The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

It was just a few weeks ago when I tried to put a positive spin on the free-falling Ottawa Senators after a miserable five game losing streak which saw them lose to such world beaters as the Carolina Hurricanes. I still felt they had too much talent to be a bottom feeder in the league, but even I wasn't blind to what was going on in between the pipes and the inconsistent defense the Sens presented each night.

Andre Dawson is now in the Hall of Fame. I don't think too many people would contest that.

What some people are contesting though is the choice of baseball cap Dawson's HOF plaque will display when it gets mounted in Cooperstown.

The suits who take care of such decisions opted for Dawson to adorn the Montreal Expos ball cap.

But Dawson isn't too happy about it. Here was his response to that announcement:

"It was a little gut-wrenching for me to hear that but it's their decision."

"I'm disappointed," Dawson told a Chicago radio station, "I can proudly say that because Chicago was my preference."

Dawson played 11 seasons with Montreal, 6 with Chicago, and he also stayed for a cup of coffee with both Boston & Florida. I was going to Google whether or not he won a World Series with the Cubs, but then I remembered they haven't won anything in over 100 years.

Anyway, the Hawk's comments are kinda deflating for those who supported the Expos back in their heyday (emphasis on the word heyday, as the team only averaged about 273 fans each game after the lockout year). You'd hope he'd be proud to wear the logo of the team that brought him into the league, won rookie of the year, almost all of his gold gloves and was part of the Montreal team that won it's only playoff series against the Philadelphia Phillies.

But Chicago is his choice, where he won a league MVP in 1987.

I say if Dawson's heart is really set on wearing the Cubs ball cap, so be it. If I was the owner of the Expos (well, I guess that's kind of impossible now) I wouldn't want to force anyone who didn't want to wear my team's logo to do it.

And in Dawson's case, do you really want to have your image affiliated with a team that no longer exists because of bad ownership, fan apathy and MLB ineptness?

There's history to consider, sure, and that's the main reason why the Hall went with the choice it did. Still, shouldn't it be up to the player?

No wonder everyone was lighting up back in the 50's. With advertisements like these, who can be turned off at the idea of having a butt? ("Smoke a big O!" Why do I think that's funny?) Anyway, if you try this, let me know how long you're able to keep your cigarette lit...

M-C and I have been on a bit of a Star Trek kick the last month or so. Can't remember exactly how it started, but with the price of DVDs so low I picked up all the Star Trek: Next Generation movies (the cheapest was $2.00, shipping included, for a copy of Star Trek: Nemesis off of Ebay). Then we picked up two volumes of the "Best of" Next Generation TV series. We couldn't get enough! So we started to go through the original Kirk & Spock Star Trek movies and today, for just $7.99, I saw a "Best of" Star Trek DVD of the original TV series. Well, for less than the price of a movie admission, how could I refuse? I remember as a kid being captivated by the series and saw many episodes on syndication. A way to revisit my youth somewhat.

I want my 90 minutes back.

There are four episodes on the disc, and after the second we couldn't take any more. Now some of the spoken dialogue (repeat: some) is well put together, and you can see in season one there were many growing pains they had to go through before reaching the finish line: You want to give it some slack. But because almost everything doesn't work all that great, whether the outrageous story lines, cheesy special effects or high-school quality sets, it's just too hard to, well, enjoy it.

The entire time I was thinking, "How did I let this pass as entertainment before?" I guess when I was eight, pretty much anything passed as entertainment and I didn't develop my cynicism just yet. But trust me when I say, this series hasn't aged well.

One story involved them visiting a planet where the civilization adopted the livelihoods of 1920s era gangsters, because a previous visiting spaceship forgot their gangster history book when they left. I wish I was making this up. Seeing Spock in a fedora welding a tommy gun is just too much.

The other episode had fist fights where punches would miss by a mile. Every movement was exaggerated. And they were trying to sell Spock as this emotionless alien being, but you can see his numerous smiles while playing 3-D chess. Didn't anyone think maybe a re-take was in order?

Anyway, I'm not going to bother watching another. There are some episodes I remember fondly (remember that one when Kirk combined a bunch of elements lying around to make gunpowder to kill that man-lizard thing? Loved it!) but I have a feeling those memories will turn sour if I try to revisit them. Anyway, some things just don't age well, and this is a prime example of it.

