To Blog or Not to Blog

I started this blog as a college assignment and as the semester comes to a close the future of this blog is very much up in the air. The original concept of the blog was to be a Boston sports blog with extra focus on hockey and more specifically the Bruins. Unfortunately, the NHL lockout complicated this quite a bit as it left me with no hockey to write about with the exception of lockout updates, not exactly the most exciting or pleasant topic to discuss.

It is largely due to this that I will likely put my blogging on hiatus for the time being. I think blogging has a lot of potential to be something that I may very well enjoy doing and something that I think i will try again in the future, either as a hobby or perhaps even professionally if I am lucky. Whether or not I decide to return to this blog or start fresh remains to be seen but for now I’d just like to say thank you do any readers here at Kick His Ass Sea Bass and i hope you enjoyed my blog. Happy Holidays!

Patriots-Texans recap

New England Patriots logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

The Patriots made a huge statement to the entire NFL on Monday night: The Patriots are back. Not that they had ever left. But some less than impressive performances during the 1st half of the season appeared to be merely  one of the elite teams in the AFC this season rather than the elite team in the. However after the Patriots 42-14 dismantling of the 1st place Texans there is little doubt now that the patriots are still the team to beat in the AFC.

 

This weeks game was expected to  potentially be game of the year material, and was getting a lot of hype in Houston, with star receiver Andre Johnson even calling it the most important game in franchise history. In stead the game proved to be no contest. Tom Brady and the Patriots offense moved the ball at will on a very strong Texans defense and the much improved Patriots defense turned in perhaps their most impressive performance of the year. While the Texans appeared to wilt under the pressure of the big moment the Patriots showed that it is nothing new to them and much like many past teams in the Brady-Belichick era, perform best on the biggest stages.

 

Although the 11-2 Texans remain in 1st place the Patriots (10-3) now hold the head to head tie breaker over both Houston and Denver (10-3) meaning that if the patriots take care of their own business for the next 3 weeks and get a little help the road to the super bowl may very well go through Foxboro.

 

Sox Sign Napoli and Victorino

Shane Victorino (Photo credit: Keith Allison)

With Baseballs winter meetings currently taking place the Red Sox ave made 2 significant free agent signings over the past few days, signing former catcher/1st baseman Mike Napoli to a three year-39 million dollar deal and outfielder Shane Victorino also for 3 year s at $39 million.

The Napoli signing comes as a surprise to no one. The Red Sox have been linked to Napoli since the start of free agency. While Napoli does have his deficiencies defensively his on base and power numbers make him a strong addition to the Red Sox lineup and the right-handed hitter appears to posses the ideal “Fenway Swing”.

The Victorino signing on the other hand puzzles me a bit. While I respect Victorino and think hes a good player and a good guy who could have a positive influence on the club house, the 3 year $39 million price tag seems awfully high for a speed player who is on the wrong side of 30. While by all accounts Victorino is a good guy, a solid pro, and a great teammate, this at least on the surface appears to be another example of the Red Sox overpaying for talent, a philosophy that has frustrated most Red Sox fans in recent seasons. This also speaks to the state of the current free agent market in which players are being paid higher than their actual value because the free agent class this offseason is so thin. That all being said if Victorino comes out and plays well this seaon most fans won’t care much about the over-payment and Victorino has the potential to become a fan favorite here in Boston. However, for now at least, I remain skeptical.

Swisher or Napoli?

I’m gonna switch things up here a bit. Although the Primary focus of this blog to this point has been on hockey I’ve decided that I’m not doing anymore hockey posts until the lockout ends. After all this is a Boston Sports blog not just a hockey blog. So without further ado I now present the first Red Sox post here on Kick His Ass Sea Bass.

After the colossal disaster that was the 2012 Boston Red Sox season, this is a very important off-season for Sox management. Management has to go back to making decisions with baseball in mind first rather than the PR driven moves that have dragged the Sox down in recent seasons. This brings me to the two players who are reportedly at the top of the Red Sox free agent wish list this off-season- Nick Swisher and Mike Napoli.

