Have You Met Tony?

I’m still going a little back and forth on how this sits with me and the overall effort out of Carolina last night sickened me, but I think for the rest of the playoffs, I’ll call Scott Walker “The Waco Kid” for this effort:

I can see where some fans are calling this a sucker punch, since Ward wasn’t initially tied up with Walker, but he gave Walker a couple shoves and squared up to him, so he knew he was there. Not to mention to stand there and stare as a guy throws his gloves down and winds up? I don’t think it was a necessarily classy move by Walker, but I don’t think it’s a cheap shot.

It reminds me of the announcer on EA Sports’ NHL franchise:

“He should get two for receiving.”

(Incidentally, Sidney Crosby receives two every night, but that’s neither here nor there…)

I liked Ward when he played for Carolina, he was tough as hell in the Stanley Cup Final against Edmonton in 2006. I can’t imagine the pain of a “possible fractured orbital bone”, which Boston coach Claude Julien (what a cute name!) is claiming, but I’d bet dollars to donuts if Walker is suspended for Game 6, Ward will be out on the ice. And don’t get me started on Zdeno Chara the 6′9″ fish.

I’ve always said Game 5’s when up 3-1 scare me. Last night is why. Tuesday is a must-must-must win for Carolina, I don’t want to think about heading back into Boston to decide it. (Though I believe I thought that once about New Jersey….)

Oh, and because I can:

May 11th, 2009 | Tags: Aaron Ward, Blazing Saddles, Carolina Hurricanes, hockey, Scott Walker | Category: Carolina Hurricanes, Sports | Comments (1)

So it’s going to take a rant to get me to post again. But it’s really been awhile since I’ve actually (and somewhat surprisingly) been this fuming about something.

Why is it that I have to CONTINUALLY try to convince people that hockey is, at the very least even, a tolerable sport, much less a great one??

The arguments are all the same and even the ones that make sense don’t make much sense. “I can’t follow the puck”, “It moves too fast”, “It’s boring”.

Boring?!?!

REALLY!?!?

This from a town who embraces it’s pathetic excuse for an NBA team. I believe I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. I like the Cleveland Cavaliers. I hope they do well and I’ll watch bits of their playoff games if they’re on. But I’d also rather watch Anaheim vs. San Jose in the Stanley Cup playoffs, with no rooting interest whatsoever.

Why?

Because it doesn’t put me to sleep!!! The NBA is awful in that regard. Beyond awful. Every now and again, someone will put up a memorable night in a blowout game. Or maybe you get some overtime games in the playoffs and there’s excitement there. But it’s still such a slow, painful process. Even in the overtime period, teams exchange a few shots, one team makes more than the other, there are a few fouls, the game’s out of reach, there are a few more fouls and that’s it.

In hockey?

Sudden effing death.

I had a co-worker tonight (whom I like and by any other standard is at least a casual sports fan, I believe) say she started watching the Detroit-Anaheim game in the second overtime and was bored. Seriously. “They just kept going back and forth, back and forth,” she said. “It was boring.”

How can it possibly be “boring” when any one of those backs or forths would end the game?

“Well, it’s just like soccer. People don’t like it,” was another excuse.

Listen up, people. Hockey is not hard to follow. Give it a little time, a little effort and you’ll find that out for yourself. If you still insist you can’t follow the puck, try. If it goes to fast and you lose track of it, stare at the goal for a little bit, or look to see if people celebrate. If they do, then a goal was scored. Seriously, try it. Pick a team (there are 8 left to choose from this year) and follow them.

I’m not asking for superfans here, just for some of you to knock off the ignorance and enjoy a great sport.

If you still can’t get your slow, NASCAR-loving brain wrapped around it, then go watch the Pacers.

May 4th, 2009 | Tags: hockey, NHL playoffs | Category: Carolina Hurricanes, Sports | Leave a comment

So three months later, here I am. It’s President’s Day, which is only really significant because it also marks the start of Birthday Week! My brother and I have birthdays three days apart, so President’s Day week was like our own private Hannukah growing up. (If only we had known about Kwanzaa, I’m sure we could have scored big in the first week of March, too.)

In honor of the holiday, not only have I not once walked out to the mailbox, only to open it up and have a “V-8″ moment, but I’m also sick as hell. Sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever, etc… all in a tribute to William Henry Harrison. (“He died in 30 days!”)

Apparently, not only would our 9th President have turned 236 a week ago today, but he was once governor of Indiana and Wikipedia claims his campaign tactics laid the groundwork for modern political campaigning.

Thanks, jackass.

On another note, his grandson, 23rd President Benjamin Harrison used to live three blocks from where I currently work, has a pretty solid golf course at the military fort named in his honor and is damn amusing to follow on Twitter.

February 16th, 2009 | Tags: Benjamin Harrison, Birthday Week, president, President's Day, Simpsons reference, William Henry Harrison | Category: Daily Grind, News | Leave a comment

After researching the U.S. Marshals web site for information for a story tonight at work, I came up on what may be the greatest nickname ever. Sadly, Mr. Waters wasn’t the fugitive I was researching, so I didn’t get to post that on the station’s site.

And believe me, I tried to find a way.

Speaking of crimes, apparently, sodomy is legal in Houston and I love it. No one deserves to be on the losing end of a “40-point lead, but we’re still gonna throw the ball” loss than Tulsa coach Todd Graham. At least he seemed somewhat gracious in his postgame comments on the loss, I guess.

Of course, karma being what she is, BG will probably face Houston somewhere down the road and a 70-30 outcome won’t be quite as comical.

Speaking of BG, hoops season is underway and while the men followed up an exciting overtime win Friday with handing Minnesota the game in the first half Saturday, they fought back pretty impressively in the second half, cutting a lead that was once 20 down to three before committing a dumb turnover and not quite getting the shots down the stretch. It’s going to be an exciting season for that squad, I can just tell.

November 16th, 2008 | Category: Daily Grind | Leave a comment

As Nebraska works to tighten up it’s “safe haven law”, which has led to almost three dozen kids being herded to the state to be left by parents that don’t want them, no questions asked, I am still reminded of this cartoon when I see one of the stories.

November 14th, 2008 | Category: News | Leave a comment

What in the hell could be going off somewhere within earshot of my house that sounds like fireworks, but probably isn’t fireworks, or could be gunshots, but probably isn’t gunshots?

November 13th, 2008 | Category: Daily Grind | Comments (1)