Around The... Blogosphere??

Hey look everybody - it's a Trebor post!


To some that I have the pleasure of talking to, I talked about a new blog that I frequent - Washington Redskins' tightend Chris Cooley's - his latest post is even more reason.

In reading some of his posts you get a sense that this is a down to earth guy, almost like an average joe if you will. Not really caught up in the millions of dollars he’s making and without the pro athlete attitude. It’s refreshing. It’s also interesting too see a players perspective on these things behind the scenes (I find this picture hilarious). He’s been writing about mini camps, draft day, the owners and the CBA… and then he also throws in blogs about poker night and also his hot wife.

When I first started reading his blog back when Jessica Simpson was bringing defeat to the Cowboys, he answered the question who would win in a tag team fight between Tony/Jessica and him/girlfriend… “The tag team match would start off with Christy and Jessica in the ring. Someone would come out of the stands with a cooler of beer and a couple of stools for Tony and I. We would proceed to sit ringside and high-five while clothes were furiously ripped off”. He also put in pictures as well... very helpful

I was going to send something last week, basically about Kobe "I don’t need to play for a full game" Bryant, and how attitude really is everything in pro sports. There were also some great videos of Bruce Bowen getting schooled and Manu being a bum… but with the shift to an all football blog, like everyone else when it concerns the NBA. I’ll take on the attitude of ...who cares.


Ed. Note - First of all, I don't think any post about Chris Cooley would be complete without this picture...














As terrifying as that picture might be, any man who can rock those shorts and get away with it is alright in my books.


Secondly, perhaps I should have specified about the football only rule. I will only be writing about football from here on out. But if anyone should want to send something in about one of the lesser sports, they should still feel free. Like, say a championship series in which one of the teams has yet to even score.

Are you troubled by strange noises in the middle of the night?

Do you experience feelings of dread in your basement or attic?

I know I do, which can only mean one thing - the CFL season is right around the corner.

All 6 of you who have read Sports As Life in the past know my feelings on the CFL... the only place in the world an aging, former safety can be the league MVP. And the rouge - oh how I love the rouge.

However, I have made an executive decision to overhaul Sports As Life into strictly a football blog - which, let's be honest, it pretty much was anyway - so the start of the CFL season means the start of Sports As Life season again.

Trying to write something "clever" about all the major sports was a pretty unwieldy task, so I've decided to streamline. While I enjoy watching basketball and baseball, I just don't follow them closely enough to consistently write about. And hockey... don't even get me started. Hockey is for stupids and you'll never convince me otherwise. All this week I had planned on writing something called The One Year No-Hockey Diet - but I just never quite got around to it.

So if you're like me, football season just can't come fast enough. I'll even settle for watching OTA's on the NFL Network for the love of Pete!

And as always, I think rouge's are going to tell the story.

This Is Not How the Story Ends...Not Yet Anyway

Truth be told, two hours ago Sportsaslife.com was dead. No more. Finished. There wasn't anything else I had to say.

An hour and a half ago, Sportsaslife.com was not going anywhere. After much thought and soul-searching, there was a re-commitment to try and make it work again.

An hour ago, I was on the fence about Sportsaslife.com - I had been down this road before about the decision to plod on or shut it down permanently.

And as it stands now, a temporary stay of execution has been granted. I plan on keeping production going until the end of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, at the very least. I couldn't very well end the Sports As Life Stanley Cup Playoffs Pool Party prematurely now could I? There's a free shirt at stake after all.

Although it doesn't seem like it the majority of the time, it has taken a lot of hard work to keep Sports As Life in a semi-functioning over the past 15 months. A lot. And at certain points during that time I had very high hopes for this little project. However, it became clearer and clearer that very little of what I hoped would come to fruition. More than anything, I suspect this was due to my expectations being far too high. I'd like to think I gave it a valiant attempt - and I suppose at the end of the day, that's all a person can ask for.

That being said, it does still pain me a great deal to see Sports As Life limp off into the dark night like it has over the past months. Which is why I keep telling myself to try to turn things around. But time and energy are two things in short supply these days. Writing and editing both require those things in greater amounts than you might think. Let alone the opportunity to actually put the required thought into anything.

