This is the season ...

It begins tonight, the post-Chris Bosh era. And without a lot of -- any? -- bloody optimism. But the show, horrific as it might be, must go on. The Maple Leafs went through it when Mats Sundin skipped town. The Blue Jays when their relationship with Roy Halladay ended, albeit amicably. It's now the Raptors' turn. A right of passage, in a way, to what is a new and youthful era -- and hopefully more goddamn successful -- for Toronto's big three sports teams.

And as is always the case before tip off, this is the season.

The season Andrea Bargnani realizes he's seven feet tall, averages nine rebounds a game, and becomes a premier help defender.

This is the season of The Young Onez ...

The season DeMar DeRozan, after learning the ropes, proves that he does indeed "got us." The season Amir Johnson sticks it to all of us who said he'll never live up to his massive contract. The season Sonny Weems proves March and April 2010 were no fluke.

This is the season Leandro Barbosa, only 28 years old next month, returns to form.

The season Linas Kleiza, fresh off his European sabbatical, important for any 25-year-old, makes the most of an opportunity, and thrives.

This is the season Reggie Evans is healthy, and rebounds. Until he's traded.

The season Jose Calderon learns how to play def... Nevermind. Let's not get crazy.

This is the season Jarrett Jack becomes a legitimate starting point guard in the NBA.

The season Jay Triano figures it out.

I know what you're thinking. I agree; that's a whole lot of "this is the season." There's only so much "this is the season" to go around.

But there's one more. The most important one. This is the season the Toronto Raptors, to a man, take their team's projected 26.5 wins personally. And win 30. Bet the over. I did.

This is the season. Until it's not. Then it's the season after.

Image of the chosen one courtesy The Associated Press, via Yahoo! Sports.

The Good Foot

"Seeking to forget makes exile all the longer; the secret of redemption lies in remembrance."

- Richard von Weizsaecker

In two games, Vernon Wells' three home runs represent 20% of his 2009 total.

We remember 2009. And 2007. It is the memory of those two utterly shitastic seasons that will make Wells' 2010 exploits that much sweeter.

He's healthy. He's back. Rejoice.

.714/.778/2.000/2.778

Message In A Bottle

I put a message in a bottle and sent it into the Lakshadweep Sea today.

While enjoying a large bottle of Kingfisher at Coconut Grove restaurant at Lighthouse Beach in Kovalam, Kerala, deep in southern India, I felt the sudden urge to leave my mark; to let someone know that I had indeed been here. That I'd seen a majestically beautiful part of India I'd only heard and read about, but never known, until now.

I longed for my message to be profound. I want the person who eventually finds it to be moved, and changed, after reading it; to never be the same from that day forward.

It came to me, almost immediately.

Written in all its glory on a tiny sheet of paper, signed "- eyebleaf," I penned one, single, solitary word: "Playoffs!!1"

Something to look forward to ...

"The future is a convenient place for dreams."

- Anatole France

I eagerly await Nazem Kadri's permanent stay in Toronto, with a different Maple Leaf on his sweater.

Don't you?

Ball Four

I finally picked up a copy of Jim Bouton's masterpiece, Ball Four; his chronicles as a member of the 1968 Seattle Pilots. In a day and a half, I've whipped through half the book's 465 pages. It's everything I was told it would be.

On this fine Christmas day, allow me to share with you a short passage that struck close to home:

"I am, of course, an optimist. Each year I'm certain I'm going to be great again. Every winter I get a questionnaire from Sport magazine on picking the pennant races and I always pick myself as Comeback of the Year. Each year I believe it. Each winter I pay a college kid $5 three nights a week to catch me in a gym. Each year I'm certain.

"And here I go again. I'm more positive than ever. My arm feels great. I've made the ballclub. I'm starting to throw like I used to throw, and I'm thinking I'll be a reliever for a while and then I'll do well in long relief and get a spot start now and then. Then I'll complete a ballgame and along around June they're going to stick me into the rotation and I'm going to wind up winning a flock of games, just like I did when I first came up to the Yankees. I see the team doing real well and I see me as one of the keys to our success. I see myself as one of the reasons we might finish third or fourth, I see myself as a goddam hero. That's what an optimist is, isn't it? A goddam hero."

