The Bruins Have Their Goaltender

Tuukka Rask is the kind of player who wins Stanley Cups.

With Rask, Chara, Wheeler, Ryder, and Bergeron, the B's have some nice pieces to build on for what should be a real run for the Cup next season, after they address the goal scoring shortage with some free agents and the second pick in the draft. This year, we'd be happy just beating the Sabres. Being up 2-1 is a nice spot to be in and a win Wednesday should clear the way for a spot in the Conference Semis, though it's hard to imagine the Bruins doing much serious playoff damage this year with their shortage of goal scorers. You can't win every game 2-1 or 1-0.

But there is real hope in Beantown concerning the town's Original Six entry.

Rask, mark our words, has a chance to be the next great NHL goalie. Big, fast, quick, smart, aggressive without being reckless, and doesn't take too many costly chances. We've always loved him, and his play so far in the Buffalo series gives us reason to think that the Bruins are closer this season so their first Cup in almost four decades than last year's team with all its hype, a club which struck us as so much fool's gold. Mostly because we've never been high on professional journeyman Tim Thomas.

And we couldn't be higher on Tuukka Rask.

Come join in the fun and watch the Bruins v Sabers Wednesday night at 7pm.

A Decent Local Paper Finally Jumps the Shark

Our local paper, the Portland Press Herald, has as its only regular columnist a guy named Bill Nemitz, who does a decent job usually writing about the goings on around town. But lately he has been, um, off target.

And today was the most off of his recent pieces. Nemitz wrote an unintentionally hilarious article today about some dude in the Maine Libertarian Party who is moving heaven and earth to get some harmless joke off the internet. The joke concerns the guy's possible pot smoking, a blog posting by an unnamed jokester. Wow. The Libertarian Party has no use for cops, politicians, civil service employees...basically anything funded by your tax dollars. But when they are wronged, man, watch out!!!! They cry foul. And get the local media to help them out.

Read the article link and tell me that isn't some funny stuff.

Kind of like the Tea Partiers holding their lynch mobs in taxpayer funded public parks. Do they not understand that government does a lot of good? Or have we here at Apartment 404 lost our collective minds?

...It wouldn't be the first time.

Interesting Discussion of Racism in MLB on SonsofSamHorn.com

See here...

Bad "Date"

A truly awful piece of trash is "Date Night."

The first black mark on Tina Fey's resume, this one is juvenile and witless. Our entire staff walked out after about 40 minutes. How is it possible that the reviews have been, in general, so kind to this bomb? We predict it will sink like a stone next weekend in the box office.

How could the lovely Tina Fey let us down so entirely? Very depressing.

Let's Just Be Honest About Tiger

He's just another self centered, arrogant jerk of an athlete who will admit to nothing unless he absolutely has to.

The doctor who most likely gave him PEDs (why else would Tiger see this guy? What, they have no docs in Florida?)? Tiger saw him, which has been proven, but wouldn't admit anything else that hasn't been proven.

His reason for rehab? "Personal."

Etc etc.

What a bunch of crap. We got caught up in the Tiger mania twelve years ago just like everybody else. But man, the dude is ice cold. Can you imagine having dinner with him? What would you talk about? We'd surely be bored out of our minds.

He's just a creepy dishonest guy who can hit the ball a long ways.

And he's a good putter, from what we hear.

Arrogance in Africa

The current issue of The New Yorker contains a fascinating, lengthy piece about an American family who may have gone too far in their desire to protect African wildlife.

The article is by Jeffrey Goldberg and seems to be an example of great reporting combined with masterful storytelling.

"As So Often Happens"...

...Is an expression that used to be used a lot during baseball games by announcers when a fine defensive play was made by someone who wound up leading off the next half inning.

We would like to suggest a new use: Every time a basketball player stupidly blocks a shot out of bounds (instead of to themselves or a teammate) and the offense winds up scoring anyway the announcer should remark, "As so often happens when a blocked shot is sent out of bounds the offense winds up with two points and the block is rendered useless."

This means you, Dwight Howard, Josh Smith, LeBron and all the other players who do this all the time. It is a stupid play and their idiocy should be pointed out to young players everywhere.

==========

Block the ball softly to yourself or a teammate. That's how Bill Russell won 11 titles in 13 years.

Rejecting your opponent's shot into the third row gets you on SportsCenter along with an early exit from the playoffs/NCAA tournament. Nothing more.

Quick Impressions on Butler's Win

1) Brilliant move by Tom Izzo getting a free timeout with 5.5 seconds left in the game. He had just one timeout left and wanted to save it, so he bitched to the refs about the clock starting early. It didn't and the refs stupidly put the clock back to 5.8 seconds. And then Brad Stevens had his players smartly intentionally foul the Spartans, then crash the boards on the intentionally missed second free throw (as the Bulldogs had done all game long), get the rebound and protect the win. Both coaches showed why they are among the best in their profession in this beautifully fought but poorly played game.

2) Michigan State got only 6 offensive rebounds to Butler's 10. Izzo wants to win the board battle every game and this is where Butler won it; by protecting the defensive glass.

3) Michigan State's ballhandling was poor and the team turned it over 16 times to Butler's 7. Despite outshooting Butler percentage wise 42 to 30, the turnovers and free throw discrepancy (MSU committed their 7th foul about halfway through the second half; Butler wasn't great from the line but good enough) had a lot to do with the Butler win.

