Whiteout conditions in Phoenix.

So sure, for some of you it’s baseball season. Maybe it’s spring football season in other portions of the country (I’m looking at you, Alabama.) But for a lot of northerners and Canadians, it’s the best time of the year. For the rest of the country, it’s simply time to start watching the occasional hockey game.

If you’re a casual hockey fan or even “not” a hockey fan, and you have an HD TV (this is critical) I’d strongly encourage you to turn a game on (if you get Versus) for the following reasons:

1) Hockey in HD blows standard definition out of the water. It’s a completely different game. If you had trouble following the puck in standard definition, that problem is eliminated.

2) There’s no other venue where the players are trying their hardest for every minute of play. Yes, even the World Cup

3) You get to grow a playoff beard. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? COOLEST TRADITION EVER!

4) The passion of the fans. See the whiteout in Phoenix (obvious plug is obvious), the octopi in Detroit, the C of Red, the national anthems, the noise in general. It’s not your run of the mill regular season game, it’s time for the most passionate of fans.

5) Did I mention PLAYOFF BEARDS?

The playoffs begin on Wednesday with the Coyotes taking on the Red Wings. Like I said at the beginning of the year, if the Coyotes make the playoffs, they’ll have no problem filling up the house. I was right, as usual, as Games 1 and 2 are sold out.

I’m not the most knowledgeable college basketball fan, so don’t expect the most in depth knowledge and statistical breakdowns to tell you what ESPN and the like are going over nonstop today. I’ll give you what you want: gut feelings. So here are, in no particular order, 5 (in honor of Butler’s seed) non-scientific reasons that Butler will win.

1) Everybody in the world thinks Duke will win.
We’ve seen this before. “There’s no way XXX loses to YYY” BCS National Championships generally, with Florida over tOSU, Texas over USC. In other football, the New York Giants over the undefeated New England Patriots. Heck, even this year when Northern Iowa beat Kansas. Nobody gave any of these underdogs a shot, and they all came through. Expect to see it again tonight when Butler plays a lot better than expected, most definitely covering the spread (Duke -7).

2) Defense wins championships.
Okay, I said no science, so this will remain abstract. Butler has kept every opposing team to fewer than 60 points thus far in the tournament. Duke, on the other hand, struggled against Baylor, giving up 73 points. Arguably the first good team Duke had to face in the tourney (and I’m a Boilermaker fan), and in a similar situation with a “home” team (Waco not being all that far away from Houston), Duke nearly choked. Butler will shut down Scheyer from beyond the arc, the key to their defensive stand against the Blue Devils.

3) 2010 is the year of the sentimental story
Okay, so it’s only April, but so far this year the Saints, from a city still recovering from being essentially completely razed, defeated the perennial powerhouse of the Colts. All of America was pulling for the Saints that night, just as all of America is pulling for Butler tonight. The second story? Okay, nobody cares yet, and it hasn’t made the news, but quietly the Phoenix Coyotes are on their way to the playoffs after an offseason of bankruptcy and the threat of moving back to Canada. Wait until they win the Cup, then you’ll know I’m right.

4) Butler is playing at home (sort of)
Okay, so you’re thinking this is about crowd noise or sheer number of fans in the building… It’s not. Butler, like Duke, isn’t a “big” school. In fact, I’d venture to say that if every Butler alumni still alive were to be at this game, they wouldn’t even fill Lucas Oil Stadium. The difference is that Butler will be able to practice at Hinkle, sleep in their own beds, eat their home food, be able to keep their routine. Don’t underestimate the value of a home cooked meal!

5) Butler has won 26 straight!!!
Is everyone forgetting this? Butler is NOT a bad team!

5A) My girlfriend went to Butler, didn’t even know they were in the Elite 8 until I told her, and she falls into everything in the world (after all, she did get me (!!!))

5B) Their mascot is named Blue. How many times can you yell “You’re my boy, Blue!” with 6 beers in you? I guarantee you will not get sick of it.

