If that game didn’t create a few new hockey fans nothing will. What an amazing display of talent we were treated to in the 2010 Olympic Gold Medal Game. Wow, just wow.
Let me introduce you to my favorite sports blogger on the Interwebs, Bob Sturm of SportsRadio 1310 The Ticket. He has expressed so perfectly what I and many other hockey fans feel today, nobody does that better than the Sturminator, so without his permission I’m gonna’ steal his words below:
To suggest I have a number of varying opinions about the hockey genius we witnessed yesterday and for the last 2 weeks would be an understatement. I feel that I should blog today from a number of varying perspectives, so please find the one that matters most to you and read on:
From the perspective of the USA hockey fan who felt a punch to the stomach a few moments before 5:00 pm yesterday when Sidney Crosby stole the show:
This one really hurts. I must tell you though, this team also exceeded my expectations and renewed so much hope in the state of American hockey in the post- Modano, Hull, Guerin, Richter, Roenick, Tkachuk, Leetch, Chelios-era. Many fans, like me, did not want to cut the ties with the old legends of American hockey, and were a bit uncomfortable with not bringing along a few gray-beards for the sake of nostaligia and leadership. But kudos to Brian Burke and company for having a vision and darn near riding that vision all the way to a gold medal. They believed in the next wave of young and talented studs – who grew up inspired by the old guard – and those young players demonstrated a fight and grit and spirit that gave us plenty of hope moving forward.
I really am proud that our country can produce players like Patrick Kane, Ryan Miller, and Zach Parise to carry on the torch. The gap still exists, as our American team may not have had more than those 3 make Team Canada, but we obviously can skate with them, and on our best day we can beat them.
I was also quite excited about the job that Jamie Langenbrunner did as captain. It is hard to consider him an old man, but in a young man’s game, he did very well in making sure that if the USA was going to drop a hockey game in these Olympics, it would only be at the climax of one of the greatest games ever played.
From a US perspective, I will never forget jumping around my living room with sheer joy when Parise scored to tie the game, nor will I forget standing there motionless when Canada celebrated. It is certainly different living and dying with a team you didn’t really know or understand 2 weeks ago, but it doesn’t take long to embrace a team who wears your flag.
In my lifetime, I look forward to my countrymen winning Olympic Gold when all of the best are playing. I doubt we will ever see the day when we are favored, but surely we know now that we can compete 20 on 20 with Canada’s finest. For a while yesterday, I started thinking it was destiny, and that it would happen in 2010. But, I must say, they played so well and courageously that I don’t leave these games feeling like an American player let us down. I think they squeezed everything they had out, and fell one puck short.
Proud of USA Hockey. Thanks for the ride, boys.
From the Perspective of a fan of Hockey who bangs the drum for this sport even when it annoys and frustrates me:
I think we now fully understand why this show is worthwhile. The NHL players who must work this into their sometimes-100 games + season to promote the sport are certainly pressed for time, but this is worth it. Hockey may be the only sport of the big 4 that can have a tournament where the teams are this close and as many as 6 teams have a chance at the Gold Medal according to experts (Canada, Russia, Sweden were the 3 favorites – with the USA, Finland, and Czech Republic also in the mix). Basketball isn’t far off, but the advantage the US has in hoops is far greater than the advantage Canada has on the ice. Of the first team NHL last year, 0 members of Team Canada made the list.
But, this is what happens when when the best show up and play with the passion to be the best. There is a clear difference between skating hard and skating hard with a gold medal on the line. The level of play was awesome. It was Stanley Cup Finals intensity, with 300% more talent on the ice than in any Stanley Cup Finals. The teams are loaded – uneffected with over-expansion – and playing like they mean it.
And obviously, this is key, because the world was watching. Or, at least North America was watching. I have never seen so many people talking hockey as I saw yesterday. On Twitter, people from every walk of life were trying to figure out what they were looking at as they gave hockey a chance for the first time in years.
I have no delusions that those same people are now signing up for NHL Center Ice and gathering around for the stretch drive of the NHL Season or reading up on who might be moved by the Wednesday trade deadline, but it is nice for them to see what it is that obsesses us.
