FIRE OWENS!!!!

I am not emotional right now. With five minutes left in the first period I looked at my wife and said "it's okay, this one is over". I knew it from the beginning. Michigan looked so much better. It was as if they(I am pretty sure they did) watched last nights game against Boston College. They kept our top line out of contention all night. We never had a chance to win this one thanks to an ineffective team effort. In my mind the only person who really put on a show worth paying for was sophomore goalie Joe Howe. Joe made stunning saves the night before and left me in wonderland. Tonight he followed the same format as last night: let an early goal in and then stop for a while. Unfortunately the rest of the team did not get on the same page and go for scores. It became very clear in the first five to ten minutes that Michigan had planned to dump and chase the puck. CC does not have a good defense so this puts the forwards on their heels and leaves only one man to make or break CC: the goalie.
From that point on, it was clear that this game was over. From a season long perspective, this post season run has probably done nothing more than delay the inevitable firing of Scott Owens. Owens has been on the job for 12 years. He has won the McNaughton cup honoring the regular season champions three times. He has been to eight final fives never winning the tournament. In 2005 he struck his career best by taking the Tigers to the Frozen Four. In that year, the frozen four consisted of all WCHA teams. For a $400,000 a year salary I would say that's pretty shitty statistics. For some reason the athletic director feels that keeping an alum as a coach is key. This is probably true because of the way the school has a block plan. A very vigorous six week schedule of classes. I won't get into how the school year breaks down. I will just say that a coach needs to understand this system to be able to coach at CC. By comparison, Owens' northern partner George Gwozdecky has won multiple Mcnaughton cups I believe two Broadmoor trophies and two national championships in a relatively similar amount of time. Mr. Gwozdecky makes $350,000 a year.
This leaves the question: why won't anyone wake up and fire owens? My belief is that what happened this season is what keeps owens afloat. He has a bad run of seasons and recruiting where the team flat-lines and then all of a sudden produces something special the next year. The AD see's this and bam, we have a reason to extend him. This same type of inconsistency is felt throughout the team. Last night CC throttled Boston College 8-4. BC is a top ranked team in the country, and we rocked them. Then the normal CC showed up tonight and flat lined.
This is a horrible excuse for a way to coach and needs to be dealt with. A goalie as a coach? C'mon, lets get real and get someone in here who has the experience to move this team. And lets do that now!

The Colorado Avalanche virus

It has been over a year since I posted anything on my sports ticker. I have been bored from writing for many reasons but here I am crawling back.

Anyways, the Colorado Avalanche and Joe Sacco find themselves in second to last place in the western conference. This time last year, they were the talk of the league with Matt Duchene playing high level hockey but most of all their goalie Craig Anderson holding the line. During the 2009-10 season, many things should have gone wrong, but they didn't. For instance, Anderson never should have been relied on to win games but he was. After a while the Avs just gave up on the defensive aspect of things and let Andy take care of the load. Stars like Stastny, Duchene and Hedjuk flourished in a system that was only a year removed from the worst season in Avalanche history. That horrible season by the way was a year in which Colorado relied on a two goal tender system, much like what is being done today. That does not appear to work and now, more than ever, we can see that the defensive line needs to change. We gave up Scott Hannan and in return made our old captain run the defense. Foote is a good player and a leader as the C on his sweater suggests, however he needs to leave the organization. His age is not on par with the youth movement in front of him.

What I really believe to be true is what to do with our goalie situation. Last year Anderson was in consideration for the Vezina trophy and a spot on the U.S olympic team. He was the show stopper. Due to injury, Anderson is no longer that same goalie and may never return to form. Anderson had something to prove last year and he did it. It is my personal belief that Anderson did not put as much effort into this past offseason as he did the previous one. His efforts have shown and he has become non reliable.

I am glad that I never purchased his jersey because I think this season will be his last with the Avalanche organization. The Av's need to completely rebuild and part of that will be saying goodbye to Budaj and Anderson. Andy is a quality guy but has shown that he is a hype goalie and nothing more. Unfortunately this road is only going to get worse for the Avalanche. In order to completely rebuild, they will have to hit rock bottom once more. For that to happen, we will need to wash the system clean.

