A) Roster spots aren’t guaranteed for anyone. Look at the dudes who got chucked on waivers lately: a bunch of semi-reliable veterans who, in the “old NHL” (by the way, when will broadcasters stop using this retarded phrase? I stop calling underwear “new” after I wear them once. The post-lockout NHL has now had 3 Stanley Cup champions. Give up the “new” already.”) would still have NHL jobs. Now they’re super expensive bus jockeys in the AHL, shipped to the mobster-laden KHL, or ride the pine hard for an NHL team that doesn’t want them. I guess being a multi-millionaire with a wicked hot hockey wife isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
B) Tampa looked like shit. The Lightning were outshot 2-1 in their opening Euro-games with the NY Rangers, and seemed unable to move the puck from their backend or sustain any pressure in the Ranger zone. Luckily, Mike Smith and Ollie the Goalie were on fire, but they can’t expect their goalies to be late-90s Dominik Hasek all season. Either the Rangers are way better than I thought, or Captain Mullet had better get his shit together and organize his club. Picking up Louis Kraijeck is not the answer, and pretty well duplicates the other young d-men on the roster.
C) Some teams are in big trouble on and off the ice. Echoing an earlier rant I wrote, it’s nice to see the NHL kicked off in Europe while hearing that:
a. The Atlanta Thrashers only had 40% season ticket renewal and look poised to be fucking terrible this year.
b. The continuing ownership clusterfuck in Nashville is alive and well.
c. The tanking economy threatens league revenues.
Well done Monsieur Bettman. Continue to fiddle while Rome burns. Dipshit.
Taking a look at all that, I guess it’s safe to say I am stoked for the season to start in full. Bring on the sweet goals, big hits, and brutal fights!
JB
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
J.P. Ricciardi - The 2008 Genital Herpes Award Winner in Major League Baseball
Yes, it’s true: it seems that Toronto Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi will be returning for the 2009 season, which would be the 8th year of his tenure. Now I know this blog is titled “Hockeysmack” but I can’t stomach this bullshit anymore. Every year I get stoked for Blue Jay baseball, and every year the team is a disappointment, devastated by dismal free agent performance, an inability to both pitch and hit in the same season, and abysmal managing by non-descript J.P.bots (Carlos Tosca? John Gibbons? Weren’t they the same dude?) hired to be an extension of the front office. So, after 7 years of failure, what is Ricciardi’s reward? Same old, same old. Fan-fucking-tastic.
Let’s take a look at some of the roster “improvements” made of late by the smug, arrogant dark Blue Jay Sith:
a) Frank Thomas – 2 years, $20 million, with a player option for a 3rd year at $10 mil if the Big Hurt reached a specific number of at-bats. J.P., fearful of that player option, released Thomas, who basically earned $20 mil for a year. Nice! Well J.P., you did sign a nearly 40-year-old DH with an extensive injury history who can’t play in the field. What the fuck did you expect? That he had upside?
b) Shannon Stewart for Reed Johnson. Johnson, beloved by fans and teammates alike, was released in spring training to make room for Shannon Stewart. Yikes. Stewart will surely be taking BP soon with Theo Fleury for the Calgary Vipers; Johnson seems to be recovering well, platooning with Jim Edmonds for the playoff bound Cubs. So, he received all his cash from the Jays to not play, more cash from the Cubs, got to play in Chicago, and is now going to the playoffs? Someone whose initials kind of rhyme with “VD” is getting a fruitcake for Christmas this year…
c) Bad contracts – Corey Koskie. Eric Hinske. B.J. Ryan (I like him, but $45 million for a closer not named Rivera? No thanks). Vernon Wells (not worth his latest contract extension). David Eckstein.
d) Bad drafting – Some prospects are finally hitting the big club (Snider, Purcey, Lind, Hill, Marcum) but busts like Russ Adams and Ricky Romero have hurt the organization in a major way; when you can’t spend with the Yankees and the Red Sox, you have to develop players. Not under J.P., who was actually the director of scouting with the Oakland Athletics before being hired to sabotage the Blue Jays.
Well, what can I say? A vote for J.P is a vote for perpetual cockteasing. 80-85 wins and a litany of excuses is all I’ve come to expect from this douche bag. What next? $60 million for the injury-prone free agent shortstop Rafael Furcal? $30 million for another aging DH (Jason Giambi)? Oh well. At least it’s not my money.
JB
Let’s take a look at some of the roster “improvements” made of late by the smug, arrogant dark Blue Jay Sith:
a) Frank Thomas – 2 years, $20 million, with a player option for a 3rd year at $10 mil if the Big Hurt reached a specific number of at-bats. J.P., fearful of that player option, released Thomas, who basically earned $20 mil for a year. Nice! Well J.P., you did sign a nearly 40-year-old DH with an extensive injury history who can’t play in the field. What the fuck did you expect? That he had upside?
b) Shannon Stewart for Reed Johnson. Johnson, beloved by fans and teammates alike, was released in spring training to make room for Shannon Stewart. Yikes. Stewart will surely be taking BP soon with Theo Fleury for the Calgary Vipers; Johnson seems to be recovering well, platooning with Jim Edmonds for the playoff bound Cubs. So, he received all his cash from the Jays to not play, more cash from the Cubs, got to play in Chicago, and is now going to the playoffs? Someone whose initials kind of rhyme with “VD” is getting a fruitcake for Christmas this year…
c) Bad contracts – Corey Koskie. Eric Hinske. B.J. Ryan (I like him, but $45 million for a closer not named Rivera? No thanks). Vernon Wells (not worth his latest contract extension). David Eckstein.
d) Bad drafting – Some prospects are finally hitting the big club (Snider, Purcey, Lind, Hill, Marcum) but busts like Russ Adams and Ricky Romero have hurt the organization in a major way; when you can’t spend with the Yankees and the Red Sox, you have to develop players. Not under J.P., who was actually the director of scouting with the Oakland Athletics before being hired to sabotage the Blue Jays.
Well, what can I say? A vote for J.P is a vote for perpetual cockteasing. 80-85 wins and a litany of excuses is all I’ve come to expect from this douche bag. What next? $60 million for the injury-prone free agent shortstop Rafael Furcal? $30 million for another aging DH (Jason Giambi)? Oh well. At least it’s not my money.
JB
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