Philosophy of Sports

Fighting up, Excitement up, Ratings up - Hungary Down

2009-04-30T15:23:00.001-03:00

By: Adam Costello

It’s ironic, with all the talk there was this year about cutting back on fighting next season, who would have thought we would see such a dramatic increase in players taking their displeasure out by the way of the fist this playoffs.

While it may only be noticeable because last year was so noticeably opposite of this, the spike in fighting is astounding. With only 15 major penalties assessed throughout the entire post-season during the 2007-2008 playoffs, this seasons 25 after just the first round is leaving most wondering why so many people are “fighting” against this rugged brand of hockey.

With one of the best and highest rated first rounds ever now over with, few will forget respective superstars Ryan Getzlaf and Joe Thornton squaring off during an opening faceoff; nor will they forget Maxime Talbot’s spirited punching bag impersonation against Daniel Carcillo, followed by a monstrous Pens comeback and series clinching triumph.

Let’s face it NHL, you have a good thing going here. I mean the only thing that actually could have infused some excitement into that horrendous Habs-Bruins series would have been Georges Laraque trying to start something with Zedeno-zilla, instead of Shawn Thornton: and getting thrown around like a Bryan McCabe rag doll.

The media should embrace this increase in passion we are seeing on the ice, as it only adds to the intensity and creates rivalry, something the NHL could use more of (like the upcoming Pittsburgh-Washington series which will surely turn out to be an NHL marketing goldmine).
It’s time to stop moaning and embrace the simple fact that this style of hockey is just more entertaining. Next thing you know they’ll be asking again if hitting should be taken out of the game. Oh wait...Watch this again.

This perfectly legal hit Scottie Upshall laid on Andras Beck at the world championships this week is being scrutinized in the media by anyone from main stream analysts to bloggers. Why? Presumably a lack of something better to scrutinize.

People are again up in arms and arguing hitting in the game of hockey should be looked at because of this, faultlessly legal, hockey hit. Mind you Upshall should have kept in mind that he was playing Hungary and that the 4-0 lead his team had was pretty much secure enough to let this one slide, considering Hungary really has no business being in this tier anyway.

In any case, he certainly didn’t mean to hit him in the head! Beck just isn’t used to this kind of competition and style of play. There is a reason it’s considered the best league in the word and it’s no coincidence that this is Hungary’s first trip to the worlds since the WW2 era. The real question is why this tournament allows a team with a full-time Lawyer and a Physical Education teacher play against a team that could send a team of only retired Canadian Hartford Whaler players to the world championships and still beat Hungary.

I know the Hungarians are fulfilling a dream by playing in this tournament and they deserve it for their spirited effort in qualifying, but maybe there should be a second qualification round to weed out the teams that really don’t need to be out there - as almost every time it’s an embarrassment.

Alas, though, if they want 4 groups, they need 16 teams. With only 7 true powers in the world of Hockey and the fringe teams such as the Swiss, Germans, Latvians and Belarusians, someone has to make up the other 5. Maybe they could have an 8-team B-pool round robin to decide who plays the bottom of the opening A Pool round robin and in the elimination round have the top four teams of the A-pool round robin get a bye?

Point being, it was a clean check and Upshall did not deserve a suspension. In actuality, if Andras Beck is fulfilling a dream by playing against the best players in the world, someone in the dream should have had the courtesy to whisper: “remember to keep your head up.”

Saint Mary's Huskies Overcome Adversity

2009-04-03T13:29:00.001-03:00

A few weeks ago, the Saint Mary’s Huskies Men’s hockey team reached the top for the first time since 2001-02, as the nationally #4-ranked Huskies were able to capture the 2009 Subway AUS men's hockey championship after beating the #1-ranked UNB Varsity Reds 5-1 in the third and final game of their series. Not exactly Cinderella story material at first glance, but an enthralling upset nonetheless.

It was a long time coming.

Seven years may not seem like a long time, however, in an 8-team league that can seem like an eternity. It did for me, and as the former sports editor for the Saint Mary’s University student newspaper, The Journal, I managed to catch quite a few games at the old Forum with the rest of the Huskies fans, unfortunately never having the privilege of getting to write about them bringing home a championship.

While sadly I was unable to see the final game, it was a far cry from the 5-1 beating they suffered at the hands of UNB in game one, a triumphant exclamation point on a series they managed to stay in after a riveting and spirited effort at home in game two, a game fans won’t soon forget.

Over the three years I covered the Huskies, they were always deemed as the average spirited underdog, dominating at times, but usually sitting near the middle of the pack and making the playoffs with only modest expectations – perhaps busting off a timely first round effort only to lose in the second.

Watching them was heart-breaking. Not only did I want them to win for my school, I wanted them to win for the article I’d write the next day, which unfortunately weren’t always as positive as they should have been. At first I assumed they were like the other teams I cheered for, like the Leafs or Moose, doomed to torture me with sometimes stellar play only to always lose when it mattered the most. There is a big difference between these teams and the Huskies, though; something I didn’t fully understand right away. If you had to name one thing the Huskies always had, it would be work ethic. But if you had to name one thing they don’t always have, it would be proper funding.

Trevor Stienburg, operating under a limited program in a sports department far more focused on Football, is a name that will always be synonymous with this team. The hard -nosed no-nonsense coach of a Saint Mary’s team with the same style, returned to the Huskies’ bench in January after needing time to recover from a perforated bowel. He spent nearly a month in hospital and lost nearly 30 pounds, enough for most to want to take some time off, but not nearly enough to keep Stienburg from the bench. He maintained from the beginning that his 12th season behind the bench as the Huskies head coach would not be spent watching from anywhere but behind his players.

That takes character.

In past years the adversity Stienburg was usually faced with was his players being out with injuries, not him. But it seems it took this different kind of adversity for things to finally fall into place.

"Dougie and Paddy have done an awesome job," said Stienburg, a two-time CIS coach of the year and ex-NHL forward speaking of assistants Paddy Flynn and Doug Doull. "But I’m excited to get back and pick up where we left off. I’m not going to change anything with this team,” he was quoted as saying to Herald reporter Glenn Macdonald.

He may not have intended to change anything, but it seems as though he did so without knowing it.

During my years writing about the Huskies, I watched them finish 3rd, 4th and 4th from 2004-2007. In one conversation I had with Stienburg after the team had lost team captain Jordon Chomack to personal reasons right before the playoffs, among numerous other player injuries, Stienburg told me that, “If our program could afford to bring in extra bodies for years like these, which seems to be every year, it wouldn’t be a problem. It seems we always lose guys near the end of the season, resulting in too many guys playing too many shifts.”

In my last article about the Huskies in 2007, I said they would be a force to be reckoned with the next year: finishing 2nd to UNB’s 26-1-1 record and losing in double overtime in game two of the final series against them.

This year, they avenged that heart-breaking double overtime loss at home, winning game two at home and pounding UNB in their own rink in game three, a UNB team that recently went on to win the National Championship University Cup.

That takes character. It goes to show that even without a top notch program with top notch funding, sometimes a team being able to define its character is the most important step in achieving greatness...and sometimes it takes the right coach to help define that character so the players can follow suit.

A Volatile Market: Taking the Key Out of Hockey

2009-03-19T00:22:00.002-03:00

Fighting in hockey has always been criticized, and just like Bill Masterton before him, the tragic story of Don Sanderson is now being used as a catalyst for change. Before the untimely death of this vibrant young man, any argument that involved the idea of taking fighting out of hockey was about as successful as trying to find Jason Spezza’s personality.

But now, it seems it is all anyone is talking about. The NHL is suddenly making changes mere months after the incident, sides are being chosen and opinions being debated in an ethical clash of interests.

Don Sanderson recently became the first hockey player to die as a direct result of a head injury since Bill Masterton. Sanderson racked up 195 penalty minutes and 9 points during his 3 seasons with the Whitby Dunlops in the OJMHL, playing hard-nosed hockey and fulfilling his dream of doing the thing that he loved.

The NY times quoted his teammates as saying: “he seemed to care more about the team than he did for himself,” also going on to explain that “at 6 feet 2 inches and 200 pounds, Sanderson understood that doing ‘anything it took’ often meant dropping his gloves and fighting when the other team was taking cheap shots at the Dunlops’ star players.”

To sum it up, he was a true hockey player. Playing hockey isn’t a normal job that you are forced to work 9-5, it is an ultimatum: play as hard as you can, play every shift like it’s your last and maybe, just maybe, you can make a career out of doing what you love.

Playing hockey at a high level, whether people want to admit it or not, is a job. The anti-fighting side of this debate is basically saying that this job needs to be made safer; take out any risk at any expense, even if it means losing the fans that create that job.

Well, just for arguments sake, here is a look at other jobs that these anti-fighting advocates don’t seem to have any quams with. The following chart shows the average number of deaths per job per one hundred thousand workers:

Timber cutters - 117.8
Fishers - 71.1
Pilots and navigators - 69.8
Structural metal workers - 58.2
Drivers-sales workers - 37.9
Roofers - 37
Electrical power installers - 32.5
Farm occupations - 28
Construction laborers - 27.7
Truck drivers - 25

So in the last 50 years, let’s just pretend that there are only 100000 hockey players that have played in leagues that the media actually covers. Of all those players to lace up their skates, only two have died as a result of on-ice injuries – putting the number of deaths caused by playing hockey somewhere on the chart between babysitting and dog walking.

And to put things even more in perspective, Bill Masterton didn’t die from fighting. Masterton died because he wasn’t wearing a helmet and took a freak check while admiring a pass, becoming the first player to die in 50+ years during an era when nobody wore helmets. After Masterton’s death in 1968, it directly resulted in helmets becoming mandatory in 1979 after over a decade of debating the two sides. Now here we are again, someone has died in a freak accident during a hockey fight and the alarm is sounding, and another great debate begins.

