Football is Back

It would have been really nice to have added a seventh Cup to the list but it just wasn't the right time. Myself and all other Boston hockey fans will just have to wait. We couldn't have lost to a better team. Literally, the Blackhawks were the 'best' this year. They took the Cup home in six games: 4-3 (CH), 2-1 (B), 2-0 (B), 6-5 (CH), 3-1 (CH), 3-2 (CH). Three of those games ending in overtime, if you account for all the overtimes it makes five since the first game took three overtimes to decide a winner. Congrats Chicago.

One a side note the Washington Capitals open their season against the Blackhawks. Isn't that lovely.


Well football's already back. The NFL kicked off this past weekend. The Patriots and Redskins won their games. The Steelers lost theirs to the Giants. All three teams look pretty good considering this is a time to try guys out and see how they are in real games not just practices. Now time to talk about the elephant in the room; Tim Tebow. I saw a few online articles stating that Tebow proved yet again that he is not a NFL quarterback. I will wait to pass judgment on Tebow for a bit because:  1) How much did he actually play as a quarterback in New York with the Jets? So he hasn't really had the chance to be a NFL quarterback in almost a year. 2) You can only accomplish so much in practice and training camp. He needs more time to adjust to the playing style of New England. 3) He is somewhere deep down still the quarterback that brought the Denver Broncos into the playoffs two seasons ago. I'll wait and see how he turns out but I still think there's some hope for him in New England.


Baseball is still happening. Sometimes you forget it's happening since the summer days are long and filled with fun. And baseball runs from May to October. The Nationals aren't so hot these days; only winning 5 of the last 10 games they've had. One bright note, Stephen Strasburg played his first full game of his MLB career. It was a sweep 6-0 of the Philadelphia Phillies. He stayed in and played all 9 innings. Impressive for a guy who normally comes out earlier in the game.


The last story for today takes us to the golf world. Tiger lost whatever stride he was on; coming in the very back of the scoring with 4 over par in the PGA Championships. Rory McIlroy improved and end with 3 under par. Jason Dufner came in at the end of the day -10 under par. Not too shabby for a guy who blew it two years ago.

I Hate Hockey!

OK, not really. The nail-biting overtimes, fake goals, announcers that won't shut up about the U.S. Open starting today, while I'm dying watching chance after chance for a  game winning goal being batted away by Crawford, a two minute power-play with no change, those are the things I hate about hockey. The amazing saves, even if the other goalie makes them, stunning shots on goal, impressive hits, the fans reactions to a call, the fights that rarely happen anymore (at least when I watch), are some of the things I love about hockey.
Game 1 of the Stanly Cup Finals was last night and I watched about 15 minutes before having to turn off the TV, I was about ready to curl up in the fetal position on the floor. How these guys can play while I'm yelling at the TV, the announcers, and just about anyone who will listen, they're playing away and letting it go to a second overtime, and third overtime. WHY?! Maybe I just shouldn't watch sports. Nope, I couldn't do that, I might die from lack of sports. A large dose of chill-pills is desperately needed.

The game lasted over 112 minutes, the 5th longest in the NHL history for playoff games.  It was going to come down which goalie slipped up first. Both Tuukka Rask and Corey Crawford were good last night. The other guys were good as well just not as good. The winning goal  was scored halfway into the third overtime when it bounced off Andrew Shaw's leg. At that point I'm sure most of those guys just wanted to sleep, it was past midnight by the time the game ended. Somehow the Bruins blew a 3-1 lead; really? You would have won if you hadn't let that slip away. Final score 4-3, Chicago.

In other sports news, Tim Tebow signed with the New England Patriots. A quick back story on Tebow if you haven't heard: He was drafted in the first round to the Denver Broncos in the 2010 draft. He played for them two seasons, helping the team to win the wild card game against Pittsburgh, before losing to the Patriots in the divisional game. The Broncos traded Tebow to the New York Jets, who after one season and 8 snaps, released Tebow. It looked like his career in the NFL was over before it had really had a chance to start. Enter the N.E. Patriots. They signed Tebow reportedly to a two year deal with no guaranteed pay. He reported to their mini-camp Tuesday (it runs through today) and spoke briefly with the press.

My thoughts on Tebow being picked up by the Pats - they just made a very smart move. Tebow may not be the best QB in the world and is certainly not Brady but he is good. If they decide to use him as tight end, as some people are speculating, that could work, he's certainly big enough to play there. Just being there at Foxborough and training under Brady will do a lot to improve and strengthen his play. A bonus of the Jets letting him go, we get to use it against them. There seems to be some mixed reaction to the fact that Tebow is now in a Pats jersey, but hey if the coaching staff decides to use him, we just might get a repeat of last season's Thanksgiving game. Just a thought.

Wait til next year... at least in D.C.

