With all due respect to the college bowl season which ESPN has dubbed the "Most Wonderful Week of the Year" in seasons past, we are entering the greatest time of the sports year for me. Playoff hockey season. Nothing is better than teams putting everything on the line and playing until someone wins. No more ties (and with BC there have been a LOT of those this year. No more kissing the sister. No more shootouts. Just play until one team has more goals than the other.
There is nothing better than watching two teams slug it out for 60 minutes and then have to go into overtime to move on. The tension, the excitement, the heartbreak, the elation. The ending of a good overtime playoff hockey game has got to be one of the greatest moments in sports. I remember Peter Nedved ending a 4OT game for the Pittsburgh Penguins. I can still picture him now on his knees with his arms raised in the air as the puck went in. It was early in the morning but all who cared were still there and still hoping. Krys Kolanos in 2001, Tom Ashe in 1994 in the Beanpot, Maine v. UNH in the 1999 Frozen Four.
If you want someone to see what hockey is all about, take them to an overtime playoff hockey game and if they aren't converted to being a hockey fan, they don't have a pulse.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Friday, March 7, 2008
Change happens
So yesterday I wrote about the INCH Hockey East column. What I didn't tell you was that I emailed the author and told him his mistake. He was good natured in his reply telling me that all these various scenarios were going to be the death of him. When I looked at the article again this morning, he had changed it to remove the original reference to BC being denied home ice if they swept Northeastern.
See, sometimes when the unwashed masses speak, people listen.
See, sometimes when the unwashed masses speak, people listen.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Open Mouth, Insert Keyboard
So, as a college hockey fan, during the season I make a point of reading articles on USCHO.com and Insidecollegehockey.com (otherwise known as INCH...please no jokes, this is a family-friendly post). Every week INCH and USCHO run their weekly previews of the various games coming up and normally these are published late Thursday and I read them Friday morning.
Due to the extreme mess in Hockey East (teams 2-7 can end up in so many different combinations it's not even worth going through it), INCH ran their Hockey East Notebook a day early (plus with the Providence v. BU game tonight I guess they wanted to get it out before then). Part of this column runs a mini story on some interesting piece (in this case the standings and the excitement of the final weekend) and then they have little blurbs called "Stick Salute" and "Bench Minor" for things they feel are really good and really bad in the individual conference.
This week's "Bench Minor" berates the announcers on NESN for their off-the-cuff erroneous generalizations on the playoff hopes for Maine during the broadcast of the Maine v. Vermont game last week. Apparently, they overstated the importance of the game and how Maine would be eliminated if they lost and "control their own destiny" if they won (not sure where this phrase started but it is one of the most overused sports cliches right up there with "walk-off").
I bring this up for a very particular reason. In the body of the article, when analyzing the chances of the various playoff bound teams to get home ice, he mentions that even with a sweep this weekend against Northeastern, BC would not be guaranteed home ice. Apparently, the author did not take his own advice from "Bench Minor" and decided to make a statement without doing the math first.
Currently BC has 27 points. They are tied for 4th with Providence and BU is second with 29 points (for purposes of this discussion, Vermont is irrelevant because in the case of a sweep of NU what Vermont does makes no difference to BC's home ice). With a sweep, BC finishes with 31 points and at least 4th place. Guaranteed. Let's do the math.
Providence plays BU this weekend which means only one team can get 4 points. If Providence sweeps, Providence ends in a tie with BC at 31 points and BU finishes behind BC, hence guaranteeing at least 4th. In any other scenario, PC finishes under 31 points and hence behind BC and BC still gets home ice. Hence, a sweep this weekend by BC guarantees at least 4th place. After poking fun at NESN broadcasters for making incorrect statements about Maine's playoff scenarios, I guess the author should have taken out a calculator before writing about BC's.
Luckily for you, my loyal reader, I am here to save you and point you to the light. BC sweeps then we have one more weekend of hockey at Conte Forum. Of course, whether or not anyone will show up is the question that remains.
Due to the extreme mess in Hockey East (teams 2-7 can end up in so many different combinations it's not even worth going through it), INCH ran their Hockey East Notebook a day early (plus with the Providence v. BU game tonight I guess they wanted to get it out before then). Part of this column runs a mini story on some interesting piece (in this case the standings and the excitement of the final weekend) and then they have little blurbs called "Stick Salute" and "Bench Minor" for things they feel are really good and really bad in the individual conference.
This week's "Bench Minor" berates the announcers on NESN for their off-the-cuff erroneous generalizations on the playoff hopes for Maine during the broadcast of the Maine v. Vermont game last week. Apparently, they overstated the importance of the game and how Maine would be eliminated if they lost and "control their own destiny" if they won (not sure where this phrase started but it is one of the most overused sports cliches right up there with "walk-off").
