Duke beats GA Tech, loses mascot 4-6 weeks

Good Riddance: Sens fire Paddock

This news comes as some sort of a relief for Ottawa Senators fans. I guess Bryan Murray simply had enough of the lengthy losing streaks and back-to-back shutouts against the lowly Leafs and again last night in Boston.

The GM didn't exactly give Paddock the biggest vote of confidence, saying the other day that his job is safe "if the team keeps winning."

It kinda seemed like the players stopped playing for him. They are all competitive people, and I guarantee that they would enjoy an equally competitive coach behind the bench who shows some emotion. That's exactly what ol' Paddy didn't do. He was like an English Jacques Martin. Cross those arms and scowl the entire game and then give meaningless gargled quotes while choking up your Christmas turkey followed by the occasional burp. Gross? You bet. (If you listen to TGOR Nation on Team 1200 in Ottawa in the morning, you know what I'm talking about.)

But hey, at least Bryan Murray has some character. Paddock is a perfect fit for a team in the East Coast Iron League or something. I couldn't quite understand why he became the Sens' head coach. He wasn't exactly what you call a 'finesse' player in his day. More like, 4th-line plug/scrapper. It would be like Tie Domi coaching an NHL team in 10 years. How could you expect to win with a knucklehead like that at the helm?

Maybe I'm being too harsh, but if we couldn't lock up a sniper or stalwart defenceman at the deadline, then this is the next best thing. Paddock is a solid hockey guy with a great eye for talent. Today marks the beginning of another chapter and let's hope Murray can get the Sens to start playing like the team he took to the Cup last year. Peace out Paddy.

Roundup: Trade Deadline Edition

So the 2008 NHL trade deadline has come and gone. Anybody else think us Canadians are ridiculously obsessed with hockey trade coverage? The 3 major stations committed every minute of the day to endless banter that included a bunch of big kids texting on their Blackberries in between analyzing every trade to death. But I digress...

Who were the real winners today? You gotta think San Jose improved by acquiring a steady, puck-moving defenceman like Brian Campbell. Poor Buffalo...everybody keeps leaving them. How about Brad Richards heading to the Big D? And he's gotta be happy to get out of Tampa, especially after he said the franchise is "spiralling".

But what about Ottawa? They were one of the front-runners in the Marian Hossa sweepstakes, but obviously weren't willing to give up a 1st rounder, like Pittsburgh had to do. I recall owner Eugene Melnyk saying that he would "do anything to win the Cup," so it's very disappointing that they weren't able to land a marquee player. Just because the draft is being held in Ottawa this year, it doesn't mean the host team HAS to have a showing in the 1st round. Instead, GM Murray settled for Martin Lapointe in exchange for a 6th rounder. Another brutal deadline day for the struggling Senators. Will try to keep the expectations low for the upcoming postseason.

As for the rest of the trade details, check out TSN for a full list of who went where.

Gross: Arsenal player gets leg snapped

If you didn't know: Tiger Woods runs the show

Tiger Tiger Woods y'all!

It would've been nice to see Stewart Cink at least put up a fight today. But, because Tiger is the man, Cink gracefully accepted a good ol' fashioned beat down today at the WGC Accenture Match Play in Arizona. Here's a ridiculous stat: Stewart Cink hasn't won a tournament in 86 starts, while in the same stretch, Tiger has won 23 times.

Setting a tournament record with an 8-and-7 vic, Tiger has now won 15 of the 26 WGC tournies that he has entered.

Let's be honest. Tiger Woods has the professional golf world beaten, picked back up, and beaten some more. Safe to say that if Tiger is in the field at any given event, he will be accepting the hardware come Sunday afternoon.

Just another tidbit: he's now in 4th for all-time career wins with 63, stepping over Arnold Palmer. Should be an interesting exchange between the two, as Tiger's next stop is at Arnie's Invitational at Bay Hill.

Great Opportunities: Sign up for PPP

I recently became involved with a great internet company called PayPerPost (PPP). In the short period that the team at Bulging the Twine has been associated with them, I've received nothing but support and encouragement.

When you first hear about companies like PPP, your first thoughts tend to be focused on the fact that they're an internet-based company, so how legitimate can they be? Truth is, they're at the top of the blogging game, and have the stats and members to back it up.

