Day Two of Not Caring

Honestly, I've tried, and I just can't bring myself to care about this whole Gary Matthews thing. Quite honestly, I'm much more concerned about UCLA vs. Wazzu, and Anze Kopitar missing the game against the Ducks tonight, because really, if he's not playing, what point is there in watching?

Why don't I care? Let's break it down.

Assume he's innocent:

1. Last year, though a fluke, wasn't chemically enhanced;
2. There's a chance he could work out OK this year, maybe next;
3. It's still an awful contract, and it will be brutal in two years.

Assume he's guilty:

1. Last year was a fluke AND chemically enhanced;
2. There's a smaller chance he could work out OK this year;
3. It goes from being an awful contract to a REALLY awful contract that's already brutal.

Honestly, I don't see much difference between guilt and innocence at this point. Either way, the deal sucks, and this is a distraction. The bright side, of course, is that he could get suspended for a while. The really bright side would be a situation in which the Angels could void his contract, but I don't see that happening.

Basically, I think this was such a bad deal at the time that I don't think anything could make it much worse. It's about as bad as it gets. I'll gladly eat crow if I'm wrong, but I have such little affection for Matthews to begin with that this whole situation doesn't make me like the move any less.

The News Keeps Coming

Kings

It'd deadline day in the NHL, and the Kings just made their big splash getting Johann Fransson, Jaroslav Modry, a 2008 first round pick, and 2nd and 3rd round picks in 2007. In exchange, they send the captain, Mattias Norstrom, empty headed prospect Konstantin Pushkarev, and 3rd and 4th round picks to Dallas.

I have mixed emotions about this trade. I like the return, though I have to think that Slowdry is in there solely for salary considerations. On the one hand, I hate to see Matty go. He's been the very definition of a warrior for basically the last decade in Los Angeles. Not necessarily the face of the franchise, but an incredibly solid performer who always displayed the utmost in professionalism. On the other hand, he's exactly the type of guy who deserves a legitimate chance at a Stanley Cup, and now he's going to get one alongside Phillipe Boucher. Pushkarev was someone for whom I had high hopes, but Lombardi was never a fan, and whatever magic Hextall was trying to work, well apparently he didn't think he could get it done. The best thing about Pushkarev in this deal is that he's not O'Sullivan or Tukonen.

Baseball

Rumor is getting out now that for a number of reasons, the deal between Major League Baseball and DirecTV may be slowly sliding off the table. In other words, there's a good chance that Extra Innings will still be available on cable this season.

The whole thing has essentially hinged on where the Baseball Network will be slated when it starts up in 2009. MLB wants in on the basic tier. Cable doesn't want it on the basic tier. DirecTV was willing to put it on the basic tier in exchange for exclusivity for Extra Innings. The combination of a better offer from cable, a promise to put the Baseball Network somewhere, and pressure from Congress (specifically Senator Kerry) seems to have put the whole thing on hold. Depending on who you listen to, either the deal will still get done, may not get done, or won't get done.

One source familiar with negotiations said he now believes that the Extra Innings package will remain available to all three services."I'd be surprised if the DirecTV deal goes through," he said.

...

"There will be a commitment to carry the Baseball Network (on cable)," said the industry official. "Where it will be placed, that still needs to be sorted out."

Another source with the league said he was not aware of any shift away from plans to go with an exclusive deal for DirecTV. But talks have lingered for months without an official announcement even as baseball's opening day draws near

Stay tuned.

The Avery Trade

I know I'm a day or so late on this. I liked Sean Avery, and I enjoyed watching him play. It was nice to have a guy on the team that everyone else hated. But I'd say I was pretty much in the middle of the road on Avery. I didn't hate him after he did stupid things, and I'm not heartbroken that he's gone. I think he has a chance to be a fairly skilled player. He's a great skater, and he's shown some skill at times, but I thought that over the last 25 games or so, he looked very average to me.

My problem with Avery wasn't that he couldn't cut it on the ice. My problem with Avery was that he was a dick. Any time I saw him interviewed, he wasn't just serious, he was completely humorless. I'm not sure how you can play that style and not have sense of humor off the ice. He seemed like a guy who really disliked the media, which is stupid, because he played in the one market where there was very little media scrutiny of his antics. The last time I heard him interviewed was the morning show on KLAC when he was interviewed by Fred Roggin, and TJ and Tracy Simers. Roggin's a season ticket holder, and TJ is a known hockey curmudgeon, but he's also a known joker, and the way to react to his slights is to make fun of him right back. But Avery seemed to generally get upset. And quite frankly, he sounded like an ass. In contrast, Chris Pronger was much more laid back and much funnier when he was on the program.

Again, I really liked Avery on the ice, but the fact is the guy got a lot of ink, and for a guy who is a press magnet, I don't think he was a very good ambassador for the Kings organization.

As for the return, I don't see Jason Ward being on the next good Kings team, although he is fairly young. Marc Andre Cliche is the big return. He's a 19 year old currently playing in Lewiston of the QMJHL along with Kings goaltending prospect Jonathan Bernier. He's got a decent scoring touch, but his real value is as a defensive center who excels on the penalty kill. He's supposedly a great character guy as well, which is one of the reasons he was selected to play on Canada's junior national team. Jan Marek is the final piece, a 27 year old skilled Czech forward who's putting up about a point per game in the Russian League. Sounds kind of like a Kai Nurminnen or Jaroslav Bednar type guy, both of whom were semi-productive during their brief stints in Los Angeles. See the video below. The guy's got some skill, and if Lombardi can get him over to North America, the Kings could really have two pretty good scoring lines next season.

