Let’s talk playoffs

The Rangers are a mere two games back in the Wild Card, and a doable 3.5 in the West, after Friday night’s games.

Other American League teams looking to head to the postseason right now are the Yankees, Red Sox, Angels and Tigers.

The scorching Yanks are running away with the division American League, so let’s assume they’ll face the wild card winner.

Hmm… Rangers meeting New York in the playoffs? If history means anything, that doesn’t appeal to any Texas fan.

The optimists recall the only playoff game the Rangers have ever won was against the Yankees. For the pessimists, all the losses were to the Yankees, too.

So let’s think Detroit. A good team, but beatable. Unless you’re Texas.

I don’t know why, but it’s like the Rangers get brain freeze every time they play the Tigers this season. Detroit won the season series 2-7, with two sweeps at home.

Texas is 2-4 against New York this year.

So before Rangers fans get ahead of themselves with visions of October floating in their heads, keep in mind the games won’t get any easier.

Game 5 Classic

Now, I know the word “classic” gets thrown around a lot in sports, and it seems every playoff game that goes to overtime gets this label. But Game 5 of Pens-Caps totally deserves it.

I don’t watch a lot of games that don’t involve the Stars, but this series was getting so overhyped I decided I needed to see what the Eastern Conference fuss was all about.

I saw an E:60 interview with Alex Ovechkin the other day, and I admit I didn’t know much about this flashy, brash Hart trophy winner. He might be a little overzealous and arrogant, which is why superstar Sidney Crosby doesn’t like him.

But you can’t argue with the Russian’s results: He has scored seven of Washington’s 15 goals in this series. (By the way, he guarantees a Game 7.)

Contrast Ovechkin with down-to-earth traditionalist Crosby, who has publicly said he is not a fan of Ovechkin’s wild goal celebrations, and you have yourself a brewing rivalry for the ages.

The Ovechkin-Crosby rivalry is exactly what hockey needs. (Think Bird:Johnson as Crosby:Ovechkin).

If every game were played with as much intensity, passion and speed as Washington-Pittsburgh Game 5, hockey would have way more fans. But most of the time, players can’t keep up that level of play up an entire period, let alone a whole game.

Every single shift was 110 percent full effort, full aggression, full throttle. Every guy racing for the puck, checking with all their body weight, making scoring chances left and right. The crowd was incredible — rattling the glass, standing and cheering… If I were even a casual fan of either of these teams, I would have been absolutely losing my mind.

Having Daryl Reaugh on the commentary was the cherry on top, though it seemed like he toned down his massive vocabulary a bit for national TV. He’s still fun to listen to though. (I admit to fast-forwarding between most of the whistles, so maybe he didn’t.)

I still have this game on my DVR, and I’m tempted to go watch it again, even though I know the Penguins will win 4-3 in overtime.

Wonder if the Pens can win four in a row? You can bet I’ll be watching Game 6.

Fun with tables

I’m taking this course on Cascading Style Sheets, which is kind of like HTML except more powerful.

I’m almost done with the course. Last week, we had to format a table. I have found that I enjoy homework much more when the subject matter is meaningful to me.

My dad and I have always talked about how none of the DFW teams are ever all good or all bad at one time. So I did a little research and had some fun with my project.

I compiled a table that shows the success of Dallas-area sports teams by year since 1994, which is when the Stars came to town, making it a four-sport area. (The year refers to the year the playoffs were in, except for football.)

I concluded that in fact  in no year have all four teams made the playoffs. However, at least one team did go to the playoffs every year.

Thanks to the Stars’ sub-par season, 2009 will not be the exception. I’m optimistic about their future though, especially because they have played in the postseason the most of the four teams.

The Rangers have some talent lurking. Will 2010 be the year?

P.S. If you are really interested in the nuts and bolts of my fancy table, right-click on that page and select “View Page Source.” Doesn’t that look fun! Glad the course is nearly over.

A little bit about a lot*

First things first, since I’m old-school, I need to issue a correction for yesterday’s post. I had the Rangers’ record incorrect. It should have been 7-9. Had I known that, there might have been quite a bit less belly-aching, especially considering they won Saturday night and are second in the AL West.

