End Of An Era In Detroit

Twenty Five years. let that number sink in for a second. Twenty Five years. That's how many years in a row the Detroit Red Wings have made the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Wings haven't missed the playoffs since 1989-90. In that time, the boys from Hockeytown have made the playoffs every year since, including Stanley Cup victories in 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2008. Now the run has come to an end.

Thanks to the Red Wings 4-1 loss to Carolina Tuesday night, coupled with wins by both the Bruins and Maple Leafs, the Red Wings will miss the playoffs for the first time in a quarter century. Before we go on with looking at what happened and what the Cup playoffs will be without Detroit, lets put this into a little bit of perspective.

When the streak came to an end thanks to the loss against Carolina on Tuesday, nine players who were dressed for the Red Wings weren't even born yet. During Detroit's incredible 25 year playoff run, they won the four Cups mentioned earlier, made eight conference finals appearances and took 14 division crowns over the course of that playoff run. And think about that run. Twenty five straight years of playing in the post season. Doing that in any sport is quite impressive. Detroit's playoff run was the longest current streak in the four major sports. Now that Detroit's run has come to an end, the longest playoff streak now belongs to the NBA's San Antonio Spurs, who's qualified 20 years in a row. The Pittsburgh Penguins now have the longest NHL streak, which is likely to be extended to 11 seasons this year. Detroit's run is tied for the third-longest in NHL history, behind the Boston Bruins (29 seasons from 1967-68 to 1995-96) and Chicago Blackhawks (28 seasons from 1969-70 to 1996-97).

What happened to the Wings this year? You'd think that in this year more so then any year in the past, would give the club extra incentive to try and make the playoffs. Not just for the streak. It is after all the final year of Joe Louis Arena. After all, its been the home of the Red Wings since 1979. Detroit will move into its new building, Little Caesars Arena starting next year, 2017-18. As for the play on the ice this year, there has been too much inconsistent play from the Wings to try and keep them afloat in the playoff race. Offense was a major issue. Several players didn't step up as expected and the power play was ranked last in the league much of the season. The defense struggled. Goaltender Petr Mrazek didn't perform to the level he did the first half of last season. You know its bad in Hockeytown when there's one team in the East with a worse record then the Wings, and in total, there's five teams who have less points on the year then Detroit.

You knew, somewhere along the line, this was bound to happen. As the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end. Just didn't exactly see it coming this way for Detroit. I would have seen it being something like a battle with somebody else in the conference for the final playoff spot in the conference and losing out on the last day of the season. But the fact that the Wings are out with about a week and a half to go in the year, and it being the final year of the Joe, make it sting a little more.

Still, nothing can take away from what the Detroit Red Wings did. Make the playoffs for twenty five straight years is quite the feet and the Red Wings organization should be very proud of that accomplishment.

Madness Of March Continues

Well another weekend down, another step closer to a national champion in College Basketball. So far, this NCAA Men's Basketball tournament has been able to live up to the billing. It truly has been March Madness. Great basketball has been on quality display over the last four days, giving fans what they crave, high drama and upsets galore during the tournament. We have our final four set for next weekend, and we will preview those final four games by the end of the week. For now though, lets take a look back at what that was going from the sweet sixteen and the elite eight.

One of the biggest stories to come out of the first couple of rounds of the tournament had to be Xavier. The Musketeers weren't expected to get very far in this tournament. But what did they do? They make it all the way to the Elite Eight by beating some very talented teams. IN the first three rounds, the knocked of Maryland, Florida State and Arizona, the last one coming in a nail biting two point win. The big reason why Xavier got to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2008 was because of Trevon Bluiett, who dropped 25 points and played out of his mind again. He scored 18 of his 25 points in the first half of the game. And Arizona had a lead with about two minutes left in regulation, but couldn't hold the lead and got knocked out. This is one of the reasons that its called March Madness because you just never know what's going to happen. The only problem is, they ran out of magic. Xavier, for as great a run as they had, would get blown out by one of the best teams in the country in Gonzaga, falling to the Bulldogs 83-59 in their elite eight faceoff.

