Pardon My Bias

Things were going so well for the Capitals until they had the Oilers run into them. Photo courtesy of nhl.com

1 – Washington Capitals (7-2-0) Last week: 1

Well it appears everyone has to lose sometime. Kind of interesting to see that Alexander Semin is also their penalty minutes leader. Hopefully it leads to more bongo beat downs.

2 – Toronto Maple Leafs (7-3-1) Last week: 3

Phil Kessel is essentially scoring by himself and is making it look easy. All of a sudden trading two draft picks for the guy seems like a good idea.

3 – Pittsburgh Penguins (8-3-2) Last week: 6

Crosby Watch ’11 is still on but it appears he may be playing sooner rather than December. If I was everyone else I would be worried.

4 – San Jose Sharks (6-3-0) Last week: 9

Look who decided to show up. As long as the Sharks keep playing teams on the other side of the Mississippi river they do just fine. And they got three more this week.

5 – Buffalo Sabres (6-4-0) Last week: 4

Christian Erhoff, great signing. Ville Leino, not looking as good. Looks like Buffalo really learned that high price free agents are quite hit and miss.

6 – Philadelphia Flyers (6-4-1) Last week: 5

Chris Pronger took a stick to a the eye prompting many to abandon the mandatory visor stance. Now that Jagr also potted his first goal he can’t seem to stop. Just like Pringles.

7 – Detroit Red Wings (5-4-0) Last week: 2

Did the Red Wings think the season was only five games long? Only four goals in four losses, Henrik Zetterberg only has three points, and Selke poster boy Datsyuk is a -5. Ouch.

8 – Los Angeles Kings (6-3-2) Last week: 7

You have a goalie pitch three consecutive shutouts and then you sit him? Results? A 3-0 loss to the Devils. Since Doughty has returned the Kings are winless. Clearly they should trade him.

9 – Chicago Blackhawks (6-2-2) Last week: 10

I don’t think many had the central division off to this slow a start. Good news for Chicago though as they have looked good but not great though still lead the division pretty easily currently.

10 – Vancouver Canucks (5-5-1) Last week: 8

I don’t think many had the northwest division off to this hot a start. Bad news for Vancouver who are struggling to keep up with everyone. Well, except Calgary.

11 – Dallas Stars (8-3-0) Last week: 13

HOW DO THEY KEEP WINNING? I suppose it must be Kari Lehtonen playing like a god again. Evidence? Dallas is 8-1 with him and 0-2 with Andrew Raycroft. Hope Lehtonen is ready to play 75 games total this year.

12 – Colorado Avalanche (7-4-0) Last week: 14

It kind of is a mystery as to why the Colorado is winning as much as they are. No one is playing out of their mind, but the powerplay is ranked number one. So let’s just say it’s Joe Sacco.

13 – Florida Panthers (6-4-0) Last week: 15

Trust me, I’m just as surprised as you are.

14 – Anaheim Ducks (5-5-1) Last week: 11

Teemu Selanne, Bobby Ryan, Corey Perry, and Ryan Getzlaf have a combined 15 goals. The rest of the team has six total and no one has more than two.

15 – Nashville Predators (5-4-1) Last week: 12

How is it Anders Lindback hasn’t gotten a start yet? His one appearance was in relief and he made 24 out of 25 stops. What a terrible performance, right?

16 – Tampa Bay Lightning (5-4-2) Last week: 17

Stamkos. Lecavalier. St. Louis. None of them are actually the leading scorer. That would be Marc-Andre Bergeron.

17 – Edmonton Oilers (7-2-2) Last week: 21

It looks like rebuilding in Edmonton may be over. Top ranked defense in the league? This team is just full of surprises.

18 – Ottawa Senators (7-5-0) Last week: 27

Speaking of surprises, apparently no one told Ottawa they were supposed to be awful. Jason Spezza laughs awkwardly at such notions.

19 – Boston Bruins (3-7-0) Last week: 16

Just because you are the Stanley Cup Champions doesn’t mean you can play like complete crap the following season. That only applies to baseball.

20 – Minnesota Wild (4-3-3) Last week: 18

The Wild have only scored more than two goals in a game twice this season. They haven’t done so in seven games now.

21 – St. Louis Blues (5-6-0) Last week: 19

The Blues appear to be the one team in all of Missouri that didn’t get a huge boost by the Cardinals winning the World Series. I mean, even the Rams won. THE RAMS!

