Playoffs!!!1*

This one comes to us via uber-CFL blogger Andrew Bucholtz ...

*I know, it's the Argos. But during heady times, beggars can't be choosers.

(CFL) Playoffs!!!1

I Dream in Playoffs

"With ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance, all things are attainable."

- Thomas Fowell Buxton

Even eighth place in the NHL's Eastern Conference. Today, seven points out, with two games in hand. Assuming, rightfully of course, that the Leafs will surely win those two games, they're in actuality only three points out of a playoff spot.

This April will mark five years since the Leafs last participated in the post-season. It's a streak that desperately needs to end, even if it means sneaking into the dance.

"Vitality shows in not only the ability to persist but the ability to start over."

- F. Scott Fitzgerald

When Alex Anthopoulos and company inevitably trade Roy Halladay, possibly to either of the Evil Empires in their own division, as hard as that remains to believe, the Toronto Blue Jays will have essentially pressed the reset button.

The Blue Jays are pushing 16 years now, yet I look forward as ever to the next go round. Take my hand, and lead me there, AA. (Handsome Tony Viner can hold my other hand. Think the little boy in Jerry Maguire.)

"I may not be there yet, but I'm closer than I was yesterday."

- Author Unknown

The Toronto Raptors, to a playoff spot. Antoine Wright, to less criticism, justified as it may be. This group, led by Chris Bosh, to at least the second-round. Bosh, to a max contract. Bosh's detractors, to believing. The franchise, to respectability.

"There is no telling how many miles you will have to run while chasing a dream."

- Author Unknown

Beginning next season, Toronto FC will at least chase their dream of playing for the MLS CUP on real, honest-to-goodness grass.

Small victories.

"Who gives a fuck?!1?!1?!1"

- Alex Rios

What Rios said.

The Weigh In #3

It's time to step on the scales for another edition of The Weigh In. Here's what's on the brain: Vesa Toskala, Martin Brodeur and Wade Belak, Matt Stairs and baseball happenings, the Toronto Argos, and Super Bowl 41 and a Half...

Weighing In on the Leafs

Seriously, how great was Vesa Toskala last night? He put on an unbelievable display of goaltending on the road against a tough Montreal Canadiens team. I think I saw Andrew Raycroft on the bench with a pen and a pad, taking notes.

Toskala stole one for the Leafs last night while Cristobal Huet did his best Raycroft impression letting in a couple of softies, especially the game winner by Matt Stajan. I've got to show some love to Stajan. I dissed him after Friday night's loss and he completely redeemed himself with a goal and an assist last night. It goes to show that it's never a bad idea to put the puck on the net. Or towards the net. Just ask Mats Sundin - both goals he scored over the weekend were from behind the goal line.

I wasn't expecting Toskala to get the start in back-to-back games. But he did, and thank goodness. He is without a doubt now the number one goalie on this team, and proved it again with his play last night. He made at least 10 tremendous saves of the difficult variety, and was especially strong late in the third period. His reflexes are incredible, as is his post-to-post movement. Attaboy, Vesa...

Sticking with the Leafs, 15 games are in the books which means Mark Bell's suspension is now officially over. He'll be in the lineup on Tuesday night when the Leafs are in Ottawa to face the Senators, who are sporting a tidy 11-1 record and looking every bit like the team that marched all the way to the Stanley Cup final last year.

Damn Senators.

They also locked up Jason Spezza for a cool $49 million over seven years. The future is bright in Ottawa.

Damn Senators.

Kyle Wellwood may also be dressed for Tuesday night, but his status is still up in the air. I doubt we'll see Wellwood on Tuesday, but Mark Bell will definitely be playing, and I'm looking forward to his Maple Leaf debut. I'm sure he is too...

Weighing In on Matt Stairs and Baseball

Extremely glad to hear that Matt Stairs is back in the fold for another two years with the Blue Jays. J.P. Ricciardi saw how valuable Stairs was last season and locked him up quickly once the season ended. The "Everything Man," as I called him a few months ago, Stairs will once again be a solid left-handed bat off the bench and can play some left field or first base. He'll come in handy, because you know just as well as I do that the Jays will be ravaged by injury, as usual...

