Marc Elliott is a free lance sports opinion writer. Elliott recently wrote The Masked Fan Speaks column for the Lake County News Chronicle for the past ten years.
PARK POINT . Friends, I have seen just over 50 Stanley Cup tourneys in my lifetime and I have to tell you that I am not certain I have ever witnessed a Cup clinching game quite like the Chicago Bla
BIG SANDY LAKE It was a couple of nights past the epic three overtime battle between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Boston Bruins, and the Fan Jr. and I were on a late-night call. With no hockey on this summer eve, we briefly talke
CHICAGO For the first time since 1979 we will bear witness to a Stanley Cup Final featuring two Original Six teams. The Boston Bruins have won the Eastern Conference Final in spectacular fashion ousting the favored Pittsburgh Penguins 4 games to none. The sweep of t
CASTLE DANGER As if I needed another reason to have contempt for the NFL. Its not enough that the wealthiest sports league on the planet cant build their own stadiums and continually fleeces the taxpayers of our land to do so. Its not enough that their ticket pric
LARSMONT In early April Wild GM Chuck Fletcher, feeling the possibility of a playoff berth made a deal with the Buffalo Sabres for Forward Jason Pominville. Pominville was the teams Captain, was in th
EAST BEAVER BAY The Wilds season came to an unceremonious end last Thursday eve at the hands of the Chicago Blackhawks. The Hawks won the game 5-1 and punched their ticket to the second round of the Stanley Cup tourney. The Wild put
STONY POINT . Everyone who has ever watched or played hockey has at some point seen games in the National Hockey League. Whether you see it on television or even better, in person, the speed, beauty, and grace of the game are
CASTLE DANGER It is Sunday afternoon and I am awaiting the final NHL regular-season game between the Boston Bruins and the Ottawa Senators, but more on that in a bit. The Eastern Conf
STONY POINT The NCAA Mens Frozen Four is complete, and Eastern upstart Yale has won it all by besting the overall number-one team, Quinnipiac, by a 4-0 whitewash in the title tilt. In t
BIG SANDY LAKE This morning prior to the Detroit Red Wings vs. St. Louis Blues tilt, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced a rescheduling of the Red Wings-Toronto Maple Leafs Winter Classic game for New Years Day of
PROCTOR HEIGHTS Years back, the Minnesota boys state high school hockey tournament underwent a major change when it expanded from an eight-team single bracket tourney to the current two-class format. Some fa
PARK POINT . It was recently announced that the National Rifle Association would be sponsoring a future NASCAR event, a race known as The Texas Shootout at the Texas Motor Speedway. Based on current socio-political events, the resulting fervor was akin to Granny taking a broom to the beehive on Uncle Jeds porch on the Beverly
SCANLON After Sundays NHL competition, the Chicago Blackhawks survived yet another challenge to their unbeaten in regulation games streak, running it up to a remarkable 22 games at 19-0-3. The Hawks were held at bay by the Detroit Red Wings until Patrick Kane tied the ga
LESTER PARK . Like them or not, and Im sure they have few fans in this town, I have to mention this anyway: the Golden Gopher womens hockey team has completed the WCHA regular season with a record of 28-0. They are 34-0 overall. But the most astonishing item in all of this is that going back to last season, this team has p
LARSMONT As you know, this is the last season of the greatest collegiate hockey conference in college hockey history as we knew it. Now that were in mid-February, I felt that this might be a good time to project an order of finish for those still considered contenders. With all due respect to those clu
ST. PAUL . Its been a bit of a rough ride so far in this short campaign for the NHL Minnesota Wild. At this point, the club sits at 5-5-1 and is headed out west for a couple of tilts. And only a few games into the season, some in the clubs fan base are getting restless. Against another solid edition of the Vancouver Canucks last Thursday evening, the team came out listless for the first period and managed a 10-minute stretch in the second period, where they exhibite
LARSMONT Former Minnesota Vikings receiving legend Cris Carter, on the leagues Hall Of Fame ballot for his sixth time, has finally been voted in for induction. Many fans have been irritated that Carter has had to wait, convinced he should have been a first ballot inductee. I would tend to agree with them. Carter is fourt
ST. LOUIS The Minnesota Wild have just dropped a 5-4 OT game to the St. Louis Blues here tonight at the Scott Trade Center, but more on that and the club in a bit. The NHL after a three-and-a-half-month delay to the start of the season has come out of the gates flying. Most observers advised