Second, I’ve been playing with the photo at the top of the page. I thought the night snow was pretty for a while, but it’s almost May.

Moving on, I really wish I could have watched the whole Penguins-Flyers playoff game today. I saw Philly score two quick goals at the end of the first and the orange crowd went berserk. When I read later that Pittsburgh came back to win 5-3, I was stunned. Hope that game is replayed later.

I guess if I have to root for someone, it’s Pittsburgh. I like Sid the Kid, and I hate the Flyers. So it’s a no-brainer.

I saw the first half of Mavericks-Spurs Game 4 today. I think it’s kind of hilarious that Tony Parker scores 43 and they still lose.

Also, I should note: I have this strange mental block where I often get Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich confused. I think I have some kind of old-white-guy dyslexia. Obviously I know who is who, but it’s the darndest thing.

Most of my day was spent in football mode thanks to the NFL draft. The most memorable part was Chris Berman’s fugly outfit (pinkish pinstriped shirt with orange, yellow, green and blue striped tie. Ew.). Did he get dressed in the dark??

Today will be the really fun day. (And I use the term “fun” loosely.) Dallas has 12 picks after trading their second-rounder on Saturday. Due to intense reader interest, we basically consider the Cowboys a local team.

Also contributing to the fun is that the majority of OU, OSU and TU guys that we are watching will probably go today as Brandon Pettigrew and Phil Loadholt went Saturday.

Speaking of the Pokes, attention all O-State (or Big 12) fans: World columnist Dave Sittler has a bold (some might say “crazy”) prediction for next football season.

Pick up the Sunday World to find out what he thinks. (Or check out the RSS feed on the right side of the screen: “Call me crazy, but OSU could start 11-0″. If it’s not in the feed, it’s on the site.) If you’re not intrigued, you should be.

*Best headline ever!

Musings in the wee hours

It’s approaching 5 a.m. and I’m in that dreaded “physically tired, mentally wired” state.

But I usually get off work around midnight to 12:30. So if midnight is like my vampire version of 5 p.m. (when “normal” people get off work), right now it’s like 10 p.m. for me. Looking at it in that light always makes me feel better.

I just finished some of my CSS course homework and now I need to unwind. There’s no weekly due date for the homework, except of course for last week. Long story short, I crammed three weeks worth of homework into three days and now I’m caught up until Monday. Which is nice.

I have a list to the side of me of blog topics I’ve been meaning to bring up. I just can’t seem to find the motivation.

I’m a perfectionist, so I can’t just bang out some halfway thought-out blog about how bad the Rangers are, or how surprisingly competitive the Mavericks-Spurs series has been. I guess that’s a good thing.

But…

I guess I can make an exception this one time. After all, this post is titled “Musings.” And I haven’t posted anything in nearly a week.

*Vicente Padilla: We know he has the stuff. Is he really just that inconsistent? He is killing my fantasy team’s ERA and WHIP. Maybe I should drop him and pick up…

*Brandon McCarthy: If this guy has ONE MORE good start, I’ll officially renounce his status of “fool’s gold.” Why? Because of what happened last start to…

*Kevin Millwood: Ah, so much promise. Hopefully it was just one bad outing. Kind of like…

*The kid who debuted in Kason Gabbard’s jersey: I was halfway asleep, but I heard rumblings of this from Josh and Tom. I was interested in his situation and even drowsily considered blogging about him, but sleep won out. Speaking of winning, if it were opposite day, I could be referring to…

*The bullpen: One word – BLECH.

This is how all loyal Rangers fans have been rewarded this season: 6-10. Really? From 3-0 to 6-10. They won just enough to evoke dreams of red and blue November parades and shiny rings.

I guess the “best farm system in the nation” will get plenty of practice this year.

Remember, my fantasy team last year was named “Rangers in 2010″ for a reason. You gotta believe. Just not right now. (And I do hope they prove me wrong.)

Mavs-Spurs: As far as that series is concerned, I don’t have a whole lot to say. I’m not a huge NBA fan, but I do like Dallas when it is good, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.

