Random Thoughts

I was going to do each of these as individual posts, but unfortunately some internet troubles have slowed me down as of late. Thank you Comcast!

Boulevard of Broken Wings

For the record, yes, that is a Green Day reference.

A couple of weeks ago, the Detroit Red Wings were eliminated from the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs by the San Jose Sharks.

While yes, I am a little disappointed that the Red Wings will not be winning the Stanley Cup this season, I cannot be too disappointed. This may be the best 7 game series that I have ever seen in the time I've been a hockey fan.

Here's a quote from the Elias Sports Bureau: "The Sharks-Red Wings series was the first playoff series in NHL history in which six games were decided by a one-goal margin. All seven games would have been one-goal games if it wasn't for Darren Helm's empty-net goal in Game 6 that made the final score Detroit 3, San Jose 1."

Every single game, except one, was a one goal game. The only reason that game six was not a one goal game as well was because the Red Wings added an empty net goal late. Then there's the fact that the Red Wings were down 3-0 in this series and came back to force a game 7. I can safely say that this series was so close that neither the Wings or Sharks deserved to lose 3 games in a row, even though they both did. Each game in this series went down to the wire with both teams having the opportunity to win.

At this point, I'd just like to tip my hat to the San Jose Sharks for their performance in this series. The Red Wings threw everything they could at them, yet the Sharks kept coming. That's a real testiment to Todd McLellan and the San Jose Sharks. Not many teams in the NHL today can do that to the Red Wings. That's not bias from a Red Wings fan, that's just reality. So again, I'd like to congratulate the Sharks on playing an excellent series in round 2 and I would like to wish them the best of luck in the Conference Finals against the Vancouver Canucks.


Pick Your Poison

I have to say it now: I'd really hate to be a Chicago White Sox fan. I'm not even saying that because the Sox have greatly underachieved up to this point in the season. They still have a great lineup and a great deal of time to turn this thing around. I certainly wouldn't count them out, especially with a General Manager like Kenny Williams.

I think it sucks to be a White Sox fan becuase there is no good way to watch and/or listen to a game.

If you cannot watch the game on television, you are stuck having to listen to Ed Farmer on the radio. I really don't recommend this unless you want to fall asleep. I certainly don't recommend listening to him especially while you are driving. He may be the most boring radio play by play commentator that I've ever heard. He is extremely monotone and rarely shows any emotion at all. It gets worse when you add in the fact that Darrin Jackson is his color guy. He is just as boring as Farmer is, which I believe is why he was taken off of television broadcasts.

Then you have Ken "The Hawk" Harrelson. This guy may be the worst television play by play man I've ever seen or heard.

First and foremost, he's a former player, so he probably has no business being a play by play man anyways. Most former players are color commentators, not play by play announcers.

Second, I have no idea the last time Harrelson actually called an MLB game. Maybe he's never actually called one? At this point in his career, he's all cliches. No matter the situation, he always has a stupid one liner to insert to describe the situation. Any White Sox game you watch, you'll hear the same thing every game. I could probably call a White Sox game from the comfort of my computer desk if you gave me a Hawk Harrelson soundboard.

Back when I was 10, I though Harrelson was a pretty cool guy. It was fun to play pick-up baseball and repeat all of his cliches. Then, unlike Peter Pan, I grew up into an intelligent baseball fan. Then I realized that not only is Hawk a lousy announcer, he's an idiot. He's a fan in the booth, not a commentator.

Speaking of being an idiot, that brings me to point number three. Not only is he all cliches, I think he chugs White Sox Kool Aid 24-7-365. I have never heard a more homer announcer in my life. Don't get me wrong, I expect a little bias. He's been calling Sox games for a number of years and they pay his salary so a little bias should be expected. However the product he puts on the airwaves is absolutely ridiculous. Teams opposing the White Sox can never do anything right. Any time they do, it happened becuase the White Sox did something negative and "gave it to them," rather than them earning it. Not to mention every time a close or questionable call goes against the White Sox, it's because the umpire has something against the Sox. I wouldn't expect him to know anything about human error. If he does, he certainly wouldn't admit it on the air.

The only thing that saves White Sox television broadcasts is Steve Stone. He's widely been regarded as one of the best color commentators in the game of baseball. I do however think his commentary has gotten worse since joining the White Sox organization. That makes me wonder if there is some pressure coming from the Sox front office on the broadcasters to keep things positive.

The only thing I do like about Harrelson is the emotion he shows during broadcasts. If only he could give some of that to Ed Farmer.

I already know some White Sox fan is going to chime in and talk about the late Ron Santo and the Cubs. I will completely agree, Ron Santo was not a great color commentator. Like Harrelson, he was a fan in the booth, not a commentator. Like with the White Sox television crew, the fan (in the booth) is paired with a pretty decent partner. Both Steve Stone and Pat Hughes are both very good at what they do.

To sum this up, there's only one good way to watch a White Sox game. Either watch the television feed on mute or pray to the gods that they are on either ESPN or MLB Network. That way you can watch your White Sox without the pain of listening to either Ed Farmer or Hawk Harrelson.


HEATing Up

Right now, I can safely and confidently crown the Miami Heat as 2010-11 NBA Champions.

I'm sure you're asking yourself, "We're still in the Conference Finals, how can you award the Championship to the Heat?"

If you're asking that, you're absolutely right, we are still in the Conference Finals. The Heat are currently leading the top-seeded Bulls 2-1 in the East. In the West, the Mavericks currently lead the Thunder 3-1. With that said, I will tell you why the Heat will win the Championship and that is the "Superstar Effect."

Of the remaining teams, the Heat have more "superstars" on their roster than any of the other teams. The Heat have 2.5 superstars on their roster. The two superstars are obviously Dwayne Wade and LeBron James. I'm generously going to consider Chris Bosh as half of a superstar. He's not remotely in the same category as Wade and James, but he's not a bad player by any stretch of the imagination. He was the best player on a bad Raptors team, which inflated his numbers a bit. The Bulls (Rose), Thunder (Durant) and Mavericks (Nowitzki) only have one superstar and that will ultimately cost them in the long run.

The officials and the NBA will deny it, but there is such a thing as the "superstar effect." Like it or not, superstar players get calls to go their way that other players do not get. That's reality and there's no way around it. In the case of guys like Wade and James, you can barely look at them without being called for a foul. Just ask the Mavericks about that one. Back in 2006, the Miami Heat rode Dwayne Wade and the "superstar effect" to an NBA Championship, beating the Mavs in the Finals. I'm a Mavs fan, so there is some bias there, but I think most NBA fans would agree with that assessment.

The other thing the Heat have going in their favor now is merchandising. Like it or not, the league revolves around money and superstar players sell merchandise. No matter what team wins a championship, in any leauge, there is a spike in merchandise sales. I'm not going to get specific here because the Heat are already the Champions. However the presence of Wade, James and Bosh will cause a higher spike in sales than that of any of the remaining teams. Even though they will NEVER admit it, the NBA wants the Heat to win the NBA Championship because of the greater amount of income. Even though the NBA secretly wants the Heat to win, they will not instruct officials to make that happen. I want to clear that up now. The "superstar effect" is a subconsious reaction by officials, nothing intentional to carry out some evil plan.

The sad part about this whole thing is that the Heat may be the worst TEAM remaining in the playoffs. Yes they have the superstars but they also filled out the remainder of their roster with role players. The other remaining teams have a much better collection of talent than the Heat do. So I'm hoping that somebody, anybody can step up and beat the Heat but I don't see it happening. Go Mavs Go.