Special Edition

After quite the…hiatus, I’m back for a special post.  And I have a special announcement that will be thrown in there somewhere, too.  Check this.

Playoffs!

NHL and NBA playoffs are in full swing! I’ll be posting my round by round picks eventually (part of the special announcement).  But it is just really exciting because these seasons have been unusually drama-free, with the exception of the Sidney Crosby fiasco.  PR nightmare: Sidney Crosby being forced to retire due to head trauma.  Funny thing is: it could be happening all over the league.  In Colorado, Peter Meuller has been out since the pre-season with a head injury that started DURING LAST SEASON!!!!  The NFL has been pushing for new concussion rules, but the NHL are the ones who need to reevaluate their helmets and policies.  The NFL could probably take some cues from the NHL in policies, but the NHL desperately needs to improve their helmets.  That tiny piece of plastic is not going to protect you from Zedeno Chara’s massive body being thrown at you.  And if anyone blames this on fighting, I’m goin postal.

NFL Lockout

Not sure when this will be resolved.  It could be seasons before one party or the other starts running out of money.  Quite a few players have found alternative sports, and only a couple have been in law trouble.  I would really like to see some stars, or almost stars, jump to the UFL.  I think it could jumpstart the league and put the NFL in a bind where they have to listen to the players.  The NFL gets off too easily too often.  Roger Goodell claims he cares about player safety, but he only cares when it becomes an issue.  He won’t actively push for new safety until he has to.  Seems like every commish needs to be replaced…

NBA Relocation Committee

Clay Bennett, the slimy bastard that stole the Seattle Supersonics, has been named HEAD OF THE NBA RELOCATION COMMITTEE!!!  Who appointed him? His wife…I mean the commish, David Stern.  This has to pretty much guarantee that the Sacramento Kings will become the Kansas City Kings or the Anaheim Kings or even the Las Vegas Kings.  Oh, and more salt on Sonics fans wounds:  Lester Munson passed this bit along to ESPN radio Seattle about what Howard Shultz (Starbucks CEO, former Sonics owner, sold the Sonics to Bennett) had to say about the Sonics.

So Shultz is going through his routine, ‘Teamwork this, teamwork that, we are a team at Starbucks, our store managers operate these teams and this is how we’re going to succeed.’ Then (the emcee) says, ‘What about teamwork on the Sonics?’ and Schultz says, ‘I was afraid you were going to ask me about that.’

And then he says teamwork on the Sonics did not happen; there’s nobody who can tell Gary Payton what to do. That’s what he said. He probably didn’t think anyone at that dinner would be talking to anyone in Seattle anytime soon.

Just ridiculous. This will also be touched on in my special announcement.

The Red Devils

My Manchester United Red Devils are coming to Seattle! And touring other parts of the US, but SEATTLE!!!  Chicarito, Berbatov, Giggs, Scholes, Bebe, Ferdinand, and Rooney! They probably won’t all be playing, but it is still an exciting time for a man who has been a fan since childhood.  Speaking of ManU, it has been refreshing to not have issues with the ownership this year.  Sure the issues are there, but as long as we win it won’t be a problem.  Except we lost to freaking Manchester City.  Problem: Man City has been terrible in recent history and is only decent now because they are buying everyone good.  Problem: This game was part of the FA cup. Man City hasn’t defeated ManU in the FA Cup since 1955.  At least we have the EPL locked up so long as we don’t collapse…darn that better not make them lose.  Champions League finals here we come! Defeated Chelsea in the quarterfinals, now semis vs Real Madrid, Barcelona, or FC Schalke.  Seems like another Champions League could be in the cards!

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

Now that you sat through my ranting, here is the special announcement.  Drumroll please?

…………………………………………………….

………………………………………..

…………………………..

I don’t hear you!

……………..

……..

…

..

.

I’m going to try to post daily.  Not via wordpress, which I do love with all my heart, but by tumblr.  Yes, I’ve gone to the dark side.  I’m sorry.  But it is easier to rationalize posting daily on tumblr than wordpress for some reason.  I will give you the heads up on facebook as well.

Oh no, I’m not done with wordpress.  There will still be extended thoughts on topics on here, but tumblr will become my go-to site for random thoughts.

