Going Upstairs

It’s been an eventful summer for basketball fans, to say the least.  There was an exciting finals series between the league’s most storied rivalry, a stacked draft night which saw the dreams of 60 young NBA hopefuls come to fruition, the whole LeBron fiasco (headlining the free agency from hell,) and, in the latest news nobody cares about, the Detroit Pistons have decided to expedite their transformation to league’s most irrelevant organization by signing a washed-up Tracy McGrady.  All told, barring the NBA Finals, this summer has really been about the business of basketball.  Money, agents, rookie contracts, veterans’ minimums, CBA talk… interesting stuff for sure, but not what we eat and breathe this game of basketball for.  Fortunately, FIBA has sensed the collective distress of basketball purists worldwide and hopes to remedy the withdrawal from actual basketball in the form of the 2010 World Championships, taking place from Aug. 28 – Sept. 12 in the motherland of all nations named after poultry herself, Turkey.

So for those of you who are as excited to see real basketball again as we are here at Going Upstairs Sports, here’s a little tourney preview on what fans should expect to see in two weeks’ time.

The Contenders:

Argentina: Named first in FIBA’s world rankings, Argentina will be hard-pressed to keep that title as it heads into the tournament without star guard Manu Ginobili.  However, fortunate group placement means Argentina could avoid both Spain and USA on the way to the final.  They’ll start two of the tournament’s top players in Carlos Delfino and Luis Scola, while the jury’s still out on Philadelphia 76ers’ forward Andres Nocioni.  Experience and discipline will be the team’s calling card in what could be the last hurrah for Argentina’s “Golden Generation.”
Why they’ll win: experience, chemistry, discipline

Brazil: The Brazilians dominated in the 2009 FIBA Americas, beating out Argentina, Puerto Rico, and Canada for top spot.  While its international play has been spotty in past years, the Seleção figures to be a force in Turkey with arguably the tournament’s best frontcourt in Nene, Anderson Varejao, and Spurs prospect Tiago Splitter.  Leandro Barbosa will add instant offense and international experience.
Why they’ll win: strong post play, coaching (Ruben Magnano)

Greece: To casual fans, the Mediterranean nation is more well known for its beaches and beef souvlaki than for its basketball, but those of us reading (or writing) a basketball article in the middle of August are fan enough to know that you should never sleep on Greece (ask the US if you still don’t believe.)  Though the blue and white boast little NBA talent, Dimitris Diamantidis and Vassilis Spanoulis are expected to lead an experienced Greek team to at least a final four finish.  Plus, THIS…IS… SPARTAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!
Why they’ll win: experience, chemistry, balanced scoring, and a tough, physical defense

Spain: The defending world champs and 2008 Olympic silver medalists are easily the tournament’s most dangerous team, and that’s including perennial favourite Team USA.  Though Pau Gasol has decided to take the summer off following the Lakers’ championship run in June, little brother Marc is still holding down the paint, while a backcourt rotation of Rudy Fernandez, Juan-Carlos Navarro, and Ricky Rubio will keep defending teams on their heels with a fast-paced transition game.  Also, the country seems to be on that winning tip right now.
Why they’ll win: chemistry, strong guard play, and a stringent commitment to defense

USA: It’s not the Dream Team, nor is it the Redeem Team.  Instead, this time around, the Stars and Stripes will be repped by a crop of baby-faced NBA stars, most of whom were still in preschool the last time the US won this competition. The only players left on the final roster with international experience are Chauncey Billups, who will split time with Derrick Rose at point guard, and Lamar Odom, who will anchor a suddenly weak frontline.  Missing familiar faces like Kobe, LeBron, Wade, and Howard, USA will rely on last season’s NBA scoring champ Kevin Durant, who was cut from the 2008 Olympic team, to be the “man” in close games.  Yet despite the lack of experience and chemistry, the fact remains: the NBA is the best league in the world, and with a roster entirely comprised of NBA stars, the USA can never be counted out.
Why they’ll win: athleticism, strong guard play, coaching (the legendary Coach K!)

Darkhorses: Serbia, Lithuania, Turkey, Puerto Rico, Slovenia

The Old Red and White

For a team that barely made it past last summer’s qualifying tournament, Canada has improved exponentially since, and now looks to advance from group play in Turkey, not an unreasonable expectation in a weak Group D.  Though the chances of Spurs forward Matt Bonner joining the team are slim to none due to his slow-moving citizenship bid, the team still boasts frontcourt depth in Miami Heat centre Joel Anthony, Rob Sacre, and Levon Kendall.  Carl English and Jermaine Anderson will most likely split minutes at the point, with New York Knicks guard (and coach Leo Rautins’ son) Andy Rautins seeing some time at the 1 as well.  The wing spots are well accounted for with Jermaine Bucknor, Jevohn Shepherd and Denham Brown providing athleticism and outside shooting.  The key for a balanced but unspectacular Canadian team is toughness, as head coach Leo Rautins pointed out after an exhibition game against France: “That [toughness] has to be a staple. We have to be a team that gets after you and makes everything difficult for you. Otherwise we’re not going to have a chance.”  Rautins also stated that the roster has been constructed with depth in mind, stressing that he will not hesitate to play anybody on his bench: “We go deep,” said Rautins. “We will continue to go deep to make sure people stay fresh.  Everybody that I call on, there is a lot of trust. I’m not afraid to put different guys in at different times. The depth is a positive factor for us.”

