From Jake Muzzin to Jorge Jesus, we saw a little bit of everything in this past week.
First and foremost, it's Bell Let's Talk Day and this is something near and dear to my heart. Approximately 3 years ago I had a coworker with whom I worked overnight. Due to my health I had to be transferred to daytime, but we maintained close contact. She began to miss a few shifts and slowly she became distant. It was to no surprise with her missed shifts that our supervisor announced that she was let go by the company. As someone who had grown close to her, this was difficult to hear.
Because she had been distant, I didn't want to send her a message right after her firing, I wanted to give her some time. Finally, on a Thursday evening, I decided to send her a nice long message saying I heard what happened and I was so sorry to hear it, and that I thought she would get back up on her feet and I was there to help. It felt great, and to this day I'm glad I sent that message.
Monday morning I got to work and found out that she was found Friday morning, she took her own life. To say that I was heartbroken couldn't begin to describe it. She was as bubbly of a person as you would ever meet, and you would never suspect she had issues. That year, I went through so many personal issues and it all started with that, I didn't know how to deal with it. I had to seek help because deep down I felt some guilt that maybe I could've stopped it. It took a long time for me to get over it, but it gave me an appreciation for those who help people in crisis. Thank you for everything you do, and let's make this a cause that we can talk about every day, not just one day a year.
Now before I get to my weekly sports thoughts, I want to congratulate Robert Wickens on what he is doing. For those unaware, Robert Wickens is an IndyCar driver who had a horrifying crash at Pocono last season. Original reports came out saying he was now paraplegic, Robby corrected them and advised he didn't know if he would ever be able to walk again. While there is still a long journey ahead, he has shown incredible progress and it is truly amazing to see what he is doing. I met Robby at the Honda Indy Toronto and when I say he's the nicest guy, I'm not exaggerating. We had a nice conversation and Robby took the time to sign my Robert Wickens hat. If I wasn't a fan before, I became a fan. I was on vacation when I found out about his incident and of course I grew concerned for him. But to see him now and how he's managed to turn this into a positive, truly inspirational.
Continuing with inspirational sporting stories, Alex Zanardi deserves a shout out as well. In 2001, Zanardi was involved in an IndyCar accident where he lost both legs. Now a Paralympic gold medallist and still a race car driver, Zanardi drove a BMW in the 24 Hours of Daytona this past weekend. While his car experienced electrical issues, Zanardi drove just as quick as his car partners and he showed he's still got the abilities at 52 years old. It was great to see him back behind the wheel!
Also this past weekend was the NHL All Star Game! It appeared to be a huge success in San Jose and for the youth, and the change to a Friday skills competition and Saturday game worked well for both players and fans. The best part of the weekend were the women who competed with the men in the skills competition. Brianna Decker beat all the men in the passing competition, and Kendall Coyne was ferociously fast in the fastest skater. I want to take a moment to mention that Decker, along with Rebecca Johnston who also competed, play for the Calgary Inferno of the CWHL. Coyne plays for the Minnesota Whitecaps of the NWHL and Renata Fast competes for the Toronto Furies. Hopefully this helps the women's game get on the map, and we can do this every year!
If I had one criticism of the weekend, it would be the way players are chosen for the All-Star Game. It's an absolute embarrassment that the Montreal Canadiens had ZERO representatives because Carey Price didn't go. The Canadiens are a playoff team this season, they deserve at least one player if not more. If you're going to have every team compete then make it obligatory to have one outfield (non-goalie) player representative from each team. And eliminate this X number of forwards and Dmen: group everyone altogether! Also, if the Leafs were to have representatives at the All Star Game, I would argue Marner and Tavares should be the choices. Auston Matthews, while great, missed 20 games. He has not been one of the top 4 stars for the Leafs this season (I would put Marner, Tavares, Andersen and Reilly ahead). NHL did a great job overall, but there is some room to tweak.
Speaking of the Leafs, how about that trade? Jake Muzzin has joined the Leafs in exchange for Carl Grundstrom, Sean Durzi and the 2019 1st round pick. This is a good trade only because Muzzin is amazing and being a Kings supporter through the years I've been following his career and I love watching him play. My point of concern with this deal is Muzzin plays left. Most of the Leafs D play left, and this team has been struggling on the blueline. There is no guarantee Muzzin can show up and automatically be great on the right side. Most of his career on LA he's played left. This is a change and I was hoping for a right-handed Dman. Maybe we'll still get one, but if anyone can prove me wrong it's Muzzin.
Onto the Raptors. Anthony Davis is now on the market and the Raptors are the favourite. My question automatically becomes what's the asking price? This is tough to comment on because it's all based on hypotheticals. But let's be real: Raptors somehow sign Anthony Davis and then have Leonard and Davis. Are they favourites? NO! Golden State will always be the favourite and if they get going everybody's screwed!
Onto soccer. The winter transfer season is almost closed. The biggest news from a Toronto perspective came out a short time ago. Sebastian Giovinco is headed to Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia! TFC will receive approximately $3 million for the transfer. This is a huge mistake in my opinion. Giovinco will not have near the success he had in MLS, and he won't even get as recognized. I doubt the Italian National Team would look at a player in Saudi Arabia. Why wouldn't he just go to Europe? Personally I think the answer to that is his salary. It's so high that nobody in Europe can afford him.
Al-Hilal has had a busy day. Jorge Jesus was fired as head coach because he didn't want to stay until November to compete in the Asian Champions League. My opinion is he should've finished the season, he's done a great job putting the team at the head of the championship. Jesus will head back to Portugal and will no doubt prepare himself to take over either Porto or Sporting next season. Odds are Benfica fans will never accept Jesus and president Vieira won't take that risk with an election year coming up. Jesus has a relationship with new president Varandas, Sporting's former medical director, and perhaps wants to finish the job he started years ago to bring a championship back to Sporting. But most likely Jesus will head to Porto so he can say he coached all 4 big clubs. Sergio Conceicao, if champion, will most likely get another European offer and leave. If he loses the championship, he will most likely be fired. One way or another, Porto will have an opening for manager next season and Jesus is poised to return.
Speaking of Portuguese soccer, after a controversial semi-final round of the Portuguese League Cup, things calmed down and Sporting squeezed out a penalty-kick win over Porto win a League Cup. This is huge for Sporting, as they have struggled in the championship battle. Hopefully controversy calms down in Portugal, because things have been very heated.
Finally, it's Superbowl week! So many predictors but the most basic one has to be that the Patriots are not going to lose another Superbowl. They're going to win it and Brady won't retire. Scary they may be back again for a 4th straight year. Greatest QB ever!
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