Weekend Quickhits

The Cowboys and Steelers are just a few hours of renewing a rivalry between two of the most historic teams in the NFL.  And as I sit on my couch eating my coconut-topped cake donut and small hot chocolate from the place down the street, there's a few thoughts I need to get out from this past week in sports.

+  Watching the USC game last night, did anyone else chuckle at the awkward silence following the back-to-back uniform-induced timeouts to start the game? With Mike Patrick and Todd Blackledge calling the game for ABC/ESPN, and as the referee announced the timeouts (for the home jersey followed by UCLA's voluntary timeout), here's how it went down:

(Flag thrown)

Referee: "Failure to wear required equipment. By the kicking team. That is a violation. That is a charged timeout. The first of the half by USC. Charged timeout, UCLA, their first of the half. Those will run concurrently. 30 second timeout"

Mike Patrick: "Sounds like the O.J. sentencing."

(silence for my count of 7-Mississippi)

+ I wonder if NHL commissioner Gary Bettman wakes up each morning and gets some sort of national security style briefing like the President does, except Bettman's contains a report on who call whose girlfriend a slut. As much as I think the Stars will be better off without Avery, sort of an addition by subtraction, and that's simply based on what everyone in that locker room is saying, I do think this whole league-imposed suspension is a grown-up version of the middle school assistant principle sending a kid to detention for name-calling.

If the Stars really didn't like what he said, they could have suspended him before the league did, but that wasn't going to happen. If Dallas is really serious about moving on without Avery, they should follow the lead of the NFL's Eagles and Buccaneers when those teams deactivated receivers Terrell Owens and Keyshawn Johnson. Both teams followed Super Bowl seasons, and both teams decided that their high-priced headaches weren't worth it. The Stars, coming off a successful season, might just want to get rid of this name caller. Gawsh!

+ Cowboys are playing the Steelers today without Marion Barber and a questionable DeMarcus Ware on a cold, blustery day in Pittsburgh. If weather could ever truly describe a city, today might be the perfect Pittsburgh day. Chance of snow, Wind chill in single digits. And the only people nuts enough to go outside at all today will be the 65,050 at Heinz Field. With a healthy Barber and Ware, the Cowboys could take down Pittsburgh, but without these two Pro Bowlers, could we see the resurrection of the Steel Curtain? The Cowboys offense better find a spark with Tashard Choice or hope that there's a Doomsday revival on the other side of the ball.

+ Oh, Canada! Today the Buffalo Bills are playing their first "home" game in Toronto, the NFL's first ever game in Canada. We saw a Cardinal/49ers regular season game in Mexico a few years ago. Now the NLF is invading the Great White North. I understand playing in Mexico and England, but Canada has the CFL. Grey Cup enthusiasts will be plenty upset aboot these hosers, eh. All three other major pro sports in the US have Canadian-based teams (although technically, I'd argue the NHL is really Canada's league that we're allowed to play in), and now the NFL is beginning it's move to embrace the Canucks. Goofy-looking 20-yard end zones not required.

+ Did the Mavericks find a useful player in J.J. Barea. He put together solid games against the Clippers, Suns and Hawks, and the Mavs are rolling along at 11-8 now. It's still only good for 7th in the West, but it's a great improvement from 2-7. All without Josh Howard, by the way. Now if they can just take care of Mark Cuban's kindergarden haircut, they'll be great.

+ The GBL made Rickey Henderson a $1M offer to go into the Hall of Fame as a San Diego Surf Dawg. Some league critics on message boards are upset that a league that history doesn't spend a lot of money would solicit Rickey for seven-figures. And that's the genius of it all. Because the Hall of Fame has the final say on which cap a player wears into the HOF, the league knows the possibility of Rickey as a Surf Dawg is virtually none, while the publicity generated is virtually a lot.

+ I tried to get through this week without talking about this, but I just can't. I'm weak. But how the heck does a world class athlete shoot himself in the freakin leg?! I swear, carrying a gun in your sweatpants. Plaxico Burress could lose up to $27M in salary and spend years behind bars. Doesn't make Terrell Owens look so bad now, huh?

+ Obligatory mention of Manny Pacquiao defeating Oscar De La Hoya. I don't care. Moving on.

