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The FedEx Cup begins today, the PGA Tour's attempt at a post-season, with The Barclays Tournament.  Does this mean, like with most other sports that the real excitment of the season has begun?  Is it like baseball, where the playoffs is what it's all about?  In one word, no.  That's right, I'm bitching about the PGA Tour again!

I like the idea of having a playoff on the PGA Tour.  As I've stated before, most tournaments have as much appeal as a hernia, and the Tour has been in desperate need of something more exciting.  This holds especially true at the end of the season, where in the past, Spetember was a time for players to battle it out for 125th on the money list in such star-dudded fields as the 84 Lumber or South Farm Bureau Classics, hoping to earn their exemption for the following seasoon.  The World Golf Championships were the Tour's first attempt at ending the boredom, but have failed miserably.  Nobody can claim they have any more interest in the CA Championship over the Memorial Tournament, they're both just run of the mill PGA Tour events.

But the FedEx Cup was going to do what other ideas have failed to do, create suspense at the end of the season, and crown a season champion.  A grand idea, but one that has fallen woefully short, and threatens to do the same for many years to come.

Where did it all go wrong?

Stevie Y for GM of the Year?

Is it too early to anoint Steve Yzerman as GM of the Year? Well of course it is. We haven’t even dropped the puck on the 2010-11 NHL season yet; hell, training camp hasn’t even opened yet. But that isn’t going to stop me from laying out what he’s done in his short time as GM, and how he has setup his team to excel long term.

When Stevie Y was named the GM of the Lightning in May 2010, he inherited an underperforming, overpaid team, with only a few gems, that hadn’t made the playoffs since 2007. Going into the off season, Yzerman had six forwards, six defensemen, and one NHL goalie under contract, totaling approximately 39 million dollars. With the team’s anticipated internal cap, set just above the league’s floor cap number, this wouldn’t leave very much room to improve the team’s performance for the upcoming year.

Yzerman had a difficult task in front of him.

The Great Wait: What is an NBA fan to do between August and November?

The off-season has reached its unofficial endpoint. With teams now jockeying for such big name free agent prizes like Earl Boykins; it can safely be said the winners of free agency have already came and conquered.


The winners of losers of the off-season will be covered but that is a task best left to the beginning of training camp. Today it is important to provide our readers with an answer to the question: “what does basketball have left to entertain me with this summer.”

Essentially we are now dealing with the “what if” fantasy rumours that we as a sports community eat up. By conjuring up our own drama we are able to fill the vacuum that August inevitably leaves us with.

However, these rumours often come at a price of integrity to the game. Here are a couple rumours that perhaps come at that price.

The Weekly Roundup

From Woods bashing, to Brett Favre and a little baby talk shuffled in between, here is another Roundup for y’all!
Giddy-up!

In the Spirit of Horses

• Remember when Stephen Ames (a.k.a. Horse Boy) came out and blasted Tiger Woods, saying he wasn’t that good and was beatable. Well, Ames was subsequently pulverized by Woods at the Accenture Match Play 9 & 8 the following week.
• Now awakes another challenger, yet this time a little younger. Northern Irelands Rory Mcilroy gave his best Ames impression by giving TW a few pot shots.
• "I'm sure we'll probably see (Woods) in Wales," says McIlroy. "I would love to face him. Unless (Woods') game rapidly improves in the next month or so, I think anyone in the European team would fancy his chances against him."

• Kind of like how Tiger fancied his chances with the waitress from Perkins.

Flames Add Depth in 'Office' Positions

With the addition Wednesday of Michel Goulet as their Western Professional Scout, the Calgary Flames have slowly surrounded Darryl Sutter with some much needed help for the upcoming season.

Sutter has been on the hot seat with many fans, including myself, since the end of the season due to the Flames disappointing finish in last years regular season. With the addition of Jay Feaster as an Assistant GM and now Goulet as one of their top professional scouts, the Flames have surrounded Sutter with not only good hockey people, but winners, in every sense of the word.

“You win, you always do!”

Goulet has been with the Colorado Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques franchise for the better part of 25 years, both as a player and in the front office. He was being touted to take over as the Avalanche GM for many years now, but that rumour never came to pass. So now, his new address is north of the border; figuratively speaking as he still reports out of Denver. He was the Director of Player Personnel for the Avs. He helped stock the cupboards full in Colorado for their two cup victories in 1996 and 2001. He is a winner and knows good talent when he sees it. And although he is reporting directly to Feaster, hopefully he can persuade Darryl to look at something other than western farm boys and players that used to play for the Flames. It’s time to think outside the box.