Guess That Ass?

I’m starting to think pink is my favorite colour, at least on smoking hot chicks it is. Almost had an accident when I first saw this pictures, I’ve come to the simple conclusion I’m an assman…just like 99.9% of the guys out there!
But seriously chicks in pink hot tight booty shorts and pregnant chicks don’t mix. Keep away chicks with the perfect asses in hot pink booty shorts away from prego chicks…thank you!!

The Top 10 Players That Were Never Drafted

by Daniel Sallows… Just because you may be an undrafted player coming out of  the junior ranks or college hockey doesn’t necessarily mean you may not get a shot in the NHL.

Here is a list of ten players that made the most of their opportunities and then some; the top ten undrafted players all time.

10. Martin St. Louis

St.Louis most likely will move up on this list once its all said and done, and why not, the Tampa Bay Lightning’s answer to “Mighty Mouse” has been nothing short of brilliant. The three time Hobey Baker Award finalist for college player of the year was signed as a free agent by the Calgary Flames in 1998, but was released after just 69 games and picked up by the Lightning. Since then he has helped them win a Stanley Cup and scored 485 points in 539 games for Tampa. Nice move Craig Button!

9. Tim Kerr

Signed as a free agent by the Philadelphia Flyers, Kerr possessed unprecedented skill for his 6′3″ 225 lb stature. If not for 5 shoulder operations, and a career plagued with bad luck he would have been one of the all time greats. In the four seasons Kerr played over 70 games he scored 54, 54, 58 and 58 goals, and had 48 in a 69 game campaign as well. In fact in his 655 games played Tim Kerr finished with 674 points. No wonder Bryan Trottier said the only way to stop him was to put chains around his arms and legs.

8. Borje Salming

A pioneer of European’s in the NHL, Salming was signed as a free agent by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1973.  In 17 years in the NHL Salming had 787 points and was considered one of the best defencemen of his era. Ask fellow Swede’s Niklas Lidstrom and Mats Sundin who they looked up to as a kid and the name Borje Salming will be mentioned without a doubt.

7. Steve Thomas

After scoring 51 goals and 54 assists in 70 games in 1983-84 with his junior club the Toronto Marlboros, the Maple Leafs signed Steve “Stumpy” Thomas to a contract. Though he put up decent numbers in just over two seasons with the Leafs he was soon dealt to the Chicago Blackhawks  where he became a bona-fied NHLer. In 1235 games played Thomas scored 421 goals and added 512 assists, good for 933 points. Not too shabby Stumpy.

6. Ed Belfour

After playing Tier Two hockey as an overage 21 year old, Belfour accepted a scholarship to the University of North Dakota in 1986-87. After going 29-4-0 in 34 games the Chicago Blackhawks quickly signed the undrafted goalie, and boy did it pay off in 1990-91 when the “Eagle” went 43-19-7 with a 2.47 goals against average in 74 games. Belfour is 484-320-125 lifetime, with a 2.49 goals against average and 76 shut-outs.

look for part 2 soon…

Scoring Runs Is Fun

by Navin Vaswani… Another 14 runs. Another 20+ hit game. Twenty-one last night, to be exact. More importantly, another win for the Blue Jays. I don’t know about you, but I could get used to this type of offence.

I’m tempted to yet again ask where these guys have been all season long, but, well, Sidney Ponson was on the mound for the Yankees yesterday. Sorry, Sir Sidney Ponson. You know things are desperate down in the Bronx when Ponson is part of the rotation. And, get this, Carl Pavano is starting on Saturday. Carl fucking Pavano! I didn’t even know he was still alive, let alone still under contract and pitching.

Prediction: Pavano gets his ass handed to him on Saturday, and is never heard from again.

Even though they faced Ponson and a Yankees committee of garbage relievers, full marks to the Jays offence. They finally gave Roy Halladay some God damn run support. Joey Inglett, Marco Scutaro, Alex Rios and Adam Lind went a combined 14-for-22, scoring 11 runs and driving home eight.

Lind continues to bring smiles, and erections, to the Jays faithful. As for Inglett, what do you think, has he played well enough to be given a shot at second base next season (with Aaron Hill moving to short)? I’m leaning towards saying yes. His .308 batting average in 83 games is impressive, and he’s been solid out in the field as well. He’s most definitely filled in admirably for Hill. The final month of the season is going to be an important one for him.

