Whip Me, Beat Me, Call Me Dirty Names

I was indifferent to the news coming out of the lock out, negotiations, and other bullshit that wasn't about games.  I told everyone that I had moved on and found other things to do with my time instead of sitting in front of the TV screaming at refs.  And yet today I am as giddy as a schoolgirl who is about to go out with the star quarterback:  my hockey is back!

It will be quite a long time--if ever--for me to forgive and forget.  But for now, I will ignore what the league and union put me (us) through.  The only thing on my mind is that I will be able to watch the Red Wings once again--and for that, I'm ecstatic.

So NHL/NHLPA, whip me, beat me, call me dirty names, I just can't quit you. And because I'm so easy, I almost hate myself.

Too Much Fun?

The other day I finished reading 'The Best of Down Goes Brown' and I MUST say it is one of the funniest books I have read in quite some time.  Of course, anyone who follows the blog KNOWS how funny Sean McIndoe is, but I needed to inform those who haven't caught on yet.  I had to choose the times I read this book very carefully, as I would wake The Husband with my hysterical laughter and that is never a good thing.  So, if you haven't pre-ordered the book yet--or gotten the ebook version--do so right now.  You won't be disappointed!  Happy reading.

NOT Hockey Related...

...but far too good to pass up.

From our local police log:

--5:20 PM:  report of a disturbance; subject swearing in a residence, unknown if it is a domestic disturbance; no domestic; subject was setting up home gym equipment and it was not going well.

And how is your day going?  :D

For many reasons, I could never be a GM.  The biggest reason I couldn't do it is that, by now, I would have called Parise and Suter and told them to go f*** themselves.  These two guys have pretty much held the NHL hostage these last few days and continue to do so while they make their decisions.  Hey guys, there ARE other players that would like to get contracts signed, too, and get on with their lives--you two aren't the only ones!  I am thoroughly disgusted.

I can't for the life of me believe that these two didn't have any discussions with their families, mentors, friends, loved ones, etc, before Sunday.  Both of these guys knew they were going to be signing new contracts this year, so they MUST have talked/thought about what they were going to do.  Granted, until they knew the particulars, no decision could be made, but they both knew they were going to be offered more money than God, so the only decision needing to be made was WHERE they wanted to go.  So, I can't see where the problem is.

These guys are going to get enough money that they will live extremely well for the rest of their lives.  They will make this money by playing a game.  AND they will only have to work for less than half the years most people will before they get to retire.  At this point, they are acting like divas.  Maybe if one of the GMs offered to remove the brown M&Ms from every bowl, then an agreement could be made.

Really, Parise?!?!  I mean, REALLY??  I know people who have decided on their life-long professions taking less time to make the decision.  It took me less time to decide, plan, try, and become pregnant--and I had fertility issues!  This is ridiculous.

I wouldn't care one way or another about this whole thing if it wasn't for the fact that Parise's non-decision is affecting so many people/teams.  It is obvious that everyone is waiting on him before spending for the 'B-list' players.  This is selfish of him in so many ways.  I would love to see all of the GMs come together and agree that no one would sign him until every other player was signed--see how HE likes to play the waiting game.  (Yes, that is childish--no need to point it out.)

While I realize this is quite a decision this young man has to make, it's not as if he woke up on 30 June and said, "Holy shit!  I've got to figure out tomorrow where I want to play next year!"  He has had months--if not years-- knowing this was going to happen, so what is the hold up?  He has to decide what city he will spend the majority of the year in, playing a GAME, and getting more money in one year than most of the people who will watch can hope to make in a lifetime.  It's time to end this, NOW!

Que Sera, Sera

I try to live my life with the philosophy that 'everything works out the way it should' and 'what will be, will be.'  Of course, anyone who knows me knows that I fall far short of this most of the time.  Yet, there are times that I can be calm about situations and the next few days don't bother me much at all. I am one person who is not about to slit her wrists with a wet noodle no matter where some of the available players happen to sign.  But I also know that there are a lot of people who WILL be ready to slit their wrists if things don't turn out the way they want.

To begin with, I have to say that I am sick of hearing about Zach Parise.  I was sick of hearing his name early in the playoffs.  Enough already.  However, I realize he is a big deal and will be talked about, so I deal with it.  Now, as for my opinion--which no one asked for--I don't think we will see him in a Red Wing sweater next year.  The Red Wings don't sign big-name players, they build them.  (The last time the Wings made a huge splash was when they signed Hossa, so I don't have much faith with this one.)  As long as he doesn't land in Pittsburgh, I don't really care what happens to him.

