It was not exactly a coincidence that Mitch Marner and his agent, Darren Ferris, gave interviews within days of each other — both of them selling the story that Marner’s safety was in question after the Maple Leafs were beaten by the Florida Panthers in the playoffs.
And that led to him making the decision to leave the Leafs via trade, but really by free agency.
This was classic spin-doctoring — taking a piece of slight truth and stretching it to sell a narrative that isn’t necessarily believable. Marner was never much on giving interviews during his time with the Leafs and, when doing so, rarely spoken of anything resembling depth. Ferris almost never gives interviews, unless he’s talking off-the-record to one of his chosen leaks.
But within days, the story was intentionally planted this week — Marner on TSN, Ferris on a hockey podcast. And it was, or is, believed by some who must also believe in fairy tales, that Marner’s life and that of his family was in danger because of his lack of playoff performance.
The Leafs are well aware of the crazies out there on social media and monitor them regularly. They also know that loud anonymous voices are just that — loud, angry and mostly anonymous. However, rarely has a professional athlete of consequence, in this city or any other, been in distress.
But as someone who has been threatened, screamed at, called horrible names over the years, what’s spoken online has stayed online.
The Leafs, doing their diligence, looked into the situation with Marner, who was still their property at the time. Their security people did the same as part of their regular employment. They found nothing to be concerned about. They wonder now about the veracity of all that is being told.
That Marner and Ferris are essentially telling the same story at the same time is indicative of planning and planting a reason for wanting out of Toronto more than anything else. And from their side, hoping fans will buy this version of Marner, the $11-million a year, 100-point victim.
What did happen to Marner — and it was beyond serious — came when he was carjacked in 2023. An event such as that could change anyone’s feeling about freedom, safety and the city they live in. He pretty much sloughed off all of that at the time and has rarely mentioned it since … For someone who always said he paid no attention to social media, Marner was certainly aware of everything seemingly being said about him on social media … This is how you negotiate with Connor McDavid. It’s not complicated. You ask him how much he wants. You ask him many years he wants. And then you give it to him. That’s how it should work with the best player in the game, one of the best in history. That McDavid remains unsigned beyond next season, heading into this season has to be inwardly troublesome for the Edmonton Oilers. McDavid says he doesn’t want to be a distraction. Nice words, but every minute he’s not signed, he is exactly that, whether he chooses to believe it or not … McDavid will be the No. 2 topic in hockey all season until his contractual status is finalized. The No. 1 topic: Which players will be suiting up for Canada and the USA at the Winter Olympics in Italy, which McDavid will be part of. Canada and the USA played for gold both at Salt Lake City in 2002 and Vancouver in 2010. The U.S., which might have the deepest team at the Milan Olympics, hasn’t won a men’s hockey medal since 2010 … The betting here is that Matthew Tkachuk’s off-season surgery will have him ready for action in late-January, just in time to be able to play in the Olympics … Players who should get Olympic consideration, but are in tough to make Team Canada: Travis Konecny, Zach Hyman, Mark Scheifele, Adin Hill, Robert Thomas, Macklin Celebrini and Connor Bedard. I would think Tampa’s Anthony Cirelli would be in tough, too, he but he’s a big favourite of coach Jon Cooper, which may help his case come decision time … Give Tyson Barrie credit for a sense of humour on his retirement announcement. He said his decision was made “in tandem with the 32 NHL teams.”
Two lifelong baseball people were sitting in the Blue Jays dining room the other day when the question was asked: Can you name five players on the Milwaukee Brewers, who just happen to be the best team in baseball? First guy mentioned Christian Yelich. Second guy said Yelich, Freddy Peralta and the kid who made the all-star team, Jacob Misiorowski. I got Yelich and the kid. And then I kept going: Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, Cecil Cooper, Gorman Thomas, Ted Simmons. All from the ’82 Brewers … The young pitcher from Markham, Jonah Tong, made his major-league debut Friday night for the New York Mets and was impressive. One start does not a career make, but fans in the Big Apple are already semi in love with this kid from Bill Crothers High … When the Dodgers won the World Series last year, they did so with 24 of their 45 innings being thrown by their bullpen. That’s 53% bullpen pitching; 47% by the starters. The two seasons before that at World Series time, it was closer to 41% bullpen, 59% starters. Which brings us to the Blue Jays either way. With deep starters and a dubious bullpen, can they win a playoff round, let alone an American League championship? Who’s pitching the seventh, eighth and ninth innings for John Schneider? And who’s getting people out? … If the baseball playoffs started on Saturday, the Yankees would be playing the Red Sox in a wild-card round and the Dodgers would be facing the Mets. That would be fun … What a cheap piece of business pulled by the Pittsburgh Pirates on Isiah Kiner-Falefa, releasing the sound veteran before the final month of the season, ostensibly because he was due a bonus of $250,000 if he got 500 plate appearances. He finished in Pittsburgh the other day with 396 … Bo Bichette is hitting .371 in July and August heading into Saturday’s penultimate game of the month. Those are crazy numbers for anyone, let alone the pending free agent shortstop. He will likely end the season with career-high marks in RBIs, batting average and possibly hits and doubles. The starting point on a salary for next season, on my radar, is about in the 10-years, $300-million range.
