5 Things To Watch This Weekend

1.  The Manning Magical Mystery Tour has suddenly become a circus.  Miami and Arizona being told no.  San Francisco being a secret team in the running.  Denver and Tennessee going to see him throw.  Other teams that wanted to be included in this circus being refused.  I am hopeful that this will end on either Monday or Tuesday.  Because if we have to go through another week of this garbage, I will be rooting for serious injuries.

2.  College hockey conference championships.  I spent over 5 hours Friday night watching the WCHA semifinals.  And it was great.  I had to watch on Fox Sports north who were rooting for the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs and the Minnesota Golden Gophers.  The Bulldogs came back from 3-0 to force their game with the Denver Pioneers into Double Overtime and make it the longest game in WCHA Final Five playoff history.  In the 2nd Semi-finals, the Fighting Sioux of North Dakota came back from hometown officiating and a 3-0 deficit to win 6-3.  The NBC Sports Channel had the Hockey East tournament and Fox Sports North Plus had the CCHA semifinals.  It is a great time to be a college hockey fan.

3.  NASCAR at Bristol.  Short tracks bring out the tempers of the drivers and teams.  You will see more flare this weekend.  Nuff said.

4.  The NCAA Men's Tournament.  #2 seeds Duke and Missouri have already fallen.  #1 Seed Syracuse needed bad calls to advance over UNC-Asheville.  And my bracket already has 1 of my Final Four teams out and another Elite 8 team.  Right now I'm not happy with Missouri or St. Mary's.

5.  The race for the playoffs in the NHL.  The races for the 7th and 8th positions in each conference are tight as usual.  However, there seems to be more jostling for playoff seeding amongst the top teams than usual.  And the slumps that some of the top teams going into at the most inopportune time also makes things interesting.

A little Maine hockey

Since starting the season very slowly -- and given that the Bruins are defending Stanley Cup champs and had been playing very well until a month ago -- the University of Maine Black Bear hockey team has been flying under my radar.  Now the Black Bears, the #4 team in Hockey East and #10 in the country, are about to face #3 BU in the second round of the Hockey East playoffs, a game they may need to win to assure a berth in the 16 team national championship field.  The 22-13-3 Black Bears are in good shape but if a few low-ranked teams win their conference tourneys to get a berth, then Maine could get left out in the cold.  They could make things much easier by beating BU tonight and the winner of BC/Providence on Saturday night to win the Hockey East championship for the first time since 2004 and claiming an automatic bid.
Maine goalie Dan Sullivan has been arguably the biggest reason for Maine's turnaround but they do also have arguably the best line in the country in Spencer Abbott, Mike Flynn and Joey Diamond, though four players does not a winner make.  It has been a team effort and it will have to continue to be for Maine to get its first NCAA tourney bid since 2007 and make a strong showing once they get there.

In other Maine hockey news, UMaine's Spencer Abbott has been named a Hobey Baker finalist (college hockey's version of the Heisman), as has Biddeford, Maine's Brian Dumoulin, who plays for Boston College.  Abbott was also named Hockey East Player of the Year, the first Maine player to garner this award since Chris Imes in 1995.  Abbott, were he to win, would be the third Hobey Baker winner for Maine, following Scott Pellerin in '92 and Paul Kariya in '93.

With my weird schedule working Sunday through Thursday from 10-7 with a 60 plus mile commute, Friday night is the only night for my sweetie and I to go out.  So I won't get to see the game tonight but hopefully the Black Bears will win and I can catch them tomorrow night in the final.

Our ESPN Bracket Challenge group

We had fun with this last year and have seven (six of them BoSox blog authors) signed up so far.  We do have one notable exception and you know who you are.  There is still time to register and fill out a bracket.  Closing time is noon eastern.
Unfortunately ESPN doesn't have a share option for Blogger.  So all I can do is share the link to our group and give you the give password if you'd like to jump in.  The password is zebster43 and following is the group link or you can search for group number 27456.  So please join us.  This is one of those rare things every year, like the Super Bowl, where even nonfans can join in the fun and show their expertise, their dumb luck and or their cluelessness.  The reward for winning?  Bragging rights, of course.

