Your midday sports snack.

Toast points

• Toronto FC will learn the identity of their MLS Cup final opponent shortly after midnight. It will almost certainly be the Seattle Sounders, who headed home for the second leg of their Western Conference title series with the Houston Dynamo up 2-0 on two away goals. The Sounders finished second in the West with 53 regular-season points, to TFC’s league-record 69. They were the team that edged Toronto in penalty kicks in a dramatic Cup final last December. Due to a quirk of the MLS playoff schedule, this year’s final won’t be played until Dec. 9, nine days from now.

• Derek Dorsett’s NHL career is over. Doctors have advised the 30-year-old Canucks winger to retire over lingering concerns about his neck and back health, and the team confirmed this morning that he won’t be reinstated to their active roster. Dorsett returned to the ice this season after undergoing cervical disc surgery last December, but has since shown symptoms of neck and back stiffness. He had nine points in 20 games this season and 127 points in 515 career games with the Canucks, Rangers and Blue Jackets.

• The Ducks traded defenceman Sami Vatanen to New Jersey this morning for a couple centres: Adam Henrique, a leading scorer on a series of mediocre Devils teams the last few seasons, and AHLer Joseph Blandisi. Vatanen has four points in 15 games this year and was third on the Ducks in ice time. Anaheim also got a third-round pick in 2018 and sent a conditional pick to the Devils — a third-rounder in 2019 or 2020, depending on if and when they re-sign Henrique.

• The Canadian Olympic curling trials begin in Ottawa on Saturday afternoon. Defending Brier champ Brad Gushue and reigning Olympic gold medallist Brad Jacobs headline the nine-team men’s draw, while Scotties champ Rachel Homan and Sochi 2014 winner Jennifer Jones are favoured to prevail on the women’s side. Round robin play continues through all of next week, with knockout matches and the finals set for Dec. 9-10.

• Tennis Canada named Frank Dancevic as the captain for the Davis Cup tie against Croatia in February. He will replace Martin Laurendeau, who stepped down from the post he held since 2004 to dedicate his time to coaching rising star Denis Shapovalov.

• Aaron Judge, the American League rookie of the year and runner-up for MVP this past season, got 10 write-in votes in the recent election for mayor of New York, the Associated Press reported last night. He finished just 760,102 short of the winning total for Bill DeBlasio. Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis got 11 votes, if you count the two where his name was misspelled (as “Kristops” and “Porzinais”).

• The Whistler Sliding Centre, where Canadian bobsledders won three World Cup medals and Jane Channell added one in skeleton last weekend, is holding an open house on Sunday where the public can take part in two-hour introductory clinics for bobsled, luge and skeleton that feature a trip down a short course. More information on minimum ages, cost and registration can be found here.

Nutritional information

There is a lot to unpack in the news that the New York Giants planned to bench Eli Manning this week in the middle of his 14th season, after 210 consecutive regular-season starts.

There’s the idea that the Giants would allow lame-duck head coach Ben McAdoo to make such a decision when it seems almost certain he won’t survive into next season. There are the reports that the Giants wanted to let Manning continue to start but that he would be replaced at halftime of every remaining game, winning or losing, to evaluate backups Geno Smith and Davis Webb. There’s the measure of Manning’s legacy in the franchise versus the reasonable desire to move on from a 36-year-old quarterback who seems to be losing his effectiveness.

ESPN reported this week on its Stats and Info Twitter feed that the other 31 NFL teams had started at least three quarterbacks since Eli’s first start in Week 11 of his rookie season, 2004. The Giants’ rivals in the NFC East had each used at least 10 QBs.

The Manning family is no stranger to difficult endings. Older brother Peyton went through it when Indianapolis was no longer willing to employ him at age 35 after he missed the 2011 season because of neck surgery. Peyton went on to play four more seasons in Denver and win a second Super Bowl to tie Eli’s family mark.

Below are three charts comparing the three Mannings and their NFL careers.

Eli has never been as accomplished as Peyton, who is among the small handful of greatest quarterbacks ever to play. Eli will likely be a fringe Hall of Fame candidate, mostly because of the two Super Bowls and the family name.

The data for won-loss records only goes back to 1999 at Pro-Football-Reference.com, so only Drew Brees (106) and Eli (100) have endured 100 or more losses in their career in that span. But that speaks as much to longevity as it does to their relative merits as quarterbacks.

