Its an election year and everyone has a various method on trying to win your vote. As Hillary and Obama battle it out in various states no one cares about (love you Indiana!), there is a senate race in Oregon that demands our attention.
Politics is a strange debate. We get caught up over trying to vote for someone who is like us, because somehow we view "like us" as "represents us best", which is really different. I won't pontificate for too long, but its the reason we have had the same president for the past 8 years. Because he was way more like us than a snooty Kerry. We could have a beer with Bush!
People are slowly realize that people can be, and in fact should be, smarter than us. We don't need people like us in Washington, we need people who can lead us.
And yet, against everything I have just said, I have found my man for Oregon's senatorial spot. Steve Novick. Steve is running on the platform that he isn't your typical politician. And he is not. He is 4'9". He isn't an orangish-color with slicked back hair. Oh, and he has a metal hook. That he uses at bars!
Check out this political ad:
He manages to work in the aspect that I WOULD want to sit around and have a beer with him, with the fact that he is half cyborg! You knew this day would come! He also has this brilliant ad:
You feeling that? Its a candidate you can really love. Deep down you don't love any other candidate. You like Hillary because you are a female. You like Barack because you don't want other people to know you harbor racist thoughts. You like McCain because you like ruling the world on shear terror. But you like Steve Novick because he is short and has a hook. And apparently quite humorous.
Is it too early for me to buy www.stevenovickforpresident2012.com yet?
Source: The Big Lead
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Voting Season!
Spotted!
I think seeing a celebrity in real life is always sort of funny. A solid handful obviously live around New York. Most have to appear outside at some point. But I think seeing them when you are not looking for them is hard to do. When you are watching a movie, every character triggers a "where have I seen him before?" response. But walking down the street, you don't examine each face trying to think where you have seen them before.
Really, you only spot celebrities if they are doing something strange. At least that has been my case. Take this morning, for example. I am walking to work and see this dude riding a scooter while walking his dog, which seems like a mix between a really lazing thing to do, and really relaxing (since he wasn't going to fast, for the sake of the dog). Once that spectacle caught my eye, I realized the guy on the scooter was John Liguizamo.
Just taking his dog on a walk. Via scooter.
Strangely, it was the same location I have seen Ethan Hawke on a few occasions. Maybe they are roommates.
Sports Watercooler
Basketball is a strange sport in this regard. There probably isn't a sport that more people play, more people watch at the college level and totally disregard the professional level. The NBA playoffs are amazing right now. These first round games have been wild. Remember when everyone thought that the Celtics would plow through the Hawks? Well that series is tied 2-2. And when people thought that the Suns and the Spurs would be a battle to the end? After an amazing Game 1, the Spurs buzzed through the Suns so fast that the Suns coach is now out of a job (D'Antoni's stint on the unemployment line will last what? a month?).
So even though I have much less knowledge about the NBA than Dr. J, I am far less busy, so lets get caught up to speed together.
Advancing to the second round: Welcome to the New Orleans Hornets, the San Antonio Spurs, the Orlando Magic, and the Las Angeles Lakers. While the Lakers beat Denver in a sweep (and thus starting 4 months of "Who Wants to Trade for Carmello?" sweepstakes), all the other series mentioned were over in 5 games.
Hanging around: This would be the Philadelphia 76ers and the Houston Rockets, who are both on the brink of elimination 3 games to 2. The 76ers started out with a major upset win but then lost their mojo as Detroit didn't panic and played their game. Houston started out by losing both home games but then took 2 in Utah.
What the hell? As previously mentioned, the Atlanta Hawks (aka former punchline of the NBA) are tied in their series with Boston. And while I don't expect them to win another game this series, you have to be enjoying the ride. Atlanta won on sheer emotion Monday night, as Joe Johnson had 20 points in the 4th quarter. How can you not be cheering for the loveable losers to take down Goliath? And the single worst thing you can give an underdog opponent: confidence. They now have the swagger and they think they can actually win this thing.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Your Cheatin' Heart
Raise your hand if this Clemens having an affair with a 15 year old country music star frightens you. It sounds like a plot line out of a bad television show.
But really, is this even a story? Sorry for all this participation, but raise your hand if you are still surprised to read about affairs with professional athletes. When A-Rod was caught with that stripper friend last year, the media flipped out and most sports fans yawned, saw she wasn't even attractive, maybe made a quick joke, and was ready to move on.
And here again, its the perfect media cares more than us storm. It involves Clemens (yawn) and a professional athlete's love life (yawn).
People like to hear about athletes lives, they like stories like Reggie Willits, utility player for the Angels who actually lives in a batting cage. And stories like Roy Oswalt getting a Bulldozer from the owner when he won the Cy Young because he always wanted one. Fun, quirky stories are good. Hard struggle stories are good (see Hamilton, Josh). But stories we all already assume to be true, its worth a glance and its time to move on.
Clemens added some shock value with the age and profession of his mistress. But really, did anyone read any of those articles with the same attentiveness you read about a truely compelling story? One where you read the initial article, then google it to find out if there is commentary online? No.
And what's sad is, the media sees Scandal and Big Name and just assumes that we will really care about this. We care about last night's game. The scores. Who hit the big hits, who pitched lights out, and when Jorge will be back. Not retired pitchers stepping out on their wives 20 years ago.
Monday, April 28, 2008
The Sports Watercooler
Now that the NFL draft is over, what are the emotions? How do you feel about what your team did this weekend? Are you excited for a new era of Quarterbacking Atlanta, Baltimore, Miami, Green Bay, and Minnesota? Are you excited not really for next year, but for the future Kansas City? Are you excited just to watch someone with insane talent St. Louis and Oakland?
And how many people have read "report cards" about how your team did? Post draft analysis and report cards are one of the most fun and one of the most pointless parts of the draft. There is no way you can predict how the draft can pan itself out until 3 years down the road. Yet, it still helps to put some sort of grade on how your team did.
Mainly though, fans will only feel elated. Unless your team took Ted Ginn 3 rounds before he should have gone, the day after the draft is full of hope and excitement. Your first round pick was a beast in college. Imagine what he can do when he has some real teammates around him.
So today is a day of never ending possibilities. Your rivals all drafted like crap, you can't believe at least 2 of your picks fell to your team, and your 5th round pick is a sleeper. Mel Kiper will see eventually that they deserved higher than a B-.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Now we can all be "athletes!"
There are a couple of reasons Ninendo decide to design the Wii to be so unique. One was because the GameCube blew goats. But their marketing department would like to tell you that its to give the average couch sitting video gamer some sort of exercise.
And Wii games are fun. You really are swinging a baseball bat, a golf club or a sword (yeah, the new Zelda is sorta awesome. Screw you). Its a way for people who are not good at golf, to be good at golf using a similar skill set. So what task would they accomplish now? Eating.
On May 12, "Major League Eating: The Game" hits shelves. Exclusively for the Wii. To quote Nintendo World Report:
The game features the world's greatest gurgitory athletes competing across a variety of foods and venues. Built much like a classic fighting game and deeper than a Chicago style deep-dish pizza, MLE: The Game requires players to master a smorgasbord of offensive and defensive weapons including bites, burps, belches, mustard gas and jalapeño flames while cramming and chewing food at a world-class pace. It's not for the faint of heart, the slow of reflex, or those with an overly strong aversion to a Technicolor reversal of fortune.
Players will use the Wii-mote to simulate different eating techniques including the cram, toss, and "typewriter."
You can play 2 player mode or online. And apparently the 2 player mode will feature plenty of mini-games and competitions for you and your friends. And all the big names are a part of the game. Play as Crazy Legs, Kobiyashi, that Asian Girl, Joey Chesnut, Eater X, you name it!
