Multi-sport Mailbag

What does a blogger do when he doesn't have any good blog ideas? He turns to his trusty readers to provide him with inspiration.

I did, and was provided with none. Instead, I'm just going to answer the questions of a few raving lunatics.

David Ryning, of Edmonton, AB writes:

"Why hasn't someone offered Mats another $10 million yet?"

There's no one correct answer to that question. I wonder if that was the Sedin brothers' bargaining tool for their latest contracts. "You gave Mats $10 million ($5 million for the 41 games he played) for 9 goals and 19 assists? And you won't shell out the big bucks for me?"

I'm continually baffled why Vancouver is not a choice city for a lot of NHL players. Perhaps it's their fair-weather fans.

Outside of the Sedins, their prized free agent signings have been Mikael Samuelsson (who went on record saying "obviously that (the money) was the key, I shouldn't lie") and Andrew Raycroft (which is a real head-scratcher because they have Cory Schneider in the minors, and Raycroft clearly sucks).

Patrick Lowry, of Edmonton, AB writes:

"Joe Sakic retired today. Did you gently weep like I did?"

I did more of a full-body sob. I thought Sakic would come back for one more season considering his last two years were injury-marred, but he probably made the right call after seeing Colorado gutting what was already a suspect roster.

I think Sakic joins Steve Yzerman on my list of "NHLers that no one could dislike." He also pulled off the rare "one franchise for an entire career" feat.

Ravens, of Edmonton, AB writes:

"Scott… as a Baltimore Ravens fan, I was saddened to hear about the death of Steve McNair. Do you have any poignant thoughts to share?"

Yes, Ravens, yes I do.

It's a particularly sobering death, because McNair was one of very few NFLers who seemed like an all-around good guy, only to be exposed as an adulterer in his final moment in the public spotlight.

It creates the highly-awkward situation where no one wants to disparage the dead (especially a guy who was, by all accounts, a local hero) but prevents proper mourning, especially since he left four kids behind when he was fooling around with a 20-year-old waitress.

Either way, a very sad story… and apparently I don't have any poignant thoughts.

Justin McLaughlin, of Edmonton, AB writes:

"Scott, I know you don't follow basketball, but what are the Indiana Pacers up to?!"

For those of you who haven't been following, the Indiana Pacers seem to be hell-bent on building the whitest team in modern NBA history. It appears that seven of their 12 players on their 2009-'10 roster will be white, which coincidentally means Indiana will constantly be in the highlights – as the team that is getting repeatedly dunked on.

The story is even stranger on two levels. First, 6/7 of the players are American white, not European white (a team of Europeans is somewhat understandable, considering there are so many in the NBA… but the average number of white Americans in the NBA has to be around one per team, if not lower). And second, the Pacers' general manager is basketball-great Larry Bird, who famously said he was "insulted" whenever an opposing team tried to guard him with a white guy.

My gut says the media will shy away from this story (and understandably so!), but it's interesting nonetheless. It may get kind of awkward when the Pacers stumble to a 4-78 record.

I guess this is the equivalent of the late 1990's Edmonton Oilers attempting to create an all-black line, when they had Mike Grier, Anson Carter, Georges Laraque, Sean Brown, and Joaquin Gage on the roster.

Todd Tougas, of Edmonton, AB writes:

"I read you were a fan of Jason Clermont, and was disgusted. Outside being a compete whiner, how can you defend his infatuation with Buffy the Vampire Slayer?"

Once in a while, you learn something about a pro athlete that makes you uncomfortable. This is one of those times.

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And, to close, a link of your Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins... doing their best to follow up the famous Maxime Talbot car commercial. (sidenote: I particularly like how Tyler Kennedy is dressed like a 12-year-old.)