Happy Birthday Kim!

Happy Birthday to you, my dearest darling wife! I love you more than yesterday, but not as much as tomorrow!

Love,
John, Jimmy, Snoopy and Smoke

P.S.
Happy 25th anniversary to Steve and Karen Heun of Kearney, Nebraska!

Monday Afternoon Meissnervations

Hey there! Here's what's happening....

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I didn't think I was ever going to blog about indoor football, but the good folks that represent the St. Pete Times Forum/Tampa Bay Lightning/Tampa Bay Storm has made that an easy thing to do.

If you scroll below today's entry, you see the game recap of last Friday's Storm home opener, and their 54-41 win over Dallas, complete with pictures.

My wife Kim, our son Jimmy and I had loads o' fun. Those folks get customer service. That's something the baseball team simply can't wrap their heads around. If we have to chose where to spend our entertainment dollars, events at the Forum will win out over Rays baseball every time.

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Speaking of the Rays, while I might not be in a hurry to shovel my hard-earned money at them, that doesn't mean I'm not interested in them.

They currently have the best record in baseball, after completing a sweep of the Red Sox at Fenway Park today, with an 8-2 win. A five-run third inning titled today's game in their favor. Tampa Bay is 10-3 and leads the Yankees by 1/2 game in the A.L. East. What's even more impressive, is that they are 7-0 on the road so far in 2010. Now, if their bullpen can consistantly hold leads and they can be around .500 on the road and .650 or so at home, they will contend for a spot in the post season.

Elsewhere around the big leagues, Minnesota leads the A.L. Central by 1 1/2 over Detroit, and Oakland leads the Angels and Seattle by 2 1/2 in the West.

In the N.L. East, Philadelphia leads Florida by 1/2 game, St. Louis is one game up on Pittsburgh and San Francisco is 2 games ahead of Colorado, the Dodgers and San Diego.

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Here's what's happening in the hockey playoffs:

In the Western Hockey League, Tri-City and Vancouver(who eliminated Portland in 6 games last week) are even at 1-1 in their best-of-seven Western Conference final. In the East, 2010 Memorial Cup host Brandon is tied 1-1 with Calgary. If Brandon wins the East, whoever they play in the league finals will also go to the Memorial Cup.

In the Ontario Hockey League, Kitchener leads the defending Memorial Cup champions from Windsor 3-0, while Barrie leads Mississauga St. Michael's 2-1 in the East finals.

In the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's two semi-finals, Saint John leads Victoriaville and Moncton leads Drummondville, both by 2-0 margins.

In the United States Hockey League, Fargo and Omaha in the West and Green Bay and Indiana in the East, are both tied 1-1 in best-of-fives.

The National Hockey League Stanley Cup playoffs are underway too. In the West, Colorado leads San Jose 2-1, Los Angeles and Vancouver are tied 1-1, as are Nashville and Chicago, while Phoenix is up 2-1 over Detroit. In the East, Montreal-Washington, plus Boston-Buffalo are both 1-1, while Philadelphia is up 2-1 against New Jersey, as is Pittsburgh over Ottawa. All series are best-of-seven.

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From http://www.indycar.com

LONG BEACH, Calif. – Ryan Hunter-Reay, the newest member of the Andretti Autosport quartet, received a bear hug from the CEO in Victory Circle. That meant a lot coming from a racing champion and newest enshirnee of the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame – Michael Andretti.

Hunter-Reay prevailed in the breakneck Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach – a race slowed by a lone full-course caution (tying an IZOD IndyCar Series road/street course record) – holding off Justin Wilson by 5.6031 seconds to give Andretti Autosport its first victory since June 2008 at Richmond (Tony Kanaan). Sux teams were represented in the top 10.

“It was the most fun I had in a race car because it was handling so well,” said Hunter-Reay, who is the first American-born driver to win at Long Beach since Andretti in 2002. “My mom is out there today. She passed along recently and this race is for her. Over the last couple of laps I said ‘This is for you, Mom.' ''

Said Andretti: "I love this place. It's where I got my first win as a driver (1986) and where I got my first win as a sole owner."

Will Power, the championship points leader and pole sitter, finished third in the 85-lap race on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn circuit. He heads to the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway on May 1 having extended his lead to 42 points over teammate Helio Castroneves (130). Hunter-Reay is third (129) and Wilson is fourth (125).

"The Verizon Wireless car is still leading in points and the team has a goal of winning the championship, so we are still in line for that," said Power, who won the first two races of the season. "Overall, it was a good day, but on one lap I got stuck in first gear. I have no idea why that happened and I hope it doesn’t do that again because I slowed down. I was able to get out of it and speed back up, but it hurt my placement."

