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.