Sports roundtable – Sep. 29, 2011
The NHL will be without a legend this season
Autumn McDowell, Sydney Campbell, Taylor Shire
This Week's Roundtable
Would you be in favor of a University of Regina boxing team?
Autumn McDowell: Why not? I would be more in favour of an MMA team, but I would take a boxing team over nothing any day. However, I have this gut feeling that any members of the team would strut around the hallway like they owned the place in cutoff shirts, flexing their guns they think they have.
Sydney Campbell: Personally, I’m definitely not opposed to watching a good beatdown, especially off the streets and at a sporting event. Boxing is actually one of the sports I causally watch, probably because I’m able to understand rules, unlike football with all the terminology and flags getting fucking thrown everywhere.
Taylor Shire: Sure, Manny Pacquiao is badass and has a killer set of vocals, but boxing is a dying sport. They took it out of the Canada Games. So I don’t see it working in Regina. Unless Fiacco builds a giant boxing ring with a retractable roof.
Why do you think fan attendance at Cougars and Rams’ games is so low?
McDowell: It’s tough to say. It could be because people just don’t care enough about the team, or because they don’t want to be in the presence of a hideous loss so close to going-out time. Whatever the case maybe, more students need to get out to the games, plain and simple. In case you are wondering, there is alcohol at nearly every game and, at the ones that don’t sell it, sneaking it in wouldn’t be a problem.
Campbell: Perhaps the team sucks. Who wants to sit on a hard, cold bench, maybe freezing their ass off, to watch our teams get their asses kicked and have the opposing teams’ fans cheer with their smug smiles and cocky laughs. Just makes me want to punch a bitch.
Shire: I have no fucking clue why. Now let’s go watch the hot-dog-eating contest on TSN. Kobayashi versus Joey Chestnut. Now that’s a sport we need to pay more attention to.
With Garrett Mitchell being assigned to the AHL’s Hershey Bears, who should the Pats captain be this year?
McDowell: Rumour has it that defenceman Brandon Davidson will get the “C”. He was an obvious choice to get it; the only other player that could have potentially been given the honour would have been Jordan Weal. However, though Weal has an unreal skill set, Davidson is much more vocal in the dressing room and that is presumably what gave him the edge.
Campbell: Are the Pats still around? I thought they finally called quits on that one. Well, after this shocking news, I would have to say it be better that they are getting a new captain, because obviously this “Garrett Mitchell” was not doing his job.
Shire: Well, Brandon Davidson just announced on Twitter that he’s sporting the Cheddar this year. If the guys like him and he has dressing-room presence, he should be good to go. If the Pats make the playoffs is another question, I’d even settle with them scoring more than two goals in one game, or how about watching linesman Nernberg fall into the post again (YouTube “WHL Linesman pays price”). Classic.
Mike Modano recently announced his retirement from the NHL. What was your favourite Modano memory, or do you care?
McDowell: I quite like the final move that he made during his NHL career, which saw him sign a one-day contract with the Dallas Stars so that he could retire with the same team he started with. The contract was for $999,999, in honour of Modano’s jersey number. Clever. I wonder if this will spawn other players to do the same thing. It wouldn’t shock me if Teemu Selanne tried this tactic with the Winnipeg Jets after this season, nor would I fault him for trying.
Campbell: I’m going to go with, I don’t care. If he tells me his favourite “Sydney memory” from my life, I’ll tell him mine about him.
Shire: When Mark Messier blindsided Modano in ‘94, knocking him out. Modano got taken off on a stretcher and was getting loaded into the back of the ambulance when they dropped the stretcher with Modano on it. A little scary, yet pretty hilarious. (YouTube it if you haven’t seen it). Also, his 561-goal total is pretty decent.
The NHL pre-season just started. Which team will you be keeping tabs on this year?
McDowell: First off all, I will be keeping tabs on the Pittsburgh Penguins. With Crosby and Malkin eventually slated to return to action this season, the Pens are definitely a team worth watching. Then you have the devastating Stamkos and St. Louis combo in Tampa Bay and, as for Canadian teams, Les Habitants will be on my radar as well.
Campbell: Bruins. Might as well cut the shitty teams and keep tabs on the greatest team in the league. I suggest everyone else do the same. Go Boston.
Shire: In the East, Philadelphia is going to be interesting to watch. Can Giroux and Van Riemsdyk fill in for Carter and Richards? Buffalo and Montreal will be good if they can find some scoring. In the West, not much has changed. Columbus will improve and Vancouver will still be good if the Sedin Sisters can keep it up. Cough, Leafs still suck, cough.