From disputed strike zones to goal-line uncertainty to bloody high-sticks, major-league officiating can't seem to embrace high-tech
It’s Game Three of the 2019 World Series and the Washington Nationals hope to extend their surprising 2-0 lead in games over Houston. The Nats have revival project Anibal Sanchez on the mound to give Washington fans their first home-field win in a Series since 1933. But the Astros are off to a quick lead.…
Giving young players a chance to grow? More like a salary dump that turned into a dumpster fire. Too many MLB teams won't even strive for mediocrity
It’s always exciting to watch history, to see once-in-a-lifetime performances. A show so notable you’ll tell your grandkids, “I saw them play.” The list should include the 1976-’77 Montreal Canadiens, the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the 2017 Golden State Warriors … the 2019 Detroit Tigers. The what? The Detroit Tigers? What’s that all about? To paraphrase…
As the media giant sheds pricey on-air talent, the league has been unsympathetic. Where will the bleeding end?
Audacious. That’s perhaps the best word to describe Rogers Communications’ attempt to supplant CBC and TSN as the go-to network for the National Hockey League in Canada in 2013. It committed $5.2 billion over 12 years to buy national rights to Hockey Night in Canada and the rest of the TV and digital product on…
Injury research through analytics should be priority one, since baseball owners spent $745,769,319 on injured list players in 2018 alone
Baseball has an injury problem. It’s a big one. And an expensive one. As but one recent example – albeit an extreme one – the New York Yankees had 13 players on the injured list by the end of April, just one month into the 2019 season! Major League Baseball (MLB) franchises are filled with…
Only the purity of competition assures that the resulting data has relevance and application in a sport
Some call it analytics. Some call it statistics. Some call it trivia. Others call it a waste of time. But collating and interpreting the reams of data generated by pro sports teams is now an integral part of sport. On one hand, analysis of data is how players get paid the vast sums they receive.…
We can't go back to spitballing the big calls. For the teams and the fans, too much depends on getting it right
Yogi Berra is notorious for saying “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.” Yogi was warning about jumping to conclusions in close contests. But he never foresaw a contest that never ended. For reference, consider the he 145th running of the Kentucky Derby. That race will probably never be over for those who participated in or…
MLB is in the throes of a sea change that promises to alter everything from parity in the sport to the running time of games
The Toronto Blue Jays have announced that second baseman Devon Travis will be out until at least May after having surgery on his knee. Well, thank God there are some traditions left in baseball. Travis being sent to the infirmary is one of the few predictable things left in the game. Seriously, Major League Baseball…
Far too many odious owners haunt the world of professional sports, preying on ticket-buying fans
It takes a lot of talent to screw up a National Hockey League franchise in a Canadian city. But Senators owner Eugene Melnyk is up to the challenge. The Melnyk misery tour has reduced Ottawa to the frozen equivalent of an Albanian shoe factory. The Sens are four points clear in the Titanic Cup, my…
Every time MLB moves away from its history, tradition and nostalgia, the game doesn’t improve a little, it dies a little
Baseball is a significantly different sport than football, basketball and hockey. It’s that uniqueness, and the tradition that comes from the fact that baseball has changed very little over the years, that accounts for a lot of its popularity. “There’s no crying in baseball!” said Jimmy Dugan (played by Tom Hanks) in the movie A…
Selfishness and out-of-control egos destroy more teams with the potential to be great than anything else, including injuries
From a spiritual perspective, I don’t think there’s anything more beautiful to watch in sports than a team seamlessly working as a group. I once saw it described as a “commitment to the oneness.” I like that. Helping a teammate – and in doing so, helping yourself and the team as a whole – is…