Choosing Sides

I remember all the times we played a pickup game as kids, whether it was dodge ball, baseball, football, basketball, street hockey, whatever . . . there was always the drama of who was going to be captain, who was going to be picked on what team (AKA – they like me) and who was going to be the last person standing (they think I suck).

This year the NHL All-Star hockey game is taking this format. Instead of one conference against the other, it is a dose of evolutionary pecking order, dominance, favoritism and last and definitely least, which All-Star sucks.

I love it.

Star Gazing…

“Crosby is so far ahead of Ovechkin right now Ovie would need a telescope to see him.”

“Crosby has won the Stanley Cup (by going through Ovechkin), the Olympics (again, by going through Ovehckin) and the World Championships.”

“I don’t believe Crosby ever won a world championship, though he did win a world juniors title. But Ovechkin was part of the Gold-medal winning Russian squad in 2008. So, instead of 3-0, we’re now talking about 2-1. Of course, if we’re just measuring world titles, Caps winger Jason Chimera seems to have won one in ’07.”

“Ovie behaved wretchedly during the Games when he shoved the camera of some woman…Ovechkin…is bordering on out of control.”

These are just some of the quotes and topics and blog posts literally FLYING around DC since the Olympics.

I actually have to say I like all this a lot! Ovie behaving the way he did with fans and their cameras is totally irresponsible but everything else is great!

Why, because this just adds to the rivalry. Fuel for the fire. Even more hype for the upcoming playoffs and championship run.

I think it will, hopefully, play into the Caps favor and become a real motivational revenge factor.

Three of the soviet Olympic team members are on the Caps. All three have been around for all the losses to Crosby and what ever team he is on.

And let me just say here, they are both all stars. “Beasts” as I have heard that term used a bit too often lately. Of course each, being one player, do not make a championship team. They help of course, but it takes all the pieces fitting together to make a championship team.

Watching Olympic Hockey was really great this year and I totally enjoyed it, even though the USA team lost in OT.

And now, I can’t wait for the playoffs to start. To watch Ovie, Semin, and Varlamov take on you know who and, hopefully, wipe them off the 2010 NHL map!

Sport Shorts

Congratulations to Ovechkin!
Just having some fun with the Hart Trophy, Ovechkin reaches out to touch it before pulling his hands back in homage to his “hot stick” celebration.

Ovechkin is the first repeat MVP in more than a decade and only the 11th player to win the Hart multiple times. He earned 115 of a possible 133 first place votes, 103 more than the league’s leading scorer, Evgeni Malkin of the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.

He also won the Pearson Award; the first player to win the Pearson back-to-back since Jaromir Jagr in 1999-2000. Ovechkin dedicated the Pearson to his grandfather, Nikolay Kabayev.

Go Drew!
As one who went to college in North Carolina and now lives in Virginia, I always try to cheer for the local gals and guys.

If you want to root for someone in the non-Tiger/Phil heavyweight class of this week’s Umbrella Open, then the amateur Weaver is a perfect place to start and finish. Nothing against the rest of the field, but very few players here can match his backstory.

He won the British Amateur in 2007. He has played in the Masters and the British Open. He squeezed through the nerve-racking U.S. Open qualifier and was a mere 100 yards away from entering the Engineering Hall when the popping sound of gunshots began to echo from inside the building at Virginia Tech.

Perhaps this is why New Yorkers are following him and cheering him on. They can identify with him, what he has been through and how far he has come.

Last time Vegas had a football team, He Hate Me was king. Now they have We Hate He…He being Adam Archuleta.

Adam Archuleta, who the Redskins made the highest paid safety in NFL history back in ‘06, was selected by the still nameless Las Vegas franchise in last night’s UFL draft.

Honestly there is now team name yet, no schedule, and as far as I am concerned…

Really truly could not care less…

And, just in case you were looking for other type of pics on this post, based on my title…

Here you go.