As for Doc, win number 15 went in the bag last night. Him and his BFF A.J. Burnett have a nice little battle going on for most wins on the team. They’ve got 31 between the two of them, and have finally become the dominant 1-2 punch we envisioned they would be three years ago.

J.P. Ricciardi was busy yesterday as well, picking up Jose Bautista off the scrap heap from the Pittsburgh Pirates. It speaks incredible volumes about the Jays offence when a guy who’s let go by Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh! - has more home runs in 2008, 12, than any Blue Jay. That is so immensely sad, but I guess it just goes to show how dominating the Jays pitching staff - both the rotation and the bullpen - has been this season. The arms are the reason why we’re five games above .500, and the reason why I’m still dreaming about the wild card.

I mean, even Melvin fucking Mora has 95 RsBI. Rios leads the Jays with 58. Bautista has 44. It truly is amazing we’re still in this thing.

Here come the Boston Red Sox, and I’m sure a contingent of Massholes to the city with them. Seven games back, I’m going to keep it real: nothing but a sweep will do.

check out Navin’s blog Sports and the City

NBA Predictions: Best Shooting Guards For The 2008-2009 Season

by TJ Zwarych…

Canadian Little Leaguers Leave with a Win

by Brady Rynyk… Family and friends gathered at the Little League International complex in Williamsport, Pennsylvania to watch Canada play in the 2008 Little League World Series.   It would be the team’s third and final game of the tournament matching them against the Arabian-American team from Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.  A skilled team that was making its ninth consecutive appearance in the tournament, and its first as Middle East and Africa Region (MEA) champion.

After losing 8-1 to Venezuela in their opening game and 9-3 to the Japan team from Tokyo, Canada’s spirits seemed surprisingly high entering the game considering their hopes of advancing in the tournament had been squashed.   Even after falling behind 5-2 at the very beginning of the game, Canadian chants filled the team’s dugout to spark a sense of rejuvenation in the players.  Ryle Edwards who took the mound in the 2nd inning, pitched with great determination, holding off the opposing team to keep Canada within reach of their first win in the 2008 little league World Series game.

The team from British Columbian battled to keep the game close until the fifth inning when Canada’s Jake Hagen and Eric Watkins hit back-to-back deep balls to come within one run of Saudi Arabia.   It was the team’s first two homeruns in the tournament and sparked a furious rally that could not be stopped.

In the bottom of the fifth inning the Canadian Little Leaguers from White Rock BC went on a tear loading up the bases, in hopes of not returning home without a single win in the tournament.  With the bases juiced 3rd baseman Taylor Bedwell approached the plate focused and confident, shaking off the pressure situation he was about to face.  After making contact and fouling off a pitch, Bedwell softly hit a little dribbler just right of the mound where opposing pitcher Bryce Jackson fielded the ball looking to turn a double play and get out of the inning.  With no one covering 2nd base, the pitcher was unable to make a clean play to second and in a last stitch effort Jackson made a delayed toss to the catcher. Without even a close play at homeplate, Canada scored the tying run, while managing to keep all runners safe on base.  Having noticeably taken young Bryce off his game and unable to find the plate, four straight balls were delivered, walking in the go ahead run for Canada.  It was the teams first come from behind lead of the tournament.   After a Saudi Arabia pitching change and a wild pitch, Canada was able to add some cushion to their lead and never looked back.

Although the kids from White Rock did not come home with a first place finish, they certainly did not disappoint the nation.  With wide eyes and bright smiles the group of 12 year olds reminded viewers that - win or lose its how you play the game.  The BC boys did just that, enjoying the once in a lifetime experience of representing their country in the Little League World Series.  The team put forth a fantastic effort throughout the tournament, which was not entirely reflective in the scores and did it with great sportsmanship.  If anything these little leaguers restored a sense of passion for a simple game, and a pure love for baseball.  Something every Canadian should be proud of.

Blogs and Bloggers

by James Borbath… Last November I entered into the brave new world of Blogs and Bloggers. I honestly did not know much about it. My background was in television and radio. I had paid good money to learn about those traditional media forms. But the world is changing and it is not just in sports but in politics and elsewhere. Blogs have challenged the main stream media for your attention. That is why you will see all the main stream media outlets having their people blog as well. The Pros vs Joes version of media combat so to speak. I was never exactly a pro and I don’t think I am exactly a Joe given my experience. I am somewhere in the middle. It is a pretty cool place to be.

