The NHL 2009-10

As the puck drops on another National Hockey League season, we find the Pittsburgh Penguins as the defending Stanley Cup champions.  They're favored to repeat, if you listen to the myriad puck pundits out there, which would be quite a feat since there hasn't been one back-to-back Cup winner in more than a decade.

Otherwise, how are things in the NHL?

• There will be a break in February so some players can compete for their countries at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.  Which means Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals should take place prior to Canada Day and the Fourth of July.
• This may or may not be the last year for the Phoenix Coyotes.  The team filed for bankruptcy, and a judge is currently deciding whether to award the franchise to either Jim Balsillie (who would move the team to Hamilton, Ontario) or to the NHL (who would sell the team to someone who would keep it in Phoenix).  Wayne Gretzky did himself and his reputation a favor by resigning as coach and part-owner.  With so many struggling franchises in places where snow and ice are just a rumor, why does the league insist on staying in these places?
• For those of you with DirecTV subscriptions, you'll notice that the satellite provider is no longer carrying Versus, which happens to be the main American cable outlet for the NHL.  It's for the same reason why NFL Network had such difficulty getting seen until recently:  A contract dispute between DirecTV and Comcast (Versus' owner), which both sides blame the other for while subscribers aren't getting a channel they're already paying for.  This has got to concern Commissioner Gary Bettman, because the NHL has enough problems with getting people to watch their product.  There are alternatives beyond watching your local team's telecasts.  If you don't have enough cash to afford the league's Center Ice package, there's always NHL Network, which has a slate of live games from Canadian networks.  Or you can wait until January, when NBC resumes its Eastern Conference game of the week.  Other than that, pray that this thing gets settled before the playoffs begin.

Here's who we think will still be playing in April.

Eastern Conference  New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, Washington Capitals, Carolina Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils.

Western Conference  Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Blues, San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks, Columbus Blue Jackets.

***
With Marian Gaborik now playing for the New York Rangers (groin permitting) and Jacques Lemaire coaching the New Jersey Devils once again, it's a new era for the Minnesota Wild with a new coach (Todd Richards) and a new general mamager (Chuck Fletcher).  There's also a couple of new players, though not the big free agent names Fletcher originally wanted.  So he ended up with Martin Havlat and Petr Sykora.

The new regime has promised a more up-tempo style that was missing in the defense-oriented days of Lemaire, but old habits die hard.  For the first time since the franchise began, the Wild are in danger of not selling out the Xcel Energy Center for every game this season.  Blame the economy if you want, but this team needs to deliver on its promise or else they're not going to the playoffs again.

The War on Terror, Eight Years Later

So where are we, eight years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001?  The Bush War on Terror has been dumped into the lap of President Barack Obama, even though it's been pushed to the background by more pressing issues such as the economy and the health care debate (which for some people has its own reign of terror, but we won't get into that right now).

There are still people willing to blow things up in the name of Allah.  The latest is Najibullah Zazi, an Afghan living in the United States who was arrested by the FBI and charged with being part of a plot to detonate bombs in this country.  It was also alleged that Zazi, who might have been taking his cues from al-Qaeda, may have planned to use those explosives in New York on the 9/11 anniversary.  As a result, targets such as stadiums and entertainment venues were told to watch for anything suspicious.  Life in prison is what awaits Zazi if he's convicted.

The situation in Iraq is dormant at the moment, but Afghanistan is heating up.  After a month in which there were more American casualties than at any time since the war began (the number is close to 800), General Stanley McChrystal reportedly wants to send at least 20,000 more soldiers, or else the war in Afghanistan will be lost.  This comes after President Obama had already sent 17,000 a few months earlier.  Did somebody say Vietnam?

What was the original reason for going into Afghanistan in the first place?  Oh, that's right.  It was to hunt down Osama bin Laden shortly after the World Trade Center in New York went down.  Today, it has devolved into fighting the Taliban that controls much of the country, and propping up a corrupt government that just happens to be democratically elected.

As for Bin Laden, he's believed to be somewhere in Pakistan, where the U.S. can't touch him without incurring the wrath of the government there.  He still has the ability to send out audio tapes threatening the West if they don't do this or that.

Add to this the discovery of Iran having had a secret nuclear facility for several years, which was announced by President Obama at the G-20 economic summit in Pittsburgh (notice how the biggest stories to come out of these annual meetings have little to do with economics).  But that doesn't mean there won't be any more diplomatic talks to get Iran to abandon the bomb.

