I hate the Shootout in the NHL

If you were witness to the Capitals game last night against the Flyers you saw a tale of two games. The Capitals came out focused, with a sense of urgency to win and complete a tough five game road trip with 2 more points. They controlled the play for 15 minutes, scoring during the 1st minute, but eventually the Flyers hit their stride and leveled the game at 1 in the 2nd period.

It was a taut, well fought game for 40 minutes, but then devolved into a backyard scrimmage for the final 20 minutes of regulation and overtime. The Capitals were in most need of points, but the Flyers still have faint visions of top spot in the Eastern Conference and it appeared to me that both teams signed a treaty to not try too hard after the 2nd intermission. Neither team wanted to walk out of the arena pointless and the product on the ice showed.

The last 10 games of the season are supposed to be a precursor to the playoffs with each teams scratching and crawling for every point in desperate and dramatic fashion. What fans were witness to was a crawling pace and a entertainment level that left them scratching at their eyes. By the time the overtime started is was almost a given that a shootout was inevitable. There were only two shots on goal attempted during the five minute, 4 on 4 overtime. With all the open ice available and skilled players like Alex Ovechkin and Claude Giroux you would figure that more than two shots would occur. Sadly, no, each team had relegated themselves to an exhibition of one on one skill sets to decide the final available point in the standings.

The shootout has nothing to do with team hockey. It was implemented for the casual fan who didn't want to shell out $300 or more for a family of four to go to the good old hockey game and leave with the unsatisfied taste of a draw. We want a winner and a loser dammit! I assume the same people who bemoan cliffhangers during sweeps week on television or open ended conclusions in movies are the ones who demanded all fans go home happy or sad.

I remember the days of ties after five minutes of five on five hockey and the level of play during the majority of those overtimes were barely worth watching. Of course the overall product of the NHL leading to the lockout was ugly as well. Opening the ice in overtime was meant to make that five minute period more exciting and lead to more conclusions, but the fact is teams are more interested in points than pleasing their fans at the games. The only good thing to ever come out of the shootout is getting witness a coming out party of the sick, unbelievable moves that gritty forward Matt Hendricks uses. His stop and go, double fake out that left both Evgeni Nabokov and Ilya Bryzgalov flopping like it was their first time on skates is the only argument for keeping the shootout.

If it must stay I propose a new scoring system that will further make winning while playing team hockey an incentive. For those new to the NHL, the points are accrued in this fashion:

Regulation win 2 points, Regulation loss 0 points
Overtime win 2 points, Overtime loss 1 point
Shootout win 2 points, Shootout loss 1 point

By this scoring system overtimes and shootouts are weighed exactly the same (save for the tiebreakers for seeding at the end of the season where regulation/overtime wins are ranked 1st while shootout wins are excluded). Some teams don't have the speed or skill to compete with the extra open ice, but they do have one or two Matt Hendicks' on their team to score in a breakaway contest. This would force those teams to pack it in during the overtime and hope that the shootout is the key to that valuable extra point. My proposed plan would to make that decision a riskier proposition, one that would affect the standings points and that might just get the attention of the league.

I would like to see 'hockey' wins weighted more:

Regulation win 3 points, Regulation loss 0 points
Overtime win 3 points, Overtime loss 1 point
Shootout win 2 points, Shootout loss 1 point

Now there is a true competitive reason for teams to push for a win during the 65 minutes possible during team hockey. This is what fans really want to see. That proverbial '4 point game' has now turned into a '6 point game.' Imagine the swings in the standings and the strategy a team would employ with 3 full points at stake. Last night the Capitals would have surely pushed for another goal late in the game to get 3 points in the standings rather than risking only gaining a point in either overtime or in the dreaded shootout where their maximum potential would have been only 2 points.

For a visual of how the Eastern Conference standings would look though games played on 3/22/12 under my scoring system:

1) NY Rangers* 140 points
2) Boston* 120 points
3) Washington* 113 points
4) Pittsburgh 132 points
5)Philadelphia 131 points
6) New Jersey 118 points
7) Florida 111 points
8) Ottawa 110 points
---------
9) Buffalo 104 points
10) Winnipeg 102 points
11) Tampa Bay 99 points
12) Toronto 97 points
13) Carolina 96 points
14) NY Islanders 88 points
15) Montreal 88 points

Obviously Capitals fans are much happier with these standings as it shows that outside of the shootout, they are barely a better team than the Panthers, standings-wise. For the Flyers fans, knowing that they left a point on the table last night that would have pulled them into a tie for home ice advantage against the hated Penguins is all the impetus that they should need to yearn for a new scoring system. I want to see games decided by the teams, not by individuals no matter how fun it is to see Matt Hendricks make a goalie look silly.

