he'll make Gretzky's head bleed

Jeremy Roenick is on TSN's NHL playoff panel this year. A few nights ago they were all talking about the overtime situation in the playoffs. If they change the playoff overtime format, I'm going to start simulating the NHL with my old SNES and NHL 94. The way men played.
So, in NHL 94, JR used to be a kick ass player. Not so much now, but apparently he's willing to play for the Leafs next season, and not for much. Will Jeremy Roenick sign with the Leafs? Probably not, but this is still funny.



And I was at that game where Roenick scored over Belfour. I sat at the other end of the rink. I got my ticket off of ebay from a guy in Philadelphia. Things got pretty sour in the arena after that shot went in, guys were picking fights with girls, Flyer fans were cheering, just a bad scene.

and the heavens danced

Knowing that the universe is a large place and Earth is a speck, the astral heavens flowed as silk linens through a breeze. In other words, they moved to the music, and their music was the wind.

I can't remember which one of my university friends mentioned it to me first, Adam or Dayton. But I was given Galapagos, and my life would forever be the better for it. As the years went on, I digested his words, his beautiful regurgitation of anger into humour. When I read the news today "Author Kurt Vonnegut dead at 84", oh boy. I thought "wow, he's gone, this sucks." I then went through some of his quotes, smiling through each and every one. Wikiquote is what i used, and i feel it is a good resource.

As I write this I am finding hard to keep my composure. It's cold, grey and damp outside. So it goes.

Of all the beautiful things he has written or said, I have chosen the following. The first I use myself now when people ask me of my religious affiliation. The rest just make me smile.

"I am a humanist. Being a Humanist means trying to behave decently without expectation of rewards or punishment after you are dead."

"Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before," Bokonon tells us. "He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way."

"A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved."

"The most important thing I learned on Tralfamadore was that when a person dies he only appears to die. He is still very much alive in the past, so it is very silly for people to cry at his funeral. All moments, past, present and future, always have existed, always will exist. The Tralfamadorians can look at all the different moments just that way we can look at a stretch of the Rocky Mountains, for instance. They can see how permanent all the moments are, and they can look at any moment that interests them. It is just an illusion we have here on Earth that one moment follows another one, like beads on a string, and that once a moment is gone it is gone forever."

"I am, incidentally, Honorary President of the American Humanist Association, having succeeded the late, great science fiction writer Isaac Asimov in that totally functionless capacity. We had a memorial service for Isaac a few years back, and I spoke and said at one point, "Isaac is up in heaven now." It was the funniest thing I could have said to an audience of humanists. I rolled them in the aisles. It was several minutes before order could be restored. And if I should ever die, God forbid, I hope you will say, "Kurt is up in heaven now." That's my favorite joke."

Thank you Kurt Vonnegut Jr. You're up in heaven now.

Kurt Vonnegut 11/11/22-04/11/07

uh oh, I hear a banjo

and hockey players? Tomfoolery ensues. This is a great NHL commercial and makes me smile that the guys at MyNHL finally woke up and started piecing together some good stuff (if this even done by those guys).



Ovechkin is to Crosby as Newman is to Seinfeld?

i'm dwight howard

"and you really have to put a body on me. I shot 13 for 14 from the field against Toronto this week, and last night this old guy, Tim Hortons (Duncan, Dunkin Donuts, donuts, coffee and donuts... from Tim Hortons) or something tries to stop me. And, yeah, he's got the right idea, you really do have to put a body on me, but good luck finding on. 'Cause this Hall of Famer?

Not enough.

Who's next?"

i'm alexander steen

“Hi, I’m Alexander Steen. I just scored a goal by faking the goalie by not looking at him. I kick ass. You may not know me yet, but my hockey intelligence is superior than most. I’m gonna go let my totally hot girlfriend cut and colour my hair any way she wants because she’s hot. And I’m good at hockey. You can watch me kick ass tonight against the Nashville Predators tonight. That is all.
Ps. I think I saw a hidden camera in the visitors shower locker there.”

NHL 3 point System

In the past, I’ve complained about the unequal point distribution between NHL games which has come into play with the new OT and shootout point being awarded to the loser. Instead of rehashing that point, I’m going to display a quick little study on a new format that I suggested, that being three points being allocated to winners of NHL games in regulation (and 2 points to winners in overtime or a shootout and 1 point to the loser of the overtime or shootout game). As of today, here are the standings with the current NHL point system.

EAST	GR	PTS
1. Buffalo *	27	76
2. New Jersey *	28	72
3. Atlanta *	26	67
4. Montreal	27	64
5. Pittsburgh	29	63
6. Ottawa	28	63
7. Tampa Bay	27	62
8. Carolina	26	61
9. Toronto	28	60
10. NY Islanders	29	57
11. NY Rangers	28	55
12. Boston	30	52
13. Washington	27	52
14. Florida	27	51
15. Philadelphia	30	33
WEST	GR	PTS
1. Nashville *	27	77
2. Anaheim *	28	74
3. Calgary *	29	65
4. Detroit	28	74
5. San Jose	28	69
6. Dallas	28	66
7. Vancouver	28	64
8. Minnesota	27	62
9. Colorado	29	56
10. Edmonton	28	56
11. Phoenix	28	52
12. St. Louis	28	50
13. Chicago	29	47
14. Columbus	28	47
15. Los Angeles	26	44

In the East there is a huge logjam in positions 4 through 9 and the New York teams have to leapfrog a couple of others to gain a playoff spot.