The fact of the matter is more people have died attending hockey games than playing in them.

The concerning thing is that this debate has nothing to do with safety. If you want to reduce serious injuries in the game of hockey, enforce harder suspensions on hits to the head. Any hockey player knows the risk of injury when he fights, and getting paid millions to work a job you wouldn’t trade the world for seems to be worth the risk for most of them, or else why would they do it?

It’s actually the sports channels beating it to death like they do everything else that is causing the debate. Nobody directly associated with hockey wants fighting out of the game, not the players, not the GM’s, not the audience. But somehow, because of one death – that seems to be the exact path we are taking.

League managers just recommended the existing instigator penalty be called more frequently in an effort to curb fighting. In addition, the GMs will push for stiff punishment for those involved in what the NHL calls "staged fights" - fights that usually erupt immediately following face-offs.
Last time there was any discussion about the instigator rule was when they were thinking about abolishing it because absolutely nobody likes it, which is why it is rarely called in the first place. Now, all of a sudden enforcing it MORE is the savoir they suddenly think is going to save all these lost lives ensuing from hockey fights? One fighting related death in a century and we’re abolishing it from the game. How do people in the media sleep at night?

While it’s sad that so many Men believe swinging fists at each other is more entertaining than fast paced smooth stick-work, that’s just how the sports world operates. Many fringe hockey fans only go to NHL games with the hope of seeing a fight, in much the same way many football fans go to a football game to see monstrous hits, and how many aren’t satisfied with a baseball game until someone hits a “dinger.”

It’s like taking the love scenes out of a chick flick - not feasible in the least - because for many women that’s the only reason they went to see the movie.

"Stupidest thing ever!" long time NHL enforcer, George Laraque, told TSN about the new rule changes. "I think it's a joke. They might as well take fighting out of the NHL...fighting won't be safer; it will be eliminated because an added 10 minute misconduct is too much."

He’s right. Many people would have been perfectly satisfied with a rule that made wearing helmets mandatory during a fight... and yet this is what they’ve come up with. It will put a damper on the game because it discourages fighting, and when they do fight it will be just as dangerous as it was before.

Removing fighting from hockey won’t kill the game by any means, especially up here in Canada. One thing that is quite obvious, however, is that for the franchises already struggling to fill seats in non-hockey markets, this new rule could become the straw that broke the camel’s back and could very well result in a few teams having to cease operations. As if the seats aren’t empty enough.This could conceivably lead to a 26-team non-fighting hockey league within the next decade, something in hindsight the media will assuredly regret contributing to.

Sour Taste For Defending Ducks All Around

2008-04-21T15:20:00.000-03:00

The Anaheim Ducks had their wings clipped by the Dallas Star in their first round playoff series last week, and there are several reasons this should leave a sour taste in the mouth of a few people. First off, I know it hasn’t exactly been a walk in the park for defending Stanley Cup champions to even make it back to the playoffs the next year, let alone a quarterfinal birth, but the Ducks have to be a little embarrassed at their performance.

J.S. Giguere looked awful for a goalie that was highly regarded as a clutch playoff performer - before this year. Also, they didn’t have the same grit, the same desire, the same jump in their skates…even though they had an even bigger team (Bertuzzi) and should have had a better power play unit (Schneider) than last season.

When watching the Ducks play, it looked obvious they were going to lose. You could just tell they weren’t in the mood to play hockey for another 2 months. The playoffs can take a lot out of you, and when you look at how few Stanley Cup champs actually come out and play at the same level as the year previous…well, actually that doesn’t seem to happen at all anymore. The Wings came out and played their hearts out in 98, but we all know that performance was for Konstantinov, not because they wanted another cup as bad as they wanted the first one.

It was a really sad and lacklustre way to go out for the Ducks if you ask me, especially with Teemu Selanne and Scott Niedermayer assumingly playing their last games in an NHL uniform. These guys could have gone out on top, could have retired in the way so many players wish they could go out, a la Ray Bourque or Lanny Macdonald. Instead, they came out for half a season, seemed selfish and only played half as good as they were previously known to be able to play. Now, not only do they go out with a sour taste in their own mouths; They also leave a sour taste in Brian Burke’s mouth, after they drug their playing status out all season a la Roger Clemens, forcing Burke to make moves he shouldn’t have had to make (long time Duck and fan fave Andy Macdonald).

Hopefully, for fans in Canada, the sour taste in Burke’s mouth will be enough of a reason to flee the coup for either Toronto or Vancouver, both teams with vacant GM jobs and both challenging enough for Burke to be attracted to. Imagine how idolized he would be in Toronto if he could turn that team around; or how much money they would be willing to give him.

Given the fact Burke hasn’t re-signed with Anaheim, you have to think he is at least weighing his options - especially because he was so quick to dismiss the idea and since has not re-signed - not having spoken a peep about it. Now that they have been bounced from the playoffs and the victory parade in Anaheim seems all but over, look for some rumbling about Burke’s future to become a reality in the near future.

NFL and NHL Playoff Formula's Need Changing

2008-04-02T13:05:00.003-03:00

The NFL owners have tabled a proposal that would see wild card teams be able to host a playoff game if they have a better record than a team that won its division. The only question I have in regards to this proposal is a cliche statement that asks nothing else but "why has this not been proposed sooner?"

Why should a team with a worse record and easier schedule - if set worse record still comes in a division that must be assumingly lacking for them to have won it in the first place - be able to host a playoff game against a team that is obviously much more deserving - considering that for them to have a better record playing in a division they weren't even able to win in the first place, the competition must have been much better - and they were still able win more games.

This, folks, is a paradox. The owners have to implement a new system to account for this type of inconsistency, because certain divisions will continue to prove weak and weak teams will continue to un-justly host playoff games against until they do.

The NHL would also do well adopting a system that accounts for this, much like the NBA does. As it stands right now, it looks like the Carolina Hurricanes or Washington Capitols will end up with home-ice advantage against the New York Rangers or Ottawa Senators, either of who will more than surely have more points than them at seasons end. In fact, this season in the NHL, we are almost on the cusp of seeing a team miss the playoffs with more points than the 3rd seeded team going into the playoffs with home-ice advantage.

If Buffalo wins their remaining 2 games, they will end up with the same or more points than Washington or Carolina, as long as each of them lose one of their remaining 2 games. If they each lose both than Buffalo would remain outside of the playoffs and have more points than Carolina, the 3rd seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Both the NFL and NHL should look to change their playoff seeding formula's, and I'd guess the NFL is on its way there for this coming season. Unless, of course, owners are against fairness...

Which leads me to my next point.

How is it that Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft had to, once again, get up in front of an entire room and apologize, once again, for spy-gate. When are people going to give this this a rest already? I know, I know, it jeopardized the integrity of the game. Does anyone else forget that all teams have done this at one time or another? I would place a bet on the fact that every famous hall-of-fame coach has at least partaken in some form of this type of coaching tactic at some point in their career.

They paid like 750,000 in damages, forfeited a 1st round draft pick and have faced scrutiny for 8 months now. Isn't it time to move on? All the constant bantering about it, the constant defences and public apologies - it is just decreasing the integrity of the game further, and nobody should want that.

Fantasy Baseball Drafting Approaches

2008-03-26T17:53:00.000-03:00

Fantasy Baseball season is here and most drafts have been completed. With the success I experienced last season (my first fantasy baseball experience) I feel the need to go over my teams and evaluate my own choices. My strategy has stayed mostly the same, drafting closers late and grabbing offense early, except I feel I went a little too pitcher happy this season, sacrificing that early offense for the allure of an unstoppable pitching core; it may lead to trouble.

My goal this year is to figure out which drafting strategy works best and for what type of league. Should you take pitchers early? Is it worth the risk? Can they even be relied upon without getting lucky? Or should one just draft a great offense and hope they get lucky in the pitching department? Let’s break down the four different approaches I took.

In my first draft, I went out and drafted Johan Santana and Josh Beckett with my 2nd and 4th round picks. While this definitely lays down my pitching as being quite secure, I used my 1st pick to select Ryan Braun, and my 3rd to take Russell Martin (perhaps way too early for a catcher but he basically led the charge for me last season). Where as most people have the likes of Ryan Howard and Alex Rios in these slots, I feel maybe I’m going to be rather lacking in the offensive department in comparison to others. Pitchers are wildly inconsistent, and even though I have perhaps the two best in Baseball (minus Jake Peavy in this league) it is always a risk to take them that early. Russell may not end up being a bad selection, as catchers are hard to come by, but guys like Jorge Posada have been going in rounds 8-10, so it was perhaps a bad decision when I could have taken Derek Jeter or Justin Morneau. It was my first draft, though, so we’ll see. I ended up with Vernon Wells, Carlos Pena and J.J Hardy and Rich Harden with my 19th pick! all of who could end up being stellar picks according to how much lower their value is this year compared to how much potential they have. My closers ended up being Joe Borowski, Jeremy Accardo and C.J Wilson, who should suffice unless I run into some bad luck. Closers can be found throughout the season, however, so I like my chances in this league.

In my next draft I went Pitcher crazy, taking Peavy, Brandon Webb, Javier Vasquez, Roy Oswalt, Randy Johnson and Chris Carpenter as a stashee, so I need to hope everyone stays healthy. This is a points league, too, so I think the fact many didn’t realize pitchers were more important than players might do me well. I still have a solid offense, grabbing Pena, Jimmy Rollins, Brandon Phillips, Hideki Matsui, Brian McCann and Ryan Zimmerman - so in a league where homers give more points, and given I also grabbed Ken Griffey, Vernon Wells and Pat Burrell…I’d say a trophy in this league is a lock.

