Since I have a week off from both school and major amounts of work, I figured that I would go through the 2 Conferences of the NHL and look at the playoff probabilities of each team. The teams have played about 3/4 of their schedules and the races are tight to get into the playoffs. I am glomming off the updates that R.J. is giving on his beloved Maple Leafs. So without any further ado, lets dive into the Eastern Conference.
Teams That Will Not Make The Playoffs:
Ottawa Senators: This team was at one time a juggernaut in the East. After dismantling those perennial playoff chokers, the Sens have fallen on hard times. The 1st Line of Greening, Speeza, and Butler doesn't scare anybody. The free agent signing of Sergei Gonchar hasn't paid dividends, but the acquisition of Craig Anderson might pay off for them in the future. When you have rookies on the 1st Line and in your top defensive pairing, you know that you will have growing pains. That is what Ottawa is experiencing right now.
New York Islanders: Perennial losers. The owner is peculiar and the GM doesn't get what the NHL is trying to transform itself into. Perfect case in point is the defense that Garth Snow tried to muster for Trevor Gillies. After a 9 game-suspension for his hits and conduct against the Pittsburgh Penguins, his 1st game back he goes right to the head for a cheap shot on Cal Clutterbuck of the Wild. Gets a 10-game suspension. And Snow is arguing that he was trying to get back for a check that Clutterbuck put on a different Islander. One that Clutterbuck was sent to the penalty box for. Even Mike Milbury says that the league needs to get rid of this guy. Anyways, the Islanders might have had a chance this year, but 7 players are on IR including DiPietro and Weight. They have a good young 1st line. But the goaltending of Montoya and Lawson aren't going to steal too many games for you.
Florida Panthers: They are under the 1st year of rebuilding under new management. But there are signs of life for this franchise that hasn't been in the playoff for a decade plus. Tomas Vokoun is one hell of a goalie and if they can get him under contract for long-term, the goalie situation is set. Stephen Weiss is a 1st line Center that they can build around. Getting Sergei Samsonov from Carolina should help with the speed that he possesses. And after trading most of their veterans before the trade deadline, the Panthers came away with lots of draft picks for the upcoming draft. If they can draft kids that can contribute in a couple of years, the lean times in Miami could be coming to an end.
Teams That Need To Play Well and Need Help
New Jersey Devils: The Devils fate could be decided in their next 6 games. They play the Islanders, Senators, and the Thrashers at home and away. If they can go 5-1 in those winnable games for this streaking club, they would be right in the middle for the final positions of the playoff race. The final 6 games are equally as important. They will be playing teams already in playoff spots or fighting to make the playoffs in the East. The one thing that shouldn't happen to this team is letting the pressure get to them. They are a veteran team that got off to a horrendous start and got their Head Coach fired. Currently they are 9 points away from 8th place Carolina with 2 games in hand. My percentage that they get into the playoffs: 15%.
Atlanta Thrashers: The Thrashers wouldn't even have a chance for the playoffs except for the play of Dustin Byfuglein this year. Acquired from Chicago, he has played the way he did in last year's playoffs. The offensive lines aren't as talented as others in the East. Byfuglein is in the 1st pairing of the Defensemen and is a converted forward. Basically, they are playing above their skill level. When Andrew Ladd is your leading scorer, you shouldn't be anywhere the playoffs. Their remaining schedule does not give them any favors. They have 11 games left against teams that would be in the playoffs right now. For them to qualify for the playoffs they need to turn around the cold streak that they are on and get White Hot immediately. Otherwise, they can kiss their chnaces at the playoffs goodbye. Playoff Qualification Percentage: 5%.
Teams That Will Go Down To The Final Week Of The Season To Decide If They Get Into The Playoffs
Toronto Maple Leafs. I will give Ron Wilson all the credit in the world for this one. The Maple Leafs in the playoff at the start of the season made me laugh. But yet, they are right in the middle of the scramble in the East. The thing that I think will cause the Leafs to ultimately fall short is a small 3-game road trip out to the West. The play the Wild, Avalanche, and Red Wings. I see a 1-2 record in those 3 games and I don't think that they can overcome that. They have picked up points in 9 of their last 10 games, but I don't see them continuing that pace through the end of the season. Playoff Qualification Percentage: 25%.
