Devils drop decision to Avalanche

The early season bad luck continues for the New Jersey Devils as pucks slid through the crease and clanged off posts all night and the Devils paid the price in a 3-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche at the Rock.Ilya Kovalchuk (2) and Matt Taormina (1 Powerplay) scored for the Devils.New Jersey hosts Boston tonight in Newark before having a few days off before a Thursday visit to Montreal..

Hell Raisers

1) The Devils just didn't get the breaks in the game and that happens sometimes.
There was several pucks that slid past Craig Anderson (who was excellent,by the way) that just slithered through the crease and at least four shots if not more that smacked off the post.
This is one of those streaks and if the Devils can continue to keep firing (41 shots last night),I think things will turn around.

2) All of that considered,the Devils need to do a better job of positioning players for rebounds and camp some guys in front of the net as well.Seems like way too many are beside the net and not in front,which gives the goalie a better view of the shot.

3) Matt Taormina continues his fast start with his first NHL goal and an assist on the Ilya Kovalchuk goal.It is early,but I like what I have seen thus far from Taormina's game on the offensive end.

4) Bad game for Colin White,who committed a careless high stick the first period,which allowed Colorado's only first period goal,didn't screen out T.J. Galiardi on the second Avalanche goal and then committed another high sticking penalty later in the game.

5) All three of the Albany callups played,although Tim Sestito saw the least amount of action.Jacob Josefson and Matt Corrente each saw plenty of ice time and didn't make many mistakes,although Corrente was in a tough spot on the Cody McLeod goal having to make a quick decision on the play.

6) John MacLean was switching lines late in the game to shake things up a bit,but it seems like the Arnott,Elias,Langenbrunner line was the least active of the bunch.That line needs to get with the program before they get broken up in an effort for more offense.



Photo Credit: Bruce Bennett-Getty Images

Pigskin Pickin Machine

The pickin machine moves to the biggest game of the season here and bragging rights for the season here are on the line as Ohio State defends their new number one ranking going into vicious Camp Randall Stadium against the Wisconsin Badgers.

Now the michigan game is still the top rivalry,but considering the family interests here,the Wisconsin game is just as large here as michigan.
Wisconsin has been the one team that has played the Buckeyes straight up since Jim Tressel has become the head man in Columbus.The Badgers play a physical,hard nosed game based on the ground attack and that has helped them against Ohio State through the years against both Tressel and his predecessor John Cooper.
This was one of the two games that I had concerns about entering the season with the other being at Iowa later in the season,but the Badgers have had struggles against some less than powerhouse teams and the loss to Michigan State was a surprise,although it looks a bit better now than it did then.
Look for lots of John Clay and the other Bucky backs because if OSU gets up early,that will not be the Badger forte with the comeback.Going to be a close and helmet crackin' battle at the "Jump Around".

Texas Tech comes off an exciting win over Baylor in the Cotton Bowl last week and while we are at it-kudos to the Dallas area for caring about tradition in times that sell it for the slightest buck.With Texas and Oklahoma always playing at the end of the fair and Arkansas and Texas A&M renewing their old SWC rivalry yearly now at the Cowboys stadium at the beginning of fair week,Baylor and Texas Tech should continue to play at the Cotton Bowl every year to kick the fair off right.
That would give the Dallas area three meaningful games to count on every year around the State Fair and give both Tech and Baylor more Metroplex exposure.
The 3-2 Red Raiders host the 5-0 and ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys and their coach Mike "I'm a MAN" Gundy in Lubbock.The Cowboy offense averages over 500 yards a game and Tech didn't exactly look like powerhouse despite the win over Baylor.Look for lots of throwing and scoring here.

The game of the week goes back to the SEC as the only battle of ranked teams other than Ohio State-Wisconsin takes place in Alabama as number seven Auburn hosts 12th ranked Arkansas.Ryan Mallett has a chance to redeem himself in a return match against a ranked team from Alabama.Auburn has squeaked by in four games this season.Mallett ends the streak this time.

