You'd think the two-year, $6.5 million contract he signed last summer would be enough, but it seems Leafs winger Clarke MacArthur has been moonlighting in retail.
This wink-wink-nudge-nudgey joke for Sport Chek is a pretty funny Candid Camera-style gag. MacArthur, who scored last night in the Leafs OT loss to New Jersey, poses as "Phil" a Sport Chek employee of the month, selling shoes, weighted vests, hockey sticks... And, even in Toronto, it takes a while for anyone to suspect he's Someone.
Still, he does manage to move one of his own sweaters. So if this whole pro hockey thing doesn't work out, at least MacArthur knows he's got career choices.
There are plenty of sports that seem to have emerged from the minds of 12-year-olds on a sugar binge -- sky-surfing, street luge, slamball, to name a few. But this takes things to a... wait for it.. electric new level.
The Ultimate Tazer Ball league is getting some press for its, um, inventive adaption of indoor soccer, football and self-defence gadgetry into a full-blown sport. It's full-contact with four players a side, using a comically giant soccer ball on a 200-foot by 85-foot soccer field. The tazerin' can only on the player holding the ball, and the shock has to be just a split second between the shoulders and the waist.
The "league" has three teams of six players, the LA Nightlite, San Diego Spartans, Philly Killowatts and the Toronto Terror. The Canadian team has to play and practice in the States because stun guns are illegal up here. Which doesn't bode well for future Canadian expansion once this thing really takes off.
Co-founder Eric Prum told Canoe, “There’s some novelty and humour in it because it’s so different -- it’s Tasers, but it’s also a lot of strategy and physicality, like hockey. What we do know is we have a league we’re serious about.”
That makes somebody, then.
The league's first big showcase will be a tournament in Thailand in March.
UFC 143 takes place February 4th 2012 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas Nevada and brings us the meeting of two of the most dangerous 170-pound men in the UFC. First up, Ed Herman and Clifford Starks will scrap in a 185-pound eliminator followed by bantamweights Renan Barao and Scott Jorgensen meeting to fight for a chance at Dominick Cruz’s bantamweight championship. Josh Koscheck looks to re-build his momentum against powerful up and coming welterweight Mike Pierce. In the co-main event, Roy Nelson challenges Fabricio Werdum, the first man to submit legendary Russian heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko in a rebound fight for both men. Finally Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz will battle for the interim UFC welterweight championship but most importantly the next shot at currently sidelined Canadian champ, Georges St-Pierre.
Here are our picks for the main card:
Matt Carson: Carlos Condit (Decision) Roy Nelson (Decision) Josh Koscheck (Decision) Renan Barao (Submission) Clifford Starks (TKO)
Brett Pearson: Carlos Condit (TKO) Fabricio Werdum (Decision) Josh Koscheck (TKO) Renan Barao (TKO) Ed Herman (Decision)
Everybody loves some rec hockey. Skills on the decline, glory days long past, it's just one night a week where we can go to yell at each other to get back on defence, miss an open net or two and maybe get in an exagerrated slapfight with a stranger. Fun times.
Four Toronto-area rec teams got their weekly ritual jazzed up this week thanks to the Toronto Maple Leafs and Budweiser. Two separate incidents, same joyous result. (Well, the Bud one probably had more free beer.) First, Budweiser yesterday unveiled its Super Bowl ad for Canadian TV that's being widely hailed as one of the best in a while, and perhaps even better than the U.S. ads. Which would be nice considering Canadians are often blocked from seeing the real big game spots. (Don't start flag-waving just yet, as it was created by an American ad agency.) Anyway, Les Amigos and Toronto Generals in Port Credit, ON were surprised when a rinkful of cheering fans, play-by-play, mascots, trainers, sports casters and more showed up mid-game.
Then this week, the Colts and Delta Force, who play at York University's rink, were treated to new sweaters and Mikhail Grabovski, Nikolai Kulemin, Colby Armstrong and Tim Connolly showed up in their dressing rooms as coaches for the night. According to the Toronto Star, the Adult Safe Hockey League (ASHL) match "was transformed into a Toronto Maple Leafs game experience complete with Joe Bowen broadcasting the play by play for fans and announcer Andy Frost introducing each player as he skated onto the ice." Well, holy makinaw.