This sport, at its best, takes second place to nobody. The intensity generated by a game of that magnitude and the nerves that accompany it cannot be duplicated. I love hockey for moments like yesterday. I sit through 1,000 games waiting for yesterday. And it is a pleasure.
As I said yesterday on twitter, “This. Is. Hockey. – Welcome”
Perhaps the only thing more pathetic than giving up on your new blog after only 5 short months, is crawling back after a 5 year hiatus to try and start over. Actually, I suppose one thing even more pathetic would be quitting on your short lived blog because you were so insanely pissed at the political climate you could no longer think straight.
Even though I know nobody reads this thing but me, I am still embarrassed at many things I said here back in 05’. I’m not embarrassed because I think I was wrong, not at all. In fact I still believe very strongly that former President Bush was a disastrous president for America, and I am still disgusted that America re-elected him for a second destructive term. My embarrassment however, is because this was supposed to be a blog about my family and our day to day lives – but instead I allowed it to morph into a place where I would regularly vent my anger at the Bush administration (far more often than I even mentioned anything to do with my family).
I’m going to try and keep my political rants to a minimum this time. Wish me luck.
A lot has happened since my last blog post in 2005. The biggest news story of 05 was, of course, Hurricane Katrina. This was probably the final straw that put me over the top concerning the Bush administration and ultimately led to me bailing on this blog altogether. Katrina was Bush F-up # 1,894,672 and I had decided to step back from my blog and take a break – that lasted 5 years. Anyway, I’m not gonna’ get into Katrina right now or else I will have to start taking blood pressure meds.
Other big news in 2005, Pope John Paul II died, John Roberts was sworn in as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Dick Cheney’s Chief of Staff, agreed to take the bullet for his boss and was indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice. Of course this national traitor was all but pardoned by Bush, er, must…keep…blood…pressure…in…check. On the plus side, in 2005 my family and I took our first ever Staycation, looooong before they became trendy with the global economic collapse three years later.
In 06’ another criminal in Bush’s cabinet was forced to resign, this time Donald Rumsfeld (I’m not doing as well as I had hoped, regarding staying on the topic of my family and daily life). 2006 was a bad year overall for Republicans as several Republican congressmen were brought down by scandals, including Mark Foley, who resigned over sexually explicit messages sent to underage boys, and Randy Cunningham, who pleaded guilty to accepting bribes from defense contractors. House Majority Leader and Good Ol’ Texas Boy Tom Delay resigned after being indicted on campaign finance charges, and Ohio’s Bob Ney pleaded guilty in connection with the probe of lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Plus, Dick Cheney shot his friend in the face while on a canned hunt. Then the Democrats all but swept the mid-term elections. Yea, you could say that 2006 was a bad year for the Red Team.
In family news, 2006 was an incredible year as I became a home-school parent. Home schooling a child is probably the most difficult thing I’ve ever done, although my daughter is a great student which probably makes it a lot easier on me than it could be. You can expect to see many posts on this topic coming soon as it has become a huge part of my life.
In 2007 O.J. finally went to jail, Miss S.Carolina needed grammar lessons, the Vatican told us that good Catholics don’t use their cell phones while driving, and Brainspout was temporarily shut down for excessive bandwidth usage (which was very weird since, at that time, I hadn’t posted anything in over 2 years) because several other popular websites started linking to a couple of pictures on this site (THIS ONE and THIS ONE). Also, 2007 was the year when everyone in America started talking about something called a “housing bubble”. Hmmm, wonder what a housing bubble is? More to come…
In 2007 my daughters pet dachshund had to be put to sleep, which was a very difficult day for everyone. On a more positive note, Christmas morning of 2007 we surprised our kids with a trip to Disneyland. This would be the first of three Disney trips in less than 2 years. Does that mean we’re addicted? Probably.
In 2008 the era of Reaganomics finally came to an end as the World Economy went right down the crapper, President Bush popularized the term “Bail Out” by helping a few more friends before he left office, and then America elected, basically, “anybody but Bush”.