Wow, if that doesn't sound like a eulogy I don't know what does. Maybe my mind is already made up and I just don't know it yet. Like they say - if you're talking about retirement, you're already retired.

All I know for sure is that if you're in the Stanley Cup Playoffs Pool Party - you better make your picks for the last two rounds. You have until 5pm on Thursday to make your selections. But make them count - this is the last time you'll be able to pick new players.

NFL Draft Day - The 8 Hour Live-Blog

1:20 - Ok, it's a slightly late start today.

But you already knew the first overall pick - Jake Long - so quite whining.

St. Louis just took Chris Long with the 2nd pick, which is very, very disappointing to me because I was hoping he would fall to Kansas City at 5.

Atlanta is now on the clock with the 3rd pick - probably going to be Matt Ryan, who I was also hoping would fall to Kansas City.


1:25 - Dagnabbit! Matt Ryan is gone to Atlanta. I'm not super crushed though, KC can get a decent QB in the second or third round. TH's Raiders are now on the clock - he's here at the Sports As Life Mansion watching the draft.


1:30 - TH is waiting with great anticipation. And it's Darren McFadden! TH likes the pick. My Chiefs are now on the clock. It's gotta be Glenn Dorsey - never thought he'd fall to 5.


1:40 - Kansas City pick up Glenn Dorsey - I must say I'm happy about that. I doesn't really address their biggest needs but he was the best player available. The Jets are on the clock now and it's only a matter of minutes before the crowd in New York goes wild with boo's. I must say this first round is really flying by. Going from 15 minutes a pick to 10 minutes was a nice change.

1:48 - It looks like the Jets are going to take Vernon Gholston. And the do. He seems destined for a steroid suspension someday though - check this out. At least the Jets fans aren't booing - they're usually on suicide watch after their first round picks. The Patriots are now on the clock - oh hooray, let's see how they get better.


1:55 - Well the Patriots just traded the 7th pick to the Saints for the 10th plus something else I'm sure. I'd say the Saints take Sedrick Ellis. Hey - I'm right. And now Baltimore is on the clock and there seems to be some speculation that Baltimore is going to trade this pick too.


1:59 - Mike Mayock was correct, Baltimore traded down to 26 and Jacksonville moves up to #8.

2:05 - Jacksonville takes a defensive end, Derrick Harvey. If he turns out, Jacksonville is going to have a scary defense again this year. The Bengals are now on the clock.


2:11 - And it's Keith Rivers from USC. Cincinnati needs help desperately on defense and this is just a start for them. The Patriots are now on the clock and TH's little brother, D-Money, says it's going to be cornerback Leodis McKelvin.


2:17 - But it's a linebacker from Tennessee - Jerod Mayo. The Pats definitely needed new blood at linebacker. Their linebacker's are older than most fossils.


2:23 - Buffalo just took the first cornerback of the day - Leodis McKelvin. Denver's on the clock now and they probably take a linebacker or an offensive lineman.


2:28 - Well Ryan Clady is not going to drop to Kansas City at 17. Denver just took him at 12. No matter. Carolina is on the clock.


2:32 - And Carolina take running back Jonathan Stewart from Oregon. And D-Money owes me a case of beer because he guaranteed it would be Devin Thomas or Rashard Mendehall. The Bears are now on the clock and it might be Mendenhall - they need a running back who doesn't run like a fat pig. I'm talking to you Cedric Benson.


2:42 - Chicago takes an offensive lineman in Chris Williams. Branden Albert is still on the board and I've got the fingers crossed that he falls to Kansas City. I was hoping KC could somehow use that 17th pick to trade for Jason Taylor but now with Glenn Dorsey, KC needs help on the offensive line. Detroit is on the clock and they probably take a running back.


2:47 - Well KC just traded up to 15 from 17 with Detroit, so I'm assuming it's going to be Branden Albert. And it is! Very, very excited I must say. The Arizona Cardinals are now on the clock.


