A Question Worth Asking Patrick Kane: What's With The Smirk?

The mugshot begs the question. The kid had to know at this point how serious the situation was. And he had to know that his big head and NHL star status wasn't going to get him out of this one. So why would he ever in his right mind decide to have a who-gives-a-sh*t look on his face? I'll tell you why. He wasn't in his right mind. The kid was drunk as a skunk and thought he could buy his way out of it (which is undoubtedly what most of us would think if we were him). But this opens up an entirely new can of worms. Patrick Kane is 20 years old and last time I checked that doesn't provide legal eligibility rights to drink alcohol in the United States of America.

So lets summarize his actions: We have assault, robbery and underage drinking. If The Hasty pieces this together, it sounds as though he got hammered with his cousin and at the end of the night (5am) they took a cab home. When it was time to pay the fare, the taxi driver locked the doors until he received his money due (as he says he always does). When Kane and his cousin paid, the cab driver said he did not have the 20 cents change, and therefore they punched the driver, took back their money, and ran off. Um, way to think this one through Patrick. But lets remember that he is innocent until proven guilty. And as horrible and convincing the reports are, there does seem to be some serious doubt of his guilt. First off, the driver's lawyer says this is all way "overblown". Also, does anyone else think it is just a little creepy for the cab driver to lock the doors? If you or I were drunk I'm not sure we would react very well to that either. But more importantly, the cab driver was reportedly driving with two DUIs and no license. That's unbelievable -- if true. Talk about taking everything he claims with a grain of salt.

Clearly something happened here though, and certainly it was illegal. The question is whether Kane committed a crime. Maybe one of the two boys simply shoved the driver when he locked them in the car. And maybe no one stole back the fare money at all. The thing Kane can't deny is the boozing piece of this puzzle. He was clearly drunk. But the good thing for Kane is that somehow he was not charged with underage drinking. Does he look drunk in his mugshot to you? C'mon. This situation wreaks in every way and don't be surprised if it ends in a money settlement. Welcome to America.

Zherdev, Roddick, Roenick and Swingers

Sorry for the lengthy delay in posts. There are indeed some things to catch up on. Jeremy Roenick retired, the Rangers walked away from Mr. Z, Andy Roddick decided to continue his tennis career, and finally we'll have a nice surprise/classic video for you at the end.

Jeremy Roenick was a true warrior and an ambassador for the sport, especially in regards to media interaction. The guy was a character and still is. There has been a push for Versus to hire him as an analyst for his outgoing and controversial personality. I think I remember him doing a guest appearance as an intermission analyst once, and I specifically remember him being very mediocre. Maybe I'm wrong. Anyways, Jeremy should be remembered for his grit. The guy not only could score, but has to be one of the most gruesomely injured players of all time. But he always battled through it. To commemorate his career, check out these top 10 Roenick sound bytes I came across online. The top 2 are awesome.

Andy Roddick stepped back on the court for the first time since his loss to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final. He won convincingly over Benjamin Becker in the Legg Mason Classic, which is a great sign after his hurtful loss to Roger. But his next test is tonight when he faces Sam Querry, who has been on fire of late. You can't wait to watch the match, right? Don't hold your breath. Neither ESPN2 nor The Tennis Channel start coverage of the tournament until tomorrow. That's just great, it's going to be real enjoyable clicking refresh on my computer's tennis scores. Way to go ESPN. You're doing a great job in building the tennis hype heading into the US Open which your network bought the TV rights to this year for the first time.

The New York Rangers walked away from Nik Zherdev's arbitration award of $3.9 million. The Rangers never considered Zherdev for next season, and that was clear when they signed Kotalik. I'm not so sure about Sather's decision here. If you exclude the playoffs, Zherdev didn't have that bad of a year. In fact, he led the team in points. I know he was expected to have a breakout season, which he didn't, but he had a decent year. I'll say it again, he led the team in total points. Would one more year at $3.9 million been that big of a gamble? His playoffs were horrific, but it was his first time in that position, so I would have given him a pass. Lets see what he does his second time around. But Sather decided otherwise the moment he signed Kotalik, making the arbitrator's salary decision insignificant. Hopefully Kotalik's eyes aren't blinded by the Broadway lights.

Lastly, the classic movie Swingers is one of the best ever. But the part in the movie involving the video game NHL '94 is one of the funniest scenes ever. I haven't seen it in a while, but I'll tell you, it never gets old. Please watch this below, beginning to end. You must.