Long distance dedication

Good news! They’re cleaning my street today, and it’s not very loud. Not compared to military exercises, anyway.

But even more importantly, today is the day! American Hockey League playoffs, Calder Cup Final, game one.

My hometown Hamilton Bulldogs are in the Final for the third time in team history, and for the second time since I’ve been a full-time Bulldogs fan. True story: back in 2003 when the Dogs took on Houston in the Calder Cup Final, I cancelled plans to watch game seven of the Stanley Cup Final to go to Copps Coliseum and watch game six of the Calder Cup Final (which the Dogs won, forcing game seven).

The Dogs are in Hershey, Pa. to take on the Bears tonight. The Dogs played the Bears in the Final in 1997, the Dogs’ first year in the American League. The Bears beat the Dogs in five games way back then. In total, they’ve won the Calder Cup nine times (including last season, and are 9-10 all time in the Final), while my beloved Bulldogs are 0-2 in the Final. True story: when the Bears played in Hamilton during the 2005-06 season, the PA operator at Copps Coliseum chose to play Teddy Bears’ Picnic while the Bears skated onto the ice. Later in the game, Hamilton’s Jonathan Aitken nearly decapitated Chris Bourque with one of the most punishing hits I’ve ever seen.

In 1997, the Bears were the primary affiliate of the Colorado Avalance, and the Dogs were the Edmonton Oilers’ farm team. Several of the ’97 Bears had a proverbial cup of coffee in the NHL, though Eric Messier (406 NHL games), Marc Denis (361) and, incredibly, Wade Belak (395) are perhaps the most well-known players from that team. Likewise, several of the ’97 Bulldogs’ names ring bells in NHL cities, but perhaps none more so than Greg de Vries (730 NHL games), Georges Laraque (563), Sean Brown (436) and, incredibly, Boyd Devereaux (542). Bryan Muir played with the Bulldogs in 1997, and is now with the Washington Capitals, who are now the parent club of the Hershey Bears. The Bulldogs parent club is now the Montreal Canadiens. True story: in 2002-03 the Bulldogs were a split affiliate for the Oilers and Canadiens. When the Oilers and Canadiens played the outdoor Heritage Classic game in November 2003, 13 former Bulldogs played in the game, five others were on hand in the press box, and one dressed as Jose Theodore’s backup; a fact most of my friends are still waiting for me to shut up about.

So, short story long, all the best to my team from 3,700 kilometers away.

Up next, Mark Cuban.

Word is out that the Dallas Mavericks owner wants to start a professional football league in the United States to rival the NFL. In fact, Cuban even goes so far as to say the NFL needs competition. Right now, the only thing the NFL needs is an Ivan Pavlov for its players.

Historically speaking, let’s see how the NFL’s rivals have fared. The fourth version of the American Football League merged with the NFL, after three other attempts failed. The AFL was followed by the World Football League (1974-1975), the United States Football League (1983-1985) and the XFL (2001) are all distant memories. Just for fun, we’ll include the Canadian Football League’s American expansion, though it wasn’t an attempt to rival the NFL.

Do Americans love football? Of course. The NFL is the league every other sports league wants to be. Is there room for other football? Of course. Arena football is a rapidly-growing brand, and is expanding beyond niche status.

But a rival for the NFL? Let’s put it this way, when I first saw the headline, my reaction was similar to the first time I heard of a new Rocky movie.

Finally, LeBron James was unbelievable Thursday night. On top of scoring 29 of the Cavaliers’ final 30 points, James’ game-winning lay-up was a nearly impossible shot. It was one of the most dominant performances by anyone not named Kobe Bryant in recent memory. The Cavs winning the East seems academic now, so it will be fun to see if James can will this team to some victories over San Antonio in the Final.

Lastly, a touch of trivia: the 19 former Hamilton Bulldogs involved in the Heritage Classic were: Chad Kilger, Francis Bouillon, Mike Ribiero, Michael Ryder and Mathieu Garon for Montreal, with Ron Hainsey and Marcel Hossa in the press box; and Shawn Horcoff, Raffi Torres, Georges Laraque, Jason Chimera, Scott Ferguson, Fernando Pisani, Marc-Andre Bergeron, Ty Conklin and Jarret Stoll (who scored) for the Oilers, with Alex Semenov, Tony Salmalainen and Peter Sarno in the press box.