Letters to the Editor
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Patriots
Yes the Pats are probably the best ever, but I wish they had not felt that it was necessary to cheat!
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"Elite"? hahaha
C'mon King. "Packed with elite teams"? Give me a break. This has been one of the worst seasons for quality football in recent memory. Not saying the Pats aren't great -- they're epic -- but the teams they've played for most of the season have been horrible. Granted they did beat the Colts and Cowboys, but other than that... what tough games have they had? The fact that they're blowing out teams 55-13 or whatever is less a matter of the Patriots being supermen and more a matter of the other teams being horrible.
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Asterisks?
If anyone in this thread is looking for an excuse to post an asterisk beside a record, they're looking in the wrong sport. They should instead revisit the "accomplishments" of one Roger Clemens.
What the Patriots have done so far this season is breathtaking and the stuff of legend. Take out just the two games against Miami, and their opponents had a winning record. Cleveland missed the playoffs because they had the Pats on their schedule and Tennessee didn't. Pittsburgh is stuck playing Jacksonville in the wild card round for the same reason. The NFC East sent three teams to the playoffs, and the Patriots beat all of them, two of them on the road.
And it's not just the Pats. The quality of play in the NFL this year has been some of the best ever. Looking at the Pats likely playoff schedule, they will have to beat some extraordinarily tough teams to win it all. Jacksonville, San Diego, and Indianapolis are all championship caliber teams right now. The AFC is incredibly tough.
As for the NHL, why can't they put at least one outdoor game on every team's schedule every year. And yes, you can play outdoor hockey down south. Ever hear of refrigerated rinks? But even so, there are enough northern cities with enthusiastic followings that this could be done.
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Who will bell the cat?
Yeah, the Pats' opponents went .469. So, who played well against a harder schedule? (Yes, I am too lazy to look it up.) And is there a team or fan base left in the NFL saying, even under their breath, "Let us at 'em. We coulda knocked dem off"?
*Disclaimer: Not a Pats fan.
Also, who else is relieved that one of the '72 Dolphins hasn't wrangled a political career out of the perfect season? Do we need another sports figurehead to be, oh a four-term Senator with no meaningful accomplishments?
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Shut up, Shula et al
Remember, they didn't have drug-testing back then, and where would Mercury Morris be without his nose candy?
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Yeah, "elite" works
Given the fact the Pat beat more playoff-bound teams than anyone else in the league, I'd say, yeah, they beat the elite teams; or, better put, they beat whatever passes for elite in the NFL.
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NHL should reward old school cities with the winter classic
I had the same reaction as King when I turned on the tv and saw that hockey game. Cool! It was a pleasant antidote to the exhibition games and the boring arguments that always follow.
Over the last two decades the NHL has left traditional hockey cities in favor of the bright lights and big markets in the American south. The Winter Classic ought to be played first in Quebec City, Winnipeg, Hartford and Manitoba. The original hockey fans deserve the game. Their franchises left for areas with more money, hoping that the money would also lead to long-term fan support.
The Winnipegs of the world can't compete with the Nashvilles as a money market or population center, but they have passion for hockey and as we have seen, that is something that is not necessarily exportable.
This is not to say that hockey in the south hasn't had a few success stories. But it was nonsense for the NHL to think that in a crowded entertainment and sports era they could expand to 30 teams and have 30 healthy franchises. Two hockey teams in Florida? What happens when the novelty wears off for the wealthy backers? Well, look at Nashville for starters. Second, look at Columbus. Huge market with no pro team. A lot of corporations wealthy enough to buy luxury boxes. Problem for the NHL was that hockey isn't that important to people. Cleveland used to be a very strong hockey town. But the area is bleeding out in terms of jobs and the demographics probably wouldn't work anymore.
It was fun to watch grown men so excited to play outside. Today's kids grow up playing in giant indoor ice complexes in Houston. And that's ok. It's just nice to see something different.
Anyway, it would be great if King would interview someone in the hockey world about why Gary Bettman is still the commissioner. I guess he's making the owners lots of cash.
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Check out last weekend's Chicago Sun-Times
There was an article pitting the current Pats against the legendary one-loss Bears of 1985-86, and the "experts" rated the Bears as the better team. Of course this could be dismissed as just another case of Chicago chauvinism since "we'll always have the Super Bowl" victory over the Pats, but those were different teams in a different era.
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hockey outside is super
I've been bored with hockey for about a decade, and I was thrilled to watch the outdoor game. Made me remember the joy of playing outside as a kid.
Hockey has so many problems these days I don't know how they can recapture the excitement level of the 70s and 80s. But a few outdoor games certainly wouldn't hurt. Also, it was smart to feature the Penguins with young hotshot Sidney Crosby.
One addition I would suggest: the penalty box should be underwater.
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hockey
Yeah, that game was awesome...big fat snowflakes falling from the sky, Lindy Ruff in the old-school letter jacket constantly looking behind him in awe, two beautiful retro jerseys worn, Ty Conklin's awesome helmet for the event, and finally Sidney Crosby scoring in the shootout, the puck kicking up piles of snow as he raced in, and, if you watched it on CBC you heard his hoarse-voiced "YEAH!!" even before the announcers called the goal. It made my new year's.
How about the next one in Ottawa on the Rideau Canal?? I'm sure they could do it - and how awesome would it be to play on actual ice??