Posts Tagged ‘Fearless predictions’

Doogie2K
Jun 10th, 2010
10:13PM UTC

SNN Predicts: The Results Are In!

Alright, folks, here’s how we finished up:

Doogie Hoop Matt Gerard Result
4-1 4-1 4-2 4-1 4-2
1-0 1-0 1-0 1-0 W-L
1 1 0 1 GO
8-7 11-4 7-8 8-7 W-L
36 28 35 36 GO
1 4 4 0 PS

You may notice the extra row at the end. Because Gerard and I perfectly tied, the second tiebreaker had to come out, and I arbitrarily selected perfect series. Not because it gave me second place (that was a happy accident), but because it was the only damned thing I had left that I’d tracked.

That sixth game was an absolute classic. It’s a bit of a shame, in a way, that the final goal was a touch anticlimactic, with the delayed reaction of everyone in the building not named Patrick Kane. Then again, there’s something pure and enjoyable about Kane’s whoop of joy being the only sign that the ‘Hawks had just won the Cup for damned near five seconds. Still, the game itself was entertaining pretty much from start to finish: even when the ‘Hawks tried to sit on their lead in the third, they got a few quality chances, and did more by sound positioning than they did by playing that Godforsaken dump and chase that most teams do when they defend a late lead.

The goaltending was awful, sure (neither ‘keeper had a SV% over .900, and the series was the third-highest scoring Final of all-time), but overall, I can’t complain one bit about the quality of the series. What many in the hockey world –including three of us — expected to be a coronation turned out to be a heck of a series with a number of lead changes, history in the making (Briere’s 12 points, one off Gretzky’s record, and 30 points on the playoffs, besting Brian Propp for the Flyers record), and defining moments, the kind of series that wouldn’t have been possible a few years ago (remember the slogfests of the early aughts?). Plus, Game 6 was apparently the highest-rated NHL game since the mid-70s. It did the unthinkable and outdid the NHL’s dream matchups of the last two years in pretty much every way. It’s too bad the salary cap is going to ravage this Chicago team over the summer: I’d love to see more of this next year.

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Posted in Sports | 3 Comments »

Doogie2K
May 29th, 2010
12:00PM UTC

SNN Predicts: 2010 Stanley Cup Finals

After Round 3, our only perfect picker is Matt, the guy who went ohfer just one round earlier.

Doogie Hoop Matt Gerard Result
4-2 4-2 4-2 4-3 4-1
4-2 4-2 4-3 4-3 4-0
1-1 1-1 2-0 1-1 W-L
7 7 4 7 GO
7-7 10-4 6-8 7-7 W-L
35 27 35 35 GO

Thankfully, we no longer have Montreal around to gum up the works yet again. This time, it’s just two teams, and hopefully a pretty straightforward selection. Fair warning: Hoop and I wrote novels. The important bits, as always, are in bold.

So of course, the first game where most of the ‘Hawks play like the ‘Hawks, and I miss it. Ah, well. Wednesday!

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Posted in Articles, Sports | 13 Comments »

Doogie2K
May 16th, 2010
10:29AM UTC

SNN Predicts: 2010 Conference Finals

The Fairy Godmother's been busy, I see...

After a second round for the ages, all of us have a little egg on our faces, though some more than others…Matt.

Doogie Hoop Matt Gerard Result
4-2 4-1 4-2 4-2 4-3
4-3 4-2 4-2 4-1 4-3
4-2 4-3 4-1 4-3 4-1
4-2 4-2 4-3 4-1 4-2
1-3 3-1 0-4 2-2 W-L
10 7 15 10 GO
6-6 9-3 4-8 6-6 W-L
28 20 31 28 GO

Actually, to be perfectly fair, Matt’s picks were identical to those of one Robert McKenzie, so it’s a bit unexpected to see things blow up that badly. Also, given how Boston-Philly turned out, I actually don’t feel totally bad. I mean, if at any point the Bruins had pulled their heads out of their asses and stolen a game, it’s much more even down the stretch. As it is, Hoop has essentially won by default, Matt has been mathematically eliminated, and Gerard and I are playing for second prize. Still, as a lapsed Canadiens fan, I can’t complain about the outcome too terribly much, except to say that I’d rather have seen the 33rd installment of Habs-Bruins, and third in a row, simply as an expression of sheer cosmic will that these two teams face each other all the fucking time.

