Bob Cole

In 1999, when the Toronto Maple Leafs played their final home game at Maple Leaf Gardens, Hockey Night in Canada play-by-play announcer Bob Cole remarked, “This great and admired lady has been just fine since 1931, thank you. Well, times change and one must move on.”

Those words still give me chills.

Last Wednesday, Bob Cole passed away at the age of 90 in his hometown of St. John’s, Newfoundland.

Bob Cole was the voice of hockey for generations of Canadians. He began broadcasting hockey games on CBC Radio in 1969 before moving over to television and Hockey Night in Canada in 1973. Cole retired in 2019 after 50 years of calling games.

His voice was special.

No one connected sport with emotion better than Bob Cole. He made the viewer feel the game, meeting every big moment on the ice with the perfect inflection. Every game was a masterpiece and he used his voice to paint it.

Growing up, Saturday nights were my favourite. It meant I could tune into the Leafs game on Hockey Night in Canada and listen to Bob Cole and his colour commentator, Harry Neale, call the game. There was something different about their broadcasts.

I made sure I was in front of the television by 6:30pm, not wanting to miss the opening music video, and pre-game show.

Even as I’m typing this, it’s hard for me to put into words just how important Bob Cole was to me and millions of other fans. I loved the Leafs and a big reason for that was Bob Cole. Weird, right? He wasn’t on the team. He wasn’t a coach. He was a broadcaster. That might’ve been the most important position, though.

When he called a game, you weren’t just watching a sporting event between two teams. It felt bigger than that. More important.

He went up and down with the emotion of the building and made it impossible for you to turn away.

Bob Cole had a way of reaching deep into your soul as a hockey fan and pulling out your unbridled and unwavering passion for your favourite team. Hockey was our religion. The players were our heroes, our idols.

And Bob Cole was the soundtrack of it all.

I remember going to my first hockey game on a Saturday night in 2003. I remember how different the game felt without commentary. Sure, the crowd would scream and chant, here and there. But when the players went up and down the ice, it was just…people skating, chasing a puck.

Knowing me, I probably wished there was a way to get Bob Cole’s voice coming out of the arena’s speakers.

There was a warm and fuzzy feeling I would get when watching a hockey game on a Saturday night. It was just perfect. Nothing else mattered. That is how Bob Cole made me feel as a viewer.

In 2008, he was replaced as lead play-by-play man of Hockey Night in Canada, which meant he wouldn’t be calling Leafs games. He would be calling the games of other Canadian teams on Saturday night.

I hated it then and I hated typing it now.

I don’t mean to take away from any of the broadcasters who have called Leafs game on a Saturday night since then, but there’s only one Bob Cole. You can’t replace him.

Saturday nights are not as special to me today, as they were in the late 90s and early 2000s. I don’t know if it’s because I’m romanticizing nostalgia, or if I just grew up, or if – and I think it’s this one – it’s because Bob Cole was no longer calling the games.

Even when the Leafs were doing poorly, his voice reinforced your loyalty as a fan.

Bob Cole’s iconic calls are accessible within seconds on the internet. A lot of them don’t even need to be searched for because his words still rattle around the minds of hockey fans across the country. They keep us connected to moments that are decades old.

Here are a few of my favourite Bob Cole calls:

2002 Eastern Conference Finals: Carolina Hurricanes vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

The Leafs were down 1-0 with 40 seconds left in the third period. Lose and go home. Bob Cole took over as the Leafs poured the pressure on in the offensive zone.

“Leafs are all over the net there now…here’s a chance at the line…quick shot by Kaberle…shoots right in…scramble…SCORES! The Leafs have tied the GAME! And the place goes crazy!”

The place did go crazy. I’ve seldom seen the arena like that since.

I’ve probably watched that highlight 100 times, if not more, on YouTube. It’s so good. It’s so magical. It’s Bob Cole at his best. The Leafs went on to lose the game in overtime, but that game-tying goal is one of my favourite memories.

Salt Lake City 2002: USA vs. Canada – Gold Medal Game

Canada was leading 4-2 in the third period with under two minutes left when Joe Sakic went streaking in on a breakaway and made it a 5-2 game.

“Canada trying to get on and get a break…it’s gonna be a break. It is Joe Sakic….scores! Jyyeeoooe! Sakic! Scores! And that makes it 5-2 Canada. Surely, that’s gotta be it!”

Again, it’s just so good.

2006: Mats Sundin’s 500th NHL Goal

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames were tied 4-4 in overtime. Leafs Captain Mats Sundin had two goals during regulation and was sitting on 499 for his career.

The Flames were on a 4-on-3 power-play when Sundin took the puck inside his own blue line and skated up ice with it. He entered the Flames zone and took a shot from just inside the blue line…

“Sundin is up there…two goals on the night…wha-…SCORES! Mats Sundin wins the game with 500 in this terrific career! The captain of the Maple Leafs has this crowd going nuts…in the Air Canada Centre! Sundin, a hat trick and number 500!”

I’ll never forget watching that game. It was so perfect and Bob Cole did not miss a beat. He captured it perfectly.

Other Favourites

• Steve Thomas’ overtime goal against the Ottawa Senators in Game 5 of 2000 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

• “Everything is happening!”

• One of his trademarks: “Ohhh baby!!”

• “This is hockey, baby. This is the playoffs. And this is Montreal.”

Bob Cole had a gift that we were fortunate enough to experience. No one can, or will, ever call a hockey game the way Bob Cole did. He made every big moment seem larger than life. Magical, even. And he knew when to say nothing and let the crowd tell the story.

I am so happy I got to grow up and listen to Bob Cole call Leafs games on Saturday night. There truly was nothing more special than that.

Thank you for the memories, Bob Cole.

You will be missed, but never forgotten.

NFL Draft 2024: You Look Like You Need A Quarterback

One of the best days on the sporting calendar is finally here! Tonight is round one of the NFL Draft which is emanating from Detroit, Michigan. I am sure the draft eligible players have sweaty palms, weak knees, and heavy arms, as their future is set in motion over the next three days.

That’s the last of my Eminem references, I promise.

For the last three years, I have been on the campaign trail around draft time where I put out a blog post and tell teams that they need a quarterback. Stop passing on them in the first round for a cornerback that’s going to help you to a 5-12 record, and go get a franchise quarterback who you can actually win with.

No disrespect to the first round cornerbacks, who are no doubt a valuable commodity to teams looking to win Super Bowls, but if you don’t have a top tier quarterback, it won’t matter.

My hope is that one day all 32 NFL teams will have a legitimate starting quarterback and we’ll get to a point where no teams needs a quarterback but, instead, selects one as an heir apparent. That day may never come, but I can dream!

All that being said, I don’t know if I’m as bold on the “TAKE A QB, YOU COWARDS!” train this year, even though there could be as many as six quarterbacks taken in the first round. Heck, all six of them may be drafted within the first sixteen picks.

Maybe I’m maturing in my mindset. Maybe I’m not convinced that drafting the third or fourth or fifth best quarterback in the draft is better than selecting the best player at another position. Just because you need a quarterback NOW doesn’t mean the ones available to you in this year’s draft are the answer.

The Quarterbacks

Here are the six quarterbacks I alluded to and my very brief thoughts on each one based on what I’ve heard on television, and the minimal YouTube highlights I’ve watched.

Caleb Williams
He has it all.

Jayden Daniels
I think he’s a future MVP candidate. My only worry, as it is with all young QBs who run a lot, is: can he learn how to slide/go out of bounds and avoid getting hurt?

Drake Maye
I see bits and pieces of Justin Herbert and Josh Allen in him. In the highlight videos I watched, almost every play seemed like a go route or a post route and his receiver would outrun the defensive back every time, which made it easy for Maye to play pitch and catch. I’m not saying this is a negative; I’m just pointing it out because I know it won’t be that easy in the NFL.

J.J. McCarthy
He reminds me of Drew Brees, a bit. He seems like a real “gamer”. I’m not sold on him as a Top 10 guy, though. It’s just a feeling. My cross-sport comparison for him is J.J. Redick. Stay with me on this. In college, Redick was a fantastic scorer. In the NBA, he was a a sixth-man and then a starter. But his role was to be a three-point shooter, not a superstar. Which is fine. He helped his team win. I see that with McCarthy. He could probably help an NFL team win games, but is he going to be a top tier quarterback who can take his team to the Super Bowl one day? Is he going to be Drew Brees or is he going to be Baker Mayfield? I don’t know. Scouts might have a better answer.

Bo Nix
He’s a bit like Ikea furniture right now. He has the tools, but whoever drafts him will have to help him put it all together.

Michael Penix Jr.
He has a strong arm. If he goes to a team where he’s the backup, he’s the kind of QB you put in for the final play of the game to throw a 50+ yard Hail Mary. The Toronto Argonauts used to do that in the 2000s with Michael Bishop backing up Damon Allen. Bishop had a cannon of an arm but didn’t find a lot of success as a starter. I can’t put my finger on what Penix Jr. could be as a full-time starter.

Summary
Caleb Wiliams and Jayden Daniels are the only two quarterbacks in the draft that I’m completely sold on. Drake Maye is about 78% of the way there.