A Satisfying End

I am a self described poor man’s Steve Czaban. He doesn’t know who I am, nor have I ever met him. He’s from Virginia, as am I, he loves sports, as do I and he has a high end man cave whereas I have my newly redone basement done within budget. We are both follically challenged, but most importantly, we both love to rant about inane subjects. On the way to work this morning I was truly inspired to write a Super Bowl post about my lack of care of who wins the ‘Big Game.’ I hate New York sports, I loathe Boston sports. They have won enough Championships and there is no sign of either of them slowing down. Yes I am jealous, I admit it. I am a fan of the Redskins who had their heyday, but are now relegated to punch lines at the end of horrible jokes. Hey did you hear about the guy who was so fed up with the ‘Skins that he left a pair of tickets on his dashboard in his car with the window open as he went into a 7-11 in the hopes that someone would steal them? When he got back to his car 10 minutes later, there were two more tickets with them. Hahahahaha, so funny. Those used to be jokes about the Bengals and Cardinals. The Bengals went to the playoffs this year with a rookie quarterback and while the Cardinals still suck, at least they have been to a Super Bowl recently. I was 13 when the Redskins last won more than one game in the playoffs. Now I’m married, balding, working full time and see no end in sight of their apathy.

So again the sports world is subject to a Boston vs. New York storyline. Not the Red Sox vs. Yankees, even though we have all summer to suffer from that. Not the aging Celtics vs. the underachieving, overhyped Knicks. Not the top two current teams in the Eastern Conference of the NHL, the NY Rangers vs. the Boston Bruins…yeah I know you’re shocked. It’s a rematch of the 2007 Super Bowl where the NY Giants upset the unbeaten Patriots. That year I was ‘rooting’ for the Patriots, because witnessing history was far more important as a sports fan than the outcome was. I wasn’t around for the ’72 Dolphins and seeing perfection in any sport is worth my time because it is so difficult to accomplish.

This year I could care less who wins or who loses. I don’t have any money on the game, nor would I put anything on it just for ‘rooting interest.’ There are some things that I can hope and pray will happen during the game to make in more enjoyable and give me a satisfying end to the season.

Scenario #1)

While everyone is being mesmerized by Kelly Clarkson’s version of the Star Spangled Banner, I fully hope that Ray Lewis and Ed Reed will lead a covert group of Baltimore Ravens into the bowels of Lucas Oil Stadium. Their mission, if they choose to accept it, is to steal every single football in the stadium along with the down and distance markers, the pylons and even the replay challenge booth. For all I care they can even steal the commemorative coin from the back pocket of head official John Parry. What would be their getaway vehicle you ask? Obviously a Mayflower moving van. The entire city of Baltimore will be cheering in full throat as Billy Cundiff, behind the wheel of the big rig rolls all the necessary equipment out of Indianapolis and back to Charm City. Monday will be a city wide holiday as the old Baltimore Colts marching band comes out of retirement to lead a ticker tape parade down Eutaw Street.

Scenario #2)

Seeing as the game is in Indianapolis and Peyton Manning is forced to watch his bitter arch rival play against his younger brother on his home turf I am hoping this brings the worst out in him. With run of the building, Manning will turn into a prankster and put a layer of maximum strength, industrial grade glue on Tom Brady’s helmet. When Brady reaches for his lid, his precious throwing hand will be rendered useless, forcing Brady to the emergency room. This would leave a clear path for Eli to eclipse Peyton in Super Bowl wins and there is no way the competitive spirit that envelops Peyton will allow this to happen. He will sneak into the locker room during warm-ups and sprinkle the magic world’s best itching powder all in and around Eli’s jersey. As Eli convulses on the sideline in a scratching fit, the camera will pan up to the owner’s booth where Peyton and Jim Irsay are laughing uncontrollably while doing some version of a frat house secret handshake. This will leave the world to watch David Carr battle Brian Hoyer for the Lombardi Trophy. It will be epic.

