Top 5 Moments Of The Decade That Didn't Happen

One thing that really grinds my gears (thanks Peter Griffin) this time of year is the best/worst of the year lists.

This year, it's especially grinding because there are the best/worst of the DECADE lists as well.

Borrrrrrrrrring.

So, instead of the best and worst...I present to your the Top Five Moments of the Decade That Didn't Happen But I Wish They Had...or to simplify...my TFMOTDTDHBIWTH list.

5. September 29, 2004 had been just another day on the calendar - Such a sad day, when the Montreal Expos ceased to exist, and moved to Washington.

4. Pat Dapuzzo had avoided that skate - As I wrote in an earlier blog, this was one of the most horrific moments in sports in the last year...all the best to Dapuzzo in his long road to recovery.

3. Mike Weir had put his shot on the green, rather than in the drink, on the third playoff hole at the 2004 Canadian Open and beaten Vijay Singh, rather than ending up a bridesmaid - How SWEET it would have been for Weirsy to win the Canadian Open tourney on home soil at Glen Abbey...maybe one day...maybe.

2. Brett Favre would have either A) stayed a Packer or B) stayed retired - I still get queasy when I think about how much ink and airtime was wasted covering his on again off again on again career.

1. Steve Moore had turned around and fought Todd Bertuzzi - I know that he had already fought Matt Cooke earlier in the game and he was not obligated to fight the Canuck thug, but if he had just turned around and accepted Bertuzzi's offer to dance...all of this wouldn't have happened:



Who knows what the next 10 years have in store for us? Your guess is as good as mine...but thankfully...the "lists" are coming to an end!

BrockTalk

A Broadcasting Legend Passes

Unfortunately some sad news as I sit here on Christmas Eve day...getting word that one of my favourite sports broadcasters while growing up, has passed on.

George Michael, who hosted the George Michael Sports Machine from 1980-2007 passed away yesterday from complications from chronic lymphocytic lukemia...he was 70.

I remember staying up late, or taping, the GMSM Sunday nights on King TV out of Seattle. I also made a special note of when the final Sunday of each month rolled around (and ESPECIALLY the final Sunday of the year)...because that's when he used to roll out his plays of the month/year.

I would sit with the VCR with play/record in pause...waiting for that instant moment to start taping the plays.

The thing about George Michael was that he always had time for ALL sports...not just NFL, NBA and MLB...but he always had info on hockey, bowling, rodeo, skiing, golf, drag racing...EVERYTHING.

He was a real broadcasting pioneer and will be missed greatly.

His final show was in March 2007 so I'll leave you with his final Plays of the Year segment that he did in December 2006 (featuring his amazing voice and unbelievable music that he used for his 'plays' segments!)



BrockTalk

A Broads

Bro, is the MAN!

Last night Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils broke one of those records that many thought would never be broken.

When he posted a goose-egg versus Pittsburgh, and notched his 104th career shutout with a 4-0 win, he broke a record that had stood for almost 40 years!

Marty Bro...you are the man.

I remember, when I was a young goalie in the West Vancouver Minor Hockey system...when I wasn't on the ice, I was busy being pretty obsessed with goalie stats. I poured over the Vancouver Sun every night (yes, the paper was delivered in the evening back then!) finding out how many shots guys had stopped the night before, who got the wins and the shutouts.

I remember seeing a stat that said Terry Sawchuck (who played before I started following hockey...heck...before I was born) had 103 career shutouts.

"This MUST be a misprint," I thought. "There's no way a guy could get 103 shutouts in his career."

Buuuuuuuuut...it wasn't. Sawchuck had shut out the opponent 103 times during his career. AMAZING!

Now along comes Martin Brodeur...who actually broke that seemingly unbreakable record. The stats say that Marty posts a shut out every 9.92 games...talk about impressive. And, Marty is only 37...how many more shutouts does he have left in his career? MANY more as far as I can see.

When will his record be broken? The closest to him are Detroit's Chris Osgood with 50, and Vancouver's Roberto Luongo and San Jose's Evgeni Nabokov have 49.

I'd say it's pretty safe...for a LONG while.

It's no wonder David Puddy was such a HUGE Brodeur fan!



BrockTalk

Drop the Gloves

Considering holiday decorations are everywhere around us, Santa is in the mall, and people are making plans to spend holiday time with loved ones...it's OBVIOUSLY time for a blog entry about hockey fights!

I'll "pull no punches"...I love em!

Something about two guys squaring off...the crowd rising to their feet...the players on the bench banging their sticks with enthusiasm...it's a real spectacle.

Sure, some fights are totally staged (just not spontaneous enough for my liking) and some are just hug-fests (lame)...but every once in a while there is a fight so sensational that EVERYONE that I know that's is a hockey fan, can't stop talking about it.

The legs of a great fight, are a lot longer than those of a great game.

For instance, people still love talking about Coxe vs. Probert or Probert vs. Domi...and those fights were 23 and 18 years ago respectably!

Do people still reminisce about great GAMES from '87 or '92? Not very likely.

Anyhow, one of my favourite sites www.hockeyfights.com has just released their Top 10 Fights of the Decade...and I can't argue with any of the bouts that made their list.

I especially am in awe of the Jeremy Yablonski/Jon "Nasty" Mirasty scraps...two unbelievably tough guys.

CLICK HERE to see the breakdown and all the vids.

I wonder how many Rick Rypien fights will be in the NEXT best of the decade?

Me thinks (and me hopes)...A FEW!





"Bloodthirsty" BrockTalk

Caught a Tiger Chasing Tail

By now I'm sure you heard about Tiger Woods and his admitted "transgressions" off the golf course.

You've probably also heard the voicemail that he 'allegedly' left his little cocktail waitress friend asking her to take her name off call display because his wife found it on his phone.

A couple of things spring to mind regarding all of this (outside of how insane it is that THIS story is the lead on not just SportsCentre and TMZ...but how it is the lead story on the major network newscasts!):

1. How on earth did Tiger Woods ever think that he could 'get away' with something like this?

and

2. This won't hurt his career one bit.

I'll tackle the first point first (what a concept!)

Tiger Woods is probably one of, if not the most, recognizable people on the planet. People from Dubai to Denmark and Queensland to Qatar know who Tiger Woods is. In this day and age of digital cameras, YouTube, TMZ and seemingly everybody and their brother trying to get their 15 minutes of fame...the fact that Tiger thought that he could have "transgressions" (talk about the new buzz word!) without being found out, is baffling.

Tiger strikes me as a pretty smart guy, he went to Stanford afterall. But obviously, he's just another dope who was thinking more with his little brain, than his big one.

Now, will all this hurt his billion dollar career?

Nope.

Sure, he'll have to face a media frenzy like the world has never seen before when he plays in his first tournament in 2010. And yes, there will always be the comments and catcalls and innuendo. But as Bob Weekes of TSN said "he's still the best golfer in the world...and as soon as he wins his first tournament or sinks a 20 foot putt in a clutch situation" people won't be thinking about his "transgressions" anymore.

That being said, I don't think his wife will be that quick to let it go. (Well DUH!)

But for now, Tiger is tail-deep in trouble. Have fun hacking your way out of THIS rough Eldrick!

Perhaps Tiger should stop taking his own advice...the last thing he should have done is "just play."



BrockTalk