22 – New Jersey Devils (4-4-1) Last week: 20

Sadly for the Devils they can’t always play against the Kings (2-0, 2-4-1 against everyone else). They also only have two wins outside of a shootout.

23 – Montreal Canadians (4-5-2) Last week: 26

How do you turn around a dismal start of your season? Play the defending champions of course! Two straight wins against the B’s and the Habs are back into the swing of things.

24 – Phoenix Coyotes (5-3-2) Last week: 24

Don’t look now but the Coyotes may be onto something. Seven out of eight points in their last four games.  Still no word on Kyle Turris, but really, who cares about Kyle Turris?

25 – New York Rangers (3-3-3) Last week: 22

Awaiting word if Brad Richards actually regrets his decision of joining the Rangers. Toronto certainly is having a laugh. Also, do the Rangers win something if their record goes 7-7-7? I think they should.

26 – New York Islanders (3-4-2) Last week: 23

Only one point in their last five games is not a good sign. Very intriguing situation with the goalie carousel in Long Island. I’m sure they would love to unload Rick DiPietro. And I would love an evening with Jennifer Love-Hewitt. I think my odds are better.

27 – Carolina Hurricanes (4-4-3) Last week: 25

Overtime and shootout games for the Canes are not their strong point clearly. 0-3 but hey, with the Bettman point that’s hardly too big an issue.

28 – Calgary Flames (4-4-1) Last week: 28

Consecutive wins for the Flames. Does this mean the start of something big in Calgary? I can answer that. No.

29 – Winnipeg Jets (3-6-1) Last week: 29

At least they have the same winning percentage as the defending champs. Though when Tanner Glass is one of your offensive threats you may need help.

30 – Columbus Blue Jackets (2-9-1) Last week: 30

Their first win on the season comes against the Red Wings? Go figure. Still in the cellar.

Pardon My Bias Week 8 Picks

Major League Baseball always dreads the World Series ratings. Unless the Yankees or Red Sox are in it of course. Even with the two, the past few postseasons have been forgettable, and this year’s was on pace to a decent yet unremarkable end. Then insanity happened. Much like the end of the regular season, the end of the Series has seen drama unlike anything since the Red Sox in 1975, or the Twins with Kirby Puckett. And boy has baseball needed this. The World Series doesn’t have to compete with the NBA this October, and the biggest opposition has been the weather, which has already factored into the postseason numerous times. But then baseball got a lift.

Game six was awful. Except that is was also incredible. Photo courtesy of latimes.com

The funny thing is that the game last night was terrible. At a few points it looked more like the Little League World Series then one between athletes paid millions of dollars to catch a baseball. Largely in part because neither team was doing that particularly well. Cardinals’ left fielder and their outfield “oops” highlight reel machine, Matt Holiday, miscommunicated on a shallow fly ball with shortstop Rafael Furcal and had it fall out of his glove. Third baseman David Freese had a routine popup pop out of his glove. And both errors were followed by extra base hits giving Texas the edge. But it wasn’t Texas’ night either. Gold glove third baseman turned first baseman, Michael Young, mishandled routine plays twice, and Elvis Andrus and Adrian Beltre both missed key defensive plays letting the Cardinals somehow beyond reason to stay in a game they should have had no business playing in. They couldn’t hit, they couldn’t field, and their pitching was becoming unraveled.

The only offense mustered by the Cards came from their MVP of the Series, Lance Berkman. He hit a two run homerun, but the offense dried up everywhere else. Their next two runs came from a groundout and a bases loaded walk when Texas’ bullpen began to come undone as bad as the Cardinals’. Meanwhile, the Rangers were tattooing the ball all over the place. Yet for some reason they couldn’t hold down a lead to save their lives. They couldn’t expand on their lead either after their offense began to stall and for the game they left 12 men in scoring position. But despite the Rangers’ own stumbling they led seven to four in the eighth inning after the Cardinals handed them the lead over and over again.

But Texas kept giving St. Louis chances. And the Cardinals kept blowing those chances. Following a solo homerun by Allen Craig bringing St. Louis to within two of the Rangers the bases were loaded for Rafael Furcal…who then proceeded to ground out feebly. And that appeared to be the end of that. But then the sloppiest sorry excuse of a baseball game ever turned into history.

