Tootoo Update

Apparently the "powers that be" didn't see things my way. The NHL suspended Tootoo for 5 games. But what timing they have... his first game back will be against non other than the Dallas Stars. I have a feeling that's going to be a really fun game.

Also, apparently the Predators organization hurt the feelings of the Dallas Stars President by not honoring Mike Modano's record setting goal. Give me a break, do you really think that at that point in the game (right after the Tootoo hit/Modano slash) the fans would've done anything but boo that goal? The Sports Zone guys (on 104.5) said on the Darcy Hordichuk Show this evening that there was in fact a special presentation planned but because of the circumstances they decided against showing it.

The Tootoo hit

I went to the Predators game last night against the Dallas Stars. Thankfully, the Predators were able to get back on the winning track. And I even got to witness a record being broken when Dallas's Mike Modano became the leading American scorer in NHL history.

However, there was an ugly incident near the end of the game. You can go here to see if for yourself (sorry for some of the language of some of the posters). The whole scrum happened down on my end of the ice. Jordin Tootoo leveled a big (yet very legal) hit on Modano. When Tootoo was getting up he saw a Dallas player coming in to "defend" the star, so Tootoo... um... punched him (live it just looked like he pushed him). Unfortunately the punch completely knocked the guy out. But then Modano swings his stick at Tootoo. I won't defend Tootoo, he got what he deserved (4 minute penalty for roughing) & the Dallas player got the penalty he deserved (2 minutes for charging plus a bit he didn't deserve in a concussion). However at the game, when I saw the referee call a penalty, I thought it was going to be on Modano for slashing Tootoo with his stick because you just DO NOT use your stick as a weapon. Yet in this case, no penalty on Modano & when I watched the highlights on ESPN last night, the only thing that was mentioned was that Tootoo "suckerpunched" the guy (well that & that Modano broke the record... you woudn't even know the Predators had won from how they covered it).

You have to wonder... would this have been spun differently if the cast of characters had been reversed. I for one think it might have been. I guess you can't have a guy break a record & get such a penalty in the same game huh? Now, I've been reading media types saying that Tootoo deserves at least a 10 game suspension... good grief. All I know, if the league does suspend him, they best be handing out some punishment against Modano as well.

Let's just say, the Predators now have another team that does not like them. The Dallas fans on the message boards I read were calling the team & fans classless. Partially because they didn't acknowledge the record being broken in the arena & partially because we were taunting & booing Modano. As far as the fans go, I think most everyone the arena was very respectful while they were tending to the hurt player. It wasn't until the game resumed and they announced the penalties (or lack thereof) that the crowd let Modano know what we thought of him... that he sucked & that he was a sissy. We just called it like we saw it. And you know, when Dallas returns later this month, I'm sure we'll continue taunting him.

Getting Some Props

Sports Illustrate has a nice article on the Preds. It touches on the fact that there's a lot of Wings fan in the area (with the Saturn & Nissan plants nearby). What it doesn't say is that Wing fans are bad but Predwing fans are even worse. They show up at every other game in their Predators gear but when the Wings are in town they are suddenly wearing that strange wheel wing thing (I know it's sacrilege to say such a thing about a original 6 team... but obviously I don't care).

After the Grammy's

Well it looks like it was a good choice to not live blog the Grammy's. I spent a bit of the night getting immersed in the what/if/how's of a potential Predator's trade for Peter Forsberg. As of now, there's still no word on if it will materialize. But as soon as I read a particular message board post from a guy I know who I know has some inside connections, I was hooked on finding out everything I could.

Now back to the Grammy's. I remembered why I liked & why I didn't like to watch. For the most part, the music was good. The speeches & awards... boring. And I get very competitive. I want all my picks to win & when they don't, it's almost like my team losing a game. Any way, the Police were great. Gnarls Barkley was very cool. Mary J. Blige was awesome & I don't know why I didn't pick her to win some awards. The rest seem to be a jumbled mess in my mind.

So let's see how I did (winners are in bold)...

Record of the Year:
My pick: You're Beautiful-James Blunt
Probable winner: Not Ready To Make Nice-Dixie Chicks

Album of the Year:
My pick: St. Elsewhere-Gnarls Barkley
Probable winner: Taking The Long Way-Dixie Chicks

Song of the Year:
My pick: Jesus, Take The Wheel-Carrie Underwood
Probable winner: Not Ready To Make Nice-Dixie Chicks

Best New Artist:My pick: Chris Brown
Probable winner: James Blunt
Actual winner: Carrie Underwood

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
My pick: Unwritten-Natasha Bedingfield
Probable winner: You Can Close Your Eyes-Sheryl Crow
Actual winner: Ain't No Other Man- Christina Aguilera

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance:
My pick: Waiting On The World To Change-John Mayer
Probable winner: Bad Day-Daniel Powter

Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal:
My pick: Over My Head (Cable Car)-The Fray
Probable winner: Over My Head (Cable Car)-The Fray
Actual winner: My Humps- The Black Eyed Peas

Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals:
My pick: Hips Don't Lie-Shakira & Wyclef Jean
Probable winner: Promiscuous-Nelly Furtado & Timbaland
Actual winner: For Once In My Life- Tony Bennett & Stevie Wonder

Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal:
My pick: Steady, As She Goes-The Raconteurs
Probable winner: How To Save A Life-The Fray
Actual winner: Dani California- Red Hot Chili Peppers

Best Rock Song:
My pick: Chasing Cars-Snow Patrol
Probable winner: Lookin' For A Leader-Neil Young
Actual winner: Dani California- Red Hot Chili Peppers

Best Rock Album:
My pick: Broken Boy Soldiers-The Raconteurs
Probable winner: Stadium Arcadium-Red Hot Chili Peppers

Best Alternative Music Album:
My pick: St. Elsewhere-Gnarls Barkley
Probable winner: St. Elsewhere-Gnarls Barkley

Best Female Country Vocal Performance:
My pick: Kerosene-Miranda Lambert
Probable winner: Jesus, Take The Wheel-Carrie Underwood

Best Male Country Vocal Performance:
My pick: Would You Go With Me-Josh Turner
Probable winner: The Reason Why-Vince Gill

Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal:
My pick: Boondocks-Little Big Town
Probable winner: Not Ready To Make Nice-Dixie Chicks

Best Gospel Performance:
My pick: Made To Worship-Chris Tomlin
Probable winner: Victory-Yolanda Adams

Best Gospel Song: My pick: Mountain Of God-Third Day
Probable winner: Mountain Of God-Third Day
Actual winner: Imagine Me- Kirk Franklin

Best Short Form Music Video:My pick:Here It Goes Again -OK Go
Probable winner:Here It Goes Again -OK Go

Well, I didn't do too bad... if you combine my picks & the probable picks (61%). Now only 17% of my picks were correct.

Well I'm off. Got to go see if there's any new trade news.