Monday Morning Mehta 3/14/06
Edition # 153
March 14, 2006
March Madness
Let me start my breakdown by saying this: I've never won an office pool in my life. I can't even remember coming close. I always picked Kansas to win and forgot Roy Williams was coaching. Last year, I picked the winner correctly, UNC, but had just about every other pick incorrect. This year, I've watched the least college hoops in years. I even left the country for two weeks in February. So obviously this means I'm going to dominate office pools and you should take this as gospel.
Atlanta Bracket
Duke gets the overall # 1 seed, and looks very hungry after being ousted last year in the Sweet 16. Texas is the # 2 seed here while Iowa is the # 3 seed. This seems to be the weakest bracket. In the few times I've seen Texas, they've looked very raw and just not ready for the big time.
BRACKET BREAKER # 1 sponsored by Staples: Syracuse gets ousted in the first round by Texas A&M. There's always a 5 vs. 12 upset, and this should be the one this year. A&M is a very comparable team to Syracuse, as made obvious by Vegas making the line Syr -2 (all other 5 vs. 12 games are about 7-8 pt spreads). I'll even give a bonus pick to A&M to upend LSU.
BRACKET BREAKER # 2 sponsored by Staples: West Virginia in the Elite 8. I really like this team this year. West Virginia's run ended at the Elite 8 last year, and I think John Beilein's club knows how to play in these tough tournament games, and I wouldn't be surprised if they upset Duke.
Look for Duke, Texas A&M, West Virginia, and Texas to make it to Atlanta. I'll be conservative and take Duke to make it to Indianapolis.
Oakland Bracket
John Calipari's Memphis St. Tigers with Anfernee Hardaway and Lorenzen Wright are the # 1 seed here. I don't pretend to know anything about Memphis. Do they still play in the pyramid? Anyway, I think the selection committee picked teams the people on the East coast know the least about here. Maybe it's time for Gonzaga to make their Final 4 run here.
Look for Memphis, Pitt, Gonzaga and UCLA to make it to Atlanta. I'll pick UCLA out of this bracket, just because I think Ben Howland is a good coach and his defense will screw these teams up in this bracket. Howland could face his old team Pitt in the Elite 8. I'll also pick UCLA because they have a player named
Luc Mbah a Moute.
Washington Bracket
This is UConn's bracket. Besides Villanova, UConn is probably the team I've seen the most of. This team reminds me of their Omeka Okafor/Ben Gordon team of a few years ago. Immensely talented but sometimes falls asleep.
BRACKET BREAKER # 3 sponsored by Staples: Warning: Do Not pick North Carolina this year. A first round upset is not out of the possibility. Take Murray St. + 13 at the very least. I've supported Roy Williams throughout his struggles, and picked him last year. I'm done with him. He scares me in big games.
Look for UConn, Washington, MSU, and Tennessee to make it to Washington. UConn is the consensus pick by 95% of the general population to make it to Indianapolis and I'm no different.
Minneapolis Bracket
Villanova gets the first # 1 seed in their history in what is perceived as the hardest bracket. When I look at the teams on paper, I'm not so sure. The Wildcats are the big local story, but without the Cinderella St. Joe's theme from a few years back. This team has real pressure to make it to the Final Four. I don't see any reason why they can't. Two things win in the tournament. Having a dominating big guy (Sean May last year, Okafor from years ago, etc) or great guard play. Kyle Lowry, Big East Player of the Year Randy Foye, Allen Ray and Mike Nardi are tournament tested and know what it takes. I just don't see the team in this bracket that can stop those guards.
BRACKET BREAKER # 4 sponsored by Staples. Ohio St. upended by Georgetown. Now you're going to say I'm showing my Big East bias with these picks, but, yeah, why not. It's the toughest conference almost by far, they've faced tournament competition for the last 3 months, why not?
This bracket is full of inexperience especially on the lower end. Florida has a history of tournament disappointments, they have something to prove this year. They're going to be a very tough out. Elite 8 is very possible for them, but their youth might catch up.