My next league takes into account assists and holds and is a little bigger, and I’m pretty sure I made out pretty well in this one, too. I managed to get my hands on four great strikeout pitchers in Erik Bedard, Cole Hamels, Carlos Zambrano and Dan Haren (I traded C.C Sabathia for Bedard, which may end up being a mistake based on his spring). I also have a pretty sweet but somewhat powerless offense in Lance Berkman, Aaron Hill (who killed the league in assists last season), Posada, David Wright, Derek Jeter, Orlando Cabrera, Corey Hart, Alex Rios and Adam Dunn (who I had to trade Victorino and Harden for). This team has potential but I need my pitchers to come out and stay healthy to be a factor.

In my final league I have the greatest outfield of all-time in Matt Holliday, Ichiro, Magglio Ordonez and Adam Dunn (my first 4 Picks). I also nabbed Alex Gordon, Rafeal Furcal, Pena (for the 3rd time) and Zimmerman again to sure up my most solid offense on the board. Unfortunately it came at a cost to my pitching, where I’ll have to rely on Felix Hernandez and Javier Vasquez to get me through the season. I do have Pedro Martinez and Fransico Liriano, but those two are question marks at best, however, if they return to form, my gamble will more than certainly pay off.

Well there you have it, as you’ve noticed I’ve tried to not do many repeat picks (other than Pena) as I like being able to cheer for all sorts of players during the season. I just wanted to layout my teams for anyone actually reading this so in later entries I can discuss how they’ve done. It is my intention to work out the ultimate fantasy baseball drafting formula. We’ll see which one works.

Winter Classic At Yankee Stadium Needs To Be Done Properly

2008-03-10T16:09:00.000-03:00

This whole "Winter Classic" thing the NHL is exploiting is showing itself more and more to be a gimmicky money grab. In news today, it was announced that the next one would likely be played next year as the last sporting event ever held in the current Yankee stadium, apparently the New York Rangers will face off against another team speculated not to be based in the New York area.

Now don't get me wrong, I have no problem with the whole winter classic thing. Obviously it's a money grab but it does possess a certain level of "coolness" to it. The problem I do have is that it is not "classic" at all. The first one in Edmonton maybe could be considered classic, but only because it was hockey played outdoors for the first time in recent history. It certainly wasn't a classic game, or match-up, considering Montreal and Edmonton play each other once a year tops.

The next time around, it possessed no "classic" attributes whatsoever, other than Ty Conklin getting a second consecutive start in a winter classic game that featured two teams with virtually no rivalry whatsoever in Pittsburgh and Buffalo. One positive, however, is that two financially unstable franchises got the ticket, helping out two teams that have excellent fans in small markets and deserve this type of publicity. It was a good game too.

A Ranger game at Yankees stadium? Meh. It certainly possesses the type of hype the NHL is looking for, however, for their sake, I really hope they decide to make it against the Islanders or Devils. It is bad enough they are trying to turn it into a yearly thing, but it really wouldn't do the game, city or location justice to have it against some random team from the West or SouthEast Division. Maybe if it ends up being the Bruins, Wings, or even Blackhawks; but any other team really wouldn't be suitable for this type of festivity. I hope they make the right choice.

Alexander Looks To Be Done As A Seahawk

2008-03-10T15:46:00.000-03:00

The Seattle Seahawks have now signed T.J Duckett and Julius Jones, all but assuring that former record-breaking MVP, Shaun Alexander, has been given up hope on. It amazes me how someone can go from breaking the most sought record a running back could hope to break to literally being a non-factor and presumptuously getting released just two seasons later.

It really goes to show the age threshold for running backs in the NFL. Alexander is just 30 years old, just 3 years older than Ladainian Tomlinson. Does this mean L.T will be released by the Chargers 3 years from now? As ridiculous as that sounds right now, think of if you had made that assertion about Alexander the year his team basically rode his back to the Super Bowl.

In comparison, long-time NHLer Chris Chelios was drafted to the Montreal Canadians when Alexander was 4 years old. He began playing a sport not even close to as grueling but an average of 65 games longer, at a fairly consistent level (winning 3 James Norris trophy's as the NHL's top defensmen), 16 years before Alexander starter his career.

He is now 46 years old and stands, as things look now, to end up playing longer than Alexander. Obviously I'm comparing Apples and Oranges and more eluding to how amazing Chelios' story is rather than bashing Alexander...but on a totally unrelated matter, does anyone else think Shaun Alexander looks like Tiger Woods without the Asian in him?

Maybe it is just me.

Favre Picked Perfect Time To Go

2008-03-06T18:54:00.000-04:00

Brett Favre has finally retired from the NFL. While I'm glad he did it now instead of dragging it on all summer like he did the last 3 years, I must say I was slightly surprised at his decision. The initial reaction to this has been met with shock by Favre fans and others alike, however, when you really think about it...this is probably the perfect time for him to walk away.

As many of you know, this is the age Dan Marino, John Elway and Steve Young all walked away from the game, so Favre isn't doing anything crazy. And, unlike Marino, he has already won a Super Bowl. Now while he may be nowhere near going out on top like Elway did, at least he ends his career on a high note, rather than on the note he would have ended it on had he walked away after last season. Remember, 13-3 was the best record he has ever led the Packers to.

Let's remember, as well, that Favre is now the all-time leader in almost every major passing category. He has 442 touchdown passes, 61,655 yards passing and 160 career victories. He may be leaving his records wide open for a Peyton Manning slaughter but hey, right now he can be considered, at least arguably, the greatest quarterback of all time.

He is also the NFL's only three-time MVP, and somehow managed to start 253 consecutive regular-season games? He has fought through numerous physical injuries, concussions and addictions and never missed a start!

Fact of the matter is he is old and tired of the mental and physical exertion it takes to compete at the level he has managed to compete at for his entire career.

I can't think of a better time to have hung em' up. He knows he isn't winning another Super Bowl; and his place in history is already safe.

Is Mats Sundin Selfish For Staying?

2008-03-04T12:09:00.000-04:00

The NHL trade deadline came and went a week ago today and the Leafs find themselves in what many believe to be the worst situation possible. Riding the strong play of the player they sought to trade a week ago, the Maple Leafs sit just 6 points out of a playoff spot, and, perhaps more importantly, 11 points out of last place. While in the weeks leading up to the deadline the Leafs were as low as 4 points out of last, they have come on of late and have some hopelessly believing they have a chance at making the playoffs.

Now, as everyone knows, Mats Sundin did not waive his no-trade clause and decided to stick with the team dear to his heart, claiming he did not believe in the “rent-a-player” concept and citing his previous comments from months ago about not wanting to leave Toronto. Cliff Fletcher did manage to trade in some loose parts for draft picks, but in the end the Maple Leafs are no better off that they were before the deadline. In reality they are actually much worse off.

Firstly, Mats Sundin has given more to this team than anyone other than a handful of players in Leafs history. His loyalty must be truly respected, especially when you consider he could have left via free agency many times over his illustrious Leaf career. Let’s not forget the two eastern conference finals Mats got the Leafs to over the last decade. So anyone who bashes him cannot fundamentally be agreed with, regardless of how much a different decision would have helped the Maple Leafs. I mean, sure, one can argue that if he cares sooo much about the team he could have agreed to a trade and signed back in the summer; really, though, why do you think he got a no-trade clause in the first place? To prevent just such a thing from happening.

People also claim he must not have hockey in his veins for not wanting to be traded to a contender to have a chance at winning a Stanley Cup. Well, he answered those critics with his answer, and he has a valid point. Mats doesn’t want to be the “new guy” and doesn’t want the pressure and expectations of being a high priced acquisition that does not perform the way he is expected to. He doesn’t want to move his family late-season and doesn’t want to leave Toronto in the first place; he truly believes they still have a chance to make the playoffs. The truth is Mats Sundin has blue in his veins like everyone else, but his is the color of his jersey in Toronto, and in the end he just wanted to stay. I respect that.

Unfortunately, on the other side of things, I, like other Leaf fans, have reason to be sick to their stomachs. Imagine the return from Pittsburgh that the Thrashers got for Hossa in the pocket of the Leafs, or even a package of Chris Kunitz, Bobby Ryan and a first round pick from Anaheim? Or say Niklas Kronwall, Valtteri Filppula and a first round pick from Detroit. Or any package put together by Ottawa, Montreal or Vancouver. It would have been magnificent.

Not only do the Maple Leafs not have any of those packages, but we still have Sundin, who’s strong play of late is also making sure the Leafs don’t get a chance to draft Sarnia Sting sensation, Steven Stamkos; or even booming, puck moving defensemen Drew Doughty of the Guelph Storm. As things stand right now, the Leafs are in danger, once again, of ending up one point out of a playoff spot for the third year in a row. So instead of getting a huge return for Sundin and then playing bad enough to hit the NHL draft lottery with a chance to land a superstar with a potential future at least as good as Sundin if not better - the Leafs are left with a few draft picks and an outside chance at making the playoffs and losing in the first round.

Don’t get me wrong, I wish Sundin had moved on. I would have cheered for whatever team he went to and would have roared for him even if he raised the Stanley Cup in colors other than Blue and White. As frustrating as it is that he decided not to go anywhere, it was his decision and it would have been wrong to take that away from him. We tried to make the decision for him without thinking about the fact he is a person, not just a commodity. He cares about the Leafs in a different way, and maybe we should think about that fact before we criticize him for “not caring about the team.”

