MARLBORO, NY – I was all set to make predictions for the opening round of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs but the bottom half of the standings in each conference are as muddled as my life, so those prognostications will have to wait. What I do know is the Boston Bruins are in, as are Angry Ward’s Minnesota Wild, but I don’t know what Rangers and Islanders fans will do this hockey post season. And on a sad hockey related item, I’d like to send my condolences to all the families of the Saskatchewan junior hockey team involved in an unfortunate team bus accident that left fourteen dead and the same number injured. Godspeed.
Call me old-fashioned… and I am in a lot of ways, but when you start putting baseball telecasts on a medium like Facebook the way the Mets did this past week, you’re screwed. While hopefully gaining a younger demographic with this stunt, it stands to reason that the 50+ demographic will be lost and not bother with the effort of trying to watch. Can’t we just leave well enough alone? The NFL is also guilty of this, as they too put a live stream on Yahoo (I think) for one of those dopey London games. I type with two fingers, like my coffee black/no sugar and my sports untainted with these technological brainstorms.
As much as we make fun of the beloved New York Mets, I’m starting to get a good vibe off of this team. Maybe Mickey Callaway and his warm and fuzzy approach to his players has something to do with it, but there seems to be some chemistry developing with the Flushing Nine. The team is scoring runs and the bullpen – of all things -is exceeding expectations… so far. Should the Mets keep the big bats healthy and get the starting pitching they are so capable of, this can be one of those special seasons. Ya Gotta Believe!
The NFL Draft being held at Jerry World in Texas is another mess, in terms of what team is taking which player after those Eldon F. Wonderlic scores were made public. It seems like quarterback Josh Allen out of Wyoming has helped his cause for being the first signal caller off the board, as he scored the highest on this most idiotic of measuring sticks for incoming NFL freshmen. There are questions like: Do you like cats or dogs? Really? And so, word has leaked out that the Cleveland Browns are going to select Allen, which almost assures the kid will be a bigger bust than Jamarcus Russell. What happens after the first pick is anybody’s guess, as the Giants will dictate how the rest of the top ten picks shake out. I’m intrigued but still won’t watch a second of the draft, which is now held over a three-day period for seven rounds in the ultimate of money grabs for the NFL. Sounding every bit of the fifty-year old I am, there was a time the draft was held in the same place every year (Radio City Music Hall) and the entire draft took place in one afternoon. Prior to those days, the draft was held in somebody’s basement with no television cameras and had twelve rounds! I am really fighting these days to like sports but when league executives tinker too much with a good thing they lose me a little more at a time.
That’s all folks! Come back tomorrow for a man that thinks Wonderlic scores are bra sizes, DJ Eberle.
