Wheat Kings to Host M Cup

Great news....my beloved Wheat Kings were awarded the 1010 Memorial Cup!


The timing was perfect for the Wheaties.

1. Saskatooon/Regina host the 2010 World Junior Championships
2. Vancouver the West Coast will be busy hosting the Olympics
3. Recent previous WHL Memorial Cup hosts have been from the WHL's Western Conference.
4. Moose Jaw, Swift Current, Prince Albert all have small arenas.
5. The Wheaties have a solid roster that should represent the WHL well.

As soon as I'm done this I will be submitting my holidays for May, 2010!

4 Downs after 5 Games

A few comments on the NFL after 5 games

1st Down - Funston wrote about the Fantasy Football season not having a clear cut superstar like previous years where Brady, Tomlinson, Manning, etc. took control of Fantasy Football. There's no real MVP of the NFL right now either. If the season was to end today, who would get the MVP award? My guess is Eli Manning. He hasn't lost a game and is the QB of the defending Superbowl champs. Brett Favre got attention last year for guiding the Packers into the playoffs but there will be 10 tens that amount more this year if the Jets make it in. The MVP of the NFL could very well be a New York QB.

2nd Down - Marvin Lewis will be fired very soon. It sounds like the Bengals are shutting down Palmer for precaution. When you are 0-5 and are doing things like that it means you are looking ahead...to next season. I can't imagine Lewis wanted Chris Henry back or to bring in Cedric Benson. Both are bad boys and don't help the perception that Lewis can't run a tight ship with discipline.

3rd Down - Rookie RBs. Amazing talents in Stewart, Forte, Slaton, Felix Jones, McFAdden. It's unreal. It has really made me want to start watching some college football....but it that would likely cost me my marriage.

4th Down - Vikings Road Trip. My friends and I are going to Minneapolis to see the Vikings play the Texans. It's going to be a great trip.....too bad the Loonie dropped like a TD pass to Bernard Berrian.

Sports Guy and Gal Week 5 Highlights

Favorite part of the Sports Guy's Week 5 Picks:

HERM EDWARDS (-3) over the Unintentional Comedy ScaleDid you see the Hermster in the locker room after K.C.'s upset of Denver? If you missed it and want to get a feeling for what happened, scream the next two sentences at the top of your lungs and see how everyone else at work reacts ...
"Let's build on that! LET'S BUILD ON THAT!!!!!!"

THE IHOP ON SUNSET & MANSFIELD (+9) over the IHOPs everywhere else in Los AngelesRight now, I'm writing this column and eating corn pancakes at -- you guessed it! -- the IHOP on Sunset and Mansfield. Two strippers are sitting 10 feet away from me, discussing their next month of gigs and occasionally sneaking me those "If you have enough money on you right now, we might add you to the list of gigs" looks. A group of five hungover guys in their 20s are sitting behind me and recapping last night on the town, which included a bedroom story so over the top that I don't think I could have even printed it on my old Web site. Two tables over, an old lady complained that she ate too much and started coughing/retching, then her nurse provided her a plastic bag and the old lady threw up in it for three solid minutes. If that's not enough, "Even the Nights Are Better" by Air Supply is playing on the jukebox. Top that, every other IHOP in L.A.! Let's build on that! LET'S BUILD ON THAT!!!!!!"

The Sports Gal's Rant for the gals that read this blog:

Our boy hit the Destructo phase six weeks ago. He used to be the easiest, happiest kid! He could play with the same toy for an hour. He could sleep in restaurants or be smuggled into movies. No more. Now he gets his kicks from sticking his face in a dog bowl, or opening a drawer, pulling out all the clothes, then opening and shutting it until he slams his finger. You don't want to travel with Destructo. We flew cross-country two weeks ago and I am still drinking two glasses of wine every night to recover. OK, three. All right, it's a whole bottle. It was just me and him on the way back. Think about holding a 25-pound fish that's wiggling to get back into the ocean for six hours as the fish emits bloodcurdling screams and you're stressing that everyone hates you.

Salary Cap Fantasy Hockey

Check out the team I completed for my Dad's fantasy hockey league.

Forwards: 1 point each for goal and assist
Henrik Zetterberg $2,900,000.00
Sam Gagner $875,000.00
Peter Mueller $850,000.00
Evgeni Malkin$984,200.00
Alexander Ovechkin $9,000,000.00
Paul Statsny $710,000.00
Anze Kopitar$765,000.00
Johnaton Toews$850,000.00
Nicklas Backstrom $850,000.00
Patrick Kane$875,000.00
Sydney Crosby$9,000,000.00
Stephen Stamkos$875,000.00

Defense: 1 point each for goal and assist
Andrej Meszaros $2,500,000.00
Niclas Lidstrom $7,450,000.00
Kristopher Letang $685,000.00
Ian White$850,000.00
Alexander Elder$550,000.00
John Oduya$600,000.00

Goalies: 2 points for a win, 5 points for a shutout
Chris Osgood $1,700,000.00
Peter Budaj $800,000.00
Kerry Price $850,000.00

Total 2008/2009 Salary
$44519200....just under the $45 million cap limit

I opted for the high price tags of Ovechkin, Crosby, and Lidstrom which meant I had to find some players that made very little. It's difficult to find low priced goalies and defenceman but I think I did a decent job.

Can you believe Chris Osgood makes less than $2 million?

Fantasy Hockey

The NHL is getting younger or I am getting older.

I just completed a fantasy hockey. Check out a few slapshots from the draft to see what I mean:

Round 2 - Statsny, Perry, Phaneuf, Toews
Round 3 - Stamkos (Rookie), Backstrom, Mike Green, Kane

vs

Round 11 - Demitra, Schneider, Nylander
Round 12 - Havlat, Modano, Bertuzzi

The oldtimers didn't all get pushed aside but the trend was to go young.