Ranking the All Star Games

With two pro sports All Star games occurring this coming weekend (NFL and NFL), I thought it would be appropriate to rank the 4 major sports league's all star festivities.

1) NHL All Star Weekend
The best part about the NHL all star game is the fantasy draft that occurred on Thursday. It has a playground style feel to it, with two team captains alternating picks. It is always interesting to see which player will be picked last (I regret to say that this year's was Logan Couture of our beloved Sharks) and which player will be picked first. One gripe I have with this format is that captains tend to pick their teammates first, which takes the prestige out of the first pick. However, it is still the most intriguing format for an all-star game.

Furthermore, the NHL skills challenge is also interesting. How fast is Zdeno Chara going to shoot this year? Find out in the hardest shot competition. What crazy stunt will be pulled off in the breakaway challenge in the absence of Alexander Ovechkin? The skills competitions are fun to watch and I look forward to them in the next couple of days.

Looking Back on 2011

As we wrap up the year, we truly understand what a monumental year 2011 was in sports. We saw Auburn, led by future #1 overall pick Cam Newton, win their second NCAA National Championship. Then we watched as one of the most historic teams in NFL history brought the Lombardi trophy right back to its hometown, Green Bay. The Bruins won the Stanley Cups finals, defeating the Vancouver Canucks and sparking riots in the streets of Vancouver. The Mavericks beat the "Dream Team" Miami Heat to claim their NBA championship, and the world was introduced to the backyard-style play of PG JJ Barea. Then, we endured a summer of NFL and NBA labor disputes, both of which were eventually resolved: the NFL's before the season and the NBA's just in time for Christmas. Among these labor messes, the St.Louis Cardinals won the 2011 World Series over the repeat AL-Champion Texas Rangers behind the heroics of breakout star David Freese, just before Tony La Russa retired and Albert Pujols took his talents to the City of Angels. The NFL season took an interesting turn, highlighted by the success of the most famous man in sports, Tim Tebow. The playoff picture is wrapping up in time for 2012. College football had its Game of the Century - #1 LSU vs #2 Alabama - and they will meet again for the national championship. Finally, the NBA season goes underway on Christmas and everyone's eyes are in LA, ....on the Clippers.

Now it's time for some annual awards - across all four major North American sports and college football:

Rookie of the Year: Craig Kimbrel, Atlanta Braves
This man was a phenomenal closer, breaking Neftali Feliz's save record and anchoring a strong Braves' bullpen.

NHL Realignment

There's a lot more to sports than simply the games being played. Sports encapsulates so much more than that. There are conflicting personalities, intriguing storylines, differing opinions, and lots of drama. There is also a business side of sports. Each sports league is a huge business, generating tons of revenue. As a person interested in business, this aspect of sports has always fascinated me.

Although we do not always realize it, the business side of sports shows up on the news a lot. Realignment is one big issue currently, in college football, baseball and hockey. You can see my ideas on MLB Realignment here and my NCAA opinions here. I had some fun with those realignments. Here, in this post, I will be discussing hockey realignment.

There are essentially two ways to align a league. Geographically, like the NHL and NBA currently do, or by using two leagues/conferences spread across the country, like the NFL and MLB. For the NHL, I think a geographic alignment is better for the NHL, partly because it is the system already in use and partly to maintain geographic rivalries that are so important to the game. However, unlike the common east-west conference system, I think a north-south split would be better for the NHL. There are simply too little teams in the west to make an appropriately named "Western Conference" without actually including teams from the Eastern Time Zone. Furthermore, the large amount of Canadian teams makes it easier to divide the league in this manner.

NBA's loss is the NHL's gain

The best thing that could have happened to the NHL this season? The NBA lockout. I swear, without basketball, I have seen so many more hockey highlights on ESPN and other networks. Last year, they barely covered hockey at all, even during the Stanley Cup. Compare that to the NBA Finals, when entire 30 minute segments were dedicated to basketball analysis. Hockey just doesn't seem to carry that same weight in the media. Except this year.

