In Defense of OV

I was looking for a picture of AO staying out on the ice after last night's handshake and saluting the crowd for what was a spectacular season by the Caps. It really was an amazing season from this Capitals team; 54 wins, 121 pts, 318 goals scored. But that's not my point, although I thought it was necessary to point out how good the Caps were this year (quick interesting fact: 3 of the past 5 Presidents Trophy winners have lost in the first round, including the 124 point Red Wings of 05-06).

Back to my main point; I'm not even going to point out the absurdity of Capitals fans being saluted for completely failing to give their team any overwhelming support despite being down most of the game (I've never seen a crowd so dull at times in a game 7 in the SCP). Actually, I am going to point out that terrible crowd last night; it got to the point where they were expecting the team to do something in order to get the crowd back in it, which as I've pointed out before in regards to Igloo crowds, sometimes it has to be the other way around, especially when your team is dominating the entire game. Caps fans (and DC fans in general) are an easy target, so I'm not going to hop on there, but the crowd failed that team last night.

Anyways, finally back to my main point. It was a class act by AO to stay out there despite it being one of the lowest moments in his career. He could have sulked off the ice immediately, hung his head in the locker room, and left without talking to reporters. But the part that interested me most was the lack of support he got from his teammates in this noble showing. The Versus guys pointed out the absence of any other team leaders in saluting the crowd for their season long support. Semin, Green, Backstrom? Nowhere to be found.

And that's the problem with this team. It's not Ovechkin, who despite his name aptly providing the letters for c-h-o-k-e, is really anything but a choke artist. He scored 5 goals with 5 assists in the series and has 40 points (20 G, 20 A) in 28 career playoff games. That's a 1.42 Points/Game average, which is actually better than his career regular season average of 1.34 (although he did bump that up to 1.51 this season). AO is a great player in any game, so let's get over that.

But Semin? Green? Talk about not showing up in the playoffs. I'm not one to go overboard when it comes to playoff performances; it's a small sample size compared to regular season play, and the more playoff games someone plays, the more likely their performance will match their regular season output (Alex Rodriguez anyone?). And I don't think Semin wasn't anywhere to be found in the series (he attempted 44 shots, more than even AO), but he pressed his game, trying to force things, when in the playoffs it's important to play within yourself.

Green was an easy scapegoat because he took the penalty in the offensive zone that led to the Habs' first goal, but his pinch in the third period led to the goal that brought the Caps back into the game with just over 2 minutes left. Even so, the guy has just 4 goals in 28 career playoff games (.14 G/GM ratio) in three seasons from 07-10 (during those seasons, he has 68 regular season goals in 225 games; a .30 G/GM ratio). Again, Green is just 24 years old, he has a ton of playoff hockey left to prove his true talent. But the questions will arise nonetheless.

All right, I'm going on way too long about a team I really distaste. For the record, I think Semin is a punk while Mike Green is one of the worst defenders in the league. But the whole point was that although AO plays every game with the intensity necessary, his teammates don't seem to follow suit. If some of these goats played with the heart that AO shows in every Stanley Cup playoff game, the Caps would never lose; there's too much talent on that roster to lose if they had the heart to match.

I think most of the blame can be laid on those individual players (what the hell happened to Tomas Fleischmann?), but some of it can be laid on their captain, who must lead in all facets, which includes bringing his teammates to the appropriate level that he shows game in, game out. Ovechkin's teammates' disappearing act at the end of the game only proved it further. If the rest of the team really followed AO as their fearless leader, they would have stayed out on that ice until #8 decided it was time to hit the showers. But their actions only proved their lack of respect towards their captain, which is not only the Caps problem, but Alex Ovechkin's as well.

Oh yeah, and if you haven't seen the Caps Eulogy on Puck Daddy (written by the PensBlog), you should probably check it out now.

