Today In Sport

We have completed a week in the Stanley Cup playoffs and almost a week in the NBA so it would be a good time to see how everybody is going.  We have a couple of series that are over and some that soon will be but some others that might go down to the wire.

In the NHL, Boston completed their sweep of a very disappointing Montreal Canadiens.  The Bruins look to have the goods this year and big Tim Thomas is providing the great goaltending that every Cup hopeful needs.  Right Winger Michael Ryder is the playoff point leader at the moment with 4 goals and 3 assists. (continue reading…)

Out west there are still some good teams that are hanging around not wanting to go away and let the East dominate.  Here are the matchups.

1-LA Lakers v 8-Utah Jazz

It is always easy to say how Kobe goes so go the Lakers.  But with Gasol and Bynum and Fisher as his running mates the Lakers are a definite contender and do not always have to rely on Kobe to save them in every game.  However it is comforting to know that if your team gets in trouble you can always keep giving the ball to one of the best players ever to play this game. (continue reading…)

The NBA Playoffs kick off this weekend and there are quite a number of teams with claims to the title.  Let’s have a look at the Eastern Conference matchups. (continue reading…)

The 2009 NHL Post-season begins on Wednesday.  All the matchups are set and teams are setting themselves for a deep run into the playoffs.  Will there be some upsets?  Are teams like the Penguins ready to take the next step?  Let’s have a look at the first round shall we. (continue reading…)

Well it’s been a big day in sport today.  Major League Baseball is back, the NHL and NBA season are reaching their climaxes and rumours of possible trades are flying all around the European Football scene.

But undoubtably the story of the day has been North Carolina’s complete domination of Michigan State to claim the NCAA Basketball Tournament Championship.  Right from the opening tip-off the Tar Heels completely took the game away from the Spartans.  The first half was one-sided at 55-34 and looked like North Carolina would embarrass Michigan State. (continue reading…)

Just recently New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur eclipsed former Montreal and Colorado goaltender Patrick Roys’ all-time games won record.  This started the debate over who is the best goalie, Roy or Brodeur.  Some even threw up names like Jacques Plante, Terry Sawchuck, Grant Fuhr and Ed Belfour.  All goalies have different attributes that make them great.

Goalies have different styles, from Butterfly to Stand-up to Brodeur’s hybrid style and also Dominik Hasek’s Floppy Fish technique.  No one style is better than another and whatever suits a particular goalies attributes best is the one he should take.  But let’s concentrate on the two most winningest goalies.

Patrick Roy is without doubt one of the most reliable money goalies in history.  When you needed a game won, 9 times out of 10 he would come through for you.  A four time Stanley Cup winning goalie, he also holds the record for most playoff wins by a goalie.   Roy is also the only 3-time Conn Smythe Trophy winner for best player in the playoffs.

But stats are one thing, the plays you make in games are another.   His three Conn Smythe trophies attest to his big game mentality.  Sure he was also on the losing end of Stanley Cup finals but you can’t always make up for the shortcomings of the men in front of you.

Martin Brodeur has 3 Stanley Cups to his name and in his 15 seasons has led The Devils to the playoffs in all but one of those seasons.  He is a 4 time Vezina Trophy winner for best goalkeeper in the NHL.

He has the most number of 40 win seasons and is one of only two goalies to have scored a goal in both regular and playoff seasons.  He also won the Calder Trophy for best rookie.

So both these guys have excellent records and maybe when you look at goals against averages and the fact that by the time he is finished Brodeur will be miles ahead in wins that the Devils goalie looks golden.

But I believe that Brodeur has been aided greatly by New Jersey’s infamous Trap and the help he gets in front of him.  There were times that Roy was in  a shooting gallery and somehow survived.

As with any comparison the ultimate answer comes down to personal preference.  In my opinion Patrick Roy is and always will be (until someone I think is better comes along) the greatest goalie in NHL history.

For all the Brodeur fans out there, good luck to you.

Once the domain of math geeks and stat freaks, fantasy sports have become a new mass marketing tool by sports organizations and sports related businesses.  The advent of the internet allowed the pastime to leave the loungerooms of a small group of friends with a common interest and spread across the world into the homes of the average fan who liked the idea of pitting his knowledge of a certain sport against thousands of others.