One sorry excuse for a game for the most part. Photo courtesy of latimes.com

The ninth inning looked like it could be difficult for the Rangers. They had to go through Albert Pujols and Berkman. Berkman had been tearing the Rangers apart, having the highest average of all the hitters in the Series and Pujols, despite not having a single base hit outside of one game, is still Albert Pujols. It was a tough reminder as he ripped a double off of Texas’ all-star closer Neftali Feliz. Berkman walked, and then Craig struck out. That brought David Freese back in, Freese who botched one of the easiest plays to make in baseball just an hour earlier. The Rangers were literally one strike away except that Freese lifted a hit to deep right and Texas right fielder Nelson Cruz got a bad read on it, and the ball clanged off the wall. Beyond all reason, somehow St. Louis tied the game. Texas couldn’t put them away and poor defense let St. Louis back in. it was ugly. It was sloppy. It was embarrassing. It was also the most exciting World Series game in a long time.

The Cardinals however decided to keep up their trend of letting Texas lead them as Josh Hamilton crushed a two run homerun getting a two run lead in the tenth. Still, Texas seemed dead set on proving their bullpen was going to blow the game. They allowed two hits to lead off the bottom half, letting the Cardinals again sneak back in. Instead of facing the pitcher’s spot in the batting order with two out and no one on, or even one out and one on there were no outs and two on. The Rangers could only watch as Kyle Lohse, a pinch hitting pitcher, only brought in because the Cards had no other position players to hit in the pitcher’s spot, bunted over the runners. And the Rangers’ bullpen for the second time missed a World Series title by one strike as Berkman struck again, tying the game once more.

Somehow the game had one the greatest finishes of all time. Photo courtesy of latimes.com

The Rangers seemed defeated by the time they got up to hit for the eleventh inning. They couldn’t keep their horrendous play slightly better than the Cardinals’ awful performance, where St. Louis’ only strong play seemed to come when they should have been dead to rights. David Freese, the goat turned hero then became hero turned legend with a leadoff homerun in the bottom of the eleventh.

It was a game just like the beginning of “A Tale of Two Cities” with the best of times and the worst of times. It was the worst of baseball and the best of baseball. A sport that has seen its popularity dwindle that was watching another rather forgettable World Series, in an elimination game that was absolutely pathetic, only to have the sport prove again this Fall why it is still a spectacle. Two collapses by two historic franchises in September, a remarkable run up by St. Louis and Tampa, and now one of those teams turned the most horrid World Series game into the most remarkable, dramatic World Series game seen in years. Baseball can only hope that game seven is as bad.

Getting to be general manager in any sport takes a ton of dedication, hard work, and experience. It also takes getting to know the right people. So in hockey specifically you may have a Ray Shero or Ken Holland (Pittsburgh and Detroit), there’s going to be some guys who aren’t quite as successful. Guys like Mike Milbury (former Islanders’ GM), or insane over spenders like Glen Sather (Rangers). There has been also a trend over the past five or so years where GMs are tanking for a couple of seasons if there team is awful and then building from within (Los Angeles and Edmonton). It makes sense, as it keeps costs down with rookie salaries and you get the best young guns coming up. It’s far easier than doing crazy overhauls and gambling (like Philadelphia or Buffalo), doing blockbuster deals (San Jose), or key free agent signings (Vancouver).

Dale Tallon's method of madness is in full effect down in Florida. Photo courtesy of ongo.com

And then there is Dale Tallon. Tallon more or less did the tank and rebuild tactic when he was the GM of the Blackhawks, of which he did very well getting key guys like Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, and pair of goaltenders with some big time promise. Though your odds of getting big talent with years of top five draft picks is obviously going to improve. To a certain extent it doesn’t take a genius, and the entry draft is a crap shoot. Take the Kings. They drafted Anze Kopitar. They also drafted Trevor Lewis instead of Tyler Myers. They took Drew Doughty at number two, and number three was Zach Bogosian (and look how well that panned out Winnipeg). So either Dale Tallon is a smart scouter or got lucky big time. I would suggest a little bit of both as Jack Skille and Kyle Beach probably didn’t warrant a first round pick but clearly the Hawks have a talented young group they assembled.

Basically, Tallon is a decent scout with a couple of huge hits and some misses. Par for the course I would say. And then it gets weird with Dale Tallon. The Marian Hossa deal hasn’t completely hamstrung the team but is sizable hit until about the sun explodes, there was the fiasco where Tallon didn’t pay his restricted free agents in time costing Chicago millions, and two days before he was demoted he wound up paying Niklas Hjalmarsson 14 million dollars over four years just to keep him out of San Jose. Kind of high and low.

