm. Maybe a game every other day, or three a week, no back-to-backs, no two-games-in-three-days and absolutely no road trips of four-in-five.

One other thing? Consistent start times in the evening. I know some fans might like those Sunday afternoon games but players want their body clocks to run the same all season and if every game was a 7 p.m. start, they’d love it.

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Q: Hey Doug! It's All About You!

The Economist or Vogue Fall Fashion Issue (The Really BIG One We All Wait For!)?

Van Morrison or Jim Morrison?

Steamy Heat or Biting Cold? (Weather, Not Drink!)

OK, Drink: Warm Beer or Cold Quad Venti Latte (tee-hee)

What Could You Repair Most Easily: A Flat Tire or A Leaky Faucet?

Fedora or Ballcap?

Picasso or DaVinci?

Best 2nd Banana: Art Carney or Jason Alexander?

Real Book or E-Reader?

Speed Boat or Canoe?

Best First Season: CSI or Law & Order?

Lassie or Rin Tin Tin?

Field Hockey or Ice Hockey?

Migraine or Ice Hockey?

Finish this Sentence: A Day Without Irregulars is Like A Day Without........?

Cheers! And a big thank you for all you do for us.

Lorie P, London

A: Man, that’s a laundry list of quickies, isn’t it? Well, here goes:

Vogue (Economist way to dry for me; I’m New Yorker, Vanity Fair all the way).

Van in a landslide.

Oh, cold for sure, you can bundle up.

Cold coffee, if I had to pick one.

Repair? Depends on whether the phone number for the plumber or mechanic was closest. But tire, probably.

Fedora, it’s a way cool look, maybe with a “press” card stuck in the brim.

Picasso.

Art Carney all the way.

Real book, isn’t reading a tactile exercise as well?

Canoe, I’m all about the portage.

Law and Order, any time.

Lassie, if not Super Dog.

Field.

Migraine.

And I’d love to say a Day Without Irregulars is like a Day Without Air but … let’s go with sunshine.

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Q: Hi, Doug. It's been said that the difference between college ball and the NBA is that college ball is a coaches' game and the NBA is a players' game.

Do you think a similar comparison could be made between the International game and the NBA game? Feel free to indulge in an extensive analysis, too ;-)

Cheers,

Dave F, Kingston

A: I guess the comparison would be that the NBA game is so full of so many great athletes, there’s far more one-on-one play and more individual action than there ever is at the highest level of international ball.

You’ll see a lot more movement of players in the FIBA game, big men stepping out to shoot jumpers and a lot of drive-and-kick action.

NBA teams use far more low-post stuff than FIBA teams do, which has a lot to do with the individual skill level. International players – the best ones – have more varied skills because they’ve been taught at younger age to develop all facets of the game whereas in North America, all too often tall kids are told to go under the basket and stay there.

You know what today is? The start of the weekend mail, again

Okay, folks, here you go for today but unless a whole bunch of you do some diligent work sometime today, we’re going to have an all-world short mailbag to finish off our weekend tomorrow.

I’ve saved a few but not nearly enough so if you’ve got something on your chest, click here to get it off.

Until then? Enjoy this and the start of the holiday weekend.

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Q: Hi Doug: Since you asked for mail, and since there's not a lot going on right now with the Raps, I decided to ask a question about you. (And, as we all know, it's all about...)

What do you find to be the hardest part of writing a game story? I understand that it may vary from game to game, but, just in general, what's toughest for you?

Thanks again for all that you do!

Tim H, Windsor

A: The hardest part is not having enough time to craft something above average every night. Truthfully, it’s not that difficult to simply recite facts, the difficulty comes in trying to present them in an entertaining manner and with a unique “angle” that no one else might use.

The time and deadline issues you get used; it’s wading through the stuff in your mind to get something that distinguishes you from the others is hard.

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Q: Hi Doug. What are your thoughts on expanding the playoffs in baseball? Good or bad. Do you think other items such as a salary cap and reducing the schedule to 154 games might actually help to improve the competitiveness/quality of play in baseball and give lower tier teams a chance to compete. Thanks

Joe D, Mississauga

A: I think it’d be a good idea to maybe add one more wild card team, but that’s about it. I certainly wouldn’t want eight teams per league or anything else because most playoffs are now a survival test as much as anything.

