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Home / Archive: 18. March 2009
by Martin Fitzpatrick…
I’ll admit it, I was a doubter.
Phil Michelson began the 2009 season looking as if he had not picked up a golf club all winter.
Michelson began the season with a missed cut at the FBR Open, followed by a tie for 42nd at the Buick Invitational and finished 55th at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am.
Finishing outside of the top-40 in each of his first three events was far less concerning than the way in which Mickelson was struggling with every single aspect of his game, including his legendary short game.
Then, out of nowhere Michelson won the Northern Trust Open. Certainly a major step in the right direction, but that was not convinicing enough to believe he was back on track.
At Riviera, Michelson opened with a 63 which he then followed with a 72 the next day.
On moving day Michelson again blistered Riviera Country Club with a 62 which was good enough to give him a four shot cushion heading into the final round.
Mickelson could have made a convincing case for having officially found his game by going out on Sunday and confidently closing out the tournament.
But, this is Phil Mickelson we are talking about. Part of what makes him so intriguing to watch is that nothing ever seems to come easy for the guy.
Michelson’s four-shot lead at the start of the day turned into a two-stroke deficit with just three holes to play.
So, as he has done so many times before, Michelson somehow pulled himself from the depths of defeat and birdied two out of the last three holes before calmly sinking a five-foot par put on the 72nd hole to edge out Steve Striker by a stroke.
Winning any PGA Tour event is a big deal, particular a tournament with as strong a field as the Northern Trust Open.
But, I was still not convinced that Mickelson had found his top form.
Mickelson played well the next week at the Accenture World Golf Championship, finishing in a tie for ninth before moving onto Doral for the WGC-CA Championship.
There, he absolutely convinced me that he is indeed playing some of the best golf I have seen from him in a very long time. Maybe the best ever.
The fact that Mickelson won at Doral only slightly contributed to why I believe Mickelson is now as good as he’s ever been. Mickelson could have finished tenth at Doral and I would have still believed that his game was at its top form.
Besides having a well known tendency to waver under the pressure of big-time events, Michelson’s Achilles heel has been his incredibly erratic driver.
His erratic play off the tee bit him at the 2006 US Open and has played a central role in his struggles over the past two years, particularly at the majors.
From 100 yards in there are few players better than Mickelson and around there greens you would be hard pressed to find anyone better than Mickelson.
Michelson’s main problem has been his inability to hit the fairway off the tee, resulting in his beginning way too many holes at a marked disadvantage.
Now, as if Callaway has not given Michelson enough through massive multi-million dollar sponsorship deals, they may have actually saved his game.
And quite possibly his career with the creation of their new FT-9 driver.
For the first time in a very long time, Phil Mickelson does not look like a deer in headlights on the tee box.
For a player that analyzed his tee shots so much he used to actually carry two drivers – one for a draw and one for a fade – Mickelson feels confident enough in his new FT-9 driver to have taken all thought out of the process other than literally just gripping it and ripping it.
Despite getting off to a very slow start in 2009, we always knew that Mickelson’s short game and iron play would eventually come around; he is simply too talented of a player for it not to.
However, what no one expected was that Mickelson would actually begin driving the ball longer and straighter than he ever has before.
Prior to the WGC-CA Championship, Mickelson was averaging 291 yards off the tee. Through four rounds at Doral last week, Mickelson averaged 303.6 yards off the tee and hit very few of those outrageous drives that were so far off line they have his caddie, Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay, wishing he had a Sky Caddie to figure out a yardage he would have never even thought to anticipate.
Mickelson still hit just 51.79 percent of fairways off the tee at Doral last week. However that statistic is somewhat misleading, as his wayward drives were rarely as far off line as we have become accustomed to seeing from Mickelson.
So, why is Phil Mickelson better right now than at possibly any other point during his illustrious 17-year career?
Well, you now have a player that is absolutely bombing the ball long and straight off the tee and combining that with a great short iron game and arguably the best short game in the world.
Mickelson has always had the strong short iron game and magical short game. What he has very rarely been able to do is combine those aspects of his game with a consistent level of accuracy off the tee.
Phil Mickelson bombing drives and hitting short irons that appear to be GPS programmed to track the flag stick will, without question, be a force to be reckoned with at Augusta in a few weeks.
But, then again, as we all know, Mickelson’s game can come and go from shot to shot, let alone week to week. So, we could very well see a vastly different Phil Mickelson at the Masters in a few weeks.
