Rank these teams in order of how important a championship run would be to you:
MSU Hockey
MSU Basketball
MSU Football
Detroit Lions
Detroit Redwings
Detroit Tigers
Detroit Pistons
The lack of the football championships in our lifetimes probably make them more meaningful. Here's my list:
1. MSU Football - College Football is my favorite sport and I am convinced this is the only one I will not see in my lifetime. Yes, that means I think the Lions are closer to winning the Super Bowl than the Spartans are to that ugly crystal football. I think college football lacks parity and offers a distinct advantage to about 15 prestigious programs. We are in that group of the other 100.
2. Detroit Lions - Again, this is artificially inflated because we're so far from it. I do believe that the roster moves in the past few years are leading us in the right direction. Then again, I remember how excited I was for "Harrington to Rogers" to light up our offense that I made it my fantasy team name one year.
3. Michigan State Basketball - I am excited for this one because I think it can, and probably should, happen next year. Yes, I am "one of those" people that are putting high expectations on them. We are returning 3 core people who have been in the Final Four the past two years, so I think it is fair to say they should win it.
4. Detroit Red Wings - Even though this is the most successful team of the group, winning the Stanley Cup doesn't ever get old to me. I have watched the entirety of almost every game (except for the one that wasn't on TV outside Detroit). I love hockey and we should win it every year.
5. Detroit Tigers - I will always contend that the baseball season is too long, but I can always get up for the Fall Classic. The lack of playoff teams in baseball makes winning the Division or Wild Card even more special. Unless you are the 90s Braves.
6. Michigan State Hockey - Hockey is my second favorite sport, but the NCAA hockey playoffs lack excitement. It doesn't get a lot of publicity, so I don't know much about the teams outside the CCHA. I was really excited when we won the championship, but it lacks the "remember when" factor in hindsight. For example, I can recall the Game 7 the Wings played against the Avs when they destroyed them (like 7-1) and Roy let in an "own goal" when he tried holding a gloved puck up high in the air. I remember the crazy goal that McCarty had while falling down against the Flyers in 97. I can't tell you who MSU played that year except for BC in the finals.
7. Detroit Pistons - I can remember sitting together leaned in close to the TV for every game when we were good. We yelled at every foul or missed free throw and celebrated every basket. I think LeBron killed my NBA spirit in 2007 with his ridiculous 4th quarter performance in the final game of the Eastern Conference Finals.
My fairweathered interest in the Pistons sparked an idea to create a quiz to see how much you really know about the team anymore. The questions are things I think you should know about "your team". My guesses and answers are in the comments. I fully anticipate that I will fail.
1. Who is the current coach of the Pistons?
2. Who lead the team in scoring?
3. Who lead the team in rebounding?
4. Where did they finish in the Division?
5. What draft pick do they have coming up in the NBA draft?
6. What is their starting 5?
7. Name the last player that they traded for.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Scars & Stitches
I've decided every post should be named after a Guster song. I had Keep it Together a few posts ago and now I'm making it a permanent trend. I have really enjoyed the Red Wings series against Phoenix, particularly the 2nd period of game 7 and the craziness of game 2.
Who's my Red Wing? Justin Abdelkader. The guy won State a National Championship and now he provides them with a great spark in our lesser lines. It was a great idea for Babcock to insert him into the lineup after game 1 to provide us with some checking and toughness. Whenever I see that number 8 come off the bench I get excited. The only think I don't like to see is the number of penalties. I didn't realize this until looking at the box scores, but he has 23 penalty minutes this series?! That's a whole game's worth of action and he didn't even play game 1!
Who's not my Red Wing? Todd Bertuzzi. He's got 4 assists, but there is just something I don't like about him. He seems to blow a lot of chances by whiffing on his shot or putting it wide of the net. (And of course 2 minutes after I typed that he scored on a rebound to make it 5-1 in game 7.)
What is going well
Scoring from Zetterberg and Datsyuk. Penalty killing in every game except 1 and 6. Crisp passing and getting the puck far up the ice in 3 passes. Jimmy Howard when the pressure isn't on him and he isn't forced to win the game for us. Scoring in the 2nd and 3rd periods. Datsyuk playing good defense and stealing pucks away. Poke checking.
What is not going well
Getting shots from in front of the net. Draw a triangle from the faceoff circles to the net - we're not seeing a lot of action in that zone. Holmstrom needs to do a better job of getting in front of the net and we need to corral rebounds better as a team. Faceoffs. Producing goals when the pucks aren't bouncing our way. Dan Cleary - he has been invisible. He's playing 15 minutes per game, has 9 shots, and 0 points. Lapses in energy to start some of the games.
