* There’s a good reason why in professional sports it’s often said that some of the best trades are the ones that aren’t made. Lightning General manager Steve Yzerman wouldn’t argue. Exhibit A: Jonathan Drouin.
Yzerman would never have gotten market value for the heralded but underperforming young forward. Within months, Drouin, 21, has gone from sulking, soft wannabe with major potential to a gritty, graceful NHL adult with franchise-player potential. You can’t script this stuff.
* Former University of Florida head football coach Will Muschamp, now the first-year coach at South Carolina, has wasted no time in putting his imprint on Steve Spurrier’s former team. He just fired the long-time equipment manager and his staff. Prior to that, he had jettisoned the team chaplain.
Now he has to do something meaningful if he doesn’t want a repeat of his Gator experience. But that would mean better recruiting, a more congenial personality and a less dismissive attitude toward the media. Getting rid of the equipment manager and the chaplain was the easy part.