Word leaked last week that the National Football League is investigating the possibility of turning the Draft into a three-day event. The first round would be in primetime on Thursday night, with the second and third rounds on Friday night, and rounds four thru seven on Saturday. This is another one of Commissioner Roger Goodell's out-of-the-norm suggestions, right up there with the 17 or 18-game regular season and the moving of both the Pro Bowl & Super Bowl. We'll start with the Draft, though.
I'm not really sure what this possible move is going to do for television ratings. ESPN has been broadcasting the Draft since 1980 with plenty of success. Mel Kiper has given birth to "draftniks" everywhere and millions of people have capitalized on the Draft's exposure, creating a whole business culture around the seminal NFL event of the spring. It seems like everyone who has an opinion about football publishes an annual Draft guide and the NFL Scouting Combine has become a five-day tour-de-force. With all this in mind I really don't know how much higher the ratings will climb as millions of people already faithfully tune in to ESPN on the final Saturday in April to see who ends up where.
Come to think of it, this whole three-day Draft might actually hurt the league. Now, I do agree that the first round can be an event unto itself. With the time between picks shortened from fifteen to ten minutes, this year's first round took just three hours and twenty-three minutes, the fastest first round since 1990 when the league had four less teams. That makes for a perfect 7:30-11:00pm primetime slot for a Thursday night event. Plus, most of the reality programming giants schedule their programming from Monday-Wednesday, giving ESPN & the NFL an entire uncontested evening to showcase their products.
The hurt comes after the first round. I can't imagine common fans being interested after the first round. Most common fans (and that's who this initiative is aimed it) will stay tuned for the second round because it immediately follows the first round on Saturday. And I'm willing to bet that many of those common fans don't even bother turning on the television at 10am Sunday to watch rounds three thru seven. I fear that if the NFL does indeed spread the Draft over three days, it may become all about the Day One headlines while the rest of the Draft becomes nothing more than an afterthought.
Football addicts (like me) already watch the entire Draft from start to finish so this change really doesn't affect us. This whole move actually reminds me of Vince McMahon (and not just because I enjoy the WWE). You see, Vince knows that the die-hard wrestling fans will always watch and invest in his product no matter what he puts out there. So he tries to make changes that will appeal more to the common fan and maybe bring on pieces of a new audience. He does this because no matter how much the die-hard fans may hate what he's doing, we'll still tune in every Monday, Friday, and pay-per-view. I feel like Goodell is doing the exact same thing. He knows that the real football fans will watch anything with the NFL logo slapped onto it. This is a move designed to purely bring in new fans and streamline the product for those still not in love with or aware of the NFL and its products. The first round will be a great event but I just don't think the three-day spread is worthwhile.
As for the draft moving to different cities, I am actually 100% in favor of that. Every city with an NFL team has tremendous passion for the game and fans of all teams make the trek to New York City every year. I think it would be a nice reward (like choosing the site of an All-Star Game) for some of the other fans to be able to host the Draft and really add their own flavor to it. This could definitely change the appearance of the event as the pre-Draft parties and Draft Day itself would take on some traits of the city they are in, like the atmosphere of Super Bowl Week.
I'm not gung-ho on the 17 or 18-game regular season, though. I agree that pre-season games are not worth paying regular-season ticket prices but that doesn't mean we can get rid of them altogether. Coaches still need some of those games to determine who is going to fill those last few roster spots, step up on special teams, or win a fierce position battle. The pre-season isn't about the stars. The solution is just to cut one or two pre-season games while not adding regular-season games. Don't get me wrong, people are going to watch the additional regular-season games no matter what. But now the chances of players getting hurt is even higher and it is very possible that an extra game or two in an already-taxing regular season could hurt the NFL's postseason product, which would be devastating to all involved.
Goodell would be wise to use NASCAR as a cautionary tale. Earlier this decade, NASCAR found a sudden surge of popularity. Their answer to this was to give the people more of what they wanted. So the powers-that-be expanded the race schedule, added new tracks in non-traditional NASCAR locales, and stretched out their drivers to the point of exhaustion. Now NASCAR is considering taking a few races off the schedule and is staring down some serious financial and sponsorship issues. No sport, not even the mighty NFL, is recession-proof.
