betterREDthandead

Boston College only just made the jump to the ACC a couple years ago, I really doubt they'd want to be on the move again. Plus, the ACC successfully raided the Big East for three premier schools.....no doubt they have the ability to fight off any advances from other conferences. BC ain't happening.

You have got to be kidding me. The league bent over backwards to make sure this was done the right way. They listened to all the input from the players, who said the early models (such as what Nike outfits international teams with) were too tight and restrictive and uncomfortable. So they tested several ideas on the players and let the players tell them what works. They listened to the teams, who didn't want a single template imposed on them. So Reebok came up with over a dozen different cuts of jersey to accomodate the different designs. We should be thanking the league daily that they don't have uniforms designed by Nike, which looked TERRIBLE at the Olympics. Nike has a tendency to impose designs on teams, usually ones that look awful. I wouldn't be surprised if the University of Michigan's switch to adidas was partly due to Nike's unilateral decision to make Michigan wear that stupid piping on the football jersey. But no. I'm sure it's easier just to lob cannonballs in Bettman's direction just to feel better about something you don't like

They're weird. Not an improvement. I wish the Panthers would stop wearing that navy blue because it just doesn't look good....the red unis they used to have were actually pretty sharp.

No, I guarantee you this: Under the Kindl scenario you mention, the entire board would sing the same tune with one voice: WTF IS HOLLAND DOING???? I'd join in too (though I definitely wouldn't mind the extra draft picks). Because let's face it - this is at least partially caused by short-sightedness on Burke's part. He was clearly blindsided by this. And it's not like there weren't signs of this coming - the Oilers already tried to sign Vanek to a huge contract. And Burke didn't stop complaining when he mentioned the huge raise Penner got. He also whined about Lowe not telling him personally (as if he has a responsibility to) and Lowe spoiling his precious BC HOF day (poor baby). Finally, Burke didn't really prove anyone wrong by winning a Cup, because few people ever questioned his abilities as a GM. What I do question is why is the league's former Grand Poobah of discipline building teams, first in Vancouver and then in Anaheim, that play dirty and constantly run afoul of the league's rules?

Ah.....that does cause problems. All the more reason for the Big Ten to make Notre Dame an offer they can't refuse

The #3 and #4 picks signed with their teams already, so that should help establish the market price for Johnson. I think he'll be in shortly. So, who is drinking the optimism Kool-Aid so far? I can't help myself, I'm sipping a little bit from the punch bowl myself. Main reason I'm liking it so far is because the offensive line finally looks improved. They still need a new center, Raiola's still a chump as always, but Woody supposedly lost weight, and Foster and Mulitalo can't both be total busts. If the O-line can even do a halfway job, it'll be a huge improvement over last year.

I'd love for the Big Ten to add Notre Dame. It's the only one that makes perfect sense.....except from Notre Dame's view. But if the Big Ten is thinking expansion, you have to believe they'll knock on Notre Dame's door. I've heard it said in the past that Iowa State or Missouri would be possible expansion choices. It'd be tough to raid the Big 12, but I bet if the Big 12 could shed Iowa State and add TCU, they'd do it. ISU wouldn't do much for TV money though. I wouldn't mind seeing the Big Ten raid the MAC instead and pick up Miami of Ohio. That's a school with a ton of underrated football tradition. Though, it's another small private school and would do nothing for the desired TV money. I think the most likely candidate to lose a school to the Big Ten would be the Big East. Pittsburgh makes sense geographically and is in a big city. It also wouldn't surprise me to see Cincinnati as a candidate. But I think the best non-Fighting Irish choice is......Louisville. New state, as mentioned by Delany as a priority? Check. Big city with lots of TV revenue coming? Check. The Big Ten could horn in on SEC territory without actually taking on the SEC for a team. Louisville makes great sense geographically, it's just a short bus ride from IU, Purdue, and OSU. Big Ten coaches would have an inroad to recruit the South. The Cardinals have an excellent program in both football and basketball and a lucrative rivalry with UK. Louisville has all the ingredients.

City Council voted to allow the mayor's plan to go forward to demolish the stadium....but they voted against actually transferring control to the agency that will be in charge. Typical Council. It's really best for the city that the stadium be torn down. I've got the same cherished memories that everyone else has of the stadium, but even if they left the building almost completely intact, there isn't any development they could do to it that would preserve those memories the way they "should" be. Nothing is going to bring back the peanut vendors on the bridge across 75 hollering "Peanuts! One dollar here, two dollars on the other side!" I'm optimistic they'll preserve the playing field, and maybe even a few sections of the seats. If they keep the field, it will be a wonderful silver lining. I'll never sit in the upper deck and be that close to the action again, but if they tear it down and keep the field, everyone will have the chance to play ball and run the bases in the footsteps of all the American League greats. When they sell off the memorabilia, I'll do whatever it takes to get my hands on a seat. It'll be one of the saddest days of my life to see the old shrine in pieces, but I want to see whatever's best for the city of Detroit, and I think the best thing is to let go of the stadium and allow the necessary development to take place.

