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Comprised of the sons and grandsons of runaway American slaves, the league helped pioneer the sport of ice hockey changing this winter game from the primitive "gentleman's past-time" of the nineteenth century to the modern fast moving game of today. In an era when many believed blacks could not endure cold, possessed ankles too weak to effectively skate, and lacked the intelligence for organized sport, these men defied the defined myths. [more] |
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2/6/2010: TONY McCLEAN'S RUNDOWN FOR THE WEEKEND SPORTS RAP
SATURDAY'S WEEKEND SPORTS RAP
(February 6th, 2-4 p.m. ET on BlogTalkRadio.com and BASN)
Co-Host: Michael-Louis Ingram.
ALL GUESTS: Please call (646) 727-2642.
2:05: Sports radio reporter/talk show host Pat Freeman from WUFO AM in Buffalo will join us live from Super Bowl XLIV.
2:35: Dr. Bill Chachkes of Football Reporters Online will talk about the Super Bowl and other football-related topics.
3:05: Sports reporter/writer Cecil Harris will talk about the Ilya Kovalchuk trade, Major League Baseball, and other sports-related topics.
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Remember, you can listen to the show every Saturday afternoon (2 to 4 pm ET) at
www.blogtalkradio.com and www.blackathlete.com.
Just go to the search section at the top of the page and type in the keywords "Tony McClean" or "Weekend Sports Rap" and it will take you to the page.
You can listen online or call in and express your thoughts, ask a question or make comments at (646) 727-2642 or our chat room.
To get in touch with the host, please feel free to e-mail Tony McClean at teemack@blackathlete.com or teemack2000@comcast.net.
Thanks for your support and please let all of your sports-minded friends and colleagues know about "The Weekend Sports Rap".
NOTE: You can also checkout show archives at www.blogtalkradio.com/Tony-McClean and www.blackathlete.com.
2/5/2010: GAMBLING ON SOCCER: STRYKER-INDIGO RELEASES FOOTIE'S BLACK BOOK!
02/05/10 NEW YORK CITY. Stryker-Indigo New York announced today that they have released the Amazon Kindle Edition of Footie's Black Book: A Guide To International Association Football.
According to the company press release, Footie's Black Book represents a new marketing approach to sports publishing. The book, written by Canadian Sports Historians Darril and George Fosty, is a product of nine-months of development, and incorporates the simple concept of 'less is more'. No larger than the size of an Apple IPOD, the book's 168-pages presents the reader with detailed and concise information allowing him or her to become instant experts on any 2010 World Cup team and/or their past game histories and game performances.
Though Stryker-Indigo and the Author's contend that Footie's Black Book is not a Gambling or Gaming Industry Reference, the information supplied within its pages will undoubtedly be of tremendous interest to the sports betting community and anyone within the professional gaming industry obsessed with game match-ups, goal spreads, and team rankings. For, not only does the book provide potential gambling information on the 32 teams expected to compete at this Summer's World Cup, but it also includes the "Fosty's Footie Index" , an ingenious mathematical analysis of each team's strengths, weaknesses, goal differentials and potential match-up outcomes.
This gaming and sports industry potential has also not escaped the notice of Stryker-Indigo. In an attempt to expand the company's distribution and market base, they have adopted a radical and unique marketing and sales approach. The book retails for $9.95 and will initially be test marketed and sold during March in sports bars and casinos in Seattle, Las Vegas, New York City, and Boston.
Footie's is a book designed to be carried in a shirt pocket, or in a small purse. It is a concept that borrows from the high tech industry and belief in the idea that 'small is big'. It is a cutting-edge concept that is the perfect book for the serious soccer fan, sports broadcaster, or professional gaming expert seeking quick reference information and detailed analysis.
In addition to its gaming industry and broadcast potential, what makes this information guide and marketing approach so impressive and interesting is the amount of detailed information and research that the Fosty's have injected into Footie's tightly edited and concise pages. It truly is an amazing feat.