Oh, one other thing. The Pro Bowl is the most useless of the four major All-Star Games. Football just doesn't translate into a glorified exhibition. Here's an idea. Why not make the Pro Bowl a flag football game? Or just make an All-NFL Team at the end of season, like college football has their All-American selections? Just saying.
Some news & notes:
- Two NBA first-round contests went to a Game 7 and both were in the East. The Atlanta/Miami series was not as close as you would think despite going the distance. Every game was a blowout, a double-digit win for the victorious team. Meanwhile, the Boston/Chicago series was every bit as thrilling as you would expect a 7-game series to be. The teams traded scintillating wins and four of the series' seven contests went to overtime, an NBA playoff record. The four second-round matchups look to be exciting. Keep on eye on those Denver Nuggets. They easily dispatched Dallas in Game 1 of their Western Conference Semifinal series and look poised to keep doing big things. Carmelo must really be thanking his lucky stars for bringing him Chauncey Billups.
- Brett Favre should stay retired. Enough said about that one.
- Congratulations to former Syracuse head football coach Dick MacPherson on being selected for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame. MacPherson had a 66-46-4 record during his time on The Hill, from 1981-1990. His best year was the undefeated season of 1987, which ended with a Sugar Bowl tie against Auburn. He also laid the foundation for the program that one of his assistants, Paul Pasqualoni, would take over and then guide to 107 wins, including six bowl victories. I had the pleasure of working with Coach Mac during my four years at Syracuse. He is a great football coach and a great man who absolutely deserves this honor. Congrats again, Coach.
- Mine That Bird, a 51-to-1 longshot took home the win in the Kentucky Derby this past Saturday. Only Donerail in 1913 won the Derby with longer odds. Now, the horse's handlers are saying Mine That Bird is no sure bet to run the Preakness. This would be a huge blow to the sport of thoroughbred racing. It is only truly relevant for one glorious six-week period every year when the Triple Crown races are contested. If Mine That Bird doesn't even try for the Triple Crown and sits out the Preakness, I get the feeling no one will care about Pimlico or Belmont this year.
- I wonder how the Mets must feel as they watch Oliver Perez struggle right now. They refused to pay Derek Lowe an extra $4 million total on top of their initial contract offer. Instead, they gave Perez a 3-year, $36 million deal to fill the rotation behind Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey, and John Maine. Well, Lowe is 3-1 with a 3.03 ERA, 28 K's, and just 14 walks in 35 and 2/3 innings. Perez, meanwhile, has allowed 49 baserunners (21 walks & 28 hits) in just 21 and 2/3 innings. His ERA is an abysmal 9.97. He's headed to one of three places: the bullpen, the minors, or the disabled list. Way to go, Omar Minaya, way to go.
- 47-year-old defenceman Chris Chelios became the second-oldest player ever to appear in an NHL postseason game. Chelios dressed for Game 1 of Detroit's Western Conference Semifinal series due to an injury to star defenceman & power-play point man Brian Rafalski. Chelios is a 3-time Norris Trophy winner and has 24 years of postseason experience to his credit. See, experience does go a long way in postseason play.
- Keep an eye on the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Minnesota Twins this month. The Dodgers have raced out to a 10-0 start at home, the best in franchise history, and have an incredible young core of homegrown talent that includes Russell Martin, James Loney, Matt Kemp, & Chad Billingsley. The Twins finally have their heart and soul, catcher Joe Mauer, back in the lineup and healthy again. Minnesota is a very different team with Mauer out there and there is no clear front-runner in the AL Central.
- And pay attention to the Vancouver/Chicago series in the NHL's Western Conference Semifinals. Both of these teams are loaded with young, high-flying talent. This series has the potential to go the distance and will be filled with heavy hitting, fast skating, and lots of goals.
- Finally, Coach Meech actually has two posts today. The post following this one is a venting exercise for me regarding the Devils' Game 7 defeat in their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series last Tuesday. If you want to read about my love of Jersey's Team and the sadness accompanying the end of the Devils' season then check it out. But if you're not a hockey fan, I would suggest stopping here until the next post.
