Tending Goal - a Hockey and Soccer Blog: January 2012

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Greg Schiano is off to the NFL. Is he taking Rutgers? bid for relevance with him?

What's the old saying? If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Or, in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' case, if at first you whiff on a college coach from one coast, go to the opposite coast for another: The Bucs have reached a deal with Rutgers' Greg Schiano today to replace Raheem Morris in its top job, finally luring one of the nation's most sought-after college bosses out of his home state and plunging Rutgers football into an existential crisis.

First things first: While Schiano may not have Chip Kelly's record or trophy case, but as a potential NFL candidate, he makes exponentially more sense. For one thing, he has actual NFL inexperience (albeit briefly) as an assistant with the Chicago Bears from 1996-98. Secondly, his schemes at Rutgers are generically "pro style" ? that is, unlike Kelly, he doesn't specialize in a certain type of scheme that may not translate to the pro game. It can't hurt, either, that Schiano also oversaw an alarming concentration of future NFL mainstays ? Ed Reed, Phillip Buchanon, Dan Morgan, Damione Lewis, Nate Webster ?�as Miami's defensive coordinator in 1999 and 2000, or that he was reportedly endorsed by one Bill Belichick, whose son walked on at Rutgers last year, and who (I'm guessing) leaves tiny stamped imprints of all three Super Bowl rings beneath his signature on letters of recommendation.

Most importantly, the man knows how to take on a challenge: This is the guy who built a reliable winner at Rutgers. When Schiano was hired in December 2000, he inherited a traditional afterthought coming off one of the worst decades of any program in Division I. At that point, the Scarlet Knights had finished last or next-to-last in the Big East standings in eight of their first nine years in the conference, and dead last two years in a row. Eleven years later, Schiano has led them to six bowls in bowls in seven years since 2005 and produced as many draft picks (17) as Rutgers had produced in the previous 30 years combined, including Pro Bowl running back Ray Rice in 2008 and the first three first-rounders in school history (Kenny Britt, Anthony Davis and Devin McCourty) in 2009 and 2010.

But even wins and losses and a handful of star players can't quite encapsulate how thoroughly Schiano transformed the culture in Piscataway. Traditionally, Rutgers belongs to the class of academically oriented schools in the Northeast that disavow the corrupting influence of big-time football: Before Division I was split into "I-A" and "I-AA" classifications in 1978, its schedule consisted overwhelmingly of teams from the Ivy League and the kind of wannabe-Ivy schools that would go on to form the Patriot League ? that is, second and third-rate programs that care so little about sports that most of them still don't offer athletic scholarships. Rutgers is the only one of that group that soldiered on as a I-A program after 1978, but it took another 25 years and an enormous leap of faith in the head coach for the university to throw its weight behind building a legitimate, competitive football team.

In one sense, the dramatic increase in football spending over the last decade was a bet on Schiano, and in terms of wins and losses and putting the football team in the national consciousness, it paid off. The Knights' 9-0 start in 2006 ? punctuated by a nationally televised, Thursday-night upset over undefeated Louisville that briefly lifted them to the highest poll ranking in school history ? was probably the height of national awareness that Rutgers University exists.

In other ways, though, it's still miles from sustaining a competitive program at the BCS level. In December, the Newark Star-Ledger reported that the combination of a stadium expansion, escalating coaches' salaries and declining attendance had forced the athletic department to spend $64..2 million in student fees, tuition and state tax dollars to cover its budget. That was more than twice as high as the $26.9 million the athletic department required to balance the books in 2010, which USA Today calculated last summer as the second-largest subsidy in the nation behind only UNLV.

For the 2009-10 fiscal year, the same year the recession-wracked university froze professors' salaries, shrunk academic programs and jacked up tuition, housing and other fees, Bloomberg found that more than 40 percent of the athletic department budget came from student fees and the university general fund. And that was three years after budget concerns forced the department to nuke six "non-revenue" programs altogether.

Obviously, Schiano's exit leaves a lot more hanging in the balance than the fate of a recruiting class. After nearly a decade of trying to keep up with the Joneses, Rutgers has a sea of red ink and zero championships or BCS bowl appearances to show for it. In two years (possibly sooner), it will be the only charter member of the Big East in football left in the conference, which has been forced to expand to the far corners of the continent for the sake of an automatic BCS bowl bid that's about to fall by the wayside, anyway, along with the millions it brought into the athletic department on an annual basis. At this point, the university has to step back and ask itself: Can we really afford to be a big-time football program?

There are already plenty of people on campus and in the New Jersey Legislature who have been shouting "No!" to that question for years. The next hire will tell us a lot about whether the administration and athletic department agree.

- - -
Matt Hinton is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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Super Bowl XLII hero Tyree is back in the spotlight

LostLettermen.com, the college sports fan site and ex-player database, regularly contributes to Shutdown Corner. Here's a look at the current whereabouts of former Super Bowl hero David Tyree.

If it feels like David Tyree's helmet catch to propel the New York Giants over the New England Patriots in 2008's Super Bowl XLII happened just yesterday, it's probably because you've seen the replay of the greatest catch in Super Bowl history more times than you care to remember.

And with the Giants and Patriots set for a rematch on Sunday, Tyree is embarking on a second round of his 15 minutes of fame. That includes more endless replays of "The Catch" and a trip to Indianapolis, where he'll be doing appearances and interviews leading up to the game and may even have a cameo on NBC's Super Bowl pre-game show with Bob Costas.

Speaking earlier this week, Tyree admits he still hasn't fully grasped the enormity of that moment and how it's forever altered his life.

"There's still some aspects of it that I'm still taking in, to be honest with you," Tyree said. "Just because it's four years later now and obviously everybody's reliving that amazing moment. So for me, more than anything, it's humbling and I just do my best and have fun with it and present it to everybody so they can enjoy it as well."

While many people are still trying to comprehend how Tyree hung onto the ball, the deeply religious, born-again Christian has his explanation: Divine intervention.

Why Tyree of all people to become a Super Bowl hero?

"There's a scripture that says, 'God choses the low things of the world to put to shame the wise,'" said Tyree, paraphrasing a bible verse. "I'm the least likely guy, the least likely candidate to make that play, to be in position to have any impact in the Super Bowl."

And what an impact he had.

On top of a touchdown catch earlier in the game, that 32-yard bomb helped set up the Giants' winning touchdown in the final minute. Amazingly, that was Tyree's final NFL catch. Ever. After sitting out the entire 2008 season due to injury, he was cut by the Giants before the 2009 season and played just 10 games for the Baltimore Ravens that fall before calling it quits for good.

