Last night the Sabres played the Canadiens in a little rink in Canada. Apart from the fact they lost to a team The Hockey News said should be number 1 in the East, it means one thing... one really awesome thing.
HOCKEY IS BACK!!!!
This is a great time. Hockey is gaining respect again and partly because the league got off their asses and started doing something about it. No two line passing rule, no obstruction, letting players score goals for once.
Though this means the Florida Panthers will have the Amerks as a farm club. This is sad since the Sabres and the Amerks could not agree to terms for a what should have been an affiliation for life. Instead most fans might not want anything from the Amerks since the affiliation for Buffalo is no longer a local connection but rather Portland, Maine. I'm hear to tell you guys to keep supporting the Amerks.
Hockey has always had a special tie with this city. RIT went from a dominant D-III program to a full fledged D-I team in the playoffs most years. Don Cherry came here and coached strong Amerks teams with Gerry Cheevers in net. Don Stevens on the mic... timeless. The Old War Memorial and Blue Cross Arena have been the staple for years. Even local kids getting a chance to play in the NHL now, Marty Reasoner, Brian Gionta and Ryan Callahan are showing that believe it or not New York state is developing a lot of strong American pro hockey players. If this continues we could challenge Minnesota and Michigan.
The thing is the players may have contracts with the Panthers and if we don't support the Amerks and go to game (which are fun, might I add), then what kind of attitude are we showing them. We still have professional hockey in Rochester. This isn't an IHL team or an ECHL team. No, this is a bona fide AHL team, no franchise that has been ingrained in the games history.
Buy tickets for the home opener Oct 10th. I assure you, I will be there.
Sal Says: Go Amerks! Also, bring back Sean Mc Morrow.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
The Streak is OVAH!!! NOMMMMMAAAAARRRR!!!
Oh yes Lady's and Gent's this is a glorious day. The Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians last night, extending a Rays-Sox lead in the AL East. What this means is yes, say it with me people, THE YANKEES WILL MISS THE PLAYOFFS!
Say it slowly, the New York Yankees... who have the highest payroll, the dumbest fans and the worst hometown announcing crew in the league, will miss the 2008 Major League Baseball Postseason for the first time since 1993. That was when crappy players like Kevin Maas and Steve Sax were on the Yankees. Oh don't forget about the 1980's when they had really crappy players and young players they would unload in the 1990's.
The last game at Yankee Stadium was in September which is bittersweet. It's sad because it is the most important park in baseball history. However and for those who were on Deadspin last week, it was home to the biggest bunch of idiot fans who honestly thought the sun only rose each day for a Yankees win. In a related note, the sun didn't rise for the Yankees during the 2004 Playoffs through the present day.
At Sal's 401K, again, located in Rochester, NY, we argued all year long that teams such as Tampa Bay could not exist as the perennial cellar dwellar (save that now for Baltimore). That team is good and showed it when key players went down.
Also, they had to realize that as much as most people hate Red Sox fans, they are right that the Red Sox are wicked hard! These guys play to win. The Yankees are really a bunch of hired fielders with huge salaries and do not deliver in the clutch and play around a miserable pitching staff complete with wash ups, has beens and never will be's. Also they have a few good players here and there.
Let it be told that we might actually see Yankee fans realize that New York is not home to the best baseball. Los Angeles is making a strong case now along with Boston and Tampa. Oh let's not forget Chicago.
Sal Says: Nomar Garciaparra is still a member of the Red Sox in his eyes. Of course that does mean missing 30 games and swinging on every first pitch.
Say it slowly, the New York Yankees... who have the highest payroll, the dumbest fans and the worst hometown announcing crew in the league, will miss the 2008 Major League Baseball Postseason for the first time since 1993. That was when crappy players like Kevin Maas and Steve Sax were on the Yankees. Oh don't forget about the 1980's when they had really crappy players and young players they would unload in the 1990's.
The last game at Yankee Stadium was in September which is bittersweet. It's sad because it is the most important park in baseball history. However and for those who were on Deadspin last week, it was home to the biggest bunch of idiot fans who honestly thought the sun only rose each day for a Yankees win. In a related note, the sun didn't rise for the Yankees during the 2004 Playoffs through the present day.
At Sal's 401K, again, located in Rochester, NY, we argued all year long that teams such as Tampa Bay could not exist as the perennial cellar dwellar (save that now for Baltimore). That team is good and showed it when key players went down.
Also, they had to realize that as much as most people hate Red Sox fans, they are right that the Red Sox are wicked hard! These guys play to win. The Yankees are really a bunch of hired fielders with huge salaries and do not deliver in the clutch and play around a miserable pitching staff complete with wash ups, has beens and never will be's. Also they have a few good players here and there.
Let it be told that we might actually see Yankee fans realize that New York is not home to the best baseball. Los Angeles is making a strong case now along with Boston and Tampa. Oh let's not forget Chicago.
