Devils win in the igloo and thoughts on things that I missed

Sorry, it has been a while, just didn't have time when I had things to write or things to write when I had time.

The New Jersey Devils used two Zach Parise power-play goals (7 and 8) to nip the Penguins in Pittsburgh 2-1.
The Devils played their best all-around game of the year and with the exception of a Johnny Oduya miscue that handed Pittsburgh their only goal, looked pretty much flawless.
Marty Brodeur handled every shot except the mentioned goal by Evgeni Malkin and looked excellent in goal.
Jamie Langenbrunner assisted on both Parise goals, while Brian Gionta and Mike Mottau each picked up a secondary assist.
Colin White returned to the team for his first action of the season and provided some toughness on the blueline.
Once Paul Martin is able to return-the Devils should be back to full strength.
The Devils move to within one game of .500 on the season at 9-10-2 and will return to action Friday in Atlanta for a game vs the Thrashers.

I realize that the NFL week is over, but wanted to add a few thoughts on what I missed.
The Browns 33-30 overtime win over Baltimore was about as crazy a win that I could dream about.
Sidebar-I wish I could find a video of "Murderin' Ray" Lewis mumbling his way up the tunnel after Phil Dawson's tying field goal was ruled good.
"It's over-we won".
But still to allow a pathetic offense such as Baltimore's to score 30 points, still makes me wonder about this week's game vs Houston.
The Texans can score points and they have a wideout that can get deep in a hurry in Andre Johnson.
The Texans have playoff hopes of their own and Cleveland cannot afford to take the game Sunday lightly.

The officials made the correct call, but the NFL needs to allow field goals to be reviewed in the future IF the review is based on something tangible such as contact with the goalpost/crossbar.

Meantime, for the locals.
MASN does a simulcast of someone named Anita Marks and her talk show and it seems Ms.Marks either is ill-informed on the NFL rulebook, the actual on-field call on Dawson's kick, or both.
Marks spent 30 minutes whining Monday that "even though the kick was good, it was reviewed and the rulebook says you cannot review a field goal".
Read the rulebook and you will see that Video review is not allowed on field goals.
But on this play, the video was NOT reviewed, the officials grouped together and reviewed the kick without video.
That is allowed and the proper way to deal with the situation.
Wally Williams (former lineman for the Browns and Ravens) attempted to tell Marks this at least 3 times (and that is just the 30 minutes that I could stomach watching), but she refused to either listen or understand.

I have not watched the Seahawks 30-23 win over the Bears yet, but I will as the week goes on.

The Angels swapping SS Orlando Cabrera for White Sox hurler Jon Garland appears to help both teams.
Cabrera will be a huge upgrade for the Pale Hose over Juan Uribe and Garland should settle into the Angel 4th rotation spot nicely.

Ryan sends us a note on the passing of Dick Wilson at the age of 91.
Who was Dick Wilson and why does his death merit mention here?
Well, most of you 30 and up (and Ryan) might remember Wilson's commercials as "Mr.Whipple", who implored his grocery customers to "please don't squeeze the Charmin" bathroom tissue.

Ryan also sends us another sad note of the passing of former Packer center Jim Ringo at the age of 75.
Ringo also is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

A Jim Ringo story for you goes like this.
At the end of the 1963 season, Ringo brought an agent to his contract talks with Packers Coach/GM Vince Lombardi.
This was at the time when agents were far from welcome in contract discussions and Lombardi was far from being open to the agent.
Lombardi excused himself from the room for a few minutes and returned and said to the agent that he was not allowed to talk about Ringo's contract.
When the confused agent asked why not, Lombardi replied "Mr.Ringo now plays in Philadelphia for the Eagles".
Shows how times change!


The Ashland Arrows appearance in the state semi-final is Friday in Dublin,Ohio.
The Arrows will battle the Cincinnati Anderson Redskins for the right to play for the State championship.

Finally, the Indians signed Masahide Kobayashi to a 2 year deal with a club option for a third.
Kobayashi last pitched for the Chiba Lotte Marines and I will be asking about him from our man in Japan Brandon Siefken.