Meanwhile, somewhere in lower Manhattan lies the area that has come to be known as Ground Zero.  Someday there will be another giant skyscraper or two along with a memorial, instead of the tourist trap/construction site it currently is.  The thousands who died there eight years ago deserve nothing less.
 

Draining the Lake Conference

I am a graduate of Eden Prairie High School, dating back a few years before that palace (or fortress, if you prefer) on Valley View Road opened for business.

I love what the football program has become under coach Mike Grant, who's the son of Vikings legend Bud.  They've won several Minnesota State High School League titles under him, and are currently the top-ranked team in the state once again.

Other sports have prospered since Grant also became the school's athletic director.  Among them, the boys' and girls' hockey teams have won state titles in this decade.

Now Eden Prairie's success has come back to bite them.  The Lake Conference, where the Eagles have dominated for so long, is in for a massive reshuffling beginning with the 2010-11 school year.

Eight schools (Apple Valley, Bloomington Jefferson and Kennedy, Burnsville, Eagan, Eastview, Rosemount and Lakeville North and South) are leaving the Lake to form their own conference.  Chaska and Chanhassen (which just opened this year) are moving to the Missota Conference.

This leaves Eden Prairie to be lumped in with the remains of what was once the Classic Lake Conference:  Wayzata, Edina, Hopkins and Minnetonka.  More members may be determined by the high school league.

The Classic Lake used to be one of the most dominant conferences in Minnesota.  But then schools such as St. Louis Park and Richfield dropped out because of declining enrollment and having limited resources needed to compete against the larger schools.

Eden Prairie's problem is that, in the eyes of their conference rivals, the Eagles have become too big and powerful to compete with.  (Either that, or they're just plain jealous.) They've  benefitted from Minnesota's open enrollment laws, and from state-of-the-art facilities that include a practice bubble and city-owned hockey arenas and baseball fields that are within walking distance of the school.

Their new rivals, besides having the benefit of not traveling so far, have a few powerhouse programs of their own--Wayzata is the defending state 5A football champion, Hopkins' boys basketball team won the state 4A title last year, and Edina's boys hockey teams has a winning tradition, to put it mildly.  Other than that, it's anyone's guess as to who wants to take them on.

This is the price you pay for having an athletic program that is the envy of the entire state.  But the day will come when that no longer is true.  Just ask Edina.

You've Got The Governor's Voice Mail (Well, Not Really)

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

"You have reached the office of Governor Tim Pawlenty of the State of Minnesota.  The Governor is not in his office at this time.

"For questions concerning Minnesota matters, please press 1.

"To compliment him for his stand on fees, press 2.

"To hear the Governor's views on the President's health care proposals, press 3.

"To hear the Governor deny that he's running for the Republican nomination in 2012, press 4.

"To listen to the Governor's explanation of why he wants to solve the state's budget crisis all by himself, press 5.

"To repeat this menu, press 6.

"If you need to leave a message, press 7 and wait for the tone.

"If you are a Democrat or a member of the news media, please hang up now.

"Thank you for calling the office of Governor Tim Pawlenty of the State of Minnesota.  Have a nice day.

The Emmys: Few Surprises, No Kanye

The 61st Primetime Emmy Awards, which was seen on CBS Sunday night, certainly improved with the network's sitcom star Neil Patrick Harris as host.  Of course, with the last few telecasts featuring a theater-in-the-round setting and four reality show hosts, there's nowhere to go but up.

There were no surprises in the Best Shows categories.  Those that were expected to win did so:

• "Mad Men" for best drama.
• "30 Rock" for best comedy.
• "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" for best variety show.
• "Amazing Race" for best reality competition.

Continuing the theme of rewarding shows that few people watched, which is one of the reasons why the Emmy telecast's ratings keep sinking every year::

• Kristin Chenoweth of ABC's canceled "Pushing Daisies" won for best supporting actress in a comedy.
• Toni Collette won for best actress in a comedy with "United States of Tara", which is much better known as one of Diablo Cody's post-"Juno" projects.
• Glenn Close won for best actress in a drama in "Damages".
• Alec Baldwin of "30 Rock" wins yet again as best actor in a comedy.
• Same for Bryan Cranston, winning as best actor in a drama for "Breaking Bad".

