Denmark Hockey

The resolution of the NHL lockout brought a rapid-fire training camp and the start of regular season games just a week after the lockout was officially lifted.  Many players played overseas during the extended lockout.  This list includes Ottawa Senators teammates Zack Smith and Colin Greening and Nashville Senators defenseman Kevin Klein, who all plied their trade in Denmark. 

Klein, who played for Herlev Eagles during the lockout, has returned to Nashville with big skates to fill.  With Ryan Suter now the owner of a $100 million contract and a member of the Minnesota Wild, Klein is now paired with All-Star Shea Weber to form the Predators top defensive pairing.  Your classic stay-at-home defensemen Klein is a fan favorite and a vital cog in the Preds defense.  This year he’s continued a pretty remarkable statistic—last year he went the entire season without taking a penalty that left his club a man down.  He’s continued that pace in 2013 proving once again that he’s much more than a shot blocker and someone comfortable clearing the net, he’s a smart and savvy player that does the dirty work that allows Shea Weber to continue his freelancing ways. The Predators early-season struggles have been more offensive related than defensive.  They rank in the top ten in the league in goals allowed but are dead last in goals scored with just fourteen in nine games.  Klein has clearly done his part to help the defense with a plus/minus of +1 nine games in. 

For Ottawa Senators forward Colin Greening the young season has been a transition one thus far. Greening, who scored a career high twenty goals last season, has found himself on a checking line with the aforementioned Zack Smith and Erik Condra.  It’s a change for Greening who occupied a line with All-Star Jason Spezza and Milan Michalek last season. The Senators are off to a hot 5-2-1 start this season and the checking line of Greening, Smith and Condra has been a big factor in that success. The line has combined for ten points this season and is an impressive +7. 

Greening, who was leading the Aalborg Pirates in scoring with ten goals and eleven assists upon his return to Canada, and Smith who played a short six game span with the Frederikshavn White Hawks, were able to use the experience in Denmark as warm up to the NHL season and the opportunity to get first line minutes. Both Greening and Smith were able to log over twenty minutes per game on the top lines of their respective teams.  Their solid start has clearly been a factor in the Senators strong early-season play.  As third liners they’ve done a fantastic job matching up with the opposition’s top line while contributing in the scoring column on a nightly basis. 

The NHL season may only be ten games in but it’s pretty clear that the time in Denmark benefited Klein, Greening and Smith.  Rather than working themselves into game shape early they’ve been able to use their time in Europe to get off to strong starts.

Mike D'Antoni Hiring

Surprise Surprise.  Mike D’Antoni is in LA and the Zen Master is still retired.  Steve Nash gets to play for the coach who made him a Hall of Famer while Kobe Bryant gets to play for the guy he cheered for growing up in Italy. 

The Lakers fan base clearly wanted Phil Jackson, for obvious reasons. Based on his comments, Phil Jackson clearly wanted the job.  The basketball public seems to be on the side of the Lakers fan base in having preferred Phil Jackson. As far as the basketball intelligentsia there seems to be a couple schools of thought. 

First you have the Stephen A. Smith School of Thought which is shared by the majority of the talking heads.  Stephan A. (and many others) believes the Lakers made a mistake.  The conventional wisdom here is that the Lakers real issue is on the defensive end.  They make a very compelling case that Mike D’Antoni, even with all his success in Phoenix, simply can’t coach defense. The fact that D’Antoni has never coached a team that’s finished above 20^th in team defense helps support this opinion. The comeback to those who believe D’Antoni isn’t the right guy was laid out pretty smartly by Bill Simmons, The Sports Guy. 

According to the newest ESPN NBA Analyst D’Antoni was the logical choice for the job.  The thinking here is that Phil Jackson had checked out two years ago and clearly was not a good choice for the long term.  According to Simmons the hiring makes sense due to the fact it reunites D’Antoni with Nash.  If you’re going to go out and get Steve Nash why not adopt the system that made him a two –time MVP? I tend to agree with Simmons in that Phil Jackson, at this point in his life isn’t the right choice.  Legend or not the NBA season is a long haul and you need a coach there day in and day out.  D’Antoni also makes sense in the fact he can probably mesh pretty quickly with the Lakers veteran group and it shouldn’t take as long to incorporate his style—compared to the learning curve Jackson’s.

The big winner here is Steve Nash.  One wonders how Nash would have fit in triangle. For all the great teams Jackson had over the years there were very few cases where a point guard played a large role in the offense-- especially one who likes the ball in his hand as much as Nash does.  Nash and D'Antoni clearly have a heck of a successful track record and the presence of Nash should make the transition to D'Antoni go smoothly. Like in Phoenix with Amare Stoudemire, Dwight Howard could be deadly in the pick and roll with Nash.