Here is a screen shot.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
2008 NFL Mock Draft
It has always been my general thesis that no one can correctly predict the NFL draft. Its near impossible. There are too many trades, too many dumb GMs, and way too many strange things. NFL teams take into account much more than just talent in the college level. They rely on the combine, they rely on character, on marketing (drafting someone from the local school), and need.
So I am not even going to attempt to offer a guess at what all these teams will do in the first round. Instead, I am going to offer you what they all should do. If the draft were based solely on need and the talent of the college kids, this is what should happen.
1. Miami Jack Long
Well, the drama is gone here. They have already signed Jake Long. Which is a good pick for a team clearly rebuilding. A strong O-Line is the main building block of any team. It will give a young (and probably terrible) quarterback more time, and it will help the running game chew up clock time. Solid pick for Miami.
2 Rams Chris Long
The Rams really needed an O-Lineman here. Their quarterback suffered a lot last year after being sacked more times than Lindsey Lohan (British innuendo, yes!). But you aren't the second pick in the draft and only have one weakness. The Rams suck, so they are gonna take the best player they can to fill some of their many holes. Chris Long it is!
3 Atlanta Glenn Dorsey
So here I get to rant for a bit. Atlanta obviously needs a quarterback, what with theirs sitting in prison. The best QB in this draft is Matt Ryan. But he is not one of the best 3 players in this draft. And this is where teams screw up. Its how good players drop and how bad players get labeled as busts because they have expectations they don't have the skills to exceed. Do you take a guy who is 15-20 talent-wise with the number 3 spot? Or just take the third best guy because he is freaking awesome? Well, since this is my draft, I am taking Dorsey. And he is a beast.
4 Oakland Raiders Darren McFadden
Here is a case where you just got to man up and pick the best guy. Darren McFadden is the best player in this draft, is loaded with talent, and is going to be really good in the NFL. People have been focusing on his character issues and his kids (who didn't have 2 kids from 2 girls coming out of college), but forget what a transcendent college player he was. He threw, ran, and caught touchdowns with ease. It doesn't matter that the Raiders have about a dozen running backs on their roster, McFadden will be better than all of them by the end of camp.
5 Kansas City Ryan Clady
After trading with Minnesota they now own the first day of the draft. 2 first round picks and a ton of second and third rounders. With that many picks, they can, and should, just stash linemen to build toward the future. Why Ryan Clady? I haven't even heard of the dude, but the guy on NFL.com predicted this, so I will go along with him.
6 NY Jets Jeff Laggelman
Ha, just kidding. But seriously, if you have never seen this YouTube, you gotta check it out. Its a montage of all the Jets picks from the about 10 years ago and the crowd reactions. This clip along has made sure I am sitting in front of a TV on Saturday when the Jets pick, just to hear the crowd boo, no matter who they pick. A lot of the local media think the Jets could land McFadden here, which would make me happy. I have also read that they Jets love Matt Ryan here, which see my thoughts in from the Atlanta pick. My reaction would be pretty much like the fans in the YouTube.
7 New England Humility
After riding high all last season starting with the Red Sox championship, the Celtics acquiring one of the best players of all time, and the Patriots going undefeated, a lot of Boston fans and players started to get a bit of an ego. And openly wondered where their place in history belonged. The Giants put them in their place right? Well, remember the week leading up to the playoffs when the Patriots organization tried to copyright the phrase "19-0". You would think they dropped their case, no? Well, they are still going through with trying to get it branded. I think a nice dose of humility is a good value pick for the Patriots here at 7.
8. Baltimore Ravens Matt Ryan
Now here is where a good QB should be taken. Sure its still above his current talent level, but the Ravens desperately need a good QB. Right now they are headed to camp debating on whether Kyle Boeller or Troy Smith is going to lead this team. Matt Ryan already has the East Coast appeal, so I deem this an acceptable place for him to go.
9 Bengals Dr. Joyce Winters, Child Psychologist
This Chad Johnson thing is getting out of hand. First he wants to get traded. Then he loves Cincinnati. The he is photographed holding a customized Redskins jersey with his name on it. Now he refuses to play unless they trade him. Meanwhile, Marvin Lewis is calling his bluff and telling him to go ahead and sit out. Really, this is a lot of work for a player who became well known because of his outlandish dances, his numbers do not add up to elite player. At least TO can back up his insanity.
10 Saints Dominque Rodgers-Cromartie
The Saints need a corner, and most everything I have read about this kid is: "his cousin was a star in the NFL last year who dropped too far in the draft! Don't miss out on these genes!" Also, just to monitor, the Saints may not be picking here, as they have their sights set on Jeremy Shockey. And I think this is a great trade. The Giants didn't really gel until after Shockey was hurt and not playing, and the Saints have his TE coach from his rookie year, when he cared.
11 Buffalo Bills A New Contract
I can't decide if drafting Trent Edwards last year was a good thing for them or bad. On one hand, they now have a QB who was actually pretty serviceable. On the other, they have to pay JP Losman star QB money as he rides the pine.
12 Denver Chris Williams
Remember when Denver could just slap any RB in the game and he would rush for 140 yards and 2 TDs? Well last year, that didn't happen at all. So its time for Shanny to shore up that O-Line again. Chris Williams could help them do that. Plus, as a bonus, he is used to holding the line for Jay Cutler, as they were college teammates.
13 Carolina Some lineman you have never heard of
They are yet another team whose QBs were hurt far too often. Panther fans, you want to make sure David Carr never sees the field next seaon? Pray they draft a lineman here.
14 Chicago Bears 2006
How many people watched this team last year and really wondered how in God's name this team was in the Superbowl a year ago?
15 Detroit Lions A new GM
I managed to sneak a peak at Matt Millans draft cheat sheet. His top 5 are: DeSean Jackson, Limas Sweed, James Hardy, Malcolm Kelly, and Devin Thomas. Are Lions selecting WR jokes old yet?
16 Arizona Cardinals Jonathon Stewart
Edgerrin James's career took a huge nosedive as soon as he left the Colts. At first people blamed the bad O-line. But eventually, people are just gonna see that Edge is getting old. Jonathon Stewart will provide an insane 1-2 combo in the running back position here.
17 Kansas City (From Minnesota)
See pick 5. But since Minnesota now has no first pick, let me take this time to laud the trade they just made. Character issues aside, this is an amazing pick for them. The Vikings haven't had the best track record when it comes to the draft (anyone remember when they just missed their pick for 3 slots a few years ago?). The only time their drafts have paid off, is when players drop way further than they should have and Minnesota had to take them (Adrian "Purple Jesus" Peterson and Randy Moss). So this year, they trade the chance to take a bust and instead get a guy who lead the league in sacks. A pass rusher was a big hole they had last season, why not fill it with the best? Good work on knowing you suck at this Minnesota.
18 Houston Texans Whoever they want
The Texans got racked over the coals when they picked Mario Williams over Reggie Bush and Vince Young. Now? They have one of the best young defenders in the league while the other two have been sucking royally. I can make a snarky comment, or try and say what they should do, but they have earned the right to do whatever the fuck they want right here.
19 Eagles Gosder Cherilus
Maybe I missed it when BC was running all over Notre Dame this year, but does anyone else have a cooler name? If I was this guy, I would demand both my first and last name to be printed on my jersey. And the Eagles like to draft linemen, so he makes sense here.
20 Tampa Bay Any free agent QB
Remember last year when they had like 5 quarterbacks on their roster? That was funny. Lets recycle that joke.
21 Washington Limas Sweed
The Skins are where wide receivers go to die. They have picked up free agents left and right, pay them a ton of money, and none pan out. Now that their attempt at ruining Chad Johnson has failed, they will look to fill their gap in the draft. Limas, apart from having the name of a children's movie villain, should work.
