It Was Good

The Red Wings can do miracles. After the win last night I was cured of all flu symptoms, I got enough energy to work on two Halloween costumes, and I lost all desire to kick my cat. Life is good.

(Full disclosure: Today I'm coughing up my lungs one at a time--again, I have a headache from sewing too late, and my cat's behavior has pissed me off once more. So much for the good feelings.)

LOLSports

As a fan of I Can Has Cheezburger, I was pleased to find out about the rest of the LOL sites. Up Next In Sports is one of the sites and today I found this:




Just needed something to make me forget the Buffalo game...

Sunshine and Lollipops and...Ah, Hell, Life Sucks

If I haven't mentioned it before, I hate football. I tried to get into the sport when I was young and foolish and in love--back in high school--but could never see any sense to it. However, I hate most (not all) Packers fans even more. Last night's Vikings win over the Packers was one of the happiest nights of my life--just because so many people I know are/were miserable because of it. And the fact that Favre played for Minnesota made the win even better. Last night I thought anything was possible and that the Wings and Tigers are doing everything to have great seasons. Then I woke up today and it was raining--and it WASN'T raining Starburst and Skittles. I woke up to reality.

I'm going to ignore the Tigers as much as possible. I would like to ignore the Wings, but can't. The season is just starting. And after last weekend, it is going to be a long, long season--and I ain't talking playoffs, either.

I won't go on about the losses--that can be found on any of a hundred sites. Instead, I will recycle the same old things I said last year about the team. And add some new, as well.

• WHY won't Babcock put Z and Datsyuk on the same line? The Wings won the Cup with them on the same line, so why the hell is the man being so stubborn? While I understand his reasons, I still think the situation stinks.
• Is the PK ever going to get better? Good grief.
• And do we even talk about goaltending? Yes, Ozzie brings it for the playoffs, but really. And do we even talk about Howard?
  
• How much longer do we have to listen to 'we know there are problems and we're working on them?' TALKING does nothing--ACTION does.
• While I almost had heart failure last year when The Husband said that Babcock might need to be replaced, I'm now wondering if he isn't right. Whatever he is saying to the players doesn't seem to be registering--at least it didn't last year and there is little evidence it is so far this year.
• If everyone--players included--'know' what the problems are, what is being done to address them? And, considering they are the same problems as last year, why aren't we seeing much change if they are trying to fix them?
  
• Do the Wings even have the concept of a 60 minute game? COULD they play a full 60 minutes if they had to?
  
• If the Wings--which pretty much IS the Swedish National team--can't get up enough for games in front of their 'hometown' crowd in Sweden, then what the hell is going to get them excited enough for the regular season?
• And everyone talked about how 'disappointing' it was to lose in the 7th game to The Boy and Co. How bitter they were about losing at home. How that was going to be motivation for this year. HA! When are we going to see it? I thought they would come out of the chute with all guns blazing--AND play 60 minutes a game, full on. In two games--and yes, I know it's only two games--it didn't happen.
  

I know, I know, the Wings are the best team in the NHL--and have been for many years. And yes, we Wing fans are spoiled and don't appreciate what we have. Big fricking deal. They aren't playing the way we KNOW they can--and didn't last year, either--and it isn't right. With the talent on the team, they should be running rings around every team they face. And until that happens, we won't be happy people.

mental_floss

I love the site mental_floss and have subscribed to the magazine for years. While it isn't a big sport site, they do show some love for hockey every so often. Today, being the first day of the season, they re-ran the quiz 'Name All 30 Teams in 5 Minutes.' I have done this multiply times and always come up short. Today, I forgot five of the teams. Here is the quiz--just don't cheat by reading the comments before taking it.