We’ve seen it before -- Hunter-Reay battling Wilson and Power for the victory on a temporary street course. Remember Brazil just a month ago? Or how about St. Petersburg in '09?

Hunter-Reay, driving the No. 37 IZOD car, took the lead initially on Lap 18 when Power’s No. 12 Verizon Team Penske slowed exiting Turn 11 because the car was stuck in first gear. He regained it for good on Lap 59 as cars cycled through for their final pit stops.

Wilson, who matched his season high in the No. 22 Z-Line Designs car for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and also won at The Glen in ’09, overcame a Lap 53 incident while he was running second to regain the position from Power 14 laps later.

Wilson’s front nose assembly was damaged as it caught the right-rear tire of the No. 19 Boy Scouts of America car for Dale Coyne Racing attempting to overtake the lapped car in Turn 8. A 16-second pit stop for rhinoplasty and fuel, and Wilson was back on the course in 13th position.

“I am really disappointed," Wilson said. "Alex was a lap down and he nearly took Ryan (Hunter-Reay) out a couple of times. Once Ryan got past, it got him off line and slowed him up. I dove down the inside of Turn 8 and I braked pretty late. I just got the door slammed in my face. Even if you aren’t going to give way to the leaders, you need to leave room at the apex to back out. Nothing you can do about it.

"We had to come in and change the front wing and we were just in mad fuel saving mode after that. It’s just a shame that it happened. We had a great day. The Z-Line Designs car was fantastic.To have a front wing change and to come back in finish second is an amazing day.”

Hunter-Reay, who started a season-high second, didn't make a noticeable mistake.

"This is a race that means a lot to me," said Hunter-Reay, a former California resident. "This is the 'Indy 500' of street courses. I've been watching this race since I was a little kid. To do it right now -- the timing is unreal. We've been working so hard on this IZOD car and on this team. To do it in our fourth race - we feel like we're just getting started. This is a snowball that is just starting to roll."

Scott Dixon, the runner-up at Barber Motorsports Park a week earlier, was fourth in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car and Andretti Autosport’s Tony Kanaan finished fifth. Mario Moraes, who started 15th in the No. 32 KV Racing Technology car, advanced to finish a season-high sixth.

Helio Castroneves and Team Penske teammate Ryan Briscoe finished seventh and eighth, respectively. It was the first time since Watkins Glen in ’08 that a Team Penske car had not finished either first or second.

"It was an interesting race," said Castroneves, who won at Barber Motorsports Park a week earlier. "It was very unusual in that there were so few yellow flags. We definitely had a car that was better than seventh place. Unfortunately, we lost a few positions during our second stint. The good news is we are still second in the championship points. We need to keep pushing heading into Kansas at our first oval race."

Dan Wheldon finished a season-high ninth in the No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing car, and Mike Conway gave Dreyer & Reinbold Racing two cars in the top 10.

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Weather forced postponement of Sunday's Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series races at Texas Motor Speedway. Both are being run today. The Sprint Cup on FOX, Nationwide on ESPN2.

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Jimmy is quite a little guy. Loves to play ball, really loves cookies and is developing quite a strong will. After his hall-of-fame hockey career is over, he'll be quite a success in the business world.











Kim is racking up the job interviews. Law of averages would seem to suggest one will result in an offer one of these days. She deserves a good job. She's working so hard just to find one. And since tomorrow is her birthday, what better present than a new job? Good luck my darling!












Snoopy and Smoke are having fun in our new house, playing in our back yard, and trying to avoid Jimmy, a/k/a "The Little Pink Monster." No shortage of fun at our house!

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Not trying to bite the hand that used to, or once more in the future might, feed me, but here's a couple of thoughts from the world of sports broadcasting:

I challenge you to find any broadcast crew that complains more about officiating than the radio and tv crews for the Tampa Bay Rays. It borders on the pathetic. Miss one call, and those hacks brand you for life. On today's broadcast, they thought a strike call was missed, which they felt gave them an opening to complain about the work done in yesterday's game. Simply brutal. From non-existant public service skills, to whiny, constantly complaining broadcast crews, it makes me question if I really want to give our areas' major league baseball team the time of day at all.

