Random Ramblings

Just a few quick ramblings on another slow day.....

Yesterday we smashed the record for hits on the site and we do appreciate it.
Thanks especially to James and the fellows over at PhuturePhillies,who seem to have been the main new visitors!

The New Jersey Devils host the Rangers tonight at the Rock and hope to begin a new pattern of playing better against the rivals from across the Hudson River...

The Devils made a few maneuvers before the game as they returned Pierre (3L) LeBlond to Lowell to make room for Mike Rupp,who had been scratched by Brent Sutter for the last few games and attempt to get Petr Vrana through waivers to enable him to stay at Lowell..

Keep your fingers crossed that no one claims Vrana,I want to get him to sign cards for me when I see Lowell at Hershey next week!

Bryce Salvador's x-rays came back negative,so he will be able to play tonight after leaving the win over Pittsburgh after being hit in the face with the puck....

The Pirates signed utility infielder Ramon Vasquez to a two year 4 million contract.
Vasquez is known to Indians fans as the player that Eric Wedge decided to keep instead of Brandon Phillips,who developed into a star with the Reds and left Cleveland needing second base help ever since.
Vasquez should step into the Chris Gomez slot on the roster.

A few words on Joe Gordon entering the Hall of Fame.
I have no problems on Gordon getting in,but I do have a problem with other deserving stars not getting in because Joe Morgan and his gang at the Veterans committee seem to have the attitude of keeping their club as exclusive as possible.
Stats never change,why should this farce continue,if you aren't going to vote anyone in?
Put the best players and quit being so damn selfish!

A few on the BCS.
I have never been a huge playoff person.
I would not have a problem with one that is done the right way,but the Bowls are fine.
Fine,as you know up front the way things are going to be,not the current farce.
The Utah and Boise States of the world might occasionally have to be invited to the party,but they will never get to sit on the dais.
Everyone that reads this blog knows how much that we love the Ohio State Buckeyes,but the fact that a 10-2 Ohio State team is in the BCS and 12-0 Boise State isn't is a huge and cruel joke.
Would Boise State have defeated Texas?
Probably not and neither will the Buckeyes,but wouldn't it have been fun to see them try?
The Boise State-Oklahoma game from two years ago in Tempe was a blast to watch and had terrific atmosphere as well.
I know Ohio State has the national name and the large amount of traveling fans,but shouldn't whats right be a consideration?
Tempe didn't lose money the last time that Boise State came to town,they would have made money this time.
Every once in a while shouldn't what's right be worth more than a few extra bucks????

Terrific fight on Versus last night for the IBF Cruiserweight belt as champion Steve Cunningham defended against the number one contender in Poland's Tomasz Adamek.
Cunningham won more rounds in our opinion,but Adamek scored three knockdowns over the course of the bout and won the title via a narrow spilt decision.
A rematch would be welcomed by all!

Back tomorrow with Devils-Rangers

Photo Credits
Logo-Chris Creamer
Boxing-AFP

Pirates select Donald Veal,lose Kyle Bloom in Rule 5 draft

The Pirates used their selection in today's Rule 5 draft on one of the players that I liked in our recent preview and lost a player that they should not have lost.

First,the good news as Donald Veal was the Pirates selection from the Chicago Cubs.
I love this pick!
I know Veal has struggled through command and control issues for the last two seasons in AA and was awfully wild in Arizona in AFL action,but Veal has a plus fastball and curve and reportedly a developing changeup.
Power armed lefty's are rare to find and to pick one up for 50,000 could be quite a find for Neal Huntington and company.

Veal finished at 5-10 with 4.52 ERA at AA Tennessee over 145 innings and started in all 29 of his appearances.
Two numbers stand out,19 homers allowed and 81 walks.
I can live with the homer numbers (although,obviously I would like to see them decrease),but the walks are a concern.
New pitching coach Joe Kerrigan will be tested early with Veal as there are issues that could be fixed with some work on Veal's mechanics..

Veal's AFL numbers were worse as he allowed 10 earned runs and walked 13 in a 9 inning fall stint and that likely was the final straw for the Cubs as far as protecting him on their 40 man roster.