Buffalo Sabres. Ryan Miller is starting to look like the Miller of old. He has started the last 9 games and has given up 3 goals or less in each of those games. The schedule is filled with team fighting for the playoffs. The thing that has given them hope is their record against the Northeast. They are 12-6 in division and have 2 games in hand over Carolina. Look for the Sbares to squeak into the playoffs and cause some havoc. Playoff Qualification Percentage: 65%.
Carolina Hurricanes: The Canes are in 8th right now, but hanging on by a thread. They added leadership and physicality on the blueline at the trade deadline. It might help with the playoff push. They are 9th in Goals For, so there wasn't a big need there. I don't know if they did enough for the blueline. The schedule basically has a big game each and every time they play. I wish that I knew that the Hurricanes had explored a blockbuster trade for Rick Nash at the deadline. Rumor had it that the Blue Jackets were willing to explore such a thing. Playoff Qualification Percentage: 40%.
New York Rangers: This helter skelter team has looked good the past 2 games, while the past month hasn't been quite as bright. Marian Gaborik is back and figures to score during the home stretch. John Tortorella is trying to instill some discipline and defense into the team. The schedule isn't that difficult and they should make the playoffs unless they melt down like their coach has been known to do. Playoff Qualification Percentage: 55%.
Teams That Should Make It Into The Playoffs
Montreal Canadiens: Winners of 4 of their last 5. They are 9 points ahead of Buffalo, who is in 9th place. The Habs are looking forward to Tuesday's game against Boston to try and get closer to the Bruins and the Division lead. I don't think they will overtake Boston for the division, but shouldn't have too many problems staying in 5th or 6th place in the Eastern Conference. Carey Price has shown something this season that may help the Habs down the stretch. Playoff Qualification Percentage: 75%.
Teams That Will Make It Into The Playoffs
Washington Capitals
Pittsburgh Penguins
Tampa Bay Lightning
Boston Bruins
Philadelphia Flyers
Sunday, March 06, 2011
Liverpool v Manchester United
The combination of John Henry and Tom Werner (Boston Red Sox) buying the Liverpool Football Club, an increasing interest in soccer cultivated over the last few World Cups and the fact that my buddy Rick is a big fan of Manchester United, I've found myself wanting to know more about the English Premier League and watching some of Liverpool's matches, to the point where I've decided to be a fan of Liverpool. Since Manchester United was coming to Anfield today to play Liverpool, I decided to boldly challenge Rick to a blog challenge; but I did it backwards. I figured since ManU is the better team and Rick knows much more about this stuff than I do, I should make the challenge such that he would have to write the blog post; ie, winner boasts about their team winning, as opposed to the usual loser posting about the winner.
Well, that backfired on me as Liverpool dominated play and easily beat ManU today 3-1, the lone Manchester goal coming in extended time long after the match was decided. So here I sit trying to write something intelligent about a sport I know very little about.
I'm also at a disadvantage because no embed videos are yet available from this match, so that you'd be able to see the great dribbling play by Luis Suarez (Fernando Torres who?) around three defenders in tight to the goal to set up the first goal of the game and the first goal of Dirk Kuyt's hat trick, instead of me trying to describe it to you. If I saw play like this every time I watched a match, I would quickly become a fan of the game.
I will say this: I enjoyed the game very much, doing in large part obviously to the fact that my team dominated from the outset; if you get a chance to see highlights of this match, I urge you to do so; and hey Rick, you didn't see that coming, did ya? I expect to see a crow-eating comment to this post.
The Playoff March: Game 66 Checkpoint
The Leafs started the week with a 3-2 overtime loss to the Atlanta Thrashers, who are now two points behind the Leafs in the Eastern Conference standings. Ideally, you do not want to have a “three-point” game, but if you must play in one and lose, it’s better to lose to a team behind you in the standings so they only gain one point on you instead of two.
