rician blast

Way too early to say that no one wants to play here. K-Rod wasn't pursued by the Sox. CC wasn't, IMO, ever really on the Sox radar screen. So the Sox are 2-2....two guys they didn't want signed elsewhere. Remember the Sox are coming from a position of strength, whereas the Yankees and Mets, with new stadiums on the horizon, are coming from positions of great need, if not failure and desperation.

Is your point that Epstein should have gone after K-Rod? The Sox have a closer, Weak. Pay attention.

You're name is quite appropriate....even in this forum you're a "weak hitter"...however, was the name choice really a reference to your lack of success in the bedroom? Perhaps Mr. Softy would be more appropriate?

Uh...yeah....I'm down 6-3 already.

Good signing by the Mets.

IF they make that kind of offer, I suppose someone else will come along and offer a little less annually but for an extra year (or two). If Sheets can grab $30m for 2 yrs, and stays healthy and performs well, he's looking at another nice contract. If he gets injured again and falters, he's just had his big pay day, the future won't bode as well. He's got to at least consider a longer term, lower annual salary if he can get such an offer...let's just say he scores $48m for 4 yrs ($3m per yr less than the potential Yankee offer)...$18m more gauranteed is hard to ignore.

Assuming I hang on for the playoffs and Brodeur comes back and is strong, I'll be looking to move one of my goalies...but that is a long way off.

Another brutal week for the Mullets. Slipping fast.

It's easy when you look like f***ing bean dip.

Wow, good question. I liked Metro when he was here, ton of energy, does the little things right. I also like Yelle's savvy, intelligence, leadership and experience. When they acquired Yelle I was psyched...then I went to his stat sheet and it surprised me that he hadn't had more offensive success. He's got only 88 career goals in in approx 12 seasons...not stellar. Tough call.

I don't see how our views are that different here. I'm saying that the improvement this year over last year is not in the B's riunning out and getting big name players, i.e. a Hossa, but in getting guys with character who buy into the team approach. Those you mentioned are all good two way players who have character.

Yes, clearly their are more problems in Dallas than just Avery. To make the conference finals last year then come out misfiring like they are this year is pretty shocking. Role players, asusming they play their roles right, are key to hockey teams. Look at the B's turnaround. It's not like they've added a ton of high-priced talent. They've got guys who have bought into the system and are playing with grit and determination. Watching the Stars in a few games this year, the level of commitment of their players is weak.

True, and I suppose no one outside of the FO knows exactly what criteria was used to measure his value. I'd like to think his "doucheness" was a factor, but admittedly I can't confirm that...just my suspicion. At the time Dallas signed him I remember my buddy, a Rangers fan, being pissed that the Rangers didn't keep him...I also recall saying it was the best thing that could have happened to the Rangers, and worst thing for Dallas...seems to be playing out that way since no one wants him on the team.

Absolutely part of the equation, I agree. Still, if they wanted him enough, they'd have signed him. IMO, the cost-benefit analysis perfromed by the FO would have taken into account his antics and the fact that some teammates despise his style of play. They'd be blind not to.

An example of Avery ducking a fight? Just look back at the B's-Stars game earlier this year. Avery was at his worst and made guys like Savard, Ference, Stuart, etc. his targets. When challenged by Thornton he declined. When challenged by Lucic he declined. Then the tough guy was the aggressor in a fight with none other than Andrew Ference. Are you saying you think they haven't said anything to Avery? WTF do you suggest they do, kill him? Haven't you been reading any of this s***? His GM is on record saying he has had to talk DIRECTLY to Avery multiple times to change his approach. But you think the players are silent, other than going through the media? Read the following article: http://www.tsn.ca/columnists/james_duthie/?id=258309 "We hope it's the last time we ever see him," says one veteran. "Our locker room is the happiest it has been all year right now," says another player. "An apology (to the team) won't work," says a third player. "There isn't much he can say to change the way we feel right now. We have a lot of pride in this organization. He isn't welcome here anymore." He's been undermining everything we do," says the veteran. "He doesn't pay attention; he's not smart enough to play our system. He can't do some drills properly. He says it's because he's 'independent.'" With all of these comments you still think they haven't dealt with this other than in the media? Your man-love for Sean Avery is getting a little scary.

I understand your point, but your missing the fact that, as I stated earlier, the CULTURE of hockey is different from other sports. Right or wrong...and I'm not defending either camp..in hockey guys are expected to stand up for what they do AND say on the ice...just the way it has always been. When a player high sticks, butt-ends, bumps after the whistle, chirps all game long, etc. the way Avery does, he is expected to answer the call when challenged. It is a process that's been in hockey forever...they call it policing themselves. As such, players have no respect for the Ulf Sammuelson's and Sean Avery's of the world. Avery too often puts on his performance and runs away. Read what his own teammates, his coach, and his team's owner are saying about him. They're disgusted...absolutely sickened...by his actions. Why? Because it is outside of hockey's culture. His own teammates have no respect for him. That says it all in a sport where teammates take care of each other and watch each others' backs. No, I never said I think he's more respectable than Avery. I said check around the league and players will have more respect for Bertuzzi than for Avery. I'm in finance and I don't skate well enough to be in the NHL, so it was obviously not my opinion. Discussed already...hockey's culture is different...see above. I don't really hate him or any other guy...similarly I also don't share the same over-the-top unadulterated admiration for players that some fans do either. But I know hockey, I know how players see the game and I know he is constantly out of bounds. It is what it is and he's a douchebag.

A little more on Mr. Douche: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/hockey/stars/stories/120308dnspostarslede.24c8965d.html I agree that the comment itself was not realy that bad, but understand that the league, and especially the Stars, don't need this going on. Bottom line is this guy pulls all this crap and fails too often (not every time, but way too often) to back it up. From what I've heard a teammate even set it should have been settled on the ice but Avery would have hidden in the lockerroom!!! That says it all.

Nicely done.

Senses of humor differ from one to another, so I guess I can understand how some see it as funny, some don't. Kinda like when I was a junior on the baseball team and a senior yells at some student he was arguing with in the parking lot after the game "how much does your mother charge"...some of the kids thought it was funny...others thought it was just a stupid immature retort, deviod of any real humor or creativity. "sloppy seconds?" Great originality...what'd he do next tell someone to pull his finger and fart? Good old Avery.

How can anyone think he's funny? How can any fan like him? IMO, anyone who played hockey or is an old school, long time fan would likely never say "I like him, and would definitely NEVER say "I respect him" because he goes well beyond the hockey "code." I'd be ashamed to have him on my team...absolutely ashamed...and I'd make it known to my team's management that I don't want him around. I'd boo him at home every time he touched the puck, and I typically boo no one. The guy is a douchebag. After a game vs. Boston this year in which Ott and Avery pulled all sorts of cheap s***, Mike Modano said "if this is what we're going for, find me an off ice job." He was appalled and has no respect for the guy. It's exactly that lack of respect from teammates that drove him out of New York. But he gets the attention he is so starved for, so I guess this all plays into his plan.

Meaning a Yankee FA signing that I believe will not work out in the long run and which will potentially involve DL time. Nothing more. Nothing less.

It's the way he's playing that concerns me and if it's reflective of the fact that he hasn't healed, then I fear another pop to the head could be devestating.