Take it Easy Swaggerville

Should a CFL team with a 16-26 record over the last three years be making nicknames for their defence and selling $25 t-shirts with that nickname on it?

That’s the question I’ve been asking myself for the last couple of days.

Yes, just when it looked the Bombers would be pushed aside on the local sports scene this summer due to the return of the Winnipeg Jets, Winnipeggers and Manitobans have caught a case of Swaggerville fever after their beloved Blue Bombers have gotten off to a scorching 5-1 start.

And a huge reason for the surprising start has been because of the superb play of the defence, who are calling themselves “Swaggerville”.

It’s an age-old tradition in sports. Superior defences, and lethal offences, are given nicknames by the media, the fans, or in the Bombers case, themselves.

For example:

The Big Blue Wrecking Crew: A name that might have worked for the current Bombers squad, the New York Giants defence of the 1980s was given this name. Led by Lawrence Taylor, the 3-4 defence is still considered one of the greatest of all time after they won two Super Bowl Championships in five years.

The Purple People Eaters- Just an awesome nickname given to the 1970s Minnesota Vikings, who made 4 Super Bowls on the strength of their defensive unit.

The Steel Curtain- Maybe the most notable defensive nickname ever. The 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers defence was so deadly that in 1978, the NFL made rule changes specifically for offences to help contain “The Steel Curtain”. The Steelers won 4 Super Bowls in the 1970s and four members from that defence, Jack Lambert, Jack Ham, Joe Greene, and Mel Blount, are in the Hall of Fame.

Swaggerville- 16-26 record from 2009-2011. No playoff appearances. Yet to beat the Alouettes and the Stampeders, considered the class of the CFL.

Now which one of those doesn’t belong in that list.

Listen, let’s give the Bombers some credit first. The team has won more games (5) than they did all of last year (4) and when Buck Pierce and the offense is nowhere to be found, the defence holds down the fort and has been the main reason for most of the Bombers wins this year.

But I have a few issues with this whole “Swaggerville” thing.

The first issue being the list of nicknames that we just went through. Each of those three defences, along with many others not named here (Doomsday Defense, Orange Crush, Monsters of the Midway) had success for a considerable period of time. Each of those teams went to Super Bowls and most of them won one and even multiple championships.

But to give your defence a nickname after 6 games?!

And even worse, it was almost always the media who gave those defences their nicknames. But the Bombers have given this moniker to themselves. Can you say cocky?

Which leads me to my next issue. It’s always good to be confident and a little bit cocky. Confidence is a huge part of how football teams and any team in any sport succeed. But to go as public as the Bombers have had with this nickname is something that they may regret down the road.

BC Lions DE Brent Johnson was the first to speak out on Swaggerville saying in an interview on Vancouver radio, “I think they should sell some t-shirts while they can”. And I can guarantee you that Brent Johnson is not the only player around the CFL who is not a fan of Swaggerville.

A few years back, Brent Johnson was part of a BC Lions defence that was easily the most dominant in the league. The Lions could have come up with a nickname of some sort for their ferocious defence. But they let their playing do the talking and from 2004-2008, the team won 4 Western Division titles, and made 2 Grey Cups, winning in 2006.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers on the other hand, have been dysfunctional over the last couple of years. Yet the defence has no problem talking trash to the rest of the CFL.

What the Bombers have done here is put a target on their backs. Now every time they play, the opposing team will probably be more motivated than they usually are.

The opposing offence will be raring to go and ready to try and tear apart “Swaggerville”.

And the opposing defences will want to prove that they are better than Swaggerville and will come out angrier than ever which, I hate to say it, might put Bombers QB Buck Pierce even more in the line of danger.

You can say all you want on how this nickname was made to pump up Bomber fans and Bomber players. And it definitely has done that, but it has also pumped up the rest of the CFL, which might mean trouble for the Blue and Gold. Swaggerville has pretty much gone mainstream after the Bombers convincing win over the previously undefeated Edmonton Eskimos last Friday. The rest of the league is now ready to welcome in Swaggerville.