And sticking with Gonzaga, they've had a bit of pressure on them as well. The Zags have never made it to a final four, they finished the season as regular season and conference champions and had one loss all year. But there was still that stigma. They've dominated most of the tournament and showed why they are a number one seed. They had finally started finding a groove from behind the three point line, to go along with the presence in the paint. They are going to the final four for the first time ever.

To stick in the theme of what Xavier has been doing, South Carolina has been doing the same thing. They have become only the 2nd seven seed to ever make the final four, joining Virgina in 1984 as the only seven seed to do so. They pulled off big wins over Duke, a twenty point win over Baylor and a seven point win over Florida to make the final four Duane Notice's breakaway right-handed jam with 11 seconds remaining sealed the Gators fate and moved the Gamecocks on to the big dance. Sindarius Thornwell stepped up for the Gamecocks, leading all scorers in this game with 26 points. Oh and there was the defensive pressure. The Gamecocks' constant pressure on the perimeter stifled Florida, who finished 7-of-26 from beyond the arc. That stiff defense has been the reason why South Carolina has gotten to their first final four ever.

Then we have the story of Oregon, who have pulled themselves into the final four after beating Michigan and Kansas over the weekend. Jordan Bell has been the driving force for the Ducks in the tournament. He has gotten his name into the record books, as Bell is the first player with at least 12 boards in five straight tournament games since Hakeem Olajuwon from 1983 to 1984. Oh and the 8 blocks he had in the win over Kansas were the most ever by Pac-12 player in NCAA Tournament game.

To round out the final four, North Carolina had the game of the tournament, beating out Kentucky 75-73, to reach the final four for the 20th time ever, the most in the history of the tournament. Luke Maye never has to take another shot and his name will live in infamy for hitting the game winning shot to move the Tar Heels back to the final four for back to back years. He sunk the game winning field goal with 0.3 seconds to go on the clock to end Kentucky's season. It wasn't just Maye hitting the game winning shot. Kentucky had no answer for Kennedy Meeks on the boards. The Tar Heels big man grabbed 17 rebounds, including five on the offensive end. Meeks also blocked four shots, doubling the Wildcats' entire output.

Still with all the action going on, it made for a very entertaining weekend of basketball.

First Two Rounds Live Up To Hype

They don't call it March Madness for nothing. So far, the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament has lived up to its billing. By definition, an upset is an unexpected result or situation, especially in a sports competition. You have them all the time in this tournament, and this year was no exception. Seeing a #9 beat a #8 seed doesn't really count in my mind, because those seeds are so close to each other it can't REALLY be counted as such. With that being said, here's a look at some of the upsets that took place during the first two rounds of the tournament.

No. 12 Middle Tennessee 81, No. 5 Minnesota 72
This was the same team, Middle Tennessee, that pulled off the first upset of last years tournament as well. Last year, as a #15, Middle Tennessee knocked off #2 Michigan State. This year, they did it again to a Big Ten school, this time it was Minnesota. Reggie Upshaw and Giddy Potts, of Middle Tennessee, had 21 and 19 points, respectively to lead the charge for the Blue Raiders. All this happening after Minnesota jumped out to an early 7-0 lead. But Middle Tennessee stayed the course, and came back with a balanced, efficient offense. I was still a little surprised that Middle Tennessee was even a 12 seed, considering the fact that they won 40 games during the regular seaosn, but still they pulled out that big first round win.

No. 11 Xavier 76, No. 6 Maryland 65
Xavier has been down this road before. They have been in the tournament 11 times in the last 12 seasons and made the sweet sixteen now four times in nine years. They know what they're doing. Sure, they came in slipping, as they closed out the regular season on a six game losing streak. That didn't matter once the tournament started. They had hit the reset button at the start of the tournament. Xavier was down 50-47 with 13 minutes left when they rattled off a huge 14-0 run. Maryland had trouble adjusting to Xavier’s variety of man-to-man and zone defenses, and lost their tournament opener for the first time since 1997. Among the pertinent numbers were Xavier’s 34-24 dominance in rebounding and 30-13 gap in bench points. Trevon Bluiett was a big reason for the turnaround. HE went 1 for 8 in the first half, but closed out the game with 18 points. He was a big reason why Maryland got bounced and Xavier is moving on.