In America the fantasy sports industry is worth millions.  Whether it be the countless number of competitions you can enter to win cash prizes to the equally countless number of books, magazines and websites from people willing to share their expertise in how to win these competitions, for a price obviously.  But this is how seriously many people take their fantasy sports.

With many sports having numerous statistical categories to quantify player performance they lend themselves very easily to a stat based competition between fans of the game.  Americans have always loved their stats (just look at baseball where they can break stats down to how well a certain batter faces left handed curveball pitchers with men on 2nd and 3rd in  a certain ballpark on a Friday.)  It is no surprise then at the amount of fantasy games and information emanating from that country.

Here in Australia the rise of fantasy sports has been slower but just recently has really taken off.  For the past four or five years I have participated in the Australian Football League’s Dream Team competition.  Unlike some American games where it is a draft based system, the Dream Team is run via a Salary Cap.  Every player in the league is given a dollar value and you receive $7,706,000 to pick a 30 man squad.

The beauty of this kind of system is instead of not being able to pick your favourite players because someone else has him you get to weigh up one players worth versus anothers and choose accordingly.  You may think that this would lead to everyone choosing the same or very similar teams but just as in everything, everyone has a different opinion on certain players.

A website I frequent quite regularly throughout the season is http://dreamteamtalk.com/.  This site has a large number of visitors and contributors who generate heated and healthy debate over all manner of players.  The idea of a site like this is it gives you many different points of view and sometimes you will read about a little gem that was hidden that maybe you had given no thought to.

It is always interesting when 20 people in a row have said Player A is a must have and then someone comes along and says what about Player B, they will get you similar points and they are cheaper giving you more money for other players.  This will then generate debate on five other players who people say are similar and everyone has their own favourites.

As you can see, over the course of picking an entire team there will be many differences in everyones teams.  It all comes down to what they did last year, what you think they will do this year and sometimes it just comes down to whether you like them as a player or if they play for the wrong team.

The other good thing about this game is that you can participate in your own separate leagues as well as the overall contest.  This allows you and 15 of your mates to compete against each other.  The good natured back and forth between each of us on the coaches shout box makes for an entertaining season even if you are sitting 4,396th overall in the competition and won’t be winning any cash.

The thing about fantasy sports no matter with which sport they are associated is that every minute of every game becomes important.  Imagine the Boston Celtics are beating Chicago by 30 points with four minutes to go and the commentators are busy talking about what they had for dinner earlier, thinking the game is over.  But sometimes junk-time in games is good for fantasy teams because the defence relaxes and then your boy Ben Gordon steps out and nails three meaningless 3-pointers to boost your score.

What I am saying is that it changes the way you watch sports.  No longer will certain games not interest you now that you have one of your big point producers playing in them.  You may even find yourself not being too upset when a player scores against your favourite team just because you have him in your fantasy team.

So whether you are a hardcore sports nut or just an average fan, fantasy sports can open up a whole new experience for you and your mates.  Good luck to everyone in their leagues for the new AFL season starting this week.  I look forward to beating you.

On a night where New Jersey Devils team mate Patrick Elias broke the team record for career points it was Goaltender Martin Brodeur who stole all the headlines.  By completing the 3-2 win over Chicago he overtook former Montreal and Colorado legend Patrick Roy as the all-time winningest goaltender in NHL history.

The three time Stanley Cup Champion recently returned from a long term injury but has quickly returned to form.  He has played all of his sixteen seasons with The Devils recording his first win in his first game against Boston way back in the 1991-1992 season.  He won the Calder Trophy for best rookie in his first full season in 1993-1994.

His career resume is impressive with 10 NHL All-Star game appearances and being named on either the 1st or 2nd team end of season All-Star awards on seven occasions.  He holds over 30 team records including wins (obviously), most games, most saves and shut outs.  Brodeur is second on the NHL list for regular season shutouts behind Terry Sawchuck.

He has the most 40 win seasons (7) and is one of only two Goaltenders (Former Flyers goalie Ron Hextall being the other) to have scored a goal in both regular and post season.  Brodeur also holds the record for most Shutouts in one playoff season (7).