With the NHL system as it is, in the West, Colorado and Edmonton have a huge 6 point deficit to make up on Minnesota and Phoenix is starting to make summer plans.

Basically, the East is jockeying for position with a slight race. To correctly display how difficult it is to make up points in this system, I have followed Toronto, who has won 5 straight. Before their streak began, Toronto sat 2 points out of the playoffs (they were tied with the Rangers for 9th, but the Rangers had a game in hand). They won 5 straight games and now still sit in 9th, trailing by a point. Five straight wins and only 1 point made up in the standings.

Going further back, in their past 10 games the Leafs are 8-2-0-0. Ten games ago (standings as of January 9th), the Leafs were sitting tied with Tampa Bay for 9th in the Conference, one point out of a playoff spot. Leafs win 8 out of their next 10 games and are still sitting in 9th, one point out of a playoff spot (they do have games in hand on the teams in front of them, but I think the point is that it’s hard to make up ground these days, especially when the teams you're trailing also keep winning or getting overtime losses points, I'm looking at you Penguins)

So I compiled a new system, with 3 points being given to a team that wins games in regulation time (with the current NHL overtime and shootout point systems in place) in order to balance the weight of games. With this came a new stat, Point Percentage. This stat is similar to winning percentage in other sports, as it shows how many of the total available points a team has obtained (available points = games played * 3 points). Needless to say this stat can only be created with all games being worth the same amount.

Here’s how it works; if the Leafs win 3 out of 6 games (2 regulation wins, 1 win coming in overtime and losing 3 in regulation) their point percentage under the 3 point system would be as follows.

(2 Regulation wins * 3 points) + (1 overtime win*2 points) = 8 points

Total points (6 games*3points) =18.

Point % =8/18 = 0.444

Now say the Senators win 2 out of 6 games but win both of their games in a shootout and lose 3 of their games in overtime (and lose their last game in regulation time) it would work like this;

(2 wins *2 points)+ (3 OT loss*1 point) = 7 points

Point %= 7/18 = 0.389

Toronto would have won more games, have more points and a better point percentage than Ottawa. Here lies, what I feel, is the flaw in the current NHL system.

In the current NHL system with (both teams performing the same as stated above), the Leafs would have obtained 6 points in those 6 games (3 wins) and the Senators would have obtained 7 points (2 wins and 3 overtime losses).

What is the goal, to win a game or to lose as late as possible? Under the current system, losing as late as possible is the way to go.

Here are the current NHL standings with the 3 point system in place.

EAST	GR	PTS	POINT %
1. Buffalo *	27	100	0.606
2. New Jersey *	28	96	0.593
3. Atlanta *	26	86	0.512
4. Ottawa	28	90	0.556
5. Montreal	27	87	0.527
6. Carolina	26	85	0.506
7. Pittsburgh	29	84	0.528
8. Toronto	28	83	0.512
9. Tampa Bay	27	82	0.497
10. NY Islanders	29	77	0.484
11. NY Rangers	28	73	0.451
12. Florida	27	71	0.430
13. Washington	27	70	0.424
14. Boston	30	66	0.423
15. Philadelphia	30	45	0.288
WEST	GR	PTS	POINT %
1. Nashville *	27	108	0.655
2. Anaheim *	28	103	0.636
3. Calgary *	29	93	0.585
4. Detroit	28	105	0.648
5. San Jose	28	102	0.630
6. Dallas	28	90	0.556
7. Vancouver	28	84	0.519
8. Edmonton	28	80	0.494
9. Colorado	29	77	0.484
10. Minnesota	27	77	0.467
11. Phoenix	28	71	0.438
12. St. Louis	28	65	0.401
13. Columbus	28	64	0.395
14. Chicago	29	62	0.390
15. Los Angeles	26	59	0.351

The biggest leaps from the current system to the new one come from Carolina and Edmonton. Colorado (with a game in hand) could conceivably tie Edmonton for 8th if they won their next game in regulation.

I hope this goes to show how flawed I feel that the current system is by rewarding overtime and shootout performance more than wins.

i can do that

Last night, flipped to the Miami Heat - Indiana Pacers basketball game and caught this circus shot by Dwayne Wade. Left handed, over-the-shoulder, not looking at the basket, and one.

UPDATE: Youtube, greatest invention since you and tube.

tuesdays are my party night

Winter finally hits in Toronto. I'm sitting around at night, one cold dreary desolate night, flipping channels in front of my television. See that Texas is playing Oklahoma State in mens NCAA basketball. Now, I don't watch all NCAA games, but I have created a checklist, and if the game falls into one of the categories on that list, I might watch it. Here is that list of what needs to be happening for me to watch an NCAA game:

1. Leafs aren't playing
2. Raptors aren't playing
3. There isn't a good NFL game on
4. There are two top 25 ranked teams playing each other.
5. There is one top 25 ranked team, and it's the second half of the game, and that ranked team is losing to an unranked team.
6. Greg Oden is playing.
*New* 7. Kevin Durant is playing.