Jim Bouton. My kind of guy.

Merry Christmas, and Happy Halladays, to you and yours. Cheers.

I could get used to this ...

Nazem Kadri, from Niklas Hagman, and Tomas Kaberle:

And how about that fist pump? Proper.

It's been almost three months since Toronto drafted him, but I remain at the stage where I'm tickled by the fact that Kadri is actually a Maple Leaf.

Since Friday night, I've been walking around mumbling "Kadri, Kessel, and Schenn." Repeatedly. The future is bright. And when's the last time we could say that?

The Maple Leafs Annual

Today, September 8th, is an auspicious day. Not only is it my brother's 30th birthday (dirty thirty!!1), it's also the release date of the 2009/2010 Maple Leafs Annual - a magazine chronicling your favourite team, written by some of the finest Maple Leafs bloggers out there.

For some reason Alec Brownscombe, editor of the annual and one of the writers at the heavily trafficked Maple Leafs Hot Stove, asked me to be involved in the project. I readily agreed, and typed an essay entitled: Infinite Hope.

Looking back upon the last 20 years of my life as a Leafs fan, I wrote about those players and those teams that best personified hope; and why the well of hope, even after many trying years of heartbreaking losing, never runs day.

It was an honour and a pleasure to be involved in a writing collaboration with some of the heavyweights of the Maple Leafs' blogosphere Barilkosphere. You can find the magazine on newsstands today; at your local Walmart, your local grocery store, your local drug store, and at all Chapters Indigo stores throughout Canada.

Pick up a copy. It's 128-pages of Toronto Maple Leafs content, penned by those who write only to feed their passion. You won't be disappointed.

To Hell and (Hopefully) Back

"It's been another learning experience. They love you when you're doing well and hate you when you're doing bad. Come next year, if I'm hitting .320, people will love me but I'll never forget these last few months, that's for sure."

- Vernon Wells

V-Dub's darkest hour: 2007. A .245 batting average, .304 OBP, and wretched 85 OPS+. He's done his best to replicate those numbers in 2009; the similarities are eerie. Yet in an injury-shortened 2008, Wells responded with a 129 OPS+; the third-highest of his career. He's been down this road before. Some faith.

I trust that Wells will heed his own advice, and not forget these last few difficult, pain-staking, awful months. (Fuck off, Carlos Pena.) I trust he'll use them as motivation. Mark my words: Wells isn't finished.

It ain't V-Dub against the world. It's V-Dub and me against the world.

Some business: Thanks to our good friend The Ack, Aaron Hill's got a new nickname: Lighthouse Hill. For Aaron is undeniably the light amid the darkness.

Another one bites the dust

Manny Ramirez, cheater.

Or is he? Apparently Manny is guilty as charged of using a performance enhancing drug - only of the sexual variety.

Regardless, arguably the greatest hitter of our generation has failed a drug test. Whatever he took was a baseball enhancer as well. And it's unfortunate, because he'll now be painted with the same brush as douchebags like A-Rod and Roger Clemens.

When it comes to baseball players testing positive for the juice, nothing surprises me anymore. I was shocked to hear about Ramirez, but not surprised. These days, they're all guilty until proven innocent.

Except for two men: Roy Halladay, the greatest pitcher I've ever known, and Carlos Delgado, the lost slugger of the Steroid Era.

I'm not sure who's next to be outed, but if it were one of those two men, a part of me would die inside. I'm not sure I could deal with finding out that Roy Halladay isn't perfect, or that Delgado didn't become the best Toronto Blue Jay hitter of all time on nothing but his own merit. It would be akin to finding out, as a young boy, that Santa Claus does not in fact exist; things would never be the same again. Innocence, lost.

Here's hoping that day never comes.

