We peeked ahead at the schedule for this summer’s tour of Devils games we’d rather, for the most part, forget, and Gentle Reader, there are four Rangers games included in this retrospective. Because 16 regular-season and four playoff games against them over the last two years isn’t bad enough. So here we go, with the second of four, and first of three in a row: Devils vs. Rangers. Whee.
FIRST PERIOD
Aw man! The intro for this involves highlights of the Devils-Sabres game with the phantom Crunchy “save” on Patty, and the ensuing retributive Madden goal and third-period comeback win that pulled Jersey to within four points of the conference lead… FSN, that was a game to remember. Why, Hockey Gods, why????
As if to throw us a tiny sop, we get a nice slurpy closeup of Pando at the outset. Jagr must be on the ice. Heh.
19:31 Jagsie starts the game off by being typically distracted by Pando to the point of being a detriment to his team; circling behind his net and facing only the mildest forechecking pressure, he dumps the puck blindly to Madden instead of a teammate. Maddog finds Pando all alone in front, but Pando’s just not really that good offensively.
19:06 Chico has been blathering since the outset about how tonight’s game is “a learning experience” for Hank. Apparently he’d given up a bunch of goals in the game they played the previous night, and this was supposed to be the “let’s see how this kid can bounce back” game. Huh. Who knew he was still a bit of a question mark this deep into the season?
18:09 PandoNation can find just this one thing to like about Ranger games: Pando gets to skate every single time Jagr takes the ice. When Renney double-shifts Jagr, Pando gets double-shifted too. Sadly, Renney doesn’t often try to catch the EGG line napping or anything, and Pando just finds all his extra time is with the fourth-liners. But we take what we can get.
15:55 After a zippy shift by the Poppers, Chico wonders, “If you were a coach and you had a checking line, which line would you put them up against? The Gomez line or the Zajac line?” Seriously, Chico? The Poppers vs. the EGG line? There is no question on that one. (Pookie: “Zach’s like, ‘I say, what’s this “Zajac” line he’s talking about?’”)
15:24 As Avery throws a hit into Paulie on the near boards (and Paulie looks thoroughly underwhelmed), Chico declares it Avery’s “first hit as a Ranger”. Oh dear God. Of course we’d be commemorating Avery’s first game with the Rangers, because what Devils fan wasn’t thrilled that the most wretched team in hockey redeemed their entire season by acquiring the most venal player in the league?
14:02 When Schnookie comments that Paulie’s legs look really long in this game, Pookie suggests, “That’s because he had them lengthened; with every minus in his +/- rating his legs grew an inch. There was a time in January that he couldn’t walk for how long they were.”
13:12 Renney is now just as distracted by Pando as Jagr is — he’s slapped Jagsie onto three different lines so far, and with each one Pando just obediently and dutifully hops over the boards and glues himself into Jagr’s passing lanes.
11:48 Gomez and Jagr meet up in the corner, and both skate out with their shoulders intact. We should have known here that Gomer had lost his power over Jagsie and it was time for him to move on.
11:35 Because the EGG line is out there intact against the Jagrs, the Rangers get a glorious scoring opportunity. We find ourselves wondering why, if he’d just unlocked the secret to getting Jagr to create scoring chances against the Devils (namely: get him out on the ice against Gomez), Sather would then go and take that advantage away from himself.
9:15 After audibly calling for a puck (isn’t that always weird when you can hear players’ voices during games?), Rachunek gets a wide-open shot from the point and cranks it wide. Yup — he’s clearly ready to be a Devils blueliner.
6:50 After some decent cycling and forecheck, Gio finds himself behind Lundqvist on all fours inside the net. Gio curls up to cover his face out of concern a shot might be coming, then looks out to see the puck loose in the crease… and decides the smart thing to do in this situation is to wave his stick wildly at about the height a skating defender’s nose would be. After Girardi skates into Gio’s stick, the Rangers go on a double-minor power play. Brilliant play, Gio.
6:22 Madden gets a shorthanded breakaway, and shoots, predictably, high and wide. Pookie: “Why is it John Madden is the only one on this team — not Langer, not Gio, not Patty, not Zajac, not Zach — who ever gets breakaways?” It would be nice, come to think of it, if someone whose hands weren’t made of lead got a crack at a few of those. (Roszival didn’t pay attention to the scouting reports for the Debbies, and felt compelled to hook Madden during the play, leading us to what Chico very unconvincingly says will be “some exciting four-on-four.”)
