betterREDthandead

Argh - it's so much harder to work out ever since I got back from that deployment. When the ship's at sea there's nothing better to do, so, may as well go to the gym. My weight's stayed pretty much the same ever since September. But....I did a 1.5 mile run that the Navy makes us do every so often, and I ran a 10:46. Much better than the roughly 12:30 I did last time.

Oh, it could definitely be worse than Fire on Ice. What makes me wonder is, what is the thought process that leads one to take a look at the team having some of the worst attendance issues in the league and thinking "we have GOT to have their marketing guy."

These days there isn't much to separate one hockey arena from another. I can't think of any that make me go "man, that would be a sweet place to watch a game."

I think that's the number one reason right there. No need to really overanalyze. The lack of a transfer agreement is one thing, but the main thing is that Russian teams are now paying more money than they used to - and certainly paying a lot more than teams in Sweden or the Czech Republic pay. $1 million goes much farther in Russia than it does in the US - it's probably better pay than $2 million here.

Just wanted to point out that UVA beat Arizona AT Arizona. That is all

Wow, such pessimism. I definitely don't think the Wings are in trouble when Nick retires. There's a lot of depth on defense in the system. In fact I think defensive depth is the #1 strength of the system. And on offense, they have Hank and Pavel wrapped up for years, and they're developing a nice gritty underside with guys like Kopecky, Ellis, Franzen, etc. If Hudler and/or Flip develop into a consistent second scoring threat, they'll be in fantastic shape. Given that over half the league's teams make the playoffs, I think it will be years before the Wings fail to.

Man do I miss the days when Michigan's defense had guys named Steele, Irons, and Sword lining up in the front seven.

COMPLETELY uncalled for. And not funny. These kinds of posts WILL earn suspensions if you keep them up.

Friday: NY Islanders @ New Jersey Atlanta @ Carolina Montreal @ Buffalo Washington @ Tampa Bay Columbus @ St Louis Colorado @ Dallas Minnesota @ Vancouver Saturday: Phoenix @ Los Angeles Ottawa @ Toronto Boston @ Montreal New Jersey @ Philadelphia Florida @ Carolina Chicago @ Detroit NY Rangers @ Pittsburgh St Louis @ Nashville Calgary @ Edmonton Anaheim @ San Jose Sunday: Detroit @ Columbus Colorado @ Minnesota Calgary @ Vancouver

Pitchers and catchers report (BEST FOUR WORDS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE) tomorrow, so the offseason isn't technically over til then, but whatever. I'm not waiting. I'm ready for another Tigers season. It's baseball time! WHEEEEEE!!!! To kick things off, Da Meat Hook will be in Washington's camp this year; he just yesterday (or today) signed a minor league deal with the Nats. I hope he makes their team. I think this is what the 25-man will look like coming out of camp this year: C - Pudge Rodriguez 1B - Sean Casey 2B - Placido Polanco 3B - Brandon Inge SS - Carlos Guillen LF - Craig Monroe CF - Curtis Granderson RF - Magglio Ordonez DH - Gary Sheffield Bench - Omar Infante Bench - Marcus Thames Bench - Vance Wilson Bench - Neifi Perez SP - Justin Verlander SP - Jeremy Bonderman SP - Mike Maroth SP - Nate Robertson SP - Kenny Rogers RP - Jose Mesa RP - Joel Zumaya RP - Todd Jones RP - Wilfredo Ledezma RP - Eduardo Campusano RP - Fernando Rodney RP - Jason Grilli I dunno where that leaves Zach Miner, unfortunately, but Campusano is a Rule 5'er, so unless he's a complete bomb, he'll stay. Anyway Miner isn't competing with Campusano, since they throw from opposite sides.

Per the Freep, the Tigers are talking to the agent (same guy for both) of Octavio Dotel and Matt Herges. Couple of basic standard relievers-in-a-box but not terrible. Maybe a bit disturbing that the Dotel page is sponsored by the Oakland Committee to Impeach Octavio Dotel.

Meh. All-Star jerseys are usually awful. The fact that these are not totally crappy is a bonus. I'd hate to see them on a regular team, but they're better than most All-Star jerseys.

Neat little tidbit I just read. Kansas, obviously, has not been 10-0 in ages. Over a century in fact. 1899 was the last time. And who was their coach? Gentleman by the name of Fielding H. Yost.

I didn't edit your post. I edited mine What kind of ship, you ask? Big ugly gray one. Frigate. Which is Navy-speak for "useless missile-sponge." And not actually that big. Maybe not ugly either, but definitely gray.

Noon. ABC as well. Just my luck I'll be in f%$*ing Canada during the game! My ship is getting underway and we have a port visit to Victoria BC this weekend. Not my idea. Thank God for TiVo.

