Tip Drill: A column about nothing
A few random thoughts as I get ready for some deep dish pizza and an in-person look at the Canucks and Blackhawks.
• Generally I'm not one for handcuffing in fantasy sports; in the NFL, it's a grossly overrated concept. But as we hit the final quarter of the NHL run, it's a good time to consider handcuffs for your goalies. Two things to keep in mind – the schedule is densely packed down the stretch, and some teams might be more willing to rest their main guys if playoff seeding appears set.
• Look, no one knows for sure on David Wright(notes). There's a couple of strong cases you can make, pro and con. But my gut keeps telling me not to worry here, he'll be a $30 player. Being free from the Tao of Bernazard has to help.
• It's definitely possible to take Roy Halladay(notes) too early this spring, but I haven't seen anyone do it yet. Forget about the park, the NL switch more than makes up for it. There's probably a 50 percent chance we see a career year.
• Time to grab the universally ignored Pavol Demitra before it's too late. The veteran centerman had a tournament-best 10 points in the Olympics, and he's looked sharp in both of his games since with the Canucks.
• The Rams don't necessarily have to take Sam Bradford, but between now and training camp, they need to acquire some quarterback who has the potential to be a franchise player in the next 2-3 years. Maybe they'll get lucky with someone in the second round. Maybe they can trade for a Matt Schaub type, or take their chances with a reclamation project (a la Jay Cutler). But this much is certain – if you want to make a run at building a team that can contend every year in today's pass-happy NFL, you better have a plus player at quarterback, or an absolute monster of a roster everywhere else. The easier route is to build on offense, you'll get more continuity for your buck.
• It was a heck of a run for The Office but they've lost the mojo and I don't see it coming back. I suppose it was inevitable, we're headed to a paperless society anyway.
• I haven't gone back and timed it but Sidney Crosby's game-winning goal in the Olympic final came after several minutes of end-to-end action, plenty of good chances, the ultimate in sports tension. And a large part of that fantastic flow came from the fact that the teams were playing 4x4 during the overtime. I'd love to see the minor leagues experiment with full games of 4x4, just to see what came of it. Maybe the AHL could have a 4x4 game once a month, on the weekend. If nothing else it would probably boost attendance.
The less-radical idea to get better pace into hockey would be to widen the playing surface, and I'd be all for that too, but I doubt the clubs would be willing to cut out some high-end seats and lose revenue.
• I've never understood why Michigan isn't on Central Time. It sure would make my life a whole lot easier.
• If fairway gait was all that mattered, Robert Allenby and Freddie Couples would never lose.
• Third base is the only position I'm afraid to play chicken on this year; I hate the depth at that spot and I also think some of the Top 10 guys are reasonably priced. I never make a strict pre-draft plan – you want to stay open minded at all times – but I'll be stunned if I complete 7-8 rounds of any draft without something at third.
• I love the skaters the Blackhawks roll out every night, but they're going to regret not addressing their ordinary goaltending.
• Blindly adding extra yardage to golf courses isn't the answer. The solution is to make golf courses tighter, trickier, more dynamic.
• I'm not much for reality television, but if you came up with some crazy race idea involving city cab drivers, I might give it a chance.
• No one sweats out the fantasy trade deadline like the otherwise-contented guy in first place.
• It's ridiculous that some are calling the Tiger Woods scandal the biggest sports story of the last 10 years. It was an odd story that came out of nowhere, sure, and it's going to linger in our minds when we think of Woods, but most people won't care when he goes back to playing golf (especially when he starts to dominate again, which he will do, eventually, even if it doesn't happen until 2011).
Jack's 18 majors? Please. Tiger's going to sail by that, easily. Look for Woods to finish somewhere in the 20s.
• If you can get a closer-in-waiting at a reasonable price, okay, stash and hope. But this is not a position where attack-mode makes sense. Middle-relief stars come and go with no rhyme or reason sometimes; paying an expectant price for last year's hero is a terrible strategy. (You'll notice this theme was spelled out often in the Yahoo! Fantasy Baseball Magazine. Three different authors, coming to the same conclusion.)
• I'm very nervous about this Wall Street sequel.
• Camilo Villegas looks like the breakthrough star of the PGA season, but just watching him do that contortionist stuff around the green makes my back hurt.
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Photos via AP Images (Halladay) and Getty (Tony-O)