Still just 32-years old, Tyree now lives outside New York City with his wife and six children in Wayne, NJ, where he stays busy with his home-schooled kids and philanthropy projects like Carter's Kids, a charity for underprivileged youth run by Tyree's former Giants teammate, Tim Carter. Tyree credits the catch and the fame that came with it for helping him spread his charitable efforts.

But Tyree's religious beliefs have also led to controversy. Prior to New York state approving gay marriage last June, Tyree took part in a controversial interview with the National Organization for Marriage in which he said legalizing same-sex marriage would lead to "anarchy." He raised even more eyebrows when Tyree then said he would trade the helmet catch and Super Bowl victory to prevent gay marriage being legalized, something he stands by today.

"You have to understand you're asking me, 'Would I trade in a football moment to preserve marriage?'" Tyree said. "Absolutely."

While it should not be a surprise that a religiously conservative person would oppose gay marriage, Tyree's struck a nerve for using such strong words on such a divisive topic and fueling the perception of homophobia in sports. The comments resulted in a huge backlash from the media and people sending him hate messages over Twitter.

Tyree said he thinks it's hypocritical for people who openly support gay marriage to criticize him for also voicing his beliefs and is hopeful it won't cause a rift with former Giants teammates like Michael Strahan and members of the organization like Steve Tisch (a co-owner of the team), who both supported the law.

"I hope that wouldn't strain someone's relationship, differences of opinion, because I'm sure there are other areas where we have gross differences of opinion but that shouldn't entangle my ability to be able to relate to somebody and love somebody," Tyree said. "I can disagree with you and love you."

Listening to Tyree's deep conviction and charisma, it's easy to wonder if he will follow in the footsteps of other former NFL stars like Irving Fryar and Napoleon Kaufman to become a pastor one day. He says it's possible, but not a focus right now.

Said Tyree: "You can keep your title [of a pastor] but I'll go ahead and shepherd some people, I'll go ahead and love some people, I'll go ahead and teach people the truth."

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You can bet on whether Kelly Clarkson forgets a word to the national anthem

Continuing on a grand tradition of ridiculous Super Bowl prop bets, leading online sports gaming website, Bovada (formerly Bodog), is offering multiple wagers on Kelly Clarkson's rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner." The usual "how long will the anthem be" odds take a backseat this year to a new wager inspired by Christina Aguilera's Super Bowl XLV debacle.

Will Kelly Clarkson forget or omit one word from the national anthem?

Yes (+250)

First, let me explain what "+250" means if you're not familiar with the logistics of wagering. If you put $100 down on Clarkson forgetting a word, there's a 250 percent chance that you have a major gambling problem. (It actually means you win $250 for every $100 wagered.)

The odds are set up to indicate that Clarkson won't forget a word. This�fact suggests oddsmakers of the world, like the rest of us, have little respect for Aguilera and Cyndi Lauper. I think that's the safe bet. You'd think if you were singing the next Super Bowl anthem after Aguilera you'd memorize the words like they were your ATM code.

[Rewind: Cyndi Lauper messes up national anthem at U.S. Open]

How long will it take Kelly Clarkson to sing the national anthem?

Over/under: 1 minute, 34 seconds

The fine folks at Stock Lemon Blog have researched Clarkson's three biggest anthem renditions and found that she was under the 94-second mark in each of them. Going with the under seems like the easy call. But that's what they want you to do. Surely, singing in front of 100 million people will provide an overblown intro and extra flourish on the high notes. It's not like Clarkson is Jennifer Hudson, who shrilly and pompously lasted 2 minutes, 29 seconds in her performance at Super Bowl XLIII, but she won't be speeding either.

What will Kelly Clarkson wear to sing the national anthem?

-- Super Bowl XLVI or official NFL shirt (+200)

-- Colts jersey or shirt (+1200)

-- Patriots jersey or shirt (+1200)

-- Giants jersey or shirt (+1500)

-- Anything else (-300)

Kelly Clarkson won "American Idol," so she knows how to pander to the crowd. She'd get ultimate respect from America if she sent out someone in a Peyton Manning jersey and then ran up from behind, pushed her down and performed wearing an Andrew Luck jersey instead. We can dream.

Will Kelly Clarkson's bare belly be showing when she sings the national anthem?

Yes (+300)

No, but I bet Vince Wilfork's will be.

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Ryan Braun accepts NL MVP Award, rocks velvet tux at BBWAA banquet

For anyone expecting Milwaukee Brewers slugger Ryan Braun to make big news at the baseball writers banquet Saturday night, well, he didn't.

Unless you count the awesome velvet tuxedo he wore to accept his 2011 NL MVP Award.

In a brief speech spent mostly thanking his supporters, Braun only alluded to the positive drug test that will lead to a 50-game suspension if his appeal is denied. He didn't dramatically decline the MVP award, as some fantasized he might, and he didn't emotionally defend his reputation from revelations that could taint it forever in the eyes of many.

Here's what he said, as quoted by MLB.com:

"Sometimes in life, we all deal with challenges we never expected to endure," Braun told an audience at the Hilton New York in midtown Manhattan. "We have an opportunity to look at those challenges and view them either as obstacles or as opportunities. I've chosen to view every challenge I've ever faced as an opportunity, and this will be no different. I've always believed that a person's character is revealed through the way they deal with those moments of adversity."

Other than his tux, this is the part that appealed to me:

"I've always loved and had so much respect for the game of baseball. Everything I've done in my career has been done with that respect and appreciation in mind. And that is why I'm so grateful and humbled to accept this award tonight."

No matter how this turns out, I believe him. Braun seems genuinely hurt that anyone might think he would try to cheat the game. Now, regardless if the positive test is because of a mistake on his part, an error by the manufacturers of the product he used, or a flaw in the test, he's still probably going to have to serve that suspension. And it's only fair, because that's what the players signed up for to help mollify the anti-steroid crusaders.

But as far as intentions go, Ryan Braun and his velvet tux are OK in my book.

Follow Dave on Twitter ? @AnswerDave ? and engage the Stew on Facebook

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Devils plan to keep Zach Parise at trade deadline before losing him next summer

At the Board of Governors meeting in Ottawa last weekend, it was confirmed that the New Jersey Devils are being subsidized as a financial train wreck forwarded revenue payments as their ownership group continues to battle and they face an $80 million debt obligation that could lead the team to bankruptcy.

So, good times then ?

News on the state of New Jersey increased the speculation about captain Zach Parise leaving the State of New Jersey before he hits unrestricted free agency next summer. But according to the NY Post, word around the League is that Parise will remain a Devils through next month's trade deadline.

From the NY Post:

Sources say inquiring general managers are getting the word Devils GM Lou Lamoriello is not dealing unrestricted free agent-to-be Zach Parise before the NHL's Feb. 27 trade deadline.

