Sporting Madness

Here's the conclusion of this point/counterpoint setting up the Stanley Cup Finals. Earlier, my old Queen's Journal colleague Mike Woods made the case for the Bruins. Here's my take on why I think the Canucks will win. The NHL playoffs are a funny thing, and the best team doesn't always win. In fact, as I've written before, contrary to the demands of narrative , the best team probably wins about 55 per cent of the time. That leaves 45 per cent of the time where upsets happen, and the odds may be even higher in a series like this that looks like it should be close. Thus, anything could happen here. If you're a betting man or someone making predictions, though, you want that 55 per cent chance over a 45 per cent one, and that's why I'm going with the Canucks. What Vancouver accomplished this regular season was nothing short of historic. They finished first in the NHL with 117 points, 10 ahead of their nearest competitor (Washington) and 14 ahead of...

To get you set for the Stanley Cup Finals, myself and former Queen's Journal colleague Mike Woods are running one of our traditional point/counterpoint pieces predicting who will win. First up, here's Mike to make the case for the Bruins. My piece on the Canucks will follow later before the series kicks off at 8 p.m. Eastern/5 p.m. Pacific today. Take it away, Mike! After the Boston Bruins’ nail-biting 1-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning last week that got them a berth in the Stanley Cup final, my first thought was that the series would be evenly-matched and picking a winner would be a toss-up. Instead, most people outside New England seem to be casting the Bruins as underdogs by a wide margin. It’s hard to blame them. The Vancouver Canucks are rolling; they tamed the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference final’s first four games, then relied on show-stopping goaltending from Roberto Luongo in Game 5, who stopped 54 of 56 shots when his team faltered. A President...

The NHL playoffs get rolling tonight , with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Pittsburgh Penguins going head-to-head in one early game, the Phoenix Coyotes and Detroit Red Wings facing off in another clash and the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals in a third. There are also a pair of late games, featuring the Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks and the Nashville Predators and Anaheim Ducks. There should be some excellent hockey on display tonight, and hopefully for much of the rest of the playoffs as well. Here's a preview of each first-round matchup, organized by game time (broadcast info from The 506 ): (4) Pittsburgh Penguins - (5) Tampa Bay Lightning First game: Wednesday, 7 p.m. Eastern, CBC (Ontario east, except Windsor) This is an interesting one. The Penguins have a stronger defence and better goaltending (I'll happily take Marc-Andre Fleury over Dwayne Roloson ), but their offence doesn't look as promising without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin (a...

After weeks of waiting, it's finally time for the Super Bowl. As I wrote earlier, I love this matchup ; the spread's 2.5, and there's a good argument that it should be a pick-em. It's one of the closest Super Bowl games I've seen in some time, and that's what I emphasized in my predictions; as usual, I have a complete breakdown of the game over at The Good Point with Mark Milner , and I also have a shorter pick posted over at Robert Carnell's blog . For those just looking for a score, I'm going to go with Pittsburgh 24 , Green Bay 21. I also have a rundown of the CFL figures involved in the game over at 55-Yard Line . Finally, let's carry on from the conference championship games with a theme song for each team!

Just a note that Mark Milner and I have our conference championship picks up over at The Good Point . There should be a couple of great games today; I'm looking forward to seeing how the condition of Soldier Field affects the Bears - Packers matchup, and the Jets and Steelers should be a perfect clash for those of us who like hard-hitting defence. The above link has my full breakdown of each game, so rather than write the same stuff over again, here's a song for each team to get you ready for the games: Pittsburgh : Judas Priest - Metal Gods This classic track from the British Steel album seems thoroughly appropriate for a team from the Steel City. Also, it isn't tough to imagine James Harrison and the rest of the Pittsburgh defence ripping men apart. New York : Iron Maiden - Aces High The best non-crappy aerial song I could think of (and yes, there was no way in hell we were going with Benny and the Jets or Jet Airliner here). Besides, Rex Ryan 's blit...