Look for Villanova, Nevada, Florida and Georgetown to make it to Minneapolis. I could see a rematch of the 1985 Final with Georgetown facing Villanova. This time, no upset, as Villanova makes it to Indianapolis.
Final Four: So UConn vs. Villanova & Duke vs. UCLA are my National Semifinals. No huge surprises. West Virginia would be my wild card to make the Final Four. As for the winner, I'll take UConn and face the heat from guys like Philly Faf from Detroit for not picking the Wildcats.
NFL/Eagles
The Eagles sign DE Darren Howard to a big contract on the 2nd day of free agency, but the big news is the "loss" of LeCharles Bentley. Bentley ganked the Eagles verbal agreement he had and went on to sign with the Browns, whom he apparently wanted to sign all along.
It's too early to go too crazy, but what continues to drive me nuts about this organization is how they always seem to act as if they have accomplished something in the past. Couple that with their "We'll outsmart everyone on free agents" philosophy, and it's downright nausiating.
There's no reason the Eagles shouldn't have pursued Mike Anderson & Antonio Bryant heavily. Combined they would've costed them half of what it took to sign Bentley. The free agent market dries up really quick, and if the Eagles gon into the season $10 million under the cap again, that'll be a disgrace.
World Baseball Classic
I've been watching the WBC rather closely the last week. It's totally obvious that the players are very much into it on all the teams. Even the US. They genuinely want to win. But a few things I've noticed:
- Buck Martinez is a dope. He's coaching these games like an all star game. Plays his good players in the start of the game for 5-6 innings, and then "gets everyone in the game". What a moron. In the loss to Canada last week, he took out Jason Varitek, the teams hottest hitter and team leader who had hit a grand slam in his prior at bat, for Brian Schnieder in the 8th inning. Schnieder came up with runners on base in a key spot and popped up. You have to use your bench wisely, get good lefty/righty matchups etc. Buck's more interested in playing everyone.
- Ever watch the Devil Rays or Royals vs. the Yankees? Do the Yankees go 17-0 vs. the Devil Rays every year? No, in fact, they had a losing record to the Rays last year. This is why a team like Korea and Canada can beat the US. Baseball is strange in that you can barely be above .500, but still be a World Series contender. If the US isn't 100% focused and ready to play they will and have lost. Couple that with Buck Martinez, and, well, there you go.
- Al Leiter on the US team??????? WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Disgrace to put the US/Korea game on tape delay last night. Disgrace.
- Endy Chavez has two home runs. 'Nuf said.
NHL Week In Review By : Ed Wasser
- PLEASE, PLEASE...everyone just calm down!!! PLEASE STOP PUSHING AND SHOVING!!! I know that you all have been sitting on the edge of your collective seats desperately waiting to hear my opinion of the trades made at the NHL trade deadline but please don't panic!! There's no need for you all to resort to violence, I know you've all been dying to hear my opinion on the Coyotes getting Yannick Lehoux from the Kings for Ric Jackman but you're going to have to give me a few minutes because I'm going to talk about the Flyer trades first. Thank you. Here we go...
The Flyers pick up defenseman Denis Gauthier from the Coyotes for 2 second round picks and Philadelphia Phantom Josh Gratton. I dunno, this seems like a lot to give up for Gauthier. Whenever I read about prospects on the rise on different websites and in different publications scouts always seem to mention Gratton as a future star, and I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that those scouts know more about hockey then me. Gauthier is a stay at home defenseman, a tough guy that can hit, a guy that enjoys penalty killing, but a ghost on offense. That's OK though, the Flyers offense has been solid, they needed help desperately on the penalty kill and they got it.
