Chief

Da Coach

The Kid's Going to be an All-Star

I'm pretty lucky to live in the Raleigh/Durham area of North Carolina. We have UNC, NC State and Duke all within a few miles of each other, we have the Carolina Hurricanes in our backyard. We also have the Panthers and Bobcats a couple hours away in Charlotte. In addition to all of that we have two minor league baseball teams, Durham Bulls (AAA-Tampa Bay) and Carolina Mudcats (AA-Marlins). We go to quite a few games each year, you can't beat the price and the level of play is pretty good. Through the years we have seen BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, David Delucci, Elijah Dukes, Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera all come through the area.
But, on Saturday night we went to a Mudcats came against the Tennessee Smokies (AA-Cubs). The Cats were down 4-3 going into the bottom of the ninth. They had a runner on second with 1 out. The entire game a buddy of mine and I were wondering where the hell Cameron Maybin was. If you don't know who that is, he is the center piece of the return package the Marlins got for Cabrera and Willis. I had heard all of the hype around him when the trade went down and wanted to see it for myself. Apparently they were giving him a night off. Well, the put him in to pinch hit. I can tell you, this kid looks like a big leaguer. You could tell who he was before they even announced him. From his build to the way he carried himself you could tell he was a star.

Long story short, one pitch, one hit - out of the park to straight away center field to walk off with a win. Yes - the kid will be an All-Star.

The Starter

From the Rink...

• As expected the Wings close out the Preds on the road. Lidstrom's mid-ice bouncing puck shorty was probably the thing that broke Nashville's back. That's a hard one to take. The Wings will either play the Avs - who finished off the Wild - or.....
• The winner of the Flames-Sharks game tomorrow night. Surprisingly enough the Flames fought back to shut out the Sharks to force a game 7. If the Sharks win they take on the Stars (who eliminated the defending champ Ducks) while the Wings play the Avs which would re-kindle some old hatred from the mid-90's. However, if the Flames win, they go on against the Wings while the Avs and Stars face off. I'll stick with the Sharks, but with any game 7, particularly with hockey, anything can happen.
• In the East, the Bruins stave off elimination by forcing a game 7 tonight. You have to give the Bruins credit, most everyone (including me) had written them off. I'm not sure they can finish the job in a hostile Montreal, but who knows? They were able to get this far after going down 3-1. I'll still stick with Habs.
• The Capitals also stayed alive with a win Saturday. Now they have to go on the road to force a game 7. I like the way both teams are playing, but I still stick with the Caps heading home for game 7.

From the Hardwood...

• The only real surprise is the Sixers stinging the Pistons on the road. I figured they would win one game, I just didn't think the first game would be it. I'm still picking the Pistons, but this one may be closer than thought.
• How about that for a playoff coming out party for Chris Paul?
• If Saturday was any kind of indication, Suns/Spurs could be an all time classic.

It's Getting Kind of Drafty....

• Well draft week is here, and nothing is quite like this week of lies and misdirections you will see. Pretty much don't believe anything that starts with "a team source said..." or "someone close to the organization said...". There are absolutely NO truths being leaked this week. The manipulation and angling are almost more entertaining than the draft itself.
• I have always been a draft geek. Even as a little kid. I used to (still do) just simulate seasons of Madden just to draft, re-sign, sign players trying to build Super Bowl winners. I find it intriguing the entire process that goes into it. Even though I know a lot of these players won't mean anything for at least a year, I will still be glued to see who the Bears take with their 11 picks.

Miscellaneous Ramblings.....

• Something tells me the Joba Chamberlin will be in the starting line-up within a couple weeks. I'm not sure why I feel that way?
• It looks as if Scott Skiles will be the new coach of the Bucks. Good luck with that. They will be fine for a year or two, then he will piss off everyone on the team to the point where they stop playing. See Suns, Phoenix and Bulls, Chicago. But I will offer the Bucks some advice. Once they do fire him, don't replace him, even on an interim basis, with one of "his" guys. It won't work out real well, just ask Mr. Boylan.
• Danica finally breaks through. I was completely unaware of the fact the IRL raced in Japan. As great as the accomplishment is, it has got to somewhat of a downer for her that it happened on the other side of globe while everyone was sleeping. It's especially unfortunate when you consider that NASCAR had the week off and the IRL could of had Sunday afternoon to itself (at least for those who weren't watching the NBA or NHL).

The Starter

From the Rink...

• The Wings keep the Preds down on the road in the playoffs.  Nashville has never won a playoff game on the road in franchise history and the Wings kept it that way......barely.  Detroit won in OT after giving up the game tying goal with 42 seconds left.  If nothing else the Wings like to keep it close.  Look for them to close out the series on the road on Sunday.
• The defending champs stay alive with a 5-2 win at home last night against the Stars.  I still think they're delaying the inevitable, but it's good to see that the Ducks have a little fight left in them.
• Meanwhile, the Rangers do end the series against the Devils last night.  No big surprise even though it technically was an upset, 5 over 4.  Really though, that's about as a non upset as you can get when the seeds say otherwise.  NY is looking pretty good despite the efforts of Mr. Avery to eliminate all respect for the team.
• Three more series can end tonight.  Look for the Avs and Habs to close out those series, while the Caps will hold on for at least one more.

From the Hardwood....