Pirates 7 Brewers 3

I did not see that coming. The Pirates finally made it past the fifth inning while keeping the game interesting. But of course they couldn't hold their 2-1 lead, giving up a solo HR in the sixth and eighth innings, which put the Bucs down 3-2 heading into the ninth inning against Trevor Hoffman, the all-time saves leader. But the Pirates crushed Hoffman, who is over the hill at this point in his career.

I'm not all that surprised by the Pirates late-innings theatrics. This team, as terrible as they've been in the past ten days, has shown a propensity for not going down easy (that is, unless it's the third inning and they are already down six runs). That and a combination of luck have led to their stellar record in close games (+/- 3 runs).

I don't want to act too excited, but this was a huge win for the Bucs. It snaps a seven game skid, but more importantly, it snaps a 22-game losing streak at Miller Park in Milwaukee. I still wouldn't say the Pirates broke out by any means (the early season plate patience is still no where to be found), but they've been squaring up the ball a whole lot more of late, which should eventually lead to more runs. Just a few more notes:

Jeff Karstens isn't anything special, but he threw strikes for the most part, and was able to strand runners, which you can either chalk up to making a good pitch when he needed to and also a little bit of luck (which the Pirates have been lacking of late). I wouldn't expect that type of quality start from Jeff every time he takes the mound (especially given the big three numbers; 1 HR, 4 K, 4BB), but with the way the Pirates pitching has been of late, I'll take it.

Andy LaRoche is on an absolute tear right now, but most of it is due to luck. You just simply cannot sustain his LD% (42.4%!), and he's sneaking a lot of ground balls in between fielders. But he's squaring up a ton of balls while avoiding his major vice, pop-ups. He's gotta start hitting for power, but I'll take the base hits for now.

I make no bones on how I've soured on Ryan Doumit, but I would love to be proven wrong and for him to absolutely rip the cover off the ball. As long as he is staying back and driving the ball to the opposite field, I'll always enjoy watching him hit. But when he rolls over the ball continually and grounds out to first/second... nothing gets me as riled up as when Doumit does that.

There's probably more I can say, but I don't wanna pass too much judgment on just one game. Let's just enjoy this one for as long as we can, which is probably only about 12 hours, as the Bucs play a business man's special against the Brewers at 1 pm tomorrow. So if you're unemployed like me, enjoy!

Anthony Rendon, Here We Come!

Who is Anthony Rendon, you ask. The consensus number one pick for the 2011 MLB Draft. 2011; no, that is not a typo. The Pirates are terrible (and yes, I did watch the game last night and was fed up by the third inning... again), and their run differential of -82 is more than twice that of the second worst Baltimore Orioles. Unfortunately, just like everything else that's happened to the Buccos since Sid slid, the Pirates have been quite unlucky in that they are just 7-12, while the Orioles are a very lucky 3-16; so the Orioles have a slight 4 game lead on us when it comes to the Rendon sweepstakes (Keith Law has said he would take Rendon over Harper if they were in the same draft; plus Rendon is supposedly not a huge douche).

Why am I so obsessed with Rendon? Here's a recent snippet from ESPN's draft blog:

We've talked here about how there is a lack of college bats in the 2010 class, so I feel obligated to share the updated season numbers of 2011 top prospect Anthony Rendon, a 3B at Rice. After Friday's games, the sophomore is hitting .378/.542/.733 with 13 home runs and a preposterous 48-15 BB/K ratio in 40 games. He's walked in more than 25 percent of his plate appearances, and he won't turn 20 until June. He's what we in the business like to call -- good.

48-15! No prospect is a sure thing, but I really wouldn't mind the Buccos pulling a Pens '02-'04 type of last place tank in order to stack up on number one picks (all though, many people could argue the Pirates have been pulling that move since '93).

In all seriousness, I want to see the Pirates do well, but with the way they are playing right now, I just don't see that happening anytime soon. But I can guarantee you one thing; I'll still be tuned into the game come 8 o'clock this evening.

If you want some good news regarding the Pirates, the minor league teams are doing well!

Oh, yeah, this is hilarious.

Why?