Both players are reportedly being pursued heavily this off-season by the Red Sox, and the Sox are considered to be among the front runners in negotiations to land both players. Both Swisher and Napoli are players that not only seem to be good fits for this team baseball wise but are also both big enough names to satisfy the PR obsession that Sox management seems to have. So the question I ask here is simple- if hypothetically the Red Sox can only sign one, who is the better fit?

Swisher seems to be a natural fit for the Red Sox. Swisher, a switch hitter, has consistently posted above average on-base and power numbers both qualities valued by the Red Sox front office. Swisher also provides defensive versatility with the ability to play both 1st base and out field, both positions of need for the Red Sox, and is an adequate defender at both positions. Additionally Swisher’s fun-loving personality could provide a breath of fresh air into what has been a toxic club house perhaps even bringing back some of the old “idiots” vibe from the beloved 2004 team.

Napoli also appears to be a very good fit for the Red Sox. Like Swisher, Napoli has posted both strong on base and power numbers throughout his career and the right handed hitter appears to have a swing tailor made for Fenway Park. Napoli could also fill the void the Red Sox currently have at 1st base as well as catch occasionally, although he is not very good defensively at either position.

Id love to see either of these players in a Red Sox uniform but if I had to take one I’d give the slight edge to Swisher due primarily to his all-around versatility. That being said I don’t think they could really go wrong with either player and I think both would be excellent additions to the ball club.

Movember

From Movember to playoff beards facial hair is an integral part of hockey culture. Although the NHL is still locked out that doesn’t mean the tradition of Movember should die. As November winds down I thought it would be fun to post some different Movember/Novembeard styles.

The Full Beard.

Not sure what to call this one. It kinda looks like a cross between Wolverine and 21st U.S. president Chester A. Arthur.

Handlebars with sideburns. Probably never doing this one again, since it makes me look like I belong on a registered sex offenders list.

Handlebars. A personal favorite of mine. So much better sans sideburns.

The classic mustache.

That about wraps it up. I hope everyone had a good Movember and lets all hope this lockout ends soon so we can actually have some hockey this season.

Never Ever Getting Back Together?

I’m finally starting  to accept the fact that we probably wont have hockey this season. Up until now I had remained cautiously optimistic that a deal could get done. However every time it appears that progress is being made in the labor negotiations between the NHL and NHLPA inevitably things stall or even take a turn for the worse. Its been a process of one step forward, two steps back.

Perhaps I’ve been in denial this whole time. In  fact I really should have seen this coming. After all this is the 4th time there has been an NHL work stoppage under commissioner Gary Bettman, and NHLPA head Donald Fehr is the same man who once molded the MLBPA into the most powerful union in all of sports. A standoff should have been expected. I guess I was just naive to think that the two sides would realize that a prolonged lockout would be extremely detrimental to the sport right now. Unfortunately this clearly isn’t the case.

Things were actually looking good recently As the two sides spent several days actually negotiating, something that they had seemingly done little of throughout this process. However negotiations apparently broke down to the point that Bettman suggested the two sides take a two week break from negotiations. Bettman has since backtracked on these statements but it is still an example of how far apart these sides still are at this stage of negotiations.

I’ve loved hockey my whole life and the on ice product the NHL has had the best few seasons is perhaps the best it has been in my life time. The games are played at a faster pace than ever before and the playoffs in recent seasons have been nothing short of phenomenal. But the NHL itself is perhaps the most poorly run organization is sports. It’s almost unfathomable that a league would treat its fans, its customers so poorly. Just as fans were starting to come back from the last lockout we’re right back where we started again. The league has already cancelled the first 2 months of games as well as the highly popular Winter Classic (and with it the absolutely glorious 24/7 HBO series) and the fate of the rest of the season appears to be at best bleak. NHL fans everywhere are left to wonder if the two sides are ever getting back together.

Former NFL labor mediator on NHL lockout: "I'd volunteer to do it for free"

Reblogged from ProHockeyTalk:

The U.S. Magistrate Judge that mediated NFL-NFLPA talks wants a crack at solving the NHL lockout.

"I’d volunteer to do it for free," Arthur Boylan told ESPN New York. "I’d love to get this thing done."

Boylan, who helped bridge the gap between NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA boss DeMaurice Smith last year, also happens to be a huge hockey fan.

Read more… 302 more words

Please NHL take this guy up on his offer so we can actually have a season