5:30 No way! Chico was right! That was very exciting, at least for PaulieMartinNation! Gomer and Patty swirl into the offensive zone and Paulie jumps into the play just as the Rangers all part from in front of their net. Gomer drops a nice pass to Paulie and he launches a floating shot that must have terrified Hank, because Hank lets it drift right next to his ear and into the net. Paulie’s goal celebration looks like his soul is dying by inches. But we’re sure he loves being a Devil and can’t wait to sign a long-term contract.
4:15 For some reason Marty decides that he doesn’t want to be good at lateral movement (could that reason be that he wanted to make Rachunek feel welcome?) and lets Rachunek’s long shot from the point beat him five-hole.
3:49 Avery assisted on Rachunek’s goal, and Chico’s breakdown of the play marks the beginning of what became a months-long monologue from the New York-area hockey media about how fucking amazing Sean Avery is and how he invented hockey. Our ears are vomiting blood into their own mouths.
2:23 Matt “Bitchface” Cullen takes a phantom holding penalty against Paulie. Apparently Paulie’s dying soul makes him so delicate no one’s allowed to even think about touching him.
0:41 Rachunek has a great clear on the PK — we’re super-excited about picking him up! (And we’re super-ignoring how it looks like the Devils spent their previous game getting power play tips from the Sabres.)
SECOND PERIOD
18:12 Johnny Oduya spares us all another Avery point after Marty loses control of a shot from Lieutenant Meth Mouth and Oduya is forced to make a heads-up clear past Marty’s prone body. Raffie takes a holding penalty on the sequence, and Avery yells at him as if Raffie had been eye-gouging or something.
17:14 Marty is having a butterfingers kind of period. No, not that he’s blatantly eating Butterfingers bars (although we wouldn’t be surprised if he was), but that he’s juggling rebounds. He barely manages to find and cover the puck on a frenzied sequence in front that includes a demonstration of Whitey’s approach to when Marty is playing this way (namely: to park himself in the crease behind his netminder. That is actually a really good plan, Whitey).
15:26 This period has been dominated by discussion between Doc and Chico about how legit Avery is as a player. We will spare you the details, Gentle Reader.
14:48 After 5+ minutes spent in the defensive zone, the Devils finally get the puck moving up ice with some speed. Patty flies into the zone and drops the puck to Gomer while clearing out the defenders in front… and Gomer decides to pull up to make an impossible pass to Gio on the other side of the ice. Surprise, surprise: he fails to connect on the pass. In fact, he fails to release the pass as a Ranger anticipates Gomer’s decision-making process and pokes the puck away from him. (Pookie: “Seven million dollars.”)
13:21 Jagr swaggers in on a semi-break, and thinking he’s got all day to put together his move, starts in on what he probably imagines will be a huge, power-deke. All of a sudden Raffie barrels in from behind the play, tries to tie Jagsie up but kind of misses, and Jagr, in his surprise, loses the puck right outside the crease. Butterfingers Brodeur makes no mistake in covering that one up as Raffie stands next to the net looking utterly bewildered about what just happened. Us too, Raffie. Us too.
12:27 Whitey takes a tripping penalty; we weren’t paying attention during play, and it seems the truck can’t find the actual play he’s getting called for, so we all settle in to watch a Rangers power play we don’t honestly believe was earned. (Oh, who are we kidding? If it’s something ticky-tacky being called against Colin White, it’s probably a fair call.)
11:47 Chico is assessing the Avery deal, and declares, “This is a much better trade than I originally thought.” “Yeah,” says Pookie, “Look at how it brought them the Cup.” Although we have to grudgingly admit that it was, in fact, a good pick-up for the Rangers. And also the beginning of the end for what had been until that transaction the funnest season in NHL history. (Seriously, Gentle Reader, look no further than that. As soon as Avery went to New York the enjoyability started seeping out of the season, culminating in the most dreadfully dull post-season ever. Thanks, Avery. You and the Rangers ruin everything.)
4:17 Hm. It seems FSN is sparing us 6+ minutes of discussion of Sean Avery’s incomprehensibly FANTASTIC skillz. Thanks, FSN. We appreciate that.
Today’s trivia quiz is “Who is the active leader in career goals against Marty Brodeur?” Pookie guesses, “It’s a 400-way tie.” (Actual answer: Lindros. Yes, you can insert your own Chico-esque “Huh” here.)
