Dom's Dish - Monday, January 29, 2007
Unfortunately, since my tiny little article isn't getting me "in" with the my peeps in Hollywood (Respect My Peeps!) or Baliwood, I wasn't sent the preview of tonight's episode of "24". The completion of my Norris vs. Bauer article will wrap up later this week, tied 2 to 2.
Herman Edwards, International Man of Mystery, struck again. Yeah, baby! For the third consecutive year, Herman Edwards (now of the Chiefs) has signed an international player to his franchise. The Chiefs agreed to terms on a two-year contract with Ramiro Pruneda, a 6-6 317 pound offensive lineman who led Monterey Tech to four Mexican national championships (don't worry, he wasn't a sweeper or goalie, he played offensive tackle in "American rules football"). Last year, the Chiefs signed QB Casey Printers of the Canadian Football league. In 2005, Herm and the Jets looked South, down under in fact, signing punter Ben Graham of Australian rules football. In 2008, I predict the Chiefs and Herm look to Europe: Madrid, Spain, signing 5-10 195 pound running back (former matador and sweeper) Juan "Emmitt" Lopez. You play to win the game! And all he wanted was sharks with frikken laser beams attached to their heads. Gatos con botas!
For just once, I want him to do it. Super Bowl week will officially begin tonight once the Colts arrive in Miami. Nothing but class through out his entire career, Peyton Manning is sure to be one of the first off the plane. Just to make it more interesting and to take some of the talk off of Lovie Smith's measly $1.35 million contract, I want Peyton to walk down the stairs onto the tarmac and proclaim: "We're here to win, we're gonna win. I've thought long and hard about this on our 2 hour flight and Urlacher, well, he really isn't that good. I'm the better QB, Grossman doesn't know about our Defense. Chalk up a win for us. Write it down, print it, it's a guarantee." Oh how the week would change. As long as he doesn't say anything at the end like "Priceless" or "Maybe like Peyton Manning's team, maybe" or "Cut that meat!"
Martin Brodeur. What else can I say? How can I convey greatness to all of you out there? He had his ninth shutout this season on Friday night. Aside from his extreme athleticism and flexibility, the dude isn't small either: 6-2, 215 lbs at age 34. The 20th pick of the 1990 draft is number two in all-time goaltender wins in NHL history and currently number three all time in shutouts with 89, the record is 103. He holds the NHL record for consecutive 30-win seasons with 11 (still active). On this pace, it will be the end of the 2008-09 season, their second in Newark's Prudential Center - sure to be called "The Rock" - that this "rock" will pass Patrick Roy as the all time leader in wins for a goaltender, in just his 15th NHL season, 4 ahead of Roy. By then he will most likely have passed Terry Sawchuk as the all time leader in shutouts.
Two things: this is the NHL people. The history there (aside from a lack of facemasks like the NFL) is very rich, storied and stable with the chase for Lord Stanley's Cup each year (records go back to the 1940's - NHL's "Modern Era" when they added the red-line at center ice). Also, I won't bore you with stats or lots of names, but the 1990 draft only had 21 picks in the first round (Brodeur was #20), however, there weren't many mistakes. Names you might recognize, the top 4 picks: Owen Nolan, Petr Nedved, Keith Primeau, Mike Ricci. Some others: Derian Hatcher (#8), Turner Stevenson (#12), Keith Tkachuk (#20). Oh yeah! And some guy named Jagr, the #5 pick. Very unlike the 1999 NFL draft: Tim Couch (#1), Akili Smith (#3), Ricky Williams (#5), Cade McNown (#12) (none of which are still in the NFL). Oh yeah and the #2 pick that got booed that yeah, from Syracuse, QB: Donovan McNabb.
Quick notes:
Some sad breaking news, Barbaro was euthanized this morning in PA. After months of struggling with complications from his broken leg, he was finally put down. If not for the amazing win in the Kentucky Derby, he would have been put down the day after the Preakness. Unfortunately, now we know why they do that. Before the Preakness, he won all six of the races he started. Jamal Crawford of the Knicks scored 52 on Friday. At one point he hit sixteen (16) straight, including 8 from distance. That right there is 40 of the 52. Wow, talk about a streak shooter. Chuck Norris appears in a Mountain Dew commercial; interesting. All of the NBA analysts are upset that the fans "snubbed" Steve Nash as a starter for the NBA (Western conference) All-Star team. He has led his team to 33 wins in the last 35 games. I still say he looks like an alien, and he's Canadian. Maybe the fans in Canada don't have internet access to vote as they do in China (Yao Ming got enough votes to play although he won't be able to start due to injury). Conclusion: Blame Canada! Thanks Mrs. Brofloski. It was great hearing the mini-press conference given by Brian Urlacher yesterday after he got off the plane in Miami. When asked about Peyton Manning, he talked about how great he is and how great his commercials are. Maybe like Peyton Manning, maybe. Tiger this past weekend was in a sand trap 16 times the last two rounds. Of all those holes, he only made one bogey. Wow.
For those that watched last week's AFC Championship game and saw Reche (pronounced re-shay) Caldwell after he dropped the pass with those HUGE beaty eyes, I finally saw who he reminded me of. Someone sent me a link explaining who Little Richard was, and then I saw it: http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/151/32214.jpg .
Looks like tonight is the night I start watching College Basketball: Pitt @ Nova on ESPN. Gonna be tough not to pull away at 8pm though to watch the new gameshow on Lifetime: "Gay, Straight or Taken?"
And now for this week's "If only" segment: If only my beautiful wife went to Rider University, and we met on a blind date years later. It would be a good story to tell the grandkids about our first "blind date" when we discovered where we each went to school. Then I jumped out of a moving car to scream "GO LIONS!" Dressed in my cheerleading gear, of course. Aaahhhh, if only...
Gatos con botas, good day.
--------------------------------
For those new to "the dish", I once dreamed of being a sports-caster having my own column. Let me know if you don't like it, and/or want to be discontinued from the list. If you have another email address to send it to, send that to me also. For older issues of the dish, email me. domsdish@gmail.com or go to http://domsdish.blogspot.com
