There’s only one day out of the whole year that makes me love my sport so freakin much and that is Opening Night of the NHL. And what better way to start the season off tham with a little Eastern Conference Finals rematch between the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers. I had the pleasure of watching this one from start to finish. From the Stanley Cup Champions banner being lifted into the long historied rafters at the TD Banknorth Garden to the final siren. Excitement and joy all 60 minutes of ice time. Here’s a quick rundown of what happened. Boston came out firing early and Tod Marchand was finally able to put one past Ilya Bryzgalov to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. This lead lasted almost the rest of the first period. With about 55 seconds left in the first Philly took they’re powerplay advantage and put it in with a nicely passed puck from Jaromir Jagr to Claude Giroux. This assist gave Jagr his 1,600th career point. Not bad for a guy who has spent the past 3 years playing in Russia. Almost instantly the game flow shifted and the momentum started swinging the Flyers way as Voracek picked up a good rebound and netted it with 2 seconds left in the opening period sending both teams into their respected lockerrooms with Philly leading 2-1. After an aggressive and slow second period Boston slowly started running out of time and stepped the pressure up. Bryzgalov however didn’t budge. Ultimately Boston was outmatched after 60 and all of the pregame festivities couldn’t help the B’s. The champs were beaten at home 2-1.

The Western Conference only had one team representing them tonight all the way up North in Vancouver. The Canucks hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins who were missing their super star Sidney Crosby who is out for some time with a concussion that has benched him since January of this year. I was only able to catch the final 5 minutes of regulation of this game but in a 3-3 tie it all looked like it was going to go to Vancouver. But in hockey you have to take the energy to overtime and both teams brought it as Vancouver’s Roberto Luongo and Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury had to step up even more than in regulation. After 5 more minutes without a shootout the all hailed shootout was needed. Pittsburgh sealed the deal in the 1 on 1 stage of play. And what a better player to do it than Evgeni Malkin in his return to hockey following last years season ending knee injury. Pen’s win 4-3 in a shootout victory.

Toronto and Montreal also tangled tonight in Toronto. Maple Leafs finished the Canadiens in a 2-0 shutout.

So if you were as glued to your TV as I was, get ready for what tomrrow night has in store for us :) 

Animals on the field are always so festive and fun to watch as players try to catch them and get them off. We all remember the bat inside the Spurs game that was swatted down by Manu Ginobili last year. And how about the bear on the Broadmoor. And who could forget the bird that decided to swoop down right as Randy Johnson threw that 90 mile an hour fastball instantly blowing up said bird. Well Wednesday night in St. Louis a very happy squirell bound his way across home plate and had his way for a few minutes before escaping. Animals are a part of nature, a nature that we as humans threatened by putting stadiums in their homes some years ago. To get back at us they come onto the fields and make players lives hell trying to catch them and get them out. As a wise friend said, “Being a squirell in a baseball stadium would be so cool! All the peanuts and hot dogs you could eat!” Thanks for that Kyle. Whats even funnier about last nights squirell on the field was that the batter whose name has slipped my mind (most likely because I hate baseball) blamed the squirell for his strike. One, the squirell ran past you after the ball did. Two, the dang thing was behind you so you had no way of seeing it at all. Step up and hit the dang ball then worry about the squirell.

Anyways with that being said the Phillies dropped Game 4 versus the Cardinals tonight, 5-3, St. Louis’ David Freese with a home run and 4 RBI’s. Game 5 will be Friday in Philadelphia. Also on tap tonight was the Brewers still trying to close out in Arizona versus the Diamondbacks and still unsuccessful. Arizona’s Chris Young coming up huge with two home runs and Ryan Roberts putting up a grand slam to beat Milwaukee 10-6.

Yankees play the Tigers tomorrow night at New Yankee Stadium. That one sure to be fun as Fister and Nova will be on the mound. Expect the Yanks to hit in bunches versus Fister as he has thrown for an awful 11.57 ERA against Nova’s 2.84.

