This is hilarious - if you follow the Raptors and know the personalities, etc.

Any Christmas shows on? Well the best Christmas show there is, actually a mini-series, gets underway on Boxing Day. Here’s a great article on Canada’s favourite Christmas tradition.

This article makes a lot of sense about what needs to be done, and what should not be done, to make hockey more appealing.

The best point the author makes is that more goals does NOT make the game more exciting and yet that is where all the emphasis is being placed. Bigger nets? Smaller pads? Who wants to see teams score on every decent scoring chance, almost as automatically as a 7 footer ramming a basketball trough an unguarded hoop several dozen times per game.

As he rightly points out, it is not more scoring but more scoring chances that we want to see. Yes, more scoring chances will result in more scoring but it’s a question of where to place the emphasis. Think of the existing game, more or less, with some relatively innocuous change resulting in a dozen more legitimate scoring chances each game. That is the ideal.

So, the challenge is to come up with this relatively subtle but elusive change. I wonder what would happen if blue-line offsides were eliminated and the two line offside rule returned but without the center red line. For example, a pass from inside your blue line to inside the opposing blue line would be an offside, but there were no other offsides. That would open up the ice as wingers would be able to rush into the offensive end while defencemen passed to puck up to center where the center could forward it ahead. I can see many 3 on 2 and 2 on 1s resulting from this, not to mention many fewer stoppages in play.

Yes, defencemen would have to play more conservatively but giving up slapshots from the blueline for pretty passing plays among forwards would be worth it.

As for overtimes: I would love to see them get rid of shootouts. After fighting to a standstill for 3 periods shootouts are like saying, “enough of this game, let’s settle the result by a game of tiddeliwinks.” Shootouts have no resemblance to the rest of the game other than the once in a blue moon penalty shot.

Instead let’s start the overtime with 5 minutes of 4 on 4 followed by 5 minutes of 3 on 3. If its still a tie, so be it - and no points for losing in overtime.

Now that’s a game I would like to watch.

Time to revise my predictions now that we are close to tip-off time for game #1.

1. Chicago
2. Toronto (+1)
3. Detroit (+1)
4. Boston (+1)
5. Washington (+1)
6. New Jersey (-4)
7. Cleveland
8. New York
9. Miami (+2)
10. Orlando
11. Milwaukee (-2)
12. Atlanta (+2)
13. Philadelphia (-1)
14. Charlotte (-1)
15. Indiana

I guess I’m reading too much about Shaq being in such great shape and now getting Ricky Davis to help while Wade is out I couldn’t leave Miami in 11th but I still think they are going to be a bust. For New Jersey, Kristic is still recovering and Carter is playing like a little girl again now that he has his contract renewed. Also, I can see Washington doing worse and Cleveland too. New York could be better as could Orlando and Milwaukee. Obviously Detroit could pass TO. Boston is not going to live up to expectations but still will do well.

Here’s my prediction for how the NBA Eastern Conference fairs in 07-08:

1. Chicago
2. New Jersey
3. Toronto
4. Detroit
5. Boston
6. Washington
7. Cleveland
8. New York
9. Milwaukee
10. Orlando
11. Miami
12. Philadelphia
13. Charlotte
14. Atlanta
15. Indiana