Best of Seven

There is a lot of baseball going on these days. Each team plays 162 games a season over the course of about 180 days. Multiply that by the teams in the league and that's about 2,430 baseball games each summer... too many for me to cover, so for today I won't. No, today I want to talk about being the best of seven, a far more manageable number on which to focus. For the mathematically challenged, that's really only winning four games in a series that could go up to seven games.

Right now being the best of seven refers to the first round of the NHL (National Hockey League) playoffs. The NHL is divided into two conferences, Eastern and Western. Here is how the series panned out this year:

Western Conference

Colorado Avalanche vs. Minnesota Wild

St. Louis Blues vs. Chicago Blackhawks

Anaheim Ducks vs. Dallas Stars
San Jose Sharks vs. Los Angeles Kings


Eastern Conference

Boston Bruins vs. Detroit Red Wings
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Montreal Canadiens
Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Columbus Blue Jackets
New York Rangers vs. Philadelphia Flyers

Feel free to choose a team and jump on their bandwagon. Since we know Sports Guy's Girls read to get general info they can share or at the very least be able to interject into a conversation, here's a helpful hint: you may not want to jump on the Detroit, St. Louis, Dallas, or Tampa Bay bandwagon. They have already been eliminated.

Games in the playoffs are played a little differently than during the regular season. If the playoff game ends regular play in a tie both teams continue to overtime periods until there is a winner. Regular season games first go to overtime then to a shoutout (three players on each take turns trying to get a shot past the opposing goalie).

Now that you know who is playing to be the best of seven and get to the second round, who will your new favorite hockey team be?

Happy Birthday, You're Terrible

Welcome back Sports Guy's fans! Today there was a major birthday in the sporting world that you may never see again... a sports venue turned 100 years old. That's right, Wrigley Field had a milestone birthday today celebrating 100 years of disappointment and loss. The reason you will probably never see this again is because unlike Cubs fans and their supporters, other teams along with their supporters have the good sense to want to watch a game in modern day comfort without the fear that parts of the stadium may literally rain down upon them.

I grew up going to Cubs games and cheering for the lovable losers, but the charm of the Curse of the Billy Goat has lost a little of its luster. Baseball games can be a lot of fun, eating hotdogs and having an Old Style can be fun too. Do you know what's not fun? Being a fan of the only MLB team to have never won a World Series, that's what. I've taken my talents of being a baseball fan to other stadiums and I have to admit, it's great to be a baseball fan in a stadium where your team wins and you have access to Club Level amenities. That being said, you can take the girl out of Wrigley, but...after many years it's sad to report you still can't take the Wrigley out of this girl.

What better way for fans to feel the love of their hometown team than with a loss to the Diamondbacks (7-5). Happy Birthday, you're still terrible, and that's only one of the 100 reasons people love the Cubs.

Are you there God? It's me, ________.

Insert any of the following teams into the blank and you will have the headlining titles for all of the leagues 0-3 teams.

The Colts
The Colts have yet to win a game.  Last week they did manage to keep it close as they battled the Pittsburgh Steelers.  In my opinion, the highlight of the game was resorting the the third string QB, Painter, who may see a lot of playing time this week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  Painter had 5 completions for 60 yards in week 3.  Manning was sitting up in the booth last week, let's see if he can guide the young QB to a win.

The Rams
The Rams started the season with a lot of buzz.  I never really understood why.  Last week the Rams were politely shown the door in Baltimore as they lost 37-7.  However, I do think the Rams may be able to pull off a win today against the Washington Redskins.  Rams have a bye week in week 5, a win going into the bye would be HUGE for locker room moral, it might even create some.

The Vikings
If football games were only played for two quarters at a time, the Vikings would have a perfect season.  They have been unstoppable in the first two quarters, but as they emerge from the locker room in the second half it is as though all the air has been deflated from their viking ship sails and the team is coming down off a first half high.  Donovan Mcnabb still hasn't found a rhythm with his new team.  After getting shut out in the second half against the Detroit Lions last weekend, the Viking have a lot of explaining to do to the fans in Minnesota.  This week, the Vikings travel to Kansas City to play the Chiefs who are also 0-3.  The good news here is someone has to come out of this game a winner... unless they tie.

The Chiefs
Kansas City was embarrassed in the first two weeks of the season losing to the Bills and the Lions by more than 30 points in each game.  Last week, they played a closer game against the San Diego Chargers losing by 3 points.  Maybe the Chiefs are about to find their groove and fire away on all cylinders. This week in order to win, the Chiefs have to take advantage of the Vikings weak second half performances.

The Dolphins
The Dolphins are 7th in rushing yards so far this year.  The questions is, where have they been rushing to, because it hasn't been the endzone.  Last week they lost to the Browns, a team I'm not fond of because I'm not exactly sure what a "Brown" is.  Is that really the best, most intimidating name a franchise can come up with, really?  Anyway, this week the Dolphins are traveling to San Diego to look for a win against the 2-1 Chargers.  Chargers are tough at home, and Dolphins are not typically aggressive animals.  The football team hasn't shown that can be either.

Howling like a Wounded Dog

Michael Vick got into a little hot water a week ago for making comments that the officials of the game were not making what, in his eyes were missed roughing the passer calls.  It turns out, after a little data research, that officials do not protect certain players with roughing the passer calls more or less than others.  There was no data to support Vick's complaints, and therefore he later made a statement that he believed the officials were in fact doing their job.

Vick may have been a little salty because of a bruised bone in his hand that occurred during game 3 against the Giants.  He has since been fitted with a special glove, and will play the 49ers in week 4.  However, is that really a reason to howl like a wounded dog (have you picked up in that irony yet?).

Perhaps, if Vick were doing a better job of getting the ball out there wouldn't as many opportunities for opponents to "be all up in his face"... just saying.

Take out your Binoculars

A look ahead game is a game where one team playing has already written their opponent off before the game even starts and then looks ahead to the games that come after the one they haven't played yet.  This, in turn, causes the team to get defeated by the very team they thought they could easily beat.

The NY Jets are playing the Oakland Raiders this Sunday in what I believe is one such game.  It is the first of three cities the Jets will visit as their next three weeks will be played on the road.  After playing the Raiders, the Jets will jet over to Baltimore and then to New England for a much anticipated matchup.  

The Raiders however just suffered an embarrassing loss at Buffalo to the Bills.  They are playing at home, and after having their first two games on the road, are ready to put a "W" on their card.

This week's Raiders/Jets game has look ahead written all over it.  Take out your binoculars boys and girls, it's time to look ahead.