While the absence of NBA players like Steve Nash, Samuel Dalembert, and Jamaal Magloire keeps Canada from achieving its full potential in Turkey, the Maple Leaf will be well represented by a hardworking, gritty squad which, while not a serious threat to contend, will make the path to the finals that much more difficult.

The Carleton Connection: Former Ravens Aaron Doornekamp and Ryan Bell were still on the roster as of Aug. 16.

-CT

In 2006, Ottawa football fans hadn’t seen a winning season in 26 years.

It’s hard to say exactly when things started going downhill. Maybe it was when the Rough Riders signed former all-pro defensive back Dexter Manley, who was banished from the NFL for failing four drug tests. Maybe it was when they drafted defensive end Derrell Robertson, five months after he died. Or maybe it was when the best idea the Rough Riders’ hapless successors, the Renegades, had to attract fans was a mardi gras promotion, where women were given beads to show their breasts.

Whatever it was, the fans weren’t impressed. Attendance had dropped off. Attracting new fans, the ones who weren’t around for the glory days of the Rough Riders, became a big problem.

“I used to walk up the south side stands at Renegades games and think, ‘These are the same people that went to the Rough Riders games in the ’80s,’ ” says Dave Naylor, the Globe and Mail’s veteran CFL reporter.

Since the 1970s, professional football in Ottawa, whether it was the once proud Rough Riders or the short-lived Renegades who folded in 2006, hasn’t exactly been a success story. In fact, it’s been closer to a model for failure. But that didn’t stop Ottawa city council from approving Lansdowne Live, a plan to revamp Lansdowne Park and bring Ottawa its third CFL team.

Four local businessmen, Jeff Hunt, John Ruddy, William Shenkman and Roger Greenberg, who together formed the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG), proposed the plan when they were awarded a conditional franchise by the CFL. The condition was to secure a stadium agreement with the city, so the Lansdowne Live plan is to reconstruct Frank Clair stadium and build a commercial complex alongside it.

Dennis Prouse, an executive member of the National Capital Amateur Football Association, said the team will succeed because of the impressive local ownership group.

“You couldn’t come up with a better dream team to own the team than this group,” he says. “They’ve got their investment on the line both in terms of their business and their personal reputations here in Ottawa.

“They won’t let this thing die; they can’t.”

Council approved the proposal by a vote of 15-9 on Nov. 16. It still has to undergo a series of studies before final approval, but Kanata North councillor Marianne Wilkinson described the chances of the plan being scrapped as “unlikely.”

The public is a bit more divided than city council. A public opinion poll by Nik Nanos found that slightly more people were opposed to the plan (22 per cent) than supported it (18 per cent), but 53 per cent were undecided.

Among those opposed to the plan, you’d be hard pressed to find two people who fought it for the same reason. There are those who don’t like the big box stores, some who don’t approve of council paying the full $116 million bill to renovate Frank Clair stadium and some who don’t want the city to give up such a valuable piece of public land, just to name a few.

But if there’s one thing most people can agree on, it’s that if anybody’s going to run a CFL team successfully, it’s these guys.

Bruce Firestone, who brought the Senators to Ottawa in 1989 as president of Terrace Investments, says he believes Hunt can translate his success as owner of the Ottawa 67’s to the CFL.

“I think that if anybody can make CFL football work in Ottawa it’s Jeff Hunt,” said Firestone. “I served on Jeff’s marketing and advisory board for the first year of his ownership of the Ottawa 67’s and what I saw of Jeff in that year really impressed me.”

Between 1987 and 1989, when Firestone was searching for a location to build an arena for the Senators, Lansdowne Park was an option. But, as Firestone details on his blog, it was never seriously considered for two reasons.

For one, people in the Glebe are notoriously unfriendly to increased traffic in their neighbourhood. Firestone says that the disproportionate number of lawyers living in the Glebe would delay the planning for a new arena for too long.

Secondly, there simply wasn’t enough public transportation to and from Lansdowne Park. The only way for buses to get in and out is to use Bank Street, which at the time could only move about 2,500 to 3,000 people per hour. If 50 per cent of the 20,000 people at the game wanted to take the bus home, it would take four hours to leave.

Ian Lee, the MBA Director at Carleton University who presented his opposition of Lansdowne Live to city council, used those figures as evidence that a CFL team cannot work at Lansdowne Park.

