Something Else For a Change

Here's a shocker.

American Airlines Testing Anti-Missile Technology

But now American Airlines is flying with new defensive technology on some of its New York to Los Angeles flights.

Developed in New Hampshire by defense contractor, BAE Systems, the cross country passenger jets are now equipped with a laser deterrent system mounted on the plane's belly. It can identify and misdirect an incoming missile. It's being tested for Homeland Security.

Laurie Nuzzo is the Program manager for BAE Systems in Nashua New Hampshire where technology was developed. "Over several years we have been testing and validating the system. So now it is really great to see us now at this point on an in service passenger aircraft."

A few years ago I read about this.Sorry, can't find the earlier source now. We'll just have to believe me. What that earlier story also taught me was that since at least 2005, every air freight company's fleet of transoceanic carriers has this system. Can't be terrorist tow missile like threat. So, these must be for some kind of missile defense.

FindArticles > Insight on the News > May 28, 2001 > Article > Print friendly

U.S. Threatened With EMP Attack

Kenneth R. Timmerman

A new commission will examine how to defend the U.S. against a nuclear electromagnetic-pulse attack that could destroy all our electronic and communications systems.

Back in 1990, when he still was secretary of defense, Dick Cheney appeared before a House Armed Services subcommittee with some surprising news, given the euphoria generated by the destruction of the Berlin Wall. "The Soviet Union is going to disappear," he announced. "But the threat isn't."

Last week, recalling Cheney's warning, Rep. Jim Saxton, R-N.J., told a field hearing of that same commit tee, held at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in northern Maryland, that the "technology is now here" to bring America's way of life to an end.

That technology, said Saxton and Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md., is electromagnetic pulse, known by the initials EMP. Discovered in 1962 during the last U.S. nuclear test in the atmosphere and code-named "Starfish Prime," EMP long has been recognized as posing a military danger as great as the nuclear weapons that generate it. Indeed, these powerful radio waves can disable virtually all advanced weapons systems as if they were the surge from a lightning bolt striking your home and frying your computer.

Saxton first held hearings on EMP in 1998 when he was chairman of the Joint Economic Committee (see "E-Zapper Could Break the Bank," May 25, 1998).

Now, further attempts are being made to probe how attack by an EMP weapon might affect America's civilian infrastructure. And, according to government scientists interviewed by Insight, the initial analyses of highly classified studies under way at Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Laboratory in Livermore, Calif., and in other government labs are devastating.

Congress became so disturbed by those first studies that it mandated creation of a new blue-ribbon panel, whose members Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld soon will select, to study U.S. vulnerability to EMP attack. "The list of those selected for the nine-member panel is sitting on Donald Rumsfeld's desk," congressional sources tell Insight. "We expect this to be announced in very short order."

The new commission will examine the threat of EMP weapons, who has them and what damage they can do. Then it will make recommendations to Congress as to how best to protect U.S. military systems and our civilian infrastructure against massive EMP attack.

According to R. Alan Kehs, who heads the Army Research Laboratory at Aberdeen, "No one really knows how susceptible large-scale commercial electronic systems might be to a concerted electronic attack." But increased U.S. reliance on computers and nationwide communications systems touching virtually every aspect of our daily lives has made the United States a target of choice for electronic terrorists and potential enemies.

"A major EMP attack would lead us back a century in our technology," Bartlett tells Insight. "And the technology of 100 years ago couldn't support the population we have today. Just imagine our country with no power and no communications. The only person you could talk to would be the person next to your any meaningful time we would have total chaos."

The entire U.S. market system is at risk. America's commercial infrastructure is all but completely reliant on advanced computers, which can be readily disrupted or even destroyed by a nuclear EMP attack. And now smaller non-nuclear versions of that technology, known as high-powered microwave (HPM) and radio-frequency (RF) weapons, have proliferated around the world. They readily are available to potential terrorists, either directly from Russia, which long led the world in developing these technologies, or in more rudimentary forms from off-the-shelf components.

Under the guidance of Saxton and Bartlett, Congress last year appropriated $4 million to study the potential effect of RF weapons on U.S. commercial infrastructure -- banks, power plants, factories, offices, the commercial telephone network, inventory maintenance, the oil and gas delivery system -- and computers that everywhere make life easier and work more efficient.

As part of that study, the Pentagon hired David Schriner, a California scientist who says he "grew up building things from scratch," to put together a portable RF weapon using commercially available parts and widely known engineering principles.

Under a $950,000 Pentagon contract (which Schriner joked forced him to triple his four-man business to accommodate Pentagon accounting requirements) the scientist tinkered and soon put together two crude weapons. The smaller one was designed so it could be broken down into two parcels and shipped by United Parcel Service from one terrorist to another. The larger was built into a converted Volkswagen bus. Both used ordinary spark plugs to generate the pulse, commercially available coils, common capacitors and simple copper tape. "We wanted to show that by backyard means a weapons system could be built that would have some effectiveness against our civilian infrastructure," Schriner explained during an April 30 demonstration at the Aberdeen Proving Ground.

One incident that made U.S. military planners take notice of the threat occurred a few years ago when a U.S. Comanche helicopter flying out of the now-decommissioned Griffis Air Force base in Rome, N.Y., took out the entire navigational-aids system at the nearby commercial airport. The helicopter had generated a low-level RF pulse during a radar test "which ended up totally disrupting the global positioning system (GPS) being used to land commercial aircraft in Albany, New York, for a couple of weeks," reveals James F. O'Bryon, deputy director of the Pentagon's Operational Test and Evaluation Live-Fire Testing Center, which is studying the impact of EMP and RF weapons on U.S. military systems.

The military began testing Schriner's prototype weapons last year in an effort to determine the vulnerability of common electronic devices such as desktop computers, medical pumps and monitors, home-alarm systems and police scanners. In tests so far, Schriner's devices have temporarily disrupted all of them.

Far greater is the threat from a nuclear EMP attack detonated above the country without the missile ever striking our territory and which could make the United States go dark, silent and cold for months. "What would we do in America if Y2K really came to be?" asks Hostettler. "With an EMP laydown, we're talking about that. Would we have the political will to retaliate?"

Twenty years ago, only the Soviet Union had the capability to launch an EMP attack on the United States by exploding a nuclear warhead 500 kilometers (310 miles) in space. Pentagon planners spent billions of dollars protecting U.S. military equipment against EMP during the Cold War. But during the last decade, the military has canceled many of those protection programs, alleging an end to the threat of a Soviet nuclear strike. And none of our civilian infrastructure is protected because of the high cost.

Some believe the military acted imprudently. "The threat is still there, and it can be delivered in just 30 minutes," former nuclear-weapons designer and top EMP expert Bronius Cikotas tells Insight. "All that has changed is the intent." Intent ca be misread or change overnight, Cikotas argues, whereas "it takes years to harden our systems."