And, I came away from the end of Saturday's USHL broadcast of the Omaha-Fargo playoff game utterly amazed. Late in the game(with just 69 seconds left), Fargo wrapped up the contest with an empty net goal, which drew a celebration by Fargo goal scorer Matt Leitner that could best be described as classless. In the resulting "hard feelings," Leitner drew a 10 minute misconduct while Omaha's Ryan Daugherty drew a five-minute spearing major. Then, with 32 seconds to play, Omaha's C.J. Ludwig laid out Fargo's Corey Lievermann with an open ice hit that was penalized as an intent to injure match penalty for charging. Lievermann was injured on the play and had to be removed from the ice on a stretcher and taken to an Omaha-area hospital. During the resulting delay, and on his radio post-game show, Omaha broadcaster Dan Fremuth ranted at great length about the incident, how terrible it was, offering up prayers on countless occasions for Lievermann and his family(By his description, which included Mr. Fremuth saying -- "I don't care if he plays the rest of this series, I'm worried about his LIFE!" -- you would have thought the Fargo player was either on death's door, or already knocking on the admittance gate), never once mentioned that Omaha Coach Bliss Littler had been ejected from the game(Omaha is protesting the call, saying it was a legal hit), and then, incredibly, chose not to give a post-game scoring recap, saying (words to the effect) that on a night where a game ended like the one he had just witnessed did, that a scoring summary wasn't necessary. Mr. Fremuth embarrassed himself, his team, the USHL and the family/friends of Corey Lievermann, with the great disservice he did to those listening to his broadcast.

I've been known for being "quite excitable" in my broadcast career. But I've never over-reacted to something that strongly. Mr. Fremuth may well indeed be a solid broadcaster. But the end of his broadcast Saturday night was simply off the charts bad.

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That's it for now. Leave some comments if you so choose. See you soon!

Storm blows past Dallas in home opener

From http://www.tampabaystorm.com

Tampa Bay – The Tampa Bay Storm (1-1, 0-0) improved its record to 15-8 in home openers with a 54-41 win over the Dallas Vigilantes (0-2, 0-1) on Friday night in the very first meeting between the two teams. The Storm were led by an opportunistic defense and a high-flying offensive attack with quarterback Brett Dietz and wide receiver Tyrone Timmons. Defensive back James McCoy intercepted a Collin Drafts pass with just under five minutes remaining to seal the win in front of the home crowd of 14,122 at the St. Pete Times Forum, despite a last-minute touchdown by Dallas that proved to be not enough as it remained winless on the season by dropping its second straight.

Named as the offensive player of the game, Dietz completed 30 of 45 passes for 320 yards and six touchdowns while Timmons finished one off his season-opening touchdown total of five amidst amassing 11 receptions for 108 yards. Hank Edwards also recorded a 100-yard performance and added an additional score for the Storm.

The duo of Storm receivers was countered by Dallas wideout Derek Lee, who led the Vigilantes with six receptions and 84 yards. Lee collected a pair of touchdown passes from Drafts, who found the endzone four times on the night. Receiver/returner Kenny Henderson tallied an additional three scores for the Vigilantes.

Henderson didn’t waste any time putting the Vigilantes on the board as he returned the game’s opening kickoff 52 yards as Dallas jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead. Dietz put the Storm in position to draw the score even when he connected with Timmons at the five yard line, two plays before Cleannord Saintil rushed in a score from three yards out. Tampa Bay was primed to take its first lead of the game when Jermaine Smith caused a Dallas fumble on the following series, but Drafts stripped Smith of the ball to regain possession and delivered a nine-yard touchdown pass to Lee to take a one-touchdown lead into the second quarter.

Saintil and Henderson continued to match each other score for score in the second quarter as each recorded their second touchdown of the game. Timmons hauled in a 13-yard reception from Dietz to bring the Storm within one. The offense’s momentum translated to the other side of the ball as well, as the Storm defense made a key stop from the goal line on fourth down to prevent the visitors from taking a lead into halftime. Dietz capitalized on the next offensive possession with an eight-yard strike to Tyrone Timmons to give Tampa Bay its first lead of the contest with 00:15 left in the first half.

Both teams traded touchdowns following the intermission as the game’s back and forth trend progressed throughout the remainder of the contest. Drafts sprinted 15 yards to regain the Dallas lead, but Dietz responded with a 44-yard strike to Edwards before connecting twice more with Timmons and setting up an additional score in the fourth quarter. Henderson capped the scoring with his second touchdown in the final minute, but to no avail as Tampa Bay earned its first victory of the season.

The Tampa Bay Storm (1-1, 0-0) travel to Milwaukee, WI to take on the Iron Sunday, April 25 at 4:00 PM EST in a clash between two of the top quarterbacks in the AFL, Brett Dietz and Chris Greisen. The Dallas Vigilantes (0-2, 0-1) are idle as they have their final bye week of the season. Russ Michna and the Chicago Rush host Brett Elliot and the Utah Blaze on Arena Football Friday’s broadcast on the NFL Network Friday, April 25 at 8:00 PM EST.

