An Unmeasurable Loss

"We will all at some time in our lives, fall. Life is so very fragile, we are all vulnerable, and we will all at some point in our lives, fall. We will all fall.

We must carry this in our hearts, that what we have is special, that it can be taken from us, and that when it is taken from us, we will be tested. We will be tested to our very souls. We will all be tested.

It is these times, it is this pain, that allows us to look inside ourselves."


It's a cheesy line from a TV show, but that quote was all that was consuming my thoughts last night as our team gathered around our friend, our brother, and our teammate as he lay on the pitch after sustaining a terrible leg injury in our league soccer game.

As we stood there while he lay there in agony, there was one common feeling amongst us all.

Shock.

As an athlete, the last thing that you want to take onto the field with you is the thought of potentially getting injured. In the heat of the battle, your mental focus is as important (if not more important) as how you play. We take the field with confidence, feeling almost untouchable, super-human even, ignoring the idea of an injury occurring to one of us. Sometimes, that ignorance and attitude of having no fear can be a player's greatest asset. The ability to close your eyes to distractions and other things that might take you off your game mentally are so vital.

Last night, our eyes opened up to a harsh reality of sports.

Having gone through a serious injury in the past, I know what it feels like to lay there on the field in that shock of what has ultimately happened to you. It's almost like you're in a dream world. You are in absolute shock. Speaking from experience, pain is one of the last things on your mind when something like that happens.

Knowing what kind of person he is, and what kind of teammate he is, I know that even as he lay there with a broken tibia and fibula he felt that he was letting the team down. It speaks incredible volumes as to how unselfish and humbling he is as a person and teammate. It illustrated why he is so adored and respected amongst the players on our team. When I stood over him, as he lay there on the ground, he looked up to see me, and actually muttered in agony, "I'm sorry."

He was lying on the ground. I was able to stand on my own two feet. He said, "I'm sorry."

I got choked up and had to walk away.

I've played soccer with him for years now. We're always joking. We're always having a good time. Everyone is there to win, but we always have a great time when we play. There are those who have known him for much longer than I have. There are those who know him much better than I do, as I don't know much about him past what I've learned through being his teammate over the last few years.

But I know that last night, even though he might have been in complete shock and in more pain than one can imagine, you got a real glimpse into what kind of man he is. In that scenario, a man scared, hurting, vulnerable, was giving you the impression that despite being the victim in this situation, he was more concerned with the team. It speaks incredible volumes to his personality, and to why watching him lay there struck a large chord within each and every one of us, lucky enough to be able to call him 'friend', or 'teammate'.

I can almost get inside his head with what he must have been thinking. "I let the team down. My parents are going to kill me. What am I going to do about work? How long am I out? What's going to happen?"

In that situation, your mind is running at 100 miles per hour. Just like he plays the game.

I know he's going to read this. Maybe because I'm going to make him read it. Either way, he needs to understand that what is most important right now, is how he handles this situation.

Making sure that he heals the proper way is of utmost importance right now. As much as he will miss the team and miss playing, soccer and getting back on a soccer field needs to be the last thing on his mind (as hard as that is going to be).

Having been in his shoes before, I know that it will be hard for him to see it that way right now, and it's not what he thinks he needs to hear right now, but as the quote I used to begin this says, this is a test.

We are all going to be tested by this. As teammates, we will be tested to see if we can support our fallen teammate. We will be tested to see if we will be able to take him onto the field with us in our hearts. And we will be tested to see if we can succeed without him.

Contrary to what his personality might dictate, this is the time for him to be worrying about himself, not others. It's time for him to finally be selfish because it's what he needs right now.

I still play soccer because I get the chance to meet, get to know, and take the battle field with guys like him, and right now, on behalf of the entire team, I'm wishing him the best with the recovery and the test that lies ahead of him.

I think our eyes are wide open now.

One thing is for sure. It's an unmeasurable loss to our soccer team, not just on the field, but in the locker room, too.

He will be greatly missed.