Whoever made the decision to have comedian John Hodgman (that's the PC guy in those Apple commercials.  His costar, Justin Long, was in the audience next to Drew Barrymore) give out tidbits on the winners was a genius except for one thing:  You could barely hear him over the appaluse, and some of the tidbits went over people's heads.  They should have used the other off-camera announcer, who had a clearer speaking voice.

At least Kanye West didn't show up.

"Day Is Done" For Peter, Paul & Mary

Peter, Paul & Mary via last.fm

Singer Mary Travers has died at the age of 72, after having lived with leukemia for some time.  She was one-third of Peter, Paul and Mary, who for more than 40 years have helped to popularize folk music and to support various liberal causes.

To understand the success of PP&M, you have to remember that in the late 1950s and early 60s folk music was huge between the time Elvis Presley was in and out of the Army, and when the Beatles arrived in America.  It was music for people who were too cool for rock and roll, but were also too young to enjoy Perry Como and Frank Sinatra.

The group was created in 1961 by their manager Albert Grossman, who according to Wikipedia wanted to bring together "a tall blonde (Travers), a funny guy (Paul Stookey) and a good looking guy (Peter Yarrow)".  Soon they were performing at clubs in New York's Greenwich Village and had a record deal with Warner Brothers.

Then PP&M began to make their mark on the record charts:  "Blowin' In The Wind", "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" (both written by Bob Dylan), "Lemon Tree", "Puff the Magic Dragon" (I never thought the song was about marijuana), Pete Seeger's "If I Had a Hammer", "For Lovin' Me" (written by Gordon Lightfoot), and "Leaving On A Jet Plane" (their only Number One hit, written by John Denver).

Another side of PP&M was their activism.  They sang at the 1963 March on Washington, where Martin Luther King talked about having a dream.  They marched for civil rights, were against nuclear power and the apartheid policies of South Africa, and campaigned for Democrat George McGovern in the 1972 presidential election.

Peter, Paul & Mary were part of an era where they tried to help change the world through music, and in some ways, they succeeded.  In other ways, it became clear that wasn't enough.  But the important part was that they got people to listen.  Now that job falls to someone else.

Rude Happens

Over the past week, we saw random acts of rudeness taking place on TV.  First there was the congressman who yelled "You lie!" at the President of the United States.  Next there was the tennis star who threatened to cram her racket into an official because of what she thought was a bad call.  And there was the rap artist who interrupted an award-winner's acceptance speech to tell the audience that another artist's video was better.

Then there's the everyday rudeness of people who commit crimes, yak at the dinner table while others are trying to watch the evening news, cut you off in traffic, use cell phones in public, use foul language in normal conversation, etc.

We deplore rudeness and bad behavior because we like to think of ourselves as a civilized society.  Well, if we actually were a civilized society, things would be pretty boring and repressive.

More often than not, rudeness has changed the course of history.  If civility had been the rule, there would be no United States of America.  Hitler would have conquered the globe.  Slavery would still be in existence.  Native Americans would have been left alone.  John and Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King would have lived out their lives.  The World Trade Center in New York would still be standing.  The wars in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan would never have happened.

Civility has also had its place in history.  Social and political movements, peace treaties and calm resolution of crises are part of the reason why the human race still exists.

But rudeness sells, baby.  Without it, rock music wouldn't exist, much less rap.  There would be no reality TV.  No Rush Limbaugh or Fox News Channel.  No movies rated PG-13 or R.  No pro athletes showing  off on ESPN.  No Karl Rove, Lee Atwater or footage of town hall meetings.  And broadcast TV wouldn't be having so many problems trying to compete with cable.  In other words, we'd still be living in the 1950s.

Sure, civility sells, too.  But it doesn't rake in nearly as much publicity as celebrities who give the finger to the paparazzi, telemarketers who call you at dinner (even though they're not supposed to), and people who throw back a home run ball because it was hit by someone on the visiting team.

As Joe Wilson, Serena Williams and Kanye West  have demonstrated:  Civility is what we strive for.  Rudeness and bad behavior is who we actually are.

ObamaCare In Critical Condition

Wednesday night's address by President Barack Obama to a joint session of Congress was a bold attempt to take back health care reform from the rabble-rousers who have been dominating the converastion until now.