2:57 - Deion Sanders yelps for joy at Arizona's pick of Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. Detroit is now on the clock and we're all waiting to see if Detroit somehow picks another wide receiver - but it might be a running back.


3:01 - Well Detroit picks someone named Gosder - Gosder Cherilus, a tackle from Boston College. I suppose whey you're Detroit you take help where ever you can get it. Houston is on the clock and they need some running back help. This might be Rahard Mendenhall.


3:05 - Or not. Houston trades with Baltimore down to 26. And Baltimore is now on the clock. The gents on the NFL Network are saying this is going to be quarterback Joe Flacco.


3:08 - And it is Joe Flacco from Delaware. Baltimore has a new quarterback of the future, replacing current quarterback of the future Kyle Boller. The Eagles and their unruly fans are now on the clock.


3:14 - The Eagles have traded their pick to Carolina and there seems to be a general sense of confusion. And Carolina takes Jeff Otah. Tampa Bay is on the clock now. I can't believe we're on pick number 20 already. The first round has just flown by.


3:25 - Aqib Talib is the pick for Tampa Bay. Just another cornerback for the ol' Tampa 2.


3:31 - Washington has just traded their first round pick. Nobody seems to know to who or for what.


3:33 - It was Atlanta that traded for the 21st pick. They need absolutely everything, so who knows who this'll be. It's Sam Baker - left tackle from USC. If you have a new quarterback, I guess you need someone to protect him. The Cowboys are now on the clock.


3:43 - Any your Dallas Cowboys take Felix Jones, running back from Arkansas. The Cowboys just got a little scarier on offence. The Steelers are on the clock now.


3:50 - Pittsburgh takes a running back - Rashard Mendendall from Illinois. Probably going to be a good fit in that Pittsburgh running game. Tennessee's on the clock now.


3:57 - Tennessee takes the fastest man in the draft - actually I don't know that, I just made it up - Chris Johnson. From the looks of it, he's faster than the Flash - actually, I just made that up too. The Seahawks are on the clock now and for some reason they're playing Bittersweet Symphony for their music - not a real vote of confidence.


4:03 - Well Seattle traded their pick to Dallas and Houston is on the clock now. Dallas takes a cornerback - Mike Jenkins from South Florida.


4:09 - Some guy named Duane Brown is the 26th overall - a tackle that nobody thought should be in the first round. The Chargers are on the clock now. Luckily I'm on Red Bull #2 because I'm starting to fade.


4:20 - San Diego took cornerback Antoine Cason and Seattle takes a defensive end Lawrence Jackson from USC - although everyone thought they should go on offence. San Fran is now on the clock.


4:23 - The Niners take a defensive tackle, Kentwan Balmer. The Packers are on their clock now and there's some talk about them taking a quarterback. That doesn't sound like a vote of confidence for Aaron Rodgers.


4:27 - If there's one thing I've learned from this draft it is that Mia Hamm and Nomar Garciaparra are not bowlers, nor have they ever claimed to be.


4:29 - The Jets have traded with Green Bay to get the 30th pick and it sounds like they're going to take a tight end. It is a tight end - Dustin Keller. And of course Jets fans react with serious disdain to taking a tight end in the first round. Memories of Kyle Brady are still pretty fresh there. We want Sapp! We want Sapp! The Giants are now on the clock for the last pick of the first round. Only 31 picks this year, as the Patriots are pathetic cheaters and had theirs taken away.


4:39 - This is it, the last pick of the first round. The Giants take the first safety of the first round, Kenny Phillips.

And that's it for the first round - and that's it for me as well. Blogging the first round was more than enough. Live blogging never really works out the way I want it to. Here's a couple of videos to make it all worthwhile. Next year this is what I'm drinking to get me through the first round. And if I need a little something extra... the Rocket Edition.

The Ol' Charley Horse One-Two

One in the breadbasket, one in the kisser.

And with that, the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs are over. So that means that if you entered the Sports As Life Stanley Cup Playoffs Pool Party it's time to make your picks for the second round. Make sure you do, or you'll be golfing with the Calgary Flames.