“It cannot deliver 90 per cent of the people needed to make the franchise viable,” he says. “It’s not that it’s a little bit deficient, it’s profoundly, radically deficient.”

However, the lack of transportation would only create problems for a hockey franchise, or any other sport that plays a substantial number of games per year, Firestone says. Since the CFL plays a much shorter season, and much of it in the summer, the transportation issues shouldn’t be as big a problem.

“People will park and walk a long distance because most of the games are played in good weather months in Ottawa,” he says. “It’s one thing to walk a mile or a mile and a half if you have to in August or September, it’s a different thing to walk a mile or a mile and a half in February or January.”

Naylor also says that he doesn’t think transportation will be a big problem.

“The most recent big crowds they’ve had for an event there is the under-20 World Cup (in 2007) and I don’t remember people bitchin’ about that. Knowing Jeff Hunt and his awareness of customer-unfriendly issues around sports teams, I would be shocked if this is something he doesn’t have a plan for.”

Firestone decided against brining the Senators to Lansdowne Park in part because he thought the lack of transportation would alienate the fan base. Unfortunately for Jeff Hunt and the OSEG, the CFL fan base in Ottawa might be alienated already because of the embarrassment that was the post-1970s Rough Riders and then Renegades.

Because of that prolonged period of losing, it will be hard to get fans back, let alone make new ones, Naylor says.

“When you get to a certain point there’s almost scorched earth. I think the (Renegades) needed to show people first that they were deserving of their entertainment dollars, and they really didn’t.

“They’re going to have to win people over, as opposed to be given their good faith and then have the chance to keep it.”

Another factor is that the demographics of Ottawa have changed significantly since the days when the Rough Riders were popular, Lee says.

“The people who were the die hard football fans in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s are now in their 60s, 70s and 80s. They’re getting old and they’re not all going to football games anymore.”

To attract a new generation of fans, the rebuilt stadium has to become an attraction, Naylor says. Anything that reminds people of the old teams – the stadium, the mismanagement, the failed promotions – needs to be tossed out the window.

However, he says if anybody’s able to do it, it’s Jeff Hunt, because he faced a similar situation when he bought the 67’s in 1998.

“You can’t play the nostalgia card here,” Naylor says. “In the past, the team has been viewed a little bit as a kind of charity. You should go to a CFL game because the owners are trying hard, write your cheque to the United Way and go to a CFL game.

“I know that kind of identity was around the 67’s in the ’90s and when Jeff took over and he set out to destroy it. And he did.”

Attracting new fans should be easier for OSEG than its predecessors. According to TSN, the CFL’s television ratings were up six per cent from 2008 to 2009.  Even more importantly for the Ottawa owners who are hoping to attract a new generation of fans, ratings in the 18-34 age group grew by 31 per cent.

The fact that Jeff Hunt is in charge should bring back some of the disgruntled fans and could ultimately lead to the success of Ottawa’s third CFL team, Naylor says.

“I think you’ve got all the elements in place,” said Naylor. “There’s nothing that this group isn’t doing that you can say ‘This can’t be successful because they haven’t done this.’

“There will be a lot of people who will say ‘Well this is Jeff Hunt in charge of this, I believe in it.’ ”

-  30 -

To start, I present the Official Andrew Foote Ilya Kovalchuk Surprise-Factor Timeline:

February 4, 2010: Kovalchuk traded to the Devils from Atlanta for, as I tweeted: “a thug, a late first round pick, a depth defenceman and a decent forward prospect” – not surprising, but I was a mad Tharashers fan (some great tweets that day).

July 1: Kovy hits the open market as an unrestricted free agent - yawn.

July 19: Signs a 17-year, $102 million contract with the New Jersey Devils - more “funny surprised” (haha, that contract is crazy) than real surprised given the long deals we’d seen before.

July 20: Contract rejected by NHL – spit take.

August 9: Arbitrator rules in favour of NHL, meaning Kovalchuk is a free agent once again – just confirming what the powerful league had already decreed.

Today: NOW here comes the news that the league is looking into other long contracts that had already been approved, like Marian Hossa’s 12-year, $62.8 million deal from last summer that pays only $3.5 million in the last four years – this was the sort of under-your-breath “nooooo way” you mutter to yourself at work when you don’t want to yell and wave your arms like a lunatic.

The same sort of reaction you’d give if Mel Gibson was spotted at a bar mitzvah.

Kovalchuk’s voided contract could spread like a Russian smog over the league, meaning the NHL would have the power of revisionist history to cancel deals given to Hossa, Roberto Luongo and yes, maybe Rick DiPietro too.

TSN would have to assemble the hockey panel for an end-of-August “Free Agent Frenzy 2.0″, with these big names on the market shortly before training camp, and we’d get to see which of these players forced to take pay cuts were truly playing for their team or for the money.

The league victory over the player’s union will surely have an effect on the negociations for a new CBA in 2012 as a loophole which allowed players to make more money than they cost the salary cap has been closed.