Number seven on that list was created on Tuesday night. As I mentioned, #14 ranked Oklahoma State was at home playing #23 ranked Texas in a Big Twelve Conference match up. Texas is a young team, they were ranked #1 at about this time last year, but this year have 9 freshmen or sophomores on their 12 man roster having lost all of their starters from last year. Their starting 5 consist of 4 freshmen and 1 sophomore.

Anyways, it was the match of the year so far in basketball, going to triple overtime and ending with a Oklahoma victory on a Mario Boggan wild three pointer with a few seconds left. They play again on February twelfth.

Twelfth is a weird word. Such strong consonants all in a row. LFTH. Just weird.

So this Kevin Durant guy is a skinny freshman on Texas who can shoot from anywhere it seems. He's listed as 6 foot 9 weighing 225, but it looks like he needs to weigh around 250 to fill out his body. He's going to be good.

countenance noun 1 obsolete : BEARING, DEMEANOR
2 a : calm expression b : mental composure c : LOOK, EXPRESSION
3 archaic a : ASPECT, SEMBLANCE b : PRETENSE
4 : FACE, VISAGE; especially : the face as an indication of mood, emotion, or character
5 : bearing or expression that offers approval or sanction : moral support

zoom zoom zoom

Went to the Raptors game against the Timberwolves last night, took some pictures with my new camera. Great game, good crowd, pizza was decent, Raptors won without Bosh, Mark Blount can shoot from 5 feet away at the most.

Just to give some perspective of how much zoom my camera has, here's a pic that I took without a zoom from my seat.


Here's a pic of the T-Wolves with standard 3x zooming.


And finally, here's a pic of the new kid (and boy did he get a loud ovation when he came in off the bench) Bargnani.


I'm seriously fighting off the urge to post pics of any and everything. Here's my desk, and there's my phone, and there's a door, and look at that staple, look how far I can zoom in on that thumbtack. I feel like that kid in American Beauty, which I just get now. It's not that he found beauty in meaningless things like a plastic bag in the wind, it's that he was in love with his camera and would take pictures or video of anything. I bet you a few months later he was totally in love with his ipod or psp or something. We have such short attention spans these days. What was I talking about again? Oh yes, words.

anhedonia noun : a psychological condition characterized by inability to experience pleasure in normally pleasurable acts
an·he·don·ic adjective

shotgun bang, what's up with that thang

I have a little thing I do, run weekly football picks pool with a few friends. This week, in making my report, I stumbled on to something which I think might make sense. It's about the Tennessee Titans and New York Giants. Vince Young and Jeff Fisher. Shotgun formation.

What contributed to the Titans incredible comeback, down 21 points in the 4th quarter? Here is what I wrote.

Sandy won, and he could give credit to Mathias Kiwanuka, the rookie defensive end from Boston College (1st round 32 overall) on the New York football Giants, who (for some reason I'm pretty sure even he doesn't understand) let up half way through a sack on Vince Young. This was on a 4th and 10 play in the 4th quarter with the Titans on their own 24 yard line, down by a touchdown and just over 2 minutes to play. Basically a play which could have ended the game but instead Young ended up gaining 19 yards on it and ended up leading the Titans on a game-tying touchdown drive. Some of you (especially Pat) might know of this play, but what might be lost is that on the play before, on 3rd down, Kiwanuka dropped into coverage and made a great stop by knocking down a pass setting up the 4th and long.

Watching that drive, and looking up some facts (you didn't actually think I knew what Kiwanuka's draft history was off the top of my head did you?) it got me thinking. What changed, what happened to allow the Titans to mount such a comeback in the 4th quarter? The answer, might be in the offensive formations used by the Titans. Here is something I guarantee you won't find anywhere else (at least not presented to you on a platter like this, maybe someone else is on to it, but they're probably in Tennessee).

Last year on the Longhorns, Vince Young, in the championship game against USC, he engineered a game winning touchdown drive with plays that were mainly from the shotgun formation. Those (and traditionally all) shotgun formation plays allowed Young to be more mobile. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if he primarily worked out of the shotgun formation in his college career. One way for me to verify this is to examine the Longhorns playbook in NCAA football, but I don't know if I need to because some facts here speak for themselves. Below is a table of the Titans yards gained by formation in their game agains the Giants. The first column is with Young under centre, the second is with him out of shotgun. It is further broken down by half, because there is a big difference in what happened in the two halves of that game.

1st Half	Under Centre	Shotgun
Plays	17	8
Yards	68	54
Avg.	4	6.75
2nd Half
plays	7	27
Yards	24	185
Avg.	3.43	6.85
Total
plays	24	35
Yards	92	239
Avg.	3.83	6.83

Included in that table is the drive in the 4th quarter which led to the first Titans touchdown, a drive that consisted solely of plays out of the shotgun formation.

Yeah, so lots of things came into play for that remarkable comeback, but consistent difference in average yards gained between the formations is striking.