Today, at least 10 countries are working on and RF weapons, according to Cikotas. "Russia has very significant work in this area, and lots of this has propagated to other parts of the world, with scientists basically selling their work."

"Russia's work in this area has been the best in the world, most experts agree. Russia has the best physicists in the world when it comes to RF weapons and EMP," says Barry Crane, a physicist and former F-4 pilot now working at the Institute for Defense Analysis who has visited Russia's top EMP laboratories and design bureaus. "Many of their best EMP specialists are now working on contract in Communist China," Crane tells Insight.

Chinese military planners have written frequently of their intent to wage "asymmetrical warfare" against the United States. They say this means using other weapons, such as EMP and RF weapons, to exploit U.S. vulnerabilities, rather than matching us tank for tank and plane for plane.

But other countries could attack the U.S. mainland with a high-altitude EMP blast as well, and we would have no idea who was behind the attack. "Tonight, Saddam Hussein could fire a crude nuclear warhead from a SCUD launcher hidden on a commercial cargo ship off U.S. territorial waters and shut down the entire East Coast," Rep. Bartlett tells Insight. Bartlett is a scientist by training who holds scores of patents and is considered the top expert in Congress on the effects of EMP.

The more backward the country, the more attractive EMP becomes as a weapon against the United States, Bartlett explains. "If North Korea were to launch a missile straight up and explode a nuclear weapon 500 kilometers over their own territory, it wouldn't do them a lot of damage because they have very little dependence on electronic systems. But it would have a devastating impact on South Korea, as well as on our 37,000 troops stationed there. With North Korea's million soldiers, they could just walk all over us with impunity."

Bartlett and Saxton became deeply concerned by the prospect of an EMP attack by Russia after a little-publicized meeting they and seven other members of Congress held in a Vienna, Austria, hotel in the spring of 1999 at the peak of the Kosovo crisis with a delegation from the Russian Duma, or parliament.

"We were sitting with two Russians," Bartlett recalls, "the third-ranking Communist and Vladimir Lukin, who was Russian ambassador during Bush I and headed the Duma Foreign Affairs Commission. Lukin was very angry. He said that if they really wanted to hurt us, with no fear of retaliation, they would launch an SLBM [submarine-launched ballistic missile], detonate a nuclear weapon high over our country, and shut down our power grid and our communications for six months."

Bartlett says, "This was a much more serious threat than the Chinese threatening Los Angeles or New York during the Taiwan Strait crisis in 1996. We might be able to do without Los Angeles or New York, but it would be very difficult to live without power, communications and computers anywhere in America."

Cikotas, a scientist who has been compared in stature to Edward Teller, still recalls when he first discovered EMP in July 1962 during the last U.S. nuclear test conducted in the atmosphere. That test involved the detonation of a 1.5-megaton weapon at an altitude of 400 kilometers (248 miles) over Johnston Island in the Pacific. "Eight hundred miles away in Hawaii, street-lights went out within seconds," Cikotas says. "Fuses failed on Oahu, telephone service was disrupted on Kauai and the power system went down on Hawaii itself. What caused it was the high-powered electromagnetic pulse set off by the nuclear explosion, which hit Hawaii like a lightning bolt."

All during the Cold War, the Soviet Union optimized its nuclear weapons to emit EMP pulse waves. In the event of war, Soviet targeting officers had worked out detailed schemes to explode nuclear weapons high in the atmosphere over the North Pole and work down over America's East Coast in waves, Bartlett tells Insight.

"An EMP laydown, starting at the Pole, would sequentially blind the United States, making it impossible for us to retaliate," Bartlett explains. "A nuclear EMP attack would bring us to our knees as a nation."

And making matters worse, the United States is totally unprepared, despite repeated warnings in recent years. In early May, as RF weapons were being demonstrated in Aberdeen, President George W. Bush announced his administration's intent to build a national missile-defense system. Protecting against an EMP strike will be just as important and is one more vulnerability bequeathed to Bush from the Clinton/Gore era. So serious is the national-security situation inherited by Bush's team, say Pentagon insiders, that the ongoing strategic review "has become a rattlesnake hunt."

COPYRIGHT 2001 News World Communications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning

Funny how this very serious article omits the fact that Lukin literally threatened the Clinton admin. in 1999 with this prospect. The Russians were very unhappy about NATO's 78 day bombing of the former Yugoslavia.

During the 1999 NATO Bombings of Serbia

During the 1999 NATO bombing of Serbia, Russian leaders repeatedly inferred that if bombing continued or ground troops entered Serbia, it might lead to nuclear war with Russia. A series of quotes, right up until the bombing stopped, illustrate how serious they were.
“I told NATO, the Americans, the Germans: Don't push us toward military action. Otherwise there will be a European war for sure and possibly world war.'' Russian President Boris Yeltsin, April 6, 1999
"In the event that NATO and America start a ground operation in Yugoslavia, they will face a second Vietnam, I do not want to forecast what is going to start then. I cannot rule out a third world war.'' Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, April 17, 1999
"If NATO goes from air force to ground force it will be a world catastrophe. (Russia) has never felt such anti-Western, anti-European feelings." First Deputy Russian Prime Minister Anatoly Chubais, April 25, 1999.
“You have to understand that if we want to cause you a problem over this, we could. Someone, we don't know who, could send up a missile from a ship or a submarine and detonate a nuclear weapon high over the United States. The EMP (electromagnetic pulse that destroys electronic and computer equipment) would take away all your capability.” Vladimir Lukin, Chairman of the Russian State Duma Foreign Policy Committee, late April, 1999
“Just let Clinton, a little bit, accidentally, send a missile. We will answer immediately. Such impudence! To unleash a war on a sovereign state. Without Security Council. Without United Nations. It could only be possible in a time of barbarism.” Boris Yeltsin, May 7, 1999
"The world has never in this decade been so close as now to the brink of nuclear war." Viktor Chernomyrdin, May 27, 1999

Wow.

Anyway, I'm sorry I can't find the article I read in 2005. I only put this up because Drudge started it. Normally I hate to be a purveyor of bummers. I guess I prefer whining about silly shit.

Tomorrow, God willing, I'll definitely be at Zeitgeist. Peace out.

I Made a Promise to a Lady

When you write down what somebody said, and someone else asks why you wrote it down, 'I'm buzzed' is usually a useless excuse. Tonight, during the celebration of the Saturnalia, I found myself attracted to that answer.

"Had to buy the multi black pack," Renee (sp?) from Phoenix said at Zeitgeist during dusk-time. I wrote it down. Her friend asked why. I said, if I post it it proves what she said was significant.

In other news, a girl named A**a said at me tonight, "Math is beautiful." A**a is an accountant.

Beauty is The Standard of Math. Math is The Standard of Beauty.