The NFL playoffs are always one of my favourite times of year, and if last week's games are any indication, we're in for a good playoff season. My picks for this round are up over at The Good Point , so go check those out ! The game I'm most interested in is the Steelers-Ravens clash, which gets under way shortly. From an impartial perspective, it's one of the NFL's most interesting divisional rivalries, featuring two teams that have been quite good for the last decade and more. They play similar styles, and for those like me who enjoy great defence, they're some of the best franchises to watch. Of course, I'm not entirely impartial, as I've been a Steelers' fan for most of my life, so I'm definitely decked out in my black and gold today as you can see below. Feel free to hurl insults, but the B.C. chapter of Steeler Nation is reporting for duty.

Photo: Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive back Leron Mitchell (Western) tries unsuccessfully to block Calgary Stampeders receiver Deon Murphy (Kansas State) last Saturday. Calgary won 40-20. [ Zuma Press ] Welcome to another edition of The Whole 110 Yards ! Here's the breakdown on all of Week 4's CFL action. Sorry this is later than usual; it's been a hectic week around here. I'll try to get the Week 5 edition up early this coming week. Game of the week: Calgary 40, Saskatchewan 20 This was a pretty remarkable result, if not a remarkable game. Calgary had looked very vulnerable the week before, falling 27-24 to Toronto in last week's Game Of The Week , while the defending West Division champion Roughriders rolled into Calgary's McMahon Stadium with a 3-0 record. Stampeders' quarterback Henry Burris (Temple) finally displayed some of his usual form, though, completing 21 of 31 passes for 279 yards and four touchdowns. He was picked off twice, b...

Photo: Toronto Argonauts cornerback Evan McCollough intercepts a pass intended for Calgary Stampeders slotback P.K. Sam in their clash Wednesday, July 14. Toronto won 27-24 to improve to 2-1 on the year. [ Mark Blinch , Reuters ] Welcome to another issue of The Whole 110 Yards , your weekly update on the CFL complete with game recaps, off-field stories, former college football stars and predictions for this weekend's games! Also, I'll again be running the CFL.ca Friday Night Football Live Chat tomorrow with Brian Wawryshyn of BC Lions Den and Tyler Bieber of CFL Daily . This week's featured matchup is the B.C. Lions and Toronto Argonauts, and we'll kick off the chat at 4:15 p.m. Pacific (7:15 p.m. Eastern) tomorrow evening; make sure to come join us then! Game of the Week: Toronto 27, Calgary 24 In recent years, the Toronto Argonauts have tended to receive more national coverage than any other CFL team. That's understandable, considering that they...

The Whole 110 Yards is back ! Here's analysis of Week 2 in the CFL, and previews of the three games still to come in Week 3. Also, I'll be running the Friday Night Football live chat for tonight's game between Winnipeg and Hamilton game over at CFL.ca , with Jann Shreve of BCLionsDen.ca . Game of the Week: Toronto 36, Winnipeg 34 Last week's Friday night game showcased the high-scoring action we've come to expect from the CFL, but that was perhaps surprising given the teams involved. Both the Toronto Argonauts and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have been known for inept offences in the past few years, but they put on an impressive show Friday. The Buck Pierce Era appears in full swing in Winnipeg, as the former New Mexico State and B.C. Lions quarterback has settled in nicely under centre for the Bombers. He completed 25 of 35 passes for 366 yards and three touchdowns despite being picked off once. Perhaps more impressive were his seven scrambles for 103 yar...

I'm going to be doing previews of every World Cup game from here on in. First up, the quarterfinals. Here's a preview on Paraguay - Spain, which will be televised at 11:30 a.m. Pacific (2:30 p.m. Eastern) tomorrow on CBC. Paraguay: Record:(W-L-D) 1-0-3 (one extra win on penalties) GF: 3 GA: 1 Top scorer: Three players tied with one goal each Spain: Record: 3-0-1 GF: 5 GA: 2 Top scorer: David Villa , four goals Try your luck at sports betting ! It's been a very curious World Cup so far for Paraguay. They've only won one game in regular time (a 2-0 victory over Slovakia), but they still claimed first place in Group F and knocked out Japan on penalties in the Round of 16. Their defence has been tremendous, only conceding one goal in four matches. Still, they've only scored three goals, and none of their players have more than one. Manchester City striker Roque Santa Cruz in particular has perhaps been the biggest disappointment; he...