The release of the Footie's Black Book is the first step in a series of moves by Stryker-Indigo, to develop a major corporate presence within the growing American and International Soccer publishing and sports entertainment market. The book release also follows on the heals of Stryker-Indigo's move last year into the Ebay online soccer sports memorabilia and collectibles market.
Footie's is currently available online at Amazon Kindle as a $2.95 download. The paperback version of the Guide will be released nationally on March 1st.
2/3/2010: SONAHHR CANADA SPECIAL: HEAD SHOTS IN HOCKEY: A CAUSE FOR CONCERN
Head Shots in Hockey: A Cause for Concern
At the NHL level, the issue of head shots has been the subject of discussion at various meetings of the General Managers since 2000. Little or nothing resulted from these discussions. However, the most recent on-ice incident that brought this matter back to the forefront was the blindsided open-ice body check that Philadelphia Flyers captain Mike Richards put on Florida Panthers player David Booth on October 24, 2009. Richards received a 5 - minute interference major and a game misconduct, but was given no further supplementary discipline because the League determined his hit was within the rules of the game. Booth, who missed 45 games with a concussion, recently returned to the Panthers’ line-up.
The debate over how to reduce the number of shots to the head, at the junior hockey level, was reignited after a hit from Patrice Cormier of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). On January 17, 2010, the forward delivered an elbow to the head of Quebec Ramparts Mikael Tam while he was skating through the neutral zone. Mikael went into convulsions before he was wheeled off the ice on a stretcher and taken to hospital. Mr. Cormier, captain of Canada’s silver medal winning 2010 world junior hockey team, has been banned from playing for the balance of the QMJHL season and playoffs. The Ramparts filed a complaint and the Quebec provincial police are investigating whether there are grounds for criminal charges against Cormier.
The hit on Mikael Tam has been widely criticized as a “cheap shot” around the hockey world, including among NHL players like Tanner Glass of the Vancouver Canucks who called it “one of the ugliest hits I’ve ever seen.” It even drew a reaction from Quebec Premier Jean Charest who said “Hockey can be played without resorting to that kind of behaviour. It’s shocking.”
Unfortunately, this type of incident didn’t stop with Tam, Michael Liambas of the Ontario Hockey League’s (OHL) Erie Otters drove Kitchener Rangers’ Ben Fanelli into the boards behind the net where his head struck the metal glass support and he fractured his skull. League Commissioner Dave Branch suspended Mr. Liambas, who is 20, for the remainder of the season, including playoffs, effectively ending his junior hockey career. During another OHL game in January, Zack Kassian of the Windsor Spitfires propelled himself off the ice and delivered an open-ice body check to the head that concussed Matt Kennedy of the Barrie Colts. After reviewing the game reports and meeting with Mr. Kassian, Dave Branch suspended the Spitfires’ player for 20 games.
While the leadership in major junior hockey in Canada wrestles with appropriate and swift punishment for several vicious hits to the head in the month of January, John Mackinnon of Canwest News Service said that “the NHL moves with the sort of deliberation on head shots that Commissioner Gary Bettman calls slow evolution, but many critics label it paralysis by analysis.” In Edmonton, Mr. Bettman said “We want to get it right. We want to get those hits that make us uncomfortable out of the game. But we want to do this in a very judicious, professional manner.” Amongst other things, the NHL will delve into the controversial issue on blindside head shots when the League’s General Managers meet in March. The extent to which the issue will be seriously addressed is questionable.
Emile Therien, past President of the Canadian Safety Council, implicated Hockey Canada in this controversy when he said “In light of its record and apathy when dealing with violence in the game of hockey, Hockey Canada, a publically funded organization, simply does not have the credibility, leadership, reliability and commitment to address this serious public health and safety problem. Calling for a safety summit smacks of sheer hypocrisy and opportunism, and masks many of the challenges and problems confronting minor hockey in this country, which it, Hockey Canada, has so blatantly ignored.”
Given the direction in which hockey has been heading in recent years, a major overhaul of the rules and enforcement mechanisms is urgently needed and long overdue before someone dies. Who is up the challenge to seriously do what is necessary to make the game safer for those who play it?
Bob Dawson, SONAHHR (Ottawa, Ontario)
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