Series-Altering Event Shane Doan's injury in Game 3. He had a goal and an assist in the action that he saw. Phoenix is a team with limited talent and losing their captain was a crushing blow.
How badly can it hurt you to not convert on a 5-on-3? Very early in game 6, Detroit had a powerplay, followed by a 5-3, followed by another powerplay, during which Phoenix scored a shorthanded goal. The momentum swing was very apparent. We were all over them in the beginning in what looked like a carryover from game 5. After the SHG, Phoenix was in control. Towards the end of the second period in game 7, Phoenix had a 5-on-3 for a minute followed by a powerplay. After we killed off both, Stuart came rushing out of the box, found the puck at center ice on a breakaway and scored to give us a comfortable 4-1 lead.
Looking Ahead
I predicted before the playoffs began that we would lose in the second round and I stand by that more than ever knowing that San Jose awaits. Their series was close in the beginning with Colorado taking game 1 and games 2-4 going into overtime. The Sharks found their stride and won games 5 & 6 handily. They have the advantage of rest and from traveling. This is where being in the Western Conference puts Detroit at a disadvantage. San Jose had to travel 1300 miles to Denver while Detroit's commute to Phoenix was 2000 miles. Keep in mind they played game 5 until 12:30am Saturday in Phoenix, game 6 at 2pm on Sunday in Detroit, and game 7 on Tuesday. That's traveling 4000 miles in 4 days. What did the Sharks have to do during that timeframe? Fly home to San Jose after finishing off Colorado Saturday night. I think that their defense and Nabokov's experience will be too much to handle. Outside of a wild game 2, San Jose held Colorado to 2 or less goals in every game. We allowed Phoenix to score 3 or more in 4 of the 7 games. Although we were 3-0-1 against San Jose during the regular season. Still, I predict Sharks win in 6.
Who's my Red Wing? Justin Abdelkader. The guy won State a National Championship and now he provides them with a great spark in our lesser lines. It was a great idea for Babcock to insert him into the lineup after game 1 to provide us with some checking and toughness. Whenever I see that number 8 come off the bench I get excited. The only think I don't like to see is the number of penalties. I didn't realize this until looking at the box scores, but he has 23 penalty minutes this series?! That's a whole game's worth of action and he didn't even play game 1!
Who's not my Red Wing? Todd Bertuzzi. He's got 4 assists, but there is just something I don't like about him. He seems to blow a lot of chances by whiffing on his shot or putting it wide of the net. (And of course 2 minutes after I typed that he scored on a rebound to make it 5-1 in game 7.)
What is going well
Scoring from Zetterberg and Datsyuk. Penalty killing in every game except 1 and 6. Crisp passing and getting the puck far up the ice in 3 passes. Jimmy Howard when the pressure isn't on him and he isn't forced to win the game for us. Scoring in the 2nd and 3rd periods. Datsyuk playing good defense and stealing pucks away. Poke checking.
What is not going well
Getting shots from in front of the net. Draw a triangle from the faceoff circles to the net - we're not seeing a lot of action in that zone. Holmstrom needs to do a better job of getting in front of the net and we need to corral rebounds better as a team. Faceoffs. Producing goals when the pucks aren't bouncing our way. Dan Cleary - he has been invisible. He's playing 15 minutes per game, has 9 shots, and 0 points. Lapses in energy to start some of the games.
Series-Altering Event Shane Doan's injury in Game 3. He had a goal and an assist in the action that he saw. Phoenix is a team with limited talent and losing their captain was a crushing blow.
How badly can it hurt you to not convert on a 5-on-3? Very early in game 6, Detroit had a powerplay, followed by a 5-3, followed by another powerplay, during which Phoenix scored a shorthanded goal. The momentum swing was very apparent. We were all over them in the beginning in what looked like a carryover from game 5. After the SHG, Phoenix was in control. Towards the end of the second period in game 7, Phoenix had a 5-on-3 for a minute followed by a powerplay. After we killed off both, Stuart came rushing out of the box, found the puck at center ice on a breakaway and scored to give us a comfortable 4-1 lead.