Well, let's look at the teams that have won the championship since 1997 and how they've all done in that time. Probably a pretty solid list of the elite programs in the country. Michigan: Record since 1997 - 104-31 Bowls since 1997 - Every year. 4 Rose, 1 Orange, 3 Citrus, 1 O*****k, 1 Alamo. Nebraska: Record since 1997 - 99-40 Bowls since 1997 - Missed one year. 1 Orange, 1 Rose, 1 Fiesta, 3 Alamo, 1 Holiday, 1 Cotton, 1 Independence. Tennessee: Record since 1997 - 101-25 Bowls since 1997 - Missed one year. 1 Orange, 2 Fiesta, 2 Cotton, 1 Citrus, 2 Peach, 1 O*****k Florida State: Record since 1997 - 102-35 Bowls since 1997 - Every year. 3 Sugar, 1 Fiesta, 3 Orange, 2 Gator, 1 E*****d Oklahoma: Record since 1997 - 104-34 Bowls since 1997 - Missed two years. 1 Fiesta, 2 Orange, 1 Sugar, 1 Rose, 1 Cotton, 1 Holiday, 1 Independence Miami: Record since 1997 - 99-39 Bowls since 1997 - Missed one year. 1 Sugar, 1 Rose, 1 Fiesta, 1 Orange, 2 Peach, 1 Gator, 1 M****n PC, 1 M** C*******s Ohio State: Record since 1997 - 107-29 Bowls since 1997 - Missed one year. 1 BCS Title Game, 3 Fiesta, 2 Sugar, 1 Alamo, 2 O*****k LSU: Record since 1997 - 95-39 Bowls since 1997 - Missed two years. 3 Sugar, 2 Peach, 1 Cotton, 1 C*****l O**, 1 Independence USC: Record since 1997 - 98-37 Bowls since 1997 - Missed three years. 2 Orange, 3 Rose, 1 Sun, 1 Las Vegas Texas: Record since 1997 - 106-31 Bowls since 1997 - Missed one year. 2 Rose, 1 Alamo, 3 Holiday, 3 Cotton Florida: Record since 1997 - 103-35 Bowls since 1997 - Every year. 1 BCS Title Game, 1 Sugar, 2 Orange, 2 Citrus, 3 O*****k, 1 Peach Of those teams, only Michigan, FSU, and Florida have not failed to make a bowl. Only OSU and Texas have better records in that time. In particular, OU, USC, and LSU had some absolutely dreadful years. Michigan is not going through a crisis like FSU is, like Miami is, like Nebraska is. 4 Rose Bowls in 10 years, plus an Orange win for good measure. "O NOEZ WE LOSE TO MANY ROSE BOWLZ" is a really weak reason to jump on the Fire The Coach bandwagon, if you ask me, and that's why I haven't had any patience for the Fire Lloyd movement. Michigan is always in the hunt. No getting blown out of the last game ever in your old home stadium. No idiotic coach-firings after 9-3 seasons. No hyperventilating over quarterback and OC controversies. No Ron Zook. I'll take it.

No, a closer should be a guy who gets hitters out. How they get out is totally irrelevant. And by the way, guess who has more saves the past three years than Mariano Rivera, Billy Wagner, or Francisco Cordero?

Hey now, how 'bout a little credit.....where do you think the avy came from?

Then again, you have Eastern Michigan, where the Huron tribe would prefer that the name Hurons be restored to the school. So what do we do when the political correctness machine ignores the very people that are supposedly insulted by this? Should we, perhaps, get rid of the name Lake Huron for a more suitable, less offensive name? How about Lake Happy Times?

Carr deserves every ounce of praise that'll be heaped on him when he retires and more. Ask Nebraska, or Alabama, or Texas A&M, or Florida State, or Miami, how hard it is to keep an elite program elite. Carr's done that. Not to mention he's run a classy, upstanding program, and earned the loyalty of everyone who's played for him. How many coaches can say that? Now let's send him out in style! Beat Ohio State!

Excellent day for Dave Dombrowski. Filled the closer job and the left field slot all in one day. I had a hunch Todd might re-sign when I read that he was insisting on a one-year deal instead of two, because he didn't feel like he could guarantee his employers two years. Whether 2008 is his last year or not, I hope Todd Jones retires a Tiger. If you put together the all-time Tigers bullpen, he's the closer for sure.

The Tigers are about to deal for Cubs outfielder Jacque Jones, says the Freep. They'd send Omar Infante Chicago's way. Sounds like a quality deal to me. Jones is a dependable .280 hitter. He only hit 5 homers last year, but he averaged 21 HR's and 73 RBI's between 2000 and 2006. Good steady bat - about a .040 upgrade over Marcus Thames. His contract expires after this coming season so it sounds like Dombrowski's found a nice stopgap between now and the arrival of Cameron Maybin. There are still rumblings that the Tigers are going after Dontrelle Willis, but I don't see it happening. I like the lineup more and more..... CF - Curtis Granderson 2B - Placido Polanco RF - Magglio Ordonez DH - Gary Sheffield 1B - Carlos Guillen SS - Edgar Renteria LF - Jacque Jones C - Pudge Rodriguez 3B - Brandon Inge Guaranteed, all of those guys except Inge hit over .270. And all but Pudge and Polanco should be good for at least 15 homers.

Starstruck, hell.....I get that way around completely-not-famous people, let alone the stars. A few years ago I went to a Norfolk Admirals (the AHL team) luncheon where I had the chance to talk to a few players. When I met Shawn Thornton, I asked the question he probably hears every effin' day - "Are you related to Joe?" - and when he responded no, I said, "Oh. Uh....Can you sign this anyway?" Dumbass. He was cool about it, which was good for me because he's a big fella and currently makes his living beating people up for the Bruins. I'd probably revert to babbling moron status if I ever ran into any of the true greats.

Dude has always been a bit of a slow learner. I seem to remember reports that the team was frustrated with his progress or lack thereof when he was playing juniors, and he certainly parked his ass in GR for a while. There's a reason he made it this far though. It sounds like he's responding to Babcock's message.

Good start to the season for U-M. Way early to judge the results, but it would seem there at least hasn't been a drop-off from last year, since they're not struggling against these teams that they should beat. Georgetown will be an excellent gauge of progress.