betterREDthandead

Jeez, it's barely 24 hours into free agency and already it's panic button time? OMG OMG WE HAVENT DONE NETHING!!!11! Kenny is one guy. He can't negotiate four contracts at once. Let's be happy we've upgraded the defense by swapping out Schneider for Rafalski, and let's also try and remember there's still a whole offseason to go, OK?

You should easily be able to do 3 miles in 30 minutes. I'm still about 30 pounds overweight (at least that's how I consider myself) and I can do 3.5 in 30 minutes. If you're a cross country runner, and it sounds like you're not exactly carrying around a lot of weight, even if you haven't run in a few months, I'd think you could beat that without much trouble.

Four-game series against the Rangers coming up at Comerica. Pity this series isn't in Texas (even though the Tigs have been doing a lot of traveling lately) because the Rangers have some absolutely brutal pitching and our bats have been merciless this month. Check out these probables: Kameron Loe (3-6, 6.34) vs. Jeremy Bonderman (8-0, 4.01) Vicente Padilla (3-8, 6.69) vs. Nate Robertson (4-6, 5.07) Kevin Millwood (4-6, 7.31) vs. Kenny Rogers (1-0, 0.00) Jamey Wright (1-1, 7.43) vs. Justin Verlander (9-2, 2.78) That's not even fair. Loe's the best of the bunch, or at least, his numbers are the least sucky, and he got ripped last time he faced the Tigers. And when did Millwood start to suck so bad? He used to be a good pitcher once upon a time. How do the Rangers even stay remotely competitive with a rotation full of guys giving up 6 and 7 runs a game? Those are C.J. Nitkowski numbers. By the way, kudos to Durbin for handling his switch to the bullpen with class. Lot of guys might have bitched about it.

I must be doing something right. Latest update: 195.9 - May 11 194.5 - May 23 190.7 - June 8 186.2 - June 25 Four and a half pounds in less than three weeks....and I really have been working out a little less often and eating a little more than when I started (need to reverse that trend!) I wonder if once you start working out, the body just starts to get on a little bit of a roll and you lose weight easier. So I've lost about 10 pounds in a little over seven weeks (since I started my working out on May 4). Not bad, I think. Puts me ahead of pace to reach my goal of 177 pounds by September 20. Also, my waist is at 38.5 inches, which is an inch and a half less than when I started.

As much as I hate to see Maroth go, his departure did improve the rotation. How about Nate Robertson and Andrew Miller as #4 and #5 starters? Is that even fair to the other teams? Don't they have rules against that sort of thing? And Durbin's presence in the bullpen is a huge boost where it's sorely needed. Just wait til 2009. Verlander, Bonderman, and Miller will be like Maddux/Smoltz/Glavine used to be, only several years younger and throwing harder. By that time we could be looking at Rick Porcello in Toledo, Robertson should still be in the rotation barring a trade, and someone like Jurrjens or Tata could step in to fill the last spot. Good starting pitching is the hardest thing in baseball to find. Dombrowski's found gold mines of it.

Those "cubes" are hurricane warning flags. They're a little bit harder on the eyes than just a simple stripe, but I've always dug the subtle reference. No, it looks like what it's supposed to: The flag of Ohio in the shape of a C.

I'm softening my stance somewhat on the Capitals' look. Overall - the striping, the color scheme - it looks good. The "caPiTaLs" word mark HAS to go. It looks better on the white jersey than the red, but just forget the "roots" of the franchise, it was always an ugly look to begin with. That shoulder patch is cool as hell, with the eagle forming a W and the Capitol Building silhouette. Make that the primary logo, PLEASE. If they did that, the Capitals would look DAMN SHARP. The Blue Jackets' look is a winner, too. Finally, they no longer have a minor league logo. That's a jersey that has a place in the NHL and doesn't look like it belongs in the ECHL. And the shoulder patch is good too. So far, the jersey revolution going on is a big improvement all around. Bruins have a good one going too. Excellent shoulder patch. I don't like that the Wild ditched the green jersey, but oh well.

Ugh, I hate PTBNL trades. That's a letdown and a half. Well, I'm glad Maroth landed in a place where he's needed. I really think every Tigers fan owes Maroth a big round of applause and a thank-you for being the consummate professional. Class act all around

OK, let me rephrase: Ottawa would have been looked at like fools had they kept the first pick and taken anybody besides Daigle. When at least two other franchises offer you a big fat compensation package in exchange for the chance to pick Daigle, that basically only reinforces the belief that Daigle really is worth it. Frankly, I think every team in the league would have taken Daigle with the first pick. Sidney Crosby is the first prospect since Daigle to have that kind of guaranteed-number-one hype - you just can't call it bad drafting to take him. Daigle not panning out was bad luck, not bad scouting.