Racial Divide Seperates Sports Fans

Basketball has been known for creating some very good players. Michael Jordan, do I say more? The lack of criminals emanating from the league does make one think that Mr. Stern has been, well a little stern on his employees. As the league moves forward into uncharted territories, people are going to be very skeptical of how the league manages in modern society. The biggest issue to talk about is the lack of racial diversity in the NBA.
If I was anything on the list of writers in America, I would be stoned to death fro writing this blog. Fortunately, or unfortunately I am not looked at too much so this blog will reach about 35 people. Lately, I have been looking at multiple NBA venue's and I have noticed the same thing with each; an increase in the amount of empty seats. Some will over rule me and say this is purely economics at work, but I say otherwise. Look down at who is playing and tell me how many white people are in uniform slamming dunks. I'll even give you three minutes........
You have probably noticed by now that most of the players are African American. I think this is a positive testament to where our country has gone. We have a league which has more people of color than whites. This does not matter to me, however it does seem to be a little fast for the people paying for the show. You can say that I am racist all you want, but the fact is, the role models for white people are still turning out to be white people. The same with African-Americans.
So what do we do? Well, I for one dislike basketball to the fullest. I believe that the sport should be taken off of American sports because there is really no stopping anyone from scoring except themselves. No defensive unit will come on the court to stop Kobe from scoring. I'll just have to hope that Birdman gets in his way and ruins his first scoring chance. Which still leaves us with the same question of what should we do? Frankly, until America is a nation which is literally equal with the amount of blacks vs. whites, there is nothing we can do. Whites are still going to watch people who they can take after. It's not likely for for me to empathize with a black man who grew up on the streets. I didn't grow up on the streets, so I cannot relate.
I remember a couple of years back when someone, I believe from the naacp, said that basketball has roughly 75% African-Americans. They said that was good, but not great. So what is great? Would great be the entire sports world run by one race? How would that be any better than what we are in now? The only difference is that white people would not be allowed to start a league to help them in trying times.
I think people need to stop bitching and let the talent speak for itself. If a black quarterback is taken in the NFL draft before a white guy because he is good, so be it. If it's the other way around, the same should be said. Not something to the effect that a particular team is racist because they did not take a black person.

Trade Marshall for Crabtree

Highly unlikely, I know; but, think about it. Let's do a little recap of this years past draft. It was good, it was great, but was it wonderful? For the 49ers(who might as well have a dinner date with the Minnesota Timberwolves over players that didn't sign in the draft), the prospect of losing this year's first rounder and receiving a supplemental pick next season is monumental. First...and a little off topic I might add, Crabtree has missed every single practice and preseason game thus far. He is in no shape to do anything more than enter next year's draft and be selected somewhere near the fifth round for fear that a recent college grad will be in better shape. Second...and more on track than the first, everyone was shocked when the Raiders selected Darius Heyward-Bay over Crabtree. That decision and Al Davis' intuition to select good players and horrible coaches seem's to be wonderful. Now we have the idea running through our head that the best wideout of the year may have been Heyward-Bay.
Let's get to the good and the beefy part now. Think of Denver and what has happened to them over the past six month's. They went from a crappy team with no real chance of going anywhere to a horrible team with NO chance of going anywhere. And, did I mention that they have third string talent starting at quarterback? I have one suggestion and I leave it on the mercy of the readers to think critcally; trade Brandon Marshall who wants out anyways for the rights to Crabtree. Neither of them have much preseason in them this year and send a second round pick next year to Denver in that trade just in case Crabtree does not sign.
I think this is good, let it be your choice.

Matthew Stafford

I really like what I am seeing from the Detroit Lion's first round pick. His name is Matthew Stafford and he has quite an arm. I have watched quite a few qb's enter the game and not have half the arm that Stafford possesses. When I look at his strength and compare it to other qb's I think not of Peyton Manning, but of Jay Cutler and Michael Vick. Now let the prison term on Vick's resume be banished from this blog; I think he has a wonderful arm.
Back to Stafford. I have not seen too much from this young qb, and I really shouldn't at this point. When I think of Stafford and Culpepper together I remember the Cutler Plummer days. Plummer was named the starting qb for the beginning of the season and midway through, Cutler got the nod to finish out the rest of the year. This in my mind, was a gamble of gargantuan proportions. Cutler being a rookie could have done something to tarnish his name or lose his grip similar to fellow draft mate Vince Young. Instead, the gamble paid off and Cutler was the seasons gun slinger. Now, with this in mind I return back to Stafford.
Mr. Stafford did pretty well at Georgia. I am not going to post his stats on here because you can dig them up on Yahoo! if you really want to. What I am going to say is that his arm is decent for his tim in the NFL. To bench him for Culpepper is a very, very smart move. I think he needs to sit a year or two behind a good qb like Culpepper and "marinate" similar to the way Aaron Rodgers did under Brett Favre and Phillip Rivers did under Drew Brees. When the media hype is gone, he will be able to come back out and play harder. This makes things easier for Stafford(who would puke at the sight of this blog because of it's truth) while he becomes a better player. Just my thoughts, check out Michael Silver on Yahoo! for more.

