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23| W aterloo C hronicle | T hursday,F ebruary 22,2018 w aterloochronicle.ca • No Cost or Fee to Apply • Approval within 48 Hours • Thousands Paid Monthly! • See Website for Application Deadline. Do You Have More than 20 lbs to Lose? - Apply Now! $2,500 WEIGHT LOSS GRANT Please visit www.weightlossgrants.org for full Guidelines, Terms & Conditions. www.weightlossgrants.org Every now and then I write a column with a col- lection of random notes and thoughts. This is the first such column for 2018. • Most sports fans in southern Ontario are aware of the fact that the Buffalo Bills ended the longest playoff drought involving the four major sports leagues (NFL, NHL, MLB, NBA) when they defeated the Miami Dolphins in late Decem- ber. And those same sports fans were undoubtedly aware of the fact that the same distinction had been previously held by the To- ronto Blue Jays until they returned to playoff action in 2015. But how many know which major league fran- chise now holds the mark for longest post-season in- eptitude? Answer: baseball's Se- attle Mariners - who have been M.I.A. playoff-wise for 16 years now. The remainder of the top five are as follows: Cleveland Browns (15); Miami Marlins (14); Min- nesota Timberwolves (13); Sacramento Kings and San Diego Padres (11). • When I'm not rooting for my Rams, I'm pulling for the Bills but as a side note, I have to say that the Bills-Jaguars game that followed the breaking of that infamous streak was the dullest playoff contest I've watched since the 1994 World Cup final played at the Rose Bowl. Brazil and Italy went scoreless in both regula- tion and extra time be- fore, I'm told, Brazil final- ly won in a shootout. • I know many Raptors fans who are reluctant to give head coach Dwayne Casey his due but c'mon - hasn't he earned a little love by now? In the last four sea- sons, Casey's teams have averaged 51 wins per sea- son and won three divi- sion titles. I know they have yet to make the NBA finals but when your con- ference features LeBron James in his prime (be- tween Miami and Cleve- land he is now riding a seven-year streak of NBA finals appearances) - well, there's only so much you can do. I know that coaches are ultimately judged on play- off success and champion- ships but Casey deserves some serious Coach of the Year consideration. Heading into the All- Star break, the Raptors sit atop the Eastern Confer- ence with .719 winning percentage (41-16) and two games ahead of second- place Boston. Cautionary Note: the Cavaliers recent roster re- invention has Lebron re- vitalized, re-engaged and looking to make it eight in a row. • Staying with b-ball, a big congrats to Wilfrid Laurier University's (WLU's) Nicole Morrison who set a new scoring re- cord for most points in a season for the women's team. Morrison needed 13 points to tie the previous mark of 425 held by Meaghan McGrath but notched 14 in a loss to Guelph last week. It was a great way to celebrate Seniors Day for Morrison who, with two games left on the regular schedule, can now break McGrath's career points record of 1371. She's with- in thirteen points of ac- complishing that feat. • Staying with WLU, head coach of the women's hockey team, Rick Os- borne, also had a fitting end to his regular season. The longtime Golden Hawks bench boss is retir- ing at season's end but the team gave him a fitting farewell as they upset No. 8 Queens 3-2 in a shootout at the Waterloo Rec Com- plex in his final home game. Osborne was the OUA Women's Hockey Coach of the Year for five consecu- tive seasons from 2004/05 to 2008/09. • With all the attention being paid to World No. 1 Dustin Johnson and the return of former world No. 1 Tiger Woods, has anyone noticed that Listo- wel's Corey Conners has been quietly making cuts and has cashed a pay cheque in eight PGA events so far in this 2017- 2018 wraparound season? He may not be setting the golfing world on fire but Conners has now earned $180,374 this year and sits just 38 spots be- hind Tiger in the Official World Golf Rankings. (Conners is #588 while Woods is currently at #550) OK, he may be 14 major championships behind Tiger but, you know . baby steps . - Brian Totzke is a free- lance writer and is no- where close to earning a World Golf Ranking. OPINION Some much needed call-outs for a job well done Isn't it time that the Raptors' coach Casey gets some loves says Brian Totzke BRIAN TOTZKE Column