-- Mr. Monday Night

Feathers to the Wall

So it's come down to this. Down 3 games to 1 against the defending Stanley Cup Champions.

Lovely.

As a Hawks fan, I start to wonder about what kind of effort the young, resilient team will put forth tonight, with Red Wings' forward Pavel Datsyuk and blueliner (and probably the best of this era) Nicklas Lidstrom once again not expected to play tonight.

It probably can't get much worse than the effort they put forth on Sunday.

I was reading a blog yesterday, that probably hit the nail perfectly on its head when analyzing what happened in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals in Chicago. To summarize: Young, inexperienced team, playing with a vendetta, lost complete control of the game.

It's that simple.

It all started when Detroit's Niklas Kronwall dealt out a hit (and a great, clean, hockey hit) on Martin Havlat in the first period of Game 3, sending him into the fourth dimension. Kronwall received a 5 minute major for the hit, which neither referee seemed to have called in the normal run of the play. With the Wings down already down 2-0, the Hawks had a chance to put them away, but failed to score on the powerplay.

Luckily for the Hawks, they found the third goal early in the second period, but then something happened.

For those of us that watched the game, we saw what ensued. The young Hawks played like scared young boys, while the verteran champion Red Wings came back from a three-goal defecit to tie the game before the end of the second frame.

Much to everyone's surprise (and to my fear), backup goalie Cristobal Huet entered the game for the Hawks to replace Nikolai Khabibulin due to a reported lower body injury. The third period was quite dry, with neither team doing much of anything, an the game was headed to overtime for the second consecutive game in the series.

Fortunately for the Hawks, on a play where Lidstrom broke his stick while checking Chicago forward Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp found the OT winning goal to claim Game 3, keeping the series well in reach, and sending the United Centre into a frenzy.

Post game comments were dominated by the Kronwall hit, and the status of Havlat and Khabibulin, and from the comments made by Chicago Head Coach Joel Quenneville, it wa apaprent that the Hawks had the wrong opinion on the hit.

The attitude was that the hit was dirty, that Kronwall was taking a 'run' at Havlat. The message was that every check on Kronwall in Game 4 would be finished, and that he would pay for what he did to Havlat.

Wrong.

The fact is that the hit was clean, and they should have viewed it as a 5 minute gift from the officials. Instead, the kids got scared, and were fortunate to have not blown that game as well.

It was more than apparent that the Hawks took the ice on Sunday in Game 4 looking for revenge, but it was not the time or the place to bring a vendetta with them onto the ice. That kind of thing should be reserved for next season, in a regular season game.

Not in the biggest game of the Western Conference Finals.

The rest is history.

I could start talking about how that $12 million the Hawks spent on Brian Campbell and Cristobal Huet was a mistake (and it showed in Game 4) and make excuses for a team that was so concerned about making excuses throughout the entire duration of that game (including the Coach, as evidenced by his post game comments which got him fined $10,000 by the league), but I wont. They don't need another person making excuses for them.

Now, they face an uphill battle, with no room for error, against a defending Stanley Cup champion that boasts a lineup full of stars.

As a fan, you can only cheer and hope for the best and believe that they have learned their lesson from the mistakes they made in Game 4, which boiled over from the minute Kronwall flattened Havlat in Game 3.

It's a formidable task, but not an impossible one.

I really hope that I don't have to dress for a funeral tomorrow.



Mr. Monday Night

THE INAGURAL POST - God help me...

Please God…

In light of this being a blog that is going to feature mediocre writing and nonsense, I figured that there would be no better way to start off this inaugural post than with some talk about the upcoming Grey Cup (Or to us who love to splice French into anything we possibly can, La Coupe Gris).

If what you think is to follow is going to be some prediction for who is going to win this game then you will be disappointed. I don’t watch this stuff, and when there is a better product that is readily available south of the border I feel no need to waste my time. However, I am Canadian and therefore exposed to the CFL since I live in a city that has one of these teams, so I feel the need to comment on Sunday’s game.