McCarthy, Nix, and Penix Jr. are more of a toss-up for me.

A lot of teams will be looking to trade up to draft a quarterback, and someone probably will. When was the last time there were five or six legitimate starting quarterbacks in a single draft though?

I know I’m contradicting my whole “take a QB” campaign, but I’m trying to be realistic too. They aren’t all going to be superstars.

The Teams

Here is the draft order for the first round. The teams in bold are the ones who need a quarterback.

1. Chicago Bears
2. Washington Commanders
3. New England Patriots
4. Arizona Cardinals
5. Los Angeles Chargers
6. New York Giants
7. Tennessee Titans
8. Atlanta Falcons
9. Chicago Bears
10. New York Jets
11. Minnesota Vikings
12. Denver Broncos
13. Las Vegas Raiders
14. New Orleans Saints
15. Indianapolis Colts
16. Seattle Seahawks
17. Jacksonville Jaguars
18. Cincinnati Bengals
19. Los Angeles Rams
20. Pittsburgh Steelers
21. Miami Dolphins
22. Philadelphia Eagles
23. Minnesota Vikings
24. Dallas Cowboys
25. Green Bay Packers
26. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
27. Arizona Cardinals
28. Buffalo Bills
29. Detroit Lions
30. Baltimore Ravens
31. San Francisco 49ers
32. Kansas City Chiefs

1. Chicago Bears
It’s going to be Caleb Williams.

2. Washington Commanders
Based on reports, it looks like it’s going to be Jayden Daniels.

3. New England Patriots
Based on reports, Drake Maye is probably going to the Patriots.

This is where I get a bit wary. I’m not 100% sold on Maye yet, but I haven’t put in hours and hours of research. The Patriots have. If they think Maye can be their franchise quarterback for years to come, take him.

A few weeks ago, I was wondering why they couldn’t just take Marvin Harrison Jr., who is probably more of a lock (at this point) to be a superstar at wide receiver than Maye is to be a superstar at quarterback. At least, that way, the Patriots would have one building block locked into place and can go quarterback hunting in next year’s draft.

But I also realize how the Patriots organization is probably looking at this draft as the start of a new era and they don’t want to be criticized for being stubborn and passing on a quarterback with the third pick.

Again, they know better than me if Maye can be “the guy”. I hope it works out for them.

Oh, and here’s hoping they surround him with better offensive weapons than they’ve had in recent years.

6. New York Giants

Apparently, they’re enamoured with J.J. McCarthy. Just a reminder, they have Daniel Jones, who will be making a base salary of $35.5 million next season. They also have Drew Lock.

I do think the Giants need to move on from Jones, but I’m not sold on McCarthy being the guy that is going to be the one to lead the Giants back to prominence. Maybe I’m wrong and I hope I am. I genuinely want all of these quarterbacks to work out.

Do the Giants try and move up to #3? How desperate are they? We’ll see.

11. Minnesota Vikings
If the Vikings stay at the 11th pick, Bo Nix and Michael Penix Jr. might be the only quarterbacks left on the board. At that point, do you trust that the 5th QB off the board is going to be your franchise guy?

If I were the Vikings, I’d try to move up to #3 and if I can’t do that, I do nothing. I stay at #11 and take an Edge Rusher.

I’m sure they feel pressure to figure out who their quarterback of the future is, so Justin Jefferson will agree to sign long-term.

Is there a world in which the Vikings trade Jefferson tonight? Or do they firmly believe they just need a quarterback and they’ll be competitive?

I don’t know what the Vikings will do. Kirk Cousins dumped them for Atlanta, so are the Vikings looking for a quick rebound? Someone to replace Cousins right away so they can act like they’ve moved on?

They should be cautious, but they’ll probably move up.

12. Denver Broncos
After the whole Russell Wilson situation, the Broncos are looking to get their shine back. They’re looking for some positivity surround their quarterback position. And what better way to make a splash than by trading up in the draft and declaring, “We got our guy!”

I feel like if someone trades up for J.J. McCarthy, it’s going to be the Broncos.

They’re desperate to find a quarterback and I think Sean Payton is “chomping at the bit” to bring in a QB prospect and turn him into a star, just to prove that he can. So, maybe if it’s an ego driven pick, maybe they’re okay taking Nix or Penix Jr. and go full-blown “we’ll prove everyone wrong” mode.

13. Las Vegas Raiders
I could see them selecting Michael Penix Jr. and positing videos of him throwing deep balls to Davante Adams as soon as they can.

In all honesty, they should’ve never gotten rid of Derek Carr.

16. Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks currently have Geno Smith and Sam Howell. Having the 16th pick isn’t where you want to be when looking for your next franchise quarterback. This might have to be another draft where they’re forced to do something else with their pick – build up the depth of another position – and wait another year to find the quarterback of the future.

Other Draft Thoughts

There is a belief that the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs are drafting a wide receiver in the first round. I’m not so sure about that. My gut tells me they both add a defensive player – probably cornerback.

The only caveat to my above thought is if the Bills move up. If they move up, it’s for a wide receiver.

I think someone will trade up to select Brock Bowers.

If one of the top offensive linemen are still on the board when the Jets make their pick at #10, they need to take one of them.

Based on nothing, I think the Jaguars will trade back from 17th.

The Eagles are going to get antsy having to wait until pick #22. They’ll make a trade before then.

Perhaps, the Jaguars and Eagles will trade with each other to make me look like a genius.

I’m setting the over/under at 7.5 NFL teams saying “We got our guy!” on their social media account.

That’s all I have.

Enjoy the NFL Draft and good luck to your team!

What are your thoughts heading into the draft? Which quarterbacks are you sold on?

Before The Bedlam: Boston vs. Toronto

Forgive me – for a moment – for being a simpleton and playing the games on paper but the Toronto Maple Leafs have, player for player, a better roster than the Boston Bruins and therefore, in theory, should win their first round matchup of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which begins tonight.

Okay, the moment is over.

The Leafs have lost to the Bruins in the first round of the playoffs three times in the last eleven years. There was that infamous Game 7 meltdown in 2013 that left a permanent scar on Leafs Nation, as well as losses in 2018 and 2019, which I have somehow eradicated from my memory because I cannot remember either of them.

All three series went seven games.

At this point, the thought of facing the Bruins in the playoffs needs a trigger warning because it brings me nothing but dread. The matchup has become psychological and they have the advantage.

It does not matter right now that Auston Matthews scored 69 goals this season. We are facing the Bruins and the Bruins always win.

Is there a glimmer of hope for this iteration of the Leafs? Absolutely.

For years, this team has been all skill and no will. Playing the puck possession game in the playoffs and relying on our skill to win games has not worked.

We did not scare anyone with who we put out on the ice. We did not push people around. We got pushed around and then fought back because we had no choice.

For once, I would like to see this team be the first to impose their will on the opponent. I want this team to be the first to lay the big hit. I want this team to be the first to start a post-whistle scrum with all five guys getting involved.

I do not want fake toughness. I do not want performative scrums – where they just grab a guy to box-step with while the others are separated. I do not want this team to be passive. Wipe the “oh no it’s the big bad Bruins” look off your face, tilt your eyebrows downward, and battle.

Yell. Get angry. Have some passion out there. The other team can read your body language and sniff out your fear. They have been doing it for almost two decades.

If the Leafs bring their 2024 skill, as well as an early 2000s attitude to the table, they can be unstoppable.

Will that happen this year? Uh, sorry, I uh…have to go do something. I cannot answer the question right now.

What I do know is the Leafs are going into battle this year with some tougher personnel in the locker room. Tyler Bertuzzi, Max Domi, and Ryan Reaves, and Joel Edmundson bring the meat and potatoes to what has been a plate of au jus for the last eight years.

Bertuzzi and Domi are like the Gary Roberts and Steve Thomas that we have been missing for so long. Those are the type of players who are dangerous in the playoffs.

Mitch Marner and William Nylander are terrific players, sure, but they lean more to the Alexander Mogilny and Sergei Berezin side of the scale this time of year.

You need a goal? Put them out there. Want to make the other team pay on the power play? Put them out there. Want to send the other team a message that you are not going to be pushed around or bullied into submission? Keep them on the bench.

Tell me when I am telling lies.

The time for razzle-dazzle is over. This is the Stanley Cup Playoffs. If you are serious about winning, you need to put on your big boy pants and go take it from the other team.

I think the Leafs goaltending is good enough. No one is Martin Brodeur or Dominik Hasek anymore.

I think the Leafs defence is fine. I do not worry about it as much as Leafs Twitter does because during this time of year, defence is about all five players on the ice.

To me, a common intangible of successful teams in the playoffs is the emergence of “kids” in the lineup who do a great job at supplementing the production of the main guys.

I am talking about guys like Matthew Knies, Nicholas Robertson, and Pontus Holmberg. Those are the type of players who earn more and more trust from the coach as the playoffs go on and come up with big goals in big situations.

If the Leafs can free themselves from the hex that the Bruins cast on them in 2013, then they could very well find themselves moving on to the second round for the second year in a row.

That is a lot harder than it sounds.

And trying to convince a Leafs fan that this year will be any different may be even harder.

