Jim Lang

Jim Lang can be seen anchoring Connected on the weekends with Evanka Osmak and is the senior NFL reporter for sportsnet and sportsnet.ca. Jim is also a regular contributor to sportsnet.ca. For more you check out Jim's website, www.jimlang.ca

To kick of this week’s mail bag, I wanted to share a comment from last week’s blog via HabsDrive425:

“Why wasn't Rush included in either the opening or closing ceremonies?”

That is a great question. I am with you HabsDrive425. I would have loved to have seen Geddy, Alex and Neil crank out Closer to Heart. That would have been a great way to wrap up the whole Olympic experience.

The organizers of the Vancouver games didn’t make many mistakes, but omitting Rush from the closing ceremonies was definitely one of them.

And now on to this week’s questions.

Name: Joe

Comment:

Is it just me or did Phil Kessel suck as bad as I thought he did during the Olympics? He was almost invisible on the ice. He's one of the most overrated players in the NHL. I think the Leafs got jobbed on that trade. The man is so lacking in emotion it's pathetic.

Answer:

Hi Joe. I have to admit, I get a lot of e-mails and text messages about Phil Kessel. You’re right, Kessel did not have a great Olympics. I have talked to Kessel before and I think he is misunderstood by most fans. Deep down he’s a very quiet and shy guy.

In the aftermath of the trade deadline, Brian Burke was grilled by the Toronto media over the Kessel trade and the fact that the Bruins will likely wind up with Taylor Hall or Tyler Seguin. Despite giving up a first and second round pick in 2010 and a first round pick in 2011, Burke still believes he made a good deal.

“I would do it again and again and again if I had to.”

The next day I spoke with a veteran scout from a Western Conference team to get his take on Kessel.

"Kessel is a shooter and a scorer...but doesn't work hard in his own end. If Kessel were more reliable in his own end he would be a perfect player."

The scout also made a point of comparing Ryan Kesler's impressive two-way game with the Canucks and Team USA to Kessel’s one dimensional game.

Now after all is said and done, Kessel has scored 22 goals in 53 games so far this year. Prorate that over a full season and Kessel would be on pace to score 34 goals, without the help of Marc Savard. Based on that logic, Kessel has given Burke exactly what he wanted when he made the deal with the Bruins.

I think giving up two first-round picks and a second-round pick to get Kessel was too steep of a price. Now, if Kessel strings together six or seven straight 30-goal seasons and leads the Leafs back to the playoffs, then Burke will be proven right.

As for now, the jury is still out.

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Dave asked me last week to name my Top 10 sports movies. Now these are MY Top 10 movies. Feel free to agree or disagree and make your own choices.

1. Bull Durham – Nuke LaLoosh is the man. Here’s an excerpt from LaLoosh and Crash Davis getting into it while they’re on the mound.

Crash: Why are you shaking me off?

Nuke: I want to bring the heater. Announce my presence with authority.

Crash: To announce what?

Nuke: My presence with authority.

Crash: To announce your presence with authority?! This guy's a first-ball, fastball hitter, looking for the heat.

Nuke: So what? He ain't seen my heat.

Crash: All right, Meat. Give him your heat.

2. Slap Shot – Go up to any player or coach in the NHL and mention the movie Slap Shot and they can instantly quote you their favourite line. Here’s a link to the movie that doesn’t involve foul language. This is the classic opening scene where goalie Denis Lemieux explains the rules of hockey.

3. The Wrestler – As a long time fan of wrestling, I was blown away by Mickey Rourke’s portrayal as a broken down former champion trying to relive his old glory. The best part of the movie was the gritty behind the scenes look at the intense physical toll suffered by all wrestlers.

4. The Natural – “When I walk down the street, people will look at me and say - There goes Roy Hobbs, the best there ever was."

I remember seeing this movie at the base theatre at CFB Borden when I was in high school. I loved it then and I still love it now.

5. Rocky – Anyone I know who has ever been to Philadelphia has made a pilgrimage to those famous steps Rocky ran up during his training for his fight with Apollo Creed.

6. Rudy – I know the screenwriters took a few liberties with the real story. But how can you watch “Rudy” and not be inspired?

7. Hoosiers – Gene Hackman and Dennis Hopper brought us back to small town high school basketball in Indiana in the 1950s. It’s impossible to watch this movie and not become the biggest Hickory High fan ever.

8. 61* – A very underrated cable movie on Roger Maris’ pursuit of Babe Ruth’s single-season home run record back in 1961. Directed by Billy Crystal, Canada’s own Barry Pepper is a dead ringer for the “Raj.”

9. Caddyshack – To this day, I try to live my life by the Zen philosophy of Basho. Thank you Ty Webb for changing my life.

10. The Longest Yard (the original)– Burt Reynolds and the Mean Machine take on the prison guards. The movie features former BC Lion Joe Kapp as one of the guards.

Honourable mentions go out to Field of Dreams, The Rocket, North Dallas Forty, Friday Night Lights and Raging Bull. ------------------------

Name: Chris

Comment:

Hi Jim, I know people have asked you about crying more times than you are comfortable with over the past several weeks, but doesn't it bum you out a little that sports are pretty much downhill from here this year?

Do you have any strategies, besides shedding some tears, for dealing with the cold reality that nothing we see in the remainder of 2010 is likely to come close to matching the electricity of the Games?

Answer:

Hi Chris, As sports fans in Canada, we are all going through a 12-step program to deal with the withdrawal we’re feeling since the end of the Vancouver Games. Now as great as the Vancouver Olympics were, there will be other amazing moments in sports this year.

Can you imagine the scene if Tiger Woods walks up the 18th fairway Sunday afternoon at the Masters with a chance to win his 15th major?

Can you imagine the scene in downtown Vancouver if Ryan Kesler scores the game-winning goal as the Canucks beat the Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals in the Stanley Cup Final?

Can you imagine the scene in South Africa if Wayne Rooney scores the winning goal as England beats Brazil in the final game of the World Cup?

And on and on it goes. Chris, that’s why we love sports so much; you just never know what’s going to happen.

Personally I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen at the World Cup. In fact, I am kind of torn who to cheer for. My in-laws are Dutch so I kind of have to cheer for Holland.

My grandfather is German and I lived in CFB Lahr when I was young, so I have always had a soft spot in my heart for the Deutschland. All I know is that I don’t want France to win.

They shouldn’t have made it to the World Cup in the first place after that cheesy hand goal against Ireland. ------------------------

Name: Julius

Comment:

Hey Jim! So, now that the Leafs have taken on the salary of J.S. Giguere, and have a few other large salaries on the table (Giggy, Phanuef, Komisarek, Beauchemin, Kessel) do you see the Leafs making a run this off-season at Nabokov, Marleau or both?

Answer:

Hi Julius,

In a word, yes! The Leafs simply don’t have enough top level talent to compete with the big boys in the NHL. Brian Burke has no choice but to massage the Leafs salary cap any way he can and go hard after whatever big UFA is available this summer.

The Leafs desperately need some skill up front.

If Burke could ever trade Tomas Kaberle, that would greatly help him in his quest to rebuild the Leafs. It's not going to be easy, but Brian Burke is the kind of man that could get the job done.

That’s it for this week. Please keep the questions rolling in.