Rant Back at You

Since blogging is also a dialogue...

NHL:
For once, I am siding with the players. Too much expansion in markets that just should not have a professional hockey team. They need to cut back by about 8 teams. But 10 teams would give them more breathing room.

Tiger:
"Slump?" I am not sure. I am sure that the rest of the field is a little better and more confident. Vijay, Phil, Ernie, Retief, Mike Weir, Davis Love III just are not that intimidated any more. The question is not what Tiger has done, but whether he can do it again against the "new and improved" PGA tour.

Yankees & King George:
To say they choked diminishes Boston's accomplishment. The fact is that the Yankees played above their level all year. The pitching was the worst it has been since 1994, either too new to the Bronx or too fragile for the Bronx. David Justice said that not every superstar can hack it in New York- it is a different league.

The Boss need to take deep breaths, get his own reality TV show (or focus on his budding career as a VISA pitchman) and let Cashman and Torre fix the pitching staff. Then all will be right again in NY.

Maurice Clarett:
You said it, STFU, Maurice. The line for the role of over-hyped, all talk, no talent, NFL blow hard gets longer each day.

Shaq, Kobe, NBA:
Argh. There are not a lot of people who can match my passion for NCAA Hoops (obviously excepting Thew), and there are fewer who can match my disgust with the pro version. I might rant about pro players occasionally, but whenever I rant about the OHATNTNFLBH (see Maurice Clarett above), the guys who throw on the pads work freakin' hard to be able to play week in week out. TO, Ray Lewis, Jeremy Shockey may rub the wrong way, but I do not question their work ethic.

I cannot say the same about Shaq, Kobe, Artest and the rest of the bunch.

Caveat, my apologies to Rip Hamilton, Amare Stoudemire, Ray Allen, LeBron James and the others who really work it. In the NBA's case, I am willing to throw out the baby to get rid of the bath water.

Rap:
I will never be cool enough or hip enough to comment about rap. If I try, shoot me.

(Oops, in the case of rap, they might take me seriously. Just kidding.)

(About the shoot me part.)

NCAA Hoops:
Oh, glorious sporting days. I hope that Thew and I will consider a TOP 10 posting on a regular basis. That said, I do not think you can tell anything before January. With few exceptions, November and December are just warm-ups where anything can happen. (That said, Arizona looks like they are in post-season form.)

But one quick comment: I always complain that the ACC is way over-rated, mostly because of ESPN which seems to double as the ACC's PR firm. This year, I am keeping my mouth shut. With what Virginia did to Arizona, NC, Wake, GT and (of course) Duke, this may be a real year of dominance.