The Capitals Silenced Rangers Fans And Critics, But Bruce Boudreau Didn’t Need Saving

The Washington Capitals scored three goals in the third period and then added a game-winner in double overtime to beat the New York Rangers Wednesday, and a day later, the most popular refrain has been, “Wow, Bruce Boudreau got lucky.”

Boudreau’s the Capitals coach, of course, who criticized the hockey experience at Madison Square Garden after Game 3. When the Caps went down 3-0 midway through the second period, it looked like Boudreau would end up with egg on his face from all this.

Even after he won, Boudreau said, “I might have made a mistake by saying what I said. Let’s leave it at that. Let’s let the players decide this and not worry about how I felt or what the crowd felt like.”

But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t completely right about what he said. “Well, the one thing, its reputation is far better than the actual building,” Boudreau said. “I mean, it’s nothing. The locker rooms are horrible. The benches are horrible. There’s no room for anything. But the reputation of being in Madison Square Garden is what makes it famous. Also, our building’s a lot louder, too. So I mean, they can say what they want, but it’s not that loud in there.”

Just this weekend, when I was in Miami, a media member that goes to every Knicks game told me that until the renovations are complete, the MSG experience is total mess.

Maybe it doesn’t feel that way for Rangers fans, but to people that actually have to work there, like media, players, and coaches? All the MSG mystique probably doesn’t make it any more comfortable.

So no, Bruce Boudreau somehow needed help from his team to bail him out. He was just keeping it real, and if that’s wrong, then I don’t want my hockey coach to be right. Speaking of which... This clip’s from HBO’s 24/7, but I like to think it’s from the second intermission last night.

This Guy’s Pretty Much Living The Dream, Huh? Meet Dan McLaughlin, a man who quit his job to test Malcolm Gladwell’s infamous theory that anyone can become an expert at anything with 10,000 hours of practice. For McLaughin, that means becoming a pro golfer.

He calls it “The Dan Plan” and the St. Petersburg Times outlines his itinerary:

The Dan Plan will take six hours a day, six days a week, for six years. He is keeping diligent records of his practice and progress. People who study expertise say no one has done quite what Dan is doing right now.

This actually seems like it’d work. Maybe he won’t become a pro golfer when all’s said and done, but I know that the biggest reason I suck at golf is because whenever I start to get even a little bit decent, I stop playing for a month or two, and then it’s back to square one.

What’s more, right now McLaughin’s not even playing real golf. He’s building his game, piece by piece, until he’s mastered every shot and every club in the bag. Which, again... Kinda brilliant:

Here’s how they have Dan trying to learn golf: He couldn’t putt from 3 feet until he was good enough at putting from 1 foot. He couldn’t putt from 5 feet until he was good enough putting from 3 feet. He’s working away from the hole. He didn’t get off the green for five months. A putter was the only club in his bag.

Everybody asks him what he shoots for a round. He has no idea. His next drive will be his first.

In his month in Florida, he worked as far as 50 yards away from the hole. He might — might — have a full set of clubs a year from now.

You can follow along with this quest--he’s at 1,400 hours right now--at McLaughlin’s blog over here. And really, I hope it works out for him, but no matter what happens, I think we’re all just insanely jealous of the guy that somehow gets to play golf every day for six straight years. Whatever happens in the end, that’s totally awesome.

(photo via Dan McLaughlin)

A Cautionary Tale For Everyone, Really. If you ever find yourself in the midst of a wild championship celebration atop a double decker bus in Spain and someone passes you the championship trophy, don’t do what Sergio Ramos did. Watch closely:

Here’s A Story On Luke Scott, the Orioles outfielder who questions Barack Obama’s citizenship, loves guns, and more than anything else, is sorry he’s not sorry. But as Amy K. Nelson writes:

the simple assumption is that Scott is a right-wing nut, a borderline racist and a loudmouth redneck ballplayer who should keep his mouth shut.

But it’s not that simple.

It never is, Amy. It never is. But now seems like a good time to mention that despite significant efforts, baseball’s popularity continues to dwindle among African-Americans in this country:

NEW YORK (AP) — The percentage of black players in the major leagues dropped again on opening day this year even as the sport again received a top overall grade for racial diversity. Baseball’s grade for gender hiring declined slightly, according to the annual study released Thursday by Richard Lapchick’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports at the University of Central Florida.

