Dew Tour! Part 2: The Women

This post is going to be shorter than the other one.

I know the names of maybe 3 female snowboarders. Disgraceful? Maybe, but I'm learning.

Only two from the Breckenridge standings caught my eye. Elena Hight and Kelly Clark, the number 2 and number 6 seeds in the finals.

Kelly Clark

Elena Hight

Congrats!

Dew Tour! (The Men's side)

I was unable to watch this past weekend's Dew Tour stop. Disheartening.

BUT!

That isn't going to stop me from telling you some results.

First, I think I should give you a bit of my background with

snowboarding (not that it's very extensive).

I am a lover of winter sports (is it that obvious?) and as such, I have a love affair with the Winter Olympics.

Y'all are probably expecting me to bust out right here, proclaiming my love for Shaun White, right? Here's where I would go on and on about the fact that he can go 22 ft over the walls

of the Pipe and the fact that his determination to land everything perfectly is sexy. Wrong. While I do enjoy watching him in the SuperPipe (come on, 22 ft?), he's not the snowboarder that gets most of my attention.

No, that mantle falls to one Mr. Mason Aguirre. His style isn't as big as White's, at least from what I've seen, but that doesn't make him any less of a boarder. Aguirre is fairly relaxed in the air and his good natured approach to the sport makes him hard not to love.

I was looking forward to being able to watch him compete in the Dew Tour. It's been rare that I've had the time (or the channels) to sit down and actually watch a snowboarding comp like I want to.

On to those results I promised you.

Mason came in 8th in the SuperPipe finals at Breckenridge. Sad? Yes? But the guy in first place is someone I can respect: Louie Vito. I don't know what to say about this guy other than he's small and I love him for it.

Other names I know (and I'm surprised that I know more than 2): Greg Bretz came in 3rd, Luke Mitrani took 9th and Scotty Lago landed in 11th.

There were more names that sounded slightly familiar, but as no face popped into my mind when I read them, I won't mention them here.

Hopefully I'll be able to watch the next stop!

Unfortunate

Last night didn't go as I had hoped. But that's okay. The Thrashers are still one point behind the Caps. There's still plenty of season left!

The Caps pretty much slaughtered the Devils, as was to be expected. 5-1 was the final score.

The Thrashers game? Well it was a bit closer. Tied at 1 after the first. Dustin Byfuglien brought the team within 1 (making the score 3-2) towards the end of the third period. But an empty netter from one of the Blues sealed the deal.

I had high hopes for that game. The Thrashers lost both meetings with the Blues this season. I'm going to put last night's loss down to the fact that the Thrash had played a road game the night before.

On a brighter note, the Stars are leading their division. They won their game against the Habs last night 5-2. Adam Burish got on the score board!

Thrashers play the Bruins tomorrow! A game I will be watching.

My Five

So... the Thrashers beat the Maple Leafs tonight. 6-3. Exciting.

43 points!! Their season has been pretty sweet thus far. That 6 game winning streak was beautiful. The 7-1 destruction of the Devils on the 18th was awesome.

Tomorrow is important for the Thrashers. They go against the Blues who are 15-11-5. Thrashers lost to the Blues in their first meeting of the season by 1 in a shootout. If they can take St. Louis tomorrow that will put them at 45 points.

I don't know whether I want the Blues to win or lose to Vancouver tonight. If they lose, they'll take the ice with a vengeance tomorrow. If they win, they'll be riding that high.

Who else is playing tomorrow that will determine the standing of the Thrashers? The Caps. They play the Devils.

Now, the Devils have been eating ice chips this season... BUT! I am hoping they pull a win from their butts tomorrow and take the Caps.

The Flyers are at the top of their division with 49 points. The flightless birds are trailing by 5.

The Rangers are third in their division (they're in the Atlantic with the Flyers). I'm kind of okay with this. My teams hold the number one and number 3 spots. That's good.

The Wings and Blackhawks hold the number 1 and number 3 spots in the Central division respectively.

All in all, my teams are looking pretty good right now.

It's been a while...

So it's been a minute since I posted anything. But that's because I have been busy. If you check out my Twitter you can see what's up!

I've been going to hockey games and loving them. I'm usually so riled up and drained (yes, at the same time) after the games that I go home and bounce off the walls for about 5 minutes before I crash. It's intense.

Anyway....

I've seen some awesome games. The atmosphere in Philips Arena is growing into what it should be. The team is looking great!

On that note.... a few healthy scratches for the past couple games. Ben Eager! He's one of my top players. And he's out. Kind of irritating. But since he's a healthy scratch that means he's just not playing up to Ramsay's standards. Which I can understand. There were a few times I wanted to march down to the ice and kick Eags in the back of the knees for doing something stupid.

Either way, he's having a good season. But there's always room for improvement!

On to other things. I have a confession to make....

