More random Q thoughts

It is way to early to be having presidential debates, so stop it!!!!

Hockey fans are the best in all sport

Thank god the snow is finally over, can get back to my routine of walks, man do I sound old

Speaking of, do love the Ipod, it is a great invention

The year I get into 24, it turns in the middle of the season and sucks, what the F?

Why aren’t you watching the NHL playoffs?

Speaking of playoff hockey, way to go Monarchs first time they made the 2nd round of the playoffs.

If I let you to traffic, you better wave. Should be a law if you don’t wave I should be able to follow you home and beat you

Do the Miami Dolphins have a clue on what they are doing?

Crotons rock

Has anyone seen my socks?

Alec Baldwin is a good actor, but a jerk, don’t think that was a secret before his phone call to his daughter

Why inst Cinco di Mayo as big as St. Patrick’s day

How come we don’t hear more about what is going on in Canada? I think they are up to something up there!!

Harry Reid’s take on leadership?

I think I have made my feeling on the Iraqi war known. I do support the President and the troops. I have heard many times over the last year from many leading democrats that we need a new plan. But once the surge plan was announced they came out almost unanimously against it, with out actually giving it a shot. This was lead by the Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, who is now supporting a bill to defund the war, claiming he has the say of the people with the democrats win in November, even though they never brought up this strategy in the election. When the Senate had hearing to approve the new commander of the troops in Iraq, General David Petraeus, he stated he would not know until the end of summer to say if the surge strategy is being effective. Well on April 18th, far from the end of summer, Harry Reid proclaimed "I believe ... that this war is lost, and this surge is not accomplishing anything, as is shown by the extreme violence in Iraq this week,". To me this is the cowards way out, Reid is showing no leadership. Since the beginning he has offered nothing but criticism and nothing else constructive. To me Harry Reid should be ashamed of his comments, though I doubt he is. His comments are in no way supportive of the troops. There are many people in congress that I disagree with, but do respect. I hate to say it I have lost any respect in Harry Reid. He is nothing but an opportunist politician who his showing his true colors as a coward. He offers no leadership, no guidance, no spine, and offers nothing in a meaningful debate about the war!

Why the NHL playoffs are the best playoffs in pro sports!!

Ok I know I have written much about the NHL, and have stated my problems with the game. But it is playoff time in the NHL, to me the NHL playoffs are still the best in North America professional sports. I will take it any day over the NBA, NFL or baseball. All the others are good but to me they cant top the NHL. So here are a few reasons why I think the Stanley Cup playoffs are great

The Stanley Cup. There is no other trophy in sports that can compare to the history of the Stanley Cup. The fact that every member of the winning team gets to have it for a day is just great. There are many stories about what has happened to the trophy over the decades. The stories that piece of hardware could tell. Also the winning team gets its names engraved on the trophy, so 50 years from now the member of last years Carolina Hurricanes can look at the cup and see there names on it, no other trophy has that. I was able to get my picture taken with the cup once, and as soon as you get close to it you can feel the history of it. The first thing I looked for was the 71-72 Boston Bruins. It was a great moment for me.

Speaking of the Stanley Cup there is the tradition of the NHL. You have the original six teams (Boston, Detroit, Chicago, NY Rangers, Toronto, Montreal) for decades the NHL was just these 6 teams. So it is something special when these teams play each other, and ever more when they face off in the playoffs. Also Detroit has the nick name hockey town. Is there any town know as baseball town, football town, or basketball town? I don’t think so. Also have the throwing of the octopus after the Red Wings score there first goal of every home game.

Multiple overtime games. Can always count that in every playoff year there will be at least one game that goes to at least 3 overtimes. This year in the first night of the playoffs there was a 4 overtime game between Vancouver and Dallas. I remember watching a few 5 overtimes game in my life. When I was younger would stay up till the all the games were over for the night, cant do that as much anymore, remember sitting up till 3am watching a Pittsburgh-Washington 5OT game, and going to school the next, or the same, moring. There are full period overtimes to, not the 5 minutes like the regular season. So this would be like a baseball game going to 24 innings. You can always count on the person who scores the game winner will not be a big name guy, but usually a 3rd or 4th liner who is more of a checker.

