Not-So-Random Hockey Musings

Some interesting stuff from NHL deputy Commisioner Bill Daly, heard on XM's NHL Home Ice this morning. Among the highlights:

• on Jim Balsillie's offer to keep the Coyotes in Glendale for part of the season before moving the club in-season to Hamilton should he be awarded the team through bankruptcy proceedings: "It is disrespectful to the fans and players involved"
• on Balsillie's claim that the Toronto Maple Leafs will sue the NHL if there is ever a team in southern Ontario: "The Maple Leafs do have a say. They have one vote out of 30 on the Board of Directors...the majority vote of the board will apply." and "It is factually untrue. It wreaks of desperation from the Balsillie group."

(Continue to Jim Cerny's Rink Rap)

Melo ... Giving Back

Carmelo Anthony seems to be living the good life these days.

A $15.7 million NBA contract for 2009-2010 ... Addresses in Denver and Los Angeles ... Appearance in the 2009 Western Conference finals ... Starter for the USA’s gold-medal winning team at the Beijing Olympics ... Celebrity regular at music award programs ... High-profile DJ girlfriend, LaLa Vazquez.

For the man who always will be "Melo" to his adopted hometown of Baltimore, Anthony is Baltimore through and through. What you saw as an urban teenager you still see shades of publicly today at 25 – like the ball cap on the side of the head (with the nylon scarf beneath), the long Ts or hoodie with baggie jeans, the Timberlands. Melo still talks Baltimore – the short, clipped sentences with that familiar side-winding, hard city drawl. The Melo brand. The difference between now and then -- the millions of dollars his brand commands.

(Continue to DMA 7-22 Sports)

Let's Start with Round One

Until I started playing fantasy football, Christmas and Thanksgiving were my two favorite days of the year. How can you go wrong with presents, delicious food, and family? You can't. Now, however, one event trumps both holidays: Draft Day.

I make sure I wake up focused and clear headed (no late-night shenanigans with my broskies the night before), eat a hearty breakfast, and pretend like I give a hoot about anything going on around me (while, honestly, I'm really just thinking about my late-round sleepers and early value picks).

A few hours before the draft I like to go over my rankings, make sure I've got a plan and backup plan, and then have a beer as the clock ticks closer and closer to that fateful moment.

(Continue to Inside Fantasy Sports)

Underdogs R Us

The wide world of sports gives us entertainment, hope, controversy, excitement and so much more. One of the greatest spectacles and wonders of sports is seeing an outmatched athlete or team overcome an opponent or situation when sheer logic doesn’t even explain how the underdog could emerge victorious.

Fandom of sports is littered with its share of fair weather fans and those who take allegiance with the winning teams. Even looking at last season in the NFL, four out of the ten top-selling jerseys were Dallas Cowboys players.

Understandably, most fans enjoy seeing incredible athletic feats and accomplishments that seem superhuman at times, but in all sports there are countless fans who harbor an admiration and love for the underdog.

(Continue to The Pine Rider Writer)

Get a Grip, Tiger!

Today's main course: Heart of Tiger, served with just a hint of denial and plenty of bitterness.

If you are starting to get as fed up with Tiger Woods' on- and off-course nonsense as I am, this dish is for you. If you prefer to take your Tiger sunny side up, like habitual apologists such as David Feherty, maybe the below offering featuring Lou Holtz will be easier on your stomach.

According to Star-Ledger and NJ.com columnist, Steve Politi, Woods saw the greens at Jersey City's Liberty National golf course, not his stroke, as the culprit for his latest near-miss, this time at The Barclays last Sunday.

(Continue to The Grill Room)

T-Minus Two Days and Counting

Time is running out on all of the professional and sideline prognosticators itching to score 100 percent on their roster predictions for all 32 NFL teams.

As I type this entry the Miami Dolphins are less than 10 hours away from taking on the New Orleans Saints a few blocks away from my hotel room tonight at the Superdome in the preseason finale for both teams. Theirs is one of 12 games on the docket tonight, with three more scheduled tomorrow, and then by 4 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday the final 53-man rosters have to be submitted to the league, which means these games are the last chance for a number of players on the bubble to keep their jobs.

(Continue to NFL Guru)

Quinn or Anderson? Pick One, Mangini

Eric Mangini must be out of his mind.

Now, I'm not trying to tell the man how to coach the Browns. He's got the credentials for that job; I don't. But it doesn't take a doctorate in the art of football to figure out it's wiser to make a decision now rather than later.

The decision that people in Cleveland await is the one Mangini has to make about who will be his starting quarterback. Since training camp opened in July, he's juggled Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson like a clown does tennis balls. Neither man has a sense of what the coach is looking for in this quarterback derby. Nor do Browns fans.

