Pressing questions from the world of sport that have no definite answers, but offer a variety of possibilities.
For instance:
Why is it called the Stanley Cup Final but the NBA Finals?
Was Paul Maurice pushed out of his job as coach of the Winnipeg Jets, or did he really quit in mid-season of 2021-22 of his own volition?
Was the Maurice decision to quit Winnipeg and take over the helm of the Florida Panthers a great decision or a really great decision?
Why can’t Rory McIlroy, he of the immense talent and the third-ranked golfer in the world, win his first major championship since 2014?
Can we say that Gavin McKenna, the wunderkind of the Medicine Hat Tigers and still only 15 years old, is heading for the same hockey stratosphere that Connor Bedard occupied the last couple of seasons?
How often do Calgary Flames’ fans rue the day that Matthew Tkachuk flew the coop?
Why won’t the NHL take advantage of the Arizona Coyotes’ serious dilemma (no rink; no plan for a new rink) and allow the franchise to be moved to the hockey hotbed of Quebec City?
Which is more likely to happen first — somebody surpassing Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak of 1941, or Wayne Gretzky’s 92-goal season in 1981-82?
With gambling and betting sites ubiquitous around pro sports these days, isn’t it just about time that Major League Baseball reconsidered its lifetime ban of Pete Rose?
Is there a medical presence in the front office of the Philadelphia 76ers, whose coaches went from a Doc (Rivers) to his replacement, Nurse (Nick)?
Would a 2025 trip to Las Vegas in late September be absolutely perfect for a sports junkie, who could possibly see a Golden Knights pre-season hockey game, an Athletics baseball game and a Raiders’ football game over a three-day period?
Won’t it be great to have Toronto’s Milos Raonic return to competitive tennis this summer, joining countrymen Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov on the pro circuit, after a two-year injury-related absence?
Will the Blue Jays’ roster ever again rival the talent level of the 1993 squad, which trotted out seven all-stars — Roberto Alomar (2B), Joe Carter (OF), Pat Hentgen (P), Paul Molitor (DH), John Olerud (1B), Duane Ward (P) and Devon White (OF)?
While Vernon Adams, Dane Evans and Dominique Davis might all be dependable CFL quarterbacks for the B.C. Lions, will B.C. fans be able to come to grips with the departure of superstar Nathan Rourke, who signed in the off-season with Jacksonville Jaguars?
What was the No. 1 ingredient that propelled Florida Panthers to the Stanley Cup final — the coaching of Paul Maurice, the never-quit performance of Matthew Tkachuk, the goaltending of Sergei Bobrovsky, or merely momentum?
- Spotted on Cardinals Nation 24/7 on Twitter: “The last pitch Bob Gibson ever threw was hit for a grand slam by Pete LaCock. A decade later there was an Oldtimers’ game at Wrigley Field and LaCock stepped to the plate and Gibson hit him.”
- Comedy writer Alex Kaseberg: “Just over four months after he went into cardiac arrest during Monday Night Football, Damar Hamlin was at training camp for the Buffalo Bills. And I once missed a football practice because I had a case of the hiccups.”
- Comedy writer Gary Bachman: “Baseball has a stat ‘exit velocity.’ It refers to how fast A's fans leave after another loss.”
- Janice Hough of leftcoastsportsbabe.com: “So this year the Cheez-It Bowl in Orlando is going to become the Pop-Tarts Bowl. Should be fun for announcers. ‘That was a sweet pass’; ‘they're in a real jam here….’; ‘think this team is toast.’”
- Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: “Did you see where Nick Saban just got back from a vacation in Italy? In related news, he secured a verbal commitment while taking a gondola ride with a five-star linebacker from Venice’s Franchetti High School.”
- Bianchi again: “Word is Nick Saban also visited The Ruins of Pompeii, which reportedly reminded him of Auburn’s football program.”
- From upjoke.com: “It’s a good thing our favourite sports drink was invented at University of Florida. If it was developed at Florida State University, Gatorade might have been called Seminole Fluid instead.”
- RJ Currie of sportsdeke.com: “What’s the difference between Conor McGregor and Connor McDavid? One competes in a sport known for brutal, bloody fighting; the other works in mixed martial arts.”
- From fark.com: “Blue Jays fans show their support for Anthony Bass’s anti-LGBTQ+ position by booing him for an entire inning.”
- Steve Simmons of Sunmedia: “H.G. Wells wrote The Invisible Man and it’s not a story of Mark Shapiro disappearing every time there is anything resembling controversy around the Blue Jays.”
Care to comment? Email brucepenton2003@yahoo.ca
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