But I guess that is why the game is played by tiny men on our television screens and not on paper.

WrestleMania XL Predictions

The WWE has never been hotter and for as great as it’s been for the last year, it feels like we’re just getting started on the next great era of WWE.

That begins tonight with night one of WrestleMania XL at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. This is one of the most stacked cards I’ve ever seen and I’m glad WWE has decided to continue with making WrestleMania a two-night event.

It never made sense to cram 14 matches into one night and not give enough time to the performers in the ring.

My condolences to the fans and performers who will be bracing the cold weather for five hours, if not longer.

Let’s get to the matches and my predictions. A lot of my predictions are actually just what I want to see happen and I’ve talked myself into them being realistic outcomes (because they are).

Enjoy!

Night 1 – Saturday, April 6

Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Becky Lynch
Women’s World Championship

We’re getting Mami vs. The Man.

Rhea Ripley has been champion for 370 days; the record is 379 days by Bayley. For that reason, I don’t see Ripley losing this match. They’re going to let her break the record and hold the title for as long as possible.

Lynch has proven she doesn’t need the belt to be a main event player.

Stay with me now: in my mind, she’s headed toward a feud alongside her husband Seth Rollins to face CM Punk and his wife AJ Lee (who retired from WWE in 2015) at SummerSlam. This is just me fantasy booking things, but if this is a possibility, Becky doesn’t need to have the title.

Prediction: Rhea Ripley

Gunther (c) vs. Sami Zayn
WWE Intercontinental Championship

Gunther is the longest reigning Intercontinental Champion of all-time. He has held the championship for 666 days. Eventually, he’s going to lose the title and go after the World Heavyweight Championship. Everyone knows this. It’s just a matter of when.

Is that time now? It could be. At the same time, I don’t love the idea of someone as dominant as Gunther losing at WrestleMania.

Sami Zayn was on the hottest run of his career last year which resulted in him winning the Undisputed Tag Team Championship with his best friend, Kevin Owens, in the main event of night one of WrestleMania 39 against The Usos.

Zayn is still very popular with the fans, though he hasn’t felt as hot as last year.

On one hand, I can see Gunther keeping the championship and continue his reign, although his next challenger isn’t clear. Would it be Chad Gable, again? On the other hand, this would be a big moment for Zayn and allow him and Gunther to go in new directions.

Prediction: Sami Zayn

Finn Balor & Damian Priest (c) vs. Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa vs. The Miz & R-Truth vs. Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods vs. Austin Theory & Grayson Waller vs. Pete Dunne & Tyler Bate
Six-Pack Tag Team Ladder Match for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship

This match is going to be chaos, but I’m sure the production crew will be on top of everything so they don’t miss any of the planned spots.

Without a doubt, I think Balor and Priest are losing the titles. I wouldn’t mind The Miz and R-Truth winning, just for the comedy they’ll bring in future weeks.

Ideally, I want Austin Theory and Grayson Waller to win. They are the future of the company and are great at being annoying heels. I find them to be entertaining, especially Waller. Being tag team champions will allow them to appear on both Raw and SmackDown, which will help they grow into the superstars the company thinks they can be.

Prediction: Austin Theory & Grayson Waller

Jey Uso vs. Jimmy Uso
Twin vs. Twin

For the third time in WrestleMania history, brothers will face off against each other. But for the first time, it’s twins. Jimmy likes for all of us to know that he is the older brother.

I think this match is going to be great. The Usos are one of the best tag teams of all-time and for a lot of that time, fans couldn’t tell them apart.

Jey Uso even referenced it in a promo during the pandemic when there was no live audience. “You know what they say when they see me, Uce? Which one are you?” That promo elevated him to the next level.

When they joined The Bloodline, they were presented as two individuals – who were also twins, and a tag team – who had their own personalities.

Barring any funny business, this is Jey Uso’s time.

Prediction: Jey Uso

Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill, and Naomi vs. Damage CTRL (Kairi Sane, Asuka, and Dakota Kai)
Six-Woman Tag Team Match

Damage CTRL has been getting away with too much over the last few years, mainly at the expense of Bianca Belair. Now, she has Naomi – who recently returned to WWE – by her side, as well as one of WWE’s biggest free agent signings, Jade Cargill.

Cargill participated in the Royal Rumble match and has made some backstage appearances, but this is her first real match. She is a dominant force and I expect her to be presented as such in this match.

Prediction: Bianca, Jade, and Naomi

Rey Mysterio & Andrade vs. Santos Escobar & Dominik Mysterio
Team Team Match

Last year, Rey and his son Dominik faced off at WrestleMania 39 and Rey came out victorious.

This year, Rey was initially going to team with Dragon Lee (the future of Lucha Libre according to Mysterio), but that lasted only a week as Lee was taken out backstage on last night’s SmackDown.

Andrade recently returned to WWE and looked like he had aligned himself with Dominik Mysterio, but when push came to shove, he sided with Rey and his former manager, Zelina Vega. Andrade and Zelina were a wonderful duo in the past and I’m glad they’re back together.

I feel like Dominik needs this win over his father to potentially set up another match down the road, possibly with Rey’s career on the line.

Prediction: Santos Escobar & Dominik Mysterio

Cody Rhodes & Seth Rollins vs. The Rock & Roman Reigns
Tag Team Match

This match was never supposed to happen. The initial plan (as far as I know) for the main event of night one was CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship. Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns would then face off on night two in a rematch of last year’s main event, as Cody once again won this year Royal Rumble and had the right to choose the champion he wanted to face.

But then CM Punk got hurt in the Royal Rumble and The Rock entered the picture. All of a sudden, it was going to be The Rock vs. Roman Reigns. They even filmed the confusing angle on SmackDown where Cody gave his blessing to The Rock to “take his spot” in the match against Roman.

Which meant we were going to get Cody vs. Seth.

Within a few days, the fans flipped things on its head with a “#WeWantCody” hashtag. Last year, we were shocked when he lost to Reigns at WrestleMania and the last 12 months have been about Cody “finishing the story”.

Now, The Rock was in the way.

WWE realized that fans were going to hijack every show with disdain unless they listened, which is how we got to Cody & Seth vs. The Rock & Roman on night one,

On night two, Seth will put his championship on the line against Drew McIntyre, while Cody vs. Roman II will also happen.

The stipulation for the tag team match on night one is as follows: if The Rock and Roman Reigns win, then Cody and Roman’s match on night two is Bloodline Rules, which means anything goes. If Cody and Seth win, then the match is a straight up singles match with no interference.

I think The Rock and Roman Reigns are winning this match, as to stack the deck even further against Cody.

However, I think the Bloodline Rules stipulation will work in Cody’s favour and he might get help from past legends like Stone Cold Steve Austin and John Cena.

Prediction: The Rock and Roman Reigns

Night 2 – Sunday, April 7

Seth Rollins (c) vs. Drew McIntyre
World Heavyweight Championship

I know this may be going against the grain, but I’m not really a fan of this iteration of Seth Rollins. He had been a heel for a few years with an annoying laugh and outrageous clothing, which both did their job in getting people to dislike him.

Then he naturally turned face and I haven’t been able to get on board with it. He has an entrance theme song with no lyrics that the crowds sing loudly and often…but I’m not a fan of the song. I’m the only one who thinks this. I think it’s boring.

I don’t know what I want from Rollins exactly, I just know I’m not fully with his current character. It’s a shame because he was my favourite member of The Shield when he debuted ten years ago. I’m just waiting for him to find his next character, I guess.

Drew McIntyre won his first WWE Championship at WrestleMania 36. However, that was in 2020 and the event was held at the WWE Performance Center without anyone in attendance. From a real life perspective, that’s unfortunate.

From a storyline perspective, it’s given McIntyre a reason to be so hell-bent on getting his winning moment in front of a WrestleMania crowd. And although he is the heel – a very good one – in this matchup, I hope he wins and gets his moment.

I think if Rollins loses, he can use the tag team match the night before as an excuse for not being 100% (maybe Drew even attacks him during that match) and hold the grudge against Cody.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Damian Priest crashes the party and cashes in his Money in the Bank contract and steals the championship from either Rollins or McIntyre.

Prediction: Drew McIntyre

Iyo Sky (c) vs. Bayley
WWE Women’s Championship

At SummerSlam 2022, Damage CTRL was born. It was a faction consisting of Bayley, Iyo Sky, and Dakota Kai. Bayley was the de facto leader.

Within the last few months, it has all come apart. It started with Sky going behind Bayley’s back and bringing Asuka and Kairi Sane into the group. It continued when those three would be seen snickering behind Bayley’s back, whenever she gave an interview on promo.

Bayley won the Royal Rumble and the “plan” had been for her to challenge Rhea Ripley for her championship so Damage CTRL would rule all of WWE. If this happened, Bayley would have to move over to RAW from SmackDown, meaning she wouldn’t be around her group. Deep down, that’s what Iyo Sky et al. wanted. They wanted to get rid of Bayley, but make it seem like it was for the sake of total domination, rather than the fact that they were just tired of her.

Well, Bayley caught on and instead of challenging Ripley, she challenged Sky for her championship.