Most of the speech wasn't anything you haven't heard already about Obama's plans to make health care more affordable--a government-run, nonprofit option for those who don't have coverage, those who can afford coverage would be required to buy a policy, and those who like their coverage can keep it. He just hasn't articulated them very well before Wednesday.

But there were two things that deserved attention. First, Obama said that it should be illegal for insurance companies to drop your coverage if you have a pre-existing condition. This is why people go into debt when they get sick.

Second, illegal immigrants would not be insured under the President's plan. That one prompted Joe Wilson, a Republican congressman from South Carolina, to shout that Obama was a "liar".

If you want to know why the Republican Party has devolved into the Bleacher Bums (with apologies to real Bleacher Bums), pouting like spoiled brats and crudely heckling this President every chance they get, look no further than Wilson (who has since apologized).

As for the Democrats, divided as they are, they interrupted the President's speech several times to stand up and applaud. It may be a time-honored tradition, but it looks phony and bogs things down for people watching on TV. So knock it off.

Passage of any kind of health care bill is up in the air right now. The GOP will nix anything that doesn't protect Big Medicine. Moderate Democrats won't support the so-called public option, while progressives will balk if it's taken off the table. The Era of Good Feeling this is not.

What President Obama said in the first part of his address might become a self-fulfilling prophecy: "I am not the first president to take up this cause, but I'm determined to be the last". If health care reform does not pass Congress anytime soon, no future president will want to take it up again.

The NFL 2009

Image via Wikipedia

The National Football League opens its season Thursday night with the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers hosting the Tennessee Titans.  Missing from this picture is John Madden in the NBC booth, having hung up his microphone after three decades on four different TV networks.  Taking his place next to Al Michaels is Cris Collinsworth.

That's just one of the changes facing the NFL this season.  We know about Brett Favre and Michael Vick, who will return in Week 3 for the Philadelphia Eagles after he serves his league-mandated suspension.  Here are some of the others:

• Jon Grudin, Tony Dungy and Mike Shanahan are not coaching.  Instead, Grudin and Dungy have joined that halfway house for coaches called TV.  Grudin replaced Tony Kornheiser on ESPN's "Monday Night Football", while Dungy--who's also been mentoring Vick in his return to society--has joined the cast of NBC's "Football Night In America" (also known as "Sunday Night Live").
• Terrell Owens has taken his act to Buffalo, while another "look at me" player in Cincinnati changes his name to Chad Ochocinco.
• Jay Cutler now plays quarterback for the Chicago Bears, having successfully whined his way out of Denver because of a dispute with new coach Josh McDaniels.  Brandon Marshall is apparently trying the same tactic.
• Three teams have fired their offensive coordiantors during the pre-season.
• The Dallas Cowboys have a monster of a stadium down in Arlington, complete with an overhead video scoreboard punters can kick footballs at.  Even in this economic climate, size still matters in Texas.
• Another economic sign of the times:  Ten teams might have their home games blacked out on local TV because they're having problems selling out their stadiums.  Even the presence of Favre can't guarantee that the Minnesota Vikings can fill the Metrodome.  The NFL needs to tweak its blackout policy, because you can't sell the product if people aren't buying.
• And, yes, the league has decided to let its players Twitter away, as long as they're not doing it during games.  Some teams have taken exception, banning Twitter outright for competitive reasons.  Or maybe they're just plain paranoid.

Here's who we think the division champions will be come January:

NFC EAST  Philadelphia Eagles
         WEST  Seattle Seahawks
         NORTH  Minnesota Vikings
         SOUTH  Carolina Panthers
WILD CARD  New York Giants and Green Bay Packers

AFC EAST  New England Patriots
         WEST  San Diego Chargers
         NORTH  Pittsburgh Steelers
         SOUTH  Tennessee Titans
WILD CARD  Buffalo Bills and Indianapolis Colts
***
The Vikings, with or without Brett Favre, are a slight favorite to win the NFC North in a close battle with the Packers and Bears.  This should also be the year the Detroit Lions actually win a game or two.

The quarterback controversy over who gets to back up Favre has been settled, at least for now.  They are Sage Rosenfels and Tarvaris Jackson.  John David Booty has been moved to the practice squad.

