Month: November 2021

Jacob Trouba’s Leadership

Rangers center Jacob Trouba quickly emerged as the alternate captain for the past two seasons. Trouba is also one of the most respected men in the Rangers locker room.

The 27-year old joined forces with Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad as the three players from the Rangers who are vocal in the locker room. When there’s a loss, those are the guys to speak up and lift their team.

Trouba has three assists in 13 games so far this season. He is ranked within the top-50 NHL defensemen in ice time per game. Trouba wants to continue to learn how to be a better leader.

The Rangers are currently 8-3 in the season.

Sunday Sports Shorts

Stephen Curry made history on Friday night against the Chicago Bulls. Curry surpassed Ray Allen in the most threes in league history.

Since September, Mets president Sandy Alderson, who has served as the team’s general manager, continues to seek a permanent GM to immediately sort through a lengthy to-do list with the collective bargaining agreement set to expire.

The Boston Bruins try to improve their rough road start as they deal with the New Jersey Devils on Saturday afternoon. Bruins left wing Brad Marchand scored two of the Bruins’ five goals. Bruins defeated the Devils, 5-2.

What a crazy finish between the Miami Hurricanes and Florida State Seminoles in Saturday’s showdown – it’s not the same rivalry from the 80s and 90s, but it felt like that in this game. The Seminoles scored a last-minute touchdown to lift the team to victory, and it’s their first win over Miami since 2016. The hurricanes could’ve won this game, but too many undisciplined penalties and Manny Diaz wasting two timeouts that could’ve been saved for the Canes offense at the end cost them this game.

Giants Give Kapler Extension

The Giants have rewarded manager Gabe Kapler with a two-year extension through 2024.

Kapler took the Giants to a franchise-best 107 wins this season. San Francisco won the National League West division crown, but was eliminated by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

San Francisco have a lot of big decisions to make during this offseason. Kris Bryant, Brandon Belt, and others are Giants players who are free agents.

Miguel’s Friday Thoughts

Happy Friday! You know what time it is, it’s Miguel’s Friday Thoughts! Today’s thoughts will be about all Canada sports: Fred Van Fleet and Natalie Achonwa’s push to have a WNBA team in Canada.

Without Pascal Siakam, Fred Van Fleet has averaged 18.7 points per game with 7.1 assists per game. He is having an All-Star caliber season. With the return of Siakam, Van Fleet can still be an All-Star this season. With Siakam on the lineup, Fred Van Fleet can utilize one of his best skills: movement without the ball. He is so efficient without the ball, and he’s also a good facilitator. Kyle Lowry excelled well in setting screens, but Van Fleet can also set good screens. He can also shoot well from the perimeter, and the Raptors will need his shooting. Siakam and Van Fleet can do the pick and roll without a problem, which has worked for them. Chemistry won’t be an issue because they did win a championship together in 2019. However, head coach Nick Nurse needs to figure out the chemistry with Siakam and the rest of the teammates because rookie Scottie Barnes is playing sensational in his young career. Siakam, 27, has played two games since his return – on Sunday against the Brooklyn Nets and the Boston Celtics on Wednesday, both losses for the Raptors. Eventually, things will get figured out in Toronto, and they have a good thing going on so far.

Minnesota Lynx power forward Natalie Achonwa says Canada is ready for a WNBA team. Canada, especially in the city of Toronto, is a unique sports city. You have the Blue Jays, Maple Leafs, Raptors. A WNBA team in Toronto might be a brilliant idea after all. The Canadian native has been vocal about this idea, and she’s getting some help from the Raptors global ambassador and rap star, Drake. Achonwa, a Canada native, was drafted 9th overall by the Indiana Fever in the 2014 WNBA Draft. She won a gold medal at the AM games. At 16 was the youngest to ever play on the Canadian national team. Team Canada is in 4th of FIBA’s Top 5 ranks for Women’s Basketball. The WNBA has come a lot way, ratings have increased, but more works needs to be done. Sports is constantly evolving, and we could see a WNBA team in Toronto if more conversation about being done. This is something that needs to be pitched and come up with a strategy to make this happen.

Sports Throwback Thursday: 1998 Survivor Series

Welcome to Sports Throwback Thursday! Today’s Sports Throwback Thursday belongs to the 1998 Survivor Series. One of the most exciting pay-per-view events in the history of WWE’s Survivor Series.

The 1998 Survivor Series is not a traditional Survivor Series event. At this particular event, almost every match was part of a tournament. The event took place in St Louis, Missouri, and this pay-per-view event gave us one of the best heel characters in WWE history. The Big Bossman is the unsung hero of this pay-per-view event in terms of the storyline. I liked when he threw the nightstick to Ken Shamrock, but it was intercepted by The Rock, which he caught with one hand.

We can’t forget the commentary by Jim Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler. At one point, they mocked WCW by saying some of these lines:

“You’re gonna get to see all of the pay per view.”
“King, that’s not nice. Don’t make fun of those less fortunate.

This had to do with the Halloween Havoc 1998. In addition, Jim Ross also made references to Mark McGwire’s single-season home run record during the event. 1998 just ruled the world.