This should be on every sports fans bucket list: A trip to the U.S. Open at night. Nothing really compares to it. I’ve been to the Open, Wimbledon, Roland Garros, the Kentucky Derby, the Indy 500, ringside for heavyweight title bouts, and the Big House for college football and NHL hockey — just about everywhere that matters except Augusta — and the tennis Open is very high on my list of favourite atmospheres … Watched a Dan Marino documentary recently. I’d forgotten how perfectly he threw the football. Maybe better than anyone who has ever played. You can rank your quarterbacks by Super Bowls won, if you choose, but I don’t think there are five better quarterbacks than Marino, who never won a Super Bowl … There may not be time to salvage this Argos season, but if they can get Makai Polk on the field with a healthy Damonte Coxie and Chad Kelly throwing the ball, they could still pull it off and make the playoffs. Polk is back after several NFL camp attempts … Best player to watch in the CFL this season: Edmonton running back Justin Rankin … I’m not getting an invitation to the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce wedding and I suspect you’re not either, but you know who might get one? Winnipeg’s Zach Collaros. He was Kelce’s college quarterback at Cincinnati and they’ve remained close friends since … I’m a sucker for Hall of Fame speeches: It was hard to keep your eyes dry when Serena Williams was introducing Maria Sharapova to the tennis Hall and the same feeling when Sharapova got up to make her acceptance speech … If, somehow, Laurier quarterback Taylor Elgersma winds up on an NFL practice roster, he will be paid $13,000 a week or $220,000 for the season. He was cut by Green Bay the other day … Women’s sport has never been more popular than it is right now, which makes ESPN’s demotion of Doris Burke on basketball broadcasts all the more stunning. Burke isn’t just good at her job, she’s great at it. No idea why ESPN chose to push her down a wrung on the broadcast scale … Masai Ujiri is heading to the United Nations rather than another NBA team. What he wouldn’t answer: Is he continuing to live in Toronto or moving his family elsewhere?
Longtime NHL scrapper Shawn Thornton has left the Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers’ front office to take a senior business position with the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks. The general manager in Atlanta just happens to be Canadian Onsi Saleh … Most betting sites seem to have the Raptors as the 12th best team in the East coming into this NBA season. That won’t make Bobby Webster or Keith Pelley happy …. What’s the difference between this year’s Blue Jays and last year’s Blue Jays? According to Ernie Clement, one of the difference-makers himself: “We didn’t know what we were capable of last year. A lot of guys got experience and grew from it. Guys like (Nathan) Lukes, (Addison) Barger, Davis (Schneider), and other guys, we’ve learned how to be here, how to survive, work through failure and perform. There’s a big difference in the confidence around here.” … Added Clement on the season he’s having: “This is everything I’ve worked my whole life for. I love baseball. I’m fortunate to be a ball player. This is all I’ve ever wanted to be. I love this game more than anything.” … In 15 starts, the surprising Eric Lauer has an earned run average of 3.77 with the Jays. In his six bullpen appearances, he’s pitched 18.2 innings with an ERA below 1.00. His ERA on the season is 3.21. He’ll be needed in their bullpen come playoff time … The legend Sam Pollock always insisted that the team that got the best player in any trade, won the trade. Were he still alive, Pollock would declare the Packers a big winner over the Dallas Cowboys in the deal for Micah Parsons. Parsons is one of four or five defensive players who can changes games in the NFL. How do you deal away that kind of player? … The Parsons deal reminds me of the Buffalo Bills trade for Cornelius Bennett, when he couldn’t sign with the Indianapolis Colts. Bennett got to Buffalo and his rush speed from the outside made a huge difference for those Super Bowl-bound teams … Watched Vicky Mboko get trounced in the opening round of the U.S. Open and came away with two thoughts: For her to become a great WTA player, which she’s capable of being, she needs to serve better and more consistently and she needs help with her forehand. Not sure if her sore wrist from the fall in Montreal played any part in her loss to Barbora Krejcikova, but if it didn’t, there is still a lot of work to do. On the other hand, she’s athletic enough to be a factor for years if she can fix a few aspects of her game … Shouldn’t Tom Henke be next on the Blue Jays’ Level of Excellence? He had 217 saves for Toronto. No one will ever pass that mark or come close to it. Second on the list is Duane Ward with 121 … Ward saved 92.5 percent of his opportunities with the Jays. Current closer Jeff Hoffman has saved 75% heading into Saturday … The Red Sox in green just don’t like look right. They’re not supposed to look like the Reggie Jackson Oakland A’s … Born on this weekend date, three all-time greats: Ted Williams, Jean Beliveau and Frank Robinson. And a happy birthday to Scott Niedermayer (52), Brian Conacher (84), Larry Fitzgerald (42), Kent Nilsson (69), Jalen Brunson (29), Boots Day (78), Mike Smrek (63), Ryan Kesler (41), Robert Parish (72) and Drake Maye (23) … And, hey, whatever became of Rocky DiPietro?
