The Return

Well...almost a year away. Over that time, I've enjoyed some opportunities. Some of which I continue, others that I have chosen to no longer pursue. I even tried my hand at re-branding...of sorts. But this was the first "home" and it beckoned me on almost a daily basis. I have a slew of items to cover. Let's not put them off any longer...

NHL

Be serious now. Prior to last evening, has anyone heard of Sam Gagner? If you hadn't, I'm sure you have by now. Anytime someone ties a record with Wayne Gretzky, you're accomplished something very special...


The Edmonton Oilers scored eight goals...and Gagner had a point for each goal. Kinda spectacular huh? For the record, another former Oiler scored eight points in a game, Paul Coffey.

MLB

Just finished watching the news conference in regards to Josh Hamilton and his relapse. If anyone is truly upset at this, think about it some more, please.

I have heard and read where people were blaming the bartender for serving Hamilton. It's one thing to be what's known as an enabler. The bartender wasn't. Has anyone considered if the bartender even knew who Hamilton was? Sure there could have been patrons that were aware of who he was serving, but to come down hard on this individual is a little harsh.

Also, Hamilton holding a press conference even though he didn't take questions was brilliant. I loved that. In this day anf age, athletes, celebrities, etc., believe that issuing a statement through personal websites and/or Twitter accounts, Facebook pages, all other forms of social media is beyond refreshing.

PGA

I present the long hitting Gary Woodland...



Missed it by that much...

NFL

Isn't this week supposed to be about the Super Bowl? If you ask me, it's been more about Peyton Manning, Jim Irsay and the Indianapolis Colts. This game of "oh, yeah, well..." is edging toward the sophomoric side. Remember when we heard this kind of crap was going to stay in-house? So much for that idea.

So, Manning's surgeon, Dr. Robert Watkins to you, issues a statement that alerts us that one of Indy's prized possessions is "medically cleared to play professional football". Colts owner Jim Irsay, as he tends to do, took to Twitter. His version? Manning hasn't been cleared by the Colts medical staff.

Irsay was preparing a statement to be released today. Honestly, I'm tired of all this stuff. If he doesn't want to pay Manning that huge roster bonus, don't. If you want Peyton in Indy, then you do. We don't need to hear anymore statements...until the Super Bowl is over. Then my ears will perk up.

College Football

Remember Gunner Kiel? That name should be fresh in your memory especially if you follow college football. Might wanna watch this video courtesy of The Daily Reveille. Go to the 1:40 mark...

I don't think I need to add to this, but I believe you suspect that Kiel was the "quarterback from Indiana".

Only "The Hat"...

All This NFL Talk Gets Us Nowhere

I know I went off on a form of a rant regarding the NFL players and how through their own words they're not helping their cause in the court of public opinion. This isn't a retraction or an extension of that.

This post differs from that. Greatly.

Let me ask you this. Are you really thinking of all these NFL players and owners right now? Seriously think about your answer here. I'm not in any way. If you're an NFL fan and only an NFL fan, you most likely are. You're fretting that with all the disdain, there is a chance there's no 2011 season or at the least, a loss of some games. What if you're not? What if you're just the "average sports fan"?

This won't hit you yet. Depending on your cup of tea for this time of the year, you have the NCAA men's and women's tourneys. You have spring training beginning to wind down and baseball's opening day a scant nine days away. The NHL is making its push for the playoffs. Matt Cooke won't be playing, though. Arnie's hosting his tournament at Bay Hill this week. Tiger and Phil are among those entered. The NBA is also making a playoff push and Derrick Rose has been fabulous so far this year. The MLS season has started and the leagues over in Europe are having their season ending pushes for avoiding relegation or making the Champions League or being promoted.

You see, it's not all about the NFL. There are other avenues to explore within the sports spectrum. I'm well aware the NFL is being touted as being at an all-time high. Is it now? It actually might be at an all-time low because of the labor strife. But you know something. Let those that could determine its fate do such.