Germany and Turkey

Courtesy of this blog:

juti

June 25, 2008 11:47 PM

Berlin/deu

I watched the game in Kreuzberg, a part of Berlin mostly inhabited by Turkish and it was just amazing. The Turkish supported the Germans and likewise. The streets were packed with cheering people (from both sides) after the game. Just great! In would have loved to see Turkey vs. Germany in the finals. What a great game it would have been. Congratulations to the Turksih for a fighting so hard!!!!

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IrishEuropean

June 25, 2008 11:54 PM

Berlin/deu

I cannot tell you what the spirit in Berlin was like this evening - all Turkey's goals were enthusiastically applauded by the audience in a restaurant where I watched the game - indeed cheered. Spontaneous applause.

The fireworks and the car horn blowing continue now. I am cheering with the Germans, with no reason to do so other than living here and having seen an absence of loutishness and xenophobia in coming to this point.

I want Germany to win - if only for the party on Sunday night ;)

[Offensive? Unsuitable? Report this comment.]

dholliday

June 26, 2008 12:09 AM

Berlin/deu

Hi juti!

I watched it in Neukölln (Ä), we too had a great communal atmosphere between both sets of fans.

cato74

June 26, 2008 1:50 AM

Berlin/deu

Just returned from Kurfürstendam street here in Berlin - a big party for any of the teams.

Niko2

June 26, 2008 3:05 AM

Mainz/deu

I liked the pictures of the German players comforting Hamit. Nuff said.

This is so funny!

547274809496

June 26, 2008 5:45 AM

Bonn/deu

Hello football experts! I'm just a humble person who doesn't know much about football. I just thought that the 3 (three) german goals looked very nice, especially number 1 and 3. The 2 turkish goals could have been saved by Lehmann who didn't have a very good day yesterday, to put it mildly.

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Travesty Strikes Turkey

Derek Rae says "we thought we'd seen it all" and that's almost right. Technical difficulties robbed the home viewer of half the goals scored in Germany v Turkey. What a bummer!

And then some.

July 1, 2008

Jagr should only be re-signed if he doesn't have to play "5 in the picture". People talk about him resisting that style as if that's a bad thing. If changing tactics is a prerequisite to bringing him back, we should all be rooting for that to happen. Rangers were like 5th in goals against, like 25th in goals scored and they were dreadful to watch most nights. They sucked in the playoffs, too, for the most part.

That said, if it came down to a choice between Jagr and Sundin, I'd rather have Sundin. Difference to me is, Jagr is a powerful player while Sundin is a power player. Rather have him leading by example.

The Theory

Results of experiments on e. coli at Michigan State University have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Historical contingency and the evolution of a key innovation in an experimental population of Escherichia coli

Zachary D. Blount, Christina Z. Borland, and Richard E. Lenski^*

Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824

Contributed by Richard E. Lenski, April 9, 2008 (received for review March 26, 2008)

The role of historical contingency in evolution has been much debated, but rarely tested. Twelve initially identical populations of Escherichia coli were founded in 1988 to investigate this issue. They have since evolved in a glucose-limited medium that also contains citrate, which E. coli cannot use as a carbon source under oxic conditions. No population evolved the capacity to exploit citrate for >30,000 generations, although each population tested billions of mutations. A citrate-using (Cit⁺) variant finally evolved in one population by 31,500 generations, causing an increase in population size and diversity. The long-delayed and unique evolution of this function might indicate the involvement of some extremely rare mutation. Alternately, it may involve an ordinary mutation, but one whose physical occurrence or phenotypic expression is contingent on prior mutations in that population. We tested these hypotheses in experiments that "replayed" evolution from different points in that population's history. We observed no Cit⁺ mutants among 8.4 x 10¹² ancestral cells, nor among 9 x 10¹² cells from 60 clones sampled in the first 15,000 generations. However, we observed a significantly greater tendency for later clones to evolve Cit⁺, indicating that some potentiating mutation arose by 20,000 generations. This potentiating change increased the mutation rate to Cit⁺ but did not cause generalized hypermutability. Thus, the evolution of this phenotype was contingent on the particular history of that population. More generally, we suggest that historical contingency is especially important when it facilitates the evolution of key innovations that are not easily evolved by gradual, cumulative selection.

In other words, specifically those of a blogger at conservapedia.

There are two claims made in the paper: that a strain of E. colii evolved the ability to utilize citrate, and that the strain first had a mutation which while it did not allow the utilization of citrate, in some fashion potentiated the later mutation. The first claim is supported by the optical density data in figure 1.

The second claim is demonstrated by repeat experiments using stored samples. In some cases, the ability to utilize citrate evolved, in some cases not. They report on the strains used, how often the ability evolved, etc. - divaricatum 11:30 June 20 2008 (PDT)

The argument on the talk page is not significant here. I only wanted to highlight this because it is totally going to cause a storm within the creation vs. evolution community. What this indicates is that life is capable of creating new abilities without having previously the genetic code.

Creationists believe mutation is real. Happens all the time. Some genetic code shuts down or begins to work. Here is a case where it seems creationists must face a possibility they've previously held fast can't be true. E. coli got something from nothing.

Wow. It's magic.

Of course the mystery is still there as to how it did it. The only thing the research team knew for sure is when a mutation sequence began that resulted in novel information, and they could make more of it do it again.

But it does not rule out God. It does offer a challenge to young earth creationism, sudden emergence, and the literal word of the Holy Bible.

Evolutionists of course love this for the threat it poses to intelligent design.

Bacteria make major evolutionary shift in the lab

A major evolutionary innovation has unfurled right in front of researchers' eyes. It's the first time evolution has been caught in the act of making such a rare and complex new trait.

And because the species in question is a bacterium, scientists have been able to replay history to show how this evolutionary novelty grew from the accumulation of unpredictable, chance events.

Twenty years ago, evolutionary biologist Richard Lenski of Michigan State University in East Lansing, US, took a single Escherichia coli bacterium and used its descendants to found 12 laboratory populations.

The 12 have been growing ever since, gradually accumulating mutations and evolving for more than 44,000 generations, while Lenski watches what happens.

Profound change

Mostly, the patterns Lenski saw were similar in each separate population. All 12 evolved larger cells, for example, as well as faster growth rates on the glucose they were fed, and lower peak population densities.

But sometime around the 31,500th generation, something dramatic happened in just one of the populations – the bacteria suddenly acquired the ability to metabolise citrate, a second nutrient in their culture medium that E. coli normally cannot use.

Indeed, the inability to use citrate is one of the traits by which bacteriologists distinguish E. coli from other species. The citrate-using mutants increased in population size and diversity.

"It's the most profound change we have seen during the experiment. This was clearly something quite different for them, and it's outside what was normally considered the bounds of E. coli as a species, which makes it especially interesting," says Lenski.

Rare mutation?

By this time, Lenski calculated, enough bacterial cells had lived and died that all simple mutations must already have occurred several times over.

