Round 2

I am following the Red Wings exclusively from here on out. It's hard to follow with the same enthusiasm once your team is booted from the post-season. There are two schools of thought. 1) Root against the team that bounced your boys out of the playoffs. 2) Root for them, since it's ok to lose to the eventual Cup champion. I plan on going with #1.

It is easy for me to hate the Penguins with Sydney Crosby. I don't know where this comes from. Crosby is a gamer. He plays hard; no floating for this superstar. I have plenty of respect for his game. But all the Crosby fanboys have ruined it for me. I want to see him lose. Same goes for Marc Andre Fleury.

Then you have Vancouver. I am disinterested in Vancouver, in general. Haven't cared about the Canucks since the Pavel Bure era. They have never been a polarizing team to me. Very meh. But after dropping the Kings, they need to lose. I was a big fan of Luongo when he was in Florida. But after the whole mess of making him captain of the team, not so much. I don't think a goalie should captain a team. It's great that he's on the ice the whole game, but a captain needs to also be on the bench with the players and coaches.

 

 

End of Round 1.

There were only two game 7's in the first round of the playoffs, with the Capitals getting bounced last night. The Wings take on the Sharks tonight, so no waiting around for Round 2.

 

I have done horribly in my picks. 3-5. Quite a few surprises in these playoffs.

 

EAST

With the Canadiens win, I go 0-4 in the East. What the hell happened? I really liked the Devils to go deep this year but they looked horrible against the Flyers. Brodeur is losing his playoff mystique. Philly lost a few key players in that series, so I doubt that they go on to the Conference final. The Bruins got things together, much like Philly, after limping into the playoffs. Penguins had a tough time with the Senators. I admit that was a purely homer call. But Penguins can't get away with playing like that against the Canadiens.

 

WEST

Called the Sharks, Red Wings and Blackhawks. But the Sharks made it look much harder than I expected. Kings lost, but they definitely have a good young team now. I'm still pulling for the Wings, but it was tough to see the Coyotes' not-of-nowhere season come to an end.

 

The absolute biggest surprise was the Caps losing to Jaroslav Halak. I am totally taking away any credit from the Canadiens, even though they played a great team in front of him. But shutting down the #1 team, highest scoring team, most dynamic team, was an amazing feat. Beside coming back from a 1-3 series hole, they kept Washington to 1.0 GAA while doing it. In the Habs wins, Halak had a 0.971 save percentage and 1.1 GAA while seeing 35+, 40+, and 50+ shots. Simply an amazing case of a goaltender stealing away a series. I love it!

RIP my teams...

Sens and Kings went out badly. Not that they got blown out, but hard fought games and at least two OT games each. Very close. But both of my teams blew third period leads and goaltending looked shaky at times. (More so for the Senators) It was frustrating to watch. They both could have pulled the upset, didn't happen 2-4 series losses.

 

It helped that I was busy in San Jose this weekend. Completely focusing on the games would have killed me. I still have my playoff beard. I usually fall back on rooting for the Red Wings, but they have a big game 7 tonight. One thing is for sure, the Coyotes are real. The Caps also face a game 7 on Wednesday. The worst case for me is if both the Caps and Wings lose. I will have no real interest in any team remaining in the Playoffs. We'll see....

Aldo vs Faber

I'm very interested to see how the first WEC PPV goes. At first blush, I figured it to fail miserably. But, I also underestimated the length the UFC was going to go to support the PPV. Like the UFC PPVs, there was a Countdown show on Spike. Dana did video blogs. The UFC website has Aldo vs Faber video and articles. Even Joe Rogan and what's his name are doing the fight commentary. The line between UFC and WEC is getting very blurred. Basically, it is a UFC PPV without the UFC name attached.

 

I have mixed feelings about this. I think the lighter weight fighters put on a more consistent show and if you have to put money down to watch a fight, it a better bet to go with the WEC. But having the WEC fights free on Versus like being part of a secret club. You were getting fights as exciting as the UFC, but with lesser know guys that were underpaid. I felt like a true MMA fan, watching the WEC. I'm glad that this may finally bring in some money to the fighters, but I fear that the UFC will simply absorb the most talented fighters as UFC lightweights. The WEC will probably remain a lightweight proving ground.

 

The card itself is interesting. Aldo vs Faber should be fast paced, if nothing else. Faber is one of the most dynamic fighters around. His personality and flair in and out of the ring made the WEC what it is today. Yet, Aldo is a badass. The guy has destroyed his opponents. Very exciting and dynamic too, but with a more technical/martial style vs. Faber's wrestling/Tarzan style. Aldo seems like Anderson Silva in a smaller package. Aldo is also a Black House guy, so the connection is literal. I think someone's getting finished. I'm afraid it will be Faber. But I'm still pulling for the California Kid.