Is it meaningful that the Giants only made the playoffs in six of Manning’s first 13 seasons? The better question will be whether there’s another team willing to buy into the final few seasons of Eli’s career the way Denver did with Peyton.

Photo of the day

He’s back. (Again.)

At nationalpost.com

• When Jozy Altidore scored on the hour mark of Toronto FC’s Eastern Conference-clinching victory last night, Steve Simmons thought of Bobby Baun, Kirk Gibson and Willis Reid. Hobbled by a knock to his leg 12 minutes earlier, Altidore stayed on the pitch long enough to join that illustrious group of playoff heroes, each of whom overcame injury in the biggest moment of their careers. Even before the Cup final is played, Simmons writes, TFC fans got a playoff memory to cherish for many years.

• How does junior hockey’s busiest man spend his days? John Matisz spent several hours hovering around Mississauga Steelheads GM and coach James Richmond, one of only three head coaches in the Ontario Hockey League also tasked with managerial duties. Matisz’s fly-on-the-wall diary takes you around the organized chaos of the Hershey Centre, from the worn black leather chair where Richmond makes his trade calls to the motivational Doug Gilmour quote above a urinal near the video room.

TV this weekend

All times Eastern

Thursday

12:30 p.m. Golf: Hero World Challenge, first round Golf Channel
7:30 p.m. NHL: Montreal at Detroit TSN2, RDS
7:30 p.m. NBA
— Philadelphia at Boston SN One
— Cleveland at Atlanta NBATV
8 p.m. NHL: Vancouver at Nashville Sportsnet
8:25 p.m. NFL: Washington at Dallas NBC, TSN3,5
9 p.m. NHL
— Arizona at Calgary SN 360
— Toronto at Edmonton SN West, TSN4, TVAS
9:30 p.m. Golf: Australian PGA Championship, second round Golf Channel
10 p.m. NBA: Milwaukee at Portland SN One
10:30 p.m. MLS Western Conference final, second leg, Seattle vs. Houston TSN1

Friday

9:50 a.m. Soccer: FIFA World Cup 2018 draw TSN1
10 a.m. Cycling: World Cup track event (Milton, Ont.) CBC.ca streaming
Noon Freestyle skiing: World Cup big air CBC.ca streaming
12:30 p.m. Golf: Hero World Challenge, second round Golf Channel
12:45 p.m. Alpine skiing: World Cup men’s super-G CBC.ca streaming
2:30 p.m. Alpine skiing: World Cup women’s downhill No. 1 (Lake Louise) CBC.ca streaming
2:30 p.m. Speed skating: World Cup women’s 3,000, men’s 5,000 and team sprint (Calgary) CBC.ca streaming
7 p.m. NHL
— Pittsburgh at Buffalo Sportsnet, TVAS
— Ottawa at NY Islanders TSN5, RDS
7:30 p.m. NBA: Indiana at Toronto TSN1,4
8 p.m. NCAA Football: Pac-12 Championship, Stanford vs. USC TSN2
8 p.m. NHL: Vegas at Winnipeg TSN3
9:30 p.m. Golf: Australian PGA Championship, third round Golf Channel