Looking Ahead
I predicted before the playoffs began that we would lose in the second round and I stand by that more than ever knowing that San Jose awaits. Their series was close in the beginning with Colorado taking game 1 and games 2-4 going into overtime. The Sharks found their stride and won games 5 & 6 handily. They have the advantage of rest and from traveling. This is where being in the Western Conference puts Detroit at a disadvantage. San Jose had to travel 1300 miles to Denver while Detroit's commute to Phoenix was 2000 miles. Keep in mind they played game 5 until 12:30am Saturday in Phoenix, game 6 at 2pm on Sunday in Detroit, and game 7 on Tuesday. That's traveling 4000 miles in 4 days. What did the Sharks have to do during that timeframe? Fly home to San Jose after finishing off Colorado Saturday night. I think that their defense and Nabokov's experience will be too much to handle. Outside of a wild game 2, San Jose held Colorado to 2 or less goals in every game. We allowed Phoenix to score 3 or more in 4 of the 7 games. Although we were 3-0-1 against San Jose during the regular season. Still, I predict Sharks win in 6.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
WWJD - Who Would Jesus Draft?
http://jay-mariotti.fanhouse.com/2010/04/20/antidote-to-nfl-crime-tebow-in-first-round/?synd=fanhouse
Tim Tebow has certainly been a divisive personality. Many people praise his righteousness and purity and consider him a shining example of what a sports role model should look like. Others despise his evangelical ways and would like to see nothing more than Tebow to fail or to slip up and get into trouble. For Mariotti to call him "the perfect anti-toxin for what ails the NFL" is ridiculous. I know Mariotti and his "Around the Horn" cohorts are prone to exaggeration to sell themselves, but I completely disagree.
I am pretty indifferent on Tebow - he seems like a genuine, nice guy and I don't want him to fail, but I think he needs to cool it with the evangelizing. I didn't like seeing a new bible verse on his eye black every week and I think he will probably rub his a lot of his new teammates the wrong way. I also think that Roethlisberger probably got off lucky from a legal standpoint. I think a 4-6 game suspension was appropriate given that he was never charged with a crime. It was an important stance for the league because it proved they are willing to be tough with a high profile player. As one analyst said, "it's easy to suspend a Cincinnati Bengal, but what do you do with a 2 time Super Bowl winning Quarterback?"
I don't see a high draft spot for Tim Tebow erasing the Ben Roethlisberger situation from a PR standpoint for the NFL, however. Many teams have reasonable questions about Tebow, who threw from the shotgun formation, relied heavily on scrambling, was surrounded by tremendous blocking and receiving, and has recently adjusted his throwing motion. As a general manager, I wouldn't give him the benefit of the doubt on these issues just because of his character. The NFL dealt with the Roethlisberger situation appropriately for the amount of information we know. Should anything more be revealed, they should and would take more action.
Tim Tebow has certainly been a divisive personality. Many people praise his righteousness and purity and consider him a shining example of what a sports role model should look like. Others despise his evangelical ways and would like to see nothing more than Tebow to fail or to slip up and get into trouble. For Mariotti to call him "the perfect anti-toxin for what ails the NFL" is ridiculous. I know Mariotti and his "Around the Horn" cohorts are prone to exaggeration to sell themselves, but I completely disagree.
I am pretty indifferent on Tebow - he seems like a genuine, nice guy and I don't want him to fail, but I think he needs to cool it with the evangelizing. I didn't like seeing a new bible verse on his eye black every week and I think he will probably rub his a lot of his new teammates the wrong way. I also think that Roethlisberger probably got off lucky from a legal standpoint. I think a 4-6 game suspension was appropriate given that he was never charged with a crime. It was an important stance for the league because it proved they are willing to be tough with a high profile player. As one analyst said, "it's easy to suspend a Cincinnati Bengal, but what do you do with a 2 time Super Bowl winning Quarterback?"
I don't see a high draft spot for Tim Tebow erasing the Ben Roethlisberger situation from a PR standpoint for the NFL, however. Many teams have reasonable questions about Tebow, who threw from the shotgun formation, relied heavily on scrambling, was surrounded by tremendous blocking and receiving, and has recently adjusted his throwing motion. As a general manager, I wouldn't give him the benefit of the doubt on these issues just because of his character. The NFL dealt with the Roethlisberger situation appropriately for the amount of information we know. Should anything more be revealed, they should and would take more action.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Why the NHL is the Best and Worst League
First of all, let me say fuck you to the NHL for being the worst run league in professional sports.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs are the best of any of the four major sports. They allow enough teams into the playoffs for it to matter to a wide variety of its fan base (unlike football and baseball) without watering down the talent level (like the NBA). For example, the first two NHL teams in each conference that missed the playoffs this year had records of 38-33-11 and 40-32-10. In my opinion, OT losses in hockey aren't the same as regular losses because of the shootout. Having player vs. goalie is a scenario that doesn't demonstrate who was the better team that night. It benefits teams that have a goalie that can exceed against better shooters or teams that have a number of better shooters/stick handlers. Some examples of the shootout records for teams this year including their spot in the overall standings:
1. Washington Capitals 5-6
2. San Jose Sharks 7-6
5. Vancouver Canucks 4-4
26. NY Islanders 8-6
29. Toronto Maple Leafs 4-4
30. Edmonton Oilers 8-6
I think I have made my point that OTL should be considered differently than regulation losses, but I don't want to get off track. If you still don't agree, I'll concede that the Montreal Canadiens technically had a losing record of 39-43 when combining losses and OT losses, but they were the only .500 or lower team.
The NBA, on the other hand, waters down the first few rounds with poor teams. This year's playoffs were a rarity because only one team (the Chicago Bulls) had a non-winning record. However, every other season since 2005 has included 3 playoff teams that ended the regular season .500 or worse (every one of which was in the Eastern Conference).
The NHL playoffs are also different in the sense that a hot goalie can propel a team deep into the bracket. Lesser teams are also more likely to pull off upsets by working harder than their opponents. In the NBA, an all-star player can disguise a lack of team effort for at least the first round or two.
Many sports writers and analysts, even those that aren't hockey fans, agree that the Stanley Cup playoffs are some of the most exciting games in sports. This year has already offered a number of close games, surprises from unexpected teams, and exciting action. The Coyotes and Wings scoring 5 goals in 5 minutes in game 2? Ridiculous. So why in the hell is the league still begging NBC (the worst run network on TV today) and Versus to play its games?
I was disappointed, but not extremely surprised, to find tonight's game 4 was not on TV here. I checked the NHL website to see if I could watch the game from my new laptop. After all, CBS is willing to stream every March Madness game online for free even though they did not make money on this year's tournament. What I found is that I can watch each of tonight's four games... for $19.95. That's not a "playoff pass" - that's just for 4 games.
The NHL has tried to regain the tremendous amount of respect, money, and fanbase that it lost with the boring "trap era" games (thanks New Jersey Devils!) and the lockout. They have instituted a number of great changes, including the rule changes to increase scoring and the Winter Classic. However they will not be able to grow any more unless they put their product out there for people to watch. ESPN will show almost anything and has made a huge push to buy the rights to more sporting events (MNF, early Masters coverage, bidding for the NCAA tournament) so why wouldn't they be willing to show the NHL playoffs. This would fill a significant void they have in a time of the year without college football or basketball. As I type, they are currently showing a movie about fantasy baseball, SportsCenter, and an NFL Draft Preview. Hockey may be a niche sport, but I can't believe their ratings wouldn't improve if they were airing the Stanley Cup playoffs right now instead.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs are the best of any of the four major sports. They allow enough teams into the playoffs for it to matter to a wide variety of its fan base (unlike football and baseball) without watering down the talent level (like the NBA). For example, the first two NHL teams in each conference that missed the playoffs this year had records of 38-33-11 and 40-32-10. In my opinion, OT losses in hockey aren't the same as regular losses because of the shootout. Having player vs. goalie is a scenario that doesn't demonstrate who was the better team that night. It benefits teams that have a goalie that can exceed against better shooters or teams that have a number of better shooters/stick handlers. Some examples of the shootout records for teams this year including their spot in the overall standings:
1. Washington Capitals 5-6
2. San Jose Sharks 7-6
5. Vancouver Canucks 4-4
26. NY Islanders 8-6
29. Toronto Maple Leafs 4-4
30. Edmonton Oilers 8-6
I think I have made my point that OTL should be considered differently than regulation losses, but I don't want to get off track. If you still don't agree, I'll concede that the Montreal Canadiens technically had a losing record of 39-43 when combining losses and OT losses, but they were the only .500 or lower team.
The NBA, on the other hand, waters down the first few rounds with poor teams. This year's playoffs were a rarity because only one team (the Chicago Bulls) had a non-winning record. However, every other season since 2005 has included 3 playoff teams that ended the regular season .500 or worse (every one of which was in the Eastern Conference).
The NHL playoffs are also different in the sense that a hot goalie can propel a team deep into the bracket. Lesser teams are also more likely to pull off upsets by working harder than their opponents. In the NBA, an all-star player can disguise a lack of team effort for at least the first round or two.
