Coyote Ugly

Earlier this week the Phoenix Coyotes filed for bankruptcy.  The team has been hemorrhaging money since they moved to Phoenix from Winnipeg over ten years ago and it seems the bottom has finally fallen out.

Comissioner, and all around idiot, Gary Bettman was in Phoenix today trying to find a new buyer for the team that isn't named Jim Balsillie.  Balsillie, who is the CEO of RIM, offered $212.5 million for the Coyotes on the condition that he can relocate the team to Southern Ontario.  He is apparently competing against Jerry Reinsdorf who owns the Chicago White Sox and wants to keep the team in Glendale.  The problem? Reinsdorf's offer is nowhere near Balsillie's.

Balsillie has tried to buy and NHL team before as last year he tried to buy the Nashville Predators but was rebuffed by Bettman and the NHL who refused him on the grounds that they did not want any teams to relocate.

My question from all of this: why the hell won't they sell to Balsillie?

The NHL is by far the weakest league out of the major four (NFL, MLB, and NBA being the other three) and is constantly losing money and struggling to keep viewers interested.  The league seems to have made it their charge to ensure that Americans love hockey and that it does not become a Canadian sport.  Yet by making this their mission they have guaranteed that they will continue to lose money trying to pander to people who are uninterested.

It makes absolutely no sense to me why the NHL would do this as clearly it is not working and it ignores the fact that the NHL does its best business in Canada.  I really think that having another team in Southern Ontario would only bring more fans out and would create rivalries between this new team and the Leafs or Senators which would increase interest in the league as well.

Yet for some reason Bettman has denied Balsillie and does not seem to be budging on his decision.  Bettman is concerned that Balsillie is trying to take control from the league and use his money to get his will.  This to me makes some sense as the NHL needs to show that it will not be bullied by a man with a tonne of money.  That being said in these economic times can the league really afford to let an offer of this magnitude slip through their fingers?

"This is more about the tactic and I think a challenge to league rules than it is about economic condition of the club, which we believe can with new ownership and with the accommodations the city of Glendale is prepared to make, we think can succeed," Bettman said.

I understand that Bettman is trying to protect the integrity of the league but in the end he needs to do what is best financially.  The NHL needs to realise that Phoenix is not a hockey city and that the idea of someone who walks around in 100 degree weather having to put on pants and a sweater to go watch a game they have never played before isn't appealing.  Of all the things there are to do in Phoenix why would anyone pay good money to go watch a failing product.

"We generally try to avoid relocating franchises unless you absolutely have to," Bettman said. "We think when a franchise is in trouble, you try and fix the problems. That's what we did in Pittsburgh and Ottawa and Buffalo prior to our work stoppage. That's what we did when the perception was that five out of the six Canadian franchises around the turn of the century were in trouble. We fixed the problems. We don't run out on cities."

As much as I hate poker references I think it is time that Bettman and the NHL realise that in the Phoenix Coyotes they have a losing hand.  Just fold and walk away.

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Dirk Nowitzki is the new Cottonelle

Yes it is official, Dirk Nowitzki is officially soft.  Not only is he soft but he in fact wicked soft.  He is 7 feet 245lbs of German softness.  

The superstar forward for the Dallas Mavericks has always been criticized for his lack of physical play but so far in these 2009 NBA Playoffs he has taken his softness to a whole new level.  During game 1 of the Nuggets/Mavericks series Dirk was thrown to the floor hard by Kenyon Martin and of course did nothing about it.  He simply laid on the court like a broad and waited to be helped up by teammates.

For his part in the incident Martin was fined $25,000 while Nowitzki was offered a spokesman deal by both Charmin and Downy (sources say he is leading towards Downy).  

Now the writing of this article could be seen as blowing the incident out of proportion but when you look at the impact this will no doubt have on the series it becomes a much more crucial event.

Before I continue it is crucial to point out that this physical altercation occurred during an NBA basketball game. In basketball, and especially the NBA, fighting is not allowed and before anything can happen there are 8 players and 2 referees jumping in and actively separating the 2 participants.  What this does is allow anyone, anyone at all, the opportunity to act tough and stand up to a person they would normally cower from.

I mean if Shaq threw me to the floor and I knew that no matter what within seconds people were going to be holding me back I would get up and shove him and probably call him a few words I wouldn't use around my grandmother.  Why not?  It's not as if he can do anything about it or else he might get ejected or suspended.

