Random Thoughts Vol.2

Hit me... I dare you.

It’s been a month… time for more random thoughts.

I’m pretty sure that even if Dontrelle Willis’s improbable comeback as a pitcher fizzles out, he can be a DH or first baseman with that bat.

The Pirates are now dead… I knew it couldn’t last.

FC Barcelona losing to Chivas USA is the equivalent of Michigan losing to Appalachian State.

Justin Verlander might throw 6 more no hitters this year… I’m not joking about that either.

The U.S. Women didn’t choke.

(I mean did you watch the game? Japan never died. They kept fighting back and took advantage of the opportunities that were given to them. Sure the U.S. missed chances in penalty kicks where the Japan goaltender all of a sudden looked like Ken Dryden. However, you can’t say that they choked the game away when Japan played well in the face of adversity. Sometimes teams give games away but most times teams pull victory from the jaws of defeat. That’s what Japan did.)

Isn’t it funny that Ben Roethlisberger provided good off-season news for the Steelers as opposed to everyone else?

I’m surprised Steve Williams didn’t rip Tiger Woods even more than he did.

The Red Sox have not had a solid starting staff for the entire season with bullpen issues… yet have been in first place since June. And you think Adrian Gonzalez doesn’t deserve MVP?

Randy Moss aint done… seriously.

Are Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand the more extreme version of Mike Richards and Jeff Carter?

Seguin and Marchand are really enjoying winning the Stanley Cup.

I hate Merrill Hoge… but he was right about Tim Tebow…

And LeBron James would back him up wouldn’t he.

(My least favorite basketball player who shrinks in the moment defending the most overrated athlete not named Jimmer Fredette… god has a sense of humor.)

Kevin Durant dropped 66 at the Rucker… somewhere Russell Westbrook was seething.

Nice to see that Shea Weber got $7.5 million in arbitration… he’ll get that when he’s a Red Wing next year too.

The most aggravating rotation in baseball would consist of A.J. Burnett, John Lackey, Barry Zito, Edinson Volquez and Zach Greinke… with Burnett leading the league in headaches.

(I hate A.J. Burnett.)

The Eagles are the new Heat.

Osi Umenyiora can talk about a new deal all he wants. However, if he follows up another big sack season with a small sack season… kick rocks.

Ocho and Brady… Jesus.

What do you think Carson Palmer will do with all that money now that he’s retired?

Kyle Orton has lost his starting jobs to Jay Cutler, Rex Grossman and Tim Tebow…if he went on a 12 month bender I wouldn’t judge him.

Oklahoma is no.1 in the coaches’ poll. The last team to start the season no.1 and finish it as such… 2004 USC… good luck Boomer Sooner.

Strasburg is coming back… *giddy face*.

Shaq and Barkley on TNT… I need my cable back and fast.

The Red Sox traded for Erik Bedard to help their rotation… his ERA at Fenway is near 7 lifetime… I’m starting to feel ok that the Yankees didn’t get anything before the deadline.

Ryan Howard in his last 3 games has 3 home runs and 6 RBI, yep it must be August.

Michael Irvin on the cover of a gay magazine to promote equality of all people. Don’t know if I would’ve done it but very gutsy.

I win... again.

Duke being investigated for violations in recruiting… told you that no one is clean anymore.

When is Verlander’s next start again?

(We’re at a point with Verlander that he is must see TV. Verlander throws harder than anyone else in the league and his location has improved to the point where now he is close to pinpoint accurate. If you play the Tigers and Verlander is up on the mound then you might as well take it as a loss. He’s currently baseball’s best hurler and he hasn’t even hit his prime yet. Imagine this guy in 4 years… scary.)

Yani Tseng is the most dominant athlete in the world right now. And I am well aware that she is a 22 year-old female golfer and not many people watch women’s golf, but you should watch her.

Dan Uggla has a 25 game hitting streak… yet is batting .213… ummm?

NFL players like talking smack about how bad Roger Goodell is in the media, yet the signed this new CBA like everything is ok. Either take action or shut the hell up.

Is it wrong that I’m more excited for Syracuse football than Ohio State football? Keep in mind that I’m an OSU grad though I grew up with the ‘Cuse.

When A-rod retires there will be no specials on his greatness, no lauding over his accomplishments… hell there maybe a party thrown just for the fact that we never get to hear his name again.

(I haven’t been on A-Rod in a while but he’s like a bad ex-girlfriend he always finds a way to drive you crazy.

Really A-rod… illegal poker rings? And you still go after MLB and the Yankees tell you not to?

The Yankees are in a pennant race, one game back of Boston with the biggest part of the season approaching and you decide to blow a few thousand in front of low lifes, coke users and violent outcasts.

Eat your heart out Red Sox Nation.

I always say that I’m over A-rod but I really mean it this time. If this is true and A-rod did violate MLB policy then the Yankees should find a loophole in his deal, drop him like a bad habit and let Eduardo Nunez go through his growing pains at third.

I’m over the A-rod drama, I’m over the fact that there is always something with him and I’m ready to move on from him. Hopefully the Yankees brass feels the same.)