Coach Brad Childress has everything he needs for a title run:  A veteran quarterback who couldn't decide whether he wants to play or not, a backfield that's among the league's best no matter what LaDanian Tomlinson of the Chargers says, and a defense with question marks.  If the Vikings should somehow miss the playoffs, then it's time to start looking for a new coach and a long-term quarterback.

Gibson Out, Sawyer In at ABC's "World News"

Image via Wikipedia

Charles Gibson, who's been at ABC News for at least three decades, has decided to retire as anchor of ABC World News at the end of the year.  Diane Sawyer will take over come January.

Gibson had been anchor of the broadcast for 3 1/2 years, but he was never intended to be the network's long-term solution.  He was co-host of Good Morning America when Peter Jennings died, filling in before Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff were named co-anchors.  Only when Woodruff was nearly killed in Iraq by a roadside bomb and Vargas deciding to return to co-anchoring 20/20 did ABC decide to give the World News position to Gibson.

Sawyer currently co-hosts GMA with Robin Roberts, and has substituted on World News at various times, so she's no stranger to anchoring.  Before coming to ABC, Sawyer worked for the Nixon White House up until the President's resignation, then she moved to CBS where she became a correspondent for 60 Minutes.   However, Sawyer's best known for her interviews with headliners and celebrities--often in competition with Barbara Walters (who was the first female network evening news co-anchor)--which tended to border on the tabloid.

Sawyer will do a much better job than Katie Couric has done at CBS, having tried and failed to reinvent the wheel--that is, in shaking up an evening news format that's been in place for decades.  Her reward?  Plenty of ridicule, a distant third place, and TV pundits wondering if CBS should have hired Sawyer instead.

Despite the Internet and cable, at least 20 million people still tune into the networks' evening news on a regular basis.  Right now ABC and CBS are looking up at  NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, which leads the dinnertime ratings, and will likely remain so in the foreseeable future.

(Where was Williams, by the way, during NBC's coverage of Senator Edward Kennedy's funeral motorcade coming through Washington on its way to Arlington National Cemetery?  Tom Brokaw, Williams' predecessor, handled the anchor duties for that one.)

In January, there will be two women--Diane Sawyer and Katie Couric--anchoring the network evening news.  Will people accept getting their news from women after men have been doing it for so long?  Or did ABC just hand its audience over to NBC and Brian Williams?

News On A Stick

Image via Wikipedia

At the Minnesota State Fair, currently running through Labor Day, you can indulge in many things:  Eat heart-unhealthy food.  Visit the barns to see where your next meal comes from (or not, if you're a vegetarian).  Pass through the same exhibits that have been there for decades.  Listen to performers at the Grandstand who last made the record charts in 1978.  Search in vain for a place to sit, etc.

Or you could watch live radio and TV broadcasts.  Nearly every station in the Twin Cities is represented at the Fair in one form or another.  You can have your picture taken with your favorite news anchor, help power a newscast by pedaling a bicycle hooked up to a generator, or pick up free promotional stuff destined to become landfill fodder.

Yes, media companies can get rid of popular high-priced anchors and deejays, and cut corners on news coverage to save money.  But there's always room in the budget for the Minnesota State Fair.

As someone who likes his news straight with no chaser, this is not my favorite time of year.  What kind of journalism is involved with anchors milking cows, interviewing beauty queens and street musicians, and serving whatever-on-a-stick to passersby who happen to show up for a live broadcast?  It's as if they're paid to promote the State Fair instead of covering it.

Granted, some stations do throw it back to the main studio for reports on the headlines of the day.  But isn't it a tad absurd to watch anchors risking bad hair days in front of an audience as they're telling us about the latest murder or natural disaster?  It's usually followed by the meteorologist and the sports guy mingling with the audience, who applaud when the weather turns out great, or when the Twins or Vikings win.

(Oh, for the days when Dave Moore used to do his WCCO newscasts inside a glass-walled studio at the Fair, with the fairgoers crowding outside to watch.)

You know what's missing?  Howard Beale, Peter Finch's character in the movie "Network", shouting "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it any more!".  Of course, if someone actually did that, he'd be whacked by a thousand Pronto Pups within minutes.

We go to the Minnesota State Fair because it's tradition, and because it offers nothing but a good time to be had by all.  We also watch local news becuase we want to know what's going on in the state where we live.  Combine the two, and you get a toxic mix of crime, Brett Favre rumors and infomercial.  We deserve better than this.