Until next time.
-Meech
-
Monday, May 4, 2009
Maybe this will help... - 5/4/09
It's been almost a week now since the Devils were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series. It usually takes me a month or so to fully recover from the end of the Devils' season so the fact that I'm still extremely angry and saddened by the loss is no surprise. This one, however, may sting a little more because of the absolutely sickening way it went down...and the fact that it should have never come down to a Game 7 had the Devils not put out an awful effort in Carolina for Game 6 when they could have closed out the series right then and there.
At 8:47 of the second period, Brian Rolston broke through with a power-play goal (his first of the postseason) to give the Devils a 3-2 lead. This moment was huge considering how much of a disappointment Rolston had been this year. Jersey signed him to a 4-year, $20 million deal at the start of free agency as he was coming off his third consecutive thirty-goal season with Minnesota. But his season was derailed early with an ankle injury and Rolston found himself on the fourth line when he returned. Rolston ended up scoring just 15 goals in 64 games, not the kind of production the Devils thought they were getting when he signed up for his second stint in Jersey. But here he was in the deciding Game 7 of the series, scoring the go-ahead marker on a scorcher from the left point on the power play.
The Devils then nursed this lead into the third period. The penalty kill was sharp, killing off three consecutive Carolina power plays, including a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:08. But suddenly, around the 16:30 mark of the third period, the wheels started to come off the bus. Carolina was a middling team for the first half of the season but around the time they picked up Erik Cole from Edmonton (for his second stint with the 'Canes), Carolina got hot. They surged from being eight points out of a playoff spot all the way up to the sixth seed in the East. During this stretch, in which Paul Maurice was brought back for his second run as the 'Canes' head coach, Carolina came together and forged an identity as a hard-nosed, fast-skating team that could win any battle in the corner and capitalize on the slightest mistakes by their opponents. Around 16:30 of the third period many of us in Section 231 of the Prudential Center looked at each other and acknowledged that Carolina was about to kick their game into another gear.
Suddenly all of the action was in the Jersey zone. The Devils couldn't clear the puck. Carolina was applying tremendous pressure, making crisp passes, winning all the corner battles, and shooting at will. It was only a matter of time before the tying goal was scored and we all knew it. Sure enough, at 18:40 of the third period, Jussi Jokinen (who was waived by the Lightning earlier this season) scored his third goal of the series with a wrister from the right circle off a picture-perfect feed by Joni Pitkanen. Jokinen was the same individual who scored with 00.2 seconds left in the third period of Game 4 to give Carolina a last-second 4-3 triumph, evening the series at two.
So now we're all bracing for overtime until the unthinkable happens. Somehow, the Devils allow Eric Staal, arguably Carolina's best player, to skate across the blue line with a full head of steam towards Martin Brodeur. Staal then unleashed a twisting wrister from the right circle that ended up surprising Brodeur, and beating him stick side. With just 31.7 seconds left in regulation, Staal, the player I hate more than other in the entire National Hockey League (Yes, I hate him even more than Henrik Lundqvist), ripped my heart, and the hearts of the other 17,625 fans at The Rock, right out. It was Staal's fifth tally of the series.
There were just eighty seconds of regulation hockey left. That's it. Eighty more seconds and we all would've been talking about seeing each other at The Rock for Game 3 of Devils/Capitals in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Instead, we were all left with nothing but the absolute sickest feeling imaginable in the pits of our stomachs.
Many of the writers who cover Jersey's Team have been likening this heartbreaker to past Game 7 defeats in franchise history (Don't worry. The club has had some memorable Game 7 wins as well: Washington in 1988, Buffalo in 1994, Philadelphia in 2000, Ottawa & Anaheim in 2003.). The two notable losses that always pop up are Game 7 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals, in which Stephane Matteau scored the game-winner on a wraparound 4:24 into the second overtime to give the hated Rangers a 2-1 victory & Game 7 of the 2001 Stanley Cup Finals in which Alex Tanguay picked up the winner in a 3-1 Colorado Avalanche victory, giving Ray Bourque the long-awaited first Stanley Cup Championship of his storied career.