22 Dallas Cowboys Felix Jones
Without Julius Jones, I don't think Dallas feels that Barber can carry the ball all the time. Even in college he shared the role with Maroney. Felix Jones has the potential to be an amazing star. But in college he split carries with McFadden. Well, I think its pretty obvious here. Both backs are like former Siamese twins looking for someone to complete themselves. And I think this is a fit!
23 Pittsburgh Steelers Nate McLouth
The dude has been tearing it up for the Pirates this year. His 19 game hitting streak just ended. Since he is already being worshiped in Pittsburgh right now, I don't think any fan will object to this pick.
24 Tennessee A new hairstyle for Jeff Fischer
This guy has been rocking the semi-mullet and mustache combination for a while now. I think its time to switch it up to a hairstyle that has been out of style for only 5 years now. Like a goatee.
25 Seattle Shaun Alexander
We just cut who? The guy who was MVP 2 years ago? Well at least we have a good back up. Who? Matt Morris? And we traded for Julius Jones? Aw Christ.
Just kidding. Alexander is a shell of his former self.
26 Jacksonville ????
I honestly don't know much about them at all. I know they were pretty good last year and were probably the 2nd best team in the league behind the Patriots. That said, I have no idea who they should draft. Probably a WR.
27 San Diego Chargers Chad Henne
Its looking more and more like Rivers will be a serviceable QB, but not a great one. Why not pull the trigger and hope Henne is such? I do think that its a bit of a reach and goes against everything I said about Matt Ryan earlier, but its pick 27, I am running out of people I know, and I doubt anyone is reading anymore anyways.
28 Dallas A Good Attorney
After trading for PacMan Jones (Pac-Man? Pacman? Pac Man?), they are going to need a good lawyer around at all times. This guy has some serious skills. He also manages to be around a lot of people shooting guns. That and they whole making it rain thing.
29 San Francisco Pity
It really does suck for them to have their first pick at 29. No one on their team is as good as people thought. A solid pick of some nationwide pity should make them feel better for a bit.
30 Green Bay Packers Jesus
With Brett Farve gone, Wisconsinites are going to need someone else to worship on Sundays. Its about time they found Jesus. The one who doesn't star in Wranger's ads.
31 New England (Void)
How hilarious would it be if ESPN and the commissioner just made the Patriots take the full 10 minutes while everyone just sat around, discussing things. Maybe a few shots of their war room.
32 New York Giants whichever corner or safety is left
With the final pick in the first round, look for the Giants to draft for the secondary. I felt this was a main weakness last year.
The Sports Watercooler
Its the raw power of the NFL where it can dominate ESPN news coverage 3 and a half months before the season starts. I know that the draft is coming up this weekend and is always a conversation starter, but this goes beyond just draft coverage.
News abounds in across the sporting world, as the NFL has trumped baseball as the season is starting to find its grove, the NBA as the best playoffs in the last ten years are underway, and the NHL playoffs as they enter the second round.
We have news about Pac-Man Jones getting traded. We have Shaun Alexander being cut. We have Matt Walsh agreeing to meet with the NFL on May 13. We have Miami signing their number one pick already and actively shopping Taylor around now (you mean you worry that your franchise player may not be committed to the team because he spends the offseason dancing on national TV? Shocking!)
On that note, stay tuned this afternoon for Bikes in Trees first ever Mock Draft.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Strange Sunday
So I often debate on how much of my personal life I should put in here. On one hand, I like to read about things people experience that I either can not or had never had the opportunity. Sort of like Big Grizz's tales of Lightning Bingo, or someone going to eat in a fancy restaurant, going to an event, or this blogger's first hand narrative of being at Lamar Odom's end of the season party. Cool stuff happens to people, and its fun to read about.
On the other hand, blogs are still public forum and while I don't think twice about any of my illogical sports theories and predictions, real life is a different beast.
But with the realization that 90% of you probably won't experience what happened to me last Sunday, and the fact that only about 10 people read this, I present to you, my Sunday.
I am in the process of designing a website from somebody in the fashion industry. She has appeared on television before and various people reckonize her name when I tell them, so I guess she is big in come circles. I obviously had never heard of her until she hired me.
On Sunday, we were scheduled to take photographs for her website. And since this is the fashion industry, there was no half-assing this. They had hired 5 or 6 models from agencies around the city, and a photographer whose works have appeared in Vogue, Essence, and the like. He had a really cool picture he took of Halle Berry in his place (apparently she was real nice, but not too outgoing when it came to poses. She just stuck with the same 4 or 5 looks, publicist approved).
So the shoot was scheduled to take place in the photographer's apartment and rooftop. I took my lovely assistant with me and we headed down there. I should have realized it before hand, but we were set to get started at the same time The Pope was set to have a ceremony at Ground Zero a few blocks away.
The first sign I totally ignored was that we had to get off the subway 2 stops early. Which meant for a few minutes of confused walking before I figured out the direction we needed to be headed. We got to a point where I could see exactly where we needed to be across the street. Sadly, every cross street had at least 2 or 3 police officers directing people away. There was no crossing this street. It then dawned on me that The Pope was making an appearance.
After walking the length of the West Side Highway to Battery Park, we found a spot where they were letting people pass. So we made our way back around and to the correct building.
An assistant met us at the ground level and took us to the 26th floor where everyone was getting prepped. It was a strange seen. From what I could see, there were 2 hair stylists, and each one of those had at least 1 assistant (one girl was just there to do eye lashes). There were also make up artists with big suitcases sort of milling about.
Sorry to break a lot of bubbles here, but models are not really attractive in person. They all came in one at a time, looking like they had just had a long night of booze and crack, and puking up breakfast. Once hair and make up were done, they looked much better, but still, it was like finding out there was no Santa Claus.
Outside the window, something began to catch everyone's attention, the Papal motorcade was pulling up. We just happened to have a front and center view of the entire proceedings (except, 26 stories high). The Papal limo drove into this tent and out the other side drove the always awesome Pope Mobile. He rode that for something like 100 feet (tops) and then got out. He met the governor, the mayor, some 9/11 people, and then got back into the Pope Mobile, back into the tent, the limo came out the other side again (Pope magic!), and the whole motorcade drove off again.
And that was that. At least outside the window.
Inside the apartment was still nuts. It was lunch time now, so they brought out a tray of sandwiches. Not wanting to be "that guy", I let other people pick first. BIG MISTAKE. It looked like a bunch of small woodland creatures were there. The models just took the ham and the lettuce from the sandwiches, and left a tray of croissant scraps and cheese.
Luckily the tray of cookies went untouched.
The rest of the day (I left soon after lunch) went about what you expect. The photographer kept telling them how to act ("You are suspicious!"), the models all made the same, disinterested face, and somehow, we will end up with amazing pictures.
So the Pope and a Photoshoot, all before noon on a Sunday.
Oh, and I forgot to mention the creepiest thing--hair extensions. I don't know if any of our female readers have had these before, but it gave me nightmares that night. The hairstylist just busted out a Gristedes bag full of hair. All different colors and what not. I can't even write about this, I am gagging.
The Sports Watercooler
A quick rundown from last night's news from the sporting world.
We have 2 sports in their playoffs, and if you are like me, its hard to keep up with all of the various series. So here is a cheat sheet to get you all caught up.
NBA:
East:
Boston leads Atlanta 1-0.
The first meeting went exactly how people thought it would. A blow out. 90% of NBA fans still can't come to terms with the fact that the Atlanta Hawks are even in the playoffs.
Philadelphia leads Detroit 1-0
In the biggest upset of the playoffs, the 76ers overcame a big deficit to steal one away from the Pistons.
Cleveland leads Washington 2-0
These teams have met in the playoffs the past 2 years in a row, and you can tell. Last night's game featured flagrant fouls and an ejection. It also featured a Cavs blowout.
Orlando leads Toronto 1-0.