Instead, it is thought if the Devils do not want to re-sign Parise in June, they'll trade his rights to a team that wants an advance shot at negotiations before he becomes free July 1.

So the Ryan Suter Plan, essentially.

This should come as a shock to ? no one. First, because the Devils believe they have a considerable shot at bringing Parise back. That may fly in the face of logic and spit in the face of their debt-collectors, but there's a reason they gave him the captaincy.

Second, because even if Lamoriello felt Parise wouldn't re-sign, he's been in a win-now mode since the lockout. He's not going to undermine a veteran team ? and one of his franchise goalie's last runs ? by dealing away the team's best player (sorry, Ilya). He'd rather go for a Stanley Cup than trade when the value's highest. Maybe not the best thing for the franchise, but without question the best thing for Lou.

As a Devils fan, I don't expect Parise back, but I believe he could come back. (It also speaks to my being raised in Jersey, where pessimism has its own learning unit during kindergarten.) The team's finances are one concern. His family pulling him back to Minnesota is another concern. The notion that Parise thinks he has a better shot at a Stanley Cup somewhere other than New Jersey is yet another.

But hey, at least he'll still be in red and black when the team's eliminated in the first round again this postseason ...

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Ridiculous survey: Married women would rather have an affair with Eli Manning than Tom Brady

As part of our ongoing hard-hitting coverage of Super Bowl XLVI, we bring you this important news: The married ladies surveyed by AshleyMadison.com say they'd prefer to have an affair with Eli Manning over Tom Brady, by a margin of 54 percent to 46 percent.

It's not a huge margin of victory, but this time of year, there's no such thing as winning ugly.

Much like in the actual Super Bowl, I'd have thought Tom Brady would've been a favorite here. He's got the dashing good looks ? and that's not even my subjective opinion. Brady's a spokesman for fashionable Ugg boots. He's done the magazine spreads holding baby goats. He landed the world's hottest supermodel. These are not things that happen to people who look like Quasimodo.

But Eli got the W anyway. The guy just wins. Here's the lame explanation as to why:

In fact, 54% of married women polled said that they'd rather have a dalliance with Manning because of his to his "boy next door" good looks, according to the adultery-promoting company.

Philandering females said they thought Manning would be "less of a hothead" than Brady and easier to relate to.

You want to know why so many married women prefer Eli to Handsome Tom? I'll tell you why.

And yes, we do have a female writer we could ask. The great Maggie Hendricks is around, but she writes about the NFL and MMA, and to ask her to do a "Which QB is hotter?" post would be insulting and sexist. So I'm going to tell you which QB is hotter. It's going to get weird for all of us, and I'll probably be wrong about everything I say, but that's what's about to happen.

Here's why Eli's your winner: These are married women that were surveyed. Handsome Tom represents the playboy; the guy who can go out, lock the smoldering bedroom eyes on any sweet thing of his choosing, and the deal is all but sealed. Tom's the ladykiller. Tom brings home supermodels.

Eli, on the other hand, comes straight home after work. He looks less threatening, at least from a "he might go sleep with someone else" standpoint. He looks like a man who just wants to come home, watch his cartoons, have some macaroni and cheese, and play some Chutes and Ladders before bedtime.

Now, none of this may be reality, but it is the perception. And again, we're talking about married women here. They're more likely to value the security and stability (also, we're talking about broad, sweeping generalizations here).

I believe Gisele's a factor, too. She's a supermodel, and most women don't want to follow a supermodel. They fear the comparison. Note that Eli married well, himself; it's just not as well-publicized.

Ladies, go ahead and chime in below in the comments. I'm curious to see which way you're going on this one.

Gracias, Larry Brown Sports.

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Deep Pivot

?When I came in the league, I had to go through Alonzo Mourning, Arvydas Sabonis, Kevin Duckworth, Rik Smits. Now I can?t name any other centers besides Kendrick Perkins and Andrew Bynum. Who else is there? That?s it.? Via Shaq: Dwight Howard [...]

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An illustrated guide to NHL All-Star Game MVPs and their accomplishments

OTTAWA ? The NHL All-Star Game is Sunday, and now it's just a matter of which Ottawa Senators or Boston Bruins player will win Most Valuable Player. OK, there may be a few others in contention, but we're just playing the percentages here.

The 2012 MVP will join an illustrious list that includes Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr Mario Lemieux, Gordie Howe and Eric Daze. Via Puck Daddy's infographics ace Dan Gustafson of SixteenWins.com, here is an illustrated look at NHL All-Star Game MVPs and their other accomplishments that season.

Gretzky with the rare Lady Byng/NHL All-Star Game MVP double in 1999. He is the Great One!

(Dan will be working with Puck Daddy on creating some whimsical and informative NHL graphics throughout the season. If you have any requests, email us at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com. Visit Dan at Sixteen Wins and follow him on Twitter here.)

Previously on Puck Daddy

? Illustrated guide to NHL players that logged 1,000 or more games with one team
? Illustrated guide to USA vs. Canada in World Juniors
? Illustrated guide to the 2011 Ron Swanson NHL All-Star Team
? Illustrated guide to firing NHL coaches during the season
? Illustrated guide to NHL No. 11s on 11-11-11
? Illustrated guide to NHL realignment history
? Illustrated guide to Brendan Shanahan's NHL suspensions (so far)
? Illustrated guide to the Bruins' $156,679 Foxwoods bar tab

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Monday, January 30, 2012

Hurricanes sign Tim Gleason to 4-year deal, thus denying us trade deadline fun

Sitting 10 points out and last in the Eastern Conference, the Carolina Hurricanes are expected to be sellers as the trade deadline approaches. But like any yard sale, every item has its asking price. You might think a porcelain Dalmatian is worth less than the sellers do; thing is, the sellers don't really want to get rid of it.

Such is the case with defenseman Tim Gleason and the Carolina Hurricanes, who agreed on a new contract on Monday. From the Canes:

Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League's Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has signed defenseman Tim Gleason to a four-year contract extension. The deal will pay Gleason $3.5 million in 2012-13, $4.5 million in 2013-14 and 2014-15 and $3.5 million in 2015-16.

"We thank Tim for choosing to stay with the Hurricanes long term," said Rutherford. "He is one of our core players, someone who brings character and leadership to our locker room, along with being a key piece on the ice. This is a very important signing for our team going forward."

Gleason was set to become an unrestricted free agent next summer, and his name was at the top of the shopping list for teams like the Philadelphia Flyers.

But GM Jim Rutherford was asking for a bit much ? the Ottawa Sun reported that the Hurricanes wanted "either two No. 1 picks or an 'A' prospect and a No. 1 pick in exchange for one of pending UFA Ds Tim Gleason, Bryan Allen or Jaroslav Spacek."

