Are The Penguins Pursuing Marner?

TORONTO (Aug. 29) — This one makes a bit of sense. Amid all the gibberish involving Mitch Marner and the Maple Leafs, the gifted forward accepting a trade to Pittsburgh is far from implausible. Given, of course, that the Penguins… Read More

They Ambushed The Staff at CHML-900

TORONTO (Aug. 17) — It was another media catastrophe; this time involving one of the primordial radio outlets in all of Canada. CHML–900, the voice and conscience of Hamilton, Ont. for nearly 100 years, is no more. Hasn’t been since… Read More

Another Summer Love–In (yawn)

TORONTO (Aug. 15) — The actual “Summer of Love” was 1967, when hippies and counter–culturists gathered in San Francisco, crowding the intersection of Haight/Ashbury while tripping on psychedelia in Golden Gate Park. Simultaneously, 123 miles south of the Bay Area,… Read More

What About Those Jerseys, Keith?

TORONTO (Aug. 13) — At the conclusion of last season for the Toronto Maple Leafs, after the predictable first–round playoff defeat against Boston, the incoming CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment offered a cheeky response to a query about… Read More

CFL Command Centre Needs Overhaul

TORONTO (Aug. 11) — I have closely followed the Canadian Football League since September 1969, when Dad took me to my first game at the old CNE Stadium (Ottawa beat the Argos). I stuck with the league through all of… Read More

Marner Is Going Nowhere

TORONTO (Aug. 8) — Welcome back, briefly, to our regularly scheduled programming. The question, laying dormant in the stifling heat and humidity of summer, arose once more on Tuesday, when a friend at a funeral service asked “why haven’t the… Read More

How Much More Can Be Expected?

TORONTO (Aug. 1) — This may seem like an odd question. But, in the realm of professional sport, what should a team optimally anticipate from its legion of followers? In my view, there are three stipulations: a) buying tickets to… Read More

There’s No Hope For the Blue Jays

TORONTO (July 22) — We are eight days removed from the trade deadline in Major League Baseball and the Toronto Blue Jays are still the purview of a general manager that has defaulted on virtually every promise. How, then, Rogers … Read More

How close we came to Zapruder–2

TORONTO (July 14) — Whether you like Donald Trump; despise Donald Trump or don’t particularly care (and relatively few occupy the indifference category), one fact is indisputable: the former and potentially future president of the United States came within centimeters… Read More

Toronto Sport Has Gone to the Pits

TORONTO (July 10) — It’s true: We play small ball here in the Big Smoke. As the Toronto Star detailed, this week, in a marvelous chain of essays that should win literary awards, we are, without question, a City of… Read More

Damien Was Only Half–Right

TORONTO (July 6) — When we covered the Maple Leafs at the same time in the 1990’s and 2000’s — he for the Toronto Star; yours truly for The FAN–590 — Damien Cox and I didn’t often see eye to… Read More

Solid Day’s Work by Treliving, But…

TORONTO (July 1) — At last, it appears the Toronto Maple Leafs have regained vision while considering the 100 feet of ice behind the center red line. During the administrations of Mark Hunter, Lou Lamoriello and, especially, Kyle Dubas, it… Read More

Edmonton Is Toronto’s Daddy

TORONTO (June 23) — There are conflicting emotional repercussions to the Edmonton Oilers in the 2024 Stanley Cup final. In the Alberta capital, nothing is sane at the moment. How could it be? The Oilers — Wayne Gretzky’s team —… Read More

Pelley’s Integrity At Stake – Already

TORONTO (June 20) — It was a sentence that eluded widespread observation. Even if from a largely unassailable source. Yes, Darren Dreger of TSN spilled a cauldron of beans on Tuesday with this fairly significant remark about the Leafs and… Read More

The Morning After: May 3, 1967

TORONTO (June 17) — Rummaging through my large collection of newspapers and sports publications is an ongoing pursuit… and probably will be until I’m beneath the grass. Most items were purchased (or given to me) in the 1980’s and 90’s,… Read More

You Think Marner Is The Problem?

TORONTO (June 14) — With the longest–ever Stanley Cup drought guaranteed (next May 2) to reach 58 years, the Toronto Maple Leafs, today, have only three defensemen of National Hockey League caliber under contract. None will threaten to win the… Read More

We’re a Bush League Sports Town

TORONTO (June 10) — Maybe the Argos can offer to pay Uber fare. Or, gas and depreciation. Anything, in fact, that might allow at least one of Toronto’s three daily newspapers to assign a reporter to BMO Field. Way, way… Read More

So, What Is Mitch Thinking?

TORONTO (June 7) — Nothing about the apparent strategy of the Maple Leafs, beginning next month, should come as a surprise to beleaguered star Mitch Marner. Whether he accepts the strategy is a different matter. Timing, economics and a tepid… Read More