And, of course, I am a proponent of lopping off eight games from any sport’s regular season. Trouble is, I’m pretty sure the owners aren’t going to go for that.

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Q: Hi Doug. Just a question regarding the attribution of player performance in the NBA, and more generally in sports. I've always secretly wondered that when a player is chastised for not bringing their "A" game, or for lacking in effort, that there are really ulterior reasons for their performance (or lack there of). For example, a player who's performance down the stretch of a game is weak can be said to have lost "focus" or that they "didn't want it bad enough", or something ambiguous like that. I'm pretty sure that all players are at least trying to be focused and do really want to win. Do you think that sports journalism far too often likes to sensationalize or simplify the cause for personal performances without really hitting on the true cause for that performance?

Josh M, Toronto

A: Sure we do, far too often. I don’t think – and have never thought – that players don’t “try” when they’re on the court, the field, the ice. The “lack of focus” or “didn’t want it bad enough” are easy throwaway lines uses far too often. The thing is: Sometimes guys have bad days at the office, they have things on their mind, minor bumps, a headache, who knows. But effort? I don’t believe anyone’s ever said, “boy, I hope I miss this shot” or something like that.

Trouble is, it’s often impossible for us to find out what’s going on during those off nights because when we ask, we always get blank stares and refusals to admit there’s anything going on.

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Q: Hi Doug! A basketball question!!! Well, sort of, a free-agency question. I know, why should I worry about free-agency before the big-shots even sit at the table in earnest to discuss having a season? I wanted to ask, in light of Wilson Chandler signing overseas, is it possible for an NBA team to sign a player to a contract for a future season? I imagine this is impossible to do for players already under contract due to tampering laws, and for players not under contract this shuts a door for them, so they wouldn't do it. But in a Wilson Chandler case, could he sign for 12-13 in the NBA (forgetting he is restricted for a second), play out his season in China, and return to a freshly minted contract?

Not much of a seamhead, here but thanks for keeping the summer mornings interesting!

David T, Ottawa

A: No, it’s not possible, there’s a reciprocity to the contracts registered with FIBA and the NBA that would preclude that from happening. Now, I’m not saying there couldn’t be a wink-and-nod arrangement in place, like “you go there, come back here” in a year but nothing signed.

Don’t forget, though, that if restricted free agents go to Europe or Asia their NBA teams retain their rights, as was the case in Toronto with Carlos Delfino, to bring it back to the HOTH.

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Q: Biggest draft bust you can remember?

Cory G, Jasper

A: In my time? A tie between Michael Olowokandi and Kwame Brown. You take whichever one you want and I’ll take the other.

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Q: Doug, what do you think the Men's National Team will look like in 4 years (re: Wiggins, Thompson, Kabongo, Birch)? Could you please give us the future starting five with a few bench players? Does FIBA have a 3 in the key rule the DR's double-double man never left the key last night.

Peter B, Waterloo

A: It’s impossible to even guess which players might be on a national team in four years, far too many variables like who will want to play, who might get hurt, who might not develop.

No, FIBA does not have a defensive 3-second rule like the NBA does, it plays under old-fashioned zone rules that allow anyone to stand anywhere for as long as they like. And with the sometimes shoddy and erratic officiating you get, adding something as convoluted as the NBA rule might make an officials’ head explode.

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Q: Hello Doug, I'm hoping that the Canadian Basketball League sees a steady increase in attendance and enthusiasm. The amount of coverage that it receives on highlight shows would certainly have an impact.

Would there have been any contact between the league and broadcasters about whether they would show highlights?

Thanks for all your effort on the blog.

R.A. M, Charlottetown

A: My understanding is that there are already talks underway between the league and TV networks to try and get some games televised once the first season starts. There has been no resolution but it wouldn’t surprise me at all if someone didn’t jump up and do a Game Of The Week at least.

What's in a name? You tell me. And running into a Raging Bull

Okay, I can’t decide, I really can’t.

Remember how earlier in the week we were trying to figure out a name for Canada’s basketball teams and while I could come up with Canadian Shield, it was probably wiser to get you more involved?

Well, you did. Very well.

So well, in fact, that I’m not going to decide, we will as a collective since I culled five pretty good ones from suggestions that ranged from comical to classical to nonsensical.

We’ll give you the weekend to let me know what you think and by the time the men start their second round down in Argentina, we’ll have something to call them.