We don't need an update every 15 freakin' minutes about the discord. About the disconnect. We don't need it from ESPN, FOX, CBS or any other outlet as far as that goes. Yes, blogs included.

It amazes me that some media feel we need to see a group of players seated ever so precisely being interviewed and condemning those that have given them the opportunity to make a lot of coin. It's disconcerting. Ever there was ever an instance of something appearing staged, that was it.

The owners aren't in the clear either. I understand they want more money in their pockets. I don't understand denying those that made you your little cache of bills from having a healthy life after their short careers. You say tomato, I say tomahto.

No, I'm not against the players. I'm not against the owners either. Bring up all the millionaires arguing with billionaires BS you want.

Point is, it's March. The NFL should be taking a back seat for now to all the other great sporting events we have. It's a shame the sports outlets won't enjoy those.

Shocker in Nation's Capital

Quick. What was the biggest sports story from yesterday?

I already gave my answer away by my headline, but did you think it was the Jeff Ireland/Dez Bryant issue? It's created quite a buzz. How about the Milwaukee Bucks making an 18-5 run to steal Game 5 from the Atlanta Hawks...in Atlanta? Big story, but not the biggest. LeBron and his elbow? It is if your a Cavaliers fan. Changes in MLB's All-Star Game? Not even close.

Halak and Ovi after Habs take Game 7.

Undoubtedly it has to be the Montreal Canadiens winning Game 7 on the road and advancing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. But why is this my big story?

Is it because Game 7's are always big? Is it because the Canadiens were the #8 seed? Is it because the Caps compiled the most points during the regular season? Maybe it was on the road?

Nope. None of those. What makes this HUGE is that the President's Trophy winner had a commanding 3-1 series lead...and let it slip away. Then, take your progression through the above list of the Habs being the #8 seed, etc., etc. All the Caps had to do was win one of the last three games in the series and they would advance to take on the Philadelphia Flyers. One thing stood in their way. A very big "thing".

That would be Canadiens goaltender Jaroslav Halak. After splitting time through the regular season with Carey Price, the 24-year-old Slovakian performed masterfully against the NHL's top scoring team and relegating Price to the position of observer. In Halak's six games of the series, he managed 231 saves. That's an average of just over 38 saves a game. For the whole series, Canadiens goalies faced an average of 41.7 shots a game. Target practice, firing range. All apply here. In the last three games of the series, the least amount of shots Halak faced was 37. I think we all know why the Canadiens won. Well, at least we know a major reason why they won.

Forget the fact that the Washington Capitals were held almost 1.5 goals less per game during the series due to Halak's heroics. What about all that offense? Where was it? Especially on the power play? The Caps led the NHL with a 25.2% for the regular season while the Canadiens were 2nd at 21.8%. For this series, a paltry 3.0%. All that firepower with Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green. Only Ovi (10) and Backstrom (9) managed to score more than a point a game. Semin was held to two assists and Green could only muster three helpers.

The Capitals may be constructing a reputation they would rather not be building, blowing Game 7's. In their last four series, the Caps have been pressed to a seventh game. Their series record: 1-3. In a lot of circles, any team with that record would be deemed as no less than a choke artist.

Any takers?

Can the NHL get this right?

The ratings are in and the news is all good. The gold medal match between the USA and Canada grabbed a share of 17.6. It is the second highest non-NFL program for 2010, next to the BCS Championship Game. That ought to be good news for both NBC and the NHL, right?

For NBC it is, but what about the NHL? What direction? How will NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and the rest of the league handle the potential surge of interest? Will there even be a surge of interest?

Well, for starters, the NHL already received from free publicity from NBC and may not even realize it. During every Olympic men's hockey game, the announcers went out of their way to acquaint you with players and the NHL team for which they played. You would hear "Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks" or "Patrick Marleau of the San Jose Sharks" or "Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins" in every game. That is excellent work by all involved.

