The discussion over Major League Baseball's playoff format has long been a favourite topic of pundits (especially in Toronto). It is the league with the longest regular season (in terms of games played), and the fewest teams progressing to the post-season, so the question is regularly asked, should MLB have more teams in the playoffs?
When discussing this topic, it is important to specify from which direction you are approaching it from. Are you talking about what is good for baseball, or are you talking about what is good for the Blue Jays?
If you are a Blue Jays fan, and I am one, the question doesn't even need to be asked. Of course we need more teams in the playoffs. The Blue Jays, Orioles and Devil Rays are in an almost impossible situation (obviously the Rays success throws a bit of a kink into the argument, but who cares about the Rays anyway?). While teams in all five other divisions enjoy an ebb and flow of opportunity, success and failure, the Blue Jays are left to try and compete with big spenders 1 and 1A every single season.
So yes, if you are a Blue Jays fan, obviously you want post-season expansion. Obviously post-season expansion is going to help create drama and importance for you, but is that necessarily any good for Major League Baseball?
Is this good for anyone?
Some posit that it is a simple equation; more playoff teams, equals more playoff contenders, equals tighter playoff races, equals more excitement for everyone.I however don't really think that it is such a logical assumption. I think it is more likely that adding playoff teams simply, shifts the excitement down a rung. So instead of having an amazing, last night finish for the wild card spot, the new wild card spot becomes that action packed, last night drama, while the first wild-card spot is settled early, ike the division titles usually are.
"I Love This Game"
That said, I am still of the opinion that Major League Baseball should add more playoff teams, but only because they have already made themselves "half-pregnant". That baseball has playoffs at all (even more egregiously, a best 3 out of 5 round) already sullies the sanctity of the regular season, so why not go one step further?
If any North American sport ought to be run like a European football league, it is baseball. Baseball is a numbers game. A game of aggregates. It is 162 games of monotony designed to weed out the pretenders from the contenders. A pitcher can't fluke his way to 20 wins, a batter can't fluke his way to 40 home runs, and a team can't fluke it's way into the playoffs.
So nice, the Prem trophy has its own hat.
A team can however fluke it's way through the playoffs. For a game that spends such a long period of time to arrive at it's conclusion, it seems crazy to then decide the ultimate winners and losers via a playoff system that rewards immediacy and fortuitous timing.
If any sport should award a "League Title" to the regular season champion, based purely on that regular season, it should be baseball. The original World Series format followed this formula perfectly. The two league winners would win their pennant (a huge deal back in those days), and then play what was ostensibly a "Cup Tournament", known as the World Series.
But since baseball has gotten away from that purity, than why not open it up just that little bit more? To refuse to do so is really just another example of a professional sports league selectively sticking it's head in the sand. It isn't as if an added wild card spot would hurt the MLB's darling Yanks-Sox post-season presence. All this change would do would be to fix the problem that clearly exists throughout the league, wherein 20-24 teams know that their final month of games are all but meaningless.
At this point, with 3 rounds of playoff baseball, there is no principle to be upheld. The sanctity of the playoffs and World Series have already been compromised. Open up the playoffs MLB!
I am going to occasionally do this, mainly just because I am bored and haven't really got anybody to talk music with, so I will speak into the ether of the internet. These aren't even necessarily five songs that I am in love with at this moment, it's just five songs that I have come to love unconditionally. These are five great songs, and if you disagree, your ears must be broken.
1. "Dirty Dishes" by Deer Tick
A terriffic band from Rhode Island (that will be playing Toronto in November), Deer Tick is essentially the creation of the front man who is the lead singer/songwriter. Anyway, this is just a great, simple little ditty. Presumably it is a love song, but who knows. I think my favourite part is the last verse. Not that it is anything new, or particularly poignant (it's all been sung before anyway), but the line "things could be so much worse" always leaves me feeling a little bit better about life when the song ends.
2. "Death by Fire" by Land of Talk
Now some Can-Con. Land of Talk is another band similar to Deer Tick in that the spine of it is singer-songwriter Liz Powell. Her three (full length) albums display some tremendous songwriting ability. It isn't all simple, catchy hooks like Deer Tick (not that there is anything wrong with simple and catchy). Liz Powell writes some complicated, meandering songs that usually have very stark changes throughout them. Death by Fire is one of those meandering songs. The lead hook with it's grungy guitar always puts the thought of a long road trip in a shitty car into my head and I don't know why.
3. "Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison
Not that I didn't know of Van Morrison until recently (my parents LOVE him), I just never get around to listening to him very much. I knew he had become Yusuf Islam, so I thought he might be a bit of a flake, so that didn't entice me to listen. Thankfully, "Old Guy Radio" on The Tony Kornheiser show is a terrific vehicle for finding great, classic music. This was a song where Tony just said "everybody shut up and let's listen", and I am glad he did.