This is not a sure thing,but I would much rather gamble on a potential impact arm than an average journeyman to eat garbage innings.
Sometimes players with talent just need the proverbial change of scenery and that becomes their salvation in a new organization where the expectations aren't as high and attention isn't as constant.
Overall,I more than approve of this selection.
Take a look at Veal warming up here.


The Pirates lost Kyle Bloom to the Detroit Tigers and even though Bloom had a disappointing career up to May of last season,his performance there and in Hawaii made him a valuable selection to the Tigers.
Bloom was Altoona's best starter last season and was downright dominant in Hawaii as he held hitters to a .144 average against the lefty.
Bloom is far from a guarantee for Detroit though,he really has had just the chunk of 2008 as strong performance and he will turn 26 before the season starts,so he is not a slam dunk.
Reports are that Bloom could compete for the 5th spot in the Motor City rotation.
Hindsight is 20/20,but an argument could be made today that Bloom should have been protected and Dave Davidson exposed to the draft.
I would bet that Davidson would not have been selected.......

The Pirates added two players in the AAA phase of the draft.
In the AAA portion,the Pirates are paying for the player and do not have to keep him at a certain level (unlike the major league version).
Pittsburgh took lefthanded pitcher Andres Santos from the Yankees with their first pick.
Santos numbers in the Dominican league look great,but remember he was almost 22 and pitching against teenagers.
I am not bashing the guy,just trying to put the numbers in perspective....

The second pick was a player from the same league in Cleveland's Rafael Quintero.
Quintero must be built like a rail at 6'1 and 145 pounds!
Same warnings on Quintero,great numbers but remember where he did it and was a bit old for the league.....

The Pirates neither selected or lost anyone in the AA phase of the draft.

Bullpen Notes

The Washington Nationals took Terrell Young with the first pick of the draft.
Young split his season between Low A Dayton and the Reds High A squad in Sarasota last year.

Another year in the Rule 5 draft,where I missed on the top pick as our projected top pick,Eduardo Morlan lasted until pick 16,where the Brewers snapped him up.
Morlan and the Brewers hope that he can do what our miss last year did in St.Louis in Brian Barton.

Three players that have signed cards for us went in the draft as well.
Derek Rodriguez went from the White Sox to Tampa Bay in the MLB draft,while Luis Perdomo was taken by the Giants from the Cardinals.
Jason Rice changed his socks from White to Red in the AAA version and best of luck to Jason,one of the nicer guys that I have met thus far.....

Back tomorrow with more!

Photo Credit
Veal:Tony Farrow-MLB.com

Five questions on Jason Jaramillo

A special treat for you today as I exchanged emails and questions with James over at PhuturePhillies about our newest acquisition(for the next few hours at least) and got his thoughts on Jaramillo.
Click the link to shoot over there to see my answers to his questions on Ronny Paulino.
I have also added them to the links page as well.
That will help keep an eye on some of our favorites that have passed through from Lakewood,such as Dominic Brown.

TRS:I saw Jaramillo play several times here (Hagerstown) with Lakewood.
He seemed to be solid defensively and had quick feet.
Is that pretty accurate?

James:Defense has been his calling card since he was drafted. There was one suspect report in 2006 I want to say that said he was having some issues defensively in terms of his positioning/blocking balls in the dirt, but nothing else ever came of it. He was basically viewed as a defense first guy who might hit for average.

TRS:I saw Lou Marson here as well and his tools far exceeded those of Jaramillo.
Did Marson pass Jaramillo as a prospect immediately or more as he climbed the ladder??

James:Yeah, this is accurate, Marson definitely bypassed him this season, and if we're looking at overall prospect value, he was also bypassed by Travis D'Arnaud, a supplemental 1st round pick in 2007. The Phillies chose to add Marson to the 40 man roster and call him up in September despite Jaramillo already being on the 40 man, so that was kind of the writing on the wall for JJ.

TRS: Normally,when players repeat levels their offensive numbers improve.
Jaramillo's remained roughly at the same level,albeit on a bad team.
In your opinion,is this what we can expect from him- .260 and 5 Hrs???

