John Rooke: Thinking out loud…
Saturday, June 04, 2011
Thinking out loud…while wondering what the term “Canuck” really means. And can we re-print it here?
• So Dice-K wants Tommy John surgery? Buh-bye. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out…and take the “gyro ball” with you…
• The concept of paying Division I athletes, or at least revenue-producing athletes, is going to continue to pick up momentum. Just this week, South Carolina head football coach Steve Spurrier pitched an idea that would pay 70 players $300 for each game they play, and the measure was immediately endorsed by six of his fellow SEC coaches. Commissioner Mike Slive called it a “generous” gesture. Is it?
• Former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel’s fall from grace has been stunning, to say the least. Perhaps even more stunning is the fact that school President E. Gordon Gee – the same man who once presided over Brown’s athletic and academic fortunes – refused to acknowledge that he should have fired Tressel before his resignation took place. His initial response to the question was “are you kidding me?” Guess that means that money (and football success) can buy you love…
• Just think…West Virginia’s football program could be experiencing some of what Ohio State is going through right now, had Rich Rodriguez stayed to coach the Mountaineers, rather than run off to Michigan. Terrelle Pryor was ready to sign on in Morgantown, until Rich Rod left. Just goes to show you, you don’t know what you have, until you don’t have it…
• One more thing about Tressel. The more I read about him, the more I think he’s a real-life version of the Warden Norton character in The Shawshank Redemption. Clean as a whistle to the untrained eye – but dirty as dirty can be behind the scenes…
• My personal Shaq favorite nickname has to be “the big Aristotle…”
• Is anyone surprised with criticism already being leveled upon Claude Julien after the Bruins’ Game One 1-0 loss at Vancouver? Don’t be. If the B’s lose big, he could still be on thin ice…
• I’m saddened by everything that is being leveled at Lance Armstrong…the lack of loyalty from former teammates, the doping accusations, the subsequent cover-up and masking charges. And he continues to deny, deny, deny. He says his tests were all clean? Maybe…but is this turning out to be another Roger Clemens-like defense? And what does this do to his “Livestrong” Foundation?
• Not for nuthin’…but color me concerned with the make-up of the Friars’ hoop roster for next season. Lack of size and apparent strength tells me to expect more of the same from this past year…
• The big “Shaqtus?” That may be the funniest nickname he ever had…
• Hey Alex Burrows! Two words for you – “Bite me.”
• I’m to the point where I propose a ban on all “labor talk” news coming from the NFL. You may send me a bulletin when you’re ready to actually play, however…
• And make no mistake about it…it’s the players who will have to “give in,” at least a little, for this deal to be finalized. The owners have TV revenue still coming in. However, the owners also know that should this situation actually cause games to be missed – they will quickly lose any PR battles within public perception. Both sides have plenty of incentive to get this done…
• Shaq Fu?
• I’m not too worried just yet…but the early Major League Baseball all-star fan voting has six Yankees leading at their positions in the American League, including the entire starting infield. Be careful Yankee fans…you could really mess this up for the rest of us…
• As the NBA Draft nears, and with several individual workouts still to come, I’ve heard PC’s Marshon Brooks going anywhere from 17th overall in the first round (NY Knicks), to out of the two-round draft altogether. NBAdraft.net currently has Brooks going 19th to Charlotte in Round One…
• And just so you know this goes on elsewhere, not just in our corner of the world…Syracuse center Fab Melo has been arraigned in Syracuse city court on a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief, after an alleged fight with a girlfriend…
• Not to be outdone, former Seton Hall center Kelly Whitney had a mistrial declared this week on charges of armed robbery, even though former teammate Robert “Sticks” Mitchell turned on him and accused Whitney of robbing students at gunpoint. Wow, there wasn’t much kumbaya in that lockerroom, was there? And who recruited those players to Seton Hall? Wait for it…former PC assistant coach Bobby Gonzalez…
• Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim isn’t so sure that UConn coach Jim Calhoun’s prediction of impending doom for the Big East is going to happen. And that no matter how many teams the league adds, basketball is always going to be good. Translation – get out now, while you can. Calhoun is said to still be mulling over his options to return next season as head coach…
• Best Game One Stanley Cup TV rating since 1999? Does this mean TV has actually been covering it during this time?
• Number one in most circles – “Shaq Diesel.”
• An ominous sign of the times – we already have labor unrest in the NFL, and those problems are coming in the NBA. Now, a report that nine MLB teams are not in compliance with rules regarding debt. Looks like fantasy is now meeting reality, even in the sportsworld…
• Did you know that the world’s best football team is in Foxboro Saturday? No, it’s
not the Patriots. The 2010 World Cup champion team from Spain is playing the US at Gillette Stadium in a “friendly.” Considering that the last time these two faced each other, preceding the World Cup in 2009 with the US winning 2-0, do you think the Spaniards will have long or short memories?
• Where does the term “Canuck” actually come from? It’s a slang term that Canadians call themselves, meant affectionately as a descriptive term for their nationality. “Johnny Canuck,” the unofficial mascot, originally appeared in political cartoons in the 1860’s as a resistor to Uncle Sam’s bullying. Get ready, Canucks. Hopefully, there’s more bullying coming your way - on the ice only, of course…
• Interested in having your questions on local RI sports (including the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics) answered in a somewhat timely fashion? Here’s your chance to “think out loud,” and send your questions and comments to [email protected]. We’ll share comments right here!
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