On Dale Hunter, Coaching, and Legends

On 28 November 2011, the Washington Capitals fired Bruce Boudreau, arguably the most successful head coach in their 38-year history. After taking the job two months into the 2007-08 season, he piloted the Caps to a division title, and won the Jack Adams Award, only the second in franchise history. In his second full season, the Caps won the Presidents' Trophy, a first for the team. He is the fastest coach to 200 victories in the modern era. His affable personality made him a fan favorite, and he entertained millions with food stains and trips to ice cream parlors in HBO's 24/7 series.

"More offense! Savory, delicious offense!"

Of course, nothing in the paragraph above mentions the postseason. Boudreau had a 2-4 playoff series record in DC, including a 1-3 record in game seven situations, and he never advanced past the second round. His wide-open style, which helped the Capitals score goals in bunches during the regular season, never clicked after the second week of April. The problem with Boudreau was also the manner in which off-seasons in Washington began:

• a home overtime loss in game seven to Philadelphia in 2008
• allowing five straight goals to Pittsburgh in game seven in 2009, also at home
• losing three straight games to eighth seeded Montreal, two at home, and scoring only one goal in each game after going up three games to one, in 2010
• getting swept by Tampa Bay in 2011

Each individual playoff year is different, and it's hard to pinpoint one or two problems that caused all of these losses. And a 17-20 playoff record means that every series (except for Tampa) was winnable. But the cumulative effect of all these playoff exits is pretty embarrassing.

In Boudreau's defense, his 201-88-40 regular season record with the Capitals is downright awesome. Anyone well-versed in statistics would agree that a 37-game sample carries less weight than a 329-game sample. But this isn't mathematics. It doesn't have to be fair or make sense. It's sports. And no one cares about regular season championships.

Bruce Boudreau and the Capitals got off to a pedestrian (by their standards) 12-9-1 start to the season in 2011-12. The coup de grâce was a 3-7-1 run where the Caps averaged just 2.27 goals per game. When all a coach has is regular season accolades and gaudy offensive totals, and no postseason success, they can be subject to heightened scrutiny. In my opinion, the blame placed on Boudreau for the Caps' ills was unfair. General manager George McPhee said that "the players were no longer responding to Bruce," which to me sounded like a convenient excuse. I was reminded of the old sports adage, "it's easier to fire one guy instead of an entire team." So Bruce Boudreau was let go. The Caps needed someone who could win the locker room and get them over the second round hump.

Enter Dale Hunter.

How my dad remembers Dale: the Aragorn of the Capitals.

For those of you unfamiliar with the history of the Washington Capitals, Dale Hunter is the Washington Capitals.

More after the jump...

What is this I don't even: Part 2

Let me get one thing out of the way right now. I like Zooey Deschanel. I think she's cute, a decent singer, and a fine actress. Like many people, I first saw her in Almost Famous and her performance really stuck with me. It's not hard to appear beautiful and talented when the other female lead is Kate Hudson, but I digress.

Zooey is enjoying a nice run of success, stealing hipsters' hearts in (500) Days of Summer and doubling down on her indie cred in Our Idiot Brother. She's even branching out to charm baby boomers by appearing on network television in New Girl. But more often than not, America is seeing her in a commercial for the Apple iPhone 4S:



Great job, Apple. You managed to take one of the most appealing young actresses on Earth and turn her into a helpless buffoon. Look, we all have days where we'd rather not put on real shoes or clean up after ourselves. But is this the demographic you're after? Lazy rich people? Oh wait, it's an Apple commercial, so the answer is obviously yes. Not only is the commercial played ad nauseam, but the first line couldn't be more annoying. "IS THAAAAT RAAAIIN?" Every time I hear it, I want to kick a puppy in the throat.

What is this I don't even

Review: Final Fantasy XIII-2

If you read my review of Final Fantasy XIII, then you know that I had a lot of things to nitpick in that game, especially in terms of good supporting characters and the ability to explore the world at large. So I was encouraged to learn that Square Enix developed and completed Final Fantasy XIII-2 less than two years after the original, with the previous game's shortcomings still fresh in their minds, and also with input from fans across the globe. I admit that it is quite dangerous to let the die-hard Final Fantasy geeks control any actual game content, for fear of skimpy outfits, Sephiroth-esque villains, and general Japanophilia. But I was willing to accept this risk if it meant fixing the glaring flaws of a game and a setting in which I saw so much potential.

Square Enix... fans... you have all let me down.

zomg bigger swordz!!!!11 lol

XIII-2 gets some things right. First and foremost, it keeps largely intact the excellent battle system used in XIII. There are minor tweaks to how the player can control the battle, some good (changing the leader) and some decidedly bad (fewer actions available to playable characters) but it all amounts to a lot of fun. The addition of the Paradigm Pack system, which allows for the player to capture monsters and use them in battle, is excellent. Developing and customizing each monster you catch can be unique and great to experiment with, if you don't mind a bit of farming (and let's be honest -- anyone playing a Final Fantasy game doesn't). And while I have never played any of the Pokemon games (I KNOW RIGHT) I have been assured that it is different enough from that system to pass the originality sniff test, while still keeping some of the series' best monsters.

Familiarity is a good thing.

More after the jump...

Cleveland Browns NFL Draft 2012: Overreaching for Over-Age

Let's be honest. As a Browns fan, I'm used to disappointment in all aspects of a football team. And building through the draft is no different. Cleveland is a team that has made troubling picks over the past, well, forever. Only twice over the past decade have I breathed a sigh of relief after a Browns first-round pick, following the selection of Braylon Edwards (what a tease) and the highlight package for Joe Thomas. I'm no Mel Kiper, but I follow college football pretty closely, and I'd like to think I have a decent understanding of talent, value, and NFL projection. I can usually be impartial (except when it comes to former Alabama players) and I always want what is best for the team. Trading up or taking a blue chip is exciting, and trading down for depth is a bit of a bummer. But the latter is necessary for a successful, sustainable franchise.

That said, I entered this year's NFL Draft with three wishes:

• Take Trent Richardson with the 4th overall pick
• Find a lot of help for the offensive line
• Do not, under any circumstances, select Brandon Weeden

We'll score that as a 1.5 out of 3.

"HURR DURR"

More after the jump...