I’m not belittling the monumental event that was the 2008 Presidential Election. For the first time in our nation’s history an African-American was elected President of the United States – a truly historic moment. Barack Obama ran a masterful campaign with the messages of Hope and Change. Unfortunately, just like waiting on the cashier at McDonald’s, who is rendered helpless because she can’t find that little picture of a BigMac on her keyboard, a year later and I’m still Hoping for some Change.
I honestly believed that after the hell Bush put this country through, whoever won the Democratic nomination would win this election. John McCain made it all the easier by running a dishonest and inept campaign (very much like the Democrats usually do), finally sealing his fate by selecting an unknown, unqualified punch-line of a running mate from Alaska. Talk about a slam dunk for the Blue Team.
Ahhh, there I go again, DARNIT!
On the bright side, the US economic crash enabled me to buy a new car at 0% interest, so it all worked out in the end. Right?
As for myself in 2009, full of hope that Obama would bail me out, I throw caution to the wind and buy a new house that is far too big and expensive for us. Not to worry, I voted for Obama so I’m sure my bail-out check will be here soon… All kidding aside, we actually did qualify for an $8,000 tax credit, which of course means I did the American thing and am now a proud owner of a big screen TV. I call it my Obama TV. Don’t look at me that way, buying that TV was good for our economy. Plus my hockey games look sooooo good on it.
Alright, it’s painfully obvious that I’m destined to fail in my comeback attempt to steer clear of political land mines, but I’m still gonna’ give it a shot. Also, I’ll try to add a few blog posts covering stuff I missed the last few years, and I promise to do my best to stay on track and focus on my day to day life and family while not mentioning anything to do with politics at all. =) Yea, right.
“George Bush doesn’t care about black people”. – Kanya West
That’s what he said, on live TV. I waste entirely too much of my time bashing Bush, on this blog and in my own personal life. However, honestly, I doubt that Bush has a problem with any specific race. I think it’s more accurate to say that Bush doesn’t like “poor” people, in fact I’m absolutely convinced of it. Other than so many kids from poor families volunteering for military service, Bush couldn’t care less about poor or middle class Americans.
Having said that, I still support the producers of this video and their message. I’m not a Kanya West fan, but there is absolutely no question whatsoever that if Hurricane Katrina had hit the coast of Connecticut, or the San Francisco coast, or anywhere that isn’t primarily poor (and black) we would have seen a totally different response.
I’ve spent the last few days in absolute shock, like many Americans. The city of New Orleans, actually most of southeast Louisiana, has been washed off the map. Hurricane Katrina, a category 5 hurricane, hit the Louisiana / Mississippi coast this weekend bringing with it death and destruction all along the Gulf coast from central Florida to Texas. It appears that no place was more devastated and destroyed than the city of New Orleans.
The news video has been surreal to watch. It reminds me of the way I felt on the morning of Sept. 11th, 2001, watching the video of the jet airliners crashing into the twin towers, it just doesn’t seem possible. How can this really be happening? Are those people really being washed away, right out of their homes? Are those people really swimming down the middle of the street, dead bodies floating past them? What about the people stuck on their rooftops, is there no way to save them? Seriously? There’s nothing we can do? This is America, right? We can do anything we set our minds to, right? That’s still true isn’t it?
When you see those people with a “Support Our Troops” bumper sticker, does it really confuse you when they also have a “I Voted for Bush” bumper sticker? It simply isn’t possible to support both, unless you are completely uninformed and/or a idiot.
