Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Some Musings...
-So Chris Pronger is heading out of Edmonton. Naturally, Toronto is rumored destination. But this time the supposed offer was Pronger for Kaberle and Steen, which wouldn't be too bad of a deal for the Oilers (they can probably get more though). A nice change from the usual Leaf rumored trades, I suspected we'd be hearing about how Lowe was about to acquire Aki Berg and Nik Antropov for Pronger, but the Oilers might have to throw in Ryan Smyth to close things out.
-Interleague play in MLB is really becoming a sham. The American League has now pummelled the National League for two weeks. For proof, look no further than the standings. In the AL, the Red Sox have won ten straight, the top three teams in the Central Division are all 9-1 in their last ten games, and even bottom feeder Kansas City has somehow won eight of ten. Over in the senior circuit, almost every team is mired in a slump. The Pirates have lost 12 in a row, tying a franchise record that dates back to 1890, while even the mighty Cardinals, arguably the NL's best team has lost eight consecutively. Instead of using the all-star game to determine home-field advantage for the World Series, just give it to the NL in hopes that we might avoid a third consecutive WS sweep for the AL team.
-So far it has been a bit of a strange World Cup. Most of the usual suspects are into the quarter-finals, but how they got there is the odd part. Ukraine knocked off the Swiss in a shoot-out after a 0-0 draw. That meant that, incredibly, Switzerland were eliminated without having conceded a single goal in the entire tournament (the goals against them in the shoot-out dont count statistically). Switzerland recorded a pair of 2-0 wins and a scoreless draw in the group stage. Not surprisingly, this is a tournament first. France will play Brazil in a rematch of the 1998 Final. The French got their by defeating favoured Spain 3-1. Once again the Spanish breezed through the preliminary round only to be inexplicably dismissed, this time by a French team that looked old, slow and out of sorts up until their match with their European rivals. Brazil meanwhile, has hardly been impressive. Their 3-0 win over Ghana to reach the final eight was more than flattering. If Ghana had shown some more finish around the Brazilian net, the South Americans could easily be on their way home. As could the Italians, set to play Ukraine, who were thoroughly outplayed by Australia. But the Aussies just couldn't bury any of their chances and that allowed the Azzuri to steal victory with a controversial penalty kick in the final minute. England will take on Portugal looking for revenge from Euro 2004 quarter-final where the Brits lost in a shoot-out. The Portuguese will come in minus at least a couple regulars due to suspensions and injuries accrued in their violent match against Holland, which set a WC record for most red and yellow cards. The English must be licking their chops, but keep in mind that they have stumbled their way into the quarters. They have yet to be outplayed by any opponents, but that is in no way due to strong play on their part. And that leaves Germany versus Argentina. This is the clearly the only match-up where both teams have been firing on all cylinders since their opening games. But ironically, one of them is going home earlier than they would have liked just because of the way the match-ups have worked out.
-The arms race is well underway in the Northwest Division, even before free agency begins. Vancouver unloaded problematic Todd Bertuzzi for Roberto Luongo. At first this may appear to be a steal for the Canucks, but keep in mind that Luongo may only be on the wet coast for one year, since he is unrestricted after the upcoming season, and has already acknowledged he will test the market. Perhaps the mountain air in Denver is getting to Pierre Lacroix. It was inevitable that he would have to trade somebody to stay under the salary cap, but you have to question his decision to deal away Alex Tanguay, who will be a star for many years to come. Furthermore, in doing so he strengthened division rival Calgary. Shocking news out of Minnesota: The Wild may actually spend above the minimum possible payroll after acquiring Pavol Demitra from the Kings. The fans in Minny have packed the building every night for five years, and it looks like they were finally repayed by ownership. Not a great time for the Oilers to be forced to trade their best player, but at least Pronger's value is extremely high after an exceptional season and playoffs.
-Interleague play in MLB is really becoming a sham. The American League has now pummelled the National League for two weeks. For proof, look no further than the standings. In the AL, the Red Sox have won ten straight, the top three teams in the Central Division are all 9-1 in their last ten games, and even bottom feeder Kansas City has somehow won eight of ten. Over in the senior circuit, almost every team is mired in a slump. The Pirates have lost 12 in a row, tying a franchise record that dates back to 1890, while even the mighty Cardinals, arguably the NL's best team has lost eight consecutively. Instead of using the all-star game to determine home-field advantage for the World Series, just give it to the NL in hopes that we might avoid a third consecutive WS sweep for the AL team.
-So far it has been a bit of a strange World Cup. Most of the usual suspects are into the quarter-finals, but how they got there is the odd part. Ukraine knocked off the Swiss in a shoot-out after a 0-0 draw. That meant that, incredibly, Switzerland were eliminated without having conceded a single goal in the entire tournament (the goals against them in the shoot-out dont count statistically). Switzerland recorded a pair of 2-0 wins and a scoreless draw in the group stage. Not surprisingly, this is a tournament first. France will play Brazil in a rematch of the 1998 Final. The French got their by defeating favoured Spain 3-1. Once again the Spanish breezed through the preliminary round only to be inexplicably dismissed, this time by a French team that looked old, slow and out of sorts up until their match with their European rivals. Brazil meanwhile, has hardly been impressive. Their 3-0 win over Ghana to reach the final eight was more than flattering. If Ghana had shown some more finish around the Brazilian net, the South Americans could easily be on their way home. As could the Italians, set to play Ukraine, who were thoroughly outplayed by Australia. But the Aussies just couldn't bury any of their chances and that allowed the Azzuri to steal victory with a controversial penalty kick in the final minute. England will take on Portugal looking for revenge from Euro 2004 quarter-final where the Brits lost in a shoot-out. The Portuguese will come in minus at least a couple regulars due to suspensions and injuries accrued in their violent match against Holland, which set a WC record for most red and yellow cards. The English must be licking their chops, but keep in mind that they have stumbled their way into the quarters. They have yet to be outplayed by any opponents, but that is in no way due to strong play on their part. And that leaves Germany versus Argentina. This is the clearly the only match-up where both teams have been firing on all cylinders since their opening games. But ironically, one of them is going home earlier than they would have liked just because of the way the match-ups have worked out.
-The arms race is well underway in the Northwest Division, even before free agency begins. Vancouver unloaded problematic Todd Bertuzzi for Roberto Luongo. At first this may appear to be a steal for the Canucks, but keep in mind that Luongo may only be on the wet coast for one year, since he is unrestricted after the upcoming season, and has already acknowledged he will test the market. Perhaps the mountain air in Denver is getting to Pierre Lacroix. It was inevitable that he would have to trade somebody to stay under the salary cap, but you have to question his decision to deal away Alex Tanguay, who will be a star for many years to come. Furthermore, in doing so he strengthened division rival Calgary. Shocking news out of Minnesota: The Wild may actually spend above the minimum possible payroll after acquiring Pavol Demitra from the Kings. The fans in Minny have packed the building every night for five years, and it looks like they were finally repayed by ownership. Not a great time for the Oilers to be forced to trade their best player, but at least Pronger's value is extremely high after an exceptional season and playoffs.
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