Saturday, November 23, 2002
My fun prediction for the day -- Buzzards over Jacks.
Hey, look, at least one Tulsa fan is already taking the team's success for granted. Yup, given that the Jacks didn't have a very good team last year, and aren't known for good goaltending and defense, it must have been pure luck.
It's the Good, the Bad and the Ugly for San Angelo right now. Good is the team's community outreach, taking a page from both Michael Vick and the Wichita Thunder to have players calling season ticketholders. Bad? Well eight losses in a row speaks for itself. It's kind of sweet, in a deluded sort of way, that this fan is all worked up over Brent Hughes' week-old comments -- as if he said anything about the Saints that night Brent Scott didn't say in his own locker room, 10 times worse. As for the ugly, hey, why print rumors when you can link to 'em? It will be interesting to learn what truth the game tape holds on that one.
Former Ice Bat Bobby Brown is on his annual call-up. And poor Brett Draney -- one minute you're getting cross-checked by an NHL superstar, the next you're back in AA... In other transaction news, Matt Smith is no longer a Buck, as he's been traded by the AHL Rampage to Wilkes-Barre Scranton (and assigned to Wheeling of the ECHL)... What do Mike Hampton and Manute Bol have in common? (Nothing, actually).
Thanks to the Central Texas Blackhawks for having me the other night. The hockey was scrambly but fun, and it was kind of a nostalgic bummer, making that familiar road trip without a Bats-Stampede game at the end. Great to see familiar faces, particularly old pals of every hockey fan's spiritual leader (for always). Hockey South boss Jay Johnson tells me he's still looking at markets like Abilene and Lake Charles, and they've sold more than 1000 season tickets in Wichita Falls, where play begins shortly (pioneering member Tupelo, however, still hasn't won a game).
They call it the "dreaded vote of confidence" when it's about a coach's future, but in this case, the cliche just might apply to Corpus Christi ownership. Stay tuned.