It should be an interesting Super Bowl today; a clash between two high-powered offences, as well as two very different game philosophies. The Saints have a balanced attack and an incredibly aggressive defence, while the Colts' defence excels at limiting big plays and their offence is dominant in the passing game, but struggles to run the ball. You can find my full preview piece below , as well as other ones I wrote for Rob Carnell at Salt Water Music and Ryan Gallivan at The Gally Blog . Now, it's time for the prediction. Everyone has the Colts as big favourites, but I think this is overlooking a few things. For one, as Neil Paine points out, SRS (simple rating system, explained here ), which looks at teams' average margins of victory and their opponents' average ratings, is overwhelmingly in favour of the Saints. Yes, the Saints struggled against the Vikings in the NFC Championship game, but the Colts had issues with the New York Jets, a much less well-rounded t...

I'll be live-blogging today's games shortly, but first I thought I'd put up some predictions. Both these games could go either way, like anything in the playoffs, so these are just idle thoughts, not guarantees. If you want something with a better chance of success, check out Peter Pattakos ' picks over at Cleveland Frowns ; he's 8-0 so far these playoffs! With that out the way, let's get to the games. AFC: New York Jets at Indianapolis Colts: The Colts were a dominant team during the regular season. They went 14-2, and weren't particularly trying in the games they lost (one against the Jets). Meanwhile, Jets' head coach Rex Ryan thought they were eliminated at one point, and they only snuck into the playoffs on the last day. The Colts also beat their curse of resting starters with last weekend's win over the Ravens, so there's lots of logical reasons to pick them. However, I'm not going to. For one thing, small athletic teams like the ...

The NFL playoffs are underway, so it's time for some picks! My pick for the Super Bowl this year is the Chargers over the Saints; this weekend's games aren't terribly relevant to that prediction, as both teams have a first-round bye, but they should still be entertaining. Let's get to the breakdowns. Jets at Bengals: (today, 4:30 p.m. ET) The Jets thumped Cincinnati last week, but I don't think they'll do it again. For one thing, they're too one-dimensional on offence; they have a great running attack, but they're in the playoffs despite Mark Sanchez , not because of him. I like their defence, especially Darrelle Revis , but I'm not sure they'll be able to stop the Bengals' ground game with Cedric Benson (who didn't play last week). Keep in mind that the Jets backed into the playoffs after the Colts and Bengals laid down for them in the past two weeks. I'm also taking Carson Palmer over Sanchez any day. Pick: Bengals Eagl...

I'm going to try and run my NFL predictions here every week, along with one-line reasons for each pick. We'll see how it turns out! Thursday: Tennessee at Pittsburgh: Steelers Rationale: This will be close, but Pittsburgh's defence is just too good for the Titans. Sunday: Miami at Atlanta: Falcons Rationale: Both of these teams will be good this year, but home-field advantage gives the Falcons the edge in this one. Denver at Cincinnati: Bengals Rationale: The Broncos have been a gong show so far under Josh McDaniels . Cincinnati isn't the league's best team or the most stable, but they look positively competent by comparison. Minnesota at Cleveland: Vikings Rationale: I think the Brett Favre experiment will implode at some point, but the Vikings are still a much better team than the Browns. Jacksonville at Indianapolis: Colts Rationale: The Colts may take a step back this year, but they still have Peyton Manning and a great passing offence. Detroit at New Orl...

Our long (inter)national nightmare is over; it's time for the NFL season to start! I'm excited as anything for tonight's opener between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Tennessee Titans; Pittsburgh should be eager to defend their Super Bowl title, and Tennessee will pose a good challenge for them. The "Terrible Towel" story from last year only ups the ante and adds fuel to the fire. For coverage of tonight's game, check out the Shutdown Corner live blog or Behind The Steel Curtain , where they should have a game thread. Anyway, before the season kicks off, here are my preseason playoff predictions; let's see how they stack up. Week One predictions will follow in a separate post. AFC: Division winners: North: Pittsburgh* South: Tennessee East: New England* West: San Diego * = first-round bye Wild cards: Baltimore Miami Playoffs: Wild card: Baltimore over Tennessee San Diego over Miami Divisional: Pittsburgh over Baltimore San Diego over New England Confe...

