Liveblogging the David Frost trial (II)

By Charlie Gillis - Monday, November 3, 2008 at 9:51 AM - 8 Comments

Final submissions today, and there are huge questions hanging over the Crown’s case. Bear in mind that the players are supposed to be the victims here: Frost was in a position of trust over them. The girls are presumed to be participants in consensual sex.

Yet the one player we watched on Thursday was testifying for the defence, not the Crown. The gist of his story? That Frost, though deeply involved in his players’ lives, had nothing to do with group sex in which these young men appeared to be regularly engaged from the time they were, oh, 16 years old, and living in Deseronto, Ont., while playing for Frost’s team, the Quinte Hawks. There was a discernible sense of incredulity in the room toward this testimony. If Frost was not engaged in group sex involving with the players, a cynic might have thought, he was the only one within five miles who can say so.

The Crown was able to convey the sense that Frost’s former players are protecting him for some reason. He was clearly a strong presence in their careers and personal lives, at times driving wedges between them and their families. He even wrote them a kind of manifesto, which our witness last Thursday claimed he filed away and forgot about.

Still, the “reasonable doubt” hurdle looks awfully high. When your victims are testifying for the defence …

P.S. I hope to be a little more expansive in my own submissions today. I’m working off my lap-top keyboard, thanks to a high-speed internet “stick” supplied by the folks at Rogers. Wireless reception is a bit spotty in the court, but it should be a vast improvement over my BlackBerry.

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Sorry for the delay everyone. Turns out reception in the court isn’t good enough to support computer transmission. Here’s what’s happened so far:

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10:40 a.m. — Under way at last, with a surprise final witness for the defence: Dr. Hubert Manning. This is the long-awaited “third-testicle evidence.” It turns out Dr. Manning is Frost’s GP. Recall, this was raised by the defence as potentially exculpatory evidence, as one of the women who testified to participating in group sex with Frost and his players did not recall seeing it.

Dr. Manning has vague memory of Frost arriving in early 1994 with some sort of groin hernia, for which he received treatment from another physician. By June 1994, Frost had “significant swelling”—a hematoma—below the hernia site, right at the crease where the leg meets the abdomen. “Not the scrotum exactly. Just adjacent to the pubic area.” It’s size at the time was 5x5x3 cm, says the doctor.

Subsequent visits revealed that it had turned into a bulb of congealed blood lying under the skin. By 1998, Frost “had a large, plum-sized lump, protruding, just to the left of the scrotum, “pointing downward.” It was adjacent to the shaft of the penis, says Dr. Manning.

“It’s consistency is harder than a testicle,” and visible to the naked eye, says the good doctor. “Those kinds of swellings shouldn’t be there. It’s obvious, is probably the best way to describe it.”

10:55 a.m. — On cross-examination by Crown, Dr. Manning testifies that the lump is located at the base of the penis, to the left of the pubic area above the scrotum. Continue…

Will A. J. stay with the Jays? Better open the vault to keep him.

By Cameron Ainsworth-Vincze - Friday, October 31, 2008 at 4:51 PM - 6 Comments

According to his agent, A. J. Burnett will decide on Monday as to whether or not he will opt out on the two years and US$24 million remaining on his contract. The the big question though isn’t if A. J. will opt out but if the Jays can afford him when he does. It appears on the surface that there is a chance that he might actually want to stay in Toronto. His agent has kept an open dialogue with Jays’ management in recent weeks, and his friendship with ace Roy Halladay appears strong enough that it could play to Toronto’s advantage. Of course his relationship with the fans and media has been tepid at best during his first three seasons, but any hard feelings will most certainly be trumped by dollar signs. And just how much would it take to keep the hard-throwing right-hander in a Jays uniform? Well, put it this way, Barry Zito posted a 10-17 win-loss record last season with a whopping 5.15 ERA and pocketed a cool US$14.5 million. A. J. in comparison was almost unhittable in the second half of the season and won 18 games while striking out an American League-high 231 batters. My guess is that he will be looking for a salary somewhere in the neighbourhood of $16 million per season over a five-year term. Is he worth that much? Maybe not. Do the Jays need him? You bet.