• The playoffs start today. Why did they switch to 7 game series for the first round? Wake me up when the second round starts.
• Isaiah is done in NY. What a surprise. Does anyone actually think he will be doing anything in his advisors role? Me neither, talk about justifying a salary.
• Owners OK move for Sonics to move to OK. Another surprise. Who cares if the league has 41 years of history in the city? There's more money to be had elsewhere. I'm not saying OK City doesn't deserve a team, they certainly proved they did but isn't there another team that could go? cough...Clippers...cough.

Bears Linebacker Saga....

• First it was Urlacher wanting a new contract, then supposedly demanding a trade or threatening retirement.  He now denies either.  I suspected as much, but is he telling the truth or is he covering his ass in the PR world.  I think/hope for the former.
• Now, Lance Briggs is upset with his contract.  Yup, the same contract HE signed as FREE AGENT just a month ago.  This guy is a damn headcase.  The good news is that the Bears can cut their losses in 2 years with out much salary cap damage.  By then he'll be getting past his prime and they should have a replacement or two ready to go.

The Starter

McNair Calling it Quits...

I didn't get a chance to comment yesterday on the retirement of Steve McNair. He always seemed to be one of those stars that everyone knew was a star, but never talked about. You know defenses had to plan for him, but in pre-game shows and breakdown sessions on various networks there was minimal discussion of how much he could impact a game.

The other thing I think that gets overlooked is the fact that he played hurt so often. The term "gladiator" and "warrior" is completely overused in sports, the NFL particularly, but if there is anyone who deserves the term it would be McNair.

I'm not sure he's Canton worthy, but he'll be close. He is a 2-time Pro Bowler, shared the MVP with Peyton in '03 and was a foot away from winning the Super Bowl which likely would have netted him the SB MVP. Again, probably not making the HOF but it wouldn't upset me if he did.

Stanley's Cup.....

• The Bruins made me look smart last night. By winning 5-1 over the Habs last night they have at least made it a respectable series (3 games to 2). I still think the Canadiens will win the next game to close out the series, but Boston made it interesting and could be a contender next year. Of course, you never know.
• While the Bruins made me look good, the Sharks, Avs and Flyers make went the other way. All three won their games last night to either take 3-2 (Sharks & Avs) or 3-1 (Flyers) advantages. While none of those series are over, all three of those teams took big strides to the next round last night, especially the Flyers. It will take one hell of a come back by the Caps but the essentially made a season long come back just to make the playoffs, so who knows. I wouldn't be surprised if either the Sharks-Flames series or the Avs-Wild series went to seven games. For that reason I'm still sticking with my picks, but I'm not overly optimistic.
• Meanwhile, the Stars are on the verge of eliminating the defenders. Last night wasn't so much of a must-win (really, aren't they all?), but the degree of difficulty just got a whole lot tougher for the Ducks. They'll win tonight at home, but will get closed out over the weekend in Dallas.
• Predictions for tonight: Wings win game 5 at home after choking away two games in Nashville that could have leveraged the series their way. The Rangers will close out the Devils tonight in Jersey. And as mentioned above the Ducks will stave off elimination at home.

Miguel's Fake ID...

Is it really surprising that Tejada is actually older than originally thought? I would venture to guess many players from the Caribbean don't really know how old they are, or at least make sure the teams that sign them don't.

You can't blame them, they're trying to get out of impossible situations lured by millions so why not fib a little. A lot of blame has to go on the teams who are so willingly ready to throw millions at these guys. Can't they do a little more research other than asking the guys how old they are?

At the end of the day does it really matter? I suppose it does when it comes to long term contract time, but again some of the onus has to fall on the teams. If the guy is still producing what does it matter?

As the Ocho-Cinco turns....

As I mentioned yesterday, this guy is an idiot. What's his beef? Playing time? Nope. Money? Not really - he's one of the highest paid receivers in the league. Catches? Nope. His main beef is whether or not he feels the team will be competitive next year.

When you play in the NFL where the difference between the best and worst teams is not that much how can you say in April, before the draft, you're team isn't good? There is obviously something else going on that hasn't come out yet. Now the Bengals are in an impossible situation. As the days progress he's alienating more and more guys on the team (Carson and T.J.). While the cap hit isn't nearly as bad as people make it out to be, the Bengals have no trade leverage. Every team knows they are looking to unload him and there is no way to get equal value. Things ought to get interesting.

Urlacher's Issue....

My gut feeling tells me this is not as big as the media, especially the Chicago media, is making it out to be. But as it drags on the more concerned I get. Some say all he wants is to have 2 more years on the current contract guaranteed. If that's the case, the Bears need to get it done. If he is actually looking for a new, bigger contract, then Urlacher needs to get real.

When you sign a long term deal and get the big signing bonus you have to know that within a few years that contract is outdated. That's the trade off for getting big money. Plus, he's an aging LB that uses his body as a weapon and is already slowed by an arthritic back and has had neck surgery. Not really someone a team will invest a lot of long term dollars in.

I'm not sure I believe the trade request that was reported by Mike Mulligan of the Sun-Times. What team would give the Bears any sort of value for him due to the reasons mentioned above. As a Bears fan and an Urlacher fan I just hope this is being blown out of proportion and really a non-issue, but I'm starting to have my doubts.