Salt on Monday

It's been a long time, I shouldn't have left you
Without a strong rhyme to step to
Think of how many weak shows you slept through
Time's up, I'm sorry I kept you

Eric B + Rakim ‘I Know You Got Soul’

Salt on Monday took a little break to get life sorted and all that. Changing apartments, more work and warm patio days all conspired to push the Salt out of my system but do not worry sports fans, I have enough rage from years of denial ( I am a
Leaf fan you know..) to keep the Salt flow going.

“It’s only One. They need Four”
Jose Calderone


I’d love it if the fans of the Toronto Raptors would learn from the mistakes of the venerable Leaf Nation. Don’t throw parades for each playoff victory, and don’t jump off the tower for every playoff loss.

Case in point: The Raptors – a team with two NBA newbies who play a significant role in the success of the team in Anthony Parker and Andrea Bargnani – are playing in the playoffs for the first time in forever.
(Think about it, the last time the Raptors were in the post season tournament, Britney Spears was hot, Nelly was like a bird - miles from being promiscuous, nobody (excepting yours truly of course) had yet figured out that Shaggy sucked and you could still hear his drivel in nightclubs and on the radio, the first episode of the Lord of the Rings trilogy had just started (causing thousands of 40 year old Manchildren to emerge from their parents basements) and someone spent Millions of dollars to make a movie - Glitter!!!!! - starring Mariah Carey. That’s how long ago it was. I know! Compose yourself now…)




We sent TJ Ford and Jose Calderone with their combined total of six NBA playoff games up against Jason Kidd and his 88.
So yeah. The Raptors lost. Who could have seen this coming?

This team needed to feel what the playoffs are about, and the first game showed it to them.

They learned that there is less space out there in the playoffs.
They learned why Jason Kidd is going to the Hall of Fame.
And they learned that players will do things during the playoffs that they wouldn’t dream of doing during the season (Vince Carter played perimeter defense??? Getthefuckouttahere!!!).

So don’t hurt yourselves falling off the Raptors bandwagon, they will look much, much better on Tuesday.
So, what did happen on Saturday? First timer mistakes is all.
Sam Mitchell left Joey Graham out for too long.
(Sam, I love you like barbecued meat, but when ‘bad’ Joey is on the court, you need to sit his butt down.)

Sam also panicked when the Nets went to a Zone defense and abandoned their usual man-to-man defense. Instead of keeping TJ -‘no one on the Nets can cover me’ - Ford in the game he went to Calderone, who played well, but isn’t the nemesis to the Nets that TJ is.

A lot of Jason Kidd happened.
Fifteen assists will do that.
Ten Rebounds will do that.
Unfortunately for the Raps, Kidd won’t stop happening and the Raps need to figure a way to slow him down.
( Maybe they could hire his soon to be ex-wife Joumana to sit courtside).




NHL Playoffs
(PG 13, Parental Discretion advised. Excessive and Gratuitous Violence Portrayed.)


The NHL playoffs are unfolding exactly as I predicted. Or not.
I was running late a week and a half ago, so I emailed my picks to Mr. Hoff about half an hour before the playoffs started.


My picks were,
Ottawa
San Jose
Vancouver
Minnesota

I nailed the Ottawa, and San Jose picks.
Asking Pittsburgh to beat that Ottawa team in its’ first playoff go around is asking way too much of them, even with Gary Roberts.
And since the league didn't call all the fouls on Crosby during the season, why would they call them in the playoffs when the refs traditionally swallow their whistles anyway? And sure the Pens picked up enforcer Georges Laraque at the trading deadline, but Coach Therrien wasn't willing - or maybe it was Canadian Senator in waiting Mario Lemieux - to let Laraque do to Heatley/Spezza what Phillips and Neil were doing to Crosby, i.e, foul him at every opportunity.
(My favorite Crosby foul - and there were so many to choose from - happened in Game two when Chris Neil leaped in the air to crosscheck Sidney at the side of the net. Sidney was covered at the time and Gary Roberts was left open in front of the net and banged in the goal. No penalty. The football equivalent of this is if Bears linebacker Lance Briggs nailed Peyton Manning from behind four seconds after he had thrown a touchdown pass to a wide open Reggie Wayne. And then no penalty was called. The NHL, "See the stars of the future if they make it out of today alive.")

San Jose was playing a Nashville team who never realized what it took to win in the playoffs.

I blew the Minny pick, because I didn’t think a Jacques Lemaire coached team could be beat in the first round when Coach Lemaire has a hot Goaltender. What I didn’t know was that the NHL was going to let Anaheim punch it’s way past the Wild, who despite their name, couldn’t match fists with the battlin’ Ducks.

I think Vancouver will win out in this series, if anyone realizes that these two teams are still playing in that first round snore fest.

NYI
THE Devils
ATL
Det

I didn’t do so well with these picks. The Islanders were a long shot - at the same time I didn’t realize Rick DiPietro was going to miss the first game, which is critical to the success of the first round upset.

I would rather not talk about the Thrashers. I was drunk and hit my head on something. They suck. Never again Atlanta. Now I know how you do.

There is a wonderful article on Hockey violence in the Toronto Star written by Steve Moores’ brother, Mark. ( Yes, that Steve Moore.)
I wonder if the League will ever realize that having the commissioner say – PUBLICLY – that fighting – FIGHTING – has a place in hockey, can only be seen as tacit approval of the goonery that has replaced the game in the playoffs so far. Morons.

What has hockey fights given us besides this; "Tie Domi, Millionaire".