I had initially heard about them through my daily blog crawling and figured that since there were enough people representing them, they had to be doing somethin' special.

So why did I feel compelled to sign up? Well, like every good capitalist, I want to make some extra cash by speaking my mind on Bulging the Twine. PPP offers some great opportunities to make money and can be quite lucrative if you know what you're doing. I think of myself as someone who knows what they're doing. Plus, their site looked interesting. A great design and interactive features. Put it this way, within 2 hours of being part of their team, I had already bought a nice white visor with their logo. That's how much I think of them, and their position in this online marketplace we call blogging.

As for the money I'm going to make, well, I'm going to Disneyland! If you're looking for a great way to drive traffic to your site, check out PayPerPost!

Ray Emery = Weaksauce

Dare to disagree? And even if you do, you obviously didn't catch the fine display he put on against Columbus last night. He didn't even look interested in stopping the game winner in the shootout.

It's hard to even comprehend the situation the Senators have put themselves in. I mean, 2 goalies...sorry, 2 underachieving goalies who both belong at the end of a bench somewhere in the AHL. Yet, here we are. Sens fans get the pleasure of watching weak goal after weak goal bulge the twine (yes, I had to throw in that term) in the back of the net, night after night, while both rack up ample interest in their bank accounts.

The Poolsider brought up a valid point in our last transcontinental meeting of the minds. The way Emery is playin', he won't be in the NHL by the time he's 30. Keep in mind that's he 25. He's got another 2 years left on his $9.5 million contract. That's a lot of money to spend on Hummers, Lambos, and baby blue leisure suits!

If he doesn't get his act together in a hurry, Poolsider's forecast for the Razor may just come to fruition. Hey, at least he can fade away into oblivion like his idol, Mike Tyson.

Limited Profitability: Nike sells Bauer Hockey

That has to be the only explanation for why Nike would sell off a company. Especially a company like Bauer.

The sale is reportedly worth $200 million to a U.S. private equity firm, Kohlberg & Co. The Montreal-based Bauer has been around since 1927 and has been at or near the top of the hockey world for as long as I can remember. That's why it's kinda shocking to see them discarded like this. I do recall some rumblings about a possible sale a few months ago, but never really thought Nike would drop the axe.

"It was a tough decision but one that was in the best interests of Nike and Bauer as we each look to maximize our respective growth opportunities," Nike CEO Mark Parker said in a statement.

So basically, they weren't making enough money for the head-honchos behind the Swoosh. Like they need more...but hey, business is business and if there's one thing Nike does well, it's maximizing their profits by making intelligent business decisions.

But, this announcement is not necessarily bad news for Bauer. Even though RBK squeezed themselves into the hockey space by dumping a boat-load of money into the NHL with the tight-fitting jerseys and all of the equipment, Bauer and its brand have remained near the top of the market. There's a reason they've been around for 90years. The underlying reason why Nike bought them in 1995 was because of their massive presence in the hockey marketplace. Nike wanted a piece, but didn't want to have to launch their own line of equipment. Quick fix: buy a powerful brand and market it as their own.

They've had their fun, built up a presence in the sport, and now they're out...

NHL: Will Do Anything For Money

Here comes an idea that further emphasizes the fact that nobody cares about the NHL south of the border.

Hmmm...now that we're finally realizing that fans in the southern states could care less about hockey, how do we make more money? Let's put ads all over our goalies! Genius!

Seriously though, we could be seeing all of the netminders in the NHL covered with Red Bull and Viagra ads. Is this a good idea? Well, financially, it's seems very lucrative. An estimated $30 million in revenue is the magical number the NHL would make. But what about the jerseys that have remained untouched and unaltered for the past century? Like Montreal, Detroit, Toronto. Minor changes have been made, but they're still the original design. No other major sport has allowed the greedy fingers of corporations to take a piece of any franchise's attire. Why does the NHL continuously look to change the game. Every few weeks, there's a different issue. Rules changes, dirty hits, and now sponsored jerseys. I say leave the game alone and keep ads off goalies. What do you think?

Ridiculous: Dwight Howard is Superman

You gotta watch this.