I would love to see Bayley win. I think she deserves her moment in the biggest spotlight the industry has to offer. She has been a constant in the women’s division and can play any role she’s given.

If Iyo wins, I’m okay with that but there needs to be a roster shakeup because she’s in desperate need of new babyface challengers.

Whereas if Bayley wins, the other members of Damage CTRL, as well as Tiffany Stratton, are right there as future challengers.

Prediction: Bayley

AJ Styles vs. LA Knight
Singles Match

This feud has gotten personal, to the point where LA Knight was arrested outside of AJ Styles’ house.

Styles also attacked Knight the other day at WWE World, which is the WrestleMania fan convention.

LA Knight has quickly become a fan favourite over the last year and a win here will solidify him as a threat to start chasing championships.

Prediction: LA Knight

Logan Paul (c) vs. Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens
WWE United States Championship

The lead up to this match has been all about Randy Orton and Kevin Owens agreeing on how much they dislike Logan Paul, to the point where Orton and Owens haven’t turned on each other at all.

The match will probably start the way all triple threat matches start in WWE. Two guys team up one on guy, send him out of the ring, and then make the “it’s just you and me now” hand motion, until the third guy gets back in the ring five minutes later and reminds people he exists.

I don’t think Orton needs the championship at all. I think if Cody Rhodes wins the Universal Championship later in the night, Orton is a potential feud – maybe not immediately – due to their history as members of Legacy, where Orton was a mentor to Cody.

An Orton heel turn would probably have to happen for that feud to kick off, but if it’s a possibility, we don’t need Orton as the US Champion.

Give the belt to Owens. If all goes well in other matches, Owens, Zayn, and Rhodes can take a picture together with their new championships.

Prediction: Kevin Owens

Bobby Lashley, Montez Ford, and Angelo Dawkins vs. Karrion Kross, Akam, and Rezar
Six-Man Tag Team Philadelphia Street Fight

This is hard to call. I like Karrion Kross and think it’s about time he gets a push and starts challenging for a US Championship. Also, my predictions for Night 2 are heavily favoured toward the “good guys”, so for that reason I could see Karrion Kross, Akam, and Rezar winning.

I’m hoping they do because I think they need the win more than the other team.

If Lashley, Ford, and Dawkins win, does it really do anything for them? Lashley is above wins and losses at this point in his career; he’ll always be seen as dominant. I know they just recently formed this new faction, but Ford and Dawkins have been together for years (Street Profits) and it’s starting to get a bit stale for me.

I think many see Montez Ford as a potential breakout singles star, but he hasn’t been given that shot.

Prediction: Karrion Kross, Akam, Rezar

Roman Reigns (c) vs. Cody Rhodes
Undisputed WWE Universal Championship

I’m expecting this to be a Bloodline Rules match, where anything goes and Roman can have his family – Solo Sikoa, Jimmy Uso, and The Rock – nearby to help him out.

To even things up, I expect Cody to have his contingent of friends there to help him, too.

A few weeks ago, an episode of Monday Night Raw ended with The Rock making Cody bleed outside next to his tour bus. In the background was a conveniently placed WWE truck with Stone Cold Steve Austin and John Cena on the side of it.

All WWE trucks are wrapped with images of superstars, past and present.

I feel like this specific truck being in the background was a “wink wink, nudge nudge” by WWE. A little Easter egg, if you will. I don’t think it was an accident at all.

Lately, when WWE does a backstage scene, they often have something happening off in the distance. Maybe it’s two wrestlers talking to each other who normally don’t. But the camera makes sure we see it. There is no accident.

I think Roman Reigns’ title reign comes to an end and I think he will come out of WrestleMania blaming The Rock for the loss. This will eventually set up The Rock vs. Roman Reigns at next year’s WrestleMania with Reigns as the face in the matchup and The Rock as the heel.

Cody needs to “finish his story” or the fans are going to riot. That’s not a joke. He can’t lose in the main event of WrestleMania two years in a row; where would he go from there?

Let Cody Rhodes be the face of WWE. He will do a great job.

All that being said, if Roman wins I wouldn’t hate it one bit. And I say that as someone who loves everything about who Cody Rhodes is and what he represents. For a “celebrity”, he’s as real as they come.

I just think Roman winning would cause so much chaos and would be fun to watch unfold.

But I guess they already went that route last year and doubling down on it for the sake of extending Roman’s championship run is too much of a risk.

Cody Rhodes playing the Rocky role in Philadelphia and winning the championship his father never did, is the right way to go.

Prediction: Cody Rhodes

Do you have any thoughts on WrestleMania XL?

March Madness Monday

March Madness is the best.

End post. Publish.

Just kidding, I have more to say.

Tonight is going to be an incredible night of women’s basketball, featuring four of the superstars of the sport. More on that in a bit, though.

I’ve been filling out a March Madness bracket for – I want to say – at least twelve years, but have been paying attention to the tournament since 2004 or 2005 (if not sooner). One of my earliest memories of the men’s college basketball tournament was seeing Chris Paul play for Wake Forest.

To this day I remember thinking, “This guy won’t let his team lose.” He took over a game in the fourth quarter and willed his team to victory.

Here in Canada, there was live whip-around coverage on a sports station called theScore. The coverage was basically the NFL RedZone channel before the NFL RedZone channel was a thing.

It was the best. They would jump from game to game, depending on time, score, and situation. The excitement was palpable. As a young sports fan, I couldn’t think of anything better.

I love sports because you never really know what’s going to happen. You never know when the underdog is going to prevail. You never know when you’re going to see something you’ve never seen before. You never know when the drama of the game is going to increase your heart rate as you sit on the couch.

March Madness appeals to all of those things.

Even with the well-deserved NIL deals to college athletes now, March Madness still feels like the purest form of competition out there right now. We’re seeing players give everything they have – some trying to extend their playing career just one more game.

And sometimes when it doesn’t happen and the finality of it all sets it, we see tears. It’s pure, it’s raw, and it’s incredible.

We love the upsets. We love the underdogs – the Cinderellas. We love One Shining Moment.

Filling out a bracket, without little to no knowledge of most of the teams is a bundle of fun.

The 5 vs. 12 matchup is an annual tradition for all of us to rally around at least one 12 seed from a school whose geographical location is a mystery to us. Or maybe just me.

I remember in March 2013, I went to my university’s on-campus bar for lunch with some friends and there were multiple TVs with different games on and we all just started blurting out, “I have ____ in this game” or “I need ____ to win here”, as if our picks were bulletproof.

There were other people in there saying the same thing to their friends. Remember, this is a Canadian university. I can only imagine what the scene is like south of the border, especially at the schools who are in the tournament.

I envy you. Don’t take it for granted.

The men’s and women’s tournaments this year have been great, though I must admit that the storylines on the women’s side are a lot more compelling to me. I think the reason for that is because the superstars in the women’s game stay in school longer and we get to follow their story from year to year.

Oh, also the women’s game has more superstars. Period.

Whereas the best players in men’s basketball are darting for the NBA or another professional league as soon as they can and there’s a lot of turnover with rosters. Rivalries don’t get to build between players; it’s more of a school-school rivalry.

This is where we insert the long conversation as to why the women stay in school longer – not as many opportunities (roster spots) to play professionally in the WNBA, as well as money. In many cases, the NIL deals are more lucrative than a rookie contract in the W.

This year, I filled out my first women’s March Madness bracket.

Whereas last year was the first time I really paid attention to the women’s tournament. I’d like to say it wasn’t even covered on TV up here before 2023, but I might wrong.

Most of the credit goes to Caitlin Clark for getting me interested. They call her the “Steph Curry of women’s basketball” and rightfully so. She’ll pull up from anywhere and knock down a three-pointer with ease, just like she did when she passed Pete Maravich to become the all-time leading scorer in NCAA history.

Clark is one the of the most must-see athletes in the world right now. She’s not the only star, though.

This brings me to tonight.

In the Elite 8 of the women’s bracket, we’re getting two incredible matchups featuring four legitimate superstars. I beg you to watch these games tonight so your future self doesn’t have to lie and say you remember watching history happen right before your eyes.

In the first matchup, we have a rematch of last year’s championship game.

LSU vs. Iowa.

LSU won it all last year and whether it be by their own doing, or the media, they are the villain. They seem to relish the role, as they should.

When the documentaries are made about this era of college basketball, it would be boring if it were all sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows. As fans, we want personalities. LSU is providing us with personalities.

Their star player, Angel Reese, went viral at the end of last year’s championship game when she taunted Iowa and Caitlin Clark with John Cena’s “you can’t see me” hand gesture, as well as pointing at her ring finger after the game had been decided.

I loved all of it. This is what every sport needs.

Now, would I taunt an opponent after I just defeated them in a championship game. No. Do I have a problem with someone else doing it? As long as it’s not malicious, you do you.

We’ve waited an entire year for the Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark rivalry to come out with another chapter. We get it tonight.

When the bracket was released, I noticed that LSU and Iowa were in the same region and I thought it was brilliant because it made it easier for both teams to get to the point where they would face each other.

This is a rematch we needed.

Many others thought it was unjust to have the teams potentially face each other before the Final Four or the Championship game. I see their point, but what if one of the teams didn’t make it that far? We’d all be disappointed.

