Phoenix Coyotes Clinch Stanley Cup Playoff Berth

Phoenix Coyotes Shutout the Columbus Blue Jackets

Courtesy of the Honolulu Star Advertiser:

 After a stellar career at UH, where he led the Warriors to the Sugar Bowl after the 2007 season and was a Heisman Trophy finalist, Brennan was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the sixth round of the 2008 NFL draft. He started strong, completing 36 of 53 passes for 411 yards and three touchdowns.

But he was placed on injured reserve because of hamstring and hip injuries. In 2010, the Redskins traded for quarterback John Beck and later released Brennan in August. Brennan was picked up by Oakland, which also cut him.

In June 2011, Brennan signed with the Hartford Colonials in the United Football League for the 2011 season. But the league suspended operations of the Colonials a few months later and Brennan was not selected by any of the four remaining UFL teams in a dispersal draft.

While at UH, Brennan broke numerous records, including the NCAA Division I record for most touchdown passes in a single season with 58 and an NCAA record for highest pass completion percentage (70.4 percent).

Brennan is yet another example of why I should never be allowed to judge NFL talent or be the GM of an NFL franchise, unless it’s Madden. I thought Brennan would be a solid NFL QB, not spectacular, that hammered out a pretty good career. At Hawaii he was most accurate passer I had ever seen. Of course he played in the WAC and had contests against the University of Idaho, San Jose State, New Mexico State University and Utah State University. The four aforementioned teams are usually listed in ESPN’s Bottom 10.

Brennan wasn’t my first failure as a judge of football talent. Here is a partial list:

• Jeff George
• Matt Jones
• Drew Carter
• Andre Woodson
• Darnell Hackney
• Byron Leftwich
• Andre Ware
• David Klingler
• David Terrell (former Chicago Bears wideout, not the MMA fighter from my hometown of Santa Rosa, CA)
• Reggie Bush
• Matt Leinart
• Charles Rogers
• Mike Williams
• Robert Gallery

 Despite less than stellar careers in the NFL those guys became core players in Madden Franchise Mode for me and hold a special place my heart. In the digital realm JaMarcus Russell isn’t a bust. He is a top flight QB with a cannon arm. Obviously this is fan fiction because we know how Russell turned out.

I am still covering the Phoenix Coyotes

Courtesy of AZCentral.com

Glendale, NHL Mum on Coyotes as Season Winds Down by Lisa Halverstadt

Glendale and the National Hockey League have been mostly silent about ownership possibilities as the Phoenix Coyotes season winds down, but plenty of others are weighing in.

Fans are agonizing once again, and wondering if next Tuesday’s game could be the team’s last at Jobing.com Arena.

Officials in Quebec City recently announced that the city will build an 18,000-seat arena in hopes of landing a hockey team. The NHL has previously denied such a move was in the works, although Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

Reporters in Seattle and Saskatchewan have also recently written stories about whether the Coyotes could move to their cities.

Coyotes President Mike Nealy said he’s still confident the team will stay in Glendale.

“(The NHL) still wants it here,” he said. “They believe these groups can get it done.”

Nealy said that more than three groups are working to buy the team and keep it in Glendale, although he would not elaborate on their identities.

Former San Jose Sharks chief executive Greg Jamison’s group has been working to pull together funds to buy the team. A spokesman for a second group led by ex-Arizona lawmaker John Kaites and Chicago sports magnate Jerry Reinsdorf recently said they remain interested.

The identities of the other groups are unknown.

If the team were to leave, Glendale would be left with about $262 million in debt on the city-owned Jobing.com Arena. That figure includes about $100 million in interest on the bond debt.

Glendale has not ruled out the possibility of selling the arena to a potential Coyotes buyer. Jamison’s group, and perhaps others interested in the team, would like to buy the arena and Westgate City Center too.

To get out from under its arena debt, Glendale would need to sell the facility for at least $152 million, which is its principal on the arena loan, Glendale spokeswoman Jen Stein said.

She said city staffers would “consider and review any proposals.”

A deal with Chicago businessman Matthew Hulsizer that has long since crumbled included an option to buy the arena for no more than $130 million after 5 ½ years.

• Phoenix Coyotes Week In Review: 2/20/2012 to 2/26/2012
• Phoenix Coyotes Week In Review: 2/27/2012 to 3/4/2012
• Phoenix Coyotes Week In Review: 3/5/2012 to 3/11/2012
• Phoenix Coyotes Week In Review: 3/12/2012 to 3/18/2012

• The Game by Ken Dryden
• Home Game: Hockey and Life in Canada by Ken Dryden
• The Ovechkin Project by Damien Cox and Gare Joyce
• The Rebel League by Ed Willes
• Hockey For Dummies by John Davidson
• Searching For Bobby Orr by Stephen Brunt

I am almost ashamed to admit but Hockey For Dummies was quite helpful. I am new to hockey so I am learning on the fly. By watching games you can learn a lot but there are many gaps to fill and Hockey For Dummies did fill in some gaps.

Ken Dryden is a great writer and The Game is one of the best books I have read, regardless of genre. He opened my eyes to the simple fact that most professional athletes view their sport careers as nothing more than a game. Dryden didn’t live and die during his tenure with the Canadiens. He was a great goalie, won six Stanley Cups and retired young. To him being the net minder for a dynasty was just a game. Nothing more.  (Editor’s Note: I am wearing a Ken Dryden shirt today). 

