The Florida Panthers Want To Wish You A Merry Christmas, Via Song

Things are going great for the Florida Panthers. Kevin Dineen looks like a Jack Adams Award candidate. Former UMD Bulldog Jason Garrison leads all NHL defensemen with ten goals. Forward Kris Versteeg is on pace for 40 goals.

Oh, and Florida leads the Southeast Division by eight points.

In the spirit of the season, the Panthers want to wish all of us a Merry Christmas. Using the power of song and YouTube, they have found a fun way to do it.



Gotta love Ed Jovanovski yucking it up. So many guys could learn from him.

Others, meanwhile, obviously don't realize Movember ended.

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Merry Christmas.

Last week: 12-4
Season: 147-81

Home team in CAPS
Pittsburgh over ST. LOUIS (yes, really, duh)
Dallas over CAROLINA
Cleveland over CINCINNATI
Green Bay over CHICAGO
INDIANAPOLIS over Houston
DETROIT over Kansas City
NEW ENGLAND over Miami
BUFFALO over N.Y. Giants
JACKSONVILLE over Oakland
NEW ORLEANS over Philadelphia
MINNESOTA over Washington
ARIZONA over Atlanta
SEATTLE over Baltimore
TENNESSEE over N.Y. Jets
Tampa Bay over SAN FRANCISCO
SAN DIEGO over Denver

I hope you're all safe and that you enjoy the holiday to its fullest. I'll be back if I get a few spare moments and anything big happens over the weekend, otherwise you probably won't see anything new here until Wednesday.

RANDOMIZATION: 12/18/07

Christmas schedule. Posting will be practically non-existent from Friday through Tuesday, as we go into full Christmas mode around here. In typical "radio people" fashion, we're doing our Christmas party on January 11*, naturally on a date that I can't attend.

(* - This isn't a slam on the company I work for at all. Radio people are perpetually late, to the point where I have tricked myself I have to be at a 7:00pm hockey game by 4:45pm.)

I allowed myself to get roped into this Secret Santa deal. When I get something from someone, I'm probably supposed to guess who got it for me. I'm not going to have any idea. Why do we do this? I mean, there's probably a 65% chance I'll get something related to the Packers or UMD. Odds might even be higher than that for all I know. The normal line you get is that "we all need to get to know each other", but does anyone really do that? No. Instead, we just assume that since the girl in the sales cubicle down the aisle really likes dogs, we should get her something related to dogs. What if she doesn't want anything related to dogs? Then we just look stupid.

And why am I ranting about Secret Santa?

Mitchell Report fallout. First off, I'm one of those people who believes that if you've been caught in this report, you should just be a man and come clean.

See, even if Mitchell says you did steroids in 1994, it's not like you didn't think there was something wrong with doing steroids. After all, they were banned everywhere, including society. Odds are that you knew this and knew you were simply taking advantage of spineless, clueless leadership in baseball.

But for you to deny taking steroids at this point is kind of childish. Stupid, too.

With that said, what might be even worse than denying it altogether is trying to make me believe that all these guys just took stuff once. That's it. Just that one time to recover from an injury, or out of whatever reason, but only once! Or maybe you just took HGH because you were hurt all the time.

Seriously, do you think I just fell off the proverbial turnip truck?

Do you think the cop believes you when you told him you've never driven drunk or sped before?

Do you think the boss believes you when you told him you've never snuck in the back door ten minutes late before?

I suppose your spouse believes you when you say that you've never made out with the gardener before?

Stop. Just stop. If your answer is "Well, I only did it once, and if I offended anyone, I apologize", then just don't bother, because I don't want to hear it anymore. It's been five days, and I'm already sick of it.

Congrats on the stupidity, NFL. The Pro Bowl system is so broken that words don't even describe it. The rosters have been announced, and it's probably a good thing no one watches the game, because this is ridiculous. As expected, the 12-2 Cowboys put a lot of guys on the NFC team. But 11 is a bit much, especially considering that the other 12-2 NFC team, Green Bay, has four.

Hilariously, Green Bay's best defensive player, Nick Barnett, isn't going. Neither is their best defensive back, Charles Woodson. Instead, the Packer defense sends the deserving Aaron Kampman and the not-so-much Al Harris. Apparently, the majority of the Pro Bowl voters don't get the NFL Network, because they didn't see Harris have a horrifically bad night against Terrell Owens and the Cowboys a few weeks back.

