the 4th star

I should probably point out that I haven’t read one thing about the NCAA tournament this year. Not one article. That’s a departure from my usual *expert* analysis, where I pour over countless projections, sleepers, and darkhorses until I forget what to do and end up picking half the first round losers. This time around, things are a little different. I’m going with a perfect combination of hunch and favourites. Results may vary in your region. The West is won this way: Syracuse, Gonzaga, Butler, Vandy, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, BYU, Kansas State.

Next time through: Syracuse, Butler, Minnesota, Kansas State. That will then turn into: Syracuse and Kansas State. Hello: Kansas State.

Say, have you met Kansas before?

Something I never understood about the Midwest bracket: Why is it called the Midwest bracket? Shouldn’t it be the north — you know, to go along with the three other points on the compass? Think about it. Who looks in the midnight sky for the Midwest Star? There is no Midwest End in Winnipeg. And whose favourite male porn actor is Peter Midwest? Perhaps I’ve said too much. Here are the picks for this bracket: Kansas, UNLV, Michigan State, Maryland, Tennessee, Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Ohio State.

After that, let’s go with Kansas, Michigan State, Georgetown, Ohio State. Following that up we have: Kansas and Ohio State. Your Midwest bracket winner is (drumroll)…Kansas.

Shocker, I know.

A generous person left me a couple tickets at will call for the Manitoba Moose game Saturday. In his message earlier in the day, he warned me they would be in the upper deck. Little did he know I was hoping to sit up there.

See, I have a concern about the MTS Centre for when we’re all going crazy for a visit by the Carolina Hurricanes next January. Or the January after that. It’s a concern of space, mixed in with cost, and marketplace. I feel if you’re going to bring an NHL team (and the Stanley Cup) back to Winnipeg and expect to make a small profit, a greater opportunity to make some money will be required. That means more people in the stands, right? For the sake of non-arguments, let’s all agree that it does. If you’re selling 15,000 seats per game, that would probably work, but the cost of those tickets would be collectively higher. Wouldn’t it? If you have, oh…I don’t know, 18,000 seats, then you could charge a lower average price and still fill the building — making a bit more on the bottom line in the process. Plus, on the plus side (and we’re being positive here), the bigger building will keep the average attendance numbers respectable as the NHL endeavor begins to wear down the VISA in the third and fourth year. The *guaranteed* sell outs of Montreal and Toronto will offset the 13,000 to see the Kings on a Wednesday night when American Idol is on.

Smarter people than this little blog writer have and will crunch the numbers to determine if the mighty NHL, the great hockey league which can barely manage itself on and off the ice with any semblance of consistency, can work in Winnipeg. Some have already, with figures that are, as one of my trusted economist friends called them, “very, very conservative.” He laughed when he said that. Almost spit his coffee out. Nevertheless, those mathemagicians are out there on various websites declaring ownership and busting myths. Of course, those numbers back up the truth on how the NHL can work here, and all other accounts or accounting is irrelevant, but that’s not why we’re here this morning.

Back to the MTS Centre. As my friends and I sat up in the second to last row of the building, looking at the roof and the tight spaces surrounding us, the conversation came up. No, it wasn’t ‘How man drinks will be dumped on Mike by the family behind us?’ or ‘Can these stupid children stop banging those thunder sticks for two seconds?’ No, it was a question of space, mixed in with cost and marketplace. Specifically…

How the fudge can they fit in an extra 3,000 seats in this barn?

If your answer is “magic” then you’ve come to the right place.

You hear things about a player — a superstar player — from time to time.
Bad things, like what a real jerk he is, etc.
Are you surprised? Not really. Some people have a public persona and a private persona.
Some people are truly great people. Not just on the field.
As the world turns, right?
John Steigerwald has been around the Pittsburgh sports scene for a long time.
Zero idea what kind of person he is. He could be nice; he could be a jerk.
One thing is certain, though.
He is no fan of Ben Roethlisberger.
Nope.

