I once read a study that said men have a sexual thought every seven seconds. This, then, must be the logical result of the other six seconds.
So the Buffalo Sabres did not make the playoffs . good.
Don't get me wrong; to say that I was not pulling for the team all season would be a lie. I have been a Sabres fan for as long as I can remember.
But they will be sitting at home when the playoffs begin Tuesday watching 16 other teams battle for the Stanley Cup. And you know what? That's where they belong.
The Sabres' inability to make the playoffs is actually a good thing for the National Hockey League. It adds a sense of respectability to the league. Buffalo is currently a .500 team, with as many games won as they have lost. Teams that do not have a winning record do not deserve to play for the game's ultimate prize.
Finally in 2002 the NHL regular season means something. In years past, everyone made the playoffs. Teams with losing records made the playoffs. There was a time when the league had just 20 teams, and 16 of them made the playoffs.
But now, all 82 games are meaningful. Sure, the same amount of points are up for grabs in every game whether it's number one or number 82, but for years one had the sense that the "real" season did not begin until after the All-Star break.
Teams can no longer sleepwalk through the first half of the season, then flip a switch late in the year and get into the playoffs as the Sabres attempted to do this season. One must come out each night with a superior effort, whether you're playing Atlanta or Detroit.
Don't believe me? Ask the Dallas Stars, Buffalo's Stanley Cup Finals opponent in 1999, or ask the Edmonton Oilers.
The Stars are one of the league's perennial powers and have had a pretty good, although sub-standard, season. Thursday afternoon they were seven games over .500 with 87 points . and they need a miracle to reach the playoffs.
Edmonton is not quite as desperate. But tied for the eighth seed in the Western Conference with 90 points Thursday (the Sabres have 80), they are still fighting for their playoff lives. In years past the Oilers would have secured home ice advantage in the first round by now.
So what is the moral of the story? Come hard every night, or sit at home in April.
Now if only the league could get home ice advantage to mean something in the playoffs.
I attended my first softball game last weekend when UB took on Western Michigan . it was really cold. But despite the temperatures I'll go on record as saying that I enjoyed myself.
To be honest, there are some things you would rather not attend as a sports editor, and I thought softball would be one of those events. But I was pleasantly surprised and entertained for 12 intense innings as Buffalo needed overtime to score a 2-1 win, their first conference win of the season.
Softball is a lot like baseball, but a lot different as well. Still, like in hardball, there is just something special about a nice low-scoring chess match . even if it is below freezing out.
I have no idea who is going to be the next quarterback for the UB football team. Several of my friends have asked me what I learned from attending spring practice, and who I think is going to play.
I know nothing. If anything, I know less than I did before I went.
As for a prediction, I think that Randall Secky will end up as the standout among the quarterbacks at spring workouts. But nothing will be decided until the summer, even if Secky has an incredible outing in the upcoming Blue/White game on Wednesday.
Summer is when the Bulls' coaching staff will get the chance to evaluate their most highly touted recruit, St. Francis High School quarterback Michael Radon. It is likely that Radon will give Secky a run for his money when he begins to workout with the team.
It should be an interesting summer.
I would like to go on record as saying that Sergio Garcia is my pick to win this weekend's Masters golf tournament. Augusta National Golf Course has been severely lengthened, forcing players to hit 200-220 yard approach shots on many par 4s.
Garcia is my pick because when he is on, he hits long iron shots better than anyone in the game with the possible exception of Tiger Woods - although I doubt that CBS will show his full, half-hour long, pre-swing routine more than once.
Why not Woods? No reason really. His is among the eight or so players that can win. But look for slick Augusta greens to frustrate him all weekend.