It's time to let go of Stevie as a player. In fact it was that time a year ago when Stevie announced his retirement. It's over. I'd have hated for Stevie to do that "I'm retiring wait no I'm not wait maybe I should wait no I love the game but I want to spend time with my family" bulls*** that Brett Favre and Roger Clemens are pulling. Attention whores. And no, I don't think the Wings would have even gotten past Calgary with Stevie in the lineup, and the reason is precisely this attitude: That was half the problem against Edmonton. The team was waiting for that Stevie magic, because hell, he's Stevie, and his body just didn't have it anymore. With Yzerman out, it finally made the rest of the team realize they'd have to step it up themselves and not wait for Stevie to pull off another inspiring play or rah-rah speech. Yzerman did absolutely everything he could for this team on the ice in 20-some years, and we should thank him for that....but we should also thank him for knowing when to hang it up and not making a sideshow of himself.

Well, the Bruins and the Leafs have made a few changes, but all the Leafs have done is tweak the leaf and change the striping a little, and the Bruins have done the same only less so. Pretty sure all Chicago ever did is to introduce a black third jersey, which thankfully is going away. As for the Sens, yes, the red wavy jersey they have sucks, as does the logo they wear on it. The Capitals need to forget they ever had "roots", because their roots suck. I think it's kind of ironic you don't like the new Ducks jerseys because they only have a wordmark and no logo but like the Caps' going back to a (hideously ugly) wordmark. At least there's fewer stars dotting the landscap on this one, and the Caps haven't given any indication of going with white pants like they did once upon a time. That shoulder patch is cool. As I said before: Make the shoulder patch the logo on front, and they'd have a winner. Regarding the Canucks, I could definitely do without the yellow, but that flying skate logo they used is the best they've had in their history. Bringing back that look would be awesome. Finally, the Bruins: Glad they kept the horizontal stripe on the bottom. Looks good. Shoulder patch is a winner too. But hell, any redesign that got rid of the poopstain bear would have been a huge plus.

Can we count the NHL itself on this list? Blackhawks have got to be #1 on the list, followed by the Bruins. I don't think there are two more hated owners in hockey than Wirtz and Jacobs. I think the Leafs go on the list too. Too much complacency in Toronto, they're getting "Lions syndrome" where they know the fans still care and always will so why bother. The Coyotes and Panthers round out the list. They've been bad for too long and are spinning their wheels. EDIT: And the Islanders. Somehow, though, they're having more success than these other teams, even though they have a very, um, unorthodox way of doing things. But yeah.....they're kind of a clown outfit the way Wang runs things.

No, it won't. How often do you see a player dive to get a penalty shot? Breakaways are rare - guys who have one, their eyes light up and they have a one-track mind: GOAL. Not "hey, there's a guy behind me and he's kind of trying to poke at the puck, lemme just go down and try and draw a penalty shot and forget about the breakaway." Penalty shots are worse than breakaways anyway. The goalie doesn't have to worry about the rebound. Again, no. How stupid-obvious would it be if a guy jaked it after a crummy little interference penalty? How many interference penalties are chintzy as hell anyway where there isn't the slightest possibility of getting hurt? And how often do you see guys get hooked, cross-checked, obstructed, or otherwise draw a penalty and play hurt to get the other guy a major? It NEVER happens. Blah blah blah. There's dots on the ice in places other than by the goalies. I don't see anything at all wrong with any of these rule changes, other than the penalty shot one which probably will have zero impact on the game at all and was a waste of the committee's time. EDIT: "blah blah blah" came off like it was directed at the poster. It's my commentary on the rules changes. Big fat deal, is my overall take on these. They may as well have said "screw the rules meeting this year" and gone fishing.

I'd be disappointed to see Maroth go.....the guy is one of my top favorite Tigers after the way he handled himself in '03. But that writing has been on the wall for some time now. Hopefully he lands somewhere where he gets the chance to have a secure job as an every-fifth-day starter. I like the idea of this Macay McBride being able to come in for an inning. He seems dependable - good numbers. Ledezma still has a lot of potential and can be dominating at times, but overall he's sort of a mixed bag.

I think part of the reason Daigle was left off was because he was unanimously going to be #1 overall. Daigle was the 100%, can't-miss, no-s***, it-boy that year. Had Ottawa not drafted him, the entire hockey media world would have gone OMG WTF R THEY DOIN?????? and generally gone apes*** over the decision. The Sens basically had no choice but to take him, so it's more bad luck that he didn't pan out rather than poor drafting.