I’m pleasantly surprised to see the Mavs lead the series, 2-1. It’s good they got that road playoff monkey off their back. They had lost, what, nine straight road playoff games, dating to 2006? (The best chance they ever had to win the title, in my opinion.)

Not sure what the deal was in the blowout game the other night. Why did Popovich sit his stars?  I didn’t see most of the game, and when I found out that not only was it on, but the Mavs were up by 32, I decided it was good luck that I wasn’t watching.

So, all that being said, it is clear that my knowledge of the series is seriously lacking. You can bet I’ll be paying better attention from here on.

Final thought: It’s kind of a fact that Dallas’ four major teams can’t all be good at the same time. I promise I will back this up in a future post.

Flowers bloom as a season ends

I originally planned to write this blog on Sunday, but I procrastinated. Then I found out on Monday afternoon that a friend from college had died. So this blog topic  is oddly appropriate, and in a way, a tribute to her.
RIP Stefanie.

******

Well, I’ve had a lot going on since OSU’s hard-fought loss to top-seeded Pittsburgh in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday. That’s why I didn’t write this sooner.

Normally, I get over season-ending losses pretty quickly, but I got really worked up and excited and dreams of the Sweet 16 danced in my head until late in the game and it’s kind of hard to come down from that without a thud.

You kind of have to put the end of the season into the context of the seven stages of grief. For example:

1. Shock and denial: (OSU is  down eight points with 17 seconds to go…) ::final buzzer:: “Are you serious? That’s it?… But they played so hard… What about the seniors? What about Byron Eaton and Terrel Harris? And Anthony Brown??”
2. Pain and guilt: “Ugh…. this sucks!! If only I had gone to more games, maybe I could have cheered them to more wins. Gallagher-Iba was so empty this year.”
3. Anger and bargaining: “Maybe they can send the tapes of all the non-calls to someone at the NCAA. The refs were awful!!!”
4. Depression, reflection and loneliness: “Sigh… Only seven months until the new season. What will I do until then? All my other teams suck.”
5. The upward turn: “Well, it was a hard-fought season… Look at how improved they are from two months ago. Keiton Page is just a freshman, and he will only get better with time. And what a great ending for Travis Ford’s first season, to turn around a team that had lost in the first round of the NIT three straight years. Oklahoma State will be a force in 2009-10.”
6. Reconstruction and working through: “What’s this? An email about fantasy baseball starting up again? Wow, didn’t realize it was that time of year already. That’ll be a nice distraction.”
7. Acceptance and hope: “Oh well. At least the Cowboys went down with a fight. A moral victory, I guess. And I hear they have some decent recruits waiting in the wings. I’m especially proud to wear orange after this postseason.”

So, in this postseason, winter is over and spring is here (although there’s a chance of snow later in the week).  It became apparent a couple days ago that those ugly plants by our front door are daffodils. I like them (and their yellow flowers) now that I know what they are. And I’m thankful for all the rain we have gotten, too.

A very good Friday: OSU beats Tennessee

Just watched my alma mater, Oklahoma State, beat Tennessee 77-75 in the most evenly matched basketball game I have seen in a long time.

The teams were like mirror images of each other. Tennessee can hit 3s, but the Vols also went ice cold on shooting late in the first half, continuing into the second half. Bad Tennessee looks a lot like bad OSU.

But enough about bad OSU. When Byron Eaton drove to make it 76-75 OSU, I about lost it. Nice way to end the first NCAA tournament game of the senior’s career.

I really thought the Cowboys would dig themselves too far into a hole with foul trouble, but somehow they pulled it off. I began mentally preparing myself for a loss when James Anderson picked up his fourth.

Really, the only thing that kept me thinking OSU could win were two very interesting stats that our OSU beat writer, Jimmie Tramel, dug up.

1. Tennessee usually wins when it turns the ball over MORE than its opponent.
2. Tennessee nearly always wins when it outshoots its opponent, and it nearly always loses when it doesn’t.

The final stats? Vols 11 turnovers, Cowboys 12. FG percentages: Vols 42.9, Cowboys 56.6.

