Central Connecticut State University?!

So that happened. Yes, the Lehigh Mountain Haws lost to the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils 28–21 in FCS football action. While I thought this would be an easy win, I did not realize how much turnover there was in the skill positions on our team. There were a lot of names that I did not recognize from the three years prior. Despite being picked to finish in a tie for third in the Patriot League, the Mountain Haws did not show much hope in this game.

The first half was full of mistakes, and CCSU looked like they were allergic to scoring, fumbling the ball on consecutive plays inside the red zone, losing the ball on the second one. Luckily for them, Lehigh could only go three and out on their second drive after throwing an interception on their first play of the game. The ball went back and forth without punts or scoring as the CCSU quarterback threw an interception in the end zone, the Lehigh quarterback threw an interception on the next play, then CCSU had another lost fumble. After all of that, Lehigh had a punt blocked, which led to CCSU's first touchdown.

But wait, it gets better. Lehigh returned the ensuing kickoff over 90 yards for a touchdown after it looked like the returner was going to have the ball go over his head. And this was all in the first quarter! Both teams managed to have sustained scoring drives in the second quarter, so the game was tied at 14 at halftime. After the band did their thing, spelling out 76 while playing "76 Trombones," CCSU scored another touchdown on another long drive in the second half. Lehigh answered right back again as QB Clark found a receiver that the defense lost so he could run uncontested for a touchdown. When it looked like Lehigh was about to take the lead for the first time with a pass to an open tight end in the end zone, Clark lobbed the pass so badly that it was intercepted. Instead, CCSU started at the 20-yard line and drove all the way for the winning touchdown.

The fourth quarter showed how the CCSU offense was killing Lehigh all day when they were not making mistakes: the quarterback option and other runs up the middle. Lehigh could not muster anything significant in the fourth and watched most of the minutes tick by when CCSU had the ball. The teams met at midfield for postgame handshakes without any ugly incident like was seen in Thursday night's Oregon-Boise State game.

My guest blog on Rangers Report

Rick Carpinello over at the The Journal News's Rangers Report blog was forced to take two weeks of vacation due to newspaper cost-cutting measures, so he took a cue from his colleague Peter Abraham, who runs the Yankees blog there, to let loyal blog readers fill in as guest posters during his vacation time. My post runs today and is as follows:

It is a bittersweet chance that some of us get to guest blog for a couple weeks. While it is great for us to be featured on the blog, it is only a result of newspapers cutting costs and giving their employees more vacation time. For my appearance, I don’t have any fresh opinion on the Rangers that hasn’t already been discussed here, so I’m going to take an overall look at the National Hockey League.

The 2004–05 lockout was devastating at the time, but the prevailing opinion was that the league could come back stronger than before. Why they couldn’t do this without canceling a season, we may never know. The biggest issue for Commissioner Bettman and the league was that they needed “cost certainty,” which was their code for a salary cap. Fans of the Rangers and other teams with high attendance probably did not see any problem with the 2004 NHL, but the less heralded teams were struggling, especially in places that gained expansion teams under Bettman’s regime.

In 2009, Bettman would like to have you think that everything is rosy with record-setting attendance numbers every season since the lockout. However, are we really in a much better position now? Revenue sharing was good common sense and should have been in place for a longer time before teams were absolutely hemorrhaging money. Despite what the NHL says, we can still see arenas with a lot of empty seats, especially the new Prudential Center (when the Rangers are not playing there), and the Phoenix Coyotes did not get any better financially, being forced to file for bankruptcy. Many of the seats are filled only due to ticket deals and freebies.

Before the lockout, the NHL did not have great television ratings in the United States and therefore had a contract that generated low revenue. Since starting play again, the contract has only worsened, moving the games on cable to a channel that players can’t find in hotel rooms and only having one game per week for ten weeks in the second half of the season on a broadcast network that focuses on only a few big-market teams. In addition, NASCAR is probably ahead of the NHL in popularity, but the NBA is falling back a bit. With four seasons passed since the new CBA was ratified, teams are now finding innovative ways to play with the salary cap so that the stars still get paid and the role players have to fight for every dollar or leave to play in the KHL.

At this point, the best thing that could happen for the NHL would be to bring in fresh ideas in the form of a new commissioner. Without any ties to Bettman, the new person in charge could make changes where Bettman held strong to defend his position. This could include moving one or two teams back to Canada and finding a better way to market the league and its star players, such as putting the two latest No. 1 draft picks on national television more than twice each (only one of these is in a Versus-exclusive window).