Ryan Suter is another story, for me.  With the retiring of Lidstrom and Stuart's leaving, the Wings desperately need to add to their defense.  Not only would it be nice to have someone of Suter's ability, it would be nice to be able to kick Nashville to the curb a bit.  This one I will watch a little more closely.

It most certainly will be interesting to see what happens over the next few days.  I already know that Twitter will explode when 'the news' comes down and I only hope that it doesn't break.  But for me, I probably will be sleeping and catch up on what's happening way after the fact.  So, I will be sitting on the sidelines watching others live and die with the announcements--for me anyway, I'll wait and do my worrying come October.

Untitled

{sigh}

Yes, I'm Bitter

Wow.  After playing only 8 games in the past 1+ year, Sidney is still better than every other player in the NHL. Amazing.  So, when do the "Nominate Sidney Crosby for Sainthood" petitions start circulating?

And The Winner Is...

From what I've been reading on the interwebs, the Stanley Cup Finals really don't need to be played.  Actually, the entire playoffs don't need to go on.  With Crosby (possibly/probably) coming back this week, the Penguins are guaranteed to win it all.  I'm thinking these same people are certain the world will end on 21 December 2012.  Time will tell...

I Am Not Thrilled

I'm not a hateful or mean person--despite what The Family thinks.  I don't wish ill health or misfortune on people, even those I don't particularly like.  That being said, I am not looking forward to Crosby coming back.  Don't get me wrong, I would hate for anyone to have their career cut short at such a young age and it would be very sad for someone to have to live with 'concussion-like symptoms' for years on end and I wouldn't want anyone to have to go through that.  But, I am not happy that he is returning.  It has been so nice to actually hear about other players in the NHL this season--players who would have been ignored (to a certain extent, anyway) if Crosby would have been playing.  The amount of time that has been devoted to Crosby stories over the years is mind-boggling, but the internet and print 'reporters' have had to come up with some new material this year and it has been refreshing.

I have been sick of hearing about Crosby since about two years before he even played an NHL game.  The Hockey News had at least one article/mention of him in every issue for at least two years prior to his being drafted* and it was tiresome.  Some people think that he is good for the NHL, that he brings a fan base to the game, and that may be, but I am not convinced.  With or without Crosby, hockey will grow or die out--especially in the US--and there isn't much that can be done about it.  Maybe promoting one player above all others gets a 'face' that new fans can follow, but it also alienates long-time fans.  I'm sorry, but I wish Crosby would go away and never come back--or that the 'love affair' far too many in the hockey world have with him would just die out.  Unfortunately, I don't see this happening, so the mute button on my TV will be getting an extra amount of use for the rest of the season.


*I didn't research this, so I can't verify this as fact.  Let's just say, at the very least, this SEEMED to be the case.

A New Day

I noticed that the sun was a bit brighter this morning, the birds were singing a bit louder, and I was feeling more rested than usual--and then I realized it was an hour 'later' than normal.  Damn 'falling back.'  ;)

It certainly is good being a Red Wing fan on the morning after a win.

Hello! Is Anyone There?

For the past couple of years, I would watch and listen to all of the excuses made for the poor play of the Red Wings.  And it was easy to let the excuses go by, as they would get into the playoffs and everything was good. Let's face it, there seems to be quite a few people more concerned about how many years in a row they make it into the playoffs than how deep they go.  Anyway, the team would get a pass just because they made the playoffs.

Last year (the year before?) I remember thinking to myself after hearing for the three gazillionth time how "if they didn't have bad luck, they'd have no luck at all," or "they tried, but the puck just isn't going into the net for them," or any number of other excuses, that there is a problem not being addressed and it will come and bite them in the ass if it ISN'T taken care of.  And it certainly is happening now.  While some of the excuses were reasonable--bad reffing, injuries--it still didn't address whatever the REAL problems were.  Does anyone remember the days when we would say "the Wings won again, despite the bad reffing" or "the Wings beat {insert team name} AND the refs tonight?"  When is the last time we could say either of those?

While I'm hoping that these sorts of situations are as frustrating for the players as they are for us fans, I am not seeing it.  Too much passivity from the players--Lidstrom is way too calm, but Zetterberg is no better, and HE'S supposed to be the next captain, so it will be business as usual after he gets the 'C'.  The Chief over at A2Y said it much better than I ever could, but SOMEONE has to get mad and STAY mad--maybe it will light a flame under these guys.  I certainly don't have the answers to what is going wrong with this team--if I did, I wouldn't be sitting here in my kitchen, that's for sure--but the problems HAVE to be addressed.  And soon.

