Turtling

Funny to see the old double-dipper himself, Pat Quinn, caught taking some thinly-veiled potshots at the Leafs and president Richard Peddie from the safety of Vancouver. Funnier still to see Quinn, who despite his bully rep never had the stomach for face-to-face confrontation, backpedalling like crazy when his words filtered east to Toronto. Naturally, Quinn has been careful to avoid saying bad things about his former employer in hopes of roping in another NHL team to pay him an exorbitant salary as a coach or consultant. The best part of being caught this time is that despite having all of his words on radio, Quinn is still blaming the media, claiming misquote, or at least that devious media types are again twisting his words. Just once it would have been nice to hear this man speak without forked tongue. Just once it would be nice to hear him take some of the responsibility for the Leafs' inability to get anywhere near a Cup during his tenure.

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Terrible conundrum for Jesse Lumsden. The Washington Redskins have cut him loose, and the choice is trying to catch on with an NFL practice roster or return to the CFL and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The practice roster pays a lot better, while the CFL work includes the nasty beating running backs take along with a fraction of the salary. To play for less money or sit on a practice roster for a lot more. Not an easy choice, particularly when the former includes looking for holes behind a weak offensive line in Hamilton. ... Like Nashville's signing of J.P. Dumont, an underrated finesse forward. But while the Preds have added much in Dumont and Jason Arnott, some GMs feel they have lost more in Danny Markov, Yanic Perreault, Mark Eaton, Adam Hall and Scott Walker. ... Quick tip on a hockey book to watch for this fall. Former Globe and Post scribbler Gare Joyce has penned a look back at the infamous 1987 Brawl in Piestany between the Canadian and Soviet national junior teams. It's terrific. ... Count on this now. As soon as a Leaf, any Leaf, loses a fight this season, there will be endless print and electronic discussion about how much the club dearly misses Tie Domi. Count on it. . .Cassie Campbell, who retired from hockey today, may not have been the best player to ever grace the national women's team. But in addition to her talent and versatility as a forward and defenceman, she will go down as an athlete who transformed the women's game with her personality and style. As well as being a key component of several Olympic efforts, Campbell always sold and promoted the game well, and it's not too hard to envision her somewhere down the line as a key national voice for the women's game. It's about time Canada had a commissioner or president for women's hockey, and Campbell would be a perfect choice.

On Ricky Bobby and Such

Saw Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby over the weekend. Mildy funny to outrageously funny, and certainly light years more humorous than anything Paul Tracy dreamed up on the weekend. ... Geez, didn't know the Bridgestone Invitational had suddenly acquired the importance of the Masters and Wimbledon, all rolled into one. The gentle folks of Akron must be so pleased. ... Story of the week, or at least the early part of the week, will be Andre Agassi's final swings on the ATP tour. Here's an athlete and humanitarian who actually deserves all the kudos he will receive. Moreover, here's a sport that keenly understands what it is losing in this athlete and is feverishly dreaming up aggressive new ways to become a relevant force on the North American scene again. ... Every time they play one of these global competitions - the World Cup of Hockey, the World Baseball Classic, the world basketball championships - it makes one more keenly aware how none are even in the same league as soccer's enormous World Cup. ... Liked the combination of Sean Millington and Daved Benefield alongside Elliotte Friedman on the CBC's Hamilton-Saskatchewan broadcast Saturday night. But while Millington and Benefield had some forceful criticisms of the woeful Tabbies, they carefully avoided naming a single individual player or players. That's the hard part, guys. In general, the CBC broadcast was dedicated to making sure no viewer was left with the impression any of it was the fault of Jason Maas. He's just the quarterback and highest paid player who suddenly can't complete a pass for more than eight yards. ... Ah yes, the Tiger-Cats. None of this gets put on Ron Lancaster's shoulders. He's just being a team guy. It's interesting that Greg Marshall, Craig Yeast and Kwame Cavil, among others, all had to go. Joe Paopao was added Monday.Meanwhile, the team's general manager, Rob Katz, manages to continue being the only football boss in the league without a speck of football expertise on his resume. Gotta believe putting this guy up against Jim Popp, Hugh Campbell and the Wally Buono/Bobby Ackles combo in B.C. is one heckuva mismatch. ... There's always lots of talk about athletes being role models for young people. I'm thinking that seeing two men, John Gibbons and Ted Lilly, behave like gentlemen and professionals just a few days after a very public spat is a more than acceptable example for the youth of this world. ... Then again, maybe a little more soap opera stuff will help the Jays gate. After the Gibbons-Lilly dustup, the Jays had 30,000 fans or more for four of their next five home starts. ... To understand the frustrations of the Blue Jays of playing in the American League east, take a look at the records of the St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers, both first in their respective divisions. ... Love the argument that the Jays actually aren't mediocre, their starting pitching has just been poor. That's like having a great hockey team but a lousy goaltender or being great off the tee but a poor putter. The art lies in putting the entire package together. And when they get a brilliantly pitched game like they received on Saturday from Roy Halladay and can't scratch out a single run against the awful Royals, you get the message loud and clear.