Here are a few samples of how the Bush Administration supports our American troops in Iraq:
BUSH HAS ABANDONED NATIONAL GUARD AND RESERVE -
Today President Bush will speak to members of the Idaho National Guard, which has almost 2,000 soldiers currently serving in Iraq. But he won’t talk about how the war in Iraq has stretched the nation’s forces to the breaking point, forcing the military to ask America’s citizen-soldiers to put their lives on hold for increasingly extended periods of time without giving their families the support they need. Bush owes the soldiers and families of the National Guard and Reservists an explanation and an apology. [Wall Street Journal Online, 8/24/05]
GUARDSMEN AND RESERVISTS OVEREXTENDED -
Reservists Make Up Growing Percentage of Active-Duty Troops. In the first year of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Reservists and National Guardsmen made up about 25 percent of troops in Iraq. Currently, Reserve and National Guard members make up an estimated 35 percent of the troops in Iraq. Acknowledging a harsh reality, retired chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Hugh Shelton, said that the military is becoming heavily reliant on reservists and national guardsmen to maintain commitment abroad. He said “I don’t think we can sustain that much longer.” [Dallas Morning News, 7/31/05; San Francisco Chronicle, 5/9/04; AP, 5/12/04; AP, 5/17/04]
MEMBERS OF NATIONAL GUARD TOOK PAY CUTS TO FIGHT IN IRAQ, THEN HAD TROUBLE GETTING PAID AT ALL -
A January 2004 GAO report studied six different Army Guard units and found Army Guard soldiers were being denied timely and accurate payroll payments. The report found that, “Overall, 450 of the 481 (94 percent) Army Guard soldiers from our six case study units had at least one pay problem associated with their mobilization. In addition, our limited review of the pay experiences of the soldiers in the Colorado Army Guard’s 220th Military Police Company, who are currently deployed to Iraq, indicated that some of the same types of pay problems that we found in our six case study units continued to occur.” [GAO Report, "Army National Guard Personnel Mobilized to Active Duty Experienced Significant Pay Problems," 1/28/04]
Surveys in 2004 showed that 40 percent of reservists and National Guard soldiers make less money while mobilized than they earned in their civilian jobs. Surveys of all Guard and reserve personnel found that among mobilized troops whose pay was cut, the average reduction was $3,000, although some took pay cuts in the tens of thousands. [Washington Post, 11/11/04]
NATIONAL GUARD AND RESERVE SHORTED EQUIPMENT -
In July 2005, the GAO found that “Army Reserve units are not generally allotted all of the equipment they need to deploy.” Since September 11th, commanders have required deploying units to have 90 percent of their required equipment, yet in February 2005 the Army Reserve reported it had about 76 percent of the equipment it requires, an estimate that includes older equipment. [GAO, "An Integrated Plan is Needed to Address Army Reserve Personnel and Equipment Shortages." Rpt # GAO-05-660, 7/12/05]
Already suffering from manpower shortages, the National Guard’s overstretched forces are being confronted with another problem: not enough equipment to supply Guard troops at home. “To fully equip troops in Iraq, the Pentagon has stripped local Guard units of about 24,000 pieces of equipment. That has left Guard units at home, already seriously short of gear.” [Detroit Free Press, 6/13/05]
“Some Army maintenance chiefs, in desperation, are using their own credit cards to make purchases. One soldier, who asked not to be identified, listed boots, goggles and protein bars as particularly coveted items.” [MSNBC.com, 4/15/04]
HEALTH CARE FOR RESERVISTS LIMITED -
Congressman Douglas Hunter, Republican Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, removed a provision from the Defense Department budget that would extend health coverage to all reservists and their families. In an attempt to justify his actions, Hunter stated that, in fact, Reservists and their families have coverage from 90 days before mobilization until at least 120 days after they return, so extended coverage was not needed. [Biloxi Sun Herald, 5/28/05]
If you want to support our troops, please don’t support them the way Bush does…
When I tell people what I think about the miserable excuse for a human our President is, they often tell me that regardless of how I feel about Bush I still need to “show respect for the office“. It appears to me that George W. Bush is the one who has no respect for the office. In fact, I have the utmost respect for the Office of the President of the United States, it’s the imbecile currently residing there I have no respect for.
Now that’s what I call a class act! It’s simply wonderful having a self-proclaimed Christian in the White House. Kinda’ makes you wonder why the rest of the world thinks we’re a bunch of backwards idiots for re-electing this guy, doesn’t it?
——————–
But wait, there’s more!
Our beloved President once again displaying his limitless powers of communication:
Here are a few examples from this past month on how the “Concentration of Wealth Game” is played in the free, democratic society that is America:
Example 1
from the article - Tom Delay headed for hot water after being caught secretly inserting $1.5 billion giveaway into energy bill that would go to the corporate ownership of state energy companies. Also, pay no mind to the $14.5 billion in corporate tax breaks included in the new bill.
