The Hazies - The Champs & The Chumps

Hey Peeps and anyone else checking in. A special "Hey" goes out to Hazel Mae if she is checking in.

Time to take a look back at the week that was and award an honourary "Hazie" to those who made news for all the right reasons. On the flip side, we'll look at those who made news for less than stellar performances.

HAZEL'S HEROES - THE CHAMPS

MLB
Congratulations to the Boston Red Sox who swept the Colorado Rockies to win their second championship in three years (four seasons). They came out of spring training as one of the favourites to win it all and they did it - leading the AL East from the get go and destroying the opponents in the playoffs (we are lumping Cleveland in there - they didn't choke, they WERE choked by the Sox). Special mention goes to 3B Mike Lowell who was named the World Series MVP - the guy has overcome a lot of things in his career and has persevered...that pretty much epitomizes a champ. We also have to mention P Josh Beckett who only pitched in one game but set the tone for the series by dominating the red-hot Rockies in Game 1 of the series.


NFL
New England Patriots QB Tom Brady had another great week - this time against the Washington Redskins. Brady accounted for five touchdowns, passing for three and rushing for two more, in a 52-7 beat down of Washington. Brady finished the day completing 29 of 38 passes for 306 yards.

New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees finally found his game, throwing four touchdown passes in a 31-10 win over the 49ers. Brees completed 31 of 39 passes for 336 yards. Didn't we tell you he'd team up with Marques Colston to have a big day?

Pittsburgh Steelers WR Hines Ward had eight receptions for 88 yards and had two touchdowns in a 24-13 win over the Bengals.

In case you are wondering - the tie that binds these three is that they are all members of a Maeple Leafs fantasy football team; they were responsible for wins in two different leagues.


NHL
Los Angeles Kings G Jason LaBarbera was named the NHL's First Star of the Week, backstopping the Kings to three wins, posting a goals against average of 0.67 and a save percentage of .976. We think Hazel would be down with this one, for no other reason that it makes the SenaTards look like jackasses for floating out a rumour that the Kings were ready to trade LW Alexander Frolov and another player for one of the Tards donkeys (goalies).

Carolina Hurricanes C Rod Brind'Amour was named the Second Star of the Week, leading all NHL scorer with five goals and four assists in leading the Canes to a 3-1 record for the week. Brind'Amour is one of the NHL's classiest players - the guy is a champ in every sense of the word.

Washington Capitals LW Alex Ovechkin was named the Third Star for scoring two goals and assisting on five others. We mention Ovechkin here because we aren't going to talk about what he did to the Maple Leafs last night.

HAZEL'S ZEROES - THE CHUMPS

MLB
New York Yankees (or former Yankees) 3B Alex Rodriguez and his agent, Scott Boras, announced last night that ARod had opted out of the remaining three years of his contract ($72M) and pursue free agency. This sucks on so many levels - making the announcement as the Sox were winning the World Series is obviously bad form - but also, it shows how much of a selfish prick he is. The story is that ARod is leaving due to uncertainty with the team - but obviously its about getting more money. The Yankees have said they aren't going to negotiate with him - talk is that the Cubs, Angels, Dodgers and a few others (including YOUR Boston Red Sox) may pursue him. If MLB owner had a brain cell between them - they would refuse to sign the jackass and let him twist in the wind. One day someone will broker this kind of agreement - and that someone will receive a the Hazie for lifetime achievement.


NFL
We are all about hating everything New York - the Empire State's two joke franchises who call New Jersey home screwed us big time yesterday.

The New York Jets "lead" (can you read the sarcasm behind the quote?) by noodle-armed Chad Pennington (13 of 20 for 106 yards) laid another egg yesterday against the Buffalo Bills. We won't get into how the loss cost us the week in our football pool - that's nothing. The Jets imitation of the keystone cops on defence late in the fourth quarter, allowing Lee Evans to go 85 yards for a touchdown, cost us SIX HUNDRED bucks on $5 sports lottery ticket. We needed the game to finish within three points either way and the Jets blew it. Here's hoping they lose each and every game from here on out - and may God make it painful on those pricks.

We should have known better than to trust the stinking/counterfeit Giants. We burnt a 15 point pick in our pool, but like the Jets that was nothing. We didn't trust them enough to cover the spread on our $10 ticket, but we figured these donkeys would win by at least four. You likely saw the Dolphins score a meaningless touchdown to make it 13-10 - that touchdown cost us another $250. Today's donkey is Eli Manning, Archie's little jerk off wowed the crowd at Wembley by completing 8 of 22 passes for 59 yards - typical, this guy folds in any spotlight game.


NHL
"Colon" Campbell, the NHL's disciplinarian handed Philadelphia Flyers D Randy Jones a two game suspension for a questionable hit on Boston Bruins C Patrice Bergeron on Saturday. In "Colon's" own words

"While it is my determination that Jones did not intend to injure his opponent, he did deliver a hard check to an opponent that was in a vulnerable position. There have been suggestions by some that this hit was comparable to other incidents earlier this season where players received significant suspensions for blows to the head. These comparisons and suggestions are wrong."

With respect to the hit - we don't think it was particularly dirty; the problem was that Bergeron went into a corner with his back to the play. So we are at a loss to understand what the suspension is for - hits like that happen each and every single game. Campbell, and the NHL, claim they want that stuff out of the game - but instead of punishing the action, they punish the result. This guy is a joke and his decisions are making the league look like a damn joke.


MONDAY'S THREE STARS
San Jose Sharks RW Devin Setoguchi had two goals in San Jose's 4-2 win over the Stars in Dallas last night.

New York Rangers RW Jaromir Jagr had a goal and an assist to lead the Rangers to a 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Green Bay Packers QB Brett Favre completes 21 of 27 passes for 331 yards and two touchdowns, including an 82 yard bomb in overtime, to lead the Pack to a 19-13 over the Broncos.

TUESDAY THREE PLAY
After a good day on Sunday, we finished the week at - $195; the total for the year stands at - $400. We'll get things back on track tonight.

Montreal over Atlanta - we think both teams suck, but the Habs have one of the league's best power plays, which is how they survive. Montreal gets the nod tonight based on special teams and Atlanta's suspect goaltending. Lay $100 on the Habs - $200.

Calgary over Nashville - the Flames are rock solid at home, the Predators are a shadow of what they were last year. This one is a mismatch - lay $100 on the Flames - $200.

Detroit over Edmonton - the Red Wings build their incredible seasons on beating bad teams like the Oilers. The Red Wings rarely ever let up against weak teams - they'll get it done in Edmonton tonight. Lay $100 on the Wings - $200.

That's it for today gang - thanks for taking the time to check in. To members of Red Sox Nation - enjoy your parade today, we'll talk later about "who is and isn't a 'real' Red Sox Fan"

Hazel, we hope things are groovy in your world.

We're Out!