A Rundown of the First 6 hours of NFL Free Agency 2012

Free Agency usually doesn't disappoint each year for NFL fans.  This year hasn't been any different.  The funny thing is that on Day 1 we have players resigning with their own team.  The sad thing is that the Redskins are still signing free agent Wide Receivers and trying to break the bank on the first day.  The curious thing is the Miami-Chicago trade.

1.  The 2 biggest free agents are still not signed.  Peyton Manning reportedly has the list of teams down to 4.  Broncos, Dolphins, Cardinals, and Titans.  More and more it looks like Manning will be experiencing a Mile High rush.  But like A.J. Smith has said, don't ask Peyton where he is going, go to the decision maker and see Archie.  As for Mario Williams, the Buffalo Bills are putting on a full court press to get him to sign.  Rumors have the Bills offering to make Williams the highest paid defensive player in the NFL.  If the Bills pull off that signing and sign Robert Meachem like they expect, they will be the big winners on day one.

2.  The Redskins are hot after wide receivers.  After last year signing Jabar Gaffney and Donte Stallworth, the Redskins have been signing wideouts like Kirstie Alley eats hotdogs.  There lots of Wideouts heading to Washington.  Pierre Garcon and Josh Morgan have been signed.  Rumors also have the Skins wanting to sign another WR.  My question is this:  If you draft Robert Griffin III, why get the receiving corps that makes big money the next two years?  He will have to get experience and realize that the way to really win in this league is with the arm, not the legs.  And it does take those running QBs a couple of years to really have that sink in.

3.  There are many Free Agents that can change games out there.  In fact from the Pro Football Talk Top 50 Free Agents, as of 10:49 ET, only 7 have been signed.  Only 2 out of the Top 10.  And of those 7, 5 have signed back with their old teams.  Resigning with their old teams are Marques Colston with the Saints, Reggie Wayne with the Colts, Dwight Lowrey with the Jaguars, Red Bryant with the Seahawks and Terrell Thomas with the Giants.  Add the various people like Carlos Rogers deciding to return to their former teams and that is one of the storylines coming out of this day.

4.  The Dolphins deciding to trade Brandon Marshall to the Bears for 2 3rd Round Draft Choices.  Over the past couple of seasons, the NFC North has quietly been adding offense.  Now look at the division.  The Packers score like they are on a video game.  Megatron looms large in Detroit.  And now the Bears have their Triplets of Marshall, Cutler, and Forte.  I'd include Minnesota, but Peterson has a knee injury, Harvin could be shut down any day and Ponder needs protection.  For a division that used to be known for defense, they are getting downright offensive in their philosophies.

5.  The fans in Minnesota, Seattle, Cincinnati, and other cities in America that haven't signed a free agent yet are up in arms.  They shouldn't be.  The teams usually know what they are doing.  Well, maybe not in Cincinnati.  But why pay full price for a second tier Free Agent on the first day.  the prices will come down and all teams will be signing free agents.  So far, the best signing according to me is the 49ers signing Randy Moss.

The Fail For Nail Sweepstakes: Four Weeks Left

Since starting the month of February with three straight wins, the Toronto Maple Leafs have gone 2-11-2. With their current skid, the Leafs have free fallen from sixth place in the Eastern Conference and a secure place in the playoff race to oblivion.

This losing streak is so bad that the Leafs are threatening to crash the NHL Draft Lottery, which will be held during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The five worst NHL teams are eligible to win the first overall pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, and whoever wins the lottery will likely select Sarnia Sting forward Nail Yakupov, the NHL’s next superstar.

