- 12:30 PM
- 12/05/08
| Name: | Andrew Raff |
|---|---|
| Homepage URL: | http://www.andrewraff.com |
| Member since: | February 01, 2002 |
| Last visit: | February 26, 2008 |
andrewraff has posted 2 links and 27 comments to SportsFilter and no links and no comments to the Locker Room.
Lack of star power may leave Flyers short. Lack of star power? With Roenick, Amonte, Recchi and Desjardins? Not to mention Kapanen, Primeau and Gagne. Is this Philladelphia Inquirer smoking crack or do the Flyers really need more stars to succeed?
posted on April 28, 2003 - Go to the detail view for this result
The FIS Alpine Skiing World Championships started this weekend in St. Moritz. On Sunday, Austrian Stephan Eberharter beat out the Hermannator (Hermann Maier) and American Bode Miller in the Men's Super G. The races will continue over the next two weeks. Unfortunately, TV coverage here in the US will be pathetically minimal.
posted on February 02, 2003 - Go to the detail view for this result
posted by DrJohnEvans at 12:26 PM on February 16
NHL Award Nominees Named. The NHL has announced the finalists for this years awards. I don't think they missed anyone, but it interesting to note that not a single Maple Leaf made the list.
posted by camcanuck at 03:48 PM on April 21
Luongo deserves serious consideration for the Vezina. He saw a LOT of pucks flying at him this year. Imagine what the Panthers season would have been like if Luongo hadn't played spectacularly? However, Brodeur has a legit chance of repeating. For the Hart, probably St. Louis. Possibly Iginila. Not Brodeur (sorry, Marty.) Norris: Niedermayer. Chara proved that he's not just a freakishly tall hockey player, but a damn good freakishly tall hockey player. However, Niedermayer was consistently the best player on the Devils, put in a lot of minutes and stepped up big time to lead by example without Stevens. Adams: Wilson. Who expected San Jose to make the playoffs? with the second seed? Calder: Raycroft.
posted at 05:16 PM on April 21
Yankees, Nets and Devils agree to split up with the Nets going to Bruce Ratner's Brooklyn Basketball LLC. Plans for an arena on Flatbush avenue have already been made. Developers, however face increasingly organized and vocal resistance. While a move might be beneficial to the team's popularity, would it be good for Brooklyn?
posted by Jugwine at 09:36 AM on March 24
The objectionable part of the Nets arena plan in Brooklyn is not the arena itself, which will be built over railyards. The arena is just one part of a large development project, which will include a number of large office towers. The city hopes to use its power of eminent domain to get land to build these office towers. Presumably, the revenue from those buildings will enable Ratner to afford to run the Nets profitably. For the Nets, downtown Brooklyn is a much more desirable location than the Meadowlands. Of course, just about anyplace in the NY Metro area (with the possible exception of Staten Island) is a better location than the Meadowlands.
posted at 11:20 AM on March 24
The NHL is sinking. This article from the SF Chronicle's Ross McKeon comes on the heels of an earlier SpoFi thread on hockey salaries. "In 10 NHL cities -- a third of the league -- buildings are barely at more than 75 percent capacity, ... Twelve teams ... are averaging less than 15,000 people a game. ... The Sharks, up until now an easy sell in the South Bay, saw their season-ticket sales drop by 3,000 this season and have sold out only three of their first 28 home games. ... The NHL landed a $600 million television contract five years ago from ESPN. ... The deal expires at season's end, and not only will the league not get another $600 million commitment from ESPN, it might struggle to find its way on any network in the near future." Ross also offers ways to stop the sinking. I didn't know it was this bad. Is it?
posted by worldcup2002 at 04:28 PM on February 10
Besides limiting the size of goalie pads, the two changes which would do the most to open up the game would be to eliminate the red line and adopt the international-size rink. Increasing the size of the rinks would really open up the game (more like European play rather than North American), but would force teams to give up some arena capacity, so it's a no-go with the owners. Too bad. I don't understand the logic behind the goalie puck-handling rule. Watching some older clips (during all-star weekend coverage), the goalie equipment was so much smaller.
posted at 09:33 PM on February 10
nets fire byron scott after a sluggish start for the 2-time defending eastern coference champs.