James:Its really tough to figure out what happened, as Lehigh Valley got off to a terrible start before recovering. The team was filled with minor league mercenaries for the most part, with Jaramillo and JA Happ the only real prospects of note until Carlos Carrasco arrived late in the season. After a terrible start (.193 in April), he hit .284 from May till the end of the year. In the big leagues, I'd project him as a .270/.335/.390 type guy, maybe 20 doubles, 5-6 HR and solid defense.

TRS:Throwing wise,do you consider his arm highly above average or slightly above average?
With Doumit as the main catcher with defensive skills that are often lacking,Pittsburgh seems to be need of a backup that has the ability to gun runners down occasionally-your thoughts?

James:His arm is above average, from all accounts, and from the times I've actually seen him catch and throw, I didn't notice a lot of sailing or tailing on his throws. He threw out 26% of attempted base stealers in 2008, but its really tough to know how much of that has to do with the catcher and how much has to do with pitchers not holding runners, things like that. I feel he'll definitely be major league average defensively.

TRS: The Pirates have said that Jaramillo has obtained mainly because of John Russell's familiarity with him from their Ottawa days and would compete with Robinzon Diaz for the backup role.
Not sure on your knowledge of Diaz,but would you give the edge to Jaramillo against him and why???

James:I'm vaguely familiar with Diaz. He's got a decent arm if I remember correctly, but I know he DH'ed quite a bit in 2008, and some in 2007, so I wonder about his defense. I know he has the strong arm, but there's more than that to it. He might have a bit more pop in his bat than JJ, but I think as a whole, Jaramillo has a slightly better overall package.

TRS:Was this basically that the Phils thought they could lose him in tomorrow's Rule 5 draft or more along the lines of getting value for him now before he could lose some in 2009??

James:Well, Jaramillo was already on the 40 man roster, so he wasn't at risk of being taken. I think they basically viewed him as being very similar to Ruiz, ie, a defense first guy. I think they might view Paulino as having a bit more offensive upside, and if I read it right somewhere else, he's having a good year in Winter Ball. My guess is that Chris Coste is going to either be non-tendered/traded, and Paulino will assume the backup role. The front office feels Marson might need more time in the minors, and this will allow him to play every day at AAA.

Thanks to James for the time.
We could be back later if the Pirates select someone in the Rule 5 draft and add some comments!

Joggin Ronny trots across state,Devils freeze Penguins

Joggin' Ronny Paulino badly wanted out of Pittsburgh (or Indianapolis,but that is beside the point).
The Pirates wanted to move him before his attitude became contagious.
So in the Pirates only move of the Winter Meetings thus far,the Pirates sent Paulino to the Phillies for
Jason Jaramillo in a swap of backup backstops.
The Post-Gazette reports that John Russell was a main factor in bringing the Oklahoma State product in as Russell managed in him 2007 and must have been impressed with something from Jaramillo.

Jaramillo has never played in the bigs yet,despite decent numbers and but was seemingly behind Lou Marson in the Phils catching prospect hierarchy.
Jaramillo played here in Hagerstown in 2005 as a member of the Lakewood Blue Claws and as often we see the Claws here,I got to scout him often.
The bat is about what you would expect from a backup catcher,not a lot of power as his 8 homers last year in Lehigh Valley was a career high and was average in OPS as well.
In an interesting,you couldn't do this if you tried note,Jaramillo spent the last two seasons entirely in AAA and finished with the exact OPS -.711
Jaramillo will likely be a 250-265 hitter and that is acceptable for a backup catcher.
Defensively,he is solid,but not outstanding.
I remember his arm as being above average,enough to at least not allow runners a free pass anyway.
Jaramillo should be exactly what he should be next season,a good backup catcher that will not have fans shouting for him to play more,but solid enough that he wont kill you if he has to play extended time in case of an injury to Ryan Doumit..

Paulino had been adamant about leaving the Pirates since last season and had a few teams interested after a strong winter season in Puerto Rico.
Paulino will backup Carlos Ruiz in Philly and I would question how happy he will be backing Ruiz up when he could never handle sitting behind Doumit.
But the Phillies too were able to turn a player that could be third on their catching prospect list (behind Marson and Travis D'arnaud,who we should see this year in Hagerstown on Lakewood visits) into someone that they think can help them.