Sal Says: Nomar Garciaparra is still a member of the Red Sox in his eyes. Of course that does mean missing 30 games and swinging on every first pitch.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Instant Replay Needs Out
Jay Cutler rolls left. He turns to throw up field and loses the handle on the ball. it’s a fumble! Chargers recover, they can kneel down and win the game! Right?
OK the coach threw the red flag, but it was a fumble, it was obvious, right? Wrong.
Referee Ed Hochuli trots out and announces that its an incomplete pass. 10 million people went, WHAT!!?? Broncos then throw a touchdown, go for two and win the game.
Each and every week of NFL football, I become more and more baffled at why there is still instant replay challenges.
After some shady refereeing in the late 90s, the NFL finally decided to put in instant replay in 1999. At the time, I agreed with the move. But after seeing it put into practice, well, the grass wasn’t greener on the other side.
What I didn’t anticipate was that the game would come to a ten minute complete stop after a red flag was tossed.
The ref has to walk over to the coach, have an intimate conversation about the play, their kids school play and maybe even how to fix that leaky kitchen sink. 3 minutes elapse.
Then, the ref walks slowly over to a video booth, stands for 3 more minutes watching all 263 camera angles, talks to the people, “Upstairs,” and finally comes to a decision.
All the while, we the viewer are watching commercials. You know what makes me enjoy a football game? Commercials.
We already get commercials after an extra point, then again after the kickoff, then again half way through the drive for a, “TV timeout.”
But seeing the same boring Family Guy punch line 43 times isn’t the only problem.
There are hardly ever any challenges that get overturned. Hall of Fame Coach Joe Gibbs had only 7% of his challenges overturned. The league on average only gets 2 out of every 10 overturned.
So eight of out ten times, we’re wasting our time.
If it wasn’t already confusing enough, there are plays that are, “Not reviewable.”
You can review if a receivers foot was in bounds, but you can’t review if he was forced out. Sometimes you can review if a player was down by contact, sometimes you can’t. And the one I never understood, you can’t review if a field goal was good or not. WHY?
Coaches have also gotten rather clever when it comes to replay. They know that if they take a timeout to stop a teams momentum, it will be 30 seconds and back to it. If they challenge a play, it will be the aforementioned 10 minute delay.
Its kind of like the way college basketball coaches use timeouts, only ten times the length and there is a possibility of getting a flunky referee to overturn the play.
Major League Baseball has just started introducing instant replay, only on home runs so far, but who knows where that will lead. For baseball fans, this should be a (excuse the pun) a red flag.
OK the coach threw the red flag, but it was a fumble, it was obvious, right? Wrong.
Referee Ed Hochuli trots out and announces that its an incomplete pass. 10 million people went, WHAT!!?? Broncos then throw a touchdown, go for two and win the game.
Each and every week of NFL football, I become more and more baffled at why there is still instant replay challenges.
After some shady refereeing in the late 90s, the NFL finally decided to put in instant replay in 1999. At the time, I agreed with the move. But after seeing it put into practice, well, the grass wasn’t greener on the other side.
What I didn’t anticipate was that the game would come to a ten minute complete stop after a red flag was tossed.
The ref has to walk over to the coach, have an intimate conversation about the play, their kids school play and maybe even how to fix that leaky kitchen sink. 3 minutes elapse.
Then, the ref walks slowly over to a video booth, stands for 3 more minutes watching all 263 camera angles, talks to the people, “Upstairs,” and finally comes to a decision.
All the while, we the viewer are watching commercials. You know what makes me enjoy a football game? Commercials.
We already get commercials after an extra point, then again after the kickoff, then again half way through the drive for a, “TV timeout.”
But seeing the same boring Family Guy punch line 43 times isn’t the only problem.
There are hardly ever any challenges that get overturned. Hall of Fame Coach Joe Gibbs had only 7% of his challenges overturned. The league on average only gets 2 out of every 10 overturned.
So eight of out ten times, we’re wasting our time.
If it wasn’t already confusing enough, there are plays that are, “Not reviewable.”
You can review if a receivers foot was in bounds, but you can’t review if he was forced out. Sometimes you can review if a player was down by contact, sometimes you can’t. And the one I never understood, you can’t review if a field goal was good or not. WHY?
Coaches have also gotten rather clever when it comes to replay. They know that if they take a timeout to stop a teams momentum, it will be 30 seconds and back to it. If they challenge a play, it will be the aforementioned 10 minute delay.
Its kind of like the way college basketball coaches use timeouts, only ten times the length and there is a possibility of getting a flunky referee to overturn the play.
Major League Baseball has just started introducing instant replay, only on home runs so far, but who knows where that will lead. For baseball fans, this should be a (excuse the pun) a red flag.
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