Notes:

•Veteran WR Lawrence Samuels surpassed Issac Bruce with 1,025 career receptions for fifth most receptions in professional football history. The reception was his 960th of his illustrious Storm career. Samuels finished the game with six receptions to push the his career total to 1,026 receptions.
•Samuels also forced his 21st fumble of his career.
•WRs Hank Edwards and Tyrone Timmons each broke 100 yards receiving for the second consecutive game.
•Tyrone Timmons caught four TDs, giving him nine in the first two games of he season
•Storm newcomer, WR Cleannord Saintil, recorded his first touchdown as a Storm player with 8:44 left in the first quarter on a three-yard run. With 10:16 left in the half, he added two more touchdowns later in the game, one on the ground and a reception.
•Storm veteran WR Lawrence Samuels recorded his 136th consecutive game with a catch.
•Hank Edwards recorded his 16th consecutive game with a catch.
•Storm WR Tryone Timmons recorded his 20-career touchdown with 15 seconds left in the half. Timmons also reached the 500-career receiving yard mark.
•Dallas had possession on the Storm’s one-yard line with 42.7 seconds left in the half; however, James ‘Dusty’ Bear recorded a tackle on the goal line to prevent a Vigilante touchdown. Brett Dietz drove the team downfield and found WR Tyrone Timmons in the end zone to put the Storm ahead by six points at the half.


SCORE 1 2 3 4 TOTAL
DAL 14 7 7 13 41
TAM 7 20 6 21 54

PASSING
DAL – Collin Drafts 30-21-212-4-1
TAM – Brett Dietz 45-30-320-6-0

RECEIVING
DAL – Kenny Henderson 8-61-2
TAM – Tyrone Timmons 11-108-4DAL – Collin Drafts 3-27-1
TAM – Cleannord Saintil 2-6-2

RUSHING


All-Purpose Yards
DAL – Kenny Henderson 220 yards
TAM – Tyrone Timmons 108 yards










Brett Dietz pilots the Storm offense










Storm Dawg










Jimmy plays ball with his new friends










Storm defense at work










Dietz fires away










More line play










Jimmy makes another friend










Storm play solid D










Our favorite player, #53 James Bear










Storm win










We sure had fun!










Jimmy says bye-bye to his new friends

U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team, Steve Cash Win USOC Monthly Awards

Team USA Named USOC Team of the Month;
Cash Named USOC Male Athlete of the Month

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team and its goalie, Steve Cash (Overland, Mo.), have both been honored with United States Olympic Committee awards for the month of March. After capturing the United States' second-ever Paralympic Winter Games gold medal in Vancouver, B.C., Team USA was named the USOC Team of the Month, while Cash was named the USOC Male Athlete of the Month.

"Our gold medal was the result of hard work by each and every one of our players over the last several years," said Ray Maluta, head coach of the U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team. "Everyone, including Steve, sacrificed time and personal committments in pursuit of one goal. I know that we're all very proud to have represented our country."

At the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games, Team USA posted a perfect 5-0-0-0 record and did not surrender a single goal en route to the gold medal. Cash logged four shutouts during the tournament and stopped all 33 shots he faced in 210 minutes of action. Most notably, he turned aside a second-period penalty shot in Team USA's 2-0 gold medal-clinching victory over Japan on March 20.

The U.S. became the first team in Paralympic Winter Games history to claim its second gold medal in sled hockey, having previously captured the gold medal at the 2002 Paralympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah. The win also marked Team USA's fourth straight International Paralympic Committee-sanctioned title.

NOTES: A full recap of the U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team's gold-medal performance, including a team roster, photos, features and stats, are available here ... In January, the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team was named the 2009 USOC Paralympic Team of the Year, while Cash was named the 2009 USOC Paralympic SportsMan of the Year ... Paralympic alpine skier Alana Nichols was named the USOC's Female Athlete of the Month for March.



2011 USA Hockey National Disabled Festival
to Take Place April 1-3 in Blaine, Minn.
2010 Festival Included Special Appearances, Record Participation

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The seventh annual USA Hockey National Disabled Festival will take place April 1-3, 2011, in Blaine, Minn., it was announced today. The festival, to be held at the Schwan Super Rink, will encompass all four disciplines of disabled hockey, including deaf/hard of hearing hockey, special hockey, sled hockey and standing/amputee hockey.

This year's event, which took place April 8-11 in Laurel, Md., brought together a total of 50 teams and nearly 800 players from 20 states across the United States. The 2010 festival hosted youth and adult sled tournaments; special hockey games; an exhibition between U.S. and international amputee all-star teams; and U.S. deaf/hard of hearing athletes competing against local able-bodied teams.

The 2010 festival also featured games with sled hockey players from the USA Warriors Ice Hockey Program. Organized to operate exclusively for United States Military personnel wounded in defense of their country, the program's mission is to organize and administer an ice hockey program that provides a recreational, therapeutic experience and education to its participants.

