A Blockbuster Night

Furtherto the last post — regarding a perfect world where we could hire, fire and trade TV sports personalities — a couple of updates.

Regarding the comment that was made by another Larkins, my always contentious sister, allow my explanation:

The "Most Annoying Voice in All of TV Sports" award just happened to feature all women because, in this case, all the women mentioned are absolutely unbearable. And Bob McKenzie IS "loud." I won't argue that he's obnoxious but he doesn't have that "Sports Guy Voice" that I have long defined as "n. The unnecessary and forced fluctuating of vocal patterns.. Each of Hedger, Frolic and Dhillon have that horrendous quality.

Now, that said, I probably should have stretched the nominees into a couple of members of The Score, the network that, in its infancy, seemed to have a mandate to hire on-air talent based on them sounding more like computer-modulated sound files rather than actual human beings. So I'm looking in your direction Steve Kouleas and Tony Ambrogio.

Now, moving on. Our boy Swatter responded to my last post with a major offer. It goes like this:

We (TSN) give you: - full rights to the CFL (this does NOT include cuthbert). - every single raptors game (this DOES includes swirsky's mug). - full rights to anything/everything poker. - "off the record" with michael landsburg (the show appeals to most idiot canadian sports fans... your ratings will be huge!). - cory woron. - rod black (you'll need him for the CFL coverage). I get: - the sunday night MLB game (although you can have it for september, since we're airing sunday night football). - canadian broadcast rights to the world series. - broadcast rights to NBA all-star weekend (you've had this for years). - full rights to anything/everything fishing. - mike toth. - sean mccormick.

I reject the poker idea for two reasons. We have poker already and I'm loathe to add anymore of it. Equally unappealing to me is adding Landsberg to my team. Putting him in our lineup, when we're looking to appeal to viewers, is the equivalent of trading for Barry Bonds to boost media relations.

I reject this trade because the only thing I'm getting out of it that I wanted in the first place was Woron, and even he was a bit player. He's a Mo Peterson in a blockbuster deal.

What's more, I am giving you two of my premiere anchors in McCormick and Toth. So who fills those roles now?

So if you were to throw in Onrait, take Toth off the board, take Nick Kypreos off our hands and give us those strongman competitions, then we have some talking points.

Also, I'm willing to bring in a third party here to negotiate a three-way deal for us to land Cabbie on the Street.

Trade Shows

Got into a discussion with my pal and WCG-TV broadcast partner Jeremy Sawatzky about Canadian sports television personalities, namely from TSN and Sportsnet.

Now, there's undoubtedly no shortage of wretched "talents" on both networks, but Swatter is partial to TSN and I, not liking TSN whatsoever, sided with Sportsnet. So, we made ourselves virtual GMs, perused through our lineups and began proposing trade offers to each other.

I first boasted that I was in the position of leverage because Swatter/TSN had nothing that I wanted. So if he was looking to make a move, then he'd better pony up. Looking at the TSN lineup I felt like I was poaching from the rosters of the mid-1970s Washington Capitals. (Swatter, however, was looking at a roster, mine, that was maybe more like the Washington Generals. But I digress.)

So as in the real sports world, it's not always that a trade you get actually comes complete with players that you actually wanted. The "give something to get something" theory also streches into "you have to take this, to get this." The only person Swatter took off the table was Chris Cuthbert, a versatile and likable play-by-play guy who actually lends credibility to that sad-sack network. He's very good. (CBC, then, would have to be the Los Angeles Clippers at this point — making mind-boggling personnel moves only to have a renaissance, of sorts, recently despite their ignorance.)

I immediately went after Cory Woron. He's the Carlos Delfino of this dicussion: A guy who is buried on the bench (weekend anchoring), gets very little playing time (rarely seen) but you know he could step into a more significant role if given the chance. He won't carry your team, but he'll do some good things.

Swatter didn't flat out say he was off limits, but he made it difficult for me to get him.

In response, Swatter — trying to shed some of his deadweight — understandably offered up the bland and personality-free Holly Horton. Normally I would have shot this down from the git-go, but I see a fit for her. I said we might entertain an offer for her and then we could move her to Sportsnet's new "InBox" segment where she could stand in front of a TV and do a two-minute segment that basically just plays YouTube clips. That would enable us to shed Sportsnet newby Daru Dhillon, the woman who has wrestled the "Most Annoying Voice in All of TV Sports" away from Jennifer Hedger and The Score's Caroline Frolic.

