Sunday, May 29, 2011

Cheerleader's "Exposé" on Partying Cricketers shows True Class of Indian Cricket

A recent article discussed how a cheerleader for the Mumbai Indians of the Indian Premier League (top club cricket league in the world) was recently dismissed for discussing in an online blog the behavior and antics of star cricketers during the after-parties that occurred at the end of IPL matches.

The blog details how the Australian cricketers openly flirted with other women in front of their girlfriends, and how other international cricketers seemed to go all-out in  enjoying themselves late into the night with the women and alcohol these parties had to offer.


Now, there's absolutely nothing wrong with these relatively young men having fun after a hard day's work of cricket, as it's natural for many men their ages to enjoy this way. What really surprised me is what the cheerleader had to say about the Indian cricketers:

She adds the Indian players have their minds focused on the game and nothing else.
“M.S. Dhoni (India’s captain) and Rohit Sharma have been very polite and keep to themselves in the dark corners [of the bars]. Hotshots like Tendulkar with families at home are never present.

Sure, I'm bound to be biased in favor of the Indian cricket team (my parents were born there), but I felt this really highlights the dedication and passion these guys have for the game. It's a big difference from past eras of Indian cricket (late-80's to early-00's). Led by greats like M.S Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar, there's a mature swagger to the way these guys carry themselves. It's the same composed nature that helped power them to a World Cup victory earlier this year. Great to hear.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Splitting the NHL's Top Forwards into Tiers

Sidney Crosby - perhaps in a league of his own?
The inspiration for this post came from a recent thread on HFBoards. I've tried my best to take into account every factor (defensive play, offensive production, line-mates, team context, physicality). I didn't include any rookies, because it's hard to gauge from just one season:

Tier I (Very best):
Sidney Crosby
Alex Ovechkin

Tier II (Elite):
Evgeni Malkin
Pavel Datsyuk
Daniel Sedin
Henrik Sedin
Martin St. Louis

Anze Kopitar - the Kings' top forward
Tier III (Superstars):
Ryan Getzlaf
Joe Thornton
Zach Parise
Cory Perry
Anze Kopitar
Henrik Zetterberg
Jarome Iginla
Ryan Kesler
Brad Richards
Steven Stamkos
Eric Staal
Rick Nash
Jonathan Toews
Patrick Kane
Ilya Kovalchuk
Rick Nash
Ryan Kesler

Alexander Semin - inconsistent but so talented
Tier IV (All-Stars):
Teemu Selanne
Bobby Ryan
Patrick Marleau
Marian Hossa
Matt Duchene
Loui Eriksson
Mikko Koivu
Vincent Lecavalier
Thomas Vanek
Derek Roy
Tomas Plekanec
John Tavares
Marian Gaborik
Jason Spezza
Claude Giroux
Mike Richards
Jeff Carter
Daniel Briere
David Backes
Patrick Sharp
Nicklas Backstrom
Alexander Semin

Tier V (Stars):
Ales Hemsky
Ales Hemsky - playmaker extraordinaire
Andrew Ladd
David Krejci
Nathan Horton
Patrice Bergeron
Milan Lucic
Paul Stastny
Justin Williams
Patrik Elias
Dustin Brown
Martin Havlat
Mike Cammalleri
Shane Doan
Mike Ribeiro
Brendan Morrow
Phil Kessel
Dany Heatley
Joe Pavelski