The other game tonight is UConn and USC.

UConn is lead by Paige Bueckers, who was receiving Caitlin Clark-level hype back in 2020-21 as the next great women’s basketball player. But then she tore her ACL in 2022 and missed all of last season, while Clark rose to superstardom.

Bueckers coach, Geno Auriemma, called Bueckers the best player in the country after a game last week. In wrestling, this would be seen as foreshadowing a future match with Caitlin Clark.

Selfishly, I’m cheering for Iowa and UConn to win tonight because I want to see Clark vs. Bueckers.

But USC has a freshman by the name of JuJu Watkins, who is already cementing her place as the next big thing in women’s basketball. She’s only 18-years-old but averaged 27 point-per-game this year to go along with 7.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists.

I repeat, she’s only a freshman.

The sky is the limit for her and after her performance on Saturday against Baylor, I couldn’t help but tweet: “Toronto needs to hurry up and get a WNBA team so we can have a shot at drafting JuJu Watkins.”

I tweeted the exact same thing last year about Clark.

Toronto has been dragging its feet in terms of a WNBA team. I won’t get into it here, but it’s been infuriating.

The WNBA has said they aren’t looking to expand until 2026, so Clark, Bueckers, and Reese are off the table for a potential Toronto team. But Watkins may be an option!

We could be talking about this night for a very long time, or forget about it by next week. I don’t know.

But we have four of the most exciting players in college basketball today, facing off against each other tonight.

Caitlin Clark.

Angel Reese.

Paige Bueckers.

JuJu Watkins.

Remember the names. Remember the night.

I can’t wait.

For those who are wondering, in the men’s bracket I am currently in 7 millionth place on ESPN. I have UConn defeating Purdue in the final.

In the women’s bracket, I am in 1.3 millionth place on ESPN. I have Iowa defeating Stanford in the final. Stanford has already been eliminated. Yes, I had them upsetting undefeated South Carolina. It won’t happen now.

I am, oddly, proud of my ranking in both brackets.

How are your March Madness brackets doing? What do you love about the tournament? Any memories of the tournament while you were in school?

Opening Day 2024

Baseball is back which means I must wish a Happy Opening Day to those who celebrate!

The Major League Baseball season actually began on March 20 in South Korea with a two-game series between the LA Dodgers and San Diego Padres, but we here at The Captain’s Speech (it’s just me) don’t recognize that as Opening Day. And I don’t think the league does, either.

Today is the day it all begins again.

As a fan of the Toronto Blue Jays, I need to be honest.

I feel like our offseason still hasn’t started, so the fact that the regular season is here is a bit jarring for me. I didn’t really pay attention to Spring Training. I think I’ve hit my lifetime quota for the hyperbolic “this player showed up in the best shape of his life” and “this player is looking to have a bounce back season” discourse.

On top of that, there weren’t really any major additions to the roster that I felt compelled to see. Hence, I feel like the offseason hasn’t started.

Normally, there’s a trade, a “big” free agent signing, or at least a slew of new players who change the makeup of the team.

We didn’t really get any of that.

Instead, we pursued Shohei Ohtani in free agency and got ourselves to the point where we were tracking a private jet from Los Angeles to Toronto, convinced Ohtani was onboard. We also thought he was going to attend a party consisting of 50+ people at a sushi restaurant in Toronto near our stadium, hosted by current Blue Jay pitcher and former high school classmate of Ohtani, Yusei Kikuchi.

The conspiracy cork board was working overtime.

It should be noted this wasn’t the first time Toronto sports fans have tracked a private plane from LA to Toronto. Just ask Kawhi Leonard in the summer of 2019 when we were talking ourselves into the idea of him re-signing with the Toronto Raptors.

Our local news station broke in with live coverage from their helicopter, which was following a black van that picked up Leonard and co. at the airport and transported them to a hotel.

Remember the old police chases they would show on TV? That’s what this was.

Anyway, Ohtani wasn’t on that private jet. Robert Herjavec of Shark Tank fame, was on the jet. Of course.

For those who don’t know, before there was Shark Tank, there was (and still is) the Canadian version: Dragon’s Den. Herjavec was a Dragon on the show. I remember first watching episodes of it in my high school accounting class.

Also, a few years ago, I found myself sitting next to one of the current (at the time) Dragons on the subway. I was too shy to say something.

It was devastating not to land Ohtani, but with his current gambling drama, maybe it was for the best.

After we lost out on Ohtani, I and most of the fan base expected us to make a splash somewhere else. Maybe we make a trade for…uh someone. Juan Soto had already been traded before Ohtani made his decision, so that was out of the question.

Soto would’ve been perfect in Toronto. We’ve needed a starting left fielder ever since the Shannon Stewart days of the early 2000s. Okay, Frank Catalanotto and Reed Johnson were also good in left field, but neither were a long-term superstar answer.

The organization didn’t want to gut the farm system in pursuit of a top talent like Soto. It’s disappointing, but I get it. We would’ve had to sign Soto to a new contract if we wanted more than one year out of him. And with mega contracts on the horizon for Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., maybe paying three position players that much money wasn’t wise.

It would’ve be fun, though!

So what did the Jays do?

They signed Justin Turner, who is expected to get into the lineup as a first baseman or designated hitter. I’m fine with that. Though he is older, he’s shown that he can still produce with the bat.

The potential issue is the Jays also signed Daniel Vogelbach and Joey Votto, both of whom are also going to slot into the 1B/DH positions.

We also have Vladdy there, who is going to play every single day. So, are we going to have three guys rotating into one spot?

Votto is currently out of the picture with an ankle injury, so we have time to figure it out, but it just feels like we’re headed toward trying Turner out at third base again – a position he only played 7 games at last season and 66 games the year before.

Heck, the Blue Jays posted a pre-game photo today of Turner who looked like he was taking ground balls at third base.

If Turner could move there and be okay defensively, we could get Votto or Vogelbach (both lefties) into the lineup at the same time. This is wishful thinking, perhaps.

It’s weird seeing the team go in this direction with the DH spot after going with the “we’re going to rotate everyday players in and out of the DH spot so they have a half day off” method. Does this mean when George Springer needs a rest, he’s getting a full day off? Can we survive without his bat in the lineup?

Or is he going to DH and Turner is the odd man out? Can we survive without Turner’s bat in the lineup?

The Blue Jays also signed Isiah Kiner-Falefa in the offseason. He’s a guy who can play anywhere on the diamond, but will begin the season as the starting third baseman.

Statistically, he had a good spring. But overall, he’s a .260 hitter with a .315 on-base percentage, with not a lot of power. He’s a bottom of the order guy.

Kevin Kiermaier and Cavan Biggio are also “bottom of the order” guys.

Then there is Daulton Varsho. He is one of the few guys on the team who still has untapped offensive potential. Maybe this is the year it happens.

Varsho could be a good 7th hitter on a deep team. He’s hitting 5th on Opening Day because we need a left-handed hitter to break up the string of righties.

This was our problem last year. Too many right-handed hitters and not enough oomph in the lineup. Matt Chapman started out strong and we treated him like a middle of the order power hitter, but then his production fell off, which is why they were okay with letting him go in free agency.

I thought last year that on a World Series team, Chapman would be best suited as a number seven hitter in the lineup. Because if he’s that low, it means your team is deep.

Our starting rotation is missing Kevin Gausman and Alex Manoah, who are both recovering from injuries. Our bullpen is missing Jordan Romano (closer) and Erik Swanson (set-up man).

We’re also missing catcher Danny Jansen to start the season.

It just feels like there are a lot of potential holes and not enough productive reinforcements. I’m most concerned about our hitting.

Bichette and Guerrero Jr. are going to have to have MVP-calibre seasons if the Blue Jays are going to do anything this season.

The guys at the bottom of the order are going to have to know their role. I like that Cavan Biggio is batting 9th on Opening Day because he’s a guy who always looks to work a walk – which works against him sometimes.

I want Biggio and Kiermaier to force the pitcher to throw a lot of pitches. Get their pitch count up. We don’t see this enough. Guys want to swing at the first pitch and “be aggressive” and then all of a sudden the inning is over and the pitcher has only thrown eight pitches.

Tire the pitcher out. Get on base. Set the table for Springer, Guerrero Jr., and Bichette.

The team is relying on players to have bounce back seasons, or improve upon what they did last year. That is how the organization believes the team will be better this season.

We’ll see. Anything can happen in sports.

I do think the Blue Jays are going to be good, but I’m hesitant to say just how good because this is the first time in a long time where we were eerily quiet in the offseason.

I don’t know how the lack of changes on the field is going to effect the team.

That’s why they play the games and that’s why we watch, I guess.

Enjoy the baseball season!

How do you feel about your team heading into this season?

Medium Crosswords Are A Lot Harder Than Easy Crosswords

About a year ago, I started getting into crossword puzzles. I was eavesdropping on my dad doing a puzzle at the kitchen table and decided to blurt out answers to the only clues I knew.

It was only about three or four and probably had to do with sports or pop culture.

As a child, I thought of crosswords as “The Final Boss” of word puzzles. I saw them as an impossible and boring task that adults enjoyed – for some reason – in the same way they enjoyed gardening, watching the news, and “home food” when a fast-food restaurant was right there.