And the first Swaggerville test comes Saturday night against Brent Johnson and the BC Lions. The Lions are 1-5 and you can bet the Bombers will be walking into Empire Field with a little swagger in their step, no matter how “humble” their coach seems to think they are.

The Lions are coming off their first win of the year. BC will be fired up.

The Lions are playing at home. BC will be fired up.

Arland Bruce III joins the Lions receiving corps. BC will be fired up.

All signs point to a Lions win on Saturday. (The Lions even opened as 1 point favourites)

If you’re a contender, and if you’re a superior defence, then when the odds are against you, you step up and play out of your minds. In my opinion, this is the Bombers biggest test of the year to date because of the whole Swaggerville phenomenon taking off. If you want to give yourself nicknames, Bombers D, then you better shut down a Lions offence which looks like it could be lights-out for the rest of the year.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are currently in the midst of the longest Grey Cup drought among current CFL teams. It’s been 21 years since this team was crowned CFL champions.

And if this team wants to head back to the Grey Cup, taking place in Vancouver later this year, then Swaggerville might want to quit talking and just start playing football.

Or else this weekend’s trip to Vancouver will be their only trip to Vancouver this year.

ROR-ing to the Top

Many people will remember June 19, 2011 as the beginning of Rory McIlroy's superstar golfing career as he took home his first Major Championship, winning the US Open at Congressional Golf Course by 8 strokes, and also set a record by finishing the tournament at -16, the lowest that anyone has gone in a US Open.

But had a few things gone his way in the last year, yesterday's so-called beginning to a career of greatness, might have actually been the finishing touch on a Rory McIlroy Grand Slam.


A Rare Feat

Winning the Grand Slam consists of winning all four Major Championships in the same calendar year. The Masters, US Open, British Open, and the PGA Championship.


Now nobody has ever won all four in one year, but these four tournaments have not always been considered the four majors.


Bobby Jones won the US Open, British Open, US Amateur, and British Amateur in 1930 and that time, this was considered the Grand Slam. The amateur tournaments were considered majors in 1930. The first Masters Tournament was not played until 1934, and the PGA Championship was just another tournament, not yet recognized as a major.

Six golfers have completed the "career" Grand Slam, which means they have won all four tournaments at some point in their career. Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan, Gene Sarazen, and Tiger Woods.

Woods was the only golfer to come anywhere close to the Grand Slam when in the year 2000, he won the US Open, British Open, and PGA Championship. Three out of four ain't bad. So the next year, Tiger came to the 2001 Masters at Augusta National Golf Course and claimed the green jacket. Technically, this wasn't considered the official Grand Slam, since he hadn't won all four in one year. But the fact was that Woods held all four championships at one point. So people dubbed this as the "Tiger Slam".

A McIlroy Slam?

We may never see a Grand Slam, or a "Tiger" Slam, again in golf. But what a lot of people don't realize is how close we were to a "Rory" Slam. And throw in the fact that he's 22 years old.

Let's take a look at the last four majors and see how the Rory Slam almost came to be:


2011 US Open

McIlroy leads from the beginning of the tournament on Thursday to the end of the tournament on Sunday, going wire-to-wire, and winning by a commanding 8 strokes. There was never any doubt he would win this one as he set numerous scoring records and put on one of the more dominating performances in Major Championship history.




2011 Masters

McIlroy leads after the first three rounds, and goes into Sunday at Augusta with a four shot lead. And even after a rough front nine, he still held a share of the lead heading into the back nine. But in one of the more shocking collapses in Masters history, McIlroy shot triple bogey-bogey-double bogey on the next three holes, and then drove his tee shot on 13 into the water. He ended the day shooting an 80, and finishing 10 shots back of the lead.




2010 PGA Championship

Everyone will remember this tournament for Dustin Johnson's fatal grounding of his club in a bunker, but many people may not remember the logjam at the top of the leaderboard in the final round. Seven players all held the lead at one point on Sunday, and McIlroy was one of those players. It came down to 18 where Rory needed to hole a 15-foot birdie putt to join Martin Kaymer and Bubba Watson in a playoff, but McIlroy missed and ended up finishing the tournament tied for 3rd.