That meant the "citrate-plus" trait must have been something special – either it was a single mutation of an unusually improbable sort, a rare chromosome inversion, say, or else gaining the ability to use citrate required the accumulation of several mutations in sequence.

To find out which, Lenski turned to his freezer, where he had saved samples of each population every 500 generations. These allowed him to replay history from any starting point he chose, by reviving the bacteria and letting evolution "replay" again.

Would the same population evolve Cit+ again, he wondered, or would any of the 12 be equally likely to hit the jackpot?

Evidence of evolution

The replays showed that even when he looked at trillions of cells, only the original population re-evolved Cit+ – and only when he started the replay from generation 20,000 or greater. Something, he concluded, must have happened around generation 20,000 that laid the groundwork for Cit+ to later evolve.

Lenski and his colleagues are now working to identify just what that earlier change was, and how it made the Cit+ mutation possible more than 10,000 generations later.

In the meantime, the experiment stands as proof that evolution does not always lead to the best possible outcome. Instead, a chance event can sometimes open evolutionary doors for one population that remain forever closed to other populations with different histories.

Lenski's experiment is also yet another poke in the eye for anti-evolutionists, notes Jerry Coyne, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Chicago. (Am thinking creationists would wonder "what other pokes do you mean?" --ed.)

"The thing I like most is it says you can get these complex traits evolving by a combination of unlikely events," he says. "That's just what creationists say can't happen."

Of course I didn't get how serious this was until I read the words of NS writer Bob Holmes. So it isn't just novel information, it required a series of mutations to do it. That could be the model for why eyes evolved, or how scales became breasts or how eggs became wombs. Either it mutated over and over again because it wouldn't give up until it got what it wanted, or it was part of a sequence of planned steps to achieve more robust colonies through learning how to take what was once nothing of value and turn it into a source to metabolize.

Did I say wow. I really mean it now

Delayed gratification

Zidane and Wenger. Coca-Cola strip in the background. Meta fooqin physical! Zidane looks influential, still. In fact, tonight here's a prediction:

Zizou is the heir to der Kaiser's throne.

But, what do I know?

Funny.

This week...what would Charlemagne think?

Silly Gus

I'm watching Netherlands v. Russia at UEFA's Euro2008. DV-R'ed it like 8 hours ago. 11th minute I have to jump to this:

Comparative face time Van Basten v. Hiddink: who told Gus to wear that shirt? I'm thinking Holland definitely wins this tie.

Are or is?

...the Theory_of_evolution and pro-choice incompatible?

aka 80ism

Lord Lytton accidentally reveals how the theory of evolution is dead on arrival. Everything can be accounted for by natural processes, Bulwer proposes in The Haunter and the Haunted. More specifically, every phenomenon has behind it a natural law which can be adduced. There is no supernatural agency. It's all either "science" not yet discovered or knowledge that has always been held back. Yet another example of science without boundaries.

Problem for evolutionists: when trying to subtract supernaturalism from irreducible complexity they eliminate from the debate the notion that a process beyond science could be responsible for the origin of life, the chemistry to biology event horizon, that isn't supernatural by definition.

(Guess that's circular. How it could have turned out like that must be a good thing. B/c it's funny how the second part somehow manages to connect with the first part. Didn't seem likely from the first part.)

Daft Draft, pt 1

Turns out Versus did a great job. Helps a whole lot that they just picked up the Canada guys feed.

Meanwhile....

I am way bummed about this pick.

Woodlief, 04/15/08:

(H)is skating and balance are poor, and his defensive zone positioning is awful. He simply cannot read developing plays quickly and react properly.

Last year the 2nd rd pick was wasted on that goalie. This year....

Good thing new guys are running the draft.

From Blueshirt Bulletin:

E.J. Maguire calls Del Zotto, who wears #4 in honor of Bobby Orr, "the new breed offensive defenseman who jumps up into the rush effectively; he either follows up a rush to add a second dimension or is capable of leading the rush himself."

Like in what universe is that "new breed"? It's like these quotes are made up.

"He continues to improve defensively on a daily basis." His GM, Brad Selwood, said.

That quote is moronic! "On a daily basis"? Sounds like it either was said mindlessly or insincerely. If it was said at all.

"I'm trying to work on my game right now to be an all–around defenseman."

How about "I'm working to be an all around defenseman"? Who's writing these quotes?

"I got off to a slow start but I really wanted to focus on my defensive game."

Good Gawd! After the season the scouts called him out for sucking defensively. "I really wanted to focus on my defensive game." Is he ultimately saying, "I can't get better defensively"?

"I've found the best way to shut down a player is not having them have the puck."

How about "crushing a guy is the best way to shut down a guy"?

"Whenever they have the puck, I get a chance to play the body and make them not want to come back into my corner."

Oooh...very scary!

"He's a great passer with a good shot," said TSN analyst Pierre McGuire. "Maturity is a question mark."

Great...just what we need! He could make us all forget about Roszival. I don't even want to speculate about that second part.

"There probably isn’t a defenseman in this class that has a higher offensive upside than Michael Del Zotto."

Yeah right! Guess that's why Dubi won't vouch for it. "Above and beyond normal"? wtf

Woodlief, again via Dubi @ Blueshirt Bulletin:

"(H)is decision making in his own end can be downright atrocious, and hockey sense is not something you can work on or acquire, as with some other skills."

At least he's "cute".

*sigh*

NHL Draft Tonight!

Yeah the whole Versus thing is excruciating.

I hope the Rangers get a first liner. Then an All Star defenseman. And please please please: don't take a goalie before round 6. Preferably the best amateur in all of Alaska. Although it's a small sample size, every known Alaskan in the NHL has a certain charisma. Of course I only know of Scott Gomez and Brandon Dubinsky, but that's a great nucleus.

I don’t care who the Rangers roll next year as long as they are “more cohesive” on the ice. One team, one style. Not some guys skate, others float. What did Babcock say about the Wings: “there best players are the best workers”, or something like that? That shouldn’t be an observation but a prerequisite on the Rangers.

Oh wait…there’s one guy, and one guy only, whose employment next season has had me on tenterhooks all spring. Please Glen, please, do not resign Brendan Shanahan. Slow, doesn’t hit, loses battles for the puck along the boards because he doesn’t do gritty anymore, will never fight again, always on the PP shoots high because he’s more likely to score but then there’s never any rebounds only he looks like he doesn’t care about that. And, he only skates hard during the shootouts.

Who cares if he is a likeable guy. He should retire and do TV. Like between the benches work.

Avery Gets Cut

Sean Avery's lacerated spleen caught the attention of a blogger at Blueshirt Bulletin. Girl said something like, if they took Avery to the hospital for a lacerated spleen and didn't operate on him, exactly what did they do and why was he in the intensive care for two days? Did they lie him down in a certain way? Spray him with that freezy stuff they use in soccer when a player is pretending to be hurt? Give him blood thickeners (is there such a thing?)? Yeah, I thought. What is up with that story?