He's a bruising, shutdown defenseman in a league that doesn't have enough of them. If you're a Hurricanes fan stressing on the $4 million cap hit, up from $2.75 million, don't fret; this is around his open-market value, depending on the number of suitors.

So instead of rebuilding by trading Gleason, the Hurricanes will build around him. Which should tell you how Rutherford sees this roster: Not as an irredeemable mess that needs its core blown up, but one that just needs to swap out some parts.

"Parts" in this case probably being Bryan Allen, due for free agency and making $3.15 million this season.

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C-a-C: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will destroy you, ball

In the years since his retirement, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has found many ways to pass the time. He's been a coach, a mentor, the Archangel of Basketball, a best-selling author and, most recently, a global cultural ambassador for the U.S. Department of State. When you add his many post-career accomplishments to his Hall of Fame playing career, you're left with a man who has achieved on a level few have ever known ? a lifelong winner for whom, perhaps, few challenges remain. For individuals of such distinction, the journey can never stop; new horizons must be sought.

At least, that's what I tell myself�when Kareem decides he's going to try to develop psychokinetic powers that enable him to move, distort and perhaps even destroy objects with his thoughts. I think it's good for people to set goals, even if those goals leave you staring crazily at a basketball on top of a pen in Brazil.

To be fair, he's getting really good. That ball wasn't even spinning when he put it on top of the pen. He did that with his mind. True story.

Best caption wins "Slam Dunk Ernest," in its entirety, overdubbed in Hungarian. Don't you dare say I never gave you anything. Good luck.

In our last adventure: The list of games at which Kevin Durant is better than Jarrett Jack now apparently includes freeze tag.

Winner, CS: The New Orleans Hornets would have been better if they signed a group of players WITHOUT a severe phobia of a moving net.

Runner-up, Colin: "The Thunder's new mascot is the ghost from the Skirvin Hotel? Run!"

NOTE: Granted, the goof here is basically just a variant of the one I made in the post itself, but it's specific, it's accurate and, most importantly, it enables me to link back to a post in the BDL archives that features a super-dope J.E. Skeets Photoshop. Everybody wins!

Second runner-up, Vaffanculo: Sometimes you don't even need to buy a ticket to watch a good game.

A Special Commendation in Ruling, Great Job, Internet! Division, goes to Meowmeowmeow, who offered: ALL HAIL THE HYPNOTOAD.

Cat-friendly user name + "Futurama" reference + the delightful (and perhaps accidental) trolling in getting the reference a little bit wrong = Great Job, Internet!

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Florida law would turn its publicly funded ballparks and stadiums into homeless shelters

Could the new Marlins ballpark or the Tampa Bay Rays' Tropicana Field serve as a homeless shelter for the 270 or so nights a year that they're not used for baseball?

If two Florida lawmakers have their way, they might. As reported by the Miami Herald, state legislators have unearthed an obscure law that has not been enforced since it was adopted in 1988. It states that any ballpark or stadium that receives taxpayer money shall serve as a homeless shelter on the dates that it is not in use.

Now, a new bill would punish owners of teams who play in publicly funded stadiums if they don't provide a haven for the homeless. Affected ballparks would include the Miami Marlins' new ballpark in Miami's Little Havana, the Tampa Bay Rays' Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg and several spring training facilities. It also includes the homes of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Miami Heat, Jacksonville Jaguars and Florida Panthers.

The newspaper estimates that owners might have to return $30 million in benefits that were already bestowed if the bill passes and they can't prove they were running homeless shelters (to the newspaper's knowledge, no teams have been).

From the Miami Herald:

Senate Bill 816, which would make teams and stadium owners return millions of taxpayer dollars if they can't prove that they've been operating as a haven for the homeless on non-event nights, �passed its first committee in the Senate on Monday with a unanimous vote.

"We have spent over $300 million supporting teams that can afford to pay a guy $7, $8, $10 million a year to throw a baseball 90 feet. I think they can pay for their own stadium," �said Sen.�Michael Bennett, R-Bradenton, who is sponsoring the bill. �"I can not believe that we're going to cut money out of Medicaid and take it away from the homeless and take it away from the poor and impoverished, and we're continuing to support people who are billionaires."

With this being an election year, it's not too much of a surprise that state lawmakers might find a headline-grabbing way to show that they're concerned about the rights of the little people. And what better target than professional sports, where exorbitant salaries and construction costs are printed in the newspaper every day?

I don't suspect that this bill will pass, though. The rich folk behind the ballparks have way too much lobbying power. The homeless advocacy does not. It's simple math.

I have to admit that it's a pretty noble thought if the lawmakers are sincere, though. One of the biggest struggles that homeless shelters face is finding suitable real estate and it's not as if they'd be given the run of the ballparks or arenas. A simple corridor lined with cots each night could go a long way to helping a lot of people. I'd be interested to hear what Rays manager Joe Maddon ? a big advocate for the homeless ? thinks of all this.

Also, the thought of Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria ladling soup and handing out bedrolls while worrying about someone messing with his giant fish tanks or art sculptures amuses me way more than it should.

Big BLS H/N: Field of Schemes

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An illustrated guide to NHL All-Star Game MVPs and their accomplishments

Gretzky with the rare Lady Byng/NHL All-Star Game MVP double in 1999. He is the Great One!

Previously on Puck Daddy

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In a World of Hurt: A blogger trains, NFL-style

Up through the NFL draft, Shutdown Corner blogger Kristian Dyer will be training at TEST Sports Club in Martinsville, N.J., along with roughly 20 players. All of these athletes are prepping for the NFL scouting combine, different pro days and of course, the NFL draft in April. A former college soccer player, Kristian was a playground legend at quarterback back in middle school but never played a down of organized football. He will be blogging about the life of training for the NFL draft and a career in the league as he lives it firsthand.

Martinsville, N.J. ? And so it begins.

I look to my left and there is a Ray Wegrzynek, a 6-1, 305-pound defensive lineman out of Kean University with his hands on his hips, slowly girating his legs. To my right is Sharrif Harris, a running back out of Southern Illinois University with dreads to his shoulders. In the blink of an eye, they're both racing away from me as I play catch-up. I manage to stay about two steps behind them as we sprint 40 yards.

"Not too bad," I think to myself; after all, these guys have legit ambitions of playing in the NFL someday and I'm a slightly out-of-shape journalist who is more likely to be sidelined by Carpal Tunnel Syndrome than a hamstring pull. I get blindsided by big stories, not by linebackers.

As I walk back to the starting line, kicking up rubber pellets inside the 50-yard field turf of the TEST facility, I feel pretty good about myself. That's when I feel Skip Fuller's arm around my neck.

"Your head was all over the place. Your arms were stiff. You were up way to straight and you weren't running well at all. You were plodding like," Fuller said, pounding down with his feet to demonstrate what looked like Fred Flinstone trying to kick start his Flinstonemobile in ancient Bedrock.