Our Picks
Ohio State over Wisconsin 20-17
Oklahoma State over Texas Tech 48-35
Arkansas over Auburn 38-28

The Browns travel to Pittsburgh in what looks to be the first start for Colt McCoy as a pro.This might be the worst possible scenario for McCoy as the Steelers are coming off a loss and their bye to go with the return of Ben Rothlisberger plus a home game.
This one might take a miracle.

The Seahawks are in Chicago after their bye week and the 4-1 Bears get Jay Cutler back.Chicago hasn't impressed me much for a 4-1 team and if this game was in Seattle,I might be tempted to pick the upset-But it isn't.Seattle has been totally different away from Qwest Field and they have been putrid in their two road games.

Our game of the week features the Ravens heading into New England.The Ravens look like the better team and New England moving Randy Moss for essentially Deion Branch doesn't do it for me either.
That said Joe Flacco is turnover prone and Bill Belichick might have some surprises for Murderin' Ray and his birds.

Our Picks
Steelers over Browns 27-6
Bears over Seahawks 19-13
Patriots over Ravens 24-20

The Big Ball universe

Now,I would bet that most of you are wondering what the title means and what this will be about.
Well, it will cover the game that I spent the most time playing as a kid and yes,I likely played this more than baseball,although I played tons of that including the occasional pickup game against future major leaguer Mike Draper,more than football and even basketball,where you had to travel to face decent competition,most of which was WAY out of my league including a few games against future NBAer and N.C State Wolfpack great Rodney Monroe.

The Big Ball

Nope,it was Big Ball,so named because of the ball used-those .99 cent colored "Play Balls" that you still find for roughly the same price in any department store,grocery or just about anywhere else in the country.The game was pretty simple,just like baseball (including real bats!,none of the plastic junk in the league),except that you can throw the ball at the opponent that is off base and if the ball hits them,it is an out.
The ball is easy to hit so most anyone can play,yet it is difficult to hit far and sometimes tough to catch as the ball flutters like a knuckleball to the fielders.It really is a game that almost anyone can have fun with and even limited skill players can do passably.

This comes to mind after a return to the game just the other night at 42 years old and what a blast!
Different from the old days at mom and dads though where leagues were played in two different "stadiums",the game the other night was on a actual diamond although the bases were shortened of course.
The second stadium as a kid was kinda like old Three Rivers Stadium-plenty of space and super antiseptic.We had to move deeper into the yard because my dad wanted to start planting trees.
I wonder if he regrets that 25+ years later as the place looks like a commercial for Arbor Day now!
Between the open spaces and uphill outfield,it just wasn't the same as we laid picnic benches out for the outfield "wall" and home runs became a rarity.
I wish we still had the stats that we kept (believe it or not) as I would bet that I went from close to a hundred homers a year to maybe ten just with the stadium move.

But the first field is the one that most remember that played BB,a Frisbee for first base,an embedded rock for second and a tree stump for third and a park that we called little Fenway.
Little Fenway was most noted for the odd dimensions and the "Red Monster" for the house next door and its red shingles that loomed for the big ball power hitter in right center to right field.
Oh,you could smack them out to left,which sent the ball flying into the neighbors yard,but it was tougher having to battle lower hanging branches and you needed more of a Dick Allen rising line drive shot to take it out to left.
But the Red Monster had none of that and a ball smacked off the Monster was an automatic homer and a shot off the roof was looked at as the moonshots that used to be bounced off the roof at Tiger Stadium.
As silly as it sounds,it was kinda majestic seeing this big colored orb soar high through the air for a homer,despite every intention by my parents to keep the ball away from the neighbors area by calling balls hit into the yard or the Monster an out,that one never seemed to stick around much.One other interesting point was the constant changing of MLB batting helmets for players.We had most of the leagues helmets from getting them at Oriole games and used them all the time-I still have the Yellow Pirate one that I wore most often.

I had great fun the other night and I still have pretty control with the BB and even struck out a few batters as the strikeout is a prized possession in Big Ball!
Big Ball was a summer staple for years for me and I could post several more of these,if I wanted to (Cant you tell this is a slow day?)
Every once in a while,you really can still be young again,even if just for a few hours.