No. 11 USC 66, No. 6 SMU 65
It was a repeat of November all over again. USC beat SMU 78-73 back in November. But between then and now, USC had slipped and SMU had been on a roll, winning 26 of their final 27 games. That didn't matter once the tournament got started. USC trailed by 12 points in the first half, but for them, that’s only a minor convenience. They had rallied from double-digit deficits to win 12 games this season, so clearly this is nothing new. USC shot 58 percent the second half and slowed down SMU with the zone to pull even, and Elijah Stewart’s 3-pointer with 36 seconds left ended up being the game-winner. Stewart finished the game with 22 points, but none bigger then the three with time running down. The Mustangs’ Shake Milton missed a floater in the final seconds. SMU, using only six players, lost after leading for nearly 36 minutes.

No. 11 Rhode Island 84, No. 6 Creighton 72
Rhode Island had been ranked 23rd in the AP polls, but due to a rash of injuries, they looked like they might miss the tournament. That all changed thanks to a little eight game winning streak to close out the regular season. It helped punch their ticket to the big dance for the first time in 18 years. Rhode Island lead this game wire to wire, but that's not the only real surprise in this game. There were actually two surprises in this contest. Rhode Island had shut down Creighton's Justin Patton. Patton had come into the game ranked 2nd in the country in field goal precentage. Thanks to the defense of Hassan Martin, Patton missed nine of his 12 shots. Rhode Island Freshman guard Jeff Dowtin came in averaging 4.9 points a game, and scored 23. This is just one perfect example of anything can happen come playoff time.

No. 8 Wisconsin 65, No. 1 Villanova 62
Some had Villanova possibly repeating as champs. Either that or at least getting back to the final four. You now scrap those plans altogether. They were the defending champs, so in theory it should have been a cake walk. Somebody forgot to tell the Badgers that. The Badgers hit 53 percent Saturday. This, while Villanova was at 41 percent. With the score tied and the game on the line, Wisconsin had the vets to finish the job. igel Hayes and Bronson Koenig knew what to do and were a forced to be reckoned with in this game. First, Koenig’s 3-pointer pushed them ahead with two minutes left. Then, with the scored tied again at 62 and the clock dipping below 20 seconds, Hayes feinted his way to open space on the baseline, and made the layup that ended Villanova’s repeat run. The Wildcats’ star Josh Hart had two turnovers trying to score in heavy lane traffic in the final minute. Wisconsin pulled it off despite missing nine of 16 free throws, making six more turnovers and trailing late 57-50.

No. 7 Michigan 73, No. 2 Louisville 69
Go back to the Big East tournament, where Michigan was an 8th seed ins aid tournament. But they've managed to win seven straight games and now find themselves in the sweet sixteen. By getting there, they've knocked off one of the heavy favorites to get to at least the final four if not a national title game. They are now watching the rest of the tournament on TV like everybody else. Michigan got by on the strength of the three pointer in their opening game against Oklahoma State to start the tournament. It wasn't the three in this game, it was the inside game that did the work for Michigan. Moritz Wagner, the sophomore from Germany, went bonkers in this basaketball game. He finished the day with 26 points, which is off the charts. Hell the fact that Michigan shot 63% in the 2nd half and pulled away in this game says a lot. Nobody really expected Michigan to do that, but they did.

No. 7 South Carolina 88, No. 2 Duke 81
Duke was another one of those teams that was expected to be a heavy favorite in this tournament. Nobody told that to South Carolina. South Carolina outscored Duke in the second half and hung 65 points on them. Think about that for a moment. They hung 65 points in a half on Duke. South Carolina had five players score in double figures, four with at least 15 points. Part of what killed Duke in this game was the fact that they turned the ball over 18 times and Luke Kanard and Grayson Allen both went cold in the 2nd half. Duke had a ten point lead in this basketball game and blew it. Duke had been to five Sweet 16s in seven years, South Carolina never, in its current format.