So…until next time:  Check the facebook (LIKE US!!!), tumblr, and here for new updates!

The All-Terrible Games

The revamped NHL All-Star game and NFL Pro Bowl have passed, and as some of you know, I am not a huge fan of these types of games.  I understand the business side, but fail to see how it helps improve sports and benefit the fans.  Really, the only All-Star game I accept is the MLB All-Star game, and I really dislike their system.  Let’s take a look at the state of various All-Star weekends.

NBA All-Star Weekend

I love the major activities that the NBA includes such as the Dunk Contest and 3-point Shootout.  I think the Dunk Contest has been better than it currently is, they need to encourage more superstars to participate like Clyde Drexler, MJ, Vince Carter, and Tracy McGrady all did.  They also need to do away with ridiculous fan voting.  The event was better when Dunk Contest Legends did all the judging.  Maybe we could mic the judges to get some insight instead of wasting money on the fan voting.  The game itself is good in that it inspires inter-conference rivalry.  Where it falls short is encouraging intra-conference rivalry.  Sure the stars have to coexist, but you can’t tell me that this year Derrick Rose and Rajon Rondo will go the entire weekend without sharing a few laughs.  The greatest All-Star games bring out the best in the players and can even result in little known stars becoming Alpha Dogs.

MLB All-Star Game and Festivities

Having attended an All-Star Fanfest as a boy in 2001 in Seattle, I can appreciate some of the events, but others do need to go away.  Celebrity games are really dumb and have nothing to do with MLB other than that they are playing baseball.  Celebs always end up hurt and it becomes a big deal.  The Home Run Derby is a major draw, but it isn’t entertaining and diminishes the magic of a great home run.  As I stated in a past post, I move that the MLB changes its format to an All-Star Series.  If the game is going to mean something and have ramifications towards the World Series, then the game should be played like other MLB games.  In a three game series.  The winners of two games would host the majority of the World Series games, and in the event of a two-game sweep, they could do a Home Run Derby for some kicks.  We could do away with the ridiculous mentality of, “Let’s use every single pitcher in the game and let every player get a fair amount of playing time” and have managers do their job a little more realistically.

NHL All-Star Game and Festivities

I like the switch this year to have captains pick teams, it allows for rivalries to remain intact.  As we all know, rivalries and rage are big parts of hockey.  The skills competition is great, too.  It showcases the best players and answers fan debates.  The Rev and I were talking this week and of course happened upon this subject.  He proposed the idea where the NHL has a game of just the captains of all the teams.  I would add that this could include Assistant Captains as well.  Someone will be stuck with a terrible goalie (Roberto Luongo), but  goaltending doesn’t really help in the All-Star game as it is.  I do, however, think that this is a sport that should have a Celebrity game.  Canadian Stars vs USA Stars with some International pickups (like Arnold?)  would probably be on par with the actual All-Star game.  I would pay to watch a fight between Justin Bieber and pretty much anyone as long as he gets pummeled.  This could be the greatest thing since Brett Favre retiring (joke pending).

NFL Pro Bowl

This game is pretty much meaningless to the players, it basically equals a nice payday from their team in exchange for a weekend in a tropical environment.  I don’t see anyway to improve it for the NFL.  Maybe instead they could have a 3rd place game between the two semifinalists that lost.  I’m truly at a loss.

Super Bowl Weekend

Welcome to the greatest weekend in sports (and advertising)!  Black Eyed Peas as the entertainment, Steelers (most hated team in the country) vs Packers (the only publicly traded team, and therefore a product of the fans).  Two of the best defensive teams that just happen to have sufficient offenses (when not suspended and healthy).  My only question is how someone outside of Pittsburgh and not originally from Pittsburgh can root for the Steelers.  They are the new Oakland Raiders: Fans who are too far over the top and obnoxiously present everywhere.  But hey, isn’t that why normal people love sports?  Watching great athletes and insane fans?

Questions

The past week has given us a lot to talk about in the sports world.  We had a title game, NFL playoffs, UCONN almost losing again, etc.  It seems that while 2010 went out a little quietly, 2011 has begun with a bit of pizazz.  What has this young year got in store for us?  Only time will tell, but so far one thing is certain: We will be surprised over and over again.  Some questions that the fledgling year has given us:

Was That It?

