Tuesday, March 19, 2013
The Madness & More
Starting tonight one of the greatest tradition's in all of sports will play out for the 75th time. Of course I am talking about the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. My thoughts on this wonderful three weeks of sports will be continued later.
Ryan Miller sure sounded off upon hearing about Patrick Kaleta's disappointment over being a healthy scrath. While Miller has since recanted what he said and apologized to Kaleta, you can sure see the frustration in his eyes and hear it in his words. That is one unhappy goaltender. One must wonder if anything else has been said or done within the locker room that hurts Miller's credibility in the eyes of his teammates? Do the Sabre's consider moving him at the deadline or in the summer? There are a few teams out there who would surely improve with the services he can offer between the pipes.
The Edmonton Oilers continue to struggle in their youth movement. While they are obviously playing better hockey this year than they have in the past, they continue to 'lay an egg' at unfortunate times. One needs to look no further than the debacle that was the third period and overtime of Friday night's game against Detroit. An undisciplined and generally speaking, poor period cost the Oil the extra point. While getting a single point is better than nothing, in this era of three point games, losing a point like that to a team you are trying to catch for a post - season berth is almost inexcusable. Those who want to point the finger at Jeff Petry for his play on Datsyuk in OT; a lot better blue liners have been victims of Datsyuk's in the past and it never should have gotten to that point.
Sergei Kostitsyn's play on Sunday night was truly embarrasing. Even as an Oiler fan watching Lenart Petrell bury the short - handed goal to give the Oilers a lead they wouldn't relinguish I was still terribly embarrased for Kostitsyn. Who abandons the back - check for a line change at such an inopportune time? Reports say Kostitsyn won't play tonight in Columbus. I wouldn't be surprised to see him in the press box into the weekend.
The talk continues surrounding Jarome Iginla and whether or not the Calgary Flames should trade their seventeen year veteran on or before April 3rd. As an Oiler fan I obviously detest the Flames, but not Iginla. He plays the game with heart and the way it was meant to be played. He leads by example and is as loyal a professional as you will find in sports. That being said if the Flames don't move forward and trade Iginla they are simply putting their club back a few years. They could get a combination of youth and draft picks in return for their long - time captain; something that organization sorely needs. One need look no further than their desperate attempt to sign Ryan O' Reilly to prove their own cognizance of the fact they need to get younger. Iginla, Kiprusoff and Bouwmeester should all be active at the deadline simply for the sake of the organization. In addition there is nothing saying that Iggy wouldn't return as a UFA come July 1st.
The Vancouver Canuck's have struggled over the last two weeks like we haven't seen them do so in nearly a decade. I can't help but think the goaltending issue is partially to blame for these struggles. In my opinion, it would be tough to play night in, night out with a revolving goaltender, and not only for the goaltenders. For the sake of the team, one of those goalies, presumably Luongo needs to go. The state of flux the Canucks are in is desperate need of some form of continuity. I would wager a significant sum of money if Mike Gillis could make the deal with the Leaf that was on the table at the draft (Luongo for Kadri, Bozak and a 1st) he would noe hesitate to do so.
The New England Patriots will not be the same team without Wes Welker. He along with Tom Brady have been the achilles heel of that team for the better part of the last decade. Allowing him to go was a mistake that I am sure Robert Kraft, Bill Belichick and the entire organization will antagonize over for a few years. At the same time what a tremendous acquisition by the Broncos. Without hesitation I would say that the Broncos instantly became the odd's on favorite to win the Super Bowl in New York next February.
And let the madness begin.....
The play - in games of the NCAA tournament take centre stage tonight which will officially fill out the bracket for the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament. Given the parody that we saw in the NCAA this year, anything is possible. There is no clear cut favorite to win it all, and with a little bit of luck and solid play, I would suggest there are no less than 20 twenty teams who could win it all.
While Gonzaga may be the nation's top ranked team at season's end, they are certainly not the favorite to win it all. I don't even have them in the Final Four in my bracket. If you ask me the most rounded team moving on is Indiana where the likes of Zeller and Oladipo have not lost often, and never by a large margin. The Big Ten is very well represented in this year's tournament with seven berths. In fact, Michigan was the fifth seed in the Big Ten tournament, but a fourth seed in the Big Dance and a team who has a legitimate chance to win it all.