So in this case instead of laying on the ground like Ricky Hatton did on Saturday night Dirk should have gotten up and got in the face of Martin to show that he would not be intimidated and that he wasn't going to back down. Howver he instead chose to lay there and look like a huge [insert slang word for cat] as Martin looked down on him.

Now to make matters worse Nowitzki then went and complimented Martin on his defense during a pregame interview tonight before game 2.  He claimed that Martin played a physical style of defense that made scoring difficult and that he did a great job in game 1.  He further went on to compliment Chirs Anderson aka the Birdman and Nene which to me is inexcusable.

You are the leader of your team and you are in the playoffs.  You are supposed to portray confidence and know that you are better than everyone on the floor.  You don't sit there and compliment the other team on their ability to shut you down.  For gods sake you won a league MVP award and are a perennial All-Star.  Guys like Kenyon Martin aren't supposed to shut you down.  You are supposed to send them messages telling them to bring their raincoats and galoshes because he is going to be raining 3s.

Look at what Martin did to David West of the New Orleans Hornets in the 1st round.  During the regular season West averaged 21 ppg and shot 47% from the field.  In the post-season, being guarded by Martin, he only averaged 18 ppg and shot 40% from the floor.  If the Mavericks want to make it to the Conference Finals they cannot afford this to happen to Dirk.

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The Problem With #1

What do John Tavares and Stephen Strasburg have in common?  Both are expected to be taken #1 overall in the upcoming draft of their respective sports.  Both are expected to make millions of dollars in signing bonuses and both are expected to be superstars for the teams that select them. Finally what they both have in common is that they both will be drafted by the 2 crappiest teams in their sport.

Tavares is a consensus 1st overall pick and therefore will be drafted by the lowly New York Islanders.  Now he may find joy in the fact that he is picked first overall but that joy will quickly turn to sadness once he realises he will be wearing an Islanders jersey every night and as a rookie will no doubt be far and away the best player on the team.

His talents will go to waste on a team that has no goal scoring threats, no defense, and a goalie who can't stay healthy and has no financial incentive to try after signing a 15 year deal.  Tavares will be stuck with the Islanders and will have to spend his first few seasons on a dump team that's only hope of getting better rests squarely on their ability to come last every season and acquire more top 5 draftpicks.

Strasburg is no different as it has already been confirmed that the Washington Nationals, who own the first overall pick in the 2009 draft, will select him and sign him no matter what the cost. Much like Tavares his talent will be wasted on a team with no legitimate chance of becoming a contender.  The Nationals have some young players but they lack any talent at starting pitcher and their bullpen is a sophie's choice of losers.

While both these players could potentially hold out and refuse to sign with the team that drafts them in the long run that will only hurt their careers as they will miss valuable playing time and will cost them millions of dollars.

To see the true negative effects of going #1 look no further than Georgia quarterback Matt Stafford who only a few weeks ago went first overall to the Detroit Lions.  The Lions are by far the worst team in the NFL and set a new record by going 0-16 last season.  Stafford will be forced to sit on the bench and learn from Daunte Culpepper who has no business teaching anyone anything as he himself can barely hold down a job.

Stafford will also come to a team where losing is natural and is part of the culture.  Despite the best efforts of the coaches and management the team is going to lose multiple games and will win 3 games if they are lucky.  So while Stafford is getting paid roughly $13 million a season to do nothing, in the long run getting picked by the Lions isn't the best possible option.

The same can be said for Strasburg and Tavares as neither the Nationals or the Islanders have any players on their team that can be a role model to these players or give them the wisdom of their years of experience.  I don't see any benefit in Julian Tavarez pulling Strasburg aside and telling him his secret to being a career middle reliever with an ERA around 4.5.  Nor do I see Doug Weight giving Tavares any advice that would be worth writing down other than how to hold onto a roster spot despite being a corpse.

The sad fact is that both of these players have the potential to be superstars but their talent and potential is going to go to waste on teams that have 0 chance of challenging for a championship or even a .500 record for that matter.  They will get drafted, put on the jersey and hat, and smile only to have that smile wiped away once they find out that their first few years as a professional athlete will be a fruitless endeavour in which their only hope is to attain individual success.

Going #1 clearly has its advantages but those advantages are 99% financial.  So while Stafford may earn an extra $3 million a season players like Jeremy Maclin and Eugene Monroe are going to benefit more from going to stronger teams with better personel in place.

Note: I chose not to include the NBA in this dicussion as since the teams are so small by drafting a great player, like Blake Griffin, and signing a big free agent any team can be good.  For instance if the Sacramento Kings, who have the 1st overall pick, take Griffin and then sign a big free agent or 2 then they could potentially challenge for a playoff spot.

