While Washington celebrates, we mourn for Montreal. Still

A bunch of little things because there’s really nothing big going on and yesterday was lost in a haze of birdies and frivolity.

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Try as I might and as much as I’d like to, somehow I can’t get too jazzed about the Washington Nationals clinching baseball’s first post-season spot.

Yes, it’s a good young team – I really like the Harper kid – and they have what looks like a very pretty ballpark and the fans have been supportive but given their Montreal history, there’s jus some niggling anger and disappointment that won’t go away.

It’s not the player’s fault at all, I know. They just play where they are told to play but even if you like the way they handle themselves, what that ownership did to Montreal will bug me until the end of time.

I really can’t see a way that major league baseball goes back to Montreal, a great city with a long sports tradition. There’s no stadium, there’s no apparent owner willing to do to another city what was done to it and that’s too bad.

But if carpet-bagging ownership had never allowed them to leave, and I find it impossible to think some resolution couldn’t have been reached, I’d say they’d be one of more successful organizations around. I’d venture to guess they’d be better supported than either of the Florida teams and probably a handful of others in cities far less suited to major league baseball than Montreal.

The Expos were cool for a long time. Loved the logo, loved Youppi (he’s up there with the Chicken and the Philly Phanatic as the all-time great stuffed animals) and the players who ran through that city, from Rusty Staub to Gary Carter to Andre Dawson, were outstanding.

So, yes, you can like Harper and wish Strasburg was still pitching but you can’t hope they win.

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Hey, if you’re in Toronto and downtown late Friday morning, you probably could do worse than hanging out and watching this Olympic parade they’ve got planned.

Bay and Albert down to the Air Canada Centre; starts at 11:30 a.m., enjoy.

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Yes, we did make eight birdies as a team and had a wonderful day on the links, even if it did rain for the first nine or 10 holes.

But, yes, as well as we played, some shots did go awry.

Like this.

(And, no, it’s not mine; really)

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They’ve got way down the list again at the FAN590 it seems.

Yep, I’m on the round table tonight, 5-7 p.m., with McCown and a coupe of other unnamed bon vivants.

Hope we talk pucks.

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So it’s that time of year around most NBA cities where the players get their pre-camp physicals and it’s becoming one of the most important things teams do.

There’s some first-hand knowledge here about the depths of the examinations; remember when they found a slight irregularity in Nathan Jawai’s heart that kept him off the court for a couple of months a couple of years ago?

Well, that pales in comparison to what happened in Phoenix yesterday when Channing Frye, after a routine stress test all NBA players undergo as part of the medical exams leading up to camp, found out he has an enlarged heart and will have to likely sit out the entire season, if not longer.

(Here’s my man Coro’s story on it.)

Frye’s case is the most significant in quite some time, at least to my quick recollection, and underscores just how involved the pre-camp exams are.

There are MRIs and blood tests and stress tests and any manner of physical exams meant to both provide a health baseline for each player for team physicians and training staffs and to ferret out any lingering health problems that would put a player at risk.

I’m not sure how long each team has been doing these extensive examinations before camp even begins but it does provide a much-needed service to both athlete and team.

Way back in the day, players used to just show up and go about their business on the court; now teams are wary and protective and responsible enough to make sure everyone’s 100 per cent healthy and able to withstand the rigors of a camp and a season.

It’s a giant step forward and guys like Frye, and Jawai before him, have to be thankful for it.

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Mail?

Sure. I’ll have a couple of hours somewhere this afternoon to get some done and who knows what the evening holds; maybe I can get enough done that tomorrow can be a coasting morning.

Click. Write. Send.

Thanks.

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Reason No. 1,301,192 to avoid downtown Toronto on Saturday night:

MMA at the ACC.

Now, most of you know my aversion to the sport (if they held the card on my back deck, I’d go sit on the front porch) but there’s a bigger thing to think about and it’s this:

At one time, all of these cards, even to people like me who don’t appreciate the sport or know much about it, seemed to be big events; they didn’t happen all that often and there was some mystique about it.

Now?

Now I seem to see fliers for another card and another pay per view event every other weekend, it’s becoming routine and when you become routine – in any sport – interest wanes, if even only slightly.

Or am I wrong on this?

I do know it still attracts throngs to bars that show the fights – I’m quite able to find one that doesn’t if I have to – but doesn’t it seem that it’s more humdrum now than it ever was?

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Comments

[Heath]

Last season Jeff Green had something similar with the Celts. They found an aortic aneurysm which ended his season before it began.
Don't forget other greats that went throught the Expo's system, like Larry Walker (MVP) and Randy Johnson (multiple Cy's).

