A double Battle of Alberta and the NFL adds another ref

From where I sit it looks like it's a unique day in Edmonton...

via calgaryherald.com

The Oil Kings and Oilers are playing a Battle of Alberta double-header. It's not just that Edmonton and Calgary are facing each other twice in the same day on the same ice, it's the massive difference between the four teams. Both the Hitmen and Oil Kings are battling at the top of their conference, while the Flames and Oilers are two of the worst teams in the NHL. What strikes me about this is that while, the Oil Kings and Hitmen are at or near the top in attendance, they are playing no where near capacity. Both the Oilers and Flames are constantly playing to full houses with almost a guarantee of disappointment. To top it all off the WHL tickets are massively cheaper. A pair of lower bowl tickets to either team are about 45 dollars. You can't get in the door for that in the NHL. Hockey fans in both cities need to realize the highest quality of hockey isn't always in the NHL.

The NFL is looking to add another set of eyes to their officiating crews...

via csmonitor.com

The eight man referee experiment starts next pre-season and I'm expecting it to be added fully the year after. The athletes are getting ever bigger and faster, making life increasingly difficult for the refs. At the same time, training must play a big factor. It's all well and good to have more people watching for infractions. However, if they aren't properly trained and don't fully understand the rules, what difference will this make? The past couple of season we have seen some flagrantly blown calls. And it's not just the play being missed, but the refs flat out getting the rules wrong. It wouldn't matter if there were a dozen officials on the field, if they don't know the rules it won't make any difference. All that being said, they still get the calls right the vast majority of the time. With the speed of the game it's amazing that they pick up on the fly, what many of us can only see on slow motion replay.

At least that's how I see it...and I sit in the cheap seats.

Whining starts as NHL trade deadline nears

From where I sit it looks like at least a couple NHLers have asked for trades...

via thestar.com

I have a bit of a divided opinion on this. One the one hand, the general public is free to look for other jobs if they are unhappy with their current situation. Don't like your boos? Look for another job. Sometimes it's not that simple, but the option is always there. What do players have apart from asking to be traded? That being said, they are getting paid millions to play a game. The two biggest names right now are Martin St Louis and Ryan Kesler. Both having allegedly asked for trades. In Kesler's case the writing is on the wall for the Canucks. They are getting old and struggling mightily to score goals, as it stands Vancouver could miss the playoffs altogether. St Louis is another story. The Lightning remain a strong contender in the East. In fact, much of his discontent seems to stem from his 'snub' from Team Canada. That's pathetic. Every Canadian players wanted to be on that team. Add to that he ended up making the team anyway. Further to that rumour has it St Louis only wants to be traded to the Rangers. Quite frankly, I would like to see Steve Yzerman force St Louis to stay in Tampa Bay, at least until the end of the season. It's hard to feel sympathy for anyone making that much money to play a game.

At least that's how I see it...and I sit in the cheap seats.

Another boring NFL Combine

From where I sit it looks like the NFL has wrapped up it's most pointless off-season activity...

via bleacherreport.com

The NFL combine is a wonderful way to fill up time on the NFL Network and keeps the league in the news, but apart from that it's boring. What did we learn from this year's activities? Not much. Johnny Manziel refused to do any throwing. Jadeveon Clowney is fast. Hardly shocking stuff. A number of these activities are useful, but the two biggest are almost useless. Running the 40 and benching 225 mean nothing to the game. Yes, it's good to be a fast runner in the NFL. But when was the last time you saw a lineman running 40 yards down field in an arrow straight line? Or a DB running forward at all? I don't care if a MLB can bench 225 50 times, can he read the play? Can the Center see blitz packages and call blocking schemes? There's only one way to figure all that out. Watch them play. I'm not saying abolish the combine. It has several good tests and is a chance for teams to meet with prospective talents. But it's not the be-all-and-end-all of football scouting. Just ask the Seahawks.

At least that's how I see it...and I sit in the cheap seats.

MLB takes another step to keep players safe

From where I sit it looks like MLB is trying to make the game safer...

Yes, there are people complaining about it, but honestly what difference will this make? How many collisions are there in a normal week? One or two. Maybe. Sure, it's exciting. Much in the same way it's exciting to watch a massive pile-up in NASCAR. You hope nobody gets hurt and that you're favourite player isn't involved. Out side of that, it has nothing to do with the game. Purists will argue that it's always been part of the game, so why make a change. Remember, once upon a time batters didn't wear helmets and pitchers could use a spit ball. Yet the game has changed for the better. Watching stars like Buster Posey get carted off the field does nothing for the game. The catcher's equipment is designed to protect them, at least mildly from the ball, not from players. Football and hockey players wear protection against physical contact. Catchers don't. This isn't going to end plays at the plate. Just flying elbows.

