The weekend that was

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

Mailbag 2008?
Not since the days of one of Thoughts of Hazel Mae's departed bloggers has there been a mailbag here. I'm probably stretching it with this one - but hey, a comment is a statement is a question. To Anonymous from Sunday Three Play entry: if you are reading this, you are absolutely right - the Vegas picks were weak. On the whole, the Vegas total wasn't bad (- $50) because I was able to call Tilt to play a few more games to minimize the losses - not a great five days, but definitely not awful.

This entry has featured Three Play picks for two and a half years - the year start with Week 1 of the NFL and ends on Opening Night of the next NFL season. This year's total is awful (see below), but over the course of the first two years the total ended up even - the winning percentage was good, but laying your cash on favourites can hurt - not great, but certainly nothing to be embarrassed about. The picks are for entertainment purposes only - if for nothing else, to show the absurdity of gambling - but some people check in for advice (either to bet on it, or go against the picks).

What I will say is this - while breaking even over two years isn't great, there were 10 games that I could point to that resulted in a $3,300 loss instead of $1,000 gain. IF 10 big favourites had not crapped the bed - the total would have been about + $4000. It comes down to that.

My picks sucked this weekend - it happens, what can I say? Like I said, the year to date total is really ugly right now, but it was like this last year and the loss was erased before Week 1 of the NFL. Keep checking back in - you can be the watchdog, so I won't be accused of cheating.


Rants/Observations on:

AFC/NFC Championship games
The saying, at least in the NHL, goes:

"You earn your money during the regular season, you earn your reputation in the playoffs."

Never has that rung as true as it did yesterday. Green Bay Packers QB Brett Favre gets far too much love from the media and fans - another favoured Packers team goes down to a big underdog in the Giants. For all of Favre's regular season accomplishments, the playoff record is 11 - 10 - hardly the kind of record that one of the game's greats would post. Favre was his dumb old self yesterday: throwing into triple coverage, throwing interceptions trying to force the ball into the wind, abandoning the running game far too early - it was a typical Brett Favre day in the big game. He gets all the credit when they win, and is rarely held accountable when they lose - same old, same old this year. Great quarterbacks lead their teams to victory - Brett Favre, very good, but NOT great.

In the category of over-rated - Green Bay CB Al Harris. How many times did they talk about this guy being a Pro-Bowler? Harris looked like a rented mule on the field against Plaxico Burress - he looked like a chump out there. You would think my man Troy Aikman would have done some homework on Green Bay's dream season - facing the likes of Jon Kitna, Rex Grossman/Brian Griese and Tarvaris Jackson twice a season AND playing a last place schedule? Geezus, Hazel could have made the Pro-Bowl playing CB for the Packers.

The New York Giants may be one of the worst Super Bowl participants in recent memory - I still can't figure out how these guys manage to win. They didn't deserve to beat the Cowboys, they should have lost yesterday to the Packers - I have a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach that this Super Bowl is shaping up to be a repeat of the Super Bowl that saw a BORING Giants team under Bill Parcells beat the high-powered Buffalo Bills with Jim Kelly? Something tells me the stinking Giants are going to pull an upset - just to piss Dallas Cowboys' fans off. The only good thing, if there can be such a thing, if the Giants win the Super Bowl is that they did it WITHOUT Tiki Barber.

Congratulations to the New England Patriots and their fans for a good win against the Chargers - overcoming three interceptions by Brady and indifferent day from Randy Moss they still win. While you have plenty to celebrate - is anyone a little concerned that they didn't steamroll the Chargers who played without L.T. and had Phillip Rivers playing on one leg? Seriously...is that somewhat disconcerting? I'm sure Tom Brady will be fine for Super Bowl Sunday...its an air cast right?


NHL
Media types often have this smug smile when the athletes they make their living covering, show a disdain for them and members of their profession. Some media members wear an athlete's contempt for them like a badge of honour - a sign that they have finally arrived or that they are pretty damn important. There are a lot of smug smiles around the ACC in Toronto these days - with many of the Maple Leafs not being very talkative these days. So while these jackasses pat themselves on the back after another "good column" - they should really take a look back at what they wrote and try to figure out why some guys don't have time for them.

The "visionaries" in the Toronto media are putting forth the notion that the organization should be losing games (tanking the season) in order to get a lottery pick in the upcoming draft. While these donkeys try to make a convincing argument about how it would be good for the future of the team - do they actually expect a professional athlete to roll over and not play to win...for the good of an organization they might not be with by the time these great prospects come up? I may be a crazy member of Leaf Nation who hopes they make the playoffs - hey, if they don't, I've gotten used to it. But Leaf Nation cannot, will not, forgive any player that quits playing. Gee, you don't think the likes of Damien Cox would love to see the players throw in the towel on the season just so he could rip them for being an ever worse team than he has made them out to be?

Funny - the Leafs have blown two goal leads in six or seven games this year, losing every one. While this is obviously a problem - shouldn't Leaf Nation take some solace that the guys can compete? Add seven wins to the total and they'd be a playoff team - just something to think about...there is still hope.

The SenaTards are a glowing example of the state of the NHL with 30 teams and a salary cap. If you have read this page in the past, you know I what I think of "the new NHL". Most teams have 5 or 6 top notch players and the rest are fill ins. The Tards, playing without two of their three best players have lost two in a row and look like they aren't even able to compete. It looks good on these clowns and their fans who were talking Stanley Cup in November after getting out to a 15-2 start; fast forward a couple of months and the Tards are sporting a 15-12-4 record and looking like chum for the Western Conference's top teams. So much for the donkeys that have boasted that the Tards have players in the AHL who could be solid third liners on most teams.

One last question to fans of the SenaTards - is it possible to have a goaltending controversy, in the true sense, when both of your goalies suck?

Speaking of looking like chum (I'm being polite), the New York Rangers have brought new meaning to the team sucking "Ace". The Rangers were thought by many, me included, to have THE team to beat in the Eastern Conference this season. Their free agents have done nothing, their defence is soft and if Henrik Lundqvist isn't the reincarnation of Terry Sawchuk on any given night, they lose. The Rangers are the season's biggest disappointment - Gomez was overrated and overpaid, but I thought Drury would bring more to the table.

Question for Bruins fans (all 17 of you) - How can you stand to watch these guys play? They're winning, but can you even stand to watch these guys? Claude Julien is getting high praise for turning these guys around...but seriously, they play NOT to lose - they are without a doubt one of the most boring teams to watch. Geezus, Hazel has her work cut out for her trying to find "highlights" of these guys. Enjoy the playoffs - you won't be there for long.

Speaking of "won't be there for long in the playoffs" - the Montreal Canadiens game against Pittsburgh showed why these guys can't be taken seriously come April. When Georges Laraque dominates your defence - you have a problem. The Habs, facing a Penguins team without Sidney Crosby, were dominated physically and didn't want to engage. The Penguins showed that when push comes to shove - the Habs pack it in and call it a night. They are a team who have built their record on the basis of getting six or seven power play chances a night - stay out of the box and you'll beat these guys.

For anonymous - back later with tonight's three play suggestions.


That's it for today - thanks for taking the time to check in. Tilt should be posting later today about his trip to Vegas.

Hazel, here's hoping things are groovy in your world.

Out.