The Athenaeum Forum

WASHINGTON - Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper doesnt think left wing Ryan Malones DUI and cocaine possession charges will be a distraction to the post-season-bound team. "Ryan is probably a little embarrassed of whats gone on. He made a poor decision, getting behind the wheel when he had alcohol in his system," Cooper said before Tampa Bay beat the Washington Capitals 1-0 in a shootout Sunday to close the regular season. "But for me, Ive watched all the good decisions Ryan Malones made in his life, and how charitable hes been and what a staple hes been in our community in the years hes been here," Cooper added. "I hope this one instance doesnt take away from that, because hes been a class act for us, on and off the ice." Malone didnt travel with the team to Washington. It isnt yet known what his status for the playoffs will be. Tampa Bay will host the Montreal Canadiens in the first round, with Game 1 scheduled for Wednesday. An officer saw Malones SUV strike a curb after making a left turn from the centre lane in the early hours of Saturday, Tampa Police Lt. Paul Lusczynski said. After being pulled over, Malone got out of his vehicle, and the officer smelled alcohol on his breath, Lusczynski said. According to the police report, the officer found 1.3 grams of cocaine in one of Malones pockets. "We talked about it as a team yesterday, and its a real unfortunate thing, but I dont think it was really on too many guys minds here today with the ... stakes of this game," Matthew Carle said after scoring the only goal in Sundays shootout. Malone refused to take field sobriety tests, but a breath test given at the jail recorded blood alcohol levels of 0.112 and 0.116 per cent, Lusczynski said. Florida law considers a driver impaired at 0.08. Malone was released from the Hillsborough County jail on $2,500 bond. His car was impounded by police. "The one thing is, no matter what happens, regardless of anything, youre dealt with as a human being first, hockey player second. Thats how we deal with everything. ... So you want to look after your players in their life first," Cooper said, pausing at times to choose his words carefully. "Im happy everythings OK with Ryan. ... Ive spoken to Ryan. There is a whole process thats going to go through here. Its out of our hands." NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said Saturday that Malone "is subject to mandatory evaluation" under the substance abuse program agreed to by the league and the players union, and "his future playing status" will be determined based on the terms of that program. "Lets just say nobodys perfect. We all make marginal decisions at one point in our life. I know Ive made them," Cooper said. "Hell let this be a learning experience for him," Cooper said, "and were really looking forward to getting him back at some point." Malone has five goals and 10 assists in 57 games this season for the Lightning. The 34-year-old forward is in his 10th NHL season, his sixth with Tampa Bay. He has 92 goals, 201 assists and 388 penalty minutes in his career. "Hockey-wise, weve had way more distractions worse than this one. This is more of a life issue that is a friend of ours that we know is physically doing OK. Hopefully the worst is over. This is moving onward and upward after that," Cooper said. "But as for the hockey, this wont be a distraction at all for us." Chris Carson Jersey . Doug Fister allowed two runs over seven innings and Washington hit three solo homers in a 6-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night. Tyler Lockett Jersey . Its not intended to be some magical formula and doesnt apply any context, like, for example, taking injuries into account. This remedial statistical method has gone 9-5 in picks through the first three rounds. http://www.seahawksfansprostore.com/Bla ... ml?cat=991. The Maple Leafs will play on the road for the first time this season after dropping home contests to Montreal and Pittsburgh to begin the campaign. After losing a one-goal decision to the Canadiens on Wednesday, they were bested 5-2 on Saturday by the Penguins. Cortez Kennedy Jersey . The third-seeded Bouchard, from Westmount, Que., was coming off a semifinal appearance at the French Open. She took the opening set before the unseeded American came back for the 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory. 12th Fan Jersey . - First-timer Chris Harris Jr.CHICAGO -- During a recent game at Wrigley Field, John Weber was using a pencil and scorecard to expertly track the game between his hometown Cubs and the Pittsburgh Pirates. The 86-year-old retired transit worker figures he is an increasingly rare kind of baseball fan. "Look around, do you see many people keeping score?" he asked. No indeed. Between batters and between pitches, most fans in