We all knew we had a chance at Stamkos if Sundin packed his bags, and in a sense I feel almost ashamed, and many of you should too. Secretly, another reason many Leaf fans hoped Sundin would hit the road is because they knew this fact. Regardless of how badly the Leafs need to rebuild, one should never cheer against ones team and I, like many other Maple Leaf fans, found myself cheering against the Leafs in past weeks, hoping they would lose numerous games as a means to have a chance to land Stamkos. I had actually hoped they traded everyone so they would all but be assured at that top draft pick and maybe even a few more 1st rounders. Perhaps Sundin staying in Toronto may have thwarted that possibility, but maybe he is the realest Leaf fan of all for not wanting his team to succumb to an embarrassing last place finish? Just something to think about.

Then again, what a selfish bastard.

Pats Weren't The Team That Won 3 Super Bowls - They Were A Team That Depended On Offense

2008-03-04T11:06:00.000-04:00

I know it has been awhile since my last post but things have been pretty hectic. While the Super Bowl, the NBA and NHL trade deadlines and Johan Santana finding a home that won’t effect the Yankees - Red Sox rivalry have past by without comment on this lonely website, I do intend to resurrect my blogging attention to major sporting matters such as these and those that occur in the near future.

To begin, the Super Bowl was very entertaining this year. Despite the Patriots finally losing at the end of a tight Super Bowl contest, Lawrence Tynes’ catch to all but seal the victory for the Giants will go down as one of the most clutch, spectacular and remembered catches in NFL history - not even taking into consideration the dodge and dash Eli Manning managed to pull out of his helmet to get it to him in the first place.

Many people were surprised when I seemed un-enraged when the Giants clinched their first Lombardi trophy in 18 years over my beloved Pats. To that I say only this: they didn’t deserve to win. I’ve watched the Pats win three times already and it didn’t hit me as hard that they didn’t win as Belichik’s sloppy defence allowing them to did. The Patriots have prided themselves as being a responsible defensive machine for the last six years and while it was all fine and dandy watching them break all those records in the regular season and go undefeated until that untimely loss, something wasn’t right about this team. Defence wins championships - and it had won them their previous three.

While the Giants game plan and defence was impeccable in stopping the Pats varying packages and deep strikes, it was the Patriots defence that ultimately let them down - something I can guarantee Bill Belichik is embarrassed and probably still sulking about to this day. In the end the Patriots secondary was simply too slow; their linebackers were too tired; their D-line too soft. All this has been quite evident in the Pats free agent proceedings thus far, letting Asante Samuel and Randall Gay move on and releasing Rosevelt Colvin.

Many may think that letting Asante move on (whether they could have prevented it or not) is a mistake. I see it different. I think that as long as you are quick and willing to work hard, any corner can fit into the Patriots system, or even a wide receiver (see Troy Brown) or a safety. A safety you say? I would hazard a guess that Belichik moves 2006 first round pick Brandon Meriwhether to corner this season and uses that first round pick they got from the 49ers, not for another RB, but to sure up that secondary or linebacker core.

As far as another undefeated season is concerned, don’t look for that to happen anytime soon. In the end it seemed like it was that which made the Patriots too confident in their game plan, almost arrogant. With an undefeated regular season under their belt look for the Patriots to go back to playing the way they always have, a smart defensive game with an adequate offence that is interchangeable enough to keep people guessing. The Pats aren’t supposed to be indestructible, they are supposed to be resilient when it counts the most. They aren’t supposed to rely on offence, they are supposed to rely on their defence to close out games. Last year didn’t exemplify the Pats I’m used to watching. This year I’m excited to see what kind of team this now-storied franchise actually is.

Super Bowl XLII -- Patriots vs.Giants -- What Could Have Been, What Might Be And What Once Was

2008-01-29T13:13:00.000-04:00

It is finally Super Bowl week in the valley of the sun. While using the word finally actually expresses the opposite of how short this season actually felt, the excitement built up all season toward this pinnacle yearly event of the sports world finally peaks this Sunday, as the underdog New York Giants try and defy the odds and win their first Super Bowl since 1990 against the real Giants, the New England Patriots.

There are plenty of other Super Bowl match-ups that would have been more favourable than the one almost 100 million viewers will take in this Sunday. A Patriots - Packers Super Bowl, for example, would have infused much stronger subject matter into this years tilt. Just imagine: Favre has a chance to go out on top, Elway-style, against the team he won his first Super Bowl ring against before Elway himself beat the Packers in their return trip the following year. Not to mention the Patriots chance to avenge that heart-breaking 35-21 loss to Favre and the pack way back in 1997.

We also missed out on the marquee playoff re-match of last years AFC championship game between the Colts and Patriots. The interest this game would have generated would have been astronomical, especially considering Eli Manning had a chance to make the Super Bowl himself. Imagine the media field day that would have went on if the Colts hadn’t sputtered against the Chargers and then went on to end the Patriots un-defeated season; an all-Manning Super Bowl then being the headline of this years big game?

While these super Super Bowl plotlines would have been a knock-out for the NFL, we are left with the fresh-faced Eli Manning turning his fortunes around and getting his team to the big game; a prune-looking (in Green Bay last week anyway) Tom Coughlin turning his personality around and providing the right atmosphere to get his team listening to him; and a Giants defence that has turned hot at the right time. All three have combined to turn the overall face of the Giants into a road-savvy, confident and under-estimated team throughout these playoffs. Their opponent? Goliath.

The Patriots have silenced all critics after “Spy Gate” and have destroyed almost all competition. Any opponent that has managed to momentarily show a chink in the Patriots armour in particular weeks (The Ravens and Eagles), have gotten come back on and beat anyway, as the Patriots have shown un-comparable resiliency to the point where it almost seems as though they can‘t lose. The Giants, though, almost toppled the Patriot monster as well, with the difference being that the confidence the Giants gained from that loss has served as the momentum which has gotten them here in the first place, where they will meet Goliath again.

Another interesting twist to this Super Bowl is that Bill Belichick and Tom Coughlin actually kick-started their careers working together for the Giants under Bill Parcells almost 20 years ago. During that time, a time in which the Giants won the Super Bowl in 1990, Belichick was the Giants secondary coach while Coughlin coached the wide-receivers.

"We worked together on a daily basis, doing one-on-ones, seven-on-seven, passing drills and those kinds of things," explained Belichick when asked to reminisce about he and Coughlin’s time together under Parcells. Now, the two will square off in a real-life scenario in a bigger-than-life game.

And then there is the question of Brady’s ankle? What if he really is hurt and it ends up giving the Giants just enough of a chance to pull out this game on account of turnovers. We all know turnovers, or an emphasis on not committing them, is one of Coughlin’s most central points of focus when coaching this team, a philosophy that has just started paying dividends now that Eli has not committed one this post-season. With Brady having thrown 3 picks in his teams ground-oriented win over San Diego, could this be the factor the Giants could take advantage of to achieve their first Super Bowl in 18 years - and almost more importantly - to enshrine the 07-08 Giants forever as the team that ended a teams chance at the only 19-game perfect season in NFL history while claiming the Vince Lombardi trophy for themselves?

Or will the Patriots, again, do what they have already done 3 times in 6 seasons. Can they continue what they look to make it their immortal legacy to achieve?...Starting a “one-game winning streak” at the Super Bowl; and forever being remembered as the greatest team of all time.

We’ll find out on Sunday.

MLSE Is The Joke, Not Ferguson Jr.

2008-01-24T13:29:00.000-04:00

There is no doubt that the Toronto Maple Leafs are an absolute conundrum of the sports world. While the firing of John Ferguson Jr. on Tuesday is no doubt the proper immediate reaction to this conundrum, the process in which it was carried out and the reasoning behind it ever getting to this point in the first place seems to just shroud the situation in even more confusion than before.

You have heard it all before: Why was an inexperienced GM hired in the first place? Why was his contract extended this year after repeated awful signings like Eric Lindros, Jason Allison and Pavel Kubina; not to mention trading Tuukka Rask for a now back-up goalie and extending the contracts of Bryan McCabe, Darcy Tucker and Ed Belfour to absurd long-term no-trade clause amounts?

While hind-sight may be 20/20, Mr. Ferguson Jr. has actually been the classiest person along for this ride in the admittance of his mistakes and his acceptance of the responsibility for them.

On the other side of things, you have this hockey team that is constantly confusing itself with a corporation called MLSE which seems to be only interested in making money; and also seems incapable of making any decisions actually related to helping the state of their floundering main asset.

In this soap opera you have current team president Richard Peddie arguing with Larry Tanenbaum (the only member of the board with his own money actually invested in the team) since last year.

It seems as Peddie supported Ferguson, the man he hired back in 2003, it's believed Tanenbaum had been involved in a dump-Fergie movement since last summer. Tanenbaum wanted Scotty Bowman, at least as an advisor to Ferguson, but Peddie, fearing his own role would diminish, would not offer Bowman autonomy on all hockey decisions - and Bowman has confirmed this.

But now all of a sudden Peddie claims the Leafs GM has always had autonomy and that the next one would as well.

So the Leafs had a shot to hire Scotty Bowman, one of the greatest hockey minds of all-time, a man who has won 9 Stanley Cups for the teams he has worked for, the first of those 9 occurring 5 years after the Leafs last won the cup in 1967… and Cliff Fletcher is now the “interim GM” why?

Something has to give for the Toronto Maple Leafs to ever become a winning franchise again and the whole board of operations structure isn’t helping anything. In fact, if anything, they just turn the Maple Leafs into even more of a joke than they already are. Heck, Peddie was caught lip-sinking, word-for-word, Cliff Fletchers dialogue during their press conference. Why do we even need to know who Peddie is? Ask a fan of any other team who their team president is and you’ll maybe get an answer or two that is right.

The point is, as it pertains to the current state of the Leafs, yeah, Cliff Fletcher was the only guy that would even consider doing this job right now. They probably paid him a lot, too, because he is the only one fans won’t immediately chastise. I mean who better to trade Sundin than the man who brought him there. You should only be allowed to sell something if you are the one who bought it right?

