Sunday Smorgasbord 12-30

• If Canada has its version of Larry Brooks, it's Bruce Garrioch. While Garrioch gets plenty of kudos from me for speaking the truth to the Buffaslugs crew about, Buffaslugs Owner Tom Golisano's hissy fit. I have to laugh about his "inside sources" telling him about the "insulting offer" the Caps apparently made to A.O.. First of all, the U.S. Intelligence Community could take a few lessons from General Manager George McPhee about keeping things under wraps. Simply put, only McPhee really knows what he is and is not doing (and some would argue that not even he knows that much). But if we were to believe Garrioch that A.O. was only offered an average salary of $7.5 million per season, that offer would allow the Caps to keep plenty of salary cap space open to acquire the increased talent A.O. is allegedly demanding. So who is insulting who here?
• Just two days after Maryland lost 21-14 to Oregon State in the Emerald Bowl, new offensive coordinator James Franklin hasn't wasting anytime getting to work as Wide Receivers coach Bryan Bossard has been ousted. Word on the street is that Bossard wasn't winning enough recruiting battles and the fundamentals of the Wide Receivers had not improved during the season which is why he is gone. The rumor mill has everybody including Former Terps Scott McBrien and Julian Gary joining the staff but what this really is all about is that Franklin has total control of the offense now and it also lends serious credibility that he's being groomed to take over for Ralph Friedgen when the Head Coach decides to step down.
• In case you didn't already know, voting ends on Wednesday for the NHL All-Star game and it looks like A.O. will not be voted into the starting lineup. At last check, he was fifth among forwards in the Eastern Conference. Though considering that the new uniforms were debuted in the All-Star game last year and the flop sweat issue did not crop up then; it tells you all you really need to know about the All-Star game. Hades, I don't even know when it is and I don't really care because I'm not going to bother to watch it anyway. However, I think it is time for the Caps, the Caps beat writers, the Caps radio and TV personalities, and us bloggers along with other Caps fans to start beating the drums for A.O. to win the Hart Trophy for Most Valuable Player in the NHL this season. At this point, A.O. has scored 30 of the 106 goals that the Caps have scored, but he's also has 18 assists so that means he's had a hand in over 45% of the Caps goals this season. But what has made A.O. an MVP candidate IMHO is the fact that he's now playing well at both ends of the ice and is putting up the offensive numbers of his career in spite of the fact that he's not had regular linemates at all this season. Throw in the obvious fact that the Caps would be totally lost without him and I wonder what else he has to do in order to win the Hart Trophy.
• Well, it was a classic "trap" or "ambush" scenario. Win a game at home against a team with nothing to play for and a bye week coming up and you get a playoff spot. And yet the Redskins came out and dominated the Dallas Cowgirls 27-6. Sure, the Skins faced a Dallas team with nothing to play for that was missing regular players. Sure the Cowgirls pulled Tony Romo in the second half. But that doesn't explain the one, that's one single solitary yard that the Cowgirls rushed for today with both of their regular running backs playing into the fourth quarter. That does not explain the 13-3 halftime lead against the starters that the Redskins ran up. And it does not bode well for the Cowgirls that the Skins now have the confidence that they can beat them should they meet again in two weeks.
• Though I do want to say this about the Skins-Cowgirls game; I finally saw a good use for the infamous pink jerseys as there was a guy in the lower level wearing a pink Tony Romo jersey and a long blond hair wig. That guy right there should have been fan of the game.
• Finally, this week the Caps are home for their traditional New Year's Day game on Tuesday when they host the Ottawa Senators at 4 pm. They then head out on the road for a game in Boston on Thursday night at 7 pm and then are in Montreal on Saturday for a 1 pm matinee. The Terp men host Savannah State on Wednesday night at 8 pm and then head out to face Charlotte on Saturday with a Noon tip off on ESPNU. (available in sports bars and sports books around the country) The Terp women start up ACC play when they head down to Wake Forest on Thursday night and then are home next Sunday to face Clemson. The Redskins make their second playoff appearance in two years on Saturday where they played their last playoff game, Seattle, when they face the Seahawks in the NFL Playoffs curtain jerker at 4:30 pm on NBC.
• As always, please send all comments, questions, criticisms, suggestions, corrections, and New Year's Eve Party Invitations to "capsnut" over at gmail dot com.