The Flyers also picked up winger Niko Dimitrakos from the Sharks for a third round pick. Here's what I know about Dimitrakos......he's Greek. (The crowd is dead silent. 2 minutes goes by. A man checks his watch. Random cough heard in the background) Any questions? The worst part is the Sharks are a fun team to watch plus I'm an insomniac so I've seen a lot of their games, I can remember hearing his name but I can't think of one single thing of merit he's ever contributed in a Sharks game. So I looked up his stats and the one word that sprang to mind is "unremarkable". Actually when I first looked up his stats I saw 19 goals and I thought "HOT DAMN!! A 19 goal scorer!!" But then I saw the 19 goals was for his career. In reality he's not an offensive threat at all and this year he has a bunch of healthy scratches. Plus I read a scouting report that said Dimitrakos "is prone to losing intensity at times". OUCH!! I guess we'll see, for a third round pick I figure it's worth a shot to see if a change of scenery will do him well.
- Last Sunday I watched Duke play Boston College at the Brokeback Mountain Arena for the 2006 ACC championship. I'm not going to come right out and say that ESPN announcer Mike Patrick is in love with Duke guard J.J. Redick but I'll just say that if the two of them were out to dinner and there was a little wine, maybe some candlelight....Patrick would definitely try to kiss him. That's all I'm saying. And if you saw Patrick's broadcast of the game you know exactly what I'm talking about.
- So I'll just give you all my thoughts on a few trades. Colorado GM Pierre Lacroix stuck his neck in the guillotine and told the executioner "go ahead punk!! I dare you to pull that lever you piece of crap!!" Lacroix traded away goalie David Aebischer to the Habs for goalie José Theodore. Aebischer has had a good season and had a great, more like GREAT!!!, Olympics playing for the Swiss while Theodore has been terrible this season; Theodore been pulled more times this season then a 14 year old boy's johnson. Plus Theodore has a broken heel and may not be ready to play until late March, maybe later. Granted Theodore is a former Hart (MVP) and Vezina (best goalie) Trophy winner and if he regains his former mojo then Lacroix will look like a genius. Of course if Lacroix is wrong then he'll be dancing for nickels in the subway in two years.
The Bruins traded Sergei Samsonov to the Oilers for Marty Reasoner (doesn't that name sound like an accountant?), Yan Stastny, and a second round pick. At this point it's like the Bruins management vs. the fans. It's like "you wanna be a Bruins fan you punk ass?!?! Try this one on for size!!" And they trade away the only players they have (Joe Thorton and Samsonov). Oh I'm sorry....I'm sure that Bostonians will push each other out of the way to go and buy tickets to see Marty Reasoner, Marco Sturm, and Yan Stastny.
The last major trade was Mark Recchi from the Penguins to the Hurricanes for Niklas Nordgren, Krys Kolanos, and a second round pick. Look, I'm going to come clean with everyone and finally reveal my true level of NHL hockey expertise....in short, I'm a genius. But occasionally there can be a few players that escape my radar. I know the Flyers really, really, REALLY wanted to get Recchi back. And I also know that Recchi really, really, REALLY wanted to come back to the Flyers. And I know that the Flyers had a lot of minor league chips to make it so, or so I thought. From what I've read the players the Hurricanes gave up to get Recchi are on the brink of NHL stardom and fit perfectly in the Penguins rebuilding plans. I have a feeling the kids the Hurricanes gave up are prospects that are so blue chip they're flouresant so the Flyers never had a chance.
- Shhhhhhhhhhhh.......you hear that? Way off in the distance? It's the sound of Freddy Mercury spinning in his grave hearing Paul Rogers singing Queen tunes on the "Queen, Featuring Paul Rogers" tour.
- Last week's death of Kirby Puckett told me a lot about the press in this country. First of all I saw reports that had Puckett's age as 44, a lot that had Puckett's age as 45, and a handful of reports that had his age as 46. Let me ask you, is there a more easily verifiable fact in the world then someone's age? And there were hundreds of articles that got it wrong. I'm still not sure what his exact age was. If reporters can't get a guy's age correct what are they getting correct? And all I read about was what a great guy Puckett was, he had a love of the game, yada, yada, yada. Ummmm...am I the only one that remembers that Puckett beat up his wife, plus he threatened to kill her, and he was charged with battery and false imprisonment? Puckett was also once charged with criminal sexual misconduct when he followed a woman into the ladies room at a bar and molested her in a bathroom stall against her will. It's like the press is saying "sure Puckett beat up a woman and he molested another one but he had a big toothy grin and that makes it all OK". Think about this Puckett love fest when you see the press DESTROY Barry Bonds on a daily basis. I'll admit Bonds is a jerk and a cheater but at least he never committed any violent crimes.