I’m going to ask God if there’s a way that we can finally see a Grey Cup decided on a single point. Now, I don’t mean I want to see a close game where a team simply beats the other team by a point. I’m talking about HOW they win the game by a point. I’m sure there is someone reading this who knows where I am going with this.

I want to see the game decided by a PITTE point. Since there is not really anyone who probably knows what I mean by this, I will explain.

PITTE stands for Punt It Through The Endzone, and yes, is a clever way to spell the word ‘pity’ because really, that is what a touchback is in the CFL. It’s pity for failing in a skill part of the game. It is mediocrity.

If you miss a field goal trying to get three points, the CFL game pretty much says, “If that dude in the back of the endzone doesn’t run or kick this pigskin out of their endzone after you miss, we’ll give you a point for trying.”

Simply brilliant. How could we make a league where 75% of the league makes the playoffs MORE mediocre? I really have no more ideas…unless they wanted to end football games with a kicking contest or something…

So when the game is tied and there is one last play that can be run, I pray to God that one team sends out its kicking unit and blasts that fucking football out of the endzone and into the 5th row to win the game. It will be the greatest and stupidest moment in professional sports all at once and illustrate how truly dumb that single point is.

Oh I almost forgot. I flipped a coin. Calgary wins. I can’t think of any better way to pick a winner of that game.


Seriously? We can tie games?


Just to show that I don't think everything is great about the NFL, I want to comment on the quote from Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb after their 13-13 tie game against the Cincinnati Bengals this past week. After the game in his post-game comments McNabb said, “I’ve never been part of a tie. I never even knew that was in the rulebook.”

Are you kidding me Donovan? Shouldn’t the quarterback know that rule? Sure, that rule does not exist in College, High School, or even Pop Warner football so I can somehow understand not being aware, but flat out not knowing? I know that this was the first tie game in the NFL in 6 years and that he’s never been part of a tie game during his 10 years in the NFL, but seriously? Those are just things that your team’s quarterback ought to know.

I understand the argument that the skilled people of the world on the whole aren’t good with details and that’s why they have people to do those things for them, but I mean, you have to know this. As overtime is winding down it at least has to cross your mind doesn’t it? Maybe some of the blame ought to be shifted to Eagles Head Coach Andy Reid? But in his defence, maybe he didn’t think that it was something he would have needed to remind his players of.

By the way, this was probably one of the worst games of the NFL season this year. No one deserved to win it and probably should have ended the way it did. Hey, at least the Bengals didn’t lose another one right?

I wish somebody would have reminded Reid how to call plays in the NFL. Philadelphia attempted 58 passes against the Bengals. The Bengals... We all know that Reid likes to pass, but when running back Brian Westbrook (thier best offensive weapon) only gets 3 receptions for 11 yards from those 58 attempts, something is wrong. I can only imagine what the Philadelphia media is doing to the Eagles right now.

Buffoon v. Buffoon

Speaking of dumb coaching, the final two minutes of Monday Night Football this weekend might have been the worst managed two minutes I’ve seen this year. With under two minutes to play, the ball at the Buffalo 40 yard-line and wind at their backs, the Cleveland Browns passed on first down. Incomplete. Then on second down they passed again. Incomplete. Then yet again, they passed on third down. Incomplete. Out trotted kicker Phil Dawson to attempt a 56-yard field goal, luckily with wind at his back.

The funny thing is that they send out the kicking unit after not gaining a single yard in three plays, which ultimately means that they were comfortable with letting Dawson try the kick at that distance to begin with. So then, why would you not run the ball on those three downs, make the Bills use their final timeout, get Dawson closer for the kick, and then run the clock down as far as you can so you leave the Bills with as little time as possible to come back and score?

The Bills kept thier final timeout and the Browns had used up less than 30 seconds from the game clock. From the football school of clock management, this is what is called 'bad management'. Fortuntately, Dawson made the kick look like a chip shot.

Then on the kickoff after Dawson drained the field goal, the Browns decide to squib kick the ball as opposed to trying to kick it as far into the endzone as possible to limit or not allow a return. Let me say that again. With the wind at their back, they decided to squib kick...