(Continue to Justice Is Served)

Happy Birthday, Raheem Morris

Happy birthday, Raheem Morris.

Today, you have reached the ripe old age of 33.

It's young by life's standards. You are an infant by NFL coaching standards.

Yet here you are, ready to embark on the dangerous waters of the 2009 football season, armed with a re-tooled team that will try and compete using high-energy, fast-tempo and aggression.

While you think about that, Raheem, here are some gifts for you from some well-known names in the world of football media:

(Continue to Buccaneer Bow Shots)

Get Ready for Another Irish Season

The heart beats a little faster. The palms start sweating. The butterflies appear in the stomach.

The beginning of another Notre Dame football season, the 121st in school history, is less than 72 hours away. For a Fighting Irish fan or any college football fan, this is Christmas, New Year's Eve and the Fourth of July all rolled into one.

We much prefer the college game over the NFL for reasons that will appear in another blog item.

(Continue to Bob Birge's Irish Eyes Are Smiling)

Welcome Back, David Wright

In a season full of disappointments, there was one highlight - maybe the highlight of the 2009 season - for the Mets on Tuesday night, when David Wright came back off the DL and went 1-for-3 in Colorado.

The initial reports were that Wright might miss the rest of the season after he was hit in the head by a Matt Cain fastball in mid-August. No one knew what to expect, since the injury was a concussion, and the Mets were going to be extra cautious with their star in an already-lost season, following a poorly-handled concussion and recovery suffered by Ryan Church with the team last year.

But Wright and the Mets played it smart, and there he was Tuesday night, back in the three spot in the lineup, and he got a hit into left-center field.

(Continue to 200 Miles From the Citi)

Rays Dying on the Vine

Maybe the idea germinated Saturday night, when I watched The Kingston Trio on an episode of The Jack Benny Program on public television.

Wherever it sprang from, I haven't been able to banish the song "Where Have All The Flowers Gone?" from my head since.

It seemed to apply in a couple of ways during Tuesday night's 8-4 Red Sox victory against the Rays that pushed the defending American League champions a step closer to October spectator status.

(Continue to Henry's Chopping Block)

Taylor Dent Makes Major Return

Taylor Dent returned to win a match in a major for the first time in four years, beating Feliciano Lopez in four sets. After three back surgeries and an entire year passed in bed for 23 hours a day, he came back to world-class tennis.

During the layoff, he tried to earn a real-estate license, studied religion and politics, became a champion at World of Aircraft video game. Against Lopez, despite a modified service movement, he realized 18 aces. And, despite a passion for "vintage style" tennis, he didn't alter his serve-and-volley style with 39 point at the net out of 58 attempts.

Now, to refresh your memory, the highlights of his memorable 4th round against Roger Federer in Miami this year.



(Continue to ATP Tennis 360)

Ridiculous NBA Offseason Stories

Presumably because it is the offseason, some of the wackiest stories in the NBA seem to surface June through August.

I guess everyone has too much free time on their hands to stay clear of the news cameras.

The 2009 NBA offseason was definitely no exception. Here are five of the most ridiculous stories surrounding the NBA to emerge over the summer.

5). Davis’ laptop stolen.
Is Los Angeles Clippers’ star Baron Davis (photo, left) still crossing his fingers?

(Continue to All Net)

Where the Thunder Need to Be

ESPN has released its Western Conference rankings, and Oklahoma City is sitting at #11. Their rankings have OKC moving up spots and improving their win total by nine games.

Realistically, Oklahoma City can challenge for the nine spot, but it is possible they could be in playoff talks near the end of the season.

Based purely on these rankings, ESPN has too much faith in the Los Angeles Blake Griffins. While Griffin will improve that team, a 14 game leap just seems unreasonable considering the rest of the roster.

(Continue to This Is Thunder Basketball)

WNBA and Baltimore's Angel

Baltimore's Angel McCoughtry

Photo: WNBA.com

With its playoffs set to start Sept. 16, the WNBA is closing out season No. 13, eliciting thoughts, at least here, of the '70s pop group the Bee Gees and "Stayin' Alive."

Yes, the WNBA is still alive -- when some skeptics earlier had predicted a short life span. Still enticing fans into arenas, showing up from time to time on national television and providing a playing platform for the best women’s basketball players in the world.

But when talking WNBA, finding a starting point for conversation is tough for some. The season lasts just over three months during summer, gobbled up by fervent attention to Major League Baseball, NFL training camps and Tiger Woods. No mention hardly on sports talk radio, scant media coverage (sometimes you can’t find the standings in the paper) and limited overall fanfare. Beyond a supposedly core cadre of fans, the women’s professional basketball league seems largely unappealing and invisible.

(Continue to DMA 7-22 Sports)