The Frost Trial

By Charlie Gillis - Thursday, October 30, 2008 at 2:48 PM - 3 Comments

Former NHL-certified player agent David Frost is on trial in Napanee, Ont., charged with four counts of sexually exploiting two young hockey players on the now-defunct Quinte Hawks, a Junior-A club of which he was head coach. Frost is perhaps best known as the ex-coach and agent of Mike Danton, né Jefferson, a former St. Louis Blues forward who’s currently serving seven-and-a-half years in a federal prison in Minnesota for trying to have Frost murdered. Frost denies Danton tried to kill him, even though he pled guilty to the charges. And, similarly, both alleged victims in the ongoing trial deny any sexual abuse took place. The prosecution’s case relies on several women-teenagers at the time-who have already testified that Frost participated in three- and four-way sex with them and the alleged victims, and that he controlled his players’ sex lives down to the minutest detail. Frost faces no charges for having sex with the women, even though they were under 18, because prosecutors determined he wasn’t in a “position of trust or authority” over them.

Maclean’s Charlie Gillis is liveblogging the proceedings:

Monday November 3, 2008

Final submissions today, and there are huge questions hanging over the Crown’s case. Bear in mind that the players are supposed to be the victims here: Frost was in a position of trust over them. The girls are presumed to be participants in consensual sex. Continue…

John Daly found drunk, really drunk, outside Hooters

By Cameron Ainsworth-Vincze - Thursday, October 30, 2008 at 10:32 AM - 4 Comments

Poor John Daly. Once again he just can’t resist getting totally loaded and making a scene. This story is just embarrassing.

WINSTON-SALEM N.C. — Golfer John Daly was taken into custody Sunday morning by Winston-Salem police after he was found drunk outside an area Hooters restaurant. Continue…

One nasty looking football injury

By Cameron Ainsworth-Vincze - Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 5:04 PM - 2 Comments

Not sure why the hell there were service carts in the endzone, but this just looks downright painful. And believe it or not, the Houston WR who ran into the carts isn’t mad at Marshall University for their unbelievable negligence.

NOTE: You might want to fast-forward to about the 30 second mark.

A Portrait of the Scientist as a Predator

By Andrew Potter - Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 10:23 PM - 0 Comments

Even though it follows a single player through a single game, Zidane is not a movie about a soccer game or a soccer player. It isn’t really about soccer or sport. If anything, this remarkable film is a study in the fiercely focused intensity that the highest levels of competition can bring out in one of the human species’ top predators.

Ok, if that sounds pretentious, try this: The film follows Zinedine Zidane – and ZIdane alone – over the course of a 2005 match between Zidane’s club, Real Madrid, and Villareal. Seventeen cameras, a score by Mogwai, and long stretches of nothing but Zidane’s silent and almost expressionless face, with cuts to his feet, his calves, and very occasional shots of the whole field from high above.

Zidane spends most of the match walking or loping along, with short explosions of two-and-three touch play breaking up the zenitude of it all. If you didn’t already know, you would never gather from this film that Zidane is one of the all-time geniuses of the game, a man whose ability to sweet-talk the ball into doing his every bidding is almost unparalled. Indeed, it is hard to tell what is going on in the game at all; the viewer gets no sense of the pace and flow of the match, which side is winning the most balls and showing the most grit and desire. Goals are scored offstage as it were, and it is not clear what series of moves even brought them about. Continue…

You're fired, weather guy

By Charlie Gillis - Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 1:03 PM - 0 Comments

Now ya tell us

Lot’s of scorn for MLB and Bud Selig this morning for allowing Game 5 to drag on til the middle of the sixth before bowing to apocalyptic conditions. Not surprisingly, much of the anger originates in Philly, where fans may be sensitive to the fact the authorities waited just long enough for the Phils to squander a two-run lead before calling in the tarps. According to local polls, only town drunks and people who don’t know which end of the bat to hold believe Buddy Boy should have dithered so long.

But here’s a better question: what the hell kind of meteorological advice were they getting? The rain was only starting to come down when Dave O’Brien and Rick Sutcliffe assured me that the forecast called for nothing worse than what we were seeing. Then someone cued the sleet.