The Pirates get something for someone I would have been happy to just see get out of town,so that is a good move.
Jaramillo will not be a long term answer,but should be fine in the role that he should play.....


The New Jersey Devils used a fluke play in the second period to break a scoreless tie and dominated the game thereafter in defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Rock 4-1.
Travis Zajac shot the puck into the boards and as Dany Sabourin turned to play the puck,it bounced straight to the waiting Zajac,who slammed his 5th goal in the net and the Devils never looked back.
Zach Parise (16) and Dainius Zubrus (7) stretched the lead to 3-0 in the third period before Pittsburgh scored their only goal of the night.
Patrik Elias ended the scoring with an empty netter (11) to finish the scoring.
The Devils play two games in a row on Friday and Saturday against the Rangers and Sabres to finish the three game homestand......

Hell Raisers

1) Great game by Scott Clemmensen tonight with 26 saves on 27 shots.
The pipes helped him a bit as the Penguins clanged a few shots off them,but overall,Clemmensen continued to play well.
As long as he stays hot,the Devils should ride him for as long as they are able to.....

2) Must have been a frustrating night for Sidney Crosby as he wrestled around with Brian Gionta and was given two two minute minors.....

3) Bryce Salvador left the game late after being hit in the face with the puck.
No word on the results of X-rays....

4) Had to feel good for Travis Zajac on his goal.
Zajac was hustling on his entire shift and being in the right place at the right time was the result.
Zajac seems to have more confidence this year than last and it shows with his play....

5) Andy Greene was cleared to begin skating and could be playing again next week.
Greene may go to Lowell on a conditioning assignment,but no word yet.....

Bullpen Notes

The Indians were involved in a three team deal tonight with Seattle and the New York Mets.
The main name in the trade was Mariner closer J.J.Putz going to the Mets,where they want him to be the setup man for newly signed Francisco Rodriguez.
However,the agent for Putz has already stated that Putz wants to close and will not be happy as a setup man.
The Tribe sent Franklin Gutierrez to Seattle and added reliever Joe Smith from the Mets and second baseman Luis Valbuena from the Mariners.
Smith should help the Wahoos in the pen after a solid 2008 in middle relief,while Valbuena spent September with the Mariners and should be the starter at AAA Columbus.
Smith is a sidearmer that is especially tough on righthanded hitters and should be their top middle reliever next season.
Gutierrez always seemed to be one of like 10 interchangeable Cleveland outfielders that hit 275 with 12 homers,so he should not be a huge loss for Cleveland.

I am not a huge Arena Football fan,but it looks like their league is trouble and may not play in 2009.
They say that they will return in 2010,but have you ever known a league to take time and return?
That sounds nice,but I would be shocked to see that happen...

Back later with an interview on the Paulino-Jaramillo trade!

Photo Credits
Jaramillo:Getty Images
Clemmensen:Bruce Bennett-Getty Images

Viva Las Vegas-Winter Meetings!

The Pirates invade Las Vegas for the winter meetings and despite rumors of Jack Wilson going to Detroit,Los Angeles and Minnesota,Wilson is still a Pittsburgh Pirate for now.

The Tigers signed Adam Everett,so they have no further interest,but the Dodgers and Twins are still talking a bit to Neal Huntington.
The funny thing about the meetings thus far is the contradiction with Nate McLouth and Paul Maholm.
On one hand,the Pirates have reportedly offered both players contract extensions,but have been in talks with the Braves about a possible deal,if the Braves are unable to land their top free agent target in A.J.Burnett.
I would be cautious in extension with either player despite their solid performances in 2008.
McLouth faded badly in the second half and all one has to do is look back at the contract extension given to Ian Snell after 2007 to see why treading softly with pitchers can be a good idea.

Ryan Doumit was also approached with the beginnings of contract talks,but with Doumit I am much more in agreement.
Power hitting lefthanded catchers are always scarce and in high demand,so the reward far outweighs the risk with Doumit.

The name that appeared in the Braves talks was Jordan Schafer.
Could Mr Personality become a Pirate???
I would much prefer Jason Heyward,but I cannot imagine Atlanta including him in any deal for the Pirate players involved.
There is not a Pirate minor leaguer that I would not trade for Heyward in a split second and yes,that includes Jose Tabata and Andrew McCutchen.