Photo Credits
Parise-Gene Puskar-AP Photo
Dawson-Jamie Squire-Getty Images
"Mr.Whipple"-TV Land
Ringo-Topps cards

Buckeyes make Lloyd Blue in 14-3 win

In a game that basically brought back memories of the old days of ground game oriented football,The Ohio State Buckeyes won THE GAME and the Big Ten title with a 14-3 win over michigan in what was likely the final game for Lloyd Carr as the wolverine field boss.
Chris Wells smashed through the michigan defense for 220 yards and both touchdowns to lead the Buckeyes to victory for the fourth time in a row and sixth in seven years over the hated rivals.
The 220 yards for Wells was the most for a Buckeye in the long history of the series and likely would have had more,if not coming down with what appeared to be a hamstring problem in the second half.
Wells returned and continued to carry the ball,but lacked the breakaway speed that he showed during the game previously.
Verno Gholston sacked Chad Henne three times including one that looked like it was right out of the old Tecmo Bowl video game by just running right over him.
For those lovers of the game,remember when the offense called the QB Waggle and all you had to do was call the play and watch the QB run into you crushed?LOL
Enough on my game geekiness.
The downside on the game?
Another poor performance by Todd Boeckman,who was only 7 for 13 on the day passing.
In the second half,Jim Tressel was running offensive possessions of nothing but Wells runs.
It appeared that after the first half performance of Boeckman,Tressel was afraid to have his passer put the ball into the air.
Of course,I cannot blame after watching poor throws,slips on the turf and fumbles without contact,the strategy seemed to be a winning one.
If Boeckman's play doesn't improve from his final two games,it will be difficult for the Buckeyes to win their bowl game,which appears to be the Rose Bowl for now.
Can OSU get to the title game?
Yes,.but things have to happen tonight that are not finals at the time of this writing.
In any event-let us enjoy another year of bragging right over michigan.
It really hasn't been that long since Ohio State was losing this game every year and I don't want to forget just how good it feels to win this game,just because it is happening more often.

The New Jersey Devils were finally able to give Marty Brodeur his 500th win in a 6-2 smashing of the Flyers in Philly.
Zach Parise led the offense with a goal and two assists,while Karel Rachunek scored his first goal of the season on shot from the blueline to beat Martin Biron.
The Devils return to action Wednesday in Pittsburgh.

The Cleveland Browns play in the biggest game of the year thus far as they travel to Baltimore against the Ravens.
A win here is a must as a 6-4 record sets up a possible playoff run far better than a 5-5 record.
Baltimore is struggling on offense and has to start Kyle "Jesus in cleats" Boller.
This is always a physical game,but .....
Our pick;Browns 24-13

The Seattle Seahawks stay home for a game against the erratic Bears.
This is a winnable game,but the Seahawks have struggled against decent teams and the offense is still not totally healthy.
Have a bad feeling about this one,but the home field is worth three points and that might be the difference.
Our pick:Seahawks 20-17

Bullpen Notes

Ohio State needed to pass 5 teams to make it to the BCS title game and with yesterdays results in,they will pass at least two in the next poll and are guaranteed to pass the Kansas-Missouri loser next week .
So then,you hope Oklahoma beats the Kansas-Missouri winner in the Big 12 title game and hope for either LSU or West Virginia to lose and OSU is in.
Likely?
No,but they passed two this week that I would not have thought they would,so one can never tell.

And finally,wonder when this years excuse/rant is coming from Mike Hart?
After all,he came back to beat Ohio State blah blah..........
One could not ask for more than a loss for Hart to ponder and and perhaps finally show some class.
Stay tuned for Hart's comments from the Outback or Alamo Bowl on these topics....

