NHL Fun

Okay, I'm finally recovered from the mental trauma of my Seahawks losing to the Bears in a great game. I will now repeat the mantra I have said for 20+ years of being a Seahawks fan- "Wait until next year". (deep sigh). But with football almost over, my full attention can be focused on the NHL and my Rangers.

The Blueshirts are undefeated since the All Star break! Granted, that's only 2 games, but I'm all for a strong start to begin the 2nd half of the season. If the Rangers can pick up a good scoring center to play on the 2nd line with Shannahan and maybe a solid defenseman before the trade deadline, they should be able to make a nice run in the playoffs. They have good goaltending, a few dynamic stars, and a young core getting more and more experienced. Here's to a great 2nd half of the year. Hockey rules!

The Government Hates Sick People

More evidence of Republicans principles of federalism. Because some asshats don't like weed, they are willing to do what it takes to deny sick people medicine. Medicine that is perfectly legal for these patients to have. California and Washington have both legalized medical marijuana, but the feds continue to pull raids on advocacy groups and people who supply sick people with the weed. Land of the free!

Divisionsal Playoff picks

Well, I was 4-0 last week, but it's going to be tougher this week. 4 (hopefully) great games on followed by the season premier of 24. I will not leave my recliner this weekend except to refill my beer. On to the picks (home team in caps)

BALTIMORE over Indianapolis- I thought the Colts were lucky last week that the Chiefs couldn't adjust to their defense and couldn't capitalize on Colts mistakes. That won't happen with the Ravens. Manning sucks in January, looked off last week at home in a dome, and now has to go play outside against the (arguably) best defense in the league. Meanwhile, the Ravens offense has a strong running game and, unlike the Chiefs, a winner QB who will make them pay if they just stack 8 men in the box. I foresee another early exit for Payton "Cut-that-meat" Manning.

NEW ORLEANS over Philadelphia- Ok, I'm rooting for the Eagles, I've always liked them, but I don't see them beating a rested Saints team at home. They've gutted out some wins and Garcia has played way better than anyone could have expected, but they've also been taking a beating getting to this point. Meanwhile the Saints had the bye week, are playing at home and are a Cinderella story that most football fans will be rooting for. I have to pick the Saints.

Seattle over CHICAGO- Take this for what it's worth, I'm a die-hard Seahawks fan. HOWEVER, consider this- when these teams met last in a spanking by the Bears, the Seahawks were missing MVP Shaunn Alexander and Jerrammy Stevens who has been playing awesome the last few weeks. Also, Grossman was looking like a good quarterback at that point in the season. Now we have a Bears team that is 1)missing two big parts of their defense, Harris and Brown 2) a QB who has looked god-awful the last few weeks 3) a city with no confidence in said QB who will boo him as soon as he makes a bad pass of any kind and 4) has not played a game that means anything in a month. I'm not saying it will be easy, but if the Seahawks go in there and play a good game, they get the win. And I think they will be looking for revenge from the last game.

CHARGERS over New England- I'm a fan of the Pats and the Brady/Billichick team has a certain mystique in the playoffs, but the Chargers are just so good on both sides of the ball, I think their talent will be too much for the Pats. Unless they can confuse Rivers early and get some turnovers, LT will take over the game. I know Marty is like 5-12 in the playoffs and Billickick/Brady are 11-1, but the Pats have just lost too much talent this year, and the Chargers are solid on both sides of the ball.

Last week: 4-0

Seahawks vs. Dallas Wrap Up

Ok, tell me there is no east coast media bias. After the Hawks won a nail-biter on Saturday, all the attention was on the Pats/Jets blow out, the Chiefs/Colts snoozer and what will become of Romo, Parcells, TO and the Cowboys. How about some love for the northwest team that won?

The consensus seems to be the Seahawks were lucky to win (and luck certainly had a part), but no attention is being given to the positives for the Seahawks and the fact they gutted out a tough win. For example-

*Despite having a guy who was a loan officer and one who was a hunting guide last week starting at cornerback and having to cover two elite receivers with a pro-bowl QB (what a joke that is) throwing, the Hawks defense allowed only one offensive touchdown.

*Jerramy Stevens- 5 catches, 77 yards, 2 TDS. Stevens has had a good stretch the last few weeks and is becoming a solid offensive weapon.

*Bobby Engram- 4 catches, 88 yards. Great game to keep the chains moving, at least 2 clutch 3rd down conversions. You're crazy if you don't think the Hawks missed Mr. 3rd Down during the long stretch when he was out with a thyroid problem.

*Return of the hustling chase-the-ball defense. Last year the Hawks lead the league in sacks and were up there in the rankings of points allowed. A lot of this was due to a bend-but-don't-break style. They would give up a big play here and there, but their constant pressure and aggressive pursuit of the ball carrier made the opposing teams pay. That style of play has seemed to return the last few weeks.

All this is to say, the Seahawks are a good team that won a tough game. Let's not forget, without the kick return TD by the Cowboys, they probably wouldn't have been in a position to botch the final field goal in the first place. Add that to a great stop by Lofa Tatupu on 3rd down to prevent a TD or first down and Babineaux making a great tackle to keep Romo out of the end zone and kept him from getting the first down, well that's pretty cool. Bottom line- the Seahawks made the plays that mattered and the Cowboys didn't. Give respect where respect is due.