I am a noted and self-proclaimed hater of those useless flightless birds, the Pens. However, I have recently developed a bit of a crush on Kris Letang. It disgusted me at first, but I've gotten used to it. He looks like this drum trech/crew member that works with Avenged Sevenfold. He could seriously be this guy's little brother.

Anyway, I got work to do. I'll have more news for you soon!

Jumping from ESPN to CBS

Apparently, CBS hired David Berson as the "executive [Vice President] of CBS Sports and president of CBS College Sports Network." Berson worked as the "programming planning and strategy" executive VP at ESPN prior to his move to CBS.

This move takes Berson from the Disney family to the CBS family (obviously). They hired him specifically because he has done good work in the area of collegiate sports media. In his new position he hill be in charge of the day to day operations of the sports network. He will also be involved in every facets of CBS Sports.

This is an interesting move and I wish the man luck. It's obviously a pay raise. But it gives Berson a chance to try his had at managing a larger group of employees. Also, he'll have more responsibility when it comes to the company itself since he'll be in charge of a larger department.

Apart from him basically fixing the morning programming on ESPN, I couldn't find much about him. Well, there were a bunch of articles stating he had an affair with a co-worker, but those have no bearing on the actual action of playing sports so that's all the mention they'll get.

Beer and Baseball

According to this article on Sports-City, Anheuser-Busch filed suit against Major League Baseball. The brewing company claims MLB is breaking an agreement to make Budweiser the official brand of the league.

The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court, doesn't bring money into the equation, even though the MLB is asking for more the brewer to pay a "higher rights fee."Anheuser-Busch suggested that the league asked for a renegotiation of their April agreement when the brewing company became official beer sponsor to the NFL in May.

What is it with companies deciding to breach agreements? I'm not a beer fan by any means, but this is ridiculous. I understand making all the money possible on a deal, but I think messing with your sponsors like this is stupid. This partnership works to benefit both of them and the MLB has money coming from Anheuser in other ways. Why push for more money in this aspect?

Defiling ESPN

According to this article, the ESPN 3D experiment might not last past a second year. The service is offered through "DirecTV, Comcast and AT&T U-verse." Even though this channel is billed as 3D, all the programs shown are not in 3D.

The main issue with continuing to provide this channel is viewer-ship. Most TV viewers are skeptical about 3D television. Also, a specific TV is needed as well as a pair of 3D glasses that run the buyer about $150.

Personally, I'm okay with this trial-run failing. 3D is something that should be kept as a special effect for movies. Making it into a part of everyday life is ridiculous. I see 3D losing its novelty and freshness if channels like ESPN 3D continue to appear.

What appeal is there in watching sports in 3D? The glasses hurt the wearer's eyes. So is "the man upstairs" willing to trade good eyesight for eyeballs glued to the screen?

Say whaaaa???

Switch up from my usual hockey talk. I did say other sports would end up here.

This kind of amazes me. According to this article via the GrindTV blog, the Internation

al Olympic Committee (IOC) doesn't want to include the slopestyle Sochi 2014.

..... WHAT?!

This is utterly astounding. Apparently the executive board

feels the level of riding in the event is not up to the "required standards."

Whatever that means.

Slopestyle is just as important as the superpipe because it gives riders a chance to

show different skills.

I do like that the article points out that including the X Games as World Championship level events is a smart move. Anyone who has watched either the summer or winter Games would agree (at least I hope you would).

All in all, I'm kind of offend that part of snowboarding would get shirked (regardless the reason). The IOC is trying by expanding the term of what a "World Championship" event entails.

Can we make a push to get the slopestyle event on the schedule?

The Winter Classic!

So.... HBO Sports is going to have some crazy coverage of the Winter Classic this year!

This program is going to air exclusively on HBO. To bad I don't get that channel. I'm not at that much of a loss because I don't like the Pens or the Caps. Though, Kris Letang from the Pens has become somewhat of a guilty pleasure.

All access coverage of two teams I don't like? Eh. I'm sure some of you people out there in hockey land are loving this. Possibly even ordering HBO (or probably already having it?) just to be able to see your favorite teams and their grossly exaggerated star players in new and exciting ways?

Exciting? Not really. It's only a 12-minute segment that will be shown on repeat.

Really?

So according to this article on Yahoo!, the NHL has been busy the past ten days.

Five (5) suspensions and four (4) fines?! Really!? I have to wonder at the conduct of players when this is what the past 10 days looks like.

It could be worse, but it could be better.

In other news, Atlanta isn't doing too bad. They've won 3 of 5 games. Yay! (And yes, Ben Eager did score a goal and get an assist in one game!)

The Rangers....have won one game. I won't say much beyond they lost to the Islanders and I take that as an insult.

The Blackhawks? Won 4 of 7. So not too bad. But they lost their first game and that had to sting.

