betterREDthandead

So despite the lack of any maize and blue in Bridgeport last night, my brother and I decided to use our tickets to the game anyway, which turned out to be Vermont/Air Force. Doozy of a game. We stayed for the whole thing, which turned out to be most of two overtimes, and I didn't even know how it ended until this morning when I read the recap. They spent 12 minutes reviewing what we thought was a pileup in front of the net, only all of us in the section were positive it didn't go in because we were sitting right at that end of the ice. 12 minutes is an eternity for goal reviews. Never seen one even close to that long. What Mr. Obvious the announcer (who waited through the whole fourth intermission to tell us as the players were lined up for the 2OT faceoff that the goal review from the end of 1OT was in fact not a goal) neglected to tell us was that the review was of a play from two minutes prior to the pileup, in which the puck went through the netting and not wide of the goal like everyone thought. Vermont goal and game, 3-2.

If I know anything about the NHL's tiebreaker system (and it's possible I don't) a Chicago loss tonight to San Jose would clinch us our 8th division title in a row.

f*** piss s*** damn ass cock ***** dick Barbara Streisand. It's not so much that I'm pissed Michigan lost. It's that I'm pissed that Michigan lost and I have tickets for tomorrow's Michigan game in Bridgeport which is now tomorrow's (Ch)Air Force game in Bridgeport and this was going to be the first Michigan hockey game I'd ever seen and now it's not.

Joykiller

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

Something different in round 4 than in round 1, that's what I think.

Sad news: George Kell has passed away. I still miss his TV broadcasts of Tigers games. He and Kaline were a terrific pair.

Perhaps this is the new logo? http://www.detnews.com/article/20090324/SP...+new+Lions+logo For those too lazy to click a link.....or in case that one disappears - it's basically the old logo with detail added so the lion is no longer a simple silhouette: Concept is a good one. Needs a few tweaks, though.

Negotiating tactics. It's what agents do, because agents are dicks.

Gosh, drawing conclusions based on the results of one regular season game? Nobody around here would do that. Never.

I dunno. If the Wings went to build a new arena, Monica Conyers (or Trailer Trash Monica as I like to call her) would probably torpedo it unless all the workers building it "looked like her" and the city got five voting reps in the Wings' front office. *****. Anyway, the team does not need a new arena but the city does. Badly. I would like to see Cobo expanded into the space the Joe currently sits on because with a highway, gated condos, the river, and Cobo bordering that plot of land, it's 100% useless for anything else. That's if anyone in this area can agree on how to do it. Ilitch owns a ton of land behind the Fox and that'd make a perfect spot for a new arena. The city doesn't really have a great deal on the Joe and they could probably get a better one with a new arena. Construction jobs, etc. Use some land that's currently not particularly habitable at night for something good. And expand Cobo to a size worthy of a major city's convention center. Win all around, as long as you keep City Council out of the picture.

wah wah wah somebody didn't bend over and kiss Pavel Datsyuk's butt wah wah wah not everyone thinks he's the best ever wah wah wah

Took a lot of losses in the first round, but none that were going any further than that. So I'm still in OK shape. Picked two upsets and one missed by a point (Utah State) and the other pulled it out in OT (Wisconsin.) Not a good year to be a 5 seed - then again, it never is. Found something out about Michigan's game - in the 32 matchups historically between 2 seeds and 10 seeds, the 2 seed is only 17-15. That's basically a toss-up.

Pitt is my champion. I'd have been pissed if they'd lost. In any other scenario I'd have been all over ETSU.

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

My bracket day sucked. BUT I DON'T CARE WOOHOO! (that part of my bracket worked out pretty OK )

Dude, I Want Stanley won us a Cup. Whatever the slogan is I hope it's lame as hell. Lame slogans win. Every time I've actually liked a slogan, we lose. Therefore I propose something in the vein of: "Red Wings Fight Strong Win YEAH!!!"

Co-sign the above. The NHL's criteria are fine. The only thing I would add is a certain number of games, maybe 12, in the playoffs leading up to the Finals. Say somebody missed four months of the regular season, came back for the playoffs, and got hurt again for the Finals. I don't doubt they'd allow a petition in that case, but I think anyone who plays a majority of non-Finals playoff games is clearly a part of the team and should be automatic enough.

Good for Marty. Nice to see Roy no longer holds the record. Of course, he'll probably also sweep up Terry Sawchuk's shutout record, but oh well....Brodeur's a helluva goalie and deserves recognition for it. And speaking of which. If this were any other sport ESPN would have it splashed all over the front page in big LOOK AT ME graphics. Instead it's relegated to just below the lead story, which is an event ESPN just happens to cover. Which is more than some of the other sites can say - Fox Sports has it as just another headline. I hate to say it because it feels like whoring out to ESPN but fact is, if ESPN doesn't call it important, it's not important to a lot of people. If ESPN were broadcasting hockey you bet your ass Brodeur might actually bump Brett Favre off the front page for an evening.

They're right next to all the "State Championship Runner-Up" football banners at State

Hear hear. I think the cap era offsets the addition of the OTL loss when we're talking about sustained excellence. Our streak is nine. You know what the next-longest active streak is? Three, for San Jose. The Sharks, Pens, and Ducks were all working on streaks of two before the season (eight for us) and the Ducks are mathematically eliminated from extending their streak and Pittsburgh would need a miracle. It's not that 100 points is so impressive, but it sure is awesome to sustain the excellence for such a long time. Next up in the streaks category I want the division title streak (only one to tie after this season) and the playoff streak (more than a decade down the road, but doable.) Why stop at 9?

Given my showing over the past two months, that's not much of a feat.

Trevor Booker of Clemson is going to be an interesting matchup for DeShawn Sims, and by interesting I mean "dammit." Booker can step out and hit the three better than Sims can, and he was runner-up for ACC DPOY. I think if Michigan's going to win, Sims will have to at best cancel out Booker and it'll be absolutely mandatory that Manny have a good game and win the battle against K.C. Rivers. Clemson likes to shoot the three almost as much as Michigan does so in a sense it's a matchup of two very similar teams. I think Clemson clearly has more talent, but they always fold like laundry at the end of the season after a hot start.

I thought I read that they won't be doing anything til next year. The NFL requires a lot of lead time on new uniforms. I've seen that one some other places. Just concept work, nothing official.

So the Lions peddled off Cory Redding for Julian Peterson. You know, I know Peterson's a Pro Bowler and all that, but honestly my main reaction is to be glad they're continuing to get rid of the bums on last year's team. The faster they can shed the failures, the better. Getting a warm body back in return is a bonus. BTW, I will not be happy when I see what they've done to the Honolulu blue. Colors don't make a team better. Players make a team better. It'll be just like when the Pistons switched to teal - like rooting for a team that's not yours. Getting rid of the black jerseys is a big plus, but I don't like that this is shaping up to be the last season in proper Lions colors.