Although he is universally respected throughout the league he has had his share of controversy as well.  His most notable feud has been with NHL bad boy Sean Avery who once referred to Brodeur as “Fatso” after Brodeur snubbed Avery in the post series handshakes after the Rangers had beaten Brodeur’s Devils.  The feud was fuelled by Avery and his over the top face guarding of Brodeur during the series trying to block his vision of the puck.  Brodeur lost concentration during much of that series worrying about the Rangers tactics and in particular Avery.

Personally I still consider Patrick Roy the greatest goaltender of all-time but there is no doubt that he is one of the all-time greats.  Congrats to Brodeur and let’s see how far he can take it in the 3 or 4 seasons he has left.

Once again the biggest college basketball tournament of the year is ready to begin.  All the teams have been selected and there are some unlucky teams that have missed out.  The team I was most looking forward to getting in that didn’t is St Mary’s.  They started the season like a house on fire but when star Australian point guard Patty Mills went down with a broken hand the wheels fell off a little and took them a few games to get back on track.  They have some great players in their team like center Omar Samhan.  He is a blocking and rebounding machine.

They also have a few other good role players like Carlin Hughes and Diamon Simpson.  I was under the impression that a team was not only graded on their record but also their potential and if a star player received an injury that affected their season but was coming back, which Mills was, they would be judged on how good they were with him rather than without.  Needless to say I am upset that The Gaels are not getting their shot in the tourney.

But on to the tournament as it stands.  There are some standout teams as always but there are the smokies that might cause a few upsets along the way.  Let’s have a look at the regions.

EAST

The top seed Pittsburgh has had a stumble before the tourney with a 74-60 loss to West Virginia in the Big East quarter finals.  Forward DeJuan Blair was in foul trouble all night and guard Levance Fields was struggling with an injury which may have contributed to their poor performance.  It does show that they are vulnerable if their big dogs go down.

The 2nd seed Duke is a perennial favourite and always believes they have a chance to take it all.  They won the ACC title by beating Florida State, the 5th seed in this part of the bracket.  FSU will have to get past Pitt in the 3rd round if they are to get anywhere near the final 4.  Third seed Villanova have lots of experience and a slight home court advantage as they will be playing at the Wachovia Center where they play some of their regular season games.

Fourth seed Xavier has had a rough time of it lately and have been shown up by teams with high pressure defence and teams who dictated the tempo.  Look for them to go nowhere.  My Cinderella team for this region is Wisconsin.  I can see the 12th seed getting through to meet Pittsburgh in the 3rd round.  They have a great track record having been seeded 2 and 3 in the last two seasons and have a wealth of experience.  They could trip up Pitt on their run.

My Final Four of the East

Sweet Sixteen - Pittsburgh  Wisconsin  Villanova   Duke

Elite 8 - Pittsburgh    Villanova

Final Four - Villanova

MIDWEST

This quarter of the bracket is loaded with good teams.  The top five seeds all have a good shot at making the Final Four.  Louisville have the number 1 seed for the entire tournament.  Coach Rick Pitino has brought together a great team with a good spread of scoring and Terrence Williams and Earl Clark are superstars.

Michigan State is a real run and gun team that can be undone by teams that get back fast on defence and force them into halfcourt game.  The second seed can play the slow game but are at their best when allowed to run.

Third seed and last years champions Kansas are having a slight wobble going into the tourney after losing in the Big 12 Quarters to Baylor.  Their strong outside game went missing and they will need it to fire if they are to go long in the tourney.

Wake Forest the fourth seed have one of the most talented rosters going into the tournament but sometimes have trouble maintaining focus for entire games.  If they can get everyone on the same page at the same time then they might rumble their way to the Final Four.

Fifth seed Utah have a tough first up match with Arizona.  If they get past them they may do some damage.  Sixth seed West Virginia have one of the most dominant players Da’Sean Butler who recently went off on Villanova for 43 points.  The Cinderella team could be the aforementioned Arizona.  They have the players to cause upsets with two great forwards in Chase Budinger and Jordan Hill.

My Final Four of the Midwest.

SS - Louisville  Utah   Kansas   Michigan St

E8 - Louisville   Michigan St

FF - Louisville

WEST

This quarter looks like a race in two.  Number one seed Connecticut has Hasheem Thabeet at center who is a dominant force.  If he can get his offence cranking then they will be hard to beat.  One team that has the best shot is second seed Memphis.  One of the best defensive teams in the comp they have the goods to shut down any team.