This will perhaps causing NBA-style term limits on contracts, but immediately make GMs more cautious when negociating big deals.

This could even have an effect on law, as a dangerous precedent would be set if a sports team or even employer can take a ruling and try and use it to unapprove agreements it had approved before under a different set of circumstances. Far-fetched, but play along.

Those big, big problems could happen, but here’s what is likely to: Kovalchuk re-works his deal to stay with the Devils, who at least proved they really wanted him with their mega-deal and whose professionalism apparently impressed him.

The other contender is the KHL, in his home country where he has shown loyalty in the past by playing internationally every year since 2000.

I don’t see any of these contract reviews having anything to stand on for the simple principle that you can’t go back and decide something is illegal when rules are changed, but there very well may be complicated principles that actually favour it.

Instead, contracts like the ones mentioned above will serve as a sort of an upper limit of how hard to push this loophole, which isn’t always open now.

The pioneer of these super-long term deals is actually a cautionary tale – the aforementioned DiPietro who just can’t stay healthy going into what would be the fifth year of his 15-year contract signed in 2006. Although his salary is static at $4.5 million per year, he still costs them that amount off the cap – an amount easily absorbed by a team with cap space like the Islanders but wasted money in real terms.

(Alexei Yashin’s ten-year deal wasn’t a shining moment for Charles Wang and the Islanders either).

Complacency is also a threat, as once these deals become more and more common you could see a player with questionable motivation like Alexander Semin of Washington get an eight or nine-year deal and have it affect his drive.

One part of mega-deals does make sense. I think that a huge pay cut towards the tail end of these contracts is legitimate, because of course a player that plays until they’re 42 or 43 will be making much less than they are in their prime, and if they were to sign another contract at that age they’d get paid about that much anyway.

If a player retires early or even at an average age for an elite hockey player (I put it in the 38-41 range, the stats actually say around 27) they’re still on the books for that average salary that was such a bargain when they were in their prime.

We don’t know what the salary cap will look like in 2027 but Kovalchuk’s deal would have hindered the Devils for multiple years if that clause was still in place, and I see no reason for it to be removed as long as the league holds bargaining power.

The issue here is you’re stretching something out unrealistically to get the most of it now for yourself and not caring about future problems, like buying $102 million, wonderfully effective yet rare maternity clothes you have no intention of giving to others once you’re out of your child-bearing prime.

Mega-deals like Kovalchuk’s were losing their shock value until the league finally had enough and pulled a surprise move of their own. Another unexpected development of contract revisions shouldn’t amount to anything concrete, and we can go back to the twists and turns of a game not between the union and the owners, but the teams on the ice.

-AMKF

Title inspired by B.o.B., content inspired by Pistol Pete’s NFL post on which teams will make the playoffs after a January off last season.

Here are my three playoff teams from 2009 that should have no problems with games interfering with their players’ Pro Bowl berths:

1. New York Jets – Too much, too soon for Rex Ryan’s team, who used the capless season to make multiple changes that I think will disrupt the natural growth of a team who bonded together to embrace “underdog” status last year. Notwithstanding the early win over the Patriots, the Peyton-less victory over the Colts and their run to the AFC championship game, the Jets played like a decent, scrappy team that used Thomas Jones and defense to make up for the shortcomings of Mark Sanchez. Jones’ (and Leon Washinton’s) loss and subsequent replacement of LaDainian Tomlinson/Shonn Greene is a step down, Sanchez will have to continue to be babysat and Ryan won’t have the time to devote to him with all the new personalities (Santonio Holmes, Antonio Cromartie, Tomlinson). Not to mention Darelle Revis’ holdout, to go along with Hard Knocks’ filming during the pre-season. Ryan may be signing buses with “soon to be champs” but I’m not signing off on that sentiment.

They prove me wrong if: their stellar offensive line buys Sanchez enough time, the defense continues to keep them in games, they suffer a few early losses to get them playing from behind again from more realistic expectations.

2. Vikings: Minnesota’s future revolves around Brett Favre, and the signs coming into this season are not good. Favre’s performances of late have seen more down years (2005, 2006, 2008) than good years (2007, 2009) with him being due for another stinker. This is of course assuming he will play, but chances are better than in years past that this grandfather (literally) will be unable or unwilling to play through his ankle injury after his torn biceps in his New York year. Tavaris Jackson is a big step down from even a soon-to-be-41 year old, Brad Childress’ coaching leaves much to be desired, Percy Harvin has mysterious neck/migraine issues and Adrian Peterson fumbles more than a top running back ever should.

They prove me wrong if: the decline of Favre, Pat Williams and Steve Hutchinson holds off for another season, Toby Gerhart has an impact in his rookie year.