And who knows, maybe Canada Basketball will like it and we’ll get their blessing (you’re reading, right, Wayne and Michele?)

So, here we go and thanks, as always, for playing along.

Northern Lights

Now, I don’t live in a rural enough area to see them very often, much to my chagrin, but it’s a pretty Canadian kind of thing, isn’t it?

Schooners

Can’t remember exactly how Irregular Doug put it when it was suggested but it’s a rather strong, representative icon of the country, no?

Voyageurs

Hearty Canucks portaging across raging rivers? Yeah, kind of sends a message, no?

Red Serge

What’s more Canadian than a Mountie? And what’s more Mountie-esque than those glorious red uniforms? This one might be my favourite.

Glowing Hearts

A tad sappy, sure. But makes you think of home, doesn’t it?

Anyway, there are the five finalists that emerged, can’t say it’ll be an absolute democratic vote – not sure I’ll be able to count them all without missing one or two in what I’m sure will be an onslaught of comments but we’ll have a name by the beginning of the week.

Live it up.

Vote early but don’t vote often, I can get worn out reading ‘em all.

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I love fall baseball, as some of you know. Teams in pennant races, more big games, sometimes there’s a nip in the air and it’s just a good time to sit back and watch a game.

But I have to tell you, if the Yankees and Red Sox take FOUR HOURS AND 21 MINUTES to play a 4-2, nine-inning game, that’s stretching the patience of even the most ardent fan.

I don’t know what baseball can do to speed up those games – the Sox and Yankees historically play 3-plus hours even on the most speedy of nights – but last night was shocking for how long it droned on.

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A Grunt’s Guide to a Happier Life

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

Rule 292

The cab driver will always tell you he knows where he’s going; don’t believe him until you give him the exact address.

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How cool is this:

P.J. Clarke’s, a somewhat legendary saloon that’s been around since the late 1800s, is about a block away from the hotel and it was, as you’d expect, packed with the post-work crowd.

Well, I find a standing spot that happens to be right behind two of the early-leavers, grab a seat, watch start of Red Sox-Yankees and I’m right in front of the jukebox.

And I tell you, you don’t hear nearly enough of this stuff on a saloon jukebox.

If they’d had A Boy Named Sue, I might have expired.

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Can’t tell you how much pressure was relieved from Canada with the win over Dominican Republic down in Argentina last night.

Sure, the players and coaches all spoke the predictable: How every game is big and they need to just try and meet the challenge right in front of them but having a win under their belts going into what would seemingly be the two easiest games of the first round is huge.

If they had had to beat both Venezuela and then Cuba it would have been a very tall order because I could see a team with limited offence playing a bit “tight” with lots on the line.

I still say it’s going to be virtually impossible to finish second overall but the win over Dominican certainly gives them a leg up on the chase for a top five spot.

Can you see a scenario where it’s Argentina, Puerto Rico and Brazil as the top three and two of Canada, Dominican and Venezuela fighting for the last spots in next summer’s tournament?

I sure can. And having a win over one of them under their belts has to be a huge confidence booster. And if they get Venezuela today (it’s a 10:30 a.m. start back home) it’ll be even bigger.

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Seriously, folks.

The mail’s way, way down and it’s Friday and there’s two days of mail to get through and I really need some help.

Click here, get it done and we’ll have a typical weekend.

Thanks.

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Speaking of PJ’s, a story.

Can’t remember when it was – had to be early 2000s – but there’s a whole gaggle of Toronto writers in town one time. Think the HOTH were in the post-season maybe, the pucks were somewhere in the neighbourhood and there might have been a big fight, too.

Anyway, we’re all at PJs telling stories and hanging out and who comes in but Jake LaMotta.

Now, we’re all huge fans of either his or Raging Bull and one of us – not me – seems somewhat smitten by Jake’s wife, Vikky.

Well, this fellow proceeds to tell Jake, in a rather polite but forceful way, that he wish that the boxer had stayed home and sent his wife, or at least brought her along so they could meet.

Not sure Jake was entirely impressed but no punches were thrown.

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There are an awful lot of reasons I wish I was back in the country to kick off a long weekend.

One of them is so I could find out how many St. Lucians live in the area because you know they’ll all be out cheering on the football team against the Canadas in World Cup qualifying.

Speaking of, who you got in the big game?

Not sure who wins but I’ve got the over-under at a half.

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