after getting whupped twice this past week, i realized the ole' Register-Guard ain't movin' on this year. so i get myself a bag of popcorn, grab my seat on the sidelines, and pass off some observations, possibly as conversation starters:
-- the Bruins made a move, picking up an older outside man. don't know how he sees his team, or what hole this is supposed to fill, but it does give him more depth and some options at SF.
-- TKI beat me like a drum, unlike the Bruins, but i think part of the difference was HCA. that said, TKI is a very strong squad, i think one of the top two in DII.3. the conference championship will be very close, but i like the Bruins if they have HCA. i will remind everyone the final game of the regular season is TKI at Pauley Pavilion.
-- i've never had any kind of revenue from merchandising, so i don't know how much it can boost revenues. i've read estimates it can pay for a good portion of a NT player's salary, so TKI could be getting six figure revenue numbers to help ease the problem of his enormous team salary. the Bruins have no such individual player, but Solana Steve does a an all-American squad, which fans like. nevertheless, i don't see how the loser of their match can sustain their current team structure next season. this adds that much more pressure to their meeting.
-- i haven't said much about ATL, the class of the Big 8. i see them much like i see myself, good, but not a NBBA team with a DII mask on (like the Visionaries last season). by any measure, he has had a very successful season, a long run in the Cup, good attendance revenues, and what promises to be a good run in the playoffs, a manageable salary scale -- Hawk should have made some money this year. we'll see how he plays his cards next season.
-- right now, the relegation matches indicate two new teams next season for the Big 8. both Footpath and Rdkin are dumping player(s), and the Whalers and Thunder Gods are good teams.
-- i play California next, and i like that team's future. for whatever reason, Warrior has kept Anwar off our radar screen, but that dude is a player, averaging 28 pts in the six league games he has played, and having had a couple of games this season with over 50. Branham is similar to Anwar, six games, 28 ppg., but a little older. What i really like, though, is the team's youth (5 fine players under 27, and Anwar is only 22), and the fact that 3 of those 5 players are SF. i assume most of the coaches here know how such players can be structured by BB -- briefly, you can pack a whole lot of skills into one player for a relatively low salary. i think when we see California again, they will be roaring like a hurricane.