Jeff: The Monday Musings

!!!WARNING!!! THIS POST CONTAINS ACTUAL OPINIONS ABOUT THE SPORT OF PROFESSIONAL HOCKEY, DESPITE THE FACT NOBODY ELSE READING THIS IS AWARE THERE IS STILL A SPORT OF PROFESSIONAL HOCKEY. THANK YOU.

* Just wanted to get that out of the way. NHL hockey playoffs start later this week, and for the only time all year, I'm sad I don't have Canadian TV. My buddy Joel always bemoans how much hockey is on TV in Canada, and how hard it is to follow any other sport up there (especially the NBA), and he's absolutely right. Usually I'm glad to have American sports, except for this time of year. I LOVE playoff hockey. There;s absolutely nothing better. I'm down because my Vancouver Canucks, a preseason choice to make a run for The Cup, will miss the playoffs for the first time in 6 years (I could ramble on about why this is good because their current group was flawed but I'll save you the boredom). As much as I could care less how the Wild do, I'm also saddened they're not in the playoffs because a) it means I could have actually watched some games and b) I love watching playoff hockey in a packed bar of hockey fans cheering for a team like the Wild. Even The Jer admits (or did the last time the Wild were in the playoffs), how fun playoff hockey is. If you're somebody who hates it or doesn't understand it, just give it a chance. That's all I ask.

* The only thing that makes me feel better about the Canucks not making the playoffs is that the Toronto Maple Leafs didn't make it either. Come to think of it, why haven't I made a list of teams I hate most? I do not know the answer. As William Wallace's uncle Argyle says "that is something we shall have to remedy." Not today, but soon. I'm fairly certain Uncle Argyle would have hated the Leafs too. Really how can you not?

* The New York Knicks, who currently have the NBA's 2nd worst record, sat 6 of their best players, including Stephon Marbury and Steve Francis, in a 103-97 loss to Detroit yesterday. Should somebody tell the Knicks that tanking your last few games to enhance your draft position only works if you actually HAVE your draft pick (they don't. Or next year's)? Nah. (If I were still commenting on the Wolves this would be a perfect time for an "even Kevin McHale's not that dumb...or is he?" comment. But I'm not).

* Not sure if you saw it, because I'm guessing most people didn't, but David Stern and the NBA have lowered the age minimum for their developmental league, the NBDL, down to 18. This means that if 18 year olds really don't want to go to college, they can play in the D League for a year before turning 19 and becoming draft eligble for the NBA. Interesting that they'd slide this through so quietly after there was so much of a fuss made last year to raise the eligble draft age to 19. I've heard a few conspiracy theories as to why The Don Stern would do this, and for what it's worth, here's mine (just for the record I have zero proof this is true):

Trent from Swingers can sum it up in three words: "Vegas, baby! Vegas!" Yes, the NBA is the most likely league to get a team into what would be a VERY lucrative market in Las Vegas (it's no accident they;re hosting the All-star game there next year). Stern has been adamant that the NBA will not put a team in Vegas unless casinos within the city limits take NBA games off the books. Although this would hurt the sportsbooks, losing basketball games would be worth the risk. Why? And what does this have to do with lowering the NBDL age limit? I'll give you two more words: March Madness!! Of the millions and millions of people that filled out brackets on ESPN.com this year, FOUR people nailed the Final Four teams. That means there's millions and millions of people betting, and very few winning. March Madness is as big a betting time as the Super Bowl, and nobody loves the parity in college basketball today more than Vegas. Sure they could be hurt by people betting big on an underdog and winning, but the more schools with a legitimate chance to win it, the more the money gets spread around on different schools, and the more money Vegas makes. And what increases parity in college basketball? That's right, top high school kids either a) not going to college at all or b)only staying one year. This year's tourney showed that even with less recognizable players sticking around to play college ball, the interest nation wide (both on the TV ratings and at the betting windows) is as strong as ever. Stern wants to bring the NBA to Vegas? Lower your age minimum back down to 18, or give the country's most talented 18 year olds another option besides college. Vegas will lose the NBA betting to gain increased chances of taking people's money on March Madness. Again, I have no proof of this, but there's my conspiracy theory. If they end up fishing my body out of the Mississippi River this week wearing cement shoes, you'll know I'm onto something.

* Attended the Twins/Yankees game Saturday night. What an event. The combination of Easter weekend, the Yankees being in town AND Johan Santana pitching created a monster crowd (at least by Metrodome standards) of over 42,000. Gotta love a playoff atmosphere in April! Always fun to scream "Yankees suck!!" at the top of your lungs, although I'm fairly certain that chant is responsible for the Yanks 5 consecutive runs in the late innings. I was surprised by how many Yankee fans were there, and I've just never understood that. What would be somebody's excuse for cheering for the Yankees? The only things I could think of were that people were from New York, but then again you could still cheer for the Mets. The only other thing I could think of was that people enjoy selling their souls and cheering for Goliath. Wouldn't it get boring to cheer for the best team every year? How do bandwagon Yankee fans sleep at night? I'm guessing a lot of medication.

* If one month from today Rondell White is still in the Twins' everyday lineup, let alone hitting cleanup, you can kiss your playoff hopes goodbye. YOU CANNOT WIN A PENNANT WITH RONDELL WHITE BATTING CLEANUP!!!!!!!! I cannot stress this enough. The people at the dome seem to have caught on, as they booed him as he committed out after out. And the Yankees sure figured it out. Twice Joe Mauer came to the plate with a runner in scoring position and first base open, and the Yanks gave him the intentional walk both times. What'd Rondell do? Yeah he got out. I don't blame Rondell (did you know this is his 14th year in the big leagues?!?). He's just not that good, and he's being asked to play way above his head. If Rondell is DHing or playing LF a couple of times a week, batting 7th or lower, you're fine. But cleanup? Everyday?!? He wouldn't hit cleanup for any other team in baseball, and I'm not even kidding. The Royals, D Rays, Rockies, Pirates, or whoever you think is a bad team, none of them would have Rondell hitting 4th. Since the Twins will make it 19 years in a row now without aquiring a 30 HR hitter (1987 right?), you'd better hope Justin Morneau proves capable of hitting cleanup. Early returns look like he just might be, but even so, they'll still be a bat short. This is why, you know, a trade of Kyle Lohse, Scott Baker and any other prospects not named Francisco Liriano to the Reds for Adam Dunn would make so much sense. Too much sense, apparently.

* If the Yankees think they're going to the playoffs with that bullpen, they've got another thing coming.

* ESPN.com had a GREAT poll question the other day: who's the best college running back of the last 25 years? The choices were Herschel Walker, Bo Jackson, Barry Sanders, or Reggie Bush. When summer rolls around and we've got nothing but baseball to talk about, I'm pulling that question out and breaking it down. Oh, and Herschel, thanks to the Worst Trade in Sports History, will not be in the conversation, no matter how great he was at Georgia. When you ruin the Vikings AND build a dynasty for the team that traded you, especially when it's the f$%^&ng Cowboys, well you won't be on any greatest list of mine.

* 12 days until the NFL draft. Not that I'm counting or anything.