One programming note - I'll be live-blogging the NFL Draft on Saturday afternoon. So if you want to check in on that (for some reason), it'll be starting around 1pm. I'll be drinking so much Red Bull that I'll be legally blind by 3pm. I don't think you want to miss that.

Around the Rim - Playoff Edition

Aaaaand heeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrre's Treeeeebor......


Here’s the last regular season post/playoff predictions… haven’t been paying too much attention 1st round hockey always grabs my attention until somewhere around June, then….meh. Anyways,

Yao Ming has been taking part in some Chinese experiments so that he can play in the Olympics…. Now there’s nothing to measure against in this photo but if his head is the only part of his body still the same size who’s going to be able to guard a 15 ft man ???



















(Ed. Note - There may have been some analysis of the Houston/Utah series here that got lost in the Internets. However, all that remains now is Trebor's prediction.)
UTAH in 6

Denver has a scary team… they got 2 players who can score 30-40 points each, any given night. They do also have good role players… problem may be getting Carmelo to the game... who cares if he’s drunk … what happens if the police are busy with actually police work and can't give him a ride
Lakers in 5.

The best series will be the Suns and Spurs… after last years terrible outcome, that caused lots of debate, and a ref scandal came out of it too, this year may not be able to live up to all of that, but an entertaining series nonetheless. The Suns went and got Shaq for this reason… Shaq vs Duncan... it’s like 2002 all over again. The only things I’m not looking forward to is, soon to be 6th man of the year Ginobli, take a run at big disel, hit him and then flop around on the floor for 2 mins. Kind of like the Oberto hit, though with Manu the hit wouldn’t need to take place for the same results
Phoenix in 6

Dallas and New Orleans??? Last night Kidd owned Paul and that may not be the case with the series but Dallas did catch a break playing against this young team. I really don’t know which way to go on this and I have no clips or news either.
Dallas in 6


The East

I’ll start by pointing out that Golden State - who are going fishing - have a better record than 5 of the teams in the eastern playoffs. Some people say that’s argument for the best 16 teams make the playoffs. I don’t like this idea and I doubt it will ever get addressed by Stern, with Boston beefing up this year, soon other Eastern teams will do the same and the shift might go to the East.

Atlanta, some months ago I said they had a shot at like #6 in the East - and they did but came up short, so now you face the Celtics, hope you enjoy your week in the playoffs.
Boston in 4

Cleveland clinched 4th with this play… it’s a long video but suck it up. The thing I hated seeing was Lebron's drive to the hoop. His head is down he picks the ball up at the 3-point line and goes towards the basket with his head down. What can a defender do?? One may say stand there and take the charge, but if you think that on a last second play Bron Bron is going to get a offensive foul called on him… please give me whatever it is your taking. On the upcoming series Barkley has come out after some comments by the Wizards and said this “"I think the Washington Wizards have got to be the dumbest team in the history of civilization." That’s coming from Charles, so you know that’s not a good sign.
Washington in 7 - I can only hope. They did split the series 2-2 during the season and that was without Agent Zero.

If the above call never happened, Philly probably gets the #6, however they fall to #7 and get to play the Pistons - who once again have been overlooked by almost everyone the entire season, they are too vanilla, not sexy enough… There’s no feel good story no controversy just a team that goes out and wins. Once playoffs start the media starts to realize again that the Pistons should be seen as the top team in the East. Though the series was split 2-2, as Chauncy says the real season starts now.
Detroit in 5

I can't complain too much because with the Philly loss the Raptors get the 6th spot and get to play Orlando instead of Detroit. Of any of the top 4 teams Orlando is the one I think the Raptors match up with and have a shot at beating. It’s a slim shot and I don’t think it will happen but there’s a chance that Mitchell will think when we had Calderon starting we were winning… we now are starting Ford and are a sub .500 team… and make the right call on the starting 5.

However, here are some quotes that will show where T.O is headed:

“Facing a Toronto team trying to lock up the Eastern Conference’s sixth seed, the Pistons pulled away down the stretch for a 91-84 victory Sunday, even though all five starters were resting comfortably on the bench.”

