It has long been debated through this NFL season how the trend of “parity” is long gone. After all, we had two teams open the NFL season 13-0 while simultaneously we had a few teams with a win or two. That’s not to say that there should never be “good” and “bad” teams and we should expect 8-8 to be the norm every year. When you think about it, weren’t the Jets left for dead after week 14 and here they sit 60 minutes from the Super Bowl.
Now I can dig up numbers and throw them at you with margin of victories, strength of schedule etc. but while people say the numbers don’t lie…they don’t always tell the whole truth. To me, the NFL is turning into NCAA Football. Much like the NCAA, the NFL seems to have a HUGE difference between the “haves” and “have nots” with the usual suspects in each category. All this parity talk seems to exclusively involve the clustered middle ground of NFL teams that are up and down year to year. Nobody ever speaks of the P word when it comes to the Pats or Colts. Those teams are considered good. Nobody uses the P word when it comes to the Lions, Browns, Raiders, Bills and so on… we expect these teams to be bad. But the Jets of the league, the Falcons, the Saints, these are teams that will finish 10-6 one year and 6-10 the next. If THAT is what you want to call parity, then so be it.
To me, parity is a constant cycle of teams becoming good (or at least competitive) or slipping a bit (from usual standards at least) on a few year basis.
To me, parity is looking at the schedule and not being able to mark games as “wins” or “losses” in August (like Bills fans do when they see the Patriots on the schedule).
To me, parity is a reason to have hope and root for your team to quickly turn things around (sorry again Bills).
To me, parity is dead.
Finally on the subject, the final nail in the coffin could play itself out on Sunday. If the Colts and Saints make the Super Bowl, was there even a point to the NFL playoffs. These were 2 teams that were 13-0 at the same time. We could have saved everyone the time and just played the game a month ago.
If we don’t see that matchup for the Super Bowl…parity won’t be alive totally, just on life support
Once again, a big shout out to my favorite hockey blog Puck Daddy who will occasionally do this feature where someone involved with hockey in some way. Since I have been a life long hockey fan above all else, I figured I’d take my own stab at it.
Before I begin, I really could bypass my five favorite things and list a hundred. With no other subject in life could I go on and on like this. There is nothing I think about more in my day than hockey. I think about the Sabres, certain players, teams, logos, how I need to get into playing again and my favorite hockey memories from when I did play regularly. Hockey is life for me. In fact, I wish I could make it my life in some way. Everything big and small attracts me to the sport. Growing up in Buffalo and going to Sabres games are among my earliest memories. I learned to read using hockey cards and I could tell you something about every team before most kids even made it to kindergarten. Hockey always has been and forever will be my passion…now to narrow it down to just five things:
1. Aesthetics
The game just looks good. Whether it’s a tic-tac-toe scoring play, big glove save or a just the speed of the game, it looks great. But more than just the intricacies and planning of the game, everything big and small keeps me addicited to the sport. First, the jerseys are always front and center. I love a good hockey jersey more than anything else because it’s the only major sport where the logo of your team is front and center. Not like those other sports that relegate what should be the pride of the team, the logo, onto helmets and hats and….well they may leave them off altogether. Hockey is the reason coaches tell people to play for the crest on the front of the jersey, not the name on the back. There have been bad jerseys, good jerseys, timeless jerseys and hockey was among the first to introduce the concept of a regular third jersey with both good and bad results. I could talk about hockey jerseys for hours. I love looking at them, collecting them and mocking them.
Along with the BIG topic of jerseys, I get excited by the little things too. From everything like odd jersey numbers (past and present), what player is wearing what brand of equipment and goalie masks of all shape and form. Everything flashing against the white ice keeps me glued to the game. It’s incredible because out of 30 NHL teams, each with approx 20 players, no two are alike. Everyone tapes their stick different, some don’t tuck in their socks, some wear visors and so on…
2. The Stanley Cup
Just by naming it, you can already picture it. It’s the most recognizable trophy in sports hands down and one of the hardest to win. The images of grown men reduced to tears while lifting it triumphantly are burned in your brain as legend after legend have had their chances to lift it. Perhaps my favorite part about the trophy is easily its history. Once you win it, your name is forever etched into the side so generations to come will know of your accomplishment. No other trophy comes close to that. It’s not the same to get some fragile and blank trophy that is the same year after year. It’s another experience to get something with the names of friends and enemies alike, all of which had the honor of lifting it. What’s better is that each player all gets their chance with the cup in the offseason for friends and families to view and celebrate. This is where you get crazy stores of people eating cereal out of it, eating and drinking out of it and as of last year, a baby doing their “business” in it. The Stanley Cup is timeless.