On the contrary, you have to wonder about the future of Pau Gasol in LA. The successful D'Antoni teams in Phoenix typically employed more of a non-traditional small forward-- think Boris Diaw and Shawn Marion--- with Amare Stoudemire as the de facto center.  This allowed Nash a lot of room on the baseline to move with the basketball and spacing to run pick and rolls with Stoudemire. The combination of Gasol and Dwight Howard inside doesn't leave a ton of room to freelance.  It may make sense to try to move Gasol for a quicker player who can hit the three when Nash and Kobe decide to kick it out. The big story with D’Antoni’s system may be whether or not Gasol fits.

Big Ten Basketball Review

The Big Ten was clearly the dominant conference in men’s college basketball this season and that dominance has continued into the NCAA tournament.  Following the Ohio State victory over Arizona and Michigan’s defeat of top seed Kansas the Big Ten now has two teams in the elite eight. Both the Wolverines and the Buckeyes look like legitimate NCAA title contenders with clear paths to the Final Four with matchups versus lower seeded teams.  With victories the Big Ten would have half of the final four teams, fitting due to the dominant regular season they had. 

So here’s the Good, Bad and the Ugly for the Big Ten in the NCAA Tournament:

The Good

Michigan: After an outstanding regular season that included a slight fade towards the end the Wolverines have regained their form and sort of have that look.  With three or four legitimate future NBA players the boys from Ann Arbor clearly have the talent to take home a national title. Friday night star Wolverine guard Trey Burke hit a late three to force overtime where the Wolverines outlasted number one seed Kansas. The Wolverines erased a late ten point KU lead with Burke leading the way with a massive twenty-three point second half.  Coach John Beilein has the Wolverines have now made their deepest run since the Fab Five days of the early nineties.  The Wolverines have a tough matchup against the very talented, but sometimes inconsistent, Florida Gators on Sunday. They also are in a good spot being opposite Duke, Ohio State and Louisville in the bracket. If the Wolverines can knock off Florida they have Syracuse and Marquette as potential final four opponents.  They likely would be favored in both games. 

Ohio State:  A lot like their arch rivals Michigan, Ohio State had some ups and downs during the Big Ten season but are on a hot streak and look like potential champions.  They’ve turned into the cardiac kids of the tournament this year. Through back to back three point buzzer beaters in wins over Iowa State and Arizona the Buckeyes have a clear path to the final four due to the upset specials in the other half of their bracket. If Ohio State can get the Cinderella Wichita State Shockers they’ll be in the final four for the third time in the Thad Matta era.  They’ve done it with one outstanding scorer in Deshaun Thomas and tremendous leadership and lock down defense lead by Aaron Craft.  The Buckeyes will be decided favorites versus Wichita State. 

Michigan State: Another solid season and sweet sixteen birth for the Spartans who ran out of steam in the second half last night losing to a frequent tournament nemesis, the Duke Blue Devils.  It was another solid run for Tom Izzo’s team and again proves that the Spartans have one of the best coaches in college basketball.  Unlike some of the disappointment teams in the Big Ten, Izzo always gets the max effort and performance out of his clubs. Unfortunately Friday night’s loss to the Blue Devils demonstrated a common denominator in many Spartan tournament exits under Izzo—difficult offensive performances centered on an inability to shoot the basketball. 

The Bad

Indiana:  It’s tough to put Indiana in the bad category after a strong regular season but with all the expectations and overall talent level the relatively easy Syracuse victory was a disappointment. Indiana had the look all season off a final four club and potential champion. The inability to solve the Syracuse zone defense, with the amount of talent and perimeter shooting ability the Hoosiers possess, was unfortunate.  Now with the certain loss of multiple players to the NBA Tom Crean will have to regroup in Bloomington. 

The Ugly

Wisconsin: The Badgers suffered a very uncharacteristic first round loss mainly due to an absolute horrid stretch of shooting.  For Badger fans it was a bad loss for a team that was extremely competitive in the second half of the Big Ten season and was a Cinderella final four candidate for many pundits.  Bo Ryan clearly gets maximum effort out of his teams defensively and poor shooting days happen--- unfortunately this was a particularly atrocious shooting effort and not the first time the Badgers have exited the tourney under Ryan with such a performance. 

Minnesota:  Following their second round loss to Florida the Gophers immediately fired head coach Tubby Smith.  His firing was unexpected nationally but not a surprise locally. After an outstanding start the Gophers faded during the Big Ten season.  Tubby had a senior laden deep club with all the needed characteristics of a title contender.   In a pattern that was very familiar with Gopher fans the team never really improved under Tubby as the season progressed.  The next head coach in Minnesota will be an interesting choice. 

Alameda County

The story quickly made its way around the Internet and blogosphere, “Local California official Susan Muranishi to make $423,000 a year for the rest of her life.” Of course the headline could have omitted California and everyone would have known that it was a story coming from California.  