With no basketball to attract TV audiences and sports fans, hockey has received much more exposure. On Sundays and Mondays, the NFL reigns supreme, and on Saturdays, NCAA football is what everyone talks about, but Tuesday through Friday, the NHL gets tons of publicity. Never before has ESPN talked so much about a player who isn't even on the ice (Sidney Crosby) or a team that is in its first season in its new city (Winnipeg Jets). Hell, even the Florida Panthers are getting air time. If basketball was going on right now, we would be hearing all about Kobe, LeBron, Dwight, Chris Paul, Amare, and all the other polarizing NBA stars. But they're not here to steal the spotlight.

Finally, being a Bay Area sports fan is something to be proud of...

I would like to say I started following sports sometime around 2002. I still have vague memories of Barry Bonds and the San Francisco Giants losing to the LA Angels in a 7-game World Series that year. And since I remember as far back as 2002, that means I have been a sports fan for 9 years. In my 9 years of following sports in the Bay Area, it has largely been disappointing. Yes, the Giants made the World Series in 2002, but I only barely remember that. Yes, the Raiders made the Super Bowl in 2003, but they lost to the Buccaneers in the famous "Gruden Bowl." The A's used to be good with their Moneyball strategy, but now they struggle with their tiny budget. During the past decade, sports just hasn't been the Bay Area's thing.

The last few years have changed that.

Let's start with the 49ers. They have had quite the tumultuous decade, going through 6 head coaches (1 interim), 8 losing seasons, and a 1st overall pick that had underperformed until this year. Ever since I started following sports, the Niners have been less than mediocre; that is, until Jim Harbaugh took over this year. This season has been a treat. The 49ers are playing awesome football. And I am loving it.

NHL Preseason Predictions

I really meant to make these predictions before the start of the season, but I've been really busy lately. I'm sure these predictions are still valid although the season has already started. Here they are:

Western Conference:
1) San Jose Sharks* - Heatley and Setoguchi are gone, but they have a legitimate shot this season thanks to new acquisitions Marty Havlat and Brent Burns, and their stars Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, and Joe Pavelski.
2) Chicago Blackhawks* - The Blackhawks have two stars in Toews and Kane, and a great supporting cast. The only question is at the goalie position, where Corey Crawford is set to start.
3) Los Angeles Kings - Having been shadowed by the Sharks the last few seasons, the Kings have what it takes to win the Stanley Cup this year, with defensemen Drew Doughty and goalie Jonathan Quick.
4) Vancouver Canucks - The defending Western Conference champs are still as good as ever but it will be difficult for Daniel and Henrik Sedin to replicate last season.
5) Nashville Predators - This team seems to stay in the middle of the playoff pack year in and year out. Look for them to make a return appearance this season.
6) Minnesota Wild - One of the biggest disappointments last season might have found a pair of win-win trades in the Heatley and Setoguchi deals.
7) Detroit Red Wings - This team is getting older and older; I'm not sure if they can challenge for the cup this season.
8) Anaheim Ducks - They have nice young player in Bobby Ryan and a stout goalie in Jonas Hiller and that should get them into the playoffs.

The NHL needs more teams in Canada, where the game is more than just a game

Canada. With a population of 34,565,000, it makes for fertile sports territory. There are thousands of potential fans waiting for a team to support. However, in the last few decades, there has been a series of team relocations that have taken place amongst the 4 major North American leagues to get teams out of our brother to the North.

It all started in 1995, when the NHL relocated the Quebec Nordiques to Denver and reincarnated them as the Colorado Avalanche. The Nordiques had an average attendance of 14,395, just around the NHL norm at the time. However, the NHL shipped them to Denver, where, in the 2009-2010 season, they averaged 13,947 people, just about the same as they did back in Quebec.

The NHL next shipped the Winnipeg Jets to Arizona to become the Phoenix Coyotes in 1996. The Jets were averaging around 13,000 fans in their last 4 years of existence, and the Coyotes averaged 11,989 fans in the '09-'10 season. Do you sense a pattern? Both times, when the NHL relocated a Canadian team to the US, the attendance numbers stayed about the same or even dipped.