2:22 Pookie: “I feel like our forwards haven’t been playing at all in this game.” Perhaps it’s because the Devils haven’t been in the offensive zone at all so far in this period.
1:43 Oduya takes pity on us and rockets up the wing as if to say, “FINE! If you forwards won’t take the puck into the offensive zone, I guess I’ll just have to do it!” He drops the puck to Langer, who makes a sweet backhand pass across the slot to Zach, who punches the puck past Hank. Now, we’d normally be really happy for this goal, but here’s the thing: this game ends in a shootout. What on earth would make FSN think we want to revisit a come-from-ahead tie that gave the Rangers an extra point in the standings? We realize we keep belaboring this point, but come on. The Devils won 49 games this past season — aren’t there any that didn’t involve handing cheap points to our division rivals?
0:00 Wait, we went into the third period with a lead? And still needed a shootout? For fuck’s sake! Boomer takes the break in the action as an opportunity to murmur dryly from the depths of her chair, “I really could have lived without sitting through Avery’s first game as a Ranger one more time.” (We would really love to be able to write a Game Diary To Remember that doesn’t involve constant harping about how there simply have to be better Devils wins from this past season, but seriously. This is starting to seem like MSG/FSN decided the Rangers’ own “[blank] To Remember” series wasn’t robust enough and decided to seep into the Devils’ programming.)
THIRD PERIOD
We distastefully un-pause the TiVo to embark on the always-delightful experience of watching the Devils snatch a regulation tie from the jaws of victory against the Rangers.
18:54 FSN deploys an extravagantly awkward edit, chopping artlessly away from Doc mid-sentence, and splicing us in mid-sentence and mid-play about 50 seconds later. Was there some downtime they could have cut instead?
18:28 Downtime like, say, the minute of stoppage we just spent looking at Avery and listening to Chico discuss his greatness?
18:21 Jagr banks a rebound off Marty from behind the goal line to tie the game. We’d describe the play in more detail but we’re still too incensed that FSN cut actual play from this edit so they could leave in all the Avery slurpage. We have literally seen more footage of Avery on the bench than we have of Devils on the bench. This doesn’t feel even remotely like a Devils feed, for how little Doc and Chico are talking about the home team.
16:32 Patty shows off his mad Captain stylings by taking a high-sticking penalty from a slightly-too-vigorous cross check he attempts on Betts in front of the bench.
14:32 The Rangers show off their killer instinct by failing to score on Patty’s penalty.
13:42 After spending the first two periods of this game crashing the net hard (and getting praised by Chico for his spunk and pluck), Avery finally goes too far and gets called for goaltender interference. This is just setting the stage for the next two Games To Remember, Gentle Reader. Stay tuned. It’s going to be, um, fun. (This is only the Devils’ second power play. They’re really skating like champs in this game.)
12:30 Chico chipperly declares, “Well, not a good power play for the Devils”. We beg to differ — they’ve done a marvelous job of circling aimlessly in the neutral zone!
11:45 Travis gets a loose puck in front of the crease, and as he turns to skate around a fallen Hank to tap the puck into an open net, his stick breaks. Sigh. (Looking for the silver lining on that play, it does give FSN a reason to show the Devils on the bench, and Travis and Zach both look adorable as they laugh about it. We are endlessly relieved the director opted not to give us Avery’s reaction shot, although we don’t doubt he wanted to.)
9:59 Zach attempts to barrel at full speed up through the neutral zone, skates smack-dab into an unsuspecting Ranger, and stumbles ass-over-teakettle across a vast stretch of ice. “Boxworthy! I need a medicinal brandy!” he seems to be gasping as he limps back to the bench. Pookie decides he looked like Moleman’s Gremlin exploding in whichever Simpsons episode that was.
5:31 We come back from commercial to see a replay of Nylander taking a penalty against Brylin that we’ve not seen in real time. Again, thanks FSN, for removing game action so we could hear every loving word about Avery. (Not, though, that it’s seemed at all like the Devils were doing anything we’d necessarily want to see, but still.)
4:21 The EGGs act like a bunch of crazy little wrecking balls in the zone on this PP, but can’t even really get a shot off.
0:49 We are discussing the relative merits of this game (the agreement is that it was actually a decent enough match, but hardly a “Game To Remember”) when Choco decides this is boring as hell and lays a Stevens-esque smackdown on Prucha. We perk up for a moment, but because we know the outcome, not too perkily.
