Here are a few tidbits to pass along to you today. These first two come courtesy of our good buddy HitchRules.
First up is this from MSNBC:
Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" has been everywhere in recent years -- including on "The Sopranos" finale and on the show "Glee." But New York Magazine's Vulture column decided to delve into a glaring mistake in the second line.
You know the words. Steve Perry belts it out beautifully: "Just a city boy, born and raised in SOUTH DETROIT!"
But as Vulture points out, there's no area called "South Detroit." The southern portion of Detroit is called downtown and south of downtown is ... Canada.
Of course if you've ever been to the R Bar and have sat within an ear shot of the Blue Hair Guy when this song blares... You will know the Columbus Blue Jackets version goes a little somethin like this:
"Just a city boy, born and raised in F--K DETROIT!"
Nashville, St. Louis and Chicago all take their proper beatings in this version as well. Say hello to your nearest fan in a blue wig to learn the rest!
I watched this next part live during the 1st period intermission of the Oil/Devils game last night but HR found the print version:
If you are Scott Howson and already out of playoff contention, is it your duty to the franchise to 'Fail for Nail' or to play to win at all costs?
Crawford: Win at all costs. You play to win at all costs all the time. That's the only way to go. You look at the teams that have done it, they have all been rewarded by the hockey gods. Edmonton played hard and got Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Hopefully that happens for this year's team.
McKenzie: Fail for Nail. It's not like they have to try that hard, they are right on course for that right now. It's up to the players and the coaches on the Blue Jackets to try to win every night. It's up to the general manager to steer the ship in the right direction and that means stripping off some of the assets between now and the deadline and start looking towards next year. That might cost you a few points and if it does, so be it.
Ward: Win at all costs. It's a lottery pick so there is no guarantee you are going to get him. You have to start establishing a culture, a good atmosphere. Let's not kid ourselves, I think even if they tried hard enough, they aren't getting out of the basement. So they'll be well positioned for that pick.
The proper PR line is to say "win at all costs". But they all pretty much say it without saying it. Failing for nail is the best thing this franchise can do at this stage to help them win next year and into the future. And despite what the "braintrust" may publicly say down on Nationwide Blvd -- I fully believe they believe this as well.
While I always get caught in the moment wanting the team to win now. Big picture there are four things I want to see happen this year:
1. Fail just enough to gurantee a top 2 pick and one of Yakupov or Grigorenko.
2. Johnansen, Moore, Atkinson, Savard, Calvert, Kubalik and co continue to develop be it here or on the farm.
3. Trade every UFA to be that we possibly can before the the deadline.
4. Priest and Howson both fired.
For you Jeff Carter fans left out there, you will like their answers to this question:
Which of these players is most likely to be traded before the February 27 deadline: Jeff Carter (Blue Jackets), Ales Hemsky(Oilers), Derek Roy (Sabres), or Bobby Ryan (Ducks)?
Aaron Ward: Hemsky. Known to be a talented player but just hasn't shown it as of late. A motivated Hemsky can be a very tangible asset to a team that wants to make a run to the playoffs, but again, it just comes down to interest. The more he plays right now, he's hurting his case. He has to pick up his focus and his approach to the game and play it the right way.
Bob McKenzie: Ryan. Bob Murray, the general manager in Anaheim has really advertised the fact that he's open for business and this is a highly sought after commodity. A big power forward who is young, will net a huge return. It won't be an easy deal to do, but I've got to believe that it's a deal that Bob Murray wants to get done.
Marc Crawford: Hemsky. He doesn't fit the age dynamics of the Oilers now. I think he's still a top six forward and he could really help his cause if he shot the puck more.
I agree with not having Carter on this list for two reasons.
1. I have a hard time believing incumbent GM Scott Howson would be permitted to make such a trade.
2. Even if ownership has indeed lost their minds and fully intends to allow Howson "one more year" to right the ship. It would take a massive overpayment before I believe Howson would move him. And, for the most part, the only assets contenders are willing to part with at the deadline are futures (picks, prospects). We would most likely want more than "futures" for JC.
The person who is most disappointed by this is Jeff Carter. Even as excited as I was when this trade first went down, after seeing his reception to this trade and his play thus far -- I would not be disappointed to see him shipped out. But it would take a hefty payment along the lines of what we gave up to get him. If we can't get it, I keep him.
My favorite part about last night's TSN panel was this comment from host James Duthie regarding the Jackets attempt to #failfornail. His response was along these lines:
If the Jackets keep this up, that pick will probably be #notforscott to make.
Looks like RJ will be out indefinitely with a concussion after that hit from Jacques.
I see all this uproar over this on twitter -- but does it really friggan matter? This season is lost and Umberger, when healthy, is a big part of the reason why. He's been a shell of his former self this year. I don't like to see anyone get hurt but if you're gonna go down, now is as good a time as any as there is nothing to lose.
The bigger problem to me is who is going to get the recall in his place? I really hope they leave Atkinson and Calvert down and away from this disaster and call up a AHL vet (Grioux, St. Pierre, Drezenovic, Mayorov) but it will probably be one of those two.
And finally to no one's surprise the Jackets will not have a representative in the NHL All Star game. Only Ryan Johansen will make the trip as an "All Star Rookie" representative.
Frankly, that is the right call.
Thanks to HR for the links!
-LTL