Now I read that snow is in the Citizen’s Park forecast for tonight. I say play ‘em. It’ll probably be the best weather Philadelphia has ever had in late October. Which is not admittedly a time they’re accustomed to playing.

Keeping Luke Schenn with the big club? Bad idea.

By Cameron Ainsworth-Vincze - Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 11:37 AM - 10 Comments

It’s a widely held joke across this country that Leafs fans view the world with rather distorted blinders. But this whole Luke Schenn love affair has gotten a little out of hand. There’s no doubt that the kid is going to be a stud in the NHL for a long time. Everyone can agree that he has the skills and desire to succeed. (His fight with tough guy Chris Neil on Saturday is ample evidence of that). Yet I think it’s a bad move to keep him in the NHL this year for several reasons. Firstly, despite the fact that he looks comfortable on the ice, his stats are brutal: zero points and a -3 rating through eight games. Secondly, the Leafs are going to go through some tough times this year–let me rephrase that, horrible stretches–and Luke would probably be better served to avoid the Leafs serious growing pains in year one of the rebuilding process. Thirdly, the Leafs have way too many D on the back end and are desperate to trade either Ian White, who hasn’t played a game because of the log jam and is thus difficult to move, or Carlo Colaiacovo. Carlo could be a star in the NHL if he just avoided the injury bug and was given some ice time. But Ron Wilson is convinced that this is the best move for Schenn and the club. Time will tell, but let’s pray this doesn’t turn into another Drake Berehowsky experiment. Last I heard he was playing for the Berlin Polar Bears.

Weight's hit on Sutter. Clean or dirty?

By Cameron Ainsworth-Vincze - Monday, October 27, 2008 at 12:40 PM - 5 Comments

Wow, talk about getting your bell run. Doug Weight absolutely levelled Brandon Sutter Saturday night in the Islanders vs. Hurricanes game and once again it has opened the debate about headshots in the NHL. In case you missed the hit, here is a clip below along with a poll about what you think. Let’s hope the kid is feeling better and is back on the ice sooner than later.

Another weird tale from the life of Isiah Thomas

By Cameron Ainsworth-Vincze - Friday, October 24, 2008 at 4:34 PM - 0 Comments

From his humiliating sexual harassment case that cost Madison Square Garden $11.6 million, to allegations that he hates white people, Isiah Thomas just can’t seem to shake his bad-boy persona. Now there are reports that the Hall of Famer overdosed on sleeping pills at his suburban New York home earlier this morning and was rushed to hospital. Although not a lot of people will sympathize with his fall from grace, you can’t help but wonder where it all went wrong.

Should Toronto have two NHL teams?

By Cameron Ainsworth-Vincze - Tuesday, October 21, 2008 at 12:22 PM - 71 Comments

If the rest of Canada doesn’t already hate Toronto for thinking it’s the centre of the universe, this story ought to do it. According to the Globe and Mail, NHL governors are talking informally about the possibility of placing a second hockey team in Toronto alongside the Maple Leafs. One source in the article reported that prospective owner Jim “I’ll eat my own pants to get a team” Balsillie might be rewarded with the new franchise after helping the Nashville Predators deal with their financial woes. But the big question is: Should Toronto have two NHL teams? As for a name, my choice is the Toronto 67′s. It will be a nice reminder that it’s been 41 years since the Leafs won Lord Stanley’s Cup.

Manny Ramirez to play for the Blue Jays?

By Cameron Ainsworth-Vincze - Friday, October 17, 2008 at 11:41 AM - 3 Comments

I’ve heard a lot of crazy rumours in my time when it comes to Toronto’s sports teams. There was the one about Gretzky signing a deal to play for the Leafs in the mid-90s, and now it appears that a few “insiders” are predicting that the Blue Jays might actually pursue Manny Ramirez this off-season. Manny would greatly help a lackluster Blue Jays offence, but at a price tag of somewhere in the neighbourhood of $25 million per season, this rumour seems about as likely to become a reality as Wayne Rooney leaving Manchester United to play for Toronto FC.

Canada's soccer triumph. Well, sort of.