I'm thinking that we might see Jeff Fisher employ the shotgun formation more frequently in Titan games in the future.

Putative: adj 1 : commonly accepted or supposed
2 : assumed to exist or to have existed

a note on the san antonio spurs

They are the best team in the NBA. Barring injury, they will win the NBA western conference and possibly the NBA title, if not for the Toronto Raptors (blind faith baby, blind faith). The only team that can beat the Spurs is....... the Spurs.

Seriously, they're that good.

Anyone who thinks Houston is better, did not see the (capital I) Incredible comeback that the Spurs made in Houston to beat them. That was a healthy Rockets team which showed its weakness (depth) as opposed to San Antonio's strength (depth). Unless that weakness is addressed a.s.a.p., this current Rockets team can not beat the Spurs in a seven game series, even with (boo) Tracy McGrady (boo) firing on all cylinders. The Spurs were down by 19 at one point in the third quarter of that game and out scored the Rockets 21-9 in the 4th quarter to win by 8. Yes it was one game but I'm willing to make my stand based on one game. Am I jumping to conclusions? Fo' shoggy my doggy, but I ain't gonna stand down on it.

Of course, it's only November, and there will be trades and injuries and etc. And yes, I know that there are other teams in the West, and yes, I know that the Spurs lost at home to the Bobcats last night, but they shot 3-12 in overtime compared to Charlotte's 5-7 and ended up loosing by 3. The fact the game went to overtime was a statement, because the Spurs were down by 8 with just over 2 minutes to play. This team just does not die.

ameliorate v Etymology: alteration of meliorate
transitive verb : to make better or more tolerable
intransitive verb : to grow better

a point on points

Disclaimer - I know this is not an original argument, but I had to vent. It’s only November, but this argument will be raised as the NHL season goes on (especially close to the end) and I just want to be a part of the collective voice supporting it.

I’ve been trying to get my head around this, and for the life of me, I can’t figure the logic behind why some games in the NHL are ending with 3 points being allocated to the participants, and some others are ending only having 2 points allocated to one team? Is it because some games are worth more than others? If so, why don’t they tell the viewers before hand, so I can plan to watch the more valuable 3 point games?

In the NHL, regular season standings are determined by how many points a team has gained throughout the season. Points are allocated thusly:

2 points for a win
1 point for a loss in overtime or in shootout.
0 points for a loss in regulation.

Based on those standings the top 8 teams from each conference (all teams being divided into two conferences) make the playoffs and chase the Stanley Cup. So even though the regular season is quite long, it does have some importance to it. My beloved Maple Leafs, missed out on the playoffs last year, despite gaining 90 points in 82 games.

The answer to my own questions lies in the fact that the NHL wanted to stop having games being ended in a tie, and therefore started to allocate a ‘bonus point’ to a winning side in overtime or shootout, and at the same time, didn’t want to penalize a team for loosing in overtime or a shootout and so it let them gain one point. But this has created a situation where teams (especially those playing games against teams outside their conference) perhaps are playing with the goal to get to overtime and the safe point; making the objective of the participating squads to tie, not to win. Once you lower the standards of competition to a tie, the level of play deteriorates. You have teams sitting back and waiting for other teams to make mistakes. Offensive chances go down at the ending of games with teams sitting back waiting for mistakes. I don’t need stats to tell me that the last 10 minutes of regulation time in games that are tied see a noticeable decline in offensive chances being taken by either squad.

Quite frankly, that’s fine by me. Strategy is strategy. You can’t plan excitement. What you can plan is an even schedule slowly building to a crescendo as playoffs arise. Late in the season, games take on a little extra intensity as teams in the playoff hunt are playing for a shot to go for the cup.

But if you make wins in regulation time worth 2 points, and still give some teams one point in overtime loses, you create an unequal playing field. It becomes incredibly hard for any playoff races to actually develop. If you’re crediting a losing squad in overtime or shootout, you’re devaluating the winning squad, but by giving the winning squads the same amount of points (in overtime, shootout or regulation) you’re also devaluating the team that wins in regulation. How can some games be worth more than others?

Why doesn’t the NHL see this inconsistency? A simple solution would be to allocate 3 points to a team winning in regulation, therefore equalizing the point distribution. The concept of a ‘bonus point’ has gotten out of hand.

Mercurial n 1 : of, relating to, or born under the planet Mercury
2 : having qualities of eloquence, ingenuity, or thievishness attributed to the god Mercury or to the influence of the planet Mercury
3 : characterized by rapid and unpredictable changeableness of mood [a mercurial temper]
4 : of, relating to, containing, or caused by mercury
synonym see INCONSTANT

to get to the other side

Is it a joke, or a incredibly philosophical debate? Why did the chicken cross the road? It was at a cross road in life, and it had to make a decision. Only to someone who is incredibly afraid, say a chicken, would crossing the road be considered a big decision. And yet, we all have our roads to cross, be we chickens, hamsters, raccoons, or humans. But we are what we are, and we will cross our roads each, individually (asides from those of us helping old ladies cross), in order to get to the other side. Just like it was a big decision for the chicken, and i admire him for making it, it is a big decision for each of us as we approach the road that we have to cross.