Today Jim Matheson of the Canadian press did Glen Sather's bidding it seems.

Sean Avery, who's spending his summer working at Vogue magazine, wants $3.5 million a season. But the New York Rangers, as much as they know that Avery is a huge fan favourite, aren't going to give him that much. He's a third-liner and he's not that popular in his own dressing room.

Sunday past Matheson had this item. Slats shows no mercy as he lacerates Avery with extreme prejudice.

"Elisha Cuthbert, who co-stars on the television program 24, looks better on the arm of Edmonton product turned Calgary Flames star defenceman Dion Phaneuf than NHL pest Sean Avery, her former beau."

Wonder if that mentioning of Edmonton in the Phaneuf item was a slick Sather reference. Like, look, don't fuck with me, boy! Or, maybe he just wanted Avery to know ultimately how he appreciated Sean's contribution. These items seem designed not just to cushion Rangers fan disappointment. It's like Sather wants to eff it up for him with other teams.

But, what do I know?

Is there a hidden story here? Keep thinking about the Mary Kate Olsen rumor. There never were pictures of them together which to me strongly suggests it never really happened. Yet tmz had it.

MK was also linked to the tragic death of Heath Ledger. Then she's dating the Fiat heir who last year od'ed.

So, we have two guys closely associated with her. And with od'ing.

Avery goes to hospital and what the Rangers claim is curious. Okay.

Like to point out also that John Dellapina in the Daily News was the first to report Avery's being admitted. His original story didn't jibe with what the Rangers ultimately got reporters to say. He retracted, sort of. Incredibly perhaps, during the Finals Sather gave JDP the only interview a NY writer got with him all year. JDP says he just happened to run into him and Sather reached out.

Oh well. The important thing is Friday. I hope the Rangers pick a winner in every round.

Duopoly

Great to see Ibrahimovic scoring. Now if only he'd bear down a little when he has to pass. Awesome also seeing how the English game has made a distinction between Torres and his teammates.

Carles Puyol left the game early. Must be an injury. Puyol is one of the best embellishers. Fake injury switch on and his body contorts with fury. Like a perfectly healthy tree undergoing spontaneous petrification, or something. It really sets a tone how his body gets behind the ploy. Lots of face. Both palms at the alleged injury point. The hair rattling as his face deploys pain like symptoms shock. His teeth. The writhing. Hope Puyol comes back next game. Many after, too.

Wonder if Fabregas would start if he played in Spain. Fair if true. Even if by being in London he gains a different fitness and mentality that could be an asset to share. For an international, the English experience improves a players ability more than any other league, imo. Like we see with Torres and we don't see, since Cesc isn't in. Take out Iniesta, play Cesc. But, what do I know? It just seems natural that maybe Cesc and Torres provide 1-2 with pace. Xavi, Silver and Villa share a more continental build up model. But, what do I know?

Definitely weird ending to the first period. Amazing that blunder still happens. FIFA should tell its refs: never blow the first half whistle whilst the defending team is vulnerable to an imminent cross to the six. Or, however they want to put

Update: Spain puts in Fabregas. No noticeable difference. But then, considering I was way wrong above...what do I know?

Serving Soccer

Paulie they called me for years at Fior d'Italia, America's Oldest Italian Restaurant(TM). Pele changed all that.

iirc, 1999, a hotel calls. Do we stay open late for Pele? Fior has been operating since 1886.

Pele's party is elegant and friendly. Servers from around North Beach come to him. Pele gives everybody an autograph. I chose his vodka. Absolut. Pele drank some.

Pele signs for dinner. The tip is well taken.

Pele is so cool you never want to refer to him by a pronoun. "He was charming" versus "Pele was charming"? Pele's Law: Utter proper name only. Makes your sentence livelier.

Paule they called me at Fior d'Italia until my final day, after Pele left. It was based on two gags. Pele stopped by the bar and thanked me for "introducing soccer to America."

Then he said, "mind if I call you Paule?" Ruben heard it first that night. Larive the next day laughed at it. Gina (Dahler) almost laughed before throwing a towel at me.

Franz Beckenbauer is the most powerful man in football, would anybody not consider the question ridiculous?

Franz Anton Beckenbauer (born September 11, 1945) is a German football coach, manager, and former player, nicknamed der Kaiser ("the emperor") because of his elegant style, his leadership qualities, his first name "Franz" (reminiscent of the Austrian emperors called Francis in English), and his dominance on the football pitch.

Beckenbauer is one of two men (with Mario Zagallo) to have won the Cup as player and as coach, and he is the only man to have won the title as team captain as well as coach.

In his first ever World Cup match, against Switzerland, he scored twice.

From 28 December 1993 until 30 June 1994, and then from 29 April 1996 until 30 June of the same year, he coached Bayern Munich. His brief spells in charge saw him collect two further honours - the Bundesliga title in 1994 and the UEFA Cup in 1996.

In 1994 he took on the role of club president at Bayern, and much of the Munich giants' success in the following years has been credited to his astute management. Following the club's decision to change from an association to a limited company, he has been chairman of the advisory board since the beginning of 2002.

In 1998 he became vice-president of the DFB. At the end of the 1990s, Beckenbauer headed the successful bid by Germany to organize the FIFA World Cup 2006. He chaired the organizational committee for the World Cup and was a commentator for the Bild-Zeitung.

Beckenbauer runs the German National Team and Bayern Munich.

Beijing calls him a monarch.

INNSBRUCK, June 9 (Xinhua) -- Franz Beckenbauer has called for Jens Lehmann to cede his position as Germany goalkeeper after Euro2008 in order to give younger players a chance.

According to Deutsche Welle's report on Monday, the German soccer monarch hailed the ongoing European Championship at Switzerland and Austria as a perfect opportunity for Lehmann, 38, to step aside from national duties to make room for the country's up-and-coming prospects.

"Such a tournament is always an opportunity to quit and to allow a new era to start," said Beckenbauer.

"I would tell Jens to retire after Euro to give younger men a chance to play."

What are the odds Lehman is capped in South Africa?

Franz Beckenbauer yesterday on video at bild.de made his feelings known about UEFA's Euro 2008. For der kult Kaiser.

Hamburg - Germany must even fear Austria at Euro 2008 after being brought down to earth harshly by Croatia, German football icon Franz Beckenbauer warned on Friday. Beckenbauer said in his column in Friday's edition of the Bild daily that he had never expected such a decline in the form of a 2-1 loss the previous day against Croatia, four day's after Michael Ballack and company had convincingly beat Poland 2-0. "I said after the Poland match that we don't have to fear any one if we play like this. After this defeat it's the other way round: We must even fear Austria if we play like this," Beckenbauer warned. Germany require a draw to make the quarter-finals.

