Mats Sundin Returns to Toronto, and He Deserved the Standing Ovation…

Even though Mats Sundin no longer wears the white and blue, it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t hold a special place in the hearts of the many legions of Leafs fan throughout the province of Ontario.

This point was best shown during the first period of Saturday’s game between the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs, when MLSE played a video on the Jumbo-tron honoring their former captain in front of a capacity crowd.

Many were curious as to what kind of reaction Sundin would receive from the Leafs faithful on Saturday, but that question was quickly answered, when during the video tribute he was a given a standing ovation lasting roughly three minutes.

It was clear that not everyone shared those same sentiments, but I was among those cheering and clapping on my feet, even though I was watching the game from my living room.

I have continued to cheer for Sundin during his tenure with Vancouver. Indeed, I wish I was able to watch their games more, as I have become an instant fan of the Canucks when the Leafs are not playing on a particular night.

Even though some may argue that the circumstances behind Sundin leaving Toronto have hurt the Leafs in the long run, I tend to disagree.

With Mats being asked to waive his no trade clause last spring, many felt that a trade involving the superstar would bring in some much needed young talent, as well as a few draft picks. However, this was not to be, as Sundin refused to leave the city he had played in for the past thirteen years.

And he deserved the right to do that, in my mind. Even though at the time it did make me somewhat angry at what I viewed was a selfish move on his behalf, looking back, it was his choice to make, and he made the right decision. Sundin ended his time in Toronto on his own terms, and I am glad that he did.

As for the standing ovation that he received Saturday night, those that argue that he betrayed the Leafs in refusing a trade will also argue that he didn’t deserve to be honored as such. To put it flat out, these people are wrong.

Sundin serve 13 years with the Leafs, being captain for his final 10 seasons. In the Toronto organization he holds most of the records, leading the franchise in such categories as goals and points all time.

Not withstanding his offensive contribution to the franchise, he also was one of the most beloved captains in team history. There are those that believe he was not a leader, and merely held the captaincy because of his skill. But he was a good captain, just ask any of the men that he played with while in Toronto.

Lets just face it, Sundin is one of the all time greatest Leafs, especially in terms of this generation of fans. Sundin will always have a place in the hearts of Maple Leaf fans (mine included), and I look forward to a few years down the road when the number 13 is raised to its rightful place in the rafters of the Air Canada Centre.

Read This Article on Bleacher Report here.

Insomnia, My Friend and Enemy…

As a university student, my schedule tends to make sleep difficult when the work begins to pile up. When an essay is due the next day and I have yet to even start it, pulling an all-nighter tends to be the only option I have. And when this sort of things happens, it throws off my system, and sleep tends to evade for me for a few days. This tends to be something I try to avoid, but like I said above, sometimes it is unavoidable.

Now I doesn’t always necessarily bother me to go a couple of days without sleep. It allows me to get a lot of things done, such as extra reading, or finishing that next level in whatever XBOX 360 game I happen to be playing at the time. I am able to watch entire seasons of TV shows such as 30 Rock, and make gourmet breakfasts every morning, because lets face, what else would I do with hours of time to waste, and nothing to do?

However, not sleeping isn’t always as pleasant as I make it sound in the paragraph above. There are some nights when I just know that I am tired, and I want to sleep more than anything in the world, but it just doesn’t happen. I will lie in bed for hours at a time, just lying there, staring at the ceiling, or staring at the wall, or staring at the door, not knowing why I can’t sleep. There are other times however when I have something on my mind, whether it be a school assignment, or just something stupid that I can’t get out of my head. It is these times that make insomnia one of the most frustrating occurrences to endure.

There are a few tricks however that I have learned over the last couple years that may help with insomnia, I know it has helped me to a certain degree when I can’t sleep. Now I am not guaranteeing these steps as a sure fire way to avoid insomnia, however they have helped me, and they may help someone else who is encountering a similar situation.

The first step is to try and keep a regular sleep schedule during the week. From Monday to Friday, try and go to sleep at the same time every night, regardless of what time you have to wake up in the morning. To go along with this, try and have a uniform time to wake up every morning, which will put your internal clock into a routine that will allow for a solid night sleep every night. Now on the weekends (especially when your at university), keeping a sleep schedule tends to be a futile process, because your going to end up staying up late, and sleeping in the next morning. But that’s alright, as long as your maintain your schedule during the weekdays.

The other step that one can take to avoid insomnia is quite simple. If you can’t sleep, just get up. When lying in bed, and you find that you are unable to sleep, do not struggle, and toss and turn, just get up, watch TV, read a book, do anything except sleep. This will force you to be sleep deprived for the following night, allowing for a full night sleep the next day. The other rule to go along with this one is also very important. If you decide not to sleep, it is imperative that you not have a nap the next day, as this will ruin the rhythm  that you are trying to establish. However if you must sleep during the next day, limit your nap to one hour. This shouldn’t hurt the routine much, if at all.