But you, apperantly, have had your arrival coincide with an awakening of the senses, or something to that ilk. You are either amazed by the enormity of the road ahead, or decidedly happy that it seems nothing more than a short juant. Perhaps you are blinded by the commotion on said road and are wondering where in the heck there is an opening for you to cross. You look up, there's no traffic signals to help forge an opening for you. To your front you see people and things moving so quickly and you wonder how you can enter such a fray without damaging yourself by being hit. Hard now doubly so because of your vision imperment due to the commotion.

To your left and right are other people who have yet to cross the road. Everyone has something different on the other side, but like you, they cannot see it through the fray of traffic. Some are just arriving, some have been here for a while. One gentleman in particular you notice, he seems to have a crowd around him, and he is speaking loudly, mostly to be heard over the noise from the road traffic. "Oh yeah, I'm going today." He shouts. "No need to worry about the traffic, I've scouted it out and I'm making my move today." He's been saying that for days, but others like you, who have just arrived, believe him upon hearing him this first time.

Others you see walk up to the road and upon rationalizing turn and walk back, deciding to cross the road at another time. And yet others, walk up and don't even pause before they decide to cross and enter the traffic.

The final group of people are those who are exiting the street onto your side. You walk up to one and ask them how it was. "No big deal," they reply. "Just a matter of getting your feet moving." And they walk away. Knowing that there will be another road for them to cross, but crossing the first is the hardest, or so it would seem.

And so you look down at your feet. Move your glance up to the road. Look down once again at your feet, and get them going.

happy trails.

damaged goods

So I'm flipping channels late last night and I catch The Score, to find out some hockey scores. For some reason Centre Ice and NBA pass weren't working last night, so I didn't get to see most of the games. Anyways, The Score had WWE Raw on, and they were doing something, I don't know, I was reading their ticker at the bottom of the screen. Then I hear Jim Ross or Jerry the King Lawler start yelling about somebody coming down the ramp to interfere with a match, I think one of them said "What's K-Fed doing here?" My ears perked up, I looked at the screen and low and behold, Kevin Federline was attacking John Cena. "Weird", I thought.

And then just now I read this. Coincidence?

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A court spokeswoman says Britney Spears has filed for divorce from rapper-dancer Kevin Federline, citing irreconcilable differences.

eponym n 1 : one for whom or which something is or is believed to be named
2 : a name (as of a drug or a disease) based on or derived from an eponym

how do i get started?

…said the brochure. Was it speaking as me or was it speaking to me?




It’s not that I don’t have anything to say. I mean, go up to a guy who’s standing on a soapbox and ask him “what would you do if you had nothing to say?”

Maybe he’d answer, “I’d talk about how I have nothing to say.”

This is pretty much what I’m doing right about now.

Just finished reading the curious incident of the dog in the night time by Mark Haddon, again.

Didn’t remember most of it, probably because it was an easy read and then after a while I thought maybe it was because I had a train of thought similar to what Haddon was describing at times and then I realized that I don’t remember most of my thoughts and I thought perhaps that my thoughts thought that what Haddon wrote were my thoughts and that’s why I forgot most of what happened in the book.

I really do what to read more, and I really want to say that less.

Here’s something I haven’t done in a while. Get back to basics.

Pith (noun) 1 a : a usually continuous central strand of spongy tissue in the stems of most vascular plants that probably functions chiefly in storage b : any of various loose spongy plant tissues that resemble true pith c : the soft or spongy interior of a part of the body
2 a : the essential part : core b : substantial quality (as of meaning)
3 : importance

you get vaseline

i'm pretty sure this is a parody of oprah.

but i gotta admit tyra banks does do a good interpretation of crazy, perhaps a little too well.

look at me, i'm so great

Leafs are doing well. Who could have seen this coming?

Me.

A wise man once asked (September 11, 2006), where are the Leafs goals going to come from this year? Yours truly posted a comment saying that I have an idea (scroll to the bottom for my comment). You know, just a hunch.

Fast forward a month and a half later. What team leads the NHL in shots? The Toronto Maple Leafs. Tonight they play the Colorado Avalanche, who rank 4th in Shots per game. Git ready boyz, it's gonna be a shootout at the AC corral.

running with remote controls

Dear Diary,

Last night, as I got home from work, I decided to keep a running log of events that passed as I was watching the Leafs-Sens game. Yes, I know this is straight stealing of an idea from Bill Simmons, and yes, I realize that using the internet to talk about television is slightly, well, lets just say that the internet has better uses.

Anyways, I had my pad thai, Leafs were up 2-0 after one, the digital clock had just struck 8 and I started.

8:00 First thing was to notice the new addition to the Centre Ice package this year, HD sports channels. To wit, not only was the Leafs – Sens game on CBC HD, I had game two of the NLDS between L.A. and New York on HD, and as a bonus surprise I got Philadelphia at Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is up 2-0.