With that in mind, here's a few of the trade proposals that are currently on the table. Luckily, no trade deadline is in place.

---

PROPOSAL #1:
TSN GETS: Jason Portuondo, Daru Dhillon and Rob Faulds
SPORTSNET GETS: Cory Woron, Holly Horton, Ryan Rishaug
LOGIC: TSN gets the benefit of actually having a minority in an anchor role (Portuondo), something for which it has never really been known. The Horton-Dhillon swap is a write-off and we dump a dead beat in Faulds in exchange for a decent field reporter who can cover our prairie region. TSN, however, would have to find a place for the ultra-untalented Faulds.
DEAL DEAD

PROPOSAL #1A:
Swatter proposes we take Woron out of the deal and TSN would offer us full Raptor coverage and Chuck Swirsky, the man who for which the term "face for radio" must have been made. Swirsky is a love-or-hate play by play guy. Luckily, I hate him. So that deal is not happening. I say: "I'll take Rishaug and I'll put him on the prairies reporting and take that David Bastl and send him back down to the minors. (i.e. Winnipeg Global where he belongs and no one watches so no one notices that he doesn't know anything about sports).

(Side note: Swatter then says, "we'll just assign Rod Black to Raptor games. ... Oh wait...." Even in jest, his comments are enough to shake your soul.)

PROPOSAL #2:
TSN GETS: Gord Stellick
SPORTSNET GETS: Bob McKenzie

Swatter offers this one up and I jump on it. McKenzie has more rep if only because he wasn't the GM of one of the worst teams in the history of the NHL (see: Stellick as GM of Leafs). McKenzie is loud but ... well he's not Stellick. To juice up the pot a bit, I offer Stellick's "Herbal Remedy" ads at no extra charge. He asks if I want Pierre McGuire, too. I bluntly reply: No.
DEAL DONE

PROPOSAL #3:
Moving to Jays baseball, Swatter suggests a one-for-one colour man deal in which we get Pat Tabler in exchange for Rance Muliniks, both former Jays. I, a fan of Rance in his playing days and never one to part with someone named Rance, turn this down. I offer that I'll make the deal if he throws in Michael Whalen because Sportsnet needs a Quebec presence.

A lifelong Montreal Canadiens fan, Swatter says no because Whalen is his mainstay.

I say it's sad that he's a fan of either.
DEAL DEAD

It was at this point, like so many GM meetings, that the talks broke down because of the offering of chicken wings. We broke for dinner ...

I'm sure this conversation will once again continue and I'll be sure to keep all you posted. I know you're all waiting to find out what I do with the rumoured deal that involves Nick Kypreos, Mike Toth and Sean McCormick.

Under a Raimbault

BU has, as the Brandon Sun reported last week, officially hired Mike Raimbault as the new head coach of the program. Here is a column that appeared in the Sun on Tuesday:

Mike Raimbault has landed his dream job and it’s a dream he could be awaken from quite abruptly.

As previously reported in the Brandon Sun, the Brandonite was officially named the head men’s basketball coach of his home university on Monday — a team for which he once briefly suited up — and he will take over a program that once again is in the nation’s elite.

However, the job is a nine-month term that will conclude with Raimbault likely in an area of more uncertainty than where he was before his recent good fortune.

The reality is that when the 2008-09 season rolls around, Mike Raimbault may very well not be in his dream job anymore. The job will be posted again making what he does this season — and this season alone — critical to his future as a CIS coach.

It is a pivotal time for this Bobcats team. Two fifth-year starters return from a squad that made the national championship final in March and the team has lost just two players from that group.

While it is undoubtedly a pretty plum gig to have handed to you as your first CIS job — hey kid, there’s gas in the car and a straight road ahead, just try not to crash it — it is also one that does not come without its inherent pressures, more so than most any other program in Canada.

The scrutiny that comes down on you in Brandon is greater than it is in Windsor; the expectations to lead the Bobcats to the promised land is always higher than it is at Memorial and the backlash you can receive from any number of sources around the community is infinitely more than, say, Winnipeg or Saskatchewan.