There are some writers I aspire to be or influenced me (Hunter S Thompson, David Sedaris, Chuck Klosterman, Bill Simmons). I don’t have the talent like the aforementioned scribes but they are the goal.

For hockey writing Dryden is the goal. To quote Derek Smalls, “Imperfection is the journey and perfection is the goal.” So I amble on as a writer trying to be legit and have well written articles. It’s good to have goals.  Thomas Edison used the inventions by Galileo as a measuring stick. I use a retired hockey player/lawyer/politician from Ontario.

Some recent articles that Dryden wrote for Grantland:

• Where Does the Fight in us Come From?
• Concussions in the NHL: Waiting for Science
• Time for the NHL to get Head Smart
  

Courtesy of MetroNews.CA

Kirk Snyder’s underwhelming stint with the Halifax Rainmen came to an end yesterday when the ex-NBA starter left the team to pursue another opportunity.

The six-foot-six small forward saw 28 minutes of floor time in three games with the Rainmen, recording six points and missing 14 of 16 shots. Snyder hadn’t played pro basketball in almost two years because of legal problems.

Rainmen owner Andre Levingston said Snyder has drawn “interest (from a team) in China for some substantial money” and that the 27-year-old is headed to Houston to train for the opportunity.

There’s no town like No Town – ECM

 I consider Reno, NV to be my surrogate hometown. I went to college there, THE University of Nevada, and consider my four-year stay in No Town to be some of the best times of a Life In The DPC. I went there as an academic failure and left a college grad. DPC getting a BA in Journalism is akin to the Miracle On Ice because I failed English at Santa Rosa High School and twice during my brief tenure at Santa Rosa Junior College.

 Because I found academic success and matured as a DPC at THE University of Nevada, Reno holds a special place in my heart and that’s why I consider it my surrogate hometown. Mind you I have been to Reno since the Fall of 2007 but I think of my former home all the time and I miss it. Jim Morrison had a L.A. Hemingway had Cuba. Hunter S. Thompson had Las Vegas. DPC had Reno.

 I still read the local rag, The Reno Gazette-Journal (even though the cancelled my weekly football column), to stay on top of Nevada Wolf Pack athletics. Each night I sleep in Wolf Pack basketball shorts and on my desk at work you’ll find a picture of Lawlor Events Center (the basketball arena for the Wolf Pack), a Nevada football helmet and stuffed, miniature version of the school’s mascot Wolfie.

 I owe Reno a lot. They took me in when no other college wanted a guy with my academic achievement and they molded me into a journalist, a hockey journalist these days. Every job I have gotten since graduating is because I went to The University of Nevada.

So when I came across this article from 24/7WallSt.com, titled, The Nine American Cities Nearly Destroyed by the Recession my heart sank because my beloved Reno, NV was second on the list.

Courtesy of 247WallSt.com:

2. Reno-Sparks, NV
> Pct. jobs recovered: 1.6%
> Q4 2012 jobs: 187,600
> Pre-recession jobs peak: 225,200
> Recession jobs trough: 187,000
> Pct. jobs lost: 16.9%

Between 2007 and 2010, the median home value in Reno-Sparks, Nevada declined 37.4%, the 13th biggest drop in the country among metro areas. The problems of the recession have plagued states in the southwest, which once had booming housing markets, arguably more than any other part in the country. From the beginning of 2007 to the third quarter of this year, jobs are projected to decline by 38,200, or 16.9% of the workforce. And according to the report, only 600 jobs, a mere 1.6%, will be recovered by the end of the year.

Carson City, NV, the state’s capital was first. A while back, maybe a year or so ago I remember reading an article in RGJ that projected that Reno would be akin to Detroit. Not in a positive way, like how Detroit is home to the Red Wings, Lions and Megatron, Jack White and Eminem. No, this article maintained that Reno’s economy would sink to new lows like the Motor City.

Courtesy of the Reno Gazette-Journal, 10.4.2010 

But a housing market collapse coupled with a global economic slowdown ultimately exposed those blemishes and now threatens to turn Northern Nevada into the “Detroit of the West” — or worse, the analysis found.

Construction stalled and would-be visitors to the area opted to stay home, and now the region finds itself knee-deep in a severe budget deficit while its jobless rate soars to record levels.

Northern Nevada — which was part of the nation’s fastest-growing state in 2007 — potentially faces a slower recovery than the rest of the nation because it is ill-equipped to deal with the meltdown of its key industries. This was the case with Detroit, which continues to serve as the poster child for a community that failed to adequately respond to the decline of its main economic driver — the industrial sector.

The Fitzgerald is gone. My favorite bar, Satellite is gone. In time, I believe, that the only casinos that will be around will be the Silver Legacy, Eldorado, Circus Circus, Harrahs, Peppermill and the Atlantis. Places like the Bonanza, which was two-blocks from my old apartment won’t survive. Everywhere you go there are Indian casinos. So why drive to Reno?

I hate to say it but the Reno I knew and will always love will not exist in its former glory. By the time my son is old enough to gamble Reno will be a ghost town. Kind of like Goldfield, Nv

• Jeremy Roenick To Be Inducted Into The Coyotes Ring of Honor
• Phoenix Coyotes Week in Review: 1/16/2012 – 1/22/2012
• Three Phoenix Coyotes That Deserve To Be In The All Star Game