Devils four pack

The Devils have played four games thus far and I'll use this post to catch up a bit on news and notes before returning to game by game coverage after Friday's game against Colorado.
The Devils have been pretty inconsistent thus far in winning one,losing three,but gaining one point in an overtime loss to the Dallas Stars.
I thought the Devs looked great in the first period against Dallas and just average thereafter,I missed the demolition in Washington,rushed down the PA Turnpike in order to catch the Columbus Day game against Pittsburgh that saw the Devils look lethargic for the first two periods before a strong,but not strong enough third.

That brings us to last night's trip to Buffalo where Martin Brodeur and Ryan Miller staged their usual classic battle against each other,where both were perfect for sixty minutes.
The desperately needed win came to the Devils as Ilya Kovalchuk fired the only goal of the game past Miller in the extra session for the 1-0 win...
The Devils play back to back games on Friday and Saturday against Colorado and Boston before taking five games off.

Hell Raisers

1) The Kovalchuk one timer was set by rookie defenseman Matt Taormina's play into the Sabres zone.Exactly the type of play that Taormina was kept on the roster for as an offensively aggressive blueliner as the rookie followed the puck into the Buffalo end and found Kovalchuk for the winner.
The easy play would have been to dump the puck in and change players,Taormina showed initiative and the Devils benefited by it.


2) Catching up with injuries as the Devils lost Anton Volchenkov to a broken nose against Washington after a slap shot smashed him in the honker.Blood was everywhere and it looked pretty gruesome.Volchenkov will likely miss the next two games and be able to return next week.

3) The Devils have been playing shorthanded thus far with the salary cap situation,but played last night two men down from the average roster.Brian Rolston was out (more on note 4) with Volchenkov,while Pierre-Luc LeBlond was passing through waivers in an attempt to get him to Albany (LeBlond did pass through).
Considering the extra minutes that most skaters played and have been playing,the effort against Buffalo looks even better.

4) Brian Rolston will miss at least 4 to 6 weeks with surgery to repair a sports hernia.
Rolston's 5.5 million dollar salary will go off the cap while he is on the IR and the Devils will be able to finally dress the maximum amount of skaters for a game.
Rolston's loss will hurt the team for a bit on the ice,but the good thing is that the Devils might finally have the time to make the required moves that could make the cap juggling a thing of the past...

5) The Devils were able to sign Adam Mair to a one year deal before the Buffalo game and Mair played against his former team in the win.Mair had been in camp and was waiting until the cap issues could be resolved to sign a contract.

6) With the space created by the Rolston injury,New Jersey added three players from the Albany Devils as Jacob Josefson,Tim Sestito and Matt Corrente from the A-Devils.
Josefson was the teams top pick in the 2009 draft and I am really looking forward to seeing him play for the first time,while Corrente is a personal favorite and I hope to see him get a chance at regular minutes on defense.

7) Now that I think most is caught up,look for the return of next day recaps with the Friday game against the Avalanche.

Photo Credit-AP Photo

Jerome Harrison for Mike Bell

Cleveland Browns fans can stop wondering what possible issue Eric Mangini and the Browns could have against Jerome Harrison as the issue is finally over as the Browns traded Harrison to the Philadelphia Eagles for fellow running back Mike Bell....

Harrison hasn't really done much this season,but his running in the Browns late season winning streak last year led him to believe that he would be the teams lead ball carrier,but the drafting of Montario Hardesty and bringing in Peyton Hillis via trade said otherwise.
Between a lack of carries and a lack of production when he did see the ball, I can see why his playing time was reduced as the season went on,but you can make a good argument that he should have been playing more in the first few games off last season performance.

I think it comes down to Harrison's running style not being a fit with Eric Mangini,unless there is a personality issue that we don't know about.
Harrison can be a bit of a tap dancer and Mangini seems to be a run between the tackles fan,which is what Peyton Hillis is and what I think that you will see in newcomer Mike Bell.
Bell was a solid back for Denver and was a decent contributor in New Orleans last season with the Saints,but has struggles as an Eagle,although the Eagle offensive line is noted to have issues this season.
Speaking of Denver,what is the Browns obsession with former Bronco running backs that had a short time in the sun with Mike Shanahan?
Rueben Droughns has been a Brown,Hillis and Bell are here now and who knows who is next.
If Quentin Griffin is available,he should give the Browns a call.