- The 2006 World Hockey Rankings came out this week. Sweden was the obvious choice as the number one team, followed by Canada. The rankings that concern me 44 and 45, Ireland (birthplace of former NHLer Owen Nolan) and Armenia respectively. They rank behind México, South Africa, Israel, South Korea, North Korea, China, Australia, and New Zealand. Wow, who knew those countries even had teams? If you'd like a chance to play in the Olympics take 2 weeks of skating lessons and move to Ireland or Armenia because I think you get on the Olympic team if you have your own skates and a stick.
- Well, it started off OK for the Flyers. They had two shootout wins in the beginning of the week and they played tough in both games. They beat the Habs 5 - 4 and the Hurricanes 3 - 2. So it was looking good....until they played the Sabres last Saturday. Goalie Antero Niittymaki played like crap yet he was never pulled from the game and the Flyer defense was often on their heels. Mike Grier scored the game winning goal with 4 and change seconds left which was back breaking. But the Sabres are a dangerous team and the loss was almost excusable. It was the next game against the Penguins that was the most troubling. When watching the Penguins it's best to be close to the internet because since the trade deadline, with a few exceptions, a lot of times when they announce Penguin players' names you'll be asking yourself "who?" and you'll need to look the guy up. But they managed to beat the Flyers, and they shut them out 2 - 0 to boot. I'm at a loss. The Flyers are so inconsistent it's maddening. At this point I'd be stunned if they got past the Sabres in the first round of the playoffs.
March 14, 2006
March Madness
Let me start my breakdown by saying this: I've never won an office pool in my life. I can't even remember coming close. I always picked Kansas to win and forgot Roy Williams was coaching. Last year, I picked the winner correctly, UNC, but had just about every other pick incorrect. This year, I've watched the least college hoops in years. I even left the country for two weeks in February. So obviously this means I'm going to dominate office pools and you should take this as gospel.
Atlanta Bracket
Duke gets the overall # 1 seed, and looks very hungry after being ousted last year in the Sweet 16. Texas is the # 2 seed here while Iowa is the # 3 seed. This seems to be the weakest bracket. In the few times I've seen Texas, they've looked very raw and just not ready for the big time.
BRACKET BREAKER # 1 sponsored by Staples: Syracuse gets ousted in the first round by Texas A&M. There's always a 5 vs. 12 upset, and this should be the one this year. A&M is a very comparable team to Syracuse, as made obvious by Vegas making the line Syr -2 (all other 5 vs. 12 games are about 7-8 pt spreads). I'll even give a bonus pick to A&M to upend LSU.
BRACKET BREAKER # 2 sponsored by Staples: West Virginia in the Elite 8. I really like this team this year. West Virginia's run ended at the Elite 8 last year, and I think John Beilein's club knows how to play in these tough tournament games, and I wouldn't be surprised if they upset Duke.
Look for Duke, Texas A&M, West Virginia, and Texas to make it to Atlanta. I'll be conservative and take Duke to make it to Indianapolis.
Oakland Bracket
John Calipari's Memphis St. Tigers with Anfernee Hardaway and Lorenzen Wright are the # 1 seed here. I don't pretend to know anything about Memphis. Do they still play in the pyramid? Anyway, I think the selection committee picked teams the people on the East coast know the least about here. Maybe it's time for Gonzaga to make their Final 4 run here.
Look for Memphis, Pitt, Gonzaga and UCLA to make it to Atlanta. I'll pick UCLA out of this bracket, just because I think Ben Howland is a good coach and his defense will screw these teams up in this bracket. Howland could face his old team Pitt in the Elite 8. I'll also pick UCLA because they have a player named
Luc Mbah a Moute.