JFJ isn’t the bad guy here, and Fletcher is a hero for being willing to come in and take MLSE’s money for being the face of the past trying to “set the table” for the future. It is the perfect storyline really, and I am sure Fletcher will do a great job. He is experienced, and, more importantly, he’s already liked in Toronto. Who else could fit that criteria?

Advice to “the board” of MLSE: If you’re really committed to turning this thing around, find someone who has gotten the job done elsewhere, like Brain Burke (he might be the only one who has the ego and likes money enough to walk into this death trap), to get the job done in Toronto; and stop making a joke out of the Leafs. Everyone knows they’ve already had almost 41 years to accomplish that themselves.

Fantasy Football Hindsight Is Obviously 20/20

2008-01-08T12:38:00.000-04:00

Most fantasy football formats are 2 weeks over. There were big performances and big disappointments; which I’m sure led to some major upsets in many leagues. Personally, although I’ve already talked far too much about my own fantasy football aspirations, Terrell Owens let me down. The blame can’t be put solely on him, however, as he carried 3 of my 4 teams most of the way with some pretty huge performances. In the end, when the playoffs were on the line, it wasn’t my receivers, or my running backs that let me down. It was my Quarterbacks.

Kitna, Cutler, Favre, Young and Romo all let me down in the final; along with a dumb move to start Trent Edwards in two semi-finals against a sorry Cleveland pass defense that happened to end up doing alright in one of the only “snow bowls” of the season. Nothing can be done about this, however, as none of these guys were projected to be top guys at the beginning of the season, except maybe Kitna. Kitna ended up being the worst of the 5. Well, maybe not worse than VInce Young.

The question comes down to what kind of balance can one really achieve without relying on luck. Favre and Romo ripped it up all season, and despite having horrible final efforts (Jessica Simpson related or not) they ended up being very high value picks in hindsight. So many variables come into play in fantasy football that all an owner can really hope for is to be consistent enough to make the playoffs, at which point anything can happen. My four teams ended up with a silver, 2 bronzes and a 5th place finish.

So what have I and many others learned from this season? Well, you can build an amazing team, deal with underperformers by scouring the waiver-wire and making excellent pick-ups, make trades that look good on paper and play the match-ups; but there is never a guarantee your guys will deliver when it matters. That one bad week a great player has in week 5 can be shrugged off without a second thought, however, when he has that awful week in week 15 to lose you the championship or a spot in it, your opinion is of an entirely different nature altogether.

The only lesson to be learned is to not take it personally. Some may view a loss in the final as a failure and an immediate reflection on ones knowledge and ability as an owner. I view it as just one of those things, and the only reflection I find immediate is not being able to wait for next season.

Fantasy Football Playoff Presumptions

2007-12-11T13:11:00.000-04:00

Right now, either the first round of the playoffs is set to begin this Sunday or the first round just became history starting early this morning. Those who tended to their team all season and didn't make the playoffs, I'm sure you have plenty of excuses. I doubt any team in any league managed to escape this season without any significant injuries - something no fantasy mind can predict happening unless the player is named Ahman Green. If you were on the cusp of the playoffs when Larry Johnson got hurt, your probably on the outside looking in at this point. If you took my approach in one of my particular leagues and took a plethora of lesser backs thinking at least one of them would work out and took that chance on Manning in the first round, well, hopefully you have some good receivers.

In the only league in which playoffs contained 6 teams and started last week, my playoff picture was looking slim. As I've mentioned before in previous posts about this league, my running backs were Lawrence Maroney, Cadillac Williams, Cedric Benson, Lamont Jordan and Deangelo Hall- with the ability to start 2-3 each week. Now I have no freaking clue what is wrong with Maroney, but I've been starting him week after week opposite Earnest Graham and this past one was my death blow. The rest of those guys have proven useless and my only chance in this league was for Andre Johnson (who finally came back from injury), Owens and Maroney to put forth solid efforts. Johnson, Graham and Manning all did great but Owens, Maroney and my star studded Balimore defense put up a combined minus 1 point. So my Manning experiment failed and a 7-6 record and a playoff loss is what I am left with. Never draft a quarterback first overall in only a one starting QB league. Never.

In my other three leagues I ironically finished with the same record in each, 9-5. In one of these I made a rather interesting transaction early season that in hindsight went very poorly, but left me with some depth, I suppose. I traded Tomlinson and Mike Furrey for Lawrence Maroney, Thomas Jones, Marvin Harrison and Calvin Johnson. I know! It should have been a steal for me with the way Tomlinson played early on and how much potential we saw from Maroney last season. But of course: Maroney, Harrison and Johnson get injured and fall off the tracks while Jones puts together one or two good games tops; at the same time Tomlinson comes on and starts wrecking house. This is just how fantasy has been this season. How I'm even 9-5 puzzles me but now that I'm in I can just root for a couple of upsets and hopfully I get another championship.

Another league of mine is by far the most interesting. It contains all my friends, including my girlfriend, with whoms team I will now face in the semi-finals - A team I basically managed all season. Not to take anything away from her, I mean her choice to pick Brady 3rd overall because he's cute when he was usually going in the 2nd to 3rd round was laughable in my opinion...but look who is laughing now. Luckily for her I got her to take Moss as well as a means to go big or go home and it has paid off in a big way, as she sits number two in overall record and number one in overall points. I'm right there behind her in third, though, and we've split the season series winning one game apeice by blow-out. We'll see what week 15 brings! Good luck to all.

Red Sox Pressuring Yankees to Give Up the Farm for Santana?

2007-12-05T15:37:00.000-04:00

Is it just me or does it seem like the Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins are trying to play the New York Yankees in the Johan Santana sweepstakes. Let's break this down for a second. A rumoured deal between the Yankees and Twins hits the media and everyone starts buzzing.

The Yankees desperately need a top tier pitcher and could conceivably offer the entire farm for the calibre which Santana would bring to the table - but only wish to part with a cow (Phil Hughes) and and Goat (Melky Cabrera). The Twins wanted a young oxen as well (pitcher Ian Kennedy), but even after the Twins dropped that demand the sides couldn't agree on a third player.

Now the Red Sox know if the Yankess end up giving away the whole farm, they themselves will be the dominant team of the two for a decade (even though the Yankees would now have a bull in Santana). So what do they do? they offer a sheep (Coco Crisp), and one of their two young oxen (Jon Lester or outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury) in a package that would bring a 2nd bull in behind the top bull in the bigs last season (Josh Beckett). By doing this, the Red Sox are in a win-win situation. They either win the Santana sweepstakes and field what might very well be the top pitching rotation in the history of Major League Baseball, or, drive up the price and pressure the Yankees into giving up the entire farm. If they don't, the Yankees may not win a single game against the Sox next season.

So we have two scenarios here: Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Curt Schilling, Tim Wakefield...and Johan Santana? Or John Lester still being included in that group combined with a Yankee team without any young prospects, Chien-Ming Wang, aging pitchers Andy Pettite and Mike Mussina...and Johan Santana? Theo Epstein is a genious and it is menouvering like this that has brought the Red Sox two World Series' since 2003 - and probably many more to come.

The Twins meanwhile say they are in no rush and did not bite on Hank Steinbrenner's Monday deadline. Thus, the Twins are in a win-win situation, the Sox are in a win-win situation and the Yankees...well, they will lose somehow.

Patriots-Ravens Monday Nighter Did Not Come Down to Luck

2007-12-05T15:22:00.000-04:00

People have been asserting that the Patriots were lucky to have won their recent Monday night tilt against the Ravens. Well, to that I say this: In reality it was Baltimore that got lucky that the Pats receivers were dropping passes all night. They were lucky because of the weather and a lack of emphasis one run defense the Pats exerted throughout the practice week. Maybe they were even a little lucky, and there is a strong chance of this, that Brady was inpregnating a new supermodel the preceding night. I joke, I joke.

The real question is: when will all the pater haters recognize that Mr. Brady doesn't even care about going undefeated - don't you remember that the Pats won 21 in a row at one point? Even if they had lost it wouldn't have meant a thing to them and they still would have won the Superbowl at 18-1. In fact, they may have even been better off because all this attention would have subsided.

Let's face it, the Ravens and all their supporters from Monday night complaining, and this list includes virtually everyone but fans of the Patriots, does nothing but show how whiney they are. Why? because the Ravens did commit that hold and are ridiculously stupid for calling that timeout and in the end they did nothing but show how inept they are - not how lucky the Patriots are.

There was absolutely no luck about it. All this game showed is that even when the Patriots play their worst game of the season and basically spend the entire game TRYING to lose...they still win. Think about it this way, if the Patriots at their worst still manage to somehow win, what happens when they play their best? Well, we all know what happens then...and Brady has 3 rings to prove it. And let's remember that those 3 rings came with Deion Branch or Troy Brown as his best receiver. Who does he have now?

Parity Becoming a Problem in New NHL

2007-12-03T14:54:00.000-04:00

The length it is taking to find out who will contend for the Stanley Cup this season is starting to become rather alarming. Now I realize, after years of people complaining that there was not enough parity in the NHL, that this is exactly what the league wanted, however, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find an exciting team to applaud these days - or further more - a great game between two of these teams to applaud these days.
Teams like the Ottawa Senators, Carolina Hurricanes and Minnesota Wild exploded out of the gate, seemingly proving to their opponents that they would be a force to fear all season long. Well, apparently this is not the case anymore.

At the same time, teams like the Buffalo Sabres, New Jersey Devils, Atlanta Thrashers and Dallas Stars looked like they would linger near the bottom of the league all season - and now they are beating up on the likes of the aforementioned teams.