I almost have to wonder if this parity situation is such that a system like Detroit's isn't going to work anymore--a system that does very well and gets players through good scouting and allowing them to mature before coming to the big club.  Do teams have to suck so bad they can get high draft picks year after year and pad their rosters just so they can have their day in the sun before they go downhill again?  Is the solution for the Wings going to have to be a new look with a lot of new players--a complete and total rebuild?  Whatever the answers are for this team, they have to be found soon, or they won't come as close to making the playoffs as they will to getting a very high draft pick for next year.

Wings Lose Fifth In a Row

Hmmm.  I guess Hudler isn't the only problem.

Politically Correct

Name calling, insults, racism, etc, etc=NOT GOOD!  But after the banana peel incident and Avery being called a fa**ot, I guess the biggest insult the players are going to be able to hurl on-ice from now on is "Your mother wears Army boots!"



***NOT in anyway excusing what was done/said.  This is just an attempt at cutting the tension...

Questioning

A few days ago, the Red Wings and Flyers played an exhibition game.  The score was tied at the end of overtime, so it moved into a shootout.  During the shootout, someone threw a banana peel on the ice.  Anyone with even a slight awareness of hockey knows that things are thrown on the ice all of the time--octopi, hats, rubber rats, slabs of beef, etc.  Now, other than the NHL powers-that-be, things thrown on the ice are pretty well tolerated by everyone--until the banana peel incident.  And why was this different?  The player on the ice at the time was the only black player for either team.  And someone decided this was a racist incident--which it probably was.  And the (hockey) world exploded for several days.

While I would never argue that racially motivated acts are okay, I do have some very serious concerns about this entire affair.  First of all, this game was a pre-season game.  That in itself meant that not a whole lot of people were watching it.  There was no audio or video broadcast of this game--other than to an area in and around Philadelphia.  So, the fans in the arena and the (relatively) small viewing audience were the only people who actually saw this happen.  And I question how many people saw this, even if they were at the game--several players were questioned about this later and they weren't aware of what happened until they were told. But, someone DID see this and ran with the story.  I don't know where it first appeared--Twitter, a news story, a blog--but someone made a story out of this.  And once it was out there, it became fodder for opinion pieces, blogs, newscasts, Twitter, Facebook, etc, etc, etc.  This was reported and talked about ad nauseum for several days.

As I said, I would never advocate for a racially motivated act.  I also don't believe society is benefitted by sweeping unpleasant topics/acts under the rug, BUT...  And there is the problem.  The person responsible for this was never found, so we really don't know what his motivation for throwing the peel was.  I'm NOT saying there wasn't a racial element to this, but I'm saying that the assclown who did this probably had a bigger reason for his actions:  PUBLICITY.*  And he got his share of publicity.  This is pretty much the only thing that was 'talked' about for several days.

Now, we come to my question.  Is this something that should have been ignored?  This could have flamed out very quickly, because of the small amount of people who saw what happened.  Actually, it would barely have been a spark if it hadn't been reported.  Have we become a society so politically correct that we have to 'make a big deal' out of everything, even if the intention was nowhere close to what others perceived?  We are finding in all areas of our lives where huge stories are (manufactured?) from small, insignificant incidents--from politics to our personal lives--and it doesn't seem to help do much more than inflame.  I do have to wonder who is benefitting from this--other than the 24-hour news sources and the assclowns who want publicity.



*I realize that I am publicizing this just as much as everyone else did, but I don't reach a big audience, so I don't think my little blog matters.  ;)

Why I Need Twitter and Blogs

I appreciate the imaginary, fake friends I have online so very, very much.  And here is just one more reason--this is an actual 'conversation' I had today with a Facebook friend*:

Friend:  I enjoy reading about your love for hockey!! I have another close friend, who is crazy for the NY team!

Me:  Which NY team?

Friend:   Yankee~

{facepalm}

What more can be said?

*And to top it all off, she is perky.  I don't do perky...

Tychkowski Isn't COMPLETELY Wrong...