4) How the fuck does Jim Nantz, with about a minute left in the game, not know WHAT THE DAMN SCORE IS? He idiotically said the game was tied when Butler held a one point lead. It was our impression that Nantz and Kellogg were brutal tonight. Not that we want Billy Packer back anytime soon but these guys did not cover themselves in glory. Kellogg has turned into quite the sycophant, letting the President win their HORSE game and then not criticizing when required during game action. He has been quite the disappointment as lead color man for CBS NCAA action. Where's Len Elmore when you need him? And Nantz seems to have lost his fastball at an early age. He just doesn't seem to have a lot of passion for the game. Hey Jim: we know your heart is already in Augusta, but put some effort into it, would ya?

A Litte (Bit) Country

We here at The 'Pent have been listening to some country tunes lately and wanted to list some of our favorites.

He Stopped Loving Her Today -- George Jones -- A beautiful tearjerker of a ballad.
I Can Tell By the Way You Dance -- Vern Gosdin -- I don't know a lot about Gosdin but this is an awesome dance tune.
If You're Gonna Do Me Wrong -- Vern Gosdin -- Another one by the man with some golden pipes.
Family Tradition -- Hank Williams, Jr. -- A famous country song, sung beautifully.
I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool -- Barbara Mandrell and George Jones -- Mandrell was usually too pop influenced for our taste but this one is great.
I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry -- Hank Williams -- Not a great recording, but one of the best country songs ever.
You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Man) -- Loretta Lynn -- Great toe tapper.
Coal Miner's Daughter - Loretta Lynn -- What list of country songs would be compete without this classic?
Tim McGraw -- Taylor Swift -- We like uptempo Taylor more than her ballads.
Leaving on a Jet Plane -- John Denver -- Simply a great country song.
Where Were You (When The World Stopped?) -- Alan Jackson -- Not sure about the politics, but a pretty song.
Little Sister -- Dwight Yoakam -- Great cover.
A Country Boy Can Survive -- Hank Williams, Jr. -- Kick ass country.
Jackson (Duet with June Carter from "At Folsom Prison") -- Johnny Cash -- Great stuff from the master.
I Walk The Line -- Johnny Cash and Rodney Crowell -- New look at a country classic.
The Night Hank Williams Came To Town -- Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings -- Classic country.
Long Way From Home -- Waylon Jennings -- Terrific stuff from a guy who might be underrated.

The Butler Might Do It

If the Butler Bulldogs win two more games this weekend and take the National Championship, we would be hard pressed to think of a bigger upset in any sport in our collective lives as sports fans.

People of advanced lineage can always point to North Carolina State and Villanova winning national titles in 1983 and 1985 as massive upsets, but an honest appraisal of those two memorable clubs shows underachievers for much of the year that put their games together just in time for a tournament run. Think about it: NC State had Thurl Bailey, a fine NBA player for years with the Jazz, Lorenzo Charles was a bad ass college player, Cozell McQeen was the worst starter and he was a big body who did his job. The guards were better than Houston's, as Sidney Lowe and Dereck Whittneburg could play with anyone. Compare them with that Houston team they beat, which was known as Phi Slamma Jamma and of of the great college teams, but as far as NBA impact only Clyde Drexler and, of course, Akeem made any noise. So that's one good pro against two great ones. The talent differential wasn't that great. The same goes for Villanova beating Georgetown. People seem hung up on how big an upset that supposedly was, but that just ain't true if you match them up man for man. Pat Ewing and Reggie Williams were the only NBA players on the Hoyas. The Wildcats had Harold Pressley, a first rounder by Sacramento, and Ed Pinckney, who was a first rounder and long time pro. Dwayne McClain was another bad ass college player, like Charles, who never made The Association. And Gary McLain was a fine point guard despite being high that game. An honest appraisal shows that Villanova had as much talent as Georgetown. Heck, maybe John Thompson should be given more credit for coaching the shit out of that team and getting Ewing to three Monday Nights in four years. Thompson may be the most underrated great coach in recent times. He just didn't have all that much talent in the Ewing Era and still kicked serious ass.

Turning to Butler now, they only have one pro on the roster, and Gordon Hayward will be a pick in the 20s when he comes out. He's a terrific player who has a chance to be a real good pro, but does not ooze athleticism (And no, that's not just because he's white. He just isn't that athletic, though a better jumper and runner than just about any other white collegian.). Matt Howard has zero chance to play in the NBA. Butler's guards are good but they aren't deep. I don't see them getting pass Izzo's meatgrinder of a team, though we'll be rooting for them.

Having put to rest the Nova and NC State myths, we here at Apartment 404 are only coming up with the 1969 Mets and the 2003 Florida Marlins as huge upset winners. The Mets were the worst franchise in sports for their entire history up to winning the WS that year over a great Orioles team. The Marlins came out of nowhere to beat a good but not great Yankee team. Beckett got hot at just the right time. Their payroll was almost nonexistent. But they got hot at the right time and became champs: now that was an upset.

No, Butler as a 5 seed and coming from the Horizon League winning the NCAA title would be quite a big fricking deal. Almost unprecedented.