Early Wednesday Hockey Thoughts

Fuck this week was hard, I want to get something out every week and this was the best I could do.

Brendan Shanahan says the NHL is going to keep the All Star draft in 2012. I'm a big fan of the NHL trying new stuff, but it just wasn't very good. If they're going to do it again at least get Gerry Dee to host it. No offense James Duthie, you're just not very funny. (as long as you say "no offense" before something mean, it's cool)

Don Cherry nails it, which is more rare than it used to be.

How many hockey sticks can you buy for $15,000?

I have a feeling Canucks fans are overvaluing Schneider as an offseason trade piece, remember Halak was a starter and a playoff hero and all Montreal got for him was Lars Eller and some other guy who's name doesn't need to be remembered.

I can't remember an NHL season where the MVP is less obvious, D. Sedin, Kesler, Toews, Thomas, Stamkos, Yandle. I think it has to be Daniel, right? Highest scorer on the team with the best record. Twin brothers winning the Heart Trophy in back to back years. That's fairly incredible. To celebrate they should knock up the Williams sisters just to see what happens.

It's probably not feasible but would Olympic size ice cut down on concussions? I guess you could just build all new arenas Olympic size and have different playing areas like baseball.

I think there's a better than 50/50 chance Winnipeg gets a team NEXT season (either Atlanta or Phoenix). Go Jets!!!!!

It`s been a while

My next failed attempt as a blogger is starting..........now. Once I miss a post or two it feels hard to come back to. We'll see how long this lasts.

If I were negotiating on behalf of the NFL owners and we wanted to get a larger percentage of revenues without bending on other issues, we could create a new issue. That way instead of saying "we're losing 2% of revenue and they won't budge on guaranteed contracts" the leader of the player's union can say "if we take only 2% less in revenue they'll scrap the 18 game schedule".

The reason I want to blog again is this post I made a while back, it's very poorly written but I kind of nailed it. just sayin

I enjoy the CFL but if you want me to keep defending it to my NFL buddies they're going to have to stop announcing the awards 5 months after the season ends. That's bush league.

My prediction for Jays starting rotation is Romero, Morrow, Cecil, Litsch, Jo-Jo Reyes. It's the most patient and probably the smartest. One, Two, Three are set. Every interview I read with AA is talking up Litsch. Jo-Jo Reyes has no options and is probably going to be this year's Dana Eveland.

Drive Angry sounds like a really good movie, you should go see it.

Pickem Week 1

With half a handful of posts in August lets hope September goes a little better. NFL starts Thursday and with NFL comes betting. Spreads are for experts, I am no expert.

Min @ NO - I'm taking the Saints, they won the playoff game last year and they're at home. The only way I can see things working out for Minny this year is if Petterson carries this team.

Cle @ TB - Both teams were bad last year, Holmgren is running the show in Cleavland. That`s enough for me, I`ll take the Browns on the road.

Mia @ Buf - I`ll take the fish. Things can change quickly in the NFL but not quickly enough for Bills fans.

Cin @ NE - Part of me wonders if Brady two years removed from knee surgery, Welker back, a few new weapons at TE and Randy Moss in a contract year means the Patriots offense goes all 2007. I`ll take the Pats.

Ind @ Hou - I never bet against Indy, especially in the regular season.

Den @ Jac - I don`t know but you can`t pick all road teams so I`ll take the Jags.

Atl @ Pit - The Steelers are in good shape if they go 2-2 without Big Ben. Two of their next three games are against the Ravens and Titans. This is a BIG week 1 game for the Steelers. I`ll take them and you can mark it down as my push-up lock of the week*.

Oak @ Ten - On the ESPN Eliminator challenge the Titans are the week 1 favorites, I can`t disagree (although I never pick the most popular choice in these drafts)

Car @ NYG - I`ll take the Giants because they`re at home, no more thought than that.

DET @ CHI - I think this is the year the Lions climb out of the basement in the NFC north, the team that replaces them would probably be the Bears.

Ari @ Stl - Here`s my upset pick of the week. Bradford has a nice debut, Steven Jackson has a huge day while everyone in Ari wonders if letting go of Leinart was such a good idea.

GB @ Phi - Lots of analysts are selling GB as an elite team this year, I`m buying.

SF @ SEA - I`m picking way too many road teams but SF has a shitty offense while SEA has a shitty offense AND a shitty defense + a new coach and a new system.

Dal @ Was - America`s teams in the Sunday nighter. Take the road team again.

Bal @ NYJ - As soon as Revis signed the Jets became the favorite here.

SD @ KC - How the fuck did KC get an opening week Monday night game at home? SD never starts out well and has all kinds of contract issues. Lets take the Chefs as my second upset pick.


* Push up lock of the week is something my friends and I do. Everybody picks their lock of the week, has to be in a tight game. If you lose that game you have to do 10 push ups in the bar in front of everyone while your friends ridicule you. Feel free to leave your locks in th comment section.