On Wednesday, the Leafs hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins in back-to-back games against the two NHL teams based in Pennsylvania. In yet another three-point game, Mikhail Grabovski scored the game winning goal in overtime. Since Pittsburgh is out of reach in the Eastern Conference standings, it was a case of “no harm, no foul” when the Leafs gave up the “pity point” to the Penguins. The following evening the Leafs traveled to Philadelphia to play the hated Flyers, and Darryl Boyce came through with the game winning goal late in the third period to secure the win.
On Saturday night, the Leafs fell flat against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks. They gave up three first-period goals thanks to horrid defensive play and turnovers in the neutral zone and never recovered. Super rookie goalie James Reimer was pulled after two periods and Jean-Sebastien Giguere only faced six shots in mop-up duty.
THE PATH TO 88 POINTS: To finish the season with 88 points, the likely point total needed to secure eighth place, the Leafs need to get 21 points in their remaining sixteen games. That means they need to post at least an 8-3-5 record but they will be in much better shape if they go 9-4-3 or better. To reach that goal, the Leafs need any combination of four points in the next three games.
THE COMING WEEK: The Leafs are on their normal Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday schedule. On Tuesday they travel to Long Island to play the Islanders, then host the Flyers and the Sabres to close out the week. Going 2-1-0 is not only an attainable goal, but they must avoid losing to the Sabres on Saturday night, even if it’s in overtime.
THE X-FACTOR: The Buffalo Sabres have two games in hand on the Leafs, but have you seen their schedule? Of the eighteen games left in their season, fourteen of them are on back-to-back nights. That in my mind makes Buffalo’s path to the playoffs tougher, but in the end the Leafs cannot depend on a tired Sabres team to choke down the stretch. They have to continue playing as if every night is a playoff game if they’re going to play beyond April 9th.
Friday, March 04, 2011
A New Chapter Begins
Today is a glorious day to be a Raiders fan. The ghosts of ineptitude and underachievement have been exorcised from Oakland. Two former first round draft picks, both of whom have strong cases to go down as the worst busts in recent NFL Draft history, are no longer with the team and/or no longer have homes in the area.
Robert Gallery, the Raiders first round pick in 2004 and the second pick overall, was selected to become the cornerstone of a rebuilt offensive line but in the past seven seasons fell way short of expectations. He ended his Raiders career as a serviceable guard, but serviceable is nothing compared to the All-Pro he was supposed to be. When you think of serviceable you think of someone like journeyman Richie Incognito, who elevated his play to the point where his propensity to draw penalty flags becomes unnoticed.
Gallery, who in all likelihood deserves a contract similar to Incognito’s, had the audacity to ask for $8 million a year to remain with the team. The Raiders rewarded Gallery with the front door, as they should have. Owner Al Davis can’t afford to overpay so many underachieving players like he used to. The Raiders are a winning team, and signing free agent players to a Bay Area Premium is no longer necessary.
Gallery still has his NFL career, but there’s no way he’ll get anything near $8 million a year to play guard at below a Pro Bowl level.
In unrelated news, TMZ reported that the Bay Area home of former quarterback JaMarcus Russell is in foreclosure proceedings. The first overall draft pick in 2007 was shown the door last spring by Davis after fleecing the Raiders out of approximately $32 million in guaranteed money, but where did it all go? His jeweler? Las Vegas? Friends and family? Purple drank? All of the above? It really doesn’t matter where the money went but the fact is Russell owes nearly $200,000 in past due mortgage payments, or roughly what he could get if he sold his diamonds to a pawn shop.
If I were Russell I’d start working out so he could resume his football career to make more money, even if the only football we’ll see this fall could be the Canadian Football League. I hear the Winnipeg Blue Bombers could use a starting quarterback.
Do I sound bitter? Of course. Seven years of losing seasons will do that to a Raiders fan, but today I’m feeling fabulous because two players who are examples of what’s wrong with the NFL and it’s current labor negotiations got what they deserved in the end.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Sunday Observations
Liverpool lost to West Ham United, a crippling loss for the Reds' Champions League hopes. Observation: I still don't understand the interplay between the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, etc, etc, but I'm slowly working up to having a passing interest.