Raimbault’s first order of business, then, should be to develop a thick skin.

Raimbault, like it or not, has inherited an expectation to win and win now. That pressure comes from getting the primo talent handed to you and a lot of people would suggest not at least making a run at another national would be considered a failure.

(Now, before anyone goes barking about “academics count, too”, be reminded that sports reporters aren’t assigned to cover a point guard’s Practicum in Geography class or a swingman’s Intro to Psychology. So, in this case, when it comes to academics and sports reporting, never the twain shall meet.)

It would not be far off to suggest that there would be considerable disappointment if this team — which will possess arguably the most lethal starting five in the conference — doesn’t book tickets for nationals in Ottawa next March.

Raimbault might be afforded some slack because of the short notice on which he was given the reins and because he’s a likable guy, well-respected throughout the community.

Raimbault’s hire certainly raised the eyebrows of many basketball people around the country if only because his youth and inexperience made him an easy target for naysayers who believe BU copped out by doing the easy thing by hiring Craddock’s assistant.

There are people angry over whom they didn’t hire. Still, with Craddock’s late and sudden departure is it not better to maintain some level of continuity at a school that has struggled so mightily to find that elusive trait?

Raimbault’s inexperience coaching at an elite level is most certainly a red flag but so too was Craddock’s and that turned out not too badly. In the end, the only people you need to care about are the ones you’re stepping out with every single day. So is it not better to appease the 12 players whom you’re entrusted to lead through the season and say to hell with all the outsiders who are all too willing to contradict?

I suggest so.

But that doesn’t take away the reality of the situation: Dreams can take sharp turns and right around the corner from golden opportunity could loom the dark alley of disappointment.

For the time being, it’s probably best that nobody pinches him.

And then there were ... four?

Hey folks... Just working on the latest in the BU saga and trying to track down the short list of candidates who will be interviewed next week for the vacant men's basketball position. I have a lock on a few of them but, as I'm sure you can understand, can't post here until I've done it for my newspaper. Let's just say there appear to be no big-time names in the mix with respect to CIS experience.

In a follow up to the last post, the university did in fact make it a one-year term post (as I disagreed with) but the director of athletics said they received more applications than past years. That move tells me in my heart of hearts that they're going to allow assistant coach Mike Raimbault to take the reins for a year and see how it goes. That's just my gut feeling but let's be honest here, I am rarely right.

Here's the last story that appeared in the Sun:

Brandon University is wasting little time in trying to fill its vacant men’s head coaching position.

Less than a week after posting the job, the university closed the application process on Monday and began short-listing candidates on Tuesday for the position that was left open when Barnaby Craddock resigned on June 27 to take the University College of Fraser Valley head coaching position.

A handful of people with past connections to BU were among the applicants but none were short-listed, the Brandon Sun has learned.

Multiple sources requesting anonymity told the Sun that former all-Canadian Bobcats Keith Vassell and Joey Vickery were among the applicants and Vickery confirmed he applied but was not among the candidates BU officials are going to interview.

“I know what I’m capable of and I’ll take my services to Europe,” Vickery, a veteran in the Euro pro leagues, said in a telephone interview from Winnipeg. “They take people that are no doubt qualified and they don’t go through a lot of the steps that Canada goes through. ... (In Europe) they see the very good possibility of me being a good coach because they see what I do as a player.”

Reached via email, former Bobcat Gil Cheung — a five-year team member and former assistant coach at BU — also confirmed he was not short-listed and said he was disappointed by the school’s decision.

Former BU men’s and women’s assistant coach Steve Baur — now the assistant men’s coach at Acadia — applied for the job but was also not short-listed, Baur confirmed.
Mike Raimbault, who served as Craddock’s assistant the past two seasons, has been short-listed, according to sources. A message for Raimbault was not immediately returned Tuesday.

Craddock made no secret of the fact that Raimbault would be his pick to succeed him, but BU athletics director Rick Nickelchok said any recommendations are taken with a grain of salt.

“These decisions are committee decisions, so I certainly respect his opinion but a committee will decide who the best replacement is,” Nickelchok said. “I’m not taking anything away from Barnaby. That’s just the way the process is.”

