Among the top 1200 blogs in the country.

Before I get started with the week in review, I just wanted to introduce you to my newest link on the sidebar there. It's to "Ballhype" which is basically a giant sports blog consortium. In any case, follow the link, find the Times, and hype up posts I add. Currently, Victoria Times is ranked 1119 in all sports blogs across the country. Put me in triple digits!

ITEM ONE: Last week, the top story in the sports world (my sports world, in any case) was that the Anaheim Ducks won the Stanley Cup. Now, I can't really give a fully valid opinion, because thanks to my wonky real world schedule (I just woke up after working another overnight) I only caught the final game, but in it, the Ducks were clearly better than Ottawa. It goes to show, I guess, that gritty play will beat flashy play every time. The best part of the hockey season, however, is seeing the raw emotion players show upon winning the cup. It shows that the players really care about what they are doing. I love that.

Of course, apparently, they are among the only people that care. NBC had the lowest primetime rankings ever during Game Three of the Cup Finals. Of course, it's not as bad as it sounds, as the NBA Finals (AKA, ESPNs mistress, whereas a Yankees-Red Sox game would be the wife) had its worst ratings ever for a game 1. So nobody is watching sports in the summer. Well, not winter sports, in any case.

Additionally, this is a prime time series for a sport that hasn't been disseminated during prime time or at all over even basic cable. What did we expect? Maybe, if the games had been shown during the regular season, and those games had been promoted more heavily, the network wouldn't see floundering ratings. Of course, that could be part of the problem as well. NBC has had the worst ratings in prime time of all networks this year anyways.

Again, I'm not a complete conspiracy theorist (lie) but it just seems that suits out there are trying to derail the NHL. There are so many simple solutions to the raitings problem in the NHL, why aren't ANY of them being considered?

ITEM TWO: I always like interleague play, because it gives me a chance to see teams I don't typically see, however, I'd like to do away with the rivalry series. I think it's crap that the Twins play the Brewers as much as the Orioles, for example. I would like to see some more record based scheduling, with, for example, the AL Central playing the NL East this year, but instead of the Brewers, the Twins would play last years two division champions from the Central and West. Wouldn't you prefer a series against the Dodgers and Cardinals? I know I would. Added bonus, the whole "Subway Series" crap would be at an end much more frequently.

But I digress. The Twins struggled out west against the A's and Angels, and came home to kick off the interleague schedule, which the Twins have always excelled during. And they got Joe Mauer back, so maybe they can start hitting. Of course, I wasn't counting on Levale Speigner, and, oh God, no Dmitri! No!

ITEM THREE: Hey, Jericho is back! Everyone watch it this season, otherwise, I'll have to do stuff to you. It has Skeet Ulrich! Skeet Ulrich!

ITEM FOUR: Poor Daunte Culpepper. I will write a full length post on his travails some other time, but for now, I just wanted to mention that the Vikings are idiots. They didn't really give Culpepper a chance when he lost Randy Moss, so they let him go, and allowed everyone to believe that it was Daunte's fault. Now, they have painted themselves into a corner in which Brooks Bollinger is the top option at QB for next season. I hate the Vikings so much.

But hey, at least Daunte isn't hawking hot dogs like Carson Palmer so awkwardly does.

I'm done, go hype up the Times at Ballhype! (NHL Photo courtesy Sports Illustrated)