Dwight Howard had a monster Game 1, but even though the score was a blowout, these two teams are fairly evenly matched.
West:
LA leads Denver 1-0.
No big shock here. Pau Gasol obviously loved playing in a meaningful playoff game, as he had a fantastic game.
New Orleans leads Dallas 1-0.
A lot of people thought that Dallas could pull the upset and win this series. So far, not so good.
San Antonio leads Phoenix 1-0.
What promised to be the most excited first round matchup of all time did not disappoint in Game 1. San Antonio won in a last second drive in 2 OTs.
Utah leads Houston 2-0.
Tracy McGrady just as far as he ever has been from finally winning a playoff series.
NHL:
Eastern:
Montreal beat Boston 4-3.
Even though they needed 7 games to beat the previously terrible Bruins, the Canadians will advance to the second round.
Philadelphia and Washington are tied 3-3.
Game 7 is tonight. Apart from scoring twice in Game 6, superstar Ovechkin has been quiet this whole series.
New York beat New Jersey 4-1.
The Rangers made light work of the Devils, as Lundgvist had a great series.
Pittsburgh beat Ottawa 4-0.
If you blinked, you missed this series. NHL front office was too busy giving each other high fives over Sidney Crosby making it further in the playoffs to comment.
West:
Dallas beat Anaheim 4-2.
And the Stanley Cup's stay in Anaheim is short lived, as the defending champions barely put up a fight.
Calgary and San Jose are tied 3-3.
The pivotal Game 7 is tonight in San Jose. As you know, as of yesterday, I am a huge Calgary fan. Go Flames!
Detroit beat Nashville 4-2.
After a brief scare from Nashville, the Red Wings made sure to remind them which city was home to country music, and which city was titled "Hockey Town".
Colorado beat Minnesota 4-2.
A lot of games this series went to OT, but Colorado prevailed.
And now, you can be all caught up! Some fun games to watch tonight if you are bored. Two exciting NHL Game 7s, the next Suns/Spurs game, and, obviously, Hell's Kitchen. But that is neither here nor there.
Go Flames.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Sports Watercooler
Today has been a busy day, and sadly, I foresee a lot of that this week.
And don't go expecting any posts tonight, because Gossip Girls is back on and my ass will be parked in front of the TV for that one. How can Blair possibly go back to that school when everyone hates her?! Little Jenny is more popular than her and she is from, ugh, Brooklyn! We can't let poor people who actually live in huge million dollar Brooklyn lofts become popular at our cities most prestigious high schools!!
Anyways, I can't let a Monday go by without picking a Bandwagon Team of the week.
And this one will be tricky, but pretty easy to do. Everyone loves cheering for an underdog. And no underdog will be more fun to cheer for this week than the Calgary Flame. They are an 8 seed playing the 1 seed. The series is tied 3 to 3. In fact, their opponent , the San Jose Sharks had the third best odds of winning the Stanley Cup, according to Vegas.
Plus, look deep within your heart and be honest with yourself. A team from San Jose, California has no business knocking a team from Canada out of the NHL Playoffs. They are the only people who even care about the sport!
Tomorrow night is Game 7. As a whole, hockey Game 7s have more intensity and more drama than any other sports. So hop on the bandwagon and cheer for the Flames with me, eh?
Friday, April 18, 2008
The Get Pumped for the Weekend Video
Everybody is just working for the weekend, right? How about The Office remix?
By the way, great episode last night.
NBA Playoffs: Western Conference
By Dr. J
Now that the Western Conference matchups have been set, I can give my take on them. Even though I give predictions with each one of the series, I wouldn’t be surprised if I was dead wrong for any of them except for the Lakers series. All the teams in the West are pretty closely matched up, and this will make for some great playoff basketball.
1 Los Angeles Lakers vs. 8 Denver Nuggets
Of all the Western Conference playoff matchups, this is the only one which I can see going one way. The Lakers are far and away the favorite of this match-up, and their ability to achieve the best record in the West legitimizes that status. Ever since LA stole (and that’s not strong enough of a word) Pau Gasol from the Grizzlies, they have been playing the best out of any team in the Western Conference. Gasol has fit in nicely, and Lamar Odom appears to be much more comfortable as a third option after Gasol’s arrival. Then there’s Kobe. Kobe is the most indomitable force in the NBA. He is unstoppable. Every time he’s on the floor and doesn’t take the shot on offense, I’m flabbergasted. The Nuggets, on the other hand, have some superstars playing for them, too. Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson are great players, and Kenyon Martin and Nene are functional role players. And don’t even get me started on Eduardo Najera. The Nuggets inability (or is it disinterest?) to play defense is what will make all the difference in this series. Kobe can’t be stopped, and the double teams he draws will only make it easier for Gasol and Odom.
Prediction: The Lakers will flex their muscles against the Nuggets. Because of the Denver superstars, the Nuggets will probably be able to muster enough for one win, but I don’t see much more than that. Lakers in 5.
2 New Orleans Hornets vs. 7 Dallas Mavericks
This series is hard to have an opinion on. The Hornets have the much better regular season record, and they have a budding superstar (and MVP candidate) in Chris Paul. The one thing working against them, though, is that they have a major lack of post-season experience. What I can’t decide here is if they have enough talent to overcome that, and it appears as if they do. They have two all-stars in David West and Chris Paul. Tyson Chandler is a force down low, and who could forget about Peja Stojakovic? This team has some budding stars and great role players around them. Then there are the Mavs. They have the reigning MVP in Dirk Nowitzki, a veteran point guard in Jason Kidd, a shooting guard with ice in his veins with Jason Terry, and a good supporting cast in Josh Howard and Erick Dampier. So, the Mavs easily sport the more veteran cast of characters of the match-up. Working against Dallas, however, is the injury report. Dirk has never completely healed from his late-season injury, and Jerry Stackhouse is still feeling the effects of a groin pull. Finally, there is the playing style of the two teams. The Hornets, by virtue of their superb point guard, are always able to find an easy basket, while the Mavs fall in love with the jumpshot too much. This propensity for taking tough shots will most likely rear its ugly head at the ends of close games, when the defensive intensity gets pumped up.
Prediction: Dallas has experience on its side, and New Orleans has unproven talent working for it. New Orleans has the home-court advantage, and that ought to be enough to just nudge them ahead of the Mavs (because that arena will be going nuts). Hornets in 7.
3 San Antonio Spurs vs. 6 Phoenix Suns
Here you have the classic case of two teams headed in opposite directions. The Suns have started to hit their stride after their addition of Shaquille O’Neal. Shaq is only a shell of his old self, but Amare Stoudemire has really started to shine after the addition of Shaq to the Suns. Nash has started to figure out that the lane will be more clogged up with Shaq in the middle, and he has begun to adapt. On top of this, the Suns showed about a week ago that the addition of Shaq has made them a formidable opponent for the Spurs because Shaq can contend with Tim Duncan. It’s because of the addition of Shaq and the fact that the Suns have figured out how to play with him in their line-up that the Suns are a much better playoff team than they used to be. On the other side, the Spurs seem to be slowing down at the wrong time. They have shown an ability, though, to turn it on at any time they want, and this would be the right time for them to do it. Manu Ginobili has been slowed by a nagging groin injury, and Tim Duncan isn’t as young as he used to be. Tony Parker will be great, but he will probably just be equaled by Nash. Plus, the Spurs never win a championship in even-numbered years (look it up). Compound all of this with recent blowout losses by the Spurs to the Suns, the Jazz, and the Lakers, and the Spurs do not look primed for the postseason.
Prediction: The Suns are hitting their stride, and the Spurs seem to be in a slight swoon. Look for Stoudemire to dominate this series. Suns in 6.