Kate Upton’s a Yankees fan, thank you God.

Had to end it off positively. Have you ever seen Kate Upton? That would make anyone feel good even when your third baseman is a perennial screw up.

The Bruins Own The City Of Champions

The Bruins win completes a great ten year run for the city of Boston.

It started in 2002 with the Patriots upset of St. Louis Rams in the Super Bowl, then in 2004 the Red Sox ended 86 years of torture by winning the World Series, the Celtics followed in 2008 with their record 17^th NBA Championship and finally last night after 40 years the Boston Bruins finished off one hell of a decade with a Stanley Cup.

 

Boston is truly the city of champions, as a New Yorker that’s a painful thing to say.

 

Funny thing about it is this; more so than the C’s, Pats, or Sox titles this Bruins championship is truly a work of wonders. The Bruins 4-0 victory over the Vancouver Canucks was the culmination of a rebuilding process that was years in the making and was done without the glamour guys that make the Pats, Sox and C’s so regarded in sports.

 

Their most popular player and Conn Smythe winner was a goalie that bounced around the hockey world from places like Birmingham, Alabama to Helsinki, Finland before making his debut in the NHL at age 31 6 years ago.

 

Their captain is a 6’9” behemoth whose coaches told him that because of his height he’d be better suited to play basketball.

 

Their number one scorer is a rookie who was the biggest pest in the Stanley Cup Finals since Esa Tikkanen.

 

But it goes deeper than just the players; there were the ownership issues that drove Boston fans away from this once proud franchise. For ten plus years the Bruins became a punching bag for critics because of Jeremy Jacobs cheap ways that cost Boston its fan base and its respect.

 

Zdeno Chara's signing 5 years ago was a big step in the Bruins rebuilding process.

The Bruins were hardly a player in the Eastern Conference in the last 15 years, missing the playoffs 5 times and only making it out of the first round of the playoffs 4 times. They traded away perennial all-star and the face of the franchise Joe Thornton, they ran through coaches, they had no direction.

 

The turnaround started with Peter Chiarelli who did an amazing job in drafting and trusting the future of his team in his young players like Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and Milan Lucic. His boldest move was keeping journeyman goaltender Tim Thomas over younger and more talented net minders like Hannu Toivonen and Andrew Raycroft. Thomas though seemingly too old and too aggressive in net became the new face of the franchise as he helped guide the Bruins back to the playoffs four years ago and helped turn the Bruins into a player for the Stanley Cup.

 

Slowly Bruins fans came back and the hockey hotbed was ablaze once again as the Bruins were winning division titles and last year were one win away from making their first East Conference final in 18 years.

 

We all know the rest of that story.

 

The B’s could’ve folded and let the bitterness of last season’s historic collapse carry over into this season but it didn’t.  Thomas, Zdeno Chara (who both should win the Vezina and Norris trophies for outstanding goaltender and defenseman this year) and company guided the Bruins to another division title and home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

 

Yet once again this team found itself against the wall down 2-0 to bitter rival Montréal heading to French-Canadian territory with history past and present not on their side. The Bruins fought back to beat the Habs thanks to their physical play and Thomas’s brilliance in net and the series win catapulted them to a mini run in the playoffs that featured a vengeful sweep of the Flyers where the Bruins looked as dominant as Bobby Orr led teams and a tough seven game series win over up and coming Tampa Bay.

 

Even with their impressive postseason run the Bruins were heavy underdogs to Vancouver who looked like a team on a mission after beating nemesis Chicago in the first round of the playoffs and then breezing through the next two rounds. Vancouver’s skill and speed led to an early 2-0 advantage in the series heading back to Boston with the B’s wondering if their bruising style of play could lead to a victory in the series.  Not only did their style of play lead to victories, it wasn’t even close.

 

Even before winger Nathan Horton went down thanks to a cheap shot from defenseman Aaron Rome the Bruins were beating up Vancouver in all areas on the ice. Brad Marchand became a wrecking ball, Shawn Thornton laid out Canucks with ease, Andy McQuaid and the other tough guys made each and every Canuck pay by delivering blow after blow on the ice and on the scoreboard. The Bruins became the unstoppable offensive force on the ice because their defense led to so many scoring chances.

 

They turned Roberto Luongo psyche to dog food and even though they lost game 5 in Vancouver they went back to Boston like it was nothing and forced a game 7. Their heart, determination and force got them through the Stanley Cup Finals and it also won it for them.

 

The Bruins had lost the previous three games in Vancouver by a total score of 5-2; they had wasted three dazzling performances by Thomas in net and were not about to do it again last night.

 

He might not be as big as Tom Brady, David Ortiz or Kevin Garnett, but Tim Thomas is just popular in the northeast.

With Thomas standing on his head Marchand and Bergeron lit the lamp twice each and Chara and the defense gave Vancouver nothing to work with. It was another slaughter.

 

Once the final horn sounded the journey was complete. Helmets and sticks littered the ice, Horton returned from his concussion to celebrate with his mates, Thomas took home the Conn Smythe for playoff MVP and Chara lifted the 35 pound silver chalice over his huge body to celebrate the Bruins triumph.

