Minny Sticks 01.26.2013

I'm watching the NHL.  My team is the Minnesota Wild.  Here are some Wild points of note:

1. Wait, why hockey?  I know VERY little about hockey.  Most of my experience with the game involves NHL '95ish on Sega Genesis.  I played the bejesus out of that game.  You'll note it's been 18 years since then, which means that the time I have not been following hockey is old enough to vote.

What brought me back?  Well, I am really sour on the NBA for some reason.  I mean, I was FURIOUS when the Supes left, but I still watched for the past five years.  This year?  I can't get into it for some reason.

The timing is especially weird considering Seattle is allegedly getting Sacramento's team for next season.  The team I picked is especially weird considering the North Stars and Sonics have the same "left town; replaced a handful of years later" story arc.  The point is, I have to watch SOMETHING.  I love sports.  I love watching sports.  Hockey is a sport.  Hockey happens to be a very entertaining sport.  I hope Seattle gets a team.  Until then, I love the Twin Cities also.  My sort of people out there.

Oh, and you know what else?  NHL.com has a bang-up every-game package for a bargain price.  It's cheap and it works.  The NBA on the other hand charges a small fortune for a clunky, poor-performing streaming video product.  NBA League Pass is the worst.  NHL Gametime is almost MLB.tv quality (with MLB.tv of course being the gold standard).

2. Zach Parise debut.  On to the hockey.  This past offseason, the Minnesota Wild signed arguably the two biggest available free agents: Zach Parise (forward) and Ryan Suter (defense).  I'll get to Suter down the line, once I have a better understanding of blue line nuance.  Until then, I understand what forwards do: they score goals.  Zach Parise has played four games at this point with the Wild, in which Parise has scored three goals and assisted on three others.  Those six points are currently good for 13th in the league.  Star free agent has played like a star free agent.

3. Mikael Granlund debut. Of my numerous boring shades of white, I identify primarily as a Finn (a whopping 1/16th).  Granlund is a 20 year old Finnish rookie with the Wild.  His agent says he gets treated like Lennon and McCartney on the streets back home, where he is Finland's most-googled athlete.  I don't know about all that, but this is pretty sweet:

And he scored a goal in his first NHL game.  Give him the Calder!

4. Josh Harding shuts out Stars. It's great when the backup goalie gives the starter a break and pitches a shutout.  It's inspirational when the backup goalie was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the offseason and pitches a shutout in his first game back.  Good on that guy.

5. Konopka Bunny.  Zenon Konopka took a stick to the face.  He had to get 30 stitches.  He took a picture of himself post-game.  The picture included his pet bunny, Hoppy.

Oh, and this guy is a goon who has twice led the NHL in penalty minutes.  Gotta love it!

08.29.2012 Pac-12 Football Podcast

Hotdog & Friends Pac-12 Football Podcast Season Five

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TwiMs Baseball 8/15/2012

I've always said baseball would be the best sport to care about, because there's so damn much of it.  This year I'm going for it, complete with a controversial "root for two teams" strategy.  I give you, The TwiMs! 

1. The three months that were - developments since the last one of these from three months ago.
a. Mariners. The Bombs went 38-43 (15-11 in July!). Fair to poor!
b. Twins. The Twinkies went 40-40. FIVE HUNDRED!!!!!

2. Ichiro was traded.

a. Othering. Ichiro, you may have heard, is Japanese. Edward Said (a white! Corrected: He is Arabic) wrote a book in 1978 called Orientalism.  The idea in the book is that Europeans subtly portray Asians and Arabs as vaguely effeminate and somehow lacking in culture as a way to justify their subjugation by western powers.  Part of this is reinforcing the idea that THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT LIKE US, because if westerners stopped and conceded that people are people, we wouldn't allow our politicians to send our troops abroad to, among other things, kill their poor. IN THE NAME OF PROGRESS! Or security. Or something.

Penn State

So the NCAA has ruled that Penn State loses 20 scholarships over the next 4 years.  Literally punishing the University for failing to protect children by reducing the number of kids that get an opportunity to get a college education.  That sounds about right for the NCAA.