2010 British Open

McIlroy explodes out of the gate, shooting a 9-under 63 to lead after the first round. But in Friday's second round, McIlroy was troubled by a strong wind at the St. Andrews Golf Club in Scotland, and shot a disappointing 80. That was the end for McIlroy, but he quietly posted two solid rounds, a 69 and a 68, on the weekend, finishing the tournament tied for third place.





I know a lot of people hate resorting to "what-if's" but what if McIlroy had kept it steady at Augusta? What if the Irish youngster holes the very makeable putt on 18 at the PGA Championship? What if the Scotland winds hadn't destroyed McIlroy in the 2nd round at the British Open?

Had the luck of the Irish been on Rory's side for those last three tournaments, we'd be talking today about one of the greatest accomplishments in sports history. But the way things are looking right now, there may be a few more brushes with a Rory Slam down the road.

We've had a Tiger roaring for nearly a decade at the top of the golf world, but now we have ourselves a new "Ror" at the top. And we might have to get used to this roar for quite a while.

Habs Fans: Don't Jump!

You’re a Montreal Canadiens fan.

One of your biggest rivals just won their first Stanley Cup in 39 years.

You watched as Zdeno Chara, the same guy who tried to decapitate one of your best prospects, lift the Stanley Cup high above his head.



It doesn’t get much worse than this.

But if you think about it, there’s a bright side to the events of last night.

Here are 10 reasons why you don’t need to be depressed if you’re a Montreal Canadiens fan.

1. We were the only team to give the Boston Bruins serious grief this year. 13 times the two teams met during the regular season and the playoffs. The Montreal Canadiens won 7 of those meetings.

(Note: Watch Chara flip his lid after this goal)






2. The Stanley Cup Champions needed overtime of Game 7 to beat us.

3. We continue to be the last Canadian team to have won the cup (1993)






4. The Conn Smythe Trophy Winner got ragdolled by our goalie

5. Tim Thomas is 37 years old, his days are numbered.

6. Alex Burrows didn’t win a Stanley Cup.






7. We only riot when we win.






8. At least our captain isn’t a psychopath sasquatch.

9. We get four easy wins next year against the Winnipeg Jets. (Ouch)







10. At least the Leafs didn’t win.

History Repeats Itself..

They say anything can happen in Game 7.

They say it’s unpredictable.

One lucky bounce could be the determining factor in who takes home Lord Stanley’s Cup.

So if we’re led to believe that Game 7 is so unpredictable, why then have we seen a very similar pattern among the 15 other Stanley Cup Finals that have gone to a Game 7

Let’s take a look at the previous Game 7’s in Stanley Cup Finals History: (Home team on right side):

1942: Detroit 1, TORONTO 3
1945: TORONTO 2, Detroit 1
1950: NY Rangers 3, DETROIT 4 (OT)
1954: Montreal 1, DETROIT 2 (OT)
1955: Montreal 1, DETROIT 3
1964: Detroit 0, TORONTO 4
1965: Chicago 0, MONTREAL 4
1971: MONTREAL 3, Chicago 2
1987: Philadelphia 1, EDMONTON 3
1994: Vancouver 2, NY RANGERS 3
2001: New Jersey 1, COLORADO 3
2003: Anaheim 0, NEW JERSEY 3
2004: Calgary 1, TAMPA BAY 2
2006: Edmonton 1, CAROLINA 3
2009: PITTSBURGH 2, Detroit 1

For most people, this list probably looks like a bunch of random scores, but take a closer look and we can find ourselves three pretty consistent similarities between these games which may tell us who wins tonight’s clash between the Boston Bruins and the Vancouver Canucks.