Washington Bracket
This is UConn's bracket. Besides Villanova, UConn is probably the team I've seen the most of. This team reminds me of their Omeka Okafor/Ben Gordon team of a few years ago. Immensely talented but sometimes falls asleep.
BRACKET BREAKER # 3 sponsored by Staples: Warning: Do Not pick North Carolina this year. A first round upset is not out of the possibility. Take Murray St. + 13 at the very least. I've supported Roy Williams throughout his struggles, and picked him last year. I'm done with him. He scares me in big games.
Look for UConn, Washington, MSU, and Tennessee to make it to Washington. UConn is the consensus pick by 95% of the general population to make it to Indianapolis and I'm no different.
Minneapolis Bracket
Villanova gets the first # 1 seed in their history in what is perceived as the hardest bracket. When I look at the teams on paper, I'm not so sure. The Wildcats are the big local story, but without the Cinderella St. Joe's theme from a few years back. This team has real pressure to make it to the Final Four. I don't see any reason why they can't. Two things win in the tournament. Having a dominating big guy (Sean May last year, Okafor from years ago, etc) or great guard play. Kyle Lowry, Big East Player of the Year Randy Foye, Allen Ray and Mike Nardi are tournament tested and know what it takes. I just don't see the team in this bracket that can stop those guards.
BRACKET BREAKER # 4 sponsored by Staples. Ohio St. upended by Georgetown. Now you're going to say I'm showing my Big East bias with these picks, but, yeah, why not. It's the toughest conference almost by far, they've faced tournament competition for the last 3 months, why not?
This bracket is full of inexperience especially on the lower end. Florida has a history of tournament disappointments, they have something to prove this year. They're going to be a very tough out. Elite 8 is very possible for them, but their youth might catch up.
Look for Villanova, Nevada, Florida and Georgetown to make it to Minneapolis. I could see a rematch of the 1985 Final with Georgetown facing Villanova. This time, no upset, as Villanova makes it to Indianapolis.
Final Four: So UConn vs. Villanova & Duke vs. UCLA are my National Semifinals. No huge surprises. West Virginia would be my wild card to make the Final Four. As for the winner, I'll take UConn and face the heat from guys like Philly Faf from Detroit for not picking the Wildcats.
NFL/Eagles
The Eagles sign DE Darren Howard to a big contract on the 2nd day of free agency, but the big news is the "loss" of LeCharles Bentley. Bentley ganked the Eagles verbal agreement he had and went on to sign with the Browns, whom he apparently wanted to sign all along.
It's too early to go too crazy, but what continues to drive me nuts about this organization is how they always seem to act as if they have accomplished something in the past. Couple that with their "We'll outsmart everyone on free agents" philosophy, and it's downright nausiating.
There's no reason the Eagles shouldn't have pursued Mike Anderson & Antonio Bryant heavily. Combined they would've costed them half of what it took to sign Bentley. The free agent market dries up really quick, and if the Eagles gon into the season $10 million under the cap again, that'll be a disgrace.
World Baseball Classic
I've been watching the WBC rather closely the last week. It's totally obvious that the players are very much into it on all the teams. Even the US. They genuinely want to win. But a few things I've noticed:
- Buck Martinez is a dope. He's coaching these games like an all star game. Plays his good players in the start of the game for 5-6 innings, and then "gets everyone in the game". What a moron. In the loss to Canada last week, he took out Jason Varitek, the teams hottest hitter and team leader who had hit a grand slam in his prior at bat, for Brian Schnieder in the 8th inning. Schnieder came up with runners on base in a key spot and popped up. You have to use your bench wisely, get good lefty/righty matchups etc. Buck's more interested in playing everyone.
- Ever watch the Devil Rays or Royals vs. the Yankees? Do the Yankees go 17-0 vs. the Devil Rays every year? No, in fact, they had a losing record to the Rays last year. This is why a team like Korea and Canada can beat the US. Baseball is strange in that you can barely be above .500, but still be a World Series contender. If the US isn't 100% focused and ready to play they will and have lost. Couple that with Buck Martinez, and, well, there you go.