Beckenbauer said he was "aghast" about Germany's performance, saying "I have rarely seen such contrasting showings." He urged coach Joachim Loew and the team to analyse the game quickly and then "to approach the Austria match on Monday with power."However, Beckenbauer, who captained Germany to its first of three Euro titles in 1972, remained upbeat that the Germans will advance into Thursday's knockout match with Portugal, naming elimination "unthinkable."Bild itself spoke of a "Kroatastrohe," Spanish sports daily AS named the German game "primitive" compared to Croatian "genius" and England's The Guardian said that Germany was "mortified" in the end.

The video was mesmerising. Opens with der Kaiser playing keepy uppy. It reminds me of a five point star. In the background is a graven image of Petr Cech. It's pentagonal. His opening line is tight. He he.

Don't speak German? Doesn't matter. After you watch it, repeat. But, only listen to it.

Beckenbauer was the first sweeper. Nobody ever uses one now.

When I was a kid I watched Franz Anton sweep for the Cosmos. Downing Stadium I get a rush thinking about. Old New York lost in my lifetime. Never went there but still I'm reminded of nostalgia like symptoms. Might be from times watching the Cosmos on TV. It's all a blur now, of course. Imperator Francis will one day contribute the closest thing to a transitional fossil.

Do they engineer the game? Why know? It will always end in tears. Isn't that enough?

What if Holland wins the FIFA World Cup in 2010? Maybe we are being prepared for a weird joke, or worse. What if it is engineered? Who could do it? Who cares? Why do it is more interesting. Limited though either notion is. Who cares if it's fixed? Makes the whole thing more fascinating. On one level, if it is. Then you can ask questions about genetic engineering. Are they among us now? Are we all they?

I was a sports nut when I was young. Guess I still am.

Pitched a no hitter in Little League. 4-0 over the Fire Department. In another era I might have been approached by pros. Two guys I could never strike out. Carl Habib and the late, great Tommy Monahan. Miss you, brother.

Funny how somebody like der Kaiser today matters so much. Again. I was proud of being a Cosmos fan. What a rube.

Sorry...the pastes coming up might have been more conscientiously presented. What am I supposed to do?

It seems like der Kaiser is the face of the world's 2nd largest publisher.

Axel Springer AG is one of the largest newspaper publishing companies in Europe, having over 150 newspapers and magazines in over 30 countries, including several Central and Eastern European countries: Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Russia and western European countries: Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland, more than 10,000 employees with annual revenues and income on the scale of €1 billion. It was started in 1946/1947 by journalist Axel Springer ^[1].

Along the way I've come across:

Springer Science+Business Media or Springer (IPA: [ˈʃpʁɪŋɐ]) is a worldwide publishing company based in Germany with major offices in Berlin, Heidelberg, Dordrecht (Netherlands) and New York, which focuses on academic journals and books in the fields of science, technology, mathematics, and medicine. Within the Science, Technology, and Medicine sector, Springer is the largest book publisher, and second-largest journal publisher worldwide (the largest being Elsevier), with over 60 publishing houses, 1,900 journals, 5,500 new books published each year, sales of 924 million euro (in 2006) and 5,000 employees.[1]

Just looked for Springer in the 1929 Britannica, Vol. "Sord to Text", Vol. XXI, p. 264 ) and the 1973 New Standard XXII, S-563:

This is what the Britannica has:

SPRINGER, the term given in architecture to the stone from which an arch springs (see ARCH) ; in some cases this is the stone resting on the impost or capital, the upper surface of which is a plane directed to the centre of the arch.

NSE got nothing:

Spring Caliper. See Caliper.
Spring Tide. See Tide.

Owen Hargreaves was raised in remote Canada until at 16 he moved to Munich, to play for der Kaiser. Weirdly mirrors the youth of Prince Philip. I apologize for the indelicate association.

As an international he could have represented Canada, Wales or England. I'm predicting by 2010 the lad will be Captain of club and country.

Not hockey (so far)

Wondering if Italy is thinking about dropping Pirlo for the France match. If Holland take the three from Rumania, it could set up the 2006 World Cup rematch top dream of: win if you want to live.

Benzema isn't in the starting 11 against Holland. I was hoping to see the form which allegedly makes him so coveted, esp. by Sir Alex. Andy Gray says he's too young to play in the hole.

Have to begrudgingly admit respecting Dirk Kuyt. He may be dorky but he is no donkey. If Gerrard had Kuyt's bottle right now England would be on the continent.

In the first half Adrian Healey and Andy Gray discussed Thierry Henry's goals for France. Instead of telling us how many of his 44 strikes in 101 games came in friendly matches, they just vaguely concurred with the notion that Henry may be a great goal scorer but perhaps not often enough a scorer of great goals.

People from somewhere else perhaps with some justification have accused American sports broadcasting of being stats happy. Maybe the commentators in this instance would have done well to provide the audience reportage, American style. Must be better than gossip, right?

Adrian later in the half mused that Henry doesn't score many with his head. Andy said, "few and far between."

These guys maybe don't like Henry? One of the few footballers American audiences see in commercials yet he seems to rank high for stick among certain fans. At Barcelona this campaign past he allegedly experienced tough-season like-symptoms.

Watching the game delayed two hours. At the half I search for Henry's goal scoring record. It isn't going well. So I give up. Along the way I noticed he actually had 45 goals in 101 appearances. A few minutes later, I realize he would end up scoring in the Holland game.

After the game does one say Henry had a great match or no?

Henry scored an insurance goal for Arsenal in a league match I was watching. Then he retrieved the ball from the net and handed it to the beaten keeper. Real class, that.

First time I ever had almost-tripping like-symptoms was during a shot of Hargreaves entering the director's box at OT during a Man U game. The arc of the whole culture thing never seemed so brilliant. Happened again with Robben, Sneijder and Van Persie. The wunderkids of the Old World gig must be heavy. Real Madrid times two and Arsenal: when healthy each is automatic first 11 . As they are for Holland.

Can see why that boy Ronaldo must play for the world's number 1 club.

My Three Drugs

Chip, Trip and Drip.

Okay...maybe not a primo joke or whatever. Add in the theme song and some new cartoons exploiting the best jokes to be had from the waiving hands/drugs references...maybe then it's a short term comet...or not. What do I know?

Olsens update...as we are fan...

New Olsens video today on the Inplanet. It seeks to ridicule. No link here.

Mike Milbury redeems himself

After the Stanley Cup Finals, the New York Rangers brain trust pictured in the wake of another weak result.

Tiger Woods disses hockey.

Of all people, Mike Milbury is the action hero.

You know what? I'm going to change the name now,” Milbury said, according to the Globe and Mail. “It's gonna be Tiger Wuss. Here's a guy that took about three months to get over a simple arthroscopic surgery. You look at Ryan Malone (a Penguins forward). His face exploded with a slap shot last night – he's back out in 10 minutes!