 

Cerrone vs Henderson should be good. I didn't see the first fight, which was last year's Fight of the Year? There was a time when Directv dropped Versus, and I missed this fight. I don't see a reason why this fight won't be good as well.

 

Mike Brown, Antonio Banuelos, Leonard Garcia, Chad Mendes are all fighting. Too bad I'm going to be out of town. I hope I can get to a sports bar that carries this fight!

 

 

 

Weird Symmetry

After ALL teams split the first two games 1-1. All of the Eastern teams are 3-1. All of the Western teams split 2-2. Well, except Nashville vs Chicago who are always behind by a game, but will obviously go 2-2 as well.

 

 

I'll have the usual

That's more like it. After having tight games across the board; things appear back to normal. 7-4, 3-0, 4-1, 5-1, 5-3 were the game scores lately. Teams are getting smacked down. Playoff blowouts happen. I love a tension filled game, but a blowout or scorefest doesn't hurt either. Teams that are down, usually have to take chances, and gambling can cost you. Other times, teams open up a little, which leads to scoring. The opposing team follows suit. Then before you know it, the whole game is wide open and it's a matter of who has the puck last.

 

What is the playoffs without controversy? Every shot, check, save & pass is high drama, so naturally the officiating is too. I honestly think the NHL is the toughest sport to referee. More often than not the officials are invisible on the ice, while avoiding 10 players and a high velocity puck. I don't know how they do it. Can you clearly judge a 100+ mph object? But the Kings/Canucks series has had it's share of questionable calls. Vancouver got a too many men penalty in overtime, that ended-up giving the Kings the game. I didn't agree with the call. There was also a kicked-in goal called back, which I thought was too tough to call. It took at least 5 minutes to figure out. All of the video review calls go to the league War Room in Toronto, or so I've heard. They agonized over it, but called it a no-goal.

 

When and if Vancouver has to cry sour grapes over the calls that didn't go their way, I don't have a whole lot of argument against them. But that's why the winner is decided by a series. Calls should balance out in the end. And a bad call might mean losing a game, but shouldn't cost you a series.

KINGS WIN!

Is it really that big of a deal? It's been 8-years since the Kings had a home playoff game. It seems longer than that. The other part of the problem is that over half of the teams make the playoffs. That's how bad the Kings got.

 

I think the bigger issue is hope. Not only did the Kings win their first home playoff game in 8-years. But, they have a young team that looks promising. Plenty of young players to build around. (Maybe too many? With the salary cap.) So it feels pretty good today. Staples Center was loud and proud last night. If you can hear it on the telecast, it's eardrum splitting. I've been to loud games in-person, only to watch the taped telecast, and it doesn't do it justice. Being able to hear the crowd on TV was great. I've doubted LA Kings fans before, but to be honest, there hasn't been much to cheer for. Years of frustration were resolved last night.

 

I'm not saying the Kings are past Vancouver already. But it's nice to see a re-building effort go right for once. Kings fans have been through two failed rebuilds. Lombardi has built this team through the ground up. Drafting well. A couple key veterans. Placing an emphasis on character. Not chasing the free agent quick fix. Los Angeles isn't Detroit, no team in the league can match Detroit from an organization standpoint. The last 3-years of wise decision making are showing through this season, and playoff success is a bonus. It's good to be King.

BJ Penn - Why I Fight

So, I've known since last Monday, that BJ Penn is coming into Torrance for a book signing. It is one of the last stops on his book tour, "Why I Fight: The Belt is just an Accessory." I got onto my MMA buddy about going with me for the photo-op, but he called-in sick today. We hit the Randy Couture signing, but he missed Vitor Belfort.

These things are very much risk/reward. If you go too late, you have the privilege of waiting in line, but still miss out all together. I saw Belfort on my lunch hour, waited 10 minutes and actually got to talk to the guy. I waited several hours for Randy and nearly missed him. The problem is that the more popular fighters command big lines. I like Penn, but probably not enough to wait in line for hours, by myself. The other problem is that this is the only LA area stop for Penn. The other California stops are San Diego and San Jose. Couture had multiple stops in the LA area to take the pressure off one store. Finally, there is quite a large population of transplant Hawaiians in the South Bay. He has plenty of fans in the immediate area. I expect madness.