Scenario #3)

The game is a taut, back and forth thriller with both quarterbacks leading multiple 4^th quarter comebacks. It comes down to Stephen Gostkowski lining up for a game tying 42 yard field goal with two seconds remaining and when he splits the uprights it sends the game into overtime, tied at 48. When the PA announcer bellows ‘This game is heading for SUDDEN DEATH overtime’ the microchip that the Galactic Empire implanted in Bill Belichick’s head at birth becomes activated. Under his hoodie a transformation begins with billowing smoke clouds surrounding him. There is a clash of thunder and a lighting bolt rips through the roof of the dome. When it all subsides, Bill Belichick has transformed into the Sith Lord Darth Maul. He grabs the pencil from behind his right ear and presses the eraser down and it morphs into a pure black light saber. He marches directly across the field and with one flick of the wrist lops off the left hand of Tom Coughlin. But not stopping there, he takes a full swing reminiscent of a David Ortiz baseball swing and splits the Giants head coach in half. Because of the FCC 7 second delay, this is not seen by the viewing public. Later stories from the spectators at the game detail, with varying accuracy, the next 30 minutes as a cross between the blood filled climax of a Quentin Tarintino and a Sam Peckinpah movie filled with full monologues in an undecipherable tongue by Darth Belichick. All in all 723 are slaughtered and 1308 more lose a limb as the game ends in a disqualification and the NFL never discusses the events again.

If any of these three scenarios come to fruition the game will be much more palatable to any non Giants or Patriots fan. On Sunday, there will be no winners. We will be forced to watch the smugness of the Patriots against the aww shucks, never say die Giants. The commercials will be the best part of the game for me. I can see it now as Rob Lowe stars in a version of one of the AT&T 4G commercials where a coworker runs to a cubicle and says ‘Did you hear Peyton Manning is retiring?’ and the creative execs of the commercial will cut to Lowe and Manning teeing off from the 1^st hole at Augusta saying ‘That is so 37 seconds ago!’ That will be advertising gold and we will all laugh all night long and ignore the game. Just like it should be.

I am so lazy sometimes

I'm going to blame my four month absence to the holidays. That season is so trying sometimes.

Let's get caught up in my life:

The wife and I just got back from a week-long Caribbean cruise. It was fun, but I think we're done with Caribbean for a while. The islands all look alike and they peddle the same tourist-y junk at every port of call. I ate too much as usual, but had fun doing it. I hit four of a kind in Caribbean Stud Poker, not once, but twice!!! Paid out about $600 which helped pay for the trip. We almost didn't even get on due to a marriage license snafu, but that got worked out thanks to the in-laws!

We're now in the infant stages of planning a trip to Los Angeles. I've never been and she is from there and wants to go back. I'm, how do you say in California speak???, stoked!

The holidays came and went...I took about and extra week off in December and that, combined with my Cruise in early January has refreshed my batteries for the upcoming year.

As for the sports in my life:

My Capitals are rolling, steam-rolling. They remind me of the UNC men's basketball team from last year. They come at you in waves. Now just like the Tar Heels, the Capitals season will only be remembered by how they do in the post season. It's amazing that in a two year span the regular season has become merely a prelude to the 'real' season. I used to have to sweat out 82 games and home the Capitals would sneak in to the playoffs. I'd scoreboard watch and count points needed to clinch and stress that there was only a handful of games remaining.

Now just over the halfway point in the current season, the Caps have a 21-point lead in their own division (that's like a 10 1/2 game lead in the NBA folks) and are 1st overall in the Eastern Conference. This is the latest the Caps have ever led their own conference during a season. They are in the midst of an 8 game win streak which they haven't done in 21 years! It's a fun ride right now, but fortunately/unfortunately the Playoffs are the only thing that matters. I'm not going to be completely aloof and ignore the brilliance of the Caps during the regular season, but I want a Stanley Cup dammit! When the Tar Heels went 12 years in between NCAA basketball titles, it felt like a lifetime. Well the Caps haven't won a Stanley Cup in my lifetime or anyone else for that matter so they are due (don't tell Cubs fans I said that).

About the current Tar Heel basketball team. This season has been disjointed from the beginning. The team is full of individual talent, but they are in no way a team right now. The parts don't mix together and they lack two important parts that lead teams to success. They don't have consistent point guard play and they are horrible from behind the three point line. It does a team no good to have such strength down low if there is nobody who can pass the ball into the big men in a position to score. Even when they do accomplish this, all five defensive players collapse around the ball and force turnovers because there is no 3 point threat to keep them honest. The reason Tyler Hansbrough, Deon Thompson and Ed Davis were so good last year, was talent obviously, but they could almost guarantee single coverage because all three guards on the floor could burn you from downtown. Ty Lawson worked so hard at improving his shot that he required the point defense to stay home. Wayne Ellington was in range as soon as he stepped on the court and Danny Green had moments of brilliance.

The team is young, talented and error prone. They will have to be more consistent to make the NCAA tournament, but if they can figure it out, nobody will want to play them come March.

The Redskins season ended...that is all.

I haven't played much poker (as least for $$) recently, but I do have a tournament upcoming with a $500 first place prize, so wish me good luck.