Well there are my suggestions for a better night sleep. But like I said, sometimes, if you are really struggling from insomnia, even these rules will not help you in any way at all, and if this is the case, that is when you should probably consult your doctor. But if you just struggle with sleep every now and then, feel free to try this suggestions and see how they work for you. And if they do indeed help, please comment and let me know. And if you have any other suggestions, feel free to comment on them as well, as I would love to try out other ways of solving my sleep problems, and trust me, sometimes I need all the help I can get.

For Conan’s Last Show, I Might Just Have Shed a Tear…

Well, Conan O’Brien has come along way. I suppose the picture to the right certainly demonstrates this fact the best. Last night was Conan’s final broadcast as host of Late Night, and it was an excellent way to end his tenure on this particular late night talk show.

As a follow up to my post from the other day, it was nice to see that Conan’s final show at 12:30 was done correctly, and was quite enjoyable to say the least. As sad as I was to see Conan sign off for the final time on Late Night, I am now very anxious for his version of the Tonight Show to start on June 1st.

The show began in an emotional fashion, with Conan receiving a standing ovation from his studio audience for at least a few minutes, which I could tell meant a lot to the host. He continued to tell a few jokes before playing a video message he had received from singer John Mayer. Afterwards, he played his favorite segment that he had done during his time on the show. This was from his visit to a baseball league that is played as if it were 1860, including authentic rules and costumes. Conan even got into the action, sporting a bushy red mustache with the sideburns to match. It was deserving of being one of the final clips played during his last week of shows.

The show continued with Will Ferrell coming out to say his goodbyes, however he was not dressed as himself, as he came out doing his impression of former U.S President George W. Bush. He then continued to rip off his clothes and do the leprechaun strip-tease that had made Will Ferrell so famous on Late Night.

After another commercial break, Conan made the announcement that his first special guest was his former sidekick Andy Richter, which I was very happy to see on the final show. The two good friends then watched some of their favorites clips from the shows history, which one could tell really brought back the memories for both of them. 

The show then moved onto a musical performance by the White Stripes, which was easily noticeable as meaning a lot to Conan. The song that the White Stripes played was not one of their big name hits, but a slower song, playing ‘We’re Going to Be Friends,’ a song with more meaningful lyrics, that really fit the situation well. Saying that, it would have been pretty sweet to hear them play ‘Seven Nation Army’, or ‘The Hardest Button to Button.’ But it was still great, so heres the video.

The show closed out with the final 15 minutes or so being devoted to Conan thanking everyone that was involved with his success over his 16 seasons on Late Night. Some of the more important remarks include thanks to his executive producer Jeff Ross, his family, his writers, the Max Weinberg 7 and Jay Leno. However, his thanks to David Letterman, and to Lorne Michaels were even more sentimental than the others.

To David Letterman, he thanked him for the massive shadow that he had placed on the Late Show, with Conan saying that it was a curse as a gift, with having to better himself every night to live up to his legacy. And to Lorne Michaels, he  thanked him for making him who he was. He said that it was because of Lorne Michaels that he even had his job, as he had taken a chance on a no-name writer to take over from Letterman. It was during this thank you that Conan got a little choked up, which I have to admit, made me do the same.

Overall, I really enjoyed the final episode of Late Night with Conan O’Brien. Indeed, I wish it had been a couple hours longer. I was sad to see his tenure at 12:30 end, but now I am even more excited to see him start on the Tonight Show. By the way, good luck Jimmy Fallon, you have some massive shoes to fill.

Farewell Conan, We’ll Be Seeing You at 11:30…

Well, Conan O’Brien is down to his final two shows as host of Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and let me say, I am truly sad to see him leaving his famed 12:30PM time slot. Saying this, it will certainly be nice to enjoy Conan’s unique brand of comedy at an earlier time.

Conan will soon be taking over the reigns of the Tonight Show from Jay Leno, and let me be the first to say, it is about damn time. I enjoy the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, but I much prefer Conan, and it is about time he is bumped up to the big show.

Conan is by far my favorite late night talk show host of all time. Growing up after the age of Johnny Carson, I grew accustomed to Conan’s brand of humor, often avoiding my ‘bed-time’ as a pre-teen in order to stay up and watch his opening monologue. This is a ritual that I maintain to this day. Regardless of what time I need to wake up the next morning, Late Night always takes precedent.

His last week of shows has been nothing short of stupendous. While on a normal show, Conan would host two guests, as well as a musical guest or comedian to close out the show. However in his final week Conan has only had one guest on each show, showing favorite clips from the past 16 years to fill in the time. Special guests have also been making appearances, such as Stephen Colbert challenging Conan to a string-dance competition, New York Mayor Bloomberg giving Conan a key to a New York City public restroom, and Martha Stewart delivering a 40 of malt liquor and some Taco Bell. Overall, the week has been amazing.