[LeeZ]

@Peter posted this late last night, so perhaps many didn't see it. As a public service, I'm reposting the link about the Jay fan who took the infamous Yunel-Gate photo. Kudos, Doug, to your boy Brandon K. for the article, by the way, as it's a must-read. I'd be interested in knowing whether Jays management has, in fact, reached out to him: http://www.thestar.com/sports/baseball/mlb/article/1260157--yunel-escobar-eyeblack-photographer-speaks-out

[Lorie]

Hi Doug!
Now, one of the best things about the end of summer and beginning of autumn is Fall Ball, but if things culminate in a World Series between the Yankees and the Nationals, well....it's going to be tough cheering for either one of them. And it may take between now and late October to work up some warm and fuzzy feelings to endear either one to me. But then again, anything can happen and maybe it'll be the Angels and the Brewers to choose between. Yikes! And your mention of trains and cigarettes and elegantly dressed travellers had me thinking not of music, but of movies. And of all the great Hitchock films featuring trains (and there were a few) it's this one scene with Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and a match that came first to mind. Cheers! And a big salute to our Olympians! Bravo all!
http://youtu.be/AXGWescUeQs

[LeeZ]

So it looks like the Jays are in full circle-the-wagon mode and people are starting to protect their backsides. AA points out that there have been other GMs, successful ones too, who have had no ball playing experience, in response to Zaun's cheap shot of a rant (hey Zaunie, at least AA hasn't been implicated in any doping scandals, eh buddie?). Farrell, in response to the same scathing attack by Zaun, feels the need to throw Yunel even further under the bus by pointing out that he (Farrell) DOES bring his players on the carpet for "baseball issues" ("What he's going to encounter in Toronto is yet to be seen, but I'm expecting I will sit down with him (Friday) and I can tell you this won't be the first time we've sat down and talked about issues"). And in so gratuitously VOLUNTEERING the fact that he's had several talks with Yunel, he seems to be initiating a villification/denigration campaign worthy of the Jays' former GM, who practically invented the process whereby the Jays start badmouthing a player to make it easier to get rid of him. The ship is sinking, and the rats are starting to get nervous...Doug, a question: what do you think of Zaun's rant? Cheap shot or bracing doese of reality? And what do you think Sportsnet's reaction will be, seeing as how they're owned by the same company as the one that owns the club. Is Zaun toast? He's not an idiot, he must know that there will be a price to pay. Think he has some agenda, think he wants to force their hand and get them to dismiss him for some reason?

Blogger's note: Was a tad over the top but a lot of it was fair criticism, I presume. I'd think Sportsnet would be loathe to do anything lest they be accused of interfering with commentators.
But I will say this about the "not playing the game" crap: I've never died but feel quite qualified to write an obituary

[jc]

I've never used a "rescue" club before. I imagine it would be for that? :)

Blogger's note: That was beyond rescue. Ended up IP (In Pocket)

[doug]

interestingly enough 2 of the owners involved in the Montreal debacle Henry and Loria have their own dysfunctional teams (Red Sox,Marlins) but those 2 are what they are money-grubbing could care less about product on field type owners, welcome to the Bud Selig era of MLB....also watching thhese young players come on with the Blue Jays makes me think do they teach fundamentals in the minors anymore??, these guys have minimal baseball I.Q....well in comparison here is a blurb from Griffins article last week about the Expos and their line-up for a day, they not only were players they could think and it showed after the fact...cheers
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9/21/81 Steve Carlton of the Phils fans Andre Dawson for his 3,118th career K, setting an NL record. Amazingly, the Expos line-up that day in a 1-0 17-inning win over the Phils, included two future Hall-of-Famers (Dawson and Gary Carter), four future managers (Terry Francona, Brad Mills, Jerry Manuel and Larry Parrish) and five future MLB coaches (Jerry White, Tim Raines, Tim Wallach, Chris Speier and Wallace Johnson)

[Nick M]

I know you are loathe to report on the pucks, but there is some Raptor's related hockey news?(well, if you can call it news).
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In TSN's never ending quest to still report on Hockey-like 680 reports traffic and weather-during the lockout, Sportscentre got an early jump on the 'top prospects' for the 2013 NHL draft. It seems that Seth Jones, son of ex-Rap 'Popeye' is fighting for the top spot!
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Now you have segway for your gig tonight when the conversation inevitably goes to pucks!

[Mike kovacs]

Doug, someone could have used a hand-wedge on that ball! Also, how are you going to stand 2hrs of lockout talk?

Blogger's note: I'll steer the conversation, somehow

[doug]

here's a good topic to swing the discussion to, not specifically the NFL ref's strike but the hypocrisy that all commish's of all sports leagues seem to be exhibiting these days...they ramble on about respecting the game to players, stating fines will be implemented for this and that..technicals for not doing it as Stern did a couple years ago...and blah,blah,blah, well there the ones that have continuously not only dis-respected the game but also fans/players/officials etc by their greed...and it's obvious here is a decree from the NFL head office today to all teams/coaches/GM's/players reagrding placement officials...all one can do is sit back and laugh at their hypocrisy..this quote is a discussion for your round table or good for a chuckle at least...cheers
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"The purpose was to send a message that everyone has a responsibility to respect the game," NFL executive vice president Ray Anderson explained by phone Thursday night. "Everyone needs to be mindful that this respect for the game has to be practiced at all times, and that the events of Monday evening, in the first half of that game, represented unacceptable behavior."...just not by the owners or the commish were exempt....should be an addendum to that quote....

[Nick M]

Blogger's note: But I will say this about the "not playing the game" crap: I've never died but feel quite qualified to write an obituary
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Doug that is, as you would say, the meeting of apples and oranges. You have no idea how well a dead person could write an obituary :)