Did anyone else feel like the BCS National Championship left a lot to be desired?  We were promised offense, but when the two top programs have over a month to prep and gameplan, I suppose we should have expected defense to rule.  Then the last two minutes happened along with this “gem”:

Absolutely unforeseen, probably won’t happen again, and just plain ridiculous.  Auburn made it to the 1 on another Dyer run and then ran the clock down for a field goal.  After settling in for an overtime thriller right before the 2 minute warning i was left to think, “Was that it?”  If Vince Young single-handedly beating the USC powerhouse in LA was the best BCS Title game, this was somewhere on the opposite end of the spectrum.

Can We Do This?

The question every person who was remotely a Seahawks fan asked themselves on Saturday around 2 PM Pacific Time.  Everyone except the few diehards had written of the Seahawks even after the top New Orleans rushers went down with injury.  This game ended up being arguably the game of the week due to the crazy fans (who caused some seismic activity), the underdog story, and, of course, Pom-pom Pete Carrol.  The seismic activity was a result of this monster of a run:

A few things factored into this run being so huge.

1.  Lynch kept his legs going the whole time.  Even after he threw a guy off himself.

2.  Everyone blocked.  From the linemen, to the wide receivers, and even QB Matt Hasselbeck (kinda).

3. Lynch refused to quit.  He could have gone out of bounds, could have laid down to keep the clock going, but he churned and burned his way to the end zone.

Definitely got added to the list of greatest rushes in Playoff history.

Can We Play Chicago Again? (And have the Packers beat the Falcons?)

Seattle already beat the Bears this year, and they have a secondary comparable to the Saints. Also, Packers beat the Falcons and then we get the NFC Championship game in Sea-town.  Talk about reviving a dead city.

Looking Ahead: Who do the Seahawks draft if Mark Ingram and Jake Locker are still on the board?

This one really depends on the combine and need of teams ahead of Seattle, but I can see Pete Carrol trading for some draft picks and jumping up in the draft order.  On the one hand, Ingram can immediately be a factor.  It would allow for the Seahawks to trade Lynch, Forsett, or one of the other dozen backs Carrol collects, for a draft pick.  Ingram can carry the run game, after maybe one or two seasons of split time (similar to how Adrian Peterson was used after he was drafted).  Locker, on the other hand, would need a season, two, three, four, who knows how long to learn under a vet (like Hasselbeck).  After that, he could be a new breed of Quarterback, a combination of speed, power, and throwing.  He and Tebow could end up being the new model for QB.  A healthy rivalry for the ages.

Still Looking Ahead: What have the Mariners done to solve their hitting problems?

Nothing.  Nada.  Zilch.  Sure, they signed some guy who is supposedly underrated, but we need a big name at this point.  Underrated does not cut it.  Carl Crawford was on the market and we didn’t make any overtures whatsoever.  It seems like Jack Z is unwilling to do anything about the problem.  Or he is waiting for Albert Pujols to be available.  As long as we can keep King Felix and Ichiro, the next season won’t be a lost cause.  Trading our future and our biggest stars would turn the season into a torturous road.  I don’t see how the M’s would turn a profit or even sell tickets.

What ever happened to those basketball teams that were going to move?

Funny you should ask.  New Orleans is currently owned by the NBA and Sacramento may move because it’s owners aren’t good with their previous business ventures.  There are really about 5 possible destinations at this point.

1. Seattle.  Not sure how likely this is considering David Stern hates us even more, but hey, OPTIMISM!!!

2. Kansas City.  It’s been rumored for awhile now, but you never hear any names attached to the rumors.

3. Anaheim.  Possible for the Kings being that it is a larger market and they already have an arena.  Unfortunately, it is too close to the Lakers and Clippers.

4. San Jose.  Another one for the Kings that is close to their current location, but California may be on basketball overload anyway.

5. Las Vegas.  The one that scares me the most.  Stern has wanted a team here for forever.  Meaning he will sell the team to pretty much anyone who will put them in Vegas.  Still no names attached to these rumors.

This is still a little early, but Ballmer needs to step up before he gets beat to the punch.  Stern won’t move a team if there is nowhere to move it.  Oh wait, OKC is nowhere isn’t it?