Also among this year's highlights were appearances by the Stanley Cup; Duff Goldman, star of the Food Network's "Ace of Cakes," who designed, produced and delivered a custom-made cake; and members of the U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team that won the gold medal at the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver, B.C., last month.

NOTES: Goldman's appearance will be featured on an upcoming episode of "Ace of Cakes." Broadcast details will be announced in the future ... Features, photos and links from the 2010 USA Hockey National Disabled Festival can be found here ... The Potomac Valley Hockey Association, an affiliate of USA Hockey, in conjunction with USA Hockey's Disabled Hockey Section, served as host for the 2010 USA Hockey National Disabled Festival ...The NHL's "Hockey is for Everyone" initiative donated auction items to the festival. More information on "Hockey is for Everyone" can be found here.

Monday Evening Meissnervations

I thought I'd get to things early this week, because of all the BIG news....

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The 2009-2010 season for the Tampa Bay Lightning is over. That's the bad news. The good news is, that it ended on a three-game win streak.

The first win came last Thursday. Marty St. Louis scored at even strength, Teddy Purcell and Steven Stamkos scored power play goals and Purcell scored the shootout winner, to nudge the Bolts to a 4-3 win at Ottawa. Mike Smith made 35 saves.









On Saturday, before an announced "crowd" of 17,050, Steven Stamkos scored two power play goals, his 49th and 50th goals of the season, to lead Tampa Bay past Florida 4-3 in another shootout. Marty St. Louis also scored in regulation and Stamkos scored the shootout winner (pictured above) against former Des Moines Buccaneer goaltender Scott Clemmensen. Antero Niittymaki had 29 saves for the Lightning.

Then, on Sunday, Alex Tanguay and Vinny Lecavalier scored first period goals, then Stamkos scored an empty-netter late, to power Tampa Bay past the stinkin' Panthers 3-1 in Sunrise. Smith made 30 saves.

The Lightning finish the season at 34-36-12 for 80 points, finishing 4th in the Southeast Division and missing the final playoff spot in the East by 8 points, the third straight season the team has missed the playoffs. Steven Stamkos finished the season with 51 goals, tied with Pittsburgh's Sydney Crosby for the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy, emblamatic of the league's leading goal scored. Stamkos is the third youngest player in NHL history to score 50 or more goals in one season.

The biggest news of all, which surprised few people, came earlier today, with the announcement that the last two high profile hires of the former ownership group, OK Hockey, Head Coach Rick Tocchet and General Manager Brian Lawton, were relieved of their duties, effective immediately.

The following is from the team's official website, http://lightning.nhl.com/:

The Tampa Bay Lightning have relieved General Manager Brian Lawton and Head Coach Rick Tocchet of their duties, effective today, Chairman Jeff Vinik announced this morning. The search for a new General Manager will begin immediately. Assistant General Manager Tom Kurvers will assume responsibility for Lightning hockey operations until a new General Manager is hired.

After the new General Manager is hired, he will select the new Head Coach. “Now that the 2009-10 Tampa Bay Lightning season has concluded, we have decided to replace Brian and Rick,” said Vinik upon making the announcement. “Our hockey operations department needs a fresh start in order to help us fulfill our goal of being a world-class organization. I’d like to thank both Brian and Rick for their dedication and service to the Lightning.

“Our search for a Chief Executive Officer is well underway and we are in the process of interviewing candidates. After the new CEO is hired, he will hire our new General Manager in time to prepare for the draft and free agency periods.”

Lawton was hired by the Lightning in June, 2008 and then named General Manager on October 22, 2008. As General Manager, he was responsible for all aspects of hockey operations, including the coaching and scouting staff, player procurement and development and minor league affiliations and operations.

Tocchet was hired on July 9, 2008 as the team’s Associate Coach. He was elevated to the position of interim head coach just 16 games into the 2009-10 season and named head coach on May 11, 2009. Tocchet was 19-33-14 in 2008-09 and his Lightning team went 34-36-12 this past season.

Team Owner Jeff Vinik released the following statement:

Effective immediately, I have decided to replace both Brian Lawton as General Manager and Rick Tocchet as Head Coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning. I believe that the hockey side of the TBL organization needs a "fresh start" in order to help us fulfill our goal of being a world-class organization. On behalf of the whole Lightning organization, I thank Brian and Rick for their service to the Lightning and wish them well in their future endeavors.

As you know, our search for a new CEO is well underway. I'm happy to announce that we have received quite a few resumes. We are in the process of interviewing a number of very highly qualified candidates.

Starting today, we will begin our search for a new GM. The new CEO will hire the new GM. It will then be the responsibility of the new GM to hire the new Head Coach. We plan to have this exciting hiring process all wrapped up prior to the NHL Draft.