The Borders in question is pretty close to my work. Even if I have to go solo, I plan on checking out the extent of the line. If it's out the door, forget it. I like the novelty of getting a picture with these guys. I am always amazed at how big they look on camera, and not so much in real life. But at the end of the day. I'm more of a fan of the sport itself and not a specific fighter.

It is just like Disneyland; pay too much money, wait too long, all for a couple seconds of nothing. It's really all about the anticipation. If I had my right hand man with me, we could stand around and talk MMA and make fun of ourselves and the other idiots waiting in line. When it's more of an event, you can make it fun.

There aren't too many fighters that I want to wait in line by myself to meet. Now if Gina Carano has a signing...

 

Round 1, Game 2

I was speaking of parity in my last post. And for the first time that I can remember, ALL the teams split their games 1-1. That's pretty wild. All 8 series are best of 5 games.

The Kings went to overtime yet again, but pulled it out this time. Most of the pundits called this series the one to watch, and they were right. It has been tight. In the East, the Senators dropped game 3. They have officially lost Milan Michalek for the post-season with an ACL tear. Damn. That's Kuba, Kovalev, and now Michalek. Ottawa played tough despite being shorthanded offensively. But Elliott wasn't up to the task, losing a lopsided 2-4 game.

Some of the other series have been fantastic. Washington came back late in the third to tie, and win in OT. Colorado got pounded with 51 shots, but Anderson made 51 saves. "Lanche win in OT. Really good games this year, or I'm just really into it more than normal. Maybe a little bit of both.

Game(s) 1

Way too early to tell much of anything in the Cup Playoffs. But the first games have been good, pretty much all of them. My Senators upset the Penguins 5-4, but Philly, Colorado, and Montreal also won on visiting ice. Interesting that both 8th-seeded teams got a series win. At least half of the series opened to an upset, and possibly more pending the Predators/Blackhawks game tonight. I see quite a bit of parity in the NHL, but especially in these playoff teams.
The Kings played well. I thought Jon Quick played a great game, with 44 saves. But LA lost 3-2 in OT. Vancouver can dominate at times, and I see why the Sedin twins have scored it up this year. They made me think that the mental telepathy between twins, should be illegal in the NHL. But the Kings more than hung around thanks to Quick. A real soild effort by the Kings. A almost feel like they wasted a game stealing effort by their goaltender. An interesting note was the "green men". A mix between the Blue Man Group and Green Man (from Always Sunny in Philadelphia episode). These two guys sit by the opposition penalty box glass and ham-it-ip to the cameras.
Ottawa got behind early, then scored three times and never looked back. The Sens held a two goal lead for most of the game. None of the other games were so high scoring. Whenever Pittsburgh did score, Ottawa would score to take another 2-goal lead. It was pretty much a case of Fleury giving the game away. He also had a lowlight reel goal scored on him, when the puck made a weird carom off the glass for an easy tap-in. I enjoyed that. I'm not a Fleury fan. Also, the grinder line of Kelly-Ruutu-Neil had each scored a goal. That's awesome playoff hockey.
Otherwise, the games have been very tight. Stellar goaltending battles. A couple of OT games. Great stuff and that's only the first game. I love this time of year!

UFC 112

Weird card. The big story was Anderson Silva, once again. Dana White was pissed about the Spider dancing around and mocking Demian Maia. It was quite a spectacle. I didn't have a problem with Silva punching and kneeing Maia in the face, while clowning around. And if Anderson had finished the fight, it would have been a moot point. Finishing a fight cures everything.

 

That brings me to the Hughes vs Gracie snorefest. I didn't think there was a ton of action. Good legs kicks by Hughes, but I excected it to hit the ground, sooner than later. Some ground and pound vs jiu jitsu. Both guys figured to be the better striker.?! It just wasn't what I expected or wanted. But, Hughes finished the fight and all was good.

 

Just as confusing was BJ Penn going to a decision with Edgar. Frankie did a great job, but I don't understand Penn's gameplan. I thought BJ won 3 of the 5 rounds, but it was very close. BJ didn't do anything to keep it from being a close decision. I don't buy that crap about having to beat the champ. You can decision the Champ, in a close fight; I'm OK with that. Penn should have done more, plain and simple. I'm going with an injured knee as his excuse. We'll see.

 

Anderson Silva made a mockery of the sport, running from Maia in the later rounds. I simply don't understand what goes through the guy's head. Plenty of people were pissed about the fight. Dana White was furious. White said something about making it up to the fans. And he had plenty on the line with Arab oil money watching the fight. Silva might have hurt the future of the UFC. The thing is, I'm still a fan of Silva. I don't know why. That makes even less sense.