But, for now at least, he has me convinced that he might have just found some distance and accuracy off the tee that is capable of once again carrying him to the upper echelons of the game.
By Mark Ritter… 
The Hockey News recently posted the Top 50 prospect rankings, sadly there were no Toronto Maple Leaf draft choices on that list. What does this say about the Maple Leafs drafting skills? Are the right people in place? Is there anyone on the horizon that will be a franchise player? Which team is doing the best job at the draft table?
First things first, the Toronto Maple Leafs have had very little first round draft choices in the past decade, with that in mind it is difficult to blame the Scouts for the organizational failures, or is it? When I looked at The Hockey News Top 50 list I was pleasantly surprised to see a number of players in the second, third and beyond rounds of the draft. In fact, of the 50 players listed no less than 16 of them were drafted 30th or later. That means 32% of the Top 50 prospects were draft beyond the first round, not bad!
So what does this mean? First, it means that the Toronto Maple Leafs are not alone when it comes to evaluating talent. There are countless stories of teams leaving players on the table whilst settling for a dud at the draft. First round draft picks come with great expectations, they also come with question marks. How do you predict how a player will develop physically and mentally? How do you predict weather or not a player has the potential to get better, how do you measure a players future hockey sense? Beyond the top 15 picks it’s a complete crap shoot, in fact, even the top 15 selections contain hidden gems and numerous flops.
The Leafs employ a number of people in their scouting department, the membership includes, Pro Scouts Pat Conacher, Tom Watt and Dennis Bonvie, Director of Amateur Scouting Dave Morrison, Amateur Scout Mike Palmateer, George Armstrong and Alan Power and European Scouts Thommie Bergman and Peter Inachak, Amongst others. In fact, the Leafs employ a total of 16 Scouts, from the outside looking in that would seem like plenty of eyes watching up and coming talent, sadly, they eyes have either been closed on more evenings than not, or they were watching the wrong players, their success is very spotty, teetering on pathetic.
Of the Players currently on the Maple Leafs roster there are a total of 9 that were drafted by the organization. Of the nine, only Thomas Kaberle- who was taken in the 8th round/204th overall, Luke Schenn- who was taken in the first round/5th overall, Alexei Ponikarovsky- who was taken in the fourth round/87th overall can be considered legitimate NHL players. The others, Ian White, Anton Stralman, Matt Stajan and John Mitchell, are mediocre players/prospects at best, while Nikolai Kulemin and Phil Oreskovic can only be described as unknown to date. There are a couple of things to take away from these selections. First, Kaberle, while talented and a great pick, was hardly a slam dunk, needless to say taking a player in the 8th round and having him play at an all-star level in the NHL is extremely rare, I’d say this pick was more fluke than skill. Second, Nikolai Kulemin was taken 6 picks ahead of Boston’s rookie sensation Milan Lucic, how did the scouts miss that guy? The Leafs may be hampered by a lack of 1st round draft picks, other teams, notably the Detroit Red Wings face difficult draft positions and continually turn out great players and prospects, for the record, the Red Wings have three of the top 50 on The Hockey News list. Not bad for a team that finishes well ahead of the Leafs year after year. And that is not even taking into account all the great players that are currently on the Wings roster, such as, Pavol Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, etc. Quite simply, the Leafs staff needs to be better.
There are a few players on the Marlies roster that, while not on The Hockey News Top 50 list, are still decent prospects. Justin Pogge, selected 90th overall in the 2004 draft is a legitimate prospect, but his clock is starting to tick. Chris Didomenico, selected 98th overall in the 2008 draft performed admirably at the World Junior tournament and has the potential to be a great checking forward with some pop. Beyond that there really isn’t much there. Mikhael Stefanovich, Darryl Boyce, Jimmy Hayes, Viktor Stalberg, all playing at different levels of hockey, are all “Projects”, projects that, in all likelihood, will not turn out to be legitimate NHLers. Therein lies the problem, there is not much at the NHL and the cupboard is bare in the minors for the Leafs. Leafs General Manager Brian Burke and his assistant Dave Nonis will need to concentrate on acquiring draft picks over the next 2-4 years, more importantly, he will need to get a little lucky and be better prepared to make the best selection possible at the drafts, failing that, the Leafs will continue to spiral and struggle going forward.