But NBC's role is by far over. They can capitalize on the very Olympics they just finished covering. In their NHL promos, refer to certain players and the Olympic team they played on. Flip the field used in the Olympic braodcasts. If a Blackhawks/Sharks game is to be aired, use Kane or Marleau or any other Olympian in the promo and state the fact that they played in the Olympics and the country they played for. Versus could do the same for its weekly broadcasts as well. There is a crossover of announcers and analysts between the networks. Each of the NHL's 30 teams should implement a similar strategy in its home market.

Get Reebok more involved. Reebok currently provides authentic gear for the league. Imagine a Reebok commercial airing in prime time with video of Sidney Crosby scoring that overtime goal to win the gold or Ryan Miller (right) making one of his many spectacular Olympic saves.

One of the biggest complaint I hear from the non-hockey contingent is the excessive number of TV timeouts compared to the Olympic coverage. There is a way to correct that, but a deal between the NHL, the teams and the advertisers and sponsors must be agreed upon. Here's my solution and it's simple.

For those that have watched an MLS soccer game, you know where I'm going here. On all MLS broadcasts (and some international matches carried by other networks), you will notice the graphic showing the score and the time remaining. Also, within that graphic is also a logo for certain companies. Those companies are sponsoring uninterrupted play. You can limit the number of commercial interruptions this way. This is an issue I have with the beloved NFL. A team scores a touchdown, kicks a PAT and the network airs a commercial. No big deal. Return from commercial for the kickoff and then...another freaking commercial. It usually makes me switch the channel bacause I don't want to see another commercial since I just saw one not even a minute ago. Plus, it's frustrating.

Great day for international hockey

How could it have been any better for hockey fans?

With all the usual complaining about judges to the debate over the Whistler sliding track, everyone must agree that yesterday presented us with possibly the greatest day ever for international hockey. The last three gold medals games were "replayed".

First was the rematch of the 1998 Nagano final between Russia and the Czech Republic. That was followed by host Canada against the United States in a rematch from the 2002 final in Salt Lake City. The last game, which I thought would actually be the best because of the fierce rivalry, was Sweden and Finland. That was the final at the last Olympics in Turin.

I would say to thank the schedule maker of these games, but the schedule was partially determined well in advance and based on the participating countries overall world ranking by the IIHF's 2008 World Ranking. The top 9 from that ranking were automatically included (Canada, Russia, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, Unites States, Switzerland, Slovakia and Belarus). You could somewhat view yesterday's games as being the luck of the draw.

But one thing that should not be missed was the large number of NHL players that were on the rosters of the six teams that competed on Sunday. It would be an extreme shame if this inclusion of NHL players ceased. The "use" of NHL players in the Olympics help promote the NHL just as much as having regular season games played in Europe.

Sure, the Olympics are only held every four years, but the impact of those games reverberate for extended periods of time. Some of those "memories" still do. No player should be deprived of adorning the sweater of his native country, yet the possibility exists. The IOC, IIHF, NHL and NHLPA have to all agree to allow these athletes to participate. As of these Olympics, that is in jeopardy for 2014.

Without NHL players, the days of amateurs playing would, in some form, be back in play. That's how it used to be. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, IOC President Jacques Rogge and IIHF President Rene Fasel are critical in the process of continuing to use NHL players in the Olympic Games.

Even if an "agreement" cannot be reached, we will never witness another "Miracle on Ice", which occurred 30 years ago today.

What we would witness is a decline in the quality of play.

Hockey fans all around the world would suffer.

The Weekend High 5

This weekend supplied us with a whole lot of stories. Here's a look at five of the best from Friday night to Sunday night.

1. Lakers manage only 23 second half point against Nuggets

No one could have guessed this. We're used to 23 points being a low scoring quarter for the Lakers. But a half? And Kobe doesn't score a single second half point? But it wasn't revelaed by the Lakers until after Sunday night's loss to the Houston Rockets that Bryant has a groin strain. No ups when that groin is bad.

2. Coulmbus Blue Jackets beat Anahiem Ducks in shootout

Doesn't seem like a big deal, does it? Watch.



Blue Jackets winger Rick Nash almost "blew a tire" and still managed to score the shootout goal that gives Columbus the win. Speaking of Columbus...