The NHL general managers meetings started yesterday and the major issue facing commissioner Gary Bettman, is protecting players from injuries and more importantly from concussions. Head injuries seem to be running rampant this in the NHL with some high profile players playing the part of victim. Some of these players include Capitals' Mike Green, Penguins' Sidney Crosby, and Stars' Brad Richards, just to name a few. One of the most recent was Max Pacioretty.
On of the most outspoken individuals on this topic is Penguins co-owner, and hall of famer, Mario Lemieux. He has a special relationship with the NHL's second best player, Sidney Crosby, and will do anything to protect him. As a mentor, fellow Canadian, housemate, father figure, etc. Mario is obviously concerned with the concussion Crosby suffered at the hands (or shoulder) of David Steckel during the winter classic.
Lemieux's solution to cut down on concussion in the NHL is start fining the team as well as the player who causes the injury. Lemieux, in his letter last week, suggested fine amounts based on the length of suspension to the player:
• 1-2 games--$50,000 fine to team
• 3-4 games--$100,000 fine to team
• 5-8 games--$250,000 fine to team
• 9-10 games--$500,000 fine to team
• 11-15 games--$750,000 fine to team
• More than 15 games--$1 million fine to team
To me, the team(s) in question should internally control their player(s) and deal with the reparation with out fining the team. After all, it is the player who is doing the deed, not the team. So lets take a look at some of the NHL penalty stats for this season so far. Granted only an average of 70 games out of 82 have been played so far this season by each team. But right now as it plays out, Pittsburgh leads the league in the following categories: Minor penalties, major penalties, total penalties, total penalty minuets, and most penalty minuets per game.
For someone who feels "The current system punishes the offending player but does very little to deter such actions in the future. We need to review, upgrade and more clearly define our policies in this regard, so that they can provide a meaningful deterrence and effectively clean up the game." Maybe he should clean up his own franchise, and stop carrying players like Matt Cooke on his team. The only reason why he is complaining so much and pushing so hard for more stringent fines is because Crosby received a concussion this season.
Look, no one wants to see players get concussed. However, in a sport where they legally allow two players to get into fist fights, and glorify it but stopping play and letting everyone watch, injuries are going to happen!
We are all somewhat sad to see Crosby not playing right now, but Mario, seriously, either clean up your team or shut up! And in case you dislike Mario as much as I do, I leave you with this gem brought to you by HTS and Smokin Al Koken; Mario's last NHL fight. I recommend you watch the entire thing for the great commentary and the fact that Mario can't even skate him self off the ice because of a broken face:
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Still Cheering
Today's blog for me was a tough choice. There were two things rather prevalently on my mind, but I feel like talking about Tiger Woods.
The majors are quickly coming upon us. You can see commercials for the Masters already and I for one am pretty excited. Golf reminds me of warm weather and relaxation, so, its pretty easy to get excited for it. But other tournaments are still going on and Tiger is still out there playing. Im glad that the press has subsided quite a bit concerning his saga. Im not the only one, but yeah, I was pretty disappointed that the whole thing happened. Not that we need to revisit it, but, he was in most of our eyes a pretty perfect guy. Well spoken, amazing work ethic, charming, and absolutely dominant at his sport. Then he made mistakes and people now either hate him or accept his humanness and move on. I tend greatly towards the latter. I know this because I still really want him to win. Ive talked to Adam about this before, but its crazy how back before his sexual misconduct, he went into every single tournement as the favorite by a long shot, and he was never the underdog...but I still wanted him to win. I wanted him to win every single tournement. If he literally did win every single tournement, I would consider it great and exciting. You would think that maybe because of what he did, this wouldnt remain the same, but the truth is I am absolutely pulling for him this major season. I hope he starts it off by going into the Masters and starting over. His first win was at the Masters, and maybe another win will be some kind of rebirth. I think this story as terrible as it is, can still be beautiful. He is such a major figure and I sure do hope that he was sincere in his apologies. People make mistakes, and I know this well. You've just gotta live and learn.
The majors are quickly coming upon us. You can see commercials for the Masters already and I for one am pretty excited. Golf reminds me of warm weather and relaxation, so, its pretty easy to get excited for it. But other tournaments are still going on and Tiger is still out there playing. Im glad that the press has subsided quite a bit concerning his saga. Im not the only one, but yeah, I was pretty disappointed that the whole thing happened. Not that we need to revisit it, but, he was in most of our eyes a pretty perfect guy. Well spoken, amazing work ethic, charming, and absolutely dominant at his sport. Then he made mistakes and people now either hate him or accept his humanness and move on. I tend greatly towards the latter. I know this because I still really want him to win. Ive talked to Adam about this before, but its crazy how back before his sexual misconduct, he went into every single tournement as the favorite by a long shot, and he was never the underdog...but I still wanted him to win. I wanted him to win every single tournement. If he literally did win every single tournement, I would consider it great and exciting. You would think that maybe because of what he did, this wouldnt remain the same, but the truth is I am absolutely pulling for him this major season. I hope he starts it off by going into the Masters and starting over. His first win was at the Masters, and maybe another win will be some kind of rebirth. I think this story as terrible as it is, can still be beautiful. He is such a major figure and I sure do hope that he was sincere in his apologies. People make mistakes, and I know this well. You've just gotta live and learn.