Watching the final match of the Match Play Championship between Martin Kaymer and Luke Donald but paying more attention to the consolation match between Matt Kuchar and Bubba Watson, Watson being another hard-hitting lefty like my fav Phil Mickelson. Observation: He needs to watch some of Phil's biggest ego-over-smarts moments and learn that being able to do magical things isn't a mandate to always press your luck.
Peeked in on the prerace show on Fox before the race today at Phoenix. Observation: Fox can't even be honest when they do sports telecasts. A week after Trevor Bayne's win in the Daytona 500, Fox does a rundown of what Bayne's week has been like, conveniently and predictably leaving out the fact that his first day after winning the 500 was spent with ESPN. They even went so far as to eliminate a dot on the map for Connecticut when they showed all the miles he'd put in. The map shows Daytona, Chicago, San Fran and Phoenix but no Connecticut.
Today's Nascar race in Phoenix: Observations: Two races into the season and Kasey Kahne has another good start in a car that heretofore almost never saw the front and finishes 6th. A talented driver can make a difference. The 43 car is in second place in the points. I don't care that it's only two races into the season; it's been a tough past 15 plus years being a fan of the Petty organization. So I'll take it and smile. Go AJ!
Rest in peace, Duke Snider
I'd have an observation concerning the Celtics' trades this week, particularly the Kendrick Perkins trade, if I could decide how I feel about it. I'm leaning towards bad idea and a crapshoot, except with Perkins' health issues it may not have mattered anyway. Stay tuned.
My Bruins have looked strong on this roadtrip, beating the two hottest teams out west in back to back games. Observation: To me it comes down to Horton and Ryder playing up to their potential as to whether the Bruins could really challenge for the Stanley Cup. The other pieces are in place. Hopefully they don't sleepwalk through the rest of this roadtrip, which has easily-winnable games, including tonight's matchup in Edmonton.
Watching the final match of the Match Play Championship between Martin Kaymer and Luke Donald but paying more attention to the consolation match between Matt Kuchar and Bubba Watson, Watson being another hard-hitting lefty like my fav Phil Mickelson. Observation: He needs to watch some of Phil's biggest ego-over-smarts moments and learn that being able to do magical things isn't a mandate to always press your luck.
Peeked in on the prerace show on Fox before the race today at Phoenix. Observation: Fox can't even be honest when they do sports telecasts. A week after Trevor Bayne's win in the Daytona 500, Fox does a rundown of what Bayne's week has been like, conveniently and predictably leaving out the fact that his first day after winning the 500 was spent with ESPN. They even went so far as to eliminate a dot on the map for Connecticut when they showed all the miles he'd put in. The map shows Daytona, Chicago, San Fran and Phoenix but no Connecticut.
Today's Nascar race in Phoenix: Observations: Two races into the season and Kasey Kahne has another good start in a car that heretofore almost never saw the front and finishes 6th. A talented driver can make a difference. The 43 car is in second place in the points. I don't care that it's only two races into the season; it's been a tough past 15 plus years being a fan of the Petty organization. So I'll take it and smile. Go AJ!
Rest in peace, Duke Snider
I'd have an observation concerning the Celtics' trades this week, particularly the Kendrick Perkins trade, if I could decide how I feel about it. I'm leaning towards bad idea and a crapshoot, except with Perkins' health issues it may not have mattered anyway. Stay tuned.
My Bruins have looked strong on this roadtrip, beating the two hottest teams out west in back to back games. Observation: To me it comes down to Horton and Ryder playing up to their potential as to whether the Bruins could really challenge for the Stanley Cup. The other pieces are in place. Hopefully they don't sleepwalk through the rest of this roadtrip, which has easily-winnable games, including tonight's matchup in Edmonton.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Playoffs?
How did this happen? In rookie James Reimer, the Leafs finally have solid goaltending for the first time since… well, that’s considered a trick trivia question so let’s move on before you answer Johnny Bower and Terry Sawchuk.
Since his promotion from the Toronto Marlies (AHL), Reimer has been nothing short of spectacular. In 16 career NHL games he has a 9-4-2 record, a 2.12 goals against average, a .930 save percentage and two shutouts. If you were to translate those stats into a full season he would be ranked as one of the top two or three goalies in the league, which is a far cry from the Vesa Toskala days when a 197-foot clearing pass out of the other team’s end would become a defensive misadventure.
