Often times during the summer (hopefully weekly) I'll post some of my ramblings. Basically they are just some thoughts I have on certain topics but I don't have nearly enough to say about each to write an entire article. Maybe soon I'll be up to speed with technology and can post a video version of my ramblings.

Los Angeles Lakers – 2009 NBA Champs

Well, the day has finally come. Kobe Bryant led the Lakers to their first Championship since the departure of Shaquille O'Neal. I'm not about to sit here and tell you that he did it all himself because he had plenty of help with Gasol, Ariza, Fisher and Odom. I’m just saying it was nice to see him finally win one on his own so the people who always claimed he couldn’t win without Shaq can move on to another tired and useless argument. And as predicted, Shaq wasted no time in busting out the “Shaq how does my ass taste” line via Twitter.

Only a few hours after losing in the Finals, Magic guard Hedo Turkoglu announced that he’ll opt out of his contract to hit free agency. Smart move? I don’t think so. For as many good shots as he made in the playoffs, he was equally as awkward on defense and taking the ball into the paint. He also didn’t put up mind blowing numbers for someone who played as many minutes as he did. I really think he is best suited staying in Orlando but what do I know? Maybe playing for Stan Van Gundy is really that bad.

On the same weekend, rumors surfaced again that Shaq himself might be shipped off to Cleveland. I said a few weeks ago during the Lakers game that the Cavs would've rolled the Magic had they pulled the trigger on this deal before the trade deadline, so obviously it makes sense to do it now. I kind of hope it happens. But only so I can have the argument that Lebron can only win it with Shaq. Oh the irony. On a similar note, what would this say about Shaq’s legacy if he were to win the title in Cleveland? He would’ve played with Kobe, D-Wade and Lebron in helping them get their first title.

Red Wings lose at home in Game 7

The Penguins pulled off the impossible and won on the road in Game 7 to capture their first Stanley Cup since the early 90’s. Nevermind all this nonsense about Sidney Crosby not shaking hands because that is exactly what it is: nonsense. The kid is 21 years old and was celebrating a Stanley Cup victory. I think the Red Wings really need to relax when it comes to that.

Evgeni Malkin won the Conn Smythe trophy and it was well deserved. I mean, he is the best player on the Penguins. Of course, Crosby’s stellar three point performance in seven Stanley Cup games was pretty solid. I’m just asking, when is the last time the captain of the Stanley Cup champs only tallied three points in the entire series? People want to talk about Marian Hossa disappearing for Detroit, but Crosby would be just as guilty (in this series).

I don’t know what to think about Marian Hossa. The irony of him leaving Pittsburgh to win in Detroit only to lose to Pittsburgh might rank as the highest event in the history of the irony scale. I didn’t understand when people who don’t follow hockey thought it would be funny to see him lose. Trust me, I was surrounded by people like that. You never see a professional athlete turn down millions and millions of guaranteed dollars for a chance to win a championship so I was applauding what he did. What if he suffered a career altering injury this season in Detroit? He would’ve lost around 50 million dollars in the process. For once a professional athlete left guaranteed money on the table to win a title when most athletes play for the money instead and yet he got burned in the deal.

The Coyotes aren't moving to Hamilton anytime soon

I'm all for this move. I keep hearing these stories about how a team in Hamilton would hurt the Sabres, but I guess I'm not seeing it. Fans of the Sabres will still go see the games and support the team. I don't see actual fans of the Sabres selling out if a team comes into Hamilton but I guess I can't argue with some of the experts that have researched the topic in depth.

Regardless, the Coyotes have to be moved or contracted. The NHL failed miserably in trying to expand the game into markets that aren't interested in hockey. They need to accept the fact that it is a regional sport and go to the markets that have a desire for an NHL franchise. While looking up information on this topic, I came across the fact that Winnipeg has since built a new arena that would be ideal for a new NHL franchise. So give the Coyotes back and everyone is happy.

While I understand the fact that Jim Balsillie wants an NHL franchise in Hamilton, he has a better chance at purchasing the Coytoes and moving them back to Winnipeg. It's still in Cananda and he'll still make a ton of money in the long run, so I really don't see what the big deal is. Something needs to be resolved though because having hockey in Phoenix is a waste of everyone's time.

Briere being shopping by the Flyers

In this article, it is noted that after only two seasons in Philly, the Flyers are trying to shop Danny Briere and get out of his insane contract. So far neither Montreal or LA seems interested. I find this story especially interesting after dealing with people ripping Buffalo for letting him walk two years ago. Maybe the Sabres knew what they were doing? Maybe they knew he wasn't worth that much money? I don't know, seems like it to me. Have fun with that Philly. The Sabres might be “cheap”, but at least they can manage a cap. Oh yeah, have fun with Ray Emery too!