At least that's how I see it...and I sit in the cheap seats.

Canada dominates and Backstrom gets a needless suspension

From where I sit it looks like this was the best Team Canada ever iced...

via montrealgazette.com

Sure 1972 and 1987 saw some of the greatest players ever. 2010 was thrilling, complete with hammering the Russians. But each saw their speed bumps along the way to a dramatic finish. But this was domination. Three goals in six games. None in the last eight-plus periods. It was so simple, but ever so complex. Convince the best players to accept short shifts and defend. Back-check hard and trust the offence will score enough to win. Five of the top 10 scorers in the NHL combined for 8 points (3-5). Shea Weber (3-3) and Drew Doughty (4-2) tied for the team lead in scoring with 6, Jeff Carter was the top forward with 5 (3-2). In Vancouver, Canada had five players with 7 or more points. However, every member bought into the Mike Babcock system. They played their best when it mattered most. This was, simply put, the best Team Canada we've ever seen. By the time the final arrived there was no doubt Canada was going to win.

I do have a couple thoughts on Nicklas Backstrom missing out on the gold medal game...

via espn.go.com

For starters it wouldn't have made any difference in the outcome. Secondarily, this was a needless, stupid suspension. And, no, I'm not blaming the IOC for this. They have their rules. It's up to the athlete and, more importantly, the doctors to know what everyone is allowed to take. I'm not an athlete, but even I know Pseudoephedrine is banned. After initially being banned, it was monitored between 2004 and 2009, before being banned again starting in 2010. I do feel bad for Backstrom. He trusted that the doctors knew what was allowed, clearly they didn't. There's plenty of blame for this and most of it belongs with the Swedish Olympic Committee for not knowing what was happening in their own camp.

At least that's how I see it...and I sit in the cheap seats.

Hardly surprising that controversy erupts at Sochi

From where I sit it looks like there is controversy over figure skating in the Olympics...

via olympics.cbc.ca

There is also skates, ice, fancy costumes and music. Is anyone surprised that there's whining about scores? As long as it's a judged competition there will be question marks about what happened. It's something that the world at large only really pays attention to every 4 years. But, there are always questions raised about judging. To a degree it's good that people aren't afraid to call out the judges and question whether marks are deserved. However, this is something that happens in all judged events. It's subjective. It could be the Olympics, summer or winter, the X-Games, even dog shows are judged. This is one person's opinion on what happened. I will give figure skating credit for trying to fix their system, sadly it will never be perfect. Until someone writes a computer program that can grade objectively there will be problems. However, to hear an athlete start griping about how she was screwed and finished 7^th is amusing. I'm not an expert on figure skating, but if you aren't doing hard enough jumps don't be surprised if you don't win.

At least that's how I see it...and I sit in the cheap seats.

Time to shrink the rink at the Olympics

From where I sit it looks like there needs to be a major change to the hockey tournament at the Olympics...

via commons.wikipedia.org

Specifically, the size of the rink. I'm not trying to downplay the skill of the players in the last 2 weeks, but the quality of play. Sure, the USA-Canada game was thrilling, in fact all three of them were. The USA-Russia game was great too. But, for the most part the games have been uninspiring. A lot of clogging the middle of the ice, keeping chances to the outside. Yes, it meant that every team was in every game. But that was more thanks to the mind-numbing level of defence, as opposed to deserving skill. Hockey is the fastest team game on the planet, sadly that speed is completely lacking on international ice. Try looking at the numbers. So far in there have been 133 goals scored in the 46 games (excluding medal games). That's 2.8 goals a game. Nearly a full goal per game less than Vancouver (3.6). In terms of individual teams, everyone has lower goal totals. Russia, had 16 in Vancouver and 13 this year. Highly defensive Switzerland produced a satisfying 11 goals in 2010, compared to a paltry 3 in Sochi. It's time the IOC took a careful look at the size of the ice and what impact it's having on the quality of hockey.  Until they do that we will remain stuck with bland hockey at supposedly the highest level of competition. 

At least that's how I see it...and I sit in the cheap seats.