March Madness BABEEEE! You got your brackets done, man? I have like 12 different brackets going. There’s no way I can lose this year. Not going to happen. Let me see yours…NO WAY! You’re taking Duke! Me, too! Blue Devils! That’s my team. Them and North Carolina, of course! What. They’re not in this year? Whoa. Fine. I didn’t really like them anyway. I also like…um…Illinois? Sure, the Bobcats! BEARCATS! Sorry, my bad, my bad. I meant Bearcats. What? They’re out, too! Double you tee eff!

To celebrate the time where everyone I know professes to have a smidgen of knowledge on NCAA basketball, let’s kick off the Madness that is March with a 2010 bracket-based pop quiz. It is, after all, university athletics. I know, I know. I doubt these guys actually take their own tests, too.

Officially rank the schools looking to pronounce their condition or status:
- Michigan State
- New Mexico State
- San Diego State
- Oklahoma State
- Ohio State
- Florida State
- Murray State
- Kansas State
- Sam Houston State
- Morgan State
- Utah State
- East Tennessee State

Which program has spawned more regrettable tattoos over the last 25 years?
- UNLV
- Notre Dame
- Hockey Canada

West region. No. 3 Pittsburgh vs. No. 14 Oakland. How many ‘Immaculate Reception’ references/jokes will broadcasters attempt?
- More than 1,200
- Less than 1,200

What should I name my first child?
- Duke Wazny
- Xavier Wazny
- Robert Morris Wazny
- Siena Wazny
- Montana Wazny
- Wofford Wazny
- Richmond Wazny
- BYU Wazny

Which Texas school is certain to lose the first week? Select five.
- Texas
- UTEP
- Texas A&M
- North Texas
- Houston

Please match the school with the person of hotness/ hilarity:
Andy Bernard………………..Kentucky
Ashley Judd…………………..Cornell

Some guys in the break rook are talking about their brackets. How can you tell that one co-worker you really can’t stand has no idea what he’s talking about?
- He lives in Winnipeg.
- His unattended computer has ESPN open on it.
- He has a vertical of four-to-six inches.
- In meetings, he sweats more than Bruce Pearl.
- He can’t stop talking about his picks.
- His Runnin’ Rebel tattoo.

A month ago, Dan Spurr hit me square in the back, right in the middle and right on the spine, with a shot. I was cruising through the slot when he let one go and drilled me. The puck hit me flat — and left a nice circle tattooed on my flabby skin. Good guy. Interesting fact about Dan Spurr: You can only say his name in full, like Joe Mack or Jim Toth. Not enough syllables.

Man, it’s been a slow week over here. Too busy to do anything, it seems. Speaking of slow, how about Chris Chelios coming back to the National Hockey League? As a fan of the older generation of player, it’s great to see him back. I hope he can play for another five years. I missed the Winnipeg Atlanta Thrashers debut Thursday night, so let’s acknowledge his return with this post — a quick list of people who are younger than the 48-year-old. For example:

Canucks coach Alain Vigneault, Flyers coach Peter Laviolette, Flames coach Brent Sutter, Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice, Avalanche coach Joe Sacco, Red Wings coach Mike Babcock, Panthers coach Peter DeBoer, Wild coach Todd Richards, Predators coach Barry Trotz, Islanders coach Scott Gordon, Senators coach Cory Clouston, Penguins coach Dan Blysma, Sharks coach Todd McLellan, Blues interim coach Davis Payne, Lightning coach Rick Tocchet.

Hall of Famers  Steve Yzerman, Luc Robitaille, Brian Leetch, Brett Hull, Scott Stevens, Al Macinnis, Ron Francis, Patrick Roy, Cam Neely, Pat LaFontaine, Grant Fuhr, Dale Hawerchuk, Mario Lemieux.

Personally, I think Chelios can still be effective. Much more effective than that ineffective communications person I’ve been dealing with this week who shall remain nameless here. I am a rock, and you are erosion.

A lateral, back pressure or blind-side hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and/or is the principal point of contact is not permitted. A violation of the above will result in a minor or major penalty and shall be reviewed for possible supplemental discipline.