A Strange Association

The defanged NHL Players Association did not create David Frost.

But with the OPP having now laid some serious charges involving alleged sexual exploitation against the hockey coach/agent, it's worth pointing out the NHLPA was for several years more than willing to help Frost advance his career.

It was in September, 2002, that The Star broke the news that Frost had been certified by the NHLPA as a player agent despite having already been suspended several times by different hockey leagues for his conduct and despite having been convicted of assaulting one of his own players while coaching a Junior A team.

Think about that one. Frost pleaded guilty in 1997 to charges he repeatedly punched one of his players while coaching the Quinte Hawks Jr. A club.

And still the powerful NHL players union gave him its stamp of approval.

Frost claimed at the time he worked with agent Mike Gillis. Gillis, however, said that wasn't true at all.

And still the union certified him.

Agents were stunned, but few chose to speak up. The reason? Frost talked incessantly about his close ties with union boss Bob Goodenow, having coached his son, Joe, and Frost traded on that relationship repeatedly in conversations.

If you talked to Frost, you heard more than once about how he and Goodenow were tight.

And Goodenow never denied it. Or explained it.

For more than three years, Frost stayed on the NHLPA certified agent list. It was understood by union insiders it was simply Goodenow's call, even after Frost was the alleged target of a murder scheme by one of his clients, Mike Danton, and after Danton was sent to jail for that crime.

For three years, the union allowed Frost to operate under its auspices. He never added more clients, but the designation as a certified agent nonetheless gave him a layer of useful credibility.

And not a single person with the NHLPA ever stood up and made a stink about it.

When it was all over, did the union pull the plug on Frost? Nope.

Frost resigned. And that happened only after Goodenow had already made his exit.

Geniuses of Our Time

Only now, really, can hockey fans look back upon the era of the NHL that featured both Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux to understand how special that time was, how rare it was to have two such athletes competing in the league at the same time.

In a similar sense, we should cherish the opportunity we currently have to watch the two athletes who may one day be regarded as not only the greatest in their sports, but may spawn a terrific argument over the identity of the greatest individual athlete ever.

Historians will cite Jim Thorpe. Canadians might argue Lionel (The Big Train) Conacher deserves a mention. Those will to look the other way on certain ethical matters will throw in the names of Carl Lewis and Lance Armstrong.

But right now, it's hard not to look in utter awe at golf's Tiger Woods and Roger Federer of professional tennis.

Woods gets the headlines today because of his victory at Medina on Sunday - and let's face it, if Mike Weir wasn't Canadian he wouldn't merit a mention in this conversation - which gave him 12 victories in major golf tournaments.

He's six short of Jack Nicklaus all-time, and needs seven to move into first by himself. On ESPN.com this morning, writer Gene Wojciechowski delivers a solid argument as to why Tiger should be considered the greatest individual athlete ever.

But hang on here.

Federer, at 25, has won eight of tennis' Grand Slam events. Like Woods, he needs six to tie Pete Sampras for No. 1 all-time, seven to make history.

Both Woods and Federer are edging into their prime. The difference in that which they are able to accomplish may ultimately lie in the nature of their sports.

Federer may be a spent force by the time he is 30. By 35, he'll probably be retired.

Woods, by contrast, can continue to play professionally until his 50s, which means he'll get a lot more opportunities to win major tournaments.

Both men are competing in their respective sports at a time when the competition has never been greater. Even still, Woods is 12-0 when holding the lead on the final day of a major - could part of the reason be that he's so obviously in better shape than everybody else? - while Federer has won eight of the past 13 Grand Slam events played.

Woods will get more acclaim because of the popularity of his sport. To me, Federer gets the nod because tennis is far, far more physically demanding.

Okay, plus I love tennis, and regard golf generally as dull, dull, dull. There's my bias, right out there on the table.

Morever, while Tiger's opponents roll over most weeks, Federer has the good fortune to have a host of tough rivals who allow him to highlight his excellence even more.

So Woods or Federer?