I believe the references to those two series are appropriate but not for the Game 7s. You see, just like in this year's ECQF series, the Devils had a chance to close out those series in Game 6 and failed to do so in shocking fashion. In the '94 Eastern Conference Finals the Devils had a chance to close out the series in Game 6 on home ice at the Meadowlands. But the Devils lost, 4-2, as Mark Messier netted a hat trick and cashed on his pre-game guarantee of forcing a Game 7. In the 2001 Stanley Cup Finals the Devils also had home ice advantage for Game 6 and a chance to win Lord Stanley's Cup for the third time in franchise history. But the Devils laid an absolute clunker and were shutout by Patrick Roy and the Avalanche, 4-0. This year...Cam Ward and the 'Canes shut out the Devils in Game 6, in Raliegh, 4-0, forcing the return to Newark for Game 7.
The Devils have had many outstanding playoff moments, both good and bad. I have been lucky enough to witness many of them first-hand, be it at the Meadowlands or at The Rock. As I tell everyone, football will always be my sport but the Devils will always be my team. They are Jersey's Team and I am a Jersey guy. I have cried tears of joy and sadness, publicly and privately, over this team. I've gone hoarse many times, thrown plenty of things, and had many days brightened and ruined by what Jersey's Team does on the ice. I still have nightmares of "Matteau! Matteau," and I still have glorious dreams of, "The championship...to New Jersey!" But I really believe that this Game 7 loss may haunt me even longer than '94. The Devils just gave up with three and a half minutes left in the game. They just put it in cruise control while Carolina found a gear the Devils simply didn't have. The entire final portion of the game was played in the Jersey end of the ice. With the 'Canes skating like demons the Devils never even had a chance.
The Devils have played Carolina four times in the postseason now and have only emerged victorious once, in the 2001 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. In addition to this year, Carolina owns victories in the 2002 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals and the 2006 Eastern Conference Semifinals. The series-ending Game 5 in 2006 was down in Carolina as was the series-clinching Game 6 in 2001 but in 2002, just like this year, the season ended in heartbreaking fashion in Jersey. I was at the Continental Airlines Arena on that Saturday afternoon in April, sitting in Section 213, as Kevin Weekes stopped all 32 Jersey shots to lead Carolina to a 1-0 victory. Ron Francis would score the only goal that night and Carolina would ride the momentum of that series-clinching win all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals before bowing to the Detroit Red Wings. After finishing off the Devils in five in 2006, Carolina would end up winning their only Stanley Cup Championship in franchise history. So if history is any indicator here, the 'Canes could be in for something big this year.
I remember being stunned on that Saturday afternoon as I watched the series-ending handshake line proceed. I had that same feeling last Tuesday at The Rock, only worse considering how the Devils just gave up. It took a good twenty minutes of just staring at the ice, conversations with three different ushers, and a total of about an hour before I finally left my seat in Section 231. It would be another hour (and a few drinks at the Bud Light Goal Bar) before I actually left the arena.
And so another season of Devils hockey comes to an end all too soon. Jersey has won just two playoff series (2006 (vs. Rangers) & 2007 (vs. Lightning) Eastern Conference Quarterfinals) since winning its third Stanley Cup Championship in 2003. Some key players (Oduya, Gionta, Zajac) will be free agents this summer, be it restricted or unrestricted. And the need for a top-four defencemen is pressing now more than ever. Everyone laughed at me when I went on and on about how much both I and the Devils would miss Brian Rafalski when he left to sign with Detroit after the 2007 playoffs. But here we are after a second consecutive first-round playoff exit wondering why we don't have a defenceman who can run the point on the power play and pinch to provide some pressure in the offensive zone. Those two areas would be Rafalski's specialties, by the way. It should be a very interesting off-season down in Newark. But one thing is for sure, I'll be back and ready to rock come October...and ready to keep yelling about how much I hate Eric Staal.