 

 

Playoffs

Well, it all came down to the last game, overtime, and a shootout for the Flyers to get the 8th playoff spot in the East, over the Rangers. Do I like the idea of a skill contest determining the outcome? Not really. But both of these teams had 81 other games to keep it from coming to that. As long as the playoffs don't have a shootout, I'm fine.

 

I'm gonna put down my predictions, with as little commentary as possible. I'll have to re-adjust my picks after Round 1 anyway, since I ALWAYS pick a few underdogs.

 

EAST

Caps vs. Habs. Caps in 5. Ovenchicken and Co. are built to outscore the other team, plain and simple.

 

Devils vs. Flyers. Devils in 6. Flyers faded badly, and New Jersey is my Eastern Finalist.

 

Sabres vs. Bruins. Sabres in 5. Bruins can't score. Miller won't help.

 

Penguins vs. Senators. Senators in 7. Senators will find a way. Elliott will be sharp.

 

WEST

Sharks vs. Avs. Sharks in 5. San Jose loves to choke. But Colorado is playing too poorly to allow that to happen... this round.

 

'Hawks vs. Preds. Hawks in 6. Preds are quite the story. Chicago has mediocre goaltending. Blackhawks will still be too much.

 

Canucks vs. Kings. Kings in 7. LA will pull off the upset. Kings go deep this year.

 

Coyotes vs. Red Wings. Red Wings in 6. Cindarella wakes up in the first round. A great year for Phoenix, but injuries and badluck are over for Detroit.

 

Main storylines. I like the Caps and Devils in the East. The Capitals remind me of the run and gun Oilers teams of the 80's that just outscored people. But like those teams, I think it takes them a couple kicks at the Playoff can to get it right. Devils play smart hockey. I see them, once again, proving that defense and team play win in the playoffs. Sharks will fold sooner or later, but it's easy to bet against a team. Red Wings are the hot.

 

I honestly like the Kings. They

 

 

 

Who's on 8th?

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are near. Some teams are clawing, scratching and biting for the last few spots, while others are safely in and getting lazy. The Kings were sitting in a pretty good spot. 5th-ish but losing 7 of 8 games had the LA faithful in full panic mode. A big 8-3 win last night over the Canucks helped calm things down. The Kings' magic number is 4, with 5 games remaining. Calgary and Colorado have a BIG game tonight. It's a 8th vs 9th place battle. If Calgary loses, I think they are pretty much not seeing the post season. The East is still up for grabs, with four points separating 6th-10th. Fortunately, the Sens have wrapped up a place in the playoffs last night; sitting at 5th. Streaky is their middle name. They had 5-game point streaks in each of the first two months of the season, January saw a 5-game losing streak, followed by an 11-game win streak, after the Olympics a 5-game losing streak, followed by a 6-game win streak they are currently on. All I can say is that a 4-game losing streak in the playoffs means your post-season is done.

 

 

 

Clash of the Titans

One of my favorite movies of all time was re-made and comes out tomorrow. Clash of the Titans is one of my single biggest movie influences growing-up. Well, obviously behind Star Wars and surprisingly ahead of Indiana Jones. (Indiana Jones was under-appreciated at the time) But in my youth, I had a great love for all things mythical and monsterous thanks to this movie. I loved being freaked-out by the Medusa and the epic proportions of the scorpions and Kraken. To this day, my movie of choice is: action adventure, horror, and anything with giant/mutant/hybrid monsters in it. It's all from Clash of the Titans, I'm sure.

So, I've known about this movie being produced for some time. Different websites would send out teaser photos and concept images. I have to say I was disappointed. I thought the Kraken looked too much like another monster (I can't place right now). Everything was different. Pegasus was black instead of white. The Stegean Witches looked like wraiths with Terminator glasses. The hero looked short and dirty.

After some time to really think about it, this movie couldn't and shouldn't be ANYTHING like the original. Stop motion monsters? A hero wearing a white dress that rode a white horse? A "modern" version of this movie, too much like the original, would be horrible. Just because Clash of the Titans had a great impact on me, doesn't mean that it's not totally campy and misplaced by today's standards. I'll always love it but it doesn't have to be reproduced.

I've come to terms with the remake. I'm excited to see it. It seems to still have all the basic elements that made Clash of the Titans iconic. Mortals, Gods, Medusa, Kraken, other monsters. And maybe improved by removing Bubo, the stupid robot owl. I want to see it. I'm sure it's good. But there are some experiences that only the eyes of a pre-teen can really appreciate & love.