Hockey
National Hockey League
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Favourite Players:
- Jason Arnott - Too bad he's not on Edmonton anymore.
-
Keith Tkachuk - This lad's got bags of skill.
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Favourite Teams:
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I am a true blue Canadian and you can't top the national pastime
of grown men roughing it out on skates and pads. My favorite
player is Jason Arnott and you might be able to start a guess as
to why. This guy's got grit, skills and lots of potential.
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Rising stars:
- Zigmund Palffy
- Kenny Jonsson
- Saku Koivu
- Sergei Samsonov
- Anson Carter
- Jason Allison
- Jeff O'Neill
- Mattias Ohlund
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Basketball
National Basketball Association
Favourite Players:
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Favourite Teams:
The Spurs
are going up in the world. If they can pull a shooting guard like
Sprewell
out of free agency next year,
they will be seeing championships for years to come.
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The Raptors are an interesting
story. Isaiah Thomas was leading the team in the right direction but then Slaight took over
the ownership of the Raptors,
Isaiah decided to go,
Damon Stoudamire
wanted to follow and it looked like Toronto was going to lose for many years to come. But
thanks goes to Steve Stavro, Larry Tannenbaum and Glen Grumwell for turning that all
around in a few weeks.
- Stavro gave stability to ownership and the arena project.
- Tannenbaum is a basketball mind who loves Toronto.
- Grumwell pulled a few rabbits out of a hat with two awesome deals under pressure.
You have to give Grumwell respect. He is a rookie GM with no basketball background who
escaped two pressure cooker situations. He had two star players wanting out
of the Raptors, first
Stoudamire and then
Kenny Anderson. Instead of just dumping them for draft picks or
something useless, he got them to teams they wanted to go to and picked up a handful
of great young prospects. All he gave up was Stoudamire and a bunch of veterans who
probably were not coming back. How does this starting five look five years from now?
with Gary Trent,
Alvin Williams,
Kevin Willis and
John Thomas
off the bench. If these
kids live up to their potential, I think we have division title material here.
Pick up a true center in free agency or the draft and there may be too much talent in the
front court to go around.
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The Lakers
are a great organization. They know what it takes to build championship teams
and they have done just that only a few years after ending their last dynasty.
Eddie Jones
is finally getting the respect he deserves as one of the top players in the game.
Nick Van Exel
will always be maturing but when you have skills like this guy ... who needs maturity?
Kobe
will just keep getting better.
Shaq?
He's a great garbage
collector but if the skilled players put on a show, he can only watch.
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What's up with Milwaukee?
They have a great nucleus of
Glen Robinson,
Terrell Brandon
and Ray Allen
but they can't seem to win. Either these
guys are not getting it together on the court or the Bucks really need a new coach.
Let's hope next year will be a fresh start with more team chemistry.
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Baseball
Major League Baseball
I have never really liked baseball or the
Blue Jays until this year. It all started
when the Jays traded
Mike Timlin and
Paul Spoljaric to the
Mariners for
Jose Cruz Jr.
What a steal. This guy is going to be the next outfield superstar
and the Jays got him for nothing. Since then, the team seems to be more devoted to
developing its younger players. They dumped Cito and Carter to usher in
the new era. All of their younger players are getting starting roles automatically.
Not only are they a young team, but they are a team that's very capable of winning now.
I've always admired the Montreal farm system for their development of players but felt
sorry that their financial problems made it difficult to keep their young
superstars together. Now the Jays have finally seen the light and they don't have
the money problem. They have also gone out and signed some key players to
fill holes. Here's the lineup:
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Lineup
Rotation
Relief
This is a team ready to break out and they have my full support this season.
I think World Series may be a bit ambitious but they'll make a run for the
Divison title.
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Auto Racing
I don't understand why, but guys and cars just have this innate bond. And the
ultimate driving experience has to be Formula 1 racing. With a Canadian at the
top of the podium, F1 has grown in popularity and
Jacques Villeneuve
has risen to stardom. I just love watching these potential star athletes develop and rise
in the rankings just as Jacques has risen like a rocket. I remember the good old days
when Jacques was starting off as Indy car rookie of the year with the Canadian team
of Player's Limited. That blue and white car stood for true patriotism since he could
have joined another team with a better car. But Villeneuve persevered and was rewarded.
However, he was destined for bigger and better things and has proven it. Now he has
brought Formula 1 racing to the forefront of sporting news in Canada. Gilles would
have been proud.
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