By Cameron Ainsworth-Vincze - Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 11:38 AM - 0 Comments

Although most of you were probably watching the war of words unfold between John “I’d jump over this desk and punch you if I could” McCain and Barack “Smile big when feeling uncomfortable” Obama last night, Canada’s men’s national soccer team pulled off a mini miracle by tying Mexico in a World Cup qualifying game at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton before an embarrassingly pro-Mexico crowd. Unfortunately for our boys the result, an exciting 2-2 draw, does little to enhance our chances of participating in the biggest tournament in world as last weekend’s loss to Honduras snuffed out all hope of our advancement to the next stage. Nonetheless, a job well done.

Introducing your new Hockey Night theme…

By Paul Wells - Saturday, October 11, 2008 at 9:19 PM - 0 Comments

Dodged a bullet here, as far as I’m concerned. There were countless thousands of entries a lot worse than this one. Over time I think audiences could even grow fond of it.

Random thoughts on October baseball

By Michael Friscolanti - Tuesday, October 7, 2008 at 2:44 PM - 1 Comment

Suicidal squeeze: The Los Angeles Angels are out of the playoffs because Mike Scioscia did exactly what we all expected him to do. Everyone—the broadcasters, the Fenway faithful, the casual fan—knew he was going to try the bunt squeeze last night. He does it all the time. That’s just his aggressive style, and when a manager leads his club to a runaway division title (the Angels finished 21 games ahead of second-place Oakland in the AL West), it’s hard to second-guess his decisions.

But that bunt was a bonehead call.

Squeeze plays work best at the most unexpected times. When the whole world (not to mention the manager in the other dugout) has a pretty good hunch it’s coming, you might want to let the batter swing away.

Consider the scene: One out. Top of the 9th. Speedy runner on third. 2-0 count. Why force the issue? So many scenarios—a ground ball to second, a fly-out to right, a wild pitch—would have scored that go-ahead run. Instead, Scioscia went all in, and the season collapsed. Continue…

Prediction: Leafs will finish last in NHL

By Cameron Ainsworth-Vincze - Tuesday, October 7, 2008 at 10:56 AM - 7 Comments

I thought long and hard about really letting it out in this blog entry and telling the world how woeful the Leafs will be during this upcoming season. But every time I sat down to write, staring lovingly at my Rick Vaive circa 1983 jersey that my great-grandmother bought me, my eyes filled with tears and I just couldn’t keep writing. So, I figured it was best to let an expert (the FAN 590′s Howard Berger) explain the situation and what fans of the mighty Blue and White can expect over the next seven months. Please note that viewer discretion is advised.

York University's soccer scandal

By Cameron Ainsworth-Vincze - Friday, October 3, 2008 at 5:48 PM - 3 Comments

It’s a rare occasion in this country when a university sports story garners any media attention. I mean let’s being honest, you can’t name one player on any team unless that person is your brother who plays on the McGill varsity ultimate-Frisbee team. But this story is quite tasty. York University was ranked No. 1 in the country as of this morning in men’s soccer–undefeated in their first eight games and really enjoying life–until a giant bomb fell from the sky and ruined their season. It appears you can’t use former pro soccer players and get away with it. The fact that they managed to play four games with this illegal player (former Toronto FC forward Andrea Lombardo) is just mind blowing. The fact that they didn’t know it was illegal is somewhat hilarious.

Captain Luongo?

By Nancy Macdonald - Tuesday, September 30, 2008 at 11:03 PM - 0 Comments

The Vancouver Canucks just became the first franchise in 60 years to name their goalie captain. 

Luongo won’t be allowed to argue calls or wear a ‘C,’ according to the so-called Durnan rule, named for Montreal Canadiens’ Bill Durnan, the last goaltender to serve as captain, in 1947-48. (Durnan left his crease so often to argue calls that opponents protested saying it gave the Habs unscheduled timeouts during strategic points in games, and the league responded with a rule barring goalies.)

Mattias Ohlund will deal with ceremonial aspects of the position, like faceoffs.

Has a nicer ring than captain Sundin, no?

How did Carey Price lose the lbs?