Now yes, the Pistons have a deep bench but to prove that you have problems here’s a quote after the Miami heat game

“Facing a team of relative unknowns, Toronto rallied from behind at halftime”

Rallied from behind!!!… The Heat starters are no good, can't imagine these unknowns being that good, one of the players didn’t even have a jersey he used tape for his number on a plain t-shirt. And it’s not as if these games didn’t mean anything, T.O is still jockeying for position. Some more tid bits of info, they are 9-17 in the past 26 games… not the kind of momentum you want heading into the playoffs. And another: since the All-Star break they have only beat 2 teams over .500
Magic in 6

Here are some fun clips that didn't make the posts before.

Milwaukee’s Bogut. Poor guy, maybe it’s a running joke, maybe no one likes him ??? I don’t know but it’s funny

Here’s something even funnier. You know how we're always making fun of Americans for not knowing their geography - well laugh no more, instead stop thinking like it’s 1990.

Corey Brewer – This one just makes me laugh.

There hasn’t been much to do with cheerleading but, here’s a little something.

Mark Lee Cares Not For This Hockey Business of Yours

Quite frankly, neither do I most of the time - but man, that guy could make the birth of your first child seem dull and uninteresting.

Yes it's that time of year again - the event that signals the beginning of spring, lets you know it's time to do your taxes and puts more strain on a marriage than 3-drink lunches at Hooters - it's the NHL Playoffs!

The networks have broken out their cavalcade of stars. All your favorites are here - Mark Osborne, Gary Galley, P.J Stock, Mark Lee, the-goalie-formerly-know-as-Glen-Healy-reconstituted-as-a-human-gasbag, and a monkey named Maggie.

And to celebrate this momentous occasion, I did something I haven't done in a very long time - I watched a hockey game... two of them even, start to finish... plus there was flipping to two other games. And I gotta say it really wasn't all that much fun.

First there was the Ottawa/Pittsburgh game - and to all the Ottawa fans out there, my condolences and better luck next year... your team is finished. That series is going to be over in 5 games maximum. If Shean Donovan, Randy Robataille, and Luke Richardson are playing meaningful minutes for you it's probably not your year. Between the 175,000 penalties called in that game, Pittsburgh managed to score 4 goals to Ottawa's 0.

And everybody who took Sidney Crosby over Evgeni Malkin in their hockey pool is now beginning to see the error of their ways... myself included. Could we be heading toward a day when Pittsburgh decides to keep Malkin over Crosby? Who would have thought that.

The late game tonight was Calgary/San Jose - and while I'm very happy to see Calgary steal Game 1 3-2, they won't get too many more wins with games like that. You don't win many games in the playoffs giving up 40 shots. The first 10 minutes and the last 10 minutes of this game were exciting - and that's about all - except for Jarome Iginla's wrecking-ball rush in the 2nd period. It was also nice to see Dion Phaneuf not folding like a hobo's suit so far in the playoffs.

One of the other two games was New York/New Jersey - the threat of rabid wolverines gnawing on my shins could not make me watch this series. While I love defence in football I hate it in hockey and this series is chalk full of it. The Rangers may very well be the team that comes of the East this year. They have the defence and grit to punish and shut down skilled teams like Montreal and Pittsburgh. Wouldn't a Minnesota/New York Stanley Cup Final be outstanding? It would go 7 games, with each game finishing 1-0 after 13 scoreless overtimes. The Rangers won 4-1 tonight if you weren't scoring at home.

Speaking of Minnesota, other than Nashville, they are the only team in the West I can't see going to the Stanley Cup. Every other team in the West has a legitimate shot but I think Minnesota is a house of cards. They're built to grind out wins in the regular season by boring people to death - but when things get ratcheted up in the playoffs I don't think the Wild can keep up. They lost at home to Colorado tonight by the by.

So that's it for tonight's games - stay tuned tomorrow to find out if Bob Cole is openly cheering for against the Canadiens this year. Honestly, this is a toss-up for me. I find it hard to believe he'd throw his support behind Boston. But you never know about those Leaf fans - they're an odd bunch.

End transmission.