Bruce Dowbiggin
LIV & Let LIV: Phil Mickelson Gets His Revenge

Revenge, it is said, is a dish best served cold. If so, it’s appropriate that in the teeming rain, chilling winds and falling trees of Augusta National this weekend that Phil Mickelson got a measure of gotcha’ on the PGA Tour.
He could have staggered in the marathon of Sunday, as Masters organizers— who loath him— tried to catch up after weather delays, But from as low as even par on Sunday the 53-year-old ended tied for second behind Rahm at eight under. For a three-time winner of the green jacket that was probably not up to his expectations. But as a guy who could instead be playing the relaxed Champions Tour, just making the cut in the biblical storm conditions was an accomplishment.
Second? WTF? He set the record for the best finish by a golfer in his 50s or older. Where on Monday the golf world shunned him, by Sunday night they were eating from his hand again. But more than that for Mickelson— if it’s possible— he achieved the satisfaction of bringing his fellow LIV players into the heart of the PGA Tour’s belly and walking away tied for second with Brooks Koepka.

AUGUSTA, GEORGIA – APRIL 04: Talor Gooch of the United States, Dustin Johnson of the United States, Phil Mickelson of the United States, and Harold Varner III of the United States walk down the 11th fairway during a practice round prior to the 2023 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 04, 2023 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
For the entire week, the debate had been how the rebel players would be greeted by the stuffy culture of Augusta National and the panjandrums of the PGA Tour. Would they be ostracized? Would they be shunned? Would they be given the cold shoulder at the Champions Dinner?
On Golfchannel the discussion was about the preparation the players had had on the LIV Tour, with its 54-hole tournaments, limited schedule, raucous presentation. Had players like Koepka, Cam Smith, former Masters winner Patrick Reed, Joaquin Niemann, Harold Varner III, Abraham Ancer, Taylor Gooch and, yes, Mickelson had enough preparation for the diabolical examination of Augusta National. Were guys who jumped ship for the dough properly motivated now that they had financial security?
By Sunday night it was irrelevant. In all there were three LIV players (including Phil himself) inside the Top 16. Nine in the Top 40. Mickelson had been the face of the new league since it popped up last year, the focus of the wrath against it. Now he delivered. And so did his compatriots on the controversial rebel league.
Mickelson is never one to shy away from wearing the black hat. While Woods is now a “good guy” Phil has embellished his bad-boy reputation the past two years with inflammatory interviews, lawsuits, lost sponsors and prickly encounters with authority. Rumours of his financial peril and questionable personal behaviour were always in the background.
(In one Phil story he was playing a high-stakes money game with an NHL owner— who thought the round was a lark with the superstar. When the match ended with Mickelson winning a bundle, the owner thought Phil might just call it a wash. Uh, no. He insisted he be paid the entire amount— in cash. American dollars. The chastened owner had to send out for the money as Phil waited in the parking lot of the club.)
That will all be dismissed by the dominant performance of Mickelson and Koepka— who led virtually the whole way through storms, delays, wind and rain. While the liberal sports media still dismissed the LIV players for taking the evil Saudi petro dollars, the unity of the LIV crew at The Masters was underlined when those players on the grounds waited around to cheer their fellow LIV players on at the 18th green.
If the PGA Tour thought that this past weekend would drive fans away from LIV, the opposite is probably true. Seeing the quality of the players at Augusta will pique the interest of many fans. Seeing the PGA Tour’s biggest spokesmen in Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas both miss the cut also didn’t enhance the Tour’s invincibility.
Mickelson’s other revenge this past weekend came over his former rival Tiger Woods. For much of the quarter-century since they rose to prominence together Tiger was the athletic, trim superstar. The man with the steel-trap mind. The machine who churned out 15 majors.
Phil? Critics ripped him for denying his talent, his wavering inattention to fitness. They said he lacked seriousness. We will never forget being on PEI with Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson as they ripped Mickelson’s mental game after he threw away the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot on the 18th hole.
But Sunday showed that Mickelson still has plenty of tread on his tires when it comes to his fitness. Having lost about 20 pounds, he had little problem walking the sodden, hilly layout. As Brandel Chamblee suggested on Golfchannel maybe Phil didn’t maximize his physical prime, but he didn’t punish himself as so many now do in the gym. Chamblee suggested Woods won’t be the only golfer with a wrecked body from over-training.
That was underlined by the pathetic sight of Woods—five years younger than Phil — dragging his battered right leg around behind him as he fought the extreme conditions. In the end he couldn’t manage the pain of plantar fascinates, withdrawing Sunday morning when the leg would not respond to the hours of treatment he needs now to compete.
He looked a spent man. Yes, the leg injury was from his terrible car crash in Los Angeles in 2020. But even before that Woods’ body was failing him after years of punishing workouts. At one point he was doing Navy Seal training, emulating his father’s career. While Woods wouldn’t confirm it, his first serious knee injury was likely produced by this military conditioning. Next came back problems exacerbated by the stresses his bum leg caused.
Now, it appears that it’s all over for Woods as a competitive player if the Tour doesn’t allow him to ride in a cart. Mickelson— who has a lifetime Masters and U.S. Open exemption— will still find a way to match up with the young bucks of the Tour for a few more years. Other LIV stars will keep popping up— and perhaps winning— the majors under their exemptions. The PGA Tour will deny that LIV made them radically overhaul their business model. Sure.
It’s not a beautiful outcome. And Mickelson is hardly an Eagle Scout. But for four wet, miserable days in April he showed what hand is in the sports business. And that was worth the price of admission.
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Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the editor of Not The Public Broadcaster A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada’s top television sports broadcaster, he’s a regular contributor to Sirius XM Canada Talks Ch. 167. Inexact Science: The Six Most Compelling Draft Years In NHL History, his new book with his son Evan, was voted the seventh-best professional hockey book of all time by bookauthority.org . His 2004 book Money Players was voted sixth best on the same list, and is available via http://brucedowbigginbooks.ca/book-personalaccount.aspx
2025 Federal Election
Will Four More Years Of Liberals Prove The West’s Tipping Point?