Mark Loretta signed elsewhere (Dodgers) and I cannot say that disappoints me,but the Bucs are talking to David Eckstein.
This tells me that either Wilson or even Freddy Sanchez are likely to be traded.
Eckstein would not be coming to Pittsburgh to sit on a bad team or this could be a hook put out there to show that Pittsburgh indeed is serious about making a middle infield move....

For those of you that say that I give the Indians short shrift,some Wahoo news from Vegas!
Looks like Cleveland is close to a deal with Kerry Wood to become the Indians closer next season with a two year contract with a possible option for a third year.
Wood was the best closer out there other than Francisco Rodriguez,who was clearly out of the Tribe's price range.
Wood comes with injury issues,but pitched well and often for the Cubs last season with 34 saves out of 40 opportunities....

Jason Davis refused his assignment to AAA Indianapolis and will be pitching in Japan in 2009.

The Pirates are likely to select a player in the Rule 5 draft on Thursday and here is hoping that they do.
I do question not protecting Jamie Romak though,with the dearth of power prospects in the system and with an open spot or two,I would have kept him on the 40 man roster.
However,it will be hard for a team to keep Romak on the roster all year,so even if they lose him,it should be just a temporary loss......

Players that I like in the draft are as follows...
Cleveland first baseman Jordan Brown has a high OBP as he progressed with the Indians and might a serviceable lefty pinch hitter right away,which would be rare for player from the draft.

I also like Daniel Mayora of the Rockies.
Mayora can play second or short,but we saw him play second against the Suns as a member of the Asheville Tourists in 2007.
His glove will play at either spot and his bat should be at least average as well,as he has hit well at each stop thus far.
When you consider the Pirates lack of enthusiasm for Brian Bixler and Brian Friday,Mayora could be a steal....

Eduardo Morlan of Tampa Bay will likely be the first player off the board or at least he should be.
The righthanded reliever has a plus fastball and slider and will step in and help whoever takes him right away.
Washington owns the first pick followed by Seattle and San Diego before the Pirates step up.
I would imagine Morlan would go to the Nationals or to someone working a deal with them,but I could be wrong-I thought Brian Barton would go first last year and he slid to 10th.
I was redeemed however with Barton's solid season with El Birdos.

I like a power lefty arm as much as anyone and despite control issues,I would love to see the Pirates take a shot at Donald Veal.
The Cubs fireballer could be hidden in the pen for a while and could eventually wind up there anyway,but could be a breakout starter with some adjustments....

And with Neal Huntington's Cleveland background.one can never rule out an Indian and this years could be
Chuck Lofgren.
The well thought of (autograph wise) lefthander would be coming off a bad season at Akron and despite getting ripped in Arizona fall league action,Lofgren was dominant in both 06 and 07 and could be worth selecting.

If not Lofgren,perhaps Neil Wagner could be the Indian hurler of choice.
I have seen Wagner several times and he can really bring it,having been clocked as high as 98 MPH.
The downsides to Wagner,he is smallish in stature(listed as six feet,I would wager closer to 5'10),turns 25 on New Years Day and has never pitched above High A other than a few weeks in Akron.
But he throws hard and has better control than Veal and has always pitched out of the bullpen.
Neil Wagner would be an interesting selection for Pittsburgh.

The best scenario would be for the Pirates to walk away with one of these players and have Jamie Romak slide through unclaimed.

The Devils return home for a game against the Penguins,coverage here later/tomorrow.....

Photo Credits
Vegas:Unknown
Veal and Romak:MLB.com
Mayora:Erin Brethauer-Asheville Citizen Times

Attempting to fix the National Hockey League-the series begins

Reading this article from the Toronto Globe and Mail by Eric Duhatschek made me think of some ways to fix the NHL.
Since this will be an attempt to show what we would do instead of what Gary Bettman wont do,We will attempt to show restraint on the ineptitude of Bettman......

This will be done over time and on slow days,so don't scream at me that part two isn't tomorrow!

