There is not anything I hate more than watching a Bill Belichick interview. If I was a journalist, I would ask him the absolute most ridiculous questions possible:
Me: “Bill, what kind of hammock do you enjoy? The one with the woven rope, or the one that is just one piece of material?”
Bill: (head explodes).
Media Day tomorrow should be a fiasco. I can’t wait. There’s nothing better than putting a microphone in front of Antonio Pierce and Osi Uminyora and watching the magic happen.
The Hornets blew out the Spurs Saturday night. Just remember, while I wasn’t the first person to tell you the Hornets were good, I was the first to say that they are going to win an NBA Title THIS YEAR. I would like to see them get more contribution from Hilton Armstrong, so as to spell Tyson Chandler with a defensively capable player, but really, I’m just grasping at straw to try and find something wrong with this team. They have a manageable remaining schedule, with more games against Eastern Conference opponents than any of the other West contenders. They could have 60 wins this year and they’re still young. Can you tell that I’m super high on the Hornets?
Patrick Ewing Jr. is a goaltender. West Virginia will get its payback in the Big East tournament.
With all the talk about upsets in college basketball this weekend, you would think that there was an actual upset. There wasn’t. Wisconsin losing in West Lafayette to Purdue is not an upset. Wisconsin is a Big Ten school and the Big Ten is not a good conference. Pittsburgh losing at the Pete to Rutgers would be an upset, if the Panthers weren’t without Lavance Fields and Mike Cook. However, with Ronald Ramon left to carry the team…well…don’t bet the farm Pitt fans.
Memphis and Kansas are still the creme-de-la-creme of the field in Men’s College Basketball.
As I mentioned in the weekend edition, I know how to save the NHL and it’s only going to take one step, but will take some analysis. Allow me to explain:
THERE ARE TOO MANY TEAMS IN THE NHL. TOO MANY TEAMS MEANS TOO MANY PLAYERS WHO ARE LESS TALENTED THAN THE UPPER ECHELON PLAYERS IN THE LEAGUE.
Surely, I’m not the first person to recommend contraction as a means to make the NHL more palatable for the thousands of people not watching. And yes, contraction does alienate fans and anger fans of those teams who are contracted. However, the NHL has made an egregious error that is not easily fixed and cannot remedy itself. You cannot simply hope that the talent pool becomes a little more chlorinated, if you well. For example, I pointed out that I attended the Capitals/Maple Leafs game on Thursday night. What I saw was Alexander Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and Mats Sundin playing with guys who looked like they belonged in the AHL, not the big leagues. The lines without these players were incapable of creating any offense and their defense wasn’t anywhere near stellar. There are plenty of great goaltenders in the NHL, but beyond primary lines, for teams not named the New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings, there are limited offensive abilities.
My solution, contract 10 teams from the current NHL.
The question then is, “Who do we contract?” Well, the original 6 has to stay in the league. That’s the New York Rangers, Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, and Toronto Maple Leafs. We now need to eliminate 10 teams from a pool of 24. Here are the 24:
-New Jersey Devils
-Philadelphia Flyers
-Pittsburgh Penguins
-New York Islanders
-Buffalo Sabres
-Ottawa Senators
-Tampa Bay Lightning
-Atlanta Thrashers
-Florida Panthers
-Washington Capitals
-Carolina Hartford Whalers Hurricanes
-Nashville Predators
-St. Louis Blues
-Columbus Blue Jackets
-Minnesota Wild
-Vancouver Canucks
-Colorado Avalanche
-Phoenix Winnipeg Jets Coyotes
-Anaheim Ducks
-Los Angeles Kings
-San Jose Sharks
-Dallas Stars
-Calgary Flames
-Edmonton Oilers
Step one is to look at attendance rankings. The New York Islanders have the lowest attendance ranking of any team in the NHL. The city of New York already has a team and really, Uniondale, NY is not exactly a media hotbed. NEW YORK ISLANDERS are contracted. The St. Louis Blues have been in the bottom 4 every year since the lockout. The only other team that can say that is the Chicago Blackhawks, but they’re an Original Six, so they stay. The ST. LOUIS BLUES do not.
