Here we go again

 football, Sports  No Responses »
Sep 112011
 


In just a couple more hours the Lions 2011 season is going to start down in Tampa. Expectations for the Lions are higher than they’ve been in almost twenty years I’d say. Matthew “If Healthy” Stafford, and the rest of the offense has the football media quivering in anticipation. Ndamukong Suh and the others guys on the defensive front have opposing quarterbacks shaking in “fear.” And the secondary has wide receivers across the league licking their chops in anticipation. Clearly there’s still some work to be done, but the NFL is funny, it doesn’t allow for a team to gradually rebuild. The arc of players’ careers is generally such that you need everyone to peak at the same time in order to truly succeed. Unlike baseball where you can accrue the assets over the course of time football is much more immediate. The crucial thing for the Lions to realize is that they have to strike now.

And of even greater importance they cannot buy into any of their hype. Yes, they ended the season on the longest active winning streak in the league. Yes, they went undefeated in the preseason. But none of that matters. Every year there’s one team that all the experts anoint as the up and coming hot stuff team, and more often than not that team flames out horribly. I can all to easily see the Lions falling into that trap.

But then again maybe not, maybe they make it through the season injury free (or as injury free as any team in the NFL can make it). Maybe Stafford does develop into the quarterback, everyone hopes he’ll be, but the contrarian experts say he’s not. And maybe, just maybe, the Lions will actually be relevant as the season winds down. It’s asking a lot, but there’s hope around the team now, and hopefully that hope won’t get immediately squashed. Either way, I’ll be watching.

The Reports of the Season’s Demise

 baseball, Sports  No Responses »
Apr 252011
 

First 12 games: #RedSox starters 2-7, 6.71. Last nine: 7-1, 0.88”

@PeteAbe

That right there is really all you need to know about how the second half of April has gone for the Red Sox. In fact, the good folks at the Sons of Sam Horn have determined that the past nine starts are the best stretch since the introduction of the DH. Considering how putrid much of the starting rotation looked the first two times through, to have them come and throw darts like this is highly encouraging. Dice-K alone has been unbelievable his past two starts, the best consecutive starts in his career. I can’t help shake the feeling that he will get torched in his next time out; I am more confident that it is because every pitcher gets beaten up and not because he is terrible. However, if he and Beckett can pitch even three quarters as effectively as they have their past few starts, the Sox are going to win a lot of games.

Which isn’t to say that one historically great stretch is going to carry through for the entire season, but as long as they can play on a generally winning path they will be in the hunt towards the end of the season. Which is all I can ask for.

The Hero of Boston

 baseball, Sports  No Responses »
Apr 182011
 

Shamelessly stolen from Saturday afternoon’s game thread over at Sons of Sam Horn. Even more appropriate now considering the day Lowrie had.

Jed!
The Man they call Jed!

Oh, He robbed from the pitcher
and he added to the score.
Stood up to the man
and he gave him what for.
Our love for him now
ain’t hard to explain.
The hero of Boston
the man they call Jed.

Our Jed saw the fans’ backs breakin’.
He saw the fans’ lament.
And he saw the Opponents takin’
every dollar and leavin’ five cents.
So he said: “You can’t do that to my people.”
said “You can’t crush them under your heel.”
So Jed strapped on his hat
and in 5 seconds flat
stole everythin’ the pitcher had to steal.

Oh, He robbed from the rich
and he gave to the poor.
Stood up to the man
and he gave him what for.
Our love for him now
ain’t hard to explain.
The hero of Boston
the man they call Jed.

Now here is what separates heroes
from common folk like you and I.
The man they call Jed
he turned ’round his plane
and let that money hit sky.

He dropped it onto our houses
he dropped it into our yards.
The man they called Jed
he stole away our pain
and headed out for the stars!

(Here we go!)

He robbed from the rich
and he gave to the poor.
Stood up to the man
and he gave him what for.
Our love for him now
ain’t hard to explain.
The hero of Boston
the man they call Jed…

Not so Hot Wings

 hockey, Sports  No Responses »
Apr 042011
 

Over the weekend the Red Wings clinched their tenth consecutive 100 point season, ninth Central division title in ten years, and 20th consecutive trip to the playoffs — the active record in North American professional team sports. Despite all those proud achievements I remain profoundly skeptical about the team’s chances in the upcoming playoffs.

Continue reading »

The “Wizard” Did It

 hockey, Sports  No Responses »
Dec 282010
 

Last night Chris Osgood won his 400th game. That makes him only the tenth player in the history of the league to hit that milestone. I won’t lie, I’ve always had a soft spot for Ozzie. I’ve followed his career from the very beginning when he was a promising solution to the perpetual mediocrity in goal that was a staple of the 1980’s Red Wings. Through all the up and downs of his career: scoring a goal, blowing the 1994 playoffs, letting in that shot from the redline against the Stars in 1998, following that game up with a Game Seven shutout, etc, I’ve remained a fan for the man wearing the throwback helmet and cage combo, and who only now, at nearly forty, looks like he’s old enough to drink.

The real question though, is will reaching the 400 win mark be enough to get Osgood into the Hall of Fame? All of the other goalies with 400 plus wins are in, or are sure-fire locks like Ed Belfour. However, despite the two Stanley Cups won as a starter, and the 400 wins, I suspect there will be resistance to Osgood’s induction. He never won a Vezina trophy — arguably he should’ve won in 1996, his numbers were on the whole better than Carey’s, though he did play in 20 fewer games — made very few All-Star teams, only was named to the All-NHL team once, never won 40 or more games in a season, never won a Conn Smythe Trophy — though his numbers in 08 and 09 were deserving, etc. But then again, he played in an era where Dominic Hasek sucked all the air out of the room when it came to goalies — how nuts is it that Brodeur didn’t win a Vezina until 2002? So sure, compared to Hasek Osgood doesn’t stack up — and didn’t for Detroit in the 2001 off-season, natch — but then again, who does? In the end with Chris Osgood it will come down to how much weight voters place on his year to year consistency, always putting up good, not great numbers, behind some very excellent teams. Personally, I think the Cups and wins put him over the top — certainly if Detroit had hung on to win in 2009 he would be a slam dunk. But I am also highly biased and my hunch is that most voters will say that Ozzie’s success was due more to playing for the best franchise of his era than his own ability, and he will become the first goaltender with 400 wins to not make the Hockey Hall of Fame. I hope I’m wrong, but flying just a bit under the radar seems to be the way for the man in the boring mask.

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