- Conan got screwed by NBC. Leno screwed Conan. Who cares? When was the last time you watched late night television? Everyone I know has already been sleeping for an hour by the time it starts. Don't feel too bad for Conan though, I read that he'll get $30 million to leave NBC.

- As the number of HD channels increases, it seems the actual picture quality of each channel on its own has decreased. Dramas look okay, but fast moving programs like sports look blurred and pixelated. If dropping channels would help, they can start by getting rid of that HD fireplace channel which is a 24 hour broadcast of, yes, a fireplace.

- I've felt like garbage for the last few days but I'm forcing myself to go to work tomorrow. That's about as good an update as I can give you.

- Thoughts from a guy who knows nothing about football: Frickin' Ravens. Worst NFL team ever. Anyway, I watched a few minutes of the Cardinals - Saints game, and I don't see how anyone will be able to beat New Orleans.

- How about that Mike Brodeur in nets for my Sens, posting a 3-0 record including a shutout to get the Sens back on track? See, an AHL goalie with a .891 save pct and a 3.03 GAA can be the answer!

I managed to get kidney stone #4 yesterday. Yup, the first three weren't enough punishment and another visit to the hospital was in order.

Being in a hospital sucks so I thought I'd do some research to see if there was something I could do to avoid the visit if it happened again. And check out what the powers of Google discovered! Turns out the good people of Coke inadvertenly came up with another use for their beverage. Sounds like a piece of cake to me, and totally legit! :-)

Step 1 Purchase 6-8 cans of regular Classic Coke. Do not refrigerate the cans. The coke must be warm, at room temperature.

Step 2 Purchase a bunch of asparagus.

Step 3 Now here is what you do. You are to drink 6-8 cans of WARM Coke in 2 hours. You might not be able to drink this much, but that's the goal. Your body will not like you for putting that much in it in such a short period of time, so be prepared to feel nauseous or sick.

Step 4 After the 2 hours are up, put the asparagus in a pan and steam it until it is very tender.

Step 5 When it is steamed you will puree it in the blender. Then pour 8 ounces of the asparagus juice into a cup and drink it.

Step 6 The coke will dissolve the crystallized points off of the kidney stones and the asparagus will help flush them out of your body. So within 48 hours tops, you should be back to normal.

The run and gun era of the Senators, last seen in the 2007 Stanley Cup finals, has come to a close. Now in 7th place, after losing four games in a row, many are thinking the best course for the team to take is a knee, that is, take a knee and let the Rangers, Flyers and Canadiens fight for that 7th and 8th playoff position so the Senators can land a better spot in the 2010 draft and start to rebuild.

I'm not one of those people. In fact, I think that sort of thinking is completely asinine.

For starters, no professional athlete in their right mind will play half-assed for the sake of their franchise. They know their shelf life is limited, contracts come to an end, and if their current team doesn't want to retain their services, they need to play their best to attract suitors from other teams to land a new job. Playing like a sieve won't exactly help them.

And with a salary cap system, if you feel that the best way to rebuild is to move you're #1 center making $7 million a year for the next 10 years, well, you're going to need to find another team that one, feels the player in question can perform to expectations (after all, if you're trying to unload him you feel he isn't) and two, have the cap space on their payroll to accept such an expensive player. It is becoming harder and harder for teams to find a fit that way, and that is why if you gamble on the wrong players (just look at the Islanders and the Yashin contract) your team will pay for it.

So what's my point? The Sens likely don't have enough talent to be a Stanley Cup contender, but don't stink enough to land a first overall pick. In fact, if the Senators can be healthy, I think they can make the 5th-8th position in the playoffs, seeing as wide open as the Eastern conference is. But if they're hurt like they are now, the remains on the roster can't carry the load.

I think Ottawa's collection of forwards can compete with any other of their like in the NHL. Where they falter is on defense and goaltending. Leclaire was playing well until he got struck in the face with the a puck and missed about 14 games. He hasn't been very good since. And Elliott has shown why he's a backup.

Ottawa's defensive tandem of Phillips and Volechenkov is a good shutdown tandem. But when they're your top two guys, there's a problem. They aren't #1 d-men. Filip Kuba, by salary, should be the #1 guy, but he hasn't been very good. The revolving door of healthy scratches each game night: Picard, Campoli, Karlsson and the demoted Brian Lee, demonstrates how unstable the defense are.

So when you take away from the one consistent thing going well for the Senators, the forwards, when Alfredsson, Spezza and Michalek fall to injuries, they will lose more than they'll win. The players won't use injuries as an excuse, but I will. When Ottawa loses their top point producer, their top goal scorer, and their #1 centre, they don't have the depth to stay competitive.