It will be very interesting to see what NBC has planned for the final Late Night with Conan O’Brien. With this show being a staple of the weekday lineup, the Peacock better provide one hell of a send-off for their new Tonight Show host. I know that the White Stripes will be performing, which should be awesome, seeing that it is there first performance as a band since 2007. They have a special relationship with Conan, having played an entire week on his show once, so it should make for some high class entertainment. And I hope to god that Andy Richter makes an appearance. I loved Andy when he was on the show, and it will be awesome to see him and Conan back together again.

More good news was revealed on the last night’s show, with Conan revealing that Max Weinberg, along with the entire Max Weinberg 7 will be making the trip to Burbank to be the new house band on the Tonight Show. I was so pleased to hear this, as the awkward  exchanges between Conan and Max, and even more importantly Conan and LaBamba would have surely been missed.

I am also looking forward to March 2nd, when Late Night with Jimmy Fallon goes on the air. I hope to got he can get out of Conan’s shadow and make the show his own, because I still want to be able to watch a late night talk show at 12:30, but if he is just a clone of Conan O’Brien, what the point, having just watched the master at 11:30.

I wish Conan the best of luck, and I just know that he will be a huge success as the new host of the Tonight Show. Plus, it will be nice to be able to watch Conan in the earlier time slot, because sometimes I need my sleep, and 1:30AM is quite late to stay up when you have an 8:30 class the next morning.

Me, a Sports Journalist? Maybe Someday…

 

So as none if you will no, because there is no one reading this (lol), I am also a writer on the sports journalism website Bleacher Report. I really pride myself in my journalism, so I figured I would share one of my recent article entitled, “Jason Blake: Three Reasons the Leafs Should Trade Him.” I am primarily a Toronto Maple Leafs analyst, so if you are a fan, I hope you enjoy:

With Brian Burke now officially the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, many people are beginning to wonder when the so-called “rebuilding” process will begin.

With no moves being made yet and the trade deadline quickly approaching, the big question is who will stay and who will go. In my opinion, there is one person on the team that is almost certainly on his way out of Toronto: Jason Blake.

I personally have nothing against Blake. I like his style of play and I like the skill that he brings to the Leafs, especially as of late as his play has been spectacular.

However, on this Leafs team he has no place on the roster. Here are the three reasons why Jason Blake should be traded this year.

Age

Toronto is looking to build a team around a strong base of young players, such as Luke Schenn. At 35, it is easy to see that Blake does not fit in with where this team is moving.

The Leafs should look to trade him and pick some draft picks, prospects, or even one decent young player, because, in the long run, it will benefit the team much more than Blake ever could in the present.

Money

Blake is in the second year of a five-year, $20 million contract, and it is easy to see that this cap space could be better spent on three or four young players.

Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment has always been worried about money when it comes to its hockey team, and even though Burke has complete autonomy, there will be a push from the front office for Burke to save some money where the source is available.

Jason Blake is arguably that source.

Production

Blake has been nothing if not inconsistent during his tenure with the Buds. After scoring 40 goals in his final season with the NY Islanders, Blake managed merely 15 in his first season with the Leafs.

Due to the fact that Blake was signed to give offense to a team that was lacking in that department, a 15-goal season is just not acceptable. Granted, Blake was struggling with his recent cancer diagnosis, but he still managed to play all 82 games, and for a player of Blake’s supposed caliber, 15 goals just won’t cut it.

On the flip side, Blake’s production of late has been quite excellent. Through 49 games thus far this season, Blake already has 19 goals and 40 points.

He has been the Leafs’ best player through the last 10 to 15 games, which one could argue is giving him a much better trade value than this time last year. This should be reason enough for Mr. Burke to pull the trigger and make a deal before it might be too late.

In conclusion, it is easy to see that the Leafs need to move Blake. The team needs to start looking toward the future, and although he might be good for the present, in the long run, the Leafs need youth.

At his age, Jason Blake is merely part of the past.

The Joy of the Blog

Well, lets just start by saying that this whole ‘blog’ thing kind of makes me scratch my head. It still doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, yet here I am, writing my first entry on my new blog. I guess this can just be used as an outlet for me, someplace where I can write (because I do enjoy writing) and not really worry about content or purpose. The issue that I have with the blog, is that will anybody actually read this? Will the stuff that write just collect dust (metaphorical dust)? I guess, in the long run, if I ever become famous or anything, I can print off everything that I have written on here and just publish it as a book and make some cash off it. I mean, hell, you never know, maybe someday this will all be read by a lot of people. It could happen…