Tower Talk: August 13, 2013
By Travis
Blue Jays
Pat Hengten has joined the chorus of former players admonishing PED users in baseball, saying claiming the steroid era cost him earned runs and Toronto fans wins. I’m sure he doesn’t mind the greenies that he and every other player took back in that era that are now illegal, and seems to conveniently forget that steroids may have helped the Blue Jays as well (it’s pretty naive to think other wise), not to mention there is literally n0 evidence to show steroids actually help baseball performance. Ugh. [Toronto Star]
So it turns out that Brett Lawrie‘s ill-conceived bunt late in yesterday’s game was in fact Brett Lawrie’s idea and not a play called for by manager John Gibbons. Know Gibbons style, I kind of assumed this was the case, and Lawrie was trying to bunt for a hit, but with Lawrie swinging the bat like he has for his last 120 or so plate appearances a bunt is the last thing that I wanted to see. [National Post]
In case anyone was wondering, the Blue Jays lack of playoff berths for the past twenty years have nothing to do with the combination of mediocre talent north of the border and oppressively dominate Yankees and Red Sox teams in the recent path, but has everything to do with the Blue Jays not being able to find the right manager, you know…like the Boston Red Sox have now. This is actually a steaming pile of garbage. I can’t believe I’m actually linking to it…but it’s a slow news day. [Montreal Gazette]
Maple Leafs
As if the above article wasn’t frustrating enough, the Toronto Star decided to stoke the flames of Don Cherry‘s favourite reason for the Leafs recent failures…a lack of “good ol’ Toronto boys”. Clearly the Leafs should have been spending their way into a salary cap corner just to infuse some southern Ontario talent into the roster. Playing close to the places they lived before moving away to another city as young as 16 to play major junior is so motivating that it will push the Leafs into contenders. The Leafs were losing because other teams players were stepping up to play better in front of their friends and families in Toronto and not because the Leafs were actually just awful. [Toronto Star]
Raptors
There are some that want the Raptors to embrace tank nation and attempt a run of awfulness in order to get a chance to draft Andrew Wiggins. Aside from many other awful teams also trying to do this, and the too talented to truly tank roster that would be difficult to disassemble at this point in the off-season, especially with so many other teams tanking…oh and the fact even the worst record in the NBA only gets a 25% shot at the first pick, tanking is a great idea! I mean I would love to sit through a completely miserable season just to be disappointed when Wiggins goes somewhere else. [Rant Sports]
Can Demar Derozan become a good three-point shooter? It sure would go a long ways to making the Raptors roster make a lot more sense (and make it much more effective). Every year Derozan has come back to the Raptors with a slightly improved game. If he can make the leap to be just an average 3-point shooter, he could make the Raptors that much more dangerous on offense. [Raptors Republic]
Bills
The newest contributor to Tip of the Tower, Danny Wright made his début, giving us a recap of the Bills rout of the Colts on Sunday. Check it out, and be sure to follow him on Twitter for all of your Tip of the Tower football needs. [Tip of the Tower]
The first training camp position battle of 2013 has been settled for the Bills, as reserve punter Brian Stahovich has been released, seemingly handing the job to incumbent Brian Powell. [Buffalobills.com]
The difference between a good day on the stat sheet and a good day on the football field can be very different. What kind of good day did EJ Manuel have in his first preseason action for the Bills on Sunday? [Bleacher Report]
Is Kevin Kolb a downgrade from Ryan Fitzpatrick? Does it really matter since EJ Manuel will end up starting anyways? Find out that and more on this week’s edition of the Buffalowdown Podcast. [Buffalowdown]