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1. Home Team Domination

This has to be the stat that stands out the most. Home teams are 12-3 in Game 7’s of the Stanley Cup Final. Home ice advantage in hockey was just beginning to become a bit overrated, as in recent years, road teams kept winning important playoff games (see: 2010 Playoffs, Road teams 4-0 in Game 7’s)



But this year, we’ve seen home ice become very important yet again as home teams are 5-1 in Game 7.

And if you didn’t believe it is making an impact, just look at what we’ve seen in this 2011 Stanley Cup Final. A road team has yet to win a game. So a lot of things are going in favour of Vancouver here.

Now let’s take a look at the road teams and some of the players on those teams who managed to win Game 7’s away from home. The 1945 Toronto Maple Leafs, the 1971 Montreal Canadiens, and the 2009 Pittsburgh Penguins.


1945 Leafs
Sweeney Schriner- HHOF (Hockey Hall of Fame)
Ted Kennedy -HHOF
Babe Pratt -HHOF
Frank McCool- Calder Trophy Winner

1971 Habs
Jean Beliveau- HHOF, Hart Trophy, Art Ross Trophy
Henri Richard-HHOF
Jacques Lemaire-HHOF
Yvan Cournoyer- HHOF
Frank Mahovlich-Calder Trophy, HHOF
Jacques Laperriere-Calder Trophy, Norris Trophy, HHOF
Guy Lapointe-HHOF
Serge Savard-HHOF
Ken Dryden-5-time Vezina Trophy Winner, Calder Trophy, HHOF

2009 Pens
Sidney Crosby-Hart Trophy, Art Ross Trophy,
Evgeni Malkin-Art Ross Trophy

My point is that those three teams had unreal talent on their teams. The Boston Bruins do not have unreal talent. They have 1 (maybe) future hall of famer in Mark Recchi.. The Bruins did not have anyone score more than 65 points this year. David Krejci, their leading scorer, is certainly not Sidney Crosby. Zdeno Chara is nowhere near Guy Lapointe. And Tim Thomas should not even be mentioned in the same breath as Ken Dryden.

The Bruins are a bunch of hard working players (the “lunch pail gang” as former coach Don Cherry called them) who get their noses dirty in the corners and throw their weight around. But as history shows, teams like these usually come up short in Game 7 of the Finals due to the lesser amount of talent.

And when they want to be, The Canucks are easily the more talented team in this series.

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2. Low scoring/close games

Roberto Luongo will not puke all over himself again tonight. At least, that’s what history says. Expect both goaltenders to be on their "A" games tonight. Only once in 15 Game 7 Finals has there been more than 5 goals total. As you see above, the common score tends to be 2-1, 3-1, 3-0.

The last Finals Game 7 was the Penguins/Wings 2009 clash, and believe it or not, I recall this game being a real snoozer. The shot totals for both teams were very low, and it appeared that everyone was scared to make that crucial mistake and become the goat. (Detroit’s Brad Stuart was the eventual goat, giving the puck away which led to Pittsburgh’s first goal)

And as history shows us, this pattern will continue tonight.

Also, look at the margins between scores. 12 of the 15 games are decided by 2 goals or less, including 7 one-goal games. Basically, expect the team to score first tonight to just go into lockdown mode and play extremely defensive hockey.

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3. An unexpected hero

Expect the game winning goal to be scored tonight by some 3rd/4th line grinder.

Or at least that’s what history tells us.

I just finished saying how the teams with more skill usually win these games. And yes, that’s still usually the case, but for whatever reason, it will usually be a lesser known individual who will be the Stanley Cup hero in Game 7.

Here are the names of some players who have scored game-winning goals in Game 7

Pete Langelle-1942
Pete Babando-1950
Tony Leswick-1954
Alex Tanguay-2001
Mike Rupp-2003
Ruslan Fedotenko-2004
Frantisek Kaberle-2006
Max Talbot-2009

Who are these guys????

The last 5 game 7’s all have pretty average guys scoring game-winners. (Yes, Alex Tanguay is very average…)

Basically, over half of the time, we see some plug who really hasn’t done a lot in the playoffs step up at the right time. And, ironically, there are a lot of plugs on both the Bruins and Canucks tonight.