OVERTIME
4:35 As the first wave of OTers takes to the bench and the next shift steps on, we see lingering closeups in progression of Avery looking assy, Gomez looking slag-faced, and then Patty looking disgusted that he’s on the ice with these losers.
3:28 Hank makes a fantastic save on Gio coming out of the corner to tip a nifty little Parise pass. Gio got so open because Shanny’s skate blade fell flat out of the bottom of his skate. FSN smartly cuts away from Chico endlessly discussing how he’s never seen that happen before to return us to this torrid OT action.
2:40 Marty matches Hank’s big save by sprawling to smother Jagr’s shot as he muscles out across the crease. Paulie gets to take his rapidly-deceasing soul to the penalty box for getting his stick up into Jagr’s armpit on the play; we don’t blame him for trying to take a little tug at that trick shoulder.
1:55 The Rangers could make this PK harder on the Devils if they weren’t so unwilling to make good decisions with the puck. The Devils’ three penalty killers are able to just stand still while Jagr, Shanny, Nylander and Rachunek overpass, shoot wide, and, more often than not, do that thing that makes Doc’s play-by-play stall as he says, “And he… keeps… holding…”
SHOOTOUT
–Nylander leads off. He is so slow on his approach that FSN could probably have just cut this part of the shootout and left in those 6 minutes in the second period. Nylander puts himself to sleep, runs out of room, and ends up rolling the puck weakly into Marty’s pad.
–Gio, on an awkward cut of Chico’s analysis, steps up to score effortlessly on a backhand high to Hank’s blocker side.
–Shanny goes for a wrister from pretty far out and rips it high.
–Sarge shows his patented fruitless shootout move that made him the perfect choice for Lou to put him in against the Islanders on that last night of the season to guarantee the Leafs would miss the playoffs.
–Bitchface is next, and he does this stupid-assed shimmy that Marty very nearly visibly rolls his eyes at. Seriously? That’s the best move he could come up with? Marty’s not going to bite on that shit, Bitchface. And the Devils get a 3-2 “win” that was really a tie we shouldn’t have been happy with.
Wait. FSN is including the post-game interview with Marty? And they cut game action for this? What the fucking hell? (We’ll be honest, this was one of Marty’s most charmingly punky interviews; he literally laughs at Hank for how obsessively Hank practices shootouts, and mocks the egotistical pride Hank has in being a breakaway goalie.)
A great game diary once again. I wish I could of seen it, just because it’s not that often Martin scores such a nice goal.
Yeah, Paulie had a monster game in this one. Not that you’d ever know from what we said, or from what FSN chose to include in the edit. There is no exaggeration when I say that we spent many, many minutes soaking in the glorious visage of Sean Avery on the bench during stoppages at the expense of actual game action. Based on this kind of shit, you’d almost suspect the channel that owns the Devils’ broadcast rights is owned by the same people who own the Rangers…
Wow. The 15 to Remember people must really hate the Devils. I remember that game against the Sabres, and while it wasn’t exactly enjoyable to lose and risk giving up the conference lead, it was at least enjoyable hockey. And (if I’m remembering correctly) there were exactly zero shots/mentions of Sean Avery.
While the Sabres 12 to Remember hasn’t exactly been exemplary, what with the abundance of shootout wins (yes, thank you, I would love to watch my team sleep through 3/4ths of a game against the Bruins [the Bruins!], only to wake up at the last second and claim the two points they should have taken in regulation), and their unfortunate timing (I’m sure they didn’t mean to air the game with Drury’s first career hat trick the day after he signed with the team he scored it on, but still, not good). But, at least, we got to see the Flyers unravel in the most hilarious fashion, and that makes up for everything. I’m convinced watching that game can cure cancer. Also, it had me going “BWAHAHAHA, good luck with that, Danny!” by the end, which was exactly what I needed. (Of course, now that I’ve said that, he probably will have good luck with that, and next year it’ll be the Sabres’ turn to lose by eight goals.)
I “watched” this game three times and could hardly pay attention. The first time was the original airing at 8, but it was background noise because I was writing papers due the next day. The second time was it’s re-airing at 12:30am which I paid attention to, but was easily distracted by online conversations. The third was Thursday’s re-re-airing at 12pm, but I tuned in around 12:40 cause that’s when I was done with my Philosophy final (woo!) and yea didn’t pay too much attention to it that time either.
