The Cat's Meow: Drop the Puck!

Ruchika Sharma covers the Florida Panthers for Teenlink. 

I've abandoned you for 104 days, but after 113 agonizing days, the NHL and the NHLPA have finally struck a tentative deal to end the lockout. With this tentative deal, the season is reported to begin on January 19th, with teams beginning training camp as early as this upcoming weekend. Some of you might be jumping for joy, I know I am, or some of you might not be, because you simply just don't care about hockey. But some of you might be scratching your head, not quite understand what this all means, and whether or not to trust it, given the case of a "tentative" deal. (Keep in mind, this was the third lockout under current Commissioner Gary Bettman).

Here are some key points of the newest CBA:

10 (Well, Really 8) More Years

• This CBA should last for ten years, but if in any case, the players or the league want out, they have the option to opt out after the eighth year. 

Salary Cap

• 2012-2013 is a transition year for the salary cap, as the upper level of this season's cap is set at $60 million, and teams are allowed to spend up to $70.2 million. In Year 2 of the CBA, the cap increases to $64.3 million. The salary floor for this season and next is set at $44 million.

Contract Length

• The maximum length of a contract is now set at seven years, so no more crazy career-long deals to keep a player. It increases to eight years, only if a player is resigning with his own team. 

Draft Lottery

• Instead of the bottom four teams now competing for the first overall pick, now all fourteen non-playoff teams will get a shot at it. This new format is in line with the one the NBA implemented. Surely with this new format, we can hope that Edmonton won't be getting the first overall pick for the fourth year in a row. 

Supplemental Discipline

• Supplemental discipline will still be handled by Brendan Shanahan, as it was last season, but appeals will now go through NHL commissioner Gary Bettman first. If it is an appeal for a suspension of six games or more, a neutral third party will be involved in the appeals process.

Additional

• Free Agency Frenzy will continue to occur on July 1st, instead of July 10th, as the NHL had hoped to push the date. So keep it circled on your calendars!
• Revenue sharing among clubs will increase to $200 million.
• Olympic participation will be dealt with outside of the new CBA, and it is reported a joint league-player committee will handle the decision.
• Teams are reported to receive two amnesty-style buyouts, that can be used over the next two offseasons.
• For the first eight years of the new CBA, minimum player salaries will remain at $525,000. But in Year 9 and 10, they will increase to $750,000. 

The Cat's Meow: Day Nine

The days are long. Strenuous. Agonizing.

Today would have been the third day of Panthers' Training Camp. The first day of the NHL preseason. The Florida Panthers would have played their infamous doubleheader against the Nashville Predators today.

*Sigh*

I can barely remember the last NHL lockout. 2004-2005. Seems so long ago, really. I was seven, I think. I didn't care too much about hockey back then. I wasn't suffering as much as I am now. Turning on ESPN is such a stretch for NHL fans, we absolutely despise it. They give us no airtime, and when they do, it's only a minute or so.

I can now say to you that I've officially caved.

I turned on ESPN this morning. I watched the highlights of last night's Ravens-Patriots game. And you know what? I still felt empty. I listened to them go on and on about Saturday's college football. Emptiness.

I'm hollow inside.

Each day, I come home from school, thinking that "OH! Hockey's on tonight!" Sadly, I come home to a hockey-less TV. Sure, there are other teams. The Dolphins. The Marlins. And soon even the Heat. But there is nothing that can fill my void. There is nothing that can replace the pure glee I feel when I turn on the TV, waiting for puck drop.

It's only Day Nine. Imagine me on Day 100. That is if I can make it that long. Who knows?

Players are jetting off to Europe, signing deals that will last them until the end of the lockout. Dream teams are being creating, even with some league restrictions of only three NHL players. Highlights that we NHL fans can only dream of now are being made, in Russia, in Switzerland, in the Czech Republic.

Alas, we are left to wait it out. Unlike the players who have signed deals, we must find time to busy ourselves with other things. Trivial things. Things like...that English paper due Monday.

Speaking of which, now is probably the time to get on it. Seeing that I have so much time.

Too much time. 

The Cat's Meow: Possible Lockout?

Ruchika Sharma covers the Florida Panthers for Teenlink. 

School is back and the days of summer are coming to an end. Though it's still hot in South Florida, the NHL is beginning to gear up for another season....or are they?