It wasn’t for me. I filled my time with sports.

I do remember crosswords infiltrating my childhood via school, however.

In Grade 7, we would get a list of about ten to fifteen words per week and the culminating test wouldn’t be a traditional spelling test, like we had in Grade 1.

I almost got perfect on a spelling test in Grade 1, but misheard a word and spelled the wrong one. I was asked after, “Why did you spell that word if it wasn’t one you had been taught?” Because that’s the word I thought the teacher had said during the test!

It would be a crossword puzzle test, where the answers were the words we learned. I remember one clue was “TNT”. The only thing I could think of was the American television channel that broadcasted NBA games. But nothing affiliated with that could fit in the eight allotted boxes.

The answer was, “Dynamite”. I know it seems obvious now, but I didn’t know what TNT meant back then, nor could I remember it as a word I had “studied”.

After one week of struggling to match the clues with words we had learned, I found a way to cheat the system benefit myself in a completely fair way.

I would, simply, memorize the list of words and when the crossword test was presented, I’d immediately write them all down at the bottom of the paper. That way, it was a simple game of reading the clues and easily recalling what my possible answers were.

One student saw me get my perfect test back one day and told the teacher I had cheated. The teacher laughed and said there was nothing wrong with memorizing the words of the week and writing them on the test, as a way to remember them. Sure enough, that student started doing the same thing.

I learned I was really good at memorization, which is a study method that benefitted me greatly in university when a lot of my exams consisted of questions like, “List the 8 ____” or “List the 5 principles of ___”. I’d walk into exams trying to balance about five different lists in my head, using acronyms to remember each one.

In high school, crossword puzzles returned as a testing procedure. This time, in English class. My favourite teacher of all-time gave all of his tests in the form of crossword puzzles and allowed us to use our notes for them.

You may know it as an “open book test”.

He felt that those of us who made good notes should be rewarded for it. I loved that. It forced you to pay attention during lessons and movies. You couldn’t just sit there and say “we’re watching a movie, I can relax”. No. You had to be on the ball because if you were, you would be rewarded for it.

On the crossword test after we watched the movie, The Shining, (it was a Horror Fiction class) a long answer was “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. It’s the famous line that Jack repeatedly types on the typewriter.

Well, because of my poor eyesight, I couldn’t read that when it appeared on the TV and didn’t have it in my notes. However, I knew The Simpsons had parodied the movie and Homer had written something similar.

“No TV and no beer make Homer something something.”

This is where you may expect me to say that I tried to cram a combination of those words into the puzzle, but alas, I saved myself from the embarrassment.

Instead, I had to leave it blank.

Ever since high school, I haven’t dipped my toes back into crossword puzzles. They were always too adult. Too many blank spaces and harsh black rectangles on a grid.

Sudoku was always the puzzle game that was most appealing to me. I remember in the early 2000s – I was probably around 12-years-old – “the first Sudoku” was in the newspaper and my family photocopied it so we could each take a stab at it. We all went to separate rooms and twenty minutes later I emerged as the first one done.

I thought they were supposed to be hard?

I’ve always been good with numbers and words. I take pride in the fact that I can do math in my head.

I say all of this to say that, last year, when I started “helping” my dad with crossword puzzles, I surprised myself.

Don’t get it twisted, my dad does not need my help in completing these puzzles. Sure, maybe there are some clues that are “too 2024” and that’s where I come in to inform him that “deets” means “details” and the answer he’s looking for is “info”.

We’ve gotten to the point where every Saturday night when he’s filling out the giant crossword in the newspaper, I’m right there to do it with him. It’s a difficult puzzle that if I were to do it by myself, I’d get about 8% of the answers (probably less) and give up.

But once he fills in the answers he knows, I’m able to see what words are potentially forming and provide answers to clues I wouldn’t have known otherwise. That’s the beauty of crossword puzzles. Other answers can start a snowball effect.

It’s fun.

I always marvelled at how he could get one answer and it would unlock four other answers around it. He would write them out so quickly, as if not needing the clues anymore.

For my birthday in September, I received a crossword puzzle book and was thrilled.

That is a sentence I never thought I would write.

It was a book of “Easy Crosswords”.

Let me make one thing clear. I didn’t find them easy. Why? Because I wasn’t versed in crossword clue lingo. It’s a completely different language that left me yelling, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN??” at the page more often than not.

Reading some of the clues made me realize how cathartic it must be for a teacher to write “too vague” on a student’s essay. I wanted to write the same thing in this crossword puzzle book.

I remember one clue was “cake topper” and the answer was four letters.

Candle? No; too long.

Sprinkles? No; too long.

Frosting? No; too long.

Well, what else goes on a cake? Did the puzzle maker make a mistake?

The answer was “icer”.

ICER.

Because the person who is topping the cake is an icer.

*Throws pen across the room*

Another clue was “food closet”; six letters.

Easy. Fridge.

Wrong.

It was “pantry”.

There were 138 puzzles in the Easy Crosswords book. It took me until puzzle #100 to complete one in its entirety, without any outside help, or peaking at the answers at the back of the book.

I was so proud of myself. It felt like I had defeated…something. I don’t know who the Greek God of puzzles is, but I had defeated them.

From then on, when I complete a puzzle, I put a star at the top of the page to signify my accomplishment.

For some reason, I can’t leave a puzzle undone, so when I’ve reached my limit and am truly stumped, I look at the correct answers and write them in. I don’t know how I feel about this and may stop doing it in future puzzle books.

I also write the date at the top of every puzzle, for some reason. Maybe I subconsciously think I’m going to be in a documentary in 20 years and want to make it easier for the producers to go back and see when I filled out these books? I don’t know.

Even though the puzzles are classified as “easy”, there are some answers that are words I’m not familiar with. I don’t have an example to give you right now, but just know that sometimes I look up the answer and am befuddled by the combination of letters that I see.

It’s a learning experience, I guess.

I finished that first book of puzzles and went out to get another one just like it. The next edition.

I started that book off strong, with a star at the top of four of the first five pages!

It all came crashing down on puzzle #45, though. As I’ve said, crossword clues are like a different language. Well, the clues for this puzzle were a new variation of this different language.

I only got a few answers before moving on to the next one. Same thing.

Did I somehow lose my puzzle powers? What was happening to me? This streak of confusion and ineptitude continued for about five puzzles.

Eventually, I looked at the table of contents.

It said the following:

Easy Crosswords: 1 – 44
Medium Crosswords: 45 – 90
Hard Crossword: 91 -118

OH, that explains it.

It wasn’t me, it was you.

I had unknowingly graduated to Medium Crosswords. I wasn’t ready. I felt like a kindergartener who had been tossed into a calculus class, yet I didn’t know how to use a calculator without mashing everyone button at the same time.

On one hand, I was relieved there was a reason why I had immediately become – for the lack of a better word – stupid. On the other hand, I was gutted at just how difficult Medium Crosswords were and how far away I am from conquering them.

Medium crosswords are a lot harder than easy crosswords, which means hard crosswords are going to be a lot harder than medium crosswords, which means…I’m not in Kansas anymore.

I gave up on completing the rest of the puzzle book – too intimidated to continue, or even make eye contact with clues from the hard crosswords. I’ll come back to it when I’m ready.

I moved on to another Easy Crosswords book and I’m happy to report that the star at the top of the page is more frequent. And when I don’t complete an entire puzzle, I only have a couple (or four) of answers that have eluded me.

It seems that I have caught on to the crossword lingo and don’t get tripped up as much over vague clues. I also find myself filling out answers rapidly, like my dad does, when I get one answer and unlock a slew of others.

Also, I don’t know if this is a thing in the crossword community, but I find that I am a bit better at the Down clues than I am at the Across clues. I don’t have a logically explanation for this.

I am definitely Team Downer, as opposed to Team Acrosser.

I never thought crossword puzzles would be a hobby of mine, but I am having a lot of fun with them. Not only are they an escape from our fast-paced technological world, but they are a new challenge.

After all these years, I finally understand the allure of crossword puzzles. They aren’t impossible anymore.

Except the Medium Crosswords. How dare they?

I will defeat them, though.

One day.

NFL Snapshots: Super Bowl LVIII

The Kansas City Chiefs are once again Super Bowl champions after defeating the San Francisco 49ers, 25-22, on Sunday night in front of an announced crowd of 61,619 fans at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

Super Bowl LVIII was the most watched television program in US history, averaging 123.7 million viewers. Meanwhile, in Canada, the big game averaged 10 million viewers. As many as 19 million tuned in at some point (half the country).

So, there you go, Stephen Colbert. On his special post-Super Bowl edition of The Late Show, he said to Ryan Gosling, “I guess the Super Bowl isn’t a big deal in Canada.”

Oh, it is. Rest assured, we put our lives on hold just like you do.

The Super Bowl is rarely ever the best game of the year, but I thought this was a fantastic game filled with all the drama you could ever dream of.

• The 49ers played a great game, though I don’t understand why they got away from running the ball after half time. That seems to be a trend of Chiefs’ opponents in recent weeks. They have success on the ground and then they completely abandon it.