A List of One

My sleeper list consists of one player. He's crazy talented, he's fast, he's elusive, he finishes runs strong, he's the best player on his team and his ESPN ranking is 84, at his position. My sleeper pick for 2010 is Josh Cribbs. The wildcat may have been invented for this guy.

It's possible I don't know everything

There's a rumor/conspiracy theory on the internet that could explain the whole Lebron James fiasco. It involves Delonte West, you can Google it yourself. Regardless of the validity of this rumor I realized I don't actually know Lebron James or the details of his decision. I should probably cut him more slack than this. Maybe he's got his reasons?

Some people deserve to get punched

Dear Anderson Silva,

This Saturday you fight Chael Sonnen at UFC 117. I'm not sure if you're aware (because you don't speak English) but Chael Sonnen is bad mouthing you something fierce. Now you're probably the most accomplished fighter in the history of MMA but your lack of English makes it difficult for you to compete in the war of words. I have this blog that 10's of people read and I would be more than happy to put him in his place on your behalf. You can just copy and paste the rest of this letter into an email, sign your name, and send it off to ESPN. I won't tell anyone I wrote it.

Dear ESPN,

I am the most successful fighter in the history of MMA and Chael Sonnen has a day job as a real estate agent. I do not appreciate his lack of respect. I'm going to knock him out, then I'm going to tea bag him on international television.

Sincerely,


Anderson Silva

Dungeons and Dragons for Jocks

I play a lot of fantasy football, too much actually. For those of you who are neither an NFL fan nor a Fantasy Football fan stop reading now, there is nothing in this post for you. For those of you who have never played but watch some NFL Mathew Berry's Draft Day Manifesto is all you really need to get caught up. For fellow junkies here's another random dude on the internet with an opinion to consider and critique while you probably should be working.

For the record when I say I like someone it's relative to their general ranking, for reference here's a list from the good people at ESPN.

If I pick first overall I'm taking Adrian Peterson, I know most aren't but for me he's just such a freak athlete. I saw an NFL Network commercial last year with him running without a shirt on 220+ times (honest estimate), maybe I'm brain washed. I just think he's safer because he's bigger and plays in a better offense. Don't get me wrong it's like comparing delicious apples with delicious apples.

I like Ray Rice at three but I`m not angry at anyone who picks MJD.

At 4 I think you have to take Frank Gore but after that it should open right up, it`s really just personal preference and drafting styles, the only bad picks are when you pick a player who would definitely be there a few rounds later.

I`m not picking Stephen Jackson, Randy Moss or Reggie Wayne because other people are going to like these guys more than me. That being said I own all three in a keeper league where you can keep any five players and none are going back into the draft.

DeAngelo Williams gets good numbers every year but I don`t like when my first round running back splits carries as much as they do in Carolina.

Andre Johnson is the best and safest receiver by a large margin, he`s the only one I`d feel happy taking in the first round.

I never pick a QB early, I think there is great value late in drafts. I`m fine waiting on some kind of Favre, Cutler, Kolb, Henne, Mcnabb , Flacco, Romo combination platter of three.

If I`m reaching on some guys in the first round it would be Mendenhall then Shonn Green. The difference being Ladanian Tomlinson might be this year`s Willis MaGahee. Shonn Green like Ray Rice last year is obviously the better player but LT might vulture TDs the way MaGahee did last year, at least early on. Then again Willis Magahee might be this year`s Willis MaGahee.

I like Calvin Johnson. Mathew Stafford is a year older, Pettigrew is a year older, Jahvid Best and Burleson can`t hurt either, defenses might not be able to exclusively key in on Johnson.....plus he`s Megatron.

Jennings and Colston are the two best recievers on good pass happy offenses.

I`d be very happy with Crabtree as the second best receiver on my squad going into the season. A year ago he was a rookie who missed training camp and the first half the season due to contract negotiations. Just taking regular snaps would have been impressive but he was by far their best receiver.

Reggie Wayne might put up the same kind of numbers he has the last couple of years making him a lower end number one receiver; he certainly won`t be better. I`m not interested

I like Jamaal Charles, Ryan Mathews, Pierre Thomas and maybe even Matt Forte more than Ryan Grant. No team is going to win their fantasy league because Ryan Grant is their best player.

My sleeper pick is Clinton Portis, he`s the 32nd ranked running back. He was awful last year and deserves this ranking but throw in Shanahan and McNabb and I`ll waste a 6th round pick to see if he was slowed by injuries.

Another is Darren McFadden, he could easily be this year`s Cedric Benson. I`m probably going to do a whole sleepers post in the near future.

Miami goes to Revis Island twice this year to play the jets including week 14. That sucks for Brandon Marshall owners who make the playoffs.

That`s it for today but I`m going to do rambling FF thoughts again.