Please Dear God Let Us Go Shopping

OK Spirit Boyz, its time to poney up some cash and make this team a real killer. The San Jose Sharks admitted today they are shopping for offers for Patrick Marleau and Jonathan Cheechoo. Two players who I would love to have on the Tharshers... only problem being I am not sure who I would be willing to part with to get them.

I definitely think we should go after Marleau since that really gives Kovy a true number one center that can dish and score like its nobody's business. Cheechoo I see as the second line right winger, if we can muster up some people for a trade.

Now the interesting thing is the sharks are at the limit capwise and have some serious negotiationg to do (via NHLnumbers.com). SO I wonder if the Thrashers could be smart and add their combined $9.8 million in salaries, while giving them some lower paying players, so we end up with a net of about $5 million gained. Yet again, who do we give up? Unless we give up future picks and Todd White, I'm not convinced we can make this happen. Could we target one, by all means, I hope so. I would really say, forget Maholtra for CBJ and focus on a trade for Marleau. I think it would be possible to get him for a 2nd round pick and Todd white

So some number crunching now... That would give SJS a $3 million reduction on their cap and adequitely find a replacement for him in a future draft. The flipside: The Thrashers finally get that true number once center that we needed since we lost Savard and maybe even more reason for Kovy to sign here longterm. My only concern is that Mr. Marleau is a free agent at the end of the year, could be dangerous.

So ASG, Don Waddell, Rick Dudley, time to put on your big boy pants and make some noise. Lets do this thing.

Trade Bait

Since Colin Stuart jumped into the NHL the kid has done nothing but bust his behind to get somewhere. Well, he got traded to Toronoto to bring Kubina here, and he just got traded again. Now he has made it all the way to Calgary in another trade. Hopefully he will find a home there. We are definitely going to miss the Shorties here in ATL. Best of luck to you out in the west, hopefully you can find a nice niche there to disrupt other teams power plays.

Soccer To The Rescue

USSF in the finals of the Gold cup with a seriously dowgraded B team playing. We beat Honduras 2-0 for the second win in three games against them in the course of a month.

Oguchi Onyewu aslo made an apperance for AC Milan. Thats huge since we might actually have some americans battling it out for the the Champions League over in Europe next year. Watch out world the Yanks are coming!

Thrashers Sign Valabik

The title says it all.. and the odd thing is that we are spending money. Check out our cap numbers.

So I have no idea what happened to make my braves good again, but I love it! We finally learned how to score again and are on an 8-3 tear the past 11 games. Watch out MLB the boys from the south are back.

Not to be mean, but did anyone realize this happened on the heels of the Francouer trade? I hate to be mean to the hometown kid, since all he wanted to do was play for the Braves his entire life, but its just obvious that we are a better team with him gone.

It's also great to know that the guy we traded him for, Mr. Ryan Church, is feeling the love of the clubhouse and likes it here in Atlanta. I guess he got the better end of the deal. Braves on again tonight at 7:10 in the illustrious Turner Field (Sadowski-SF vs. Low-ATL).

I am starting to sense a rise in sports in Atlant, maybe we can pull a Pennsylvinnia and win a few trophies next year... that would be fun.

I'm Back

So wow, apparently a lot happened while I was being owned by my job.

US Soccer: Ware in the Gold Cup finals after escaping Panama in OT... Thank you Kenny Cooper. Beyond that Onyewu signed what might be the biggest transfer in the history of US soccer- he is now playing for AC MILAN. . . woo!

Thrashers: We got Kari and Army back. Scary part of the news is it shows Army as being scheduled as an UFA after this season. Don & Dud, get to work and make sure that doesn't happen. Lots of info about prospect camps too on their blog.

Baseball: The Bravos decided to take it to the mets and score a lot of runs after I was wondering if their lumber had been infested by termites (aka- we couldn't put a run on the board if the wall was 30 ft past first base). Apparently we might actually be good again soon. I was starting to worry my boys started accepting medeocrity as a norm. Not to mention this cool idea... who wouldn't want to learn from him?

NBA: Summer league games! Apparently Blake Griffin really is a hoss and knows how to generate some excitement. I hope he plays in ATL this year, I want to see that.