Let The Madness Begin

It's that time of the year once again. one of the craziest tournaments in all of sports is about to get underway. March Madness has arrived! The field of 68 is now set and between now and April 3rd, we will have figured out who's the best college basketball team in all of the country. Ever since tournament play began back in 1939, this tournament has become one of the most thrilling championship chases in any sport. By the time we hit the final four, which is in Glendale Arizona, April 1-3, we will see who really has the best teams left standing. But in reality, it's not just about being the best, its also about having a little luck on your side. The journey to the desert is going to be filled with upsets, buzzer beaters, incredible performances and plenty of shining moments. Can Villonva repeat as the National Champions? We will find out in a couple weeks. Before we predict our Final Four and Championship game, here's a few notable nuggets to throw at you.

In the opening round, the number one seeds have nothing to worry about, because a sixteen seed has never beaten a number one seed. I'm sure there's a chance it could change but not this year. I don't see Villanova, Kansas, Gonzaga, and North Carolina having anything to worry about, because they will all move on. The question is, will all four of them reach the final four? There's only once in history that all four number one seeds have faced off in the final four, that was in 2008 (Kansas (champion), North Carolina, UCLA, Memphis). We will answer the question of this years top seeds will all make the final four a little later on, but first lets get back to some of the bracket number breakdowns.

If your a two seed in this tournament, you better watch your back, because there have been eight times where you've been knocked off by a 15 seed, it happened last year where Middle Tennessee beat Michigan State. So Louisville, Kentucky, Arizona and Duke need to stay on their toes. A three seed hasn't fared much better, as 21 times in the tournament they've been beaten by a 14 seed. So, yeah Baylor, Oregon, Florida State, and UCLA better keep an eye open. Of all the opening round matchups, the one that produces the most upsets is the six versus the eleven seeds. In the past, there have been 46 instances where the 11 seed knocked off the six seed. There is some hope for the lower seeds to go deep into a tounrament. Remember Florida Gulf Coast making it all the way to the sweet sixteen  in 2013, yeah they were a 15 seed, the lowest seed ever to get that far. The lowest seed to ever reach the elite eight was a 12 seed, Missouri did that in 2002. As far as the fianl four goes, we've seen an 11 a 10 a 9 and an 8 reach that far. Lowest seed to ever make the title game was an 8 seed, which has happened three times. the only 8 seed ever, whicch is the lowest total ever to win a title, was Villanova, who won it all in 1985. The other two teams, Butler in 2011 and Kentucky in 2014, came up just short. That's why they call this March Madness, because anything can and usually does happen in this tournament.

If past performances have been indication of anything, then the Pac 12 the ACC and the Big Ten have the best chances. ACC teams have 16 national titles, followed by the Pac-12 with 15 (but they haven't seen a tyitle since 1997 with Arizona and UCLA has 11 but they haven't won since 1996) and the Big Ten has 11 titles (last coming with Michigan State in 2000).

That's just some of what's gone down in the past, but that was then and this is now, so lets get right into it. Here's how we see the final four and title game going!

Solly:
Final Four:
1. Gonzaga def 1. Villanova
2. Kentucky def 2. Louisville

National Championship
1. Gonzaga def 2. Kentucky 79-73

Steve:
Final Four:
2. Duke def 5. Notre Dame
2. Kentucky def 7. Michigan

National Championship:
2. Kentucky def 2. Duke 63-62

3rd Mic Dan:
Final Four:
1. Villanova def 2. Arizona
3. UCLA def 1 Kansas

National Championship:
3. UCLA def 1. Villanova 79-77

Jeff:
Final Four:
2. Duke def 8. Northwestern
1. North Carolina def 1. Kansas

National Championship:
1. North Carolina def 2. Duke 75-72

Greg:
Final Four:
1. Villanova def 2. Arizona
3. Oregon def 4. Butler

National Championship:
2. Arizona def 3. Oregon

Brendan:
Final Four:
10. Marquette def 1. Gonzaga
1. Kansas def 9. Seaton Hall

National Championship:
1. Kansas def 10. Marquette

So that's how the tournament, at least as I see it, breaks down. Let the Madness Begin!