I’m going to go ahead and say it here, right now: Butler 68, Duke 65.

So apparently I’m a popular guy on Twitter after a few people found the Joe Morgan drinking game. He really is inept and doesn’t belong in the box, let alone the “premier color announcer” for ESPN.

Tonight alone, Joe Morgan has introduced some great drinking game quotes:

“If Derek Jeter is the straw that stirs the drink, Alex Rodriguez is the fuel that powers the engine” What? That’s a drink.

“[Sabathia and Beckett] are Koufax and Marichal in their primes out there.” That’s a drink for stupidity and a drink for comparing to players of the past.

This was all before the middle of the first. 3 shots. I hope you ate a big dinner.

We’ll be continuing onward with more quotables as the game continues.

Top 2:
Joe made an astute comment about the Donovan McNabb trade! That’s probably worth a drink right there.

Joe “How far is it down the line? 280?”
Jon: “302″

That’s a definite drink.

Joe: “Do they call it Pesky’s pole” I mean at this point you’re 3 drinks deep and there have been no outs…

The best news is that they’ve watered down Morgan’s role with the addition of Orel. Finally we get out of the top of the 2nd, and you’re probably not seeing straight if you’re playing the JM Drinking Game.

Bottom of the second and Joe reminds us that “You can’t win a ballgame 0-0″ 7th drink of the night. Unless you’re 500 lbs, you’re legally drunk by now.

We’ve made it pretty far in the game without a whole lot of Joe Morgan stupidity, I think the decision to put in Orel Hershiser was to eliminate Joe Morgan’s need to fill in silence. Hopefully they’ll phase out Joe.

FINALLY, BOTTOM OF THE THIRD, JOE MORGAN, “We did the first night home opener back in Cincinnati.” Drink up, amigos!
In fact, he went with the “Cincinnati – Tonight’s weather” comment combination! He’s getting back in midseason form!

Joe reminiscing about his playing days with Orel, that’s a drink. 12th drink of the night.

It seems that tonight Jon is trying to talk more about the past than Joe has. I wonder if perhaps he’s just goading Joe into telling some horribly long story about the 1970s and get everyone in the country playing the drinking game to fall out of their chairs.

“Johnny Bench told me that” regarding country music no longer being call country western. That’s two drinks, we’re up to 14!

“Clearly he is out” on a blown call by Angel Hernandez where Pedroia was safe. 15!

After getting out of the box with a bunch of quality quotes, Joe is rather quiet. Perhaps age is finally getting to Joe. Who would’ve thought that senility would make Joe Morgan more palatable. And right on cue, a Rod Carew reference. That’s drink number 16.

Joe can’t tell the difference between Sabathia and David Ortiz, “David Ortiz only gave up one left handed home run [pause for about 10 seconds]. CC Sabathia only gave up one home run to a left handed hitter”

Big Red Machine reference with Joe talking about his playing days, bottom of the 6th. Two more drinks!

I’ve actually reached the stage where I’ve completely tuned out Joe Morgan and it’s Opening Night! I am in midseason form myself!

“The hearing is bad out of my right ear anyway” – Joe Morgan. I wish I was also so lucky.

Purdue Celebrating after clinching a Sweet 16 berth.

In only two weeks, the Boilermakers have gone from 11 point halves to looking like one of the better teams in the country. I am absolutely floored, to say the least. The surprising return of chemistry has made the Boilermakers a force to be reckoned with. Next up on the table, the Boilers have the Duke Blue Devils. Needless to say, one can expect Purdue to have the entire country rooting for it on Friday night. Nobody likes Duke.

