Avs Make a Shrine for Sakic

The Colorado Avalanche certainly did it up big Thursday night for former captain Joe Sakic, whose No. 19 jersey was officially retired at the Pepsi Center before the season-opening 5-2 win over the San Jose Sharks.

A banner with the digits was raised to the arena's rafters to conclude the 45-minute tribute, joining those of Patrick Roy (No. 33) and Ray Bourque (No. 77).

"To see it up there with Patrick and Ray, it's a tremendous honor," said Sakic, who was accompanied by his parents, his wife Debbie and their three children.

Not only that, the Avalanche surprised Sakic by creating a shrine at his old corner locker.

(Continue to Through the 5 Hole)

A Favorable Second Impression

Among the many story lines and subplots to Opening Night in the National Hockey League on Thursday, one of the more intriguing ones to me was how a pair of embattled goaltenders---Carey Price (above photo) of Montreal and Jose Theodore of Washington---would fair in their first chance at making a second impression.

Let's just say both Price and Theodore passed their respective first tests of the season with flying colors.

Price, the 22 year-old who battled on and off ice woes in Montreal a year ago, was stellar in turning aside 43 of 46 shots in last night's 4-3 overtime victory against arch-rival Toronto. Most impressive to me was how Price controlled his rebounds so well. He didn't force himself into making tremendous acrobatic saves. Instead he positioned himself well and seemed to swallow up shot after shot as a result.

(Continue to Jim Cerny's Rink Rap)

Fall of Troy? Not So Fast

Pete Carroll's motto is "Win Forever." And by and large, that's what he has done at USC since becoming the head coach in 2001.

After starting 1-4 in his career at Troy, Carroll has laid waste to the college football landscape. Since 2002, the Trojans have gone 83-10. The 10 games they did lose were by a combined total of 39 points (by comparison, Cal lost to Oregon by 39 points just last week). During that span, each game USC lost was by seven or fewer points. In fact, the largest margin of defeat in the Carroll era was 11, a 27-16 loss at Notre Dame in his rookie season. Pete has made amends by not allowing the Irish to beat the Trojans since.


But it looks as if USC is at a crossroads. Coming into this Saturday's game at Cal, the Trojans are vulnerable. They may be ranked No. 7 in the AP Poll, but they have struggled offensively with a freshman quarterback. And just this week, they lost running back Stefon Johnson after a freak and near-catastrophic weight room accident.

(Continue to BCS Guru)

Look Ahead: Serie A, La Liga, EPL

Don't look now, but Sampdoria is sitting atop the Serie A standings while AC Milan is struggling and sitting in the middle of the pack.

Sampdoria has only lost once in its first six matches, giving them a league-high 15 points. It's lead though is tenuous, as Juventus is only a point behind them and both Inter Milan and Fiorentina are only two points back. AC Milan meanwhile is struggling, playing to a scoreless draw with AS Bari last Sunday and losing to Udinese the week before. Milan is tied with three other clubs for eighth in the table.

(Continue to Soccer 24-7)

Aussies Sting England for Final

With bees swarming on cameras and flying ants disrupting the start of Australia's reply, there was no shortage of wildlife at Centurion last night -and it was the reigning champions who stung England yet again with a nine-wicket win and cruised into the final against rivals New Zealand or Pakistan, who play today.

This was vintage Australia and 'old England', the team we thought had vanished after sterling performances against Sri Lanka and South Africa, but was merely in hibernation, as Ponting and Watson flayed their docile attack to all corners under the floodlights.

(Continue to Crick Down the Legside)

Tips From a Golf Coach

One thing I have wanted to do with this blog was to do more than just comment on the state of professional golf. I have been looking for a golf coach who could provide the kind of useful tips for the every day golfer to help him or her improve their game.

So it was a fortunate set of circumstances that led me to meet up with such a coach while playing behind a tournament at my course here in Colorado.

His name is Robert D. Bates and from time to time, Coach will provide tips to improve your game. I can vouch for him as he dropped one on me as we were playing and I have already reaped the rewards of his tutelage.

(Continue to Par for the Course)

KU Fight Runs Deeper Than Hip-Hop

No reason to dwell on a fight last week, because it serves nobody's interest to relive what the black football and black basketball players at the University of Kansas did in acting like street toughs. Their fistfight doesn’t augur well for these men or for the college they represent; after all, thuggish misconduct never finds a welcome mat at an institution of higher learning.

What this fighting means in a larger context isn’t simple to discern.

Yet that fact didn’t stop Jason Whitlock, a Kansas City sports columnist, from playing pop psychologist. As he's prone to do, Whitlock positioned himself as the final voice, as the social critic who can dissect the minds and judge the behavior of blacks.

(Continue to Justice Is Served)

NHL Eastern Conference Preview

Goaltender Ray Emery (photo left) just might be the wildest of wild cards heading into the 2009-10 NHL season, what with his eratic background which led to a one-year stint playing in Russia last season.