Joe Girardi is the new manager in New York. I was a little surprised the Yankees didn't go with Don Mattingly, but it's hard to argue with Girardi after the success he had coaching (or is it managing?) the Florida Marlins a few years ago. Girardi's an intense, blue-collar kind of guy and it's going to be very interesting to see whether he'll be able to manage the big ego's in the Yankee clubhouse.

I definitely like his decision to wear the number 27 on his jersey, though. The Yankees have been stuck on 26 championships for the last seven years (oh, the horror, so tough is the life of Yankee fans) and Girardi has chosen to wear number 27 to ensure no one forgets what the goal is. I guess John Gibbons should wear number 3...

In another interesting development, Joe Torre has landed back on his feet in Los Angeles with the Dodgers. My dream of him becoming the Blue Jays manager lasted a good two weeks. Deep down, I knew it wasn't going to happen. This is a good signing for the Dodgers. They've always had clubhouse issues - hard not to when you have morons like Jeff Kent on your squad - but if there's anyone who can bring harmony to a clubhouse, it's Joe Torre. If he could do it in New York, he can definitely make it happen in La-La land...

It's been a week since the World Series ended and after some reflection and contemplation, I think it's safe to say we were witness to the worst baseball playoffs, and World Series, of all time. What a snooze fest. Five out of the seven series were sweeps, including a no-contest World Series. The most exciting moment of the entire playoffs, for me at least, was not even an actual play - the swarming of Joba Chamberlain by all those bugs while he was on the mound in Cleveland is what I remember most vividly. And that's kind of sad.

The baseball just wasn't that good. Major League Baseball really needs to expand the playoffs so that more mediocre teams make the playoffs and play each other. And by mediocre, yes, I mean the Toronto Blue Jays. There's only one October, and thank God for that...

With Alex Rodriguez opting out of his contract, it's interesting to see what the oft-injured A.J. Burnett is going to do after next season. The Jays' "ace," and I use the term very lightly, has an opt-out clause in his contract after the third season. The smart money has Burnett saying goodbye to the Blue Jays and going after more loot (wouldn't that be shocking?). If Ted Lilly and Gil Meche get paid more than Burnett, you know A.J. is going to want a new deal. So Blue Jays fans, enjoy the final year of A.J. Burnett's extremely disappointing tenure in Toronto...

Weighing In on Wade Belak and Martin Brodeur

You're probably wondering how the hell Belak and Brodeur could possibly be connected. Well, in Friday night's tilt between the Leafs and Devils, Brodeur picked up an assist on one of the Devils' goals. It was the 28th assist of his career and, along with his one goal, he now has 29 points in his career. That's one more than Mr. Wade Belak.

I'm not sure what is more amazing, the fact that Brodeur has more points than Belak, or the fact that Belak has managed to make a living playing hockey in the NHL. I know, Belak isn't exactly kept around to score points, but outscored by a goalie? That's just wrong...

Weighing In on the Toronto Argos

In mid-September the Argos were sporting an ugly 4-7 record and the possibility of them playing in the Grey Cup in Toronto was looking about as good as Raycroft winning the Vezina.

Things have changed. Since then, the Argos have caught fire and won seven games in a row and are today Eastern Division champs. They will now host the Eastern Division final on November 11 and if they win, they'll be playing in the Grey Cup, at home in the Rogers SkyDome Centre (I've decided I'm putting "SkyDome" back in title).

Led by fantastic special teams and the league's best defense, the Argos have been on fire the last month and a half. They finished the season with a 41-13 dismantling of the Saskatchewan Roughriders yesterday. Their defense allowed only 336 points all year, a league best.

As much as I hear Michael Bishop and the Argos offense get railed on talk radio, Bishop wins football games. With Bishop driving the Boatmen, the Argos have a record of 11-1. I know the defense has carried this team, but Toronto, please stop complaining about Michael Bishop.

There's only one thing to say about Toronto's hot streak to win the Eastern Division and secure a playoff game at home: AaaaaaarrrrrrrGoooooooooooooooosss!!!!!!!...