With four weeks left in the season, here’s how the worst teams in the NHL are doing in the Fail For Nail Sweepstakes™. The following chart shows the points they’ve accumulated and the games remaining in their season:

Rank	Team	Points	GR
30	Columbus Blue Jackets	51	14
29	Edmonton Oilers	59	14
28	Montreal Canadiens	64	13
27	New York Islanders	65	14
26	Carolina Hurricanes	67	14
25	Anaheim Ducks	68	13
24 (tie)	Toronto Maple Leafs	68	14
	Minnesota Wild	68	14
22	Tampa Bay Lightning	69	14
21 (tie)	Buffalo Sabres	72	13
	Winnipeg Jets	72	13

Columbus: They are in the driver’s seat in the Fail For Nail Sweepstakes™. I have no idea who Rick Nash’s linemates are, and when your second best defenseman is James Wisniewski you’re in trouble.

Edmonton: Don’t count these guys out. GM Jeff Tambellini has done everything in his power to keep the Oilers out of playoff contention and he was rewarded with a contract extension.

Montreal: Back in the day they got first overall picks all the time via French-Canadian privilege (The Habs used to have a “cultural option” that allowed them to get the best two French-Canadian players available in the draft every year until 1969). When that gravy train got derailed, the Habs fleeced financially troubled franchises like the California Golden Seals (RIP), Atlanta Flames, Kansas City Scouts and the eternally stupid Los Angeles Kings via trade for a full decade. As a Leafs fan I’d love to see this happen but not this time. They deserve another season of Scott Gomez scoring goals once a year before they get “rewarded”.

NY Islanders: A waste. They’d trade him away a few years later for a handful of magic beans just like they did Roberto Luongo, Wade Redden and Zdeno Chara.

Carolina: Like the Leafs, this is a franchise that’s in limbo. They’re not good enough for the playoffs and not bad enough to bottom out and this year is no different. As of today they’re eligible for the first overall pick, but they’re seven points out of a playoff spot and have gone 2-1-2 so far this month. That’s going to get them another top ten draft pick that may or may not pan out in a few years.

Anaheim: They were on a winning streak but Corey Perry is out with a shoulder injury and their remaining schedule is tough. They have a shot to “pass” Carolina in the Fail For Nail™ standings.

Toronto: The Leafs are missing Joffrey Lupul, the goaltending is maddeningly inconsistent and the defense still makes mistakes. New head coach Randy Carlyle is using the rest of the season to evaluate the talent on the roster before the upcoming offseason purge, so I do not expect them to run off a winning streak anytime soon. Onward!

Regarding a one-game MLB playoff

Yes, I've talked about this brilliant idea before and you already know where I stand on it but I was listening to the John Kincade Show on ESPN radio the other day and he provided a little more ammunition for my position on this.
During the last 10 years the average distance between the American League Wild Card team and the team that didn't earn a Wild Card berth was 5 games.  That is a very large margin.  Also, during that same span, if you did have another Wild Card team, 4 out of those 10 years it would have come from the same division as the Wild Card team.  So on average that second Wild Card team would have been 5 games behind the first Wild Card team in the season-ending standings and would have been a third place team.  Is that a team worthy of a playoff berth?  Absolutely not.
And all of this talk about this new format creating more season-ending drama like last year, keep in mind that under this new format last year would not have happened.  In addition, over the last 10 years the Division winners in the American League on average played 9 MEANINGLESS GAMES at the end of the season because there's one Wild Card team.  Now imagine how many meaningless games these Division winners are going to play, since with an addition playoff berth existing they will have wrapped up a playoff spot earlier.
My position has always been that this waters down the game, cheapens and frankly makes mostly irrelevant the regular season -- a 162 game season that's supposed to separate the men from the boys.  It does not in my opinion make winning the Division more important, it makes it less important.
If you're going to insist on adding another team and, therefore, another round, at least make it a three-game series, so that a team that didn't really deserve to be there in the first place can't get lucky or have one outstanding pitching performance and walk into the next round.  Sure, it'll make the season even long and the other playoff teams will have to wait to play (yes, even more damn reason not to do it in the first place) but it won't be a complete farce.  It's also another reason to finally shorten the regular season.
Leave my baseball alone!