Although we all are disappointed in the way our 2009-10 season finished, I am very excited about our future. We will all continue to build on the team’s tremendous foundation with the goal of bringing back the enthusiasm and success that the Tampa Bay Lightning and its great fans have enjoyed in the past.

Thank you for your continued support.

I look forward to “bringing it back” with you.

Jeff Vinik, Chairman

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The Tampa Bay Rays have started the season 4-3, winning 2 of 3 against Baltimore, then dropping 2 of 3 to the Yankees. The two losses to New York featured a near-no hitter thrown by C.C. Sabathia(Kelly Shoppach singled in the 8th) on Saturday, and another failure by the bullpen on Sunday. Tampa Bay opened a three-game set at Baltimore with a 5-1 win Monday night. They then travel to Boston for four games beginning Friday, then play three games at the White Sox starting Tuesday. The Rays return home on Friday, April 23rd against Toronto, which begins a 9-game home stand.

Toronto leads the AL East at 5-1, Minnesota tops the Central at 6-2 and Oakland paces the West at 5-2. In the senior circuit, Philadelphia's MLB best 6-1 leads, St. Louis at 5-2 is atop the Central and San Francisco leads the West with a 5-1 mark.

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In the Western Hockey League playoffs, Portland is still alive, trailing the Vancouver Giants 3-2 in the Western semis. Game 6 is Tuesday night in Portland, game 7 is Wednesday, also in Portland. The winner gets the Tri-City Americans for the Western Crown. The Amerks knocked out Kelowna in 5 games. In the East, Memorial Cup host Brandon bnested Saskatoon 4-2, and now faces Calgary for the East title, after the Hitmen outlasted Medicine Hat, also in 6 games.



In the Ontario Hockey League, the defending Memorial Cup Champion Windsor Spitfires are in the Western Final, after dispatching Plymouth in 4 games. They'll Kitchener, who beat LOndon in game 7 of their series Monday night. In the East, Barrie eliminated Brampton in 4 straight. They'll meet Mississauga-St. Michaels, who knocked off Ottawa in game 7 Monday night.



In the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Saint John meets Victoriaville and Drummondville plays Moncton in the semi-finals. The 2010 MasterCard Memorial Cup tournament will be held in Brandon, Manitoba May 14th through the 23rd.



In the USHL Clark Cup West playoffs, Omaha eliminated Tri-City in 3 straight, and Fargo sent Sioux Falls packing in similar fashion. In the East, Green Bay eliminated Waterloo in 3 straight, while Cedar Rapids is tied 2-2 with the defending Clark Cup Champions from Indiana. The deciding game 5 is Wednesday night in Cedar Rapids.

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Boston College won the NCAA Division 1 men's hockey championship Saturday, with a 5-0 win over Wisconsin. BC scored four times in the third period to break open a close game. The title game, played at Ford Field in Detroit(Home of the NFL's Detroit Lions) drew a U.S. Hockey record indoor crowd of 37,592.

A Pier Oliver-Cotnoir goal with only 31 seconds to play in the second overtime pushed Norwich past St. Norbert 2-1 in the men's D-3 title game in Lake Placid on March 20th.

Minnesota-Duluth Freshman Jessica Wong scored in the third overtime to lead the Bulldogs past Cornell 3-2 for the D-1 women's title back on March 21st. UMD is the 10th straight team from the WCHA to win the D-1 women's title.

Amherst beat Norwich 7-2 for the women's D-3 crown on March 20th.

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From http://www.indycar.com/news/show/55-izod-indycar-series/35223-castroneves-tide-rolls-in-alabama/

Team Venom Energy race strategist Kyle Moyer was “looking for a yellow” to aid race leader Marco Andretti. It came, but too late to help the Andretti Autosport driver from seeing the dual checkers for the second time in his IZOD IndyCar Series career.

Instead, the No. 26 car had to pit for a 3.3-second splash of 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol on Lap 82 of 90, relinquishing the lead to Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves.

That’s all it took in a race full of fuel strategy and excitement – with all 25 cars running at the finish for the first time in IZOD IndyCar Series history, only two brief full-course cautions breaking up the lap dashes and a crowd double that of any event previously held at Barber Motorsports Park (53,555; three-day total of 84,126) cheering on every lap.

“The inaugural Indy Grand Prix of Alabama far exceeded our expectations,” said Gene Hallman, president and CEO of event promoter ZOOM Motorsports.

Castroneves, winning his first road/street course race since Infineon in August 2008, had a similar assessment. He stopped the No. 3 Team Penske car on the cool-down lap and thanked spectators for attending the inaugural Indy Grand Prix of Alabama by climbing the safety fence in Turn 9.