The Flyers have won two games out of five. They're doing better than their Stanley Cup rivals but not by much. Though I do have to give them a pat on the back for beating the Pens in their first game of the season. (We'll ignore the fact that the Pens game back with a vengeance in their second meeting of the season.)

And finally... the Red Wings.... have won 3 of 5 just like the Thrashers. I'm not happy they beat the Hawks but eh.

I think the Stars have the best record, winning 4 of 5 games. Yay for Adam Burish! Though, his goal was in the game they lost. I still support the team he's on.

Gotta love a lawsuit.

According to an Internet article from the Sun-Sentinel, the Miami Heat filed a lawsuit against Clear Channel Broadcasting. The Heat are claiming that Clear Channel has not lived up to the terms of their contract.

As stated in their contract, the broadcasting company is supposed to offer to the Heat what it offers to any other sports team it has a contract with. The Heat say that Clear Channel has been giving the Dolphins more coverage and airing their games on the FM station 105.9 while bumping the Heat to the AM station 940.

Can I just say, "What the heck people?!" Did they honestly think the Heat wouldn't notice that they were getting shafted? The basketball team was smart to sign such a juicy contract. I support their decision to sue and terminate the contract. Why do business with someone who isn't going to live up to their word?

I'm not a basketball fan by any means, but this just screamed at me when I saw it. I can't get past the fact that a company would be so stupid as to do something so obviously against a contract they have signed.

What the heck is this mess?!

Somewhat old news since it happened last month...well at the end of last month on the 27th.

But these Habs players are going INSANE.

Fighting is part of hockey. But the fights need to be fair. Not two vet players practically JUMPING a newer member of the league.

Utterly ricidulous I tell you.

Michael Cammelleri is making me want to burn my Canadiens shirt. I got it during a spring break trip but now I'm kind of regretting that fact.

I don't know what is in the air wafting around their ice, but it needs to get fixed and fast.

As a fan of the game I do not want stuff like this tainting the sport for new fans. Sure it's a rough sport but at the end of the day most of the players are still friends.

Act like you have some class people. Not like you just licked a crack rock before steppin' out on the ice.

NHL Regular Season

So the regular season starts tomorrow.

Games I will be watching for:

Flyers v Pens @ 7 pm

Blackhawks v Avs @ 10 pm

Ways to watch? Both games are slated to come on Versus so that's a plus. I haven't been able to make my mom see the benefits of getting the NHL channels via Comcast...yet. I still have faith that it will happen before I move out. It has to happen.

Also, there will be an ESPN gamecast up for each game. I can't resist and it gives me time to re-yell at players for stupid things.

The match ups during the Flyers/Pens game will be interesting. I'm looking forward to some trash talking and all around rough play. From the Flyers at least.

I don't put much into the Pens. In fact my enthusiastic donations mount to a whopping negative 2,000. If I don't respect your captain, I don't respect your team. The Staal brother is the only reason I can type the team name.

I actually spent a good portion of my Monday ticked off over a friend's opinion of the Pens. It's a fact that if you like the NY Rangers, you don't like the Pens. The way Lundy and that excuse for a captain go at it is proof enough. You're either backing the goal or bailing the "captain" out of a fight. His mouth gets him into the mess, his fists should get him out.

Rant over. For now.

The Blackhawks/Avs game will be extra interesting. The Hawks are starting this season out with a lot of new faces. Their winning team was split because of salary cap issues (which sucks a LOT).

I don't follow the Avs so no comments there. They looked good in the few games I saw of theirs last season though.

Friday's games you ask?

Thrashers v Caps @ 7:30 pm

This will be the most interesting game of my week. It falls on my mom's birthday. I don't think I will make it to the game because of a family dinner but believe you me that I will be getting texts to my phone and trying to hold my screams at the dinner table.

Ironically, I got into it with that same friend mentioned above over Ovechkin. Once I heard he like these two overrated players, I knew something was up. I wanted to smack the stupid out of him but I resisted. Plus he was saved by distance since this was a text message conversation.

He'll never know how lucky he was that day.

I'll be honest. I look forward to seeing Ben Eager on the ice. He's a blue-eyed hunk of man meat that I can't help but squeal inwardly over. I also want to see my other former Blackhawks. I've fallen in love with the Thrashers during the off season so of course I want to see them all play.

As for the Caps...well they were at the top of their division last season but they were ousted from the playoffs in the initial rounds. That has to mean something.

I'm hoping the Thrashers can pull a W even though they lost all their preseason games. Something I still haven't really recovered from, mind you.

Other games I'll be watching for:

Rangers v Sabres @ 7 pm Saturday the 9th (Killed it in the preseason!)

Stars v Islanders @ 7 pm same day

After these games, my routine starts over with the Thrashers/Lightning game at 7:30 pm on Saturday.