"But other than that, I was OK, right?" I ask.

"Let's work on that first, back to the line," Fuller said.

Slowly I jog back, that sinking feeling in my stomach that I usually associate with a girlfriend finally realizing how cheap I am and dumping me.�Already, I sense my draft stock plummeting and I might have to go the undrafted free-agent route. Fuller knows his stuff, his big smile and gregarious laugh giving no hint of a player who starred at West Virginia and played with the Miami Dolphins.

But clearly, I'm not one of these guys.

Such is the life of a NFL draft prospect, where a slight change in technique, a tenth of a second off a 40 time, a couple extra reps on the bench press will raise an athlete from an also-ran to a sleeper to even a player in demand. These athletes here were all the stars of their teams in college, many were All-Americans and some top players have had agents pursuing them and hanging around since they were in high school.

TEST has produced some top draft prospects over the years, with players like Joe Flacco, Ryan Clady and Patrick Peterson ? all of whom have done their combine training here and went on to be first-round picks.

Others such as Indianapolis Colts Eric Foster or New York Jets Jamaal Westerman went undrafted and now are established players in the league.�And then, there's me.

"You a soccer player?" one of the guys says to me. "You had to be a soccer player."�I look down at my legs and there's no hiding it.

I don't consider myself an athletic slouch having played Division III college soccer at Montclair State University, a perennially ranked program that, after I left, went on to become a national powerhouse (don't make the connection). My coach, Rob Chesney, always pushed us hard to be conditioned and fit and I took pride in being a hard worker when I was a Red Hawk.

But that was nine years ago, as press box food and a lifestyle where excessive blogging can lead to a sweat hasn't done wonders for me. I'm pretty sure Betty White could push me in a sprint at this point. I'm still catching my breath from that last run.

And then there's Jason Peters, a defensive end from Georgia Tech who is right behind me after sprints. While I'm heaving from my last sprint, Peters hasn't even broken a sweat.
My timed 40 was a 5.95 seconds. That has to be good, right?

"You're about a full second behind every one," said Tad Kornegay, an All-American at Fordham who has played in the Canadian Football League the past seven years and works at TEST during the offseason. "Just a full second."

The TEST coaches must be wondering what they got themselves into with me.�I'm fast learning that a second behind everyone else could cost me millions of dollars if a scout was watching. Uhhhh?Then it hits me. Even the hulking offensive and defensive linemen can out pace me. I measured in at 5-10� and 216.4 pounds These guys have a couple inches in height and a hundred pounds on me and I'd be eating their AstroTurf in a head-to-head matchup.

My vertical was better than expected, a solid 24 inches which means that I could get outrebounded by a halfway decent junior varsity basketball team.�There was some individualized training with Geir Gudmundsen, who was twice an All-American at Albany and played professionally for four years. I'm not explosive, he explains, I need to push out stronger. He tells me to close my eyes and extend my arms. I do so and he pushes me forward.

I catch my balance and shoot him a dirty look.

"You put your right leg out to balance yourself. That's now your push off leg when you do these sprints," Gudmundsen said.

At this point, my 90 minutes of training and my first day living the life has come to an end. The guys are gulping down protein drinks and I stretch a little with Harris, my heart still beating and my face flushed like I had just gone through a mega tanning session with the cast of "The Jersey Shore."

Harris is cool and composed, taking me through some leg stretches with bands. Turns out I'm really good at this stretching thing.�"You've got good flexibility," Harris said.

All right, finally something to hang my hat on. Maybe just maybe that NFL contract isn't so far away after all.�I get up and dust the fake grass off my leg, finally feeling good about myself after a very long and humbling morning.�Gudmundsen comes over and shakes my hand.

"Good first day," he says and I smile with that sense that maybe I've arrived. I mean, here's a trainer who has worked with the likes of NFL stars Jerricho Cotchery and Bart Scott and he just complimented me. Maybe I'm closer than I think.

"See you 9:30 tomorrow for leg day. You'll probably be sick after the first circuit. We keep trash cans nearby."

That would be trash cans in case I decide to lose my breakfast.

I've so not arrived.

Follow Kristian R. Dyer on Twitter @KristianRDyer

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Even after a 5-10 start, Warriors coach Mark Jackson is keeping cheery

Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson -- through his time as a player, color commentator, and rookie coach -- has never appeared anything less than buoyant. And, because his Warriors have started the season by losing 10 of their first 15 games, our man Jax is having to work extra hard at keeping that glass half full. Because after reading this interview with CSN Bay Area's Matt Steinmetz, you have to wonder where he's buying his particular brand of happy, and if he can lend us some when it comes time to answer a call from a number we don't recognize.

Steinmetz more or less nails Jackson on a number of points in a way that you just don't see from most on-record reporters, and Jackson remains ebullient and full of brio as he works around Matt's cogent points. It's a remarkable read, especially when you consider the task ahead of Jackson and his Warriors if they're to follow up on his promises between now and the season's end three months from now.

In the piece, Steinmetz addresses Jackson's offseason contention that the Warriors would be a playoff team in the loaded Western Conference. And, 15 games into a 66-game season, assumptions along this line (especially predictions made�6 1/2�months before the NBA season even starts), are looking really daffy at this juncture. Jackson, as you're about to find out, is undeterred.

From CSN Bay Area:

Question: Somebody asked me the other day about you and I said that reality might be setting in with this team, that you might be realizing this team isn't as good as you thought. Would that be incorrect?

Jackson: I guess you lied to them. ? What is reality?

Question: That this team isn't as good as you thought ? That this team can't be as good as you thought.

Jackson: No, that's not true. In my opinion we have the best backcourt in the business, we have an all-star caliber power forward, we have solid role players, and we are a defensive-minded basketball team. We are grinding and we've been in position to win in eight of our 10 losses and we've beaten some of the best in the land. The reality is that we're very close to being who I am convinced we are. Tell your friend I said 'hi.' ? You are trying today.

Opinions can never be wrong, even if some people are of the opinion that CBS is worth having on their local television package, because they remain opinions. Misstated facts can be wrong, though, and it's quite nearly a fact that the Warriors don't have "the best backcourt in the business." Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry are fantastic, individually, but Curry barely plays due to injury and the best backcourt probably remains Dwyane Wade, Derrick Rose or Kobe Bryant and whomever the heck they're playing alongside that particular night.

Yes, the Warriors have beaten the technical "best in the land" in the 15-3 Chicago Bulls, a team that owns the NBA's best record. The issue with that victory is that Chicago shot itself in the foot by turning the ball over 20 times against a Warriors team that didn't (to these eyes, at least) look to be causing the majority of those miscues.