4. "Munich Air Disaster 1958" By Morrissey
This is a song I love, and I song that was one of the first things in my mind when I heard of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash this past summer. Maybe it is crass that this was the first place I went, but I can't help but relate everything in life to music, and specifically, music I love. I have meant to write about the tragedy, and even began a post about, but I couldn't figure out a good way to express my thoughts on it. In a selfish, personal sense, I think the most of the former Maple Leaf players who died. Igor Korolev and Alex Karpovstev (along with the death of Wade Belak) are probably the first players whose Maple Leaf careers I vividly remember, to die. Its a feeling of "getting older" that undoubtedly everyone in society feels. This was just one of the first times for that feeling to really hit me. Anyway, here is a great tribute to one of the other sports teams to suffer a similar tragedy. Of note, the New York Dolls cover that leads into the song. The songs and lyrics go great together.
"Just War" by Sparklehorse
This song hasn't got nearly the significance of the last one. I suppose it is about war, and as such would be every bit as somber, but it's not referencing anybody specific, and it is just too great of a simply pop song to feel down about. With an album filled with artist cameos (and people I really like, like Julian Casablancas), this song, featuring a singer (?) I have never heard of is the track that really jumped out at me. I am a big fan of certain crescendos in music, and I think the chorus do those crescendos really well in this song.
Anyway, there are five songs that I cant recommend enough. And another half hour is successfully killed.
Now I only make this post out of frustration with what I have seen on hockey message boards and in news articles over the past couple of days. Frankly, I thought this was something that was long since resolved. I thought this was an issue that didn't really require discussion. I thought there was just a reasoned conclusion that we had all arrived at by living in this world and growing up in our communities (especially ones like mine).
The argument I see being made, is what I can only assume is some kind of reactionary, "Us? Racists? Come on!" response. I have seen a significant number of people ask "how do we even know the person who threw the banana meant it to be a racial taunt?". The first time I saw this question asked I thought, "well of course, this is the internet, and this person is a troll". But then I saw more of it. And a large contingent of people agreeing with the sentiment. It seemed alot like cops surrounding a crash scene whilst saying "move along folks; Nothing to see here".
The argument was being made by people (who I can only assume are under the age of 12) that they had no idea what the connection was, or why people would be offended by something like that. And then of course, following close behind them were the, "why even draw the connection? Ignoring it will make it go away" people. Their rallying cry for this cause is that this is just another example of "political correctness run amok".
Of course it is not political correctness run amok. We have all seen political correctness run amok and I certainly don't think that telling people to refrain from throwing bananas at black people would qualify as such.
Political correctness run amok...
Of course all of that is just absolute nonsense that I suspect only people who have no first hand experience with racism would even think it. A lot of small town Canada is not like Toronto, and a lot of small town Canada simply doesn't have black people. From my experience at University, meeting young people from outside the GTA for really the first time, I ran into quite a bit of, not necessarily mean, but just plain stupid racism. Now full disclosure, I am not black. But one of my best friends that first year on campus was black, and I saw first hand the kind of stupid "first time talking to a black guy" kind of racism. Especially from drunk people. Every female thought he was a basketball player and every male thought he was a gangbanger who could only be communicated with via "yo"s and "wassup G"s. In comparison to my friend, I have never dealt with anything, but just seeing it on those few occasions helped me understand a little what it is like to be a visible minority. Frankly, I was impressed by my friends restraint because on more than one occasion I would have thought him perfectly within his rights to get confrontational with some people.
I feel like ignorance of stuff like the aforementioned story is a reason why we have such a backlash against the backlash against the banana thrower. A large amount of the hockey consuming audience has no time, or no thoughts for racism. It isn't relevant in their lives, so they make no hesitation in summarily dismissing its presence. People are trying to equate this with the octopus in Detroit, or even the waffles in Toronto, and in my view, those people are flat out wrong. They are wrong in principle (Octopi and Waffles were directed at the teams as a whole), and they are wrong in tact (I think being on the side of a banana thrower should tell you all you need to about your tact).
The fact that there is any response to this other than universal disgust and condemnation I find shocking, and really, really disappointing. For as stupid as I thought hockey fans were, I didn't think they were this stupid.
Telling people not to throw bananas at black people shouldn't be that onerous a request. Yet look at any message board and you will find people attempting to argue that "maybe somebody just brought fruit to the game".
Hell, it really doesn't matter what the throwers intent was! The only message that matters is the one that the observer/recipient infers, not the one that deliverer intended.
This whole issue strikes me as being similar to the white people who think it is a "double standard" that is isn't socially acceptable for them to say "nigger".
If you throw a banana at, or near a black person, chances are there will be people near there, who will think it is a racially motivated taunt. It will be wonderful when our society gets to the day where nobody would ever understand the significance of a banana thrown at a black person, but we sure as shit aint there yet, and just because some people are too sheltered or too naive to understand the connection, doesn't mean the action should not be condemned.