 

It was a wonderful sight for guys like Chara and Thomas who probably never would’ve had the chance to be here if not for their determination. Thanks to them and the other 20 plus misfits on that bench the Bruins wiped away 40 hard luck years from “too many men on the ice,” to the Oates, Bourque ad Neely years were they came so close but never succeeded, to the doldrums of the last 15 years.

 

This was sweeter than the Pats, Sox or Celtics victories because this was a real comeback story for a once proud franchise that can now properly hold its place in the city of champions.

 

The Bruins are now the big dogs in Boston right where they should be.

It’s Time For Vancouver To Man Up

For Vancouver, that has got to stop...

Vancouver… WHAT IN THE BLOODY HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?!?!?! THIS IS HOCKEY!!!!!

This isn’t basketball with its insistence on not allowing physicality of any type to occur, this isn’t soccer where you can flop around like a fish after taking a hit, this isn’t even football where you can’t breathe on the quarterback too much or you’ll get a flag.

Hockey has made it clear that it likes the physicality of its sport. It won’t get rid of fighting, coaches still defend players for hits to the head, if you want to rough someone up fine, go ahead.

However, for some reason you all have no want to get physical, in games 3 & 4 in Boston the Bruins punked you simple and plain. Zdeno Chara pushed your guys around, Brad Marchand was a wrecking ball stirring the pot and daring you to get in his face, Tim Thomas knocked down your best offensive player Henrik Sedin and knocked down your number one agitator Alex Burrows, and he’s the goaltender… THE GOALTENDER!!!

The last two games were absolutely disgraceful. Once Aaron Rome knocked out Nathan Horton it was as if you became as conservative as Sarah Palin. Game 3 was a total sleepwalk of an effort where Milan Lucic and Mark Recchi waved fingers in your face daring you to bite them (I don’t care how Claude Julien felt about that, that was one of the best moments in the NHL and NBA playoffs. Period.). The Bruins poured all of their hate from the first two games into game 3 and pushed you all over the ice.

...For Roberto Luongo so does that.

Cool. Fine. Whatever. It was only one game, come back, man up and take it to the Bruins in game 4 is what the mentality should’ve been. Instead the mockery grew Wednesday night.

Boston continued their assault on the Canucks and especially Roberto Luongo (we’ll get to him in a moment). When Marchand started pinballing Canucks all over the ice and Rich Peverly kept skating freely into their defensive zone I began thinking, “what I wouldn’t give for Scott Stevens to lay one of these guys out right now.”

Stevens or any old school defenseman would’ve laid Peverly or any other Bruin out just to get his guys going. Vancouver doesn’t have any one like that because the makeup of their team doesn’t call for it. It has been curse than gift in this series. Every time I watch the Sedin Twins get pushed around and skate away I get mad. Christianity teaches you to turn the other cheek… but this is hockey. You’re allowed to smack a guy around. As much as I respect the Sedin Twins they are way too soft for their own good, especially captain Henrik.

I question his skills as a captain because he sees what’s going on and hasn’t led his troops in a way of combating it. Jonny Toews would’ve chewed his boys out in the locker room and got them going, Mike Richards might’ve tried to take Looch’s head off, Alex Ovechkin would tried to hit anything that got in his way, even Nicklas Lidstrom who isn’t violent by nature would’ve gotten the Wings ears and told them to man up.

Why hasn’t Henrik been more vocal and told his teammates to step it up? Where’s his passion and fire? Both Sedins have had a horrible series and need a fire to light them up right now, but to me it looks like Henrik just isn’t interested in doing it.

Speaking of horrible series, oh Roberto Luongo…

As bad as the Sedins have looked there is not one person that would worry me more than Luongo. After the Chicago series where he suffered a few hiccups it looked like he had gotten himself back to his gold medal play especially in games 1 & 2 in this series where and Thomas were going toe-to-toe.

But man, the last two games were scary. In a four period stretch Luongo allowed 12 goals in 59 shots… that 20% of the shots he faced that went into the net. In lacrosse that’s fine, in hockey that gets you shot.

More than the need for Vancouver to get physical, Luongo has to snap out of it. He can’t have that deer in the headlights look that he’s had in the last two games.  If Luongo can’t stay in net and match the brilliance of Tim Thomas on the other end then it won’t matter how many more hits they have in the series, they’ll lose.

Tonight’s game 5 is the most important game in Vancouver’s history. If they play like games 3 & 4 then Boston will return home with a chance to lift Lord Stanley’s Cup.

The Sedins need to score, Luongo needs to stop shots, and most importantly the Vancouver Canucks have to stop getting bullied. Their hits have to be harder, they have to get in the B’s faces and get nasty. Game 5 hinges on whether or not the Canucks can stand up to the Beantown Bullies and go punch for punch. Either stand up to them or give them your milk money and run away Vancouver.

IT’S HOCKEY FOR CHRIST’S SAKE… COME OUT SWINGING!!!