8:09 I’m really excited for the Leafs this year. Thoughts on last night’s game (that the Leafs lost 4-1) were;
-Leafs skated well
-Bates Battaglia was a great surprise. My friend Blake reminded me last night that this was the same Battaglia that was pretty darn good in the Toronto-Carolina playoff match up of a few years ago.
-There are a lot of AHL guys from last year on the Leafs roster this year, and it’s going to take a while for the team to gel. But there’s a big, if not huge, difference (and I think it’s a good one) between this year and last that results from this fact. These guys (former Marlies) are hungry. The old guard of players had their best years behind them, and on some nights, seem to be resting on their laurels. Not these guys. And quite frankly, I think with the new rules, it’s easier for AHL forwards to adapt to the NHL than it is for the defencemen. I think this is why Ferguson went after defencemen in the free agent market this past off-season and only signed Peca for the forwards.
-Martin Gerber saved Ottawa. I still contend had the Leafs scored on their first shift last night, they would have walked away with a win. Once Gerber got into his groove, it was a large uphill battle for the Leafs.

8:11 Just flipped to Washington at the New York Rangers. Kolzig looks solid on one save. Flipped to Chicago at Nashville, and J.P. Dumont has scored for Nashville just 41 seconds into the game.

8:13 2nd period about to start in Ottawa. Another point about last nights game, I am not a fan of the people (note: not fans) who attend Toronto Maple Leaf games. Not only do they miss most of the beginnings of the second and third periods, but last night, with just under five minutes to go and only down by two goals, Gord Miller (the TSN announcer) was commenting that fans were starting to leave. Geez guys, it’s the first game of the season, you think you could show some support to your team and stick around? I’m a huge believer in positive energy and all that karma sutra stuff and home ice/field advantages and here in Toronto the Leafs basically don’t have it. Of course this is offset by the huge amount of Leaf fans throughout the world making lots and lots of noise when the Leafs go on the road. So I guess it balances out.

8:15 Review of the two Leaf goals so far. Kilger seems to always be rushing down the left wing and unleashing a slapshot. If he can harness that, we could see a fantastic goal production out of him. Kilger is one of the guys who might step up, and will have to, if the Leafs are to have a good season.

8:16 Flipped to Baseball. The L.A. starter apparently has one career win. Glavine has what, twenty something career playoff wins? Hmm… one career win is not exactly the kind of guy you want starting game 2 of your playoffs. I thought Maddux was starting for L.A. tonight? Back to Hockey and Belak and McGratton are fighting, or should I say throwing jersey jabs. Thats where you grab the opponent by the neck of their jersey, lean away, and jab. It’s highly affective if you have a reach advantage (which Belak has on McGratton) but it also tires you out. Not a single real punch connects. Don’t worry fellas; you got two more meetings in the next three weeks to get it on.

8:19 When Jeff O’Neill gets into shape, I’d like to see him with Sundin and Wellwood. This in no way is because I have him in my pool. Well, maybe a little way. Ok, ok, a big way. O’Neill would play well with Sundin. I’m just saying.

8:22 3-0 Toronto. Yep, definitely pumped.

8:25 FSN Pittsburgh is commenting on the Pittsburgh fans. Yes they are making noise, and yes it does seem like there are quite a few of them. But it is game #1. Think they’re concerned about a Canadian buying the team? I would be if I were them

8:28 Not a fan of the way Chris Neil shoves our players into our goalies. Good thing he got a penalty for this, after last year I’d think the NHL would do its utmost to protect the goalies.

8:29 Nashville-Chicago tied at two goals apiece ten minutes into the game? Wow, that’s some offense.

8:30 Tucker scores, 4-0 Toronto! This is great; I hope we kick their ass. I HATE OTTAWA. This goal is the epitome of how simple of a game it can be. Skate, shoot on net go to net. Good things happen. I’m not sure exactly when it happened, but sometime during those past few years I spent in Ottawa, a venomous seed of hate for the Sens was planted. Maybe it has something to do with Ottawa fans having perhaps the biggest inferiority complex in the world. To wit; in Ottawa, if the Leafs and Sens are playing at the same time, if you go to a bar (as I did on many occasions) the Sens fans cheer louder for the team that scores against the Leafs then they do for their own team scoring a goal.

8:33 3-2 for Chicago over Nashville?! What is going on? Mental note, bet the over the next time these two teams play.

8:37 This Leaf team is going to earn it this year. And they look like they have the hunger to own it. I’m gushing with anticipation.

8:41 Got a phone call. Diary shall be cut short; I am going out to watch the third period.

8:47 Wow! What a Goal by Alexei Ponikarovsky. I actually jumped out of my chair for that one. 5-0 Leafs.

10:43 8-6 Chicago over Nashville. Wow.

NFL PICKS

Last week 6-7. Overall 27-31.

My picks for this week (5).

Tennessee +18.5
At NY Giants -4.5
At Minnesota -6.5
At New Orleans -6.5
At Green Bay +3
Miami +10
Buffalo +10
At Carolina -8.5
At Jacksonville -7
At Arizona +3.5
At San Francisco -3
At Philadelphia -1.5
At San Diego -3.5
At Denver -4 Final score: 20-14

everybody wang chung tonite

Dear Diary,

As I watch the Cardinals possibly choke away an 8 ½ game lead with 12 games to play, I wonder if this choke (if it happens) is worse than the Yankees choke against Boston in the 2004 LCS?