The Charlotte Bobcats are for sale…and broke?

The Bobcats are the current reason that I’m without an NBA team. I never had an emotional attachment to them and I just couldn’t continue to follow a team that had zero interest in winning, competing or doing anything relevant in the NBA. The faster this team moves or contracts from the NBA, the better.

Now they won’t even fund a summer league team because they are broke. Sorry, I’m not buying it. They never spend money on players to be competitive, so where is that money going? Owner Bob Johnson begged and pleaded with David Stern to get a new NBA franchise in Charlotte and effectively ran it into the ground in less than 10 years. Impressive feat if you ask me.

Meanwhile people in Seattle are still in need of a team. They had theirs ripped away from them and will have to watch the OKC Thunder become a competitive team within the next two years. I say the solution to this problem is to move Charlotte to Seattle and never have another NBA franchise in Charlotte. It has failed two times now and enough is enough. Hell, I’ll become a fan if they move to Seattle. It seems like the win-win for all sides.

NFL Off-Season News

- Brett Favre is coming back. Who cares? He’s washed up and screwing over the Packers organization (again). I can’t wait to see him fail in Minnesota just like he did in New York. I’d write more but I don’t want my blood pressure to rise anymore than it already has.

- Vince Young is an idiot. I’ve said this since the day he was drafted, but he isn’t that good of an NFL quarterback. Sure he had a great rookie season but that was because teams didn’t know how to defend a guy who could run the way he could. Teams adjust in the off-season and things balance out going forward. He lost his job to Kerry Collins. He thought about quitting football (multiple times). Now he is acting like something is owed to him? Eh, good luck with that. I can’t see many people jumping at the thought of VY starting at QB for them.

- The Rams are for sale. People in St Louis are acting like they care, but I highly doubt they do. They won a Super Bowl this decade and yet the dome is never full for games. I know they struggled last season but the attendance in St Louis was terrible. I’ve been watching the Bills struggle for a decade now and the team still sells out almost every home game. If the St Louis fans care so much, they should probably show it by supporting the team when they aren’t winning the Super Bowl.

The Washington Nationals - Why?

Can we just have them removed from the league? I heard all these stories from people living in the area that they will be competitive again once they get their new ballpark and that clearly hasn’t happened. They have less people at their park than most AA clubs do at theirs. It's embarrassing to the Nationals and the city of Washington DC. Now they plan on ruining the career of Stephen Strasburg. I feel bad for the kid. Well, as bad as I can feel considering he'll be making millions of dollars to play a game. But still, you get my point. They have already been moved once so I say we just contract them now and be done with it. I'll celebrate the day that sports leagues realize that having more teams in more cities isn't always the best solution.

NHL Free Agency Starts Soon

July 1^st to be exact. I'll be coming out with some rankings for the upcoming free agents in the next few weeks. I'll start with the goalies, and then move to the defensemen and finally the forwards. Should be an interesting few months before the new season starts.

As mentioned previously here, both Devin and myself will be making our predictions round by round for both the NHL and NBA playoffs. We encourage you to join in, so either email one of us your picks, or comment on one of our posts with your picks before the 1st round gets started. Devin will have his picks posted tomorrow, but the series begin on Wednesday, so make sure you get your picks to us before then. Scoring is pretty simple, you get 5 points for picking the correct series winner and a bonus 5 points if you get the number of games correct as well. Results will be posted as we progress through each round. So without any further ado, here are my first round picks.

Eastern Conference:
1. Boston vs. 8. Montreal

These two teams are very familiar with one another and history suggests this matchup will be closer than it likely ought to be. The main difference for me is that Tim Thomas has had a Vezina like campaign this season for Boston while Carey Price has been shaky at best. Boston is also a much more physical team which usually wins out come playoff time. Montreal has been a very up and down team all year long and this series depends entirely on which Canadiens unit shows up. I think they'll play well enough to present a challenge, but ultimately not well enough to advance. I'll take the Bruins in 6, but they should at least be tested in the 1st round.