Well, except for the Ravens. They didn’t even bother trying to run the ball for some reason.

• In regards to the Chiefs punt that hit a 49ers player in the foot…the analysts after the game kept saying the returner Ray-Ray McCloud needed to be louder and more demonstrative in telling his teammate to get out of the way.

Okay, I trust their opinion. I’m just surprised I didn’t hear anyone say that McCloud should’ve fell on the ball instead of trying to scoop it and run.

Was he trying to make a positive out of a negative? I don’t know. He had a chance to fall on the ball and didn’t. I thought that was the bigger takeaway from the play, rather than the “he should’ve yelled louder” discourse.

• Dre Greenlaw tore his achilles while running onto the field. Deebo Samuel briefly exited with a hamstring injury. George Kittle went to the locker room to get his shoulder taped. The 49ers couldn’t catch a break.

The Chiefs attacked the side of the field where Greenlaw would’ve been. And someone please correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure that’s the side of the field he would’ve been on the Chiefs winning touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman.

• Speaking of that final play, why did it look like the 49ers defenders were playing at half speed?

• Tom Pelissero reported on Tuesday that Chiefs Guard Nick Allegretti played all 79 snaps despite suffering a torn UCL in his elbow in the second quarter.

• I thought Leo Chanel, Trent McDuffie, and Chris Jones had terrific games for the Chiefs.

• Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo also had a masterful performance. I think having Tony Romo explain how Spagnuolo thinks and that he wasn’t going to go down without sending pressure to the quarterback, was wonderful.

We saw it play out on a critical third down play late in the game. The Chiefs lined up as if they weren’t blitzing. All of a sudden, McDuffie timed up the snap and went unblocked to the quarterback.

• They’re going home with the Lombardi Trophy and I’m still not sure we ever saw the Chiefs offence operate at a high level this season. That being said, you can always count on Patrick Mahomes to show up and march his team down the field, inch by inch.

• You’ve heard of the show “Only Murders in the Building”? Well, the Chiefs went with “Only Trustworthy Receivers on the Field” in the playoffs.

• If the Chiefs lost the game, there might be a narrative that they imploded and we’d point to the Travis Kelce/Andy Reid collision, the Chris Jones-led defensive meeting on the sideline in the first half, and the Patrick Mahomes/Rashee Rice exchange as proof.

But winning cures all.

• As for the Kelce and Reid moment, where Kelce forcefully grabbed an unsuspecting Reid by the arm and yelled in his face – I see those two as having a father-son relationship at this point and didn’t think much of it when it happened.

Of course, Kelce shouldn’t have done that but, he did. Maybe a younger coach would’ve had a fragile ego and gone so far as to bench Kelce (if only momentarily) to prove a point to the millions (and millions) of viewers, but Reid didn’t do that, thankfully.

• Let’s talk about Overtime.
  
  The playoff overtime rule states that both teams are guaranteed an opportunity to possess the football, unless there is a defensive score. If the score is tied after both teams possess the ball, then the next score wins.

The 49ers won the toss and elected to receive. They ended up kicking a field goal.

Then it was the Chiefs turn. They had the advantage because not only did they know they needed at least a field goal, they didn’t have to worry about punting. So, Patrick Mahomes had four downs to play with.

As we all know, the Chiefs went down the field and scored a touchdown to win the game.

The question is: why did the 49ers elect to receive?

When Fred Warner told the referee they wanted the ball, it took me a few seconds to compute. Eventually, I was like, “wait, they want the ball? Did he think it was regular season overtime rules where if you possess the ball first and score a touchdown, you win? “

And then the broadcast mentioned that the 49ers defence was tired and throwing them back out there right away wouldn’t make much sense. I’ve heard this used as an excuse many times since.

Honestly, I’m not buying the “the defence was tired” argument. Sorry.

They ended up resting on the bench for 17 minutes, real time (thanks to Good Morning Football for that number), and still gave up the game-winning touchdown. So, what’s the difference? If giving the ball to Mahomes means he has three downs to work with, instead of four, throw the tired defence on the field every time.

You want the ball second in that situation. I think the 49ers know it deep down, too.

Kyle Shanahan has said that if neither team had taken the lead, the 49ers would’ve gotten the ball back with “next score wins” rules. Okay, I get it. That makes sense. But you’re planning for a situation that may not even happen, and based on the what the Chiefs said they would do had both teams scored touchdown, it wouldn’t have gotten to sudden death.

If the Chiefs had won the toss, they were going to elect to kick. Their plan was to get the ball second, score a touchdown, and go for two if the 49ers had also scored a touchdown.

As someone who has questioned coaches all year for “going for it” when they don’t need to, I would’ve supported the Chiefs decision to go for two. Otherwise, the 49ers get the ball back and use all four downs until they’re merely in field goal position. Game over.

It came out the next day that 49ers players were unaware of the new overtime rules. What an embarrassing thing to have get out. They weren’t completely aware that the Chiefs would get a chance to possess the ball even if they had scored a touchdown. There’s even a clip out now of Kyle Juszczyk saying as much on the sideline after the overtime coin toss.

Meanwhile, the Chiefs knew the rules and knew what they wanted to do all along. I believe I heard the rules had been drilled into them starting back in training camp, if not before.

• The one thing that I didn’t know was that if the game clock went to zero in overtime, they would simply go to a second overtime period. There was an brief extreme panic in me when the clock was ticking down under ten seconds and the Chiefs weren’t calling a timeout.

If that clock hit zero and the Chiefs hadn’t scored a touchdown yet, how many people in the stadium and on the 49ers sideline would think the game was over? I’m sure there would’ve been some players jumping around thinking they’d won the Super Bowl.

• These are the overtime rules in the Canadian Football League.

Each team has a chance to possess the ball. Their possession starts at the opponent’s 35-yard line. Remember, it is a 3-down league and our uprights are at the front of the end zone. So, basically, teams are already guaranteed a 42-yard field goal attempt if they don’t gain or lose yards.

If a team scores a touchdown, they MUST attempt a two-point conversion.

If the score is tied after both teams possess the ball, the process starts over again. Both teams get another shot to possess the ball starting from the 35. This continues until there is a winner.

I like the wrinkle of forcing teams to go for two because let’s be honest, these kickers aren’t likely to miss extra points.

I don’t think the NFL would adopt this rule, mainly because the CFL has a wonderful punt return rule – you must give the returner a five yard radius until they touch the ball – that they’ve failed to adopt despite wanting to allegedly improve the special teams aspect of the game.

Though if the NFL did adopt the format, I think it would make sense for them to have teams start the drive at their own 25.

• If sure I’m forgetting to mention some things, but those are my thoughts on Super Bowl LVIII!

Thank you to everyone who has read my football thoughts this season and joined along in the conversation. It may officially be the offseason, but time and time again this league has proven that there’s no such thing as an offseason. Something is always happening.

I’m sure I’ll be back with another football post before the draft.

Someone has to remind teams that they need a quarterback. Why not me?

Thanks for reading!

What are your thoughts on the Super Bowl? Were you surprised the 49ers elected to receive in overtime? Can anyone beat the Chiefs?

Last-Minute Super Bowl LVIII Predictions

At this point, the Super Bowl LVIII pre-game show is in it’s 85th hour of coverage – despite beginning this morning – and discussing what the backup linebackers took as electives in college and how those courses helped them reach this point.

Kickoff is just around the corner. If you were planning to order pizza, or other food, stop reading this post and do it right now. Then come back.

By now, if you’re not following the “order early” mantra on Super Bowl Sunday, then what are you doing with your life!?

Anyway, as the title of this post suggested, here are some of my last-minute Super Bowl LVIII predictions.

And by “predictions” I mean I’m just throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks. These are just for fun. The only things I thought about for longer than 10 seconds were the winner and score.

Winner: Kansas City Chiefs

Final Score: 31-23

Halftime Score: Chiefs 14; 49ers 13

First Score: Jake Moody 39-yard field goal

Coin Flip: Heads

Halftime Performance: Taylor Swift will be shown dancing no less than three times, since it’s probably in one of Usher’s contracts that Swift must be shown enjoying his music.

Andy Reid has been cooking up new goal line plays for the last two weeks and we will see at least two of them result in touchdowns.

Kyle Shanahan will pull down the microphone on his headset, while he rips into a referee on the sideline.

Andy Reid will throw a challenge flag in the first half.

Brock Purdy will make a Mahomesian play and the broadcast will show Mahomes watching it on the big screen.

Travis Kelce will point up to Swift’s private box at some point.

Leo Chenal will intercept a Purdy pass.

Christian McCaffrey gets in the end zone and flexes.

A 49ers fan (probably a child) will shown in the stands absolutely balling their eyes out.

The broadcast touts how many cameras are in the stadium, yet there will be a play that is ruled a catch – even though it hit the ground – and the offensive team will rush up to the line and get the snap off before anyone can review it.

After the referees “decided” last year’s Super Bowl in the 4th quarter, they put their whistles away this year, for the most part.

A punt will almost be blocked.

Something will happen in the stands that goes viral before the game ends.

The head coaches will take a long time finding each other at midfield to shake hands after the game because of the slew of media storming the field. (Maybe this is more of a given, than a prediction.)