I'm really trying to understand why I watch Pirates games anymore. I went to a bar with my uncle to catch the Pirates game along with the Red Wings/Coyotes game. It was all down hill from there. The Pirates are fucking terrible, I can't stand to watch them... once the games start. Before the game, I'm telling myself, this could be it, they'll turn it around here, Morton can't be this bad, the Bucco bats are this close to breaking out...

They are fucking terrible.

UPDATE: The Pirates are still terrible, but I should probably avoid posting immediately following a game; too much boiling frustration (I wanted to put my head through a wall when Aki Iwamura was doubled off first base on a pop-up in the top of the first inning today; it's the major leagues, who does that?). I think part of it is the terrible play all around. The last six games have all followed the same pattern of pathetic performance right from the get-go; they haven't even had a lead or been close in any of the games. And it's not just one thing; it's everything.

But these are the Pirates; I should expect this, right? Well, no, not really. Usually, in the beginning of the season, the Bucs play well while I really don't care because I know it will taper off as there isn't enough talent to sustain a .500 season. So usually by the time the Pirates are playing terrible baseball (August/September) I know it doesn't matter because it's such an experiment at that point.

The fact that the Pirates are currently playing like they did the past two August/Septembers has been extremely frustrating because I'm just not used to it, but maybe I should give them a break since, for the most part, the Pirates are starting the season as an experiment. There are a ton of question marks on this team all around and for the most part, everyone has bombed or been injured (actually, I can't think of one positive surprise performance so far from the major league level... Garrett Jones is still drawing walks?), which has directly led to this terrible start. It's amazing how terrible everything has gone; it can only get better, right?

And that is my thought process as I sit down every night to watch this team, which is also why I get so distraught when the score is 5-1 by the third inning. So I'll continue to watch, and most likely continue to be posting profanity laced reactions from 10-3 beatings like we took today (the Pirates collected 14 hits today, but only one extra base hit; that is confounding. The Pirates wOBA in the past seven days is a flabbergasting .246). I have little else to do with my life, but please be patient with me while I'm patient with this team.

Thanks.

PS - If you would like to commiserate with other Pirate fans, BucsDugout is the place for you. My favorite line comes from biggyv, "It's sayin something... when the best Pirates-related news of the week is that Chris Jakubauskas didn't die."

Also, this is a nice summary of what Huntington has accomplished since he took over. As I've said before, the plan is right, but what it comes down to is whether the guys making the decisions are game. So far, it looks like not. The guys they are bringing in have talent, but clearly are missing that major league gene in order to carry it over to the show...

No More Game at Mellon for Me

I am now 0-2 in this years playoffs, which is quite the opposite of where I was last May when I brought the Cup home with me from Detroit. Despite my lackluster record in the past week, I'm pretty sure Thursday was my last game at the Igloo either way. We've had some good times, and what better way to go out than a triple overtime game, which ended up being the second longest game in Igloo history. Although, it would have been nice to get a W. I don't think there is anything more deflating than losing a multiple overtime game at home; it's such a bummer. But we did get our money's worth.

Recap here, here, and here; my own thoughts boil down to one thing, Leclaire stole this one from us. It happens every now and then in the playoffs when a no-name goalie plays the game(s) of their life and stave off elimination ferrabit. Lets hope in this case that it was just one game. Game 6 is tonight at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa (7/FSN). Let's end it tonight and once again avoid seeing a handshake at home for the first time since Marian Hossa was a Pen.

I haven't commented on the Buccos since the Earth Day Massacre. Pat at WHYGAVS kind of sums it up for me; I know that's lazy, but if my comments from the last post (which was written while I was watching that game) can be taken as anything, I really don't want to bring this up again. I had the same reaction for about 24 hours after the game. I was going to the Pens game, so I had something to keep my mind off of it, but everybody going to the game with me, along with a few of my friends who texted me had the same thing to say, "20-0?"