Can anyone say Raffi Torres??

***************************************

If history has any effect on tonight’s game, the home team Vancouver Canucks will win a low scoring and close 2-1 game, with a game-winner from either Raffi Torres, Maxim Lapierre, or Victor Oreskovich and take home the franchise’s first Stanley Cup.

NHL Round 1 Playoff Preview

I've watched the Stanley Cup Playoffs for basically my entire life, and every year at the beginning of the postseason, there's usually one or two clear-cut favourites to win the Stanley Cup, usually the 1 or 2 seeds in the conferences.

Last year, everyone rode the Capitals and the Hawks pretty hard. Two years ago, the Bruins and the Sharks were the popular picks. These were teams who had very few weaknesses and were expected to rise to the top and represent their conferences in the finals.

Fast forward to the start of the 2011 playoffs and tell me there's a clear cut favourite.

There's not.

Normally a popular pick would be the President-trophy winning team, this year being the Vancouver Canucks. But the biggest question for the Canucks is can they avenge their past demons against a team (Chicago) that backed into the playoffs. If this team was a favourite, everybody would be picking them to handle Chicago with ease. But when a team has demons, it's hard to consider them a Stanley Cup favourite.

Same goes for the 1 seed Capitals in the East. Does this team look like a 1 seed? Hell no. Last year, this team has one of the most lethal offences ever, and they still can't get past the 1st round. Now their offense production has dramatically decreased and you're telling me they're a Stanley Cup favourite? No way.

The Flyers? Goaltending issues
The Sharks? Average year for their big scorers. Will they show up in the playoffs? The Wings? Too old.
The Bruins? Remember last year?
The Penguins? Crosby and Malkin out.

How can we annoint any of these teams as favourites? We really can't.

Which is why for the first time in as long as I can remember, we have one of the most wide open Stanley Cup races ever. And that usually creates tons and tons of excitement. NHL, get your History Will be Made Commercials ready to go, I have a feeling that this year's postseason has more than a few moments waiting to happen.

East

1. Washington
8. NY Rangers

So we're expected to believe that this Capitals team has changed for the better by adopting a defensive style that will help them in the long run. The team's offensive production has dropped dramatically with guys like Ovechkin, Backstrom, and Semin, once Art Ross candidates, now guys who struggled to stay in the top 30 in scoring all year.

Wait a minute..why should I be impressed by this defence again? John Carlson is really the only bright spot on the blueline. They've got Mike Green, who has been the biggest bust of the year, Scott "Pylon" Hannan, and their big trade deadline acquistion Dennis Wideman, out for the first round.

Now it's taken me a while to buy in this Rangers team, but their forward depth and defense depth is clearly a lot deeper than the Crapitals.

Who would ya rather have on your 3rd line? Artem Anisimov & Wojtek Wolski (NYR) or Boyd Gordon & Marcus Johansson (WSH)?

Who would ya rather have as your 3 and 4 defenseman? Bryan McCabe & Steve Eminger (NYR) or Scott Hannan & Jeff Schultz (WSH)? The Rangers are deeper.

Now it's bad enough that the Caps offense is struggling but remember what happened when the Caps went up against a hot goalie last year? Jaroslav Halak shut them down and the Caps got frustrated. Now they go up against Henrik Lundqvist, who is 15 times better than Halak and King Henrik has been lights out down the stretch.

Remember this speech from 24/7?



That's nothing compared to what Boudreau will be like when his team is down 1-0 in the series and trailing game 2, 3-1 at the 2nd intermission. And if you thought last year's debacle was bad, just wait til 2 weeks from now.

This Caps team is gonna explode in a bad way, and it's gonna be ugly.

NY Rangers in 4



2. Philadelphia
7. Buffalo

Aaahhh...a trip back into my childhood.



