May 24, 2013

Cleveland’s Battle For 2nd Place: LeBron James vs the Cleveland Indians?

May 21, 2010 by 33 Comments

I wouldn’t say everyone outside of Cleveland wants LeBron to leave. There have been plenty of national pundits, ex-players, coaches, analysts, etc who have said they’d like to see LeBron stay in Cleveland. So I am not easily surprised by either side of the coin, those who want him to leave and those who want him to stay.

I find it far more shocking and infuriating to see the number of people from Cleveland (and really all of Ohio) who actually either don’t care if LeBron leaves, or in the uncommon, but not rare, instances where they actually are rooting for him to leave. But among those who hope LeBron betrays us all, is it possible the Cleveland Indians are the ones praying the hardest that he leaves? Forbes seems to think so.  [Read more...]

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“Looks Like I Picked the Wrong Week to Quit Sniffing Glue”: Jackets Edge Penguins in Shoot Out

March 13, 2009 by 15 Comments

Airplane!

Blue Jackets 4, Penguins 3 – SO
(Box) – Highlights

Record: 35-27-6  (76pts – 6th place)
Sports Club Stats Rank: 6th, 82.3%

This was a tale of three games. For those of you who haven’t seen the movie “Airplane!” and therefore have no idea what the title of this post of the picture to the right even mean, let me give you a brief synopsis: as the airplane disaster gets worse and worse, the main guy in the ground control crew (Steve McCroskey, played by Lloyd Bridges) offers a series of one-liners as he tries to cope: “Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit drinking…. smoking… sniffing glue… using amphetamines…” etc. What does this have to do with anything, you might ask? Well, this being my first taste of “playoff hockey” is taking years off my life. With the last two games—how important they have been, as well as how they ended—it’s been like that for me: “Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.” We didn’t know whether or not Steve Mason would even be playing as late as 5:00 or 5:30. In the end, he did suit up, and proved to be the game-winner in many ways. That’s not to say there weren’t some bumps (read: a giant collapse in period 3) to be concerned with. But, at the end of the day, it was two more ever-so-important points, and a great start to this four-of-five-at-home stretch, and a record 19,167 fans got to watch it. [Read more...]

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Blue Jackets Update: Mason WILL Play Tonight (Updated)

March 12, 2009 by 5 Comments

The Columbus Dispatch is reporting that goaltender Steve Mason left the morning skate this morning with a respiratory issue that might keep him out of tonight’s all-important contest against the Pittsburgh Penguins:

Blue Jackets goaltender Steve Mason made a bee line out of Nationwide Arena before the morning skate. He has a cold that is affecting his respiratory tract and is considered questionable for tonight’s game vs. Pittsburgh. If he’s not feeling better — or any worse this afternoon — Mason will start. But don’t be surprised if Wade Dubielewicz gets the nod in net tonight against the Penguins. It would be Dubielewicz’s second start this season vs. Pittsburgh.

Also of note, it appears Michael Peca will in fact play tonight, though he will take Chris Gratton’s spot on the #4 line instead of Jiri Novotny’s spot on the #3 line. Novotny will play tonight.

UPDATE (5:30): Looks like Mason WILL go tonight for the Jackets: [Read more...]

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Preview: Blue Jackets vs. Penguins (Game 68)

March 12, 2009 by 5 Comments

Pittsburgh Penguins (36-26-6, 78pts) vs.
Columbus Blue Jackets (34-27-6, 74pts)
Nationwide Arena, Columbus OH
Thursday, March 12, 2009
7:00 PM EDT
FSOHIO/WWCD(fm)/WBNS(am)

(Dispatch Preview / SportsDirect Preview)

The Jackets are riding high, coming off of arguably the two biggest wins in franchise history, back-to-back. They fired on all cylinders in dismantling the Detroit Red Wings 8-2 on Saturday, and followed that up with one of their most complete performances in memory in stifling the NHL-leading Boston Bruins 2-0 on Tuesday night at Nationwide. As good as those two games were, the Jackets need to continue to focus on the schedule ahead and take each game one-at-a-time, as it doesn’t get any easier tonight. The Penguins are arguably the NHL’s hottest team right now, and possess the offensive capabilities to make it a rough night for any team. The Jackets get a chance to atone for their lackluster performance in Pittsburgh last month, but it’s going to be a tough night all around. [Read more...]

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Jackets Preview Game #52

February 6, 2009 by 4 Comments

Columbus Blue Jackets (24-22-5, 53pts) vs Pittsburgh Penguins (25-23-5, 55pts)
Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh, PA
Friday, February 6, 2009
7:30 PM EST
FSOHIO/WWCD(fm)/WBNS(am)

(Dispatch Preview / SportsDirect Preview)

Here we are: after this game there are only 30 to go. The Jackets have been reeling after two lackluster performances at home against teams they really should have—and needed to—beat. Tonight is the front end of a tough road-and-home back-to-back, and Columbus needs to come out and right the ship, lest the playoff race they were right in the thick of not even one week ago were to pass them by. Pittsburgh has always been a bit of the proverbial “regional rivalry” given that before having a team of their own, Columbus hockey fans were evenly split between Pittsburgh and Detroit. Columbus/Pittsburgh games have always sold out here in Columbus, even when  both teams were lousy. [Read more...]

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