Things that bothered me or were humourous:
1) Lundy in almost a fetal position after having a shot go off of him into the goal. (humourous)
2) After the incident of Avery crashing the net and then giving an unnecessary push to Odontcha when Chico was like, yeaa that’s alright! (after praising how his not afraid to crash the net like two seconds ago)..no, that’s just cheap. Can we arrest Avery for a hate crime?
-Earth to Chico, do you remember Gionta? The one you called the Rocket earlier on in the game. The one who is 5’7, crashes the net, jumps unbelievably high, and doesn’t do asshole things like that? That tiny guy that once got called for a roughing penalty when he was being roughed up by a circle of like 6 players? Yea, give the home team some more lovin’ Chico.
3) Cullen’s jump move during his shoot-out attempt. Not Gionta like jumping, but like ha! psych! kind of jump that I guess was supposed to be him faking a shot?
4) The sweepstakes code being patriots. I didn’t find a correlation between patriots and the game unless if you count the Rangers’ colors.
5) That MSG is letting Rangers fans vote for their games to remember, but not let the Isles or Devils fans vote for theirs. Ugh, MSG you suck and suck even more for owning FSNNY. Bastards.
Genna, I’m glad to hear we weren’t the only ones who had a really hard time paying attention to this game! I really don’t understand what the thought process was when they picked these — I mean, I realize the attendance at Devils games go up when they’re playing the Rangers, and I imagine their ratings jump, but FSN, this isn’t rocket surgery: those extra people aren’t watching for the Devils. So it’s not like Rangers fans are going to tune in to revisit games they lost (even just in shootouts) to the Devils, so why do they insist on playing so goddamn many of these games for us? I mean, 4 of 15 games this summer? 4 of the 12 regular-season games they’re showing? What gives? I just can’t stand that the programming people seem to think that the only thing Devils fans care about is hating the Rangers — hello! We’re Devils fans. We hate everybody.
So yeah. I promise I’m going to stop complaining about this, but probably not for another two weeks when the THREE RANGERS GAMES IN A ROW are done in this series.
In response to your points, I just don’t understand, not even the tiniest bit, how anyone can praise Avery for his net-crashing. You are right a billion times over, Genna, that there are guys who create havoc in front, and actually score goals with some regularity, who do it without cheap-shotting defensemen and goalies, and I was just disgusted with Chico raving about Avery for that. (And for his raving about Avery for the million other things he was giving him a tongue bath over. Was there a production meeting before this game for the FSN crew that said they had to promote Avery at all costs?)
I wanted to write something in the diary about the “PATRIOTS” thing but literally couldn’t think of what to say! What in the hell was up with that? Stately IPB Manor was plunged into a confused silence after we saw that. I guess it’s patriotic to cheer for Avery or something? Or they were saying the only thing the game was really missing was Tom Brady?
Cullen’s shootout move was the stupidest thing in that entire game. Was there any possible way he could have illustrated how outmatched he was on that attempt by Marty? I mean, a guy who’s reduced to making those kinds of bush-league fakes is a guy who knows he can’t beat the goalie he’s facing.
Maybe FSN didn’t let us vote on our games because they figured they’d not get enough response? Or they anticipated we’d all say “20 games in 20 months against the Rangers weren’t enough! WE WANT MORE!”
Or they were saying the only thing the game was really missing was Tom Brady?
Tee-hee, could you see Brady on skates though? I bet he’d wipe out, right on his pretty little face.
Oh, Brady would just gaze handsomely at the ice until it stopped making him slip around like Bambi on ice. (I should mention that, since the Patriots are essentially the Devils of football, I honestly have no problem with them, or with Brady.)
I have no problem with Brady myself, but I’m generally indifferent to football altogether. All I know about Brady is what I’ve heard from the media.
Also, requests for this afternoon?
Ohhh… requests… requests… How about a little Sufjan?
Sure! I love Sufjan! Any track/album in particular?
I’m currently having a love affair with “Seven Swans”, but really anything will do. My very favorite is “The Predatory Wasp…” from the Illinois album, but that one’s pretty long.
Schnookie:
I really don’t understand what the thought process was when they picked these — I mean, I realize the attendance at Devils games go up when they’re playing the Rangers, and I imagine their ratings jump, but FSN, this isn’t rocket surgery: those extra people aren’t watching for the Devils. So it’s not like Rangers fans are going to tune in to revisit games they lost (even just in shootouts) to the Devils, so why do they insist on playing so goddamn many of these games for us? I mean, 4 of 15 games this summer? 4 of the 12 regular-season games they’re showing? What gives? I just can’t stand that the programming people seem to think that the only thing Devils fans care about is hating the Rangers — hello! We’re Devils fans. We hate everybody.