I'll leave you with this photo. It is a picture I took from my seat nearly 45 minutes after the conclusion of Game 7. You'll notice that there are just ushers remaining in the crowd and the only player on the ice is Eric Staal, sitting on the Carolina bench conducting a post-game interview. I think it's a good image to sum up the emptiness in my heart over the awful Game 7 defeat and just how bad I felt after that game.
-Meech
At 8:47 of the second period, Brian Rolston broke through with a power-play goal (his first of the postseason) to give the Devils a 3-2 lead. This moment was huge considering how much of a disappointment Rolston had been this year. Jersey signed him to a 4-year, $20 million deal at the start of free agency as he was coming off his third consecutive thirty-goal season with Minnesota. But his season was derailed early with an ankle injury and Rolston found himself on the fourth line when he returned. Rolston ended up scoring just 15 goals in 64 games, not the kind of production the Devils thought they were getting when he signed up for his second stint in Jersey. But here he was in the deciding Game 7 of the series, scoring the go-ahead marker on a scorcher from the left point on the power play.
The Devils then nursed this lead into the third period. The penalty kill was sharp, killing off three consecutive Carolina power plays, including a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:08. But suddenly, around the 16:30 mark of the third period, the wheels started to come off the bus. Carolina was a middling team for the first half of the season but around the time they picked up Erik Cole from Edmonton (for his second stint with the 'Canes), Carolina got hot. They surged from being eight points out of a playoff spot all the way up to the sixth seed in the East. During this stretch, in which Paul Maurice was brought back for his second run as the 'Canes' head coach, Carolina came together and forged an identity as a hard-nosed, fast-skating team that could win any battle in the corner and capitalize on the slightest mistakes by their opponents. Around 16:30 of the third period many of us in Section 231 of the Prudential Center looked at each other and acknowledged that Carolina was about to kick their game into another gear.
Suddenly all of the action was in the Jersey zone. The Devils couldn't clear the puck. Carolina was applying tremendous pressure, making crisp passes, winning all the corner battles, and shooting at will. It was only a matter of time before the tying goal was scored and we all knew it. Sure enough, at 18:40 of the third period, Jussi Jokinen (who was waived by the Lightning earlier this season) scored his third goal of the series with a wrister from the right circle off a picture-perfect feed by Joni Pitkanen. Jokinen was the same individual who scored with 00.2 seconds left in the third period of Game 4 to give Carolina a last-second 4-3 triumph, evening the series at two.
So now we're all bracing for overtime until the unthinkable happens. Somehow, the Devils allow Eric Staal, arguably Carolina's best player, to skate across the blue line with a full head of steam towards Martin Brodeur. Staal then unleashed a twisting wrister from the right circle that ended up surprising Brodeur, and beating him stick side. With just 31.7 seconds left in regulation, Staal, the player I hate more than other in the entire National Hockey League (Yes, I hate him even more than Henrik Lundqvist), ripped my heart, and the hearts of the other 17,625 fans at The Rock, right out. It was Staal's fifth tally of the series.
There were just eighty seconds of regulation hockey left. That's it. Eighty more seconds and we all would've been talking about seeing each other at The Rock for Game 3 of Devils/Capitals in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Instead, we were all left with nothing but the absolute sickest feeling imaginable in the pits of our stomachs.
Many of the writers who cover Jersey's Team have been likening this heartbreaker to past Game 7 defeats in franchise history (Don't worry. The club has had some memorable Game 7 wins as well: Washington in 1988, Buffalo in 1994, Philadelphia in 2000, Ottawa & Anaheim in 2003.). The two notable losses that always pop up are Game 7 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals, in which Stephane Matteau scored the game-winner on a wraparound 4:24 into the second overtime to give the hated Rangers a 2-1 victory & Game 7 of the 2001 Stanley Cup Finals in which Alex Tanguay picked up the winner in a 3-1 Colorado Avalanche victory, giving Ray Bourque the long-awaited first Stanley Cup Championship of his storied career.