You know what’s really cool? Event Horizons. That’s the surface on the edge of a black hole.

I’ve spent a lot of time playing NCAA football 2007 this past week, I think I’m going to read two books this weekend, and see that Pirates movie. Well, one and a half books, I’m already half way through The Hedgehog, the Fox, and the Magister's Pox: Mending the Gap Between Science and the Humanities by Stephen Jay Gould and I think I’m going to read In Search of Schrödinger’s Cat by John Gribbin.

You see, I’m quite a fool, and keeping my head in the clouds and deep space might distract me from my incompetent betting on football. You, you go party and have a good time, I’m gonna work on my personality.

My football picks for week 4 (Overall 21-25)

Indianapolis -9.5 At NY Jets
Indianapolis

San Diego -2 At Baltimore
San Diego

At Buffalo -1.5 Minnesota
Buffalo

Dallas -9.5 At Tennessee
Tennessee

At Kansas City -7 San Francisco
Kansas City

At Carolina -7.5 New Orleans
New Orleans

At Atlanta -7.5 Arizona
Atlanta

Miami -4 At Houston
Miami

At St. Louis -6 Detroit
St. Louis

At Cincinnati -6 New England
Cincinnati

Jacksonville -2.5 At Washington
Jacksonville

Cleveland -3 At Oakland
Cleveland

At Chicago -3.5 Seattle
Chicago

At Philadelphia -11 Green Bay
Philadelphia 28-21

so far i'm even steven

Two weeks in, and my record is 16-16 at this, so lets go for round three, this time on a Thursday.

I was watching Two and a Half Men (the west coast broadcast that starts at midnight Eastern) on Monday before I switched to the Dodgers-Padres game. I don’t care much for the show, but gosh darn it; that intro song has some of the best lyrics to any television theme song, like, ever. So, today I’m going do my manly football predictions for NFL week 3.

@ Buffalo -6 NY Jets
Man, was I wrong about J.P. Losman. Man, was I wrong about Chad Pennington. Buffalo’s home opener should be a good one for the Bills faithful. Bills defense might be better than New England’s, and considering what the Jets could muster at home last week against the Patriots, this one could be a shutout for the Bills. Now that I’ve dropped all the Jets’ running backs on my fantasy team (Cedric Houston, who’s been inactive on the Jets even though he’s healthy this season) (my fantasy team really, really sucks) I’m thinking the Jets really, really suck. Eli Manning, you may have to battle Brady Quinn for King QB in New York Status pretty soon.
My pick: Buffalo.

@ Pittsburgh -2 Cincinnati
Man can that Jacksonville team play some defense. Pittsburgh, for some reason unbeknownst to me, decided to go with an air attack, thinking possibly, that Jacksonville would expect Pittsburgh to run. But as the game went on, a few things became evident;

1. Pittsburgh was going to continue to pass thinking that Jacksonville was thinking that Pittsburgh would run, because heck, that’s what the Steelers have always done.
2. Jacksonville was going to continue to play their fast defense focusing on the run and Hines Ward.
3. Ben Rothlesberger may not have been 100% healthy.
4. I was not going to win QB1 because Pittsburgh was choosing not to run.

Jacksonville only came up with 9 points at home. No touchdowns. Last time a team beat a good team without scoring a touchdown this season was St. Louis versus Denver in week one (thanks to Mike for pointing that one out). Week two, on the road in San Francisco, St. Louis lost. Basically, the only thing that can salvage not scoring a touchdown at home is shutting the other team out.

Here are some fun facts about the Pittsburgh Steelers and why they should run even though everyone knows they are going to run.

Year	Rushing Attempts (NFL rank)	Passing Attempts (NFL Rank)	Record
2005	549 (1)	379 (32)	11-5 Super bowl win
2004	618 (1)	358 (32)	15-1
2003	446 (17)	532 (10)	6-10

Yes, Ben Rothlesberger has been their quarterback savior the last two seasons, but really, it’s their running game that has taken them to such great heights. On Monday, the Steelers ran 14 times, passed 32 times. In the first week against Miami they ran 38 times and passed 25. I’m not saying they should run the ball or anything. But they should really run the ball.
My pick: Pittsburgh.

@ Indianapolis -7 Jacksonville
Imagine you’re the Jaguars. You’ve just shutout the defending Super Bowl Champs on Monday night. Now you’re facing the Colts. As much prime time attentions as New England-Denver and Atlanta-New Orleans are getting this is the game of the week. Are the Jag’s for real? Last year, the Jags would have won their home match against the Colts except the Colts had the refs in their back pockets. 7 points is a lot, but if Indy wins, it will be by a touchdown. Jacksonville might be 3-0, but they play up to their opponents, and will lose to a sub-500 team somewhere down the line after beating up some of the big boys. It’s a push.
My pick: Indianapolis.