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RIP Paul Pierce

No Paul Pierce didn't actually die, well not physically, but his career certainly did after that grueling 7 game series with the Chicago Bulls.  

Pierce and the Celtics battled the Bulls for 7 straight games going into overtime on 3 occasions including a triple overtime game 6.  Pierce himself played over 50 minutes three times in the series and broke the 40 minute mark 6 times equalling 312 minutes of basketball played. 

I think it was about 10 minutes into game 1 that Pierce officially dropped dead on the floor probably around the time John Salmons was blowing by him like he was a pylon.  Or maybe it was when he started running up and down the floor with his head back and his elbows tucked in like a senior citizen puffing wind after racing to the can in the middle of the night.

Either way you look at it Paul Pierce has ceased to be "the Truth" and has now become "the corpse."

Not only can he not run the floor or defend scrubs but he can no longer be trusted to hit game winning shots or even to make free throws.  At the end of game 4 Pierce had a chance to win the game if he could hit 2 free throws.  What happened?  He bricked the first one and was forced to hit the second to send the game to OT.  Then in the 2nd overtime Pierce has his lousy attempt at a fadeaway blocked by Salmons.

Finally the worst play of not only the series, or the playoffs, but Pierce's career was when he had the ball stripped by Jaokim Noah and then proceeded to foul him on the defensive end when he already had 5 fouls!  So a recap of the play: has ball stolen, can't outrun Noah, fouls when he has 5,  and doesn't foul hard enough to disrupt the dunk and it's an And 1.  Worst play I have seen in a long time and was something I would expect from maybe Andrea Bargnani.

The sad thing is that Pierce is only a year removed from being the NBA Finals MVP where he was a beast for the whole series and playoffs.  He played high pressure defense and scored at will hitting big shot after big shot.  Now he can't defend John Salmons or Ben Gordon for a possession and clanks 15 footers like it's his job.

Going into the playoffs people were asking the question could Pierce guard LeBron James for 7 games straight.  Now we have our answer as after seeing his weak defensive performance against the Bulls I wouldn't put money on Pierce guarding LeBron for 7 minutes.

The Celtics narrowly got past the Bulls and Pierce was hardly a factor as his series high was 29 points in over 50 minutes in game 4.  For the series he shot 42.7% which is only .5% higher than teammate Brian Scalabrine and his 33% 3-point shooting percentage is dragging down the team average.

It is sad to watch a great player slowly die in front on you and in front of a national audience but that is what happened to Paul Pierce.  He went from being the guy who the Celtics could count on to win games and shut down opposing superstars to a offensive and defensive liability.  He is still getting his points but don't let the stats fool you.  Watch one game and see for yourself.

In all seriousness though someone link me a picture of Paul Pierce holding today's newspaper to prove to me he still has a pulse.

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Huge Fight Announcement

UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva (24-4) will return to the light heavyweight division to square off with Forrest Griffin (16-5) in a featured bout at UFC 101 on August 8th in Philadelphia.

Griffin had been booked to fight fellow top contender Thiago Silva in the UFC 101 co-headliner in a bout that was likely to determine the next challenger for the 205-pound title. Now, however, he’ll take on one of the pound-for-pound best fighters in the world in Silva, who knocked out James Irvin in just 61-seconds in his light heavyweight debut last July.

The winner of the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, Griffin won back-to-back fights over Hector Ramirez and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in 2007 to earn a light heavyweight title shot, then defeated champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson via unanimous decision to claim the belt. In his first title defense, Griffin suffered a third-round knockout loss to Rashad Evans and has not fought since after suffering a broken hand that required surgery in the December defeat.

Despite winning nine-straight UFC bouts, the most in the promotion’s history, Silva has been criticized recently after delivering two forgettable performances against Patrick Cote and Thales Leites. Following stoppage victories over Rich Franklin, Dan Henderson, and Irvin, Silva’s October matchup with Cote ended in controversy after Cote was unable to continue in the second round following a severe knee injury. Silva returned to action on April 18th in the main event of UFC 97, winning a unanimous decision on the judge’s scorcards that was highly criticized by fans, the media, and even UFC President Dana White for its lack of action as Silva refused to engage Leites on the ground.

In light of Silva’s recent performances and with no standout contenders at 185-pounds, the UFC has turned to Griffin in hopes the pair will slug it out and deliver a “Fight of the Year” candidate that will further Griffin’s status as one of the UFC’s most popular fighters while allowing Silva an opportunity to re-affirm his status as one of the world’s best fighters.

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