“Keep your yap shut, Tiger, or I'll send a couple wingers down there – to tidy you up a little bit, meathead.”

Hey Mike, what should we expect? Golf and C SPAN share a common ancestor.

Tom Renney is a donkey.

Sam Weinman's blog on Jagr and Avery. Here's what I wrote. It's not stupendous or anything but since I put it out there I figured I should save it here.

The most crucial decision is Shanahan. If he’s brought back there’s no way the Rangers can achieve unity of purpose like both finalists have. With an up tempo team Jagr would thrive. We’ll see, since he kind of made it known he doesn’t want more “5 in the picture” system from Renney, that donkey.

Renney is totally full of himself. That’s why he coaches like he does. If he turned the team loose and they dialed in and played to win, not make the shootout, he’d be accused of being a good coach in the sense that he stays out of the way.

But if he can get Jagr playing defense then from afar people will say he must be a great coach to get Jagr to play that way. Even if it kills the Rangers the donkey has probably earned another head coaching job after Sather torches him when we miss the playoffs.

As further proof of Renney’s motives, the power play which he never shook up. To the fans he never says I made a mistake, he says we tell them what to do and they don’t do it.

Hockey Jr.

I'd like to see the Rangers showing an interest in Blake Wheeler. It's not my money, true, but, then again, neither is Bourret's, for instance. And, it's not like the system has too many large dudes who allegedly can skate. If the big team has minutes for Blair Betts and Ryan Hollweg, almost any long shot could actually make it. Just seems like a lot of raw material there.

Here's Hockeysfuture on Wheeler.

Over the last couple seasons, Wheeler has added a lot of size. He’s s filling out, and still growing into his frame. Wheeler is a good skater, has deceptive speed, and has great acceleration when needed, but needs to increase his stamina. He can stickhandle at top speed, but needs to develop more moves, especially power driven moves coming out of the corner. He needs to be a bit more creative on the forecheck, using his body and keeping his legs constantly moving. When he shows spurts of confidence driven play, he can be very effective on forecheck, most notably down low. He needs to continue to improve on creating space and or distance while he’s on the puck. He has the ability to play on special teams.

HF may not be suitable for skeptical readers, since the submissions are from amateurs. Then again, exactly where in the draft did Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Henrik Lundqvist come from?

Red Line Report for December 2004, including surrounding analyses, for perspective:

With the returns now in from the early signing period, Red Line has analysed all of the preliminary freshman recruiting classes (see pages 9-10 for full recruiting lists) for 2005 in U.S. college hockey, and here are our thoughts on which schools have given themselves a leg up on having the most productive classes.
1. University of Michigan — The Wolverines go to the head of the class by signing three potential NHL first rounders: super stud defenders Jack Johnson and Mark Mitera from the U.S. NTDP, and unquestionably the fastest and best skater in this year’s crop, highly skilled Andrew Cogliano out of Toronto’s Tier II ranks. Add in a trio of bruising power wingers in Jason Bailey, Tim Miller, and Zac MacVoy, and you’ve gone a long way towards re-loading all the chambers.
2. Boston College — Quality and quantity is the deciding factor in declaring the Eagles’ class the best in the east. This comes on the heels of Red Line awarding Jerry York’s crew top honours last May for their job on 2004 recruiting. As usual, they grabbed Red Line’s favourite little man in super pest Nathan Gerbe, who at 5-6 may be too tall for BC’s program. Two other small but superbly skilled forwards in Brock Bradford and Benn Ferriero, plus big bull Kyle Kucharski feather the Eagles’ nest up front. Add a fine mix of skilled puck-moving defenders (Brett Motherwell and Anthony Aiello) and physical blue-liners (Tim Kunes and Tim Filangieri) and you can see the depth of this crop.
3. University of Minnesota — Homegrown products Blake Wheeler and Ryan Stoa are two of the biggest and most skilled power forward prospects in the nation, and they added a quality netminder in Jeff Frazee. Throw in nice complementary pieces in defenceman R.J. Anderson and speedy pivot Justin Bostrom, and that’s a good day’s work.

Here is the class of 2005.

(Luc Bourdon was from this class. Peace be upon the mourners.)

In the same report by Kyle Woodlief:

1. Sidney Crosby/LC — Rimouski. 5-10/188. Sees every-thing developing quicker and moves the puck faster than anyone else can anticipate. Always delivers puck to proper spot and always tees it up in perfect shooting position for linemates. Has the speed/quickenss to gain separation and back defenders off. Instinctively understands where open ice is going to be. Amazingly quick, soft hands and hockey sense. Has improved defence; backchecks alertly to break up dangerous rushes and comes back deep in d-zone to help out d-men. Even plays it physical and throws some big hits. Outhustles and outworks much bigger opponents in battles for loose pucks down low at both ends.

By way of contrast, we offer:

The question of WHY Wheeler turned down the Coyos IMO is the most important one that needs to be answered as the CBA basically limits what first contracts are supposed to be.

By declaring for free agency Wheeler lost his 2004 rights and now has to accept a much lower first time entry level contract.

The Coyos made a bad pick to begin with as Wheeler was never worth the 5th slot.

Wheeler made an even dumber decision to leave school a year early

And whoever signs him might be making just as dumb a move because Wheeler and agent are not showing many bright ideas here.

Maloney should not be all that happy though going from his boss TGO wasting a top 5 pick to the 35th pick.

Sorry but I would pass on someone who is not making smart decisions OFF the ice. Makes me suspect his on ice decisions.

Yes that report seems like a troll's, but the author is actually a professional scout and reporter. I point this out despite knowing how grim the future of culture may seem when somebody this ign'ant and illiterate actually files taxes because of the quantum commerce he and his handler conduct for the troll's take. Absurdly, some people buy his craptasmogoria on hockey.

Allegedly in Hartford are some future NHL contributors. Only two are 6'4" or up. Anisimov is in the pole position overall down there, while Hugh Jessiman is on the outside.

I think if the Rangers had a system that prioritized by size these guys could easily make it as NHL-ers. The Red Wings prove that, imo. Players don't develop in a vacuum. Talent properly tinkered with always develops into production. They say you can't coach size as a rationale for drafting big. That combined with skating, as in the case with Wheeler, or willingness to learn, as Jessiman shows, shouldn't be a mysterious sign but a definitive marker for a prospect's room to grow potential.

Hockey Gods

Kris Draper in the second period of game 3 had Sidney Crosby's future lined up in open ice, and let him go. Crossing the red line with the puck and speed, Sidney was defenseless. But, instead of launching left shoulder into golden boy's sternum Draper dipped and merely caught him with a slight hip check. Somewhere, Scott Stevens frowned.

No way anybody in the NHL plays well soon after being hit like Crosby easily might have been. Stevens delivering it and the kid may have never played again at a high level. Guess I'm glad Draper didn't hit him. Must be deep down Draper's a good man. (Not dinging Stevens, btw.)