There’s the language of the new NHL contact handbook. I’ll have more on this later today or tomorrow. For now…some questions, some comments:

Chris Pronger, Philadelphia Flyers
“So, you’re going to let up when a guy has his head down, so then he beats you to the net and scores a goal in a big playoff game or a crucial game towards the tail end of the regular season? Then, you’re getting critiqued by the media and the fans: why didn’t you hit him?  It’s a lose-lose if a player lets up on somebody and something bad happens against his team like a goal or penalty. You’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t.”

Dion Phaneuf, Toronto Maple Leafs
“It has nothing to do with my style of game. You can still hit right? That has no bearing on the style of play that I play. If there’s a hit in open ice, you’re allowed to do it still, that’s for sure. It’s not going to change the way that I play. I’m going to play the physical style I’ve always played.”

Niklas Kronwall, Detroit Red Wings
“I do think it’s easier said than done. I think it’s hard to determine all head shots — there are so many different situations, so many different angles when guys come in to make a hit. I think it’s hard to say, ‘Let’s ban all the head shots,’ because a lot of times, too, the guy coming in, he’s down low with his shoulder, it looks like it’s going to be a clean hit, and then at the last second, the guy who is going to take the hit, he doesn’t see it coming, and he comes down too low, and then boom, there you go. The guy who makes the hit, now he’s taking all the blame for it. I think it’ll be really hard to say just ban all the head shots.”

Colin Campbell, NHL
“We’re we are going is taking a completely legal hit now, with the shoulder, and saying from a certain aspect in the future, next year, that’s going to be an illegal hit if delivered to the head. Part two of that, which is a huge statement in the game, we’re shifting some of the responsibility from the player getting hit to the player delivering the hit, which was never part of the game. You grew up you always had to have your head up, you’d get crap from your dad if you got hit when you were watching your pass. But now there’s some responsibility on the guy delivering the hit.”

Was there a six-year-old metal queen on the Price is Right this morning? Did anyone see this? OK, she probably wasn’t six, but she certainly was tiny. She had a bright, neon pink shirt on with jeans that were ripped all the way up on the front (with leather boots) and her bleach blonde hair had some black strands coming out from underneath, completing the metal look. Sorry, check that: The shrieks and the double-knee slide on stage after winning a car on a fluke putt in the Hole in One game completed the metal look. Can’t wait to see this little vixen spin the wheel.

No pictures of that display for the Wednesday harvest of site hits this week. Instead, we go back to the Oscars to right a wrong. It’s bad enough Farrah died on the same day as Michael Jackson — she doesn’t even get a mention in the yearly “Death Star Call?” Granted, I couldn’t name you one movie she was in off the top of my head, but certainly the male members of the academy were kids at one point. Who didn’t have one of those posters in their room?

UPDATE: Lil Metal is in the showcase. You can barely see her over the green podium. Awesome.

Got to hand it to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers front office: They are trying over there.

With everything quiet on the David Asper Dome front these days (at least publicly) and the threat of an NHL team possibly maybe returning before the century is up and taking all the corporate dollars when it arrives, the staffers on Maroons Road are looking to squeeze out a few more bucks from their existing lot in stadium life.

Private suites at field level.

Enjoy the excitement of Blue Bomber football this season from field level in your corporate suite.  Entertain your customers, clients and associates in your own 10 by 12 foot covered suite with a 15 by 10 private patio conveniently located outside in the south end zone.

The suites, which judging from the picture provided appear to be just glorified canvas tents dived up in 12 stalls (making them semi-private suites), hold up to 12 people and should provide a unique view of the action for many who have never seen a game at field level. Unfortunately, there are some drawbacks. There are no ‘in-tent’ televisions (they are in a common area concourse) The food service is also provided in the concourse. You do, however, get game stats, and as someone who likes to know what’s going on numbers-wise, and knows you can’t count on the concourse TVs, this is a bonus. People want to know how many times the Bomber QB bounced it off the turf. It feels like 12 times, but I might have missed a few while at the trough.

Table and chairs are also provided.