What could possibly be the cause of such drastic metamorphoses? Can Senator fans really shrug off 6 straight losses? What happened to teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins and Anaheim Ducks, who have almost too much talent to pass ice around to? How could anyone have guessed neither of these teams would be above .500 after the first quarter of the season?

It seems the NHL has accomplished its goal of parity, but has this really increased the value and integrity of the game? Does anyone else find it absolutely ridiculous that the Maple Leafs are only one point out of a playoff spot? This team should be at the bottom of the league, and I say this as a die hard fan of the Maple Leafs. They are truly awful. Embarrassingly awful. New York Knicks awful. And somehow, all the teams that actually possess talent that goes deeper than Mats Sundin and a few kids that were 2nd and 3rd round draft picks, keep losing as much as they win. I mean really, how do the Maple Leafs have two more points than the Penguins more than a quarter into the season?

As minor a detail as this sounds in the overall scheme of things, it bothers me. Not just because it makes betting on games harder, or easier, however you want to look at it, but because it takes away from the value that two powerhouse teams playing each other can bring to the game. If your looking at the schedule toward a big Detroit vs. Ottawa game later in the week - and before that game Detroit gets blown out by Columbus and the Senators get shut out by the Thrashers, how much hype can really be attached to it?

If New England and Indianapolis, instead of winning 52-7 and 31-7 respectively the week before, had each lost to the Redskins and Panthers that preceding week, how much hype would that game really have carried?
The only point I’m trying to get at here is the NHL, thus far, has been lacking those big ticket match-ups that fans look forward to. A major reason the NFL is so successful is because even people who hadn’t watched a game of football in their lives heard of that pending game between the Patriots and Colts. The NFL possesses parity, however, it always has dominant teams, like the Pats and Colts, who by the looks of their talent should be exactly where they are and should beat exactly who they do. These teams exist from season to season and they are teams that everyday fans in non-NFL cities love to watch - especially when they play each other.

No Anaheim vs. Detroit / Ottawa vs. Carolina game will garner such attention in the NHL - and not just because there is 82 games instead of 16. It is because there is perhaps too much parity in the NHL these days; games like these just do not carry any kind of major implication anymore.

Favre Should Have Exerted More Patience

2007-11-21T09:39:00.000-04:00

Does anyone else remember that just last off-season there were rumours about Brett Favre seeking a trade from the Green Bay Packers because they were not doing enough to win (not building a good enough team around him) ((not going out and spending big bucks on expensive free agents)).

Well all that has changed now that the Packers are 9-1 and are showing no signs of slowing down. So what happened? they didn't go out and get Randy Moss like Favre wanted. They didn't go pay millions to add a big name profile to the backfield. So why is Favre all of a sudden so ecstatic after complaining for so long? Well, Brett, maybe the Packers weren’t about to sacrifice their future for the present. Maybe they just needed a few years to stockpile some extremely young but extremely talented receivers, and maybe you just needed a few years to gain some trust in them.

Greg Jennings and James Jones have both looked spectacular and have each led the team to game winning touchdowns - and a number one ranked yard-per-game average. Yes, I am including the Patriots in that. While it may only be by a two yard average advantage (298.8 - 296.3), maybe in the midst of the un-stoppable Brady to Moss-Stallworth-Welker-Watson combo, people have been somewhat overlooking the Favre to Driver- Jennings-Jones-Lee combo.

So what this means to Favre is that his teams management has managed to put together a receiving core that has matched the receiving core of the Patriots - without either spending the money or creating the kind of monster profile of expectation that the Patriots have - a profile that can often be the downfall of great teams. Maybe Favre should have trusted the team that has savoured his existence for as long as the Packers have. Seeing as he retracted his demand soon after, one can just picture Packers management say to Brett:

“Don’t worrrrry big guy, just come back for one more season and you’ll see”

As things stand right now, when Favre retires he will go out as one of the best QB’s of all time. If he, his receivers and that promising Defense can take out the Cowboys, and then the Patriots - well, he would then, hands down, retire as the best Quarterback of all time. Or play a few more years. Why not?

Football Fatigue

2007-11-06T15:09:00.000-04:00

Now, to keep consistent with this blogs name, were anyone else's fantasy line-up's destroyed by injuries/bye's last month/week. Mine were. I even have a main team - the last I drafted after all that practice - now in the red zone. In fantasy, being in the red zone is not a good thing, as it means your team has more losses than wins, and for a self-proclaimed "fantasy guru" like myself, that just doesn't cut it. The problems this team has faced are numerous to say the least. Maroney, Jordan, Benson are my running backs. Ouch. At least I picked up Earnest Graham when I had to drop Caddy Williams to somewhat stop the bleeding. My receivers? Owens, Branch and Andre Johnson. Double ouch, Branch and Johnson have been out since early season and i've been using Berrian and Toomer to try and help Owens. My quarterback is Manning - bad move considering that pick would have landed me a running back that hasn't shit the bed. Advice that can be had from this situation? Don't draft a QB in the first round, even if it is Brady, if your in a league that only starts one quarterback. Instead, play the match-ups with fill-ins and get enough RB's to stay alive. If I had done that this team, healthy and minus a shitty diapered running back, would be near first in the league.

My other teams are hanging in there, though, as I've got two 5-4's and a 6-3 going in my main account. My secondary accounts are acually doing much better with much less attention, which shows how un-predictable a fantasy football season can be. My favourite league is probably the one in which Marshawn Lynch and Lee Evans torched the Bengals, with Reggie Bush, Owens, and Kitna all had big days to seal me the victory last week - on top of Cutler getting injured and Baltimore laying an egg. I have Jacobs and Stephen Jackson on the bench and Marc Bulger will have to come in for Cutler but Big B has to get going sooner or later...Right?

Anyway, I'll be back with a post on Hockey and B-ball very soon, as I have already doubled my entry quota for the last two months! The next ones will be a little more informative too. Promise.

Philosophy of Tattoo's

2007-11-06T14:31:00.000-04:00

Hello, everyone. I know I haven't been writing in this at all lately and I promise I will resolve this problem in coming days. Firstly, though, I would like to use this blog as an outlet for something else going on in my life right now. As the name of this blog subtly implies, I am interested in the Philosophy of things. Of the universe, nature, our nature as humans in the universe, and obviously sports! I graduated with a double major from university, and, along with English, Philosophy was my primary concentration. I actually have two tattoo's I got during my years at university, and I find myself constantly defending myself on getting them in almost every social situation I ever find myself in - even my girlfriend picks at me for them. It has gotten to the point where I just don't have the energy or time to properly address these questions, which is why I am now going to use this as a forum in which I can remind myself why it was one of the best idea's I've ever had to get them.

I would like to foremost concentrate on an implication made in an article I read a couple years ago about tattoo's being “more than skin-deep” and the concept of 'self-empowerment.' For myself, my two tattoos were a means to establishing an 'identity for the self' as this article puts it. In my first two years of university, upon taking many differing philosophy courses, I became absorbed with the idea that we can’t in fact rationally justify that any sort of god or supernatural being exists. I was exhilarated by this idea, taking it as one of my most defining characteristics when looking within the facets of life and meaning and applying it to my own sense of individuality.

One summer I began reading book after book about the mathematical and philosophical concept of the “number” Zero and how it is the only numerical concept that lacks any sort of affinity along the number line representing physical reality. I started reading books on Zen teachings, along with books about metaphysics and time as a concept the human race tends to skew because of the limiting way in which we relate it to sequential events in accordance with a stationary sun. It is then that I began writing a discourse on how the universe, as humanity knows it, could theoretically have derived itself simply as a mathematical process, to necessitate balance in relation to the positive and negative forces that were spawned out of the chaos produced by a concept of Zero naturally existing with no means of function. This process has no sequence, however, and happens all at once on a 4 dimensional graph that needs no start nor end to exist. This idea can be ultimately summed up by the concept of infinity. This is why, in an attempt to convey my belief system about the universe, I chose to tattoo an infinity symbol on one arm, to represent the expansion of light in each wavelength that is depicted at some point on the graph, a concept our minds are too specifically refined to understand. In other words, the universe from our prospective, is simply a machine of chemical and physical equations, every possible type of which must exist at some point in some reality on the 4 dimensional representational graph of the universe (everything that can happen, will happen).

It was for this reason that I chose to depict on the other arm, the Zen symbol for “Cycle of Life” which shows a broken circle symbolizing that the world I am in fact experiencing is representational of only one of these many possible realities, meaning there is no limit to that which my particular reality will allow me to accomplish. My tattoos were simply meant as a means to remind me of how intricate the relations of the universe are and how unbelievably unwarranted and silly it is to believe in any sort of religion (please don’t take offence for “god” sake, I’m strictly applying this to MYSELF). Apparently I’m a “Christian,” however, throughout my life I found that label void of any meaning or true explanation as to why I’m here on this planet or how I relate to anyone else on it. I looked throughout the world and its history and became aware of the atrocities religion has, and is, creating for its followers, and wished more so than anything else to be able to explain why I exist without resorting to the teachings of a faith that condemns anything from natural selection to certain sexual preferences. It is for this reason I wished to distance myself from the unreasonable constraints religion poses on humanity, and express my individuality on the subject in the form of a permanent mark on my body that I chose and that could never be taken away from me.

And that is all I wanted to say. I usually don't explain this to anyone anymore and usually just tell them they are an "8" and a "C". It's never possible to explain this, especially in spoken language, to anyone adequately anyway - which is why I took the time to do it here - One time. Now here until the end of it.