So Pitt is next (assuming). I picked Pitt to win it all in at least a couple of brackets. Don’t know much about them, but I am looking forward to the game anyway.

Speaking of brackets, mine are all blown up. I filled out about six because I kept getting invitations, and I thought, why not?

My brackets are like snowflakes this year: Each is unique.

I got way too cute with upsets, even I though I myself said there wouldn’t be too many this year.

One good one I did get away with was Western Kentucky over Illinois. I almost got away with Utah State over Marquette, and I picked North Dakota State over Kansas in five of my brackets. I saw virtually nothing of that game, but the score atop the screen indicated it was pretty close most of the game.

But enough about brackets. They are kind of like fantasy teams; no one cares about yours, just their own.

And while it’s fresh on our minds, let’s talk about the flippin’ sweet OU game last night. If you haven’t heard or seen the flip yet, watch any game today. I guarantee it is mentioned at some point.

For the record, a Morgan State player flipped Blake Griffin over his back, WWE style. Griffin just popped up and smirked after coming dangerously close to having his neck broken.

Obviously, that kind of thuggy behavior and lack of self-discipline has no place in the game. But I have to admit as cheap and dirty as the foul was, it looked kind of cool. (Obviously I can only say that because Griffin appeared OK, for the most part.)

I know a lot of people are tired of Blake coverage and were secretly glad to see a cheap foul like that, but 1) it only gives him more air time (literally) and 2) makes him look like a saint for not retaliating. So there.

Well, I have to run some errands before I go to work today. I am slotting, but the only real late thing we’ll be waiting on is the Tulsa-Auburn NIT game. I really wish it was on TV.

The most wonderful time of the year

Don’t get me wrong. I have forgotten more about pro hockey and baseball than I know about college basketball.

But I do have a growing affection for the most hectic sports month of the year: March. You can’t beat the Cinderella dreams, Selection Sunday, mammoth upsets, overtime classics and of course, the brackets.

Besides, what other time can you turn on the TV at practically any given hour and see a decent hoops game?

Anyway, what a day for Big 12 basketball. Baylor beating Kansas, OSU coming out on top in a crazy Bedlam finish… long day.

Add in the high school basketball state tournaments, a.k.a. gold trophy weekend, and you have a looong week. Really, it’s a long month until all the local teams have been bounced.

I really think that, barring major injuries, OSU could be a Sweet 16 team this year. I wouldn’t have dared think that two months ago, but the surprising Cowboys seem to have really jelled. Marshall Moses gets the title of “luckiest man alive” (he supplants the man who survived jumping into Niagara Falls on Wednesday).

I know he was frustrated over his fifth foul, but there’s no excuse for the naughty language that got him T’d up. OU made 1 of 2 of its free throws on the technical and 1 of 2 on the foul, tying the game at 64-64. Considering the final margin was 71-70, he is very lucky his lack of discipline didn’t cost his team the win. John Wooden would not approve.

OU has further proven that it really is a one-man team. Shut down Blake Griffin, shut down the Sooners. Poor guard play plus 19 turnovers equaled the Bedlam that got away.

Analyzing the game is hard because it was a combination of OU throwing it away with a pesky OSU team using heart to overcome a superior foe. I think OU has been exposed, but I also think the Cowboys got lucky in that they caught the Sooners at just the right time.

All in all, it was definitely a classic Bedlam, no matter which side you are on.

Speaking of classics, how about Syracuse-UConn? Six overtimes?! 102 points scored AFTER regulation?! Those poor guys looked exhausted.

UConn took the loss, but the Huskies might have also gotten the better end of the deal. The Orange has to play West Virginia today with dead legs. UConn gets to rest until the tournament starts.

I hope Tulsa plays well against Alabama-Birmingham today. TU will be shorthanded, as Bishop Wheatley was suspended one game for a flagrant foul committed Thursday against Rice. But the Blazers went to overtime yesterday, which might have worn them down a bit.

The Golden Hurricane is rolling right now, but unless TU beats Memphis (or Houston) for the Conference USA title, it’s NIT City. As of 1 a.m. Friday, TU’s RPI had fallen to 63 on collegeRPI.com. Not good enough. A weak schedule really hurts them.