It also helps to have a little offense, which was something the Leafs didn’t have much of at the beginning of the season. Mikhail Grabovski, Nikolai Kulemin and Phil Kessel all have a good chance of finishing the season with 30 or more goals, and Clarke MacArthur could also reach that plateau if he rediscovers his scoring touch.
Oddly enough, this team has overcome the deficiencies of Mike Komisarek and Brett Lebda on defense as well as the trades of Francois Beauchemin, Tomas Kaberle and Kris Versteeg to post a 8-2-2 record since the All-Star Break. You don’t post one of the best records during the stretch run to the Stanley Cup Playoffs by luck. You do that with effort, skill and a commitment to winning.
Will the Leafs make the playoffs? It’s hard to temper my enthusiasm for this late season run but the Leafs realistically need 88 points to make the playoffs. To get there, they will need to go 13-7-1 the rest of the way against the best the Eastern Conference has to offer. It’s not an impossible task, but you’re asking for Reimer to make at least 16 starts between now and the end of the season and to continue his stellar play.
I’ve seen the Leafs miss the playoffs by one point in 2005-06 and in 2006-07 but then again no players remain from those teams that came up short so anything is possible.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Recaping The Daytona 500
Yesterday, the Daytona 500 found itself a surprise winner in Trevor Bayne, a rookie in the Sprint Cup making only his 2nd start in the series. The fact that he was in a Wood Brothers car makes it even more amazing. The Wood Brothers haven't won a race since 2002. And the team decided that they would race part-time this year going into the season. Bet that they suddenly decide to be a full-time team.
Anyways, the way you race in Daytona changed with the repaving of the track. No longer is it a race by freight train. It has evolved into packs of 2 cars teaming up to go faster. And while the changes caused the cars to go faster, it also caused drivers to have no chance of checking up if they were the back car of the tandem to slow down to avoid wrecking people. Michael Waltrip was the big instigator causing 2 wreckes including the Big on on Lap 29 that claimed 17 cars.
Childress racing lost 2 cars to Engine failure, the #29 of Kevin Harvick and the #31 of Jeff Burton. That is something of an anomaly. Childress hasn't lost 2 cars to engine failure in over 2 years if my memory serves me correctly. The 3 Hendrick cars involved in the Lap 29 big one, the #24, #48, & #5, all had different results. Mark Martin came home in 10th position, while Jimmie Johnson was 19 laps down and Jeff Gordon finished 35 laps down. Michael Waltrip took out his #00 car driven by David Reutimann to start the melee. After the crash the Big 3 that were thought to have the best chance to win the race are Jamie McMurray, Kurt Busch, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Trevor Bayne is showing the power that the #21 has during this time. He is pushing people to the front of the field. It doesn't matter if it is a Ford, Chevy, Toyota, or Dodge. He had planned to work with Jeff Gordon throughout the race, but with Gordon crashing, he is showing that he will work with anybody. Junior had problems with lots of people trying to team with his car. Truex Jr, and Kahne tried to help the 88, but Junior was trying to get away from them because the car wasn't responding favorably to those two being hooked up with him.
The final 15 laps were a dogfight. You had 6 or 7 packs of tandems all racing to lead. And they would fall back and have runs on each other. The accident that took out many of them was done on lap 196. Kurt Busch lost contact with Regan Smith. Then Busch was pushed by Tony Stewart into the back of Regan Smith and spun him out. That spinout collected Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer and Denny Hamlin. It also caused Junior to fall out of contention with a flat rear left tire.
Coming out of the wreck you have David Ragan in the #6 UPS car in the lead with Trevor Bayne in the #21 in second. 3rd: #22 Kurt Busch, 4th: #14 Tony Stewart and 5th: #18 Kyle Busch. Ragan and Bayne have been hooked up for a while and plan to have Ragan drop in front of Bayne at the restart to hook back up. The Busch brothers are also planning to team up. So that would leave Stewart out on his own for the final 2 laps. Well, the plan for the #6 and #21 works well except that Ragan drops down into Bayne's lane before the start finish line which is a penalty. But they are going and are starting to open up a lead and on the back stretch, somebody boots the #7 of Robby Gordon out of the field and as he is trying to get back into line bumps Junior who goes sliding into the outside retaining wall. Ryan Newman and AJ Allmendinger wreck into each other.