“I had to work that in,” said Castroneves, who was joined in Victory Circle by his 3½-month-old daughter. “The people here have been great all week.”

Castroneves, who extended his series record with a victory to 10 consecutive seasons, won by 0.5703 of a second over Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, who started fifth. Teammate Dario Franchitti, the reigning IZOD IndyCar Series champion, moved up four positions to finish third (his third consecutive top 10 to start the season).

Castroneves’ victory also denied teammate Will Power of a series-record third consecutive victory to start the 17-race season. Power, the pole sitter who had to pit for the final time on Lap 63 (dropping him to seventh), advanced to finish fourth. Team Penske’s Ryan Briscoe was sixth and Justin Wilson advanced four spots to seventh. Tony Kanaan in eighth was followed by front-row starter Mike Conway and Alex Tagliani (moved up 11 positions).

“It is great having Helio win, which makes it three wins to start the season for Team Penske,” said Power, who led the first 12 laps. “In the strategy meeting before the race we talked about it and we knew that a caution in the early part of the race would not be to our favor. We made the best of it though. The No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car was fast today.”

Power retains the championship points lead, though his margin was cut from 45 to 32 over Castroneves (104). Franchitti is third (94) as the series heads to the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 18. “I think we’ll be strong there,” said Power, who started from the pole on the temporary street circuit in ’09.

Castroneves tied Franchitti and Tommy Milton on the all-time open-wheel racing victory list with 23. He led three different times through the initial 61 laps on the 2.38-mile, 17-course and was 0.4170 of a second behind Andretti with 10 laps left. The fast pace forced Andretti to pit on Lap 82 (his last was on Lap 57). As racing luck would have it, a full-course yellow was called on Lap 86 when the No. 78 car of rookie Simona De Silvestro spun in Turn 5.

The race to the finish resumed two laps later.

“We have to be happy to put the Venom car into the top five, especially after our finishes on road courses last year,” said Andretti, who led a field-high 58 laps. “I think maybe we could have stretched out each of our stints a bit longer and gained on fuel one lap at a time. Helio just went longer than us each time and that was the difference at the end. He was able to go that much farther and we fell short. Now we just have to keep marching forward.

“Overall, I think this shows we're on the right track."

Castroneves’ final pit stop for tires and fuel came on Lap 61.

“He was driving like remind me like his father, Michael Andretti,” Castroneves said. “Hell of a job. Then, when I was behind him, I was just saving fuel and trying to make sure that I could reach the number that they were asking me to do. We were able to actually go a little farther than that. It was a great situation.

“When we pitted after Scott and Dario, Marco was able to do an incredible job and back again in the lead. So I felt like I had a better car than Marco, but, unfortunately, I just couldn't pass him. And I was just patient and waiting for an opportunity, and well, I guess we were able to be smart enough to save a lot of fuel.

“Towards the end, we just had a yellow flag. I didn't ask for that, especially when you have Scott Dixon and those guys behind you. So I just decided to make sure do not give any opportunities for those guys, and that's what I did.”

Dixon, who started fifth, posted his best finish of the season.

“It was a good day for Team Target all in all with both cars in the top three,” he said. “We could have been better off if we would have got around Helio. It was hard to have the team telling me to save fuel and try to manage the fuel gauge, but still push. This track is all about track position. We didn’t have the fastest cars, but we made use of what we had. Standing at the podium in second and third is pretty impressive. We are looking forward to Long Beach.”

The IZOD Indy Car Grand Prix of Long Beach runs Sunday, April 18th. The race can be seen on Versus at 3:30pm EDT. Live streaming in several different categories will be available at http://www.indycar.com/

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Ryan Newman won the Subway Fresh Fit 600 NASCAR race in Phoenix Saturday, beating Jeff Gordon by 0.130. Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin and Juan Pablo Montoya rounded out the top 5. Joey Logano finished tenth. The Samsung Mobile 500 runs next Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway. Radio coverage begins at 2:00pm EDT on PRN, TV on FOX at 3:00pm EDT.

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Jimmy is really developing a great personality. The video shows him dancing to the music at this past Saturday's Lightning game. He really is a fun little guy!











Kim is doing a fantastic job as wife and mother. And, if you need help in your office, she's available. If you hire her, you'll be quite pleased. BTW: Her birthday is next Tuesday. A job would be the best of all presents!

Before Saturday's game between the Lightning and the "Stinkin'" Panthers, I zipped in to buy tickets, while Kim parked the car. Unbeknownst to me, while I was waiting for her and Jimmy to get to the Forum and I was talking to my friend Mike Barnes on the phone, she snapped the coolest picture she has ever taken of me.










That is such a cool picture! If I ever go missing, I want this splashed on every milk carton in the land! Nice job Dear!

