Who's Now: Can-Am League Edition. Part 1

Tonight's game was stopped due to rain in the bottom of the 1st. It will be finished tomorrow at 4 PM, followed immediately by a full 9-inning game.

If you've watched SportsCenter at all over the past month, you have no doubt heard of Who's Now, which is quite possibly the dumbest segment in the history of sports journalism. Basically, they just draw together two random sports figures, and media types debate who is more 'now' based on subjective evaluations of both how good they are and how cool they are.

Basically, it's the second biggest waste of time in sports, behind reading this blog. So I figured: why not combine the two wastes of time?

Tonight, while slogging through the boredom of a rain delay at Fraser, Eric and I devised "Who's Now: The CanAm League Edition."

We created a 64-person bracket of assorted Can-Am personalities: players, managers, staff members, broadcasters, mascots, and other funny people from the annals of Can-Am history. How did we come up with the 64? Just by kind of shouting out random names. Nothing special.

I'll post the full bracket here, then open up the first four matchups for debate and voting. I'll post four more each day I get around to doing so, until we reach our dramatic conclusion.

Cool?

Of course not!

Here we go --- the full bracket, with seeding:

Allentown Region
1) Nick Lopardo
16) Tony (from the band, YuriTony)

8) Tom Donahue
9) Chris Miyake

4) Jonathan Fleisig
13) Andrew Wishy

5) Michel LaPlante
12) Chris Rowan

2) Jonathan Johnson
15) Cathy

7) Dennis Robinson
10) Gary Roche

3) Butch Hobson
14) Mike Meagher

6) Richard Katz
11) Saul Bustos

Pittsfield Region
1) Vic Davilla
16) Seth Bataan

8) Joe Calfapietra
9) BJ Weed

4) Bode Miller
13) Allen Mottram

5) Hideki Nagasaka
12) Chris Colabello

2) Eddie Lantigua
15) Alan Blotcher

7) Julie Wetherbee
10) JC Huguet

3) Wilton Veras
14) Slugger

6) K-O
11) DJ Mattox

Elmira Region
1) Miles Wolff
16) Jared Stawarz

8) Chris Farley
9) RC Reuteman

4) Rich Garces
13) Joey Siak

5) Ken Ray
12) John Kelly

2) Bill Murray
15) JD Reinenger

7) Willy Tenney
10) Don January

3) Spike
14) Luis Sabino

6) Joe Pescucci
11) Benoit Emond

Utica Region
1) Jimmy Hurst
16) Fontella Jones

8) Mike Torres
9) Chas Terni

4) Brent Connolly
13) Derrick Gibson

5) Dan Schuam
12) Brian Draman

2) Craig Breslow
15) Jon Weiner

7) Nicki Reilly
10) Tripper

3) John Leahy
14) Don Boyle

6) Chris Carminucci
11) Marty Ginivan

Criteria for voting.
-Subjective 'coolness' (the raison d'etre of 'Who's Now')
-Skill at what they do
-Humor value of the person
-Notable incidents
-Name recognition and publicity
-Would you want to invite this person to a party?
-Physical appearance/fashion sense
-Bling bling
-Wealth
-Longevity
-Importance to the Can-Am League
-Character of the person in question
-Power

Without further ado, here we go:

*****************************
The first four matchups
*****************************

From the Allentown Region:

1) Nick Lopardo vs. 16) Tony from YuriTony

#1: Nick Lopardo

Who: Owner of the Spirit.

Pros: The big cheese. A very important figure. One of the most powerful and well-known men in the CanAm league. A very wealthy man.

Cons: Polo shirt with mesh shorts = not the coolest style out there. Also, I get the feeling that he wouldn't be particularly fun to have at a party. But maybe that's just me

#16 Tony from YuriTony

Who: Nobody. Seriously.

Pros: Few names in Spirit history elicit such laughter upon being recalled. Also, I bought the YuriTony CD (yes, I was the one) and it wasn't bad.

Cons: Nobody actually knows who this guy is

*

8) Tom Donahue vs. 9) Chris Miyake

#8 Tom Donahue

Who: 5-year Spirit legend - color commentator in '03, 3rd base coach '04-present

Pros: He's been around since the start of the Spirit. He is universally known as an all-around nice guy and a great baseball man.

Cons: Has been known to have a Dale Sveum-ish personality at 3rd base. Also, if you invite him to a party, expect the food to be gone [rim shot]

#9 Chris Miyake

Who: Manager of the Brockton Rox

Pros: Took Brockton to the CanAm championship series in '06. Kind of a funny name.

Cons: Failed to beat Quebec. Disaster of an '07 season so far.

*

4) Jonathan Fleisig vs. 13) Andrew Wishy

#4 Jonathan Fleisig

Who: Owner, New Haven County Cutters

Pros: He has been around forever. He has plenty of stories to tell from indy ball history. He's also an extremely wealthy, well-connected, and powerful man in the league.

Cons: From most reports, he seems to be an irresponsible a-hole who left baseball in shambles in both Lynn and Pittsfield... and New Haven ain't doin' all that well either.

#13 Andrew Wishy

Who: Worcester outfielder, former Spirit

Pros: A solid ballplayer and a cool guy

Cons: Not really extraordinary, per se. Just a good player.

*

5) Michel LaPlante vs. 12) Chris Rowan

#5 Michel Laplante

Who: Quebec manager

Pros: Led Quebec to the '06 championship. Named one of the most influential people in Canadian baseball. Has had many funny incidents in the past.

Cons: A cheating asshole fraud

#12 Chris Rowan

Who: Former Jackals and Spirit SS, now retired

Pros: A solid baseball player. A champion with the Jackals in 2004. Famous in Spirit circles for his 'arm candy'. He got traded for John Kelly.

Cons: He's retired now, so I guess that makes him more 'two years ago' than 'now.'

Alright all, is this a sufficiently stupid exercise? Awesome! Submit your arguments and votes for each matchup in the comments. I'll close this vote in about 2 days and then move on to the next 4. Yee-haw, rainouts!