These teams had a few playoff series back in the 90's which were very rough and remembered for moments like these. This year, don't expect that, mainly because the Flyers could easily rag doll the Sabres if they wanted to. Yeah, it's been a nice little run for the Sabres to get into the playoffs. But the Flyers depth at forward and defense is more than enough to contain 5'6" Nathan Gerbe. Can you imagine the sight when Gerbe and Pronger go into the corner together? Or when any Sabre goes into the corner with any Flyer? All bets are that it will look something like this.



Yeah. Give me the Flyers.

Philadelphia in 6



3. Boston
6. Montreal



For the 896th time in playoff history, it will be Habs/Bruins. And as a Habs fan, I feel worse and worse about this series as we get closer to Game 1. Looking at this Bruins team, I feel they have the best lineup in the playoffs right now. And being the hockey expert that I am, I'm going with my head on this one and saying there's no way the Habs find a way to get out of this one.

Boston in 4

But wait...

this isn't just any old playoff series....this is Habs/Bruins. It doesn't matter how much better one team is than the other. And let me just say a few things about the Boston Bruins team.

-Montreal beat Boston 4 out of 6 times this year

-In the games between the Habs and Bruins, I watched Boston goalie Tim Thomas make a bonehead play in almost all of them. The guy's unorthodox style is gonna bite him in the butt soon enough. And his shady puck handling skills have disaster written everywhere.

-The Habs crowd is going to be bonkers, to say the least. The Bruins will get rattled.

-The Bruins are coming off the biggest choke in professional sports history in last year's playoffs. They're still thinking about it for sure.

-If the Butler Bulldogs can make an incredible cinderella run two years straight, then so can the Montreal Canadiens.

-Face it Bruins fans, the Habs OWN you in the playoffs. Remember 2002? 2004? What about 2008? 1977? 1978? 1979? 1953? We could go on and on and on. It's the same story. Habs win. Habs win. Habs win.

So even though my head says the Bruins, my heart is in other places....





4. Pittsburgh
5. Tampa Bay

Which Lightning team will strike in this series? They're as confusing a bunch to figure out as anybody. One week they're losing games to the Panthers, and the next week they're beating up some of the league's best.

The Penguins are anything but inconsistent this year, which is very surprising due to the loss of Crosby and Malkin. And whatever coach Dan Bylsma's been telling this bunch, it's been working, and there's no reason to believe that it won't work against goalie Dwayne Roloson and the Lightning.

Give this Lightning team another year and they'll be deadly. But for now, the Penguins have this winning vibe that an inconsistent team like the Lightning won't be able to stop.

And as for Crosby possibly returning in the first round...



Stay home and get better, Sidney. They won't need you this round.

Pittsburgh in 7



WEST

1. Vancouver
8. Chicago

Other than the Habs beating the Bruins, the sight I would most want to see in the first round of the playoffs would be the Canucks looking cluelessly around the ice as the Chicago Blackhawks celebrate a 3rd consecutive series win over them.

All kinds of hilarity.

The look on Canucks coach Alain Vigneault's face when he realizes he's probably getting fired before he gets back to the dressing room. The look on the Sedins face after they once again disappear in the playoffs. The look on Roberto Luongo's face after he realizes he's actually one of the most overrated goalies of all-time. I would pay large sums of money to see this happen.

Unfortunately, I dont think it will.

It's soooo tough for a team that revamped half their roster to achieve the same success as the previous year, and the Blackhawks have showed us how important guys like Sopel, Ladd, Versteeg and Byfuglien were as the team backed into the playoffs due to a Dallas Stars loss. And now they go up against a loaded Canucks team, who have to be chomping at the bit to get this Hawks team. There's no way they're letting this Hawks team beat them three straight years. And if they do, the entire city of Vancouver may explode in a fit of rage. The Hawks team is lacking in offense after their top 6, and there has to be a little bit of doubt surrounding goalie Corey Crawford.

The Nux are not lacking in any department right now and goalie Roberto Luongo is going to have to play like Rory McIlroy on Sunday at the Masters for the Hawks to have a chance of winning.

Take a deep breath Canucks fans. If you get through this series..your demons are past you. And then the sky's the limit.

