So I missed a day

Sue me (please don't, I don't have the scratch for legal representation). I'm allowed a day off after that AWFUL Thursday night....
Syracuse loses, Xavier loses in 2OT, my alma mater-Bentley-loses in the D2 Final Four, and the Bruins got my hopes up to lose again. Great freakin' night!

Oh, I would have gone 2-2 last night, just so we're clear.

I'm taking Kansas State and Kentucky tonight, but I doubt I'll even be watching any of that stuff.

In all seriousness, ESPN is pissing me off, because I hear nothing of the Frozen Four. Ever been to a college hockey game? Better hitting than the pros. Yeah, I said it. Oh, and look, no head shots, either. I just had to hit like 4 different screens to get results on the web for the tourney. Why? So much for my DU prediction...can I switch to UNH? I'm not rooting for BC, can't stand those snot-nosed brats. Oh, and brilliant observation by ESPN.com, you need a hot goalie. Thanks there, Einstein. I barely know anything about hockey and even I know you can ride the hot goalie all the way to the 'ship. Great insight, next thing you'll be telling me one of the keys to the game will be to outscore the opponent. Way to go, Captain Obvious.

So the Boston Globe is reporting that Marc Savard is going to address the media today. Is there any part of you that hopes some reporter asks him about Matt Cooke, only to have Savard answer like Clubber Lang in Rocky III when he was asked for a prediction, and Savard answers the same way, 'Pain'? Fine, me neither. I'm not over it. I hope Cooke catches syphilis of the eye. Yup, that's how much of a clown I think he is. What happens if/when he busts someone else's knee in the playoffs? I'm asking. Say he takes a run at Ovechkin and blows the guy's ACL? What then? Does Ovechkin get to take a few whacks at him with a titanium stick, a la Conan the Barbarian?
This is what pisses me off about hockey....the NHL failed, miserably, to capitalize on the Olympic experience. You had people in the US paying attention, and they did nothing. And do you remember watching the Gold Medal game? I do, and it was sweet. No cheap shots, no head hunting, no gross penalties (at least from my untrained eye). And what do the dumbass suits (you heard me) of the NHL do? 4, count 'em, 4 head shots/cheap shots in the week right after, a borderline boarding penalty on the leading scorer (who got a 2 game suspension, but Cooke got nothing but the 'Well, we didn't suspend the other guy earlier this year, so we can't suspend him' crapass treatment...I'm not done-I feel like my old man is asking me if my friends jumped off a cliff would I do the same. I can't imagine being in the same room as Colin Campbell, I'd have had to control every fiber of my being not to find a pair of gloves and crack him across the face and tell him to meet me at center ice in 5 minutes, and I can't skate!)--who's running the marketing for the NHL, a super-stoned intern watching asian porn instead of Gretzky highlights? Wouldn't the right thing to do been to, oh-I don't know-suspend all those involved in head hunting and cheap shots to tell all those who might be getting a taste for hockey that this is a clean game and is freakin' sweet to watch? Nope, not Bettman et al. Look, I admit I don't know that much about hockey, but I know this much-best game to watch at the arena, worst game for TV. I've had seats from front row in the corner to the last damn row of McNichols Arena, and there isn't a better game to see live. My eyes are faster than the camera, and I can see the whole ice when I'm at the the game. You can't do that watching TV. Well, at least not to my barely trained hockey watching eye.
I know how I watch football and basketball. Baseball is much different. Baseball to me reminds me of hanging out with my family, mostly Pops. I suppose had I grown up in Quebec or Ontario hockey would make me nostalgic for lacing up skates and going out to a pond to chase my Dad, but I grew up poor and in the US, so other sports it was. It never cost my parents over a grand for me to play a sport. Sorry, but it was an economic thing. Which sucks, because I take a good look at the size of guys in the NHL, and realize that hockey, specifically, and sometimes in baseball, height doesn't really matter all that much. What's the average size of an NHL guy, 5'10"? Well lookie here, that's how tall I am. Of course, other skills would have to have been developed, but maybe I would've loved it. Believe me, I'd love to line up some moron in the corner futzing around with the puck in the corner. And I never would pass the puck in front of my goalie...see, I know that much and never played a second.
Back to my point...hockey is slipping, and it comes from the top. I don't get Versus because I have DirecTV, so I can't watch hockey every night, or I don't even have the option. But you can make damn sure I can watch some lame ass replay of a freaking poker tournament played 8 years ago...ooooh, here comes the river, who gives a rats ass? You have to know where to dig around online or go to a bar to watch the Frozen Four, and that's awful. It could be right up there in terms of excitement as basketball. Don't get me started with college football. If college basketball or hockey went with the BCS formula Kansas (oops) might've been lined up to play Kentucky in the mythical championship game, and maybe DU (I know, I know) would've been lined up to play Cornell. Gee, that sounds like fun, doesn't it? Uh, NO!
So whomever has the eyes and more importantly ears of those that are the ambassadors of hockey, tell them to remove their heads, sticks and skates from their rear ends and wake the hell up. I want to watch hockey, and I'd be willing to bet I'd rather watch an NHL game over most NBA games (betcha didn't know that about me, now didya?), but for some reason, mostly money I'm guessing, I can't watch. And when I do see limited highlights (thanks, ESPN), I see cheap shots. Please don't go ruining hockey, you've already done jacked up basketball, making the AND 1 tour a damn travesty/reality. I don't want kids growing up thinking hockey is all elbows to the head and plowing over a goalie to score, that would take away all the other 99% good of that game. What I'm saying is, knock off the stupid stuff, and start showing me why it's great. I'm a casual fan, pleading, hell-damn near begging-show me the good stuff and maybe when I get a job I'll buy a hockey ticket, or even the NHL package. Do you hear me?

Happy Saturday!