Apologies for the lack of new posts recently; it's been a crazy couple of days. I do have a couple of pieces that should be ready today or tomorrow. Until then, check out this excellent piece from Jason Davis of Match Fit USA ; Jason thought up some great questions about where American soccer and MLS will be in 2019 and got responses from two well-informed sources ( Zach Woosley of Ginge Talks The Footy and Chris Nee of twofootedtackle ), as well as myself. Check it out!

Time for a quick update in my playoff bracket standings. After Round 1, I'm leading with 24 points. I managed to get all eight series right in terms of winners (beating all of the TSN experts ), but only predicted the exact number of games (six) in the Pittsburgh-Philadelphia series. Still, my bracket is still intact, which has to be seen as a victory. My father, Frank Bucholtz , is hot on my heels with 23 points; he picked seven out of eight series correctly, but figured that the Devils would knock off Carolina. However, he got two series exactly right: Pittsburgh in six and Washington in seven. New Queen's Journal co-editor-in-chief Mike Woods and Canadian University Press board guy extraordinaire Ricardo Bortolon are tied for third place with 19 points each. Both picked New Jersey and San Jose to advance incorrectly. Mike was dead-on on the Washington series, while Ricardo called the Detroit sweep. My mother brings up the rear with 14 points; she incorrectly picked Calg...

Neate has some interesting thoughts on the newspaper industry over at Out of Left Field , particularly with relation to an online subscription-based model either through cable companies or done as a standalone (as Newsday is trying [ Steven Musil , CNET). I don't think this is the way to go, though. For one thing, subscriptions are untenable if free alternatives are offered, so you'd have to get all the papers on board (nigh to impossible) and others would certainly start free alternatives of their own to challenge this. Furthermore, bringing in subscriptions would generate some new revenue, but it would also lower your traffic numbers and thus either your online advertising rates or the number of ads you're able to sell. In my view, this would mean that going to subscriptions would either have a minimal effect or even a negative one on the bottom line. For me, the solution is a traditional one with a couple of new elements. Make all the content free; this increases the ...

Apologies for the lateness of this piece, the counterpoint to Mike ’s argument in favour of the Phillies. I got caught up in Journal work this week, as most of our sports contributors contracted severe cases of midtermitis, leaving me to carry even more of the load then normal (I wrote a personal-record five game stories, one column, one profile and one brief for Friday’s issue). Thus, there wasn’t a lot of time to do much of anything on the blogging front. In any case, though, with the Rays and Phillies splitting the first two games of the World Series, it’s still very much up for grabs, so I figured it would still be worth writing this piece: just consider it a preview of the best-of-five series that remains. In my far-from-expert opinion, the Rays are going to take this series. It’s going to be close, as the Phillies are a very talented ball club, but the Rays win this matchup on depth. That depth is a triple-barreled advantage; it’s present in pitching, offence and defence, and i...

Last year, former Journal sports editor (and current features editor) Mike Woods and I had a great tradition of writing point/counterpoint pieces around the major professional sporting events and issues of the year. He beat me in the World Series predictions (though to be fair, I was more making a case that the Rockies could win rather than they would), but I got my revenge in the Super Bowl . Anyway, we weren't able to fit a point/counterpoint on this year's series in the paper, but Mike and I figured we'd each write one for this site to keep the tradition alive. Here's his piece on why the Phillies will win. My case for the Rays will come later tonight. - Andrew Phanatical about the Phillies (Andrew's title) By Mike Woods No last-place team in any professional sport has won its league’s championship the following year. Admittedly, the Tampa Bay Rays have shockingly passed one test after another this season. It looked like their best days were behind them when ...