Sounds of the Game...

In 1952, Foster Hewitt called the first hockey game on television. There have been a some advancements in hockey broadcasts since then ... some good, some entertaining and some very bad.

One thing that seems to be done a lot more frequently is having the players mic'ed up. Watching a clip of third line winger Matt Cooke would be pretty uneventful ... put a microphone on him and we've got some broadcasting gold.

Same is true for the stars as shown in this clip with Dany Heatley and this clip with Crosby and the Penguins.

See Malone ask for a fight in the beginning of the last clip? I've heard about this happening in the league but I've never seen it as blatant as that ... that is, until I saw this clip of a George Laraque & Raitis Ivanans fight. Laraque was even nice enough to wish Ivanans good luck for the upcoming punch-up. When I first saw this I was a bit amused. But as it sunk in, I've decided I don't like this practice one bit. Let's do a mini poll. What do you think of the Laraque vs. Ivanas clip? Embarrassing or Entertaining? You make the call ... leave a comment to place your vote.

As entertaining as it is to see players singing along to a song or joking around with their team mates you get the feeling the real sounds of the game would involve a few more f'-bombs and a lot more shouting. I want to see the mic'ed up players trash talking each other. Obviously, not very TV friendly but it would be entertaining.

I found a really good example of what I imagine would be a more realistic example of a 'sounds of the game' clip ... Brian Bellows getting an absolute mouthful from some Penguins in the 1980's:

That's what I'm talking about. When will the networks start broadcasting "R" rated hockey games?

Since this is likely the greatest hockey clip ever caught on tape we have no choice but to induct the Pittsburg Penguins into the Hall of Fame. Congratulations to the Penguins, we know they are thrilled.

YouTube's Best Sport Videos of the Week - Jul 28th to Aug 3rd

A look at the most interesting sports videos posted onto YouTube this past week:

- A video & photo tribute to former(?) Leaf Mats Sundin and his big bald head.

- "Top 10 Reverse Lay-ups" from the 2007-08 NBA season. Reverse Lay-ups are much better than the regular kind.

- The breast -- sorry I mean -- BEST fans of the Montreal Canadians. Photos of hot girls wearing Habs gear mixed in with Montreal players. The girls almost make up for having to look at Saku Koivu.

- Some kid showing everybody his favourite hockey cards. I would make fun of how big of a nerd this kid is, but I probably would have done the same thing if YouTube was around when I was 12.

- Boxer Wladimir Klitschko (who currently holds the IBF, WBO, and IBO world heavyweight titles) on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien".

- Highlights of Jason Bay's first game as a member of the Boston Red Sox. I liked him so much more before he was a Sock ... and Manny Ramirez's debut in Dodgers blue, wearing number 99.

- Some crazy street basketball dribbling starring 'Hot Sauce'. That's how we used to play it in the hood.

- A good mix of some classic hockey clips from the last 25 years. Looks like it would have taken a good amount of time to put together.

- A clip from the brand new EASports NHL09. Apparently, it's getting very good reviews.

- Steve Nash and Baron Davis are set to star in the sequel to "Step Brothers".

- The New Zealand basketball team proves the Haka just doesn't work when it's done by tall, lanky, white guys....these guys show how it's really done.

- There are a few sporting moments in the "Top 10 Racist Things Said on Live TV" list. It's amazing how dumb people can be.

- And this week's "Waikiki Hockey" pick for "Clip of the Week" is Angel's pitcher Justin Speier doing his best Mike Tyson impersonation. His impersonation is about as good as his pitching line is this season:


Find something worthy of Waikiki Hockey? Pass it along!

Wiffle Ball Legend...

David Mullany's son wanted to be able to throw a curve ball. But he was too young. He didn't have enough room to play real ball in the yard anyway. In 1953, David created a plastic ball with eight ovals on one side that increased resistance and allowed his son to throw the big hook in his small backyard.

The Wiffle Ball was born.

The ball was very hard to hit due to the massive curve action it generated so it was named Wiffle after the slang word for a big strike "wiff".

The game has it's own field, rules and scoring and has become a big part of growing up in America for many kids.

Growing up I wasn't into Wiffle Ball very much. I think I had one at some point and I remember enjoying it but it couldn't compete with my road hockey. We did have a Wiffle Ball tourney when I was in Grade 9 at school but the big kids wouldn't let me pitch. If I had been able to pitch and was able to use the Wiffle to throw a sinker, riser or especially the knuckleball (below) things may have been different.


I know I'm too old for a Wiffle Ball now and I know I would probably look as pathetic as these guys but I'm going to get me a Wiffle Ball again. If it's good enough for Big Papi, it's good enough for me.

The Fightin' Tenders...

The son of Hall of Fame goalie Patrick Roy has been charged with assaulting a rival goalie in a junior hockey game last March.

A goalie fight is a pretty special thing ... they are one part toughness, one part comedy and very rare. But the reason Roy's fight was worthy of assault charges is because Jonathan Roy, of the Quebec Remparts, skated the length of the ice and pummelled the opposition goalie who made no attempt to fight back.



I'm not sure who looks worse...Jonathan Roy or the other goalie, Bobby Nadeau. Speaking of Bobby, how would you feel to be him after this game? Your wimpy ass all over the TV and internet doing your best impression of a turtle. Poor kid.

The best thing about this fight is that Patrick Roy is the team's owner and coach. Patrick definitely wouldn't encourage this kind of behaviour, would he? Patrick has actually been accused of telling his son to go and start the fight as they mention on this clip from "Around the Horn" and is shown pretty clearly in this video (french).

For their efforts, Patrick got suspended five games and back-up goalie Jonathan was suspended for seven. Jonathan apologised for his actions but it sure didn't look like he was sorry when he celebrated his 'victory' by giving the crowd the one finger salute.

If convicted, he'll join an infamous list of gutless plays that resulted in assault charges. He'll have some pretty good company:

• Marty McSorley's hit on Donald Brashear
• Dale Hunter's hit on Pierre Turgeon
• Todd Bertuzzi's hit on Steve Moore or
• Click here for a full list

Good luck in court Jonathan.