Catching Up The Fantasy

2007-10-09T11:04:00.000-03:00

With so much going on in the fantasy world right now, I am ashamed at my lack of blog attention. Baseball season just finished up and football season is well underway. Hockey drafts are just about complete and Basketball drafts are next, I even have one today. So where has my insight been during all this? In my head I suppose. The only day I have off nowadays is Sunday, and that day is almost always spent getting drunk and doing, what else, watching football. My four fantasy football teams are doing well, which is a god-send considering they have all been ravished by injuries, as I’m sure many of yours have. With Carnell Williams out for the season, Andre Johnson hurt since week 2, Maroney, Jordan and Jackson all dealing with injuries, along with Marvin Harrison and Calvin Johnson suffering recent mishaps, combined with Marc Bulger licking a goats rear…well, let’s just say the waiver wire has become even more important that usual this year in what has been a bizarre season thus far. Luckily, though, I still own a 3-2 record in 3 of my leagues and a 4-1 record in the other. The biggest reason my teams haven’t succumbed to these injuries was drafting deep in the first place. People laughed when I drafted back-up tailbacks instead of receivers in the middle rounds but now I’m the one laughing, as Lynch, James and Bush have remained viable starters as Jackson and Williams have gone down. Not to mention picking up Ward and even Jacobs from the owner who dropped him. In deeper leagues, I thought I was a god for taking a chance on Lamont Jordan, only to see him go down. Luckily, Wynn and Graham have come to my rescue. Well, sort of. The moral of this story, besides the obvious conclusion that the waiver-wire should be watched intently, is that drafting more back-up tailbacks than you probably need is never a bad idea, considering it seems every year you always need them.
This same theory holds true for Hockey drafts, as I always skip on my second forward or defensemen to take a premiere second goalie or even back-up goalie, because unlike baseball and football, not every team plays every night/week. Goalies are impossible to find on the waiver-wire unless you really luck out, while forwards and defensemen come a dime-a-dozen. Always sure up your goaltending before anything else.
In an earlier entry, I took the liberty of explaining how all my baseball teams were in contention for gold this season. As it turns out two of them won gold, one roto and one head-to-head. It was pitching that won it for me in the end in both leagues, as I made a ballzy trade mid-season in one league that sent A-rod and Tori Hunter away for John Lackey, Ichiro, Rocket Roger and Octavio Dotel. While Dotel got me a few saves before falling off the charts and Roger got me a few wins before going soft, it was Ichiro and Lackey that essentially won me the league. While hurting in steals and wins, I was destroying the league in homers, runs and RBI’s. I figured even if anyone caught me, I’d still be near the top as long as I could still put up a homer here or there, so I made the deal. I finished 2nd in steals, 4th in homers and held on to first in both runs and RBI’s. It was the wins that really got me there though, as the owner who sent me Lackey and Clemens had an impossible time filling the void, although he jumped 7 spots in homers. I ended up finishing just one point ahead of him on the last day. I finished ahead of him in wins by just one. He had a 12 win lead on me when the trade took place.

Philosophy of Fantasy Practice

2007-09-12T10:51:00.000-03:00

One frustrating thing about an NFL fantasy draft (especially one you know will be for money) is that a fantasy owner can spend all day reading all the “expert” columns and lists on sleeper candidates and still will have not the slightest clue in what round they will be drafted. How many times have you had your eye on a guy way down the list you recognize as having greater value; you expect him to still be there for at least another round and in the mean time, you select that 2nd wide-out or premiere defence you‘ve been salivating over, only to have your sleeper snatched up well ahead of schedule by one of the five other guys who read the same column on NFL.com that you did, thus leaving a huge hole in your roster that now must be filled by a question mark. The easiest way to prevent this is to do practice drafts. I myself have five different screen names on Yahoo.com, with which I do practice drafts well ahead of opening kick-off as a primary means at finding out what round these sleepers go in, while at the same time getting a gauge on where I need to take them to make sure I’m filling my roster the way I foresaw it being filled. I find it uproarious when I’m sitting in a draft room listening to all these managers complaining in just the mid-rounds about how they hate their team. With this method of simply compiling relevant information, or practicing if you will, you can achieve around a 10-20 percent margin of predictability error; depending on the competition and size of the draft, you can easily ascertain when players will be picked, enabling you to use your draft position as a gauge of which top players will be available to you in what round. By thus making your que that much much efficient, you could then further abstain from being one of those guys who everyone starts alphabetically abusing in the chat room with "zzzzzzzzzz's" because they keep taking a minute and a half to make every single one of their picks.
Now, to throw a little mathematical substantiation into this idea, I would first like to explain that I‘m not a “leaver“ as they are called in the fantasy world. In creating 5 accounts, 3 only for practice drafts, you might suspect me of being one of those people who does this and just leaves their team to get demolished all season. Not the case at all. I still set my line-up each week for every team and scoop up any free-agents that might be left, however, the week one record of the first 8 teams I drafted is 3-5 (you can draft four teams in each sport per-account). Horrible. The week one record of my next four teams is 2-2 but with some intense slender-benders (a slender-bender is an actual term with this definition: having the 2nd or 3rd highest point total in the league on a given week and still losing because you were matched up against number one). And finally, while at the same time promising I will eventually get to the point, the week one record in my primary accounts (one of which is actually that of my girlfriend who I draft teams for so she’ll somewhat follow sports) is 7-1. Now any keen fantasy player can lose any fantasy match in any given week in the up-and-down league that is, the NFL, however, there is even something about that one loss that promotes the idea I’ve been lengthening throughout this blog entry. My main-account team that suffered the loss was actually picked during the first draft I did this season, after which I hated my team so much that I decided to do some practice drafts.
If this much practice just seems time consuming than your either not a true fantasy fan or just don‘t care enough about winning, because in much the same way every professional athlete knows that practice is the most important path to victory, every fantasy player should know that: A good draft is the most important path to fantasy Immortality! (and by immortality, I mean being able to rub the victory and the money you won in all of your friends faces, at least, until next season.

Philosophy of the Fantasy Baseball Year

2007-09-06T14:09:00.000-03:00

Anyway, with all the excitement fantasy football has been creating these days, another very exciting part of fantasy sports is being left out: Fantasy Baseball playoffs! With only three weeks of the season to go, six-team head-to-head playoff formats have started and rotisserie battles for first are heating up. Before I go on a rant on how each of my four teams have an excellent chance at winning it all this season, I’d first like to confess that this is my first season playing fantasy baseball and I knew little about baseball at all before this season. Before my drafts I based my draft decisions strictly on well-rounded player stats that I could foresee as covering a wide range of categories I needed to be competitive in. Well heading into the playoffs my noobie strategy seems to have worked, as I have been dominant this season and am able to boil down my success to just a few all-important tips on how to be successful in fantasy baseball.

Tip number one: Instead of the guy with a decent average, no speed and 50 homers (Ryan Howard, Albert Pujols ) pick the guy with a great average, tons of speed and 20-30 homers (Hanley Ramírez, David Wright, Carlos Beltran or Grady Sizemore). This applies to the later rounds as well, as this year Eric Byrnes (who I drafted in three of my leagues) has turned out to be a much more rounded option than say Troy Glaus, Jason Bay or Jason Giambi, all of whom were usually drafted ahead up the speedy Byrnes. You have to remember to address as many areas as possible with each pick, this being the single most important draft strategy owners can utilize.

Tip number two: Have you noticed these guys who go out and take premiere closer’s with one of their top five picks? Soo unnecessary. In both the rotisserie leagues I am dominating right now, my closer’s in one are Brad Lidge, Brett Myers, Ryan Dempster, Rafeal Soriano, Al Reyes and Jeremy Accardo and the other is the exact same except with C.J Wilson, Manny Corpas and David Weathers instead of Accardo, Reyes and Myers. How am I doing in saves in each league? 2nd and 3rd. How many of these players did I originally draft to my team? I took Dempster in the second one with one of my last picks, other than him…not a single one. Point being is that as long as you care enough to be on the ball when it comes to the waiver wire, saves a sure bet. Owners are always too impatient to hold onto injured closers and many don’t pay enough attention to pick up newly pronounced ones. All it takes is checking CBS sportsline while eating breakfast every morning and pouncing on new and dropped closers when they become available -- and you need not worry about more than two or three late round draft selections during your draft, freeing up picks for better pitchers and outfielders.

Tip number three: No other fantasy game can be as desperate and unfair as Fantasy Baseball. Owners who find themselves at the bottom of the pack early on can get desperate, and that is when you propose trades. I’ve never seen a sport where a player can be in a slump for so long and then bounce back so strongly. Guys like Garrett Atkins, Bobby Abreu, Chone Figgins and Brian McCann are all players I managed to pick up for next to nothing because they were simply in a slump and each of them came back to put up monster numbers for my team, and each will likely end up being a deciding factor in either a gold, silver or bronze trophy in each of my four leagues.

