It's Christmas Day!

Well at least for some of us it is as the NHL season begins in North America tonight...the NHL just keeps trying overseas, 10 years ago it was Japan, last year England, at least this year they got hockey playing countries like Sweden and the Czech Republic. They'll play an outdoors game again on New Year's Day at Wrigley Field of all places as the up and coming Blackhawks will host the defending champion Red Wings.

Fearless Prediction for the Final 4 Time:

Eastern Conference Finals- Montreal over Pittsburgh
Western Conference Finals- Detroit over San Jose

Stanley Cup Finals- Detroit over Montreal, 4 games to 3

There ya have it..check back in mid-June!

Now on to the big events...the major league baseball championship series get underway tonight in Philadelphia, it's hard for me to pull for the Phillies since they've dispatched the Mets each of the last two years, but there's a big time reason I'm pulling for them this year:




I've interviewed Coaster several times, he's a local legend here in Fargo and there's the outside chance I'd be heading to the World Series to cover him, so.....

Philadelphia 4-3 over Los Angeles
Boston 4-2 over Tampa Bay

There ya have it...let the fun begin!

Bonehead Moves

In Honor of the name of this blog, a few samples of baseball blindness...in a moment. First a hearty congrats to the Detroit Red Wings winning the Stanley Cup, the 4th title in the last 11 years, making them a dynasty in the way pro sports are these days. The Wings have done it with several of the same components from the late 90's team and the 2002 squad. But they've also done it with suave drafting like Pavel Datsyuk in the 7th round, Henrik Zetterberg in the 8th round. There's no reason to think that they couldn't come back and do it again next year.

Now on to the point of today's rambling...great cover story article in last week's Sports Illustrated on Josh Hamilton, if you haven't read it here's the link:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/albert_chen/05/27/hamilton0602/

Great article on the 1999 top pick who's currently hitting .321 with 17 homers and 68 RBI's...I remember hearing that he was traded last year to Texas from Cincinnati for two no-name pitchers, one has become a name Edinson Volquez, who's teamed with Johnny Cueto to become a pretty good one-two punch for the Reds. Anyway, that doesn't qualify as bonehead, each team got pretty good value, much like a hockey trade of a few years back: Dany Heatley for Marian Hossa. Both the Senators and Thrashers liked that deal a lot, and the Thrashers liked the new deal they got for Hossa, fleecing a No.1 pick and Angelo Esposito from the Penguins for Hossa. But the real reason for the rambling tonight..



I heard Scott Kazmir's name about five times over the past few days, more than likely because of yesterday's baseball draft. Kazmir was a rising star in the Mets organization in 2004, he was pitching lights out for Binghamton when the Mets brass decided to make a move at the trade deadline and send Kazmir to the Devil Rays for Victor Zambrano. The Mets collapsed down the stretch in '04, while Kazmir has went on to great success in Tampa. Now the counterargument to my rambling, "but Dom if the Mets had Scott Kazmir, they wouldn't have had to trade for Johan Santana!" Possibly, who knows the Mets collapse last September could have been avoided...we'll never know. Just another bonehead move...that's all for now, Mets at Padres tonight, Santana on the mound! Belmont Stakes tomorrow, let's see if Big Brown can finish it off!

Rumblings.....

Big sporting weekend is almost over this Memorial Day, but needed to touch on a few things:



First, Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals did not live up to the hype going on, the Red Wings dominated the Penguins basically from the opening faceoff, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin had terrible games, they'll need to be really good in Game 2 if the Pens want a split. Many writers keep referring this matchup to a callback to the 1983 Cup Finals between the Islanders and the Oilers..the Isles swept Edmonton in four games, that was the Islanders 4th straight Cup(which is crazy now to think about)but that Oilers team was loaded. Thanks to the good people at hockeydb.com
for these stats:
G A Pts
Wayne Gretzky 71 125 196
Mark Messier 48 58 106
Glenn Anderson 48 56 104
Jari Kurri 45 59 104

All four all Hall of Famers, the Oilers went on win 4 of the next 5 Stanley Cups...the Penguins are loaded with young talent, but perhaps they've got to lose to learn how to win. We'll see.