Nickelchok did not divulge an exact number, but said the quantity of resumes submitted was more than in past years. When Craddock was hired two years ago, Nickelchok told the Brandon Sun at the time that there were 20 applications received.

“It was a very healthy number of applications,” Nickelchok said. “More so than past years.”

This time around, the job was posted as a one-year term position, meaning the school will have to re-post the job nationally again next year. After Craddock quit, the school was rushed into a hiring process and Nickelchok said that was the reason BU decided to be non-committal past this coming season. The school is now looking for its fourth head coach in five years.

“The one-year term is based on the timing of the process, the lateness in the year,” Nickelchok said. “A lot of the candidates that could be interested are already committed for the upcoming year. So, recognizing that, we want to make sure that we do have the opportunity to reach as many candidates as possible and that would not happen at this time of year. ...

“We’re looking for the best person to take the program. We’ve got an excellent team that’s in place for next year and my thought is we should be challenging for a championship again.

"Next year is as important as subsequent years to the program. We want to do well on the court as well as off the court, so we’re going to find the best individual that will lead the program on the interim basis and see how things fall out beyond that.”

Another source said none of the final four from the process two years ago — which were Lakeland College coach Phil Allen, former St. Francis Xavier X-Women coach Doc Ryan and Concordia University College Thunder coach Todd Warnick — were among the applicants. Warnick, for one, confirmed to the Sun that he did not apply.

More BU babble

Anyone who followed this space or — if you're in southwestern Manitoba — the actual pages of the Brandon Sun this past week knows the transition phase that Brandon University currently finds itself.

The men's basketball coach has accepted a job in British Columbia and the athletic director, according to my sources, was interviewed for the vacant AD position at Acadia University.

Here's just a couple of random points from me on both of those issues:

MEN'S BASKETBALL COACH

THE IDEA: A rumbling that I'm hearing is that perhaps the university — which will be posting the job nationally — might be interested in hiring a one-year interim coach and then open the procedure again next spring/summer when there would, conceivably, be more time to do a thorough search.

• THE ARGUMENT:
First off, the university has had oodles of collective-agreement battles over the past few years related to how it has hired its employees. Rightly or wrongly, the university has been challenged on its hiring processes in the past and, I would argue, the idea of hiring a person on a one-year basis, would creep dangerously close to raising another red flag to someone willing to challenge the move, should it happen. For that reason, I don't see BU doing this.

The thought is that, because it is so late in the off-season (although anyone who is aware of Brandon's hiring knows the university has had to deal with late interviewing before) the chance is there for the school to hire assistant coach Mike Raimbault. Barnaby Craddock, the former coach, is a big fan of Raimbault's and would certainly be pushing hard to have him as his replacement.
THE REALITY:I consider Raimbault a friend and I've found him to be a very smart Xs and Os coach in the short time I've known him. However, I don't see BU simply accepting a one-year set-up with Raimbault as a stop-gap until 2008. I think this job will be opened up and BU will go through its normal procedures for hiring.

Then, I would suspect you're going to see a number of young coaches in the running. I think BU would be more likely to hire an up-and-comer who it could get to stick around and perhaps plant roots in the city. That said, there are a number of young coaches who would love to get the chance to have their first job to be inheriting a very talented team that has a chance to make a run at a national. I won't divulge, at this time, the names that are being bantered about here early on but suffice to say there's already a few who, if I were BU, I'd be more than happy to hire.

THE ATHLETIC DIRECTOR

First off, Rick Nickelchok has every right to pursue other interests ahead of the expiration of his contract next summer. I would suggest the ball is in BU's court and if the university is interested in keeping him, it'd be best served to do whatever possible to make him know he's a wanted commodity in the Wheat City.

Carleton and Acadia are just two schools that have put the Help Wanted signs in their windows advertising for AD jobs. But Nickelchok also has a background with national amateur sports so I don't think by any means he'd be confined to a university setting.

He told the Sun that his interest was to stay in Brandon and a few sources have told me he will not be getting the Acadia job.

The men's basketball position has not yet been posted although I'd expect that to happen some time this week. As for the AD job, my gut tells me you won't have to think about that position at BU for at least 10 or 11 months.