Wrestling Nights at the Gardens

TORONTO (Apr. 10) — Next week, beginning Wednesday afternoon, will be the 50th anniversary of the ill–fated Apollo 13 lunar voyage, during which astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert suffered an explosion of their main oxygen tank while… Read More

Lurching at L–A–X: A Leafs Travel Tale

TORONTO (Apr. 3) — In our COVID–19 universe, laughter is cathartic. Here is one story (among many) from my years (1994–2010) traveling with the Toronto Maple Leafs as a reporter for The FAN–590, Canada’s first all–sports radio station. Hope you… Read More

Forget About 2020, Sports Fans

TORONTO (Mar. 31) — A doctor/friend of mine near Philadelphia who works with infectious diseases and is “busier than a seven–peckered monkey in heat” told me yesterday that he has no confidence professional sport will return in this calendar year.… Read More

That Ethereal Night on Carlton St.

TORONTO (Mar. 28) — Given the multitudes under house arrest during the COVID–19 pandemic, I posted a question on Facebook and Twitter last week asking social media friends to name the most–memorable sports event they have attended. It generated nearly… Read More

NHL’s Integrity At Stake

TORONTO (Mar. 18) — As I see it from this part of the world, there are two primary issues in the midst of the COVID–19 pandemic: a) everything — sports included — pales in comparison to the global crisis. And,… Read More

How to Televise No Sports

TORONTO (Mar. 15) — Here in Canada, the peripheral effect of the COVID–19 pandemic will weigh enormously on the 24–hour sports–television networks: TSN and Sportsnet. With live programming essential, Sportsnet, in particular, becomes vulnerable to the shut–down of all professional… Read More

When The World Was Normal

TORONTO (Mar. 14) — In the days before otherwise–rational human beings were scared to leave their homes for food — yet had toilet paper piled to the ceiling — there was hockey. Stanley Cup hockey, to be precise. The variety… Read More

Let Us Be Thankful

TORONTO (Mar. 12) — As professional sports and college tournaments tumbled like dominoes earlier today, there was one unequivocal consolation: none of these events will be played in empty arenas. Of all the contingency plans for COVID–19, nothing rang with… Read More

Don’t Expect A Stanley Cup Winner

BREAKING (10:35 p.m. Mar. 11): Hearing the NHL will follow NBA and suspend play “by noon on Thursday.” BREAKING (9:30 p.m. Mar 11) : The National Basketball Association, tonight, suspended play indefinitely after a member of the Utah Jazz tested… Read More

Making The Playoffs Essential

TORONTO (Mar. 10) — In a telephone conversation, Monday night, with a rabid follower of the Toronto Maple Leafs, I was told, “the best thing for this team is to miss the playoffs. It would be the kick in the… Read More

Imagine Burkie and Heals

TORONTO (Mar. 3) — So, what to do with Brian Burke? Given that just about everything the former National Hockey League executive says is provocative and interesting — and that Rogers is evidently going to “centralize” his role on Hockey … Read More

Burke To Get “Expanded Role”

TORONTO (Feb. 29) — With Don Cherry and Bob McCown having been turfed by Rogers Communications — and with Bob McKenzie about to roll back his hours on TSN — former National Hockey League executive Brian Burke will soon become… Read More

Can Dubas Make Elemental Change?

Toronto is nowhere close to being a winner, has no idea how to become a winner and no plan for imminent winning. — Globe and Mail columnist Cathal Kelly TORONTO (Feb. 25) — The reason I most–enjoy Cathal Kelly’s sports… Read More

No Need To Pile On… Right?

TORONTO (Feb. 23) — It is fundamentally indecent to take candy from a child; to trip an old lady crossing the street or to eat cabbage before entering a packed movie theater. Why, then, should we toe–kick a bunch of… Read More

Chalk Up No. 52 and Move On

TORONTO (Feb. 19) — There is only one strategy that Kyle Dubas can deploy in order to salvage the 2019–20 schedule for the Toronto Maple Leafs: start looking toward 2020–21. And, do it without heed to Monday’s National Hockey League… Read More

Would He? Could He?

TORONTO (Feb. 16) — Chuckle, if you wish. Belly–laugh, even. But, understand that this scenario comes from a person with more than three decades of hockey media experience in Los Angeles. Everyone in the sports–writing (broadcasting?) business knows him (her?).… Read More

My Pal Dave Was Half–Right

TORONTO (Feb. 14) — It’s been an unusual sporting week here in town. The Toronto Raptors lost a basketball game. The Canadian Football League Argonauts found a quarterback. And, Toronto Blue Jays catcher Reese McGuire was allegedly spotted “exercising” his… Read More

There’s No Real Mystery

TORONTO (Feb. 10) — Having completed two–thirds of the regular season, it appears as if the Toronto Maple Leafs are cloaked in something inexplicable. How can a team bloated with such outlandish skill remain on the fringe of Stanley Cup… Read More