Now there is the Florida Panthers. Last year the Panthers were awful, but had a ton of draft picks. So far so good, right? Tallon then went on to trade Keith Ballard for Michael Grabner and Steve Bernier, Bryan Allen for Sergei Samsonov, and Radek Dvorak for Pat Rissmiller and Nic Bergfors. None of the guys are on the roster anymore. Let the head scratching begin. Then there was the past summer of mass overhaul where the Panthers added seven forwards, two high priced defensemen, and a goaltender. Included were Tomas Kopecky, Kris Versteeg, Jack Skille, and the overpriced Brian Campbell. Surprisingly, Florida has been playing decent to start. Maybe Tallon is a genius? Well Tallon then shipped out his team’s top winger in David Booth and Steven Reinprecht (another player Tallon originally traded for) for Mikael Samuelsson and Marco Sturm. Both also have only one year on their contracts. You can likely guess who they won’t be playing for in the future. Tallon gave up a third round draft pick as well.

So does trading Booth count as a blunder yet? Photo courtesy of tumblr.com

This is where I am confused the most. The Panthers are rebuilding clearly, and actually appear ahead of schedule with strong play from role players and young draftees. And you trade away your young scoring winger? For essentially nothing? And also costing you a draft pick? Look past the mess Chicago faces with the salary cap regularly, and just at Florida. Does the trade make any sense for anyone but Vancouver? You can’t say it is Booth’s injury history given Sturm is coming off a severe knee injury and Samuelsson has his own issue. Unless history and Tallon don’t repeat themselves this only sets the Panthers backwards.

Where does this put Tallon then as a GM? He is clearly set on building through the draft. But he also is all for adding free agents and trading for players. And he trades away his franchise’s few cornerstones? Of course I may wind up eating my words in a few years but for now if I was Stephen Weiss I wouldn’t be getting too invested in Florida property. Especially since there are only seven guys left on the roster total since before Tallon took over. Maybe the approach Tallon has isn’t one to be categorized. Mainly because right as it starts making sense, it makes no sense at all.

I’ve been holding off on writing about the San Diego Chargers but the time has come. What in the hell is up with our passing game and Philip Rivers? Feels like the 2007-2008 season, at least it does stats wise. The most interceptions that he has thrown in one season was that 07-08 season and that was 15 interceptions…he already has 9 this year. But Tom Brady and Drew Brees both have 8 interceptions so no biggie, oh wait…Rivers only has 7 touchdowns to go with those 9 interceptions. WTF! All summer long I had been bragging about how my boy Rivers was going to win the MVP this year and throw for over 5,000 yards, which may have been reaching a little but there was no doubt in my mind that he was going to be finally mentioned as one of the top three QBs in the league. Well as of right now, that is a major fail. I have been trying to figure out what has been wrong with Rivers all season long, looking for every and any excuse. First, I always blame Norv Turner because it’s usually the first place to go as a Charger fan. Then during one game, I saw him holding a cup and his hand seemed to be all shaky, so I naturally thought maybe there was something there. Then I know his wife just had a baby (Congrats!), so I thought maybe there was some stress from that. Now I have made a full circle around and am once again blaming Norv Turner and will explain why shortly.

My next issue is injuries. Is it me or do at least 3-4 Chargers get injured every single game? Oh and our running game is way better this year but how many times have Ryan Mathews and Mike Tolbert been injured this year, even if it was just for a few snaps? Every single week that we play, a few players are bound to get hurt. You know what, I don’t even have to think about this one….I blame it on Norv!

Stop Making Excuses Norv...You Suck! Photo via www.broncotalk.net.

Most Charger fans want to get rid of Norv but before the season started, I though that this was the Chargers’ year. So now why am I blaming Norv Turner for everything? Every week I see San Diego beat writer Kevin Acee tweet about all the players that are sitting out of practice and it’s usually always the same names: Antonio Gates (understandable), Ryan Mathews, Malcolm Floyd, Vincent Jackson and others. Like I said, I understand why Gates was sitting out but the others….ummm? Don’t tell me you are okay to play on Sunday when you can’t even practice because that is some bullshit. How is Rivers supposed to have his timing down with his wide receivers when they barely ever practice. I am in no way saying that Philip Rivers is not partially to blame for the poor passing game, but if you are healthy enough to play on Sunday, then you should be healthy enough to practice on the days prior. And this ladies and gentleman is where Norv Turner comes in. I am not sure if this is true, but what I’ve heard over the past few years is that Norv allows players to sit out of practice (which is obvious) while Marty Schottenheimer did not allow this – you don’t practice, you don’t play. Again, I am not sure how factual this is but this is just what I’ve been hearing over the past few years.

