It's a Series...

Here I am on a Tuesday morning getting ready to do another show. Of course, we’ll be talking about the playoff games from last night. Detroit takes a commanding lead against Phoenix. Pittsburgh and Philly take the lead in their series against Buffalo and Tampa respectively. And we’ll certainly be talking about the Bruins getting back into the series against Montreal with their win last night. Wait a minute…something isn’t right about that last sentence. Were the Bruins out of the series to begin with?

A lot of people will say that a 2-0 lead for the underdogs with two games coming up at home would signify the opposition being “out of it”, but I think it actually serves as a perfect example of how reactionary we’ve become as sports fans. In a world of daily sports talk and a constant bombardment of fresh content and instant analysis, it’s almost as if we’ve forgotten how to look at things from a broader perspective.

We dissect every single game with the precision of a surgeon as we look for any single hint, clue or reason as to why one team is going to take the series over another and I wonder to myself, why? It’s probably not the question I should be asking when it’s my job to sort of do that to get through the day, but it would be hard for me to take myself seriously in the position that I’m in if I didn’t ask these questions of myself.

I got to thinking about this even more after the latest media confrontation between New York Rangers head coach John Tortorella and Larry Brooks of the New York Post. In the latest exchange, they get into a heated argument over the term of “backs against the wall”. The problem to me about using this term last Friday morning is that the Capitals had a 1-0 series lead.

Really? Is Tortorella really being asked about the Rangers having their backs against a wall after losing one game in a seven-game series. I understand that it’s the 1-8 matchup with the Rangers being the major underdogs, but are we really now reduced to asking coaches about being in perilous situations because of losing one game? I agreed with Torts’ assessment of the situation. It’s a series. The Capitals had won one game and needed to win three more. The situation isn’t bad enough yet to break out that phrase.

And yet, we do as a media because it’s all about that instant reaction now. When it comes to sports talk, people want answers immediately. They want to know what their teams are doing right, doing wrong and how everything is going to get fixed. There’s no time in people’s lives to live through a process or a rebuild or a re-tooling. If they have no time in their own lives for themselves because of work, family and other commitments, why would they invest time in other things?

I guess if I want you to take away one thing from this, it’s that we need to get back to the thought of letting thing play out a little bit more before we cast judgment. I picked Boston to win in seven games. For that to happen, Montreal has to win three. They just happened to win the first two. I’m not panicking with my pick. I’m just letting things run its course.

If They Bite You, You Bite Twice as Hard Back

Good luck to this next loser on trying to find a lawyer to take this case. But then again, it is America and in a country where a person who spills coffee over themselves, sues for millions and succeeds, maybe this guy does have a chance after all. Read on and judge for yourself. I'll still stick with my first instinct.

By the Associated Press


A 33-year-old man who bit back after he was caught by a Phoenix police dog is suing police.

Erin Sullivan alleges the dog violated his civil rights and used excessive force to capture him after he ran from officers in Glendale during a burglary investigation last year.

Police say Sullivan bit the dog back, injuring it.

The lawsuit names the cities of Phoenix and Glendale and four officers.

Precursor filings to the lawsuit sought $200,000 from Glendale and $250,000 from Phoenix.

Officials in Glendale and Phoenix have declined comment.

Sullivan also alleges Glendale police refused to give him insulin to treat his diabetes. Sullivan's attorney, Keith Knowlton, has said his client suffered a diabetic seizure in a Glendale cell.

Sullivan is serving eight years for convictions in the Glendale burglary.

Give Me Back My Pig!

Nothing against the name Steve, but it just doesn't fit as a name for an animal. Naming your pet Steve is a sign to me that you just didn't put a lot of thought into it or you were so indecisive in your naming process that you just got frustrated and went with the first name you thought of. Here's the story of Steve the Pet Pig.

By the Associated Press


A wayward pet pig whose residency was challenged by Pennsylvania township officials has been returned to his owners.

A Vietnamese micro-potbellied pig named Steve was reunited with Brian Maguire and Bernadette Broadhurst on Friday. Broadhurst says a Ridley Township commissioner personally delivered the animal, days after he'd been taken to a farm by police.

