5 Thoughts on a variety of Sports Subjects

 

5 Thoughts on a Variety of Sports Subjects

1. Pavel Bure Makes the Hockey Hall of Fame-

This is long overdue, as Bure definitely deserved to be a first ballot Hall of Famer.  Bure scored 437

goals in just 702 NHL games played. His 0.625 goals scored per game  is 5^th all-time in the NHL.  Bure, played the majority of his career in the “Dead Puck” era. This was an era in the NHL, when it was difficult to score goals. If Bure had played during Gretzky’s era, who knows how many goals he would have ended up with? In Pavel’s time, unlike Gretzky’s time, teams actually played defense, and goalies were more athletic and larger in stature as well, making goals much more difficult to come by. The “Russian Rocket” as Bure was nicknamed, was known for his blazing speed, great shot, and his great hands. There has never been a more exciting player to watch with the puck on his stick. And there probably never will be. Injuries, limited him to just 13 seasons in the NHL and forced him to retire at a young age. Congrats Pavel it’s long overdue. If you like hockey, watch these clips: Pavel Bure's Top Ten Goals  /  Pavel Bure Hockey Hall of Fame Montage

2. Timberwolves Trade for Chase Budinger-

The T- Wolves traded their first round pick(18^th overall) to the Houston Rockets for  small forward/shooting guard, Chase Budinger.  This is a solid move, as Budinger is athletic and a solid 3point shooter. Plus, he is an upgrade over either Wes Johnson at the small forward position, or Luke Ridnour at the shooting guard spot.  Timberwolves coach, Rick Adelman, is familiar with Budinger’s game, as he coached him for two years in Houston.  I was hoping the Wolves would draft either Austin Rivers, or Terrance Ross. But it looks like both will be gone before pick 18. And the last thing the Wolves need, is David Kahn making another crappy draft pick, so by default, I’ll consider this a good move. This move completes David Kahn's master plan of starting 5 white guys at the same time; Pekovic, Love, Budinger, Ridnour, and Rubio; with Darko as the 6th man off the bench. By the way, 5 white guys starting has not worked in the NBA, since Bill Russell came into the league and started schooling people in the early 1950's

3.Timberwolves are Interested in Brandon Roy

Roy, the former Portland Trailblazer’s shooting guard, retired before last season due to bad knees. He has history of knee problems resulting from no cartilage in them. He apparently underwent plasma enrichment surgery(A surgery, were plasma is injected into your knee. You have to go to Germany to get this done, as it is currently not performed in the United States) Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, and Alex Rodriguez have all undergone this procedure in the last couple of years, and have had good success. Roy, if healthy, would be a great fit on the Wolves. The Wolves desperately need a shooting guard, and at one point in his career, Roy was one of the best in the NBA. If the Wolves can sign him to a reasonable deal, I would do it. Let’s face it, this is the type of player the Wolves should be going after. Because there are not a lot of quality shooting guards available this summer.  And there is not a healthy “Star Player”, who would want to play in Minnesota, for whatever reason.(Kahn, cold weather, we haven’t made the Playoffs since 2004, etc.)

4. Frank Liriano is Back(for now)-Time for a Twins Rebuild-

Liriano, is 2-2, 2.41 ERA, and just 1 HR allowed in his six starts since returning to the rotation. He was 0-5, 9.45 ERA, 6 HR’s allowed in his first six starts. His improvement is huge for the Minnesota Twins. Liriano, if he can keep up his recent good form, will give the Twins another tradeable asset at the MLB trade deadline. Matt Capps, Glen Perkins, and Josh Willingham, being the other players the Twins should deal.  The Twins need all the prospects that they can get at the deadline this year, as their farm system is bare. They especially lack quality young pitchers. It’s time for a full scale rebuilding project in Minnesota. And by trading these guys, they will have head start on that mammoth project.

5. The AL Central is Garbage-

The American League Central Division is a complete joke. The Chicago White Sox, and Cleveland Indians are the only teams above .500 in the Division. And both of those teams are just 3 and 2 games over, respectively.  The Royals, who started out 3-14, with an 11 game losing streak along the way, find themselves just 5 games back of the Division lead. The Twins, the worst team in the American League, are just 7.5 games back. For how bad the Twins have played, to be only 7.5 games back, is quite simply amazing. That shows how bad the AL Central is. So does this: at 35-32 the Chicago White Sox lead the AL Central by a half game over the Indians.  If they played in the AL East, they would be tied with the Boston Red Sox for last place; 6.5 games behind the Yankees, for first place. If you place them in the AL West, they would be in third place, 6.5 games behind the first place, Texas Rangers. Can you imagine what the records of the Central Division teams would be if they had to play the Yankees, Red Sox, and Rays 18 times a year? Instead of the 6-7 games they currently play against these teams each year. Conversely, can you imagine how many times the Blue jays or Rays would have won the Central in the past five years, if they got to play 18 games against the Royals and Indians every year, and only had to play 6-7 games against the Yankees and Red Sox?