All and all,this might be best for all parties.
The Browns didn't have confidence in Harrison and Harrison wasn't happy,so why not move him along?
His value must not have been worth even a seventh rounder,so they took what they could and Bell should be a decent fit if Peyton Hillis misses any time this week.

Back later with some Devils talk...

Photo Credits
Bell:Al Messerschmidt-Getty Images
Harrison:Unknown

Browns flop against Falcons 20-10

Now that we have the trip post finished,we can move onto the actual game post,which will not as fun to write or as pleasant to read.

The Browns didn't play well on offense although decent enough on defense in a 20-10 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
No real offense standouts for the Browns,who scored just one touchdown on a Seneca Wallace to Peyton Hillis 19 yard toss and run.
The Browns travel to Pittsburgh on Sunday in what appears to be Colt McCoy's NFL debut.
Look out this one looks to be an ugly one.

Brownie Bits

1) Give all the credit in the world to Atlanta defensive lineman Kroy Biermann for both an acrobatic interception after tipping a Jake Delhomme pass and the hustle to get up and run down the field for the backbreaking score,but I didn't like the fact that so few Browns chased after him.Jake Delhomme had a bad ankle and shouldn't have even been playing,so I'll give him a pass,but the rest?No way.

2) Atlanta should have won this game easy and without any difficulty.
Before I even watched the tape of the game with me in the stands,I saw Roddy White beat both Eric Wright and Sheldon Brown downfield at least twice each and yet the ball never got to him.
Considering the talents of White and the struggles of both corners,had Atlanta made a point of getting White the football,this game would never have came down to the final minutes.
Once Matt Ryan finally looked for White,the result was White pulling away from Sheldon Brown for a 45 yard touchdown catch that gave Atlanta the lead for good.

3) Normally,we love Joe Thomas at left tackle,but Thomas struggled immensely against John Abraham off the end.Abraham beat Thomas twice for sacks and bullied his way by Thomas,which forced Jake Delhomme to rush a pass that was intercepted.
We hope that Abraham was just a bad matchup for Thomas and better days are yet to come.

4) Seneca Wallace was playing pretty well before the ankle injury that will force him to miss time occurred,but why was Jake Delhomme inserted at all? Delhomme was shot up with cortisone before the game in case he had to play,but he had no strength in his ankle to push off of when throwing the football and was as mobile as a heavy bag against a strong Atlanta pass rush.Considering that Delhomme's ankle is bad enough to keep him out this week against Pittsburgh,why run an incapable player into the lineup?
Yes,I know the Browns don't want to play Colt McCoy unless they have to,but they had to and they didn't.
No matter your opinion on McCoy,I'll take McCoy at 100% over a 50% Jake Delhomme anytime.

5) Peyton Hillis wasn't at top health either and it showed on the ground,but his guts showed in doing what he could and scoring the only TD.
I like Hillis,but the fumbles are beginning to concern me a bit about his being the full time back.

6) Eric Mangini rants about fundamental football,but isnt tackling part of that?
The 55 yard run by Michael Turner saw Turner break the tackle of not just T.J Ward but that of Mangini favorite and supposed hitter Abram Elam to break into the open field.
I give Elam credit for getting up and hustling down for the tackle,but it never should have gotten that far,if the tackles would have been wrapped up to begin with.

7) Other than one time that Josh Cribbs threw out of the Wildcat formation,it was the same old predictable calls by Brian Daboll both in and out of the Wildcat.If this is the best Daboll has,then he has about two weeks before the bye to show why he should stay in the play calling position.

8) It was nice to see Mohammed Massaquoi get some passes thrown his way as he caught five of the six thrown to him,but lets use him to stretch the field a bit,he is the only passable deep threat that the Browns have!

9) Tell tale sign in this one?Try this in the second half when Atlanta stuck a corner on Josh Cribbs one on one and allowed Cribbs to run deep fly patterns snap after snap because they knew the ball wasn't coming his way either because Daboll wasn't going to him or because Delhomme couldn't get the ball to him.That said a lot to me about the disrespect towards the Cleveland offense.

