Top Ten Tuesday: Taking A Swing At The Court AND WHL MVP?

Top Stories Viewpoint

Time for my weekly take at the world of sports.

So, in no particular order here are the top 10 most pressing thoughts on my mind:

10 – First and foremost with the end of the WHL season for six of the league’s 22 teams over there are some quality people that saw there junior eligibility come to a close. No more stand-up person in my opinion than Nic Zajac. The Blades captain has seen the good times and the bad with the franchise but through it all represented himself with dignity and class. His dedication to the community was admirable and here’s hoping that the future treats him well.

9 – Staying with the Blades and the club is now on the clock. Players and management have all gone on record stating that the club will indeed make the play-offs next year. There obviously is a lot that can and will happen between now and then but the expectation level has now been increased.

8 – With the start of the WHL play-offs Moose Jaw, Regina, and Prince Albert will all have the opportunity to attempt to end our province’s 23 year Championship drought. With all due respect those teams have to been seen, at the very least, as long shots. There are a number of reasons as to why the Saskie drought has been more than two decades but a clear first indication could be population based. I would welcome any and all thoughts.

7 – Speaking of rolling and the legend continues to roll. Congratulations to my colleague Bob Ridley who will broadcast his 3700th game in the WHL tonight. While, he certainly should have an ego Rids is definitely one of the most down to Earth and generous people I have had the fortune of meeting in the game.

6 – One more from the WHL and some fans and broadcasters of the Regina Pats are calling for Adam Brooks to be named the WHL player of the year. Brooks is the first Pat to win the scoring race since Dale Derkatch in 1982-1983. It’s hard to argue with the type of season the 5’ 10” 175lbs forward has had. However, one harsh reality of the award is that Brooks was never drafted (despite working out for the New York Rangers this fall) which is something that seems to go hand-in-hand with the award as the WHL MVP sometimes rewards a players overall season, in the pros, internationally, etc. as opposed to just what they accomplished in the league.

5 – Speaking of awards and you can’t take this one away! Congratulations to the U of S Huskies Women’s Basketball Champions. They defeated Ryerson on the weekend to claim their first national championship. This may just be the tip off though. Having Lisa Thomaidas, the women’s National Head Coach, heading the Huskie program is a major coup for the program in terms of scouting, and recruiting not to mention player development and coaching.

4 – Staying with University sports and I’m not sure that there is any harder trophy to win than the University Cup for men’s hockey supremacy. A one and done tournament seems like a tough way to host a national championship but everyone knows that going in.

3 – More hockey and I had a chance to catch the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks on the weekend and you won’t want to miss what I learned from the contest tomorrow.

2 –Despite the snow falling outside I must admit that I’m enjoying watching baseball albeit spring training. So what is the biggest question for the Blue Jays today? I think finding another starting pitcher is way ahead of Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion. The Jays have the bats but as the post-season showed last year they need the arms.

1 – AND up in arms is the world of tennis after a senior executive stated that the women’s game was riding on the coattails of the men. Then one of the game’s biggest stars, Novak Djokovic, goes on record saying that he believes men should earn more money than women in tennis as they have larger audiences and play longer games. Yikes! All of a sudden the sport’s drug scandal doesn’t seem like that big of a deal. Or does it?