- Al Leiter on the US team??????? WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Disgrace to put the US/Korea game on tape delay last night. Disgrace.
- Endy Chavez has two home runs. 'Nuf said.
NHL Week In Review By : Ed Wasser
- PLEASE, PLEASE...everyone just calm down!!! PLEASE STOP PUSHING AND SHOVING!!! I know that you all have been sitting on the edge of your collective seats desperately waiting to hear my opinion of the trades made at the NHL trade deadline but please don't panic!! There's no need for you all to resort to violence, I know you've all been dying to hear my opinion on the Coyotes getting Yannick Lehoux from the Kings for Ric Jackman but you're going to have to give me a few minutes because I'm going to talk about the Flyer trades first. Thank you. Here we go...
The Flyers pick up defenseman Denis Gauthier from the Coyotes for 2 second round picks and Philadelphia Phantom Josh Gratton. I dunno, this seems like a lot to give up for Gauthier. Whenever I read about prospects on the rise on different websites and in different publications scouts always seem to mention Gratton as a future star, and I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that those scouts know more about hockey then me. Gauthier is a stay at home defenseman, a tough guy that can hit, a guy that enjoys penalty killing, but a ghost on offense. That's OK though, the Flyers offense has been solid, they needed help desperately on the penalty kill and they got it.
The Flyers also picked up winger Niko Dimitrakos from the Sharks for a third round pick. Here's what I know about Dimitrakos......he's Greek. (The crowd is dead silent. 2 minutes goes by. A man checks his watch. Random cough heard in the background) Any questions? The worst part is the Sharks are a fun team to watch plus I'm an insomniac so I've seen a lot of their games, I can remember hearing his name but I can't think of one single thing of merit he's ever contributed in a Sharks game. So I looked up his stats and the one word that sprang to mind is "unremarkable". Actually when I first looked up his stats I saw 19 goals and I thought "HOT DAMN!! A 19 goal scorer!!" But then I saw the 19 goals was for his career. In reality he's not an offensive threat at all and this year he has a bunch of healthy scratches. Plus I read a scouting report that said Dimitrakos "is prone to losing intensity at times". OUCH!! I guess we'll see, for a third round pick I figure it's worth a shot to see if a change of scenery will do him well.
- Last Sunday I watched Duke play Boston College at the Brokeback Mountain Arena for the 2006 ACC championship. I'm not going to come right out and say that ESPN announcer Mike Patrick is in love with Duke guard J.J. Redick but I'll just say that if the two of them were out to dinner and there was a little wine, maybe some candlelight....Patrick would definitely try to kiss him. That's all I'm saying. And if you saw Patrick's broadcast of the game you know exactly what I'm talking about.
- So I'll just give you all my thoughts on a few trades. Colorado GM Pierre Lacroix stuck his neck in the guillotine and told the executioner "go ahead punk!! I dare you to pull that lever you piece of crap!!" Lacroix traded away goalie David Aebischer to the Habs for goalie José Theodore. Aebischer has had a good season and had a great, more like GREAT!!!, Olympics playing for the Swiss while Theodore has been terrible this season; Theodore been pulled more times this season then a 14 year old boy's johnson. Plus Theodore has a broken heel and may not be ready to play until late March, maybe later. Granted Theodore is a former Hart (MVP) and Vezina (best goalie) Trophy winner and if he regains his former mojo then Lacroix will look like a genius. Of course if Lacroix is wrong then he'll be dancing for nickels in the subway in two years.
The Bruins traded Sergei Samsonov to the Oilers for Marty Reasoner (doesn't that name sound like an accountant?), Yan Stastny, and a second round pick. At this point it's like the Bruins management vs. the fans. It's like "you wanna be a Bruins fan you punk ass?!?! Try this one on for size!!" And they trade away the only players they have (Joe Thorton and Samsonov). Oh I'm sorry....I'm sure that Bostonians will push each other out of the way to go and buy tickets to see Marty Reasoner, Marco Sturm, and Yan Stastny.