10) Two passes thrown to Evan Moore? And the same amount to Robert Royal? Royal at least held onto both of them,which is more than I expected,but Moore could be a difference maker on a bad offense and just two chances to make plays??

11) Finally,give the Falcons some credit.Cleveland is supposed to be a tough,physical team with a smash mouth mentality and the Falcons simply kicked the crap out of a team that wants to be known as a physical team.If that is the goal then there is a long way to go.

Photo Credits-Cleveland Plain Dealer Staff

Back again in Browns Town!

I hope to catch up soon with recaps and more,but for now I want to concentrate on my trip to Cleveland for the Browns loss to the visiting Atlanta Falcons.


This isn't the game recap, just some thoughts and tales from the Browns experience.
I hope to do the recap sometime tomorrow and add some thoughts on the Devils and the Buckeyes as well in the next day or two.

Cleveland Browns Stadium is pretty much your average NFL stadium.
Nice enough with loads of the fashionable amenities,but lacks the tradition and history of the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium,which only comes with time and great moments that take place there.I attended my first Browns game ever this weekend,although not my first game in the stadium as Ryan and I were there for a Wisconsin-Bowling Green game a few years back.
My Aunt Becky (one of our loyal readers),Uncle Terry and Becky's friend Gayle were my cohorts on this afternoon and the company was excellent.

We drove to the outside of the city and rode the RTA into the city.A pretty neat ride and for just five bucks a person for all day riding,one cannot argue about the value.The RTA takes you literally into the basement of the Cleveland landmark-the Terminal Tower.
It was the first time for me visiting the Tower and was surprised to see the many tiers of shopping inside the skyscraper.I enjoyed it enough that I think that I will be seeing more of the Tower City on my next visit to the city.
I am considering a visit to Cleveland for a Cavaliers game and the Tower has an entrance/exit right to the inside of the Quicken Arena.
One train,no switching and you are there sounds really easy to me...

However,to reach Cleveland Browns Stadium,you do need to switch,so after that switch we arrived at the stadium an hour before game time.
Two odd things that I noticed about entering CBS,one is that you get into lines by male/female.
That was a new one for me and the other was a patdown/shakedown of the males,but not the females.
Not a big deal and the lines were kept moving,but I found that unusual.
What a beautiful day for a game as the unseasonably warm weather was in the low 80's which was about 25 degrees warmer than I figured that the mercury would reach.Becky and Gayle wore shorts,but I wasn't quite that certain that shorts were in order,but it could have went either way.In any event,one could not ask for a better day weather wise.

We sat in the upper deck 500 level and trust me on this day,I didn't need my normal bicycle workout,I got plenty on the concrete hike to our seats!Quite a hike that left me more than tired upon arrival.
I stayed in place for the most part and the hyped less than family environment that is supposedly common place wasn't that bad.
There was profanity and it seemed like 4 out 5 people had a beer around,but I didn't see anything out of control and not nearly as bad as I expected.
Still,not quite sure that I would recommend anyone younger than say 16 or so if you are bothered by any of those issues.

One highlight of the day was when team mascot Chomps was near our area and Becky ran after Chomps in order to get a picture of her sitting on his (?) lap and then the people that she had to pass in order to return to her seat asked her to do the same in which she graciously agreed to do.
Another came when a fellow seemed pretty excited about Jake Delhomme entering the game and then was reminded by another fan for the rest of the afternoon about how crummy Jake Delhomme was thereafter.It was kinda of rough on the fellow,but he did have it coming,I suppose.

The exodus of fans from the stadium was large,but reasonably orderly and the worst part was the 30 minute wait to catch the "red line" train back to the Terminal Tower,but once you reached there things went much smoother and faster.
Upon returning to Ashland,I was treated to my favorite pizza at Donna D's before kicking back for the night and watching more sports.
I was alone for some of the evening as my cousin Missy had her third child that night making it a long and hectic day for both Terry and Becky.

I would like to thank Terry and Becky for their hospitality and picking up almost everything for the weekend for me.
It was very nice of them and I had a blast.
Hopefully,I can do it again next season.
Also a quick thanks to Gayle for being so cool and nice to me in meeting for the first time.

I hope to be back later with more of the catching up posts!!

Photo Credits-
Becky Heimberger
Some other guy