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That's it for now. Have a great week everyone!

It's Wednesday!

Here we are....another week half-done. Let's go....

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The NCAA men's basketball get-together was decided in classic fashion Monday night, with Duke holding off a determined Butler by two points, 71-69 in front of over 70,000 in Indianapolis. Circumstances prevented me from seeing the game, but I hear it was a good one.

UConn beat Stanford 53-47 last night foir the Women's Title and became the sixth college women's team to go unbeaten. (They were also the fifth) From what I've read, I'm glad I missed this one.

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The Tampa Bay Rays played their season opener last night, in front of a sell-out crowd at Tropicana Field, tipping the Baltimore Orioles 4-3, thanks to Carl Crawford's ninth-inning, base hit to right. Evan Longoria blasted a 473-foot home run to left in the sixth, B.J. Upton made a great catch at the wall in dead center in the first and Rafael Soriano picked up the win in relief.

One down, 161 to go.

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Apparently, the Lightning season can't get over fast enough.

Last Wednesday, goals from Steven Stamkos and Steve Downie, plus Mike Smith's 27 saves, led Tampa Bay to a 2-0 win in their final-ever visit to the Igloo in Pittsburgh. That win, as solid as it was, did not spur the team on to bigger and better things.

The Lightning came home Friday and allowed 4 first-period goals, in a 5-0 loss to the New York Rangers. Smith and Antero Niittymaki split duties in goal, stoping just 17 of 22 shots.

Last night, Carolina came to town and scored four times in the first, on their way to an 8-5 win. Brandon Bochenski scored twice for Tampa Bay, Stamkos, Teddy Purcell and Andrej Meszaros one each. Goaltending again didn't help (or get much help) as Niittymaki and Smith stopped 33 of 40 shots.

The Lightning is now 31-36-12 for 74 points, tied with the stinkin' Panthers, just 2 points ahead of Toronto for last in the East. They have been officially eliminated from playoff contention.

Tampa Bay has just threee games left on their schedule. 7:30pm games Thursday against Ottawa and Saturday against Florida wrap up the home schedule, with a 5:00pm Sunday game in Sunrise against them stinkin' Panthers to close out what won't be as memorable a 2010-2011 season as the off-season will be.

Thursday and Sunday games can be seen on Sun Sports, with Saturday's game on WTOG, CW44. Check your listings for radio outlets.

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The Western Hockey League playoffs are into the second round.

In the West, the Portland Winterhawks have the Vancouver Giants right where they want them, losing the first two games at home. (Portland is 0-5 at home in this season's big play time, while the Giants have yet to lose in 6 starts this post season, as they host game 3 against the Hawks tonight.) Also in the West, Tri-City leads Kelowna 2-1. In the East, Calgary is up 2-1 over Medicine Hat and Brandon, the 2010 Memorial Cup hosts, is up 2-0 on Saskatoon.

In the Ontario League's Western playdowns, Windsor (the defending Memorial Cup champions) leads Plymouth 3-0 and London leads Kitchener 2-1. In the East, Ottawa and Mississaugua are tied 2-2 and Barrie lead Brampton 3-0.

In the QMJHL, Saint John is up 3-0 on Gatineau, Drummondville leads Rimouski 2-1, Victoriaville leads Quebec 3-0 and Moncton is up 3-0 on Rouyn-Noranda.

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The 2010 USHL post-season starts tonight. In the West, Tri-City meets Omaha and Fargo takes on Sioux Falls. In the East, Indiana tangles with Cedar Rapids and Waterloo battles Green Bay. All series in round one are best-of-five. Indiana is the defnding Clark Cup champions, while Green Bay has won the Anderson Cup (Best regular season record) two years straight.

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The Canadian Football league could be headed towards a lock-out of it's players this June. Details are available on Rod Pedersen's blog.

http://rodpedersen.blogspot.com/2010/04/lockout-talk-gets-serious.html

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Jimmy enjoys watching Seasame Street. He especially loves Elmo. Jimmy had an Elmo easter basket, he has a battery-operated Elmo that does the Hokey Pokey (And turns himself around!) and everything red he sees on tv, he shouts ELMO!

Mommy is at another job interview(Fingers are dutifully crossed), I'm getting ready for this weekend's Relay for Life and our four-legged boys, Snoopy and Smoke are having fun, as always. Smoke, the little Hairy Houdini, has slipped out the door twice in the past week. Fortunately, Mami has been able to catch him. The first time, she found him next door and Smoke, the poor little guy, was quite scared. And Snowball the Red-Nosed Escort, is back on the road after getting a new fuel pump. We love our kids, no matter how many legs or wheels they have!

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That's it for now. See ya soon!