I and many other people finally have a reason to watch professional basketball. That reason is Jeremy Lin.

Spike Lee on Lin.

The buzz:

The Associated Press reports that "the city of Seattle has been working behind the scenes the past eight months with a hedge-fund manager to bring an NBA team back to town." This could happen next fall if the Sacramento Kings don't like the deal offered for a new arena in that city, the AP notes.
The man behind all this is 44-year-old Christopher Hansen, a hedge-fund manager and Seattle native who now lives in San Francisco, the wire service reports. He "approached the city about his desire to buy an NBA team and build an arena south of Safeco Field," where the Seattle Mariners play, the AP notes.

Why did I post this piece of gossip? Because it gave me a reason to post this old skool rap...

Play through here!

Madonna won the Super Bowl!!

A discussion in infinity parts.

This weekend some of the NHL's best players* will be in Ottawa for the 2012 All-Star weekend.

The Skill Competitions (speed skating, accuracy shooting, hardest shot, etc.) are tomorrow at 4 pm PST, and the all-star game is Sunday at 1 pm PST. I will be watching both while eating a giant plate of nachos.

I'll be rooting for Predators' Shea Weber, Ryan Suter, and Craig Smith (Tootoo and Rinne were robbed!). Surely Weber will be one to watch in the hardest shot competition. Did you know that during the 2010 Winter Olympics Weber shot a puck so hard that it WENT THROUGH THE NET? Dude.

As for the all-star game, the roster was announced yesterday. It's Team Chara vs. Team Alfredsson. Alfredsson has the Sedins (gross), Scotty Hartnell, Shea Weber, and Henrik Lundqvist while Team Chara has Patrick Kane, Corey Perry, Ryan Suter, Evgeni Malkin, and goalie Timmy Thomas. (See the full line-ups here.)

It's tough to predict who'll win. Timmy Thomas is incredible, but the Sedins, Hartnell, and Weber will be hard to beat. I'm going to say Team Alfredsson. But just barely. Where do you stand, hockey fans? Let's find out with a Slog poll!

*Except for Ovechkin, who's not playing very well this season anyway.

But clean up your trash, people.

Regarding for whom to root in the NLF postseason, with a taxonomy of football nicknames.

6 years after I pointed out that birds don't win.

Short answer: No. Not yet.

But! While nothing has been confirmed, it continues to look more and more likely that Seattle will eventually get its own NHL team. Like, before I'm too old to go to games. And now that there are serious plans to get an NHL-friendly arena, Puck Daddy points out it's quite possible the Phoenix Coyotes could be coming our way.

I will be first in line for season tickets (though I'll have to wear my Preds jersey when Nashville comes to town).

(Thanks for the tip, Peter!)

The puck is about to drop in the NHL Winter Classic, the Rangers vs. the Flyers.

It was announced yesterday that Sergei Bobrovsky will start for the Flyers while Ilya Bryzgalov will be sitting on the bench drinking tea. (From his thermos.)

Also: Fans in the stadium just started booing during "Oh Canada." Stay classy, America. And someone yelled "You suck!" at the color guard.

Anyway!

Last year the Seattle Seahawks finished the season with a losing 7-9 record, yet still made the playoffs atop a pathetic Western division. They even managed to win a playoff game against the defending Super Bowl champions. This year, no such luck, with the same 7-9 record landing the Seahawks in third place, six wins behind first place San Francisco.

On the bright side, the Seahawks will benefit from a draft position commensurate with their middling record.

The NHL Winter Classic is just a few days away. Are you excited yet? Here's a pretty cool time-lapse video of the crew putting together the rink at Philly's Citizens Bank Park:

While we're on the subject, can you recommend any places in town that'll be good for watching the game on Tuesday Monday? Somewhere with a lot of hockey fans! Or good food. Or even outside seating, so it'll be like we're out in the cold just like all the fans in Philly.

Help, Seattle hockey lovers!

(Sorry I originally said the game was on Tuesday when it's really on Monday. I got confused because it's on the 2nd instead of the 1st, and then I was all "That means Tuesday!" in my head and I didn't bother to look at a calendar to double check. Good job, me!)

The Nasvhille Predators' captain, Shea Weber (AKA the man with one of the best playoff beards in the NHL), didn't play in last night's game against the Red Wings (giving rookie Ryan Ellis a chance to make his NHL debut), and everyone was pretty quiet about why Weber was MIA. The most specific report said "upper body injury."

This morning, though, the Preds announced their captain is out with a concussion:

According to the team, Weber "is out for Wed game with a concussion sustained at Dallas. He will be evaluated on a daily basis with no timetable on his return."

However, the Predators' Twitter feed also contained a pair of quotes from coach Barry Trotz in which he said of Weber, "He's recovering pretty well, I would say," and that "there's a chance (he could play) Friday."

Noooooooooooooo! Not Weber, too! Sidney Crosby and Chris Pronger are also both out with concussions. Why is hockey being such a jerk this year?

Something called "the NBA" apparently started their season yesterday. Locally, it was a non-event that might have gotten more attention here in Seattle if we actually had a team, a situation that might be remedied if a group of wealthy investors have their way and build a new arena a couple blocks south of Safeco Field.

If these investors want to spend their own money to build an arena and move in a team, more power to them, as long as they don't expect much help from state or local taxpayers. But not much of a basketball fan myself, I was personally less than excited by the news, until I dug a little deeper into the article:

Hansen is working with a Bellevue man who would like to bring an NHL professional hockey team to Seattle to play in the arena, according to the source, who did not know the name of the Eastside participant.

An NHL team? Fuck yeah! Go Seattle Metropolitans! It's past time to bring the Stanley Cup back to Seattle. (You know, as long as it doesn't cost much taxpayer money.)