RIP Atlanta Thrashers

Today it was announced that the Atlanta Thrashers were purchased by a group in Winnipeg and will be moved back to Winnipeg starting next season.

It is a disappointing day for the true fans in Atlanta.  While the Thrashers did not have the support of some of the larger teams, they had a fan base that was excited about some of their young talent.  Atlanta was on the rise and was on the verge of making the playoffs this season until the last week or two of the season. 

The names that went through Atlanta that have gone on in other cities:  Savard, Kovalchuk, Hossa, Heatley.  The problem the Thrashers had was a lack of decent goaltending for several years.  I remember the days of Damian Rhodes and Norm Maracle.  Ownership didn't put the right people in the front office which led to repeated failure.

I think the new Winnipeg team has a lot of talent.  They have a decent young goaltender in Ondrej Pavelec, players such as Evander Kane, Dustin Byfuglien, Zach Bogosian, Mark Stuart, among others.  I think they will have success in the coming years.  However at the same time after realignment occurs after next season they will move to the Western Conference.  The competition is fierce in the west.  The competition will be fierce.

To the fans in Winnipeg:  Welcome back.  To those in Atlanta:  We are sorry to see you lose a team again.

Dover

For the 25th consecutive year I attended a NASCAR race at Dover.  It was good to get back to a track as I haven't been to once since October.  It was very sad to see such a small crowd.  I would guess there were only 80,000 or so.  Dover at one time had almost 140,000 fans on Sunday.  This year I can think of a few factors that caused the smaller crowd:

• The weather service had called for rain all week.
• The economy.  People are just not buying tickets as they don't have the discretionary money they used to have.
• Gas prices. 
• Jimmie Johnson winning 5 championships in a row.
• The racing hasn't been that exciting at Dover over the last few seasons.

Here are a few examples of how sparse the crowd was:







As you can see from the 3rd photo, entire sections of grandstands were closed.  With such a small crowd, is a track like Dover in danger of losing a date?  While it is close to cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington DC, it is obvious that the crowds are not coming like they used to.

Several years ago  I did some research that a lot of businesses around tracks in smaller markets, such as Dover, depend on these races.  Dover has some subsidy with the casino and other events.  But some of the other smaller market tracks don't have those luxuries. 

It doesn't help that some of the races lately at Dover have been less than exciting.  I can only count 2-3 times that a pass for the lead occurred under green flag conditions that did not involve pit stops.  There were no major accidents on Sunday.  And as I said before, a lot of fans have been turned off by Jimmie Johnson winning five straight championships.

I hope that things turn around for Dover.  It was the site of my first NASCAR race and it will always hold a special place in my heart.  But watching a track that I love half empty is alarming and sad.

New year, old results

For the fourth year in a row the Washington Capitals are bounced out of the playoffs.  I think of the four this one hurts the most.

The Caps were swept by the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight.  The Caps offense never seemed to show up in the series.  They would score goals, but immediately the defense would fall apart and give up a cheap or awful goal and Tampa would be right back in the game.  Several defensive breakdowns led to numerous Tampa chances and eventually goals.

I've been a Capitals fan for 25 years.  Every year it gets more and more painful, especially since the team has shown so much promise and brought in veterans at the trade deadline to fill some holes. 

This is going to be a tough offseason.   A lot of decisions have to be made.  A lot of very tough decisions.  There are several pending unrestricted free agents that will need to be signed or will be gone.  There are some restricted free agents that will need signing.  There's a question whether or not the coaching staff and general manager will return.

It was an interesting season.  It had its high points and its low points.  It's too bad that yet again the season ends on a low note.

bin Laden is dead.  I am speechless.