Game 7’s. Sure baseball and basketball have game 7’s, but they do not seem to be as intense as the NHL. I think the hitting in hockey makes it more interesting. The hitting in a game 7 is always harder, the passing more crisper, the goaltending more spectacular and the scoring more beautiful.

Goaltending, in not other sport can one member of a team make such an impact. A team can ride a hot goalie all the way to the Stanley Cup. I have seen many times were one team outplays another team, but that team did not win because the other teams goalie was so on fire. Last year the Edmonton Oilers rode Dwayne Roloson all the way to the finals. He got hurt in game 1 and the Oilers would go on to lose the finals. But they would have not been there is it was not for Roloson. The Oilers were a #8 seed who pulled 3 upsets to get to the finals.

Speaking of Edmonton the Province of Alberta is reason enough to love the Stanley Cup playoffs. There is noting better then watching a game from Edmonton or Calgary. I love watching those games, the crowd is so into it. They all wear the same colors and are so loud. It is twice as intense if it is Edmonton and Calgary playing each other in the playoffs. To me this is the most intense rivalry in all pro sports. You can have you Red Sox-Yankees rivalry. I think for intensity and hatred between the two cities Boston-NY don’t handle a candle to Edmonton-Calgary. I would love just once to be at one of those games. These teams really feed off that energy of their crowds. Calgary is playing Detroit this year, Detroit just owned Calgary in the first two games of the series, both played in Detroit, but once they got back to Calgary played 100% times better. The won the 2 games there and now its an all new series tied at 2 games each.

Power plays. In the NBA, NFL or Baseball do you get the advantage of having an extra player if the other team breaks the rules. A good power play is a beautiful thing to watch.

On the same line of a power play, pulling the goalie. When your team is down by a goal in the last minute it is so nerve raking when your team pulls the goalie to get an extra man. It is also nerve raking for the team that is ahead. It is so intense, cant think of anything like it in any other sport.

Random Q Thoughts

Ear Infections SUCK!!!

How can the Blue Jays lose 3 key players in the same weekend? DAM IT!!!

Speaking of, how do I lose so many player to injuries in my fantasy baseball league, and I am still in first, man these guys suck!!

The Food Channel rocks, not sure why but it fascinates me

The Penguins-Senators playoff game Sunday was a great game

Finding old repeats of MASH when sick rocks

Anna Nicole Smith is still dead

Keith Olbermann annoys me, I mean really annoys me, this goes back to his ESPN days

Something is not breaking news 6 hours after it happens!!

Sig and Edgar on “The Deadliest Catch” rock!

I need a vacation

Hey Al Gore, were is that Global Warming?

Anyone who goes on a realty show to find there true love, should be beaten!!

The boat sinks at the end of Titanic

How come people who think there always right, are usually wrong?

Why was Ivan so terrible?

Why was Alexander so great?

This day in Baseball history.

Well today marks the 60th anniversary of one of the most important days in baseball, if not all of sports. It’s the day Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball. This was a decade before the civil rights era of the 60’s with Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. Many times you hear ball players today whine and moan about different things, but compared to what Robinson went though it is nothing. Hear many players talk about being disrespected about the money they are offered, Robinson was disrespected because of the color of skin. Robinson would be called names that would make Dom Imus blush, had death threats against him and had things thrown at him at almost every ball park. But he was a truly classy man who dealt with it with class and humility. He would go out and win the Rookie of the Year his first year, 2 years later win MVP and make the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first shot at it. He deserves the respect and appreciation from all black player in baseball, and other sports. If he had not dealt with it with the class he did who knows how things might have ended up. Also have to give a ton of credit to the Dodgers general manager Brach Rickey who signed Robinson and brought him to the Major Leagues. He to took a lot of grief for his decision, but he stood by his man and together he and Robinson made history, not just in sports but for the entire society.
MLB has honored Robinson years ago by retiring his number 42 through out MLB. But today many players will wear that number in honor of Robinson, and some entire teams will. Ken Griffey JR. was the first to petition to wear the number, many more players have followed in his foot steps. I think it is a great think, and very happy to see many players respect and honor Robinson for contribution to the world.