5 Sport Stories To Follow This Weekend

1.  The Peyton Manning Magical Mystery Tour
     Peyton Manning started his free agency visits on Friday when he visited the Denver Broncos.  It appears that he will visit the Cardinals and Dolphins as well.  It does look like the Jets and Redskins have decided that they won't be able to sign the veteran signal caller.  I still believe that the 49ers or the Seahawks is the best landing place for the elder Manning.

2.  NCAA Selection Sunday
     Almost every eyeball that follows sports will be watching the selection shows that permeate the cable networks.  My pick to win the NCAA Tourney?  South Dakota State Jackrabbits.

3.  The NFL Shedding Salary Game
     This weekend is the weekend before free agency.  That means teams are shedding players that they believe are overpaid.  Not every team will gut every position like the Colts are doing, but watch as some players that you would think are vital to the team get cut.

4.  The San Diego Padres Sale Is Off
     Jeff Moorad has had his possible takeover of the Padres under siege by MLB.  Friday, the Padres put out a press release that basically said that Moorad will not become the principle owner of the Padres.  Apparently, the MLB offices didn't want another possible Frank McCourt.

5.  Reports:  Rams Deal #2 Pick To Redskins
     Multiple reports say that the Rams have dealt the #2 pick to the Redskins for 3 First Round choices and other draft picks which also contain a second round pick.  If true, the Rams have made a steal and the Redskins had better hope that RG III is the second coming of Michael Vick.  If not, the deal will appear even more lopsided in favor of the Rams than it does right now.

We Can All Play

I was pleasantly surprised during Sunday’s broadcast of the Boston Bruins – New York Rangers game on NBC when I saw a PSA for the You Can Play Project. What is it? It’s a new organization formed by Philadelphia Flyers scout Patrick Burke, the older brother of the late Brendan Burke and a son of Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke, aka Burkie.

What stunned me were the high profile names involved in in the first of several PSAs that will air throughout the rest of the regular season. The Leafs alone were represented by Burkie, Joffrey Lupul (one of my fave Leafs) and team captain Dion Phaneuf. But Daniel Alfredsson? Scott Hartnell? Both of those guys can be the biggest pricks on the ice but after seeing the following video I won’t be booing them nearly as hard as I once did.

It’s one thing for the Leafs to lend their brand to a movie like Breakfast With Scot or for Burkie to march in Toronto’s Pride Parade but to be part of something like the You Can Play Project is huge. No other sports league in the world is taking such a bold step to make their game and locker rooms welcome to LGBT athletes.

Will a current NHL player come out of the closet? It’s no secret there are LGBT hockey players in the NHL, and I hope the You Can Play Project will make them feel comfortable to be themselves in front of their teammates and fans.

5 Sport Stories To Follow This Weekend

1.  The New Orleans Bounty Story
     The NFL appears to be frowning upon former Saints Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams system of paying bounties on hits that might eliminate an opponent during the game.  The story of Jonathan Vilma slapping down $10,000 on a table and telling his teammates that was a bounty on an opposing quarterback just makes it worse.  This bounty system was in use during the 2009, 2010, and 2011 seasons.  Sean Payton and the GM knew about the bounties and did nothing about it.  Williams also apparently had this system in Washington and Tennessee before he joined the Saints.  I wonder if Jeff Fisher will be forced to get rid of Williams in St. Louis.

2.  Franchise Tags
     The Franchise Tags came hard and furious during Friday.  There will be more coming this weekend.  And the various reactions from the players franchised is intriguing.  Matt Forte is furious, while Desean Jackson is delighted.  And if the Giants Franchise Steve Weatherford, their punter, I am going to scream.

3.  Can The Maple Leafs Save Their Season?
     Friday, Ron Wilson was fired as head coach of the Leafs.  In comes Randy Carlyle recently fired from the Anaheim Ducks.  You know, the team that was floundering until he was fired.  Now the Ducks are one of the hottest, if not the hottest team in the NHL.  The underachieving Leafs and the man in charge, Brian Burke hope that this 11th hour change will give them energy and a new sense of purpose.  The better thing would have been to being in a veteran that wouldn't be in awe of playing in Toronto like the kids are.