@ Miami -11 Tennessee
Tennessee. Tennessee
T-T-Tennessee Tennessee
Tennessee. Tennessee
T-T-Tennessee Tennessee
Lord I've really been real stressed
Down and out, losin ground
Although I am oh and two
Problems got me pessimistic
QB’s and defense keep messin up
Why does it have to be so damn tuff?
I don't know where I can go
To let these ghosts out of my skull
My McNair’s past, my Marino’s gone
I never at once felt so alone
I know you're supposed to be my steering wheel
Not just my spare tire (home)
But Nick I ask you (home)
To be my guiding force and truth (home)
For some strange reason it had to be (home)
He guided me to Tennessee (home)

Take me to another place
Take me to another land
Make me forget all that hurts me
Let me understand your plan
My pick: Miami.

Washington -4 @ Houston
This is what happens when teams like Indianapolis and Jacksonville square off, we’re left with the Redskins and the Texans. So, um….yeah. Is Portis healthy? I think so. Even though odds dictate that someone will be a winner, I can guarantee that the fans in Washington and Houston aren’t going to be the ones.
My pick: Washington.

Chicago -3.5 @ Minnesota
Holy smokes is Chicago getting no respect or what? I think I’m going to have to bet on this game on the side. Put me down for a 5-spot on the Norris Division champs.
My pick: Da Bears.

Carolina -3 @ Tampa Bay
Holy smokes. I just put another 5 spot on Carolina. Simply because Tampa has scored only 3 points so far this year and Carolina can’t go 0-3, can they? Seriously? Well, it’s not called gambling because it’s safe now is it?
My pick: Carolina.

@ Detroit -6.5 Green Bay
Speaking of men, did you know that they might also have a reason to have children at a younger age? Brett Favre has probably read this (because all sports figures read my insightful insights into life) and has now impregnated half of Wisconsin. Due to his exhaustion, he will be inactive this week, making the job a little easier for the Lions.
My pick: Detroit.

Baltimore -6.5 @ Cleveland
I hate this. Cleveland might totally win this game, although they have no reason to do so. Football does that, they present these totally unfair match ups, you bet your mortgage on them, and then Cleveland comes out and wins. In case you’re wondering, I think this game should be a cakewalk for Baltimore, which means Cleveland will win.
My pick: Baltimore.

@ Arizona -4.5 St. Louis
If Arizona is going to be an 8-8 team, they’re going to win home games against mediocre teams like St. Louis. If St. Louis is going to be an 8-8 team, they’re going to win games on the road against mediocre teams like Arizona. As you can see, this analysis creates quite a dilemma. Dilemma in football betting terms = take the points.
My pick: St. Louis.

@ Seattle -3.5 NY Giants
Giants should be 0-2. Seattle should play a full 60 minute game (unlike some other NFC team last week). Eli Manning should come back down to earth. In 5 years we should see Shaun Alexander on Dancing with the Stars.
My pick: Seattle.

Philadelphia -6 @ San Francisco
I saw this TV show last night on CBS called Jericho. It was about this town that sees a mushroom cloud off in the distance. In the show, this is explained by the fact that either a nuclear bomb went off or America was under attack (ten years ago it would have been aliens, now it’s terrorists). I watched because they started the show off with a song by the Killers called All these things that I’ve done. This tangent relates to this game in two ways.

First, I actually watched a one hour non-sports television show that wasn’t named back-to back episodes of South Park.

Secondly, I think we were witness to a unique events this past week (the fact that I was on the loosing betting end of both of them doesn’t matter; I’m pretty numb to emotions these days). On Sunday, the Eagles fans suffered a medium grade stomach punch (according to Bill Simmons levels of loosing). Not only did they blow a 17 point lead in the fourth quarter at home to a division rival, but they also lost their best defensive end in Jevon Kearse, a guy who was on pace to have one hell of a sack season (3 and a half in almost 2 games). On Monday, Padre fans also suffered a level two grade stomach punch game after loosing the division lead in the very improbable fashion of giving up four home runs in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game and then loosing in the bottom of the tenth by giving up a home run. But the Padres will go on easier than the Eagles, because baseball is an everyday sport.

The Eagles, well, they are on some really thin ice right now. If they lose this game to a crappy San Francisco team, they’re done for the season. Done like dinner. However, San Francisco’s only chance of making the playoffs this year is if San Francisco turns into Jericho and every other city in America is blown up by a mushroom cloud (was it Aliens, was it Terrorists? Will we ever find out? No we won’t. Just like the television show Lost, we’ll never know, but people will keep watching because they are starved for drama). So far the Eagles schedule has looked mighty light this season.
My pick: Philadelphia.

@ New England -6.5 Denver
Let us just go ahead and say that both of these teams won’t make the playoffs this year. Wait... I read a book this summer about Bill Belichik, and sorry people, I’m convinced. Bill Belichick is a genius. He is really, really smart. He’s not infallible or anything, but he is really, really smart. Denver could only score 9 points last week. Things do not look good for Stan, Eric, Kenny and Kyle's favourite team, even two games hath not a season make.
My pick: New England.

Atlanta -4 @ New Orleans
It’s nice to see the NFL back in New Orleans. The winners, no matter the outcome, are the New Orleans Saints fans. Hey, I got an idea! How about the Saints run off a magical season and make the playoffs on the backs of some emotional fan support? Sound good? Then they have to win this week.
My heartwarming pick: New Orleans 24-21.