sabresmeetstanley's Blog
by: sabresmeetstanley
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Jul 24, 2006 | 2:49PM | report this

- Quick, name the only professional team to currently sport two Heismann trophy winners on the same roster. Eric Crouch played the role of a perfect backup all year, and played decent in his first chance this past weekend, going 4-9 and helping the Ricky Williams-less Toronto Argonauts to a 26-23 win. Williams meanwhile, before breaking a bone in his arm that will sideline him for a few weeks, was putting up some average numbers. Where he really impressed was is in his receiving numbers, an 8.3 yard average in 7 catches, improving on every snap.

- Speaking of the CFL, with the improved officiating and addition of instant replay this year, call me crazy but I’m now among the believers who say that the CFL has the best framework for professional football. It’s no secret that the CFL rules and field dimensions are geared towards a smaller, faster player. The game is built for the stereotypical athlete, and punishes the overly large, exclusive to football big man. The absence of a 4th down stretches the field on the vast majority of plays, adding to the excitement, emphasizing the stars. The CFL lacks the parity of the NFL, but allows its star players a much more significant amount of time to shine.

It’s a contention that can never really be proven of course, because the CFL will never attract enough talent to test it, and the NFL knows that the value of the ‘fat man’ in its marketing is too big to make the 400lb lineman obsolete by playing a pass first, 3 down game. That said, who wouldn’t like to see Payton Manning put up 7 touchdowns and 5 interceptions a game?

-Jazil is out of the Traver’s Stakes, having picked up a hind leg bruise in training. Unfortunately that means my oil-and-water Jazil vs. Bernardini dream match up looks to be down to the Breeder’s Cup Classic, or not at all. UPDATE - sorry, thats not entirely true, if Jazil heals well he could match up against Bernardini in the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park on Oct. 7, a month before the Breeder's Cup.

-Who knew salary arbitration would be the rally killer to the string of good luck the NHL had been seeing the past 12 months. How long it will take before the league can correct the problem of rulings like Daniel Briere’s $5.1M award is unclear. When team’s like Chicago and Tampa Bay, (who can’t do the math and figure out that $5M for anyone short of Wayne Gretzky is a cap nightmare) are setting precedent in arbitration hearings, expect to see more and more teams walking away from the awards.

-Even with the Twins in the mix, it says here the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees have a better chance of catching wildcard leaders Chicago than AL East leaders Boston.

It was nice to see 50 thousand plus fans at a ball game in Toronto again, even if a quarter of them were there to see the Yankees. Here’s hoping more Western New Yorkers start supporting the local team, the same way Southern Ontario helps keep the Bills afloat. As long as they keep their 45mph driving minivans out of the left lane on the way to and from that is. Seriously, I’m talking to you Tony from Amherst with the Rush Limbaugh bumpersticker, you don’t need to learn metric, just learn to get out of the way. You can't drive any slower unless the mayor is on your roof throwing candy.

2 Comments | Add a comment   categories: CFL, Eric Crouch, Ricky Williams, Horse Racing, Buffalo Sabres, Toronto Blue Jays, Minivans driving parade speed, New York Yankees
 
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edclinchsaint
Jul 27, 2006
4:07 AM
You have been added to my favorites.

And you know of my split blogality, right?

sabresmeetstanley
Jul 28, 2006
9:32 AM
Thanks Ed, I've done likewise

and I didn't know you had 2 until you mentioned it, I'll be reading both now though.

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ABOUT ME


sabresmeetstanley
I am a Sabres fan, a Cubs fan, a Boilermakers fan, a Ti-cat fan and a Hamilton Bulldogs fan. I'm an obvious sucker for punishment. I believe that while playing them can be a tolerable way to kill 5 hours, there is nothing more painful than talking golf or watching poker. There's no excuse for fantasy football, no matter how bored or lonely you are. I don't consider you an athelete unless you can beat me in a race to the corner and back. I'm landlocked and terrible, but I carry on an irrational love affair with surfing. We are in the midst of one of the greatest horseracing years in decades.
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