Garth McLennan
sports@theotherpress.ca

 

 
 
   

Avery's Star DUFNS OUT s5 css screon, sponse

Was it finally happened. After years of attention-
seeking crap, 27-year-old super pest Sean Avery has
been released from his contract by the Dallas Stars,
and it looks like his NHL days could be done—at least
for the foreseeable future.

This past summer, Avery signed a four-year, $15.5
million deal with the Stars. However, the folks in
Big D quickly got tired of his act, and with the team
nearing the basement of the league’s standings, what
happened recently was the tipping point.

Before a game against the Calgary Flames, Avery,
who has never met a microphone he didn’t like, began
needling Flames’ star defenseman Dion Phaneuf.
Phaneuf is currently dating actress Elisha Cuthbert, a
starlet that Avery had also previously been involved
with. So, in his own classy way, Avery announced,

“T just:want to comment on one, how it has become a
common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with
my sloppy seconds. I don’t know what that’s about,
but enjoy the game.”

Well, it turns out, and this is just out of nowhere,
that Avery isn’t the NHL’s golden boy and league
commissioner Gary Bettman was a little upset over
Avery’s comments. Citing numerous incidents,
including one at the beginning of the year where
Avery criticized the NHL’s marketing strategies by
insulting Flames’ captain and all-around great guy
Jarome Iginla, Bettman suspended Avery indefinitely
for his remarks and later reduced the suspension to six
games. Dallas moved fast, and released Avery from

the organization after only 23 games.

Now, that would seem a little harsh, but this isn’t
the first, second or third time Avery has embarrassed
the game with his incredible need for the cameras to
be on him. This is the straw that broke the camel’s
back. Throughout the past few years, controversy has
perennially surrounded the summer Vogue intern like
a sickness.

When the NHL decided to get tough on diving,
Avery was the poster boy for that form of cowardice.
After being fined one thousand dollars for repeated
diving, Avery then went to the media and whined
about how it wasn’t fair. Bang, another $1000 fine.

When Avery was playing for the Los Angeles
Kings, Denis Gautier, a French-Canadian defenseman,
cross-checked King Jeremy Roenick in a move that
left Roenick with a concussion. Avery then went to the
press and said, “I think it was typical of most French
guys in our league with a visor on, running around and
playing tough and not back anything up.”

Interesting comment considering that Avery is
infamous for doling out cheap shots and then refusing
to fight. Needless to say, a few people (namely, all of
Quebec) weren’t pleased with Avery’s views.

Later that year, in a game against the Edmonton
Oilers, Avery sent Georges Laraque into a rage after
calling him a monkey several times. Laraque is
African-American. The sewage continued to pour
from his mouth while he was with the New York
Rangers. During a break in a game against the Toronto
Maple Leafs, Avery made fun of Leafs’ forward Jason

Blake for having cancer. After the game, even his own
teammates trashed Avery in the media.

There have been many, many more incidents,
but if I were to list them all I’d probably have to go
into the A&E section of the paper. It looks like things
are finally starting to catch up to Avery after years of
leeching off of the game and feeding his own maniacal

ego.
Merry Christmas Sean, you got what you
deserved.

 

 

  

Wie the rise of mixed martial arts, the popularity
of boxing has plummeted.

Now, many of boxing’s numerous problems are
of their own making. Poor marketing of fighters,
charging exuberant pay-per-view rates for any
meaningful bout, over 85 championship belts and a
host of other factors have all contributed to the decline
of the sport.

But don’t count boxing out just yet. While there
are few, if any, true main event fighters such as Mike
Tyson or Muhammad Ali on the current boxing scene,
there are still a number of big name warriors that the
casual fan can get behind.

Over the recent Christmas season, several prime
time fights took place, almost all of them involving
the major world championships at varying weight
classes. In the heavyweight division, the immortal
Evander Holyfield unsuccessfully attempted to win
his fifth world heavyweight championship when he
went toe-to-toe with the monstrous Nikolai Valuev.

Boxing Still HAS Life LOFE sy csi sicsciss. sors tate

Despite being 46 years of age, Holyfield entered the
fight in phenomenal shape, and he came out with
the heart of a lion against the seven-foot, 310 pound
Valuev. Holyfield gave up an incredible 11 inches
and 86 pounds and many boxing experts believe that
Holyfield won the fight. The judges awarded the
victory to Valuev in a split decision that has been
hotly contested and has already sparked rumors of a
rematch.

While he is miles past his prime where he could
call himself one of the best ever, Holyfield has refused
to retire until he completes his quest of winning a fifth

world title, something that has never been done before.

You have to admire the man’s heart.

The rest of the heavyweight circle is dominated
by one family name: Klitschko. Vitali Klitschko hung
up the gloves in 2005, but made his return in October
of 2008 at 37 years old when he regained the WBO
title that he never lost from Samuel Peter. He beat
Peter soundly for winning by retirement in the eighth
round.

While his older brother has been away, 6’5
Wladimir Klitschko, 32, has owned the division. He
has accumulated the IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight
crowns and in mid-December destroyed challenger
Hasim Rahman, eventually winning by TKO.
Unfortunately for boxing, the Klitschko’s have vowed
never to fight each other. It’s a shame, really, because
both are superb and there has been great debate as to
who is really the best in the business. Plus, it would
be a relief to see a true undisputed heavyweight
champion again.

The heavyweights aren’t the only good game
in town though. Fading 43-year-old legend Bernard

Hopkins defeated Kelly Pavlik in October, while in
November, one of the greatest and most unheralded
boxing careers may have come to a close. The
undefeated, 46-0 Welshman Joe Calzaghe, 36,
defended his Ring light-heavyweight title against
former fighter of the decade Roy Jones Jr. Calzaghe
who has fought mostly in Europe, which is a big
reason for his lack of North American attention.
However, he’s a true class act and boxing would be
worse off without him. He’s held the WBO super-
middleweight title since 1997 and is currently deciding
whether or not to call it quits.

The highest profile fight over the last while was
the highly anticipated Dream Match between Oscar
De Le Hoya and Manny Pacquio in December. The
gate revenue was the second highest in boxing history
and millions saw Pacquio, who Ring Magazine ranked
the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world TKO the
clearly over-the-hill De Le Hoya, who has held over
10 world titles in a number of weight classes and is
one of the most well-known boxers in the world.

So there are still plenty of terrific fighters out
there and tons of great action to catch. There are very
few sporting events that can compare to a super-
charged world title fight, and that’s something that
MMA can’t live up to. Boxing isn’t dead; you just
have to look a little harder to find the greatness in it.

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