It’s my Parting Shot for my reactions to the headlines in today’s Star-Phoenix Sports Section…

       First headline…Tulo gets 38-million dollar parting gift from Jays, Veteran doesn’t fit youth movement. My reaction…this should come as no surprise to anyone. Troy Tulowitzki hadn’t played since July of 2017, dogged by injuries and advancing age. As much as the Blue Jays don’t need a 34-year-old shortstop, the key thing here is that Tulo is a holdover from the Alex Anthopoulos days…which have been over for a couple of years. There’ll be more Anthopoulos-era veterans to follow Tulowitzki out the door…like pitchers Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez, maybe even first baseman Justin Smoak!

       Next headline…The soundtrack of our game, Longtime play-by-play man Cole retiring after 50 years as voice of hockey in Canada. Reaction…I don’t know about 50 years because I remember watching Hockey Night in Canada in 1968. The guys I remember calling games in Saturday night were Danny Gallivan with the Canadiens and Bill Hewitt with the Maple Leafs. Bob Cole really didn’t come along as the prime H-N-I-C voice until the 80s…and by then I was working most Saturday nights doing what I do and didn’t get to watch a lot of Bob Cole. I respect what he has done…but he’s not my soundtrack!

       Last headline…Winnipeg a risky move for junior team. My reaction…they said that back in 1998 when the ICE franchise moved to Cranbrook from Edmonton. Of course, the risk is that there is an N-H-L and American League team already in the Manitoba capital. A “nose-bleed” seat at Bell-M-T-S Centre for a Jets’ home game is 68 dollars. The lowest you can get a good seat for is 202 bucks…that’s for one ticket. For the Manitoba Moose of the A-H-L, ticket prices range from 27 to 37 dollars. Should the ICE move to Winnipeg, top price for a ticket can’t be more than 20 bucks…and the team needs to improve big time before a potential move for next fall!

       That’s my Parting Shot, I’m Les Lazaruk…