Example 2
from the article - The five-member Enron board has approved hefty pay raises for themselves that will up their pay by as much as one million dollars. The Houston-based company revealed the move in a filing with the bankruptcy court that oversaw its reorganization last year. According to the filing, the Enron board said it voted to increase its compensation retroactively. It raises the annual salary of Enron Chairman John Ray the third from 200-thousand dollars to one-point-two million dollars.
I seriously need to consider one of those jobs where I can vote myself a pay raise.
George W. Bush or Saddam Hussein, who do you think has killed more innocent Iraqi citizens? It would seem that Hussein is the greater murderer having been in power for many years, but with Iraqi civilians dying at a rate of more than 800 per month between August and May I have to believe that Bush’s numbers must be closing in – perhaps exceeding the damage Saddam Hussein inflicted. I’m sure the people of Iraq probably understand that, while tragic, their family members deaths are simply the cost of freedom according to the Bush administration…
Few people in the United States can understand the level to which I am addicted to hockey. I have not spoken about my NHL addiction previously because, frankly, it’s been just too painful for me to deal with. If I start typing about the loss of the last NHL season my tears begin to cause my keyboard to rust.
I love the game – not just as a sport, but indeed as a way of life, a philosophy for being. I’m not Canadian, but most who know me feel that I probably should be. Hockey, for me, reaches very close to the realm of religious devotion. In the past I have planned my vacations around the NHL schedule, I once quit my job due to conflicts with the NHL schedule. Did I mention that I love this game?
The entire 2004-2005 NHL season was canceled due to a labour dispute between the players and franchise owners. The collective bargaining agreement expired prior to the season, and so did the season, as owners locked out the players and vowed to cancel the entire year if players did not agree to a salary cap. A salary cap was the one thing the players swore to never accept – so we, the NHL fans, got screwed out of an entire season of hockey. This marked the first and only time in history that a sport has missed an entire season due to a labour dispute.
The last collective bargaining agreement was signed after a lockout in 1995. The National Hockey League Player Association stood strong in the face of the owners and won that contract dispute, BIG TIME! The players raped the owners in that one, and in a way, the fans as well. The players enjoyed a decade of explosive growth in the NHL, not to mention an explosive growth in the pay scale – making more money than any players in history, many players became very very rich under the previous CBA. Obviously, one day, the party had to end.
Although I am thrilled that a new collective bargaining agreement has been signed, and my withdrawal suffering has come to an end as I will be able to enjoy NHL hockey action again this season, I am quite convinced that the party is officially over. Players, under the leadership of NHLPA Director Bob Goodenow, have done what they vowed to never do by accepting a salary cap – not to mention an across the board 24% salary cut. This is a pathetic deal for the players, it sickens me to think that they could have agreed to a better deal last year and saved the season.
After a decade of making the big bucks and enjoying an all-time high in hockey popularity for the players it’s only fair the owners now get their turn. The crushing defeat of the players association was made complete today as NHLPA Director Bob Goodenow has officially stepped down from his post.
In less than a decade NHL Commissioner Gary Bettmen now has completed what he was hired to do: Expand the NHL to 30 teams, and put a salary cap system in place. Now that the owners have their salary cap, or “cost certainty” as they like to call it, lets see if ticket prices become reasonable enough for normal fans to attend a game without being forced to first take out a second mortgage.
This one really hurts. I must tell you though, this team also exceeded my expectations and renewed so much hope in the state of American hockey in the post- Modano, Hull, Guerin, Richter, Roenick, Tkachuk, Leetch, Chelios-era. Many fans, like me, did not want to cut the ties with the old legends of American hockey, and were a bit uncomfortable with not bringing along a few gray-beards for the sake of nostaligia and leadership. But kudos to Brian Burke and company for having a vision and darn near riding that vision all the way to a gold medal. They believed in the next wave of young and talented studs – who grew up inspired by the old guard – and those young players demonstrated a fight and grit and spirit that gave us plenty of hope moving forward.
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Perhaps the only thing more pathetic than giving up on your new blog after only 5 short months, is crawling back after a 5 year hiatus to try and start over. Actually, I suppose one thing even more pathetic would be quitting on your short lived blog because you were so insanely pissed at the political climate you could no longer think straight.
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