Q’s Thoughts on Don Imus and the Duke case

Well there are two big stories in the news this week. The first is the whole Don Imus incident. Yesterday CBS did fire him from his radio show. Should he had been fired? Well looking at this from a business issue, of course he should have been. He lost sponsors and brought nothing but bad publicity to CBS and MSNBC. I will admit I am not an Imus fan; I have listened to his show and find him to be a loud windbag, who’s only true talent is calling people names. If I was in charge of him I would have fired him years ago. His ratings have been in toilet for years! Should he have been fired for what he said? I think so; this was not his first time using derogatory comments to women. When you go an alienate half your audience, well then your just plain old stupid. I think what he said is extremely stupid and deserves everything he gets. I see his statement more a s sexist comment and not racial. But this does bring us to the two men who pushed for his dismissal, the Rev Jessie Jackson and the Rev Al Sharpton. These are some of the last two men who should be someone’s judge and juror. Both have a very checkered past on saying stupid things towards Jewish people, white people and Hispanic people. But they are never called out on it. I don’t get were these men get to be called Reverends when all they do is sit back and judge other people.
This brings us to the Duke Lacrosse case. Last year Jackson and Sharpton were down in North Carolina protesting against the lacrosse players and defending the so-called victim to the end of the earth, with Jackson paying for her schooling. This week the NC DA came out and said they would drop all charges against these men, as he said they were incident of any crime. I have not seen Sharpton or Jackson go down to NC to protest against Michael Nifong, the DA who brought up the charges and has been accused of misuse of his power. This is truly an injustice, but yet no Jackson or Sharpton. They will protest against some old guys and his stupid words, but will not go down and support the men who were wrongly accused of rape and had there names and reputations dragged through the mud for years to come. This is where these men should be fighting for injustice. But yet they stay silent. Nifong used and abused his power to get reelected. He pandered to black community to get their votes. If these charges were true the accused should have had the book thrown at them, but they weren’t. Then there is the so-called victim, there is no mention of what she did by lying. She made it harder for women in that area who actually are rapped to be taken serious. This should not be taken lightly by the community, or Jackson and Sharpton.

Q’s Easter Sunday

Well my Easter was nothing exciting. Went down and did some laundry at my fathers. Had to feed his cats while he is on vacation. So while I was down there I watched the replay of the NCAA hockey championship game on ESPNU. I didn’t get hear the commentary when it was on live. Was out at a bar and they had the Red Sox game on all the big TV’s. Also watched the Masters today. So figure give some random thoughts on both.
First the NCAA Hockey Championship
Could Barry Melrose made it any clearer he wanted BC to win. Gary Thorne as usual was very good, but Melrose came off as very bias towards BC, and especially Brian Boyle. Had to laugh with a little over a minute left Melrose said that MSU was playing to get into overtime, think he might have been wrong about that.
Speaking of Boyle, how does he make the all tourney team as a defenseman when it was poor play that lead to the tying goal, and he was out of position for the game winner. He did have a great 2 on 1 while shorthanded, that would be great for a forward but not for a defenseman who should be back when shorthanded. Speaking with one of my friends during the game and we both agree we wont be that great as a pro when the play will be faster and will have guys almost the same size
In my opinion Jeff Lerg should have been named Most Outstanding Player. With all due respect to Justin Abdelkader but it was Lerg who put this team on his back all tourney long. He only allowed 5 goals in 4 games against four team that were all ranked higher then MSU. He went up against 4 of the top goalies in the country (John Curry, Dave Brown, Ben Bishop, and Corey Schneider) he out played all of them. He might have been the smallest goalie in tourney, but he has the biggest heart. He also fights a bad case of asthma and needs treatment before each game.
I counted four times that BC ran into Lerg, all cheap shots in my opinion. But the little man got up every time. I don’t know how you cant root for him.
I know he is a UNH guy and I should like him, but Bob Norton does nothing for me. I don’t think he is that good with his commentary. To me he really adds nothing. Think ESPN should get Doug Woog who does the Minnesota games, he is really good, or Eric Freide, I really like him no matter what he is doing he is good at it/