A New Batch

Last season North Carolina Men's Basketball was anointed as the Champion before they even played a game. With the whole crew back, led by uber college stud Tyler Hansbrough, the Tar Heels marched all the way to Detroit leaving crumbled opponents in their wake. Ty Lawson was the floor general, Wayne Ellington, the sniper and Danny Green was the glue that held the whole thing together.

Now they are gone.

Just like in 2005, practically all the scoring, rebounding and assists are gone from a loaded squad. Also like in 2006, the new team will be full of potential All-Americans with a bit of good leftovers to bridge the gap.

Roy Williams has prided him teams on running, shooting, scoring and playing defense in spurts (especially come March). This year it appears as though this team will be led on the defensive side with spurts of offense (hopefully come March).

The two seniors on the team are Deon Thompson and Marcus Ginyard. Thompson has been overshadowed by Hansbrough for the last three years, but he'll have a full season this year to prove he can play in the NBA. Ginyard should have been a senior last year, but a foot injury kept him from leaving a champion with his own class. He is known as a defensive stopper, which just happens to be the only weakness the Heels had last year.

Also returning will be Ed Davis who will be the most scouted prospect on the team this year. He is long and lanky. If you get out a guard or a wing, Davis will be there. He has the tools to score, but again it'll be defense first for him. Larry Drew II is the key to the team. He is stepping in for Lawson at the point. Will he be able to increase his shooting percentage, lower his turnovers and increase his assists (oh and play quality D as well)? That's a ton of question marks in a Roy Williams system.

Tyler Zeller had an abbreviated season last year (bleep you Kentucky) but returned to gain some much needed experience down the stretch. He is yet another long (you'll hear that word used a lot with UNC) player who has some definite offensive skills with a nice touch from outside the paint.

Will Graves (suspension) and Justin Watts (too much talent ahead of him) also saw some playing time last year and will be in the mix this season.

The blue ribbon recruiting class Roy Williams brings to Chapel Hill this year is led by string bean John Henson. The Wear brother, Travis and David, are also tall, but actually look like they have been to a weight room before heading to college. Dexter Strickland and Leslie McDonald are in to hopefully fill Ellington's shoes at the wing spot.

All in all there is a ton of raw talent, and if I had to have someone put the pieces together, I'd ask for Roy Williams.

For a quick season prediction...this year will look a lot like 2006. UNC is going to have real good nights and nights where things are a bit askew. The ACC is not the strongest that his has been in the past, but it is good. I can see UNC going 11-5 in conference.

Come March they will lose in the ACC semis and probably in the Sweet Sixteen of the Big Dance. As long as Dook doesn't win the whole thing (or friggin' Kentucky).

Good luck Heels!

Poker talk for the Weekend

So I'd love to have more money and be able to play poker a lot more, but for now I usually play once in a while with friends. For fun, though, I play weekly at a local watering hole. We usually get between 20 and 45 players for a 10:30 start and that's not bad. There is a wide range of skill levels in the room and I'd like to believe I'm in the top 5% of the people who sit down.

I can practically punch my ticket to the final nine week in and week out if I concentrate enough and don't lose out to a bad beat. Sometimes the people I'm with are annoying and I get out of my style and make stupid plays trying to run over the table. It's not a deep stack tournament and the blinds fly by so one big mistake will end your tournament.

It's fun, it's free and there are weekly cash prizes and a quarterly tournament for $500.

Speaking of final nine...the WSOP is down to exactly that this weekend. Phil Ivey is the best player in the world and he is still in it. He is 7th out of the nine players in amount of chips, but according to ESPN 78.6% of people believe he is going to win. Jeff Schulman, the editor of Card Player Magazine is also there and he's been at a final table before. I believe he will be heads up for the championship. Darvin Moon, the logger from Maryland, has the massive chip lead and has been getting hit in the face with the deck. Recently he has shown a little bit more skill with fewer cards. He is bluff check raising and raising out of position. As long as he keeps with the style he had in getting to the final table he'll be around for a while. Don't get stupid Darvin.

I'd love to see Phil Ivey win, but I believe he'll be 1st out or last out. He's going to get aggressive and try for the quick double up hoping that everybody else is nervous in the beginning and playing close to the vest.

I'm picking Jeff Schulman to win over Darvin Moon.

Final Table Night and Trading

So tonight ESPN airs how the final 18 players go down to the final 9 in this years WSOP. I know 2 of the 9 players that make up the final table, but it will still be intriguing to see who the other 7 players are. I love the new format that the WSOP developed last year. After playing for 8 straight days, the final 9 get to take a couple of months off, rest up, learn their opponents, get sponsorship and get some much needed insight from the world's best.