Looking at finances,one can see that some franchises are hanging on only because of the PR hit that the league would take by teams drowning themselves and eliminating themselves from the league...
Some teams play in dreadfully outdated arenas that cannot compete (New York Islanders),some are in towns that simply are not large enough to house a major league franchises (Carolina),others are in towns that thirsted for a big league team and then another came to town and blew them out of the water (Nashville).

Need more?
How about Atlanta and Phoenix?
Both of those teams are in markets that are large enough to support four pro teams,but seem to be there because the NHL seems to think they have to.
The Florida teams that play before next to no one because the NHL (and they are not alone in this) continue to delude themselves that Florida is anything but a football state.....

In the last twenty years,look at the expansion cities/relocated teams and look at the successes and failures.
Attendance numbers can be found here on a Dallas Stars blog (yes,there is such a thing)
San Jose:I would say successful,but they are a team that needs to have a star (Joe Thornton) or win to keep interest up.

Ottawa:Easily a success.

Tampa Bay: They have sold more tickets over the last few seasons and on paper the numbers look good.
However,watch a game there and see the amount of people there and you cannot help but think that either the numbers are padded or they are a team dependent on the corporate market and that is an area that I would not want to be counting on right now.
I would give them a passable grade for winning a cup,but they are on the ropes now.

Florida:Failure. Tumbling attendance and poor play has this team almost beyond salvage.

Anaheim: Attendance on the increase lately,but seems similar to San Jose-they do fine,as long as they win....

Nashville:Abject failure.They can barely get enough fans to meet the bare minimums to keep the team there.Would anyone care if they left?
Maybe if Jeff Fisher went with them!

Atlanta: They had exciting young players and still didn't draw!
And the only interesting things about the current team is where will Ilya Kovalchuk be traded to and how many fans will attend games after he is gone.
I would wager that Phillips Arena will have the sound of rattling a few BB's in a glass jar!
Failure.

Columbus:Looking at it today,Borderline failure,but the attendance was strong early before fading over time as continued mismanagement made the Blue Jackets the only team in the league to never make the playoffs.
I think that winning will return the fans to the arena,but missteps on and off the ice has hurt this franchise.

Minnesota:This was so easy that anyone could have nailed this one.
Maybe the best hockey market in the USA.

Relocation towns have a scattered record as well....

Dallas: This is the surprise to me.
Consistent attendance and the team has usually been solid.
The owner (Tom Hicks) doesn't mind throwing money around and that helps,but a argument can made that Dallas is the success story of relocation and I would not have said that before this article.

Denver: The Avalanche drew very well for years when they were one of the dominant four teams in the league,but attendance has begun to slide as their record began to dip.
Certainly a success,but keep an interested eye on Colorado over the next few years......

Carolina: I know they won a cup,but their attendance has not been great,although it increased over the last two years.
The market seems too small and the fans seem to only be interested on occasion.
The cup gives them points,but this seems to be a projected failure.....

Phoenix: Below average attendance and a mediocre on ice product makes this a failure.
The Coyotes are the 5th choice at best in their market (behind Arizona State) and anything short of a major improvement in the standings makes this a failure.

So take that and one must draw the conclusion that much of the Bettman plan has been a failure.
The biggest relocation success was a team that should have never been allowed to leave (Dallas) and that created the largest success of the expansion teams (Minnesota).

So how do we fix it?
Well, we aren't there yet.
Tough decisions have to be made on teams that are anchored in various degrees of tradition.

The New York Islanders play in the leagues worst arena and have the leagues worst attendance thus far and our New Jersey Devils have not had the increase expected by a new arena......
Do we really need two teams in Southern California that only draw when they are contenders for the championship?
And if one goes,which one?
The Kings and their 40 years in the league or the Ducks with less time in the league,but a championship that the Kings lack?