And the playoffs? That's a bit much, at this point.

Golden State is 5-10, as noted above. This leaves them with 51 games to make a move, and a crowded playoff bracket to break into. The defending champion Dallas Mavericks currently occupy the eighth seed in the West, winning 59 percent of their games so far, which puts them (and, if you'll submit, the eighth seed) on pace for 39 wins. Which means Golden State would have to go 34-17 the rest of the way just to match the Mavs.

Which means the team would have to win two-thirds of its games from here on out after starting the season losing two-thirds of its games.

And to call the Warriors, currently stuck at 26th in defensive efficiency, a "defensive-minded" basketball team? Technically, it's correct. These players sometimes appear to want to play defense, and they're certainly working harder on that end. But "defensive-minded" clubs play better defense than this. Much, much better defense. Strike "26" in half, and "defensive-minded" teams still play better defense than that number.

Jackson, as I think we've brought up 4,200 times by this point, is keeping his chin up. Bless that man, even when he's down.

From the Steinmetz interview:

"The reality is I've got a bunch of guys that have never won that are playing winning basketball that have changed their ways from an offensive juggernaut to defensive principles where we battle, compete and give ourselves a chance. Winning in this league is a process and in that process you've got to be extremely patient to see the other side. It gets tough being that salmon swimming upstream. But as long as you're persistent and don't quit, you will get to the other side."

Not necessarily, but it's nice to think that. Hang in there, Jax. Hopefully you'll get some players, soon.

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Players will be allowed to tweet during the Pro Bowl

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has been accused of turning the NFL into the "No Fun League," but Wednesday, he took�a bold step to fight back against that label. He's not only allowing players to tweet during the Pro Bowl ? he's setting up computer stations on the sidelines to help them do so.

Which is exactly how a man who is no fun would combat allegations that he is no fun.

The NFL policy for real games is that players are banished from Twitter 90 minutes before a game starts, all the way until all the postgame interviews are conducted. For this Sunday's Pro Bowl, it's a Twitter free-for-all. Players still can't have their mobile devices on the sidelines, but again, the league will be setting up "computer stations."

Forgive my skepticism, but I don't see this one-game policy generating too much of interest. The best-case scenario here is that cameras catch Ben Roethlisberger logging on to Adult Friend Finder between quarters.

Seriously, what's anyone going to tell us? About all the interesting things that happen at the Pro Bowl? We'll have some guys reacting to plays, complimenting other players, maybe shouting out some fans, I don't know. It could be a big day for people who dream of someone famous retweeting them.

But I don't see any interesting tweets coming, because there's not going to be anything interesting happening. The most honest tweets of the day would be things like, "@Jones_Drew32:I'm bored," or "@ClayMatthews52: This game cannot end soon enough."

This feels a lot like your old man refuting claims that he's no fun by proceeding to show you how he used to do the Watusi with your mom. The Pro Bowl is still the Pro Bowl, whether anyone's tweeting about it or not. And NFL players might be the only ones.

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RIP Joe Paterno

A little more than two months after being fired from the job he made his life, Joe Paterno is dead.

The family of the iconic coach, owner of more wins than any other coach in the history of college football, issued a statement confirming Paterno's death this morning, a little more than a week after he was admitted to a local hospital with complications from lung cancer. His family had reportedly been summoned to the hospital Saturday evening. He was 85 years old.

And now the really hard part. As impossible as it is to overstate the impact of Paterno's 62-year tenure at Penn State, it is equally impossible to ignore the tragedy of his final months. There is really no other word: Once a universally beloved titan of American sport, he ended his life as a frail, sick man, cast out by the institution to which he'd devoted that life ?�his life and his career being virtually inseparable ?�his formidable legacy stained by a scandal that will likely follow his name as long as anyone remembers it.

His death comes with two levels of grief: One for the man as a husband, father and mentor to thousands of players, students and coaches, and one for the man as an icon, who lived just long enough to see the program he built under the creed "Success With Honor" crumble around him. This close to the grief, it may also be impossible to resolve the cognitive dissonance between such contrasting portraits of the same man. There are still too many open wounds and unresolved threads to predict how or when that legacy may be pieced together and held up as a beacon again, if it ever will be.

There is a vast chasm separating his disciples and his critics, with their dueling visions of the professor who succeeded at the highest level for decades with unsurpassed integrity ?�the embodiment of "doing it the right way" ?�and the magnate who fostered a culture so insular and self-reverential that even charges of a heinous crime were subordinated to "the family." The bridge between the two sides has not even begun to be built.

It is a sad fact that any celebration of the greatness of Paterno's career must also wrestle with its ignominious end. As far as the sequence of events that brought his administration down is concerned, Paterno made a pretty compelling case against himself. According to his grand jury testimony, he was informed in 2002 that "inappropriate action was taken by Jerry Sandusky with a youngster" in a Penn State shower. He knew that said action was "of a sexual nature." Sandusky had been investigated on virtually identical charges by university police once before, in 1998 (the department produced a 95-page report on the investigation), and was later investigated again by his charity, The Second Mile, in 2008.

Still, Sandusky maintained an office in the Lasch Football Building and (according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General) had "unlimited access to all football facilities" for the better part of a decade, including the locker room. He also kept a parking pass, a university Internet account and a listing in the faculty directory. As recently as 2009, he was still running an overnight football camp for children as young as 9 on a Penn State campus. He was still working out in football facilities as recently as last October ? months after university officials (including Paterno) had been called to testify in the investigation that ultimately led to his arrest on more than 40 counts of sexual abuse against at least eight victims over more than a decade. Sandusky told the New York Times in December, more than a month after his arrest, that he still had his keys.

It's still up to a jury to determine whether there's enough evidence to convict Sandusky of committing the heinous acts he's accused of committing, and another jury to determine whether Paterno's former bosses, athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz, fulfilled their legal obligations when informed of the accusations. According to prosecutors, Paterno fulfilled his.

But there is no way around the fact that Penn State officials ? Paterno among them ? continued to accommodate and to some extent shelter an alleged sex offender for years despite multiple, credible accusers. Presented with allegations of serious criminal behavior in his program, in his locker room, Paterno merely ran it up the chain. Then, when nothing happened, he looked the other way. He didn't inform the police. He didn't disassociate with Sandusky. He didn't move to keep Sandusky off campus. He didn't move to keep Sandusky from working with children on a regular basis.

He ran it up the chain, and he let it go. If officials at a high school where Sandusky volunteered hadn't taken action, he would still be there, enjoying "emeritus" status and the tacit acceptance of an institution that had consistently declined to see what it didn't want to see. The admonition is true: Joe Paterno was not a victim. He was not a scapegoat.

