Yeah, but what are Oilers' odds to win series?

04/13/2001

Get that Ralph Strangis. He's not only a crackerjack Stars announcer, but also he's a regular Pythagoras, tossing around numbers and formulas like they were so many icy pucks.

OK, we exaggerate. But check this out:

Strangis, in a moment of raging inspiration and/or pre-game boredom, calculated the odds that the Stars and Oilers would meet in the playoffs five consecutive years.

"I'm a hack at it, but I did employ the use of a couple of friends, one of whom is a math teacher," Strangis said of his ciphering talents.

Assuming Dallas is a 1-4 seed, and Edmonton is a 5-8 seed (as it has worked out), the odds are 256-1.

Strangis thought that was a fair methodology. But just for fun, he calculated the completely random odds of two teams meeting five consecutive times in the postseason at about 1.9 billion to 1.

But that's in a lottery ball-type equation, discounting individual teams' chances of finishing toward the top or bottom. In other words, those are the odds if Colorado and Columbus shared equal chances of topping the Western Conference.

New Burn coach Mike Jeffries is staying in a hotel until his family joins him from Chicago. Lucky for him – and his players – the hotel rooms have no VCRs. He took home a tape of the team's defensively challenged 4-2 loss last Saturday, a rather auspicious MLS coaching debut. "It was probably better that I had to wait until the next morning to look at that tape." ... It's a little surprising just two weeks into the season how much snap, crackle and talk we're starting to hear about Johnny Oates' job security. ... Ben Crenshaw's autobiography, A Feel for the Game: To Brookline and Back, is now out. Brookline refers to the site of the American's dramatic Ryder Cup comeback. Crenshaw captained that team. ... During a North Carolina stop Wednesday, President Bush requested a quick meeting with Dale Earnhardt's widow, Teresa, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and other family members. ... Former Ranger Doug Strange (1993-94) turns 37 on Friday. ... Pete Rose turns 60 on Saturday. ... In may seem longer, but it was just four years ago Friday that Tiger Woods became the youngest Masters champion, at 21. To celebrate, station yourself at the office coffee spot. Holler, "You da' man!" at every successful pour.

The Line and some buddies once hopped a city bus to take in a Texas-OU game. We shared the return ride with an old-timer spending the afternoon on the wrong side of too many cocktails.

He babbled to no one in particular about a school bully who used to pick on him. But somewhere in his chemical oblivion, a moment of wisdom blazed forth.

"If I walk out of the front door three days, and he kicks my butt every day," he slurred, "don't you think on the fourth day, I'm gonna walk out the back door?"

Moral: Maybe this guy should counsel Tommy Salo, who wanted another shot at the Stars, despite his yucky record against the same.

Steve Davis can be reached at 214-977-8030 or at .