Bruins in 6 games

2. Washington vs. 7. NY Rangers

I expect this series to go the distance as this is a pure offense vs. defense battle. The Caps were near the leaders in scoring this season, while the Rangers are a very defensive minded team. The goalie matchup, which is always a big deal in the postseason is leaning in the favor of the Rangers with Henrik Lundqvist. Jose Theodore remains a bit of a question mark for the Capitals, but luckily this Ovechkin guy is pretty good. Playoff experience is also very heavily in New York's favor, but ultimately their inability to score is going to hurt them. Washington takes this one in 7 games and I expect at least one horribly stupid antic from Sean Avery and at least one incredible game from Ovechkin.

Caps in 7 games

3. New Jersey vs. 6. Carolina
This series seems to have the most likelihood for an upset in the East, as Carolina has been the hottest team in the league down the stretch. The Hurricanes have a fair amount of fire power offensively and the return of Erik Cole at the trade deadline has really given them a spark. Add to that Cam Ward's very high level of play as of late, Vezina like in fact, and the Canes are a tough task for the Devils in the first round. I'm picking against them for two reasons though really... 1. I can't stand picking against Martin Brodeur in a close matchup, he's just a machine, and with the bolstered offense in NJ this season, lead by Zach Parise, Brodeur could make the difference. 2. I think we all know at this point I don't much care for the Hurricanes and more particularly their fans. If they lose in the first round, the bandwagon empties in a hurry and I don't have to hear about them every where I turn for a long while. Devils in 6, at least I hope.

Devils in 6 games

4. Pittsburgh vs. 5. Philadelphia
Well, this was going to be my upset pick (though not much of one) in the East, until Philly couldn't handle their business yesterday and lost the home ice advantage in this series. This should be a high scoring series if nothing else, as both teams are definitely offensively based. Philly is terrific on the power play, but not so much the rest of the time, so if Pittsburgh can stay out of the penalty box, it'll go a long way for their cause. Marty Biron is a good goalie in this league, but he seems to have trouble playing at a high level for more than a few games at a time, and that's a problem this time of year. At the end of the day, Pittsburgh has more firepower with Crosby, Malkin, and company, and while this may not be the same team that made the Cup Finals last year, they're going to get at least one step closer than Philly this year. Penguins win this one in 6 games.

Penguins in 6 games

Western Conference:
1. San Jose vs. 8. Anaheim

While these two teams don't have the traditions of Boston and Montreal, the 1/8 matchup in the West is equally intriguing. Most probably haven't noticed, but these two California teams have been amongst the best in the West for several years now. Only one of them has translated that success in the postseason however. The Sharks come in as President's Trophy winners with the best record in the league, but they have struggled in the playoffs the past few years. The Ducks on the other hand, come in much like Carolina in the East, as one of the hottest teams in the league as of late. Anaheim has the core group of veterans from their Cup winning team still in tact and will be a handful for San Jose. I think the outcome of this series lies directly on the shoulders of Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov and I'll take the Sharks in 7... but I won't be the least bit surprised to see Anaheim pull off the upset.

Sharks in 7

2. Detroit vs. 7. Columbus
Detroit stumbled into the playoffs, not doing well at all down the stretch. That doesn't much matter though, they've got loads of playoff experience on their roster and they're the defending Cup winners. Columbus on the other hand is making their postseason debut, and even their best players don't really have the playoff experience to rely on either. Rookie goaltender Steve Mason has been impressive to say the least this year, but this is a completely different environment now and the Red Wings fire power might have him sweating bullets. The Red Wings have question marks in net with Chris Osgood and Ty Conklin as neither have been overly consistent this year, but both are playoff tested and proven, and either will be good enough to get by the Blue Jackets. Detroit takes this series in 5 games at most.

Red Wings in 5

3. Vancouver vs. 6. St. Louis
This series is a difficult one to pick for several reasons. First, I'll admit to not seeing hardly anything from either of these teams throughout the year. Second, they both come in absolutely on fire through the late part of the season. Neither of these teams has any playoff experience to speak of really, with Vancouver making the lone playoff appearance between the two since the lockout season. St. Louis has risen up from being one of the worst teams in the league to in the middle of the playoffs now and they do so despite having an injury riddled season. Vancouver's Roberto Luongo is one of the best goaltenders in the league and the logic here should be to go with him as the deciding factor. For some reason though, my instincts tell me to take the Blues in this series, so that's what I'm doing... St. Louis in 6 games.

