Friday 6 Pack

1-The Stanley Cup Final begins this week…the LA Kings take on the New Jersey Devils…who’s your pick and in how many games?

Matt – Playoff hockey is about as good as it gets.  I’m going to take the NJ Devils in 7.

Wendt – Los Angeles Kings in 6 games

Painter – The Devils have a lot of experience on their side.  This hurts to say but I'll take NJ

Blake – Brouder's been playing well, but the Kings seem unstoppable.  It all depends on which goalie gets the hottest.

Majors – I am going with the Kings in 6. Hot goalies are tough to beat!

Zach – Kings in 6

2-Memorial Day is one of the check points in MLB…who in the Show is your surprise so far?

Matt – Well I’m not surprised the Cubs suck.  I picked the Dodgers in the World Series so not that either.  Gonna have to say the AL East.  The Orioles and Rays are tied for first.  The Red Sox in last place.

Wendt – Probably a tie between the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals

Painter – Yeah....uh.... 

Blake – Baltimore and Washington leading their divisions is certainly a surprise.  Talk to me at the All Star Break, then I'll get really excited if both of those teams are still out front.

Majors – My Indians are still standing strong, so that is a plus. I am surprised though in the Phillies, they have just gotten old, fast. it happens, and sometimes it can happen in an off season.

Zach – From a team standpoint, it's obviously Baltimore playing so well. Individually, it's Melky Cabrera hitting around .370.

3-Summer is little league season, what’s one of your favorite little league memories?

Matt – First year of majors and 2 split teams in Garwin…playing Green Mountain(who we were consolidated with) and my buddy on the mound, down 1…2 outs and bases loaded.  The GM team hadn’t won in 2 years.  First pitch put it down the middle and I swung, got under it and popped it straight up to the pitcher.    I’ll remember that till the day I go to my grave.  The next year we had all my class on one team and lost 1 game in the regular season.  Played LeGrand in the 1^st round of the playoffs and lost by 1.  That one sucked too.

Wendt – I remember hitting a homerun that hit a tree in the backyard of a house that was out in right field. Yeah that was a shot my friends

Painter – Only real memory I have was having to play 2nd base the last game of the year and I got the tag down for the 1st and 3rd outs of the last inning.  I had never played or even practiced at 2nd and I played the position perfectly all game, according to my coaches.

Blake – Duh, hitting a Home Run!

Majors – I have quite a few, but a funny one was when I was traded. I mean, seriously, who gets traded in Little League? My team needed a pitcher, the other team needed an outfielder, so it worked out well. Had a great season that year too. 

Zach – Personally, I won a couple local titles as a LL player.

4-The French Open has started, do any tennis majors get your attention, or is this mostly a niche sport in your thoughts?

Matt – The only real tennis major I watch is Wimbledon.  It’s the Masters of tennis.  I’ll catch some of the finals but that’s about it.  I did enjoy Jimmy Connor’s run at the US Open though in the early 90s.

Wendt – I probably watch a little bit more when an American is in the fold to win.

Painter – I don't get into tennis at all but I know a lot of people that will watch the Wimbledon finals.  I do think it's a horse racing type sport where it's a niche for most of the year but casual sports fans will only pay attention a few weekends every year.

Blake – I love watching the final weekend, especially when you can wake up and watch the finals.  That's about it.

Majors – Tennis? Ummm...next. 

Zach – Wimbledon is going to catch my attention since All-England Club is going to be used twice this summer. That might be advantageous to a few players

5-The History Channel is showing a 3 part mini-series of the Hatfield’s & McCoy’s, one of the fiercest rivalries ever….what is your favorite rivalry in sports and/or game?

Matt – IOWA-PURDUE!  :)  JK!  Bears-Packers is good but free agency has hurt NFL Rivalries, and remember how good Knicks-Bulls or Pistons-Bulls were?  Cubs-Cards is always good too, though as much as I am a Cubs fan you have to respect St. Louis.  Michigan-Ohio State is the best in college football…as for my favorite I’ll go with the Iowa-Minnesota-Wisconsin triangle, it sucks the Hawks-Badgers are playing yearly right now.  Those 3 together play for 3 great trophies too, Floyd, the Ax and the Bull.

Wendt – Iowa and Wisconsin use to be fun in college football. Lakers/Celtics is always great. Bulls/Knicks was fun in the 90's. 

Painter – This is all I have to say

Blake – By the way, recording the series and excited to watch it.  Favorite rivalry is Cubs-Cards.

