Why Andre, Why?

Some Monday musings on the last warm day for a while:

--Improved in goal. Improved with Phil Kessel up front. But the biggest hole in the Maple Leaf lineup remains unfilled and likely will stay that way for a while, and that’s the absence of a true No. 1 centre, a bona fide successor to Mats Sundin.  How about Peter Forsberg for the short-term? Leafs not even slightly interested.

--The Argos looked east to Montreal for a coaching idea, thought Marc Trestman sounded perfect and hired who they believed was a Trestman copy in Bart Andrus. Disastrous idea. A coach who said partway through the season that maybe he hadn’t really understood the ratio in the first place.

It appears the Double Blue would have been far better served to look slightly to the west and Hamilton, where Canadian-born and -trained Marcel Bellefeuille has done a magnificent job with the Tiger-Cats. Hamilton’s Canadian talent has been uprgraded significantly by Bob O’Billovich, and Bellefeuille gets the three-down game. How about a Canadian to coach the Argos? Best scenario might be if Lions cut ties with Wally Buono and he comes to Toronto. Or maybe if David Braley owns both teams he can have Buono coach and/or manage both.

-- Like what Alex Anthopolous is saying. Build with young players, a process if done correctly will allow the Jays to at least compete with the Bosox and Angels, if not the Yanks. Problem is, what the Jays say and what they do have been very different, or at least they were in the J.P. Ricciardi years. The key player here is president Paul Beeston. He’s got to keep Anthopolous on track with the same plan.

-- What was the point of getting Michael Vick for the Philadelphia Eagles? They don’t seem inclined to use him.

-- What a class for the Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony tonight. Could you organize a more glittering array of stars. Of historical significance, of course, is that this will (should) be the last all-male crew. The next class will  include one or more women, only about five years after it should have happened.

-- Hilarious to hear Buzz Hargrove claim he quit because he wasn’t being allowed to do his job as NHLPA ombudsman. Folks, Hargrove was scheduled to be fired last night and simply beat the union to the punch. He was going to be fired because he tried to turn the job of ombudsman into emperor and made a fool out of himself. Next most laughable claim comes from departed suit Ian Penny who says Chris Chelios undermined him. Well what the heck did Penny do to Paul Kelly all those months?

-- Kevin Weekes has a great set of pipes for TV. But he’s going to have to realize his shelf life on Hockey Night in Canada is going to be dreadfully short unless he starts showing some real insight or speaking more candidly. Right now, he’s just stating the obvious, over and over.

-- It’s awful what Andre Agassi is doing to himself. Usually athletes strive to maintain their legacy. Agassi is trashing his own, making himself look pathetic. Wish he hadn’t bothered.

-- Interesting. Alex Ovechkin says he’ll be out 4-5 weeks. Caps say not true, only 1-2 weeks. Not the kind of disagreement a team with aspirations of winning a Cup wants to have with its star player.

-- Tough to watch Notre Dame lose to Navy. Again. Then again, it’s always inspiring to watch one of the U.S. service academies win against one of the NCAA powers. Which Notre Dame used to be.

Comments

[Steve C.]

Why is it awful that Agassi is revealing his true story? I get it that you prefer your heroes to be knights in shining armor, all squeaky clean and goody goody. Boy you are gullible, and probably buy into the fantasy that sports players are role models. Wouldn't it help Federer's image/'legacy' if he showed some personality? Yes it would because most grown ups like their sports 'heroes' to be regular guys that just happen to be good at a game. I never cared much for Agassi...I do now though.

[Brad]

Completely agree about Weekes. The obvious fluff is getting irritating. Stop calling everyone a "heart and soul player" and start doing some research on the teams/players/systems.

[Belligerent Burkie]

You get Michael Vick because he's a proven winner, who after a re-adjustment period, will be more than capable of taking over for Donovan McNabb should he get injured.

They clearly got him because they do not trust Kevin Kolb to do the same if the situation were to arise.

[chris]

Agree with Steve C. about Agassi. Wouldn't you want someone to come clean and up front with their past, rather than some lowlife media outlet (Deadspin) to publish it?

And how ironic would it be for the Argonauts to look at the Tiger-Cats for inspiration? Not happy times in Double Blue Land.

[Guido]

"But the biggest hole in the Maple Leaf lineup remains unfilled and likely will stay that way for a while, and that’s the absence of a true No. 1 centre, a bona fide successor to Mats Sundin. How about Peter Forsberg for the short-term? Leafs not even slightly interested."

This is why I don't understand why Bozak isn't up with the Leafs -- let him learn on the job with Kessel on the wing.

[Vince]

A bit harsh on Weekes. Give the guy five minutes, Damien !

He's still better than anyone on TSN.

Greg Millen is the most obvious broadcaster in history.

[Shaner]

Agassi is human. Agassi is honest. Agassi has humility. Agassi was also one of the most talented tennis players in history. Nice to have an athlete like that. Now, that's a role model.
Damien, you are totally wrong. As you often are my freind.