Vancouver in 7



2. San Jose
7. Los Angeles

The common thought among many at the beginning of the season was that these two teams current playoff seeds might be reversed at this time. A 2 seed LA against a 7 seed San Jose. The Kings were expected to contend for the Pacific Division title and get a top 3 seed, while the Sharks were expected to sink lower down the Western Conference ladder. But the Kings, surprisingly, could not take that next step forward and the Sharks confirmed that they're not done yet.

It's just not a very impressive Kings team right now minus Anze Kopitar and Justin Williams questionable to play. And right now, the Sharks are too hot at the moment for the Kings to pull any sort of upset. The Sharks have as solid a top six forward crew as any in the league (Marleau, Thornton, Heatley, Pavelski, Couture, Clowe) and even though they might not have put up numbers like they've done in years past, it's still a team that can score. And with Stanley Cup winner Antii Niemi showing he's not a one-year wonder in net, expect big things for the Sharks.

Remember, this isn't the same old Sharks team. This team won two rounds and made a conference final run last year. They've finally gone on that deep playoff run and with the uncertainty in the West, is this the year they take that final push forward?

San Jose in 5



3.Detroit
6.Phoenix

Somehow, the Coyotes did it again. With a subpar roster on paper, they claim a playoff berth and get a six seed only to match up with the high-flying Wings in the first round. But let's remember something here. These two teams squared off last year in Round one and the Wings BARELY beat an inexperienced Coyotes team before getting manhandled by San Jose in round two. This is the same Wings team, plus Mike Modano......

The Coyotes have seven different guys who have scored at least 15 goals. It speaks volumes about their depth and not many teams can say they have that many 15 goal scorers. Their depth gets overlooked quite a bit, including on the back end,where they boast solid presences like Yandle, Morris, Aucoin, Jovanovski. And let's not forget the calm, cool, and collected Ilya Bryzgalov in net. Without him, the Coyotes are not in the playoffs these last two years.

This Wings team has the feel of a classic Wings squad from the 2000s that had the marvelous regular season, only to flop in the first round. There's nothing scary about this Wings team. A banged up Henrik Zetterberg? An aging Nik Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski on defense? A giant question mark in Jimmy Howard between the pipes? I'm not convinced.

Phoenix in 5



4.Anaheim
5.Nashville

You could argue that it's one of the best teams on paper (Anaheim) taking on one of the worst teams on paper (Nashville). Other than Shea Weber and Ryan Suter(two defencemen)this team is loaded with a bunch of unknown and unproven guys. Case in point, when Sergei Kostitsyn is your leading scorer, you've got issues.

And I dont know about you, but there seems to be something special about this Ducks team. They've been pretty magical as of late.

Randy Carlyle= Gordon Bombay
Ryan Getzlaf= Charlie Conway
Corey Perry= Adam Banks

See where I'm going with this? That's right. This team has the feel of the amazing Disney Mighty Ducks teams from the early 1990s. Hell, let's keep it going.

Ray Emery= Greg Goldberg
George Parros= Dean Portman
Lubomir Visnovsky= Fulton Reed
Jason Blake= Connie Moreau

Alright, that's enough Disney Mighty Ducks talk. But an epic video wouldn't hurt.



Anaheim in 4

Now that's drama..

What's one of the easiest ways to piss me off? Tell me that golf is boring to watch... I dare you. I just finished watching the final round of the 2011 Masters, which was won by South African Charl Schwartzel. And yet again in the final round of a major, there were more twists and turns in those round than an episode of a television drama series.

Former World #1 Tiger Woods made a dramatic push to the top of the leaderboard after starting the day 7 shots back and held a share of the lead late in the day.

Take that, Grey's Anatomy.

8 different players....8!!!... held the lead or at least a share of the lead during the final 9 holes on Sunday, something rarely ever seen at a major championship.

Top that, Lost.

The best part..Unlike all those tv shows, this Masters drama was unscripted. As is all other final round golf drama.