Majors – Iowa & Iowa St, right? I am in the middle of the Iron Bowl, Florida/Florida St as well. The South has some fierce ones, for sure. As a Raiders fan, I truly HATE the donkeys & queefs. The dolts aren't worth my hatred either, haha.

Zach – Kudos to History for putting on such a great series this week. It's silver-screen worthy. The most intense rivalry in sports has got to be Yankees-Sox

6-A popcorn movie question….Who, in your mind, is the best villain in all of movies?

Matt – For me it’s a tie.  Darth Vader is the ultimate bad ass, (spoiler alert)yes he turns good at the end of Jedi, but he is just bad….the other is the Joker, 1 psycho dude.  Hans Gruber is pretty good too.

Wendt – Hannibal Lector was a great bad guy

Painter – The Joker (The Dark Night), Caster Troy (Face/Off), Gabriel Shear (Swordfish) and Cyrus Grissom (Con Air) are my favorites. Could even put Danny Ocean on there.

Blake – Hmmm...gotta go Darth Vader.  There are a few others, Jaws from the Bond movies, The Joker, but I think Darth runs away with it.

Majors – Wow, good one. As cliche and easy as it sounds, Heath Ledger & his Joker were unbelievably bad. Wait, what about Sheriff Buford T Justice! He was a bad guy, right?

Zach – Best villain: I'll go down the Disney route and Mufasa in "Lion King."

NO 6 PACK next week - The 6er dude will be out.

Friday 6 Pack

1-Ozzie Guillen opened his mouth, and well stuff came out of it about respecting Fidel Castro thus having the Marlins punish and suspend him for 5 games.  Was the punishment harsh enough?  Should the Marlins have fired him?

Matt – Everyone has a right to their own opinion, but what we’ve learned in the past is that in this day of media is you can’t say anything that sheds positiveness on a dictator or compare someone to a dictator (Hank Williams Jr).  He also needs to know his environment of when and where he is saying what.  Should he have been fired…no, I don’t think so.  More than 5 games maybe so.  But also where was the protest for him returning?  It’s already in the back burner

Wendt – Miami knew what they were getting with Ozzie when they hired him, if they think he'll change they are fools

Painter – Ozzie is a citizen of the US and should have been protected by the First Amendment.  Unfortunately there is no such thing as freedom of speech anymore.   Any one of us ca get disciplined by our employer for anything we may say that is recorded or written down in any form.  I honestly think the punishment was not warranted but Miami had to do it to save face somewhat

Blake – Of course that was enough.  I'm not sure when this country returned to McCarthyism.  Even if he was serious about a political opinion, how the hell does that effect his ability to manage?  Good thing I don't have a blog anymore, I would have gone off on this topic a couple times

Majors – That is a tough question. Ozzie has a way of saying exactly what is on his mind, yet it was still pretty harsh of a statement. I think the Marlins went all in on him, so they are stuck with him in a sense. The suspension was enough, but I am sure he is on a tight leash now

BSox – Part of me really doesn’t think he should have been suspended, and here are the two reasons why. You can make the argument of free speech in this country, and while he is stupid for saying such things, he does have the right. But I think we all know that freedom of speech and the work force don’t exactly go hand in hand. Second, I don’t really think he was sorry. I think it was a matter of the marlins were pissed, and were going to lose money, so you’re going to apologize whether you want to or not!

2-The Stanley Cup Playoffs have their first round underway.  The New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks are the top seeds in their respective conferences.  Who’s your pick for the NHL Finals and to hoist the Stanley Cup?

Matt – Well Vancouver may right again this year not making it out of the first round.  Do the top seeds ever make it to match up in the NHL, it seems more upsets happen in hockey.  I’m going to go with Nashville over Boston in the finals.  Why…I have no clue. 

Wendt – I don't watch the NHL

Painter – If I can keep myself from watching NY Rangers games they should represent the East and I'm thinking the Blues or Predators will come out of the West. I really want NY to win it all

Blake – Um...is that Bombay fella still coaching the Sharks?  He seems pretty good

Majors – Well, since my Avalanche are out, I am not sure anymore. Let's go Rangers & Blackhawks, with the Blackhawks winning it. Hopefully Hossa is ok, or I am in trouble

BSox – The rangers….i guess? I don’t follow hockey all that much.

3-Pat Summit retired this week after 38 years…is she a TOP 5 coach of all time across all sports?  Who’s your top 5 all time?