The Brooklyn Dodgers slogan in the 1920s and 30s, "Wait til next year!" has now moved to a different city and different sport. The slogan is now best suited towards the Washington Capitals. They've reached the post season every year for the past 6 seasons. So why can't we win a Stanly Cup?!?! The team is good, the players are good, the goalies are good, it doesn't add up. It's like the team has a phobia of winning in the post season. They won the first two games against the New York Rangers before falling apart. They managed to hang on until game 7 at the Verizon Center but lost; horribly, I mean, it was a humiliating. 5-0, on home ice.. IN GAME 7. Come on, that shouldn't happen in the post season (unless it's to a team like *cough the penguins cough*). If you made it into the playoffs you should be able to keep from being swept like that. Myself, along with all the other Caps fans, will just have to wait til next year.

Unless they happen to be a Bruins fan, then they don't have to wait just yet. In beating the Pittsburgh Penguins in game 4, 1-0,  they put Sid the Kid and the rest of the "impressive" Penguins away for the season. The Boston Bruins are moving on to the Stanly Cup Finals. The Chicago Blackhawks are the last team standing between them and hoisting the Cup once again. It would be nice to have a 7th Championship to add to the list. It would look good next to the awesome win in game 7 against the Vancouver Canucks two years ago. First they need to play and play well. No silly giveaways or pointless penalties. The Chicago-Boston series starts June 12 at 8pm. Chicago advanced after beating the L.A. Kings, last year's champions.





 Here's a bracket of the NHL Playoffs:
                  Eastern Conference
Washington Capitals vs. New York Rangers --
                                                                    -- Boston Bruins vs. New York Rangers --
Boston Bruins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs --
                                                                                                   --Boston Bruins vs. Pittsburgh Penguins --
Ottawa Senators vs. Montréal Canadiens --
                                                                   -- Ottawa Senators vs. Pittsburgh Penguins --
New York Islanders vs. Pittsburgh Penguins --

                                                                      Stanly Cup Final
                                                           Boston Bruins vs. Chicago Blackhawks

                 Western Conference
L.A. Kings vs. St. Louis Blues --
                                                        -- L.A. Kings vs. San Jose Sharks --
San Jose Sharks vs. Vancouver Canucks --
                                                                                                    -- L.A. Kings vs. Chicago Blackhawks --
Detroit Redwings vs. Anaheim Ducks --
                                                       -- Detroit Redwings vs. Chicago Blackhawks --
Minnesota Wild vs. Chicago Blackhawks --



D.C. just isn't the place to have a winning team. The Nationals have struggled to keep from adding up the
losses; now with a even win/loss record of 31 each. How the team that had a stellar season last year is now blundering through this one is beyond me. Yes, they don't have some of their key players like Bryce Harper; but they should be able to play a good game still. They seem to have lost the power to play like they want it. Really, how hard is it to at least look like you want it. Last night they swept the Chicago Twins in a double header, 7-0 and 5-4 respectively. They play the Colorado Rockies June 11 at 8:40pm.

Through Death, Injury, and Loss.

In the world of the X-Games. At this year's Winter X-games (held in Aspen) the first death in the history of the X-games occurred. Caleb Moore, a freestyle snowmobile rider, crashed while preforming a back flip he had done many times before. The skis on the front of his snowmobile caught the top of the landing zone flipping Caleb and his snowmobile over. He died Thursday Jan. 31, 2013, age 25. His brother Colten Moore was injured in a different crash, separating his pelvis. Here's a link to the X-games article on Caleb.

Lindsey Vonn was injured in a Super-G race and needed to be air lifted to a hospital. She tore two liniments in her knee and broke a bone in her lower leg. She under went surgery on the 10th and is recovering.

Now, the Washington Capitals have struggled. There's no denying that fact. But we shouldn't given up hope for the playoffs. The players hadn't played with each other until the mini camp, they have a new coach and a new system to get used to. With a short season that is compressing everything to such a fine point everything is stressed. If you loss one game you're starting to slide. The Caps did lose 9 of the first 11 games, and are now 5-9-1, but they are only short of the 8th seed for the playoffs by 4 points. There are still games left, they have players who just need to step-up and play good hockey, and if their goalies continue to play at the  caliber they are and even improve, well there is still a postseason waiting for them.

I just want to make a point about Ovie. He isn't as good as he was his first 5 years, but he could be. He still plays with passion and has drive. Ovie needs to listen to his coach and player where he's told. Adam Oats has been moving him over to the right side instead of the left. The other teams are starting to know how he plays and what he's going to do when he plays on the left side. Can Ovie still be great? Yes, most likely not as good his first 5 years but he could have a great rest of his career. Oh, and Capitals, Ovie is a franchises player. If you trade him be prepared for what will happen if another team gets him, because most of them want him.

Turkey Day Football

I got the awesome gift of going to the Patriots-Jets game on Thanksgiving and it was amazing. It was the perfect game to end of day of food, family, and weird football.