The game that brought them into the Sweet 16 was one of the better ones I’ve seen this year. It’d be hard to name one star of the game, though Chris Kramer makes the most compelling case. The play of the bench, including Patrick Bade (in the surprising performance of the year) and DJ Byrd, made the absolute difference as Purdue went into overtime to defeat Texas A&M. This team continues to give me heart attacks and I can only hope that Purdue continues winning, though I think our shot against Duke is slim. However, should Purdue be able to best Duke, a matchup against Baylor or St Marys might be what it takes to get Purdue to the Final Four. While I have to consider this year a success so far, a trip to the Final Four would be absolutely unheard of given the condition of the team. Even more, it’ll set up the team for next year and I think that a Final Four next year is a reasonable goal, assuming all three Juniors return for their Senior year.

In other surprising news, the Coyptes have won 9 straight. I was fortunate enough to attend win 8 on Saturday, at home against the Blackhawks. One of the most disheartening things to happen in sports, in my opinion, is to have away fans show up at your house and make the place sound like a home game for them. The Blackhawks fans in attendance were everywhere, they were loud, and of course, like anyone from Chicago, they were obnoxious. Surprisingly, the Coyotes fans were actually able to drown them out. As I said a long time before the season began, if the new owners put together a winning team, the fans would come. The game on Saturday was the best atmosphere I’ve encountered in Phoenix hockey since the playoffs in 2002. I fully expect Jobing.com arena to be rocking for the playoffs. The whiteout is one of the best traditions in all of sport, and 8 years for it to be gone was too long. If the Yotes continue playing this way, I’d be surprised if they didn’t make the conference finals at minimum.

It’s a good time to be a sports fan. At least, a Purdue / Phoenix Coyotes fan.

Minnesota 37, Purdue 11.

ELEVEN POINTS. I am beyond words. This domain was a fantastic (and perfectly valid) purchase.

Such ridiculous shots being taken. I’m about to walk away from the tv and just not even bother checking the score after the game but I won’t give up on my Boilers just yet.

On the other hand, my lawn does need to be mowed.

Edit: just as I hit the post button, E’Twaun Moore fell to the ground with an ankle injury. Fantastic. Lawnmower can’t be started fast enough.

In what is hopefully not a sign of things to come, Kevin Millwood has been absolutely wretched for the Orioles in his two Spring Training starts. Okay, so he claims he uses the time to experiment with new pitches and work on different mechanics, but still, a 29.7 ERA isn’t exactly the thing I want to see after spending the big bucks on a guy who will be the ace of the Orioles staff. Though his most recent outing was significantly better than his first showing (81.00 ERA), I’m still not too thrilled at the experimentation. Clearly the experiments aren’t working. Perhaps it’s time to go to more traditional means and at least settle down Orioles fans’ stomachs.

In other news, don’t look now but the PHOENIX Coyotes are in 4th place in the Western Conference. Playoff tickets are up for sale. I see the cart, but that horse is nowhere to be seen. The Coyotes really put it in front of the horse this year. I guess they’re concerned about attendance issues, but if the Coyotes make the playoffs I would not be concerned with that. They have a very realistic shot at winning their first playoff series since moving to Phoenix, and I know the bandwagon will be quickly assembled as it was for the Cardinals 2008 playoff run.

And a short rant here, but the media are counting out Purdue’s chance at getting a 1 seed in the tournament. They’re overlooking Purdue’s body of work with the fear that Hummel’s injury will lead to Purdue not being qualified for a #1 seed. Sure, the Michigan State loss may signify this, but Purdue hasn’t lost to a bad team (yet) without Hummel, but they’re not even the discussion over the likes of Duke and even Ohio State, with whom Purdue split a pair of regular season games. In fact, Lunardi currently has Purdue as a 2 seed in the Kansas bracket, implying that Purdue is the weakest 2 seed of the four!

But what does Lunardi know?

So sure, it’s a split championship. Sure, it’s spoiled by Hummel’s injury, but the Boilermakers are Big Ten Champions for the first time in 14 years. They still stand a chance to get a 1 seed in the tournament, though it’s seeming likely they’ll end up a 2 seed. With already a few upsets in the minor conference championships, it would set up Purdue with a very easy first round game, not to mention water down the field as a whole, which will benefit Purdue in the long run. But for tonight, the Boilermakers are the (Co-) Champions of the Big Ten.