Blues in 6

4. Chicago vs. 5. Calgary
Calgary kind of fell apart down the stretch and handed the division over to Vancouver, though to be fare, injuries had something to do with that. The Flames are banged up, especially amongst their defensemen. Trade deadline pickup Ollie Jokinen will finally get to see some playoff action and if he can rekindle (yes, that's a bad Flames pun right there!) the spark he brought initially, it'll go a long way towards Calgary advancing. The Blackhawks on the other hand are one of the youngest teams in the league and have little playoff experience. It'll be interesting to see how Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews handle the increased spotlight of the playoffs. I see Kiprusoff outplaying Khabibulin in this series and it ultimately making the difference. The Blackhawks are going to have plenty of future opportunities with their youth, but this isn't their year. Honestly, my main reason for picking the Flames is because I haven't picked a single Canadian team to advance so far, and that simply wouldn't be good business for the NHL. Calgary moves on in 7 games.

Flames in 7 games

As a transplanted fan, it's become a necessity for me to journey to opposing team's buildings in order to see my favorite team play. It's an odd feeling the first time, but after 3 years I've become rather used to it and I've begun to notice some interesting traits in opposing fans. In the past week I've had the fortune of attending NHL games in both the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. as well as the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina to see my beloved Buffalo Sabres take the ice. The differences between the two arenas and fan bases are rather interesting from my perspective.

Now, it's only fair to mention that I live right outside of Raleigh and have been to multiple games since moving here, so I've seen a whole lot more of the Hurricanes "faithful" as compared to those in D.C. The Verizon Center was an interesting place, located right downtown, so you're essentially forced to take the Metro in to the game, and there is a stop conveniently located right below the arena. The arena itself was fairly nice, but I'm one of those people that believe sports venues should be for sports and not try to be anything more than that. This building obviously was not geared for people like me. With full bars, restaurants, and some attempt at art on the walls, it was definitely more focused on aesthetics than what I'm used to. I suppose some of those modern amenities might be required to attract people to games in a city with so much to do.

As for the game itself, as usual, a great number of Buffalo fans made themselves present and were vocal as is always the case. Capitals fans represented themselves nicely as well however, getting loud and staying loud at key times throughout a back and forth game. The game was an exciting one, eventually heading to overtime tied at 4 each. The Sabres would end up pulling out the win in the extra period as Jason Pominville scored the game winner. It made for a Happy Birthday for myself and was a good start to a fun weekend in the nation's capital. Despite the thousands of Sabres fans in attendance and the fact that the Capitals had lost, there was almost no negative interaction between the fans that I noticed. If only this could be the case everywhere. After all, it is just a game, and regardless of your fanhood, there is no need to get ugly with others based on the result of a sporting event.

Now Carolina Hurricanes games on the other hand, that's a very different story. Again, my opinion is surely a bit slanted since I've witnessed this for 6 games over the course of 3 years, but so called "Caniacs" have proven themselves to me as aggravating to say the least. Now of course, this doesn't apply to the entire fan base, there are plenty of very good, cordial fans, and some that could be even called die hards. This seems to be the exception more than the rule to me however. The story of this so called rivalry goes back to a time shortly before I moved to the area. The 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs saw the Sabres face the Canes in the Eastern Conference Finals, a season which most Sabres fans finally thought was their year to win the Cup. Due to that fact, an extra large contingency of Buffalo fans made the trip down to Raleigh for one of the games in that series. Hurricanes fans will tell you that the Sabres fans were some of the most obnoxious, trouble causing folks on the face of the planet, while Buffalo fans of course say they were just being their usual passionate selves, something Carolina fans were not accustomed to. Again, I wasn't there, so I can't fairly assess what happened, but I'm sure it's a bit of both.

At any rate, Sabres fans had gained a reputation as the "worst" in the league in the area and have been hated ever since. I think beyond the alleged incidents during the playoffs in '06, it's more about the fact that every single time the Sabres play in Raleigh, there are several thousand Sabres fans in attendance, and we are in fact, a very vocal group. Folks in Buffalo have little to do beyond follow their sports teams with a feverish passion, which is clear when you look at the general lack of success both the Sabres and Bills have had, but their continued ability to sell out games on a regular basis. This area happens to be home to a great many Western New York transplants such as myself, and collectively, we rarely pass up an opportunity to see our favorite teams in person. Simply put, Hurricanes fans don't know what to do when 5 or 6 thousand Buffalo fans show up on their home turf and tend to make more noise than they do. This results in an obvious vitriol towards the Sabres faithful at every turn.