Photo Credits
OSU-Neal Lauton-Columbus Dispatch
Helmets-Helmet Project

The day

It is 32 degrees as I arrive home,but it is perfect weather for this day.
This is the day that only comes once a year-Ohio State vs michigan.
Everyone has their teams that they "hate" in every sport,I have quite a few-Yankees,Phillies,Ravens,Steelers,Flyers,Rangers and so on.
But none shares the singular hatred that is reserved for the michigan wolverines.
If any of you saw the new HBO special on the rivalry,I am kinda to the right of the guy cursing michigan that was dressed like Woody Hayes on this topic.
Win or lose,this is my favorite sports day of the year.
You can have the Super Bowl,I will take this game every time.
For the actual game itself-I hate picking this game because I feel it jinxes the Buckeyes.
But doing this means putting your opinions on the line,so I like Ohio State 24-14.
The big difference between these two teams is team speed.
Every game that I have seen michigan play this season against good teams,they seem painfully slow.
Here is hoping that my favorite day is a good one.

In a true goaltenders duel,the Islanders and Rick DiPietro bested
Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils at the Rock 1-0.
Only a shorthanded goal by Josef Vasicek in the second period separated the two goalies.
One cannot blame Brodeur however as Vasicek was allowed to go straight to the net with little no help after a clear miscue by the Devils Mike Mottau.
Mottau tripped over himself and Vasicek grabbed the puck and deked out Brodeur for the games only marker.
A tough loss for Marty in looking for win 500 and certainly far from accountable for this one.
The Devils have never been a high flying offensive team and with the mass overturn of the blue-line corps,they simply are not as talented as past teams.
Look at tonight's defensemen for proof.
With the injuries to Paul Martin and Colin White,tonight gave us Andy Greene as the teams top defensemen and he has not even played 30 games in the league yet.
These are not excuses,they are simple facts.
The Devils go for Marty's 500th win AGAIN tonight vs the Flyers.

The Ashland Arrows advanced to the Final Four of Ohio High School with a 21-14 regional final win over Sylvania Southview.
All of the points scored in the game occured in the first half,as Taylor Housewright ran for two touchdowns and threw a scoring strike to Anthony Fairhurst for what proved to be the game winner.
Not sure who the Arrows will play next week or where as of this time.


Bullpen Notes

Ryan told me about a ridiculously dumb statement by Stan Fischler between periods.
Fischler claimed that both Denis Potvin and Brian Leetch were both superior defensemen to Bobby Orr.
Both Potvin and Leetch were fine players and Hall of Fame caliber,but comparing them to Bobby Orr is like comparing backs in the Football Hall of Fame to Jim Brown.
Big difference between great and THE greatest.
That is called the New York bias,my friends!

Hang in there for posts next week on Mudcat Grant and my talk with Craig Deas, the voice of the Lake County Captains.

Photo Credits
Hockey-Rich Schultz-AP Photo
Arrows-Daniel Melograna-Mansfield News-Journal

John Russell

Finally a few words on the recent hires for the Pirates,since we were on hiatus during the official announcements.

I just don't know what to think about the new field boss John Russell.
He was not someone that attracted a lot of attention when he was the Bucco third base coach,so he doesn't gain or lose points there.
And I don't pay much attention to win/loss records in the minors,so that doesn't do much to recommend or denigrate in any way.
Minor league wins and losses have very little to do with managing skills and ones record can vary from month to month let alone year to year.
Lloyd McClendon's no comment on Russell was kind of odd.
Most times when a new hire is announced,the platitudes are rolled out,but rarely a no comment.
Considering Russell coached for McClendon,that tells me that there was some kind of disagreement.
In short-I just don't know and it will be a while before we do.
I realize blogs are for opinions,but there just is not enough data to have one yet..

On the other hand-I am not thrilled with the new scouting director,Greg Smith.
I know on the surface the Detroit improvement looks good,but few of those guys were drafted by Smith.
Other than Justin Verlander (with the second overall pick,you should succeed there),Curtis Granderson and Joel "guitar hero" Zumaya,the guys he brought in were not the players that made the Tigers a contender.
That screams warning to me.
I cannot imagine being worse than Ed Creech in this job,so that is a plus in his favor,but that does not make him a great hire either.