posted by oliver_crunk at 12:16 PM on January 26
That Scott is the all-time winningest coach in Nets history doesn't really say much. The Nets have a long and ignominious tradition of losing....
posted at 01:01 PM on January 26
Bob Hope's dead and the sporting media trys in earnest to jump on the news bandwagon - even with headlines like this. A case of celebration, or hubris? Besides, I get all my celebrity news from si.com.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 12:57 PM on July 29
The Smoking Gun has CNN's ready-to-go obits
posted at 12:02 PM on July 29
"I hope I can do a better job than Mr. Bettman," Me too Bobby, me too. Rule changes (no red line, Olympic-sized rink, automatic icing, penalty shots for certain obstruction infractions), affordability, and dinosaurs on skates. It could work. Or it could just force the NHLPA's hand.
posted by garfield at 09:42 AM on July 16
Even though the NHL has expanded so much in the last 10 years or so, I don't think the talent level has dropped off because of the influx of talented players from Europe. I do think that Hull could do a better job than Bettman. I'd like to see many of those rule changes adopted in the NHL, particularly eliminating the red line, which would do the most towards opening up the ice with the fewest changes. Adopting the Olympic sized ice would help opening up the game, too. I'd rather see more power plays than more penalty shots. While penalty shots are dramatic (and make for good highlights on SportsCenter), a 2 minute power-play provides more excitement over a longer period of time. As far as penalizing for trapping, how do they intend to do that? "2 minute minor for playing good positional, defensive hockey." make it harder for teams to trap, by eliminating the redline and making the ice larger, and the game will open up on its own.
posted at 12:36 PM on July 16
Officiating a huge factor? According to some, games 5 and 6 of the Senators vs. Flyers series were decided by the refs. Each team had a power play a piece in game 5, and then 7 for the Sens and 4 for the Flyers in game 6 seems about right. But wait, the Sens averaged 13.8 pims a game during the regular season, while Philly had 12.2 pims per game. It seems odd to the two teams are even close in this department. Watching another Senators' romp on a lowly East team this season I made the ill-advised argument that the Senators always seem to be on the PP, basing that on home-ref advantage. I was quickly made aware that refs rotate throughout the league. Looking back, I see there was credibility in my assertion. Kudos to the Senators for playing smart all season long.
posted by garfield at 12:32 PM on May 06
A couple of years ago (I think 2000-2001, when they went on to lose to the Avs in the finals), the Devils were the highest-scoring team in the NHL...
posted at 10:30 PM on May 06
Lack of star power may leave Flyers short. Lack of star power? With Roenick, Amonte, Recchi and Desjardins? Not to mention Kapanen, Primeau and Gagne. Is this Philladelphia Inquirer smoking crack or do the Flyers really need more stars to succeed?
posted by andrewraff at 01:46 PM on April 28
oops, forgot to note that this is via PuckUpdate
posted at 01:47 PM on April 28
"We didn't play the Danish for 57 years," and it caught up with the US with a vengeance as the Danes beat them 5-2 in the opening round of the IIHF World Championship (Danish recap). It was the Danish team's first appearance in the tournament since losing 47-0 to Canada in 1949 in the worst lost ever at the championship. How could this be a bad omen for the Danes?
posted by kirkaracha at 09:42 AM on April 27
The World Championships are the NIT to the Stanley Cup's NCAA tournament.
posted at 12:54 PM on April 27
The NHL Playoff match-ups are finally set and numerous predictions are already being made. While it's great to look forward to Wednesday, how about a look back on the year: Turco setting a new GAA record and the Avs winning a ninth straight divisional title on the very last day of the season [link], the rich Rangers missing the playoffs yet again, Ottawa's President's Trophy, the complete collapse of the 'Canes and San Jose, the surprising play of TB and Minnesota, and the financial situations in Buffalo and Ottawa (and Pittsburgh, to a lesser extend). What are the stories of the year? And who are the individual stand-outs, and the most deserving of the many, many NHL awards?