I don’t know Ms. Muranishi and from all accounts she is a tremendously loyal and effective public servant who has put in four decades of hard work for Alameda County.  She is absolutely due a generous retirement. Of course her retirement is far more than generous.  According to the SF Chronicle her retirement includes:

• $24,000 in “equity pay” to make sure she makes at least 10 percent more than anyone else in the county, even in retirement. 
• An annual performance bonus of $24,000, even in retirement. 
• Another $9,000 a year for serving on the county’s three-member Surplus Property Authority, even in retirement.
• $54,000 a-year in “longevity” pay for having stayed with the county for more than 30 years, even in retirement. (San Francisco Chronicle)

The icing on the cake is nearly $9,000 per year car allowance which is equivalent to $750 per month or enough money to make a payment on a luxury automobile, or even two very nice automobiles. It’s a remarkable package and completly senseless. There’s no need in this space to go further into the economic mess that California is in.  The politicians answer of course, statewide and in local government, is to raise taxes or in the case of Stockton to actually declare bankruptcy. 

So what is the real solution?  The hard truth is that packages like this are complete unsustainable. My guess is there are numerous future retirees, not just in Alameda County, who will soon be retiring and enjoying similar benefits.  Meanwhile the current economic programs and rising tax debt are sending entrepreneurs, wealthy individuals and business owners fleeing the state for other locals with friendlier tax rates. When taxes go up the public finds any way possible to not pay those taxes.

The reality is that California is heading for a Wisconsin style showdown.  In the well publicized Wisconsin case Governor Scott Walker took on public employee unions in a hard fought and bitter battle and was victorious. Walker’s legislation to restrict the bargaining powers of the unions and making membership optional greatly restricted their ability to organize. Two years later Walker is still in office after fending off a recall and he’s helped turn around the state’s economic future. This all happened in a state, much like California, that has a tradition of liberal and progressive politics.

Is what happened in Wisconsin the answer?  Perhaps it is.  There is one thing that is abundantly clear.  The State of California can no longer deal with gaps in state and local budgets by simply raising taxes.  Retirement packages like the Ms. Muranishi’s are completely unsustainable and frankly unnecessary.  California, both statewide and within local government, needs real leaders to stand up and have a frank and realistic conversation.  It’s time to stop passing these issues to future generations.

Howard Schultz

Starbucks Founder and CEO Howard Schultz received a significant amount of publicity this week when he vigorously supported same-sex marriage.  During a recent shareholder’s meeting Schultz rebuked Tom Strobhar of the Corporate Morality Action Center, an anti-gay corporate pressure group.  Strobhar brought up the issue of Starbucks having recently been boycotted by the National Organization for Marriage (NOM). Strobhar made the suggestion that this boycott may be losing the company revenue (via The Blaze)

Schultz response was cheered wildly both at the time and via the MSM and liberal blogosphere. Of course it’s awful convenient that Schultz takes his “courageous” stance at a time when support for same sex marriage is at an all-time high. Mr. Schultz is entitled to his opinion and has every right to voice it.  If he personally is in favor of same-sex marriage, more power to him.  But you have to question the wisdom of the CEO of a publically traded company willing to alienate a significant amount of the population to make a political point.

The irony of the situation is fascinating. When a business leader comes out with a popular liberal viewpoint he or she is applauded for their “courage”. The fact that such a move can potentially do damage to shareholder value is absolutely dismissed. As founder of the company Mr. Schultz is still the dominant force that drives company strategy, but as a public company he still answers to a board of directors and a significant amount of shareholders.  

It’s debatable whether or not targeted boycotts even work but what’s not debatable is the fact that even with support for gay marriage at an all-time high there is still a minimum of 40% of the population that opposes it. From a sheer stock price analysis there is no proof that the NOM boycott last summer had any real impact on the bottom line of Starbucks, although they did have a tough recent earnings report. Still, there are coffee shops on every corner so it’s not that difficult to pass by Starbucks and pick up your latte somewhere else. 

It’s fascinating when you look at the coverage of the Chick-fil-A controversy with the Starbucks controversy. When Dan Cathey, CEO of Chick-fil-A, came out in support of traditional marriage it ignited a firestorm. What was conveniently dismissed in the faux-outrage over Cathey’s comments was the fact that Chick-fil-A is a privately held and family owned company and can run their business the way they see fit without shareholders to answer to. A standard response by many in the liberal media was the idea that he should keep his private views to himself and focus on business. As expected many groups attempted to boycott the company, something they have every right to do. 

For those scoring at home here is how the game is played:  If the boycott supports a liberal cause its good and altruistic.  If it supports a conservative cause it’s backwards and unrealistic.Here’s hoping that Howard Schultz continues to stand up for what he believes in.  Good for him, there is nothing more American than taking a stand for your personal believes. Here’s also hoping that Americans who oppose those viewpoints and support traditional marriage vote against Starbucks with their pocketbooks. Like many Americans when I pick up my morning coffee it won’t be at Starbucks.