The 1997 political comedy Wag The Dog featured a ruling president far behind in the polls engaging Hollywood to rescue his failing ratings. By inventing a fake war against Albania and a left-behind “hero”— nicknamed Shoe— the Hollywood producer creates a narrative that sweeps the nation.
The meme of hanging old shoes from the branches of trees and power lines catches on and re-elects the president. In a plot kicker, the vain producer is killed by the president’s handlers when he refuses to stay quiet about his handiwork. The movie’s cynicism over political spin made it a big hit in the Bill Clinton/ Monica Lewinsky days.

In the recent 2024 election the Democrats thought they’d resurrect the WTD formula to spin off senile Joe Biden at the last minute in favour of Kamala Harris. Americans saw through the obvious charade and installed Donald Trump instead.
You’d think that would be enough to dissuade Canadians who pride themselves on their hip, postmodern humour. But you’d be wrong, they don’t get the joke. Wag The Carney is the current political theatre as Liberals bury the reviled Justin Trudeau and pivot to Mark Carney. If you believe the polling it might just be working on a public besotted by ex-pat Mike Myers and “Canada’s Not For Sale”.
As opposed to Wag The Dog, few are laughing about this performative theatre, however. There are still two debates (English/ French) and over three more weeks of campaign where anything— hello Paul Chiang—can happen. But with Laurentian media bribed by the Libs— Carney is threatening those who stray— people are already projecting what another four years of Liberals in office will mean.
As the most prominent outlier to Team Canada’s “we will fight them on the beaches…” Alberta’s premier Danielle Smith is already steering a course for her province that doesn’t include going to war with America on energy. She asked Trump to delay his tariffs until Canadians had a chance to speak on the subject in an election April 28. Naturally the howler monkeys of the Left accused her of treason. She got her wish Wednesday when Canada was spared any new tariffs for the time being.