In conclusion there are a couple of teams that stand out form the rest when you look The Hockey News Top 50 list over. The Montreal Canadiens own 4 of those players, ranked #10, #15, #37 and #41 respectively. The Philadelphia Flyers own 3 players on the list, ranked #6, #8, and #13 respectively. The St. Louis Blues have three players on the list, the Detroit Red Wings have three, the Los Angeles Kings have three, many other teams have 2. Not to mention many of these teams have legitimate young players/prospects playing on their NHL rosters, a tribute to their organizations hard work and dedication to drafting and development. If the Leafs plan on competing against these clubs they will have to invest in player development and scouting, failure to do so will be disastrous.
The Leafs have a ton of work to do before they will reach respectability, if you are looking for someone/something to plan, look to the past, it’s been an ugly 15-20 years, then again, as a Leaf fan, you already knew that, too bad the Leafs organization and Scouts couldn’t have figured out their shortcomings earlier.
Want to hear more? Join me and Louis “King of Roncesvalles” Pisano, every Thursday night at 8:00pm, live at www.youcastr.com, just look for the TOsports OCTAGON logo and listen in, we lock it down!!!
Until next time,
Peace!
by Mark Ritter… The Detroit Red Wings are to be congratulated, 9 straight seasons with 100 points or more, pretty impressive! Strange that a team this good has rarely employed an enforcer throughout that streak, perhaps Detroit has it right and everyone else has it wrong in that respect, toughness is needed, I am no longer convinced an enforcer is.
Martin Brodeur made history last tonight, surpassing Patrick Roy as the games all-time winning goaltender. It should be noted that the New Jersey Devils traded down to the #20 spot in the draft and landed Brodeur there. It was the Calgary Flames that took the Devils #11 pick, they took goaltender Trevor Kidd with that pick, bet they wish they could have that moment back. For the record, the Toronto Maple Leafs took Drake Berehowsky with the tenth pick that year, DOH!
Denver Broncos Quarterback Jay Cutler is pissed off and looking to be traded, stay tuned, this could get ugly for the Broncos. Cutler is an all-star talent, letting him go would be a mistake.
Why the hell were the Toronto Raptors wearing green uniforms the other night? I know that it’s St. Patricks Day today, but what the heck does that have to do with the Raps wearing green? It’s not like they have a ton of Irish roots or anything… If you ask me they should have been wearing red, they got murdered last night! Either that or something in a “Puke” color- they make me sick!
There is trouble brewing for NHL free agents, it looks like the NHL will seriously consider not inflating the salary cap in the off season. The NHL has inflated the Cap by 5% every year since it’s inception, but with the economy struggling, the Canadian dollar slumping and revenues set to take a beating in the off season, financial restraint is a must. The reality is the Salary Cap has been set too high the past few years, the NHL, just like most of the U.S., has been living far beyond it’s means and it says here it will catch up to them this off season.
Quick College Hoops prediction, it will be Pitt going all the way. How did I come to this conclusion? I like the uniforms, isn’t that how everyone figures out their brackets?
The Columbus Blue Jackets are making some noise heading into the playoffs. It’s been a long time coming but it appears that the BJ’s are poised to be real contenders this season. Would you want to face Steve Mason in a series?
If you haven’t already, check out this seasons Toronto Blue Jay’s ticket prices; if the team doesn’t make you sick the price of the tickets will. And what’s up with charging a premium to watch the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox? With the team they are fielding they should be begging for fans, not selectively raising prices where they see fit.
All of the talk about Don Lever becoming the Montreal Canadiens head coach in the off season is a joke. You hire the best man for the job, regardless of what language he does/doesn’t speak. If Lever, as many suspect, is the best guy for the job you hire him, period. And another thing, how come Bob Gainey has escaped much of the criticism?
The Vancouver Canucks are 14-4-2 in their past 20 games, I don’t know about you, but if I were in the Western Conference I would be praying I don’t draw the Canucks in the first round of the playoffs.
The Toronto Rock lacrosse team never really felt like a “Toronto team”, until now. Sadly the Rock have gone to perennial champions to bottom feeders, just like all of Toronto’s teams of late. What the? Is there something in the water or what?
The Pittsburgh Penguins are 8-0-2 in their past ten, they are also 12-19 when trailing after two periods this season, pretty impressive! The Pens have worked their way from being out of the playoffs to 8th overall in 4 weeks, nobody in the Eastern Conference wants Pitty in the playoffs.