So yes, I am blaming Norv Turner for the shoddy offense and the nagging issues with player injuries. As every Charger fan keeps saying…get rid of Norv Turner! Of course, I know that this will not happen so all I can do is hope that our offensive woes turn around and Rivers once again becomes the star that he truly is. But the most important message from this whole rant is just freaking practice. I understand that players may have an injury, but they should be able to practice on it if they are able to play on it, simple as that! Practice during week, perfect the offense and condition yourself to avoid injuries.

The Caps are rolling and have the same record as the Green Bay Packers. If only they didn't play 82 games in a season. Photo courtesy of nhl.com

1 – Washington Capitals (7-0-0) Last week: 2

Surprise, surprise. The Caps are dominating the league to start the year. Though am I the only one wondering how Washington got under the salary cap?

2 –Detroit Red Wings (5-1-0) Last week: 1

Battle of the best? The Wings got smacked around by Washington 7-2 so it was more of a bullying situation than anything else.

3 – Toronto Maple Leafs (5-1-1) Last week: 7

As scary as it seems the Leafs may actually be the real deal this year. Well, as long as Phil Kessel and Dion Phenuf keep playing the way they are.

4 – Buffalo Sabres (5-2-0) Last week: 3

Saturday’s shutout loss to the Lightning marked the first time the Sabres didn’t score at least three goals in a games and the second time only they have given up more than two.

5 – Philadelphia Flyers (4-2-1) Last week: 4

Maybe getting Ilya Bryzgalov doesn’t solve the problem of allowing a ton of goals as the Flyers gave up 18 in their last five games.

6 – Pittsburgh Penguins (6-2-2) Last week: 5

No Crosby, no Malkin, no Kennedy. And the Penguins still won three of four games this week. Now that’s some scary depth. Just wait till they are healthy.

7 – Los Angeles Kings (5-1-1) Last week: 11

Best way to win? Don’t let your opponent score ever again. Jon Quick has three straight shutouts, so that should do the trick.

8 – Vancouver Canucks (4-3-1) Last week: 9

Good thing the Canucks stole David Booth because I’m still wondering what happened to all that depth Vancouver used to have. Could help if they traded a certain goalie…

9 – San Jose Sharks (3-3-0) Last week: 6

Another rather pedestrian start for the Sharks which of course means they will likely go on to finish with 120 points.

10 – Chicago Blackhawks (4-1-2) Last week: 12

Think the Hawks are trying to find a way to unload Ratislav Olesz yet?

11 – Anaheim Ducks (4-3-0) Last week: 8

They beat the Sharks twice, and then drop games to Phoenix and Dallas?

12 – Nashville Predators (3-3-1) Last week: 10

Seems like the Predators are just always dead set on being the streakiest team in the league. Four straight losses, so how likely is it the Preds win three more this week?

13 – Dallas Stars (6-2-0) Last week: 15

It’s actually pretty cool to see Sheldon Souray playing well.  Though the countdown for the Stars’ collapse and missing the playoffs again does seem completely likely again.

14 – Colorado Avalanche (6-2-0) Last week: 16

If I were a betting man I would start putting a lot of money onto Gabriel Landeskog for the Calder and J.S. Giguere for comeback player of the year.

15 – Florida Panthers (4-3-0) Last week: 17

So your team is off to a better start then you would have thought given a roster overhaul so you trade your top left wing, and one of your franchises’ cornerstone? That Dave Tallon is an odd one.

16 – Boston Bruins (3-5-0) Last week: 13

Consistency and 5-on-5 have been real issues for the Bruins. Well, except for Tyler Seguin who leads Boston in goals, assists, points, +/-, shots, and is the one guy on the roster who can’t buy a beer.

17 – Tampa Bay Lightning (3-3-2) Last week: 14

Looks the Lightning may have figured out their inconsistencies on offense so now they just need to figure out how to keep the puck out of their own net less than five times occasionally.

18 – Minnesota Wild (3-2-3) Last week: 18

The Gary Bettman point has a new biggest supporter seeing as the Wild have gone to overtime five out of eight times and won two out of those five.

19 – St. Louis Blues (4-4-0) Last week: 20

For what it’s worth Kent Huskins is on pace to absolutely destroy his career bests. The Blues may actually need all they can get because the way they look they should be happy to be at .500.