Rumours of a possible lockout have been swirling as early as June of a possible NHL lockout. The League's current CBA is set to expire on September 15th, a time when most teams are preparing for their training camps. The Florida Panthers training camp is slated to begin on September 22nd, 

After a profitable year of more than $3.3 billion, the NHL has proposed cutting the players' share of hockey-related revenue from 57% to 46%, which in reality drops to 43% when taking into account the revenues that the NHL will not share with its players. Commissioner Gary Bettman has even stated that if no deal is made by the deadline, the League is prepared to lockout its players. The League also wants to restrict free agency, in terms of limiting the length of contracts to five years (no current limits exist), and increasing the amount of time a player must wait until becoming an unrestricted free agent, from seven to ten years. In addition, the League also wants to eliminate players' rights to arbitration. 

The NHLPA, on the other hand, has proposed a three-year deal with an option to revert back to the old CBA during the fourth year. Players' compensation would grow at fixed rates, resulting in compensation being possibly being reduced by more than $800 million over the next three years, all depending on the League's revenue. Clubs in need of assistance would gain from a significantly expanded and simplified revenue sharing system. Additionally, there would be flexibility for teams as the new deal would help GMs to put their teams together: including the reward of additional draft picks for struggling teams, the allowance of teams to trade dollars and players under certain circumstances, and the allowance of small teams to go under or over the salary cap. 

As of now, talks between the League and the NHLPA are recessed. Sitting around and waiting has exhausted me. A day doesn't go by without me praying that the season will start on time. With smaller market teams like Los Angeles and South Florida suddenly beginning to flourish, the last thing the NHL needs right now is a lockout. With a profit year, and a growing fanbase, a lockout would only stunt the NHL's progress in trying to become a household sport. 

Keep Calm and Create On

***REMINDER: ANY UNDERLINED WORDS WHEN CLICKED ON WILL OPEN A NEW TAB TO ILLUSTRATE THE CORRESPONDING TEXT

The uniforms that Nike contributes to college football are over the top. False. The uniforms that Nike puts out are all unique. Wrong again. Before I explain that behind all the glitzy photo shoots and martial wording Nike uniforms are very much similar; lets all agree that the University of Oregon’s un-uniform costumes are not a fair representation of Nike’s touch in College Football aesthetics.

            Remember five years ago when your school hosted a black out and your team came running out in uncharacteristic black jerseys? You felt special right? Until the rest of the country was doing the same exact thing the next week. You should feel the same today, but since Nike has stepped up their game, you don’t.

            I won’t lie: many Nike collegiate football uniforms are sick. I will; however, point out that many of them are extremely similar. (Resist immediately shaking your head) Nike uniforms all exhibit numerous identical characteristics, but are covered up by few traits that are customized to fit the individual customer, in our case, the individual college football team. Years ago it was the 1)Nike fly-wirethreads that teams sporting on the jersey’s shoulders, now 2)Nike jerseys are secured by a particular collar of leather webbing. 3)When the players put theirtwo gloves together it makes an image? Get out! next you’ll claim Notre Dame isn’t relevant or some complete nonsense like that! 4)Matte helmets started out cool but will be a thing of the past within two seasons. 5)Nike uniforms incorporate undershirts as an extension of the jersey, a new element to the tradition uniform. Check the inside of your 6)team’s collar, I bet there’s a phrase stitched that’ll send shivers down your spine. I didn’t guess that because your alma mater is unique, I know that because Nike does the same for a majority of their squads. Lastly, don’t give the folks up in Eugene, OR credit for supplying a team with 7)two or more helmet choices, isn’t that the logical thing to do when you run out of ideas?

            Besides inserting intimidating, war-like words to each of their products, the area where Nike excels and its competitors fail is personalized identification. For example, Nike took Rutgers: a squad who donned the brand’s usual outputs (matte helmets, an alternate jersey, flywire etc.) and produced a look that is recognizable and personal to Scarlet Knight fans. The jersey and pants currently still follow the usual Swoosh template, but is tattered with random ‘battlescars’, a tribute to the team’s medieval mascot. It is the small details like this one, like the faint tiger stripes revealed for Mizzou’s new SEC-worthy garb, like the sand colored footwear the Army black Knights run around in to tribute their service in desert warfare. The list is endless, chances are if you claim your team’s look is different than all the rest, it’s because Nike does a marvelous job at taking a quality but basic uniform and making it inimitable…just like the school the team represents.

