I remember watching Goose Gossage play. You simply don't forget a moustache like that. And as a kid, I thought Goose was a pretty fun nickname. Goose went off on Joey Bats Thursday. "Bautista is a fucking disgrace to the game," he told ESPN. "He's embarrassing to all the Latin
I don't blame the NHL and NHLPA for putting together the World Cup of Hockey. The Olympic hockey tournament is the very best and why wouldn't the NHL and NHLPA want to cash in on such an event? The World Cup of Hockey is theirs, unsanctioned by the IIHF, with
I didn't watch a minute of NFL football during the regular season, but when a playoff game is close in the fourth quarter, I like to tune in. Last night, Green Bay forced overtime with an Aaron Rodgers Hail Mary pass to Jeff Janis. If you missed it, watch it
Guys my age grew up in the Jordan era. We really, really liked Mike. To most of us, Michael Jordan is the greatest NBA basketball player of all-time. Kobe Bryant's NBA career began in 1996-97. That season, Michael Jordan led the Bulls to the NBA title. With Jordan's career fresh
I'm an unabashed Toronto sports fan. I've been root, root, rooting for the home teams for as long as I can remember. This past month has reminded me of the three-tiers of pro-sports in Toronto. There's group A, consisting of the Leafs, Blue Jays and Raptors, and group B, composed
Yes Toronto, we did have a CBA franchise from 1983 to December 1985. The Toronto Tornados played out of Varsity Arena before leaving for Pensacola, Florida. Fun fact: in the Tornados' only playoff appearance, they lost in the first round to the Albany Patroons, coached by Phil Jackson. [via Retrontario]
It seems like Andre De Grasse has come out of nowhere. The 20-year old Canadian only started sprinting in 2012, and a mere 3-years later he's a bonafide threat to Usain Bolt and Justin Gatlin in the 100m. Last night, we saw him win gold in the Pan Am Games
I watched every minute of last night's gold medal baseball game between Canada and the United States. No, it wasn't on television, but a live stream was readily available here. I Chromecast it to my television screen and settled in for a great night of ball. With the game tied
Meet John Wells, Jim Van Horne, Michael Landsberg and Terry Leibel from your new TSN. British gymnastics!
I watched the 2012 Olympics semi-final match between Canada and the United States from the airport. I was on my way to Amsterdam, and the match was on in one of the airport bars. Dozens of us collected around the screen and shared outrage when suspect refereeing resulted in a
The 2015 NBA Rookie of the Year is GTA native Andrew Wiggins. This is the first time a Canadian has won the award. Wiggins averaged 16.9 points and 4.6 rebounds while playing all 82 games for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Nice start...
Five years ago, I wrote this entry about Leafs fans always rooting against Montreal. In the most recent Open Mike, a new commenter named Roger suggests Canada should unite behind the Montreal Canadiens as they play in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. I find that notion nauseating.
Steve Nash is far and away the greatest basketball player this country has ever produced. This is Nash country. On December 5, 2007, I took my kids to see the Toronto Raptors take on Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns. At the time I thought it was important that they
Anthony Mason died today. I remember him well from those 90s Knicks teams with Patrick Ewing, John Starks and Charles Oakley. He was only 48. You have to understand, the mid-90s feel like a few years ago to me. It feels like only yesterday I saw Anthony Mason driving to
Super Bowl XLIX kicks off from University of Phoenix Stadium in about 7.5 hours. In case you've been living under a rock, it's the New England Patriots vs. the Seattle Seahawks. The purpose of this entry is to collect everyone's predictions. Please guess the final score before 6:30pm
Martin Brodeur is retiring. The 42-year-old is joining the St. Louis Blues front office. It's bizarre he retired a St. Louis Blue. He played seven games with the Blues after 24 seasons with the New Jersey Devils. I enjoyed Brodeur's entire career, and it was awesome. Unfortunately for him, he'll
Guys my age all know someone older who tells us Bobby Orr was the greatest hockey player of all-time. Guys my age all say it was Wayne Gretzky. It really is a generational thing, and since they played such different positions, it's really impossible to use analytics to say definitively
I never had the pleasure of watching Gordie Howe play hockey. As a very young man, however, I read a biography on Wayne Gretzky and learned how Gretzky idolized Howe. That made Gordie Howe my hero's hero. Here's a wonderful story about The Great Gordie Howe.
I'll preface this entry by stating the obvious. Derek Jeter has had a fantastic career, and deserves to be voted into the Hall of Fame. He's never been linked to performance enhancing drugs, he's always been classy and he's won. Derek Jeter is also a career Yankee. I don't understand
While I was unplugged for a few days earlier this week, Jean-Sebastien Giguere retired. He was the last former Hartford Whaler playing in the NHL. He played eight games for the Whalers in 1996-97. It's the end of an era. Assuming Chris Pronger doesn't make a comeback, there are no
I alluded to this in episode 83 of my podcast, but it's time to come clean in print. I really don't care for football anymore. As a younger man, I watched a lot of NFL. The Bills were my team and I rooted for them the way I root for
I've been watching tennis grand slam events forever. As a young man, you'd have thought I was German the way I cheered on Boris Becker and Steffi Graf. After all, Canadians were never a threat. Here's something I wrote in July of 2009 about Canada's male singles tennis failure. We
The NBA Draft is tonight. Several Canadians, mostly from the GTA, are likely to be drafted. That would make this by far the best NBA draft for Canadian talent. The previous high for Canadians drafted was three, set in 1983 and 2012. This year, three Canadians may go in the
I've never watched the FIFA World Cup with a true rooting interest. Canada hasn't qualified since 1986 and I have no memory of that tournament. I don't think 12-year old Mike appreciated soccer. In 1986, 28-years ago if you haven't done the math, Mexico was the host and Canada was
Last night, when the Anaheim Ducks were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs, Teemu Selanne's NHL career came to an end. The 43-year-old finishes his NHL career with 684 goals and 1,457 points in the regular season and 44 goals and 88 points in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He
