Wake-Up Call: Raiders, Dodgers, hockey fights, George Parros
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
First things first: The Raiders’ fan base is solid here in Southern California. Sam Farmer, who is in Tampa covering the extravaganza known as the Super Bowl, wrote about Al Davis and the 1983 Raiders on the Fab Forum this week. The response was overwhelming. Today, he begins a series of posts on that team.
Go figure II: The first thought after hearing that the Cubs acquired Aaron Heilman from Seattle was that the Dodgers still may have a chance to get Jake Peavy (2.85 ERA in 2008) from the San Diego Padres. If Ned Colletti wonders if Peavy is worth it, just reread the game story from June. Otherwise you have a starting rotation of Chad Billingsley, Hiroki Kuroda* and ... uh-oh. OK, they’re going after L.A. native and ex-Dodger Randy Wolf (4.30 ERA for Houston last season) but didn’t they try that in 2007? And if you aren’t worried, remember they still have Jason Schmidt. If you’re still not worried, then you probably aren’t a Dodgers fan.
Fight game: Hockey is known for fighting, but on the college level it rarely gets to the level of a criminal investigation. On Saturday, two Michigan State players -- Andrew Conboy and Corey Tropp -- sucker-punched and slashed Michigan defenseman Steve Kampfer. But University of Michigan police, who launched an investigation over the weekend, said today they won’t seek criminal charges in the on-ice attack. However, the Central Collegiate Hockey Assn. is still investigating. And police are continuing to investigate a possible assault in Michigan State’s locker room after the game. Michigan won the game, which was played in Ann Arbor, 5-3. The odd thing is that Kampfer was in the news in October when he was attacked in an off-ice incident.
Fight game II: SI.com’s Jim Kelley, who writes about the NHL, says a recent public opinion poll in Canada showed that fans would prefer their hockey without fights. Wow, what would the Ducks’ George Parros do if he didn’t have to be the guy who steps up to fight? Maybe score more goals? It can be a bit horrifying when 6-foot-5 guys really go at it. Here is a poll. Tell us what you think.
-- Debbie Goffa
* After a brain freeze, wrong first name was corrected at 10:43 a.m. on Jan. 30.