The argument being made that we should ignore it, treat it like it were nothing and it will go away, is nothing but a desperate attempt to try and ignore the issue. People in Canada like to pretend like racism is not an issue here, but just like denial does nothing for addicts and alcoholics, it won't do anything to make our society better.
When I was in first grade I had no idea what the connotations of a swastika were. I just thought it looked cool; so I drew a bunch of them all over my workbook. Had my parents not told me to erase them, I doubt it would have done anything make people forget about the Nazis. And people wouldn't have cared that I did not know what it meant. They would have just figured I was a Nazi.
Its like that kid on this past season of Curb Your Enthusiasm who stitched the swastika on Susie's pillow cover. He didn't know it was wrong, but you can't let him run around sewing swastika emblazoned linens for everyone.
A horribly kept secret of the last couple years has finally been leaked and the Blue Jays new/old logo has come to light. We all knew it was coming; it was just a matter of when. The design is just new enough to look different, and just traditional enough to invoke the nostalgia of the glory years. In my opinion the Blue Jays have "hit a home run" (zing!) with this design. It essentially is the old logo that everyone loves, but touched up just enough to make it look like it wasn't designed 40 years ago. For comparioson's sake, here are the two logos side by side (courtesy uni watch).
The new bird kinda looks like the old bird went on a diet.
The Blue Jays can expect merchandise sales to go through the roof if this really is the new logo. One, because it is great, and two, because suckers like me will get nostalgic for the current logo that nobody even likes and start buying the current merchandise.
Now the question is; what will the new uniforms look like? Standard white and greys obviously, but I am really hoping they make a royal blue alternate (or whatever shade of blue that new logo is set upon).
Well, after an all too brief run, my favourite podcast on the internet (and thus, my favourite radio show) has come to an end. Tim and Sid: Uncut is no more, and it kind of sucks.
I almost felt it was coming though, so on Friday, when I saw that it was the last podcast, I wasn't that shocked. I think with the end of The Score on Sirius the writing was on the wall. The show had been stripped down in its return, and it was pretty clear something was up.
Also, on the second to last show, Tim and Sid were hinting at a big announcement, only to claim the big announcement was a short show due to Tim having to do an NFL show. I thought it seemed fishy, and it really sounded like there was something afoot, much bigger than a short show.
I saw a tweet on Friday afternoon from, what I think was a trustworthy source, but in searching for the tweet again, I can't find it anymore. So either I was seeing things, or somebody said something they weren't supposed to. What I recall it saying was that Tim and Sid would be gone until December, at which point they would return to radio, this time on The Fan 590 in Toronto.
Now, Tim and Sid coming back is obviously what the masses demand, but them coming back on standard, terrestrial radio will obviously mean some changes. Principally, Sid won't be able to use such flowery language to make his points (censorship fuck), but if anybody were actually listening because of the cursing, they're an idiot.
Tim and Sid coming to The Fan 590 does make alot of sense. The Fan has been shuffling it's lineup for a couple years now, looking to adapt to the new sports media market, and Tim and Sid do easily what the establishment has been trying to do for years now. Namely, connect with young people, and integrate social media into radio and television.
While the Fan's most pressing need is in the morning (Brady and Lang are like radio cancer) I think Tim and Sid's style (especially the twitter interaction) works best in the afternoon. People aren't tweeting funny one-liners at 7 in the morning. A Tim and Sid show leading into Bob McCown's PTS would be huge for The Fan.
Of course, should Tim and Sid go to TSN Radio, they should have their pick of the litter for time slots. There is NOBODY as established, but more importantly as GOOD, as Tim and Sid on TSN Radio. They could put up a much better fight against PTS than the incredibly cheesily titled "Cybulski and Co.".
Tim and Sid have the kind of on-air chemistry that is incredibly rare to find, and whatever network they take their talents to will come out a huge winner. And whenever they come back on the air, us listeners will be winners.
Thankfully the Tony Kornheiser show is back on regular programming to fill this void left in my iPod.
The Leafs looked good in their first pre-season game. Plan the parade!
Now that the obligatory, sarcastic Leaf comment is out of the way, the team did look good. I am not going to make any more analysis than that, but it was still just nice to have hockey back.
NHL 12 has arrived, and as I usually do, I caved in and bought it. Yes, its basically the exact same game as the past 3 or 4 years, but I just couldn't resist the novelty of buying the first NHL game with the Winnipeg Jets since NHL 95.
One thing that really bothers me about the franchise, and always has, is alot of the simple cosmetic touches. Pre-game intros have looked the exact same for several years now. Post game victory celebrations still look the same. Changing canned animations like goals and wins seems like a no-brainer, and a really easy way to make a game seem more updated. Yet EA refuses (or is simply just too lazy) to come up with new ones.
