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It is the first, second and basic rule of steroids.
Deny, deny, deny.
There isn’t necessarily any proof of anyone’s performance-enhanced involvement with the Washington Capitals — although there is some connect-the-dots supposition in recent Sports Illustrated reports about a Washington chiropractor — but the National Hockey League was quick to do the steroids thing.
Before they really knew what was going on, they offered flat-out denials.
And the denial looked all the more ridiculous when the league’s own director of security admitted there was no investigation by the league at all into the chiropractor or the Capitals’ situation.
Maybe there is no story here.
Maybe the Capitals aren’t guilty of anything.
But the NHL again looks disingenuous when it comes to drug testing or policing its athletes.
They continue to pat themselves on the back for their clean record but without random off-season testing and too quick an answer to the Washington situation, the NHL is left looking guilty, even when it might not be.
This and that
The rest of baseball is learning what Toronto has known for years: Roy Halladay is sensational. No pitcher has won 25 games in the past 20 years, but the way Halladay has begun — 4-0, with an 0.82 earned run average in Philadelphia — 25 wins is now being talked about as something possible ... Blue Jays television ratings will tell you that baseball is not dead in Toronto: It’s dead at the ballpark, where tickets are too expensive and the Blue Jays have done a terrible job marketing the team and the product and for some reason have not really come to the realization they have to sell this team like never before and don’t seem to comprehend how to do that ... Brian Burke is taking an Alex Anthopoulos approach to his goaltending: Sign enough of them and you’re almost certain to have one for the future. With J.S. Giguere, Jonas Gustavsson, the improving James Reimer and the newly signed Finn Jussi Rynas at least give the Leafs some depth in a position that has been too thin for too long ... Is Shaun Marcum the best winless pitcher in baseball? ... This is how far Big Papi, David Ortiz has fallen: There is talk he will be benched against left handers when the Blue Jays are in Boston starting tomorrow.
Hear and there
A few parts of Bryan Colangelo’s lengthy post-mortem need to re-addressed: 1) He said Jay Triano is still learning on the job. But since when did professional sport become a training ground for coaches?; 2) He joked that he spoiled the people of Toronto by his early success here. True, he had early success. But not playoff success. Not making the playoffs in a very weak Eastern Conference two years in a row has little to do with spoiling anything but his own reputation. Should he miss a third year in a row, his wrap-up press conference should coincide with his dismissal ... Almost every player drafted in the first round of the NFL draft hugged commissioner Roger Goodell. And all the while I’m thinking: Does anybody, outside of the immediate family, ever hug Gary Bettman? ... Doug Risebrough’s name keeps coming up as the likely general manager in Tampa Bay, which is nice, for Doug but makes me wonder: Didn’t he leave the Minnesota Wild in terrible shape and almost without prospects in the organization? ... Great news for Rangers haters: Glen Sather will be back for another season as president and general manager ... Time was, the first round of the NFL draft went on and on and on. Then it got moved to prime time and now it seems the draft is in fast forward and there’s not enough time for analysis ... His name sounds like a football player: tight end Rob Grunkowski, now of the New England Patriots.
Scene and heard
Should Sidney Crosby feel like he was dissed? The Pittsburgh Zoo has removed its enormous image of Ben Roethlisberger and replaced it with a large likeness of his boss and landlord, Mario Lemieux ... Speaking of Roethlisberger, the Pittsburgh Steelers are scheduled for five games in prime time this coming NFL season. But you know what? Not one of them is in the first six weeks of the season ... The good Mike Gillis: Signing Mikael Samuelsson as a free agent in Vancouver; The bad Mike Gillis: The deadline deal for defenceman Andrew Alberts, which makes you wonder about the Canucks pro scouting ... Can’t say I buy the business about the Raptors partying too much in a league where everybody parties too much. Overall, the Raptors seem to be more settled than most ... Is there a single playoff team Jose Calderon could start for? ... If it’s true that David Braley is talking about blacking out Argo games on television, he might as well do the honorable thing and just close down the franchise. The last time there was regular blackouts of any kind, it almost killed football in Southern Ontario ... Haven’t heard a single person say: Boy, can’t wait for that Bills-Bears game in November.
And another thing
They fired the wrong Lowe in Edmonton. Kevin Lowe didn’t get it, his brother Ken, the trainer, did. The Oilers ended up blowing out 84-years worth of Oilers experience in training and equipment managing after finishing last in all of hockey. Which reminds me of the ball teams that have a bad season and end up firing their first base coach, like he matters ... Just when you thought it was safe to never mention Oliver Miller again, we bring you this: The Big O, that memorable round Raptor of days gone by, has been suspended from the inappropriately named Premier Basketball League for the rest of the championship series after going into the crowd and fighting in Rochester. Miller was playing for, get this, the Lawton Fort-Sill Cavalry, coached by the ubiquitous Michael Ray Richardson ... Having a lousy playoffs is nothing new for Capital defenceman Mike Green. He had lousy playoffs in junior also ... Happy Birthday to the legends, Meadowlark Lemon (78), Johan Cruyff (63), Vladislav Tretiak (58 and shouldn’t be older than that?), Tim Duncan (34), Art Schlichter (50) and Al Pacino (70) ... And hey, whatever became of Paul Higgins?
steve.simmons@sunmedia.ca
Twitter: simmonssteve@twitter.com