Maguire says Steve had apparently escaped from his yard and disappeared. When he checked with police to see if the animal had been spotted, Maguire says he was told it was found but sent to a farm because of a township ban on keeping farm animals.

Maguire said feared for the 6-pound, 10-week-old pig's safety in a farm setting.

That Much for a Pez Dispenser?

I'll be glad when William and Kate finally get married so that I won't have to read or hear anything more about the ceremony. Why do we care so much? Anyways, here's a story that speaks to the reach that these two have. They're even affecting the sale of pez dispensers. At least the money is going to charity.

By Michael Shields of Reuters


A fan from Connecticut has paid 8,200 pounds ($13,360) to win a charity auction of PEZ sweets dispensers in the likeness of Britain's Prince William and his fiancee Kate Middleton ahead of this month's royal wedding.

PEZ, the Austrian company whose candy dispensers are known around the world, said on Monday it will donate the money to the Starlight Children's Foundation, which cheers up seriously ill children and their families by granting wishes and organizing hospital events.

A spokeswoman said the company chose that charity because Middleton and her family supported it.

She gave no more details about the winning bidder other than to say his or her user profile was Frank841950.

The winning bid, one of 33 submitted, falls short of the record $32,000 paid for an Astronaut B model Pez dispenser in 2006.

Top Ten Best and Top Ten Worst

Don't See This Every Day

A Look Back at Some NBA Prop Bets

It’s not too often that I go back to some comments that I made months earlier, but a friend of mine reminded me about the post I made in late October about four teams to bet on for total wins over/under. I thought it would be interesting to go back and see if I would have made any money or if I would be given another reminder why it’s probably best that I don’t end up in the sports prognostication business.

I thought that the Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz were undervalued and the Toronto Raptors were being given too much credit after Vegas gave them a projected total of 26 wins for the season. How sad is that I thought the Raptors going 26-56 would be far-fetched? Winning just over 30% of your games should be automatic, but not this year. Anyways, let’s take a closer look...

Boston Celtics
Projected Record: 54-28 or 55-27
Actual Record: 56-26

It was close, but we got the job done by picking the over. It would have been even easier to get the over if the Celts hadn’t made a senseless trade of Kendrick Perkins to Oklahoma City. They loss their inside presence and necessary toughness that has allowed them to be so successful in the playoffs. I thought that the additions of Jermaine and Shaquille O’Neal would have made them deeper. When both healthy, it did, but those nights were few and far between. Consider us lucky to get this one.

Phoenix Suns
Projected Record: 41-41 or 42-40
Actual Record: 40-42

Give credit to Vegas for being really close with these first couple of picks. I thought this pick would have been a lock once the Suns and Magic made their blockbuster trade to help each other mid-season, but then again, I should have realized that I was now putting my hopes in the hands of Vince Carter to come through in the clutch. I thought they would be a consistent scoring team and it would lead to more victories. The only thing consistent for them was that they hovered around .500 all year long.

Utah Jazz
Projected Record: 49-33 or 50-32
Actual Record: 39-43

My quote from October, “Having one of the best point guards in the game in Deron Williams and one of the best coaches in the game in Jerry Sloan will always allow for this team to be better than competitive.” Too bad I couldn’t do my best Kreskin impression and predict that the relationship between the two would become so toxic that it would force Jerry Sloan into retirement. I can’t be mad about losing this pick because there was nothing I could do to ever predict that. All you can do is shrug your shoulders.

Toronto Raptors
Projected Record: 26-56 or 27-55
Actual Record: 22-60

You have to feel bad for Jay Triano. He didn’t have a talented lineup to begin with and then every time you would turn around, the Raptors would be dealing with another injury. In the end, the Raptors would put together what looked to be more like a D-League lineup as opposed to an NBA one. I’m assuming that Jay Triano will be gone as coach, Bryan Colangelo will continue to avoid taking any heat for putting together such a terrible lineup and Raps fans will be stuck watching a sub-par basketball team.