It might be asking for a lot, but if we can upgrade the back end, and if Leclaire can just be consistent, I think this team can have a chance to win. When you reach the post-season, anything can happen. And really, the best time of the year is the playoffs and I want my team to be there, and if they can make it but the direction management chooses to follow involves them finishing low for the sake of a draft pick that may or may not work out, well, I don't like that line of thinking.

But hey, just one man's opinion.

Follow NFL football?

Is your team out of the playoffs like the Steelers, or perhaps just looking for another squad to root for?

Well after wagering a $5.00 bet in attempts to make an astounding $40.00 in profit, I got me a team...the Baltimore Ravens!

Guess you can say I have been bought and paid for. My loyalty has been purchased for what will hopefully turn into a princely sum of $40.

Will you join SBP in the run to the Superbowl? Hey look, they're already beating the lowly Patriots 24-0 and it's only the first quarter!

Good times!

After winning five straight gold medals, it was inevitable that the streak was coming to an end. It’s amazing how many times Canada has managed to come back from a deficit and go on to win the last few years of the World Juniors: one of the most memorable was Canada’s victory over Russia in last year’s semi-final, tying up the game in the final seconds and finally winning it in a shootout.

So when Canada managed to rally from being down 5-3 in the third, watching them tie it up to force overtime was sports drama at its best. When they got down by two goals, I thought to myself there was no way they can come back yet again, playing from behind like that would eventually catch up with them. But they still managed to score those two goals to tie it up and force overtime. Even though I hardly watched the games in the tournament this time around, I was still caught up in the excitement of that third period. A hot crowd, back and forth action, near misses, great chances, big hits, heroic defensive plays…it had all the ingredients of a memorable championship game.

The Yanks managed to pot the overtime goal to deflate the Saskatchewan crowd but it just as easily could have gone the other way. I was annoyed reading up on comments by “fans” stating Canada deserved to lose, the coaching was horrible, the goaltending was bad, etc: all I remember was that it was a fun game, and a good way to shake up the hockey world seeing as the NHL is at lull @ game number 42 in the season while we wait for the Olympics to take place next month. Like any sport, hockey is truly a game of inches, timing is everything, and a little luck helps, too, and the States had that on their side this time around.

My only wish for the tournament to grow is to have more competition for Canada. You have the Americans, Swedes and Russians, and after that there’s not much to write home about. That’s one reason why perhaps I’m not as captivated by the tournament as I should be: there simply isn’t enough strong opposition to deal with. Maybe in a way it’s good for another country to win gold this time around: if other countries can be a threat, it’s good for the overall growth of the game. In any case, next year's tournament with the USA as defending champion playing on their home soil should make for a dramatic confrontation.

What did I tell you, Kovalev all the way! Check out the "moon dance" as the idiot Sportsnet announcer calls it during the last 15 seconds of the above clip!

- Another Christmas and New Year's comes and goes. And to really hammer home the point, I have to go to work tomorrow. Combined with the fact it's time to take down the decorations and Christmas tree, this is a sucky time of the year. Can't wait for that McGuinty long weekend to kick in next month.

- I watched a few minutes of some new Simpsons and while I didn't laugh, it looks spectacular in HD.

- If you are contemplating a major purchase, such as an iPhone or flat panel tv, and you're having second thoughts about it, call me. I will wipe away that guilt and talk you into obtaining that much needed material good. Life's too short for hesitation, and it's good for the economy.

- Haven't caught much of the World Juniors. Aside from two periods of the Canada-USA game, my excitement level is pretty low. I'll likely try to tune into the gold medal game but if I miss it's no big deal. Maybe because Canada wins all the time it has sort of lost it's lustre, not sure.

- There's nothing like handling an unopened blu-ray or DVD. I bought a few for less than $10 each during the various boxing day deals and there's a part of me that wants to leave them sealed. Hey, I bought them I'll do what I want with them!

Hope you enjoyed your New Year's Eve. I went over to some friends of M-C's last night and we left around 10pm, and I welcomed the New Year playing Modern Warfare 2 on the Xbox while M-C was already asleep. There was a time when that behaviour would be considered sacrilege on a day like New Year's but seeing now that I'm ooooooold I'm okay with it.

Anyway, happy New Year, I anticipate 2010 will be quite exciting!