Rick Martin- RIP

sad news from Buffalo NY this afternoon. Martin, Perreault and Robert- "THE FRENCH CONNECTION". Nothing quite like them since

There's No Cryin in South Beach!!!

Cry me a river, Dwayne Wade, cry me a river. Wade says all is right in the world and everyone will be happy because the Heat is losing games. Get over yourself, you think anyone besides those within the Heat organization would spend more than a few minutes on the current troubles the NBA Goliaths are going through? You guys did this to yourselves, so now you are going through a patch and you deal with it by suggesting bball fans are happy cause you are choking away games. Seems to me that what is happening now is the best thing that could happen to your post season plans. Isn't it better to know now what the weaknesses may be than discover in Round 1 that you can't finish off games. Better now to figure out how to utilize the invisible man, AKA Chris Bosh than wait till a crucial Game 7 and become painfully aware that he lacks the basketball chops that you thought you were paying for last summer. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said guys were crying in the dressing room after yesterday's loss to the the Bulls...really, crying??? Wow- if ever a roster needed a heapin helpin spoonful of real world, its the Heat. If anyone should be balling maybe its Spoelstra. My guess is St. Patrick O' Riley will only take so much of this farce and a coach who cannot instill the killer instinct in his millionaire roster until he becomes the leprechaun with the lucky charms promising salvation for the South Beach faithful and that leaves Spoesltra out in the cold, confirming that he did not have what it took to get this group where it needed to be in the first place. 3 months ago I wrote that the Heat will be fine and I still think they will be...but their reactions to the losses to Orlando, San Antonio and Chicago are worse in my book than the actual defeats themselves and encourage no empathy whatsoever. You want revenge, men? Just win, just win...and in the process give the rest of the league something to cry about.

Hope "Springs" Eternal

Success in this part of the world (Toronto and area) for our beloved sports franchises are so few and far between that you really can't blame someone for getting their hopes up with the recent inspired play by the Toronto Maple Leafs. It has been since the Blue Jays World Series titles in '92 and '93 that we have had anything of any substance to cheer about. I will exclude Olympics and international successes, those are national in nature, I'm just talkin' about good old Hogtown having the opportunity for full throaty, over the top bragging based on the hoisting of trophies by the boys on the field, ice and hardwood. So it is that the recent success of the Leafs and the drive to the 8th and final playoff spot has the competitive juices flowing, like the sap on a chilly Ontario farm. Last night's effort in Philly, one of the best of the Leaf season has us hoping and praying that the hockey Gods will bestow the good fortune upon this team to at least see a playoff round. Several weeks back GM Brian Burke took a reporter to task saying that making the playoffs and getting "your ass kicked in 4 games" was not his idea of success. Brian, you remember what team you are in charge of right?? I would take that now 1,000 times over, call it progress and move ahead with hope and possibility for 2011-12. Not to mention the value of playoff experience gained for this young group of players. Sorry Brian but that logic loses me, which is why it's encouraging to see this crew playing hard,as they have done since the All-Star break to try and capture some springtime magic. All you have to do is get in...much stranger things have happened, see the Montreal Canadiens of last year for Exhibit A.
In the meantime, watching the Buds has taken on new import, as well as scoreboard gazing for out of town results. This is how it should feel in Toronto and maybe we catch lighting in a bottle with our baseball team this year as well, making Toronto a city of athletic upstarts who aggressively have their eyes on the prize and play hard, leaving it all out there for the opportunity. The mere thought of this is why at this time of year, hope springs eternal.