“Jackie Robinson’s dream was to see more African-Americans playing, coaching and in the front office,” Lapchick said. “While this year there has been a slight decrease in the grade for racial and gender hiring practices, there has been a long-term consistent and dramatic increase in the role of people of color and women regarding who runs the game.”

The percentage of black players dropped to 8.5 percent on opening day this year, down from 10 percent at the start of last season and its lowest level since 2007.

I’m tellin’ ya, baseball needs Jay-Z.

Checking In With Our Old Friend From Yesterday... After Bill Plaschke wrote an epically terrible column wondering whether Khloe Kardashian’s reality show would ruin Lamar Odom and the Lakers, Odom went out Wednesday night and scored 16 points, had 7 rebounds, and along with Andrew Bynum, carried the Lakers to a win while Pau and Kobe struggled.

So, yeah. Plaschke may have been overreacting. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time... Deadspin noticed that Plaschke seems to have a little fetish about the concept of “distractions” among athletes:

•Matt Kemp: “But Kemp has changed. He still shows up early and does his work, but his play has often been filled with more distraction than passion. Though some say he has been caught up in the fast life with famous girlfriend Rihanna, there is really no proof.”

•Lindsey Vonn: “The athlete on the stage is talking about dealing with the pressure of a debilitating shin injury and suffocating Olympic hopes. The babe on the website is posing seductively in a white fur wrap too small for her chest and hot pants too tight for her bottom.”

•USC football: “It didn’t help, perhaps, that the whole shebang took place on a green carpet in the middle of the ocean, in a place where the marching band played the theme from Hawaii Five-0 while a cheerleader was carried into the stadium on a surfboard. To the tropical distractions, add a new coaching staff, a roster thinned by probation defectors, and a bunch of players about whom Kiffin said he was unsure.”

•Manny Ramirez: “He will arrive at Dodger Stadium today lugging 510 career home runs inside 510 pounds of baggage...The clubhouse may be a more difficult sell, particularly because Ramirez not only creates distractions, but a total of five potential starting outfielders.”

•Manny Ramirez: “Today in a Phoenix suburb, the Chicago Cubs’ Jeff Samardzija will throw a first pitch with two lasting meanings. The Dodgers will officially join the Cactus League.Manny Ramirez will officially become a distraction.”

An Interview With Chris Pratt From Parks And Recreation. Because that show’s the funniest thing on TV, because the guy who created it now moonlights at SB Nation, and because Chris Pratt (who plays Andy) seems pretty great. From Vulture:

That episode, “Flu Season,” was a high point for the Ron and Andy bromance. Are you and Nick Offerman tight off-camera?
We totally have a very committed off-screen bromance. Sometimes we sit down and tête-à-tête. I feel like James Spader and William Shatner at the end of Boston Legal, just having cigars and a whiskey and talking about the day. Hanging out with Nick can do one of two things: It can make you feel very manly — or make you feel not manly at all. I’m one of the guys who gets to feel manly. We get to talk about manly shit. Because we’re dudes. Although, on the man scale, I still pale in comparison to him. He’s a ten.

Where’s Aziz on the manly scale?
His love of good food makes him pretty manly. But his Brooks Brothers boys’ suits take him down a few notches. So I’m not sure exactly where he lands.

Finally... OMG Where Are You Watching The Wedding?!? Prince William and Kate Middleton are getting married next week and why is this is such a big deal I don’t know but it is and people have been flipping out about it for months and sometimes the world makes no sense.

Having said that... As pathetic and inexplicable as the wedding craze is, this takes things to a whole ‘nother level. Somebody forwarded this e-mail to me from a local Country Club in D.C.

An invitation to a party to watch a wedding party:

Don’t you love how they capitalize ‘club’ there? The devil’s in the details.

And generally, if you’re the type of person who cares about the Prince William wedding, then I’m sorry for judging. We’re all into different things; earlier, I spent a solid 30 minutes looking through ridiculous photos of Bruce Boudreau. But if you’re the type of person who cares enough about the Prince William wedding to get dressed in formal wear and go watch the nuptials live from your country club, then you are officially Judge Smails, and you’re pretty much asking for it.

I christen thee, the saddest wasps in the world.