Matt – She is by far the top women’s coach ever, sorry Geno but without Pat there’s no Geno.  It’s kind of hard though to get into that Mt Rushmore+1 of coaching.  Wooden, Lombardi, Bryant, Gable is prob my Mt Rushmore with Knight in the on deck circle. 

Wendt – An absolute legend and no question a top living coach currently

Painter – Not top 5 but maybe top 10:  Dan Gable, Vince Lombardi, Dean Smith, Pat Riley, Phil Jackson (not necessarily in that order)

Blake – Ha, just put this out on Twitter.  Again, Wooden, Lombardi, Auerbach, Bear Bryant, Coach K.  My 4th thru 12 coaches are practically interchangeable.  I had Summitt 8th

Majors – I think she is. She revolutionized and made women's BBall relevant. Let's see, top 5? Red Auerbach - Coach K – Dean Smith – Larry Brown – Pat Summitt

BSox – I think she should be up there. I’m writing quick tonight, but dan gable should be up there, coach k, and of course my dad, he was a great soccer coach even though he yelled at me a lot!

4-ESPN is taking 3 hours to release the NFL Schedule this week.  Overkill, are we getting to much NFL where they are spending 3 hours on the schedule release?  And any games make you salivate already for football to kick off?

Matt – Football is KING.  It prob got better ratings then some baseball games.  Really no game got me salivating, the start of the season just does that in general.  I think the Peyton Manning/Broncos bit is over rated, I don’t think they make the playoffs.  Don’t like all the Thursday night games either.   I looked first at the Bears schedule and if healthy I think they can come out of the gate 7-2.

Wendt – I was interested to see the Bears schedule but thankfully I've got baseball/basketball to tide me over till football season

Painter – ESPN is bored right now and the NFL is the #1 spectator sport in the US so of course they'll go overboard with the coverage

Blake – Can we get through the NBA playoffs before we start thinking Football?  Too much of a good thing...

Majors – Yeah, a little on the TMI side. I am looking forward to the Pittsburgh @ Oakland game, since I will be going to that one, as well as the Oakland @ Atalnta game, be there too. There are actually a lot of good games, but not sure about the Bears being on MNF 3 times

BSox – Its too far off to get really excited, and I can see what they are doing with it. To us it seems like a lot, but you know what, you can always change the channel lol

5-The Stanley Cup has been mentioned as one of the greatest trophies in all of sports; 2 weeks ago the Green Jacket was awarded to Bubba Watson.  What is your favorite trophy in all of sports?

Matt – I’m going straight to college football and the rivalry trophies.  They have the most character.  My favorite is of course Floyd of Rosedale!  Love that PIG!  He’s coming home this fall.  I also like Paul Bunyan’s Ax, the Old Oaken Bucket and the Little Brown Jug.  Big Ten Baby!

Wendt – Any trophy that the Hawkeyes, Bears, Lakers or Cubs win is my favorite.  :-)

Painter – The Stanley Cup is tops for me, with the Claret Jug (British Open) at #2.  The Cup has the name of every player, coach, manager, and club staff who was associated with the championship winning team and then each player on that team gets the cup for 24 hours during the off season and gets to do whatever they want with it.  It's also the only trophy awarded by the major North American professional sports leagues that is not made each year, meaning there is one and only one

Blake – Anything you can drink out of.  I guess you could soak your Green Jacket in booze and wring it out

Majors – The Stanley Cup, no doubt

BSox – WWE championship belt ;-)

6-With baseball in the air….do you go brats or hotdogs at the ball park?  And what’s condiments?

Matt – Gotta go brat with kraut, onions and mustard.  Accompanied by a beer.

Wendt – Brats with mustard is a winning combination!

Painter – If you are holding a gun to my head I'll go with a brat and bbq sauce (ketchup if bbq isn't available) and maybe a little mustard.  Otherwise it's nachos over brats/dogs

Blake – Normally brats, but if it's a huge ass Dog, I'd go with that.  I go with just Ketchup and Mustard, and even the Mustard is a relatively new development

Majors – Hotdogs, mustard, onions, relish. Followed by a brat, with beer, of course! We have a new AA baseball team in Pcola this year, the Blue Wahoos, so it has been fun going to the games, seeing the new waterfront stadium, etc

BSox – Foot long hot dogs, you can trust them a little more than brats, although, principle park makes a damn good brat!