Before we begin this post where I kindly smash my home country when it comes to it's sports, we will write this post in boxing formation.  Couple of undercards followed by the Main Event.

Undercard:

I feel my idea of having Johan Santana thrown into the MVP mix is justified by the average ERA being over doubled Santana's along with the .270 average the league is putting up.  For Johan to put up the kind of numbers he has with the way balls are blasting out of the park as well as the dimensions of the MVP race should give him a shot.  He has stepped up during the absense of Francisco Liriano in a big way.

I know a lot of people are ready to give Derek Jeter the MVP and feel the Yankees would be hurt greatly with him out of the lineup.  I still have a good memory to say Jeter should not win the award, nor would his absense mean the demise of the New York Yankees.  Remember the year 2004?  The first couple of months for Jeter was horrendous; .200 average and he was struggling mightily.  He did not pass .250 until well into July.  Despite the Un-Jeter-like production, the Yankees managed to be in first place.  Why?  Because of a loaded lineup.  You look at today's Yankees lineup and they now have Randy Johnson, Johnny Damon, Robinson Cano and a healthy Jason Giambi.  That means more lethal weapons which means one thing: Jeter is not the AL MVP (side note: Great player and hall of famer when he's done his career).

Undercard:

Jacksonville might want to invest in a wide receiver who can catch the football.  Right now their best receiver is Jimmy Smith who happens to be retired.  Maybe they are the team who should be desperate enough to get Jerry Porter, but not at the cost Al Davis is asking for, which is outrageous and absurd.

MAIN EVENT:

Pretty obvious that I was going into a hockey take, which perhaps prompted you Americans to actually read since the undercard was maybe worth reading. 

Nearly every major media network has carried NHL pre-season hockey to the forefront, pushing every other sport to the backburner in favour of meaningless training games prior to the season start.  To me, I am embarrassed that my city can call itself a sports town when they would put pre-season sports right at the top of the line and not what is the most relevant or important story leading off sportscasts.  I thought sports journalism was all about the top stories , and that they are suppose to entice audiences with the way they deliver it.  Instead, they succumb to unimportant NHL preseason games.

When the NBA, MLB or NFL organizations begin their training camps, does Foxsports or ESPN begin the highlight shows on TV or Radio with training camp highlights?  No, unless its something big/momentus.  That is called journalism.  The biggest story leads off the program.  This means that if the NHL is the biggest story in Canada, there is a problem with us as sports fans.  It means we have buried our heads into the sand when it comes to sports.  How can we honestly say we are a sports city when we always fall back on one sport?  We do not have the ability to break away from hockey.

One point to throw out to the American readers: Although hockey does not rate very well in the U.S., you can speak to a number of Canadians who are hockey fans and they will say there is no problem with the game.  Last I check, hockey losing to U.S. Curling Championships in the ratings is a big problem.  For that the NHL is certainly not the '4th major sport'. 

But this really shouldn't be a bashing of fans who love a particular sport.  It really comes down to the media shoving it down our throats as if it's a terrible pop song that's overplayed on music stations (such as the new Justin Timber-Diaz single or Gnarls Barkley).  It's time for Canadian sports to become strong enough to show the top sports stories rather than be resigned to go hockey, hockey, hockey.

As I say on my radio show: Its pre-freaking-season.  Speaking of which, my blog contest lasts until Thursday.  Check out my blog from a few days ago and enter in.  e-mail is: chevradionoise@gmail.com.  Cheers.