I made my picks today, and took Michigan, Michigan State, UNLV and New Mexico to reach the Final Four. When all is said and done the maize and blue of Michigan will be victorious over their state rivals in the Championship game. While I could once again be guilty of picking with my heart, (something I often do), here's to hoping the next three weeks are as exciting and dramatic as they are expected to be.
Monday, March 4, 2013
General Thoughts & Opinions
Since it has been a while, here are just some random sports related thoughts from the past few weeks which have entered, and are yet to escape the vast space within my mind:
* It is sometimes very difficult to be a Rider fan. I find it particularly annoying when fans bemoan and belittle our play over the course of the year and say this guy, that guy and the other guy need to be fired. In saying that, we all know the Riders had some weaknesses on the field last year, namely on the defensive side of the ball. Our pass rush was at times obsolete and our secondary proved to be our achilles on a couple of occasions. What does GM Brendan Taman, along with Jeremy O'Day do about it? They go out and get arguably the best cover man not only available, but one of the best in the league in Dwight Anderson. They follow that up with some depth signings included Weldon Brown and Tristan Black, and then they go out and pick up the best pass rush option available in free agency, snagging Rickey Foley away from the Argos. Most fans would be happy to see management making strides towards improving areas of weakness, right? Nope, not in Saskatchewan. Here they are seen as guys that are too old, or bring too much baggage, claim that Taman doesn't know how to evaluate talent and he should be sent packing. My words to those fickle, always complaining fans, your lives must really suck if the Riders make you that angry in the off - season.
* Dennis Rodman was an idiot throughout his playing career. He maintains his status as a complete moron, not with his recent trip to North Korea, but his statement after that the country has great leaders and all Kim Jung Un wants is to discuss basketball with Barack Obama. Go get another tattoo, maybe dye your hair another neon color or something but Dennis, leave the foriegn diplomacy to guys with common sense. In no world is the leader of a nation who spends money on nuclear arms while his people starve seen as a good guy who is just misunderstood.
* Watching the PGA Tour can be so damn aggravating. Yesterday I anxiously tuned into the final round of the Honda Classic hoping to watch Canadian Graham Delaet make a run at his first tour victory. While they showed a few shots of the Saskatchewan native, we all had to endure every single shot Tiger Woods shot en route to a 76 and a top 50 finish. Really? By the turn he had no bearing on who would win the tournament so why on earth does anybody, even the biggest Tiger fan want to see his birdie putt on 16 to get him to +5 and only fourteen shots back with two to go? Absolutely sickening. I know people want to watch Tiger but if you are spending your Sunday afternoon to see him struggle to shot 75, you need to make better plans for the weekend.
* Speaking of the PGA, I do not buy Rory McIlroy's story that tooth pain was the root (sorry for the pun) of his withdrawal at this week's stop. If that had been the case would he not have brought that up when approached in the parking lot moments after walking off the course? While we may never know the real reason for his WD, I would hope that it was something that actually warranted his decision. Many people buy tickets to these touranments, and to have the number one ranked player take off after 27 holes is a shame. Compounding the problem is that there are guys on the alternate list watiting to get a spot and who need to play to make money to maintain status, something Rory won't have to worry about for a long, long time. If he walked off simply because he wasn't playing good and took a spot away from someone who actually needed it, that is shameful.
* Speaking of shameful, Calgary Stampeder Head Coach John Hufnagel left the Coach of the Year luncheon early saying he had a flight to catch. Brutal excuse; an embarrasement to himself, his organization and the CFL as a whole. If he isn't fined by the league he should be. He does coach in Calgary, so in a way this isn't a surprise however.
* CFL schedule comes out this week and word on the street is tomorrow will be the day where my summer plans can start to be made as my schedule will revolve around the Rider home games. It bothers me that so many season ticket holders complain about the schedule saying that Rider games interfere with other plans. Uhm, you bought tickets for a reason I would think; that is to watch the Riders. If they are getting in the way of your plans, perhaps you need to make better plans. I live three and a half hours from Mosaic and have missed one game in four years. Sometimes being a fan involves sacrifice, and to me missing a day at the lake to spend the day/evening at Mosaic is NO sacrifice.
* This morning Damien Cox tweeted that other than AAA hockey, there should not be body contact as those kids need to learn how to play, not how to check. Uhm, Damien is hitting not part of the game? Thus learning to play the game should mean learning how to hit, be hit and do so in a safe manner. I get it that hitting in hockey is often given a bad rep because of some careless acts by a select few players such as Patrick Kaleta, Matt Cooke and Dan Carcillo to name a few but you can't change the entire face of the game. Furthermore, not everybody who makes it in hockey plays AAA. Some pretty good hockey players have come from lower ranks, and to have them play without hitting would be wrong in my mind.