3. Video Games
Debates still rage over the what was said in the Konami classic “Blades of Steel.” Was it “Makes the Pass” “With the Pass” “Hit the Pass” or my personal opinion for the first 12 years of my life (albeit incorrect) “Flip the Pass”. According to the wikipedia article it is “Makes the Pass” while an unofficial tribute to Blades of Steel says “Hit the Pass”. Why does it matter? Well it doesn’t but things like this were a big debate growing up around the advance of video games in the late 80’s and early 90’s. With the advance in technology, my favorite sport was shown in many different ways. My first game on the Super Nintendo was NHLPA ‘93. The players were blocky and sure, you could pull off the wrap around trick where the goalie would get stuck on one side of the net, but this game had a season mode and it kept stats. Truly amazing to say the least. Around this time, the EA Sports NHL franchise was immortalized in the movie Swingers (language NSFW).
The series would advance as I wasted more of my childhood on NHL 96, NHL 2002 and now my latest pride and joy, NHL 09. Now don’t get me wrong, I do love NHL 10 almost as much as my girlfriend, and I’ve had great memories with NHL 07 and 08 and while not in the soberest state of mind, but to me NHL 09 had it down. I could tell you stories about my legendary rebuilding of the LA Kings, or of amazing drafts I had playing that game. If I had applied myself and done something better with my time rather than play NHL video games, I’d probably be a doctor or a teacher by now.
4. The players themselves
In today’s world, you hear about Gilbert Arenas bringing a gun into the locker room, or Mark Macguire taking steriods…even locally, Marshawn Lynch takes 20 bucks from a woman at TGI Friday’s. It seems like pro athletes are always going down the wrong path. So then why do we never hear about hockey players? Occaisonally, one might crack another guy on the head like Killer Carlson, or someone may become near paralyzed and headshots leading to concussions are all the rage in the NHL as well as the NFL. But take a look at the big picture, hockey players are down to earth and rather humble compared to other pros “making it rain” at nightclubs or with their posse out on the town (with or without guns). Maybe it’s because people sit on the glass and are close to the action, or maybe it’s because you can always see the players faces and expressions, but we’d all like to think that we know these players and we have personal and emotional connections to them. It always seems like the NHL is looking to give back to the fans or others around them through various charitable means. There is even an award given away every year called the King Clancy award. It is given to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and who has made a significant humanitarian contribution to his community. Possibly because of their upbringing and how the majority of players left their family at a young age to play junior hockey, but hockey players never forget where they came from…at any level.
My favorite story is a personal one about Kevyn Adams. Adams had a 12 year career with 6 teams in the NHL. He also won a Stanley Cup with Carolina and while being from Washington D.C., he grew up in WNY. Now my dad knew his father and one day I was told that they were going to try to get me an autograph from him. I was so excited. I even went as far as to autograph one of my own “cards” you get from taking team pictures and giving that to my dad to give to Kevyn Adams. I didn’t hear back for awhile…until one day I got not only a card in the mail, but I got a personalized post-it note directly from Kevyn Adams apologizing he didn’t get back to me sooner and thanking me for my personal autographed card. It’s something I still have to this day. What mattered to me was not really getting that card, but that post-it apologizing about the delay. Just that little touch meant the world to me as a 7 year old who wanted to grow up and become a hockey player.