My thoughts on the Masters
Have to congratulate Zach Johnson for his first major victory. Once he got the lead he never gave it up. He showed great poise down the stretch and made some clutch shots to hold onto the lead.
Johnson seems like a genuine person. Most times when you see someone win you get the canned speech. But I just watched his ceremony of receiving the green jacket, you can tell this meant so much to him.
This had to be one of the weirdest rounds of golf I have seen at a Masters. No one wanted to hold onto the lead until Johnson got it late in the day. Was the highest score (+1) to win in over 50 years. The winds reminded me of the British Open.
The shot Tiger Woods hot from behind the tree was incredible, he broke his club on the tree, but he put in the fairway. Is there any shot he cant hit?
Rory Sabatini has one incredible putt that might have out done Tigers shot. I thought it has no shot, but as usual I was wrong.
Jim Nantz is a great commenter. Vern Lungquist has so much passion he brings to the Masters, the both of them make is so much fun to watch the Masters.
Not sure who it was telling Nick Faldo what it takes to win the Masters, but that was to funny to me. Telling a 3 time Masters champion on what it takes to win, I am sure he really needed your advice.
Andy North is great on ESPN, he might be the best golf report on TV.

And you Champs, the MSU Spartans!! Once again the Q is wrong

Well for the second year in the row the BC Eagles lost in the national championship game. Leading 1-0 with 10 minutes to play BC had the title in the sights. But then MSU ties up the game. Just as it looked the game was going into overtime, MSU scored with 18.9 seconds left to take a 2-1 lead, and an empty netter with 1.2 seconds left would give the Spartans a well deserved national championship. This was the first tile since 1986 for MSU, and their third overall. Most people gave MSU little chance of winning this game, but as they had shown all tourney long this team had incredible heart and never gave up. They fought hard since the opening face off. Came out and controlled the tempo of the game. BC would swing the momentum back there way and would take the lead on a power play goal by Brook Bradford, though on the scoring sheet is has Brian Boyle but it was Bradford I think. Once again the Spartans would not die, and would tie the game at the 9:53 mark with a power play goal of their own when Tim Kennedy would get one by Corey Schneider. The next 9 minuets would be back and forth hockey, with the Spartans showing a new life and played more physical hockey then BC. BC would have a golden opportunities with about 5 minutes left, but Jeff Lerg would make a great save on Boyle, that would turn the swing to MSU for good. Then came the goal heard around the college hockey world. Justin Abedelkader would fight hard in front of the net with two BC players around him he would get a rebound and put it over Schneider’s shoulder to give the Spartans the title. The Spartans played a more physical game then BC all game long and showed they were not intimidated.
So once again I was wrong in my predications. But this time I was happy that I was. I am very happy for MSU. I did want them to win. I will admit it I am very happy to see BC lose, I usually don’t root against a team, but for some reason do against BC. This was their second straight lost in the finals, first time since 1963-64 that a team lost in back to back championship game. All the hype was how this was going to be BC year, they were the hottest team in the country and MSU backed there way into the tourney, they were 4th in so called weak CCHA, they did not play well down the stretch. But the Spartans showed they had a little more heart then the Eagles and they wanted it more. The played till the finals whistle. BC overall might have had more talent, but MSU had more heart and overall were the better team when it counted, and that is how you become a champion. Its not thinking you are going to win, its going out and playing to win. Congratulations to the Spartans on well earned championship, the first by a CCHA team since 1998 when Michigan beat BC.

And then there were two! How wrong could Q be?

