Please Start Getting Yourself Fired Up

I can't say I love the set-up for us this year. I was really hoping for the Colts, so that we could play a soft team that's even more beat-up than we are, and have the Ravens go and beat the Patriots (up?) this weekend. That will not happen. But, please remember the following:

And oh yeah, this. So, I still believe anything is possible.

It's Been Nigh-On 3 Months Since Anyone Posted Here

So, I'm relatively confident this well never get read, save the 3 people who have us in their Google reader, and won't be able to avoid this.

OK. So, I'll talk about the Steelers eventually, but I first want to talk about "Stu Hackel", who is apparently some kind of hockey "writer", although he writes for Sports Illustrated, which means that the majority of his time is spent complaining and bemoaning the fact that sports have "changed".

I also learned that he writes a "blog" for SI. I think what that means is that he gets to spew whatever horseshit pops into his brain without any kind of editorial oversight. His conclusions on the world are (1) the Winter Classic must die, because it was terrible and (2) Sidney Crosby whines too much.

Now, I'm going to address his concerns in inverse order. I'm sure you all saw David Steckel's hit on Crosby's head area the other night. It shook him, but he was OK. He subsequently said that he thought it was a dirty hit.

Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. Stu dedicated an entire article to it. So, let me be an apologist for the best hockey player in the world (I will hear arguments to the contrary, but no one reads this, so I expect to not get any) - he gets run at every night, on every play. Does he do the things everyone else does? Yeah, he slashes, he will grab, he'll occasionally give a slew foot here and there. But does complaining about a head shot make you a whiner? Maybe it was incidental contact. It was still a shoulder to the back of his head, when he was looking the other way. I thought this was something the entire NHL was upset about.

As for the Classic being past its time, it looks to me like the Classic gets the highest ratings of any NHL game, on a yearly basis. This year was no different, being a solid 10% better in the ratings than last year's game, despite last year's being played between two larger markets (Philly & Boston) and in a more historic and captivating venue.

So, there are two things I know. (1) Sidney Crosby is the best player in the world and people want to watch him and (2) people want to see hockey outdoors. Now, isn't the NHL's goal to bring people back to the game? Aren't these sports writers more valuable if their sport becomes more valuable? Isn't Stu Hackel formerly an NHL Director of Broadcasting??).

Hm.

Stu Hackel was NHL Director of Communications until 2006, the year before the first Winter Classic. Maybe some bitterness there? I dunno, but it seems like this probably would have been his idea, and, consequently, the NHL's biggest rating boom in the past 5 years (Pens/Sabres, Wings/Hawks, Bruins/Flyers and Pens/Caps have all been big draws).

Anyhow, everyone bitches. You just notice when Crosby does it. Impressive he doesn't do it more. And cancel the Winter Classic? Sure. Let's also get Apple to drop the iPod because some of the newer versions have bugs.