Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Random Musings

Nothing real noteworthy happened today to comment on so here's a bunch of random crap floating through my head that's not worth having a whole post about:
--I'm reading Blue Ice right now for the 357th time. If anyone hasn't read John Bacon's book about the story of Michigan hockey, you need to do it. Now. Such a great book, and it's so much more than a story just about Michigan hockey. I pick up new stuff everytime I read it. Today I was reading the section about Yost and the atmosphere in the arena, and Bacon does such a good job describing it, it actually got my heart racing. I can't wait to get back there.
--I don't think Wisconsin's hockey team is going to be nearly as good this season as everyone seems to think that they are. They didn't impress me at all in the Regional, they didn't impress me a whole lot when I got to see them on Fox College Sports, and they return pretty much that whole team, except for their goalie who was pretty darn good. I know their backup put up good numbers in limited action and Connelly is supposed to be a good one...and I love Jack Skille (I'd love to see him end up in a Wings uniform come draft day if we can't get Jack Johnson somehow). But I really don't see how that makes Wiscy a consensus preseason top 5 pick.
--Phil Kessel wins the Hobey next year. It's unfair to expect the kid to win it, but I honestly don't think it's out of the range of possibility. He averaged 2 PPGs against mostly college teams, and every time I've seen him play he's been without a doubt the best player on the ice. I'd be very surprised if he's not a finalist next year at worst. And I wouldn't be shocked if the kid won it.
--If the Wings resign Chris Osgood when the lockout is finally over, I'm not watching. Same thing I said about the Packers potentially drafting Navarre.
--It's definitely not letting me put pictures in my entries. Not sure why. Tried both "from computer" and "from web" pictures. Didn't show up in entry. I suck at blogging.
--There are over 360,000 NCAA student-athletes. And just about all of them are going pro in something other than sports.
--Michigan's new away football jerseys? I think they're decent. The screen printed ones though? Fugly. The collar is blue in the back of the jersey and white in the front of the jersey and the Nike logo is below the collar in blue...not on the collar is yellow (which I think is the sharpest looking part of the real ones).
--Danica Patrick: Yes she's really really hot. Yes she's a much better driver than Sarah Fisher. But all this talk about how well she did at Indy? No one mentions that she WRECKED FIVE CARS!!!! It was straight out of the old IndyCar 2 racing game that I used to play on computer...if the other cars are faster than you, wreck em under the caution! That said, she's a good driver. Don't know that she wins one this year, but she's definitely not out of place racing with the boys...and she's probably a better driver than half of em. I'm already sick of the lovefest though. After the Richmond race (where she just stayed out of everyone's way and dodged the wrecks) where she finished 10th, about 5 laps down, the announcer called it a "very impressive performance". Yeah. If you're Roger Yasakawa. Her and Ron Mexico should get together have uber-children.
--Can't wait for the Pistons summer league games to be shown on NBA TV. I'm excited to see Darko and Delfino actually get some run. And to see Rodney Billups get to be the Mr. Big Shot of the NBA Summer League. Only having baseball on is hell for me.
--And lastly, just because everyone should know this....Crowded House is the best band of all time.
-Tim

5 comments:

xoxoKrysten said...

YAY YOU HAVE A BLOG! I was just thinking it's been way too long since you've blogged and it makes me sad.

Go to www.blogskins.com They have TONS of cool skins, it's pretty awesome.

Anonymous said...

Packer - now I have to read Blue Ice again - thanks :). I skip around when i read it for the 100th time.

Anonymous said...

In response to your doubting of the 2005-06 Badgers:

Last year, the Badgers basically gave up on the season after their loss to the Gophers with 40 seconds left in Madison. The second half of their season went completely downhill after that, and they had layed down for dead by the time they played Michigan. So I don't really feel anyone has the right to judge last years team as a whole based on that NCAA game, because that was pitiful and does not represent the team fairly, because they were always atleast CLOSE in all other losses in the second half. That said, I don't think next years team will be much of an improvement from last year, because I believe the loss of Bruckler will hurt more than anyone expects. They should have better scoring next season, however, with the addition of Skille, Gorowsky and Street. A top-five preseason pick doesn't seem too logical to me either, because as a whole, the team is unproven with the absense of Bruckler between the pipes.

Anonymous said...

I'm not judging them just based on that NCAA game...I watched em a few times on Fox Sports and they didn't impress me a whole lot then either, though I think that was all in the second half of the year too. A lot depends on Connelly. Skille's a beast...watched him at USA several times and he's just awesome. It wouldn't shock me if they're real good but I'm not convinced. I mean heck...you could make the argument that they might only be the fifth best team in their own conference with Denver, CC, Minnesota, and NoDak bringing a lot of people back. Of course 5th in the WCHA still probably makes you a top 10 team at worst.
-Tim

Anonymous said...

I agree, most of next season's outcome will be based on how the goalies hold up. I'm extremely skeptical. I'm quite excited about Skille coming in and possibly joining the Earl-Pavelski line (though I'll admit that I've never seen him play.) If Wisconsin can score some goals next year, it'll definitely make up for some of the rookie mistakes their goalies make. I have no argument that says the Badgers are any better than 5th in the WCHA at this time in the off-season, and I really don't think anyone except extreme homers and optimists believe they can finish above the Frozen Four teams of '05 next year. But you never know what can happen, right?