Well here we are at the NCAA hockey championship game. The game pegs the red hot Boston College Eagles and the high octane of the Michigan State Spartans. As anyone who might have read my blog about the semi-finals know how wrong I was with my predication, I had Maine and North Dakota in the championship game. So how could I be so wrong?
Well Michigan State showed a lot of heart in their 4-2 victory over Maine. Maine went up very quickly 2-0, the first goal coming only 23 seconds into the first. But Michigan State did not collapse and hung in the game and fought back to tie it up by the end of the second, and showed a lot of poise in the third to get the 2 goals to win the game. Lerg played really big in net, after letting 2 goals on the first 4 shots he faced. Michigan State was also very discipline and only gave the highly effective Maine power play only 2 opportunities. Have to give the coach for Maine, Tim Whitehead, a lot of credit. His mother in law was killed in a crash early Thursday morning hours before the game. Whitehead did not tell the team till after the game. It must have been very extremely difficult for Whitehead to coach this game. My thoughts go out to Whitehead and his family. They might the Cats biggest rival, but have always had respect for Whitehead, he comes off as a classy guy and good coach.
BC pulled out an exciting 6-4 victory this game was back forth, and really exploded in the last 10 minutes of the 3rd. North Dakota tied up the game 3-3 in the third with a hard fought short handed goal. BC would take the 4-3 lead with a power play goal just minutes later. BC would go up by 2 with a empty net goal, that the North Dakota D fell asleep and let the BC player walk right in for the empty netter. North Dakota would get with in 1 with 16 seconds left, but another empty netter sealed it for BC. This game was pretty evenly played with both teams having swings of momentum. BC did play a little harder in the third and showed some grit.
So what can we expect tonight. Well if you read some what most people are saying this should be a BC victory. I would say on paper this should be a BC victory, they are playing the best hockey in the country. They are playing a well balanced game. There offense is playing hard and all 4 lines are contributing, their defense is playing tough and physical an Schneider is playing his best in net. So how can the Spartans pull this out? Well it will start in net. Lerg will have to come up big in net again. He needs to play a solid 60 minutes, and not let up early goals like he did to Maine. MSU doesn't have as many big names as BC, but they have depth to match BC. I rank their top 2 lines against BC as pretty much even. BC would have the advantage in the 3rd and 4th line. On defense all the attention has gone to BC with Brian Boyle making the switch to the blue line. But I would say MSU has a little more depth back there, and there forwards play some good defense to. MSU will have to come out and play the same discipline hockey they played against Maine. They need to limit the number of power plays they give BC. I have seen BC take some dumb penalties in the tourney. MSU will need to take advantage of those chances they are given. MSU will have to play there best game of the year to pull this out, it is possible but the odds are long.
So can I be as wrong as I was in the semi's? Truth be told I hope so. I know I say I see BC winning, but I will be rooting for MSU. There are 59 division 1 hockey teams in the NCAA, and I could see myself rooting for 58 of them, but cant root for BC. BC fans come as the most arrogant fans I have met. They act all high and mighty over every other fan. They act like they win the championship every year, not 2 since 1949. If there team loses in the national championship they fought hard and should be commended. But if another team gets there and losses they chocked. I have also had the lovely experience of sitting near BC fans at the regionals in Manchester and the Hockey east championships in Boston. Was near some kids rooting for BC, I am all for rooting for your team, but the things coming out these kids mouth, well lets say my father would smack me today for saying. Of course there fathers were right there with them laughing and encouraging them. Showed how little class they had. Those are not isolated experience I have had with BC fans over the years, just the two most recent. So makes it so I can root for BC. Which is a shame, I think Jerry York is on the classiest men I have seen behind the coach.. I really do admire him for what he has done behind the bench and his fight against cancer. Was impressed that at UNH last home game of the regular season he had his team out there for the senior recognition and he applauded for every UNH player. But there fans leave a lot to desire. Also sick of hearing just how great there players are from the Boston media, would think there were no other college hockey players in New England. Well here is hoping for a good national championship game, its been a long season. October can not come fast enough for me. So one last note from Q about the game
GO SPARTANS!!!!!

Q’s Frozen Four Preview- All roads lead to St. Louis!

