ZERO.

This Florida Panthers organization is going nowhere and every Panthers fan can thank the ownership for that.

We are all well aware every business, excluding non-profits, are all about the dollars. The Panthers are no different. They made a business decision on March 4th. That decision was that they had a decent enough team at the present time to make the push for the playoffs, get in without having to spend much extra, and get the needed playoff revenue. Oh, and yea, the fans would be excited.

Wrong.

Many people blame Jacques Martin for not making moves. Why not trade Jay Bouwmeester? Well, ask Jacques, right? He'll give you an answer. It won't be until he is totally out of the game and retired before he'll probably give you the correct one though. Ownership!

Think about this for a second... Jay Bouwmeester is a free agent after this season. Ownership knows, management knows, players know, and some fans know, he is not coming back. Chalk that one up as fast as a shot on goal in the 3rd period.  Oh whoops, the Panthers didn't have one Tuesday. You have a player on your team in which you can get an enormous amount of value for. A player who, once again, will not be there next season. Anyone in the NHL would take advantage of picking up a player, prospects, and draft picks. Not the Florida Panthers. The Panthers continually said they were going to do whatever they needed to make the playoffs this season. They lied.  They should have said they were going to do nothing because they didn't want to spend money for the future. But who would want to hear the truth?

If you can't read between the lines, you may want to schedule an appointment with your eye doctor immediately. How can a team let a player walk away and not try to improve their team for the next few years, as well as the present year? Sure, Bouwmeester was playing well before the deadline, but that doesn't mean you let a guy walk. You make a business decision in the best interest of the actual team. Instead, they made the business decision in the best interest of the owner and the future. Many losses.

Bill Guerin was picked up by the Pittsburgh Penguins for a conditional draft pick, which will ultimately be a fourth-rounder. Why couldn't the Panthers pick up a guy like Bill Guerin to be on the power play and improve the lines of the Panthers? Oh, well they'd have to pay him much more money for the remainder of the season than they are paying others right now.  Remember the goal, since no one can remember one from Tuesday night: don't add much money to the payroll.

Sure Steve Eminger, their lone trade on March 4th, makes more than Noah Welch is, by $500,000.  But, they also gave up a third-rounder with Welch. A third-rounder that they will now not have to pay $600,000 next season.

Lastly, I am looking around the league right now. I am thinking to myself how many players would have been able to at least equal Bouwmeester's play so far since March 4th... Yeah, it would have been tough...There aren't many guys you can find to get at least one point and have a minus three rating in seven games.

Whether they fluke into the playoffs, or not... and they probably won't, ownership knows what is ahead for this team. Hopefully, now you do too.

                                                                 Photo Courtesy of: KansasCity.com

DEVELOPING STORY:

Dominican Republic WBC team flew home Monday and partied all night before being eliminated Tuesday in Puerto Rico.

Friday, March 13th, 2009 - 10:42pm

The Dominican Republic World Baseball Classic team took a chartered flight from Puerto Rico back to the Dominican Republic on Monday after their win over Panama and "partied" all night before their game Tuesday vs. the Netherlands, in which they were eliminated. The team arrived back in Puerto Rico in the early hours of Tuesday morning. It is not known how many players went, but it was "many".

More details to come.

Andy Slater

Source: TheSlaterShow.com and The Slater Show's Facebook page

I was thinking about the NFL rules the other day, especially the NFL Challenge (Review) system. You always see how when a team makes a suspect catch they always run to the line and attempt to get a play off quickly, so no one can throw a flag or the booth cannot call down for a review.

Well, I have contacted a few coaches and relayed a message to them: Don't line everyone up. Simply throw the center out there and have him snap it to anyone. A flag will be thrown for illegal formation, the play would have been run, and no review would be allowed.

Isn't a long yardage gain worth a five yard penalty?

We'll see today, or in the last two weeks of the regular season, if one of the coaches I have mentioned this to go ahead and try it!

Does anyone remember what happened back in November at Heinz Field when Troy Polamalu returned a ball for an initially called touchdown? Lots of chaos would be a good answer.  The play, which was totally irrelevant to the game since it was scored with no time on the clock, was reviewed by officials before the extra point was attempted.  In the end, the touchdown was overturned and we never heard the end of it from the gambling industry.  Many people asked why such an irrelevant play, with the Steelers already leading, would be reviewed. The NFL simply said it's policy and of course never even mentioned the gambling aspect.