The final 2 laps saw Trevor Bayne being pushed by Bobby LaBonte up front while the pair of Carl Edwards and David Gilliland came out of nowhere to challenge for the lead. However, when Edwards got along side of LaBonte, Bayne came down and blocked the #99 and came home to finish the 2011 Daytona 500 as the winner. Bayne claimed the $1.5 Million purse for winning and had to change his plans of driving back to North Carolina after the race.
This race had the most cautions, the most leaders, and the most lead changes for a Daytona 500. It had teammates spinning each other out, the most popular driver in the sport in contention until the last 10 laps, and a black flag penalty on the driver that was leading the race into "overtime". However, it wasn't an exciting race to me. The drivers will learn from this race and have better strategies for next time. The track will cure and change over time which will effect the racing. I believe that until they can get Daytona racing where it can be a place where you can have a strategy and actually implement it, it will be one of those races that i truly don't like to watch on the television. This was the luck of the draw basically. But I will say this, it is better than the pack racing that was done here in the past.
As for the predictors on this blog, RJ won the predictions with his 6th place finish of the #42 Target car of Juan Pablo Montoya. I came in 2nd with the finishing of Kyle Busch in 8th. Zebster came in last with AJ Allmendinger finishing outside the Top 10 in 11th. We will have recaps and prediction results throughout the NASCAR season on this blog, so keep checking back and see how bad we are in our predictions.
Anyways, the way you race in Daytona changed with the repaving of the track. No longer is it a race by freight train. It has evolved into packs of 2 cars teaming up to go faster. And while the changes caused the cars to go faster, it also caused drivers to have no chance of checking up if they were the back car of the tandem to slow down to avoid wrecking people. Michael Waltrip was the big instigator causing 2 wreckes including the Big on on Lap 29 that claimed 17 cars.
Childress racing lost 2 cars to Engine failure, the #29 of Kevin Harvick and the #31 of Jeff Burton. That is something of an anomaly. Childress hasn't lost 2 cars to engine failure in over 2 years if my memory serves me correctly. The 3 Hendrick cars involved in the Lap 29 big one, the #24, #48, & #5, all had different results. Mark Martin came home in 10th position, while Jimmie Johnson was 19 laps down and Jeff Gordon finished 35 laps down. Michael Waltrip took out his #00 car driven by David Reutimann to start the melee. After the crash the Big 3 that were thought to have the best chance to win the race are Jamie McMurray, Kurt Busch, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Trevor Bayne is showing the power that the #21 has during this time. He is pushing people to the front of the field. It doesn't matter if it is a Ford, Chevy, Toyota, or Dodge. He had planned to work with Jeff Gordon throughout the race, but with Gordon crashing, he is showing that he will work with anybody. Junior had problems with lots of people trying to team with his car. Truex Jr, and Kahne tried to help the 88, but Junior was trying to get away from them because the car wasn't responding favorably to those two being hooked up with him.
The final 15 laps were a dogfight. You had 6 or 7 packs of tandems all racing to lead. And they would fall back and have runs on each other. The accident that took out many of them was done on lap 196. Kurt Busch lost contact with Regan Smith. Then Busch was pushed by Tony Stewart into the back of Regan Smith and spun him out. That spinout collected Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer and Denny Hamlin. It also caused Junior to fall out of contention with a flat rear left tire.