Who is being punished here?  20 kids who may have gotten a college education through their athletic ability.  Probably not at Penn State, as any athlete who is good enough to warrant a Penn State scholarship will no doubt be able to get a scholarship to another school, but the fact is that prior to this penalty there were __X___ Scholarships in Division I football (I don't know the exact #), and now there are _____X____ - 20 scholarships in Division I football.  So, take that potentially marginal football scholarship hopefuls.  Because Jerry Sandusky was a monster and abused kids, you may not get to go to college anymore. 

Happy Father's Day from Kasen Williams

He sonned Nolan Washington.  Bow Down!

Oklahoma City has great fans (maybe)

Just finished reading Bill Simmons' column praising OKC fans. I totally agree that OKC fans appear to be among the best in the NBA.  

But before we go overboard talking these fans up, let's think about what they've had to root for:

2005-2007: Transient Hornets. OKC never had a top level professional sports team before Hurricane Katrina.  They are Katrina profiteers.  The circus was in town, complete with young Chris Paul, and OKC's citizens were drawn to the novelty of big time basketball.

2008-2009: Expansion Thunder.  Although the team went 23-59, Kevin Durant was clearly in line to become the best player in basketball, averaging 25 ppg as a 20 year old.  Rookie Russell Westbrook provided hope that the losing would be short-lived.  OKC fans embraced a team they could finally call their own.

2009-2010: Playoff Thunder.  The Thunder added James Harden to KD and Westbrook to create a lethal triumvirate. If that wasn't enough, they also added Serge Ibaka.  4/5ths of the present crunch-time lineup was in place.  The Lakers eventually won the championship, but not before the Thunder took them to 6 games in the first round. OKC fans had to wait all of one season before their team was in the playoffs with a championship-quality nucleus.

2010-2011: Contender Thunder. The Thunder added Kendrick Perkins to solidify their present lineup.  They lost to the Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals.  OKC fans had to wait two seasons before their team won two playoff series and almost made the Finals.  

2011-2012: Championship Thunder.  OKC came back from 0-2 down to steamroll the San Antonio Spurs and send the Thunder to the NBA Finals.  In the Finals the Thunder were matched up with the equally talented, but somehow inept, Miami Heat.  OKC fans had to wait three seasons before their team were NBA Champions.

The point is: 

WHAT CITY WOULDN'T SUPPORT THE BEST YOUNG TEAM WITH THE BEST YOUNG PLAYER, THAT CONTENDED FOR AND WON A CHAMPIONSHIP IN THEIR FOURTH SEASON?  

We know nothing about what sort of fans OKC has, aside from that they support an exciting expansion team, and they support an exciting winner. 

Newsflash: This isn't the normal course of business for most NBA teams.  Being a fan of an NBA team means supporting a 35-45 win squad that attempts to improve with the 12-17th pick in the draft. That's purgatory, and every team gets there eventually.  

The Lakers were 34-48 as recently as 2004-2005. Boston was 24-58 as recently as 2006-2007.  Those teams only improved because they play in markets that top tier players are willing to be traded to.  

So do the OKC Thunder have great fans? Sure.  A qualified yes.  Limited to these tremendously favorable circumstances, yes.  

Eventually the bloom will be off the rose and we'll see how this city supports a normal NBA team.  To make it more difficult, they will have to support a normal NBA team with the terrible knowledge of what it is like to have won.  

James Harden will sign a max deal elsewhere.  The Kevin Durant era will end.  The team will start to lose.  Seasons will start where there is no hope of a championship.  Seasons will start where there is no hope of a .500 team.  

Then, and only then, will we be able to know whether OKC truly has great fans.

Winning Time?

I really enjoy the ESPN 30 for 30 documentaries.  An interesting one is the Reggie Miller joint entitled "Winning Time," documenting Miller's penchant for taking out the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference playoffs. 

Reggie Miller was a clutch shooter for sure - and the Pacers had some great series against Patrick Ewing's Knick squad, but is it really fair to call a documentary about Miller "Winning Time."  The Pacers never won an NBA Title, and only advanced out of the Eastern Conference 1 time during Miller's career. 

Alternative Title Proposal:  "Things that happened in Basketball during the early 90s that weren't related to Michael Jordan."