I bring this up for a very particular reason. In the body of the article, when analyzing the chances of the various playoff bound teams to get home ice, he mentions that even with a sweep this weekend against Northeastern, BC would not be guaranteed home ice. Apparently, the author did not take his own advice from "Bench Minor" and decided to make a statement without doing the math first.
Currently BC has 27 points. They are tied for 4th with Providence and BU is second with 29 points (for purposes of this discussion, Vermont is irrelevant because in the case of a sweep of NU what Vermont does makes no difference to BC's home ice). With a sweep, BC finishes with 31 points and at least 4th place. Guaranteed. Let's do the math.
Providence plays BU this weekend which means only one team can get 4 points. If Providence sweeps, Providence ends in a tie with BC at 31 points and BU finishes behind BC, hence guaranteeing at least 4th. In any other scenario, PC finishes under 31 points and hence behind BC and BC still gets home ice. Hence, a sweep this weekend by BC guarantees at least 4th place. After poking fun at NESN broadcasters for making incorrect statements about Maine's playoff scenarios, I guess the author should have taken out a calculator before writing about BC's.
Luckily for you, my loyal reader, I am here to save you and point you to the light. BC sweeps then we have one more weekend of hockey at Conte Forum. Of course, whether or not anyone will show up is the question that remains.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Contractually Speaking
Jonathan Papelpon is unhappy. Not because of playing time or the team's play or his own performance. He is unhappy with his pay. This is not a new dilemma in the world of sport but sometimes when you look into the facts you realize that they don't have a reason to be upset.
People often complain about the amount of money that professional athletes receive considering that they are playing a game as their profession. But there are some things that need to be taken into account when assessing this. This is still their job. I understand that it may not be as important as being the mayor or developing cures for cancer but it is still their chosen profession that they are looking to be able to enjoy and retire from someday. For most players this professional is surprisingly fleeting. Whether by injury (Carl Pavano) or self destructive behavior (Len Bias, anyone?) or just because they aren't good enough to stick around (hello, Brian Rose). These athletes need to be able to take what they can get while they can get it.
In addition, salaries are driven by the amount of money that is put into the profession. When you think about your jobs you realize that how much you make depends on how much the company around you makes and how long you have been with the company. Athletes are the same. Why are baseball salaries so much higher than hockey ones? Because the obscene amount of money that the teams and the league get from TV contracts and merchandise and ticket sales.
But something that some of these athletes forget (I'm talking to you Mr. Papelpon) is that your talent is not the sole determining factor in your salary. Years of service plays a large role. Two guys who put up identical numbers in contract walk years will not get the same deal if one is a two year player (Pap) and one is a 10 year player (Rivera). Pap talks about wanting to set the bar for the future of people in his position. But his position is a transient one at best. How many closers have a few fantastic years and then fade into the sunset (John Rocker & Mitch Williams come to mind). Because it is a stressful position that wears on a player. Not many can be the Lee Smith, Mariano Rivera, or Trevor Hoffman who can continually do the job for years on end. Papelpon needs to understand this. And he needs to understand that he requires a couple more years under his belt of continued success (which I feel confident he will have) before he can start talking about be the bar setter for closer contracts.
People often complain about the amount of money that professional athletes receive considering that they are playing a game as their profession. But there are some things that need to be taken into account when assessing this. This is still their job. I understand that it may not be as important as being the mayor or developing cures for cancer but it is still their chosen profession that they are looking to be able to enjoy and retire from someday. For most players this professional is surprisingly fleeting. Whether by injury (Carl Pavano) or self destructive behavior (Len Bias, anyone?) or just because they aren't good enough to stick around (hello, Brian Rose). These athletes need to be able to take what they can get while they can get it.
In addition, salaries are driven by the amount of money that is put into the profession. When you think about your jobs you realize that how much you make depends on how much the company around you makes and how long you have been with the company. Athletes are the same. Why are baseball salaries so much higher than hockey ones? Because the obscene amount of money that the teams and the league get from TV contracts and merchandise and ticket sales.
But something that some of these athletes forget (I'm talking to you Mr. Papelpon) is that your talent is not the sole determining factor in your salary. Years of service plays a large role. Two guys who put up identical numbers in contract walk years will not get the same deal if one is a two year player (Pap) and one is a 10 year player (Rivera). Pap talks about wanting to set the bar for the future of people in his position. But his position is a transient one at best. How many closers have a few fantastic years and then fade into the sunset (John Rocker & Mitch Williams come to mind). Because it is a stressful position that wears on a player. Not many can be the Lee Smith, Mariano Rivera, or Trevor Hoffman who can continually do the job for years on end. Papelpon needs to understand this. And he needs to understand that he requires a couple more years under his belt of continued success (which I feel confident he will have) before he can start talking about be the bar setter for closer contracts.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Happy Returns
Up until Randy Moss signed last night, many people had chalked up this off-season as a big loss for the Patriots. I am inclined to disagree. People mention that the loss of Stallworth, Gay, and Samuel is some awful news. Though it is not what we were hoping for in our fondest dreams of keeping one of the greatest teams in NFL history together, it was inevitable.