Coming out of the wreck you have David Ragan in the #6 UPS car in the lead with Trevor Bayne in the #21 in second. 3rd: #22 Kurt Busch, 4th: #14 Tony Stewart and 5th: #18 Kyle Busch. Ragan and Bayne have been hooked up for a while and plan to have Ragan drop in front of Bayne at the restart to hook back up. The Busch brothers are also planning to team up. So that would leave Stewart out on his own for the final 2 laps. Well, the plan for the #6 and #21 works well except that Ragan drops down into Bayne's lane before the start finish line which is a penalty. But they are going and are starting to open up a lead and on the back stretch, somebody boots the #7 of Robby Gordon out of the field and as he is trying to get back into line bumps Junior who goes sliding into the outside retaining wall. Ryan Newman and AJ Allmendinger wreck into each other.
The final 2 laps saw Trevor Bayne being pushed by Bobby LaBonte up front while the pair of Carl Edwards and David Gilliland came out of nowhere to challenge for the lead. However, when Edwards got along side of LaBonte, Bayne came down and blocked the #99 and came home to finish the 2011 Daytona 500 as the winner. Bayne claimed the $1.5 Million purse for winning and had to change his plans of driving back to North Carolina after the race.
This race had the most cautions, the most leaders, and the most lead changes for a Daytona 500. It had teammates spinning each other out, the most popular driver in the sport in contention until the last 10 laps, and a black flag penalty on the driver that was leading the race into "overtime". However, it wasn't an exciting race to me. The drivers will learn from this race and have better strategies for next time. The track will cure and change over time which will effect the racing. I believe that until they can get Daytona racing where it can be a place where you can have a strategy and actually implement it, it will be one of those races that i truly don't like to watch on the television. This was the luck of the draw basically. But I will say this, it is better than the pack racing that was done here in the past.
As for the predictors on this blog, RJ won the predictions with his 6th place finish of the #42 Target car of Juan Pablo Montoya. I came in 2nd with the finishing of Kyle Busch in 8th. Zebster came in last with AJ Allmendinger finishing outside the Top 10 in 11th. We will have recaps and prediction results throughout the NASCAR season on this blog, so keep checking back and see how bad we are in our predictions.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
February 18, 2001
If you click the image to get a closer look, you'll see that we sat in the Lund Grandstand coming out of turn 2. The Tony Stewart flipping accident that Robbie refers to happened right in front of us. Also in the image of the ticket stub notice the car on the very bottom, the black #3. What you may be unable to discern is the Daytona 500 logo in the bottom left quarter of the ticket stub is in actuality my event pin, which I placed on top of the ticket to take the picture. The event pin is usually affixed to my official going-to-the-races hat, a corduroy Adam Petty Spree hat adorned with other event pins.
I'll try to make this brief. The trip down to Daytona was uneventful, other than the fact that it was 50 degrees warmer in Orlando when we arrived than it'd been in Mass when we left the previous day. We went to an Orlando Magic game the night we arrived, went to the Kennedy Space Center the following day and then to the 500 on the third and final day we were there.
If you've never been to Daytona, you must go once at least because no one can convey to you just how enormous and awesome this place is; and the first time you hear the air being moved by the 43 car freight train 3 to 5 seconds before the cars get to you is unreal...and loud.
The race itself was typical of the big pack Daytona races of the time, which was quite exciting being there for the first time. The Big One, as I said, started right in front of us. There was lots of drafting and lead changes, everyone in one big pack. Coming to the finish it was exciting because of who was running near the front and had the strongest cars -- Mikey Waltrip, the eventual winner; Dale Jr and Dale Sr.
As for Dale's accident, I can't tell you much from a personal recollection standpoint because it happened nearly half a track away from us. We were sitting maybe 100 yards down the back straight from turn 2 and the accident starts in turn 3. Everyone was standing and looking to our right because that's where the pack was, so there were people kind of in our way when the accident happens; but even from our distant vantage point, it looked to be a typical, harmless Daytona accident, just like it looked on television. Since we were leaving for Mass directly from the race, we left as the checkered flag flew and didn't see Ken Schrader or the ambulance or any of what you saw on TV; and I don't believe there were big screens there either.
What was eerie, surreal and ultimately sad was listening to the post race interviews and updates on the car radio as we're leaving Daytona. I remember Bro and I basically looking at each other with a "no way" expression when we heard Dale was taken to the hospital and that things didn't "look good" and rather soon after that when it was announced that Dale Earnhardt had died. Neither of us were fans of DE but I can tell you that was a quieter and sadder trip home than you would expect after doing something as exciting as attending your first Daytona 500.