20 – New Jersey Devils (3-2-1) Last week: 21

Looks like Parise, Kovalchuk, and Elias are just enough to keep a team at least competitive.

21 – Edmonton Oilers (3-2-2) Last week: 22

Who would have guessed the duo of Khabulin and Dubnyk in net was going to be one of the best in the league this year?

22 – New York Rangers (2-2-2) Last week: 26

Finally getting the first win of their season and all it took was Henrik Lundqvist stopping an onslaught from the Vancouver Canucks. Looks like the Rangers may have had more issues than lacking a center.

23 – New York Islanders (3-3-0) Last week: 23

Spare parts and castoffs are somehow keeping the Islanders afloat early on. Oh wait, no. It’s just John Tavares with ten points in six games. Just think if there was actual depth playing with him.

24 – Phoenix Coyotes (3-3-1) Last week: 24

You know, I hear Portland is lovely this time of year. Or even Seattle. How about Kansas City?

25 – Carolina Hurricanes (3-3-2) Last week: 25

Apparently the one team the Hurricanes can beat is the defending champion Bruins. Skinner continues to laugh at a notion of a sophomore slump. Erik Cole’s return watch I would say officially has started.

26 – Montreal Canadians (1-4-2) Last week: 19

One win in eight games, losses in five straight, and you know it is a bad sign when Travis Moen is your leading scorer. Erik Cole proves yet again he is useless when not playing with Eric Staal.

27 – Ottawa Senators (3-5-0) Last week: 29

Hell of a year for Jason Spezza to remember how to play hockey again. The Sens prove they are at least better (maybe) than the Jets and Blue Jackets. Kind of like being the skinniest kid at fat camp though.

28 – Calgary Flames (2-4-1) Last week: 27

The Flames’ offense has been rather anemic to start this season. Doesn’t help that Brendan Morrison got shelved further putting stress on the center position.

29 – Winnipeg Jets (2-4-1) Last week: 30

Winnipeg gets their first wins of the season which is enough to pull them out of the cellar, with some help from Columbus being winless through eight games.

30 – Columbus Blue Jackets (0-7-1) Last week: 28

Nothing quite as bad as bad as blowing a lead in the last minute except of course when it is to the Ottawa Senators.

Pardon My Bias Week 7 Picks

Yesterday the NBA CBA talks picked back up with their new mediator in hope to salvage some of the NBA season after the first two weeks were cancelled a couple weeks ago. I was periodically checking my twitter feed all day at work hoping to hear some news that they made some progress. I eventually came home to find out the talks were still going on and eventually went to bed with the talks entering their 16th hour.

I later found out this morning that not much real progress was made, something that is hard to believe after people have been talking for 16 hours. A good friend of mine, Gautam Shah, works as an Investment Banker in New York City, so I decided to shoot him an email. This is how the conversation went.

Me: It looks like someone in that city has been working as late as you finally. They put in 16 hours yesterday, and are supposed to meet today too. I hope they get a deal done.

Gautam:

16 hours…that’s a joke.

Before the day starts its 40% players 60% Owners -> they are working towards a mutual 50-50% arrangement. Let’s see how this thing panned out ; here’s my take on how the day went.

8-9AM – Breakfast

9 AM – 10AM Briefing of what happened at the last meeting

10AM – 11AM New negotiation begins with old news -> Derek Fisher talking about how the players are the ones who playbasketball. Players 41%, Owners 59%

(Meanwhile in one corner of the boardroom, owners are taking their money out of the stock market and not paying attention to Dfish)

11-1PM – Lunch (catered sandwiches of course)

1-2PM -  ENTERTAINMENT HOUR – Dmiles and Qrich rap about life, love, and the pursuit of a perfect alley-oop Players 43%, Owners 57%

2-4:30PM -  Discussion continues about salary and some numbers are finally laid out on the table. Players continue to argue about how they need guaranteed money…Owners ask if they want to bleed cash like they have been doing for a few years now. Some people start to wrap their heads around the numbers. Andre Igoudala, the financial whiz that he is, crunches the numbers and tells the others that it’s quite a lot.  Players 41%, Owners 59%

Latrell Spreewell shows up and shows how he didn’t make enough for his family and he is now homeless Players 44%, Owners 56%

(Meanwhile, Cuban and Baron Davis get into an argument about the last Diet Dr. Pepper in the fridge….)