Hopefully I can keep track of all the games to give y'all a faithful telling of events.

I'm sure you'll get my faithful ranting either way it goes.

See you on the other side!

Sports craze

Things were hectic tonight. Three preseason NHL games and the Street League competition.

Let's start with the Street comp. It's a skateboarding thing for those of you who don't know. DC (maker of skate shoes and clothing) sponsors it. Tonight was the third and final stop in Las Vegas. Notable skaters included(to me at least): Ryan Sheckler, Greg Lutzka, and Chaz Ortiz.

Now, I didn't watch the entire thing because I was caught up in hockey, which I will get into later. However, the parts I did watch--something like the last four or five rounds-- were intense. Shecks didn't live up to my expectations until the maybe the last two rounds. Lutzka caught my attention pretty quick though. They pulled off some nice tricks, which I won't go into detail about seeing as my skateboarding knowledge is limited. (Don't want to embarrass myself.)

Two skaters really caught my eye, and with good reason. Shane O'neill and Chris Cole skated hard tonight. O'neill won the competition and Cole came in second. It was a close call for O'neill. During the last round, he was on edge as Cole did his final run. And when Cole fell? I could almost feel O'neill's relief here in Georgia.

My joy for these skaters didn't last long however. Oh no. I still had three, yes THREE, hockey games to see the end of.

We'll start with the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders game. I wasn't sure what to expect during this game. I've never followed the Islanders simply because they're my least favorite NY team. I had no clue how they play.

For me, this was the most chill game of the night. The Flyers took an early lead and held it through three 20-minute periods. It was nice to see them win. And Dan Carcillo picked up a point with an assist while Jeff Carter got two points when he scored two of the three Flyers goals.

Next we have the match between my favorite hockey team, the New York Rangers, and one of my other favorites, the Detroit Red Wings. I think the highlight of this game was mocking my friend, an avid Wings fan. The Rangers scored first and I was quick to rub it in.

The game itself was intense because the Rangers maintained their lead. Lundy, the goaltenders affectionate nickname, pulled out some awesome saves, only letting one shot by him. The game ended 5-1 (Del Zotto and Avery both posting goals) with the Rangers standing victorious. I want to pause here to further rub it in that the Rangers beat the Red Wings. See that Liss? They WON!

Gloating over.

The last game I tuned into: Thrashers vs. Predators. This one got most of my attention. As a Georgia resident, it is only right I support the Thrashers...and it doesn't hurt they are now home to one Mr. Ben Eager.

Yes. I am an Eager fan. His rough and tumble style combined with the fact that he can produce is attractive. And he's got some gorgeous blue eyes.

Back to the game.

The three periods went by way to fast. It was tied at the end of the first 1-1 and by the third it was tied again at 3-- thanks to a goal from Mr. Eager. I was looking forward to some overtime play but was robbed of the opportunity when David Legwand scored 8 minutes and 12 seconds into the third period.

The Preds were able to hold their one goal lead until the end of the game.

Sad. Very sad. The Thrashers weren't able to pull off a preseason win at home. There's still two away games to change this constantly defeated record to a more respectable one.

On top of all of this, I somehow managed to watch a short interview with pro-snowboarder Mason Aguirre as well. I'll share the main info with you: he's not quite sure what he's doing this upcoming season. I do believe he said he'd be on the winter Dew Tour, which will be awesome. But outside of that? Who knows.

OK. Enough of my rambling. Until next time!

Maybe Everything Really is Bigger in Texas

An article on dallasnews.com talks about the Texas Rangers signing a 20-year TV contract with Fox Sports Southwest which will bring in around $1.5 billion over the course of the deal. The initial reporting of this in a USA Today online article doubled this figure making the deal seem even more outlandish. As it stands, this deal will bring in between $75 and $80 million a year for the Rangers. While this new contract won’t take effect until after the 2014 season, some money will be paid before the next MLB season.

With this contract, the Rangers will be bringing close to 50 percent more than NFL teams make on their RV deals. It will effect another Dallas team, the Stars (NHL). Since Fox is paying so much for the Rangers and the Mavericks have a deal with Fox Sports Net, the Stars will be left in the dust when it comes to making a deal for air time. Although, there is always Comcast.

I think this is a bit ridiculous. I understand a company wanting to ensure they’ll have programming, but this is extreme. First off, it’s a 20-year deal. With the way major league sports go, the Rangers might not be worth $80 million a year even next season. It will be nice to have guaranteed programming, but will it be worth it if people don't want to watch the Rangers lose? (And yes, I might be jaded by the fair-weather Braves fans around here.)

Second, they’re disregarding the Stars! As an avid hockey fan, I’m going to think any deal that pushes an NHL team to the wayside is atrocious. Plus one of my favorite players (Adam Burish) signed on with the Stars over the summer and Dallas needs to see what he can do.