Posted at 5:00 a.m.
death and taxes
I find it unfair that the NHL salary cap does not take into account the local level of taxation. However, the players themselves take it into account and include it in their criteria.
John Lavoie
Couldn’t a Quebecer playing for the Canadiens make more money than elsewhere just with advertising? Jonathan Drouin has done ads for Bell, which is a shareholder of the Canadiens. Wouldn’t it be an advantage to attract Quebec stars to Montreal to circumvent the salary cap?
Julien Champigny
Response from Guillaume Lefrancois
We have grouped these two questions together because they come back to similar ideas: there are many factors that weigh on the attractiveness of a market to players. Tax rates are indeed one. There is an online tax calculator that allows you to compare the different rates.
A player earning $5 million per season, for example, will be taxed at 52.80% in Montreal, but also at 49.08% in Los Angeles and Anaheim. That said, players are paid in US dollars, so a member of a Canadian team recovers on the cost of living, due to the favorable exchange rate. This is only one factor.
Mr. Champigny’s question is another factor. You mention Jonathan Drouin, but Brendan Gallagher and Jeff Petry also did commercials for a restaurant chain that shares the name of a famous mustachioed man who won the Stanley Cup with the Flames in 1989. Can you imagine Petry or Gallagher featured in such an ad campaign in New York or Vegas? We neither. It is therefore the challenge of any GM to make such arguments to the agents of the players they are courting.
backhand story
PHOTO MICHEL EULER, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Stefanos Tsitsipas
In tennis, the majority of professional players (male and female) execute their backhands with a two-handed grip. Beyond the ease it provides to a young child who is learning tennis, is it proven to be superior to the one-handed backhand?
Benoit Boulais
Reply from Nicholas Richard
There are several reasons that may explain why some players decide to use the one-handed backhand and others two-handed. However, it is true that the two-handed backhand is much more common. For example, 9 of the top 10 players in the world on the men’s side use the two-handed backhand. Only Stéfanos Tsitsipás does his one-handed backhand. The first reason which could explain the choice of the player is on the one hand the ease. Naturally, some players feel more comfortable with one hand. However, the one-handed backhand is much more difficult to master. This is why Roger Federer or our Canadian Denis Shapovalov have a lot of merit. The velocity, the timing, footwork and frame position are a set of things that all need to be on point, at the same time, at impact. However, the one-handed backhand offers various advantages, such as power, the surprise effect in the event of cushioning and retro effect and the fact that you can cover more angles.
On the other hand, the two-handed grip is much easier to master and teach. This method allows for more stability, requires less force on one arm, and can also be more accurate. It also allows the player to provide more consistency, as fewer physical and positional elements are required to achieve a two-handed backhand. It’s also easier to return a serve with a two-handed full-power backhand.
Off-side
PHOTO JIM DEDMON, USA TODAY SPORTS ARCHIVES
Brandt Bronico of Charlotte FC kicks the ball past Romell Quioto of CF Montreal.
Hello. Despite my browsing on the internet, the notion of offside in soccer remains nebulous for me, especially since I understand that the referee has some discretion on this point. Anyway, do you have an explanation like “for dummies”?
Daniel D’Andre
Reply from Nicholas Richard
It is true that, first on board, the offside rule may seem complex, but it is easier to understand than it seems. Offside was introduced to prevent attackers from spending too much time near the opposing goalkeeper waiting for the ball. The game would otherwise be deadly boring and lacking in punch. Thus, to avoid this situation, a player cannot find himself behind the last opposing defender before the ball leaves his teammate’s foot. That’s why the line judge, on the edge of the field, is constantly moving. He follows the furthest defender of the team to be able to judge a possible offside, because this defender also becomes the offside line. Since the officials don’t have a bionic eye, they can sometimes get it wrong, given the closeness between players, but their batting average is usually pretty good.