Fantasy Football Drafting Tip

2007-09-06T13:31:00.000-03:00

Sorry I haven’t been able to post for a little while, my schedule as an all important bartender is requiring of me 45 hours a week, making it rather hard for me to find the time to sit down and do this thing. One pleasant aspect of this situation, though, is that I am forced (not that I wouldn't be anyway) to watch sports around the clock. And yes, by forced, I mean if anyone else touches the bar’s television I threaten to cut off their hands. Anyway, as some of you may have noticed, fantasy football is about to start and fantasy hockey is just around the corner. We have all heard the non-stop banter of football experts, all telling us the same thing in drafting, usually in this exact order: tailback, tailback, tailback!!! While my strategy doesn’t necessarily differ from this model, it is my opinion that football drafts, more so than any other draft, must be played by ear. By all means take a running back in the first round and in most cases strongly consider taking one in the second…but depending on where your drafting and who’s left on the board, there’s no sense on skipping a golden opportunity just because the experts on NFL.com shove the idea of having three monster running backs down your throat in every column. For instance, your in a twelve team league and you pick 2nd or 3rd last, Manning is still on the board and the top 8 running backs are already gone…what do you do? You take Peyton, use you next pick on Maroney, Bush or Jones-Drew, and in the next round take Benson, James or Williams. Then sure up your backfield in taking sleeper backs over wide receivers in the later rounds, such as Lamont Jordon or Deshaun Foster. If there is one thing to always remember in fantasy football, it is that one can always sacrifice a number 2-3 receiver for a number 3-4 running back, allowing you to jump on a Peyton Manning in round one or even a Baltimore defence in round 5-6. Sleeper receiver’s are all over the place and can be found on the waiver wire at any point throughout the first half of the season. Point being, is that all these “experts” who claim it to be a travesty to draft Peyton in the first round or to take a chance on a premiere defence in the 5th don’t ever seem to tell their readers that there are numerous ways to turn these ballsy decisions into a first place trophy in your league, as long as you address certain area’s immediately after making the decision.

A List of Every Worth While Fantasy Site on the Web

2007-08-31T14:28:00.000-03:00

First off, if we're going to be talking about fantasy, you need to know the websites that offer the best product. Below is a summary of all the major fantasy sports sites, complete with unique info about each one and how they stand out from the rest of the field. While my blog will offer information and insight not found on these sites, they are an intrinsical tool in the world of fantasy sports when it comes to fantasy use itself and information needed to compete at a high level. If your just getting into fantasy, I would recommend yahoo as your first stop. Stay tuned.

KFFL.com
Nice system, found updates on this website with NFL news before it was posted on NFL.com. KFFL's free RSS feeds deliver Hot off the Wire sports news and KFFL articles to your computer as soon as they are posted on KFFL.com. KFFL currently offers RSS feeds for our NFL Hot off the Wire, MLB Hot off the Wire, and the most recent articles in both sports and KFFL's blogs.

AccuScore.com
AccuScore is the ultimate pre-game destination for serious sports fans. Whether you are looking for fantasy draft info, decision support, or just a general sports fan, AccuScore.com is the place to go and get your information.

Rotoworld.com
Allstar Stats Inc. is a company that has three divisions: Content, League Management and Fantasy Games. The content division, Rotoworld.com, is one of the largest pure play fantasy sports desitination sites on the web by producing up to the second breaking news in nine sports. It specializes in redistributuion of that content to major companies such as FOX Sports, CBS SportsLine, USA Today and Yahoo sports. The company’s games division, Sandbox.com, is 25 games in 9 sports for $5 per month.

Baseball HQ.com
BaseballHQ.com is the cornerstone of an information service that has been providing unique and innovative performance evaluators to fantasy leaguers since 1986. It is led by Ron Shandler, the first analyst to develop sabermetric indicators for fantasy league play. HQ\'s writers and readers own 12 first place and 5 second place finishes in Expert League competition since 1998. HQ has served as advisors to the St. Louis Cardinals and is the only 3-time winner of FSTA's "Best Fantasy Baseball Content" award.

CBS Sports Line.com
CBS SportsLine is at the leading edge of media companies providing Internet sports content, Fantasy sports and e-commerce. In addition to its flagship service, the company publishes the official Web sites of the NFL, PGA TOUR and NCAA Sports. CBS SportsLine is a member of the CBS family and a part of CBS Digital Media.

ESPN.com
ESPN's claims that its mission is to serve sports fans wherever sports are watched, listened to, discussed, debated, read about or played. ESPN.com has been the No. 1 sports website since it's inception by providing up-to-the-minute news, stats, analysis and scores. An industry leader since 1995, ESPN's Fantasy Sports provides free and premium games as well as expert analysis.

Sportsillustrated.cnn.com
SI is a multimedia sports brand that takes the consumer into the heart and soul of sports. The SI franchise is anchored by Sports Illustrated, one of the most respected voices in sports journalism - reaching a weekly audience of nearly 21 million adults. SI.com, the magazines 24/7 sports news website, delivers more than 150 original stories to its users each week. The SI franchise also includes Sports Illustrated Kids (sikids.com), a monthly magazine targeted to kids age 8 and up; Golf Magazine and Golf.com; SIOncampus.com, a website dedicated to college sports and the college sports lifestyle; SI Presents the magazines specialty publishing division; as well as SI Books, SI Pictures, SI Productions, SI Digital and SI Events. Founded in 1954, SI is a division of Time Inc., the world's leading magazine publishing company and a subsidiary of Time Warner.

Profootballweekly.com
Our web site receives over 5 million page views, with 1,000,000 user sessions from 350,000+ unique visitors per month. Our web site provides:
Analysis and Real-Time Game Updates,
Previews of this week's NFL,
Real-time updates of NFL games in progress,
Trends, Tips and Timely stats each week during the regular season,
Weekly handicapping column identifying the best bets
Commentary - PFW's editors provide daily commentary on what's happening around the league
Fantasy Football Coverage - Late week fantasy tips, injury reports and lot's of fantasy statistics
Daily Fantasy columns - Tuesday through Friday
Exclusive provider of NFL College Draft information to ESPN.COM.

Yahoosports.com
As an informative destination for sports fans, this property has wide ranging coverage, as one of the #1 Fantasy Sports offerings online, Yahoo sports has become a stalwart on the fantasy scene by using a simple formula: keep it simple. They offer a direct link to each player that provides direct info and advice on why and when you should be using or not using a player based on information gathered directly from other sites. Yahoo offers free user friendly fantasy games and makes their profit off advertising and charging for draft kits, the ability to see the stats update as they happen and offering cheap prizes for leagues that aren’t free. They have capitalized hugely on this easily accessible form of fantasy sports that they are able to advertise for on their already largely visited site, reaching an estimated 1,030,000 average monthly visitors

New sites - Unique sites - Fledgling Fantasy Hockey Competition.

www.Whoshurt.com
A must have tool for fantasy. Established in 2004, it is produced by a company that specializes in web sites that provide unique and useful information and support to fantasy players. Whoshurt.com is an injury reporting site for fantasy football enthusiasts. To differentiate itself from traditional fantasy sites that provide overwhelming amounts of information to search through, whoshurt.com focuses almost exclusively on injuries and how they affect player availability and/or performance. This laser-beam approach to a specific category of information provides data with a high level of quality and accuracy to assist users with their fantasy lineup decisions.

NBX Fantasy Sports book - www.nbx.com
NBX delivers a unique online interactive destination for sports fans. The NBX Fantasy Sportsbook lets players wager on real sports events with real Vegas odds but using points, not cash. They can win weekly cash and prizes. And it’s all completely free. It's integrated with an activity-based sports social networking and “tell it like it is” media featuring show hosts such as World Series MVP Dave Stewart.

HockeyDraft.ca - Fantasy Hockey Pool Manager
HockeyDraft.ca is one of the most popular fantasy hockey pool managers on the Internet. HockeyDraft.ca offers three different types of pool formats - a classic draft format, box selection format, and a team ranking pool. Stats are tracked and analyzed at a daily basis through a very user-friendly interface similar to yahoo.

Mock Draft Central, LLC - Mockdraftcentral.com
Mock Draft Central specializes in real-time live drafting technology. They offer real-time mock drafting for all sports along with comprehensive ADP reports and timely drafting strategy articles.

Goaliepost.com
Good site that is updated daily regarding which NHL goalie is going to start for their respective teams each night. A must have tool for Fantasy Hockey nuts.

DynastyHockey.net
A site in which your team (or the majority of it anyway) carries over from year to year (keeper league for fantasy hockey, something not seen very often.)

First Entry

2007-08-31T12:22:00.000-03:00

Hello, friends. My name is Adam Costello and I would like to extend to you through this blog something that can't be found very often in the real world: true, un-deniable wisdom. Ironically, the world in which most of this wisdom resides isn't actually real at all, in fact, it's a complete fantasy. I know that if you clicked on this blog you must be a sports fan, and if you have not yet made that leap from sports fan to fantasy sports junkie, the first tidbit of wisdom I would like to direct your way is do it, do it now. Don't even finish reading this, just go to www.yahoo.com and sign up. Then come back, read the following entries of this blog, follow the careful instructions and advice presented in them, and you will be a fantasy champion in no time. It is not my intention, however, to have this blog limited to just fantasy sports advice. Being a very opinionated son of a bitch, I would also like to utilize this new medium to supply humorous entries on how stupid, funny or incredible that happenings in the sports world are at times.
Anyway , just so you know that I'm not just some twelve year old boy posting in between grab sessions in his parents basement, I would like to supply a little information about myself. I am an educated 22-year old from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia (yes, I know it's a wonder I can even write at all). I played just about every sport in existence during my younger years and have followed all major sports adamantly since I even learned how to read. I went to university in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where I just finished my fourth year as a double major in English and Philosophy. One of the most beneficial experiences at university though (and it certainly wasn’t the abuse I inflicted on my poor brain every weekend) was writing for my school’s newspaper, an interest that blossomed into a nicely paid position as the newspapers sports editor for two years. I hands- down spent more time working on that paper than I did on school work, and the experience taught me more about my ability that any essay ever could have. I wrote sometimes 5000 words per issue, staying up for days straight without sleeping or eating, squeezing in school work when I got a chance. I did interviews, did much of the photography, wrote opinion pieces, feature article’s on professional sports, covered the entire university’s sports program and wrote editorials, none of the above of which were limited to just sports. After three years there and a year to kill before going back to school, I am starting this blog to fill that void. I promise reading it will prove useful, and if nothing else entertaining. Feel free to send me e-mails or even questions, add me on face book or even play some online X-box with me. My objective in writing this blog is to be there for you. Thanks.