Weighing In on Super Bowl 41 and a Half

The undefeated New England Patriots and the undefeated Indianapolis Colts face off in a clash of the titans this afternoon. The Colts are the defending champions, haven't lost a game at home in, I think, 14 games, and are the underdogs going in to today's game. That's not showing a lot of respect to Indy. But can you really blame Vegas? The Patriots have just been dominating this year. They've embarrassed their opponents, week in and week out.

I'm not sure which name I like better for this game - the Perfect Bowl, or Super Bowl 41 and a Half. Both are beauties.

As for who's the better quarterback, I think I've got to go with Tom Brady, simply because he dates and impregnates incredibly hot women...

Let the Good Times Roll...

It's been quite the 72 hours in my world of sports. The Leafs beat the Sabres in Buffalo, the Argos won a thrilling playoff game at the Rogers Centre, and the Leafs capped it tonight with a 4-1 win against the Flyers at the Hangar.

I was afraid the Leafs would come out a little sluggish tonight since the Flyers SUCK. Tonight's game was a struggle and could have gone either way. Andrew Raycroft was the difference, as he has been lately. The kid's on fire and it's good to see him bounce back with great games after those beatings from Ottawa. A couple of games like that can really mess with a goalie's head - especially a young goalie like Raycroft, playing in this media crazy town - but he's shown composure and it's encouraging.

I wouldn't have been surprised had the Flyers came in tonight and won. It would have been typical for the Leafs to go into Buffalo and win a game I thought was impossible to win, and then come home and lose a game they should surely win. It seemed like that was going to happen because the Leafs had hit 5 posts by the end of the second period. I thought the hockey Gods were going to continue to shine on Nith-a-makki of Philadelphia. I LOVE the way Joe Bowen says his name. I have to admit though, that my brother called the Leafs win in Buffalo and said tonight would be a struggle. He is wise.

The facts are that the Leafs are one of the hottest teams in the league right now, and Raycroft is one of the hottest goalies. Another 40 saves for him tonight. I'm singing the McDonald's commercial in my head right now - I'm lovin it! There's no secret what great goaltending can do for a team. Here in Toronto, we've been blessed with great goaltending. Well we were, until last year, when Belfour shit the bed. Hopefully Raycroft can continue his solid play.

Shoutouts to Poni and Antropov for their game tonight. I know I hate on Antropov, but I guess I do it because its the cool thing to do - everyone's doing it! But I truly believe that at $1 million per season, he's kind of a bargain. Tonight was one of those nights where he showed flashes of the potential that made him a bloody top 10 first round pick. He shows it every once in a while. To tease us. That bastard. But he scored the game winner, so I got to give him props tonight.

And Poni's goal was a BEAUTY. It was especially for my boy 40. We've got $100 on the line that Poni will get 21 goals, his mark from last year. The PONI Count is now at 6. He's on pace, ladies and gentlemen. Poni's my boy. I urge all of you, especially 40, to join me on the Poni Express.

The Leafs have won 5 of 6, but the news gets even better. Pavel Kubina will be back in the lineup on Thursday in Beantown. Big game for our main man Raycroft, as he goes back to Boston for the first time since the trade that sent him to Toronto. Hopefully he can have a solid game and tell Boston to SHOVE IT.

And before I leave you, I've got to show love to the AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGOOOOOOOOOOOOOSS!! What a football game on Sunday. I'm not really a football fan. I never, ever watch a regular season CFL game, but in the playoffs I jump on the bandwagon ridiculously hard. I caught almost the entire game between the Argos and Blue Bombers, and it was awesome. Three downs makes for more passing and more exciting football. Screw the NFL. I want Ricky Williams - marijuana's poster boy - to win a Grey Cup! The Argos looked down and out late in the game, but Pinball Clemons put in backup QB Michael Bishop and they stormed back to win it. It was one of the most exciting football games I've ever seen. I'll be watching the Alouettes/Argos Eastern Final for sure, although I have no idea when it is...

Now that I think about it, the past 72 hours in my world of sports weren't PERFECT. The Raptors lost on Sunday to the Spurs. But I'll save my Raptors talk for later.

Goodnight, Toronto...