ST. PAUL Last week in an exclusive interview with Oprah Winfrey, former cycling champion Lance Armstrong finally came clean to the world about his use of performance-enhancing drugs in his pursuit of cycling victories, records, and fame. My take is just abou
KNIFE RIVER In exciting fashion, the Minnesota Vikings went on a 4-0 run in their final four regular-season games to get into the NFL playoffs. They did this against some fair competition, too. They beat the Bears, a resurgent St. Louis Rams club, the Houston Te
ESKO I have never been more than a casual basketball fan over the years. I dont dislike the gameit just seems that there are only certain levels of it that appeal to me, especially at this point. Which is kind of odd seeing as how my father was a high school basketball player. He was a point guard who speciali
BARKER ISLAND Saturday morning as I was having some coffee, halfway listening to some college football warm-up shows, and reading some news online, the news first came across that an NFL football player from the Kansas City Chiefs had shot his girlfriend, then departed that crime scene and gone to the clubs practice facility, where he somehow came across the teams coach Romeo Crennell and team GM Scott Pioli. At that point, some conversation ensued, and then the
STEWART LAKE Yes, the NHL lockout is ongoing, sadly. The more I think about it, the more irritated I get. As time has gone on with this debacle, my opinions have evolved a bit, but my basic stances on who, what, where, when, and why havent changed too much. Based on the actions and thus inaction of Commissioner Ga
LARSMONT I have seen few outdoor issues as divisive as the hunting of the wolf. There are few opinions in the middle; people have lined up pretty much either for or against. For me, Ill state honestly here that I love the outdoors. I enjoy doing things outdoors as much as possible. Im not a hunter and never have been. Im not against it per seI just come from a fam
FRENCH RIVER . The Fall Classic has concluded with the San Fran Gigantes besting the Detroit Tigers in a four-game sweep. Game 4 was the first in which the Tigers put up some sort of resistance to the Giants onslaught, but they eventually went down, losing 4-3 in 10 innings. TV ratings were reportedly very low and that is a shame. But with the election cycle in full s
ELY In just the past few days, I have had my hopeful but unrealistic optimism about getting the NHL lockout resolved dashed and destroyed. I was dreaming that we might still have a sixty- or seventy-game regular season and a full playoff tournament.
It was not an easy thing for
SCANLON Have you been watching the MLB playoffs? I have, and I must say that I have seen some excellent, very exciting games so far. As I have noted previously, I am no fan of the new wildcard extension series preceding the real playoffs (although the Cards-Braves tilt was awesome, crummy umpiring notwithstan
BIG SANDY LAKE OK. Who should I write to and thank for the two extra MLB playoff games this fall? Or who should I chastise for this playoff distraction and aberration? For me, this additional one-game-off, wildcard addition to the playoff format
LARSMONT As you know by now the National Football League has agreed on a new contract with the leagues regular officials. After a Monday Night Football game ending debacle between the Green Bay Packers and the Seattle Seahawks on the 24th, created by a quite apparent wrong call on a last second hail Mary play, fans, players, coaches, team execs, and 35 polka bands from the Cheese state, were joined by just about e
CLOQUET . Well, fellow NHL fans, here we go again. At 23:00 CT this past Saturday evening, the NHL officially went into lockout mode. I have spent a lot of time trying to get a handle on this over the past 36 hours, and my though
STONY POINT . There was sports excitement in the air in the Metroplex today as the Minnesota Vikings bested the Jacksonville Jaguars in OT 26-23. Rookie kicker Blair Walsh from the University of Georgia tied the game at 23 each at the end of the fourth quarter, then got the winner in OT. With the new NFL rule for overtime games in effect, the Jags got one more possession and sputtered, giving the Purple their fir
BIG SANDY LAKE Its Sunday eve and the White Sox are playing the Tigers in an AL Central Division showdown. Ive tuned in a bit late and the Sox are up 1-0. At the plate is former Minnesota Twin Delmon Young. Mr. Young should be holding a fishing pole instead of a Louisville sluggerthis was a real ugly at ba
MOUNT ROYAL I have just finished watching a couple of weeks of some of the best, purest baseball you will find anywhere on the planet. The Little League World Series has concluded this afternoon with international champion Japan besting the United States champion from Goodlettsville, TN, by a 12-2 score. This tilt concluded in the bottom of the fifth inning when the 10-run lead rule was invoked. The games were great folks; the stories off of the field of play were even better.