The Indy 500 was raced today, one of my favorite sporting events on the calendar..Scott Dixon won the race, a lot of attention was focused on Danica Patrick trying to win the race after she won in Japan.She got tangled up in the pits with Ryan Briscoe, thought there might be an incident there, luckily cooler head prevailed, but that look from Danica would have cut thru stone. Now under normal cicrumstances she'd be the most important female at the race, but not yesterday my good friend Brooke Palmieri was at the race, hope to have some visual evidence tomorrow.

One last thought..Mets lost 4-1 to Colorado, finish road trip 3-6. Two games under .500 at Memorial Day..let's go!

Uh Oh

I hate it when I'm right..it happens so infrequently but here's a little tidbit from my last blog entry in late March:

"But if the Mets start slow this spring, Willie Randolph could be in serious trouble."

I would consider 22-23 a slow start. Especially on the heels of a four game sweep by the hated Braves in Atlanta. Now it's off to Colorado where the Mets got crushed last year. Willie's in trouble, he might not make it back to New York on Monday. I really like Willie Randolph but the team is not responding..this is a team that was supposed to run away with the NL East after getting Johan Santana...trouble is Santana got beat last night..But we haven't reached Memorial Day yet so there's still a lot of time left...just not for Willie Randolph.

Couple of other items...the Stanley Cup Playoffs start Saturday night. The NHL is hoping for a long series, to showcase Sidney Crosby the non-hockey fan. I've got news for the NHL, the non-hockey fan isn't watching the Stanley Cup Finals, because they can't find the Stanley Cup Finals! Until the NHL and ESPN kiss and make up the league won't even make it back to it's pre-lockout status, which wasn't very high, but at least some people were watching. Keep your fingers crossed that it's a fantastic series.

Lastly, saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull last night.Without spoiling it, it was very good...not great...but very good. I'm still in shock that they actually went back and did a 4th Indy, Harrison Ford can still pull it off. The question I have is not counting Star Wars, Indiana Jones or the Jack Ryan movies, what other movies is Harrison Ford good in? Till next time!


Addendum:
To the Harrison Ford item...The Fugitive and Witness

These Pretzels Are Making Me Thirsty!!

It's only been 2 months between posts, so thanks for waiting around for my next post!! We're only mere minutes away from the big 29...kinda scary to think about that isn't it? Busy times here in the mighty Midwest...North Dakota high school championships are wrapping up, so is Minnesota...then it's the dreaded in between seasons...spring is still weeks away from coming to Fargo, so it's time to start really thinking for stories...like when the rodeo comes to town or when the World Curling Championships hit Grand Forks...gotta love that!! But baseball season is right around the corner and as Mets fan I'm very optimisitic about this season while still hurting from the last 2. Overlooked by last September's choke, is Game 7 of the '06 NLCS, Bottom of the 9th, Carlos Beltran at the plate, bases loaded and he strikes out looking with the tying run at 2nd, winning run at 1st...but this is the year! Last year at the old ballyard(goodbye Shea, hello Citi Field) and Johan Santana...I like their chances. Switching gears, the new trailer for the Incredible Hulk is out...now as a die hard fan of the old show in the 80's with Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno(granted some hardcore Hulk fans hate the show) when I heard Ang Lee was doing a Hulk movie I was intrigued...and then really disappointed...the CG on the Hulk looked really fake,and the different camera angles (a la 24) were not needed and distracting. Eric Bana did a great Bruce Banner, that was probably it. So when I heard Marvel wanted to do ANOTHER Hulk movie, I was really cautious..only because the first one was not very good...unless we can get ol' Lou to start tearing stuff up, it just isnt going to work. Then I heard that they casted Ed Norton to play Bruce Banner...interested and intrigued. Liv Tyler playing Betty Ross, that's alright, William Hurt playing General Ross, really cool. Just saw the trailer...there's a great homage to the old TV show before Banner turns into the Hulk...and now I'm cautiously optimistic. This is one of my favorite superheroes when I was a kid...and now when I'm 29! But I'll be there on June 13th!!