3. Cardinals: The Cardinals are a good team who lost too many key pieces from last year to recover for the 2010 season. Anquan Boldin was the (oft-injured) franchise receptions leader, Kurt Warner steadied and led the passing game in a way that Matt Leinart can’t right away, and Karlos Dansby will be missed on the defensive side. Normally when you think of a “rebuilding team” they’re starting from rock-bottom, but the Cardinals are a rebuilding contender who simply need a transition year.

They prove me wrong if: Leinart soaked up all of Warner’s knowledge and strategy from the bench, nobody else in the NFC West steps up.

Honourable mentions: Chargers (lost key YOUNG pieces as well as older, but they benefit from a weak division) Patriots (dynasty is over following horrible playoff loss, but let’s see Tom Brady in his second year back from the knee injury), Bengals (Same sort of character issues as NY, plus they just lost the Hall of Fame Game so they’re screwed.)

-AMKF

Telling a Toronto Blue Jays fan to “Believe in J.P.” in the last eight years or so is about the same as telling a Republican to “Believe in evolution”. Not gonna happen.

That’s because the J.P. acronym was referring to the much despised former GM John Paul Ricciardi. But now, Toronto Blue Jays fans have a reason to believe in J.P. That’s because Jonathon Paul Arencibia has made his major league debut. The new generation of J.P. has arrived.

Yesterday, in his first major league game, in his first major league at bat, on his first major league pitch, J.P. Arencibia made me believe. He took that first pitch and did something no Blue Jay has done since 1989. He took that first pitch did what only 106 players in MLB history have done before him. He took that first pitch and did unspeakable things to it. He hit a home run.

But he wasn’t done there. He proceeded to double, single and then go deep, AGAIN, as part of a 4-for-5 major league debut. That made him the first player since 1900 to hit 2 home runs and 4 hits in their major league debut. 11 total bases, 4 hits, 2 home runs, 3 RBI. Countless reasons to believe in J.P.

However, before Arencibia’s glorious major league debut, he went through lots of questions and criticism about his ability. After breaking out in 2008 at High A and AA, his numbers plummeted when he made the jump to AAA in 2009. After posting a .298/.322/.527 triple slash in 2008, it fell all the way down to .236/.284/.444 in 2009.  He was already being written off as a bust, a free swinger who struck out too much and whose swing was too long.

Some of the criticism was true, but the critics couldn’t see the whole picture, and neither could Arencibia. Literally. He was suffering from astigmatism, a optical defect in which vision is blurred. Arencibia tried different contacts and glasses, but still was having trouble seeing the ball at night. He told John Lott of the National Post that “Last year I wouldn’t see spin on the ball at night. It looked more like a cue ball. Now I can pick up the spin.” So before this season, Arencibia had surgery to correct the vision. And as far as I can see, it’s working.

To say Arencibia was having a bounce back year in AAA would be such an understatement, I would almost consider it a lie. Before his call up, he was hitting .303/.360/.639 (a .998 OPS) with 31 home runs in just 379 at bats. So it was no surprise when John Buck hit the DL that J.P. got the call. What was surprising was how well J.P. played on his first day. But then again, maybe it shouldn’t have been.

All that J.P. is doing is continuing a trend of surprisingly good play from Blue Jays players this year. Sports Illustrated predicted the Jays would go 63-99 (.388 winning %) this year. They are currently 58-52 (.527 %). They have the major league leader in home runs (Jose Bautista), three starters with an ERA of 3.62 or below (Shaun Marcum, Ricky Romero and Brett Cecil) a rejuvenated Vernon Wells, a stellar young shortstop on both sides of the ball (Yunel Escobar) and lots of reasons for hope elsewhere. Aaron Hill and Adam Lind are having off-years, but were Silver Sluggers last year and the signs are saying they are simply in a slump. Travis Snider, the Future of the Franchise, is back from injury and has hit .316 with 4 home runs in the 18 games he’s played since May 3rd.

Suddenly, and almost single handedly, J.P. has generated a buzz around this team. Suddenly, and almost single handedly, J.P. has made me forget about how poorly Adam Lind and Aaron Hill are hitting and how we don’t have a first baseman of the future and how bad Brian Tallet is. Suddenly, 58-52 doesn’t seem so bad and 9 games out of the wild card spot doesn’t seem so far.

Suddenly, I believe in J.P.

As you may or may not know, predicting the teams that will make the NFL playoffs is a little bit difficult. For instance, the stats tell you that if a team makes the playoffs one year, they have less than a 50 per cent chance of making it again the next year. Look at the stats on the turnover rate (12 teams make the playoffs):

2005: 7 teams made the playoffs that did not make it the year before.
2006: 7 teams
2007: 6 teams
2008: 7 teams
2009: 6 teams

Some of the teams on the turnover lists are to be expected (Green Bay making the playoffs in 2009) but some of them come out of nowhere (Cincinnati in 2009 or Miami in 2008). I just went back and checked the standings, and boy oh boy did Miami come out of nowhere in 2008. They were 1-15 in 2007 and then WON THE AFC EAST (which features the Patriots dynasty in case you forgot) by going 11-5 in 2008. Surprised? I obviously still am.