Someone then points out that Laterell made shoes with spinners inside them. Players 46%, Owners 54%

Jerome James shows up and starts talking; credibility lost. Players 43%, Owners 57%

Scottie Pippen asks to be reimbursed for his plane ticket to NYC. Owners agree until Scottie hands out brochures about how the only way to fly is “Scottie Style” on his private jet. Players 41%, Owners 59%

Lamar Odom promises to bring Khloe to the next meeting Players 40%, Owners 60%  Lamar Odom promises to have  Khloe promise to bring Kim Kardashian to the next meeting Players 45%, Owners 55%

Kris Humphries hits Odom in the face and spills Cuban’s Diet Dr. Pepper over Billy Hunter’s computer and no one remembers what concessions the players and owners had agreed to.

4:30PM – All Owners bounce, dipset, leave, chinchillin been chillin, and peace the eff out (Head to happy hour at the W hotel on Lexington Ave.)

4:30PM – 6PM – Mikhail Prokorov does not attend happy hour and stays with the players. He decides to pay all the stars their salary to play in his new Russian League the NTA. National Tundra Association. All games are played outside. Under Armour has agreed to be the official sponsor and provide new “heat-tec” equipment to all players and coaches.

6-7PM Players and owners go to Knicks workout facility to get a quick workout before dinner

7PM-8PM Dinner …… Players go to Hill Country BBQ….Owners go to Del Frisco’s http://www.delfriscos.com/

8PM-9:30PM Players and Owners reconvene for cocktails while listening to Smooth Jazz with Adonal Foyle on the Saxophone.

10PM -  Whenever – Time to Pop bottles at SL http://slnyc.com/  (Stephen Jackson and Ron Artest decide to go to Brooklyn and “hang out with da boys”)

12AM – A drunken argument breaks out about who “runs NYC”  . Melo and Starbury get into it and they both finally agree to split the bill. Starbury’s credit card is denied and he Jason Terry’s out of the club. Everyone looks around at who’s gonna pick up the other half of the tab. The owners look at the players, the players look back at the owners and no one steps up. They repeat the same arguments as they did at 9am with melo adding that “he didn’t drink thaaat much.” Jeremy Lin quickly whips up a program on his iphone of how to properly allocate the bill. But let’s be serious, no one listens to him. No one ends up paying for the bottles.

Yes, they met for 16 hours. They talked business for a good portion of it. Was anything accomplished? Hardly.

Winners: Dmiles and Qrich – They got more facetime than they did all last season.

Losers: Everyone else.

Let’s hope they have a different plan for today. I doubt it. But we can hope right?

Best,

Gautam

Ps. This was all one huge stream of consciousness and unedited.

I can only imagine what happened with talks today…

The Wings are winning and all is right with the world. Photo courtesy of NHL.com

1 – Detroit Red Wings (4-0-0) Last week: 2

You have to assume the Red Wings will still have won all of their games when they play Washington on Saturday. Regardless, you should find a way to watch this game.

2 – Washington Capitals (4-0-0) Last week: 3

This upcoming week for the Caps is going to be a test. A match against an improved Florida squad, then the Flyers, followed by the Wings. If the Caps remain undefeated just give them the President’s trophy.

3 – Buffalo Sabres (3-1-0) Last week: 5

Can someone explain to me how this Luke Adam kid has just turned up? Three goals and three assists in four games and somehow the Ryan Nugent-Hopkins kid keeps getting all the attention.

4 – Philadelphia Flyers (3-0-1) Last week: 6

The Flyers finally lost a game. What is actually a concern is how many penalties the Flyers have been taking, especially given how most of them are lazy stick infractions.

5 – Pittsburgh Penguins (3-1-2) Last week: 4

Down goes Malkin. Which of course makes total sense seeing how Sidney Crosby may be playing again soon. Can’t have Crosby, Malkin, and Staal playing all at once can we?

6 – San Jose Sharks (1-2-0) Last week: 1

The Sharks are doing a tremendous job making subpar defenses and goalies look incredible with a 1-0 loss to Anaheim followed with a 4-2 loss to St. Louis (who used Brian Elliot in goal!).

7 – Toronto Maple Leafs (3-0-0) Last week: 11

Wins against Montreal, Ottawa, and Calgary doesn’t prove too much besides how bad some of the Canadian teams have gotten lately. I’m assuming it’s good enough for Toronto to claim dominance.

8 – Anaheim Ducks (3-1-0) Last week: 14

I fully believe that game against San Jose that ended in a 1-0 win with a goal from…well, I don’t know who was probably imagined. Regardless, the Ducks are winning. Which also defies conventional wisdom.