Anyone reading this is probably a Wings fan, so the entire debacle that was Tychkowski's article in the Edmonton Sun is very familiar.  I must defend him, though, and say that I, too, am a bit frightened about going to Detroit.  (It has been years and years and years since I've been there.)  But, I also am frightened of Chicago, the Twin Cities, New York, LA, etc, etc, etc.  Hell, I wouldn't even walk alone down the street of Green Bay in the middle of the night.  I grew up in a town of less than 1000 people and live in a town of about 20,000--big cities scare me.  I'm a hick and I know it, so I feel for poor Bob.   ;D

Hey, Hater! Yes, YOU!

I just read another post/letter/comment/whatever from a Red Wing hater where the team was referred to as the 'Dead Wings.'  Really.  Enough already.  I don't mind the haters hating the Wings--I probably hate their teams, too--but I wish they would come up with something more original.  It is the 21st century, after all.  And you aren't saying anything that we ourselves haven't said--those of us alive and old enough to talk during the dark ages called the team the 'Dead Wings' as well as everyone else did.  As I said, crawl out of the past and come up with something new.  I could almost respect someone that came up with a new, creative nickname--even if I didn't agree with them.  After all, The Brother still uses the same term when talking about the Wings, so I CAN'T respect anyone who uses 'Dead Wings.'

Time Is Dragging

I really would like to meet the idiot who decided that it was a good thing to give the Wings four days off between games this early in the season.  I would, for sure, punch him in HIS 'schedule' if I had the chance.  This is fricking ridiculous.  Tomorrow night can't happen fast enough.

Now for GREAT news:  The Triple Deke will be putting up a new post on Friday!  YAY!  Tyler is coming back.  Not to put any pressure on him, but this is one of the most anticipated returns of a blogger in a long, long time.  I know MY life has been much sadder without Tyler lighting up my life.  Welcome back--you were gone much too long.

Who Is The Better Fan?

I am very much a non-entity on the interwebs--and I believe I like it like that.  It keeps me out of trouble and saves me from so many fights that I see going on.  Already in this very early part of the season, I have seen at least two nasty fights going on--and I don't 'follow' hardly anyone on Twitter or read very many blogs!  I can't even begin to imagine how many there have been that I know nothing about.  And these are between fans of the SAME team, NOT opposing fans.  I don't get it.  And that is why I usually don't give my opinion, unless it is pretty much the same as the majority opinion.  Yes, I'm spineless.

The majority of fights are usually one of two:  1)  Someone rags on a particular player and another person comes to his defense or 2)  someone criticizes the entire team a bit strenuously and a total homer (who wouldn't say a bad word about the team if s/he was paid) comes to the team's defense--and accuses the criticizer of being less than a loyal fan.  And then the fighting begins.  And, usually, a lot of other people are dragged into the fight and then all hell breaks out.

Many times I can see all sides of every fight--as a mother, I learned this lesson early on--and find it hard to come down on one side or the other.  It is very easy and justifiable to find fault when a player is doing less than what he should be doing--yet, I can understand where there may be extenuating circumstances.  I really wonder how each of us would be evaluated at our jobs if we were under the microscope of fans.  I know that I don't do my best after The Husband and I have had an argument, or when I'm not feeling 'quite right.'  I find myself being distracted if there are 'issues' in the lives of my kids or close friends.  But, we don't want to give the players any consideration when they fall short of their best--we don't want to accept that they are mere humans like the rest of us.  Of course, I also can see the side that feels that these guys are being paid big money to do their jobs and the hell with what else is going on in their lives.  Both sides are valid, to an extent. 

The other big argument that seems to crop up periodically is the one between the 'homer' and the fan without blinders.  (I know that is being simplistic, but it gets my point across.)  There does seem to be a group of people who feel if a person is a fan of a team, then there should be no criticism of the team whatsoever.  While I don't agree with this way of thinking, I DO agree that some 'fans' take the criticizing a bit too far--and can't seem to find anything good to say, ever.  And each type of fan seems to think the other isn't a 'true' fan.  Ridiculous.  I wish some people would find a happy medium and stay there.

When these fights start and go on, no one 'wins.'  Hard feelings usually last for a long time after the fight cools down, and that is just sad.  I realize that people are passionate, but sometimes things just go too far.  Sometimes the two who began the fight agree to disagree and move on--but that is a rarity.  Fighting about something that is JUST opinion is crazy.  It is just as crazy as fighting about religion or politics--everyone has an opinion, every opinion is just as valid as the next, and fighting about it just causes hard feelings, without any resolution.  In all my years, I can't really remember a time when someone has actually gotten me to change my mind about an opinion of mine, no matter how well their case was presented.  And so, I will continue to be spineless and try to ignore the in-fighting that will continue throughout the year.  And that makes me sad.