4 Utah Jazz vs. 5 Houston Rockets
The team with the biggest home-court advantage versus the team with the longest win streak of the season. Last season, these two teams faced off in the first round, and the Jazz won in seven games. Let’s see where we’ve gone since then. The Jazz haven’t made many major additions other than adding Kyle Korver (nasty-good 3-pt shooter) to their roster. Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur, and Andrei Kirilenko have one more year of NBA experience under their belts. Then there are the Rockets, who also haven’t made many changes in their lineup. They’ve added super-rookies Carl Landry and Luis Scola, but no major trades. The Rockets, though, are noticeably missing their big man, Yao Ming, this time around. Which brings this question to mind, if the Rockets couldn’t beat the Jazz with Yao Ming last year, then how will they be able to do it this year without Yao Ming? The answer: they can’t.
Prediction: The Jazz will take care of the Rockets. Houston’s chemistry, and Tracy McGrady’s superstardom will prevent the sweep, but it won’t get them the series victory. Jazz in 6.
My Mavericks prediction breaks my heart, but I’m taking the path that Kirby suggested with March Madness and picking against the team that I love. This way if they lose, at least I didn’t pick them to win, but if they win, I’ll be freakin’ pumped! Enjoy the playoffs, I know I will. And I’ll be back with some weekly analysis.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Real World Hollywood: Live Blog
The Real World season three million started last night. Its hard for me to decide if I am a fan or not. For the most part, I freaking love it. But 90% of the time, at about episode 8, I lose interest, and then watch random marathons here and there and generally just wait until the next season. Or I just watch to see who is gonna dominate the next season of The Gauntlet.
The Sports Watercooler
Just a quick round up of last night's sporting events, since I was in a meeting all morning.
The Tigers beat the Indians 13-2, and have now won 3 in a row and scored 30 runs during that streak (while scoring 33 in their first 12 games). And while people made a big deal about the Tigers opening the season on a skid, the Indians, another popular World Series choice, have the same record, at 5-10.
The Yankees have also put on an offensive show as of late, beating the Red Sox 15-9.
Bandwagon team Pirates lost in an error filled game to the Dodgers, 8-1. I guess by hopping on this bandwagon, we really do get to understand what its like to be a Pirates fan--exciting players on a shitty team.
And the Cubs found their bats and smashed in 12 runs against the Reds.
In the NHL Playoffs, the Penguins completed their sweep against the Ottawa Senators, and were the first team to advance to the second round.
Nashville decided to make things interesting and have tied the Red Wings in their series 2-2. Nashville scored a goal with 9 seconds left in regulation to steal away Game 3, and then opened game 4 by scoring 2 goals within 32 seconds of each other in the 1st period. Momentum much?
Lastly, journeyman sometimes good quarterback Steve McNair has announced he is retiring from the NFL. It will be interesting how history remembers McNair. He was one of the first dual threat quarterbacks, beating teams with both his feet and his arm, but at the same time, his career is marked with injuries and mediocre performances. He lead a team to the Superbowl, but other seasons he seemed to just do enough to get by. He is probably a borderline Hall of Famer, depending on how people start to remember him.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
NBA Playoffs: Eastern Conference
By Dr. J
Hey, you can call me Dr. J. I’m a big fan of the NBA and the Bikes in Trees blog, so I’ve decided to combine the two with a little breakdown of the upcoming playoffs. Below is my take on the East. Once the West is decided, I’ll submit my breakdown then. For now, whet your whistle with this little puppy.
1
This series does not promise to produce any drama, or a repeat of last year’s Warriors v. Mavs series. The Celtics are a dominant team, and through the season they have dominated the Atlanta Hawks, and I don’t figure that this will change very much. The Hawks have added Mike Bibby in the middle of the season, so they will have a little bit of experience to add to Joe Johnson’s playoff experience that he got with his short stint with the Phoenix Suns. Their presence alone should be able to maybe garner one win against the Celts. Sadly, though, the combination of KG, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce will decimate the tiny Hawks. Also,
Prediction: I want to give the Hawks some love because they are a feel-good story, but semantics can only get you so far. The Hawks should feel good about themselves if they can take one game into the fourth quarter without being down by double digits. Celts in 4.
2
The Pistons are a fine team. They throw out one of the most balanced lineups every night in ‘Sheed, Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, and Tayshaun Prince. Each of them (except for maybe Prince) has the ability to step up and be the dominant scorer for their team in a game. Not to mention, the Pistons play some pretty good defense (understatement). That said, the Pistons have a habit of starting the occasional game lackadaisically or going stone cold, and a team like the Sixers is the perfect team to take advantage of that. Andre Iguodala has been consistently growing in the absence of Allen Iverson, and Samuel Dalembert has finally started to make his contract not look that ridiculous. This apparent mismatch is tempered a little by the fact that the Sixers split the season series with the Pistons.
Prediction: The Sixers are young, and ambitious, but they don’t have nearly enough talent to overcome the mighty Pistons in this series. I think they do have enough energy and excitement, though, to win a game or two in the series. Pistons in 6.
3
This series looks to be a matchup of two young and rising stars in the Eastern Conference. Dwight Howard for the Magic and Chris Bosh of the Raptors will most likely go off for tons of points in this series because neither team has an answer for the other. The Magic won the season series 2-1. I don’t put much stock into that, though, because the first game between the two teams was early in the season, and in the final one, Chris Bosh didn’t play. Other than the two top stars, this actually won’t be that close of a series, though. The Magic are a better defensive team and a better offensive team, too. The Magic also have a great supporting cast to help out Howard in Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis. The Raptors, though, have no one other than Bosh on their team.
Prediction: Bosh is a great talent, and he could probably earn a win for the Raptors. It won’t be much more than that, though. Magic in 5.
4
And now for the big grudge match of the Eastern Conference Playoffs. There is so much trash talk going between these two teams that it almost makes me want to pay attention to the Eastern Playoffs. The trash talk, combined with two electric stars in Lebron and Gilbert Arenas, just makes me salivate for the post-game press conferences. I agree with Gilbert in thinking that “everyone wants to play
Prediction:
Look for my take on the West this Thursday or Friday, once the seeding is solidified in the Big Boy Conference (West).
The Sports Watercooler
Its pretty much common knowledge that the NFL is the sports that rules all sports. They make the most money, they have the most fans, they get the best ratings.
And so, in recent years, they have tried to push it further. Afterall, their season is only like 4 months long, whereas the NBA actually starts their season a week after the finals are over. Or maybe it just seems that way. (Sidenote: stay tuned, this afternoon we have a great NBA Playoffs preview. And just in case you weren't so pumped about the NHL Playoff preview I did, the NBA one is written by someone who actually knows the sport!).
So the NFL decides to really amp up the publicity of their out of season events. The Combine is being covered like never before. The draft has become insanely huge, even though it is, for the most part, utterly unwatchable. They broadcast the preseason games, ESPN shows footage of training camps, and SI sends reporters to give reports from every minicamp available.
And to be honest with you, I love most of that stuff. The Combine creeps me out a bit (its sort of like a pedophile checking out a grade school yearbook for potential. A bunch of media-types watching young men in their underwear, measuring every aspect of their bodies, and watching them do strange exercises), but the draft is real fun to follow.
Yesterday though, I think a line was crossed. To much fanfare, they announced the NFL schedule. It dominated the front page of ESPN, Deadspin, and SI. It was the talk of Sportscenter and Mike and Mike this morning. And you just couldn't get away from it.
What really is the point? Although its nice to be able to plan a weekend around specific game, and know when your favorite team will be in your hometown, thats the extent of the importance of the day.
People are making a big deal about the Steelers getting the "hardest" schedule, and the Patriots getting the "easiest" schedule. But those numbers are based on last seasons records. Patriot fans are already up in arms over their back to back West Coast road trip weeks, but what if LT tears his ACL in a collision with Shawn Merrian who breaks his femur in a training camp incident? Then that game is a cake walk. What if people chalking up an easy week on the schedule during the Miami week suddenly turns hard when the Tuna drafts every sleeper out of college and has the top 5 rookies in the league?