+ Looks like the college football national championship will go down between Oklahoma and Florida, a pair of one-loss teams, but the Rose Bowl match up between USC and Penn State should be just as good. Penn State runs the spread, while USC has been led by a defense that gave up 93 points on the season. Oh, and these two teams have just one loss each as well. The BCS title will be decided in Miami, but the best game of the BCS Bowls will be played in Pasadena.

+ Finally, speaking of BCS Championship games, we're seen plenty more blowouts than close, amazing games. Here's some of the recent bloodlettings in the title game:

Blowouts
2007-08: LSU 38, Ohio State 24 - enough OSU
2006-07: Florida 41, Ohio State 14 - so much for being undefeated
2004-05: USC 55, Oklahoma 19 - OU was supposed to roll; rolled over instead
2003-04: LSU 21, Oklahoma 14 - not as close as 7 point difference
2001-02: Miami 37, Nebraska 14
2000-01: Oklahoma 13, Florida State 2
Nail-biters
2005-06: Texas 41, USC 38
2002-03: Ohio State 31, Miami 24 (2OT)

Happy football watching today. I'll be back Monday with some thoughts on the Cowboys-Steelers, providing I don't repeatedly slam my head into a wall during this match up.

Hockey mattering is all that matters

The year is 2008. The last time a team came back from 0-3 in the NHL: 1975. Before that? 1942. My point: It's probably not in the Stars this season.

Will I be disappointed if the Red Wings sweep the Stars out of the Western Conference Finals? Yes, a little bit. I'd like them to at least get one win in this series. Then again, anyone would like to get one win against Detroit since Osgood replaced an aging Dominator in net after Game 4 of Detroit's opening round series.

But can I really be disappointed? Stars fans, can we really be disappointed when we zoom out and look at not just a potential sweep at the hands of the Red Army, but look at this series in the context of the playoffs? According to many hockey savants, the Stars shouldn't have gotten out of the first round.

Remember the feeling - just a few weeks ago - when they beat the Ducks at AAC, smiled down a row of handshakes and got ready for the first second-round series in five years. Remember that? It was great.

And to do the same thing against the Sharks, despite allowing SJ to climb back into the series, the Stars held their ground and claimed a marathon victory to advance to this Western Conference Finals for the first time since going to the Cup Finals in 2000. It's been great to not just watch (like Stars fans have done the past few years) but it's been great to truly experience playoff hockey once again in Big D.

And the Stars couldn't have picked a better time. The Mavericks just fired their coach after a second straight first-round disappointment. The Cowboys - despite their 13-3 record in '07 - fizzled against NYG in the divisional playoff round. As Wade Phillips said, the Cowboys made it to the "final eight." Well, the Stars can be proud of their "final four" finish - if that is where it ends, and in all likelyhood it will. More importantly, the city of Dallas once again is championing the Stars, much the way it did during the Belfour years.

I don't have any figures on this, but I'm sure the 2008-09 Stars season will see an increase of season ticket holders from this year. People around town are wearing green caps, hockey jerseys, thinking about sewing a "C" onto their suit (that last one might be just me, but there may be others).

The Stars - barring a historic comeback, the likes of which have been seen only twice in NHL history - will not win the Stanley Cup. They won't win the Western Conference. But perhaps more important than any trophy, the Stars won back Dallas.

It's a victory that's long been overdue, but it's one that is still oh so sweet.

Hockey sighting

Tonight the Stanley Cup Finals made its triumphant 2007 network television debut, and the sport didn't disappoint.

The Ducks and Senators put on a high-energy, high-scoring game 3 that proved capable of capturing the attention of any half-hearted sports fan who may be channel-surfing on by (which is how I ended up watching the second and third periods). I thought I'd be focused on the Pistons-Cavs Game 6 tonight; I like watching basketball more than hockey. Instead, I watched the NBA Eastern Conference Finals during commercials and intermissions, going back to the Cup Finals as my primary channel.

It was great.

I really enjoyed watching the hockey game - a privilege I was denied for the first two games of the Stanley Cup Finals because it was only televised on the Versus (whatthefuck?) network. Thanks to NBC, the county was able to at least have the opportunity to watch hockey tonight. I don't know how many people tuned it, but if the NHL plays more games like that one, the league will have no problem gaining fans.