It wasn't the greatest final round I've ever seen, but it definitely cracked the top 10 and maaaybe top 5 on my list.

And here is my unofficial guide to what constitutes an amazing final round of golf.

1. There has to be some sort of epic choke/meltdown

We saw one of the biggest meltdowns in recent major memory as 21 year old Rory McIlroy crapped his pants on about six different occasions on Sunday and after coming in to the day leading by 4 shots(!!!), he shot an 80 and fell to 15th place. Now I love watching golfers make great shots and strategically pick apart a professional golf course, but I like it even more when golfers choke and implode. Come on guys, you're professionals! Why should we feel bad for you..you make thousands of dollars every time you play. And while most people probably felt bad for little Rory, I couldn't help but chuckle.

2. There has to be uncertainty as to who is going to be the winner

Most memorable tournaments usually are born when we have absolutely no idea who is going to win the tournament. There were 11 different guys who could have won this tournament today and it took until about 5:15 central time (45 minutes before the end of the round) before we actually had some sort of idea as Adam Scott and Charl Schwartzel pulled away from the rest of the field.

3. A good golfer has to win the tournament

One of my biggest pet peeves as a golf fan, and as a sports fan, is the sight of no-names winning. I can't stand it. And the tournaments usually become forgettable if Shaun Micheel or Ben Curtis or Mike Weir wins. (Sorry Mike...you were never that good.) Now you're probably thinking that Charl Schwartzel is a no-name, but he's not. If you follow the sport of golf at all, you would have heard Schwartzel's name before. My rule for a "good golfer" winning the tournament is that the golfer has to be among the top 50 in the world rankings at the time of their victory. And heading into this week, Schwartzel was ranked 29th. He's good.

4. There has to be a defining shot/moment.

It was looking like Tiger Woods' roar to the top was going to be something historic, but it wasn't enough to claim his 5th Masters title. The winner, Charl Schwartzel had a few defining shots/moments on Sunday. The chip in for birdie at 1 and his hole-out for eagle on the 3rd. But the defining moment has to be the way Schwartzel ended his round. 4 straight birdies on 15,16,17, and 18 to lock up the green jacket. That's unheard of on the grounds at Augusta National on a Masters Sunday.

Will people remember this tournament for Schwartzel's heroics or McIlroy's barfing all over himself? And speaking of barfing, that's what most people would rather do than watch a round of golf on television. It's the sad truth. But after today's events at Augusta, can we please put an end to this myth that golf resembles watching paint dry?

Bacon Bits: Looking Back at 2 years of Kevin's Bacon

My boss at 4 Seasons Chinese Food, who reads my blog once in a while (or so she says), recently asked me "You know Kevin Bacon is an actor, right?"

Yes I know, boss.

That's why just over a year and a half ago when CreComm started, I named my blog "Kevin's Bacon". It was a bad attempt at a funny name.

And you could argue that alot of the posts on this blog have been a bad attempt at being funny.

But that's Kevin's Bacon.

Now that CreComm is done at the end of the week, our weekly blog assignments that we were required to do for school are no more. And that means a lot of students will part ways with their blog.

Not me.

Kevin's Bacon will still be cooking after CreComm, focusing mostly on my thoughts on the world of sports. Blogging has been a fun experience for myself during the time in CreComm. And I have learned that I want to keep doing it.

So by no means is this a "farewell to the blog" post. It's just a "best of.." this blog so far...

Here are some of my favourite posts from the last year and a half:

1. This one is from September 2010 during the civic election when one of our journalism assignments was to go in one of the electoral wards around the city, and talk to people. Here were the results ...

2. Car flags made an appearance around the city during last year's World Cup. Here are my do's and don'ts when you decide to put a car flag on your car.

3. I am a huge fan of rock music, and made an epic list this past summer of my favourite rock bands from A-Z.

4. A retrospective of last year's Stanley Cup Playoffs.

5. I was also once a big fan of professional wrestling, but I discuss here why I lost interest.

6. A holiday-themed look at the NFL season during December of 2009.