I’ll take it.

Two very big statement games today for both the US hockey team and the Purdue Boilermakers, as each tries to defeat the more successful rivals from the north. As my luck would have it, both games are basically concurrent. Fortunately, I was able to figure out how to run picture in picture so I’ll be able to watch both games at once. And with it, update AMSTS.

We’ll join in live at 2 PM AZ time, with the US down 1-0 after 1 period.

2:06 PM, the teams get back on the ice, meanwhile UConn and Louisville have 29 seconds to go and Gus Johnson’s head might have splatted on the arena’s roof. I wish they could get him to call hockey.

2:07 PM, it seems like all the USA does is play in the defensive zone. Canadians are chanting. I hate Canada. Meanwhile, Louisville did Purdue a favor and won their game, ensuring there’d be no OT, preempting my Boilers.

2:11 PM, Purdue’s playing 4 Gs and a C. We’ll see how this goes.

2:13 PM, CBS replayed Hummel coming out of the tunnel and getting a deafening applause. Purdue starts the game 0/4 from the field and calls a TO trying to inbound. Rough start for the Boilers but it’s only 4-2.

2:15 PM, Canada scores again. Fuck Canada. 2-0. I’m almost tempted to switch Purdue to full screen.

2:19 PM, USA really can’t do a damn thing and every time we have a shot they whistle the play dead suspiciously early.

2:21 PM, CBS is doing a montage on Tennessee and fails to mention that Purdue beat them in December. Good job, CBS. Boilers 7-4 and Luongo just made an amazing save, ugh.

2:22 PM, Kalin Lucas just fell to the floor. Apparently a shot to the nuts. Verne is making uneasy comments. Unintentional comedy at its finest.

2:25 PM, Michigan State has 6 team fouls at 14:10 in the first. This is a good sign for Purdue. 7-6 Boilers right now.

2:26 PM, and there’s foul number 7 with 13:57 remaining in the first half.

2:28 PM, USA gets on the board! Looked like it was Rafalski from the point and someone up front deflected. I don’t have the audio on the hockey game so I have no idea. Whatever, most Americans don’t know who Rafalski is anyway. And Lucas is back on the floor after tending to his boys.

2:30 PM, KG launches a 3 and bonks it, then Bade flies out of nowhere to get the rebound. Good to see him stepping up his game.

2:32 PM, Verne keeps calling E’Twaun Moore “E-tohn”… this is driving me nuts.

2:34 PM, US is really putting the pressure on Luongo, who is making some amazing saves, as is Miller. I wish this game were on 2 hours earlier so I could watch it at 100% attention.

2:39 PM, Michigan State 18, Purdue 14. Boilermaker Nation is on Orange Alert right now. Right now I think even with a win that we’re going to get #1 in the nation. End 2nd period, Canada 2, USA 1.

2:41 PM, I really hate that Buffalo Wild Wings where the so-called “Sports fans” ask for the game to go into OT, even though their team is about to win. It really raises my blood pressure. I also hate the ad for “The Ladders.” Can we just take these two ads off of TV in a unanimous decision?

2:45 PM, Purdue is shooting 29% from the field and only down 4. I can deal with this. JJ just took his second foul with 7 minutes to go. This is basically our second team offense from here until the end of the half… This could get ugly.

2:49 PM, the Purdue crowd doesn’t sound deafening, I’d like to see Purdue make a little run to get the crowd loud.

2:50 PM, ask and ye shall receive. Kramer steals the ball and makes the dunk. Kramer is now the all time steals leader. Keaton then nails a 3. Welcome back, 14,123.

2:52 PM, Mackey is rocking after MSU’s Nix gets Ted up for hanging out on the rim. Third period starts, this is going to be timed perfectly.

2:56 PM, Another Boilermaker steal and man Mackey is rocking!!!