Sean Avery and the New York Rangers just seem to go together, as Forest Gump would say, like peas and carrots. Avery had played 86 games with the Rangers before he was claimed off waivers from the Dallas Stars, in that stretch the Rangers were 50-20-16, without Avery they were 9-13-3.
Anyone catch the Nederlands versus team U.S.A. the other night? The World Baseball Classic is clearly an afterthought in Florida, what were there, 500 fans in attendance? What a joke this event has become, complete waste of time if you ask me.
Until next time, Peace!
by David Randell… 
Anything positive that came out of Sunday’s matinee affair is now soon to be forgotten after the Toronto Raptors laid another stinker the other night in Charlotte.
Are you truly surprised though? In a season where the Raps have done nothing on a consistent basis except be inconsistent last night’s match-up was to be expected and far from surprising. It is, however, very frustrating to watch.
Trying to explain what is going on with this team is verging on impossible. One moment they look like they finally are putting things together and the next they are getting blown out by a team in the bottom third of the league.
One game they are showing energy and hustle, the next they look completely disinterested. Nothing is consistent right now, not the starters, not the bench, and not even the jersey’s (which are hideous and must be discarded immediately) and it is really frustrating.
Of course, if it is frustrating for us fans, it must be even more frustrating for the players, coach Triano, and most importantly, BC.
Frankly, I couldn’t be happier that March Madness is right around the corner. Although the tournament is wildly unpredictable it is equally as entertaining. After watching the Raps put together an effort like they did last night, it will be a breath of fresh air to watch these college kids put it all on the line when it matters.
I don’t want to dwell on the Raptors’ performance but would rather point something out. Since their inception, the Charlotte Bobcats have been a team is disarray. The team has had a tremendously difficult time connecting with the community despite drafting local kids and the product on the floor has not been very good.
I have not seen many of their games and frankly I have a hard time remembering them when I do the weekly Blogger Power Rankings. Watching last night’s game however, it is clear that things could change pretty quickly in the heartland of basketball.
After watching this Bobcats team, it was readily apparent that this is not your typical Bobcats team.
This Bobcats squad is much better than they have ever been. Not only is their record better than it was last season but they are playing as a unit and putting up a fight for that last playoff spot.
You need proof? Just watch midway through the fourth quarter when Gerald Wallace, with his team up by a large margin, is throwing himself on the floor for loose balls. They have won seven of their last 10 and are playing some of their best basketball of the season.
In fact I actually like their chances of making the playoffs this year, but never would have imagined that earlier in the season.
Now, if they actually do make the playoffs could anyone actually claim they saw that coming given Larry Brown’s most recent history and in light of the full in season roster overhaul?
So what is happening in Charlotte? Although it is far from being the greatest turnaround in sports history (they are still well below .500) they are a team worth watching right now and to me it seems obvious why.
When Larry Brown came in he, Michael Jordan and Rod Higgins clearly had a plan. Coach Brown was going to come in, put in his style of play and dictate to Jordan and Higgins just what sort of players he wanted and could win with.
As a result, you witnessed players like Richardson, Carroll and Morrison being shipped out and players like Diaw, Diop and Bell being brought in.
Larry Brown clearly wants “Larry Brown” type players and the guys in charge of personnel are making that happen. Coach Brown is a Hall of Fame Coach, has a resume second to none and knows what it takes to win.
His system is tried and true even if it isn’t for everyone and the management are making the moves to satisfy the Coach. Right now the results are positive and you shouldn’t be surprised by that.
What you should be surprised by is the fact that the Bobcats, led my Michael Jordan (who was slowly becoming known as a horrible evaluator of basketball talent), have their ducks in a row before the Raptors.
Although the Charlotte roster is still flawed, they are putting in a system that not only works but mirrors what most of the league’s great franchise’s do.
Suddenly the Raptors don’t only need to be worried about building a roster that can one day compete with the Celts, Cavs, and Magic, but also one that can compete against other up and coming teams including the oft forgotten Charlotte team.
I’m not suggesting that the Bobcats are going to take the NBA by storm, I am just saying that they have a plan and it seems to be working. It’s also a plan that I have been waiting for BC to put into place since he arrived.
That’s more that what can be said right now in Toronto where nothing seems to be going quite right and there are Marc Iavaroni sightings.
Bryan Colangelo could learn a thing or two about what’s going on in Charlotte these days and that statement alone is even surprising then how badly things have gone for our beloved Raps this season.
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