5. History and Traditions
Hockey players are creatures of habit. Same routine; different day. Whether it’s a pregame ritual, lucky article of clothing (I had a purple T-shirt), a way to tape a stick (heel to toe) or whatever it may be, we see those routines play their way onto the ice. Some guys like being the last ones off. I remember Jay McKee was always the last to congratulate his goalie win or lose. Some players have the same goal celebrations while others will do things that most don’t notice. Even teams themselves have their own “things” that carry on from one group to the next. Some locker rooms have their logo on the floor and nobody is allowed to walk on it. When you win your conference, a debate goes on if you touch or don’t touch the conference trophy. Lots of guys don’t even touch the Cup until they win it.
Going back to uniforms for a minute, the “Original 6” don’t change their logos and may make minor tweaks in uniforms, but everything is pretty much unchanged. If you go to a Sabres game, you know you will hear both Canadian and American anthems. In Raleigh, someone will ring the air siren before the game. Those are just two examples of how things never change at a hockey game. Knowing that something will always be, will always resonate with people young and old.
Once again, it’s hard to put into words something you have been passionate about for your entire life. At the very least, I can hope this gets your wheels in motion and thinking about your favorite sport and why you love it so much. When you break it down, you’ll be amazed and everything big and small that you can’t get away from.
1. Is it even worth the torture to pay attention to the Bills coaching search? Countless rumors and “sources” claiming to know the scoop. When the key decision maker is 91 years young and claims the top candidate (in the eyes of the fans at least) Bill Cowher met with him and he “doesn’t know” if he wants to be the coach or not…that should really tell you everything you need to know. It’s the blind leading the blind at One Bills Drive. How do you not get a feeling about this? Perhaps it’s because you reek of desperation throwing $10 Million on the table for someone to coach your hapless franchise. For someone who grew up when the Bills were actually good,t’s hard to say that I care very little about this team, but I really do. I care more about what happens to Conan and NBC than I do what happens to the Bills. I wonder if in 20 years, largely assuming they are still in WNY, if the Bills will have a young and loyal fan base like they do now. Will someone else in the mid-20’s have any ties to the organization? Nobody will be telling stories about the “glory days” of Fred Jackson, Lee Evans and whatever bum they pull in as QB. It’s a far cry from Kelly-Thomas-Reed. Really, it’s a far cry from Bledsoe-Henry-Moulds.
2. I know that the Olympics are coming up and there still is a lot of work to be done at the trade deadline, but to me this upcoming 7 game road trip (plus the West Coast swing) is make or break for the Sabres. Maybe not for the standings, as Buffalo sits 10 pts ahead of Boston in the division, but to me this will show if the team can go deep in the playoffs. I know that things are more wide open in the West, as opposed to the lock-down Eastern Conference, but I want to see the Sabres hang with high scoring teams like San Jose and LA and see if they can take a beating from Anaheim as well. This will show me more character from the team that we haven’t seen in years. They have shown us they can come from behind, win close games and shut opponents down in the third, but I want to see them come out on top against teams that play a different kind of game.
3. Mark MacGuire has now admitted steroids. This must come as a shock to those people who have never seen a side by side compariosn of Mac in 1988 and him in 1998. I would worry about offending them, but they probably do not own computers for fear of the government knowing too much about them.
4. I am a big reader and fan of Puck Daddy, the best hockey blog on the internets. There is a regular feature from people around the sport of “5 reasons they love hockey.” I was inspired to make my own…I am thinking it over and should have something up soon.
It’s easy as WNY sports fans to settle for less. The Bills go 5-1, then finish 7-9. The Amerks, who at one point rattled on 11 straight wins, dropped 4 in a row heading into last weekend (they won both) and now are only one point ahead of Hamilton at time of writing. So when the Sabres start the season hot start to slump in the past two weeks, one can only assume more bad play is to follow.
A wise man once said that not too long ago. Maybe it was deja vu all over again as Yogi Berra once said, but forgive me again if it was easy to give up hope on the Sabres. Here they were on a day where the Sabres were an afterthought to the Winter Classic, College Bowl Games and a myriad of “Best of the Decade” lists. They were playing an Atlanta team that won the previous six meetings and seems to embarrass Buffalo at every turn. Add on all the reasons I gave in my blog the other day and the most overrated Sabre of all time coming back to town and a second straight 3-0 deficit does not look too good.