Lack of due diligence notwithstanding, he also was not a fraud. By any measure, it's equally true that Paterno belongs among the pantheon of the most accomplished and progressive coaches of the 20th Century. He's an original: Sincere about his commitment to education, ahead of the curve on race, unfailingly loyal (to a fault, as it turns out), and massively successful on top of it. The scandal that ended his career doesn't affect his status as the winningest coach in the history of the sport. The record win total is still there. Six undefeated seasons, two national championships, three Big Ten titles. The philanthropy is still there. The $4 million donated back to the university, evidenced in the library that he helped build. The hundreds of players who are still willing to stand up for him based on "the immense quality of Joe's character." For them, there is no Penn State without the values that JoePa instilled, and they literally cannot imagine a Penn State that doesn't explicitly embrace the same values.

The reverence for Paterno was never a matter of mere longevity. Nor was it invented out of thin air: He was the mentor, teacher and winner he has always been purported to be. Some measure of the debt that college sports owes to the man and the deep respect his career deserves will survive in hallowed, Wooden-esque tones, and it will all be true.

And so we're left with the contradiction of a fundamentally decent man whose career and values can never be completely separated from his most egregious lapse in judgment. To argue that Paterno had no responsibility beyond his legal obligation in the Sandusky scandal is to reduce him to a buck-passing middle manager in a program and university that he defined. To claim we don't have enough information about his response is to ignore the implications of Paterno's own account, along with everyone else's. To protest his exit as head coach is to deny all ethical, legal and political reality. And to deny the tragedy of a 62-year career crumbling around a man who has meant so much to so many people is to deny that his life's work had any meaning.

It did, and it does. His family, his players and his university are a testament to that. Fleeting as wins and losses may be, so does his record. For as long as a I can remember, since devouring books both by and about Paterno as a teenager, I've considered him the greatest living coach in football ?�maybe in any sport ? because he achieved what he set out to achieve on all of those fronts: Success With Honor. Now, he is no longer living, and the honor that defined the second half of his life has been significantly tarnished. His "Grand Experiment" to integrate a championship football team within the academic mission of a leading research university lives uneasily alongside the specter of a predator finding a haven in his locker room.

It is not "heads" or "tails": Both sides of the coin are equally, tragically true. They are both part of what Paterno built, and what he leaves behind. In time, it may be that his staggering success finally shines through the fog that descended on the end of his life. But now that the obituaries are being written, assessing the man and his legacy on his last day on earth means coming to grips with both, with all that implies.

- - -
Matt Hinton is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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Sunday, January 29, 2012

Colts hire Ravens? Chuck Pagano as new head coach, as Terrell Suggs predicted

With all the folderol about the future of Peyton Manning, and the alleged coldness in the halls of the Indianapolis Colts' head offices, and all the Rob Lowe "breaking news," and Jim Irsay's ongoing twitterpation, the decision to replace ex-head coach Jim Caldwell with a new man was done in surprisingly under-the-radar fashion. On Wednesday the team announced that former Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano will be their new head coach.

Baltimore's defensive coordinator position has been a hotbed for NFL coaching talent ? in the last decade alone, Marvin Lewis, Mike Nolan and Rex Ryan used that consistently great defensive unit as a launching pad to further their professional development. Pagano made the grade after just one year at the postion.

It didn't take long for Pagano's former charges to recognize his abilities -- in fact, Baltimore linebacker Terrell Suggs knew in September of 2011 that his new defensive coordinator would not be long for the team.

"That guy Chuckie Pagano, man, he's as smart as he is ruthless," Suggs told Yahoo! Sports' Mike Silver after the Ravens' season-opening win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. "I guarantee he'll only be our defensive coordinator one year, because he'll be a head coach somewhere next year."

Ah, the value of a Ball So Hard University education.

It was the second time in as many days that a team named a one-year defensive coordinator as its head coach ? on Tuesday, the Oakland Raiders hired Dennis Allen, formerly of the Denver Broncos, to fill their vacant role. Pagano will be working with a new general manager ? the recently hired Ryan Grigson ? and a new coaching staff. Including Caldwell, 11 of the 20 coaches who worked for the Colts in 2011 are gone.

"It's difficult to leave the Ravens but I couldn't pass up on this great opportunity," Pagano said in a statement released by Pagano's former team. "I'm just thrilled and so excited."

An NFL assistant since 2001, Pagano got his start with the Cleveland Browns as a secondary coach through 2004 ? in 2003, the Browns set their franchise record for fewest passing touchdowns allowed with 13. He then spent two seasons in Oakland coaching a defensive backs unit, led by Nnamdi Asomugha, which was one of the league's best. After a one-year stop at North Carolina, Pagano was hired by the Ravens in 2008 to be their secondary coach before his promotion to defensive coordinator in 2011.

"Chuck has a leadership quality about him. He's humble but he also knows when to take the reins and take charge," Ravens linebacker�Paul Kruger�told the Associated Press. "He doesn't try to dominate you in every meeting. He's just a coach that knows exactly how players are and what direction they need."

This past season, Pagano presided over a Baltimore defense that was special by any measure ? third in the NFL in points and yards allowed, and first overall in Football Outsiders' opponent-adjusted Defensive DVOA metric. Of course, when you have Suggs, Ray Lewis, Jarrett Johnson, Haloti Ngata, Ed Reed and Lardarius Webb as your co-pilots, it's a lot easier to fly that plane. Indy's defense may look a bit thin in comparison ? especially if free-agent lineman Robert Mathis goes elsewhere.

In 2011, the 2-14 Colts finished 27th in Defensive DVOA, and ranked 28th in points allowed�and 25th in yards allowed. There is talent on that defense ? Dwight Freeney, Pat Angerer, and a young secondary provide interesting personnel landing points ? but there's a reason that former team president Bill Polian is no longer with the team. The Colts' last five drafts haven't provided much in the way of starter talent on either side of the ball. Pagano will likely have Andrew Luck as his new quarterback when the 2012 NFL draft rolls around, but there's much more work to be done.

First among the personnel decisions to be made, of course, will have to do with Manning's future. Due a $28 million payout in March if the Colts don't cut him, Manning recently said that he doesn't recognize much about the new Indianapolis organization.

"I'm not in a very good place for healing, let's say that. It's not a real good environment down there right now, to say the least. Everybody's walking around on eggshells. I don't recognize our building right now. There's such complete and total change.''

It won't likely be known for a while whether Manning will be Pagano's issue or not. The quarterback, who missed the entire 2011 season with a serious neck injury and nerve regeneration issues, is still rehabbing and trying to get back into playing shape.

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GQ: Stephen Strasburg is Washington?s 47th-most powerful person

At 23 years old and coming off a major elbow injury, Stephen Strasburg has yet to surpass 100 career innings in Major League Baseball.

