Thursday, November 1, 2007

Slowly getting into NHL/NBA mode...

1) First- it appears the NHL has its own network now, available to DirecTV subscribers. Its pretty nifty, actually. Its not unlike NFL Sunday Ticket's Red Zone Channel...they switch to games that are in crucial situations (key 3rd period power plays, 5 on 3's, OT's and shootouts and basically any Sidney Crosby shift on the ice). This is fantastic for the league and I'm hoping against hope that its not just some sort of "free preview" because dammit, I know I'm going to order it, whatever it takes.

2) Last night, in Oklahoma I caught the last two periods of the Stars/Blackhawks game (they actually broadcast Stars home games in the Dallas market, what a novel concept!) and let me tell you, the Blackhawks look fan-fucking-tastic. They are young as hell, and are still prone to bouts of inconsistency (they allowed 3 unanswered to Dallas in the 3rd), but they are resilient and have some unbelievable skaters. Patrick Kane and Jon Toews are for real (18, 19 years old respectively), and in the game I watched last night, they came back and won with 20 seconds left in the game. Do yourself a favor and drop $10 to see these kids play before Christmas. 2nd half of the year, their youth and inexperience will show, and they'll probably wear down. Check 'em out now while they are still on fire. Skurny, you still down for catching a game this week.

3) The Cavs are fucked. No interior defense without Andy Varejao...none whatsoever. How the F are they going to stop all the good interior scorers in the east? All three of them! Seriously...LeBron can't tank the first half like he did last year. It will cripple this team.

4) But on the plus side, the Pistons will probably suck. And the Bulls are out of the Kobe sweepstakes for now...so they can't be taken seriously as anything more than just a second round playoff team.

9 comments:

Skurny said...

The Pistons will probably suck? They haven't lost anyone and improved themselves with the draft...I don't follow your "Pistons will suck logic" at all. I still say they are one of the favorites to win the east with Cleveland, Boston and Chicago.

J.ust O.ver B.roke said...

I don't follow most of BB's logic so you're not on your own. All the Pistons did was get a year older. Sheed dropped 25lb. so he should be able to take the wear and tear of the season a little easier also. They are the major threat in the Central division. As far as the Bulls go, they were Eastern Conference title contenders without Kobe. Nearly everyone (not just ESPN.com, before you go there) saw the Bulls as ready to take the next step or two (conference or NBA Finals) this year without Kobe. Joe Smith is actually an upgrade from PJ Brown, Tyrus Thomas and Lu Deng are better and Big Ben has been freed to wear the headband, which somehow means something.

The Cavs are indeed in trouble. They seem to have taken a step back in terms of total team talent.

As far as the Blackhawks go, there are negotiations going on right now to return them to television (I hardly follow hockey and I know this - why don't you?) and they will be broadcasting a home game in the next week or two I believe. Kane just was named rookie of the month for October and he leads the Hawks in scoring. They will indeed be entertaining this year.

By the way - if those Stars goals were really "unanswered" goals, the Hawks wouldn't have scored any after them. Since the Hawks did, they were actually "answered" goals.

Mark said...

The "Pistons suck" line was merely to piss off Skurny. The Bulls are a conference finalist at best. The Cavs may not even make the playoffs...even in the east. ESPN doesn't cover the NHL, in case you haven't noticed...so no, I haven't read anything about the home game negotiations. All I did was point out that the Stars have coverage all the way up in northern Oklahoma.


And are you fucking serious? You're really nitpicking on my use of the term "unanswered goal"? Are you that much of a fucking loser? For godssake, get a hobby

Skurny said...

Meltdown!

J.ust O.ver B.roke said...

Is this really coming from the guy who wants to determine whether Alfonso Soriano is worth a big contract based on a zone rating? If AWM would have made the statement about "unanswered goals" I would have let it slide, but you expect everyone else to be as sports term/stat proficient as you are, so don't get mad when you get held to that standard.

If the Hawks would have lost that game after having that lead by the way, you could have called it a "choke." Happy now?

Mark said...

Actually, I just thought I'd take a page out of your book by hurling random insults instead of responding intelligently (we'll call it the "cheeky douche" theorem)

And when did I say Soriano didn't deserve 120 million based on zone rating? I'm pretty sure I said he didn't deserve 120 million because he's simply not that good. I realize backing up bold statements with substantive evidence is against your policy, but its my preferred method of operation.

You know the funny thing about that whole "choke" thing? You got pretty carried away with calling me stathead (amongst other charming shots), but never once did I mention any number, stat or percentage to back up anything I was saying (when it may have benefitted my argument to do so!).

Skurny said...

Meltdown!

Mark said...

Queensryche

J.ust O.ver B.roke said...

I would like to go on record as claiming to have an official method to get BB into meltdown mode.