By Nancy Macdonald - Thursday, September 25, 2008 at 4:58 PM - 0 Comments

At the end of last season, Habs officials put a 25-pound weight in Carey Price’s lap, to illustrate the excess bulk he was carrying around the crease. This fall, the 21-year-old goalie reported to camp 28 lbs lighter. The avid outdoorsman has joked that he’s off midnight chocolate bars and told the Vancouver Province he spent two months in northern B.C., fishing, hunting and roping (he also loves the rodeo). It seems to have paid off.

Like a Bar Band, but Much, Much Worse

By Jonathon Gatehouse - Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 4:44 PM - 1 Comment

The Washington Capitals filmed a special video treat for their season opener at a Virginia club last night. And judging from the footage on YouTube, at least one guy in the audience was enjoying himself.

All of the videos are kind of crappy, but don’t worry—they’re much better than the band. That’s a heavily-gelled Ovechkin bellowing into the microphone. A rhythmically-challenged Mike Green on drums. Jose Theodore played guitar. So did Alexander Semin, and Nicklas Backstrom. Brooks Laich played bass.

Matt Bradley and Donald Brashear dressed up as security.

And for a reason that will someday become clear, James Duthie was the MC.

I thought TSN had spent all that money hooping CBC for the Hockey Night in Canada theme…..

Eddie Vedder as Steve Bartman

By Michael Friscolanti - Friday, September 19, 2008 at 11:43 AM - 1 Comment

Steve Goodman’s song is still my favourite, but this one’s pretty catchy, too. Eddie Vedder, Pearl Jam front man and lifelong Cubbies fan, has recorded his own rally cry for the 2008 playoff run.

The official version isn’t available for purchase just yet, but it’s all over the Chicago radio stations (and YouTube, of course). Don’t let anyone say that it’s just a game…

The Little General: 1938-2008

By Charlie Gillis - Thursday, September 18, 2008 at 3:03 PM - 0 Comments

CFL legend Ron Lancaster has died of lung cancer at 69. As a quarterback, he was a true lion, turning the Saskatchewan Roughriders into a perennial contender and leading the team to a Grey Cup championship in 1966. As a coach in Edmonton, he was equally formidable, compiling an 83-42 record with the Eskies. He also saw Canadian football through some of its darkest days, never shrinking from a challenge: in 1998, he signed on with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats despite their chronic financial instability, and coached them into two Grey Cup games, winning in 1999.

The tributes are already popping up everywhere—many of them from people with longer memories than mine. As a former Eskies season-ticket holder, I’ll always think of Lancaster as coach who could adjust his game on the fly. A two-TD half-time lead was never secure against Edmonton, because he would read the opposition’s defence; by the third quarter, he’d have his boys back in the game. Lancaster also understood quarterbacks intuitively, having played the position. “I know how stubborn they can be,” he once remarked in an indirect reference to the ageless Danny McManus, one of many players who profited from Lancaster’s unwavering support. This may explain why Discount Dan, a QB of limited physical gifts, became one of the most prolific passers in league history. Continue…

Winnipeg's other Izzy

By Nancy Macdonald - Thursday, September 18, 2008 at 2:20 PM - 0 Comments

Israel — “Izzy” — Idonije packed on 20 pounds this summer. The Bears wanted him to focus on becoming a full-time tackle.

Izzy, who, last year, became the first Manitoban to play in a Super Bowl, was a walk-on at the University of Manitoba. He wasn’t offered a scholarship until his third year.

He’d only started playing football in grade 12, on a nine-man squad in tiny Brandon, where he grew up.

“At team meetings he was like a brook trout,” Bisons head coach Brian Dobie once told Maclean’s. “Jaw open, big eyes staring ahead—he couldn’t read plays, he had no stance, no confidence.”

He didn’t play a single game his first year with the Bisons. Or his second. When he finally touched the field, he exploded. This fall, he enters his 5th season in the NFL.

Said Dobie: “It’s like taking a kid from Atlanta, giving him a pair of skates in his senior year of high school, and four years later, he’s in the NHL.”

Yesterday, he was back in Manitoba, where his parents, both ministers, still live. His improbable story is one of my favourites in sports.

Hockey Moms Against Palin

By Jonathon Gatehouse - Tuesday, September 16, 2008 at 10:40 AM - 1 Comment

Love that sweater.

(From the parody site newsgroper, via the Washington Post.)