Max's Greatest Goal

We all know Maxim Afinogenov has scored some big goals, DWS and I witnessed him score an OT winner against Anaheim last year in Buffalo that was strikingly similar to the one he scored in game 5 against the Rangers on Friday night.

But Max isn't known as much for his clutch performances as he is for his razzle-dazzle.

And with that lame little introduction, I now present to you...Max's Greatest Goal (and perhaps the NHL's greatest goal of all-time) Scored on the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2002/2003 season.



Edit - Didn't realize how much the quality of a clip gets compromised when you upload it to YouTube (I'm new to all this)
So here's a direct mpg link to the clip uploaded to my ween.net webspace. Now you can download and watch it over and over again.
Max's Goal

Now Pitching...Steve Nebraska

1994 was a tough year for a lot of us. John Candy died, followed by Kurt Cobain, and then baseball went on strike.

But that September a little movie hit the theatres that we all thought would be a bright spot during a dreadfully dreary time.
The movie was The Scout, starring Albert Brooks and Brendan Fraser. I remember going with my brother to the Hyland 2 to see it on opening weekend. We were both big Albert Brooks fans and the fact that this was Brendan Fraser's follow up to the uproarious Encinco Man made it all the more appealing.

I don't want to tread too close to Bill Simmons' territory and do a full on sports-movie review, but I will say this: there was definitely something amiss with The Scout. Perhaps is was the dark subplot of Brendan Fraser's abusive father or the long stretches of character development with no baseball being played, but both my brother and I left The Scout with a bad taste in our mouths. Even hilarious cameos by George Steinbrenner, Keith Hernandez et al. and this classic exchange by Brooks and Fraser on top of Yankee Stadium at the end can't save the movie:

Steve: Al, you're like a dad to me.
Al: But I'm not your dad. I'm just a guy taking 15 percent.
Steve: I thought it was 10.

But for all of The Scout's faults, it does bring up a compelling question:
How much could Steve Nebraska make in today's MLB?

Let's weigh the pros and cons.

Pro: Pitched 81 consecutive, un-hittable strikes for a perfect game in the first game of the World Series
Con: Achieved such a high level of glory too early in his career. It'll be hard for him to top that.

Pro: Can consistently pitch over 105mph.
Con: Seems to only have a fastball. Eventually batters will find a way to hit off him, even it it means starting their swing before he starts his wind-up.

Pro: Can hit home runs with the regularity of a steroids-era Barry Bonds.
Con: Being at the plate will make him the target of bean balls. He'll also start being intentionally walked a lot, which could open him up to even more injuries having to run the base paths.

Pro: He's a tall, handsome, white guy that would be a great face for any franchise.
Con: Is clearly a loose cannon with severe father issues. He could self destruct at any time. Also, it's not clear how old he is, even barring some sort of psychological implosion he may only have 5-7 years left in his prime.

Final Figure: With the right agent and a nice bidding war, Steve Nebraska would command approximately $55million/year. I know some have suggested he would garner upwards of $70million, but I believe he has too many "issues" to receive that kind of salary.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this hard-hitting topic.

Additional information provided by my friend Hurricane Horowitz, a guy who genuinely loves The Scout.

Drury and Afinogenov come through in the clutch!

What a game, what a fucking game!
Had to flip back and forth between the Sabres/Rangers and the Nets/Raptors tonight.
Unbelievable finish. Max played like a man possessed after starting the game with a terrible give-away.
I really believe this is what Buffalo needed to launch them to the next level. If they had lost, season over, the end.
Wow.

Bummer about the Raptors. The team should be very proud of such a great turn around this season, but at the same time they were just horrible against the Nets and they should explore why. (Ottawa Senators of the NBA? Great regular seasons, too soft for the playoffs. Anyone?) Obviously it's too early to cast those kind of judgements but I can definitely see the team going down that path.

Who Needs Sabres Tickets?! Got'em? Need'em?

Most of you know that I'm a die hard Buffalo Sabres fan (and by "most" I mean all three of the readers of this blog).
This year I purchased a 6-game mini-pack for the regular season and then was offered first cracks at playoff tickets. Playoff tickets weren't cheap, they were almost double what they cost during last year's cinderella run. But I assumed that because the regular season was completely sold out, the playoffs would be an extremely hot ticket.

Boy was I wrong.

I guess everyone had the same idea as me and bought up a bunch of tickets with the hope of selling them off at a huge profit. Now I'm no economist, but I'm pretty this is what "supply and demand" refers to. There are so many god damn tickets for sale on eBay and craigslist that I've been lucky to sell off some of my games for face value. That combined with the old "wait and see" attitude the fans have embraced has really screwed me over.

But I guess I'm just as much to blame as everyone else. As I told DWS, if this Rangers series goes to a game 7 then I'd try to sell off my tickets. The high of advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals wouldn't be worth the risk of the horrible low of being eliminated by Jagr and the rest of this pseudo-Czech national team. The drive of shame back to Toronto would be far too painful. I'd end up drunk at some bar on Chippewa, puking my guts out into the shit-toilets.

So Close To Perfect...

August 4th, 1989

Dave Stieb takes the mound to face the New York Yankees, on an evening which would go down in Blue Jays history. Seven years old at the time and already a frequent attendee, I took in this game with my Mom. Our season tickets were up in section 534 in '89 and Mom has next to no interest in sports. I remember her wanting to leave in the fifth inning and me having to explain to her that we had to stay because something special was happening. Stieb threw like a man possessed and shut down the Bombers convincingly all night. No hits. No walks. The crowd reached a nervous fever pitch by the top of the ninth...

As we all know, the lowly number nine hitter in the Yankee lineup - Roberto Kelly - hit a two-out double to stifle Stieb's stab at the record books. Kelly would score on Steve Sax's RBI single, before Stieb finally put New York away for good. This is the earliest memory I have of being at a game which was monumental, and being aware of it at the time. My Dad was understandably upset that he skipped this one. It was an unforgettable experience and an event which will shine near-perfectly forever, in the Jays' legacy.

What does Lil' Rodge mean?!?!?

Since the debut of this blog last night I received a slew of emails* asking where the title "Stories from Lil' Rodge" comes from.
Well here's the deal...When super monopoly Rogers Communications took over ownership of the building formerly known as the SkyDome they decided to change the name to The Rogers Centre. This change was met with outrage by literally hundreds of people. The SkyDome was the name our home for so many years. Sure it wasn't perfect, but we had an All-Star Game and won two World Series here (well only in '93 did we actually win here, but you know what I mean). If Ted Rogers wanted to get his name all over the building he could have at had least had the deceny to call it "The Rogers SkyDome" or even "The Rogers Dome" would have been better. To this day I refuse to utter the phrase "The Rogers Centre." BUT...

One day friend of the blog and former Hooters cook, Nickels, came up with the term "Lil' Rodge" when referring to the building formerly known as the SkyDome and it just stuck (I wish there was a more exciting story surrounding the birth of the name, but there's not) The new name somehow captures the bush-league vibe given off inside as well as the lack of attendance.

Our goal here at SFLR is to one day hear Jerry Howarth say the phrase, "It's a beautiful day here at Lil' Rodge".






*didn't actually receive any

Welcome to Stories from Lil' Rodge!

Welcome to Stories from Lil' Rodge!

This blog will contain personal stories and observations about the following topics:
a) the Toronto sports scene
b) any sporting event we have watched on TV
c) our travels to other cities to watch sports
d) pretty much anything else we feel like discussing