I’ll admit, I am not always the most optimistic person. There may have been a time or two where I switched over to wrestling instead of watching another Sabres embarrassment at the hands of the legendary franchise named after a state bird (and not a cool one like an Eagle or Pterodactyl). I didn’t have that “feeling” tonight. Strange how I feel like the Sabres can overcome impossible odds against the defending champs, but cannot do the same against the mighty Thrashers.
Once again, it’s hard to argue with results. Instead of Drew Stafford avenging his benching and fighting for Festivus believers everywhere, we had Jochen Hecht who was snubbed by Team Germany in favor of an unknown guy in the Buffalo farm system. That didn’t matter because the Sabres stormed back and actually had a bounce go their way.
It’s easy as WNY sports fans to settle for less. The Bills go 5-1, then finish 7-9. The Amerks, who at one point rattled on 11 straight wins, dropped 4 in a row heading into last weekend (they won both) and now are only one point ahead of Hamilton at time of writing. So when the Sabres start the season hot start to slump in the past two weeks, one can only assume more bad play is to follow.
All the signs were there. They were playing their un-Godly 15th game in the month of December while their leading “scorer” Derek Roy was hurt. There were sarcastic quotes around scorer because you could probably suit up Randy Burridge on the 09-10 Sabres and he’d be good for 8 to 10 goals so far. The 7 Million Dollar Man, Thomas Vanek is again mired in a slump and another cog, Drew Stafford hadn’t scored in 15 games, but he managed to make a pretty wicked comedy video rather than improve his game.
So when the best goalie in the world gives up 3 goals on 11 shots and you go down by 3 to Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Marc Andre Fleury and the rest of the defending Stanley Cup Champs, you can excuse me for being a little pessimistic.
But this year was different.
Back in 2006, when the Sabres would go down in a game, it could not be described…but you just had a feeling. It was almost as if the Sabres could come back above all else. This year has shown glimpses of that. Tuesday night for example, after the Sabres went down 3-0 I gave up hope. Sitting there in my Jason Pominville jersey, I knew I was the jinx. Anytime I wear that, the Sabres under perform. I was ready to make amends with 18,000 Sabres fans at the arena when one of my favorite Sabres of all time, Jay McKee covered the puck in the crease giving my Facebook buddy, Drew Stafford a penalty shot. After Stafford whiffed and scored, I got a feeling. It was one of those indescribable things that nobody else but you can explain. Sure enough, Stafford struck 2 mins later to put Buffalo down by one…the rest was history.
Sure, it’s easy to get down on this team. They score about as many goals as a soccer team and at times they are about as fun to watch as “Jersey Shore” on MTV. I take that back. Italian stereotypes are fun for everyone. Either way, the Sabres have settled into a defensive team, but it works. It’s hard to argue with results. Lindy’s job appears to be safe and while they Sabres need a big time goal scorer, they could bring in Ovechkin and he’d score 20 on this team because these are not the Sabres we are used to. It’s possible these Sabres found their style. It may not be the most entertaining style of play, but nobody called the Devils exciting when they won a handful of Cups.
Looking ahead to the deadline, sure a scorer is on the list, but what can the Sabres afford to give up? Draft picks are all I can see other teams asking for. So what can the Sabres acquire that can push them over the top?
Sorry about the delay between blogs. Soon I’ll have a whole bunch of stuff up as we head into the Bills offseason (cover your eyes) and the Sabres march to the playoffs. The way I see it, nobody in the building knows as much about hockey as I do, so I’ll try to keep you up to date.
Before the season, I didn’t know what to make of the Buffalo Bills. They had the potential to go 10-6 and they had a chance to go 6-10. After the preseason, I was thinking closer to 4-12. After outplaying the top team in the league for 55 mins on Monday night, the Bills could salvage 8-8.
Essentially, I know nothing about this team.
So why should it make any difference that people still can’t get a handle on the talent and skill of this team? They were always a question mark. They weren’t a contender, but they weren’t rebuilding. It was a team full of questions.
Questions about the offensive line, an outspoken WR, and a “coaching staff” have plagued the Bills all offseason, yet there was always a silver lining. There was always a chance the team could turn out alright.
So does it matter that we still don’t know who the Bills really are?