Do we relocate or eliminate?
There are cities that claim that they want hockey,but the cities that aren't drawing wanted teams too.
I have major problems with the American cities that want teams,but some do have a few positives.
Houston has the advantages of drawing reasonably well in the old WHA and currently in the AHL and the success of the Stars gives me some hope,but the economy in Houston is awful right now to the point that the Astros are struggling to get corporate support.
Kansas City has a new arena that is sitting there as a dust magnet and the arena owner owns part of the Kings,so bank on Kansas City getting a team eventually somehow despite its past hockey failures....
Las Vegas is a figment of peoples imagination.
The thought is that travelers will go to games,but that is a fallacy.
People travel to Vegas for either gambling or a big time event like boxing,not to see an NHL Game.
I have always thought that hockey in the Northwest would fly,especially in Seattle,but Seattle lost the NBA due to a bad arena situation and I don't think Portland,which has a nice arena,is large enough to support basketball and hockey.
Cleveland's economy likely knocks them out and the same goes for Milwaukee.
Hartford is likely not large enough for the NHL to return and besides that would be admitting that Bettman's Southern Strategy was a mistake.

Face it- there just are not enough cities in the US to make relocation truly feasible and that leaves one option and it is the one that Gary Bettman is adamantly against-Canada.
Hamilton has major problems with Buffalo and Toronto to get through in order to get a team,but I would wager that if the numbers were right,Jim Balsillie has the money to write a check to muzzle,if not pacify the Leafs and Sabres and get a team in a rabid market.
Winnipeg is ready to go and despite a below average market size would be a huge success,especially if Wayne Gretzky and the Coyotes do the right thing and allow the Jets name to be used.

But lets face it,even moving those teams do not solve all the problems.
So lets try to be fair and move one of the Florida teams.
Lets move the Panthers instead of the Lightning as Tampa would be more likely to fight a move.
Miami has the NBA in winter,Tampa doesn't.
The Florida Panthers become the "new" Winnipeg Jets.

Here comes a controversial decision-what team is struggling and has the most past history?
The New York Islanders and their four cups are hanging on a thread as described earlier with a poor arena,little hope of a new one and matching bad attendance.
But eliminating them robs us of some history.
The answer,we pay Buffalo and Toronto off (after all,that is how the Islanders and Devils arrived to begin with) and move the Islanders to Hamilton,where the team will be based right off Lake Ontario and could keep the Islander nickname without it being ridiculous.
New York is a huge market,but in these times,I don't think that any area can support three teams.
This keeps the Islander history in the league and puts them in a rabid market that will draw for a while with a bad team.
This is very important as the Islanders will take quite a while to turn things around after years of bumbling mismanagement.

Now it is time to improve the product.
The players association will fight us,but we cut to 24 teams.
Two 12 team conferences each with six team divisions.
If you or the NHLPA really wants to fight us,I will consider 26 teams,but no more.

We trim the season from 82 games to 78.
This isn't a huge loss and it makes the schedule work better.
6 games against each of the teams in your division (30),4 games against the teams in the opposite division in conference (24) and home and home against the other conference (24).
78 works perfectly.

This will save some mileage off the stars and with better top to bottom talent with cutting teams,we should have a better game to watch......
Plus look at the potential of a dispersal draft with names like Kovalchuk,Nash,Boumeester,Getzlaff,Perry,Jokinen and the list goes on.
You could make an argument that every team in the league would be adding an instant top shelf player to their roster and that makes each teams talent level better and therefore a better game.

The teams that go range from easy to tough.
Atlanta,Carolina,Nashville are easy.
Now the hard part-We with a lot of reluctance select Los Angeles to stay and that means Anaheim goes.
The two teams that would stay,if 26 becomes the compromise, are Columbus and Phoenix.
Columbus has huge potential,especially if they would be placed in the East instead of their current West division,but the attendance drop off makes it tough to keep them.
None of the West teams really stand out to stay at 26,so Phoenix gets the stand by role due to their isolated geography......

The divisions set up as follows

Eastern Conference
Northern Division
Boston
Buffalo
Hamilton
Montreal
Ottawa
Toronto

Southern Division
New Jersey
New York
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Tampa Bay
Washington

Western Conference
Midwest Division
Chicago
Colorado
Dallas
Detroit
Minnesota
St.Louis

Western Division
Calgary
Edmonton
Los Angeles
San Jose
Vancouver
Winnipeg

Tampa stays to keep something in the Southeast,but they are on a probation period,so if they cannot get things done,we can move them to a new location.
I am not thrilled with this,but the alternatives did not seem to work at this time.
No existing rivalries are lost and even some are gained as Washington returns to the teams that their fans consider their true rivals and Colorado renews its battles with Detroit......