Well, maybe I was the only one that noticed something in last night's Monday Night Football game at Carolina.  The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were losing 38-23 with just over a minute to go. Tampa Bay had a 4th down from their own 47-yard line. Garcia dropped back to pass and threw it pretty much into the arms of the falling Carolina Panthers Dante Wesley.  The ruling on the field was an incomplete pass. If you look at the replays, it was an extremely close play. It could have easily been looked at and possibly called an interception. Close enough to where replay should have been brought in.  Wait a moment though. It was fourth down for Tampa Bay. An interception and down by contact or an incomplete pass is pretty much the same thing. Carolina would have obtained the ball like they did, regardless. It had absolutely no impact on the game. Did Troy Polamalu's interception for a touchdown have an impact on the game? No. Was it reviewed? Yes. Amazingly, Polamalu's interception return also had an impact on the betting outcome!

So, the NFL can't possibly say this play wasn't reviewed last night because it was meaningless, right? I contacted Greg Aiello, spokesperson for the NFL. After quickly receiving a reply back from him, I was given an answer from Randall Liu, also an NFL spokesperson. "There was no replay given that clearly showed the ball was caught." Liu said. Is it just me or isn't that why the NFL goes to the actual replay? To indeed determine whether or not there is a clear angle. If it was always determined something was or wasn't clear before review, then why do we have long stoppages where the referee goes and looks into the monitor? Futhermore, I am told something that goes exactly against what happened in the Pittsburgh Steelers game with Polamalu. "This play had no direct competitive impact on the game since it was a fourth down play and Carolina would get the ball either way," Liu said in his email. "So it was not necessary to stop the game to review this."

Maybe it should be said since it had no gambling impact we decided not to stop the game.

Andy Slater is on an-air host for 640AM WFTL Fox Sports in South Florida. His website can be found at  theslatershow.com

The Miami Killian football team hasn't played in a game this big since 2004. That was the state championship. Friday night  they'll be playing the team which has won the last two state championship titles. Miami Northwestern.

Northwestern is a powerhouse in Miami-Dade County football. They have won 41 of their last 42 games and are looking for their third straight state title. The question is, though, will they look ahead and be caught facing a team that is looking directly at them. The Cougars from Miami Killian have defeated Miami Sunset and Miami Palmetto the previous two weeks to put themselves in this position for the Friday night "under the lights" matchup at FIU Stadium. 

Last week they were led by star running back Lamar Miller who ran for 202 yards on 24 carries.  Miller told me he sat out of practice on Tuesday, but he looked to be in normal shape practicing on Wednesday and is ready to go on Friday. "I will be practicing hard and come gametime I'll just go out and play as hard as I can," Miller said. "I like that there will be a lot of people there so I can show my talent, it'll get me going." Miller was referring to the expected large crowd at FIU Stadium for this Regional Final.

Killian also has the ability to throw the ball thanks to talented quarterback Ricky Rowe. It's not everyday in high school football where you can have a great running back and a go-to quarterback when called upon. Rowe shows a type of leadership on the field and while speaking to him off the field that is different from many others. "I have to thank my great offensive line, first and foremost," Rowe said. "They block for me and the receivers get open and I just throw the ball out there."

Head coach Steve Smith had the team out there on the practice field knowing what they were about to go up against.  Not only is coach Smith ready for this game, it sounded like his kids were too. "The kids know where they are at, they know what the goal was at the beginning of the year," Smith said. "They were to make it to the state championship and they know they're only two games away from doing it."

Friday night's game may not be a low scoring affair. Northwestern is known for putting points up on the board. Last week they scored 38 against Central. Will Killian be able to withstand a power house offense? "We've got enough athletes on our team," Smith stated. "Whatever we have to do, we're going to lay it all out on the line."

Even though Killian has made it this far and they are playing real well, it seems the consensus is that people are not giving them a shot to beat Northwestern. "The (students) want to come out and see a good game," Rowe said. "Some of them don't count on us to win, but this team is just out to prove everybody wrong."

Friday night. Under the lights. FIU Stadium!