Clearly, she (and Saskatchewan premier Scott Moe) have no illusions about Carney not using their energy industry as a whipping post for his EU climate schemes. They’ve seen the cynical flip in polls as former Trudeau loyalists hurry back to the same Liberal party they abandoned in 2024. They know Carney can manipulate the Boomer demographic just as he did when he called for draconian financial methods against the peaceful Truckers Convoy in 2022.
Former Reform leader Preston Manning is unequivocal: “’Large numbers of Westerners simply will not stand for another four years of Liberal government, no matter who leads it.’“ So how does the West respond within Confederation to protect itself from a predatory Ottawa elite?
Clearly, the emissions cap— part of Carney’s radical environmental plans— will keep Alberta’s treasure in the ground. With Carney repeating no cancellation of Bill C-69 that precludes building pipelines in the future, the momentum for a referendum in Alberta will only grow. The NDP will howl, but there will be enough push among from the rest of Albertans for a new approach within Canada.
In this vein Smith even wants to approach Quebec. While it seems like odd bedfellows the two provinces most at odds with the status quo have much in common . “This is an area where our two provinces may be able to coordinate an approach,” Smith wrote this week. That could include referendums by the middle of 2026.
Perhaps the best recipe for keeping the increasingly fractious union together is a devolution of power, not unlike that governing the United Kingdom. While Westminster remains the central power since 1997, there are now separate parliaments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that put power closer to the citizen, so that local factors are better recognized in decision making.
With so little uniting the regions of the country any longer, devolution might provide a solution. What form could decentralization take within Canada? A Western Canada Parliament could blunt predatory federal energy policies while countering the imbalances of Canada’s equalization process. Similar parliaments representing Quebec, the Atlantic provinces, Ontario and B.C. would protect their own special interests within Canada. Ottawa could handle Canada’s international obligations to defence, trade and international cooperation.
While the idea is fraught with pitfalls it nonetheless remains preferable to a breakup of the nation, which four more years of Liberals rule under Mark Carney and the same Trudeau characters will likely precipitate. Smith’s outreach case would be the beginning of such a process.
None of this would be necessary were the populations of Eastern Canada and B.C.’s lower mainland remotely serious after snoozing through the Trudeau decade. The OECD shows Canada’s 1.4% GDP barely ahead of Luxembourg and behind the rest of the industrialized world from 2015-2025. As we’ve said before the Boomers sitting on their $1 million-plus homes are re-staging Woodstock on the Canada Pension and OAS. As with Wag The Dog, they’re not getting the joke.

When the Boomers award themselves another four years of taxapalooza and Mike Myers and the other “Canada Not For For Sale” celebs head south to their tax-avoidance schemes how will the Boomers say they’ve left Canada better off for anyone under 60? We’ll hang up and listen to your answer on the TV.
Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the editor of Not The Public Broadcaster A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada’s top television sports broadcaster, his new book Deal With It: The Trades That Stunned The NHL And Changed hockey is now available on Amazon. Inexact Science: The Six Most Compelling Draft Years In NHL History, his previous book with his son Evan, was voted the seventh-best professional hockey book of all time by bookauthority.org . His 2004 book Money Players was voted sixth best on the same list, and is available via brucedowbigginbooks.ca.
Bruce Dowbiggin
Are the Jays Signing Or Declining? Only Vladdy & Bo Know For Sure

We were watching the Los Angeles Dodgers home opener on Thursday. The defending World Series champs came from behind to beat Detroit 5-4. The big hit was a three-run homer from a player named Teoscar Hernandez off AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal

If that name sounds familiar, Teoscar was a Toronto Blue Jay from 2018-2022. He pounded 121 homers in the span as part of the Jays’ order. But when Toronto decided it needed bullpen help he was traded to Seattle in 2022 for pitchers Erik Swanson and Adam Macko. While Swanson has battled injuries and Macko is no-go, Hernandez keeps pounding the ball.
In his one year in Seattle he had strikeout problems but did hit 26 homers with 93 RBIs. In the winter of 2023-24 he signed as a free agent with the aforementioned Dodgers. Batting behind Shohei Ohtani he launched 33 homers and 99 RBIs. He won the All Star Home Run Derby. His key hit in Game 5 of the World Series propelled L.A. to the title. The stacked Dodgers liked him enough to give him a three-year, $66 million contract.
Why are we telling you this? Because the Blue Jays also started their 2025 season at home, matched against the Baltimore Orioles. And while there are reasons to believe the Jays will not replicate their 74-win disaster of 2024, there remain the old bugaboos of injuries and pitching. In the four games against the division rivals they need to beat, Jays’ pitching gave up 24 runs while scoring 18—nine of them in one game.
The splashy acquisition of 40 year old HOF pitcher Max Scherzer has already gone sideways as a bad thumb has put him on the IL. The new stopper, Jeff Hoffman, was rejected on medical grounds by two other teams before Toronto’s money made him healthy. The rest of the bullpen— a disaster in 2024— got off to a rocky start with Orioles hitters playing BP against them. They’ve already DFA’d one pitcher and called up two more from the minors. The re-made pen performed well in Game 4, but how it holds up in their next 158 games is a mystery.
On offence, while their rivals in Boston and New York added sexy pieces to their rosters the Jays were only able to acquire veteran switch-hitting Baltimore slugger Anthony Santander. More typical of their other signees is ex-Cleveland 2B infielder Andres Giminez who in 2023 had the lowest average exit velocity of all AL batters (84.8 mph), and led the AL in percentage of balls that were softly hit (21.7%). He does play a slick second base.
The winter story line for the Jays offence was what to do about Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette, the erstwhile star-dust twins who were— along with Cavan Biggio— supposed to guarantee titles when they emerged in 2019. Biggio is gone, so the other two carry the credibility of the management team of Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins. From the outside the Jays seem paralyzed to act.

While the Jays dithered, the price for players like Guerrero and Bichette soared. Using Juan Soto’s Mets $765 M deal as a yardstick Guerrero turned down a Jays offer of just under $600 M, saying he was done talking during the season. If Shapiro/ Atkins had anticipated the market Guerrero would have cost a lot less in 2023-24. If there is no progress by the trading deadline the Jays will be forced to get what they can in a trade.
Shortstop Bichette— a gifted player who battled injuries in 2024—is likewise up for a new deal. He has started strong in 2025 and would command a handsome return in a trade. He says the Jays are waiting to see what happens with Guerrero first. Having sold the pair for years to their loyal fans, having to trade them will be a massive PR blow. And while Jays’ national audience can be an advantage, having a whole country pissed with you is devastating.
The rest of the secret sauce for a Toronto comeback revolves around one of their hitting prospects taking a step forward. Any/ all of Will Wagner, Alan Roden, Addison Barger or Leo Jimenez can have a job if they show their bats are for real. Otherwise Shapiro and Atkins will hope that Dalton Varsho, George Springer and Alejandro Kirk can find a little magic in their aging bats.
A failure to retain talent may prompt fans to recall that Rogers decided that Shapiro and Atkins, who dumped Teoscar, were worthy replacements for the previous GM who’d walked away. The man Schneider and Atkins were hired to improve upon— Canadian Alex Anthopoulos— has made the Atlanta Braves a dominant team. Since AA moved to Atlanta they’ve won 90, 97, 38 (Covid year), 88, 101, 104, 109, 89 games. They’ve won a World Series and two other playoff series. They won six straight NL East titles before injuries sank them last year.
The Braves have developed young everyday superstars like Ronald Acuńa Jr. who don’t get picked off second base. They have built a pitching staff largely from within, not splashy FA signings. They have swagger without cockiness. They are set for years to come.
The Blue Jays? Since AA left they’ve won 73, 67, 32 (Covid), 91, 92, 89, 74 games. They’ve won zero postseason games while missing the playoffs in four seasons. The players they traded are starring for other teams in the postseason. They are again employing an inexperienced company guy as manager.
While it’s true that the sun can’t shine on the same team every day, Jays fans believe it would be nice if the great orb would find their club as it did back in the 1992/93 World Series days. Instead of the reflected glory of past stars winning for other teams. Patience is thin. And time is ticking.
Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the editor of Not The Public Broadcaster A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada’s top television sports broadcaster, his new book Deal With It: The Trades That Stunned The NHL And Changed hockey is now available on Amazon. Inexact Science: The Six Most Compelling Draft Years In NHL History, his previous book with his son Evan, was voted the seventh-best professional hockey book of all time by bookauthority.org . His 2004 book Money Players was voted sixth best on the same list, and is available via brucedowbigginbooks.ca.
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