I think some of you are missing the point. Anaheim's Cup isn't tainted. The Nashville sale isn't a "scandal" - it's only a scandal to the more snobbish fans who think as many teams should be crammed into Canada as possible. It's a messy situation, but not a scandal. I'm pretty shocked that the Cincinnati Reds 1919 World Series victory isn't on there - the Black Sox scandal. That's the ultimate, the absolute unmatched pinnacle of tainted achievements. Sure, it was through no fault of the Reds own, but it's still tainted. After all, Strahan's tainted sack record isn't his fault either. I do agree that the Hull goal against the Sabres is a good candidate, but the fact is the Stars were up 3-2 in the series anyway, and the game was tied at that point....who can say whether the Stars wouldn't have scored later or simply won Game 7? Dallas was clearly the best team in the league that year and that was the very middle of Western Conference dominance.....the Sabres were kind of upstart. Can't believe there's not a single football reference. How about the "Music City Miracle"? Also known as the "Illegal Forward Pass On A Kickoff Return." And it's not of major significance, since it is, after all, the Alamo Bowl, but Nebraska's victory over Michigan a couple years ago should be considered tainted......when the entire Nebraska sideline rushes the field as play continues before time runs out, that's a tainted victory. I've always felt their half-championship in 1997 should be considered tainted as well, since they beat Missouri that season on a play where one receiver deliberately kicked the ball to keep it alive for another to catch. It'll be interesting to see if there are any NBA achievements (the Heat '06 championship?) tainted by the ref scandal.

Burke ******* so much it's hard to tell just exactly what he bitched about when. I've never had any respect for Burke anyway. He ran a dirty team in Vancouver and he's turning Anaheim into just the same thing. Maybe if the stupid tool hadn't handcuffed his team by backing them up against the salary cap, he'd have room to re-sign Penner. Tough. Burke can shove it.

6,000 is decent for a minor league team. I wouldn't expect the minors to routinely fill up a major league arena. I used to go to Norfolk Admirals games when I lived there and they probably averaged about half that, and that's with routine promotions like discounts for large military groups and families and such. And that was enough to keep the team running fairly strong. I'd definitely call Houston the #1 choice for any future expansion or moved team. It's too big a city for the NHL not to have a presence, and from what others have said, they have a very respectable youth hockey program there. I thought we had squashed this Hartford talk once and for all, but I guess not. Cities I'd rather see an NHL team in, instead of Nashville? Not many. I'm rarely in favor of moving existing teams. I think by virtue of having an established team with established fans (yes, Nashville has fans), you are "more deserving" than a city without a team. And I can also think of a few teams that ought to move instead of the Predators.

The profanity is getting a bit out of hand. Certain members need to tone it down. Swearing is allowed to get your point across, and nobody (at least no mods or admin) would object to quoting the profane passage in question. (Just don't make the quote too long, because the book is trademarked material.) Complaining about being asked to stop using the word "***" is not going to win you any battles. And by the way, Blood Feud is fantastic. If you don't get it because you're worried about an Av bias just because of the writer, you're missing out. No bias here.

Well, all I've ever seen from you is foul-mouthed goonery, no matter how well liked you are by people that actually know you. Should I judge you based on that? According to you: yes.

It was already explained. Twice now, Balsillie has tried to buy a team and set them up in Hamilton before he even had a deal. Somebody said it earlier: The owners are essentially a private club. Piss off the owners (and their voice of policy, Bettman) and you will not get into the club. Balsillie is a spoiled *******. I'm thinking he must also be a liar, because the Penguins were only to be sold to someone who would keep the team in Pittsburgh, and he would have had to pay lip service to that idea despite obviously wanting to move them to Hamilton. Then he took it one step further with the Predators by actually acting if the team was already in Canada. The explanation to this is far more complex than "hurrrrrrr buttmanz a doosh *** him!" Bettman is not a unilateral dictator, he's the voice of policy for the 30 owners of the league. And if 29 other owners step up and say, "Look, we don't want Balsillie to own an NHL team," then Bettman will say just that. You can bet, for example, there's heavy pressure from the owners of the Leafs, and some pressure from the Sabres, Wings, and Senators too, NOT to allow a team in Hamilton.

Totally disagree....we Wings fans saw Murphy at the later stagers of his career when he could barely skate any more, so he came across as specialized (but still very good at what he could do.) But Murphy was one of the league's elite defensemen in his prime. Murphy was a Hall of Fame lock even before he put on the Wheel, and I don't think you can say the same yet about Rafalski.

You do get less energy from fat....the body prefers sugars and carbs as a source of energy, it's more efficient. It's why we were taught to "carb up" the night before a swim meet in high school....eat a big spaghetti dinner or a lot of rice or something, and then bring (believe it or not) pretzels or a candy bar as a pre-meet or pre-race snack. If I had to swim the 500 (longest distance race for high schoolers) munching pretzels on the bus all the way up to about 20 minutes before the actual race really did make all the difference in those late laps. I don't really buy into the Atkins diet unless you've got a LOT of extra fat to burn. Then you'll notice a difference from it. But some people swear by it for life, and they don't need to. Out here in Asia, you get rice and/or noodles with EVERY meal, and you just don't see fat people either. If you're dozens of pounds overweight, the Atkins or South Beach or whatever is probably a good way to get rid of some of that fat, but if you're only about 20-25 pounds over, I think doing cardio and adding muscle to burn the fat would be a better way to go.