OK, that is just the cliff notes, I'm sure I will post more idepth articles on certain things that pique my interest but so long for now.

The Job

Sorry for the lack of posting lately about life and what not, but my job has currently commandeered my life temporarily. I am freaking booked like no other till monday, but I shall resurface then.

Braves Trade Francoeur

It was a sad day in Atlanta today... the Braves announced the trade of Jeff Francoeur.

We will miss you man. Good luck with the Mets and give the Yankees hell for us!

USA Cruising in Gold Cup

So I completely forgot to watch the US national B team(Bob Bradley was smart and let the real team USA have this week off to rest since the qualifying schedule is nuts this year) play last night...

We beat a very mean Honduras team 2-0 and are on a roll after blasting Grenada 4-0. That goal difference of +6 ensures that the US will be through to the elimination round.

I must say the US team is vastly improved at depth compared to where we were during the World Cup blunder of 06. I mean we beat the number one team in the world, then turned around and was beating the number two team in the world 2-0 at half, to barely lose the game 3-2 (Those teams are Espana and Brazil respectively). That is not bad at all for a country which most people thought was going to be the cannon fodder of the tournament.

I have my little picture of Dempsey on the homepage because dude is a hoss, and he has some balls. The dude was getting ridiculed in the EPL this year, with people saying that he wasn't good enough and would never survive there. All this before a strech of games that had Chelsea, Man U, and Liverpool (twice), and what does the man do? He scores twice on Chelsea, drew a penalty against Man U (turned out to be the winner in a 2-0 victory), and scored, assited in the Liverpool games.

I love soccer and it makes me very happy so see that so many of guys are starting to tear up international leagues. The EPL, Bundesliga, Seria A, and La Laiga BBVA (Spain's top division) better start respecting the US players since they are all making a splash on the transfer market.

US soccer is on again at 8 PM Saturday on ESPN, root for the Yanks in securing the top spot in the GOLD CUP!

Early Favorites To Win The Cup Are Not Faring Well In Free Agent Land

Wow, Jiri Hurdler just stiffed the Wings... check this out.

That makes both Montreal and Detroit both losing some key contributors now.

I'm definitely interested to see how these things shake out in terms of standings next year.

Montreal Is Just Falling Apart, Thrashers Finding Their Footing

So Montreal lost another big name today, Saku Kiovu, according to ESPN's Pierre LeBrun. He decided to take his career to a non-traditional market in the wonderus city of Anahiem. I think its really cool/respectful for him to note that Minnesota was not the right place for him to play because his brother had made it his place to play. How many players these days stop to think about something like that? I'd venture to say not many, if any at all.

In addition, I believe Montreal realized they were just getting old,hence why so many key players for them departed this season. As productive and great leaders these players are, over 82 games time wears you down. Its sad to see Montreal celebrate its centenial season and miss the playoffs with some players that deserve to possibly have their jersey's hung in the rafters have to walk and look for work in another city. I guess that is the way sports go these days.

Now I have been receiving some flac from individuals about the thrashers and how they have finally turned the corner and are becoming a respectable franchise in the eyes of the players. We may have not made a huge splash in the market, but the very encouraging news is that Kovy has already sat down and starting negotiating with the team. . . which means he is impressed (We all know he liked the Antropov signing since he sent Waddell a text with two words, "GOOD JOB"). But as I started talking about how the Thrashers really did upgrade their defense and solidified two scoring lines for the first time since we had Kovy and Hossa, I started receiving comments that it doesn't matter what we do, Kovy will leave and the Thrashers will crumble short after that.

Now lets stop a second and think about the progress since the start of this season:

First, I can't help but think this case against Steve Belkin and ASG must have ended very favorably for ASG. They have spent some serious money this offseason on both the Thrashers and Hawks. They also let Don Waddell hire another man with considerable experience and a phenomenal track record, Rick Dudley, so they together can run the GM office more effectively.

John Anderson is obviously starting to place some imput on which players are coming here (he was the one who told Waddell to get Rich Peverly) and he is making the team be, well, more of a team. He also knows how to draw the leaders out of a group and get them to motivate their team as well (Possibly one of my fondest memories of the season was when the team banded together after they were eliminated and made it their personal vendetta to make sure that any team that was playoff bound had to do everything right to win the game. "If we can't make it, neither can you").