2:58 PM, Bade airball. So much for bringing the A game I mentioned earlier.

3:00 PM, switch to hockey, see The Ladders commercial on the Purdue feed again. You’ve got to be kidding me.

3:02 PM, halftime. Purdue 28, MSU 26. 14 minutes to go in the hockey game, this is damn near perfect timing. Hopefully Canada can have a 3rd period collapse like they did against Slovakia.

3:05 PM, Miller makes a great save and takes it out of his glove to push it up the ice and nearly turns it over. JUST FREEZE IT, SON!

3:13 PM, USA really pushing hard, only 7 minutes to go. Not a lot to say about hockey on these things, I guess.

3:15 PM, 5 minutes to go and USA is pushing hard. Canada seems content with playing defense. Not sure how wise that is.

3:17 PM, 2nd half starting up, just under 5 to go in hockey. Purdue still shooting 30%, Michigan State at 38%. Big Ten Basketball, we’ve got next!

3:22 PM, Crosby just stole the puck and had a breakaway and couldn’t do a thing against Miller. 2 minutes to go in the hockey game. The Canadian flags are waving. Miller looks itching to be leaving the crease. And he’s out with 1:20 to go!

3:24 PM, 1 minute to go, US is pushing, but to no avail. WITH TWENTY FOUR SECONDS US SCORES!!! WHAT A GAME!! USA! USA! USA!

3:28 PM, end of regulation, 15 minutes to go in Purdue game. What a day…

3:30 PM, clocks go dark in Mackey for like the 15th time this year. Daktronics, whoever they are, need to be fired.

3:31 PM, Mackey reboots. Purdue has missed 9 of its last 10 attempts from the field. The first traveling call of the day is called, despite it being the 15 occurrence by MSU.

3:33 PM, Another traveling call. Finally the refs are paying attention.

3:34 PM, Kramer is limping off the floor with what looks like a hamstring. This is not what Purdue needs.

3:37 PM, my dad just called me to talk about how exciting of a hockey game it was, oblivious to the fact that Purdue is playing. My dad never watches hockey. I think this is a good sign for the NHL in the future, if it can capitalize off of these exciting Olympic games.

3:39 PM, Michigan State has 3 guys with 3 fouls. Hopefully Purdue can keep the pressure on them. What an ugly game so far.

3:41 PM, Moore has a 3 swing around the rim and roll out and MSU goes down the other end and sinks a 3. Up by 8 with 11 minutes to go. Time for a Boilermaker rally.

3:44 PM, Overtime begins, the arena in Vancouver is almost silence with nerves.

3:47 PM, I don’t know how well my heart can handle two games that have me on the edge of my seat…

3:49 PM, Purdue shooting 29%. I can’t believe this. Someone needs to step up, Purdue is only down 6 and shooting this horribly. As I ask for someone to step up JJ hits a fadeaway jumper.

3:50 PM, Purdue is being outrebounded nearly 2-1 and still only down 4. They don’t really deserve to win this, but it’s not about who “deserves” to win, it’s who wins. 12 minutes to go in OT and Canada scores. Fuck Canada.

3:53 PM, at least now I can fully focus on the Purdue game. I’d much rather have Purdue win than the US win an Olympic gold in a sport that most Americans don’t care about…

3:57 PM, E’Twaun has showed up, Purdue gains a bit of momentum but still down 6 with 4:16 to go… I have half the cushion of my couch stuck up my rear end I’m so tense.

4:00 PM, Kramer draws 2 charges in 15 seconds. This kid throws it all out there.

4:02 PM, E’Twaun hits his second shot in 3 minutes. Hope this continues, unlike the 27 minutes without a made FG that happened earlier in the game.

4:08 PM, 1 minute to go, Purdue down 6. Painter timeout.

4:09 PM, Moore’s 3 bounces in and out of the rim…. again. Time to start fouling. I think this ship is sailing.

4:13 PM, Game over. Neither of those games went the way I was hoping. Ugh.