What part of the Continental Airlines Arena/Brendan Byrne Arena have you been sitting? The same damn Rangers Suck chant is made every game at Devils games regardless of who the opponent is. Also, no other team has broken the heart of the Devils more than the Rangers. Devils fans do hate the Rangers more than anyone else! Therefore, any and all victories over the Rangers should be savored.
Also, requests for this afternoon?
Andrew Bird?
All week I’ve been planning on requesting Sufjan from Sherry, and then the time finally arrives and Schnookie beats me to the punch! Oh, well, I have to work anyway, so I won’t be able to listen. But may I suggest “Casimir Pulaski Day” from Illinoise? Although “Seven Swans” is awesome, too.
I’ve just heard that the Sabres have avoided arbitration and signed Roy for 6 years! I’m still waiting to hear what the money is, but I’m definitely pommerdoodling!
Schnookie – I think “Seven Swans” is by favourite by Sufjan, I’ll play something rom that :D
Meg – Andrew Bird it is!
Devils fans do hate the Rangers more than anyone else! Therefore, any and all victories over the Rangers should be savored.
I think the issue isn’t as much that the Devils hate anyone else more than the Rangers. And rest assured, the victory was savored the first time around. But when it comes to picking games to replay in the summertime, I’d argue the criteria to select the games should be “quality of game” not “quality of rivalry”.
Watch, we’re paying him like $5 mil per, and I’ll have to turn my pommerdoodle into a… whats a good term for “righteous outrage and despair”?
I’m off to work!
Gamber…TSN says Roy went for $24 mil / 6 years.
C’mon Darcy. Sign Paetsch before his hearing. Make it a good day.
Meg – Andrew Bird it is!
Yay! I’ll only be able to catch the second half of your show, but even if I miss it, I’m excited. I’ve never made a radio station request before. :)
Ooh, Sufjan, Andrew Bird… I’m sorry I can’t tune in!
Gamber…TSN says Roy went for $24 mil / 6 years.
I think he could have gotten 4 in arbitration given how insane those awards tend to be, so I’m ok with that.
Gamber…TSN says Roy went for $24 mil / 6 years.
Well, that seems reasonable. Way to go, Roy and Buffalo! I can’t say he’s my favorite Sabre (the diving really, really rubs me the wrong way) but I’m glad right was done.
Link to story:
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=214795&hubname=nhl
Man, his face so punchable
John, I don’t disagree that Devils fans hate the Rangers the most. But that said, that doesn’t mean I whittle my view on a Devils season down to just the Rangers games. The unbalanced schedule has pushed me to the limits of my ability to care about that matchup — I’m exhausted by it. The way this series was selected, suggesting that I care more about a handful of poorly-played victories over the Rangers than I do about well-played victories over other teams, is condescending and insulting. While we certainly should embrace the Rangers hate, Devils fans should also expect a certain respect for our sophistication as fans. We don’t have to be beating a division rival to be happy with the win (and actually, we had a number of far better wins against the Islanders and Penguins this year than the 15 To Remember would have you realize); we can delight in wins against teams we’ve had playoff rivalries with, and we can delight in wins against teams that just happen to be the good ones in the NHL at the time the game was played. I watch the Devils because I love the Devils, not because I hate the Rangers. (And the more the league forces me to see them, the less I enjoy hating the Rangers. Thanks, NHL, for grinding a fantastic rivalry right down to a nub. I can’t wait for the unbalanced schedule to go away.)
I can’t say he’s my favorite Sabre (the diving really, really rubs me the wrong way) but I’m glad right was done.
He’s not my favorite either, but he’s certainly a useful player though not particularly sportsmanlike. And he’s very adaptable, in the sense that he can play well on both offensive- and defensive-minded lines and with all sorts of players.
I agree with you Meg — Roy’s not anywhere near the top of my list of favorites, either, but he’s an incredibly valuable and essential player to the team. So nicely done, Buffalo and Roy, on what seems like a fairly reasonable contract!
Oh, Roy is definitely a great player to have. I think Buffalo’s going in a great direction with the team they’ve got now (which is why all the constant moaning and groaning gets little sympathy :P). I think despite the unsportmanship, Roy’s got the makings of a great team leader, too. $4 mil seems perfectly reasonable considering what he brings to the table and what other guys are getting. Even the length of the deal seems like a solid move. I just had to mention the diving because, well, diving should be scoffed at all the time. ALL THE TIME! I want to see Crunchy use his secret C to convince Roy that if he didn’t dive, he might draw a penalty or two to help his team out.