And the Washington Nationals aren't ? and might not ever become ? the most popular sports team in their own city.

Despite those little details, GQ Magazine decided to name Strasburg among the 50 Most Powerful People in Washington, D.C. (not named Obama or Biden). The only sports figure on a list consisting mostly of politicians and their pals, Strasburg sits at No. 47, right between former senator Chris Dodd (now chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America) and Jack Quinn, a "megalobbyist" for the Democrats.

Dan Steinberg of DC Sports Bog (who, frankly, should be at least No. 46 on the list) finds Strasburg's placement "kind of weird":

Strasburg isn't the most popular or highest paid athlete in Washington. He doesn't play for the team that attracts the biggest crowds or the best TV ratings. He's never played in a playoff game, or really any game that matters. His name isn't Ted Leonsis or Daniel Snyder or Ted Lerner, who are obviously the most powerful Washington sports figures in any list that isn't just trying to be quirky.

It's true that GQ's list doesn't have an owner, doesn't have Alex Ovechkin or John Wall or even someone like John Thompson III. And it doesn't�do a particularly good job of explaining why Strasburg belongs here. But he does.

GQ writes:

He pitched twenty-four innings in five games this year. He had one win, one loss and was the most exciting pitcher in baseball. On the night that the young Nationals ace debuted in 2010 ? fanning fourteen batters in seven innings, among the all-time great first starts in baseball history ? DC's heart swelled for the real-deal phenom with unreal stuff. And then it broke two months later when his elbow popped. The capital warily greeted his post-Tommy John surgery return, but as the 99-mph fastballs, freeze-frame change-ups, and close-shave curveballs flew, Washingtonians let themselves fall in love again.

So, putting Strasburg there is based on a glimpse of what he's done, but it's mostly based on potential ? what he might become. And it makes sense, with Washington already a town built on promise. No one man can make a baseball team great, but if Strasburg pitches like he has, and stays healthy and the Nationals start winning, he will get a lot of the credit. Strasburg certainly will be a rallying point.

Strasburg carries a lot of hope on his right arm. And hope, at least in Washington, equals power.

Follow Dave on Twitter ? @AnswerDave ? and engage the Stew on Facebook

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From Karlsson?s wit to on-ice success, All-Star Game puts spotlight on Senators

OTTAWA ? Erik Karlsson was seated a few booths over from Kris Letang of the Pittsburgh Penguins during NHL All-Star Game media day, which was a short enough distance to admire his hair.

"He has longer hair than me, for sure. Right now, at least. He has a good flow," said a similarly coiffed Karlson. "I'm thrilled to see someone else is doing that style."

Karlsson is the Ottawa Senators' 21-year-old defenseman. He's eclipsed his career high for points in just 51 games: Karlsson has 7 goals and 40 assists to lead NHL defensemen with 47 points. It could be argued he's become a star this season; if so, the NHL All-Star Game in Ottawa has helped in that process. Fans around the League knew Erik Karlsson was talented. They probably didn't know he was hilarious.

"I guess local people know that he's a real funny guy, and a really well-liked guy in the room. For the national media to see how lighthearted he is, it's nice to see him get some recognition," said center Jason Spezza of the Senators.

Karlsson entertained viewers watching the NHL Fantasy Draft when he was taken ahead of his veteran teammate. "Spezza's pissed there," he said on TSN. "His black eye is getting even blacker."

When he held court at media day, the quips continued. Like when the questions turned to whether he's a snappy dresser.

"I try to be. I don't know if I am. I like clothes a lot. I try to be as good-looking as I can, and then I think it's up to you guys to decide if I am or I'm not. I would say I am. But I wouldn't trust that."

Does he consider himself a better dresser than fellow Swede and noted fashion plate Henrik Lundqvist?

"Probably not," said Karlsson. "He's the top of the hill. I see what he wears in the summers and I go buy it afterwards."

The All-Star Game is revealing more layers to Erik Karlsson at the same time it's bringing his team's accomplishments this season into focus.

The Senators entered the All-Star break with 60 points in 52 games, good for sixth in the Eastern Conference and second in the Northeast Division. They are, perhaps, the most unexpected contender in the NHL: a team that bottomed out with 74 points last season, costing coach Cory Clouston his job and setting expectations for this season at "Fail for Nail" levels.

The great miscalculation about the Senators was two-fold. First was the underestimation of how their solid young talent ? Karlsson, Colin Greening and the like ? would reinvigorate their older stars.

"The young guys are bringing energy to the rink," said captain Daniel Alfredsson.

That energy has pushed Alfredsson to 17 goals and 21 assists in 46 games, playing the kind of hockey that defies his age (39).

"You always think you can better. You can. I've had a lot of ups and downs in my career," he said. "I know when I'm playing good, I can be one of the best in the League. When I'm not, I'm average."

Second was the impact of Paul MacLean as head coach, and a Jack Adams candidate. The former Detroit Red Wings assistant was given his first NHL head job after over 15 years as an assistant. It was expected MacLean would lend some of the Wings' gravitas to the Sens' dressing room. It was unexpected that he'd help create a jovial atmosphere that's loosened up the players.

"He's brought accountability and a good system, and he's let us have fun, too," said Spezza of MacLean. "We're a real hard-working team. He makes sure everyone knows where they stand on the team, but he allows us to have fun, too. He's played the game; he coach's like a coach but he thinks like a player, too."

Seriously, it's enough to make Spezza giggle:

Spezza tallied 57 points in each of the last two seasons (in 60 and 62 games). He's on a similar pace this season, but hasn't missed a game yet for the Senators.

Fans voted Spezza, Alfredsson, Karlsson and Milan Michalek (23 goals in 47 games) into the All-Star Game. This weekend has placed them, and their franchise, in the spotlight. It's on Spezza's charisma. It's on Karlsson's talent. It's on Alfredsson hearing the crowd chant his name like his number's being retired.

It's a moment for the hockey world to recognize Ottawa as a hockey city, and that the Ottawa Senators have put together a hell of a run from an underrated group.

"Maybe for the weekend," Spezza said. "You want attention for winning hockey games, and not for any other reason. If we continue to win we'll get more attention, but I'll be honest: As a group, we don't feel like we've accomplished anything. We've been so short-sighted all year. It's so clich�, but every game seems like the most important game for us.

"We're not going to blow teams out. We're not going to take anyone for granted."

Karlsson said it all ties back to the Senators' unpretentious, hard-working style.

"I think this event is about getting to know the players, seeing as we are normal persons. In the end, we're not that much more special than anyone else," he said.

Even if some young Swedish defensemen are funnier than others.

"I'm not that funny," said Karlsson. "I don't know about that. Maybe you think I'm funny. I laugh at my own jokes sometimes."

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