I am really getting into the "Be a Pro" mode this year though. The ability to sim to your next shift is huge for making the mode more playable. Nobody likes sitting on the bench in real life, never mind in a videogame, so taking that out of the game is huge.
It is also really disappointing to see that the new Winnipeg Jets jerseys still aren't in the game. I had NHL 11, and by the time the first jersey update was released, I had long since gotten bored of the game. I fear this update might take just as long. I usually get bored of the NHL games by the time the regular season gets going for real. It would be nice to get some games in with the Jets wearing something other than their hideous 1980's era uniform. I can't understand why EA included those unis and not the much better looking 1990's era sweater. That sweater would fit right in in today's NHL, and be one of the best looking ones to.
On to a pair of recently leaked third sweaters. The Senators and Maple Leafs both had their unveilings ruined by the Sabres arena store, and it confirms what most people have known for a while now. The Senators will be wearing a "throw back" looking uniform with thick black and red hoops, while the Maple Leafs will be wearing a 1967 inspired blue sweater.
As a Maple Leaf fan, I am a bit jealous here. The Senators jersey looks amazing, but I am quite underwhelmed by the Leafs sweater. The Sens sweater is something they have been sorely missing for over a decade. Namely, a GOOD sweater. Ever since Ottawa introduced their '3D' head logo, with the red and black, wavy stripe jersey, they have consistently been one of the ugliest teams in the league, so it is great that somebody in Ottawa has gotten a clue and made a jersey that looks distinctive and classic.
The Leafs jersey, while directly taken from the Leafs once glorious past (and it may still grow on me, particularly once I see it in action), is very boring looking. Though I think my reaction may have a bit to do with the fact that this sweater will be replacing one of, if not the best sweater in the entire league. The white, 36-point Maple Leaf sweater that Toronto has worn for about the last decade was hockey personified. I dont think there was a person on this earth who didn't agree that it was one of the best sweaters in the league. So, considering that, this sweater has a lot to live up to. I am happy to see the Leafs embracing the 67 era logo though. One thing about the Leafs I really like is the unique fact that they have, essentially, three different logos that are all immediately recognizable as symbols of the Maple Leafs organization (to hockey fans anyway).
They finally did it. The Winnipeg Jets have finally unveiled their jerseys sweaters for their NHL return, and predictably, the fan response is luke warm. The first complaint I see a lot is that they're too plain. They look too much like a million other sweaters around the league (CBJ, FLA, PIT, NSH, STL). Basically, if a team already wears a dark blue uniform with a round logo, people seem, to feel the Jets are ripping them off.
Why did RBK have to ruin you?!
I think there are a couple reasons for the chilly reception. One, the complainers are correct about the sweater being plain. It is very plain. Especially the "polar night blue" sweater. It looks exactly like a hockey sweater is supposed to look. The logo on the front, some stripes on the arm and waist, and that is it. Hockey sweaters are not supposed to be ground breaking aesthetically. And the ones that do manage to introduce something new that people actually like are few and far between. The pre RBK Edge-ified Stars and Avalanche uniforms spring to mind as 'modern' designs that were universally beloved. But most "modern" redesigns end up being replaced within a decade like Buffalo, Edmonton, and Boston. The Jets kept it simple, and that was the right decision.
Second reason I think people are hating on this uniform, the team is becoming real. They're no longer the fictitious Winnipeg Jets that everybody can have a soft sport for. This is the jersey that a player will be wearing when he scores a game winning goal against your team. Not that there is anything wrong with getting some recreational hating in before the real games start.
Could probably use more abstract lines
As for my commentary on the sweaters. Since my initial reaction this morning of a big hearty "meh", I have actually really grown to like this design. Other than the plainness of it, people's only real complaint seems to be the striping on the road whites. I do see what people mean, the two horizontal shoulder stripes do clash with the vertical, full length shoulder yoke. This was one of the first things I noticed, and I initially didn't like it, but the look has grown on me, and I would have to say I really like the decision. I think the arm stripes really stand out on the sweaters and I love the "aviator blue" accents. Also, I have a theory for the two prominent arm stripes. I haven't seen it mentioned in any news piece, but I wonder if the idea behind the two stripes is supposed to be symbolic of the fact that this is the second version of the Jets. Two stripes for Jets 2.0.
The only part of the uniform I dont like is the number and lettering. I am really not a fan of that "modern" style. I really don't take much issue with it though as these jerseys are almost guaranteed to undergo a few tweaks in the next couple years anyways. Sweaters these days never seem to go more than a couple years with out some kind of tinkering.
And even if you absolutely hate these, Chipman has strongly suggested (if not flat out said explicitly), the Jets will be bringing back the old uniform as an alternate as early as next season. Its really starting to feel like the Jets are back.