The last major trade was Mark Recchi from the Penguins to the Hurricanes for Niklas Nordgren, Krys Kolanos, and a second round pick. Look, I'm going to come clean with everyone and finally reveal my true level of NHL hockey expertise....in short, I'm a genius. But occasionally there can be a few players that escape my radar. I know the Flyers really, really, REALLY wanted to get Recchi back. And I also know that Recchi really, really, REALLY wanted to come back to the Flyers. And I know that the Flyers had a lot of minor league chips to make it so, or so I thought. From what I've read the players the Hurricanes gave up to get Recchi are on the brink of NHL stardom and fit perfectly in the Penguins rebuilding plans. I have a feeling the kids the Hurricanes gave up are prospects that are so blue chip they're flouresant so the Flyers never had a chance.
- Shhhhhhhhhhhh.......you hear that? Way off in the distance? It's the sound of Freddy Mercury spinning in his grave hearing Paul Rogers singing Queen tunes on the "Queen, Featuring Paul Rogers" tour.
- Last week's death of Kirby Puckett told me a lot about the press in this country. First of all I saw reports that had Puckett's age as 44, a lot that had Puckett's age as 45, and a handful of reports that had his age as 46. Let me ask you, is there a more easily verifiable fact in the world then someone's age? And there were hundreds of articles that got it wrong. I'm still not sure what his exact age was. If reporters can't get a guy's age correct what are they getting correct? And all I read about was what a great guy Puckett was, he had a love of the game, yada, yada, yada. Ummmm...am I the only one that remembers that Puckett beat up his wife, plus he threatened to kill her, and he was charged with battery and false imprisonment? Puckett was also once charged with criminal sexual misconduct when he followed a woman into the ladies room at a bar and molested her in a bathroom stall against her will. It's like the press is saying "sure Puckett beat up a woman and he molested another one but he had a big toothy grin and that makes it all OK". Think about this Puckett love fest when you see the press DESTROY Barry Bonds on a daily basis. I'll admit Bonds is a jerk and a cheater but at least he never committed any violent crimes.
- The 2006 World Hockey Rankings came out this week. Sweden was the obvious choice as the number one team, followed by Canada. The rankings that concern me 44 and 45, Ireland (birthplace of former NHLer Owen Nolan) and Armenia respectively. They rank behind México, South Africa, Israel, South Korea, North Korea, China, Australia, and New Zealand. Wow, who knew those countries even had teams? If you'd like a chance to play in the Olympics take 2 weeks of skating lessons and move to Ireland or Armenia because I think you get on the Olympic team if you have your own skates and a stick.
- Well, it started off OK for the Flyers. They had two shootout wins in the beginning of the week and they played tough in both games. They beat the Habs 5 - 4 and the Hurricanes 3 - 2. So it was looking good....until they played the Sabres last Saturday. Goalie Antero Niittymaki played like crap yet he was never pulled from the game and the Flyer defense was often on their heels. Mike Grier scored the game winning goal with 4 and change seconds left which was back breaking. But the Sabres are a dangerous team and the loss was almost excusable. It was the next game against the Penguins that was the most troubling. When watching the Penguins it's best to be close to the internet because since the trade deadline, with a few exceptions, a lot of times when they announce Penguin players' names you'll be asking yourself "who?" and you'll need to look the guy up. But they managed to beat the Flyers, and they shut them out 2 - 0 to boot. I'm at a loss. The Flyers are so inconsistent it's maddening. At this point I'd be stunned if they got past the Sabres in the first round of the playoffs.
posted by Monday Morning Mehta at 10:45 AM
2 Comments:
Just send MMM your bracket and $100 and after the tournament we'll tell you if you won.
E.W.
Ft,
No pool. None of the stiffs that read this would pay. Plus, we only have like 4 readers. 5 tops.
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