New farm director Kyle Stark is in the position for the first time,but he comes from the Indians organization and they have done an excellent job with their system.
So even though Stark is also an untested commodity,I am a bit more optimistic on his hiring.

So we basically have a bunch of unknowns with little track record to go by except for Greg Smith.
So,I guess we will see how it goes,be open minded and hope for the best.

Bullpen Notes

Sorry to hear about the passing of Joe Nuxhall at the age of 79 due to cancer.
Nuxhall will likely forever hold the record of being the youngest player in the big leagues for his cameo appearance in 1944 at the age of 15.
Nuxhall is fondly remembered for his years in the Reds radio booth and for his years teaming with Marty Brennaman in forming IMO the majors best radio team.
Here is a fond goodbye to "the ol' lefthander"....

Battlin Bob sends us a link to a scale model of Forbes Field at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh.
Very detailed and tons of work for Patty Rogers and kudos to her for the excellent reproduction!

The Ashland Arrows battle the Sylvania Southview Cougars tonight in Fremont Ohio for the Region 6 title.
This is the second year in a row for the Arrows to reach the regional finals.
Coverage here tomorrow.

Finally,Watched the Democratic debate last night at work.
We will have an "political" day within the next month with our endorsement and other thoughts.
Until tomorrow.

Photo Credits
Forbes Field-John Heller-Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Nuxhall-Topps Cards
Helmets-Ohio Helmet Project

Random Ramblings and trying to get back caught up

First off,I have been feeling a bit under the weather and still am,but wanted to get something up and posted.
The Seahawks looked as good as I could say,but considering the absolutely awful opposition that was put up by the 49ers in the 24-0 Seattle win,I will not get too excited.
Mo Morris looked at least as capable of the current edition of Shaun Alexander,Matt Hasselbeck threw more often and the defense seems to rounding back into form.
With the win,Seattle improved to 5-4 and moved their lead in the NFC West back to a full game.
Seattle plays the night game this week at Chicago and the erratic Bears.

The Devils split two games as they defeated the Penguins in Pittsburgh Monday 3-2 and lost to the Rangers tonight at the Rock 4-2.
The Devils jumped out to a 2-0 start in Pittsburgh,lost the lead with poor defense and won the game on a late goal by Patrik Elias.
Kevin Weekes played in goal and picked up the W.
Tonight's game started fast as the returning Jamie Langenbrunner and the new Devil nemesis Nigel Dawes swapped goals in the first minute and a half of the contest.
But the Rangers beat Marty Brodeur twice in the second and an early third period goal by Marc Staal of the Blueshirts finished it off.
Langenbrunner added his second goal of the night later in the period for the final score.
I just don't know what to say about this team,every time that I think things are coming together,a wheel falls off.
And in worse news-the one steady blueliner that the Devils have in Paul Martin left the game after the first period.
Let's hope that it is not a serious injury.
The Devils return to action Friday night at the Rock against the visitors from Long Island.

So Alex Rodriguez wants to stay a Yankee??
Could not have been that no one wanted him at the price that he requested???
Nahhhhhhhh....

Anyone else catch the tremendous documentary on the 1982 Ray Mancini-Deukoo Kim fight on ESPN Classic?
Excellent program-it had to be for my wife (avowed boxing hater) to watch and enjoy it!

For those of you back in the old days Baseball buffs-here is a great article on the "Pennant Porch" of the Kansas City Athletics in 1964 by Steve Treder over at Hardball Times.
What is the Pennant Porch?
Click the link and find out!

Still no recipes!
I really could use some help here!!!

On the signing front
Sam Fuld of the Cubs organization signed his Bowman from the fall leagues.

And finally,A hello to reader Jason Christensen,who is currently in Arizona watching the fall league.
Wish I was there.

Until tomorrow.If I am up to it!

Photo Credits
Seahawks-John Froschauer-AP Photo
Elias-Gene Puskar-AP Photo
Colavito-Topps Cards

Falling a bit short.

