A brief interlude back to hockey

What Eric Clapton was to Cream, John Buccigross is to ESPN Hockey Night. I like Bucc. MY EPSN dream job would be to hang with him, Barry Melrose, and chicken parm Ferraro in the Hockey Night studios. He's written an interesting article on how to win back the fans and improve the game (and the product) of hockey...

I cannot subscribe to bigger nets. How can we compare Jarome Iginla's scoring totals in the future to Wayne Gretzky's total when Wayne had to shoot into a 4x6 net, while Jarome shoots into the cavernous 5x7 net (or whatever it will be)? I don't believe we make the nets absolutely bigger, we make them RELATIVELY bigger by reducing the size of the goal equipment. Shaving off inches from the treetrunk legpads that goalies wear today is a better step, not enlarging the net opening.

No skater interference - get a life! Every year we hear they are going to crack down on clutching and grabbing. Nice idea, the implementation of which has SUCKED every year they've yapped about it.

Penalty deterrents - making a minor last the full 2 mins is a GREAT idea. Tossing a guy out of the game after a set number of penatlies is a nice idea, but I'm not sure the practical application will be all that great. You might be ejecting "the dirty player", but it's a rarity when a player has 4 or more minors in a game; unless he's having a REALLY bad night.

Adopt the AHL changes. Limit goalie wandering isn't a good idea because you need to showcase some talents of the goalies, and if puckhandling is one of them, let 'em play. Moving the nets back, yeah, fine. Making the lines bigger is okay too. The best of which is a shoot out after 1 overtime during the regular season. EXCITEMENT! Also, I think the tie is an assinine way to end a game, what other sport allows ties? Okay, soccer, but you can see how popular THAT sport is in the US. :)

Paint the helmets - marketing ploy, but every other major sport with helmets have designs, why not hockey?

Mandatory player/referee microphones? Hmmm, I don't agree with player mics, but referee's are fine with me. Yes, you'd like to hear the sounds and voices of the game, but you could also catch Kevin Stevens of the Penguins yelling at Brian Bellows of the North Stars (an old clip I have), calling a f**king c**ks****r and a p***y, among other niceties. Not a good idea.

No more music...hmmm, I'm an audiophile too, and while I that there is too much music, some is good. Get's the blood pumping... Better to be selective as to when you play it...

Eliminate the RED LINE - no f**kin' s**t! Let 'em play dammit.

Play-in games. Nah, stupid idea. Why? Well, what became of the NCAA hoops play-in game loser this year? They went home. Nope, didn't get into the NIT, they just went home. I think that's a stupid idea for ALL sports. Top 64 get bids, top 8 into the playoffs. 'Nuff said.

Congressional hearings...OMG, please don't bring in the asshole politicians to fix our sport. Why? Because the idiots who run hockey will NEVER learn if they get a directive from congress on "how to fix it". They need to be able to learn to work together and fix problems as a team, not as William Wallace and Longshanks. If you TELL your children to get along, what's the likelihood they will "get along"? Bad idea, let hockey rule itself.

My 2 cents - market players, not teams. Jarome Iginla, Rick Nash, Eric Staal and others are the future stars of the league, make 'em known to the US public. Change the schedule to highlight more regional rivalries - NYR v NYI, Florida v Tampa Bay, LA v San Jose v Anaheim, Calgary v Edmonton - don't hype 'em as boxing matches, play them up as rivalries. MARKETING THE PRODUCT - three words that might mean a future for hockey. Oh, wait, GET THE PRODUCT BACK ON THE ICE first. :)

Back to the general grind...

Charlie Villanueva is contemplating declaring for the NBA draft? WTF is this guy smoking - 75% dog, 25% racehorse. When he becomes 99% racehorse, then he'll be a top 10 pick. But only then, since his attitude, work ethic, and ability to play a full game at 100% has been questioned by pretty much every NBA GM in the league. A guy with his supposed talent and size does NOT let his team get owned in the second round of the tournament - see Emeka Okafor, Ben Gordon, and Rip Hamilton - Husky leaders show up to lead and play, the whole game, not just when it looks good for the highlight reel. That aside, if he ever puts it all together, wow is he gonna be good. Another case of a million dollar athelete with a five cent head. I'd still pick Josh Boone over him because of Boone's effort and ethic. I hope that Charlie returns to UCONN and works at his game and attitude. It'd be a wonderful thing to see this guy fulfill his potential. Here's to hoping he acquires Ed Nelson's attitude and fire. :)

The UCONN women lost, finally, in the NCAA. 20 straight games. 3 straight national championships. All good things come to an end. Geno was gracious at best in losing to Stanford, complimenting the Cardinal as he should, since they put a stomping on the Lady Huskies. But I'd sure hate to be in that locker room listening to his analysis of the second half. Blarg...

Well, it had to happen eventually, althought I'd thought it would be someone else. Jesse Jackson has entered the Schiavo case, crying that her situation and impending passing is "an injustice". Interesting, I for sure was wondering when Al Sharpton would show up...

Ah well, back to the rat race...