Comments and Rants on Various Sports Topics

HOCKEY:
Well, the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin today. And unfortunately, the Colorado Avalanche are out of it. We made a good run at the end of the season, but Saturday's game against Nashville ended our hopes of going to the playoffs for the 12th straight year. On the plus side, however, the Avalanche have already signed captain Joe Sakic to a new one-year contract. Not much else to say on the Avs right now, so on to other hockey news . . .

"This is the time of year the Red Wings need Todd Bertuzzi. But, they could be starting the playoffs Thursday against the Flames without the power forward. Bertuzzi, who suffered a concussion last Thursday, missed a second day of practice Tuesday. And coach Mike Babcock didn't sound encouraged." - from SI.com.

GOOD! Bertuzzi is a thug and I'm happy anytime he gets hurt and has to sit out. Normally, I'm not one to wish harm on others. And I don't actually wish harm on Bertuzzi - I'm just not sorry when it happens. Personally, I still think that Bertuzzi should have been permanently banned from hockey and jailed for his March 8, 2004, attack on Avalanche center Steve Moore. So, I'm sorry, but I have pretty much no sympathy for Bertuzzi having a concussion. Think of it as a little bit of karmic payback, you fuck.

Here are my predictions for the first round of the playoffs:
* Buffalo Sabres over NY Islanders in 5 games
* NJ Devils over Tampa Bay Lightening in 4 games
* Atlanta Thrashers over NY Rangers in 6 games
* Pittsburgh Penguins over Ottawa Senators in 7 games
* Detroit Red Wings over Calgary Flames in 4 games
* Anaheim Ducks over Minnesota Wild in 5 games
* Dallas Stars over Vancouver Canucks in 6 games
* San Jose Sharks over Nashville Predators in 7 games

FOOTBALL:
I like the suspensions handed down by Roger Goodell yesterday. Both "Pacman" Jones and Chris Henry have a long string of problems off the field and repeated run-ins with the cops. I'm glad that someone in the NFL is finally standing up and saying that players simply cannot act like the rules don't apply to them. Now to clarify things here, Jones and Henry are under the old personal conduct policy, which is (partially) why they have been allowed to continue to have so many problems without major punishment from the NFL. Goodell and the NFL have instituted a new personal conduct policy, which will apply to players coming into the league beginning this year.

The schedule for the coming season is supposed to released sometime later today.

BASEBALL:
Things in baseball I really don't care about which almost everyone else around here seemingly does:
* The D-backs winning six straight - whoopee-fucking-do.
* Barry Bonds. Took steroids (probably), and lied about it (probably). Put an asterisks next to his name when he breaks Hank Aaron's career home-run record.
* Daisuke Matsuzaka's "gyro-ball".
* A-rod.

NASCAR:
Things in NASCAR I really don't care about which almost everyone else around here seemingly does: the whole damn "sport".