But a focused on-point Emery just might be talented enough to backstop a deep Philadelphia Flyers team past Eastern Conference favorites like Washington, Boston, and the defending champs in Pittsburgh, this year.

So here's a look at how I see the East breaking down this season (with all teams listed in alphabetical order):

Playoff Locks (4): Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Washington.

(Continue to Jim Cerny's Rink Rap)

Deadlines Loom for Islanders

Tomorrow is the deadline for Charles Wang's Lighthouse project - which just so happens to be the opening game of the 2009-10 season for the Islanders. It's day that could possibly live in infamy for Isles fans. Only time will tell.

A day after a lease was announced that will keep the Islanders at the Nassau Coliseum until 2030, Islanders fans and Long Island enthusiasts are anxious to see what will happen by tomorrow. Will the Town of Hempstead wake up and come to an agreement with Wang? Will Wang become angered and do something drastic if Kate Murray says the Town is not interested in the Lighthouse?

(Continue to Thin Ice)

In God We Trust

Well, what can we tell ya, folks?

We're pretty proud we can call God a regular at the Grill Room. He's well-behaved, a good tipper, drinks only the best stuff, keeps the clientele buzzing with some mind-boggling card tricks, and is patient answering the questions our bartenders often tire of.

Last week, when we asked Him why He hated Michigan, The Big Guy took offense and then pity. Why, he not only saw to it that the Lions ended their 19-game losing streak, but also made sure the most corrupt city in the world was punished for its evil ways.

By sending Washington's team to ingloriously fall at the feet of the lousy Lions, He illustrated with a master's stroke that sometimes punishment can reap rewards.

So, with God at our side, we are looking for more answers around here as Week 4 of the NFL season gets set to unfold.

(Continue to The Grill Room)

Jets Need to Show Saints Something

New York is What-Have-You-Done-Lately town, and that will certainly be evidenced by the New York Jets in Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints.

The Jets have shown in three games thus far that these are not the Same Old’ Jets.

Things have a way turning around quickly in this town, however, which is why Sunday’s game at New Orleans is critical for Gang Green.

(Continue to New York Minute)

Coaches Poll Irregularities

It's been a big story this week - the Coaches and Harris polls have a bunch of teams ranked ahead of teams that beat them. Penn State ahead of Iowa, Oklahoma State ahead of Houston, etc. I think most everyone agrees that these polls have major, serious flaws that cut right to the heart of the credibility of the BCS. But there's more to this story and these numbers, as usual. Let's add some context cake to the rage-flavored frosting, shall we? (The statistics that follow all track the Coaches rankings of Week 4 in each of the BCS seasons. So basically through September.)

	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09
# of undefeated Top 25 teams	16	17	17	20	17	20	19	15	14	20	18	12
# of one-loss Top 25 teams	9	8	8	5	8	5	6	10	11	6	7	13

No team with two losses has ever been ranked in the Top 25 in week 4 in the BCS era. And this year, there are more one-loss teams in the poll at this time than ever. What's important about this is that it means that there's more opportunities for teams to be ranked ahead of teams that beat them. But just because something is available doesn't mean it has to be taken, right? Right. The Coaches aren't forced to rank teams that lost higher. But the next important thing to realize is that this isn't the first time they've done so: this has happened every single year of the BCS (except 2007).

(Continue to The National Championship Issue)

Blount's Return: The Right Move?

Oregon's LeGarrette Blount, who was suspended for the season by coach Chip Kelly after a postgame tirade Sept. 3 at Boise State, could be reinstated before the end of the season.

Oregon issued a release Thursday night that hinted at Kelly's plan, which "could include Blount's potential reinstatement prior to the conclusion of the 2009 season.'' Kelly will discuss Blount's status Friday.

(Continue to The Wiz of Odds)

USF Heads for October Slugfest

We've seen it before and now we have another fast start for the University of South Florida football team. Four straight wins, four and oh-my, now it's time for the Big East.

The month of October will make or break this 2009 edition of the Bulls. The next 30 or so days will determine their fate, determine if they are contenders or pretenders for the Big East title and the BCS bowl berth that accompanies it.

Good new is they get somewhat of a warm up on Saturday. A warm up, perhaps. Syracuse is in the process of re-inventing itself, led by born-again quarterback Greg Paulus, the former Dukie, the former point guard for Coach K.

(Continue to Running with the Bulls)

MLS Weekend Preview

With the regular season rapidly winding down, several teams head into the weekend with opportunities to clinch playoff spots. FC Dallas got things started off on Wednesday, as it kept its slim playoff hopes alive with a 1-0 win over New England.

Two of the teams that have a chance to clinch playoff berths face off at the Home Depot Center on Friday night, as the Los Angeles Galaxy host the Chicago Fire on ESPN2. The winner of the match will have the pleasure of rooting for Chivas USA to defeat DC United the following day to cement their playoff spots.

(Continue to Soccer 24-7)