Jeez, I sit in a car for an hour and all I come back to Roy being signed. Thanks hockey Gods. Well, I suppose it’s nice.
Sherry, can I still request a song?
I’d still like to see him fight a dolphin.
Mags – Of course you can :D
Can I request “Always Fade” by Low, in honor of them being not-at-all like Staind? :)
I’d still like to see him fight a dolphin.
And a fieldmouse. Don’t forget the field mouse.
That’s true. I’d say it’s a toss-up with the fieldmouse since I’m sure they both could get easily distracted if a shiny car drove by or by someone’s watch reflection.
Pookie – I was going to play Low on my show because of that, HAHA! Now I have a track, whoo-hoo.
I’d still like to see him fight a dolphin.
But not in a pond, because he’d have an unfair advantage.
When we did the NHLWars I actually made a poster out of them. With team colours for the players and everything.
And YAY! Song. If you have it, Henrietta of Costella Music by the Fratelli’s dedicated to my sister.
Mags, we have it and I’ll play it! What’s your sister’s name? Uh…is it Henrietta? Haha.
Excellent. And her name is sort of Henrietta. But different :P
Roy vs. Dolphin….the ultimate dive-off
Hey, I’m so glad that he’s locked up for a few years and didn’t get some assinine arbitration awarded.
Sherry, got any Pele? If ya do, play “Therapists” for me? It’s a good one!
Wow, killed it dead.
Sorry gang…I’ll try not to request anything in the future.
HAHA
Sorry Andrew, I just went to check to see if we have it and unfortunately we don’t. Got anyhing else yo uwant to hear?
andrew — sorry I’m so quiet, but I’m still trying to recover from what might very well have been the WORST SONG REQUEST EVER. :P
Sorry I’m so quiet. I’m busy skimming all the articles about Penner and trying to figure out why none of them hint at why Lowe went after him and not Parise. I’m starting to feel like things on the Parise-offer-sheet front are quiet, too quiet.
I’m busy skimming all the articles about Penner and trying to figure out why none of them hint at why Lowe went after him and not Parise.
Do any of the articles mention that Lowe is INSANE? Because I think that hints at the reason why he went after Penner instead of a guy he wanted to draft, then traded his pick to Lou when Lou said, “Hey, can we have that pick so we can draft Parise?”, then spent the next few years whining, “Damn, I wish I’d drafted Parise.” Plus, there’s Lowe’s track record of self-immolating on overrated Ducks players.
I’m starting to feel like things on the Parise-offer-sheet front are quiet, too quiet.
Ditto. At camp we got the Penner news this morning (courtesy of Jordi and my phone) and this was the first thing to hit the table when we’d finished getting food. Steve and I decided Lou must have threatened Lowe to stay away under pain of death.
Maybe Lowe is actually capable of learning from his mistakes and realized that it’s stupid to extend an offer sheet to a player whose team has plenty of cap space? Maybe he’s terrified of Lou? Maybe Parise didn’t want to sign an offer sheet?
“andrew — sorry I’m so quiet, but I’m still trying to recover from what might very well have been the WORST SONG REQUEST EVER. :P”
Thanks Schnookie! Thanks a ton! Shoulda seen that one coming…
hmmm…Sherry, let’s se…How about Nouvelle Vague? If you have that, play “The Killing Moon” for me. Thanks!
Wow…I bow down to the Queens of the Game Diary. Mine seems piddling and nonsensical compared to yours! Not that I’ll stop doing them, of course, if only because, well, what the hell else am I going to talk about?
When Schnookie comments that Paulie’s legs look really long in this game, Pookie suggests, “That’s because he had them lengthened; with every minus in his +/- rating his legs grew an inch. There was a time in January that he couldn’t walk for how long they were.”
I laughed for about a minute at this part…and oddly enough, I think Benny’s legs were awfully long for most of this season, too. :D
Dude, Andrew…I’m in LOVE with Nouvelle Vague and I’m pretty sure we have them so I’ll definitely play it.
Word.
Thanks Sherry, the world needs more Nouvelle Vague.
Maybe Parise didn’t want to sign an offer sheet?