My main point: don't press this on me. I don't care what the schedule is, especially not in April. Sure you can try and guess how your team will fare, but you are going to be wrong. Its impossible to guess and there is no reason why this should have dominated the sports news from last night.
Instead maybe we can talk about the Twins blowing a lead 2 games in a row in the 8th inning by giving up a combined 9 points to the hapless Tigers.
*bangs head on desk
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
True Nerd Love
In Jersey City, a young nerd found a way to propose to his equally nerdy girlfriend. He hacked into her computer and programed her version of Bejeweled so that when she reached a certain score, a message popped up saying "Will You Marry Me?"
The couple plans on handing out games of Bejeweled at their wedding.
I made none of the above up, the link to the story is below.
Source: CNN
Monday, April 14, 2008
You da Immel-Man!
So a hearty congratulations goes out to Trevor Immelman on winning the Masters this past weekend. He played very good all 4 days and won the whole thing without much drama on Sunday.
Tiger was also consistently mediocre (by his standards), and hovered around the -4 mark for most of the tournament.
All of this begs the question: is this good for golf?
Its a proven fact that when Tiger is in contention for a Major win, the ratings are significantly higher than when he is totally out of it. And as more and more people win Majors who are not named Eldrick, is this good for the PGA?
On one hand, its the opportunity introduce America to another golfer who is obviously very talented. Would we know who Tervor Immelman is had he not won the Masters? Hell no. But click on any sports minded website and you will be able to read a feature about how much he loves his wife, how he is a dedicated family man, how he works hard to be as good as he is, that sort of thing. America will need someone to cheer for that is not Tiger, maybe we will fall in love with one of these guys.
But we have seen guys like Immelman come and go. People felt the same way when Zach Johnson won last year. Another nice guy who really deserved to win the Masters. And people were happy. And ratings were down.
Admittedly, you need someone heavily favored to really cheer for the underdog. While its fun to cheer for Davidson to beat Georgetown, cheering for Davidson to beat North Carolina Charlotte just doesn't carry the same appeal. The problem here being, Tiger isn't the type of heavily favored champ that North Carolina is. People love Tiger and want him to win every time. They enjoy his dominance, his intensity, and random shots of his wife in the crowd. How can we love the scrappy underdog when he is merely a nuisance to our true love?
So while its always nice to see someone like Immelman win every once in a while (no one who watched him give his little boy that hug after 18 could have been angry at how everything ended up), we need Tiger. Beacuse admit it, Sunday wasn't the most exciting finals at all. You need Tiger surging to victory, or dominating every hole he comes across. Tiger means the most casual fan will check in. And he means the excitement level is ratcheted up a few notches.
So let's all hope Tiger is back on his A game when the US Open starts in a couple of months.
The Sports Watercooler
A quick round-up from this weekend's sporting activities.
Apparently there was an NCAA hockey champion crowned. I don't know, I didn't pay much attention.
Baseball is getting to that point in the season where they have gone through their rotations about 3 times and the season is starting to show its true colors.
For instance, the Tigers are really bad. This should not be happening. In my preseason predictions, I talked about their loaded lineup, the pitching staff should have had 2 Cy Young contendors on it, and they brought over 2 great hitters from the NL in Renteria and Cabrera. Instead, they are getting smoked. Every facet of their game sucked yesterday. The pitching staff gave up two (TWO!) grand slams, and the hitters couldn't get anything across, and were shut out for the second time in 2 days. They have far and away the worst record in baseball right now.
Meanwhile, Baltimore still continues to surprise, as they sit at the top of the AL East. They continue to ride the hot bat of Aubry Huff, but they can't keep this up, can they?
There are some familiar names at the top of the pitching categories (Cole Hamels, Ben Sheets), and a lot of unfamiliar ones. Zach Greinke, Kyle Lohse, Brain Bannister are all off to hot starts.
Mark Reynolds leads the league in RBIs and ESPN.com doesn't even have his picture to post next to his name.
The NHL playoffs are underway. And even though the Stanley Cup playoffs feature a lot of underdog victories, this year its even more so. Only three teams have a 2-0 lead on their opponent (Dallas, Detroit, and Pittsburgh), all the other series are tied or 2-1. 2 of last nights games went to OT and a third was won when a team scored 4 unanswered to overcome a 3-0 deficit.
Trevor Illelmen won the Masters this weekend, in an almost dominating fashion, beating second place Tiger by 3 strokes.
And finally, the NBA playoffs are more or less set. All that remains is the final spot in the West. Its Denver's to lose. And if they do lose, Golden State will make it. Both teams are fun to watch and high energy, so I really have no dog in that race.
And lastly, we say good bye to this week's Bandwagon Team--The Royals. They won a series against the Yankees 2-1 and lost a series to Minnesota 1-2, finishing the week 3-3. This is a great young team, with excellent pitching. I really don't expect them to fade too far as the season progresses.
As for this week's team: lets all cheer for the Pittsburgh Pirates! They have an amazing young player in Nate MacLouth who is currently batting .400 and is in the top ten in fantasy value. Plus Xavier Nady has revitalized his career wearing the yellow and black, and is a hitting machine. Throw in young pitchers like Ian Snell and Tom Gorzallany, and this is an easy team to root for. Currently sitting at .500, this week they will face The Dodgers and The Cubs, two very good NL teams. So they will need our support! Go Pirates!
Friday, April 11, 2008
Irish Hockey
Maybe you can save this one to read right before the game on Saturday night (7:00 est ESPN), and a lot has been written recently about the Frozen Four, but its time we step back and look at this with some perspective.
Notre Dame is the first ever 4 seed to make it to the Frozen Four. And then they became the first ever 4 seed to make it to the Finals. This is roughly equivalent of a 12 or 13 seed making it this far. They have knocked off numerous highly favored teams. Teams like Michigan State, New Hampshire, and finally Michigan.
And Irish hockey fever is sweeping Irish Nation. Check out a screen shot of official Notre Dame website. Notre Dame hockey has overtaken a picture of the Pope.
Saturday Boston College will try to claim their third hockey champsionship and have reached the finals for the third year in a row.
They have a dominate goalie in Muse, who holds the BC record for saves in a season.
And lets not get ahead of ourselves. Three weeks ago, Notre Dame wasn't even sure if they would make the tournament at all.
This is David and Goliath. Its Team USA versus Russia (although I am 90% sure BC isn't communist. But Jesuit is close enough). It's Rocky against Apollo Creed. Rocky against Clubber Lane. Rocky against Ivan Drago. Sly Stalone's agent against saying "no".
Right now Notre Dame is 5-foot nothing. 100-nothing.
BC is running perfect formations as they warm up like the Hawks in Mighty Ducks. They are running lay up drills, while ND Coach Jim Jackson is measuring the size of the crease ("Same size as ours back in South Bend").
But don't think that Notre Dame's miracle run is over yet. Anything can happen. Afterall, guess when the last time BC actually beat Notre Dame (er, in hockey). Give up? 2001. Guess how BC fared against New Hampshire, the team ND dispatched 7-3 in the first round of the tournament? They lost all 3 times by a combined 12-3.
Think about the 2008 Super Bowl, think about Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl.
BC may have that great offense, but think about how great Notre Dame's defense has been.
Best of all, think how great it is to even have this opportunity. Its only one game and anything can happen. This isn't one of those scenarios where "if we can prevent penalties" or "If we can stop Gelde". There is no if's any more, only do.
So, without further ado, here is today's Friday, Get Pumped for the Weekend Video.
Go Irish.