I value what the traditional media brings to the table. They have something that the majority of bloggers do not. That is access to events, players and the people that make the news. That is not to mention they have a huge budget and resources to support what they do. The average blogger has to fight and struggle to build respect and an audience. When a regular media outlet advertises what they do they have access to large numbers. Bloggers mean time are accused of being Spam creators and get shot down when they try to display their hard work. I have never understood why this is so. I have yet to go to anybody’s home and force them to click on a link be it here on T.O Sports or on my own Dino Nation Blog. But people seem to have a backlash to it that I have never understood. It is not like bloggers are looking to sell you online Porn they just want to share what they do with you.

But the Blog community is growing and it is no different from the regular media in some ways. You will find people that are good and people that are bad. You will find a variety of ideas as to what is actually news worthy. I mean if you are sick and tired of hearing about Brett Farve maybe someone out there has something else to say. That being said I just drafted Farve for my fantasy team despite that. You have some blog sites that are like the stuff you see at your grocery check out line. Others try their best to responsible journalists. I am one of those. I had the chance to work at a Major Sports Network(TSN) for a brief time. It was a really good learning experience of what big time sports networks are all about. I may not always agree with what they do and have to say. That being said there are many hard working people both in front of the cameras and behind them that work hard and most are generally fans of sports.

The problem with the main stream regular media is they become jaded and arrogant to a degree. They sometimes feel that whatever they sell you the general public will buy it and like it. I mean the over kill of hockey in this country has turned me from a casual hockey fan to someone that could careless about it. I am sure that makes me in the minority but the point is that major networks can take things and based on the overkill of coverage they provide turn people off sports as much as they can make them excited about it. Truth is the networks are not always right. Want an example of that. I give you the UFC. Now sure you see a ton of the stuff on T.V. But there was a large growing fan base for it long before the networks took it seriously. They were the last to join the party that Dana White and the UFC had created.

Blogs can be an alternative to what you get in the mainstream media. But the one thing that is truly different is I think Bloggers for the most part are fans.” You can’t be a fan and cover sports with objective eye.” I have heard this one from many people in the media that I respect greatly. I don’t know if I buy that. I think you can be a fan and still know enough to be objective about what you are watching. Fans are not stupid and they understand the game. If you can take your passion and set it to the side and be objective I think you can be both.

All of this is a product of the Internet. It is the life blood to allowing the bloggers to live. I will paraphrase Sammy Sosa and say “The Internet has been very good to me”. It is how I have been able to do some of the great things I have been able to write and share. I contacted people in Australia and wrote a feature on Nathan Jawai. Have had interviews with people in the main stream media. I would say that 95% of all the contacts I have been fortunate to make come from the Internet. It has allowed me to continue to do what I love and that is talk about sports. Ok I guess technically most of the time it is typing. But many now can easily do podcasts and post videos on websites. So really it is not unrealistic to think that we can do almost anything that the real media does.

Except that whole access thing. That is hard to pull off and you may think it is out of fear of pro sports teams. I admit it is likely a factor. But it really comes down to the fact there is little to know regulation and structure to blogs. In real media a story will pass through may hands prior to you seeing it at home. Edited and takes into account any legal issues that may or may not apply. A Blog is really in most cases a one man operation or like here on T.O Sports a collection of people from all over. It is not set up like a major media outlet. I don’t think T.O Sports has a legal department I know the Dino Nation Blog does not. I have about 3 years of Media Law and that is all. Enough to know what I should and should not do. But there is no confidence from pro sports franchises that they can trust blogs and bloggers that are not run by main stream media. It takes a lot of effort to prove to people and teams that you are on the level and they can trust you. I have worked hard at that and had some success in forming relationships with people.

What is the end game of all of this? I think The Score has the closest handle on it right now. They have the entire Bullhorn section on their website and it allows people to post videos and blogs and whatever they like. In a sense they have turned a section of their website over to the general public. It is a neat idea and is the closest thing to acceptance of the new generation media I have seen. Will a day come when people that blog can become a part of the accepted media? I think it can and will. I work hard at trying to represent the Blog world in a good way. The major Networks are starting to realize that bloggers are a factor and can’t just be dismissed as a fad or a trend. They are not going away and more are coming everyday. If a day comes that you will see Bloggers break down the doors to access to games, players and events it will be the start of a new age media. Some already have done that and slowly Bloggers are getting respect. It is a brave new world for everyone so enjoy it and take advantage of both sides of the media. They both together can help you be entertained and informed and that is what sports fans want. Right?

Check out James at Dino Nation Blog