Thursday, May 19, 2005
STRAY
Well, I'll tie some loose ends that obviously won't fit in a Mariner post or Sonic post.
-- Jeremy and I had an instant message conversation exactly three months ago, February 19, on the NBA's All-Star Saturday. An excerpt...
[22:17] David: if the nba manages to f#&$ up their labor situation, i'll be absolutely crestfallen
[22:18] Jeremy: i don't see the nba f#&$ing that up........no way would david stern allow a season to be cancelled
...
[22:18] Jeremy: they will get a deal done. absolutely
Three months later I sit here surprised, yet completely unsurprised. The NBA this season has had their best season in almost a decade. In my opinion, they may have finally recovered from the 1998 lockout. That's what...six or seven years? The NHL never recovered from the 1994 lockout, and they've dug themselves an even deeper hole this time.
More importantly, the NHL imploded and took the year off. If the NBA can't learn from the NHL and/or their own mistakes and past labor stoppages...I don't know what to say. I'm hoping the owners and players get together and get the epiphany that baseball did in August of 2002. Baseball would have been screwed if there was a work stoppage right there.
Oddly, I think it was Frank Hughes on KJR this morning that said a lockout might actually benefit the Sonics by compressing the free-agent signing period or something like that. Of course, it could also result in losing Nate McMillan.
-- I haven't made the daily article sweeps in a month or so since doing game wraps for two teams takes a while. I think I bailed to the Mariners and Sonics totally right before the Everett Silvertips and Seattle Thunderbirds got eliminated from the WHL playoffs.
But there is one team of small importance left. They are the almost-Canucks, the Manitoba Moose. They are in the AHL's Western Conference Finals and are facing the Chicago Wolves in a seven-game series beginning tonight at 5p. You can even listen live online, and might be able to get the whole game in before the Sonics come on at 7:30. Probably the only bad thing about the Moose's run is that Alex Auld, who was great in net in the Calgary/Vancouver series (2004), has sat most of the playoffs. Veteran goalie Wade Flaherty (Jeremy remembers him as a former Shark) has been holding down the fort in net for the Moose, and has done it quite well. Hopefully Auld can eventually come back from this and reign in the Canuck net eventually, whenever the NHL starts back up.
-- Three cheers for Vonzell Solomon. Between the final three of Vonzell, Bo Bice, and Carrie Underwood, I think they were pretty much all at the same level, with maybe a slight edge to the girls. She nearly didn't make it into the final 12, but between that time and her elimination last night, she had light years of improvement and snuck up on everyone. Bo and Carrie have pretty much been favorites for most of the whole competition, but Vonzell emerged, and quite well. Most importantly, her version of "Let's Hear It For the Boy" helps erase a past memory of a horrible junior high assembly rendition of the same song by some girl in the choir class back in 8th grade.
-- How do I think American Idol should have ended up? Well, like this (actual finishes in parentheses)...
Vonzell Solomon (3rd)
Carrie Underwood (1st/2nd)
Bo Bice (1st/2nd)
Nadia Turner (8th)
Anwar Robinson (7th)
Anthony Fedorov (4th)
Jessica Sierra (10th)
Lindsey Cardinale (12th)
Nikko Smith (9th)
Constantine Maroulis (6th)
Scott Savol (5th)
Mikalah Gordon (11th)
My conclusion? I was really not high on most of the guys. Those are the voters for you. Of course, if the best performers truly made it to the next week every time, there'd be absolutely no drama in the show.
-- Shishkaberries!
-- I'm glad I wasn't driving on I-5 yesterday during the rainstorm. Forty crashes is a lot. Whoever drove that oil tanker (you'll need this) will be in deep crap, that's for sure.
Well, I'll get together the open Sonic post and then get to more pressing and more important matters. Like sleep.
VICTORY FOR SONICS!!! O-KAY!
-- Jeremy and I had an instant message conversation exactly three months ago, February 19, on the NBA's All-Star Saturday. An excerpt...
[22:17] David: if the nba manages to f#&$ up their labor situation, i'll be absolutely crestfallen
[22:18] Jeremy: i don't see the nba f#&$ing that up........no way would david stern allow a season to be cancelled
...
[22:18] Jeremy: they will get a deal done. absolutely
Three months later I sit here surprised, yet completely unsurprised. The NBA this season has had their best season in almost a decade. In my opinion, they may have finally recovered from the 1998 lockout. That's what...six or seven years? The NHL never recovered from the 1994 lockout, and they've dug themselves an even deeper hole this time.
More importantly, the NHL imploded and took the year off. If the NBA can't learn from the NHL and/or their own mistakes and past labor stoppages...I don't know what to say. I'm hoping the owners and players get together and get the epiphany that baseball did in August of 2002. Baseball would have been screwed if there was a work stoppage right there.
Oddly, I think it was Frank Hughes on KJR this morning that said a lockout might actually benefit the Sonics by compressing the free-agent signing period or something like that. Of course, it could also result in losing Nate McMillan.
-- I haven't made the daily article sweeps in a month or so since doing game wraps for two teams takes a while. I think I bailed to the Mariners and Sonics totally right before the Everett Silvertips and Seattle Thunderbirds got eliminated from the WHL playoffs.
But there is one team of small importance left. They are the almost-Canucks, the Manitoba Moose. They are in the AHL's Western Conference Finals and are facing the Chicago Wolves in a seven-game series beginning tonight at 5p. You can even listen live online, and might be able to get the whole game in before the Sonics come on at 7:30. Probably the only bad thing about the Moose's run is that Alex Auld, who was great in net in the Calgary/Vancouver series (2004), has sat most of the playoffs. Veteran goalie Wade Flaherty (Jeremy remembers him as a former Shark) has been holding down the fort in net for the Moose, and has done it quite well. Hopefully Auld can eventually come back from this and reign in the Canuck net eventually, whenever the NHL starts back up.
-- Three cheers for Vonzell Solomon. Between the final three of Vonzell, Bo Bice, and Carrie Underwood, I think they were pretty much all at the same level, with maybe a slight edge to the girls. She nearly didn't make it into the final 12, but between that time and her elimination last night, she had light years of improvement and snuck up on everyone. Bo and Carrie have pretty much been favorites for most of the whole competition, but Vonzell emerged, and quite well. Most importantly, her version of "Let's Hear It For the Boy" helps erase a past memory of a horrible junior high assembly rendition of the same song by some girl in the choir class back in 8th grade.
-- How do I think American Idol should have ended up? Well, like this (actual finishes in parentheses)...
Vonzell Solomon (3rd)
Carrie Underwood (1st/2nd)
Bo Bice (1st/2nd)
Nadia Turner (8th)
Anwar Robinson (7th)
Anthony Fedorov (4th)
Jessica Sierra (10th)
Lindsey Cardinale (12th)
Nikko Smith (9th)
Constantine Maroulis (6th)
Scott Savol (5th)
Mikalah Gordon (11th)
My conclusion? I was really not high on most of the guys. Those are the voters for you. Of course, if the best performers truly made it to the next week every time, there'd be absolutely no drama in the show.
-- Shishkaberries!
-- I'm glad I wasn't driving on I-5 yesterday during the rainstorm. Forty crashes is a lot. Whoever drove that oil tanker (you'll need this) will be in deep crap, that's for sure.
Well, I'll get together the open Sonic post and then get to more pressing and more important matters. Like sleep.
VICTORY FOR SONICS!!! O-KAY!
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