A Tradition Unlike Any Other
Saturday night, do yourself a favor and drink yourself silly. You friend offers to buy you a shot, do it. Thinking you may have had enough for the night, buy 2 more (assuming you are not driving).
Why?
Because Sunday is the best day to be hungover ever--Master's Sunday. For me, its the official beginning of spring. Its also a great time to lay on the couch unable to move. The soft smooth voice of Jim Nanz, the serene beauty of Augusta, Tiger's rippling biceps, and one of the oldest and purest championships in all of sports.
As a service to you, dear reader, I will make sure that no matter what happens on Sunday, you will have some cheering interest. Here are a bunch of guys who could potentially win (if Tiger is in a car accident Sunday morning) and why you should cheer for them.
Tiger Woods: Because he is the best golfer to ever pick up a club. And because watching dominance and history happening before our eyes is really cool. Plus, if he wins, we get shots of his wife.
Vijay Singh: Because his name means Victorious Lion. Because he stays hours before and after each round to practice. Because he is viewed by the media as an asshole for no real good reason except he is a foreigner (he is strange to us, we must fear him).
Phil Mickelson: Because he makes skipping the gym, yet being a professional athlete an attainable dream. Because he would have been known as one of the best had he been born 10 years earlier. Because he is right-handed, yet golfs lefty.
Ernie Els: Because he is African, but white (like Charlize Theron!). Because he just announced that his son has Austism and he is going to start raising a ton of money for research. Because his real name is Theodore.
Padraig Harrington: Because he won 2007 Irish Person of the Year. Because his family genes are loaded with "white guy professional athlete" genes (cousins: Joey Harrington of the NFL and Dan Harrington of professional poker).
Steve Stricker: Because he was 2007's Comeback Player of the Year. Because he always seems to be the bridesmaid, but never the bride (lots of second and third place finishes. And he likes to cross dress. No, I just made that second part up.)
Adam Scott: Because he is one of only 3 golfers to be ranked in the top 10 who were born in the 1980s (Go Gen Y!). Because he's Australian Mate!
Justin Rose: The the second of the 3 golfers ranked in the top ten born in the 80s, and the only remaining one who isn't a total douche (the third is Sergio). Because he was born in South Africa but moved to Britain, so his accent is actually a certified aphrodisiac.
K.J. Choi: Because you know Hootie would die if an Asian won on his Good Old Boys golf club. Because before being a golfer, he was a 13 year old competitive lifter, weighing in at 95 lbs, yet squatting 350 lbs, and earned the nickname "Tank".
Rory Sabbatini: Because he called Tiger out as being "beatable" which lead to Tiger beating him in like 248956 straight tournaments which is the equivalent of a mouse biting the tail of a real tiger.
Ian Poulter: Because he hit a hole in one in the first round. Because he routinely wears all pink. Because he has a temper and has been fined for smashing a tee marker and for cursing out a course marshal. Because he is a car collector and owns a badass Ferrari, a Ford GT40 and an Astin Martin.
Luke Donald: Because he actually could win this thing. Because he beat Tiger's NCAA record of a low score in the Championships. Because he met his wife at a bar in Chicago while attending Northwestern (although reason not to cheer for him: he was in a frat and has Polo as a corporate sponsor. No word on how many collars he flips for a Sunday round though).
Jim Furyk: Because he has a "unconventional looping golf swing". Because the only instructor he ever used was his dad (no comment on how the first two reasons are connected). Because his caddy is Fluff, who everyone loves.
So there you go, you can easily find one or two people to cheer for in that group. Me? I will be pulling for Paul Casey. Why? Because he is gonna win this thing (read: finish second to Tiger).
Sports Watercooler
There will be a separate post today covering the hockey game last night, but, wow.
Can you ask for a better game? That was totally worth being extremely tired right now. Irish go up 3-0 in the first period? Michigan scores 2 goals in 18 seconds? The third period the game is tied, Irish go up, and Michigan ties it again? Then Notre Dame wins in overtime! I wanted to punch a hole in a wall, run sprints around the room, and yell out the windows. Instead, I gave a silent fist pumped and attempted to fall asleep.
As soon as the game was over I got 3 text messages. My heart was racing and I couldn't fall asleep for an hour after. Why?
I probably went to 3 hockey games in my 4 years at Our Lady's University. I may have followed the team a bit after college. And now I am committing a sports fan's biggest sin, jumping on the bandwagon of a team that was already in the Final Four. I missed all the suffering of the season. I missed the "we get no respect" posts on message boards. And I certainly missed being the David in every matchup of the tournament. I haven't earned the chance to really cheer for this team and celebrate like I had been there all along.
But I am. For one thing, being a Notre Dame fan means I can cheer for any sport and jump on any team's bandwagon that the school offers. But even bigger, this is arguable the biggest success I have had during my tenure as a Notre Dame fan. Sure, I have been to the Fiesta Bowl. And where a Bowl win fits into the general sports victory pantheon is tricky. And I have seen a team make the Sweet Sixteen. I have seen a women's soccer national championship. But when you combine the sport (hockey is still a top 4 sport), the passion of the fans (Frozen Four is a big deal), and the level of victory (Championship game), and I will argue that this is the most successful achievement that Notre Dame Athletics have made during my fanship. (Number 2: Firing Ty).
Go Irish.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Irish Hockey Tonight!
So for the first time in its history, the University of Notre Dame has made the Frozen Four. This is no small feat, and in fact, its a very big deal in some circles.
Thanks to the basketball team completely failing in the tournament, and the football team completely failing about 2 minutes into their season, this is the biggest sporting accomplishment by a Notre Dame team this year. And it deserves some recognition and school pride.
With that said, I doubt many of you know what to expect tonight when you watch (9:30 est on ESPN2). So here are some cliff notes:
First off, they are playing Michigan. Now, I shouldn't have to say anything more to get you to watch, but I will.
Notre Dame is all around solid. Their goalie is in his first year playing full time and has been "good to great".
Notre Dame made it this far on their defense. Its loaded with quick, strong players. Brock Sheahan is the guy to watch on the Defense.
Also Kyle Lawson and Ian Cole are two young defensemen who bring excitement to the ice whenever they are on it.
Ryan Thang is the Irish's biggest scoring threat. But for consitancy, check out Dan Kissel.
As for someone to always have your eye on, its Christian Hanson. Who apparently is both "very big" and "has a nice scoring touch". And no, I did not lift that straight out of someone's porn resume.
Mainly though, all the accolades come down to Coach Jackson, who has been credited with leading this team in a creative, smart, and study direction. They don't wow anyone, they just get it done.
Across the ice is the uneducated, future janitors of America, The University of Michigan.
The have a talented team, consisting of 12 NHL drafted players (to ND's 7).
They dominate the power play, and apparently move the puck really well.
They are also "stupid", which is no real insight when talking about Michigan players. But apparently, they tend to make a lot of stupid penalties. Although this could be them being stupid...like a fox as it could force the other team into getting frustrating, making penalties of their own and setting up the aforementioned powerplay, playing right into those dirty wolverine hands.
From someone who knows better than I:
"Notre Dame wins turnovers at a 60% rate (according to the WSJ article from last week, the best in the NHL wins 58%), while Michigan is at a 47%. This means they will try and play a smooth game without much stoppage of play. This will especially come into importance in our zone where they will try and keep play going while we should try and tie it up as much as possible."
"If the game is a run and gun exhibition of skill, Michigan stands to gain. If it is a game of working and grinding to negate every threat and create every opportunity, then ND favors."
And one must never forget that Michigan sucks.
And Ann Arbor is a dirty whore.
Go Irish.
* Special thanks to the posters on NDNation's hockey board.
NHL Playoff Preview
So yesterday I tackled the Eastern Conference. And then I followed up by watching a game last night, I watched the Rangers defeat the Devils. And I came to these conclusions:
Every player on the ice is really amped up for the playoffs. It was non-stop excitement.