Wild Card Weekend Picks

Not a bad week for picks last week, and we are finally at the playoffs. Wooo! My Seahawks went out with a win, but boy did it cost them on defense. No delay, right to the picks (home team in CAPS)

INDIANAPOLIS over Kansas City- This should be an interesting game. The Colts defense can't stop anybody on the run, and the Chiefs don't have just any back, they have Larry Johnson. The only way the Colts can win this game is if Manning has a perfect game and they can limit the Chiefs time on the field. I'm picking the Colts only because they are undefeated at home this year. I expect the final score to be something retarded like 45-49.

SEATTLE over Dallas- Okay, my Hawks are decimated at the cornerback position. We will have a guy who was an INS agent last week and a guy who ran a hunting business covering TO and Terry Glenn. However, the Cowboys have looked terrible the last few weeks, the Seahawks look like they're finding their groove on offense and Tony Homo is a first-year QB in his first playoff game having to play on the road in the loudest stadium in the NFL. If the Hawks can get some pressure on Romo and disrupt the passing game, the injuries at corner should not have a big impact. Plus, Alexander missed a bunch of games this season, so he is nice and fresh. I expect him to have a huge day.

NEW ENGLAND over New Jersey Jets- Two average teams, two great coaches, one great QB. I give the edge to the team that has one a few Super Bowls playing at home. The Jets had a nice over-achieving year, but I don't see them beating Bilicheck this year, just not enough talent or experience.

PHILADELPHIA over New Jersey Giants- So I guess I'm picking all home teams. The Giants have looked off their game for weeks now, the players an fans aren't too thrilled with Coughlin, Tiki is a distraction with his retirement and Eli has no grace under pressure. Meanwhile, Garcia is playing great for the Eagles, their defense is solid and Westbrook can dominate games. I don't see the G-men going into Philly and winning this game.

Last week: 11-5
Regular season final: 154-102 (66.2%)

Why is Offense King in American Sports?

Something has been bugging me for quite a while in the state of American sports. Why is offensive production the only thing leagues and, I guess, fans are interested in? Every time a league makes rule changes or equipment changes, it is always to the benefit of the offense and to increase scoring. I understand the arguments that scoring is exciting, and fans want to watch an exciting product, but I would argue that this focus on scoring/offense is beginning to destroy the games that make these changes.

For example, the NHL made a bunch of rule changes after their lockout to open up the ice and speed up the game, and for the most part I like the new rules. However, because of the tight calling of games, especially hooking calls, the opposite of what was intended often happens in games. Instead of speeding up the flow, you get a choppy game as every ticky-tack hook is called, stopping play. I like the idea of freeing up skaters to do their thing, but the defense should be able to at least make it tough on these wingers. Now the NHL has been considering making the nets larger for more goals. Sorry, but I'm not excited by more scoring when it's done artificially. You could have hockey scores look like NBA scores, just make the whole icing line the net! C'mon, it would be "exciting"! Really, they need to keep the integrity of the game. Some of the best games I've ever seen have been 1-0 games. Yeah, some of those are boring too, but if you're not entertained by two great goaltenders shutting down the opposing team, you have no pulse and are not a fan of the game.

Moving on to the NFL, the way they call pass interference is ridiculous. If a defender breathes on a receiver, flag and ball at the spot of the foul. They really need to let defenders defend, and they should change the PI call to a 15-yard penalty from line of scrimmage. That would at least alleviate the horror of having a numb-nuts ref throw a flag on a bullshit PI call costing your team 80 yards. Also, the protection of quarterbacks has gotten out of control. I understand protecting the most important player when he's in a defenseless position, but now players can only tackle him in the chest?!? No legs, and don't even sneeze at his head! Sorry, but if I'm a 275-pound linebacker, I have 2 choices when rushing the QB- play at full speed at the best of my ability OR hold back so I don't take the chance of a 15-yard personal foul if I can't stop my momentum in time to avoid bumping into the golden by. These are football players for Christ's sake, protect them from cheap shots, but not from actually playing the game. Or, we could make the NFL like backyard pickup- the defenders count to 5 alligators, at which point they are allowed to chase the QB, and he's down if the defender touches him with 2 hands.

Finally, the bitch-ass NBA. I have all kinds of problems with this league, mostly with officiating and the amount of time-outs the teams each get, but let's put those aside for the moment. The new ball introduced this year was partly put into play to increase scoring. In the NBA, when scores are regularly in the 80-100 point per team range, you need more scoring?!? Are you fucking kidding me? They've already eliminated traveling and carrying the ball, and any star that gets looked at funny when he's driving the net gets sent to the foul line for free throws. You're trying to tell me that the thing that really needs to be improved on to make this gutter-sport exciting is more baskets? You know, they could also lower the rim to 6 feet high and make it the diameter of a garbage can, that would increase scoring too.

The point is, give some love to the defense, and quit screwing with the integrity of my sports!