Once Kovy became captain it was evident this team of you guys really were about to turn the corner. Kovy broke out of his slump in record setting fasion and the team rallied around him. The team that seemed so lack-luster and slow suddenly had a jump that literally electrified Phillips and kept you on the edge of your seat the whole game.

Lastly, why we really cant move:

ASG has a 100 year lease on Phillips, which as a contingency built in for Phillips to pay the $10 million in naming rights there HAS to have BOTH a NHL and NBA team in there or they can drop the sponsorship.

On top of that, if someone wanted to move either the Thrashers or Hawks they would have to pay the remainder of the phsical lease the building has on it as well.

Then they have to pay for the actual value of the frachise itself (roughy guessed to be around $80 million).

So lets do the math... If a group/individual decided to buy them and move them the would have to incur a minimum expense of atleast $300 million. I doubt even the infamus Jim Basille could pony up that kind of cash, just so another city in Canada has a team. The high end of the spending spectrum could be up towards $450 if you count all the other sponsors like UPS and Heiniken.

Sorry to be so analytical this morning, I just felt these items needed to be addressed in a proper way. I'm signing off, till next time.

Thrashers lost out on Kovalev

So edit to my Thrashers rambling post earlier, Kovalev is definitely 39, not whatever late 20's I wrote him last time. But while we are talking about him, lets let it be known he took a contract to play with his bitter rivals, the Senators. Its something like $10 mil for 2 years... good job Donny for not paying that for him.

In other news, The Falconer has a cool interview with the Thrashers' second round draft pick Carl Klingberg. He seems like a cool guy and he wants to be Tomas Holmstrom, version 2.0, check it out.

And lastly, and definitley not least, the magical Joe Sakic decided to retire. He was a class act will always be remembered for when he got in a snow blower accident... no really, he was a great player and a role model for sportsmanship.

Later people.

The Crazy Mark Bradley

Anyone who knows the AJC and its generally incompetant writers will love this.

Who is seriously stupid enough to write that?

Yes, that is him in all his glory right there.

Now if Jeff Shultz ever wrote that, I might freak out and think the apocalypse is coming.

Thrashers Rumors/speculation/shennanigans

Hey Look, I wrote something on the Bleacher Report!

Anyways, I been hearing about this dude from Montreal that was ousted (Mr. Kovalev) and he has been thinking about inking a deal with our boys in blue. Now, not to be Johnny Raincloud, but I believe that there are better options availiabe then this dude who basically was politely told "Get you ass out, we found better talent than you." Which by all means is understandable, my question is, if this guy is so good, why hasn't anyone sweeped him up yet? I mean he isn't that old (29), he can freaking score under pressure, and well, he is Russian, so you know he is good.

I think it makes more sense for us to be interested, but I would rather see us trade a goalie for someone like Ryan Clowe or Johan Franzen type player. I mean, we just added two dudes in the minors for depth.

Ah, so now whose on the traiding block? I for one hope the Finn is the one that IS NOT being shopped. He is crazy good and now that he has a solid defense I hope that he has a break out year.

So that leaves us with the Angry Czech, Mr. Pavlec, as the one on the block. Only thing we have to worry about is him throwing another temper tantrum and storming off saying thats not fair, right? Haha, that would so not be funny this time around.

The other fun stuff that is going around is that Lawsuit seems to finally have ended since the Spirit boys seemed to open their wallets some... that or someone new has joined the cluter at the top. And the big news that dropped yesterday, the Kaptain himself has begun negotiations for a longterm deal to keep his royal behind here in ATL for a very long time. I really like that idea a lot.

That is all for now.

The Inagural Post

Ok, so after reading so many blogs out there and having friends pressure me to actually write about sports since I follow them so closely I bring you... (pause for dramatice effect)

JUST STRAIGHT RANDOM

Now being a loyal Atlantan, I must bring praises to our sports teams the Thrashers, Falcons, Braves, Hawks (I guess we should add the Force when they come back next year) as well as throwing out some satire when someone does something so stupid it has to be made fun of.

So please, enjoy the nonsensical words that are jumbled to make sentences for your reading pleasure and leave comments as you see fit.