See, most people whp know me, don't know anybody else who follows the Bucs this closely, so I'm sort of the go-to-guy for all things Buccos. I'm not trying to brag about this, if you think about it, it's pretty pathetic. But I'm that guy. So when I was being given the business about this historic loss, I wanted to say all the right things (it's just one game, it's a long season, this is an evaluation year, the Brewers are a really good team, etc...), but all I could do was shake my head and say, "I don't wanna talk about it." Yeah, it was a lame answer, but it was actually how I felt. I just didn't wanna talk about it. Best to give me a few days to think about what this really meant.

I had been wavering back and forth between posting how disappointing these first few weeks have been for the Pirates. It sort of boiled over in that italicized rant during the massacre. The pitching has been terrible, the offense has been just as bad, and fundamentally, they've lost any semblance of concentration (Delwyn Young is an absolute mess over at third base). But as much as I want to abandon ship, the more I thought about it, the less it mattered. It is just one game (or one series, because it was a terrible three games), I'm not expecting great things from this season, and things are bound to turn around. If the Buccos continue at this pace (run differential wise) until game 50, then it's time to hit the panic button. But we're still in April, so relax, and just hope things turn around.

Although last night was a kick in the nuts, as we finally lost a close game mostly due to luck. The Pirates pitched better and hit better, but sometimes they fall and sometimes they don't, which is why one run games even out over the season. Tonight could get worse as Chris Jako goes to the mound to face Wandy Rodriguez, who usually mows down the Bucs.

The Steelers did what they always do during the draft, nothing exciting but always solid. Anything I say will just be upchuck from the words they produced over at BTSC. The most important points that I took from this draft which make me happy; special teams was seen as a priority and addressed as so, and the Steelers didn't panic into drafting a ton of secondary players (despite what many Steelers fans have been screaming, the secondary is not as bad as people say, especially with Troy back). I say this a lot when it comes to the Pirates FO, but it makes even more sense for the Steelers; Trust the Process.

One last link; I need to start taking anger management classes so that I may avoid this fate ten years down the road.

When the Steelers Mattered

As I'm watching this terrible, terrible team called the Pirates get blown out at home for the third straight day by my least favorite team the Brewers (I didn't get to watch much of the series sweep of the Reds, but I've watched most of this series and a lot of the West Coast trip in which they looked pretty terrible as well; all I know is that I am slowly losing any optimism I had for this team to win 60 games. You can't continue to win half your games by two runs or less and lose the other half by 5+ runs; it just doesn't work that way in baseball. As much as I've seen, this team is horrendous in all facets. I'm trying to stay optimistic, if you ask anybody who knows me I am the most optimistic Bucco fan out there; but this team hurts to watch. To loosely quote Bull Durham, how this team has won 7 games... It's a miracle), I've realized what little interest I have in the NFL now-a-days.

The realization has been sneaking up on me for quite some time, but it really bubbled over in a conversation I had with a friend earlier today. He brought up the draft, which I thought was this upcoming weekend as it has always been. Little did I know that the draft is now a three day event starting tonight and ending on Saturday. Not only do I think this is a terrible idea because it ruins one of the best loafing/drinking Saturdays of the year (many a beautiful Saturdays I have spent watching Mel Kiper's hair as opposed to enjoying the great outdoors), but what really shocked me was my complete ignorance to this change.

Maybe you've noticed my lack of links or posts regarding the Steelers off-season even though it's been one of the busiest in memory, but it's quite obvious that I just don't care as much anymore. When I left for college in the far away ass-backwards land of South Carolina, I followed the Steelers religiously, much more so than when I was in High School.

I didn't think about it then, but I look back at it now as one of the only means of keeping some sort of continual connection to the city of Pittsburgh. Every Sunday I would don my Steelers jersey and sit in front of a TV at a sports bar for three and a half hours. Ironically, I think part of the enthusiasm came from the Steelers drafting a QB in the first round for the first time since I started supporting them. I got a Ben Roethlisberger jersey for my birthday on 9/7/04; Ben would make his first start just 19 days later. Plus I was in college, and everybody remembers how much free time we had in college; lot's of procrastination to look at every Steelers blog and article on the internet.

