Sunday Smorgasbord 2-24

• Had my computer cooperated with me last week I would have asked you if you enjoyed the Redskins coaching search? Well if you did, it will soon be coming to your favorite College Football program. Though there isn't any real enforcement mechanism the "diversify or die" crowd can use to enforce it, you can be rest assured that the politically correct folks who infect our institutions of higher learning will see to it that it is vigorously enforced until the next Ty Willingham disaster is thrust upon them. Strike another victory for the Forces of Tolerance. (Only this time, they won't be able to rightfully blame Jesse Jackson)
• The NHL's trading deadline comes at 3 pm Eastern Time on Tuesday and the big question is which star player on a non-contending team is going to waive their no-trade clause to allow that team to begin a rebuilding process? The Mats Sundin soap opera is getting big play up in Canada but with a new CBA creating a fluctuating system, you can bank on NHL General Managers cutting back on the number of no-trade clauses if Sundin and others refuse to be traded. Even though he's signed with the Caps for the next 13 years, A.O. was given a limited movement clause which allows him to chose which teams he can be traded to and therefore does not prevent the Caps from trading him or having to seek his permission to be traded. Certainly a player with a no-trade clause has a right to refuse to waive it and end up leaving his team high and dry in the long run, but GM's should be smart enough to avoid throwing blanket no-trade clauses at their own players. At the very least it will rob the Press of a story line and that's a good thing.
• Two weeks ago the Caps were dreaming of winning the Southeast Division and are now almost to the point of playing out the string. The Terp Men just one week ago looked to be a lock for the NCAA Tournament but after upchucking one to the Hokey-Pokeys and getting rocked by the Hurricanes, the Terps look to be on the wrong side of the bubble again and will need to come up big in their three remaining conference games and put together a decent run in the ACC Tournament to get back in. To me it looks as if the Terps are just reverting to form after having a stretch of good play. Though James Gist's Disappearing Act (which right now is rivaling my World Famous one) and Greivis Vasquez's just simply out of control play can be remedied to save the season. But like the Caps and the Stanley Cup Playoffs, will a Maryland NCAA Tournament Appearance this season be anything worth remembering?
• And if this cheap East German Surplus pooter had cooperated last week, we would have sent out Congratulations to the Maryland Women's Head Basketball Coach Brenda Frese who dropped her twin boys last Sunday and inspired her team to drop Dook in turn. Despite a great record, the Maryland women still look to be underachieving to me. They've had some close games in the ACC against teams that shouldn't be giving them trouble. While they've avoided the bad loss, the high wire act is eventually going to catch up with them. With their big guns Laura Harper and Crystal Langhorne graduating, this looks to be their best chance of winning another National Championship and making up for the wasted opportunity from last season.
• Yesterday's mail brought me my Washington Redskins Season Ticket Renewal and new for this season is the option to pay online at the Redskins website. Also new is an apparent committment to the draft this offseason. We'll see how that goes though it may have more to do with a limited talent pool than a change in philosophy. However one thing that Dan Snyder will not credit for is leaving ticket prices the same again this year. Instead of raising the prices by a $1 or $2 a year, he prefers to wait five years before hitting people with a $5 -$10 increase at one time. This actually costs him more $$$$$ in the long run because of lost interest and inflation. But the current narrative on Snyder is that he's a greedy somebody all the way around. Never let the facts get in the way of some great demagoguery.
• And speaking of facts in the way of great demagoguery (and diversifying or dying) did you know that Barrack Obama was the only Illinios State Senator who opposed prohibiting the early release of sex offenders? Though I'm sure he now blames his staff for that vote, that's not the kind of change I can believe in.
• This week, the Caps will look to end their three game losing skid when they host the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night at the Phone Booth on Versus. They then head up to Joisey to face the Devils again on Friday night before returning home on Saturday night for a Hockey Night in Canada game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. All three games start at 7 pm. The Terp Men head to Wake Forest on Thursday night for an 8 pm game and are home next Sunday when Klempsun comes in for a 7:30 game on Fox SportsNet ACC Sunday Night Hoops. The Terp Women close out their regular season next Sunday with a game at N.C. State. The Nats start their Spring Training games on Wednesday with the Florida Marlins. They'll play the Whats?, Marlins again, and the B.O.'s to close out the week.
• As always folks, please send all comments, criticisms, corrections, suggestions, questions, and rambling 938 word introductory e-mails to "capsnut" over at gmail dot com.