* Yes, the Tampa Bay Lightning are now early into their off-season of reflection and re-commitment after a disappointing, non-playoff season. But it was the season of blind-siding injuries that wreaked havoc with on-ice skill level and team continuity. It also saw an awkward goalie dynamic play out with the eventual, necessary trade of Ben Bishop.
Yet, somehow, this team finished with 94 points–only three fewer than last year, when it made it to game seven of the Eastern Conference final. Credit franchise depth for the contributions of all those unexpected replacements who were abruptly called up from Syracuse. (The Bolts were forced to use 37 different players in the lineup.) And there’s the continued development of Nikita Kucherov into a marquee player as well as the fast-forwarding young careers of future stars Jonathan Drouin, Brayden Point and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy
And credit head coach Jon Cooper for keeping it going through a strong finish. Plus kudos to the loud, interactive fan base: 19,092 every night. Our sports history is steeped in baseball and football. But this is a hockey town. Great facility, great location, great ownership–and great reminder of what it takes, regardless of sport.
* That well-noted, bottom-line comment by Brian Cashman, the New York Yankees’ general manager, was also a bit disingenuous. “Performance science is probably the next frontier,” he observed. “Managing the DL (Disabled List) costs and getting the most return on your investment is first and foremost.” He’s right, of course, but with an obscenely outsized payroll that is roughly three times that of the Tampa Bay Rays, he can still afford to overpay and write it off as the cost of doing business. And speaking of irony, how about “Cashman” as a Yankee GM?
* Remember when the Davis Cup was a big deal? Remember when American men’s tennis was a big deal?
* Florida Atlantic University made a commitment to go big time when it hired Lane Kiffin earlier this year as head football coach. Kiffin formerly coached the Oakland Raiders, the University of Tennessee and the University of Southern California. More recently he was offensive coordinator at Alabama. But Kiffin is also a big double-edged sword; he inevitably brings the baggage of controversy and fallout.
This just in: FAU, Kiffin and the state of Florida are now defendants in a fraud lawsuit. A former Alabama player alleges that Kiffin misled him to believe he had a job on the FAU staff in order to leverage his relationship with a recruit.
That didn’t take long.