the stands at Wrigley -- and everywhere else in the majors -- take their eyes off the game to peck away at smartphones, phablets, tablets and iPads. Few bother to figure out the baseball hieroglyphics that Weber and other purists lovingly scrawl on their cards. The Cubs are hoping to add a massive video scoreboard to Wrigley as early as next year in what would be the biggest renovation at Wrigley since lights were installed more than a quarter century ago. The plan has stirred plenty of opposition, with many wondering if modern electronics will rob some of the mystique that surrounds the venerable ballpark, which hosted its first game on April 23, 1914 -- 100 years ago Wednesday. The scene in the stands illustrates how Wrigley is already a modern park and in fact got there faster than some of the newer, shinier stadiums around the country. The Cubs were the first to install a moving walkway back in the 1950s (it was removed a few years later) and in 2012 were one of the first teams in the majors to offer Wi-Fi. "The Cubs were ahead of their time and, frankly, ahead of the league," said Bob Bowman, CEO of MLB Advanced Media, the leagues interactive branch. The lack of a video scoreboard is a glaring reminder that the Cubs have some catching up to do. That is even more obvious this year thanks to a new instant replay system that allows teams to challenge umpires calls. "With this replay for our fans, 75 million of them at the games, get to see what everyone sees at home," Bowman said. Except at Wrigley, where fans have to wait until they get home or watch the television monitors while theyre in line to buy a hot dog or beer. "How ridiculous is that?" asked Marc Ganis, a sports consultant with SportsCorp Ltd. in Chicago, who once advised the Cubs prior owner, the Tribune Co. "The only time you see it is when youre not in your seat." The lack of a video board is only the most visible example of some of the differences between Wrigley and other parks. Rather than ordering food and drink on a handheld device and having it delivered right to their seats, fans at Wrigley get things the old-fashioned way: By yelling at vendors roaming the aisles or making a trip to the concession stands.dddddddddddd The Cubs cant do it any other way because Wrigley Field is so small that food must be prepared offsite. A proposed $300 million renovation project includes construction of commissary, though team spokesman Julian Green said a final decision hasnt been made. The Cubs are also examining whether to join the roughly 20 teams that have customized Major League Baseballs At the Ballpark app to give fans access to information about ballparks as they enter, from seat location to specials on merchandise. One thing the Cubs say they wont be doing any time soon is allowing fans to upgrade their seats via their handheld devices. "There are a lot of great innovations happening at new ball parks but Wrigley has magic (and) we need to be careful that we dont implement technology that takes away from the experience of Wrigley, the experience of what it has been like for sons going to games with their fathers, and their fathers fathers," said Andrew McIntyre, the Cubs senior director of information technology. Many fans do worry that the Cubs embrace of technology could change the atmosphere at the friendly confines for the worse. They want to see the park as they imagine past generations saw it. "Any modernization, you risk losing what made it special," said Todd Jezierski, a 32-year-old Oregon resident. He said when a friend heard he was coming to Wrigley, he excitedly told him he just had to visit the restrooms and see the ancient urinal troughs. Charlie Tausche, a 75-year-old retired attorney, has less of a problem with a massive video board than with the technology-toting young people who will flock the Wrigley in greater numbers once school lets out. "They stand up in front of you in the middle of the game and take their selfies," he complained. The oldest stadium in the majors, Bostons Fenway Park, is awash in video boards and still remains one of the jewels of baseball at 102 years old. And -- this is a big one for long-suffering Cubs fans -- it has fielded three World Series winners in the last decade. Robert Garcia, a 38-year-old Chicago teacher who came to a recent game decked out in a Cubs hat, jacket and clutching a scorecard and pencil he just bought, said the essence of Wrigley will remain with new technology. "When you come in and look down you still see the ivy, you still see the bleachers," he said. Even Darryl Wilson, who has been working the manual scoreboard for 23 years, has no objection to all the new technology, including a new video scoreboard. "I hope they dont think I can keep up with that scoreboard," he said. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '