The Long Story Of The North Star Athletic Association

In April, the press reported about the formation of the North Star Athletic Association in the NAIA. It will be comprised of 6 schools: Jamestown College, Valley City State University, Dickinson State University, Dakota State University, Presentation College, and Mayville State University. Only Presentation College was not a part of the DAC-10 that dissolved in 2011.

Changing The NASCAR All-Star Race

After trying to fall asleep during the NASCAR multiple times this past weekend, I believe that there needs to be changes made to the race.  I am not talking tweaks to the race, I am talking major race changing rules. I am talking things that many "racing purists" would consider blasphemous. But something needs to be done. The All-Star race is becoming the Pro Bowl like. And that is a bad thing.

Found On The Internet: Old Spurs

No discussion of the San Antonio Spurs can begin or end without talking about the advanced ages of Tim Duncan (37), Manu Ginobili (35) or Tony Parker (a spry 31), but one thing I’ll never accuse them of is being too old. Especially since they took down the physical Memphis Grizzlies easily in Game 1 yesterday.

The Grizzlies had no answer for Parker, and Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green and Matt Bonner (he’s 33 BTW) made sure it rained threes all day long.

If this is how it’s going to be, go ahead and make plans for a Spurs – Heat final. And maybe this time our bench will beat them.

Washington Capitals: We Mourn For Thee

A few weeks ago I was riding high.  Not so much on the fact that the Capitals were on the way to sealing the deal (the "deal" being the Southeast Division) against the Jets, but that we had defeated the dreaded Bears from Boston.  You might think I was taking pleasure in giving the business to our favorite "Maine-iac," or perhaps my good friend Matt from "Bah-sten."  No, I was especially thrilled to be able to harass the crap out of my neighbor, Christian--a 10-year old kid.  Christian is a conflicted little child--he constantly wears a Detroit Red Wings tee shirt while rooting loudly for the Bruins.  Every time he sees me, it's all about the Washington "Crapitals!"  So, for the 27 April game, I bet Master Christian $1 and when we beat Boston 3-2 in OT, like I child, I ran outside and made Christian cough up my buck!!  But I gave him a chance to win it back by betting him $2 that the Bruins would lose in the playoffs, and that the Caps would win.

I haven't seen Christian in a week, I have his $2, but I think he's waiting to ambush me (...I gotta watch my back!)

However, it was during that April 27th game that Zeb and I traded texts and twits and emails over how horribly Zeb felt the zebras called the game.  From my perspective, I thought they were all good calls--Zeb felt they were inconsistent and untimely.  I didn't (couldn't, wouldn't) see his point then, but I think I do now.

In his summary blog of the first round of the playoffs, Brent wrote:  "The Capitals were robbed by the officials with the Rangers having a two-to-one ratio of Power Plays.  Even though the Rangers PP looked horrible, having to kill off a penalty can cause problems with your own team.  Caps fans have every reason to be upset at the NHL and it's officials."

I couldn't agree more.  I'm not going to grouse, bitch, moan, groan, or complain--I want to believe the refs are human and make mistakes.  But I readily admit that there is something to be said for consistency in officiating.  In the picture to the left, you clearly see nine (9) Rangers on the ice, and on this very play, the refs did call a penalty for too many men on the ice---ON WASHINGTON!!!!  No, I'm not kidding and this is not hyperbole.  They gave the Rangers the PP and the Caps went on to lose Game 3 and the rest is, well, history.

As for the Caps' season, I'm not bitter, just bitterly disappointed that the Caps do, in fact, seem to have "choke-itis."  But I am nonetheless proud of my team and I remain a loyal homer.  The Washington Capitals are a 39-year old NHL expansion team; they've made the playoffs 24 of those 39 seasons (61%).  Eight times they won the division.  Ten times they advanced past the first round; only twice did they make it into the semi's, and just once to the Stanley Cup where they were trounced by the high flying Red Wings.

Oh well...I guess it's time, once again, to sing the Washington, DC, Unified Sports Team Fight Song: 

       (...ahem...) 

"I know all there is to know about the crying game; I've had my share of the crying game..."

Anyone Have a Samsung Big Screen?

Gently used for Leafs games. Suffered an accident around 7:20pm PST or thereabouts. Parts only. Click here for more details.

No, it’s not mine!

Couldn't Resist

Check out Brick in the background.  Yeah, he's a homer and not the best but you can't argue with his passion.
Go ahead and hate.

The Game 7 Experience

Ladies and gents, I’d love to tell you about how great the Bruins were in coming back from a 4-2 lead to win in overtime. I’d love to tell you how I’m proud of how my Leafs proved me wrong and took this series to a Game 7. But I can’t. Real life means I can’t arbitrarily call in sick midway through my work day to watch a hockey game, so I can’t break down what happened to the Leafs or why. Instead I’ll tell you about how great today was from a hockey fan’s perspective.

For me, it began as soon as I woke up. I work from home, and I didn’t want to be like a mushroom and rely on text messages from Zeb to tell me what was going on. What did I do? I spent about an hour or so moving all the furniture around in my living room so my computer desk faced the big screen television. I didn’t care whether or not I’d actually get to watch the game since Mondays are the busiest work days for me. I wanted to experience it, even if it were only a few seconds every ten minutes or so.

This Game 7 was unlike any other for one specific reason. The only thing hotter than James Reimer in goal was the weather. By the time my work day started, it was 102 degrees and the thermometer was still in triple digits by the time the puck dropped. I can honestly say I was one of the few Leafs fans that watched the game in a heat wave.

I glanced up every so often to see what was going on, but I missed a lot of the game. I knew when each team scored, and I got to see Phil Kessel score to make it 3-1, but I have no idea who did what without looking at the box score. But from the bits and pieces I saw I remember why I fell in love with this game as a kid. I loved how each team took chances. They rushed the puck from one end of the rink to another at a pace I haven’t seen since I watched Smythe Division hockey games in the early to mid-80s. There was no neutral zone trap to cut down scoring chances. There was no clutching and grabbing to slow down puck carriers. It was “Here I come, whatcha going to do about it?” hockey and while I sat in my cushy computer chair I only needed the edge.

The best part of the night? You won’t believe me but I’ll tell you. With about five minutes left in the game, Zeb texted me to congratulate me on the Leafs winning the game. I texted back, “Thanks but it ain’t over yet.”

Boy, was this one time I wish I were wrong.

Am I sad over this loss? No. I expected the Leafs to lose in six games because hardly anyone on the roster has ever played hockey past the first weekend in April. But the team surprised me. They got their butts kicked in Game 1, but once they realized what kind of effort it takes to win playoff games they went back to work. They lost a heartbreaker in Game 4, yet they came back and took the next two games to put the Bruins on the ropes. They almost pulled off the upset, but in the end their inexperience caught up to them.

There’s a lot to be hopeful for next year, such as:

• Phil Kessel is no longer scared of the Big, Bad Bruins. For the past four years, I wondered if it would have been best to make Kessel a healthy scratch against his old team. He scored four goals this series, and even had one Canadian sports writer on my Twitter feed joke that Claude Julien needs to get Zdeno Chara away from all those matchups against Kessel.
• James Reimer is the unquestioned #1 goalie in Toronto. His performance should shut down any rumors of Roberto Luongo or anyone else being traded to the Leafs this summer.
• Cody Franson showed he can be a reliable defenseman. When he arrived from Nashville, he was considered a power play specialist and a defensive liability. Now he’s a legit top four defenseman that doesn’t make you cringe whenever the puck is in his end.
• Jake Gardiner is all that and then some. I would not be shocked if he won a Norris Trophy in the next five years. Once he gets more NHL experience, it will be scary to see how good the Leafs can be in their transition game.
• Nazem Kadri has what it takes to be a #1 center in the NHL, but he needs more experience and consistency. There is no way Leafs should pay Tyler “Blackface” Bozak $8 million a year to be the default #1 guy in the middle, and it’s obvious Mikhail Grabovski is not the answer. Someone has to step up, and that someone is Kadri.

I’m proud of these guys. I know this loss hurts, but I hope when they wake up tomorrow they realize they did the best they could with the team they had – and the Canadiens had a four-day head start to sharpen up their golf game!

1st Round Eliminated NHL Teams and The One Major Thing That They Need

East:

NY Islanders - Goaltending. Evgeni Nabokov looked like a second tier goalie. A couple of outstanding saves and the Isles knock off the Penguins. But the young talent is there on offense and defense.

Montreal - Heart. The Canadiens thought that they should be handed victories. They showed no heart when the series got tough for them, just cheapness with thuggery. Michel Therrien showed that he is an ineffective Head Coach. And if it was true that team Captain Brian Gionta was crying in Therrien's arms because the Habs were going to lose the series, then they need a new captain.

Washington - A Better Reputation. The Capitals were robbed by the officials with the Rangers having a two-to-one ratio of Power Plays. Even though the Rangers PP looked horrible, having to kill off a penalty can cause problems with your own team. Ovechkin didn't play to his potential and Holtby is a fine Goalkeeper for the Caps. Caps fans have every reason to be upset at the NHL and it's officials.

Toronto - Experience. I am impressed with the young players in the Maple Leafs lineup. James Reimer looks like he could be the Curtis Joseph of the Leafs for many years. Toronto deserved to win the series, but inexperience came and bit them on the ass. The funny thing is that you have to give Brian Burke credit for his patience with the oung kids before being axed.

West:

Vancouver - Direction. After being beaten by the divers of Vancouver South, this team appears to need a complete overhaul. You start at head coach, go through the goaltending and then start looking at the defense that looked like they belonged in the AHL.

Anaheim - Wingers. The Ducks got real good goaltending from Hiller, the defense played rather well and the centermen were a strength for the Ducks. The Wingers need to show up and play.

St. Louis - Focus. This team played a real tough series against the Kings. They could have won the series but there were lots of distractions behind the scenes. The coach is fighting with players, the players are revolting and the leadership couldn't resolve the two. Ken Hitchcock has went back to his taskmaster ways and causing problems.

Minnesota - A better Top 6. Everybody is screaming that Mike Yeo should be fired. Why? This team gets devastated by injuries annually. He made it into the playoffs with Pierre Marc-Bouchard, Cal Clutterbuck, and Charlie Coyle as Top 6 forwards. That means you have problems. The Devin Setoguchi and Dany Heatley trade that was supposed to bring offense to the Wild didn't work. You can put some of the blame at Yeo's feet, but more should be put on the player's shoulders.

Great Hockey

Tonight's game 7 between the Bruins and Leafs will be called an all-time classic because of the Bruins comeback and win in OT but the Leafs were the better team tonight and deserved a much better fate. 
I won't get into the game details much but the loss of Redden before the game and Seidenberg on his first shift meant the Bruins had to rely on two rookies on the back end, and the Leafs repeatedly exposed them.  But the Bruins didn't quit, brought back by Milan Lucic's physical play and energy, a guy who's been deservedly maligned of late.
But this series overall is some of the best hockey I've seen in a long time.  It's right up there with the Cup Final against Vancouver in my mind.  The Bruins spanked the Leafs in game 1, making them run around and look rattled; but give that bunch a ton of credit...they came back and never quit after that.  Despite giving up those goals at the end tonight, Reimer was terrific between the pipes.  If you didn't see it, Game 4 of this series was THE BEST game I've seen in a very long time, bar none.
So hopefully the Bruins have found their offense because now it's time to face the Rangers and Henrick Lundquist.
I wish my friend could have experienced what I'm experiencing right now.  I must would've preferred this comeback had happened against the Canadiens.
PS  Yes, RJ, you still gotta eat crow and we're still waiting for that Spurs post.

Rangers Ballpark in Arlington

As some of you know, a very good friend of mine (and author on this blog) moved to the Dallas/Fort Worth area a year or so ago.  He invited several of us to come down to his place for a weekend and to go see the Red Sox play in Arlington.  Thanks again for the great seats, AA.
Suffice to say we had one helluva time getting together, as well as eating lots of fatty meat and drinking lots of alcohol.  There was also no shortage of belly laughs and ribbing to go around.  I will put up a piece on my personal blog All Things Zebster, hopefully this afternoon about the whole trip.  This short post is really about going to the game.

L-R My Bro, Ellery, Tim and AA

I cannot possibly impart the enormity of this ballpark and I'm not sure the above picture does it justice either.  If you've seen a game there on TV, you know it's big but the outside footprint of this place is arguably 50% bigger than what you would normally consider the ballpark.  I think you could fit four Fenways in there.  The façade has longhorn impressions all along a center strip.  As with many of the new ballparks, there are restaurants and pubs within it, along with your traditional ballpark vending outlets.  We stopped at one of the pubs, Bodington's, for a cold one before getting to our seats.

Yours truly

Little Brother

 

We all dreaded the fact that John Lackey was pitching for the Sox, even though his previous outing was pretty good coming back from the DL.  Well, we had a bird's eye view of his very first pitch sailing over the left field wall off the bat of Kinsler but he did settle down and pitch fairly well.  The Red Sox bats have been kinda dormant lately and this game was no different.  The game was 3-1 Rangers until they got a couple more in the 8th to make the final score 5-1.  The Red Sox downfall was also as much attributable to bad defense at the infield corners as it was the lack of offense, but it was a reasonably close and well-played game, which was really a sidebar to being out together and sharing our friendship and mutual love of the game and the Sox.  I'm not sure there's really anything else I'd rather do with my time.
Thanks again, AA, for being such a great host and to Tom, Tim and Ellery for the awesome companionship and camaraderie.

PS  Ellery is the lone wolf in our group when it comes to favorite teams.  Like the rest of us he's a Sox, Bruins and Celtics fan (yeah, I know, AA, you hate basketball) but while the rest of us are Patriots fans, Ellery is a Cowboy fan.  This pic's for you, Ell.

Ell in front of Cowboy Stadium

 

PSS Once we arrived back to AA's, we watched the DVRed Bruins/Leafs playoff game, which the Leafs won, which I did not know the outcome despite RJ's text to me during the Sox game.  LOL  And we did play a round of golf the following day.  Not sure if I'll throw that into the weekend blog or come back here and post one just about that.