Well Thursday is a bitter sweet day in the life of Q. It is the national semi finals for the NCAA hockey tournament, AKA the Frozen Four. It is sweet because its the best of the best of college hockey, but its bitter because UNH is no there. Having been to two frozen fours myself I have to say that it is a great experience, hopefully will get to a couple more in my life time. It is much better when your team is there though. The first one I was at was in 2003 in Buffalo, UNH made it to the championship game that year losing to Minnesota. The next year made it down the frozen four in Boston. That year Denver beat Maine in a great 1-0 game. Highly recommend going to one if you get the chance. So on to this years frozen four in St. Louis. The first game is at 4, that has Maine against Michigan State, that is followed at 8 with Boston College against North Dakota.
So what can we expect out of the first game, Maine vs. Michigan State (MSU)? Well these are two pretty even teams. Both were the #3 seeds in there region, Maine is 23-14-2,MSU is 24-13-3. Offensively Maine averages 3.36 goals per game, while MSU averages 3.25 a game, on defense MSU gives up 2.48 goals a game compared to 2.44 a game. On the special teams Maine power play clicks at 25.7% rate #1 in the country, while MSU is at 19.1%, on the penalty kill MSU kills 87.0% of the power plays they give up, while Maine kills 85.6%. Going by the stats this should be a tight even game, but then again what else can you expect from a frozen four game? So what will win this game for either team? Well both have two solid goalies both let up 1 goal a game in the regionals. Looking at the goalies you see two totally different goalies, in Maine have the 6'7" Ben Bishop while in MSU have the 5'6" Jeff Lerg. But both play some great goal when needed. The key to me is who's forwards step up more. Maine has more depth with 4 solid lines, but Michigan State has 2 really good lines. If MSU can get some solid play from there back 2 lines they have an excellent shot at winning. Maine has the experience that might over take MSU. I watched both teams in the regionals, and for MSU Tim Kennedy really impressed me, he could be a key for an MSU win. While for Maine I don't think it's a secret that Michel Leveille is the go to guy for the Blackbears. MSU needs to stay out of the box and keep Maine's power play off the ice. Maine needs to do what they did in the regionals, and clear the puck out of in front of the net for Bishop. They really impressed me in that aspect of the game. So how does this game end up? Well not usually one for predictions, but since UNH is out I feel like I can go out on a limb here. I am going to say we see a 3-2 game with Maine coming out on top, Maine's experience pays off in the third and Leveille is the difference. ..:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O />
So that brings us the night cap, BC vs. North Dakota. BC is probably the hottest team in the country right now winning their last 12 games, and is almost everyone's choice to take the title. So how do I see this going. Well first lets look at the state. BC is 28-11-1, North Dakota is 24-13-5. On offense BC averages 3.38 goals a game, while ND averages 3.55 goals a game. On defense BC gives up 2.17 goals a game while ND gives up 2.62 goals a game. In the power play BC is at a 19.5% while ND is at 23.8%. On the penalty kill BC is killing penalties at a 88.6%, while BC is at 83.3%. In net all of the spot light has been on Corey Schneider of BC. He is a first round draft pick, and has won 14 out of his last 15 starts with 1.54 goals against in that time, while putting up an eye opening .948 save percentage. For North Dakota it is the little talked about Philippe Lamoureux, since Christmas he gone 17-3-4 with a 2.13 goals against while putting up .924 save percentage, though Schneider gets all the attention Lamoureaux has shown he can pull his own weight. Schneider does have the experience with playing the national championship game last year. On offense ND has 4 lines that can score at anytime, BC has 2 very solid lines. They have not missed a beat since Brian Boyle moved back to defense. On the blue line BC has been extremely well, only allowing 1 goal in the regionals. ND did allow 10 goals, but to probably the 2 best offenses in the nation, Michigan and Minnesota. All the talk about BC in the last month is about Boyles move to D, but do not over look ND as they have a deep defense. Specail teams will be interesting as ND #3 power play goes against BC #4 penalty kill. So how does this game come out? Well I have only seen 2 ND game in the last couple of weeks, but they were 2 really good games against Minnesota. I have seen quite a bit of BC over the last month. I have heard almost all of the expert pick BC. But I have to say I see this game going to North Dakota in a 5-3 game, with an empty netter to seal the deal. So how does North Dakota win this game? Well I see them coming out and scoring the first goal. I have seen BC come out flat in the first 10 or so minutes in the last couple of games. In the regionals St. Lawrence controlled the first 10 minutes, and against Miami-Ohio, Miami controlled the first period and the beginning of the second. Once they got the first goal in both of the games the controlled the tempo and the game. It has been awhile since BC has had to come from behind and play a tight game. I think ND is a bigger team and will wear down the small forwards of BC. In the Miami game I saw Boyle take a few stupid penalties. I think that could come back to hurt BC.
So there we have my picks, and I see a Maine-North Dakota championship game on Saturday a night. A rematch October when Maine beat ND twice in North Dakota. I will do a preview before the championship game, and will see if I am right about my picks Thursday. With my track record with predications, don't be surprised to see a MSU-BC final.