PROCTOR Just last week the office of MLB suspended San Francisco Giants outfielder Melky Cabrera for 50 games for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) after being caught with high levels of synthetic testosterone in his system. Just when you think all on the western front might be quiet for once, whammo! another player gets caught up in the web of MLB justice. It
SCANLON . Are you on Olympic overload yet? Im not because I do enjoy this very special event. I think that the nations of the world coming together in the spirit of athletic competition every four years is a thing to behold. From the opening ceremonies to the end, I marvel a
WEST MEMPHIS . In a move thats been rumored and talked about for months now, the Minnesota Twins have traded Francisco Liriano to the Chicago White Sox for some prospects. Frankie goes to the pale hose for pitching prospect left-hander Pedro Hernandez and shortstop Eduardo Escobar. Both have been assigned to the clubs Rochester affiliate. This is the second trade of any magnitude in the past 12 months where a former Twins player has been traded to a division rival. Late in the trade s
CLOQUET LAKE Just little more than an hour ago, NCAA president Mark Emmert issued the most severe set of penalties ever levied by the governing body of collegiate sports. For the Jerry Sandusky incidents involving sexual abuse of children, Penn State University has been fined $60 mil, cannot participate in bowl games for four years, will have its football scholarships substantially reduced for those same four years, and will vacate a
FRENCH RIVER . The Freeh report regarding the Jerry Sandusky incidents at Penn State University was delivered last Thursday, and the report, compiled by former FBI Director Louie Freeh, was damning in its scope of the incidents of the now-convicted Sandusky. The report also put the hammer on the late Joe Paterno, former university pres
LARSMONT . I have to tell you folks, it is Monday morning, a full 8 days after the free agent signing period began in the NHL, and 5 days after the Minnesota Wild got their men, thats right, thats men as in plural, both Zach Parise and Ryan Suter are now on the roster of the Wild. I am elated and I am still kind of in a state of disbelief. So much so that I probably am not allowing an hour to go by without getting
ST. PAUL . Usually in the middle of summer, there is not a lot shaking at the corner of West 7th Street and St. Peter in downtown St. Paul. Especially on a Sunday afternoon. And today is no different. Looks pretty much the same as always. Except if you were to go i
EAGLE MTN The 2012 NHL entry draft was held over the weekend, and here are my thoughts. For the Minnesota Wild, jeez, I want to be optimistic about the club, but it has been a frustrating ride thus far, hasnt it? And its not hard to see that the malaise of the last two to three seasons is born of the 20042008 entry draft bust-o-rama. You simply cant go five drafts in a row in this league without hitting some pay dirt
PARK POINT . As you must know by now, the Los Angeles Kings have finally won their first Stanley Cup in club history, and wrapped up an outstanding tournament performance with a Game 6 manhandling of the New Jersey Devils. The Game 6 final was 6-1 with a 1st-period KO, if the official scorers will allow that. The Kings finished the tournament with a 16-4 record. Folks, I have seen upwards of 50 Stanley Cup tourneys, and to say the Kings dominated their foes in the process of winning the greatest trophy in the world would be inadequate.
CLOVER VALLEY Ive said all along that winning the Triple Crown is a huge challenge and that whoever wins it will be considered immortal in the annals of equine history. The events of last week proved this to be true, but in the aftermath of Ill Have Anothers withdrawal from the Belmont Stakes, there might be more questions than answers. In addition, he was retired from competition, leaving fans and supporters shocked and saddened at his sudden departure from the chance of a lifetime and from the sport itself. This has also hit NBC hard and the industry, too, since they both would have benefited from IHAs appearance and try for the Crown.
ISABELLA Two games are complete in the Stanley Cup finals, and the LA Kings are in the Cup drivers seat with a 2-0 series lead over the NJ Devils and a chance to close it out at home with two games coming up on the left coast. The Kings won both games courtesy of 2-1 OT scores. They scored first in each game, then the Devs scrapped back to tie only to lose in OT both times. Is there anything the Devs can do differently to obtain a different result in games three and four?
LESTER PARK The NHL Conference Finals are complete, and we will have the Los Angeles Kings from the West meeting the New Jersey Devils from the East. The Kings have basically steamrolled their way to the Cup final, going 12-2 in
LARSMONT Two days after the Washington Capitals were eliminated from the Stanley Cup tourney by the New York Rangers, their head coach and former star player, Dale Hunter, stepped down, saying he was going back home to be with his family. As is usual with these kinds of stories, the conjecture began immediately. When the club fired Bruce Boudreau in late November of last year, they brought Hunter in to fill the void. Based on some answer
THE METROPLEX . The HHH MetroDome opened its doors for the first time in April of 1982. I was at the first event to ever be held there, an MLB exhibition game between the Twins and Pete Roses Philadelphia Phillies. The Twins and the Vikings had both lobbied for a new stadium, with the Twins main push for a domed building based upon fan certainty that they could come to the ballpark and not be prevented from seeing a game due to a rainout or other weather event. The Vikes, I believe, liked it because the old Met Stadium had seen its better days and they could obtain a larger live audience with a new locale to play in.