After Ten Years, Closure
NOTE: This entry was cross-posted at my new sports blog, Section LL19 – R.J.
On the ten-year anniversary of the death of Dale Earnhardt, there was a celebration in Victory Lane, albeit it was a muted one. Michael Waltrip, dressed in a blue Napa Auto Parts fire suit like he did that fateful day, crawled out of his ride still wearing his helmet with its visor concealing his eyes. After a brief moment of celebration for the fans in attendance, he removed his helmet and hugged his young daughter for what seemed like forever. Tears visibly dribbled down his cheeks as he struggled to keep his emotions in check, making it a challenge for the Speed HD pit reporter to conduct her compulsory Victory Lane interview.
I cried along with him when I realized the meaning of the moment – after ten years we finally had closure after Dale’s death.
Only a few minutes earlier the race looked like any other season opening Camping World Truck Series event at the 2.5-mile tri-oval. Waltrip, who was unable to enjoy his first Sprint Cup victory, was in the right place at the right time when the final caution flag waved. He found himself firmly among the leaders, one of only five trucks on the track that had not been damaged in two earlier wrecks that had decimated the field in this year’s NextEra’s Energy Resources 250. At worst, he was looking at a Top 5 finish but when the green flag waved with two laps to go Waltrip went for the win.
Waltrip maneuvered his #15 Chevrolet Silverado truck behind race leader Elliott Sadler, his front bumper firmly planted into the rear bumper of Sadler as they pulled away from the pack in a two-truck draft down the backstretch. Then as they exited the fourth turn on the final lap, at the same corner that claimed Earnhardt’s life, Waltrip pulled his truck alongside Sadler’s and won a drag race to the checkered flag as his brother Darrell Waltrip cheered him on from the announcer’s booth.
The scene looked all too familiar. The winning driver, the sponsor, the car number, and the color commentator calling the race were the same as they were ten years ago. Was it a coincidence? I’m 60% sure I don’t give a flip about ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser and his conspiracy theories. The Waltrips wanted closure. Race fans across the land wanted closure. I wanted closure and I didn’t care if the race was fixed or not.
Tonight we all got what we wanted and thankfully no Earnhardts were harmed in the making of this storybook ending. That’s all that really matters on this dark anniversary.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Kaberle Goes To Beantown
NOTE: This has been cross posted on my new sports blog Section LL19. Check it out by clicking here.
It seems like it’s been in the making for two seasons but today the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins finally consummated the deal that brings Tomas Kaberle to Beantown.
THE DETAILS: Kaberle goes to Boston for Providence Bruins (AHL) forward Joe Colborne, the Bruins first-round pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, and a conditional second-round draft pick.
WHO WON: This is one of those trades we need to sit back on and judge three years from now. Will Kaberle re-sign with the Bruins at the end of the season? Will Colborne become an impact player for the Leafs? Most importantly, what will happen with those draft picks?
QUICK ANALYSIS: The Bruins get the quarterback they need for their power play without sacrificing an every day player but they’re also on the hook for the remainder of Kaberle’s salary. Do the Bruins have the cap space to absorb that contract? Or is there another move in the works to create some breathing room?
Kaberle can play offense but he does have shortcomings. He doesn’t throw his weight around. More often than not he’s disinterested in playing defense. He doesn’t shoot enough. Bruins fans love hard-hitting and hard-working players, which is something I found lacking in Kaberle in recent seasons.
This is a risky move for the Bruins. Not only is Kaberle defensively-challenged but he’s still an unrestricted free agent on July 1st. Will he stay in Boston? Or will he go elsewhere?
THE X FACTOR: Brian Burke has done a wonderful job of acquiring assets during the past week. Not only does he have the Bruins 2011 first round pick, but he also has the Flyers 2011 first and third round picks from the Kris Versteeg deal. Will he bundle those picks to acquire a young top-six forward before the trade deadline? To move up in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft? Use as compensation if he signs Brad Richards as a free agent on July 1st? Stay tuned.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)