More than 400 defeats, but no agony
Few things in life are certain, but here is one: Play hockey long enough, and for enough bad teams, and you are going to lose a lot of games.
Eventually they pile up, and when Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Curtis Joseph lost to the Buffalo Sabres, 3-1, on Wednesday, he tied Gump Worsley for most losses in NHL history: 454.
Maple Leafs teammate Brad May, sounding like the losing is starting to have a numbing effect all around, called Joseph’s tying the record “pretty neat.”
“It’s not neat that he’s got the most losses,” May told the Associated Press, “but think about how many games he’s played.
“You know what? Cecil Fielder hit the most home runs one year, if I’m not mistaken, and he had the most strikeouts too. Wayne Gretzky had the most giveaways one year, and he had the most assists in the league. The bottom line is nothing ventured, nothing gained. Curtis has been an incredible goaltender.”
Joseph did his best to shrug off No. 454.
“There’s too many good things in my life for me to even think about losses,” he said.
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Trivia time
Who is the only player to lose in a playoff twice at the Masters?
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Too much information
From syndicated columnist Norman Chad: “This is the so-called Information Age, characterized, rather unfortunately, by too much information. Frankly, I don’t want all-access. It was better when we knew less about our entertainers and athletes; nothing detracted from their on-screen or on-field image.
“Before my time, Clark Gable was a big movie star and Rocky Marciano was a boxing icon, and I guarantee you my father couldn’t tell you two things about their personal lives. These days, I walk into a Brad Pitt film, and I’m thinking about the Vietnamese boy he and Angelina adopted; I tune in to a Yankees game, and I’m wondering if A-Rod was with Madonna the night before.”
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Trivia answer
Ben Hogan.
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And finally
Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Tribune, on the sight of speed-challenged Jim Thome, Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko loading the bases for the White Sox on opening night: “They looked like a convoy of covered wagons waiting for the stoplight to turn green.”
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