Easy. When you realize that the stratospherically high price of their playoff tickets means that the team made money hand over fist regardless of whether the arena sold out or not, the choice becomes easy. The team you refer to also sells far and away more merchandise than any other NHL team (probably more than many of them put together). If I have this right, the Wings are still the only team that you can walk into the store and grab the jersey of any player you want. The brand and logo are internationally known, making them quite possibly the most famous and most recognizable hockey team on the entire planet. (Despite what those in Toronto and Montreal might think - the problem is they just don't have enough Swedes but in all seriousness, Lidstrom and Hasek are the best two players from their respective countries - not to mention that Fedorov was once considered the best Russian on the ice - so the Wings have a following internationally that no other team can claim. That's worth a LOT of money for the league, both directly and indirectly.) "Fan support" is not the actual point, the goal is MONEY, and though the arena might have had a few more empty seats than it should, money is the reason you need fan support. If there were a source of money that paid a team a billion dollars each year to play in Bozeman, Montana, you can bet there'd be a team in Bozeman, even if it had a paid attendance of four. And you can bet this: If the Wings had a playoff ticket price comparable to, say, Nashville's, the arena would be jam-packed, but the Wings wouldn't be as profitable. Which is the whole point.

Am I the only one who HATES that new Caps jersey? They're AWFUL. I always hated the old-style jersey too, I think the best look they ever had was when they played the Wings in the '98 Finals and had the blue jersey with the black stripe. This new red jersey SUCKS. I don't even think those white stripes underneath the arms are the same height. If they were to use that shoulder logo as the primary logo and forget they ever had "caPiTaLs" in stupid ugly lettering on the front, I'd dig it.

I'm well aware of the circumstances of the merger between the Barons and North Stars. The details are totally unimportant. The fact is that the Barons disappeared and the North Stars stayed put, thus making it a contraction of the league. By any other name it's still a contraction. If you want to get technical, the league never did "contract" in the sense we're talking about here because the old Senators and the Maroons simply folded (as well as the Americans and any other team from the O6 era that doesn't exist any more.)

Uh, what? First off, the Rockies weren't contracted, they moved to New Jersey and became the Devils. The only modern-era team ever to be contracted was the Cleveland Barons. And the idea of the Rockies hoisting the Cup is laughable, as "Rocky Hockey" was synonymous with "crap." If I had to pick four teams to be contracted, I'd go with the Panthers, Capitals, Coyotes, and Predators. But then again, I think the idea of contraction is silly, so that's nothing but pure hypothetics. And actually, I think Nashville ought to stay put, at least for now, I only picked them because I can't justify picking any other team. (I also have this thing against getting rid of a team that's won a Cup.) I'd relocate rather than contract - I think Houston, Kansas City, Seattle, or Milwaukee would be better hockey markets than Miami, Washington, and Phoenix. Because, the fact of the matter is, the costs of contraction are fantastically enormous (far more than most people realize) and would heavily outweigh any benefits.

No worries, that's all we need. As many LGWers will be happy to tell you, Hudler, Lilja, and a pick will buy you anything from Shane Doan to the London Bridge

Why do we want Adam Dunn? If I recall correctly last year's big problem at the plate was striking out too much. Dunn strikes out like it's his job. That's like saying the Wings need to get tougher so let's trade for Sergei Samsonov. By the way, I don't think Roman Colon is getting called up any time soon.

I don't suppose somebody would be willing to TiVo it for me or otherwise record it onto a DVD? I would, of course, be willing to compensate for the trouble, especially if you took the oh-so-excellent step of mailing it out to where I am. A ROY and a no-no so far in Verlander's first two seasons. Is this guy gonna be a special pitcher or what?

I wouldn't mind expansion to 32 teams. 32 is a good size. The TV ratings are so low because, c'mon. Anaheim-Ottawa? A fairly obscure Canadian team and a California team. As I recall, ratings for the Angels-Giants World Series a few years back were lousy too, because people across the country tend to rebel against watching California teams not named the Lakers. Actually, them too. I'd like to see an NHL team in Houston. It's got underrated potential for success. Hockey doesn't have to be a niche sport in the USA, that's defeatist talk and it's ridiculous. The NHL was a boom sport in the early '90s. I have no idea what specific thing we can point to that changed that, but if the NHL acts like a minor league, it'll get treated like one. No thanks. Diminish the NHL, you diminish the Wings, and no Wings fan ought to think like that.

FACT. I don't care if Colorado doesn't still have all the old characters. The very logo is hateful to me. The fact that the Avs didn't make the playoffs this year brought me much joy. The games don't have the old flair they used to, but beating the Avs is still better than beating anyone else.

Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa! Nothing at all? Come on now....that's pretty unfair. Inge has got a decent bat and some pop. Not a top of the order guy - he's exactly the kind of guy 29 other teams wish they could have to bat 8th or 9th. But he's there making sure that 9th spot in the order isn't a throwaway spot like most other teams in the league. And he's an excellent gloveman - he has his share of errors but most of those are the kind of errors that don't get awarded to lesser defensive players because they don't have the ability Inge does to even get to those balls in the first place. Come on now - Infante can't carry Inge's water. Oh yeah....Porcello. Here's Keith Law's appraisal: I am thinking he's probably not quite on the level of Verlander, but he's only a high schooler, where Verlander and Miller were straight out of college, so there's plenty of development time ahead.