On the other side of the ball, Brett Favre and Donald Driver are going, as they should be. Where the hell is Mark Tauscher? Am I the only one that noticed Scott Wells having a great year in the middle of that offensive line?

Meanwhile, the 8-6 Vikings have seven players on the NFC roster. Seven?

What?

(Side note: Congrats to the voters on their posthumous voting of Sean Taylor as an NFC starter. That was a super gesture, and hopefully leads to a ceremony in Hawai'i honoring his memory one last time.)

Seven?

(Including starting NFC safety Darren Sharper, who might be having his worst season as a pro. Seriously? I mean, you're better off with Atari Bigby.)

I mean, who are you people kidding? Even when you factor the 30% or so of the selected players that won't bother to play, opening up holes for alternates, this is beyond a joke.

On the other hand, it underscores what the Packers have been selling us, and each other, all season long about this being a team and not a group carried by outstanding individuals. I'll take 12-2, a bye week, and four Pro Bowlers any day over 8-6, fighting for the playoffs, and seven Pro Bowlers.

(/rant)

RANDOMIZATION: 12/11/07

Two weeks away. Are you ready? Didn't think so. My advice is to start getting ready. It will be here before you know it.

By the way, the name of the "winter holiday" is "Christmas". I have nothing but respect for all religions, and I'm not here to start a holy argument. That's not what we're about here.

But this one drives me nuts. The name of the day is "Christmas". Even if you aren't a practicing Christian, December 25 is Christmas. The calendar says so. Similarly, Hanukkah shows up on my calendar, even though I don't celebrate it. If you choose to celebrate Hanukkah, then I wish you a happy Hanukkah. If you choose to celebrate Christmas, I wish you a merry Christmas.

This isn't difficult. Call the day what it is. It's not meant to offend anyone, and it's not meant to alienate anyone. As much as I hate to say something like this, if my observance of Christmas offends you, I wish I had your life. In my life, I don't have the time or ability to worry about insignificant bullcrap like that.

Merry Christmas. Happy New Year. No matter what you celebrate, may the next three or so weeks be nothing but joyous for you and your family.

Now to step off my soapbox...

Miles to Michigan??? This won't go away, as Some Guy noted on FanHouse December 1, until Michigan introduces Somebody Not Named Les Miles as their new football coach. And since Michigan hasn't done that yet, it isn't going away.

Turns out Les Miles talked to Michigan last week. Now, Miles says he's just being a good alum and trying to help M's feeble coaching search. But the fact that there is still communication leaves open the chance that I'll get my wish, and Miles will take the job after OMG SIGNING THAT EXTENSION.

So who Not Named Les Miles is there? Schiano's out. Ferentz doesn't appear to be a serious candidate. Has Michigan somehow overvalued a job at one of the great traditions in college sports? Will they be stuck with the overly unattractive Mike DeBord? Why can't they get a great candidate? Are they better off with a top I-AA (er, FCS) coach or highly-regarded I-A (er, FBS) assistant?

Frankly, I think the high-priced, high-profile move is overrated. The Wolverines have a great program, but they could get by very well doing what Ohio State did. It's very much about getting the right guy and making a good fit for the program, instead of just throwing some money at a guy like Les Miles who might not be as good a coach as his LSU teams sometimes make him look.

(Please note that my wish for Miles to take the Michigan job has nothing to do with what's best for Michigan. It's all about the comedy.)

Quick hockey note. NHL goal number two for Matt Niskanen last night in Dallas. The former Bulldog scored from the blue line in the first period, and he added two assists for a career-high three points in the game. Niskanen now has 11 points (2-9) and a plus-five in 31 games for the Stars.

He's playing great for Dallas, and it's high time that he get some time on the power play more consistently. Put him with Sergei Zubov on the point, and you'll really start to see what he can do offensively. Oh, and he got his ride "pimped" last week, too.

Way to go, Marty Turco. Nicely done. Follow the link above to get to more pictures (bigger, too) of the work that was done.

Rik Jordan heard about Niskanen getting a pie in the face on his 21st birthday last week, and he noted that it's a sign of how well Matt's been received in the locker room. I couldn't agree more. They must like him, and they must respect him, because they're treating him as one of their own.

It's something that doesn't always happen with a rookie.