9 – Vancouver Canucks (2-2-1) Last week: 7

Post finals hangover still? Wins against Edmonton and Columbus with losses to Philadelphia and Detroit seems to be hinting that Vancouver is no longer the monster they were last year.

10 – Nashville Predators (2-1-1) Last week: 10

After all these years David Legwand is really living up to his first round draft pick potential. Too bad the Preds dropped two games this past week.

11 – Los Angeles Kings (2-1-1) Last week: 12

Mike Richards’ reception in Phily…Booed whenever he had the puck, then shut up everyone setting up a game winner. Kind of weird the Kings can only win in overtime it seems.

12 – Chicago Blackhawks (2-1-1) Last week: 3

The leading goal scorer for the Blackhawks: Dave Bolland? Who saw that one coming? Oh, and Corey Crawford should start just about every game seeing the way he’s been playing.

13 – Boston Bruins (2-3-0) Last week: 8

The Bruins’ offense has not been productive to say the least and getting your only win of the week via the shootout should result in some handwringing in Boston.

14 – Tampa Bay Lightning (1-2-2) Last week: 9

The shootout has not been kind so far for the Lightning, but they need to get wins against the Islanders and Panthers anyways.

15 – Dallas Stars (4-1-0) Last week: 18

Once again the Stars defy logic by actually winning games. This is two years running now! Too bad no one was there to see their wins.

16 – Colorado Avalanche (4-1-0) Last week: 21

One team the shootout has been kind to has been the Avs. And who would of guessed that the duo of Seymon Varlamov and J.S. Giguere would be outstanding so far with a save percentage of 93.8?

17 – Florida Panthers (2-1-0) Last week: 16

A win in the shootout doesn’t mean much about your team besides getting two points. The Panthers don’t care. They may want to do something about their 5-on-5 play though.

18 – Minnesota Wild (2-1-2) Last week: 17

The Wild’s website now has youth players as their background. I would not be surprised to see them start lining up on their blueline.

19 – Montreal Canadians (1-2-1) Last week: 15

The Habs have one win so far and it came against the Jets. Best they improve upon that because right now most AHL teams could beat them.

20 – St. Louis Blues (2-3-0) Last week: 20

Memo for St. Louis: Ride the hot hand. That being Brian Elliot of course seeing as he has played outstanding and Jaroslav Halak…well, let’s just say I am pissed I use him at all on my fantasy team.

21 – New Jersey Devils (3-1-0) Last week: 26

Going 3-1 to start the year is already leagues ahead of how the Devils started last year. Helps having Zach Parise. Ilya Kovalchuk may be a machine also with 30 minutes of ice time he’s starting to average.

22 – Edmonton Oilers (1-1-1) Last week: 22

This Ryan Nugent-Hopkins guy is making Edmonton get noticed by ESPN. This is incredible given how they only cover taunting or a violent play when it comes to hockey.

23 – New York Islanders (3-1-0) Last week: 28

Unlikely heroes for the Islanders in PA Parenteau and Al Montoya. Think the Rangers and Coyotes are kicking themselves after those moves? NEWSFLASH: Evgeni Nabokov actually is playing for them too??!

24 – Phoenix Coyotes (2-1-1) Last week: 27

I really think Dave Tippett is the coach of the century. That or the Jets are really that bad.

25 – Carolina Hurricanes (2-2-1) Last week: 23

Sophomore slump? Jeff Skinner doesn’t have the slightest clue what you are talking about with six points in five games. He may want to turn around that -6 however.

26 – New York Rangers (0-1-2) Last week: 19

Garth Snow had to be laughing his ass off during that game between the Isles and Rangers. Brad Richards is averaging a point a game, once again flourishing on a subpar team.

27 – Calgary Flames (1-3-0) Last week: 24

The Flames can at least console themselves that at least they aren’t the worst team in Canada. Not even central Canada. God bless those Jets.

28 – Columbus Blue Jackets (0-4-1) Last week: 25

The Jackets lose Jeff Carter making their horrendous start look even more bleak. Counting down the days now to where Steve Mason is glued to the bench.

29 – Ottawa Senators (1-4-0) Last week: 30

One win gets them out of the cellar. For how long remains to be seen.

30 – Winnipeg Jets (0-3-0) Last week: 29

If you haven’t heard, the Jets are awful. Week one in the cellar.

Pardon My Bias Week 6 Picks