Jim Lang

Jim Lang is a Connected anchor and NFL reporter for Sportsnet. Also check out Jim's website, www.jimlang.ca

After my last mail-bag, the "All-Name team edition," I received this Tweet from Moose6619: "One name you didn't have on all name team: MLB: Dick Pole." To which I replied that I also forgot NASCAR's Dick Trickle. Then Brian in Victoria BC reminded me of the Mets' Angel Pagan. Of course there was former PGA golfer Dick Mast as well.

And now on to this weeks questions.

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Name: Aaron

Comment:

Love your article clubber...just wanted to know who you think the toughest athlete of all time is...could be any sport...My vote is for Gary Roberts because he broke his neck and still maintained a very physical game for the rest of his career and because he always gave his all.

Answer:

Hi Aaron, well a lot of names come to mind. I am in full agreement on the toughness level of Gary Roberts. He was one of a kind. The NHL has produced a ton of tough athletes. Gordie Howe would have to be mentioned as one of the toughest athletes that ever lived. He could take it, and goodness knows he could dish it out. Maurice 'The Rocket" Richard was a lot more than just the first hockey player to score 50 goals in 50 games; he was one tough dude. Dick Irvin Jr. once told me that Richard was the best one-punch knockout artist he had ever seen. The very nature of playing in the NHL has produced so many tough athletes it's almost impossible to list them all. Roberts was tough. But there are a ton of other players who were just as tough.

As you would imagine, football is also filled with tough guys. 49ers safety Ronnie Lott was so tough that he bordered on the insane. Instead of going through a lengthy series of operations and rehab to repair a broken finger, Lott actually requested doctors amputate the tip of his pinkie finger so he could get back to playing football quicker. Now that is what I call tough. Dick Butkus, Jim Brown, Howie Long, Mike Singletary, Ray Lewis, Reggie White and on and on it goes. You can't play in the NFL for any length of time without being tough. Like the NHL, it's tough to pick one guy who you could say definitively was tougher than everyone else.

To the best of my knowledge, one of the toughest athletes of all time never got into a single fight. His name was Jackie Robinson. I don't think we can truly realize what kind of physical, verbal and mental abuse Robinson had to endure to break baseball's colour barrier. Pitchers deliberately threw at his head. Base runners would blatantly attempt to spike him when he was covering second base. The racial taunts and filthy language that greeted him in almost every ballpark were beyond imaginable. Through it all, Jackie Robinson played with his head held high and became both a Hall of Famer and an icon. Branch Rickey knew it would take a special human being in order to break baseball's colour barrier. Jackie Robinson was indeed special and he gets my vote as one of the toughest athletes ever.

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Name: Chris

Comment:

Sup Lang! I've noticed you refer to the 'The Code' often. Can you provide us with your Top 5 Code Violations from the world of professional sports?

Answer:

Hi Chris. 'The Code' is a very mysterious thing in sports. First off, athletes are reluctant to totally share all their secrets with the media. But over the years, if you listen to enough players from different sports leagues, you are able to get a good idea on what 'The Code' is all about.

1. There is one code that holds true for all sports and in all leagues; "what goes on the road, stays on the road". As you well know, there are many athletes, single and married, who like to taste the sweet fruit of success whenever they can. There can be no greater violation within the team dynamic that to talk out of school about what goes on when a team is on the road.

2. That leads us to the second code violation. Never have an affair with another player's wife or girlfriend. It seems like an obvious rule but you would be amazed how often it ends up being violated.

3. Pay your debts. If you are going to gamble with other players, you darn well better pay your debts. Just ask Gilbert Arenas what happens when players don't pay their debts.

4. Party all you want. But when it comes time to play, you play. Being hung over is no excuse. There have been many athletes over the years that could party all night long, then go out and score two goals or hit two home runs. Babe Ruth is right at the top of that list. Bottom line is that if you can't handle the late nights, then don't do it.

5. The last code is aimed at reporters. If you say something about an athlete that upsets them, you have to show up and take the heat. Every reporter has been yelled at least one time by an athlete or a coach who didn't like what they had to say or write. For the most part, once they've had their say, it's over and done with. It happened to me once when I wrote something about Darcy Tucker in a blog that he didn't like and it got back to him. I showed up at practice the next day and faced the music. Once Tucker was done giving me the business, it was over and we moved on.

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Name: Garret

Comment:

I have heard that the suspension to Roethlisberger will cost him millions in lost salary. Does this amount also come off the Steelers salary cap?