So the rebuild continues. We'll just have to wait and see who's next.

Saturday in Review

Illinois

This game was a lot closer than it should have been for about 25 minutes until the Illini pulled away in the second half. Minnesota is awful, and Illinois only resembles awful on occasion. The usual suspects did the damage for the Illini, with Pruitt, Carter, and McBride all in double figures. Chester Frazier did not play due to injuries.

But the story of the game, by far, was the fact that Jamar Smith didn't totally suck for the first time in a month. After Wednesday's game, his numbers in Big 10 play were:
11/60, 18.3% from the field;
5/49, 10.2% from three point country, and that's only because he was just bad in their first conference game, instead of brutal.

After the Minnesota game, his numbers are now:
16/70 (22.9%) from the field;
8/56 (14.3%) from beyond the arc.

It was actually nice to see a few shots fall for him. Maybe he'll gain some confidence for the stretch. He'll need it, and so will the Illini.

UCLA

This game was over before I even saw any of it. Fox College Sports didn't click over until the U$C-Oregon game ended, and by that point, UCLA already led 15-5, and they didn't look back en route to an 82-35 win. They got 76 minutes and 32 points from their bench, primarily because all of their starters were done by the ten minute mark of the second half. You generally don't see too many all out slaughters like this in conference play, but it provided a nice rest for their starters, and some much needed experience for their bench, especially Nikola Dragovic, who got a later start to the season, and could become a key cog in a game or two when they really need an extra shooter or a few fouls.

Speaking of size for the Bruins, Kevin Love dominated Mater Dei last night down in Santa Ana, scoring 36 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. And this wasn't just a top recruit against another high school. Mater Dei starts about four guys over 6' 7", and brings a seven footer off the bench. Taylor King, who decommitted from UCLA before choosing Duke, did not look good, held without a field goal in the second half. Kevin Love is going to be a very good player at UCLA

Kings

Finally they were on the right side of an ass-kicking. It's useless to speculate on where they could have been with good goaltending all year, but it's fun to watch them play with a decent guy in net.

UC Riverside

Holy crap! They beat Cal State Fullerton! I have no idea how that could have happened, but damn, that's two straight for the Highlanders. And CSUF is no slouch. They were in first place in the Big West, and beat UCR by 40 at Fullerton. Larry Freaking Cunningham scored 34 points in the second half!

According to the article, Bobby Brown, Fullerton's point guard, Cousy award finalist, and arguably the best player in the conference, threw down an alley-oop which tied the game, and got T-ed up for taunting. UCR scored the next six points and never looked back. Word of advice, Bobby. I know you're very good. But dude, you're in the Big West. And you had just dunked a shot that tied Riverside in the second half. That, son, is nothing to get excited about. Let that be a lesson to ya. No one comes into UCR's house and shows the Highlanders up...except pretty much every other team that's been there this year.

First conference win for the Highlanders in 13 months. Then again, they did play UCLA tougher than Oregon State did.

I Never Know What to Call These Posts

Just catching up after a day or two off:

UCLA

I really didn't have the heart to write about the choke against Stanford yesterday, and I don't really have much of a heart to do it today, either. But a couple of things stand out. First, all of the concern about the Bruins failing to get off to fast starts seems a little misplaced. It clearly didn't help them against Stanford. Their "slow" starts have been a function of playing with a consistent effort for 40 minutes while their opponents come out guns blazin' before eventually wearing out. I don't know if the Bruins wore out, or if their lack of options inside with all of the big guys in foul trouble killed them, or if Stanford was just getting away with things physically on the defensive end. Maybe it was a little of all three. But either way, they just really tanked in the second half. They couldn't get stops when they needed to, and they couldn't get baskets when they needed to.

Stanford is a tough matchup for pretty much everyone. Very few teams have that much size. I thought the Bruins handled the Stanford big men pretty well in the first half, but despite the fact that they're all about 6'10", it's pretty clear that right now there's a big difference in ability between Mata/LRMAM/Aboya and Wright/Keefe. Chalk it up to a learning experience, and get ready for Oregon on Thursday.

Kings

They finally dealt Craig Conroy, who hadn't really done much of anything this season, in exchange for Jamie Lundmark and a couple of draft picks. I like Conroy, mostly because he's American, but he made virtually no impact on this team after having a pretty good season last year. He'll be reunited with Jerome Iginla in Calgary and maybe he'll regain his scoring touch.

As for the return, the Kings get cheaper, and they get primarily a second round pick next year when hopefully the draft will be a little deeper than it is this year. It also give Lombardi and the staff a little more time to scout on their own in preparation for that draft. And lord knows the trade can't possibly make the Kings any worse.

Illinois

Geez, who cares at this point? I think the biggest outstanding question is how low can Jamar Smith's shooting percentage go? They get Michigan at home tonight. It's already the worst season since '98-'99, and it can't possibly get worse than that, so they're kind of in limbo right now. Unfortunately, unlike '99, there's no Corey Bradford to lead them to the conference championship game.


Mazarin

This is a really good song.

Luc Robitaille

I didn't mention it, but the Kings retired Luc's #20 on Saturday night. Normally that would lead to a longer post like the one I just wrote for Erstad, but I kind of already did that for Luc when he broke the team goal scoring record, so I'll just link to it here.

As for the ceremony, I'll admit that I teared up a few times, but that's probably because I was a little drunk already.

Also, Kopitar is just freaking incredible. Watch the second goal in the hilight reel. Just awesome.