The playoffs return to the tried and true method that worked so well for years.
Four teams from each division and two rounds of playoff in the division produce a survivor.
Playoff hockey the way you like it!

In future editions,we deal with the cap,salaries and changes to the on ice game....

Photo Credits
Puck:Unknown

Browns:How long should it take to write awful?

Ordinarily not long.
But since we do this for a living (Ha Ha ),we must.
Tennessee Titans 28 Cleveland Browns 9.
Lets get right to it.

Brownie Bits

1) Ken Dorsey is a third string QB for a reason.
That reason is that he cannot throw beyond ten yards at all.
Tennessee made that obvious by blitzing him and giving fans about 15 desperate heaves that looked like it came off a video game......

2) Romeo Crennel is a gone gosling for a reason....
Yesterday drove home the reason for Crennel's dismissal in three weeks.
Poor clock management (again),not throwing a challenge flag on the one play that was a large gainer (and would have been reversed) kicking field goals (when Touchdowns were needed),punting late in the game,(which could have been seen as a merciful surrender,if not for the next entry) and then calling time outs with the game decided and less than a minute to go....

3) That,my longtime readers, is called pulling a Steve Robinson.
For those of you that have no idea on what or who Steve Robinson is-click here.

4) Watching this joke of a final minute comes through on game tape when members of the Tennessee staff are visibly laughing after Crennel's use of time outs......
The Cleveland Browns can thank only the total ineptitude of the Lions and Bengals for not being the laughing stock of the NFL.....

5) God forbid,if the Cincinnati Bengals come into Cleveland in two weeks and beat the Browns.
You think this is negative???

6) Looking forward to another nationally "televised" showcase game next Monday against the suddenly resurgent Philadelphia Eagles????
After all,they only beat the then 10-1 Giants yesterday on the road!!!!

7) Seems like the big question in Cleveland is this-Bill Cowher or Marty Schottenheimer?
I would like to toss another hat into the ring-Arizona assistant Russ Grimm.
Grimm would bring the nasty,hard nosed attitude to Cleveland that Browns fans lust for (and see in Pittsburgh) and he has a grudge against the Steelers-he was passed over for the Steeler job after NFL pressure handed the job to Mike Tomlin.
I would rather have a motivated and pissed off Russ Grimm than a Bill Cowher that just could not pass over the paycheck...

8) I know,I haven't written much about the game,but it was sickening.
A few kudos to D'Qwell Jackson for being the only player that seemed to be semi-active with 12 tackles and two interceptions and Josh Cribbs for trying to make some things happen on special teams and offense.
That about covers it...

9) As impressive as Braylon Edwards catch was on the play that should have been reviewed,but wasn't (and it was tremendous),he was that unimpressive on an interception that he watched whiz by without the mildest reaction.
Should he wear the pink Browns jersey (for gutlessness) or the white version (for quitting)?

10) Has anyone figured out what Crennel was holding onto the challenge flag on that play with only minutes to go??
I still haven't!

Bonus Rounds

I have always been a fan of veteran announcer Don Criqui and his team with Dan Fouts helped make a bad game more enjoyable.
Both Criqui and Fouts were unafraid to give honest opinions and deserve to get better games with than this.
Honestly,I thought the Criqui/Fouts team was the best crew that I have seen this year.

One underrated factor of all this to me is this-I pay 250 bucks a year to watch this!
The Browns are not only bad,they are boring!
I paid money and go on short sleep to watch this??

Romeo says his team is still in there fighting (I don't think so) ,they will be out there next week blah blah....
I would be in favor of firing him just to get rid of his damn cliches'!

And please quit saying how much talent that Phil Savage has brought to Cleveland as a justification to keep him.
Have you seen the defense?
Where is the talent there?
And for that matter where is the offensive talent?
A lazy Braylon Edwards? A rundown Jamal Lewis?
Pure bull......

Back tomorrow with the baseball HOF veterans committee vote and looking at other things.
I just cant stomach any more of writing after this!

Photo Credit
Dorsey:Chuck Crow-Cleveland Plain Dealer