Kane and Undertaker’s match in Survivor Series was one of their weakest matches between them. They fought so much in 1998; my favorite match was the Inferno Match at Unforgiven 1998, but this match wasn’t so great, and the way it ended wasn’t good. At Wrestlemania 14, Kane took three tombstones to get put down by The Undertaker, but in Survivor Series, it took just one tombstone. Aside from the match, I liked Undertaker’s look, his music entrance, and the same thing about Kane. Both of them had tremendous chemistry.

Mankind’s matches against Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock were some of the biggest strengths of this pay-per-view event. The Rock was lethal with the chair in 1998 and 1999. The main event of the night between The Rock and Mankind was unforgettable. The Rock put Mankind on a sharpshooter, and Vince McMahon called for the bell. A year prior, Vince did the same thing to Bret Hart. The way the match ended, it could’ve been better. They didn’t have to repeat the same scenario from the year prior. The Rock, at the time, became the youngest wrestler to win the WWF championship. At the right time, The Rock turned heel and led to the “Die Rocky Die. Rocky sucks” chants.

Tom Brady and NFL’s 17 Games Decision

NFL is a hard-fought sport. It’s a sport where careers are short and fast. If you’re lucky enough, you can play in the league for a long time if injuries don’t catch up to you. The NFL extending the season to 17 games didn’t sit too well with one very successful quarterback. His name is Tom Brady.

“I think it’s pointless,” he said on the latest episode of “Let’s Go!” podcast. “I thought it was a terrible decision. I think 16 is plenty.”

The option to expand the regular season was initially built into the CBA but wasn’t exercised until the league signed a new media contract. In March, NFL voters approved and finalized the change to add a preseason game and another regular-season game to the 2021-22 schedule.

“I love the sport. I love seeing great football. How do you come together to put together the best possible product for all the people who are watching and investing their time? And we’ve been in an incredible economy the last bunch of years; we really have been. The growth of the sport has been great. And I think that the owners and the league have done a great job in growing it to a global audience. The business of football is great. Absolutely.”

Brady is not wrong for the way that he feels. The sport is constantly evolving, and owners can dominate any relationship in sports. Owners care about the product. We might see the NFL extending the game to 18, 19, or even 20 games in the future. The same thing goes for the playoff format.

Red Wings Shut Down Oilers

The Detroit Red Wings took on the Edmonton Oilers Tuesday night. The Red Wings performance in the first half had many of us surprised.

Red Wings jumped early in the game and had a 3-0 lead over an outstanding team like Edmonton. Red Wings left wing Vladislav Namestnikov scored the first two goals of the game. Red Wings defenseman Maritz Seider scored a goal on an empty net to give the Red Wings a 4-2 lead, which turned out to be the final score. Seider should be a contender to win the Calder trophy and could be a future Norris Trophy winner.

Edmonton had a chance to win the game if they didn’t play so lousy in the first half.

Red Wings are looking pretty impressive so far this season. They have a 3-game winning streak, improving to 7-5.

Blue Jays and Off-Season Decisions

The Toronto Blue Jays have some big decisions to make this offseason. Robbie Ray, the frontrunner AL Cy Young Award, and Marcus Semien, Top 5 AL MVP candidate.

It would be phenomenal if the Blue Jays could keep both players. However, knowing the market of Toronto and the business of baseball, Blue Jays might keep one of them or let both of them go. Ray and Semien might or most likely want 5-year, $100 plus million contracts, which would be a risk for Toronto because they need to consider Vlad Jr, Bo Bichette, and Teoscar Hernandez for future contracts. In this business, you can’t make everyone happy.

If only Robbie Ray and Marcus Semien would take a pay cut to help the Blue Jays make a run to the World Series. Blue Jays might see Semien go to the West Coast to play in his hometown in California.

Adding Justin Verlander to the rotation would be a plus for the Blue Jays. Verlander will turn 39 next season. Therefore, a 1-year deal doesn’t sound too bad.

It’s going to be a busy Winter Meeting for the Blue Jays front office. It is by far one of the best free agency classes in baseball history.

WWE Raw: Owens vs. Rollins

Last night’s WWE Raw main event was impressive: Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollings. WWE champion Big E made his way back into the arena, where he sat ringside for the night’s main event.

Owens and Rollins traded kicks before Owens leveled Rollins with a lariat clothesline. The fight continued to the ropes, where Owens countered Rollins and delivered an oversized fisherman’s superplex for two. Rollins survived and downed KO, pounding away and talking trash while doing so.

Later, Owens rebounded and delivered a pop-up powerbomb for two. The fight spilled to the floor, and after a convoluted finish that saw Big E inadvertently prevent Owens from beating the count, Rollins was declared the winner via count-out.

Owens couldn’t believe it. Rollins laughed at him for losing the match. After the match, it wasn’t pretty for Big E. An emotional and frustrated Owens attacked Big E, kicking him in the face and sending him into the steel steps. He followed with a powerbomb onto the apron before agents and officials attempted to corral the screaming, enraged competitor.

Oilers’ Power Play Offense

The Edmonton Oilers are No. 1 in power play this season. There’s a reason why the Edmonton Oilers are off to a 9-1. The oilers’ offense is legit.

In that order, the top-three power-play scorers in the league as of Sunday are Oilers forwards McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Draisaitl. McDavid and Draisaitl have been on the ice for 13 of the Oilers’ 15 power-play goals. The Oilers lead the league by a mile in the expected-goals rate at 14.5 per 60 minutes.

Edmonton will fly to Detroit for a matchup against the Red Wings on Tuesday night.