I thought I’d have more predictions, but the clock is ticking. That’s all I got!

I’m going to eat now.

Enjoy the game and let me know in the comments who you thinking is winning tonight, as well as any other obscure predictions you have!

NFL Snapshots: Conference Championships (2023)

The matchup for Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas is set. It will be the San Francisco 49ers against the reigning and defending Super Bowl champion, Kansas City Chiefs. This will be a rematch of Super Bowl LIV.

As much as I would’ve loved the Chiefs to face the Detroit Lions, I think this is a great matchup with a lot of storylines to keep people busy.

Kansas City Chiefs 17 – Baltimore Ravens 10

Kansas City Chiefs
At this point, the Chiefs are a well-oiled machine and know how to win big games. They aren’t getting bogged down in the antics known as “the game within the game”. They are out there to win. That’s it.

The Chiefs won the turnover battle, 3-0.

The Chiefs offence had the ball for 37:30.

The Chiefs defence has yet to allow more than 27 points in a game this season.

The Chiefs committed only 3 penalties for 30 yards. I know fans watching the game were yelling at their screen, or at least thinking that every call was going the Chiefs way. Yeah, well, when you play as carelessly as the Ravens did, you earn the penalties you receive.

Travis Kelce is back to being Travis Kelce, which is a problem for anyone tasked with defending Travis Kelce.

The worst thing the other teams in the NFL could’ve done was allow the Chiefs to go on this six-year run of dominance. By now, they’ve accumulated so much playoff experience, nothing is going to phase them anymore. The moment is not going to beat them. You have to beat them. And not in some underhanded way where you think hitting them hard is going to make a difference.

It starts with coaching. Can you out-coach Andy Reid and Steve Spagnuolo? You can try. But then can you solve the riddle that is Patrick Mahomes? Again, you can try.

The Chiefs are the Final Boss right now and everyone they’ve eaten (beaten) along the way has made them stronger than ever.

They are the Demogorgon from Stranger Things.

They can be beat. But don’t be surprised when they aren’t.

Baltimore Ravens
I didn’t like how the Ravens approached the game, at all. They went into it saying they wanted the Chiefs offence to “feel them” aka they wanted to throw it back to 2001 and hit them so hard it made them think twice. As a result, they played a reckless game of football and were flagged multiple times for unnecessary roughness, as well as taunting.

I get it, Ray Lewis was there and made his iconic entrance before the game. He’s the face of hard-hitting football. Fine, let him do his thing. But on the field, you have to be smarter. It felt like they had a team meeting and psyched themselves out over the fact they were facing Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.

It started during pre-game warmups when kicker Justin Tucker was warming up amid the Chiefs players. Mahomes asked Tucker to move his things, which he did (barely). And then Travis Kelce threw his tee, footballs, and helmets away. As he should. Go warm up somewhere else. I genuinely don’t know what he was doing down there. Tucker said after the game that he’s done this for 12 years. Really? He’s warmed up in the middle of the other team for 12 years? Is this allowed?

In the NHL, if a player accidentally crosses over centre ice during warmup there’s a brouhaha. Do NFL players not have to stick to their side of the field?

It should be noted that hockey players get abnormally angry over the tiniest of things.

The Ravens also abandoned the running game for, seemingly, no reason. Gus Edwards started the game with a 15-yard run. He finished with 3 carries for 20 yards. That’s alarming. You could run on the Chiefs. They’ll eventually find a way to stop you, but you could move the ball effectively until that point comes.

The game plan against the Chiefs should be to keep the ball out of Mahomes’ hands. Shorten the game and minimize their offensive possessions. The Ravens had the ball for only 22:30. Mission failed.

Perhaps, they wanted to give full autonomy to Lamar Jackson and were going to live and die by what he could do with the football on every play. That’s fine, but predictable. The Ravens need another offensive weapon and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s Derrick Henry next year.

I cautioned last week that the return of Mark Andrews may not go over as well as the idea of “a star player is returning omg!!” sounds. He was held to 2 receptions for 15 yards, on only 31% of the snaps.

From my perspective, the Ravens tried to continuously poke the bear, while the Chiefs focussed on actually winning the game.

Detroit Lions 31 – San Francisco 49ers 34


San Francisco 49ers
Two weeks in a row, the 49ers looked like they were going to be sent packing. The Packers were controlling the game two weeks ago and, this past Sunday, the Lions were steamrolling them in the first half.

But both weeks, the 49ers came back and won. On one hand, it’s concerning. On the other hand, it shows how resilient they are and how they are never truly out of a game. And that’s a scary thing.

Brock Purdy still doesn’t get the universal credit he deserves and I’m pretty sure a lot of it has to do with people judging him based on his appearance and attributes rather than the final result, which could be a pass completion, touchdown, game-winning drive, etc.

He’s not the biggest, the fastest, or the strongest. He is not the EST of the NFL. There’s always going to be other quarterbacks who are above him in those categories.

If you were to build an ideal quarterback, I think you end up with Josh Allen. But what has he won in his career? How many Super Bowls has he appeared in? Exactly. (Yeah, yeah, I know Mahomes has been in his way).

It’s not a fluke Purdy has a 24-6 record, including playoffs.

Purdy is not a game manager, he is a game winner.

Detroit Lions
I’ve grown to love the Lions and wanted to see them in the Super Bowl this year. At halftime, things were looking good. They had a 24-7 lead and were in control of the game.

Then the third quarter happened and they surrendered all control.

When the Lions were leading 24-10, the Lions went for it on 4th and 2 from the 49ers 28 yard line, instead of kicking the field goal. They failed to convert.

You absolutely have to take the points in that situation, right? It’s a playoff game, on the road, with the winner going to the Super Bowl. You have a chance to make it a three score game. Take the points! He didn’t.

Okay.

The score was 24-24 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Lions were trailing 27-24 with just over seven minutes left, when Dan Campbell once again decided to go for it on 4th down (this time is was 4th and 3 from the 49ers 30 yard line. Once again, they failed to convert.

Kick the field goal! Tie the game!

Yes, I’m assuming the Lions kicker, Michael Badgley would’ve connected on both field goal attempts.

I understood Campbell’s reasoning after the game when he said the 49ers had the momentum and were draining the clock and he wanted to regain momentum. I get that. If the Lions kick the field goal and tie the game, the 49ers probably spend the next 7 minutes trying to play keep away before scoring with very little time left on the clock.

At that point, the Lions defence was in full meltdown mode – I said last week the secondary was holding on by a thread – so I can see why Campbell may have wanted to get ahead of what was to come by putting 7 points on the board and forcing the 49ers to get a touchdown on what may be their final drive.

But he wouldn’t have been in this position, if they had kicked the field goal in the third quarter!

People who stand by the 4th down decisions will say that Campbell stayed true to who he was and didn’t stray from his aggressive style, which his team will respect.

Look, I get wanting to stick to who you are. Dance with who brought you. But you can’t just blindly follow your own mantra without taking into account the time, score, or situation. That’s just negligent.

Don’t be stubborn to a fault. Take the points.

Campbell said after the game that they knew at halftime that the 49ers would make a run. And when they did make that run, I wonder if that messed with the Lions psyche and made them think they had to do more than required of them in order to win the game.

I’ve sat through enough Toronto Raptors vs. LeBron James playoff matchups in my life to know that when LeBron gets going in front of his home crowd, that the Raptors are just going to fold like a lawn chair and forget how to play basketball because they feel like they are up against an unstoppable force.

So, I say it again – when the 49ers made their run in the 3rd quarter, just as the Lions knew they would, did that rattle them to the point of crumbling under pressure and making decisions that wouldn’t help them win? We’ll never know the real answer, but the psychology of sport fascinates me so I had to mention it.

There’s a discourse now of, “well, in hindsight, yeah he should’ve taken the points.”

No! In the moment, the right decision was to take the points! We don’t need to look back and re-evaluate. We were evaluating in real time!

I don’t know if their confidence to go for it on 4th down was unjustly inflated because of how many mediocre-poor teams they faced during the regular season, but it felt like they weren’t giving the 49ers defence enough credit. And it’s not like the Lions had to gain half a yard with a QB sneak. They actually had to run real plays.

There is merit to having belief in your guys to convert on 4th down, but this was the NFC Championship game. The scoreboard is what matters most.

I would like to think that if the Lions are in the same situation in a future playoff game, that they’d take the points, but I can’t put my finger on if Campbell is the type of coach who changes his philosophy from season to season (heartbreak to heartbreak), or if he’s just going to triple down on his decision and say, “this is who we are, for better or for worse”.

In sports, there’s a saying about winning teams. It’s that they know how to win.

It was a great season, but the Lions are still learning how to win.

Who knows? Maybe I’m the one wrong about all of this. I’m not a know-it-all. But I think I’ve watched enough sports in my life to know when to put your foot on the throttle and when to ease off and take what you’re being given.

That’s all.

Oh, and I don’t have the energy to address their late-game timeout mismanagement. Sorry.

What did you think of the Championship Games?

What’s your take on Dan Campbell going for it on 4th down, twice?

How do you feel about the Super Bowl matchup?