Saturday

3:10 a.m. Luge: World Cup doubles, first run CBC.ca streaming
— Second run, 4:30 a.m.
5:55 a.m. Luge: World Cup men’s, first run CBC.ca streaming
— Second run, 7:35 a.m.
7:30 a.m. Soccer: Premier League, Chelsea vs. Newcastle TSN1,4,5
10 a.m. Soccer: Premier League
— Everton vs. Huddersfield Sportsnet
— Brighton vs. Liverpool TSN1
— Watford vs. Tottenham TSN4
— Leicester vs. Burnley TSN5
— Stoke vs. Swansea SN One
Noon NCAA Football
— AAC Championship: Memphis at Central Florida ABC
— Conference USA Championship: North Texas at Florida Atlantic TSN2
Noon Golf: Hero World Challenge, third round Golf Channel
Noon Snowboard: World Cup big air CBC.ca streaming
Noon Cycling: World Cup track event, afternoon session (Milton, Ont.) CBC.ca streaming
12:30 p.m. NCAA Football: Big 12 Championship: TCU vs. Oklahoma FOX
12:30 p.m. Soccer: Premier League, Arsenal vs. Manchester United SN One
1 p.m. NHL: Boston at Philadelphia Sportsnet
1 p.m. NBA: Phoenix at Boston NBATV
1 p.m. Alpine skiing: World Cup men’s downhill CBC.ca streaming
2 p.m. Curling: Roar of the Rings Olympic Trials, draw 1 TSN1,3-5
2 p.m. Speed skating: World Cup men’s and women’s 1,000 metres and team pursuit (Calgary) CBC.ca streaming
2:30 p.m. Golf: Hero World Challenge, third round NBC (TSN2 at 3:30 p.m.)
2:30 p.m. Alpine skiing: World Cup women’s downhill No. 2 (Lake Louise) CBC.ca streaming
3:30 p.m. CHL: Barrie at Ottawa Sportsnet, SN One
4 p.m. NCAA Football: SEC Championship: Georgia vs. Auburn CBS
6 p.m. Cycling: World Cup track event, evening session (Milton, Ont.) CBC.ca streaming
7 p.m. NHL
— Toronto at Vancouver CBC, City
— Detroit at Montreal Sportsnet, TVAS
7 p.m. Curling: Roar of the Rings Olympic Trials, draw 2 TSN1,3-5
7:30 p.m. NBA: Memphis at Cleveland SN One
8 p.m. NCAA Football
— ACC Championship: Miami vs. Clemson ABC
— Big Ten Championship: Ohio State vs. Wisconsin FOX
8 p.m. UFC 218 prelims TSN2
9 p.m. NBA: LA Lakers at Denver NBATV
9:30 p.m. Golf: Australian PGA Championship, final round Golf Channel
10 p.m. NHL: Edmonton at Calgary CBC, Sportsnet
10 p.m. NBA: New Orleans at Portland TSN2

Sunday

4 a.m. Luge: World Cup women’s, first run CBC.ca streaming
— Second run, 5:20 a.m.
7:10 a.m. Luge: World Cup team relay CBC.ca streaming
8:30 a.m. Soccer: Premier League, Bournemouth vs. Southampton SN World
9 a.m. Curling: Roar of the Rings Olympic Trials, draw 3 TSN1,3,5
10 a.m. Cycling: World Cup track event, morning session (Milton, Ont.) CBC.ca streaming
11 a.m. Soccer: Premier League, Manchester City vs. West Ham Sportsnet
11 a.m. Golf: Hero World Challenge, final round Golf Channel
11:45 a.m. Alpine skiing: World Cup men’s giant slalom, first run CBC.ca streaming
— Second run, 2 p.m.
1 p.m. NFL
— New England at Buffalo CTV (Toronto, Kitchener, Montreal, Atlantic), CBS (regional)
— Detroit at Baltimore TSN4, FOX (regional)
— Minnesota at Atlanta CTV (B.C., Alberta, Sask., Winnipeg, Northern Ontario, Ottawa), FOX (regional), RDS
— San Francisco at Chicago CBS (regional)
— Kansas City at NY Jets CBS (regional)
1 p.m. Golf: Hero World Challenge, final round NBC
1 p.m. Alpine skiing: World Cup women’s super-G (Lake Louise) CBC.ca streaming
2 p.m. Curling: Roar of the Rings Olympic Trials, draw 4 TSN1,3,5
2:30 p.m. Speed skating: World Cup men’s and women’s 500, 1,500 and mass start (Calgary) CBC.ca streaming
4 p.m. NFL: Cleveland at LA Chargers TSN4, CBS
4 p.m. Women’s hockey: Canada vs. U.S. at St. Paul, Minn. TSN2
4 p.m. Cycling: World Cup track event, evening session (Milton, Ont.) CBC.ca streaming
4:25 p.m. NFL
— Carolina at New Orleans CTV (Sask., Winnipeg, Ontario), CTV Two (Atlantic), FOX (regional), RDS
— LA Rams at Arizona CTV (B.C., Alberta), FOX (regional)
— NY Giants at Oakland CTV (Montreal), FOX (regional)
7 p.m. NHL: Ottawa at Winnipeg Sportsnet, TVAS
7 p.m. NBA
— Golden State at Miami SN One
— San Antonio at Oklahoma City NBATV
7 p.m. Curling: Roar of the Rings Olympic Trials, draw 5 TSN2
8:15 p.m. NFL: Philadelphia at Seattle NBC, CTV Two, TSN1,3-5, RDS
9:30 p.m. NBA: Houston at LA Lakers SN One

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