Well, I’m not sure what to make of OSU-Missouri (RPIs of 18 and 15, respectively). When they met earlier in the season, OSU nearly rallied back from a 19-point deficit, and would have too if not for a suspect foul call during a frenzy under the net in the waning seconds.

I know Missouri prides itself on being the “Fastest 40 Minutes in Basketball,” but I think OSU is athletic enough to keep up. And the Cowboys have confidence after the big win Thursday. I just hope they aren’t already emotionally spent.

OSU is a tournament lock. I think it would be OK to lose tomorrow just to catch up on rest and heal up any nagging late-season injuries.

No matter what, it’ll be an action-packed weekend.

Or should I say month?

Bummer for Carbonneau

It was sad and surprising to see Montreal fired head coach Guy Carbonneau on Monday.

Canadiens general manager Bob Gainey, who pulled the trigger, named himself head coach. I know next to nothing about their relationship, but firing Carbonneau couldn’t have been easy for him.

Gainey and Carbonneau have known each other for nearly 30 years (possibly more), as teammates in Montreal in the early 1980s, then as GM and player in Dallas in the  ’90s. They reunited again in Montreal in 2006 as GM and head coach.

Carbonneau was obviously never as big in Dallas as he was in Montreal, but he did seem like a good guy and was fairly popular as a member of the 1998-99 Cup-winning team.

Gainey was quoted as saying his team lacked emotion during a recent slump. Although the Habs would be in the playoffs if the season ended today, it would be by a thread. Also at issue seems to be whether Carbonneau had control over his players, some of whom were linked to a suspected gang member and a drug dealer. Also, standout winger Alexei Kovalev had been struggling as of late.

My first instinct was to wonder if the Stars won’t try to snatch him back up as an assistant or front-office guy, but Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News says it’s doubtful. Too many cooks in the kitchen, that type of thing. Besides, the Stars can’t hire back every popular player after he retires.

Heika adds that Dave Tippett wouldn’t be too comfortable with Carbonneau waiting in the wings. I like Tippett a lot as a coach, but he is on thin ice (no pun intended) as it is. If the Stars tank in the first round of the playoffs, I think he’s out. Fans are hungry for Dallas to be a powerhouse again, and Tippett hasn’t kept the Stars at that level consistently.

Tippett has several good excuses if they don’t make the postseason at all this season (injuries, Avery debacle, goaltending akin to Swiss cheese), but an excuse is still an excuse.

Anyway, just kind of a sad story to see. If the Stars were to invite him back, at least he’d be near family, as son-in-law Brenden Morrow and family would be nearby. Maybe he can rejoin the Stars as a scout or consultant.

Say goodbye to an expensive distraction: Terrell Owens

Sometimes you have to get rid of a star player to win.

So, on Wednesday night, the Dallas Cowboys said adios to Terrell Owens and possibly hello to the postseason.

Terrell Owens is and always will be a locker-room cancer, with his constant need for attention (remember the pain pills?) and penchant for discord, like the late-season drama between him, Jason Garrett, Romo and Witten.

Sure, there were years when he produced for the Cowboys, but he was really never anything  more than one big mouth.

It seems Jerry Jones finally realized he had to make a monumental move to make up for the underachievement of last season, when so many talking heads practically proclaimed the Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl champions before the season even started. He fired his defensive coordinator and let Pacman go, but that wasn’t enough.

Once the season ended and Jerry made it clear he was sticking by his namby-pamby head coach, I pretty much gave up on the Cowboys. If no one is going to take credit for that waste of a season, forget it.

Granted, there is plenty of blame to go around at Valley Ranch. Here’s a good splattering for you, Hollywood Romo. Throw a few big globs at T.O., too (try not to drop ‘em!) And let’s slather a whole bunch on Jones himself for running his team into the ground. And you can lick the lid, Wade Phillips.

Anyway, I’ll be glad to see what  Roy Williams can do as the No. 1 receiver. Without T.O., Jones has actually given next year’s team a chance.

P.S. I wonder if the cameras were rolling for T.O.’s new reality show… If getting released isn’t reality, what is?