This new year, like most years and like many people, I decided I needed to get into better shape. Which is, let's face it, how gyms make money. I saw an article online recently that said as many as 90 percent of people who sign up for health clubs as a result of a New… Continue reading Resolving to run … or plod to fitness
Category: Sports
Speed thrills
Three of the four remaining teams in the NHL playoffs value skill over aggression, which is a hopeful trend in the NHL. NHL teams tend to copy success -- so the team that wins the Cup sets a template for other teams. And this year, three of the four divisional playoffs were won by the best-skating team in the… Continue reading Speed thrills
A wing and a prayer
Here's the thing the Washington Capitals are failing coming to grips with: The team is built around a winger. So what? Teams that win championships are built down the middle. If anything, the Caps are regular-season overachievers, not playoff busts. They are OK down the middle -- Evgeny Kuznetsov might, possibly, be in the discussion of elite centers at some… Continue reading A wing and a prayer
Capt. Fantastic … or craptastic?
So apologies to Boston Bruins fans. I'm not a Bruins hater (I started watching hockey about the time Robert Gordon Orr started getting paid to play it so I've always had a soft spot for them), but living in New England means getting doses of NESN coverage and there's nothing that makes a thinking person… Continue reading Capt. Fantastic … or craptastic?
Slagging goalies, part II
The big story down the stretch last year was whether journeyman goalie Devan Dubnyk was the second coming of Tim Thomas ... a goalie overlooked at the NHL level until he was in his late 20s who suddenly blossoms into a legitimate Vezina candidate. Minnesota -- with really no good options -- gambled that the answer was… Continue reading Slagging goalies, part II
Booooo-ka Rask?
Watched chunks of the first games for Carey Price (OK, so I was watching the Leafs) and Tuukka Rask. Here's a prediction for those of you in hockey pools: Buy Price, sell Rask. Being bullish on Price is easy. He's the best in the world at his position right now; the Habs have a contending team… Continue reading Booooo-ka Rask?
Gene Carr’s hair? Gene Carr’s hair!
So I was watching the LA feed (hey, free is free) of the Kings / Leafs game and Drew Doughty lost his helmet and was skating around with his hippy hair flying in the wind. The color commentator (Jim Fox ... I had to look it up) said it reminded him of the old days,… Continue reading Gene Carr’s hair? Gene Carr’s hair!
Stick it
I blame soccer for the latest trend in hockey. Soccer -- futbol for the purists -- is famous for the diving in attempts to draw fouls which in many games outnumber the fouls themselves. Hockey is developing a similar culture. Part of it is the European influence. With more players who grew up watching… Continue reading Stick it
It was the big ice
So with the Olympic hockey tournament over, a ponder: Would people please quit making excuses for the Russian team? They sucked. They suck. They will suck. They have a handful of players with great skills who are wildly overrated by the US hockey media, who will frankly cheer for anything that's not Canadian because they… Continue reading It was the big ice
What’s wrong with the Red Sox?
You might think that after 40 years of watching baseball I would be used to the average fan's (or sportswriter's) complete inability to understand basic statistics. But watching the meltdown around this year's underachieving Red Sox is yet another reminder that not all baseball fans can do long division. The consensus is that the Sox'… Continue reading What’s wrong with the Red Sox?
