End of the Road

Roy Halladay was brilliant, again, on Friday night. The more I picture him wearing Philadelphia red, or Dodger blue, the more angry I become as to why the Blue Jays are in their current predicament. I blame Rogers; not J.P. Ricciardi. I'm in too deep, defending J.P., for that to change. (Sorry, Joanna. Even though I'm not.)

Much like my favourite GM in the whole wide world, I'm done talking about the trading of the Doctor. If it happens, it happens. August 1, and the end of all this drama, cannot come soon enough.

If we have reached the end of the road, this one's for you, Doc ...

If you don't like Boyz II Men, stop lying to your damn self.

What's that? Yesterday's ballgame? Why the fuck would you want to talk about that? Look, it's simple. It was raining. It's now pouring. There's no other way to explain the blowage of a 9-1 lead, at home. (We're in the midst of a torrential downpour; even Toronto FC lost in dramatic, heartbreaking fashion.)

At times like these, always remember that it could be worse. We could be Baltimore Orioles fans.

I found it rather fitting that it was the Tampa Bay fucking DEVIL Rays who handed the Jays what had to be their toughest loss of 2009, all things considered. Those same DEVIL Rays everyone likes to bring up when shitting all over Ricciardi. Once again: the Rays are no model for success in the AL East; they've just been a helluva lot luckier than Toronto.

As for Scott Downs, he doesn't talk much to the media. So it was great to see him face the bright lights after yesterday's clusterfuck of a game and call his performance, and his team's, exactly what it was: "embarrassing." I don't know about you, but I've still got utmost faith in SnakeFace.

Sure, it was a brutal loss, but I'm more interested in seeing how the Blue Jays respond. Are they going to roll over and die, and allow Tampa the sweep? Or are they going to play with some fucking pride?

In the comments section of my last post, after Saturday's debacle, Bruno Von Rottweiler said: "...a lot of these players are soft, they are losers."

I don't believe that. Go Jays.

And I'll take with me the memories...

They haven't been traded yet. They might have been by the time you read this. But Nik Antropov and Dominic Moore were healthy scratches last night, and have played their final game for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

I hate goodbyes.

Nik, what a roller coaster ride it has been. It took a while, but you did good.

Dominic, you had me at hello. A Toronto boy, you lived the dream.

You know, there's nothing I can say that Boyz II Men can't on my behalf.

The biggest of big tunes. Good luck, boys. You will be missed.

Trade Deadline Day. A pseudo-holiday here in Canada, especially Toronto. Everyone's got Andy Williams playing in the background, ready for Brian Burke to make it rain draft picks.

It should be one helluva ride until 3:00 PM. All I'm going to say is that if Tomas Kaberle gets moved, you'll be able to find me sobbing uncontrollably at the bottom of a bottle, listening to the song above on repeat.

1.2%

My good friend MF37 has pointed out that those are the odds of the Leafs making the playoffs(!!!!1) this season, after they picked up another point last night, thanks to the divine exploits of one Vesa Toskala.

Toskala stopped 49 of 52 shots and his save percentage, I'm proud to report, is now above the .890 threshold, coming in at .891.

He went save for save, and beyond, with Marty Brodeur. It was glorious. The Leafs, without Antropov, Moore, and Niklas Hagman, and thanks to Vesa, battled to pick up a point. And John Mitchell's stock is quickly rising in my books. What a rudey.

Anyway, as I mentioned in the comments over at MF's blog, while it takes a certain type of lunatic to stroll through Al Gore's internet hollering "Playoffs!!!!1," it takes another type of lunatic to believe that the Leafs are buyers at the deadline. Not even I am that delusional.

Once again, my thoughts, this time about the Leafs' post-season chances, can be summed up much better by someone else. Ladies and gentlemen, a regular around here at this time of year, Lloyd Christmas:

Seven points. Don't stop believing.

Happy Trade Deadline Day. Behave.