The whole video is actually of Raymond’s first career hat trick. The lucky shot comes at the 18-second mark. Raymond already has 29 points this season for the Vancouver Canucks. He improves by the year and is now a key player on the Canuck’s roster.
Author: Christopher Glotfelty (Page 24 of 67)
Given today’s lack of news, I thought I’d pass along an article on La Liga, the Spanish soccer league. As the season reaches its midway point, the clear favorites are FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. That’s expected, of course, considering their sizable payrolls and glamorous rosters.
Per the Los Angeles Times:
As far as gambles go, it was Florentino Perez who rolled the dice the hardest.
What the 62-year-old Spanish businessman did last summer was to splash out more than $355 million to bring the likes of Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo ($132 million), Brazil’s Kaka ($90 million), Spain’s Xabi Alonso ($48 million) and France’s Karim Benzema ($48 million) to Real Madrid.
What he wanted to do, he said, was “to create a spectacular project . . . to make Real Madrid the best club in the world once more.”
Halfway through the 2009-10 season, his “project” still has a long way to go. Like many top European teams that last summer gambled that a few expensive new players or a high-profile new coach would change their fortunes, Real has not seen things quite work out its way. Not yet, anyway.
So, with due deference to King Juan Carlos and family, the reign in Spain that is most closely watched as the new year approaches is that of FC Barcelona.
What follows is a glimpse at the two Spanish powers at the season’s midpoint. Fans of Sevilla, Valencia, Deportivo La Coruna, Mallorca and all other pretenders to the title need look no further.
In Spain, there are only two teams.
Sounds more enticing than anything offered by the MLS, doesn’t it? Both teams have plenty at stake this season and I’m excited to see how everything unravels.
Photo from fOTOGLIF
Apparently, hockey players aren’t invincible. The NHL’s 30 general manager recently formed a committee that will investigate the the effects players exhibit after receiving repeated hits to the head.
A new rule may even be in place next season that would prohibit contact with the head – even with a shoulder.
The general managers will gather against a backdrop of America’s most popular professional league, the NFL, making several new moves to study head injuries and protect players in the wake of new studies and congressional pressure.
Several NHL players have been sidelined this season by concussions or related symptoms. Chicago captain Jonathan Toews, New York’s Chris Drury, Edmonton’s Sheldon Souray, Steve Staios and Robert Nilsson, and Florida’s David Booth, have been knocked out from blows to the head.
Some have argued against a head shot ban because of the judgment call that would be placed in referees’ hands. Some call for any head contact being a foul, whether or not it’s determined to be intentional.
The biggest argument against a total ban is the difference in size of players. If a 6-foot-4 defenseman crashes into a 5-foot-11 forward, his otherwise legal shoulder hit might land at head level.
Even the most optimistic observers know this would only be a small step in the attempt to limit concussions in a sport that involves violent contact at tremendous speed. Rules and equipment only go so far, and injuries will always be part of the game.
Contact to the head is unavoidable, but the league needs to handle the situation accordingly. A hockey referee should be able to tell whether a hit is malicious or not. The league can fix the problem by just dolling out harsher suspensions for violators.
Nevertheless, an in-depth study is long overdue.
Photo from fOTOGLIF
Kelvim Escobar will make his National League debut next year with the New York Mets. With this signing, the Angels lose another key component to their pitching staff while the Mets just potentially boosted their bullpen. The one-year deal includes a $1.25 million base salary plus $2 million in incentives as a starter and $1 million as a reliever.
In the best-case scenario he could set up closer Francisco Rodriguez as the team’s eighth-inning guy.
“It’s a low risk, but could have a high reward,” one AL scout said. “It hangs on if he’s healthy.”
Pitching out of the bullpen would not be something new to Escobar, who had surgery in 2008 to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder and then suffered a setback in 2009 that limited him to one start. He was primarily a reliever when he came up with the Blue Jays and saved 38 games in 2002 as their full-time closer. The Jays converted him to a starter during 2003 and he went 12-8 with a 3.92 ERA in 26 starts.
The Angels inked him to a three-year, $18.75 million contract after that season and put him in their rotation. In the second year of the deal he needed elbow surgery but returned to help them reach the postseason by going 1-0 with a 1.89 ERA in nine September relief appearances. He was re-signed to a three-year, $28.5 million deal before 2007, but made only one start after his breakthrough year.
Although he’s made just one major league appearance over the last two seasons, Escobar went 18-7 with a 3.40 ERA in 2007. All things considered, the Mets don’t have much to lose by brining him on board. I like the idea of having Escobar set up former teammate Francisco Rodriguez, but I wouldn’t limit him to that role. Since the Mets starting rotation is pretty thin, giving Escobar a couple spot starts couldn’t hurt.
Photo from fOTOGLIF
After signing a four-year contract extension with the Los Angeles Galaxy on Wednesday, star striker Landon Donovan has agreed to a 10-week stint with English Premier League team Everton.
Once the calendar hits 2010, Landon Donovan is headed to Everton on a two-and-a-half month loan. Then he comes back to MLS for a couple months. Then he goes to South Africa. Then he maybe comes back to MLS or else goes back to Europe if he tears it up at the World Cup. Or maybe he comes back to MLS for a bit, then goes back to Europe after the season. Or maybe he just surprises us all and goes to Mexico.
There will be plenty of time to (again) obsess over Donovan’s long-term future in the coming months, but for now, we’ll stick to his move to the blue side of Liverpool. It’s an intriguing landing spot to be sure- a usual fixture in the top half of the EPL table whose form and injury woes have seen it drop to 15th place at the moment, just a point above the relegation zone.
Donovan had a terrific 2009 with the Galaxy, winning the league MVP and leading his team the finals. His international profile has never been higher, so it makes sense that an EPL club would seek his services.
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