The point is, every year there are going to be these surprise teams. They come out of nowhere like a Ron Artest crowd invasion and are impossible to predict like a perfect March Madness bracket. So I’m going to come out of nowhere and impossibly predict 3 teams that will make the 2010 playoffs that fell short in 2009.

1. Miami Dolphins

The receiver in a new place that is going to make the biggest difference this year is not Terrell Owens, it’s Brandon Marshall. Unlike Owens, Marshall was actually an impact receiver last year and ended the year tied for 3rd in catches. This guy’s the real deal and can only do wonders for Davone Bess, who is steadily improving and had a quiet 76 catches last year. The only question is whether Henne can get Marshall the ball. I certainly think so, and although he didn’t put up the prettiest numbers last year, his did complete 60.8% of his passes, which ain’t half bad. It was also his first full season at the helm. Now, with a legit # 1 receiver, the headlines in the Miami Herald won’t be reading “Sophomore Slump” but “Breakout Year”.

2. Carolina Panthers

There are some pretty big changes going on in Carolina. Gone is longtime quarterback Jake Delhomme. Gone is longtime pass rushing extraordinaire Julius Peppers. In the case of Delhomme, it’s probably addition by subtraction but Peppers’ 10.5 sacks in 2009 won’t be easy to replace. The defence is a little suspect after losing much of their defensive line and linebacker Thomas Davis, but I don’t see them straying far from last year’s eight ranked defence. Their have an elite secondary that ranked in the top 5 in passing yards allowed and interceptions and Jon Beason’s still beastin’.

The offence, however, is not suspect. These guys can run the ball. Carolina is the only team in NFL history to have two 1,100+ yard backs (Joanthan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams) and Matt Moore showed late last year that he can play. In his last three starts (one of which I was lucky enough to witness live), Moore threw for 623 yards, completed 66% of his passes, threw 7 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. The teams he played in those games? Vikings, Giants and Saints (although the Saints mostly played backups that game). Not too shabby.

3. San Francisco 49ers

I ranked the 49ers third because I consider them the least surprising team, but I think they will have the most success. The Warner-less, Dansby-less, Boldin-less, Rolle-less Cardinals will be no competition in the NFC West and you don’t really think the Seahawks or the Rams will be, do you? The common theme of these surprise teams is my confidence in a young quaterback and I like what I see from Alex Smith. Well, what really inspires my confidence in Smith is his group of receivers. He’s got an elite tight end in Vernon Davis, the top receiver from last year’s draft (although wasn’t the first receiver taken, but that’s why the Raiders are the Raiders) poised for a breakout year in Michael Crabtree and a newly acquired track star who can spread the field in Ted Ginn Jr. Like the Panthers, these guys can run the ball and I think they will score. Unlike the Panthers, these guys don’t have questions on defence after allowing only 281 points last year (4th least in the NFL). Two words: Patrick Willis.

To those of you who found this piece because you are a redirected fan of Jays Balk, welcome. You’re in for a treat.

To those of you who stumbled upon this piece because you Googled Boom FM, read on anyway.

As a critical member of society, and as a veteran cashier at a supermarket, I can honestly say that I possess many pet peeves. One of the few pet peeves I have that does not directly involve customer interaction is soft rock.

Now I could go on for hours about the reasons that I strongly dislike soft rock, but that’s for another blog.

As fellow Torontonians may recall, for years, our soft rock station was 97.3 EZ Rock (Hahaaaaa… it’s funny cuz it’s pronounced EASY!).

Having spent the last few years in Ottawa, I was, until recently, unaware that EZ Rock has spiced up its play-list and has renamed itself after its projected Baby Boomer audience.

Wednesday morning, I was getting my hair cut, and said radio station was playing. And to be honest, I was pretty impressed.

Until an advertisement, sponsored by the radio station itself, came on that inspired me to write this post.

An announcer excitedly announces that you can “win a trip to Fenway Park in Boston!”

Then they add: “But not to see the Jays….*record scratch sound*… That would be… cruel!”

I’m sorry, WHAT?

Now it’s hard enough being a Leafs fan in Ottawa, where most residents that don’t cheer for the Sens are life-long Habs fans. But after awhile, you grow accustomed to the criticism – after all, when you cheer for a team that rivals the home-town team, you’ve got to toughen your skin if you’re not going to fall into the bandwagon-jumper category.

But this has to be the most ridiculous case of an absent-minded media fuck-up since Facebook informed me that fans of Jack Layton tend to like Stephen Harper.

Since when is it acceptable for a local radio station to bash its home-town team?

At a time that the Blue Jays are drawing smaller crowds than they have in years, the team must absolutely adore that one of the more popular stations in the city (unfortunately) is trying to turn fans off of attending games.