For a half,the Cleveland Browns dominated the Pittsburgh Steelers.
For a half,the Pittsburgh Steelers dominated the Cleveland Browns.
But Pittsburgh managed just a little more in their half and when Phil Dawson's long field goal fell just short,the Steelers escaped with a 31-28 win in the Steel City.
The differences that these teams have right now are these.
The Steelers have the experience to close out good teams,the Browns don't.
The Steelers are able to run the football,the Browns cannot.
The Steelers defense is so much better that a comparison is ridiculous and what could be the main reason?
Derek Anderson is the streakiest passer that I have seen in quite a while.
That does not mean that I think that Anderson is bad,just streaky.
He can look like John Elway one game and John Denver the next and then in a third game (like yesterday) look like both in the same game!
If the Cleveland offense could have mustered even a little offense in the second half,this win returns to Cleveland.
But with Jamal Lewis continuing his wonderful fumbling habits and therefore putting all the pressure on "bad Derek",the game was a race against time.
Hoping the clock runs,trying not to lose instead of win and that usually is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Kudos to Josh Cribbs for keeping the Browns in the game by himself,as Cribbs had more yardage returning than the Browns entire offense.
Cribbs scored one touchdown and another return set up another Cleveland TD.
Now for the good news-The Browns slugged it out for an entire game with a top level team and made them work for the win and that is a welcome change from most of the Steeler win in this series lately.
Now a win over a seemingly imploding Baltimore team next week could set the Browns up nicely for a shot at the playoffs.
When you look at those final 6 games,it is possible.
This one hurts,but in its own painful way is very encouraging...........

The Seattle Seahawks defend the Emerald City tonight against the visiting San Francisco 49ers.
The 4-4 Seahawks need a win tonight to keep sole possession of first place in the NFC West over the Cardinals,who are a half game back at 4-5.
Shaun Alexander will sit this one out and Mo Morris will get his chance to show that he could revitalize the running game that has been such a disappointment all season.
The defense will attempt to return to form after the 33 points allowed in Cleveland.
The Niner offense has struggled this season,so I think the Hawks will control this one.
Our pick:Seahawks 35-14

The New Jersey Devils return to action tonight in Pittsburgh against the Penguins at 7:30.
Coverage here tomorrow.

Bullpen Notes

Talkin trades as the Cubs today moved one of Ryan's favorites Jacque Jones to the Tigers for Omar Infante.
Jones is not a bad player,just badly overpaid and moving his hefty dole off the payroll could help the Cubs be a free agent player in the market.
Infante is just an afterthought really.

I never got a chance to comment on the Brad Lidge to the Phillies deal,while I was on hiatus.
Think the Phils got off lightly,as the speedy Michael Bourn would have been far more valuable to the Astros back in the Astrodome days.
I kinda like Mike Constanzo,but I have heard that his swing has some holes and may not play in the big time.

Congrats to former Devil Captain Scott Stevens on his induction to the Hockey Hall of Fame today in Toronto.
It was a richly deserved honor and we will have an upcoming post after total cleanup on the Captain!!

From the please I hope I have time to participate in this file...........
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman will host a once a week talk show on XM's Home Ice network.
I could talk to him for hours about his mistakes.

And finally,still no word on the Mariners coming to Pulaski for 2008.
Word is that Independent leagues are beginning to gauge Pulaski interest in case of the big time teams giving Pulaski the shaft again.
C'mon Seattle,right this wrong and pick up some fans while you do it!

Photo Credit
Browns Fan-John Kuntz-Cleveland Plain Dealer
Cribbs-Keith Srakocic-AP Photo
Stevens-CP Photo
Helmets-Helmet Project

Well,you had a bad day.........