            Where Nike produces highly recognizable products for the gridiron, its competitors do the exact opposite. Under Armour, the company based in Baltimore and known for creating those groundbreaking costumes Maryland wore last season, made steps in the right direction with the new look it applied to Northwestern last month. Byemphasizing the Northwestern stripe, a design that originated with the Wildcats, a non-Nike brand had finally put together a look that is different from the rest. Not so fast my friends, before I could even catch my breath after celebrating this accomplishment, UA leaked Maryland’s new uniforms for theupcoming season. Not only did they revert to the same Maryland state flag pattern of last season’s debacle, but the new look completely does away with the terrapin-inspired garb worn by the players a year ago. Back to square one as far as non-Nike schools go. Stick with a look guys: Notre Dame is blue and gold, with occasional green. So why last week did I see the “traditional” dynasty reveal multi-colored helmets to complement an overall gaudy look for their game in Chicago? Nebraska wearing black, Michigan altering therecognizable winged helmet? “What the Hell’s Goin’ On Out There!?” You’re killin’ me, underdogs.

            Nike is Dr. Jeckell, the Oregon Ducks are Mr. Hyde. When Nike returns to it’s crib in Eugene after producing respectable get-ups for collegiate football squads, the Swoosh that we all know morphs itself into a circular shape. From there, all Hell breaks loose: mirrors are added to helmets, colors are renamed after weather occurrences and uniform combinations are thrown together without second guesses. The swoosh started experimenting with the O long before the Ducks blinded us with theirhelmets at last year’s Rose Bowl Game. In fact it was architect and right hand man to Nike chairman Phil Knight, Tinker Hatfield, who first played the role of Hyde in creating outlandish products, then staining them with the Nike swoosh of approval. Hatfield, who also constructed the most groundbreaking footwear of the late 20^th century, the Nike Air Max, was asked in 1996 by Knight to help better attract athletes to the University. The O was born, and with it, the false identity of the world’s most dominant athletic brand.

            Since the turn of the century, the folks up at Nike have used the University of Oregon as their very own lab rat: not only can the Ducks sport over 300 different uniform combinations on any given gameday, but it has become a tradition for Nike products to be debut by the company’s gem. It is crucial to observe that no other Nike school (or any other school for that matter) is comparable to Oregon when it comes to uniforms, because no other school is backed in the way that Nike supports the Ducks. Most importantly, it is this relationship that has broadened the gap between the look of Nike teams and the rest of the NCAA aesthetically, not even Maryland’s bond with Nike-rival Under Armour is comparable. What’s to come? I believe the next big thing to be overused and poorly duplicated will be both shiny helmets and ‘color-changing’ jerseys or pants. Have no fear, fans whose team doesn’t look ‘unique’ on Saturdays, as long as the Ducks flaunt around in obnoxious fashion, they’ll be enough Nike sparkle to trickle down.

The Return of College Football

September 1, 2012, has been circled on my calendar since the end of the '11-'12 college football season. What is significant about this date, you ask? September 1 is the first University of Miami Hurricane football game of the '12-'13 football season, when Miami will face Boston College.

I am a huge football and Miami Hurricane fan, and I can't wait to see how new coach Al Golden will lead the team. For years my dad has taken my siblings and I to UM football games, and next year I might join my family at the games as a U of M student! I am hoping to be accepted into the University of Miami and am applying to go to college there next fall. After a long summer devoid of football, I can't wait to put on my UM t-shirt and head down to the stadium.

What college football team(s) do you cheer for?

Michael Phelps Swim School

Since 2004, the USA has cheered for and admired Michael Phelps' amazing talent and winning smile. For Michael Phelps fans and aspiring swimmers, the Michael Phelps Swim School is something to consider.

When Michael returned to Baltimore in 2009, he "began to invest in his dream, to grow the sport of swimming and get more children in the water," according to the MPSS official website, mpswimschool.com.

MPSS features private and group lessons as well as summer camps at several locations. There are two sessions during the summer. Campers learn about leadership and sportsmanship, how to improve their skills and technique, and what it takes to "go for the gold" and to win gold medals. Campers also get to compete in swimming challenges for medals.

Michael said, "I always thought, it would be neat to make the Olympic team." You could be the next Olympian swimmer, and your career could start here. Learn more about the Michael Phelps Swim School at mpswimschoo.com

Top 10 Most Captivating Competitors of the 2012 London Games

By: Keenan Bailey

1.      Usain Bolt
We all remember Usain Bolt breaking shattering world records in both the 100m and 200m sprints four years ago, we remember him easing to the finish line multiple strides ahead of his competition and we remember his flashy, celebratory, God-like pose after each race. This time around, the world expects perfection from the Jamaican track star, and will be disappointed with anything short of 2 new world records. Since catching the attention of the planet, Bolt has somewhat faulted in his world dominance, especially when he false started at last year’s world championships. With an increased amount of attention, unfairly high expectations and a teammate in Yohan Blake who plans on winning gold, the 2012 Olympic Games may be more demanding on Usain Bolt than any other athlete.