Hockey starts later today as the defending champion Boston Bruins are hosting the Philadelphia Flyers, a rematch of last year’s Eastern Conferemce Finals. Montreal and Toronto square off in a Canadien rivalry renenwed. And the Pittsburgh Penguins travel to Vancouver to take on last year’s runner up Canucks. Sidney Crosby is listed as out for this one.

Hope everyone has a safe and happy Thursday and go sports!

I hate/love this time of year folks. Time for America’s favorite pasttime to go away for a long time. Success. The way this boring season has drawn out, it couldn’t come sooner. This is going to be a short write up but I’m going to recap tonight’s events in a few more sentences. Rays proved to the world that they are clutch… in their final AB of the regular season. Boston fans don’t get ahead of yourself you would’ve been swept. Rays dropped from the postseason 3-1 against the Rangers who are in the ALCS for the second straight season. Yankees came into tonight questioning AJ Burnett. His 5.2 innings and 1 earned run in a 10-1 victory were well worth the risk by forcing a game 5 in New York. Phillies and Cardinals came into tonight tied at 1 game a piece, that series now in Philadelphia’s favor. Good to see one of those teams in Philly doing something right (sorry Eagles but it’s true). And finally a series I wanted to see closed out tonight was in Arizona. Millawauke held a 2-0 series lead coming into tonight. By their performance you’d think they trailed 2-0. Arizona stays alive and pushes for Game 4 tomorrow night at the Chase.

So what have we learned about baseball tonight? Probably nothing. I’m excited for these series to wrap up. I’m ready for a long winter filled with hockey and hopefully basketball. Bring on the cold!

Well judging by the fact that we are now approaching Week 5 in the 2011-2012 NFL season, alot of speculations can start being made and many people’s predictions are being shattered. Yes the Eagles are 1-3 with their “Dream Team” status being threatened. Yes the Colts (who have been without Peyton Manning all year) are winless. Yes the Lions (yes the Detroit Lions) are 4-0. Who would’ve thought about a month ago we’d be saying this. Oh wait there is one prediction that was made that is still falling through, the Denver Broncos are 1-3 (no surprise there) and Broncos fans everywhere are still chanting, “We Want Tebow!” I’ll say this now before i forget to later in this post, Broncos fans, your team sucks. Giving up 400+ passing yards against the Packers and letting Aaron “Can’t Take My Belt” Rodgers score 6 touchdowns (4 in the air, 2 on the ground) isn’t exactly the best way to show the football world that this is your bounceback year under new head coach John Fox. And quit crying about Tebow, he’ll have plenty of playing time in the near future… for a different team. Denver is not his best fit.

Back to real football. The Eagles may be one of my biggest shock stories right now. After winning in Week 1 against the still winless St. Louis Rams, the Eagles have dropped 3 straight. After all the talent you just picked up and all the money you just spent on Michael Vick you are just 6 losses away from being an under .500 team. But having Vick miss the 4th in two clutch games is a bit understandable due to injuries so I’ll give you that. What I won’t give you is the fact that Vick missed the final chapter of Week 3’s loss to the New York football Giants from a contused right hand. Dude you had a bruise on your non-throwing hand. Suck it up and stop killing dogs for a living and show the world that the real Mike Vick is still in Philly. Sundays fourth quarted meltdown against the Niners was awful (looked just like the Red Sox right?) and Maclin has proved for the second time this year that he isn’t clutch (flashback to Week 2 dropped 4th down pass in Atlanta). The next 13 weeks in Philadelphia are going to be cold, for the Eagles sake it will only be a low tempured weather and not their football teams performance. Eagles fans may still have hope however. The Cowboys are 2-2 and just a game ahead while the Redskins and Giants both hold 3-1 records. In the latter half of the season, these 3 teams struggle. If the Eagles can finish the season better than they can finish a football game, expect to see this team playing in mid-January.

