the 4th star

Did you manage to stay awake? Right on! Me, too. A few thoughts on the Goodyear Michelin Firestone bald winter tires that I have yet to put on my car Winter Classic that took place at Fenway Park this afternoon:

1. What an awful mess.
Let’s just call it what it was. That was a terrible match du hockey, with both teams looking like they’ll be nowhere near the Stanley Cup at the end of the season. At least the ending was moderately interesting. Blame the cool weather? Sure. Poor ice conditions? OK, I’ll give you that. That doesn’t excuse the bottom line, though: It was tough to watch. I’ve never seen more missed shots. That poor plexi-glass.

2. Tim Thomas didn’t disappoint. Unless you’re a Boston fan.
Full credit to the Bruins goaltender for coming back onto the ice in a USA jersey at the end of the Olympic team selections, but good luck in supplanting Ryan Miller as the No. 1 guy. He played well, but Thomas is a circus at times and his Hasek-like mentality cost the low-scoring Bruins the first goal today. If I was Claude Julien, I would have yanked him after that display — the one where he went after Scott Hartnell and ignored where the puck was after the Flyers winger bumped him slightly a few seconds before. Composure in the moment. Try it.

3. Did Mike Richards or Chris Pronger play?
A legitimate question. Were they out there? I really can’t elaborate on this further.

4. Ron MacLean brought up a great point.
If the NHL is going to continue with this Winter Classic thing, they need to address the optics for television. Not having any fans around the ice surface looks shabby at best, but how do you fix it? You can’t just put rows of seats on the grass (snow) and expect people to pay $250 a ticket to watch a game they can’t see (the boards are a little high). What about this? Why not run planks from say Row 15 of the stands right down to the boards in the infield and put rows of seats on them there? So it looks like a giant two-thirds of a funnel, draining into the hockey rink. That way, the slope is adequate for viewing a hockey game. In the outfield, build up some similar seating — going about 30 rows back. This way the outfield guys could still see the ice surface, too. Is this possible? Of course not. I’m just conducting a problem-solution exercise.

5. Another solution right here.
Just not have the game anymore. If the viewing public is going to be subjected to the cheesy ‘Sweet Caroline’ sing-a-long that Red Sox fans do at Red Sox games, then it’s time to pull the plug on the event. And Grapes is right: If the NBC guys are going to compare one-trick pony Danny Carcillo to the Dave the Hammer in an effort to sell the game to the U.S. market that doesn’t really care anyway, then things have gotten waaay out of hand. When I’m agreeing with Don Cherry — you know things aren’t all good in the ‘hood.

As Deadspin so eloquently put it this morning: “It’s barely 2010 and already this year has exceeded my expectations.”

The reason for this declaration of coming bliss has to do with news out of New York that two members of the National Basketball Association’s Washington Wizards pulled guns on each other in a locker room disagreement on Christmas Eve. Go ahead and read that again just to make sure it sinks in. We’ll wait.

WOW. Locker room fights happen all the time, but they never get to this level. Not that anyone is surprised. Welcome to the world of 2010, where everyone is suspicious of everyone to the extreme point of arming themselves for fear of each other. When do we read a story of how an athlete kicks the crap out of a reporter or pulls a knife on a TV camera for asking the *wrong* questions? Gotta be coming soon, no? Yikes.

Regarding the Wizards, here’s the NY Post:

The duel in DC — unprecedented in sports history — was sparked when Crittenton became enraged at the veteran guard for refusing to make good on a gambling debt, a source said.

“I’m not your punk!” Crittenton shouted at Arenas, according to a league source close to the Wizards. That prompted Arenas to draw on Crittenton, who then also grabbed for a gun, league security sources said.

As you might expect, reaction from the big wheels over in the team front office are mixed with professionalism and head-shaking:

Wizards General Manager Ernie Grunfeld declined to comment. “It’s in the hands of [Washington] authorities,” said Grunfeld, a former star Knicks player and president. “We’re going to get to the bottom of this, if there is a bottom to this…”

Yahoo! says news of the stand-off leaked after Washington police were investigating Arenas and his guns inside the home arena. Happy New Year.

In keeping with the five-ring theme this week, why not provide a little professional prognostication on who will skate away with the gold medal in doubles luge men’s hockey? I’ve given you the odds already, and I’ve already stated that a flier on a solid Swedish club could be fairly lucrative, but before you reach into the Christmas money take a look at this. According to a local psychic, it seems there might be trouble for the Swedish repeat. Oh. and for Canada. Let’s not forget about them.

Finally, what about the biggest hockey tournament in the world, the 2010 Olympic men’s hockey tournament in Vancouver?

“It’s going to be a toss up between the two most northern teams, Canada and Russia,” she said. “The No. 8 is significant in this decision — whether that’s a player or a score — but No. 8 is the number that will be the winner.”

As pointed out in the best thing you’ll read all year article, Alex Ovechkin — arguably the most famous No. 8 on skates right now — skates for the Russian team. It’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility to imagine Ovechkin lighting it up on the world’s biggest stage with the world’s best players, is it? Will No. 8 play a big part in an eight-goal onslaught by the Russians? Or maybe it’s not all doom and gloom. Maybe Ovechkin only plays eight minutes in the gold medal game. Or maybe he takes eight minutes in penalties, and Canada scored three power play goals on the way to victory.

Yeah. I agree. Drawing straws should be an Olympic sport. For those of you scoring at home, it appears Drew Doughty — the 20-year-old defenceman from the Los Angeles Kings — might be Canada’s only option for the No. 8 jersey. He’s a good player and all but…

A child, however, who had no important job and could only see things as his eyes showed them to him, went up to the carriage. “The Emperor is naked,” he said.

“Fool!” his father reprimanded, running after him. “Don’t talk nonsense!” He grabbed his child and took him away. But the boy’s remark, which had been heard by the bystanders, was repeated over and over again until everyone cried:

“The boy is right! The Emperor is naked! It’s true!”

The Emperor realized that the people were right but could not admit to that. He though it better to continue the procession under the illusion that anyone who couldn’t see his clothes was either stupid or incompetent. And he stood stiffly on his carriage, while behind him a page held his imaginary mantle.

(source)