2.      Andy Murray
Not Lebron, not Neymar, not either Gasol, not even Bolt feels the weight of carrying an entire nation the way Andy Murray does. 1924…the last time a British tennis player has won an Olympic gold medal and no man since then is more ready to do so than Scottish-born Andy Murray. It will be a super-eerie déjà if the nation’s gem makes his way back to the finals at the All England Club, the site that hosted his emotional Wimbledon run. Although Murray was defeated by Roger Federer last month in the Wimbledon final, the match and Murray’s extremely emotional post-match ‘thank you’ speech addressed to Great Britain lit a flame of support for the classy competitor. A gold medal for Murray would mean so much more than just that, a proud history and an entire nation rides on his every forehand, backhand, serve and return.

3.      Ryan Lochte
No, I didn’t mean to insert Michael Phelps here. More captivating than the 16 Olympic medalist is his longtime teammate, friend, and rival Ryan Lochte, who in London will dominate the swimming megastar. Don’t be fooled by the two swimmer’s companionship during relays, when it comes time for the individual races both men will not spare the other to say the least: Phelps is competing to become the most decorated Olympian of all time, Lochte is looking to defend his 2011 World Championship.

4.      Lebron James
No one will accept anything short of gold. No one cares about injuries, fatigue, or lack of interest. As it has been since the Dream Team in 1992, the USA Men’s Basketball team is expected to not just win the gold at each Olympics, but is expected to do so with ease. By winning the ultra-elusive NBA Title this past June Lebron James put to rest many of his infinite critics, and by bringing a gold medal back to US soil the King has a chance to actually win them over! It will be a very unfamiliar tune, for James to be cheered on and be supported by the majority of American basketball fans, and it will be this warm feeling that’ll catapult the reigning Finals MVP to winning his second Olympic Gold Medal, the same number of gold medals won by this other guy, ummm…Jordan or something?

5.      Abby Wambach
The fact that our Men’s soccer team failed to qualify for the London games, and that the Women’s squad was defeated in the Championship Game of the 2011 World Cup puts pressure on the Soccer captain to bring home gold from London. Known for her powerful headers and her sheer competitiveness (and her awesome Gatorade commercial), Wambach will be more than ready to leave it all on the pitch this time around. At the Athens Games in 2004, her header in extra time secured a gold medal over the rival Brazilian squad, and in 2008 she broke her leg due to a dirty tackle against Brazil less than a month before the Beijing Opening Ceremonies, must I tell you that revenge will be on her mind if Team USA faces off against the Brazilians?

6.      Missy Franklin
Missy Franklin, who many refer to as the “Female Phelps” is a 17-year old with the chance of setting an American record for most medals by a female in a single Olympiad. Franklin has a shot to compete for gold in 7 swimming events in London and is likely to distinguish herself as one of, if not the most promising Olympian for future games.

7.      Neymar
Through Neymar, Brazil is letting the planet know that the country is a shoe-in to reassume its soccer dominance when it hosts the 2014 World Cup. The 20-year old soccer sensation will surely wow you with his flashy goals, on-ball moves and whacky hairstyle but overall will give a glimpse of the arsenal of young, talented Brazilian footballers that will be showcased in 2 years time. Brazil has surprisingly never won the Gold Medal for Men’s Soccer; that is bound to change this time around.

8.      Oscar Pistorius
Middle-distance runner Oscar Pistorius will not only be representing his home country of South Africa while participating in the 400 and 400x4 relays in London this summer but will be competing on behalf of the millions of amputees worldwide, becoming the first ever amputee to take part in an Olympic event. Pistorius, who is nicknamed “Blade Runner” due to his futuristic prosthetics lost his legs when he was only 11-months old due to a medical condition and is a long-shot to medal at the London Games, but will come away from these Olympic Games with a significant victory for all amputees.

9.       Caster Semanya
We’ve all heard pieces of “her” story: the South African female runner whose record-breaking spree was cut short only because of serious allegations regarding her actual sexuality. Semanya has been reinstated by the International Association of Athletics Federations after an 11-month investigation which revealed both male and female sexual organs belonging to the middle-distance runner. Despite an ease in criticism and a reinstation, Caster Semanya has failed to reach her 2009 shape and looks to use the London Games as a way back into the spotlight.

10.  Liu Xiang
Eight years ago he won the gold medal for his stunning 110 meter hurdles performance, four years ago the Olympics came to his home country of China, and an injury kept him off the track. Many Chinese claim the one reason the 2008 Beijing Games were not perfect was because the nation wasn’t able to watch its top athlete compete. Liu Xiang is considered among the best and most adored Chinese athletes, and is looking to provide a gold medal in London to make up for the one lost 4 years ago.