Shoots Left and Writes

  Simon B Back in 2019 when the Toronto Raptors won their first-ever NBA Championship, the scenes in Jurassic Park (aka Maple Leafs Square) were absolutely crazy. Not to take anything away from the gatherings there was two years ago but Deer District in downtown Milwaukee last night was insane. Around 65 000 people gathered around the Fiserv Forum to watch the hometown Bucks win their first NBA title in 50 years.  This series was a really special one for many reasons so let's get into it. Freak turned to God Giannis Antentokounmpo has most likely been given Greek God status and I'm sure someone is creating a sculpture and temple for him somewhere in Greece. He had one of, if not the most impressive individual performances in an NBA finals series in history putting up at least 30 points in 5 of the six games in these finals and going off with 50 in the clinching game. He's the first player since the late 50's to score 50 in a championship-clinching game.  In his post-gam...

  Simon B 25-2. That's how much the Jays outscored the Texas Rangers over this weekend. Saturday's game was postponed until Sunday when they played a doubleheader and that turned out to play to the Jays advantage. Sure the Jays scored 25 runs in three games including three more dingers from Vladdy, a Grand Slam from Lourdes Gurriel Jr, and George Springer starting to heat up at the plate as well. However, the starting pitching in this series was excellent and I think it was overlooked. This is why I'm going to shine a spotlight on the Jays starters and why they were so solid over this weekend. Robbie Ray (Game 1) In the first game, Robbie Ray dominated the Jays pitching 6 and 2/3 innings only allowing 4 hits and striking out 8. Ray is a creature of habit and likes to do the exact same thing in the 4 days between starts. In that there was the All-Star break in between this start and his previous one, he got a few more days off and people were wondering if that would affect h...

  Simon B The MLB All-Star break has come and gone really quickly and the unofficial second half of the season for the Toronto Blue Jays began last night in Buffalo where they beat the Texas Rangers 10-2.  It's been a crazy first half for the Jays from injuries every other game to playing in two different home stadiums that aren't even their real home it's fair to say that this is far from a normal first 3 and a half months of baseball. But they are three games over .500 and they are in a race for a wild card spot right now. Hopefully, this will lead to meaningful baseball in September but amidst the circumstances, this has been a decent first half. I'm going to take a look at how each aspect of the team has performed and give them a mark (from F to A+). I'll also talk about how they can improve at each position if needed. Starting Pitching: B+ In that the Blue Jays have not had a consistent starting rotation all season, this is actually a pretty good mark for them ...

  Simon B I was thinking that I could do a weekly offseason checkup for the NHL and the NBA during the summer. Since the NBA finals are still in full swing, I'll start with the NHL and take a dive into the moves that have happened since the finals ended last week.  With both the expansion draft and player entry draft coming up next week, this can serve a bit as a preview for that as well. First Big Trade The Chicago Blackhawks traded Duncan Kieth to the Edmonton Oilers along with winger Tim Soderlund in exchange for defensemen Caleb Jones and a conditional third-round pick in next summer's draft.  There's a lot to unpack here. Edmonton: First of all, Kieth will go down as one of the best defensemen to ever play in Chicago and he was a major part of the three Stanley Cups that were won in the Windy City from 2010 until 2015. He won the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP in 2015 as well. Although there isn't really much space for the 38-year-old on the Hawks roster.  Chicago i...

  Simon B What a dumb way to decide a championship.  I know that all the long-time football fans who are all much older than me will probably disagree with that take and say that penalty kicks are a fair way to decide a game and that they are good for the game. I partially agree with that statement. Football is the only team sport I know that still allows games to end in ties. Every other sport goes to overtime and/or a shootout if the game is still tied after regulation. That way there's always a winner. I think that that's the way it should be in football too.  The confusing part is that sometimes there's extra time and sometimes there isn't. If it's a regular-season game or a group stage contest, games can end in ties. If it's a knockout game or a do-or-die game, they go to a quirky extra-time period, and then if it's still tied a penalty shootout. I think that they should do the extra time followed by a shootout in the games that would otherwise end in a...

  Simon B This is the second part of a two-part post. Check out the previous article for part one.  As I was wrapping up my previous post, I mentioned that things are pointing in the direction that the Seattle Kraken will be picking a defenseman from the Toronto Maple Leafs in the expansion draft on the 21st of July. I went over the forward options and none of them seemed to fit the criteria for an expansion team other than Alex Kerfoot.  If I'm Seattle, I would definitely look at defensive options on the Leafs because that's where you get the most value.  Saying that Toronto has some pretty important decisions to make on their end as well. Who do you protect? Which player will bring the most value to the club? Do you sacrifice long-term or short-term success? These are all questions that Kyle Dubas and Brendan Shanahan need to think about before publishing their list of protected players. The Leafs have 6 defensemen under contract for the 2021-2022 season. Two days ...

  Simon B This is a two-part article. Stay tuned for part two tomorrow. The Seattle Kraken is the NHL 32d club and they will hit the ice when the season begins in the fall of 2021. They're going to be the 9th team in the Pacific division which makes this division the largest in the NHL (Atlantic and Metro have 8 and the Central have 7).  Obviously, this means there will be an expansion draft so that the Kraken can have players under contract when the season begins.  The way the expansion draft works is that the Kraken will be picking one unprotected player from each NHL franchise (except Vegas) to make up their roster they must have a minimum of 14 forwards, 9 defensemen and, 3 goalies.  What is an unprotected player? It's pretty simple. Each team is allowed to protect either 7 forwards, 3 defensemen ad 1 goalie, or 8 skaters and a goalie. Once the teams protect players, the Kraken can't pick them but if you're not protected, Seattle can pick you. That being said, wh...

  Simon B The Tampa Bay Lightning have won the 2021 Stanley cup. In a year where nothing seems to be predictable, a lot of people predicted that this is the way this bizarre season would come to an end. On January 13th when the season began, I had the Colorado Avalance as my pick to win the Cup. Sure it would've been cool to have been right but this outcome is one that doesn't;t surprise me and if I had the option of making a second pick 7 months ago, I would've chosen the Bolts. This one is special As a kid, you dream about winning the Cup in front of thousands of fans with your family in attendance. It's supposed to be a moment that brings a city together. But last year, Tampa won it in an empty building almost 3000 miles away from Amalie Arena.  Listen, a cup is a cup but I'm sure that when they won it in 2020, they wished it had been different, in a non-pandemic universe.  After yesterday's 1-0 win in game 5 over the Montreal Canadiens, a bunch of Lightning ...