Q’s Tuesday night.

I am sitting here watching the movie “Man on Fire” and have to say it has to one of my favorite films, Denzel Washington is just incredible in it. His character is such a distant man who show he has a big heart, and in the ends trades his life for the child he was in protecting. When that child gets kidnapped he does some of the most horrific things to people to find her, but you find what he does just. I have to say this is one of Washington’s best film, and that is saying a lot. I think he is probably the best actor acting today. His Oscar for “Training Day” was very well earned, as he was superb in that to.

Now the movie is over, and realizing there is nothing on Tuesday nights. I refuse to watch American Karoke, I mean American Idol. So watching some of the Bruins game, only 3 more games left in their season. Its been one long season as a B’s fan, but I do think the future is bright and next year will see a playoff spot.

Well flipping channels between whistles and see Discover is running the best of season 2 of the “ Deadliest Catch” that just got me to change the channel. Tonight is the premier of season 3, and I have been looking forward to it since I found out the new season was starting. I became hooked on this show last fall when they did a marathon of it. Watch it every time I see it on. These guys are really men who risk their life every time they go out. To me this is real reality TV. Have to admire these guys. This has become one my favorite shows. Highly recommend it to anyone!!
Keep meaning to write something about the Frozen Four, probably will tomorrow night.

Mr. Smith goes to Bridgeport!

Well Trevor Smith has decided to take his puck and leave the Wildcats. Smith signed on with the NY Islanders, and assigned to Bridgeport of the AHL. First of all want to wish Trevor the best of luck in the future and hope he makes NHL dream come true. Have to say I was a little surprised when I heard the new this morning. I though Trevor would come back for his junior year, well I thought he should of. I feel he would be in a much better position with a strong junior year. I am sure he would have gotten more offers after next year then this year. Smith did have a strong first half of the year, but then trailed off in the second half when the Cats started to play tougher competition. I think Smith would have had a great junior year, another year with Fornataro and Pollastrone. They would have been the #1 line next year, which would have made them the #1 power play unit. Smith would have had the chance to show that he can lead a team. I am sure the money was very tempting for Smith, and really can’t blame him. But I think he would have been better served playing another year. Plus he would have added depth for the Cats. With him, Radja and JVR next year they would have had 3 scores. Well here is hoping Radja and Regan stay for another year. Do have to say I find it out that Garth Snow was the one to sign Smith, the former Umaine goalie still sticking to the Cats!
DAM YOU GARTH SNOW!!!!

The confession of a Blue Jays fan in New England.