I decided to dig a little deeper and research which media conglomerate runs Boom FM. The fact that it’s Astral Media, a massive network of Canadian radio stations, is less relevant than the most important point here: it’s not Rogers.

Rogers, which owns the team, the Skydome, its only radio carrier (the FAN) and its primary television carrier (Rogers Sportsnet) evidently does not run the entire city.

While this does come as somewhat of a relief, it’s just a wee bit disconcerting. It seems as though Rogers forgot to send a memo to the rest of the city, requesting that they help to draw fans in and support the team.

As if they should need to…

I’m not sure if the geniuses at Boom FM have paid attention much this season, but there’s more than a little bit of optimism surrounding the Blue Jays right now.

Seven guys (eight, prior to the Alex Gonzalez trade) on the team have reached double digits in home runs. Jose Bautista, yes the same guy that I endlessly bashed in the off-season, is leading the major leagues with 33 home runs – six more than the next guy down.

One year following the departure of Roy Halladay, the rotation appears to be in good shape, anchored by solid seasons from Shaun Marcum and Ricky Romero, along with the emergence of Brandon Morrow and Brett Cecil.

That’s not to mention that with the acquisition of Yunel Escobar (a steal of a trade, if you ask me), and with a rapidly developing minor league system, real Jays fans are starting to realize we finally have a general manager that cares.

If that’s not enough, perhaps someone should inform Astral that the Jays just took two of three games from the Yankees in the Bronx and are four games above .500, despite being in the undisputed toughest division in baseball.

Far from that being cruel, I think it would be more of a treat to come see this blossoming team play.

And let me tell you, Boom FM, that having attended Fenway Park a year ago for the first time, and having seen how much of a joke it is to watch a game at the ‘Dome these days, seeing a Jays game at Fenway is a hell of an opportunity.

And seeing as it’s one of the oldest parks in the major leagues, who knows how much longer people would have the chance to see it?

And unlike the Skydome, Fenway Park was designed to primarily host baseball games. It is commonly not converted into a basketball arena or a football field. Frankly, I’d rather see the Sox play at Fenway than Aerosmith (as the ad was eventually for).

If the point here was to make a light-hearted joke about the team, this was certainly not the way to do it. Ads are influential, and the team is struggling to fill seats. How does it help ANYONE in Toronto to insult the only major league baseball team that this country can call its own?

I have read a number of comments on sports articles online where Jays fans around the country throw shame upon Torontonians for failing to attend games. They say that if they were physically capable, they would attend countless games themselves, but the distance gets in the way. Living in Ottawa this summer, I am included in that group.

And since Astral started in Montreal, you’d think they would have recalled what happened when the fans stopped attending Expos games.

By not only playing, but creating an ad that bashes the team, you not only betray the team, but you betray the countless great fans all over the country who support the Blue Jays. The only ones who benefit from this publicity are Aerosmith and the city of Boston.

Since Red Sox/Blue Jays games at the ‘Dome these days tend to draw more fans from Boston than from Toronto, it’s not as though Toronto needs this additional slap in the face.

Perhaps Boom FM should be giving out Jays tickets. It’s not as though their play-list is edgy enough to even play Aerosmith in the first place.

In my opinion, the Blue Jays legal department has a case here to sue for slander. A company with as much of a stronghold over the media as Rogers should have the power to stop something like this before it even happens.

They should have people keeping an ear out for bullshit like this. Granted, before I heard this ad, I was unaware that any media outlet would be ignorant and foolish enough to insult their own team.

It’s not as though they can dismiss this by saying nobody is listening.

What Rogers must remember in their marketing is that the Blue Jays are Toronto’s team, and, by automatic association, Canada’s team; not just Rogers’ team.

They need to get this message out to the rest of the media outlets in this city, saying that they need help to win the fans over.

Because let’s face it. “Hustle and Heart”, Buck Martinez, and a bunch of dry ads with grown men in bird outfits are not doing the trick.

So in conclusion, shame on Boom FM for putting out this ad.

Shame on Astral for standing by and letting one of their affiliates embarrass themselves like this. If this is an attempt to one-up Rogers, do Jays fans a favour and lash out in ways that don’t affect the team.

And finally, shame on the Blue Jays marketing department for failing to inform the city of the optimism that should be surrounding this team.

Come on, Boom FM. I’ve spent my life trying to stomach the music you guys play, and I thought you’d finally made headway with this new play-list.

Clearly you guys need to learn where your loyalties lie.

AMGR

Everybody loves a little revenge, right? A little harmless fun?

I can remember having the hangover jolted out of me in my first year at Carleton during Frosh week, when a gang of volunteers would burst onto our residence floor to get us up for that day’s events.

I also remember the next year riding up the elevator with a group of other raccoon-eyed, raspy voiced waker-uppers who would take a sort of sick pleasure in being able to get up the freshmen for that year and all the future years we were involved – all in exchange for that one year that we had to go through it.