Third seed Missouri and fifth seed Purdue have good solid rosters that could cause problems for the bigger schools.  My cinderella team is Missisippi state who take on 4th seed Washington in the first round however I think if they make it past Washington they will probably be beaten by Purdue.

My Final Four of the West.

SS - Connecticut  Purdue   Missouri   Memphis

E8 - Connecticut   Memphis

FF -  Memphis

SOUTH

Another part of the bracket with a bunch of teams who could cause trouble.  Number 1 seed North Carolina could be the best team in the country but can they stand up to three and maybe four really tough matches to go all the way.  They have one of the toughest roads to the Final.  Second seed Oklahoma is one of those speedbumps.  They have arguably the best player in the country, Blake Griffin and he has the ability to drag them all the way.

Third seed Syracuse recently played and won one of the longest college games in history when they beat Connecticut after 6 overtimes.  Their point guard Jonny Flynn is a machine who just wants to play every minute.  Fourth seed Gonzaga are running hot at the moment and probably cost St Mary’s a tourney slot when they thrashed them in the WCC final.  They could cause some problems for the top seeds.

Sixth seed Arizona State have a shot at a short run if James Harden can get his stroke going.  Ninth seed Butler are a good defensive team and if they find some scoring might produce an upset.

My Final Four of the South.

SS - Nth Carolina   Gonzaga   Syracuse   Oklahoma

E8 - Nth Carolina   Syracuse

FF - Nth Carolina

I will post a preview of the Final Four when we get there and see how good my bracket went.  Hope your bracket doesn’t get busted too quickly.

Steroid overload.

The recent Alex Rodriguez fiasco has again brought forth the issue of drugs in sport and how to stop it.  Hot on the heels of the Michael “I have more gold medals than God” Phelps media frenzy comes A-Rod taking the high moral ground and coming out to say that although there were others, that I Alex Rodriguez am better than Phelps because I took responsibility for my actions and anyway you only took a bong hit of something that makes you stupider instead of faster and stronger so once again lets focus all the attention on me, Alex Rodriguez.

It is quite humourous to see how very unbelievably sorry these athletes are after they are caught, some of them years later.  All of them were stupid and naive and didn’t really know what they were taking and then once they had taken it for a while didn’t know how to stop.

Well, are they stupid or do they think we are stupid?  You knew what you were taking and you did it to cheat the system and when you got found out you ran crying to the nearest media outlet that will let you tell everyone how sorry you are.

If this is the way it is going, why don’t we just let everyone take something if they want to.  It’s a free for all and everyone is invited.  Who cares what they are doing to their bodies for the future, in ten years time we will have a new steroid freak to marvel at and A-Rod and his ilk will be left behind to hawk books about how they are still really sorry.  Speaking of that, is it time for another Jose Canseco book yet?

So in the spirit of A-Rod and his Steroid brothers I present the first of what will become a regular on this blog, The Top 8.  (I only have 8 because I don’t want to get sued by David Letterman and I am either too stupid or lazy to come up with 10)

THE TOP 8 REASONS WHY LEGALIZING STEROIDS IS GOOD FOR SPORTS

8.  Gheorghe Muresan would become the norm and not a sideshow freak.

7.  The stat guys can now have the opportunity to keep two lots of stats, one Non-Steroid and one Steroid.

6.  The hard working doctors behind the scenes will finally be able to be recognised for their work and contribution to sports.

5.  Two words: Inter-gender Boxing!

4.  The chance that at least one athlete will have smaller testicles than Screech from Saved by the Bell.

3.  Players having so much energy that they revert back to being two sport stars…or three…..or how about FOUR!  Man I so want to see Dwight Howard playing for the Florida Panthers!

2.  The chance to see sponsors reacting how they really want to when someone says they are on the juice.

And the number 1 Reason why Legalizing Steroids is good for sports…

1.  NEVER HAVING TO SAY YOU’RE SORRY!

Well that’s my take on the whole issue.  Either ban them all forever or let everyone do it.  Either way just get over it.

Keep doing the crazy dance!