Ugly

Sheesh....it is hard to get up and write anything about the Blues when they go and fucking choke away another two points at home AGAIN. Really, the Blues home record is a disgrace and, to my mind at least, speaks to the weakness of our group of core veterans especially on the blueline. I hate to say it, but I'm finding it difficult to imagine a Blues team going deep in the playoffs with Eric Brewer or Barret Jackman in their lineup, let alone Darrel Sydor or Mike Weaver. Please note, I'm not busting on these guys in the sense of saying they can't play, but I think results do speak for themselves.

Obviously, what we have isn't good enough, and I think it is unrealistic to expect Eric Johnson and Alex Pietrangelo will be able to anchor the defense without a couple of vets to provide a steady influences.

Those are vets we simply do not have, so we have to spend the offseason(s) acquiring them.

I Want My MLS

Unfortunately, I'm probably not going to get it: MLS players prepared to strike

MLS players have voted overwhelmingly in favor of a strike if a collective bargaining agreement with the league is not reached in time for the season openers in two weeks, the Insider has learned.

In a written vote, more than 350 players supported a strike and only two opposed it, a source close to the situation said.

"We will not start the season without a new agreement," said a veteran player, who requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the negotiations. "To be quite blunt, it doesn't look good at all."

When I look at the situation I have to, by and large, come down on the side of the players in this one. I simply think it is time to alter the structure put in place during the league's infancy. I certainly didn't support the players when after 3 or 4 season they began to make strike threats, it now is a different landscape. The owners cannot forever live on the "newness" of the league as being a reason why the original system must not be changed.

I'll point out, that I say this as one who only rarely takes the side of players unions in these types of disputes. Sometime, I take the "a plague on both your houses" approach, like in MLB back in 1994, but most often I side with the owners. The most recent example of that was the hockey lockout back in 2005.

As much as I'd love to have MLS start on-time, particularly since I've recently switched to satellite TV and can purchase the MLS season package, I have to cheer on the players this time.

I'm just hoping the owners cave soon.

UPDATE:

Further proof that even DishNetwork doesn't think there will be MLS anytime soon; only two weeks or so before the season begins, DishNetwork is still not allowing people to sign up for the Direct Kick service.

Notts County: Going Out In A Blaze Of Glory?

Notts County have won four in a row under new manager Steve Cotterill. This puts the Magpies in a fantastic position to win automatic promotion to League One next season.

League Two Standings:

Team P GD PTS
1 Rochdale 34 39 69
2 Bournemouth 35 8 63
3 Bury 35 5 61
4 Notts County 32 41 60
5 Chesterfield 35 8 60
6 Rotherham 33 8 56
7 Shrewsbury 35 7 55
8 Northampton 35 7 52
9 Aldershot 34 7 51
10 Dag & Red 34 4 51
11 Port Vale 35 6 49
12 Burton Albion 34 2 49
13 Morecambe 34 5 48
14 Accrington 32 -2 47
15 Crewe 35 0 46
16 Bradford 34 -6 43
17 Barnet 34 -9 38
18 Hereford 34 -15 38
19 Torquay 35 -3 36
20 Macclesfield 34 -9 36
21 Lincoln City 34 -20 35
22 Cheltenham 34 -16 31
23 Grimsby 35 -23 27
24 Darlington 32 -44 16

So, at this moment they are sitting one point out with three games in hand.

It's an enviable position, to be sure, but it is hard to get too excited when it seems likely Notts will not be allowed to keep its core players for next season. So, the jump up will, in all likelihood, be followed by a plummetting back to League Two.

We can only hope the fall stops there.

In the meantime, enjoy them going out in a Blaze of Glory.

A Blues Update

Don't think I'm not paying attention to the St. Louis Blues. Oh, I am:

The St. Louis Blues are working on another late-season surge.

Paul Kariya scored twice, combining with Brad Boyes for a pair of goals during a 17-second span of the first period, and the Blues extended their winning streak to a season-best five games with a 6-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Thursday night.

Alexander Steen, Patrik Berglund and T.J. Oshie added goals for the Blues, who've scored 23 goals during the five-game stretch.

Last season, the Blues closed with a 9-4-1 surge to earn a playoff spot.

"I'm new to the situation, but I'm aware of what happened last year," said coach Davis Payne, who took over for the fired Andy Murray on Jan. 2. "This is a new (season). We know exactly what we have to do and it's good for us to have that type of experience to know it's possible."

Chris Mason made 29 saves for the Blues, who boosted their road record to 18-9-4 in the matchup of teams attempting to climb into the Western Conference's top eight.

St. Louis has 69 points - one more than Dallas - and the Blues pulled even with Calgary at No. 9. Detroit holds the conference's No. 8 spot with 70 points.

I swear, it must be possibile for an entire team, made up as it is with players who are varying points in their personal careers, to collectively go through a sophomore slump. The entire first half of the season just had that feel. They didn't totally suck for extended stretches, but they never got it going either. And, it wasn't the sort of thing you could pin on only a couple players. Everyone underwhelmed, from Kariya & Tkachuk to Backes, Oshie and Berglund. Hell, even reliable players like Andy McDonald were just okay.

Now, however, everything looks different. I've seen the last couple of games (thank you free week of NHL Center Ice!), and, my God, are we playing well. We have four lines we can throw out there regularly. I keep watching them and saying to myself, "So, that's what that looks like. Huh. I'd forgotten." The D is doing what it has to, and EJ is growing by leaps and bounds out there. Mason, who didn't impress in the first couple of months, is now on top of his game. The role players are filling in their niches admirably. Hell, even the spare part they picked up, D'Agostini, looks like he should fit in well.

I have nothing to complain about for a change.

I Used To Rock!

I just spent a few minutes looking back over the posts from the very first month of this blog's existence, and all I can say is..... Holy shit! This used to be a fucking entertaining read!

It isn't anymore.... but it used to be great.

Crap changes.