All of these problems that still exist will lead to more heavy negotiating in the next couple of years leading up to the next Collective Bargaining Agreement, especially as the salary cap will likely see its first drop after this upcoming season.

http://rangers.lohudblogs.com/2009/08/31/guest-blogger-spiderpig/

NHL National Television Schedule Released

The National Hockey League released their schedule of which games would be on national television in the United States and Canada today. You will see the typical large amount of games involving teams from the big markets airing on Versus and NBC, but an Eastern Conference finalist from 2009, the Carolina Hurricanes, did not make the Versus schedule at all. The two teams that they eliminated from the playoffs are on Versus 13 times combined (Bruins: 7; Devils: 6). I'm guessing the Blackhawks and Red Wings got to go over the limit of eight games per team because one of each of their games in being played overseas at the beginning of the season and not in primetime. The Hurricanes are part of NBC's flex schedule but have little chance of making the air unless the Bruins and Rangers are absolutely awful this season, making NBC choose Sabres vs. Hurricanes.

Those overseas games are not actually the premiere games of the NHL this season because they are being played after the first night of games in North America, which is rediculous in itself because of the compressed schedule due to the Olympics making these four teams have it even worse. Another change from last season is that these games are taking place on Friday and Saturday. Why would Versus choose to air the games that are taking place during the day on Friday when there will surely be less people watching than if they chose Saturday?

My predicted NBC schedule based on a limit of four games per team which I believe includes the Winter Classic and past experience with NBC:

January 1: Flyers @ Bruins (Winter Classic)

January 17: Blackhawks @ Red Wings

January 24: Penguins @ Flyers (obvious; Bruins @ Carolina? Yeah right!)

January 31: Red Wings @ Penguins (no doubt)

February 7: Penguins @ Capitals (no doubt about this either)

March 7: Bruins @ Penguins (guessing they don't want another Blackhawks/Red Wings game)

March 14: Capitals @ Blackhawks (intriguing)

March 21: Rangers @ Bruins (other choice is Sabres @ Hurricanes)

April 4: Red Wings @ Flyers (no other game scheduled)

April 11: Rangers @ Flyers (subject to change based on which playoff spots are up for grabs)

My least confidence comes with scheduling the Penguins four games in a row, but they are only on the schedule one other time, and that is against the Lightning. If NBC really wanted to mix it up, they could throw Hurricanes @ Thrashers at us on March 7.

Thanks to Puck Daddy (http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Winners-losers-in-Versus-2009-10-regular-season?urn=nhl,183899) and Puck the Media (http://puckthemedia.wordpress.com/2009/08/19/your-2009-10-nhl-on-nbc-flex-schedule/).

Free Agent Frenzy: New York Rangers

Let's take a quick look at the New York Rangers' major activity so far since the beginning of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, including a couple trades and some signings.

Added: Christopher Higgins, Ryan McDonagh, Enver Lisin (RFA), Ales Kotalik, Donald Brashear, Marian Gaborik, Tyler Arnason, Brian Boyle

Subtracted: Scott Gomez, Lauri Korpikoski, Paul Mara, Nik Antropov, Colton Orr, Fredrik Sjostrom

Re-signed: Ryan Callahan, Corey Potter

Still in limbo: Brandon Dubinsky (RFA), Nikolai Zherdev (RFA), Derek Morris, Blair Betts

It looks like General Manager Glen Sather is re-making the team yet again, but this time for good reason: to have players that fit new head coach John Tortorella's style. There is more optimism for scoring with the additions of Gaborik and Higgins while losing underachiever Gomez and his seemingly devastating cap hit. That trade also brought over the Canadiens' best prospect according to Hockey's Future, McDonagh, albeit another defenseman.

On the flip side, there is reason to be worried about the team's defense and especially the penalty kill because our top pair penalty-killing forwards, Betts and Sjostrom, have left the team. We still have capable players to play there, such as Chris Drury and Callahan, but some others are going to need to step up their games. Trading Korpikoski for Lisin weakened the penalty kill further and was another trade by Coyotes GM Don Maloney to acquire players that he helped draft when he was a member of the Rangers front office. Both players are reportedly threats to sign in the KHL, but Korpikoski quickly signed a two-year deal as an RFA in Phoenix.

The first head-scratching move came shortly after the great trade of Gomez. Orr was expected to be offered a big contract as one of the best enforcers in the league, going to Toronto for four years and $4 million. At the time, it seemed like the team could replace him for cheaper from within, but Sather felt the need to sign Brashear, a hated enemy for many years going back to his Flyers days, to a $2.8 million contract over two years, a cap hit $400,000 higher than Orr's! Ales Kotalik seemed like an underachiever in Buffalo where Lindy Ruff milks a lot of talent out of his unheralded players, so he is a risk at three years and $9 million. Brian Boyle may be the second-biggest bust from the 2003 draft behind Hugh Jessiman, but Sather only gave up a third-round pick in 2010 for the 6'6" center, so I am happy with that. Hopefully for my fantasy dynasty team, Boyle will score some goals and collect some penalty minutes for fighting.