This is quite possibly the worst thing that could happen to the NBA - or any league. If it's confined to one ref, it's probably not the doomsday scenario that people are making it out to be....one ref on a crew of three can't significantly affect the outcome of a season. But when you open the door like this, the questions are going to descend on every single ref they employ. Frankly, the league is a victim here - there will likely be calls for the NBA to "clean up its act" but how could they have known? I do think it will be a fascinating story to watch and see how it unfolds. One thing I think is extremely interesting is watching games or reading about games where there's a hidden backstory that doesn't show on the surface. Fixed games are the very epitome of that. One game that was mentioned in the article was a Heat-Knicks game in February. Has all the trappings of a fixed game. The Knicks won and shot 39 free throws to the Heat's 8. The refs called the Heat for a full five technical fouls - three for defensive three-seconds and one each on Pat Riley and an assistant. Miami was hit with 25 fouls, New York, 14. Yet no Miami player fouled out - spread out the foul love so it doesn't look like you're trying to foul out Shaq. High-profile rivalry. Two of the country's most glamorous cities. The fix was on. Like I said - gonna be a fun story. Donaghy's a scumbag - no doubt about that. He cheated everyone. But I'm gonna grab some popcorn and watch what unfolds. I think there will be a lot of sanctimonious talk, which is unfortunate, because what happens now is that every fan (especially those whose teams got in the way of the Heat during their championship run) now has a chance to complain and is now allowed to believe that their team, be it the Pistons, Mavs, or whoever else, was cheated.

Seems like the Pens fans hate 'em. I can see why - that is a BUTT-TON of gold. I think the Pens took a step backwards. I liked the look they had last year.

I have exactly the reaction the Preds don't need if they're going to generate the kind of buzz they need to stay in Nashville: Meh. Don't care for the wackity-ass color patterns, but then, I didn't care for the wackity-ass color patterns on the old ones either. The old ones were better, when it all comes down to it, but on TV, nobody's gonna see much difference.

I think Thorne is terrific. One of the best announcers there is. But I don't know whether he'd be available to do hockey for ESPN - at least, maybe not playoff hockey, because he's currently doing local TV for the Baltimore Orioles. I think Thorne is terrific. One of the best announcers there is. But I don't know whether he'd be available to do hockey for ESPN - at least, maybe not playoff hockey, because he's currently doing local TV for the Baltimore Orioles.

I hope this is true as well. I kind of doubt that ESPN is "desperate" to get hockey back, but maybe they'll bring back NHL2Night if they do....always a fun show. And assuming the NHL stays on Vs. and NBC as well, it'll be just that much more exposure. Sorry, Melrose-haters, but watching Barry Melrose on TV is a tiny price to pay for the exposure and revenue that ESPN would bring.

I don't think Rodney will be quite as effective as last year. Nor Zumaya - coming off injuries like they are is rough. But then, I don't think Rodney, if actually healthy, will pitch anywhere near as poorly as he did to start the season. The bullpen's a point of concern, but I think the rotation and lineup, if intact, is good enough to carry the Tigers to at least the ALCS.

I think the results of the summer league are pretty excellent this year. According to the Freep, when talking about Stuckey the one thing that keeps running through the minds of the Pistons brass is, "Better than we thought." Afflalo gave the Pistons something to think about too. And I'm looking forward to the day when Samb weighs about 250 lbs. I do still think Tiago Splitter would have been more beneficial to the Pistons instead of Afflalo, given the razor-thin options at center and the overflow of guards (especially with how Stuckey is playing), but IIRC he's staying another year overseas anyway.

Nitpick: I don't doubt that the Wings probably have the best winning percentage over any span starting around the early '90s continuing until today, but it's a statistical impossibility for one team to be above .500 and 29 teams to be below. By definition, roughly half the teams should be above and half below.

I like how you take a flip comment by a blogger (NOT a journalist) and turn it into how the American media wants to destroy the NHL. Anyway, back to the original point of the thread: I say, SWEET. Anyone notice that the Wings topped the Yankees, Cowboys, and Lakers in approval rating? Also, the Pistons and Michigan football also garnered a mention in their respective sports. Fact is, the Red Wings are not just America's hockey team, but the world's. Apologies to Peter Forsberg and Jaromir Jagr, but we have the world's pre-eminent Swedish player and the world's pre-eminent Czech player suiting up for our team. And once upon a time, the world's pre-eminent Russian player, too. On this site alone we've got fans from Sweden, England, Scotland, Finland, the Netherlands, Hungary, Italy, Russia, and Australia and that's just what I can think of off the top of my head. Maybe Poland? Switzerland? Now, it's worth noting that this blogger is based out of Flint. So maybe, some bias. But still. I'd call it just another nugget of proof that Detroit is the epicenter of the sports world in America. Best sports fans, best sports town, period. Not Boston, not Dallas, not New York, not Los Angeles, not Chicago. Detroit.