I believe the references to those two series are appropriate but not for the Game 7s. You see, just like in this year's ECQF series, the Devils had a chance to close out those series in Game 6 and failed to do so in shocking fashion. In the '94 Eastern Conference Finals the Devils had a chance to close out the series in Game 6 on home ice at the Meadowlands. But the Devils lost, 4-2, as Mark Messier netted a hat trick and cashed on his pre-game guarantee of forcing a Game 7. In the 2001 Stanley Cup Finals the Devils also had home ice advantage for Game 6 and a chance to win Lord Stanley's Cup for the third time in franchise history. But the Devils laid an absolute clunker and were shutout by Patrick Roy and the Avalanche, 4-0. This year...Cam Ward and the 'Canes shut out the Devils in Game 6, in Raliegh, 4-0, forcing the return to Newark for Game 7.
The Devils have had many outstanding playoff moments, both good and bad. I have been lucky enough to witness many of them first-hand, be it at the Meadowlands or at The Rock. As I tell everyone, football will always be my sport but the Devils will always be my team. They are Jersey's Team and I am a Jersey guy. I have cried tears of joy and sadness, publicly and privately, over this team. I've gone hoarse many times, thrown plenty of things, and had many days brightened and ruined by what Jersey's Team does on the ice. I still have nightmares of "Matteau! Matteau," and I still have glorious dreams of, "The championship...to New Jersey!" But I really believe that this Game 7 loss may haunt me even longer than '94. The Devils just gave up with three and a half minutes left in the game. They just put it in cruise control while Carolina found a gear the Devils simply didn't have. The entire final portion of the game was played in the Jersey end of the ice. With the 'Canes skating like demons the Devils never even had a chance.
The Devils have played Carolina four times in the postseason now and have only emerged victorious once, in the 2001 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. In addition to this year, Carolina owns victories in the 2002 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals and the 2006 Eastern Conference Semifinals. The series-ending Game 5 in 2006 was down in Carolina as was the series-clinching Game 6 in 2001 but in 2002, just like this year, the season ended in heartbreaking fashion in Jersey. I was at the Continental Airlines Arena on that Saturday afternoon in April, sitting in Section 213, as Kevin Weekes stopped all 32 Jersey shots to lead Carolina to a 1-0 victory. Ron Francis would score the only goal that night and Carolina would ride the momentum of that series-clinching win all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals before bowing to the Detroit Red Wings. After finishing off the Devils in five in 2006, Carolina would end up winning their only Stanley Cup Championship in franchise history. So if history is any indicator here, the 'Canes could be in for something big this year.
I remember being stunned on that Saturday afternoon as I watched the series-ending handshake line proceed. I had that same feeling last Tuesday at The Rock, only worse considering how the Devils just gave up. It took a good twenty minutes of just staring at the ice, conversations with three different ushers, and a total of about an hour before I finally left my seat in Section 231. It would be another hour (and a few drinks at the Bud Light Goal Bar) before I actually left the arena.
And so another season of Devils hockey comes to an end all too soon. Jersey has won just two playoff series (2006 (vs. Rangers) & 2007 (vs. Lightning) Eastern Conference Quarterfinals) since winning its third Stanley Cup Championship in 2003. Some key players (Oduya, Gionta, Zajac) will be free agents this summer, be it restricted or unrestricted. And the need for a top-four defencemen is pressing now more than ever. Everyone laughed at me when I went on and on about how much both I and the Devils would miss Brian Rafalski when he left to sign with Detroit after the 2007 playoffs. But here we are after a second consecutive first-round playoff exit wondering why we don't have a defenceman who can run the point on the power play and pinch to provide some pressure in the offensive zone. Those two areas would be Rafalski's specialties, by the way. It should be a very interesting off-season down in Newark. But one thing is for sure, I'll be back and ready to rock come October...and ready to keep yelling about how much I hate Eric Staal.
I'll leave you with this photo. It is a picture I took from my seat nearly 45 minutes after the conclusion of Game 7. You'll notice that there are just ushers remaining in the crowd and the only player on the ice is Eric Staal, sitting on the Carolina bench conducting a post-game interview. I think it's a good image to sum up the emptiness in my heart over the awful Game 7 defeat and just how bad I felt after that game.
-Meech
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