Can Marshall And Beckham Gel Together?

It's no secret that Brandon Marshall is a great wide receiver. He's been a major threat and the top target for every team he's played on so far. Denver, Miami, Chicago and the Jets have all experienced his talents. He's been THE guy on all four of these teams. Now, he';s got to change his attitude just a little. He has to get adjusted from being the top guy to being a role player, something that comes with the territory of being on a contending team.

In Marshall's first year with the Jets, he put up outstanding numbers. He was a big reason why the Jets were able to stay in contention all year for a playoff spot, but they came up just short.  Last year, Marshall had a solid year, but his numbers were down due to injury and subpar play from his quarterbacks. So the Jets let him go. Now he stays in the state and plays in the same building he has the last two seasons, just with the Giants. Now he has to adjust to life, at least for the next two years, as being a number two receiver. The Giants top target is still going to be Odell Beckham jr.

Now the question is, can Marshall adjust to his new role?

He's going to have to if he wants to win. See, going from his team last year in the Jets to what he's got now with the Giants, he's actually got a shot at a title. The Giants are better built for a title run then the Jets, who are a total and complete mess right now. Marshall has a quarterback who can throw, granted he is a little erratic at this stage of his career, but Marshall has the skills to still come down with the football. But there is one little catch, no pun intended. Marshall has to get used to a reduced workload with the Giants.

For Marshall to really be effective, he needs to have about 80 to 100 catches a year. That's not going to happen with the Giants, not with Odell getting 91, 96 and 101 catches in each of the last three years. Marshall will have to get used to not being the go to guy in the receiving game. And he will have to learn to keep his mouth under control about this situation. There's been a couple of incidents where his mouth has gotten him in trouble. First is if he doesn't get the ball enough. Once that starts happening, as good as he is, he could become a negative in the locker room. That's just Marshall, that's the way he's wired. The other is when the team starts to pile up losses. Remember what happened with Sheldon Richardson last year in the locker room after the loss in KC in week three last year? Yeah there's that for one example. Then there's what happened in 2009? Broncos coach Josh McDaniels suspended him for the rest of the preseason after a practice flip-out where he punted a ball away and knocked down passes.

Some say he really has changed over the last few years, and that might be all well and good. But the biggest thing is he has to understand that he's not the top target anymore, Odell Beckahm is. At least on this team and at this time. If Marshall can get that through his head and work well with Beckham, they can make a deadly one-two punch at wide receiver.

Dirk Joins Elite Company

Scoring, its the way to win games in professional sports. The NBA is no different from any of the other big four sports in that you need to score points in order to be able to win a game. When a player can hit 10,000 or more points in a career it means they've been a productive player in their careers. Same thing with 20,000 points. But when you hit 30,000 points in your career,that's hitting a magical number. Only five players in the history of basketball have hit that mark. That was until Tuesday night, when that club jumped to six members. Dirk Nowitzki joined that elite club, now sitting with 30,005 career points. He hit the magic number against the Los Angeles Lakers.

The other members of that elite 30,000 point club include Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain. Julius Erving scored over 30,000 points in his career, but that was combined between the ABA and NBA. Nowitzki is the first international player to reach that milestone. Hitting the 30,000 point mark further cements his legacy as basketball's greatest player born outside the United States. Now this leads to a big question. Does Dirk crack the top ten all time greatest players ever?

