Maple Leafs fans have seen yet another team that has gone about rebuilding the right way, which has been proven to be the only way, that of course being primarily through the draft. Los Angeles was one of the teams that I wrote about in my NHL preview, as one of those so called sleeper teams to watch out for. They’ve had some ups and downs, but with their nucleus of young talent, their future looks bright. Just browse through their statistics, and it’s easy to see how their core players are starting to carry the weight of the franchise. If you watch Kings games on TV from Los Angeles, it seems that their is a bit of a buzz returning to the Staples Center. The fans are catching on to the sense of a bright future, probably for the first time since the end of the Gretzky era. With the supremely talented Drew Doughty, to go along with, Dustin Brown,Anze Kopitar, Wayne Simmonds,and Jonathan Quick, just to mention a few,the Kings are getting closer to being one of those teams other fans will be worried about as an opponent. It may not be this season, but they will be inching towards the upper echelon of the National Hockey League, in the near future.
One of my favorite sports stories this year, which I wrote about a few months ago,was that of the Portsmouth Football Club in England. The Pompey are battling to avoid relegation, and about 2 months ago, former Chelsea manager, Avram Grant was brought back to Portsmouth, where he had worked previously, to try and work some magic with a roster nowhere near the talent, he took to the final of the Champions League against Manchester United, in 2008. Portsmouth has been dogged by financial problems, and they’ve struggled to meet their payroll a few times this year. It seems they’ve weathered the financial storm, and were recently advised, that they can now spend money on much needed talent, although even with the removal of the transfer embargo, it maybe too late for Grant to try and rescue the season.
Aside from their financial woes, their has been a very uplifting story for the fans at Fratton Park, one that has nothing to do with the game itself, but certainly touches on the theme of soccer as the” beautiful game”.The current owner of the Pompey is from Saudi Arabia. Manager Avram Grant is an Israeli. With the lifting of the embargo, Chief Executive Peter Storrie announced that “ I can confirm we are looking at an Egyptian striker Avram has targeted.” Sometimes,through the diversion of sports and entertainment in general, the world can be a beautiful place. Maybe someday,that same kind of beauty, will grow beyond the world of fun and games. Let’s keep our fingers crossed on that.