Previous playoff discussion can be found here, although some of the picks were indeed premature
posted by mkn at 03:27 PM on April 09
East Ottawa - Lon Gisland. The Islanders have been on a roll, a losing roll. Ottawa is too fast. Senators in 4. NJ - Boston. Brodeur and the Devils' defense are the difference. Devs in 6. Tampa - Washington. Jagr isn't playing like Jagr. Khabibulin is the difference. Tampa in 7. Philly - Toronto. This should be a nasty series. Philly has the offense, but Belfour's been having a good year. Leafs in 7. West Dallas - Edmonton. How many playoff teams trade away their top players at the deadline? Stars in 5. Detroit - Anaheim. I just can't pick the team called the Mighty Ducks. Wings in 7. Colorado - Minnesota. Roy. Forsberg. Sakic. 'Nuff said. Av in 6. Vancouver - St. Louis. Osgood is the answer? Naslund and the Canucks in 6.
posted at 03:34 PM on April 09
USA Today ranks the Ten Hardest Things to do in Sports. Do you agree? What's missing? Bull Riding?
Tell you what though. I sure agree with #1!
And yes, Soccer got mad props! (Flash)
posted by vito90 at 10:58 AM on March 10
The Tour de France should probably be ranked higher than 8th. 3 weeks, steep mountains, high speeds, and may be the supreme test of endurance in the world of sports.
posted at 01:48 PM on March 10
Down time. Relegation and promotion are phenomena that US pro sports will never witness. With nine or ten weeks left in the EPL season, at least five teams are battling to avoid becoming the unlucky three to drop to the First Division next season. Conversely, there are a bevy of First Division teams fighting to take their places.
posted by worldcup2002 at 12:16 PM on March 05
and, tieguy, not all of the teams going bankrupt are good. For example: Buffalo.
posted at 10:47 PM on March 05
Down time. Relegation and promotion are phenomena that US pro sports will never witness. With nine or ten weeks left in the EPL season, at least five teams are battling to avoid becoming the unlucky three to drop to the First Division next season. Conversely, there are a bevy of First Division teams fighting to take their places.
posted by worldcup2002 at 12:16 PM on March 05
American sports would be better off if we had relegation. Baseball should definately consider it, since they want to contract. The problem is that it would affect the dynamic of the minor leagues as MLB's farm system. I don't know what this would do for the way that teams manage their prospects and players getting called up to the Big Leagues. The same dynamic exists in hockey. Football and Basketball don't really have minor leagues, since their farm system is the college teams. While the Bengals might possibly be competitive in college ball, it would require ending the fiction that these are student-athletes... Practical considerations aside, American pro sports would be much more interesting with relegation...
posted at 10:45 PM on March 05
Perhaps Peyton Manning isn't ... Perhaps Peyton Manning isn't so mild-mannered after all: "I'm out at my third Pro Bowl, I'm about to go in and throw a touchdown to Jerry Rice, we're honoring the Hall of Fame, and we're talking about our idiot kicker who got liquored up and ran his mouth off. When I get home, I'll deal with it. If he is still a teammate, we'll deal with it. That remains to be seen."
posted by rcade at 11:58 AM on February 03
While linemen and backs play most of the game, mentally, the kicker's game is tougher. The kickers sit on the sideline for 90-95% of the game, come in at a high pressure situation and not make mistakes. If the kicking screws up once or twice in a game (cough...Giants...cough), you notice more than a single missed block or dropped pass.
posted at 09:15 PM on February 03
If they were willing to play in Europe or low paying minor leagues for less money, then why couldn't they take a cut in the NHL The players did offer to take a large pay cut (24%). But the players are opposed to a salary cap. But with a salary cap, if team revenues go up, the owner sees that as pure profit and doesn't have to pay the players any more than the maximum cap amount. In theory, a cap allows small market teams like Tampa Bay and Calgary to compete with big market teams like New York (Rangers) and Chicago. But with the players willing to accept a cap and it appearing like both sides were reaching towards a compromise figure, wtf went was behind the League's decisiomaking? "We've already scheduled the press conference, we can't leave the journalists hanging to wait around for more negotiations, let's cancel the season"? But now the NHL is officially over as a "Big 4" league on par with the NFL, NBA or MLB and at best second rate. Well done!