March Madness
Hey all fellow contributors and followers. We are kicking off the first annual March Madness bracket challenge. The link to sign up is http://b-wb.mayhem.cbssports.com/e or just click here.
It is set up though cbssports.com. They will manage the brackets for free. You just need to sign up and make picks. We are hoping to get lots of participants, and as always, thanks for following the blog!
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Top Chef: Locals
We all know that competitive speed eating is a popular sport and recently competitive endurance eating has began to catch on (thanks to BalTIMore Bisk's introduction), but what about competitive cooking? Just watch any episode of Top Chef, Chopped, or Iron Chef and you can see that the competing chefs get a decent workout. Bravo should take their next Top Chef variation on the road: each week visiting a different city and pitting the local culinary talent against each other. I would even volunteer my time to participate as guest judge for Baltimore's edition of "Top Chef: Locals."
Friday, March 11, 2011
Could magic be in the air?
This evening, the Maryland Terrapins will face-off against the Duke Blue Devils in an ACC Tournament quarterfinal match-up. The only shot the Terps have of avoiding an invitation to the NIT for the fourth time in seven years, is to match their improbable ACC Tournament run of 2004 and grab the ACC's automatic qualifier spot by cutting down the net come Selection Sunday afternoon. The Terps were in a similar situation in 2004 (granted in 2004 they were a legitimate bubble team), in that they needed to string together a couple wins to go dancing. The odds were similarly stacked against them in 2004, but John Gilchrist (Tournament MVP) and a supporting cast of Jamar Smith (1st Team All-Tournament Team), Travis Garrison (2nd Team All-Tournament Team), as well as Chris McCray, Nik Caner-Medley, D.J. Strawberry, Mike Jones, and of course the Sky Captain, Will Bowers, came up big.
That ACC Tournament crown is the only one to have been won by a team other than Duke or UNC in the past 15 years. The 2004 Terps provided for a photo rivaled by only the Mona Lisa and the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
The current Terps squad lacks a guard like Gilchrist who has the potential to strap the team on his back and carry them to victory (Jordan Williams is a better player then Gilchrist, but it is tough for a post player to take over a game like guards can). However, Terrell Stoglin is doing his best to impersonate Johnny G of late, averaging 18 points a game over his last 9, and Williams seems to be returning to mid-season form, when he strung together 13 straight double-doubles. If the team can shoot over 40% from three and get a stellar performance from one of a myriad of role players, this team has a chance to equal that magical run in 2004.
I am hoping that the same crying Duke fan that adorned my Cumberland Hall dorm door for well over a month, is in attendance tonight, and even though he is seven years older, the final score still brings a tear to his eye.
That ACC Tournament crown is the only one to have been won by a team other than Duke or UNC in the past 15 years. The 2004 Terps provided for a photo rivaled by only the Mona Lisa and the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
The current Terps squad lacks a guard like Gilchrist who has the potential to strap the team on his back and carry them to victory (Jordan Williams is a better player then Gilchrist, but it is tough for a post player to take over a game like guards can). However, Terrell Stoglin is doing his best to impersonate Johnny G of late, averaging 18 points a game over his last 9, and Williams seems to be returning to mid-season form, when he strung together 13 straight double-doubles. If the team can shoot over 40% from three and get a stellar performance from one of a myriad of role players, this team has a chance to equal that magical run in 2004.
I am hoping that the same crying Duke fan that adorned my Cumberland Hall dorm door for well over a month, is in attendance tonight, and even though he is seven years older, the final score still brings a tear to his eye.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Honorary Assassin
Many legends have worn the number seven shirt for Manchester United over the years. George Best, Bryan Robson, David Beckham, and not too long ago Christiano Ronaldo. And then there is United's footballer of the century "King Eric" Cantona.
King Eric's illustrious career with United included four league titles, two FA cup wins, and winning the Charity Shield three times.
But according to Cantona, the greatest moment of his career came on January 25, 1995. After being shown a red card for a questionable challenge against Crystal Palace, King Eric was leaving a pitch when a Crystal Palace fan began heckling Cantona relentlessly. Cantona's response? To deliver a flying kung-fu kick to the fans chest. And for that, on behalf of the Ben Chi's Assassins, I would like to offer Eric Cantona an honorary spot on our squad for all of eternity.
King Eric's illustrious career with United included four league titles, two FA cup wins, and winning the Charity Shield three times.
But according to Cantona, the greatest moment of his career came on January 25, 1995. After being shown a red card for a questionable challenge against Crystal Palace, King Eric was leaving a pitch when a Crystal Palace fan began heckling Cantona relentlessly. Cantona's response? To deliver a flying kung-fu kick to the fans chest. And for that, on behalf of the Ben Chi's Assassins, I would like to offer Eric Cantona an honorary spot on our squad for all of eternity.
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