Before we answer that, lets take a look at something else. Dirk is 38 and so far, the 2016-17 season hasn't exactly been so kind to him. Dirk missed all but five of the Mavericks' first 29 games with an Achilles injury and came into Tuesday averaging 13.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, the former his worst mark since his rookie season. His numbers are down, but that I think comes with age and how long a career he's had. Dirk is 38 years old and has played over 1,500 games between the regular season and the playoffs. He's been the face of the Mavericks franchise for a long time now. So the wear and tear has started to break down the big German, There have been moments this year when Dirk has looked like his old self. He's had a few moments that have helped keep Dallas in the fight in the West. They are a game and a half out of the final playoff spot in the West (at the time of this writing).

But still if you look at his entire body of work, Dirk has had an outstanding career. Hitting the 30,000 point mark and becoming just the 6th player in the history of the game to do it is pretty impressive. He might not be at the level of a top ten player all time, at least not trying to compare him to some of the others who have played the game. There's no doubt that he's a top 15 player all time, that is safe to say. He might be just sitting outside the top ten right behind I'd say Hakeem Olajuwon.

So congrats to Dirk on hitting the 30,000 point mark. Not bad for a guy who was traded for Robert "Tractor" Traylor on draft night in 1998!

Jets In Rebuilding Mode?

It's one of those things that really make you kind of scratch your head. After finishing the year two seasons ago with a 10-6 record and just missing the playoffs, the New York Jets came up way short last year. They finished the 2016 season with a pathetic 5-11 record, well below the standard they had set the year before. Now, it seams as if the Jets are trying to re-invent the wheel. They have been cutting players left and right, freeing up a lot of cap space. The Jets have cut ties with Darrelle Revis, Nick Mangold, Breno Giacomini, Nick Folk and now wide receiver Brandon Marshall. In total, with those cuts, the Jets have cleared more than $45 million this offseason in cap space. Some of the moves make sense, while others don't.

Letting go Mangold, which really did hurt, and Giacomini made a little bit of sense because the Jets offensive line does need to be rebuilt. Getting rid of Revis, while he was a great player, makes the most sense. Revis has been a shell of his former self the last couple of seasons. Lest year was the worst one, as every time I turned around, it looked like Revis was getting lit up like a cheap cigar. So I'm glad they finally cut ties with Revis, he isn't really worth the headache anymore. He's not the player he once was and good riddance.

With Marshall, it leaves me a little bit surprised. I understand that he had a down year last year. In 2015, Marshall was named MVP on the team, as he set franchise records with 109 catches and 1,502 yards receiving. Then, last year, Marshall took a bit of a step back, as he had just 59 receptions for 788 yards and three TDs while dealing with a few injuries and inconsistent quarterback play. He was making $7.5 Million for next year, which is a lot of money for a step down in production. I still feel that Marshall can be a very dominant receiver in this league. He's too good. I know his age is getting a tad up there, but like I said with Nick Mangold, I still feel Marshall has enough left in the tank to be a good receiver in the NFL.

This whole team is just a mess. There was fighting amongst the players last year. Todd Bowles lost the locker room during the year, the players don't fully trust or even listen to him from what I've been hearing. Bowles has said that this team isn't in a rebuild. Really? Then what would you call it? The coaching staff has had changeover. Some of the players that have been dead weight, aka Revis, have been let go. Marshall is now gone. There's no quarterback on this team at all. I mean sure they have Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg, but neither of them really appear to be ready to fully lead an NFL franchise. Not only that, but whoever ends up under center for the Jets in 2017, whether its Petty, Hackenberg or somebody else, they don't have much to work with in the passing game. Eric Decker is back to being the number one target again. Decker is coming off a year in which he missed almost the entire season due to battling injuries, so there's no telling how effective he's going to be. Even when he's on his game, I still am not really sold on Decker being a legit number one wide receiver. As of now Quincy Enunwa and Robby Anderson are the other options in the passing game. Both are solid wide receivers, but they aren't top flight pass catchers yet.

I really hope Jets management really hopes it knows what its doing. Because if this turns into another taking year, and they don't show any hope at all like they are going to get better, then there will be a lot more unhappy Jets fans.