Now, the Bills’ special teams are not stupid. They put out Leodis McKelvin and Roscoe Parish out there in case they tried something dumb (like a squib kick), and they had two good weapons to get them a good return. What happened? The squib kick goes to the 20-yard line, it's grabbed and returned for great field position at the Buffalo 40-yard line.

Then in what might have been even stupider play-calling, Bills coach Dick Jauron decided that after a pass completion into Browns’ territory, with one timeout still in his pocket and over a minute to play, running the ball would be a good course of action. Good call Dick. Let’s not worry about having to kick into the wind…nah. The fact was that they were scared to put the ball in the hands of quarterback Trent Edwards, who has struggled for most of the game and had already turned the ball over multiple times. On the other hand, in the past two seasons Trent Edwards is third among quarterbacks who lead thier teams to fourth quarter comebacks. But no matter to Coach Jauron...

After a few runs that netted less than a handful of yards, they end up getting the ball close enough for a 47-yard field goal into the wind. (At this point, I could not help but pray that they made this field goal just to punish the Browns for being so stupid with their clock management)

But, after a good snap Bills kicker Ryan Lindell pushed the kick just wide right (a kick that would have geen good from five to ten yards closer) and the Bills lose a game that was gift-wrapped by the stupidity of the Browns and their inept clock management. Instead, the Bills pretty much kissed goodbye their chances of contending for the AFC East, and are in serious doubt of getting a wild card spot in the playoffs.

Cuban accused of insider trading

In non-football related news, terribly dressed and ill-mannered Dallas Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban was charged with insider trading, which is surely going to be another strike against his bid to acquire the Chicago Cubs. For those of you who want to check out the story, here’s a link:

http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/blogspotting/archives/2008/11/sec_hits_mark_c.html?chan=technology_technology+index+page_tech+investing

The one thing I do want to say on this whole topic is that I really hope that everyone is not going to start bashing Cuban before all the facts are out on this. The truth is that insider trading happens all the time and everyone who invests in the markets does it, or would do it if they were ever in a situation where knowing such information could save them a significant amount of money. If you don’t do it, then you are probably a mark.

Cuban is a whale, and that’s why they went after him. They go after people like him. They go after people like Martha Stewart. Insider trading is a common thing. The only difference is that the securities commission will go after the big fish, while you and your $10,000 portfolio fly under the radar because to come after the guppie does not make fiscal sense. This is the way it is and why big businesses get audited and Joe the Plumber doesn't.

So before anyone out there who is following this story crucifies Cuban for this, remember that what he did is pretty common, and probably something we would have all done if we were in his shoes. Look yourself in the mirror. If you would have acted different, then you are a better person than Cuban. You're a better person than me too. But let's not pretend that we can't see the forest for the trees here.

If he is found guilty, I'm sure he'll just pay the penalty and move along. After all, the charges are civil and not criminal.

Also keep in mind the recent crap that the US is dealing with on Wall Street, and ask yourself if this isn’t just a move by the SEC to appear to the public that they are ‘doing what they can to protect the markets’. My response to the SEC would be:

Yeah, right.


Back off! Get your own sandwich!!

When I came across this story I almost fell to the floor laughing. I’m just going to put the link here, and you can see for yourself…

http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2008/11/18/Man_accused_of_battery_by_sandwich/UPI-64021227063073/

The only thing I could think of after reading this story was...

"I wonder what kind of sandwich it was..."


Homeless but not Romo-less

Finally, I’ll end this off with some good news. This has to be one of the coolest stories of the week. Aside form the many reasons to hate or envy Tony Romo, this shows just how cool of a dude he actually is. Here’s the link to the article:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/football/cowboys/stories/112008dnsporomobrite.41c8682.html

For those who don’t remember, on the night of the Dallas Cowboys' season opener this year, Romo helped a couple on the roadside with tire trouble. Now, he’s taking homeless dudes to the movies. I can’t help but root for a guy like that. Too bad he plays for the Cowboys and is banging Jessica Simpson…




-- Mr. Monday Night