Barstool Blog

Last night, Team Canada finished their quest for Olympic gold, and in doing so, regained the throne as the undisputed kings of the ice.  Congrats to all those Candians, you can now go back to being one of the world's largest and most insignificant nations, which is something you've mastered even more than your beloved game of hockey.  Never has a country completely mocked itself more than during last night's closing ceremony, highlighted by dancing mounties, and giant blow-up beavers.  Um, really guys?  I must admit, I didn't see the game, but I managed to find updates throughout the contest, including Sidney Crosby's game winner in the extra-frame.  Sounds like it was a classic, but obviously a difficult defeat for the U.S.  Although it is laughable to feel too bad for a bunch of professionals, who still have a chance a hockey's greatest prize, the Stanley Cup.  It is still the greatest prize in the sport, right?  At least that's what I've been told repeatedly over the last 15 years by hockey fans.  But, over the last couple of weeks, these same people were claiming that Olympic gold is the pinnacle of the sport.  Can you make up your minds, please?  Oh, and for all those screwballs that think that the Olympics has sucessfully catapulted hockey into the average sport's fans radar, keep on dreaming.  If you think that people below the state of Pennsylvania were even mildly interested in that game yesterday, you're crazy.  Our perception is slightly skewed in these parts, where hockey is popular, and people were unquestionably tuned in yesterday.  But the same can't be said for the likes of Tallahassee, San Diego, Phoenix, and Dallas, where this sport will never completely catch-on.  Here's a suggestion to the NHL, get rid of half of these teams, in cities where people don't care.  In doing so, you will raise the level of talent, and ultimately put-forth a better product. The fact is, the game is extremely watered down, and has been for quite some time.  Too many teams, and not enough talent to create a strong product have killed this sport since about '94.  Also, it's difficult to market hockey players, with masks covering their faces, and names like Alexander Ovechkin, or Zdeno Chara not exactly rolling off the tongue, like Tiger, Tom Brady or Derek Jeter.  But the NHL still needs to find a way for these names and faces to enter our collective sports vocabularies. 

Bruins

With the Olympic games officially coming to a close, the Boston Bruins will now enter their most crucial strectch of the year, hopefully taking aim at one of those elusive playoff spots.  As you may, or may not remember, the B's had a difficult time throughout January, and parts of February, eventually free-falling through the eastern conference standings.  But, just prior to their three-week Olympic hiatus, they seemed to find their game, and mustered a few points to climb back into the playoff picture.  Now, the B's will need to continue to improve their play, and possibly alter their roster via the NHL's trading deadline.  Although this year's biggest fish, Ilya Kovalchuk, has alrady been shipped elsewhere, there are still some potential additions that could solidy their defense, or add some firepower up front.  However, I feel as though GM Peter Chiarelli feels this team, as currently constituted, is capable of returning to a similar level that helped them reach the conference semi-finals just a year ago.  There is also the lure of a talented pool of players entering this year's draft, and with the Bruins expected to have a lottery pick, Chiarelli may be opposed to mortgaging the future by making a trade at the deadline.  We'll see, either way, I'm very curious to see how this team finshes off their current campaign.

Basketball

Is is possible to write a post without some form of commentary on the Celtics?  Let's find out.   With gang-green continuing to look like the epitome of "paper champions", I went to quench my thirst for some hoops by attentding the Andover/Central tournament game.  First off, what an unbelievable atmosphere, there's something about the energy and raw emotion of one these contests, it's extremely refreshing when you consider all of the money and ego's that have flooded professional sports.  I went with a couple of friends, former Andover grads, and we somehow found ourselves in enemy territory, right in the middle of the Central student section.  Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately for that matter, there wasn't a whole lot for us to cheer about, as Central pretty much controlled this game from the tip.  I believe their first four shots were successful 3-pointers, which consequently broke the will of the visiting Golden Warriors.  Central has donimated that conference for quite some time, which leads me to beleive that maybe they should find a different conference.  It's somewhat difficult for towns, such as Andover, to compete with a school that basically has the ability to recruit players.  Among those players, was the 7' Carson DesRosiers, a heaveily recruited big-man, with a nice-touch around the basket.  Carson is headed to Wake Forest University in the fall on scholarship.  Not too sure, but I'd be highly suprised if anyone on the Andover squad is even invited to try out for a division II school, nevermind an ACC powerhouse like Wake Forest.  This kid was swatting away shots from every angle, which isn't too difficult considering he was close to 6-8 inches taller than anyone Andover could throw at him.  Carson is clearly enjoying his time playing inferior talent, but something tells me he's in for a rude awakening when he gets down south, and the playing field is whole-lot more even.  This kid will need to add a little more to his frame, but skill-wise he has a lot going for him, with the ability to post-up and take it behind the 3-point arc.  I'm not a scout, but I was a little concerned about his unwillingness to demand the ball.  I'm all for "team" guys, but if you have a legit 7-footer, and no one that can guard him, he should be gettin the ball, in the block on every possession.  Either that coach is an idiot, which is doubtful, or the player just isn't agressive.  Again, he's got a nice game, and believe me it was on display, but if he doesn't develop the mindset of a true-center, he's going to end up the token "white-stiff" for those Demon Deacons at Wake Forest.