Hockey's Back

You see that guy? No, not Dan Cleary, fool. The psycho fan. While I'm not sure it's even possible, I might be more excited than him today. Hockey's back, bitches.

That's right friends. After a long, long off-season, apparently not long enough for some people, training camp opens today. Players won't be hitting the ice as physicals and fitness tests are the order of the day but, well, still. Hockey is back.

A New Era

For the first time since the lockout-shortened 1995 season, Mats Sundin will not break camp with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He won't be there tomorrow, and that's pretty fucked up. While I have made peace with Sundin's summer of indecision and will support any decision he eventually makes, it's going to be strange seeing the Leafs prepare for the new season without their captain, without their voice, and without their leader.

If Mats comes back, great. If he goes elsewhere, I hope he finds happiness and a ring along the way. What I don't want is for Sundin to be the topic of discussion at camp. He shouldn't be. He's not here. The douchebags who cover the Leafs main stream media need to let the Sundin story die, because it's no longer a story. When the man makes up his mind, he'll let us know. The post-Mats Sundin era officially begins today. It's time to look forward, and no longer back.

I'm looking forward to getting a look at some of the new kids on the block. Is Nikolai Kulemin the real deal? Will Jeff Finger absolutely crumble trying to play up to his new contract? Will Mikhail Grabovski prove to be an addition over Kyle Wellwood? God knows it won't take much.

I'm looking forward to seeing how Jason Blake responds after living through a year of hockey player hell in Toronto. I'm looking forward to seeing Niklas Hagman in a Leafs uniform - can he put up another 27 goals? I'm looking forward to finding out whether this is the year Alex Steen becomes a star, and whether Nik Antropov can play another another season relatively injury free (he played 72 games last season, tying his career high).

I'm looking forward to seeing the development of Anton Stralman and Jiri Tlusty. And looking forward to less - actually, zero - nudey Tlusty pictures. I'm looking forward to seeing hometown boy Jamal Mayers suit up in the blue and white, and seeing Pavel Kubina pick up where he left off last season. I'm looking forward to watching the Poni Express ride again, and another magical season from the greatest defenceman in the league Tomas Kaberle, hopefully the next captain of our beloved team.

Speaking of the captaincy, the next person who brings up Matt Stajan in the discussion is getting a kick to the groin. Stajan is shit. He is not captain material. He never will be. I'm afraid he'll never be anything more than a third-liner (not that there's anything wrong with that). 

I'm looking forward to seeing how Vesa Toskala does between the pipes. He was awful in camp and the pre-season last year, and this team needs him like a crackhead needs a hit: every fucking night. He must be consistently consistent.

I'm also looking forward to seeing Curtis Joseph back in a Leafs uniform. No hard feelings, bud.

Most of all, I'm looking forward to some defence. 

"Everyone in Toronto - from the fans to the media to the players - seems to be concerned with who is going to score. I'm more concerned with preventing goals." 

- Ron Wilson

Damn. Imagine that. 

Unbridled Optimism

I'm excited about the Leafs' chances this season, which should come as a surprise to absolutely no one. I think they'll be better than a lot of people expect them to be. Just like I have the last three years (and we all know how those season's ended). 

Honestly, though, I'm thinking we can fight for that last playoff spot again, you know, like we normally do. Last season, the Leafs finished with 83 points (Florida had 85, how fucked up is that?) carrying the deadly virus known as Andrew Raycroft, who, lest you have forgotten, won only two games all year. Think about it, Raycrap actually started on opening night last year. Raycrap. On opening night. With Vesa Toskala on the bench. Against Ottawa. I still can't believe it.

With expectations, both internal and external, for this year's Maple Leafs so low they are actually below the ground, I figure I might as well call them to surprise the world and squeak into the playoffs. If I'm right, I'm the smartest mother fucker on the planet. If I'm wrong, my awful reputation credibility as a pathetic homer only improves. It's a win-win situation. To tax the saying from the Toronto Blue Jays blog-o-sphere: PLAYOFFS!