To use the song that Battlin Bob uses on his cell phone,the Ohio State Buckeyes had a real bad day and lost their top ranking along with any chance of the national championship with a shocking 28-21 loss to the Illini of Illinois today in Columbus.
This loss can be blamed on many things and just about all of them were the fault of the Buckeyes.
Illinois' first touchdown was set up on an 80 yard run by Daniel Dufrene.
Replays showed that Dufrene clearly fumbled and the ball was recovered by the Buckeyes,but neither the referees nor Ohio State asked for a replay.
Illinois scored on the next play.
Other than that,there was nothing controversial about this game.
Ron Zook had his team well prepared and they played about as well as they could hope for.
Anytime you need to play the perfect game and then don't turn the ball over and only commit one penalty,you give yourself a chance to win.
Full credit to Illinois.
I wish I could give the Buckeye coaching staff similar kudos.
I normally think highly of Jim Tressel,but today he and his staff were not at their best.
Tressel's main gaffe came on the final drive of the game with Illinois having a 4th and inches.
Ron Zook ordered the punting unit on the field,but Tressel called a timeout.
Zook was then talked into going for it by QB Juice Williams and Illinois converted.
Ohio State would never see the football again.
The defensive coordinator didn't cover himself in glory on the final drive either as on three occasions,Juice Williams converted on third down with the quarteback draw.
To me,the speedy Williams was clearly going to run the ball to keep the clock running,but on all three plays,the Bucks were playing pass.
Poor Strategy.
Tressel is the offensive coordinator and calls the plays,but other than a first play bomb to Brian Robiskie,the offense stopped throwing the ball downfield.
One of Illinois starting corners was injured during the game,yet the replacement was never challenged deep as the OSU passing game was almost exclusively short passes.
But the main goat was Todd Boeckman,who's three interceptions pretty much killed any chances of winning this game.
Overthrowing and generally looking panicked,Boeckman struggled throughout the game and brought back memories of bad Buckeyes past.
Words cannot express how bad he looked today.
In any event-no excuses,the better team won and showed why you cannot take any team lightly.
This is far from a ruined season,a win over michigan next week wins the Big Ten outright with a 11-1 record and before this season I would have taken that and ran with it.
Let's hope we can get that one!

The New Jersey Devils then added to the "bad day"with a 2-1 loss to the New York Islanders in Long Island.
Not much scoring other than Danius Zubrus scoring his 3rd goal of the season to tie the game at 1-1,before Miroslav Satan won it for the Islanders on a 5 on 3 power play.
Martin Brodeur played well and neither goal he allowed was really his fault as Marty stayed stuck at 499 career wins.
Brodeur goes for # 500 again Monday in Pittsburgh.

The Cleveland Browns travel to Pittsburgh to battle the Steelers.
This is a bad matchup for the Lake Erie visitors and boy,could we use something to take our mind off of the events of Saturday.
For the Browns to win,they need for Jamal Lewis to be able to run enough to keep the Steeler defense honest and not lay back and play pass defense on every down and the defense needs to keep Willie Parker from running crazy as Steeler backs have in the past.
But as much I would like to see this happen.............
Our Pick:Steelers 35-20.

Bullpen Notes

Miguel Cotto banged out a unanimous decision win last night in New York to retain his WBA Welterweight title over Shane Mosley in what has been reported as a great action fight.
The replay will be shown on HBO next Saturday night.

As we endorsed back after the Mike Coolbaugh incident,it appears that MLB will be mandating that base coaches wear a helmet starting next season.
Smart move.

Tommy Herr has interviewed for a return to his beloved Lancaster Barnstormers,but he might not even get the job.
The Lancaster New Era reports that Butch Hobson,Von Hayes and Gary Carter have all interviewed for the position.
Hobson signed cards for me long ago,but a Hayes or Carter hiring might be enough to get me to Lancaster for a game.....

The Tigers are interested in dealing for Pirate relievers Matt Capps and/or Damaso Marte.
We would listen to Marte offers,but would not deal Capps unless a crazy offer was made.
Proven,young and affordable closers are rare commodities.

Photo Credits
Fans-Neal Lauron-Columbus Dispatch
Brodeur-Jim McIssac-Getty Images
Cotto-Mosley-Mary Altatter-AP Photo