Who will win the Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny out West (or as many cynics have called it, “The real Stanley Cup Final”)? Who will win the skirt-tearing slap fight of Cinderella teams out East? Answers to these questions, and many more, after the jump.

Your Stanley Cup finalists are Philadelphia and Chicago. Series starts Saturday. Go Hawks.

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Posted in Sports | 14 Comments »

Doogie2K
Apr 29th, 2010
6:43PM UTC

SNN Predicts: 2010 Conference Semifinals

It's not nice to fool Mother Nature. Or the hockey gods.

That didn’t quite go according to plan, I don’t think.

Doogie Hoop Matt Gerard Result
4-1 4-1 4-1 4-2 4-3
4-3 4-2 4-2 4-2 4-1
4-2 4-2 4-1 4-3 4-2
4-1 4-1 4-2 4-3 4-2
4-0 4-2 4-2 4-2 4-2
4-3 4-2 4-2 4-0 4-2
4-3 4-1 4-2 4-3 4-2
4-2 4-1 4-3 4-2 4-3
5-3 6-2 4-4 4-4 W-L
18 13 16 18 GO

To be fair, though, I think most of the hockey world bet against Montreal, and for pretty solid reasons. Philly…man, I don’t know what the three of us were thinking. There were way too many signs there for us to ignore. Throw in a little homerism (Matt), and a couple of gutsy picks (Gerard), and you wind up with a 4-4 record pretty quickly. The winner of round one, though, as both most correct and most accurate picker, is Hoop, with six correct series and “only” 13 games off. (See this comment for an explanation of the latter.)

Apologies for the minor lateness (it’s now 2-0 3-0 3-1 Sharks midway through the first period of Game 1); in my defence, the power kind of died around here for a little bit today due to a freak spring snowstorm. Also, I didn’t expect the game to start at 5:30 local time on a weeknight. Matt and Gerard will add their explanations/justifications later, but I’m liking the variety in this round. Time to separate the men from the boys. Or the lucky from the not. Whatever.

History Has Been Made. Too bad the commercials have been thoroughly diluted by parodies of variable quality and questionable decisions on which plays to showcase.

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Posted in Articles, Sports | 71 Comments »

Doogie2K
Apr 14th, 2010
4:00PM UTC

SNN Predicts: 2010 Conference Quarterfinals

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a really stupid idea.

Welcome to the third annual SNN Predicts series of articles (fourth overall, if you count the 2004 version done on the forums, lost to the mists of time but notable for the fact that I went 0-4 in series involving the Flames), in which we act like we know what we’re talking about and make our (mostly) blindingly obvious predictions, with a shocking amount of success, considering some mainstream reporters usually wind up under .500 by the time the Stanley Cup is finally awarded somewhere around Canada Day. Round One in the East seems like a cake walk, which is why someone is going to pull off the shocking upset, and Round One in the West seems much more open, which is why every team you’d expect to win will. It’s the way of the world. Countdown to the first article pronouncing Vancouver “Canada’s team,” and urging Canadians to root them to our first Stanley Cup since 1993? Let’s say T minus ten days.

Matt and Gerard were comically late getting their entries to me, so this goes up mere minutes before the start of the playoffs. But it’s on time! Improvement from last year! After the jump, let’s see some predictions…

Not really much to say about tonight’s game that hasn’t been said already. The Caps’ stars left their gameplan in a bin, and all tried to do it all themselves. The Habs block a million shots, Halak stops the other million, and it’s 2-1 for the bleu, blanc, et rouge over the red, white, and blue.

Conference semis start tomorrow. We’re on the clock, gentlemen.

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Posted in Articles, Sports | 35 Comments »