All The Eggs In One Basket

This of course is common advice adults usually give to children when they receive a good sum of money. Why would said adults advise this if they themselves fail to understand the concept?

The people at Rogers Sportsnet clearly fail to understand this concept, considering they are a professional network, this is a huge let down. They constantly talk about their four channels which represent areas in their broadcast zone. They have Ontario, East West and Pacific which is a great idea because you could televise numerous games at a time. Sadly, they do not do this but instead show the same event on all four channels, even though everyone with Rogers already gets all four channels. For instance if you're a Champions League fan the only game available to you on Wednesday would be Valencia vs Manchester United. This seems very useless to have the same game on four channels instead of having four different games.

Now they have come out with a new channel which they are calling Sportsnet One, which was intended to bring in a wider range of teams in each sport. This of course was an exciting development for the sports fan since it gives them more out of area games. Then shortly after the release date for One it was announced that the channel is only a preview that will last until September 30th. Then the channel will be available for purchase which limits viewing options for the sports fanatic. The only way to view the preview is if you have Rogers, unless you phone up your company and go through a big process. Unfortunately for Inter Milan fans, they will be missing the game against Werder Bremen on Wednesday unless they subscribe to Sportsnet One.

This is a disgrace, the sport should come before the dollar value but sadly in a supply and demand society this just is not a possibility. The love of the game ends up falling through the cracks while the money takes center stage. When players get to the point were they refuse to play unless they get multi million dollar contracts is where the league should draw the line, what about the fan? Do they not matter? Professional sports should make their main goal the enjoyment of fans by televising a wider variety of games to larger groups of people around the world.

And Last But Not Least...

In 1967, Carl Yastrzemski lead all of American League Baseball in home-runs, batting average and runs batted in. This feat is referred to as The Triple Crown and has not been accomplished since Carl performed it with the Boston Red Sox. Baseball has lived without a King for 43 years but a new hero has emerged on the scene and has the potential to snap the Major league drought.

The annual All Star Vote had come and gone but left room for a final vote to allow one more player for both the National and American Leagues. The winner of the last spot on the NL roster was Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto. The virtually unknown Toronto native has seemingly come out of the woodwork so to speak, as he started his career in 2007 with the bottom place Reds. With the help of Votto the Reds have managed to climb atop the National League Central this season.

Votto has put up solid numbers across the board as he is third in the National League in batting average with a solid .321 average, as he trails Carlos Gonzalez of the Colorado Rockies. His competition is the legendary St Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols who has 35 home-runs, three more than Votto's 32. Votto is also leading the league in runs batted in with an impressive 97 with the dangerous Pujols breathing down his neck at 95. With Votto in control of two of the three legs there is a hope that the next Triple Crown winner will be a Canadian.

Why would such a young talented player be left to the very last of the All-Stars to get into the game? This could be attributed to the fact that the Reds have a small fan base on a national scale to the point that their players would not get the promotion they deserve as stars of the game. Votto may of been the last into the game but certainly proved to be far from the least.

This would of course be a huge accomplishment for Canadian baseball in gaining recognition from the neighboring United States. Votto has a great chance to make history but also to become a Canadian hero by snapping this kingless streak.

Thanks, But We Don't Need You Anymore

Antti Niemi has become a household name in the homes of NHL fans after his strong performance in the latter half of this past season. The Finnish born star helped to lead the Chicago Blackhawks to their first Stanley Cup title in 49 years.

Niemi made his first NHL appearance on October 3rd, 2009 in a 4 - 0 shutout win over the Florida Panthers in Helsinki, Finland. At the beginning of the season Niemi was slated into the backup position with little expectations. Niemi quickly made a name for himself when his play was matching if not exceeding that of starting goalie Cristobal Huet. The two split the starting goaltender role up until the point Huet was forced out of the lineup with the flu. Niemi jumped at the opportunity when he put up a 1.33 goals against average including two shutouts in a span of three games.

From that point on Niemi became the number one goalie in Chicago up until the point they defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals. After months of celebration serious talks for the new season began and several moves needed to be made. Niemi who was only on a one year deal with the Hawks, was waiting for the arbitrators to decide his future with the club.To the disappointment of many the Hawks passed on the 27 year old Niemi and he became a Free Agent.

Things have taken a positive turn for Niemi as he was picked up by the the San Jose Sharks, on a deal that would see him making two million dollars for the upcoming campaign. This seems like a real slap in the face to Niemi who lead the Hawks through the good and the bad. He resembled a pinball machine the way he kicked pucks out. For Chicago to get rid of him seems like a very poor choice as he is proven, experienced and perhaps most important is the fact that he is young. After what he did for the club this just seems like wrongful dismissal, show some respect to the guy after he earned a championship in his rookie year.

The Sharks are going to be a cup contender for sure with Niemi between the pipes, hopefully he knocks Chicago down a peg after this blatant disregard for talent!