Ottawa came to life for the first time in this series to win, 5-3. The crowd in Ottawa represented a hockey-loving nation yearning for a championship, but also represented the passion this sport can generate. As a casual hockey fan, I can appreciate the energy and excitement tonight's game stirred up.

The NHL better hope that remaining games of these Stanley Cup Finals are just as competitve. They need the ratings. They need to gain back the fans. More importantly, they need a reason to keep their games on networks that people have heard of.

The Lockout vs. Gary Bettman: who killed hockey?

I don't know a lot about the NHL, but as an avid sports fan, I planned on watching the Stanley Cup Finals. Sure my Stars couldn't get out of the first round, but it's the finals of a major sports league, so I should at least tune in to catch some of the action.

Last night at 5:05pm here in Los Angeles, I received a text message from my friend Brad - an Orange County native - who wanted to know what time his Anaheim Ducks would take the ice against Ottawa down at the Honda Center. I got online and checked. 8pm ET.

Oh crap! It's starting now. I sent him a text message back: "Now. Like now."

But that wasn't good enough. Moments later my phone rang. The caller ID prominently displayed "BRAD" across my cell phone.

"Hey man."

"Hey, uh, what channel is the game on?"

"Hmm," I said. "Let me check." I got back online, found the information and replied. "Versus."

"Okay. Uh, do you get Versus?" he asked.

"No."

Brad told me he had a friend who would probably have the Versus network, and if he didn't have it, then no one would have it. We ended our call, and I went to check the local stations for the game.

CBS 2 --- no
NBC 4 --- no
KTLA 5 --- no
ABC 7 --- no
KCAL 9 --- no
FOX 11 --- no
FSN West --- no
FSN Prime Ticket --- no

Wait, so no local station is going to televise the game? I'm in Los Angeles. This is the home market, isn't it? (Sure, there's the LA Kings, but they have been to hockey what the Texas Rangers have been to baseball over the last four seasons.)

Okay, well I guess I won't be watching hockey, but that's no big deal. At least the people who are big fans of their team - people like Brad - aren't missing it.

Then the phone rang. Brad dialed me up to tell me his buddy didn't have the Versus network either. He wasn't going to see his Ducks tonight. So we did the next best thing.

We turned on ESPN and watched the Spurs and the Jazz play Game 4 of the NBA's Western Conference Finals.

When that game ended, what did ESPN lead Sportscenter with? The first game in the championship round of one of the four major sports leagues in the nation? Ha! Riiiiiiiiiight. They didn't shove it to the backburner, but they did put it in the microwave to keep it warm. The lead? Obviously: the Western Conference Finals - Game 4.

I'm not going to rip NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman for taking the higher bid from Versus and not signing a deal with ESPN, but only because it's been done by every other hockey nut. And a hockey nut, I am not.

I'm merely a casual fan. A casual fan that lost interest in hockey after the lockout season a few years ago. I'm a casual fan who's trying to get back into the sport. I'm a casual fan that doesn't have the Versus network. And as a casual fan, I don't plan on going out of my way to order it.

Sure the true hockey fans will find a way to watch the games. But in today's highly competitive capitalistic world of business, the NHL can't rely only on the die-hards to support their support. By not becoming accessible to the casual fan, it turns out it's the NHL that will die hard.

Hockey shutout

Did you know the NHL post season began today?

I know hockey is still climbing back from when they hit rock bottom during the locked out 2004-2005 season, but the fact that I cannot find any playoff games on my TV isn't helping the situation.

Right now the Stars - my Dallas Stars - are playing the Vancouver Canucks on a channel known as Versus, which is apparently tougher to secure than NFL Network.

I don't pretend to be a big-time hockey fan. I'm a casual fan at best. I like the Stars, and I hate the Red Wings and Avs (who outside of Detroit and Colorado doesn't?). But that doesn't mean I wouldn't watch other teams in the post season. It's the playoffs. I want to see who makes it to the Stanley Cup Finals and how they got there.

Reading final scores online or seeing replays on SportsCenter doesn't cut it. If any of you hockey junkies know where I can get a quick fix for something on ice - whiskey works - please let me know.

Until then, I will aimlessly wander the dial looking for hockey while the rest of this apathetic-toward-hockey nation fails to realize this most exciting time of the NHL season is finally here.