The larger problem is that the "Caniacs" in general are still rather clueless when it comes to hockey. Again, I'll reiterate that I'm not talking about every single fan, but certainly the majority of them. Granted, a certain amount of "homerism" is quite expected at any sporting event, but I've never seen anything close to the level of what goes on at the RBC Center on a regular basis. Despite their team being in this state for 11 seasons now, Hurricanes fans still don't seem to have a grasp for the rulebook. Any call against their team is obviously incorrect and somehow every hit made by the opposition deserves a penalty. Sure, I disagree with the officials from time to time, but I also have they ability to understand the game and realize when my team did something illegal, or when the other team made a nice clean hit on somebody. At the game I attended last night, I heard such gems as "stop using your hands, this isn't volleyball" when anybody that has watched the sport in the least would realize that short of closing your hand over a loose puck or purposefully passing the puck to a teammate via your hand is rather legal.

Just over midway through the game, the penalties were Buffalo - 0, Carolina - 1, and at the time the Sabres were up 4-0. The Hurricanes basically stopped skating and started taking bad penalties, yet in the fan's eyes, this was obviously a conspiracy. Even calls that don't require any real judgement (too many men on the ice, delay of game for firing the puck over the glass in their own end) drew chants of "Ref you suck!". This is annoying enough on it's own, but it doesn't even come close to ending there. I've never seen a fan base spend so much time concerning itself with the opposing fans rather than cheering on their own team. I always hear far more "Go Home Buffalo" chants in response to the Sabres' fans yelling "Let's Go Buffalo" and plenty of people yelling negative remarks about the Sabres rather than simply focusing on their own team and trying to encourage them. Now it's been a long time since I've been to a home game in Buffalo, but I don't recall the fans there acting this way, and that was only reinforced while in D.C. Caps fans cheered on their team, they didn't bother focusing on the opponents. Another shining example of the brilliance of the Hurricanes' fans came when down 1-0, they started heckling the Buffalo goaltender with "Miller... Miller... Miller... YOU SUCK!) chants. Generally these are reserved for times when a goalie has given up several goals and your team is easily in the lead. Did I mention that the Sabres were up 5-0 and chased Carolina's staring goaltender Cam Ward from the net in the middle of the 2nd period?

Furthermore, "Caniacs" in general are extremely fair weather, bandwagon fans... and at times they can't even get that right. Going into last night, Carolina had one 12 straight home games, and 9 straight overall. It was also fan appreciation night and their final home game of the regular season. The puck dropped at 7pm and there were still tickets available as of 5pm. Attendance was listed at 18,513, 98.8% of capacity, but I can assure you there were far more empty seats than that. This was the hottest team in the league over the past month, storming into the playoffs, and they can't even fill their arena for their last home game. This boggles my mind completely. Don't forget that a good 4 or 5 thousand of those people last night were Sabres fans too. Still it beats two years ago when craigslist was flooded with tickets at the end of the season for dirt cheap because the team was going to miss out on the playoffs, just a year after winning the Stanley Cup. And before you dismiss my opinion as biased, check out this page, which documents the changes in attendance from the first half of this season to the 2nd. Clearly the Hurricanes attendance boosted significantly late in the season when they went on a run. Now of course, winning breeds fans, that's obvious. However, look at traditionally hockey cities and there is little to no change, because they are close or at capacity all year long.

I realize this article has turned into a Canes bashing fest, but I feel the point needs to be made. I eternally hear how bad Sabres fans are (I swear they thing we eat babies) and how much trouble we cause. Even friends of my wife will say to me upon meeting me that they're surprised at what a nice, normal person I am considering I'm a Sabres fan, and how they refuse to attend games against Buffalo because they fear for their safety. Yet, I've been verbally assaulted (a certain amount of trash talk is expected of course), had things thrown at me, etc. when I've attended games at the RBC Center, and generally speaking have seen a lot more Hurricanes fans starting trouble than Sabres fans.

Now, getting back to the main point of this article, attending a game at an opposing team's venue can be a very interesting experience and lets you gain a unique perspective. This completely depends on the situation, location, etc. however. I journeyed to Jacksonville last year to see the Buffalo Bills play the Jaguars and had a good time, tailgating amongst fellow Bills fans and getting to see Buffalo win. Jaguars fans are a very sad sight however, as I easily obtained tickets below face value and several sections of the stadium were completely tarped off, so as to avoid blackout rules. Keep in mind this was a team expected to be bound for the playoffs at the start of the season and this was Week 2. At any rate, those of you from a rabid fan base, don't take for granted what you have, many teams can't muster half as good of a following regardless of their success. If you get the chance to hit the road and see your team on enemy turf, go for it, but make sure you observe everything around you. It will likely make you that much more happy to be part of a serious group of fans that are truly devoted to their team.