It’s this culture of “paying your dues” which was brought to light again with last week’s Dez Bryant mini controversy, when the rookie wide reciever (since injured) refused to carry the pads of veteran Roy Williams off the field during training camp.

Most of the reaction from players and analysts revolved around the fact that other players had gone through the rookie treatment, so why was Bryant so different?

Bryant himself was quoted on ESPNDallas.com as saying “”I feel like I was drafted to play football, not carry another player’s pads . . . If I was a free agent, it would still be the same thing. I just feel like I’m here to play football. I’m here to try to help win a championship, not carry someone’s pads. I’m saying that out of no disrespect to [anyone].”

Dez is taking the first step in breaking what I see as the “cycle of hazing”, unique in that you go through it once in your first year then get to impose it again and again once you’ve “paid your dues” and earned the respect of your teammates.

Bryant had already earned some kudos for being the first of the first-round draft picks to sign their rookie deal; it’s even possible that his actions will spur on a new kind of respect, for him as a sort of tough, no-nonsense character – which all comes back to his effort and results on the field.

It would be a different story if this was based upon laziness or a sense of self-importance, factors which will reveal themself during a career in any sport.

It’s also important to keep in mind that carrying pads does not compare to the kind of troublesome hazing which shoves its way onto the evening news and causes seasons and scholarships to be lost.

While those situations are as unwanted as filling out a mandatory census in a field of giant hogweed (and usually illegal), a rookie being forced to do something trivial for a veteran is more helpful than humiliating.

It shows you’re willing to put yourself aside for the good of the team and makes life a teeny tiny bit easier for the veterans – which is something that working hard and showing a willingness to learn during the season will do anyway.

Nothing about being duct-taped naked to a flag pole while being fed bacon fat helps anyone, not to mention the danger level involved.

Malicious hazing can have even more of a negative effect if it happens in the junior sports levels (read: high school social environment) as opposed to the pros.

Bryant is standing up (in what should have been a pretty non-disruptive way) to the seasoned players on the team, but it will take a lot more than one player on one team to stop this cycle – a sea change in the attitudes towards rookies by players who were once rookies themselves.

This will have to serve as inspiration for years and years of newcomers to enter training camps across the league and gain respect differently, until they are in the position of power and choose to welcome their rookies into the league in another manner.

Or it can go the other way:

Dolphins rookie Travis Ivey shows ingenuity by turning pad-carrying into a workout.

-AMKF

We’re working on a few things at the moment Upstairs, so just to give you a heads up here’s what you can expect in the near future:

- Thoughts on the Dez Bryant pad situation and hazing in general

- A look at what teams are going to surprise you in the NFL this season, for all you fantasy gurus and Pro Line-ers

- A take on the Raptors/LeBron. Spoiler alert: it’s not going to be pleasant.

- Some Jays talk. Taking a look at who – if anyone – could be on the move before the August waiver trade deadline.

-Much, much more. If anyone of those topics tickle your fancy, check back here. If they don’t, check back here. 100% satisfaction guaranteed.

I know what you’re all thinking: Just what the freakin’ world needs. Another blog. And about sports no less.

But this isn’t your ordinary blog.

Back in the autumn of 2007, four guys from various Canadian destinations (among hundreds of others) came to the nation’s capital with the goal of obtaining  the most prestigious of undergraduate degrees: A Bachelor of Journalism from Carleton University.

Yes, a B.J.

But this is no ordinary B.J. class. Sandwiched among the aspiring international reporters, news anchors, and even a mayoral candidate are a surprisingly large group of aspiring sports journalists, following in the footsteps of such prestigious alumni as James Duthie and Ian Mendes.

Fresh off of co-writing the cult-favourite, Jays Balk, Pistol Pete and myself, two former room mates brought together by the wonders of residence, wanted to expand our horizons.

Why limit one’s self to writing about one team in one sport when a summer comes about with so much news (and journalistic embarrassment – “The Decision” anyone?).

So we found a couple other quality writers – Andrew Foote and Chris “Tsunami” Tse – and have embarked upon a mission – to put major league sports and it’s subsequent media under review.

We are the call upstairs during Brett Hull’s Stanley Cup-winning goal back in ’99.

We are the review panel that likely should have been called upon after Armando Galarraga’s 28-out perfect game.

And after you’ve read this blog, you’ll feel as happy as you would be back of your dad’s van – listening to game 7 of the World Series, of course.

Our knowledge hails from coast to coast. Chris hails from beautiful BC, Pistol and Andrew bring their fishing poles and donairs from the Maritimes, and I am from Toronto – not Oakville, not Oshawa – TORONTO.

We will bring you the very best in opinionated sports knowledge.

We will cover the bases that you may never have thought of yourself, while making you laugh along the way.

We are Going Upstairs, and we are turning the blogosphere upside down.

Stay tuned, we’re taking it to the next level.

AMGR