Mitch Kasprick is the “Motown Curmudgeon” aka “Motown Mitch”
Odds and Ends, Thoughts and Questions, from this past week in sports –
Just so there’s no confusion when I’m spewing my bias, I am a fan of the Winnipeg Jets, Arizona Coyotes, Manitoba Moose, Winnipeg Ice, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Minnesota Vikings, Arizona Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays, Arizona Diamondbacks, Winnipeg Goldeyes, Toronto Raptors, all curlers from Manitoba, and all Canadian athletes competing on the international stage.
I am NOT a fan of Gary Bettman or as I call him, Count Chocula. I am a big believer in the 7Ps. You’ve been warned.
1. Jets: The Winnipeg Jets are in hibernation mode.
2. Blue Jays: The MLB trade deadline has come and gone and even though most Jays fans understand this was a throw-away development season I agree with a lot of their angst towards Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins. The job they did at the trade deadline was LESS than stellar and extremely underwhelming. Based on the return they got for Stroman and Sanchez, I can’t help but wonder what the big rush was to trade them AND especially Sanchez. A lot of their deals could have waited until the off-season where the probably would have or could have received more in return. Most MLB observers felt the Jays sold low on Sanchez.
3. Blue Bombers: Winnipeg 27 vs Argos 28 … Oh boy, where do we start?
The Good:
- Andrew Harris … AGAIN.
- Willie Jefferson.
The Bad:
- Matt Nichols was terrible AGAIN.
- Paul Lapolice’s game plan and game-calling was terrible AGAIN.
- The O-line’s pass blocking and protection for Matt Nichols was poor.
- Adam Bighill hasn’t been very good since his return from the IR.
I guess I wasn’t alone in this thought.
Asked to evaluate his own performance vs the #Argos, #Bombers OC Paul Lapolice said, “Terrible. We lost. When you lose a game I try to blame myself for everything that happens, and I hope the players do the same.” pic.twitter.com/HKoU1YwG1w
— ?????? ??????? (@DarrinBauming) August 5, 2019
The Ugly:
- Richie Hall’s passive, prevent defence is beyond ugly, it is BUTT F’N UGLY.
- The Bombers inability to put away games they should win under Mike O’Shea’s watch.
4. Blue Bombers: I’m not jumping off the Bomber bandwagon because I haven’t purchased my ticket yet. I liked the 5-0 start but I’m not sure if they have beaten anybody they shouldn’t have. I like a lot of their personnel but I believe the Bombers coaching staff is their weakest link. Mike O’Shea and his staff seem incapable of adjusting their gameplan and making the proper adjustments as the game goes on. I also think this team will never win with Richie Hall as their defensive coordinator.
The good news is the Bombers are 3-0 at home and 2-0 in the division.
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5. Blue Bombers: Andrew Harris had 2 touchdowns and 152 yards rushing on 15 attempts along with 6 receptions for 45 yards AND yet Harris seemed to be ignored down the stretch vs Toronto when the offence needed him the most. The Bombers offence is non-existent without him. FYI: Andrew Harris is leading the CFL with 646 rushing yards.
6. Blue Jays: Bo Bichette’s career (7 games) is off to a nice start with TWO homers and a solid .406 batting average while looking like the lead-off man the Jays have been searching for.
UPDATE:
Bo Bichette becomes first player in #MLB history to have 10 extra base hits in his first 9 career games (17H in 9G). #BlueJays
— Hazel Mae (@thehazelmae) August 7, 2019
7. Blue Jays: Is anybody else getting sick of watching Justin Smoak continually grounding out into “the shift”?
8. LPGA: Unless Brooke Henderson is in contention I find the LPGA extremely boring.
9. Jays: I’m a huge Jays fan and I’m not going to let the naysayers diminish the big numbers Bo Bichette and Vladdy Jr. put up last week even though I realize they were against two of the worst teams in the AL. These stats all count and we don’t take anything away from the Yankees and Red Sox when they pad their numbers against the dregs of the league BUT I will feel a little better if they can carry this momentum against the Rays and Yankees this week.
10. Blue Bombers: I’m not a Matt Nichols hater but I’m certainly not the president of his fan club either. Nichols has been awful the past two weeks but I’m not sure his lack of production is all on him. I don’t know if his receivers can’t get open or if he isn’t getting enough time to throw the ball or if he is afraid to make a mistake but he is not getting the ball downfield. I also think a lot of this is on Paul LaPolice. The Bombers need to go deep more often to open up the intermediate routes. FYI: Matt Nichols is still leading the CFL with 14 touchdown passes.
11. MLB: Aaron Sanchez throws six innings of no-hit ball in his Astros debut. Hmmm. (see #2)
12. Important Dates:
Aug. 8: Winnipeg Blue Bombers host the Calgary Stampeders.
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Thanks, Mitch