And with that, my 5 summer movies I cant wait for!

Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
The Incredible Hulk
Speed Racer

Hello and Welcome!

First off to all two or three of you that have happened on this blog my accident or happenstance, thanks! Secondly, if you're not a fan of Seinfeld, you'll have no idea the meaning of the title of this blog...but if you're interested, check out Season 7, Episode 12, The Caddy. All your questions will be answered and why Frank Costanza and I are on the same wavelength...the trade in case you're curious?

July 21, 1988- Jay Buhner, Rich Balabon and Troy Evers traded to the Yankees for Ken Phelps.
" This trade is often considered one of the worst made by the Yankees of that period, and the best in Mariner history.[1] " Thanks Wikipedia
for that tidbit! "He had 30 home runs and over 100 RBI's last year....you don't know what the hell you're doing!!" Frank Costanza might be speaking for the Yankee public this winter if they don't make a move on Johan Santana this winter...in this part of the country for all the Twins fans, they've been on pins and needles this winter waiting to see what's going to happen. They've already lost their favorite player, Torri Hunter as an unrestricted free agent to the Angels.(Irony of Ironies time...Twins season opener at the Homerdome vs. the Angels, March 31st.) They pulled a trade with Tampa getting big hitter and head case Delmon Young for another headcase Matt Garza...also got Brendan Harris, and from the world is really small department, I covered Brendan when I worked in Glens Falls, he's a 2001 grad of Queensbury High School, looks like I'll be covering him again this summer. While the Yankee fans want Johan badly, us Mets supporters need him more. Don't forget about the Shea Swoon this past September, the only reason that's been dwarfed this winter, is the A-Rod contract, Torre leaving and the Clemens saga. But if the Mets start slow this spring, Willie Randolph could be in serious trouble. The last article I read was on Newsday's website about this possible trade: http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/ny-spmets115533761jan11,0,2377835.story

If the Mets make this deal, they're a big favorite for the National League. If they don't they're in a dogfight in a hard division with the Phillies(who have the last 2 NL MVP's) and Braves, with a full year from Mark Texiera. Spring training is a month away, it's going to get fun between now and then.

I'd be remissed on this first posting not to have some hockey talk...while US cable is a barren wasteland similar to Hoth to find the NHL, I urge all of you to switch to DirecTV. I did almost a year ago, and besides getting my Center Ice back, they're also a little channel called the NHL Network. I was able to watch the best young players on the planet at the World Juniors early this month(where Canada crushed us again) but it also shows classic games, like '93 Penguins-Islanders, where the 2-time defending champs got beat by the likes of Pierre Turgeon, Ray Ferraro, Pat Flatley and Glenn Healey..a low moment for a Penguins fan like myself.

Couple of nerd notes that I feel the need to write about...with this writer's strike, it's depriving me of my favorite show on the air, 24 with Jack "Tell Me Where The Bomb Is!!" Bauer, but FOX(please say it like Kenny Albert) has brought us nerds Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. It's pretty good, you've got to put out of your mind what you know about the movies, but plenty of action, and blowing up stuff which is always good. Next Friday, a certain movie is being released, you might have heard of it called Rambo. Yes that Rambo...John Jay Rambo..."Nothing is over!!!Nothing!" That Rambo...the one that falls off a cliff, thru a tree and only hurts his arm...The Rambo that shoots down an Afghan helicopter with a machine gun..I'm one of the biggest Rambo fans there are(not sure how proud I am of that fact) I have a First Blood poster..and I'll see it in the theater next week with my fingers crossed and hope it doesn't stink. Hey we can all hope right? Till next time!