If I played poker for 8 straight days, other than being in heaven, I'd be exhausted. I'd hate to think that I misread my opponent costing me $8 million after surviving 6000+ players because of exhaustion. When the tournament was under 1000 players and you only played for 4 days in a row, there was no need for a break.

Learning your players, watching the tape of them and asking around for insight about the other 8 is very, very important. Just because you made the final 9, don't go home and celebrate by buying a new house and car. Get to work. There is a big, huge, gigantic difference between 1 million and 9th place and 8 million, 1st place and countless endorsements later. Who came in 9th last year?? Who cares? I know Peter Eastgate won last year and I will always know that from here on in. Learn how they play or if anyone has picked up on a tell. Study every hand that was filmed for TV and see how they played while ahead in a hand or behind or when they didn't know where they were. See what cards they like raising with or flat calling. See how many times they stay in a hand on a draw. Can you bet them out? Can you bluff them? There is so much to be learned.

Getting sponsorship is important if you are short on chips. If you don't think your chances to win the whole thing is high, then put as many stupid patches on you clothes as you can. Get the money up front. Soak in the limelight as much as possible. If you have a ton of chips then get what you can get and get out. You'll be on television longer and if you win it all, you can pick your sponsors later and for much more money.

Next hire a pro to help you fix your game. Pay him to watch you in a tournament. Have him videotape every hand of yours. Go back study your tape. Make sure you are not revealing anything. Figure out a way to do the same thing every hand. If you bet with your right hand when you're bluffing and your left hand when you have the nuts, you'll see that on film. If you touch your face on a bluff, you'll see that. Nobody is going to reveal to you your tell, so the only way to figure it out by watching film. Then there's the strategy of hands, the more you know...well you know how that goes.

Good luck to the final 9, I hope to see you there one year.

Shifting gears back to fantasy football. Now is the best time of the year to pull off trades. The studs and duds have emerged. Bye Weeks are almost over. You as an owner know your team strengths and weaknesses. There is no reason to be carrying a stud on the bench. You either make a run for the money or you get left behind. If you pull off a great deal to bolster your team for a playoff run and an injury happens, tough luck. Better to have tried and failed then to never have tried in the first place.

The common factor I have in all of my leagues is a glutton of running backs with shoddy quarterback play. I banked on Kurt Warner having yet another MVP-esque year, but it hasn't happened. I have been fortunate to have 2 good starting running backs and my 3rd string running back become the fantasy sleeper of the year. Cedric Benson has defied all the odds and become a must start #1 back. Look at what he did against the Ravens earlier this year. Go ahead...look...I'll wait.

In my other league Jay Cutler had a strong start (after Week 1) but has flamed out in recent weeks. I have Ray Rice, Thomas Jones, Pierre Thomas, Clinton Portis and Johnathan Stewart to work with and have pulled off a trade sending my #4 and #5 backs in return for Donovan McNabb. He may not be the best quarterback, but his team is a throwing team and will be a definite upgrade over Cutler. The bears will run more and more as the weather gets colder, but Andy Reid refuses to run even up big (watch the film from last week vs. the Giants).

Ovechkin and Warner

So every Washington Capital fan is holding their breath today waiting for word on how long Alex Ovechkin will be out with his undisclosed 'upper body' injury. In hockey you don't have to put out an injury report like they do in football. The reason for this is simple: betting lines. Gambling is so prevalent in the NFL that every minute injury has to be officially documented to avoid fines and punishment.

For all we know Ovechkin has a broken foot if they are saying 'upper body'. That's what is awesome about hockey. It keeps opponents from intentionally aiming for that part of the body with a stick or a check. Now I know the recent rule changes sorta forbid this policy, but I assume some shenanigans are still going on.

My fantasy football team had a great start yesterday with long runs by both Frank Gore and LeSean McCoy. In my league we get double points for touchdowns over 50 yards so I took a good sized lead. My opponent got back into the game with a TD pass from his QB to his WR, but I still had Kurt Warner to play. He was at home against the Carolina Panthers who have not been a defensive force this year to say the least. He threw an early interception, but followed up with a TD to keep me close. That is when his wheels fell off. After falling down by 21 (good for me, all throwing the rest of the way!!) he threw 4 more interceptions and lost a fumble. Thanks, Kurt, thanks.

My draft strategies have been take a QB or two late (7th rd or later), but this year I tried something new and took Kurt in the 5th round, but man do I wish I had a better WR instead of him. I could have waited 2 more rounds and snagged Big Ben or possibly Philip Rivers. More on those thoughts in the off season.

So tonight I'm hoping that Jason Elam has 5 fg's and the Saints D doesn't get a sack or a turnover off Matt Ryan....c'mon kid, help me out!