I gues this is what you'd call slapstick comedy? HARHARHAR-HARDY-HARHAR. Ok. Seriously, here we have former Nashville Predator and 15th overall pick in the 2004 NHL entry draft Alexander Radulov. He's playing for the KHL's Ufa Salavat Yulaev and clearly has just had a frustrating shift. So far, nothing unusual here. Until he casually turns to his right and THWACKS one of his coaches in the FACE with a backhand. Guy didn't even say anything. Just... THWACK!
Clearly this guy didn't grow up with those coaches who throw water bottles and sticks and threaten physical harm to eight-year-olds. What are they teaching kids about respect over there? First Ovechkin, now this. Who will think of the coaches?!?
Or maybe I'm all wrong here. First of all that coach could've whispered an insult under his breath. Something involving Radulov's mother and his lack of success on the last shift. who knows? That would make this Bashkortostan backhand the hockey verison of the Glove Slap.
KABLAMMO! In the face! THE FAAAACE! That's what they call a posterizer. A dunk so damn big and mean and amazing it belongs on your wall. But you never want to be the guy under that poster dunk, memorialized forever as a squinty, flinching mess getting leap-frogged for all to see.
Last night, LA Clippers star Blake Griffin did just that to Oklahoma City's Kendrick Perkins, on the way to LA's 112-100 win over the Thunder.
Doug Smith over at the Star runs down his Top 5 in-game dunks, which of course includes Vince Carter bounding over Frederic Weis, but all are well worth watching again and again.
Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry posted a contest on Twitter over the weekend, challenging fans to send him video of them making the toughest HORSE shots they could, all while mentioning his SC30 brand. The winner gets a customized outgoing voicemail message from Curry, so they have an NBA star greeting missed calls from family and friends.
The deadline for entries was today, but Curry has picked five of his favourites and will post them to his Facebook page where the winner will be voted on by fans. This is great and all, but seems a tad elaborate for the level of prize up for grabs. Sure, a voicemail message from your favourite NBAer would be wicked, but it's also the type of thing Curry should do for a trivia question over Twitter. Kevin Durant went and played football with fans just because he was bored. Curry's asking them to video near-impossible shots while mentioning his brand and all they get is a voicemail? What might make it worth it is if he'll say anything they ask him to. Like, say, "Hi there. I'm Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors. Basketball is fun but my true love is synchronized swimming. Oh, and Bob isn't available at the moment, please leave a message."
In this new promo for the Vitaminwater-sponsored Winter X Games Real Snow event, Nash unveils the trick he thinks will get him an invite to the contest. The cape is a nice touch.
As you've probably heard by now, the young Oiler missed Tuesday night's game against the Blue Jackets thanks to an awkward fall and collision with teammates during the warm-up. The tumble left Hall with a severely cut head, which the Oilers made public today with the above pic.
Predictably, Twitter was awash in sympathy, shock, horror and humour. But as the Post's Bruce Arthur put it, "For all the jokes about how Taylor Hall's a Bond villain now, again: four inches lower and he could have died."
Thankfully, he's now just sporting a GIGANTIC FRANKENSCARRRRRRR! IT'S ALIVE! ALIIIIVE! (And by that of course I mean, get well soon Taylor. A little cocoa butter should clear that right up.)
Down two sets on his way to a 7-6 (3), 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 loss to Stanislas Wawrinka, Marcos Baghdatis sat down in his chair, toweled off and then proceeded to completely trash four perfectly good tennis rackets.
The first one you can understand. Emotions. Knee-jerk anger. He even calmly hands it over to the ballboy to dispose of.
The second one. Here we're getting into serious anger territory. SLAM! The look to make sure, yes, yes, it's busted. This says, "I'm more than a little upset with how this game is going right now."
The third. In the plastic. Shocking. Amazing. You can hear the crowd egging him on.
The fourth! In the plastic! Again!
OK, this was enough for Forbes to ask if this wasn't also some sort of message to his racket sponsor. Turns out, Baghdatis's relationship with sponsor Tecnifibre ended at the end of 2011. Company spokesman Sebastien Grimaud told Forbes, “Our relations [have] weakened the last few months and we were not 100% sure he could represent Tecnifibre state of mind any longer.”
Good call, that.
Baghdatis was fined a $1,250 — or just over $300 per racket.