Other moves were minor or expected. Arnason will compete for a spot with the Rangers, but will likely be shown the way to Hartford with a two-way contract, needing to pass through waivers first. Callahan was re-signed for a decent amount as a restricted free agent and will be expected to compete for a spot on the second line and hopefully stick there if Zherdev is not brought back to New York. Potter can serve as the seventh defenseman or a good presence on the Wolf Pack. Antropov's agent wanted too much money, but he is a big body and could be missed. Mara clearly didn't have a place here under Tortorella. Dubinsky is almost a lock to be re-signed and Morris could stay if he takes a big pay cut; I think he will definitely return if Rozsival or Redden is traded as is rumored as part of a package for a number-one center; hopefully, that package will not include Dubinsky.

There is still cap room to play with and at least one move to be made, unless Sather and Tortorella are comfortable with relatively inexperienced centers around captain Drury. Overall, fans should be happy with this offseason's moves but still not expect too much progress with Redden and Drury still on the roster if they continue to vastly underperform their contracts.

First days of work as a cameraman

It started on Friday with an exhibition game, but I only practiced my camera skills for a couple of innings. From watching baseball for a long time, I could figure out what I needed to do. For the first home game of the regular season on Tuesday, the Force faced off against Jennie Finch and the Chicago Bandits. Luckily, it was an easy start, camera-wise, with clouds in the sky and Finch throwing a perfect game, so there wasn't much to do when the home team was batting. We were told that we did a good job under the pressure of the league's (National Pro Fastpitch) and MLB.com's (our online streaming partner) watchful eyes.

Game two was a bit more difficult and even colder than the first night, as the temperature dropped below 60°. Rain was in the forecast, but the game just started with some clouds in the sky, enough to block out the sun again. As the raindrops started to fall, I had a little trouble with the rain sleeve for my camera, but I had it attached well after an inning or two. Luckily, I had come prepared with a jacket as heavy rain started to fall in the sixth inning and my head got soaked. With one out in the top of the seventh, which would be the last half-inning because the Force were winning, it looked like there would be a rain delay as the first-base umpire consulted with the one behind home plate. However, this was only a short break as the "grounds crew" poured dry dirt between first and second. The game would be over a few minutes later as Kat Osterman induced the final two outs in her complete game for the Force.

There was supposed to be another game tonight, but the heavy rain had left puddles on the field that forced postponement and a doubleheader scheduled for Friday. The local television station was set to broadcast these two games and use their video feeds for the stream, so I don't know if I will be doing anything for the six hours that I have to be at the stadium, except for taking down the outfield fence at the end of the nightcap. Saturday's game is being played in York, Pennsylvania, so my group of interns does not have to work that night.

http://twitpic.com/7qk6m

Summer class

The professor was not kidding when he said that 15 weeks were compressed into five during the summer, in this case for Applied Microeconomics. The first of two tests in on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. after only two weeks of the course. Unfortunately for me, my Wednesday afternoon is already booked with doing set-up in Allentown for the Force, so I wil have to get all studying finished by Tuesday night. This should be fun!

I'm looking forward to being able to watch game five of the Stanley Cup Final after missing games one, three, and four; I watched some of four the next day on NHL Network. This has been a good series to cap off a good playoffs overall, which I have missed by being in Portugal, doing work, and spending time with good friends. Good thing that two of those things were time well-spent with others rather than watching television by myself or with my dad.

Journey from Patterson to Edgewater Park

Late Saturday afternoon, I had to journey from Patterson, NY to Edgewater Park in the Bronx for Lauren's 22nd birthday party. My parents needed me in Patterson even for such a short time just to help out moving stuff around the property. I was driven from Patterson to the Southeast train station on Metro-North where I caught the 4:13 train. I had to switch to a local train at North White Plains, leaving at 5:11. The conductor announced that only one door would be opening at my destination station, Williamsbridge, where I arrived at 5:37. It was like disembarking from a ship as this long and narrow platform extended from the one station platform to the front door of the train and passengers walked single-file to exit onto the platform. I then walked along Gun Hill Road where there were many hostile drivers who would honk at practically nothing and I was the only white person around, aside from one Mustang driver. When I reached Bronxwood Avenue, I sat at the Bx8 bus station on my 12-pack of beer and waited for the 6:08 bus which would take me to Edgewater Park, where I arrived around 7:00. It was funny how the demographics on the bus changed as the bus traveled southeast in the Bronx.