Stallworth and Samuel were gone the minute that the season ended. Though the Pats may have attempted to throw money at them, no one really thought that these two guys were coming back. Samuel was bitter from the get-go over what happened in free agency last year and there was no way that he was going to resign. Stallworth had dropped to 4th on the depth chart at wide receiver and the amount of money that he was going to ask for is too much to spend on your 4th receiver. With Moss & Welker, the Pats still have their most potent weapons and Kelley Washington has been resigned as well. Don't forget that the Pats are still looking to resign Gaffney. A corps of Moss, Welker, Gaffney, Washington, and maybe even Chad Jackson (remember him) is more than adequate to be Brady's Bunch.
The loss of Gay is perhaps the biggest one the team has to face. They are now without arguably their two best corners from a year ago. They will either need draft help or maybe a draft-day trade as the free agent corner market is not the most robust this year. Outside of that, the Pats have not had the worst off-season. I have no doubt that the higher-ups in the organization recognized that Samuel & Stallworth were gone and have been planning for that for some time. It's the nature of the business, players come and go and the teams that can foresee these moves and plan strategically in advance are the ones that maintain success as the Pats have done since 2001.
Few observations on the weekend while I was in the Valley:
- Hockey East is wide open. The teams from 2 through 7 can end up in so many different combinations that its not even worth trying to sort them out. And this is with only two regular season games left. Some would say it is parity but I think that the quality in the conference has dipped considerably. Everyone is not raising themselves up but rather all the teams (with the exception of UNH) seem to be moving toward the middle. Which is why they only have 2 teams in the tourney while the WCHA has 8.
- Scariest team in NCAA hockey right now - North Dakota. They are a juggernaut that looks like they may not lose again. The last team I saw go on a run like this was the 1998 BC team that lost in the first round of the Beanpot and then did not lose again until Michigan in double OT.
- Just when you thought the Bruins were out to prove something they hit the wall and got smoked by Washington. Looks like Cristobal Huet brought a little of that Montreal luck with him to Washington. Montreal has owned the Bruins this year and has pounded them a few times. The game last night reminded me of those poundings. Or maybe its just playing Huet on Versus (6-1 loss, 8-2 loss, 10-2 loss). Scary.
Stallworth and Samuel were gone the minute that the season ended. Though the Pats may have attempted to throw money at them, no one really thought that these two guys were coming back. Samuel was bitter from the get-go over what happened in free agency last year and there was no way that he was going to resign. Stallworth had dropped to 4th on the depth chart at wide receiver and the amount of money that he was going to ask for is too much to spend on your 4th receiver. With Moss & Welker, the Pats still have their most potent weapons and Kelley Washington has been resigned as well. Don't forget that the Pats are still looking to resign Gaffney. A corps of Moss, Welker, Gaffney, Washington, and maybe even Chad Jackson (remember him) is more than adequate to be Brady's Bunch.
The loss of Gay is perhaps the biggest one the team has to face. They are now without arguably their two best corners from a year ago. They will either need draft help or maybe a draft-day trade as the free agent corner market is not the most robust this year. Outside of that, the Pats have not had the worst off-season. I have no doubt that the higher-ups in the organization recognized that Samuel & Stallworth were gone and have been planning for that for some time. It's the nature of the business, players come and go and the teams that can foresee these moves and plan strategically in advance are the ones that maintain success as the Pats have done since 2001.
Few observations on the weekend while I was in the Valley:
- Hockey East is wide open. The teams from 2 through 7 can end up in so many different combinations that its not even worth trying to sort them out. And this is with only two regular season games left. Some would say it is parity but I think that the quality in the conference has dipped considerably. Everyone is not raising themselves up but rather all the teams (with the exception of UNH) seem to be moving toward the middle. Which is why they only have 2 teams in the tourney while the WCHA has 8.
- Scariest team in NCAA hockey right now - North Dakota. They are a juggernaut that looks like they may not lose again. The last team I saw go on a run like this was the 1998 BC team that lost in the first round of the Beanpot and then did not lose again until Michigan in double OT.
- Just when you thought the Bruins were out to prove something they hit the wall and got smoked by Washington. Looks like Cristobal Huet brought a little of that Montreal luck with him to Washington. Montreal has owned the Bruins this year and has pounded them a few times. The game last night reminded me of those poundings. Or maybe its just playing Huet on Versus (6-1 loss, 8-2 loss, 10-2 loss). Scary.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