I'll go in order starting with the Texans and Lions. The Lions might have won if refs had called the fumble that turned into a Texan touchdown. I think it was the right call to make, it wasn't clear enough to me that he was down by contact. Since there was no whistle the play continued. The game went into over time and the chaos broke out. The up-rights must have been cursed or something. The Lions had the ball first but fumbled it and the Texans recovered it. They lined up for a field goal attempt and it went wide left. So the Lions had the ball again. They got into field goal range and went to kick for the win. It looked good up until it bounced off the right up-right and the lower bar on the goal post. The Texans got the football back again and marched down the field. Once in field goal range they lined up to try again for the winning field goal. The announcers I was listing to were saying that they could make the field goal but having seen what had happened before they weren't so sure. The goal was good, just barely making it in side the up-rights. It almost went wide left again. Final Score: Texans 34 Lions 31

The Redskins won in Dallas. But they didn't just win, they steamrolled over the failing Cowboys. At the end of the game to kill time and avoid giving the football back to the Cowboys they stopped the clock by sliding just short of the end-zone. By the time most of the Redskin game was happening I was at Metlife stadium and saw some of the plays. Every time I looked over at the TV where they were showing the Skins game there was a score alert. The Cowboys didn't just lie there and take it. They did fight back to come within 7 points of tying the game up. Final Score: Redskins 38 Cowboys 31

The Patriots are on top of their game right now, while the Jets... well not so much to put it nicely. The Pats came onto the field with load boos coming from all over the stadium. But the boos soon turned to groans of disappointment, frustration, and the pain of suffering another loss to New England. The Pats just marched down the field to score when on offence and forced the ball back to the offence when playing defence. Or they just took the ball and scored for themselves. By halftime the stadium was half empty. By the forth quarter Patriots fans were the only ones remaining. There were a few Jets fans here and there but most had given up and left. Those who were left just wanted pain to end. One Jets fan shouted at one point after a kick off, "Just take a knee, just take a knee the rest of the game! Give them the ball!" Needless to say there was no hope for a late game victory for the Jets it was over after the first touchdown. Final Score: Patriots 49 Jets 19.

Pictures from the game:

                                                             Pre-game shot of the field.

                                                 Final Score with an empty stadium.

                                                  Edelman being helped off the field.

                                                                   Post Game
                                                   

Guest Post #5

After what might be the sweetest victory of the season, the Pats have a somewhat smooth ride to the playoffs for the rest of the season. Besides a bump in the road in the Houston Texans, New England is looking at fairly easy opponents for the rest of the season. The 4-6 Dolphins have been struggling on the road this season with a record of 2-4, and have lost the last 3 in a row. Coming off the back of the brutal beat-down against the Jets, the Pats should have little trouble putting the Dolphins down next week. The tougher opponents lie in the 7-2 49'ers and the 10-1 Houston Texans. The story of the season, it seems, has been the Texans dynamic defense. Their execution in the safety and on the defensive line has been great. However, their defense was lacking yesterday against Detroit, as they escaped with a narrow victory of 34-31 over the Lions, which could be due to the poor touchdown call on a fumble recovery by the Texans. The 49'ers offense has also been very productive this season, and without Gronkowski the Pats should be well matched against them. Still, their schedule is promising to give them a mostly trouble-free journey to January.
 -Written by Aidan K.

Guest Post #3

The tried of the series of guest posts:

EVERYONE NEEDS A VACATION
Wow, what a bye week can make! A team left for dead, no hope, no options, is now back in the hunt! Or so "they" say... After a week of vacation, to regroup, refocus, to rethink, it seems these Redskins have done just that. Or... Did they just finally run into someone worse than they are?? Bye weeks are useful to recover from injuries, rest a tired body, and take a mental break. Watching the game versus Philadelphia today, it seems that RGIII managed to do all of those things. He was as usual, amazing. Great stats don't do him justice. He is beyond his years in many ways, ability and mental toughness at the top of that list. And today, as we hope he will for years to come, he lead this team like a pro. He is so fun to watch, actually having a good time playing a game. Imagine that happening here in DC!
The defense also came to play today against a rookie that doesn't have those qualities, and it showed in turnovers and incompletions. The banged up line, and horrible coverage corners, looked so much better with Merriwether in the game. A good safety can change everything. The biggest scare though came when Fletcher went out, they need him to play more than anything. So much relief when he came back later and did as he always does, made more tackles then guys 15 years his junior.
I think this work in progress is still just that, in progress. Days there will steps forward, like today. And other Sunday afternoons will definitely be a step back. We all have to take it for what it is, a good team back from a great vacation, looking rested and playing a team they could beat. Let's hope that vacation hangover lasts a while and they can continue this in a short 4 days in Dallas on Turkey Day. That would be vacation dollars well spent! Hail to the Redskins!*
 -Written by my Aunt Mindi

 *Written on the 18th of November*