Many sports writers and analysts, even those that aren't hockey fans, agree that the Stanley Cup playoffs are some of the most exciting games in sports. This year has already offered a number of close games, surprises from unexpected teams, and exciting action. The Coyotes and Wings scoring 5 goals in 5 minutes in game 2? Ridiculous. So why in the hell is the league still begging NBC (the worst run network on TV today) and Versus to play its games?
I was disappointed, but not extremely surprised, to find tonight's game 4 was not on TV here. I checked the NHL website to see if I could watch the game from my new laptop. After all, CBS is willing to stream every March Madness game online for free even though they did not make money on this year's tournament. What I found is that I can watch each of tonight's four games... for $19.95. That's not a "playoff pass" - that's just for 4 games.
The NHL has tried to regain the tremendous amount of respect, money, and fanbase that it lost with the boring "trap era" games (thanks New Jersey Devils!) and the lockout. They have instituted a number of great changes, including the rule changes to increase scoring and the Winter Classic. However they will not be able to grow any more unless they put their product out there for people to watch. ESPN will show almost anything and has made a huge push to buy the rights to more sporting events (MNF, early Masters coverage, bidding for the NCAA tournament) so why wouldn't they be willing to show the NHL playoffs. This would fill a significant void they have in a time of the year without college football or basketball. As I type, they are currently showing a movie about fantasy baseball, SportsCenter, and an NFL Draft Preview. Hockey may be a niche sport, but I can't believe their ratings wouldn't improve if they were airing the Stanley Cup playoffs right now instead.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Keep It Together
Is anyone else nervously checking the various sporting websites daily to see if Durrell Summers is going pro? I think we are going to be crazy good next year, but I think his tournament performance is going to play a big part in that.
When I saw the list of Kentucky players jumping early, I had the biggest smile on my face. I hate Calipari and this is what they deserve.
When I saw the list of Kentucky players jumping early, I had the biggest smile on my face. I hate Calipari and this is what they deserve.
Thursday, April 08, 2010
Would you like peanuts or a soft pillow?
I was up late last night when this story broke. Of course, in today's "report it now and ask questions later" environment, the story originally read "terrorist tries to light shoe bomb on Denver airplane". Well, let's give them credit that there was an airplane involved and it was headed to Denver. Those facts are close enough, right?
Once they received more information, CNN revealed that this person was a diplomat from Qatar and that he was actually smoking on the plane. They reported that when confronted, the man made a remark about a shoe bomb and the passengers responded. The topic of "diplomatic immunity" came up. Apparently, international diplomats cannot be charged with a crime in the U.S., although it can be revoked.
I was shocked when I woke up to hear that they decided not to charge this guy with a crime. The story, which had been "breaking terrorism news" at midnight had been brushed under the rug so quickly in 8 hours that it was buried on cnn.com's website (Tiger's return to Augusta, of course, was the featured article). The story evolved even more to say that he was "possibly" smoking on the plane. I was also appalled at the Embassy's reaction to the incident. In his statement, the ambassador didn't even come close to an apology. His statement was basically "Yep, he's cool. Don't worry about it - he works for me and I say he's fine." He even criticized the response and warned against "reckless judgements or speculation".
Today I expected interviews with some of the passengers, a debate on "diplomatic immunity" and a discussion on the response from Qatar. What I got was a poll on the new Tiger Woods Nike ad and a countdown until he teed off.
Once they received more information, CNN revealed that this person was a diplomat from Qatar and that he was actually smoking on the plane. They reported that when confronted, the man made a remark about a shoe bomb and the passengers responded. The topic of "diplomatic immunity" came up. Apparently, international diplomats cannot be charged with a crime in the U.S., although it can be revoked.
I was shocked when I woke up to hear that they decided not to charge this guy with a crime. The story, which had been "breaking terrorism news" at midnight had been brushed under the rug so quickly in 8 hours that it was buried on cnn.com's website (Tiger's return to Augusta, of course, was the featured article). The story evolved even more to say that he was "possibly" smoking on the plane. I was also appalled at the Embassy's reaction to the incident. In his statement, the ambassador didn't even come close to an apology. His statement was basically "Yep, he's cool. Don't worry about it - he works for me and I say he's fine." He even criticized the response and warned against "reckless judgements or speculation".
Today I expected interviews with some of the passengers, a debate on "diplomatic immunity" and a discussion on the response from Qatar. What I got was a poll on the new Tiger Woods Nike ad and a countdown until he teed off.
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