Dice-K & NHL playoffs

So the Phillies are 0-9 with the bases loaded on the season, and they have them loaded again as I'm writing this post, so no Phillies post except for this update. Wes Helms trying to break the streak.

Dice-K is pitching on channel 35, and the NHL playoffs are on channel 37, so my TV viewing is very easy for the next few hours. We'll start with Dice-K.

He's fucking awesome. (Wes Helms 3-0 with the bases loaded) Dice-K is painting the corners with his filthy breaking balls, and then throwing 94 gas on the corner. (Helms walked, still loaded, still 0-9, now it's time for Rowand to break the streak) I now see what the big fuss is, every pitch he throws is right around the strike zone, and with the crazy breaks and varying breaks, he's getting calls. How can you, as an umpire, be ready for all his different pitches and be able to accurately call a game? I'm not saying his strikes aren't all strikes, but damn they're all close, so he gets more calls than a 14 year old with a MySpace account. (Rowand, 3-2 count) As a batter, how do you protect against all the breaking balls (Rowand walked, still 0-9) and then be ready for the 95 mph heater? Fucking ridic, I wish I could just watch the NHL playoffs, but I'm entranced by Dice-K and this is my first time watching him. (2-2 to Barajas) My Cy Young prediction is in, nobody's going to figure this guy out this year, maybe next year a'la Hideo Nomo, but I don't see it. (Barajas gets hit, still hitless on the year but got a run home by being fat and slow, pitching change for the Mets)

As for the NHL playoffs, as a hockey fan, I haven't watched any games this year. Why? Just not interested. The penalties are called way to tight, the players are diving like soccer players, and the quality of play that I've seen just hasn't kept my attention. That all changed with the drop of the puck in the Sens/Pens game. Hockey playoffs are the best part of the sports year, better than the NFL playoffs where 1 and done just doesn't build up the intensity of a 7 game series, better than baseball where 4 hour 9 inning games are not out of the question, and basketball is only a sport during the NCAA tournament, where 1 and done still doesn't equal a 7 game series. (Phillies now 0-10 with the bags full, Eaton the pitcher struck out, but they got 3 runs home so this one is excused a bit)

The playoffs in the NHL means more hitting, which has been lacking in the games I've caught parts of. I started watching hockey right after we got Lindros on the Flyers, when we had a line full of fighters/hitters (Dan Kordic, Daniel LaCroix, and Scott Daniels.... the Dan line), and our defensemen could barely skate (that's you Therien) but man could they drill guys. Now, the NHL has done away with hitting by over-calling penalties like a soccer match and making people scared to touch each other some games. The result has been players diving like Europeans, and since alot of them are, calling the game like a soccer game of course leads to more diving. It's in their blood apparently. This all changed in the first 3 minutes of the first game of the playoffs, with bodies flying all over the place and no illegit penalties called. Welcome back real hockey.

I'll go more in depth after a few more playoff games and a few more Dice-K appearances that I can watch, but as of now, 2 of my 3 things on TV that I don't want to miss are the hockey playoffs, and Dice-K pitching. It's gonna be a good month on Vs. (Heroes is the 3rd thing on TV, c'mon April 23... c'mon....)

And the m8r jinx is on again, since I've started writing, Dice-K has given up 2 more runs to make it 3 in the first 5 innings. Anybody else who picks Dice-K for the Cy, you've been warned.