4.  Revenge Sunday For Kobe?
     During the NBA All-Star game, Dwayne Wade gave Kobe Bryant a broken nose and a concussion on a flagrant foul.  We all know that Kobe has a mean streak a mile wide and does not forget when he feels wronged.  So what will he do to get back at Wade?  I believe that he will drain 40 points and give a small cheap shot to Wade and that will be that.  What i am hoping for is a Bryant meltdown and throw a lethal elbow into Wade's nose breaking it.  An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and a broken nose for a broken nose.  Sounds pretty good.

5.  The Astros Are Already Getting Busy With The Rangers
     The GM for the Astros, Jeff Luhnow, ripped into the Rangers and their spending in Latin America before the new international spending cap goes into effect July 2nd.  MLB is investigating some of the Rangers signings determining if they are playing fast and loose with the rules down in the Dominican Republic.  Luhnow is apologizing for using the term "drunken sailors".  That isn't language to apologize for.  Now if Luhnow would have said that the Rangers are spending like a whore who finally hooked a rich john, I could understand the apology.  Watch for these two teams to have a heated rivalry starting next year.  Nothing would be better than beating that turncoat Nolan Ryan.  Yankees-Red Sox, look out.

A firey 54th 500

What follows is an excellent recap of this year's Daytona 500 by this blog's most loyal reader, Jake DaSnake.  As you'll be able to tell from this guest blog, it was a very exciting race, even if many people, including yours truly, were unable to see the ending live:

The 54th running of the Daytona 500 was rained out for the first time ever. The race was then moved from twelve o'clock on Monday to seven o'clock, when the race did start with Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle in the front row.  I don't think anyone expected what came next.
Going into the second lap Elliot Sadler tapped Jimmy Johnson, sending him into the wall, in the crash Danica Patrick was wrecked making this  her third  crash of this weekend at Daytona. David Ragan, Trevor Bayne and Kurt Busch  also were involved, only Ragan and Johnson were forced out for good.
The next incident happened on the 13th lap when Ryan Newman lost a tire and spun and then was rear ended in the pits by A.J. Allmendinger. Jeff Gordon blew up his engine on lap 81, and then the race for the halftime money of $200,000 was being held with Martin Truex Jr. getting the push for the halfway money.
The incident on lap 160 involving Juan Pablo Montoya trying to catch up to the pack on a yellow caution was probably one of the most spectacular and the most odd that I have ever seen. Montoya is driving near the bottom apron going into turn three, when he suddenly lurches straight into a jet drier truck being driven close to the outside wall, the ensuing crash causes an instantaneous explosion and fireball. The #42 careens off to the center field and Montoya climbs out of his car, the drier driver is also pulled out and helped to safety.
With all the fire and dripping jet fuel the race is red flagged for more than two hours, during this time track officials douse the fire and then remove the burned out truck.  They then have the task of checking the track surface for any fire damage and making certain the fuel spill is cleaned up.  The fire damage is patched over, and the track is ready for the final forty laps.
While this is going on the drivers are meeting on the track...I would imagine comparing race info, except for Brad Keslowski who is tweeting to his followers.  He increased his following by 55,000 people in the time the red flag was up.  (Where had he kept this phone?)
The highlight of this was Dave Blaney, a 75-1 underdog having the lead due to a later than most pit stop.  I think one thing he was hoping for was a rainfall or a called race for a damaged track, but that was not to be. With another spinout taking Tony Stewart out with a few laps remaining and some pounding by Denny Hamlin the final laps were good for Matt Kenseth who was having a great run with his teammate Greg Biffle running second and Dale Earnhart Jr. running third.  Biff helped Matt from a late charging Jr. but could not help himself as Jr. pulled alongside him and slingshot himself to second place.

All in all the race was entertaining and had the usual pack race big crashes that have been missing the last two years because of the two-car draft.  The fans spoke and NASCAR listened, giving us a good race for the start of another great season. If  the rest of the season is as entertaining as this (minus the fire), I think the rule changes pertaining to the two car draft are well worth it.

 Jake would love to hear your comments about the race.