Happy Valentine’s Day!!

Now that I’ve made a big deal about Kate Upton getting the cover of this year’s SI swimsuit edition, it would only be proper and most likely prudent that I also recognize the more corporate holiday that happens to share the same date.  This holiday is commonly known as Valentine’s Day.

The First Lady and I have  similar feelings about this hallmark holiday thus we don’t go above and beyond to commemorate this day.  It’s become tradition that we exchange cards with some heartfelt words inscribed inside of them. Finding the words to thank the First Lady for being my Valentine isn’t all that difficult.  In addition to the swapping cards, an exchange of our favourite sweet treats is also acceptable to complete the gift portion of our hallmark holiday.   (Thankfully my young sons the Association and the A-Train were there to augment our gifts this year and helped me out with their clever minds.  They decided Mummy needed and deserved flowers. Smart boys and very timely advice guys. Thanks fellas!!)

All in all I like the way we “celebrate” this day.  In addition to wonderful card the First Lady also surprised me with some unique Valentine cards courtesy of www.vulture.com .  Take a look and enjoy them after the jump.  Happy Valentine’s Day!!

Happy Kate Upton Day!!

Ask and you shall receive (if only it was that easy).  Yesterday I posted a picture of Kate Upton in the hopes that she would be featured heavily in this year’s edition of the SI swimsuit edition and wouldn’t you know it as luck would have it she’s gracing the cover.  Thank you SI for the Valentines gift.

 

 

Kate Upton In Esquire

For those of you with a solid working knowledge of the calendar system you will no doubt realize that it happens to be Valentine’s eve (do people celebrate this?).  More importantly however it also happens to be the eve of  the launch of CNNSI.COM  launches it’s annual Swimsuit section on it’s website. (seems like a much less corportate reason to celebrate, no?) 

In the hopes that she’s featured heavily in this year’s swimsuit edition, I think it’s appropriate for me to post a photo of my favourite swimsuit model Kate Upton.  Here’s her latest photoshoot from Esquire. 

Mats Sundin Night In Toronto

One of the best rivalries in professional sports will be rekindled tonight in Toronto, as the Maple Leafs welcome the Montreal Canadiens for a Northeast Division clash at Air Canada Centre. (You non Leaf fans can boast about many things but there’s no denying that this match-up is one of the best sports rivalries, right?)

Before the old Original Six foes take the ice, however, the Maple Leafs will honor one of their all-time great players, Mats Sundin. The Swedish centerman will have his No. 13 jersey raised to the rafter in a ceremony prior to tonight’s game.  Sundin is Toronto’s all-time leader in goals (420) and points (987) and is sixth on the Maple Leafs’ list in games played (981).

Let me preface my mini rant that I genuinely like Mats Sundin and I cheered and supported him during his time as a Leaf. As a Maple Leaf fan all my life there’s no denying the fact that Mats Sundin is amongst the best to ever pull on the blue and white (if not the best).  I trust many hockey fans (both Leaf and non Leaf fans) would agree with that statement as well.  I also believe that Mats Sundin deserves to be feted this evening.   Sundin was a classy leader and seemingly always took the time to take the fire and glare of the media and fans for the team’s lack of success. (No Stanely Cups since ’67 make a few folks irritated)

My angst when it comes to the topic of Mats Sundin however stems from folk who want to place him on the pantheon of greatest players to play the game. (This week I found myself in the middle of many debates on this subject.  I was like hitting my head against a wall) Unlike some Maple Leaf fans I’m able to separate the blue and white with the rest of the league.  As good as Mats Sundin was for the Leafs can you really say that he was a Top 3 player in the league?  How about Top 5?  I don’t think so.  Do you?  Great Leaf success doesn’t instantly translate into being classified at one of the best to play the game.

Through no fault of his own Mats Sundin was the best player on an average squad.  Leaf management could never surround him with the quality wingers (sorry friends of family of Jonas Hoglund, he doesn’t qualify as quality) needed for the Leafs and Sundin to have further success. You can’t really blame Sundin for the lack of quality linemates but c’est la vie.  I wish I was taller and better looking but as my young son the Association will often tell me “you get what you get so don’t be upset”.

Far too often though when I chat with friends about Sundin they want to play the revisionist historian card and say “well if he played with better players”.  If I recall Mario Lemieux played with Warren Young and Rob Brown and made them into snipers and had plenty of team success. If Sundin was truly in the upper echelon of players during his playing days then the excuse of “lack of skilled linemates” shouldn’t float, right?

Another question I would like to ask is where would Mats Sundin’s career rank on the all-time list of some other franchises like the Habs, Red Wings, Oilers, Penguins? (insert your team and fire off your comments)  Is he a Top 5 player on these franchises?  Only on the Leafs is Sundin a sure shot top 5 player.  Again this isn’t Sundin’s fault at all but it’s reality.

As I conclude this mess of words I would like to reiterate that I don’t want to discredit Sundin and his place amongst the Leafs greats.  He is an all-time Leaf, if not the best.  The fact that he didn’t help bring home a Stanley Cup is irrelevant to me. I like Sundin and tonight I’m stoked to watch the clips and I’m looking forward to watching the coverage of his special night. I just wanted to take the time to state my feelings on conversation I found myself in the middle of quite often leading up to this night.

