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Cam_Cole 27 days ago
Kirk McLean’s 20 shutouts was the Vancouver Canucks’ franchise record until Roberto Luongo — essentially three years into his tenure as a Canuck, with one prolonged absence and the annual slow start tossed into the mix — recorded his 21st Sunday night. Think about that: the first and last of McLeans’s 20 Canuck shutouts were 10 seasons apart, from 1987-88 until 1997-98. Luongo has done it in fractionally over three. You might say that such a modest number speaks to the limited success the Canucks have historically experienced on the ice, but Oilers coach Pat Quinn — whose squad was squelched 2-0 by Luongo on Sunday — says that’s only part of the story. “No, Kirk was part of our competitive time. It took a few years to turn things around, and he was one of our first acquisitions to help make that happen,” said the former Canucks GM, who was very ill with the flu. “It is a modest number, but don’t forget the ’80s and early ’90s, it was a wide open game, and in the late ’90s everybody ...Cam_Cole 42 days ago
There are many terrific things about the United States, and San Francisco is one of its greatest cities — and the most beautiful. But television can bludgeon you with its rah-rah "themes" so persistently that you just want to turn it off before you start resenting all things American. NBC, for example, with years of practising its "U-S-A!" coverage of Olympics, is now doing it to the viewer at the Presidents Cup -- a great international golf competition in which the network is spending more time focussing on images (and inane commentary) of Michael Jordan than any credit it might give to the actual competitors, let alone International competitors. I am now officially sick of MJ, all things MJ, MJ's utterances, MJ's inspirational speeches, MJ's mentoring of Sean O'Hair, and MJ's wisdom about the importance of team play — a fiction which he inadvertently revealed Saturday when he said the difference between golf and basketball was that he had "teammates, ...
Cam_Cole 43 days ago
San Francisco The vote wasn't exactly resounding, but golf made it past the final hurdle Friday for inclusion in the 2016 and 2020 Olympics. The most excited man at the Presidents Cup when news from IOC meeting in Copenhagen arrived about 3:30 a.m. PDT must have been PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, because reaction from the players was strangely muted. Funniest quote — unintentionally funny, no doubt — was Phil Mickelson's. "Everybody is very excited," he said, "and we are working hard on our games so that over the next six years we are able to make the team and represent our country in the Olympics." So, let me get this straight. The players are already working extra hard on their games for an event that won't happen for another seven years. Yeah, right. More realistic was British Open champ Stewart Cink, who said: It's great for golf. I don't know if it's great for me or not, because I'll be 43 years old, and I might be over the hill by then." ...
Cam_Cole 45 days ago
San Francisco It’s been said before, and it’s still true: Phil Mickelson really is Eddie Haskell incarnate. If you’ve ever seen those reruns of Leave It To Beaver (or watched the originals, not to date myself), you remember Eddie, the obsequious neighbour kid who used to say things like: “Gee, Mrs. Cleaver, you set a lovely table” when he was hoping to be invited for dinner. So Mickelson was asked about leading off for Team USA with partner Anthony Kim against Mike Weir and Tim Clark in the opening alternate-shot match of the Presidents Cup (Thursday, 12:10 p.m. PDT). “We have a tough match,” Mickelson said. “Mike Weir played incredible golf last Presidents Cup in Canada. He’s going to be a very tough match. And Tim Clark is one of the best ball strikers on Tour and they are wonderfully nice guys.” -- In case you’re wondering, Mickelson said his back is fine. Not 100%, but good to go. The pulled muscle, he said, happened “out of nowhere. I was getting ready to go practice and it just ...
Cam_Cole 45 days ago
Mike Weir, the best player on the International Team two years ago, was the first name on the board when team captain Greg Norman began his mission to regain the Presidents Cup with his initial lineup for Thursday's alternate-shot (foursomes) matches. Norman, picking first, named Weir and South Africa's Tim Clark to be his first pairing at 12:10 p.m. local time. U.S. captain Fred Couples elected to counter with Anthony Kim and Phil Mickelson. Couples got to pick first for the second match, at 12:22 p.m., and named Hunter Mahan and Sean O'Hair. Norman will send out Adam Scott and Ernie Els against them. The remainder of the matches, and the order of selection are: 12:34 -- Vijay Singh- Robert Allenby INT vs. Lucas Glover-Stewart Cink US 12:46 -- Kenny Perry-Zach Johnson US vs. Angel Cabrera-Camilo Villegas INT 12:58 -- Geoff Ogilvy-Ryo Ishikawa INT vs. Tiger Woods-Steve Stricker US 1:10 p.m. -- Jim Furyk-Justin Leonard US vs. Retief Goosen-Y.E. Yang INT More later ...