Milwaukee Brewers fall from grace

Everyone sit down, it's only the Brewers that I speak of. Then again, stand up; YANKEES! Sit back down, BREWERS. Which one were you more apt to support? For me it would be neither because I am in love with the Rockies (until they fall into the hands of the Dodgers and Giants for the next week).
The loyal Wisconsinites know that something horrible has happened in Miller town. Last season, the Brewers relieved C.C. Sabathia of the horrible Cleveland Indians. Sabathia performed well in guiding the crew to a post season berth. Firth time since '84, while in the process almost throwing a no hitter (that was controversial because it should have been an error, not a man on base). But, whatever; the people who are good will shine. Unlike Milwaukee, who led their division two and a half months ago, there will be no after thought on how well the Brewers did this season. The attention will focus on the Packers and Miller Park will close down in the same fashion that it always has 24 of the last 25 years (county stadium in that count as well). The custodians will sweep the hall one more time, while the vendors will lock up their stores for a six month layoff. Then the players will leave and head to wherever they came from. Pheonix, Denver, Seattle, you name it they will be gone.
While all this is happening, Miller Park will receive a nice coat of snow to cover up the horrible season that preceded the closing. Fans will turn their televisions to Basketball and Football with some navigating to Minneapolis or Chicago for some hockey. No one will think anything while passing the large stadium which holds the keys to Milwaukee's freedom from a curse that really was never caused by anything. Chicago has the fact that they suck curse, Boston had the great bambino curse, and on the reverse side; New York has the so much money that we cannot produce curse (usually lasts about seven years and then they inject a needle in a few players and buy the world series). In the end though, you can count on Milwaukee doing nothing again next year, or the year after that. Ryan Braun and Prince field are two good players that could be traded for some decent pitching. Management says otherwise, and your ticket prices will fall. At least this time you can see a professional sporting event all while being considered a cheap date.

Michael Crabtree

Let the games begin! No, seriously, the fight for the right to play will be ever present in the coming weeks out of 49er land. This story is quite simple and relates heavily to how well the NCAA can market it's players. For the past three years, Michael Crabtree has been considered by many to be the cream-of-the-crop. He has caught more pigskins than any other player comparable to his efforts. Touchdowns, deep routes and complex catches are all part of Mr. Crabtree's luggage. He can take you to the next city, and then take you to the bank. He'll rob you of any thoughts you had concerning other wide receivers.
This is why I think Michael is a crappy player, and quite possibly a Crabass. Rather than negotiate his contract in a civilized way, he is choosing to use the biggest media outlets that he can. His message is this: "We will not stop until the contract is right". Although I made most of that quote up, the general idea follow's what the college wide receiver intends to do. Well, what exactly does Mr. Crabtree intend on doing? His current plan is to hold out for next years draft and re-enter as a new candidate. I think this is a horrible idea on many fronts. The first being that next year will be a Quarterback's year. Colt Mccoy, Sam Bradford, and Tim Tebow to name a few top shelf players that will likely dash the first round. Take them away and you will see your usual niche` of USC players making headway into top teams. Even without them, somebody, somewhere will stick out and make great plays. With all of this tallent ready to go, who is going to be thinking about Michael Crabtree? I would first like to point out that he will have spent at least a year without taking throws from college level players. His mental toughness will diminish along with his chances of being considered a rookie pro bowler ( for which he is now). This situation is getting ugly, and frankly I do not see a finishing touch that says anything more than disaster. San Fransisco will lose their first round pick, Michael Crabtree will fall into the cracks and become another Javon Walker all while we sit and wonder what could have been for Texas Tech's only decent player to make the pro's. Sorry Mike Leech, I guesss we'll have to wait another 20 years for someone this good to come out of your institution.