Hockey players can flop with the best of them
MSG+ channel does their between period studio analysis at a bar. They were just posting up at some bar in the arena talking about the game. I want that job.
So today, here is the Western Conference. As previously mentioned, I haven't read much about this season and watched even less. And I won't let the 5 minutes of the San Jose game I watched last night influence me too much.
1 Detroit Red Wings vs. 8 Nashville Predators
This isn't the Red Wings team you remember from when they dominated the league. All the players from those teams are gone (so I just learned 2 minutes ago after looking at their roster), with the exception of Dominick Hasek who I belive came out of retirement like 5 years ago, and Darren McCarty. The similar thing from those Red Wing teams of yore though, is the skill level. These guys are once again stacked. And the Predators sadly, are still a team that never should exist (Nashville? Hoc-key?)
Goalies: The Wings actually start Chris Osgood slightly more than Hasek, but their 2 goalies are better than Nashville's one--Dan Ellis.
Prediction: Nashville actually has a pretty good home ice advantage. For some reason, those Tennessee hicks really love hockey and make it loud in there. I think thats good enough for at least 1 win. Still, Red Wings in 6.
2 San Jose Sharks vs. 7 Calgary Flames
I bet you didn't know, but the Sharks are really good this year. Last I knew about the Sharks was in grade school, it was insanely cool to have their Starter jacket. Now, they are one of the premiere teams in the NHL and a favorite to win the Cup this year. Calgary still has Iginla who 2 years ago was the coolest thing on skates. His PR has chilled a bit with the new batch of talent emerging, but his skills haven't. A terrific player to watch, and very charismatic. (i.e. Holy Crap! That dude is black!)
Goalies: Evegni Nabokov for the Sharks lead the league in wins this year. Calgary's net minder is Miikka Kiprusoff. 2 i's and 2 k's in Mika? I don't like it. Sharks win this category.
Prediction: This is when watching last night will help me. I originally was going to pick San Jose in 4, but then they got shamed last night at home. Now I think Calgary can really match up well. I think they can at least win 1 more. San Jose in 6.
3 Minnesota Wild vs. 6 Colorado Avalanche
Look back to the Red Wings entry. This is the opposite. Colorado was really good about a decade ago and their roster looks EXACTLY THE SAME. The only thing different is Patrick Roy is gone. Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, all there. Minnesota meanwhile compiled their best season in franchise history. And everyone should do themselves a favor and watch Marian Gaborik, whose speed and stick handling make playing hockey look easy.
Goalies: The Av's have the talented Jose Theodore (Jose?! I tried to look up where he was born, but ESPN lists it as Laval, PQ. Where is PQ? This has stumped me for about 15 minutes before I realized I can't dwell on this). Minnesota has Nicklas Backstrom, which gives them a slight advantage.
Prediction: With the Avs winning game 1, that changes things a bit. And I can't let my homerism take over here, Colorado in 7.
4 Anahiem Ducks vs. 5 Dallas Stars
Here are two teams with bad beginnings. One started as a spin off on a terrible awesome Disney movie. The other was started after a greedy owner ripped the hearts out of Minnesota citizens (and a certain 10 year old boy) and moved the team to Texas.
This matchup also features 3 former playoff MVPs in Giguere, Niedemeyer and Richards
Goalie: Ducks have fan favorite and playoff superstar Jean Sebastien Giguere. It doesn't get much better than Giggy come April and May. Marty Turco, who is good in his own right, will have a challenge cut out for him.
Prediction: The Ducks won it all last year, and although they won't again this year, they will win this series in 7 games.
Sports Watercooler
So there is a lot going on today. So much so, that the Watercooler will be brief today. But keep checking back because I will be writing a few posts today.
Coming soon:
The Western Conference NHL playoff preview. I only watched about 5 minutes from a Western Conference game last night, so I promise it won't interfere.
A Master's Preview. This may come tomorrow if I run out of time today.
Notre Dame in the Frozen Four preview. And a friendly reminder that Michigan sucks and Ann Arbor is a whore, naturally.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
NHL Playoff Preview
Yeah, you read that right. Sure it may not be the most popular sport in America any more, (cue the way overplayed "I can't even find that channel on my TV" joke), but the NHL playoffs provide great games. Each one is filled with drama and fast paced excitement, its hard not to fall for them this time of year. My suggestion is to pick a team, whatever is closest to you or where you grew up, and watch a game or two. You will get sucked right in.
Anyways, on the heels of my sister winning our NCAA Pool with little knowledge of college basketball, I figured I might as well give predicting the NHL playoffs a shot. For the record, I have watched approximately 2 games combined this year and read maybe 4 articles (3 in the last hour). But if Lauren Conrad can do an NHL playoffs blog, then I certainly can.
Today, the Eastern Conference
1 Montreal Canadians vs. 8 Boston Bruins
Everything tells me this is gonna be a massacre. Montreal has beaten Boston 8 straight times this year. 11 times if you go back to last year. It seems as if Boston had a pretty decent season and just getting to the playoffs was an accomplishment for them. This is the Mount St. Mary's of the playoffs.
Goalies: Now, as you have seen in the baseball previews, I value good pitching above anything else. In hockey, its all about which goaltender is on a roll. This series features Montreal's rookie sensation Cary Price against Boston's Tim Thomas. The Canadians get the point here, since I have actually heard of their goalie. I would be leery on resting my playoff hopes with a rookie keeper going further, but first round, its in the bag.
Prediction: Montreal in 5. Boston will steal one at home, but thats about it.
2 Pittsburgh Penguins versus 7 Ottawa Senators
Remeber how the Senators got really hot last year and made it all the way to the Stanley Cup finals? No? Yeah, neither does anyone else.
This Penguins team is loaded. And by loaded I mean, I can list a bunch of players on that team. Players that are really amazing. They go deeper than just NHL Savior Sidney Crosby. When He was injured (only to rise again 3 days later), Malkin took off, and ended up finishing second in points in the league. They also have Hossa, who will be a force. Ottawa meanwhile is dealing with some rough injuries.
Goalies: Ottawa rode Ray Emery to the finals last year. Remember him? He was a feel good story (because he's black! and plays hockey!) last year. This year he has been a trainwreck, feuding with everyone as well as dealing with being the only black man in Canada. He has started half the games this year. Pens goalie is Ty Conklin, who finished the year second in save percentage.
Prediction: Penguins in 4. Get out your brooms.
3 Washington Capitols vs. 6 Philladelphia Flyers
Even the most casual hockey fan knows Alexander Ovechkin. Now in his third year, he is scoring goals at one of the fastest rates in history. This series itself should be fun. Both teams finished at the bottom of the conference last year. And both teams ended the year on a run. Flyers going 7-1-1 and the Capitols winning 11 of their last 12.
Goalies: Martin Biron against Cristobal Huel. Never head of either one, but a quick check on ESPN.com says that Washington's Huel finished in the top ten in Goals Against.
Prediction: When in doubt, go with the team that has the best player and best goalie. I am going to take the Capitols in 7.
4 New Jersey Devils vs. 5 New York Rangers
Separated by a river, these teams should know each other well. The Devils won in a 3-2 shoot out on Sunday, thus winning home ice advantage for the series, which may be a deciding factor. Both teams are loaded with "names" which will help me a ton while watching. The Rangers have a ton of playoff experience in Gomez, Shanahan, Jagr, and Drury.
Goalies: This is a matchup that features two of the best goalies in the league. New York has Lundgvist, the third year Swedish sensation. New Jersey has playoff veteran, and all time great Martin Brodeur.
Prediction: The Stalney Cup Playoffs are always full of upsets. So I can't go through a whole conference and pick not a single one. Rangers in 6.