NBC crew still called it a good hit so that they could tout Crosby's physical toughness. Then Mcguire commended Crosby for not "whining to the refs" about it. Somewhere, Bettman frowned. Classic. Made it easier missing the hit.

The Red Wings must be the least Canadian hockey team in the history of the NHL. Fit, fast and tough. Deeply skilled. How good is Franzen?

Chris Chelios can't crack the lineup. Even "overall disappointment" Brad Stuart despite a couple of turnovers, showed a lot last night, too. Would have been the fastest rear guard on this Rangers team just past.

Best unit ever?

They can all attack deep and still get back. Stuart skated down and stopped Crosby in the neutral zone. More cool, Lidstrom in the next period starting in front of Fleury overtook Malkin just below the circle to Osgood's right.

No Ranger d man in deep could ever catch either of them. Also, Detroit's forwards when they have trouble in the neutral zone have no fear of flipping it back in the d zone because of the way these guys handle the puck.

Wings back 7 reveals how weak is the New York Rangers defense corps. We all knew they blew to a degree but, this would be shocking if it didn't sting so much. Marc Staal and Fedor Tyutin could pretty quickly become reliable regulars for them. Daniel Girardi could not. imho, of course. What do I know?

Of the UFAs perhaps Campbell and Redden only could make the Wings. Neither figures to be a blueshirt. As it should be, imo, say no to Stuart, too.

Comparing Datsyuk and Zetterberg to Gomez and Drury should not encourage a Rangers fan. All that salary space tied up in 2 grade B+ players means there may not be wiggle room for a truly dominant young scorer. We'll know more after Jaromir Jagr signs his next contract.

In retrospect, and I know this is way late but, maybe Sather shouldn't have got both Drury and Gomez. Maybe Ryan Smyth not Gomez, put him with Drury and Shanny (not my first choice, would be the Rangers). Cullen with Callahan and Avery. Jagr and Dubinsky and Straka. The horrible HBO line. Signing Smyth, a proven scoring winger for less than Gomez and fewer years: now that's a role model for guys like Callahan and hopefully down the road Cherepanov, Anisimov and maybe, if the planets align just right, Hugh Jessiman.

From Blueshirt Bulletin

Did anybody else hear the joke about Sundin winning the Messier Leadership Award for leadership on and off the ice?...The guy who hamstrung any chance of his club improving for the future by waiving his no trade clause is the best definition of a "Leader" the NHL could find...What a joke!!!

Posted by: Dennis | May 28, 2008 at 09:47 PM

More hockey (for now)

Maybe soon I post something different

Johan Franzen out with concussion like symptoms. Been having headaches since the early part of the second round. Hmm, wonder how that happened? Is it another case of the grand old hockey tradition of maiming guys you (Colorado, this time) can't stop honourably?

Meanwhile, do I sense the specter of Eric Lindros in the mysterious switch to 'concussion like symptoms'? Along with the lawyers, of course.

Franzen video here , his two hat tricks against Colorado. One from game 2; the other 4. After his last goal on the reel, somebody smacks him on top his helmet. That's gotta hurt...if he was like, concussed by then.

What I claim I believe I saw in that video is a difference in his celebration face, check that, face like area, after the 3rd goal in each trick. Game 2 he's beaming. 4, he could be concussed. (My head certainly hurt when his teammate smacked down on his dome.) Even though Detroit is well on their way to closing out the sweep, this is not evidence that for days now his head had ached constantly, I have to believe. The contrasting teammates-mobbing-you faces, though not irrefutably revealing Franzen is getting nauseous now, is too small a sample to make any guesses, I suspect.

Plus, more significantly at stake is a guy's career and overall health. Concussions and lasting struggle go together like herpes and Hollywood. Is it worth it? (In hockey we mean. We know what it is in Hollywood, we think.)

Missing at least 2 games is too large a sample of rare playoff hockey, however. Traditional-dirty makes it more irritating. Stupid effing tradition of anything short of murder is cool with us, caused it's the way we had to come up so why should it be any easier for the next generation.

So, taking out the highly skilled guys neutral fans want to see is cool, even if they are newcomers, even if Sidnerella Crosby could be the next kid to experience lobotomy like symptoms. Why get up the hopes of new fans to the game that would expect to be investing in an industry that always wants the most talented guys controlling how the game is played out. Once the know nothing fans got uppity they might start demanding that referees look, maybe not competent, but not like they blatantly throw games regularly. Basketball fans, and soccer (int'l.) too, are keenly interested in the abilities of refs. But, the NHL must think with the way they let refs get away with all sorts of crazy ass shit, who needs those fans?

otoh

In the first shift of game 2, Dallas Drake crushed Stephane Robidas. 50+ minutes later, Robidas paid him back. Drake immediately back to the bench, bedazzled. Now that is honour in hockey.

Acton Gets a Job

What Would Acton do? aka, at least we're not Toronto Maple Leafs fans:

Paul Maurice was fired as coach of the Maple Leafs on Wednesday after Toronto failed to make the playoffs during his two years. The dismissal was the first big move in what is expected to be an active offseason for the team.

"This is a start of a new era for the Maple Leafs," interim general manager Cliff Fletcher said at a news conference at Air Canada Centre. "This is all part and parcel of that."

The Maple Leafs finished 12th in the Eastern Conference with a 36-35-11 record and missed a playoff spot by 11 points.

They are looking for a full-time GM after firing John Ferguson in January. In other moves Wednesday, assistant coach Randy Ladouceur was dismissed while assistant Dallas Eakins was offered a position elsewhere in the organization. Keith Acton will remain an assistant.

Fletcher said the ouster will pave the way for the new management team to bring in its own staff.

Yup, that's how I see it.

Acton has spent eight seasons as an assistant coach with the Leafs. He was appointed to the Toronto staff in August 2000 after two seasons as an assistant with the New York Rangers. Prior to that, he was an assistant/associate coach with the Philadelphia Flyers for four years.

Served as N.Y. Islanders assistant coach while Al Arbour was suspended from Jan. 7 to Jan. 15, 1994. ... Named Philadelphia assistant coach on July 12, 1994, had title upgraded to associate coach on July 7, 1997, shifted back to assistant coach on March 9, 1998, and remained in that position until June 16, 1998. ... Named N.Y. Rangers assistant coach on June 18, 1998, and remained in that position through 1999-00 season. ... Named Toronto assistant coach on Aug. 4, 2000.

Keith Acton went to the playoffs the first four years he AC'ed in Toronto. 3 years starting after the lockout, nil. Just before Tor he ac'ed for my team, the New York Rangers. In neither of these years did the Rangers make the playoffs. And what is the difference between assistant and associate coach?

Now he's on a new run. During that time and presuming he remains on the Leafs bench he'll have worked for three GMs and 3 HCs in 9 years. And the Leafs apparently think he's indispensable behind the bench. Why?