But since I've moved back to Pittsburgh, not only have the Steelers played like garbage (my first weekend back was the beginning of the five-game losing streak), but my enthusiasm has waned considerably. I'd like to think the reason isn't due to the Steelers play; after all, I watched the games just as intensely as ever and even spent my own money to attend the Green Bay game. I do have a few theories though.

I think being around people that are Steelers crazy (and no matter what people tell you, the Steelers still run this town no matter how good the Pens are) has turned me off. It's so irrational, fanatical, and non-stop. All people have been able to talk about the past few days is Ben Roethlisberger despite our defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins playing meaningful playoff games in pursuit of their second straight championship.

Maybe this is why I gravitated towards the Pirates while I was growing up. They were such an afterthought, constantly flying under the radar, and the butt of every joke. Maybe it's the natural inclination of a future yuppie white guy; I can only enjoy things that others don't, I just have to be different.

I know it's definitely because of the Tall Guy, who could give a rats ass about the Steelers for the most part. I think part of that has rubbed off on me.

My final theory doesn't make as much sense because I still think that I enjoy watching football, but maybe I don't. I was watching The Colbert Report yesterday and they had on George Will who was promoting the reissuing of his classic baseball book Men at Work, and he brought up an interesting study that concluded that there is only 11 minutes of real action in an NFL football game. Now he was using this fact as a way to say that baseball is more exciting, which is definitely debatable (for my money, hockey and soccer are the best sports to watch on TV or in person), but I think the fact definitely points towards something I've noticed as I got older. NFL games are boring.

Can you justify spending 3-4 hours a Sunday in order to catch 11 minutes of action? I can't. Yet I still watch the Steelers, and I will continue to watch the Steelers (although I am considering using a DVR more often). But I don't think I will ever be as fanatical as I was for the five years I was in Charleston. I do think that's the reason; a sort of absence makes the heart grow fonder type of thing. My friends, who are still pretty Steelers-crazy, all live fairly far away from Pittsburgh. And who knows, maybe when I move away I'll catch the fever again. But as of right now, I could give a shit what happens tonight on the South Side or on ESPN; my attention is right where it should be for all Pittsburgh sports fans... The Igloo.

(Quick update in the Pirates game. When I started this post, the Brewers were up 4-0 in the second inning and are now up 10-0 in the top of the fifth; I've already told my Milwaukee buddy, "You're my Daddy"; Andrew McCutchen, my only really hope for a Pirate superstar, completely failed to do his job with a runner on third and less than two outs by tapping a meatball of a fastball back to the pitcher; Ryan Church looked at a fastball right down the pipe with two strikes and the bases loaded; and Ryan Braun, the biggest doucher in baseball but an incredibly hitter-- he's the Ovechkin to Pirates baseball, stole third while up six runs... what a douche. It's probably best if I just take a deep breath and stop watching this game, but I probably won't.)

Pens 7 Sens 4

You really don't see these types of playoff games any more. There's too much grabbing and checking, few odd man breaks, and less penalties. But when the floodgates open, it's hard to reign it in.

Recap here, here, and here. It's obvious that Brian Elliot is out of his element, but that doesn't diminish what the Pens did last night. They were all over the offensive end of the ice, generating tons of shots, and taking advantage of the opportunities given them. Sid's a beast and it was nice to see some help come from some of the lesser knowns (I love me some Adams to Talbot). The only really disappointing part of the game was the Pens tendency to take dumb penalties while being up multiple goals. I shouldn't have had to worry once we were up 4-0, but unfortunately, due to some timely goals by the Sens, I had to pay attention for the last thirty minutes.

But 7-4... I'll take it. The Pens have a good chance to take a handshake at home on Thursday, something they haven't done since 2008. I'll be there, so hopefully I can turn around my own playoff record for this post-season.