OUT!
* It is sometimes very difficult to be a Rider fan. I find it particularly annoying when fans bemoan and belittle our play over the course of the year and say this guy, that guy and the other guy need to be fired. In saying that, we all know the Riders had some weaknesses on the field last year, namely on the defensive side of the ball. Our pass rush was at times obsolete and our secondary proved to be our achilles on a couple of occasions. What does GM Brendan Taman, along with Jeremy O'Day do about it? They go out and get arguably the best cover man not only available, but one of the best in the league in Dwight Anderson. They follow that up with some depth signings included Weldon Brown and Tristan Black, and then they go out and pick up the best pass rush option available in free agency, snagging Rickey Foley away from the Argos. Most fans would be happy to see management making strides towards improving areas of weakness, right? Nope, not in Saskatchewan. Here they are seen as guys that are too old, or bring too much baggage, claim that Taman doesn't know how to evaluate talent and he should be sent packing. My words to those fickle, always complaining fans, your lives must really suck if the Riders make you that angry in the off - season.
* Dennis Rodman was an idiot throughout his playing career. He maintains his status as a complete moron, not with his recent trip to North Korea, but his statement after that the country has great leaders and all Kim Jung Un wants is to discuss basketball with Barack Obama. Go get another tattoo, maybe dye your hair another neon color or something but Dennis, leave the foriegn diplomacy to guys with common sense. In no world is the leader of a nation who spends money on nuclear arms while his people starve seen as a good guy who is just misunderstood.
* Watching the PGA Tour can be so damn aggravating. Yesterday I anxiously tuned into the final round of the Honda Classic hoping to watch Canadian Graham Delaet make a run at his first tour victory. While they showed a few shots of the Saskatchewan native, we all had to endure every single shot Tiger Woods shot en route to a 76 and a top 50 finish. Really? By the turn he had no bearing on who would win the tournament so why on earth does anybody, even the biggest Tiger fan want to see his birdie putt on 16 to get him to +5 and only fourteen shots back with two to go? Absolutely sickening. I know people want to watch Tiger but if you are spending your Sunday afternoon to see him struggle to shot 75, you need to make better plans for the weekend.
* Speaking of the PGA, I do not buy Rory McIlroy's story that tooth pain was the root (sorry for the pun) of his withdrawal at this week's stop. If that had been the case would he not have brought that up when approached in the parking lot moments after walking off the course? While we may never know the real reason for his WD, I would hope that it was something that actually warranted his decision. Many people buy tickets to these touranments, and to have the number one ranked player take off after 27 holes is a shame. Compounding the problem is that there are guys on the alternate list watiting to get a spot and who need to play to make money to maintain status, something Rory won't have to worry about for a long, long time. If he walked off simply because he wasn't playing good and took a spot away from someone who actually needed it, that is shameful.
* Speaking of shameful, Calgary Stampeder Head Coach John Hufnagel left the Coach of the Year luncheon early saying he had a flight to catch. Brutal excuse; an embarrasement to himself, his organization and the CFL as a whole. If he isn't fined by the league he should be. He does coach in Calgary, so in a way this isn't a surprise however.
* CFL schedule comes out this week and word on the street is tomorrow will be the day where my summer plans can start to be made as my schedule will revolve around the Rider home games. It bothers me that so many season ticket holders complain about the schedule saying that Rider games interfere with other plans. Uhm, you bought tickets for a reason I would think; that is to watch the Riders. If they are getting in the way of your plans, perhaps you need to make better plans. I live three and a half hours from Mosaic and have missed one game in four years. Sometimes being a fan involves sacrifice, and to me missing a day at the lake to spend the day/evening at Mosaic is NO sacrifice.
* This morning Damien Cox tweeted that other than AAA hockey, there should not be body contact as those kids need to learn how to play, not how to check. Uhm, Damien is hitting not part of the game? Thus learning to play the game should mean learning how to hit, be hit and do so in a safe manner. I get it that hitting in hockey is often given a bad rep because of some careless acts by a select few players such as Patrick Kaleta, Matt Cooke and Dan Carcillo to name a few but you can't change the entire face of the game. Furthermore, not everybody who makes it in hockey plays AAA. Some pretty good hockey players have come from lower ranks, and to have them play without hitting would be wrong in my mind.
OUT!
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