Well today is opening day in baseball, and as some of you might know I am a Toronto Blue Jays fan living in New England. I have been a Blue Jays fan for as long as I can remember. Not really sure how or why I became a Jays fan just have always been. This dates back to the early 80’s when they were really bad. I wasn’t someone who jumped on the bandwagon when they won their 2 World Series titles in the 90’s. But living in New England it is so hard to get any information about the Blue Jays, as everything is all about the Red Sox, and the Yankees. You would think that there were no other teams in the American League East. If my memory does serve me correct it was the Blue Jays who did finish ahead of the Red Sox last year. But yet everyone in New England just dismisses the Jays as a team that could contend with the almighty Red Sox. Growing up in New England I have heard this all my life, and yet I have seen my team win 2 World Series, compared to 1 for the Red Sox. But I do not let these Red Sox fans get me down. I have cheered on my team through the bad time, and the good times. There have been plenty of bad time, leading 3 games to 1 over KC in the 1985 ALCS and losing, losing the lead in the AL east the last week of the season to the Tigers. But there has been some really good times to, of course the 2 World Series titles. I would not trade my team alliance for anyone else. I tell people it is easy to be a Red Sox fan in New England, but try being a fan of team in New England that very few other people are, now that take a try baseball fan.
So what are my thoughts of the 07 Jays? Well if healthy I think they can contend in the AL East and for the AL Wild Card. The Jays finished last year with 87 wins, I see if thinks go right they can win 90-95 games this year. If the pitching staff stays healthy they should pick up more wins. Last year AJ Burnett and Roy Halliday both missed time. If those two stay healthy I think they are the best 1-2 punch in the AL, yes better then the Yankees and Red Sox. After that the starting pitching staff is a little shaky. In the # 3 spot is Gustav Chacin. He has been up and down, does need to be more consistent, but if healthy he can put up 12-16 wins. The #4 is going to Tomo Okha, who is coming off injuries, but has looked really good in spring. I think he will be a solid #4 for the Jays. Right now the #5 is going to Josh Towers, he will be on a very short leash this year. His spot might be filled by Victor Zambrano, who is coming of Tommy John surgery. When signed to a minor league deal over the winter he was expected to be part of the team to late May/ early June. But Zambrano did pitch well over the spring and challenged for a starting spot. He will start the year in the bullpen, but if any of the last 3 guys in the rotation falter I would expect Zambrano to step into their spot. The bullpen is anchored by BJ Ryan, one of the better closer in the AL. The set up man is going to be Jason Frasor, who should be pretty solid in that role. Scott Downs will be the lefty specialist coming out of the pen. The pen does have the potential to be solid, but it is a question mark in the middle of the pen. The beginning of the pitching staff and the end of the bullpen are very strong, but the back end of the rotation and the beginning of the bullpen are the biggest question marks for this team. The Jays line up is very solid, I think they can compete with any lineup in the AL. Greg Zaun is a very dependable catcher, he wont put up big numbers but he is not a liability either. Lyle Overybay is a very underrated first baseman, who will drive in the guys ahead of him. He wont hit a ton of home runs, but will hit a ton of doubles. The middle of the infield is solid defensively with Aaron Hill at 2nd base and Royce Clayton at Shortstop. Claytons bat will be the weakest in the line up, but he should make up for it with his glove. Hill is young but should have dependable bat, does need to work a little on defense, but should be better them last year when he went from 2nd to SS and back 2nd. This year he knows were he will be playing and that should be a plus for him. At third we have the power hitter Troy Glaus. Glaus will have his share of strike outs this year, but has a bat that can hit 30-40 homers. He has a surprisingly good glove, played some SS last year, but do have to worry about his knees has had some problems with the last few years. The starting outfield is young, but good. It is lead by probably the most underrated players in baseball, Vernon Wells. The Jays did sing Wells to an extension over the winter, which I am very happy about. Wells is hitting the prime of his career and the next 5 years should he should be one of the best players in baseball. The corner outfielders are Alex Rios, who had a great first of the year last year before he got hurt. He should be a good lead off hitter for the Jays. Reed Johnson is also young but solid. He wont put up huge numbers, but will hit for average and be a good 6 or 7 hitter. The Jays went out and signed Frank Thomas to DH, I really liked this signing, thought they should have done it last year. The DH spot was a very weak spot for the Jays last year, with the addition of Thomas is has become a strength.
So there you have your 2007 Toronto Blue Jays. If healthy one of the top teams in the AL. If not, well questionable. They won 87 games last year with injuries to Halliday, Burnett and Rios. So why cant they win 90 this year? The addition of Thomas will be a plus for the offense. The subtraction of Ted Lilly will hurt, someone will have to step up in the back end of the rotation, I see Okha or Zambrano to be that person. Here is hoping for a successful season north of the border!!

Shawn Vinz Update!!

Well as irony would have it, the day I post my thoughts on the class of 07, the last one signs a pro contract, the one and only Shawn Vinz sings on with the Charlotte Checkers of the ECHL. The man who did score until his senior year with that cats scored on his very first shift as a pro. Congratulation Shawn and best of luck, here is hoping the scoring touches stay and you stay, I know what my favorite ECHL team is now!!
GO CHECKERS!!!!