Reasonable comments are always appreciated.

Will Ferrell – The Public Address Announcer

Will Ferrell had the opportunity to be the public address announcer at a recent Chicago Bulls vs. New Orleans Hornets game. As you can see in the video footage Ferrell was his hilarious self and his performance has vaulted himself the public announcer rankings for the year.  (It would appear that there’s a facebook movement calling for Ferrell to do the All-Star intro’s. Me likey!)

His introductions were classic and I personally thought they were all great, but here are my top five, in no particular order of hilarity:

“At center, No. 13, he’s a Scorpio and a horrible dancer, Joakim Noah”

“At guard, No. 11, he once ate 20 hot dogs in an hour, Ronnie Brewer”

“At guard, No. 1, his favorite movie is The Notebook, Derrick Rose”

“At forward, 6’10 from Mexico, he doesn’t speak a lick of English but we still love him, Gustavo Ayon”

“At guard, 6’3 from Georgia Tech, after basketball his dream is to become a rodeo clown, Jarrett Jack”

Winter Classic 2013 – Maple Leafs vs. Red Wings

It’s official.  One of the worst kept secrets is now out in the open.  The Detroit Red Wings will host the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Big House in Ann Arbor, Michigan for the NHL’s 2013 Winter Classic.

If there’s any question on what my family and friends (or anybody else who wants to because I don’t discriminate) should get me for my Birthday/Christmas/Festivus/All around decent guy present look no further than this event.  (Shameless hint – hint folks)

I was lucky enough to attend the inaugural event in Buffalo (courtesy of the Phillipino Steel Boss aka Ludgie) and I had a great time doing so.  Going to the Big House has been on my sports odyssey list for quite some time. (Although I did turn down a trip with Sir Paddy McSweeney a few years back in the name of report card writing. #darnjobbegettingintheway )  Having a chance to remedy this by watching the Leafs vs. the Red Wings would be fantastic. 

So who wants to go? 

 

Did Scott Gomez Score Last Night?

I’ve been playing hockey for as long as I can remember.  However some how, some way I continue to wait for my name to be called at the annual NHL entry draft.  I’ve never been much a goal scoring sniper so it’s probably not for me to make light of someone’s lack of scoring touch around the net.  However being a Toronto Maple Leaf how could I pass on making light of the current plight of Montreal Canadiens forward Scott Gomez?

Gomez is in the midst of horrible scoring slump.  Check out this site http://didgomezscore.com/ to keep up to date in real-time on how long it’s been since Gomez has dented the twine.  As I’m writing this Gomez has gone a full calendar year since his last goal.  That’s ridiculous (or as friend the blog “the Duke” would say “that’s lunacy”) 

In all seriousness it’s hard to imagine a player of Gomez’s ilk falling on such hard times.  The man makes 7 plus million dollars a year and was an integral part of a Stanley Cup championship in New Jersey. I suppose this contract figure is yet again another example for Toronto Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopavowels to trot out to explain his lack of activity as a player in the free agent market.  He often states that the problem with the free agent market is that you are paying for past performance and not necessarily the current production. 

Judging by the stats on the back of Gomez’s current hockey card I have a feeling Montreal would concur with AA’s free agent synopsis.

Quote Of The Day – The Gisele Bundchen Edition

My husband can not f****ing throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time. I can’t believe they dropped the ball so many times.

Thank you Mrs. Tom Brady (Gisele Bundchen) for this classic quote.  Apparently this quote was in response to a heckling Giants fan.  Either way her words gave me a somewhat relevant reason to post her pic.  So for that I say thank you Gisele, thank you.

Happy Ricco Day!!!!

The title of this post might indicate that I’m a big fan of Gerardo of Rico Sauve-like fame.  I’m not going to indict myself either way on that subject but instead I’d like to take this  opportunity to wish my Dad (also known as Ricco) a very happy birthday.  

You’re a great guy Ricco and an even better Dad.  I hope you have a great day and we look forward to spending sometime with you tomorrow. 

In honour of your birthday I’ll let you tell me everything that is wrong with the Toronto Maple Leafs and I won’t call you a closeted Leaf fan in the processs.  (Just joking…I probably still call you that.) 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!

Andrea Bargnani’s All-Star Anthem

The season is barely 20 games in and already the Toronto Raptors schedule has become irrelevant.  This is a squad that is “building” according to general manager Bryan Colangelo.  His analysis of this “building” squad doesn’t really matter to me that much.  In the NBA the formula for winning is quite simple.  Star players drive your team and if you don’t have the horses you aren’t going to win many races.

The current plight of the Raptors isn’t necessarily what I wanted to bring to light.  There’s some 40 odd games to go and a whole offseason to hash out their problems.  The real reason I’m posting tonight is that the Raptors best player Andrea Bargnani returns to the lineup (the fact that he’s their best player speaks volumes of their current status in the NBA but I digress) after being out of the lineup with a calf injury.  In a stat driven league like the NBA (where someone on each team usually averages close to 20 points a game) Andrea Bargnani is having seemingly an ALL-STAR season.  

To aid his chances the fine fellas at the THE BASKETBALL JONES have produced an all-star anthem for the Italian big man.