Lets be nice and list the teams that have to stay because of success and/or attendance: Tampa Bay Lightning (one of the best in the league, right with Detroit and Montreal), Philadelphia Flyers, Ottawa Senators, Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers (Canada doesn’t deserve to lose any more teams), Buffalo Sabres, Minnesota Wild, and the next two important teams:
The San Jose Sharks issued in a new era of the NHL when they entered the league, now almost 20 years ago. They were the first warm weather/smaller market team in the NHL to succeed. Not long after, the Minnesota North Stars moved to Dallas and became the Dallas Stars. They were a hit too. This led the NHL to move and expand into asinine markets that weren’t craving hockey. These teams, that will now be contracted:
FLORIDA PANTHERS
PHOENIX COYOTES (BUILT A NEW ARENA…STILL 29TH IN ATTENDANCE THIS YEAR. NICE)
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
This leaves us with the following pool of teams that have not been contracted or saved, yet. Remember, we have 5 more teams to contract:
Pittsburgh Penguins
New Jersey Devils
Atlanta Thrashers
Washington Capitals
Carolina Hurricanes
Columbus Blue Jackets
Los Angeles Kings
Anaheim Ducks
Colorado Avalanche
Let’s examine the two LA Market teams: The Kings and the Ducks. The Ducks won the Stanley Cup last year. The Kings haven’t won anything since Wayne Gretzky was there (and he’ll need a job now that the Coyotes have been contracted.) Since the return of the NHL, the Kings have ranked ahead of the Ducks though in attendance rankings 2 of the 3 years (this year is the exception, likely because of Stanley Cup carryover). However, the LA area doesn’t need two teams. Despite the fact that the Ducks were once a marketing gold mine and are coming off a championship, their attendance number the last 3 years (in terms of ranking) are: (24,20, and 16). They also play well outside of LA proper. The ANAHEIM DUCKS are contracted. Four teams left…
The Pittsburgh Penguins have the NHL’s best and most marketable player in Sidney Crosby. However, their attendance numbers are 20, 18, 17 (since the lockout). They have also filed for bankruptcy more times than Donald Trump. Sadly, because they are a historic franchise, though, the PITTSBURGH PENGUINS are contracted.
The New Jersey Devils have to stay because they just opened a new arena, and while the Coyotes did too and I contracted them, the Devils are a staple franchise in THE major media market, with a TV deal (MSG). The Devils are saved.
The Colorado Avalanche are saved too. They’re down currently, but when they were hot, they were hot and Denver should have a hockey team.
The Columbus Blue Jackets are not saved. They play in Columbus, OH. They have never had actual success. They have poor attendance numbers, despite having a new arena. COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS, you are contracted.
The second worst attendance records. No playoff or championship success since I was in middle school. An urban northeast, football craved city. So what if they play in the nation’s capital. That nation isn’t Canada. The WASHINGTON CAPITALS are contracted.
This leaves us in the southeast United States, where hockey is not exactly a hotbed. We have the Hurricanes and the Thrashers. One team is (sort of) steeped in history, dating back to their days in Hartford, CT. The other is a new wave NHL franchise, playing in an urban market. Raleigh went nuts for the ‘Canes when they won the cup in 2006. Most people are unaware that there is a hockey team in Atlanta, despite the fact that they somehow got to host the All-Star Game this weekend (Hint: Put the game where it belongs, in Toronto, Calgary, Montreal, etc. Not Atlanta and Dallas.) Long live the Whalers, the ATLANTA THRASHERS are contracted.
With the Thrashers, Capitals, Blue Jackets, Blues, Penguins, Ducks, Predators, Coyotes, Panthers, and Islanders eliminated the NHL takes the players from those franchises and sets up a weighted lottery system and has itself a draft. Imagine the excitement, if you will, in a city like Edmonton, if the Oilers have the second pick and have to decide between Alexander Ovechkin,, Rick Nash, Ilya Kovalchuk, and Rick DiPietro.
Four divisions of 5 teams each. Six teams into the playoffs per conference (like the NFL). Viola. I’ve just saved the NHL.
Game o’ the Day: I’ll resist the urge to have another New Orleans Hornets game of the day (they’re playing the Denver Nuggets tonight) and go with, what???, a women’s college basketball game. If you get the chance, please, do yourself a favor and watch Tennessee play at Duke tonight, if for no other reason than to watch Candace Parker, the most athletically dominant women’s player I have ever seen. Diana Taurasi was a great shooter. Rebecca Lobo was tall. Cheryl Miller was a great scorer. But Candace Parker can absolutely take over a game by being more athletic than anyone else on the court by leaps and bounds. The Volunteers, despite a loss at Maples Pavilion to Stanford, the day before Christmas Eve, are the best team in the women’s game this year. They’ll face a tough Duke team, in a tough environment, but escape with a big non-conference win. Tennessee 77-68 over Duke.
Mid-Atlantic Bias 
I don’t have much time, but the easy solution to solving the woes of the NHL is to make a regular time finish worth 3 points.