Answer:

Hi Garrett, thanks for a very interesting question. I e-mailed the NFL head office in New York for a definitive answer As you well know, there is no salary cap in the NFL this season. However, according to the NFL head office, if there was a cap; "Ben's lost salary still would have counted against their cap figure"

On top of that, the NFL fined the Steelers organization because two players, Roethlisberger and Santonio Homes were both suspended at the same time. It's league policy that the NFL can fine a team for having multiple suspensions in the same year.

Roethlisberger's current suspension is for six games. That number can be reduced to four games if Big Ben completes all of his mandated treatment and counseling sessions set forth by the league. If it is a full six games, he will stand to lose over $3.3 million in lost salary.

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Name: Regina-Dad-to-be

Comment:

Hey Jim, great blog - best on the web. I want to switch things up a little with 2 questions.

Question 1: My wife is six months pregnant and a little grouchy, demanding, hungry, and irritable. Now I know that I am to expect that and I do not want to complain because Lord knows I am not the one having to carry or deliver that child. (Thank God I'm a man.) However aside from doing everything she asks including -- getting her odd foods, doing extra house chores, keeping my honey-do list up to date -- how can I make her feel better?

Question 2: I am very nervous about being in the delivery room with her. I know I have to be there and I know I will witness a miracle but what can I do to calm my nerves.

Answer:

Hi Regina-Dad-to-be. Brother, do I ever feel your pain. I have two daughters and I have gone through the pain of being the husband of a pregnant wife twice in my life. My second daughter was born smack dab in the middle of the Stanley Cup playoffs. I made the mistake of suggesting that we should get a TV in the delivery room so we could watch some of the playoff games during her labour. My wife didn't think that was such a good idea. If you're lucky, the baby will be born after the Stanley Cup final so you can avoid that tricky issue.

Answer 1: Making a woman who is six months pregnant feel better is pretty much a lost cause. I would just keep on doing what you're doing and hope for the best. When the baby decides to sit on your wife's sciatic nerve and all of a sudden she's in a bad mood, there's not much you can do about it. I found the best way to keep my wife happy in the late stages of her pregnancies was to eat whenever she had a craving to eat. Now I usually weigh around 195 pounds. By the time my first daughter was born my weight had ballooned up to 218 pounds. I lost count how many extra subs, burgers and blizzards I put away the last three months of her pregnancy. So take one for the team and eat whenever and whatever she wants to eat. You can both get big bellies together. It will be fun. Another tip is to make sure you tell your wife how great she looks at least twice a day. Increase that number to at least three times a day as she gets closer to her due date.

Answer 2: Like you, I was really nervous before the birth of out first child. The nurses took one look at me and said if I fainted they would leave me on the floor and step all over me. They are only there to care for your wife and your child. In the prenatal classes, they kept telling me to rub my wife's shoulders in order to make her feel comfortable during her labour pains. I tried that and it didn't go over so well. I will tell you this much, at sometime during the delivery you will hear your wife use swear words that would make the Trailer Park Boys blush. It's nothing personal -- it's just their way of dealing with the pain. Now I admit I got a little rattled near the end of the delivery of our first child and I ended up threatening the doctor. I think I told him something like I was going to bust his head wide open. Every guy will tell you the same thing I am about to tell you: Once you see your baby born and the nurses allow you to hold it for the first time, it's all worth it. I can not say enough good things about the nurses who work in those delivery rooms. They are so amazing and so good at what they do that you have no reason to be nervous. Have faith in those nurses and you will be alright.

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Name: Dale B.

Comment:

Hey Jim, I was noticing that Buck Martinez has great old guy hair. What is up with that?

Answer:

Hi Dale, to be honest with you, Buck is going for the same look Sam Elliott had in the classic movie Road House. I think it's really working for him.

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Name: Dexter in Brampton

Comment:

Why does your hair never look out of place? You're like Wink Yahoo.

Answer:

Hi Dexter, good question. I come from the Jimmy Johnson school of TV hair. I use a combination of three things. The first is a hair moulding paste that I get imported from the small village of Gutenbach Germany, which is located deep in the heart of the Schwarzwald, or Black Forrest. The second is good old fashioned LePage's carpenter's glue. The last thing I do is top it off with a dab of sap from an old Cedar tree I have in my backyard. My goal is to have hair that could repel a round from an AK-47.

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That's it for this week. I have a new found respect for drywallers and contractors after renovating my basement. After watching my guy Andrew in action, I realized that there is a real art to drywalling, taping and mudding walls. Hats off to all the men and women who do that very difficult job every day.