I’m going to apologize for not updating and say it’s because I knew Purdue would choke after I talked about how good their season was… but really I was too busy with other things and didn’t have my laptop AC adapter, and I love writing from the couch while my girlfriend makes me suffer through episodes of the reality show du jour.

That being said, I didn’t need to hex Purdue because Purdue did a fine job of killing itself without me.

The picture that stopped West Lafayette. Hummel lying on the floor, injured.

The picture in question. As soon as I saw it happen I had this horrible feeling in my gut that the Purdue season was over. My worst fears were confirmed the next day when the news came out that Robbie Hummel had in fact torn his ACL and was out for the season. Now I’m one that likes to remain optimistic until it’s way too late, ask me about my Orioles predictions from 2000-2007, but I’m afraid that this is it for the Boilermakers. Purdue fans will take solace in the fact that the Boilermakers still have a shot at the conference title and will be okay if they make a 2nd round exit in the NCAA tournament, but not me. This team was #3 in the country, we had an opportunity to play in a Final Four that was only 60 miles from the campus of Purdue. Fate was on our side.

Or so we thought. Fate had a different plan as Hummel fell to the ground in the middle of the first half in Minneapolis. Life stopped in Lafayette at that moment. Let me explain this to those Kentucky, Kansas, Syracuse, UNC fans out there. There won’t be “next year” for Purdue. There won’t be a big recruiting class full of McDonald’s All Americans that will be able to make a deep run again relatively soon. Purdue just doesn’t draw the talent that the bigger schools do. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, not one of the once-in-three-years variety. The Hummel injury will go down with the 2004 fumble vs Wisconsin as the two defining moments of “Purdon’t”. A team that might have been good enough but just couldn’t get it over the top. If Purdue continues to play like this in both football and basketball, the school will gain a legacy similar to that of the Chicago Cubs. Lovable losers, so close but so far, etc. As a Purdue fan, I can tell you that it’s absolutely devastating to get so close but never have any tangible results to show from so many good teams.

Purdue fans will be happy with a conference championship. If you told us that before the season, we would’ve been happy, but if we only make it to the second round of the tournament, I will be disappointed. When I saw how good this team was, I knew they were capable of more. I didn’t expect a National Championship, but I wouldn’t have ruled out an Elite Eight or even Final Four appearance. Unfortunately, I believe that the Hummel injury will end up being the breaking point of the Purdue Boilermakers 2009-10 basketball season.

We’ll get a really good idea when they face the Spartans on Sunday. And I promise more frequent updates from here on out.

Miguel Tejada, back in an Orioles uniform, this time at third base

First off, as always, apologies for the dearth of updates. Real life occupying too much time. That being said, plenty of news to report on today. The Orioles signed Miguel Tejada to a 1 year, 6 million dollar deal, apparently incentive laden. The best move of the offseason by the Orioles thus far, Tejada batted .315 last year at the age of 35, and is showing no signs of slowing down. He’ll be moved to third base, which according to Cal Ripken, takes about 100 games to adjust to after moving from shortstop. The good news is that Tejada is a hard worker so I don’t anticipate the defensive skills being as horrible as, say, Melvin Mora’s after he moved from SS to 3B. I suspect that the Orioles aren’t done yet with their offseason moves.

In other news, Purdue basketball has recovered from its rocky road two weeks ago. Beating the Illini in Urbana and today, the Wolverines in West Lafayette. Purdue is looking solid as of late, with improved bench production (compared to zero bench production in the three game losing streak). Wisconsin at Mackey Arena should prove to see if the team has fully recovered from its woes of early January.

Final quick update before I head to sleep, the Coyotes are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games. Panic has ensued as this is highly reminiscent of last year’s slide, when the Coyotes were in a similar position and ended up not making the playoffs.

But you knew all of this stuff, or at least could look it up if you didn’t care. I’d love to sit down and do some real input sometime, perhaps tomorrow.