David Beckham is in Vancouver, but Frank Yallop is not. While Becks will hold his umpteenth press conference this morning in Vancouver, the man who had a role in bringing him here is no longer part of Beckham’s Galaxy. Yallop, a former Whitecap and head coach of Canada’s national side, has left L.A. for San Jose, where he will head up the expansion Earthquakes next season. The timing is extremely odd given Yallop’s ties to Vancity, but there are rumours circulating that Yallop might have been out of his gig in L.A. anyway. His record was a less-than-stellar 18-21-12 during his 16 months on the job, and the Quakes only had to give up a third-round draft pick to acquire their new skipper.
• The big question coming out of the Lions’ latest win: will tackle Jason Jimenez be available for the West final? Physically, Jimenez is fine. However, the Stampeder he hit wasn’t so lucky. On the final play of the first half, Jimenez went low on Calgary’s Anthony Gargiulo, who is now lost for the season. On-field eyewitnesses say the hit was both cheap and unnecessary, but it’s hard to say exactly what happened because TSN was unable to capture the incident on camera. The CFL is reviewing the incident using the Lions’ game footage, and Jimenez could face a suspension if the league disciplinarians can find proof of a heinous act. Not surprisingly, Wally Buono doesn’t feel a suspension is warranted. Though he sympathizes with Gargiulo’s injury, Buono says Jimenez acted within the rules. Buono admits the decree that allows offensive players to cut-block should be changed, but he says given the current language of the rulebook, Jimenez did nothing illegal.
• Canucks’ fans are cautioned to temper their enthusiasm after Saturday’s 4-3 win in Colorado given the inconsistency of the local pucksters this season, but Alain Vigneault’s crew delivered the necessary effort and result after last week’s embarrassing loss to Nashville. One game does not a season make, but the short-handed Canucks handed the Avs their first home ice loss of the season. With Kevin Bieksa gone at least two months following Vernon Fiddler’s accidental dissection of the former’s calf, and Sami Salo’s broken nose keeping him out for three to five weeks, blue-liners Luc Bourdon and Mike Weaver played their best games in Canucks colours. Inconsistency has been the only constant for this club this season, but if the Canucks can get on a bit of a roll here, we may look back on this eight-game stretch against divisional opponents as the most critical of the campaign.
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