Another shock to everybody is in the city of Detroit (or what’s left of it). The Lions, a team who two years ago went 0-16, is now one of the only undefeated teams remaining (we see you Green Bay) and has probably one of the best all around teams in football. Backed by the arm of QB Matthew Stafford and the hands of Calvin “Megatron” Johnson, the ball moves very well in the Lions possession. And even on the defensive side, run oriented offenses (Kansas City and Minnesota) have struggled against the monsters on the D-Line of Ndamukong Suh and Kyle Vanden Bosch and are still waiting on the rookie Nick Fairley to heal up. The pass defense needs some fine tuning, Dez Bryant walked up and down on them until Romo started getting all Romo-y throwing two pick sixes. After falling early against Minnesota and Dallas the past few weeks, the Lions have shown how phenomenal they can be in the 2nd half. Get ready for a monster outing Monday night in Chicago as they take on the 1-3 Bears.

As the season enters October (pink vision anyone?) expect many changes in our NFL. Sparano is now on the hot seat in Miami as they search for a win (or two) with an 0-4 record. Curtis Painter may now be the go to guy in Indy as he knows his time at starting QB may be short lived. And the Christian Ponder era may finally be upon us in Minnesota as they are winless as well.

Notable games this week: Philly hopes to bounce back and show that Buffalo is still Buffalo this Sunday. My predictions are going to Buffalo (Stevie Johnson vs Nmandi Asomugha will be tough though). Cam Newton will get his first test against a New Orleans Saints team who I’m sure has had his number since the draft, New Orleans wins while Newton puts up another 400+ in the air. Tampa Bay coming off their win against the sloppy Colts on Monday night look to go 4-1 against a very pumped up San Fransisco team coming off of their late game heroics in Philly. This one will be tough for me but I’m picking San Fran, I like Frank Gore against the Tampa Bay run D and if that fails keep your eyes on Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree. Rex Ryan and the smack talk show come back this week as they take on the New England Patriots in Foxboro this weekend for the first time since the AFC Divisional matchup last January in which the Jets soared through the cold air (CAN’T WAIT!). I got Mark Sanchez and Darelle Revis over the Pats in a close one. And the NFC North matchup of Chicago-Detroit is sure to make a lot of people stay stuck to their televisions next Monday. Cutler looking to stay protected heavily as Suh and V-Bosch will be back there all day. Lions will start off slow but pull through and win late.

As the MLB closes and the NHL returns, most NFL fans are right where they want to be as this season will surely be one to remember. Expect big things this week and maybe a surprise or two coming from unlikely sources. The “Suck 4 Luck” campaign gets tighter and the Lions pressure will be on. See you Sunday football fans and have a hopefully quick week.

Hello and welcome into your first ever endevour into the magical mind of me, Brandon L. Droz. I love sports, I always have since I was about the age to talk. I enjoy speaking my mind when it comes to sports. If you disagree with what I say, don’t read it, it’s called the First Amendment. Also be sure to check out my sports talk show if you can, it’s coincidentally titled “Let’s Talk About Balls” and can be heard on KMSA 91.3 if you live in the Grand Junction area which the 12 of you who do listen to us know, we are awesome. If you don’t happen to live in paradise like me, check it out on kmsa913.com. The show or LTAB for short is aired every Sunday morning around 9 am. I say around because we don’t have building access until 9 am sharp.

Now on to the basics, our world of sports is everchanging. From rule changes to the players playing in our favorite sports. New players come in, old players get fat, everyone gets paid when they go pro (minus the University of Miami, Ohio State, USC, etc) and the world keeps spinning. Recently we’ve seen turmoil in our peaceful planet of sports. From steroids to money issues (ahem NBA lockout) to improper beneficiaries at the collegiate level. Nothing is perfect. As the sports change, so do the fans. Every college kid wakes up on a Saturday still drunk from the night before ready to watch their favorite school do work on the competition. The fan bases are changing. Lately said college kid is finding a new team to cheer for, primarily whoever is number 1 or is on a hot streak. These people are called “bandwagon” fans. Anyways new schools start getting better exposure, more money, less wins. Sports are solely driven by the fans. The game is on high demand whether its the “big game” or the Miami Hurricanes vs Bethune Cookman Wildcats, the consumers (us fans) drive the teams to play well. Without us, Chris Johnson and Kobe Bryant wouldn’t be rockin’ new bling if not for some 14 year old poser rockin’ their jerseys.

Wow that was quite the ramble. Tomorrow get ready for a special treat as I break down Week 4 of the NFL in High Definition text. After class of course. Thank you and good night