This is what I keep telling myself. Pookie then shuts me down by saying that, at the rate Lowe’s been going, he’d probably still publicize that he made the effort, but I’m really, really hoping that Zach’s camp has broadcast that they’re not listening to offers. A girl can dream, right?
CC, I’m so glad you enjoyed the game diary! I think yours was SPLENDID the other day (I swear, I feel so out of touch now that my computer doesn’t let me access the comment screens on blogger blogs), and someday when we need to hire a Caps diarist, you’ll be the first on our list! (I think Benny and Paulie should see a specialist about that physical manifestation of their +/-’s. I mean, Sheldon Souray’s legs weren’t all gumbied out from his minus rating, so obviously there’s something to be done to keep that from happening.)
Maybe Parise didn’t want to sign an offer sheet?
We were debating last night whether it would be made public if Lowe offered Parise a sheet and he declined to sign it. I argued that Lowe would want it made clear that he attempted to sign the next-most talented RFA after Vanek, but Schnookie seems to think he’d want it quieted up that another player didn’t want to play in Edmonton.
I’d like to know if he was offered something and didn’t sign, since I feel like the players are being totally overlooked in all this RFA stuff. Schnookie pointed out last night, and I agree with her, that the language used is always so passive. It’s always, “Edmonton signed Vanek to an offer sheet”, not “Vanek signed with Edmonton”, you know? I’d like to know how much or how little I should think of Parise’s approach to the issue of winning v. money.
the world needs more Nouvelle Vague.
I thought it needed another folk singer, or a hole in the head, or something like that.
I must be really out of it. I haven’t heard of anything that’s been requested. I’ll have to look them up and download them to my totally awesome Phillips mp3 player.
I must be really out of it. I haven’t heard of anything that’s been requested.
How the tables have turned since last night, when you had the upper hand with all that Rush and REO Speedwagon! :P
I’d like to request “Faith” by George Michael. Not the song, the whole album. And can you play in on repeat for about 4 months? Thanks.
my totally awesome Phillips mp3 player
So he does learn from his mistakes! Good on you MrF :P
I’d like to request “Faith” by George Michael. Not the song, the whole album. And can you play in on repeat for about 4 months?
Sure, Pookie. In the radio station in my head, it is on loop for 4 months in your honour :P
I haven’t heard of anything that’s been requested.
Hehehehe, I can do much worse than what I just requested on the The Things Teenagers Listen To list, but I don’t think Sherry has it, and if she did, she would most certainly be better off not playing it.
Well I was going to request some REO dedicated to Pookie, but Sherry’s ratings would plummet faster than NBC’s during the Stanley Cup Finals.
Mags, now I’m curious as to what you requested.
MrF, you probably won’t believe me but our station actually has no REO Speedwagon. We have something named “REO Speedealer” but no Speedwagon.
Rush AND REO Speedwagon? What a night of comments! and I missed it! Actually I got nuthin, I don’t own anything by either of ‘em. But, I do have an old Bad Religion bootleg 7″ (from 83′ or 84′ i think?) with them doing live covers, one of them being “Riding the Storm Out”. It’s a really, really wierd record.
Sherry, Anton aus Tirol by the Apres Skihut. It’s very Eurobeat. And if combined with the Heineken commercial that inspired it and a basic comprehension of German it’s side splittingly funny. Otherwise, just plain weird.
andrew, the comments went something like this:
MrFrisby: [Rush lyrics]
Pookie: “WTF?”
MrFrisby: “Rush? Anybody? Anybody?”
Pookie: [...]
MrFrisby: “PHILISTINES!”
(Just kidding.)
our station actually has no REO Speedwagon.
I do believe that’s another sign of the Apocalypse.
MrFrisby, I’m sorry your appreciation of Rush went completely unheralded. It’s a shame.
A friend of mine back in college was on the golf team. One day, apparently when Rush was coming through town on tour, he was playing in a local tournament. Apparently he got paired up with Alex Lifeson, and had absolutely no idea who he was, it was pretty funny…long story short, he got free tickets to their show.
That’s my Rush story. Hope you all liked it.
Wow…I bow down to the Queens of the Game Diary. Mine seems piddling and nonsensical compared to yours!
CC, do we need to add a self-confidence section to future HLOG conventions? Actually, now that I think about it, I could probably use one, too. Schnookie’s been bearing the brunt of my crippling decline in sense of self-worth as a writer ever since we started blogging. I really thought blogging would bolster said sense of self-worth as a writer, but not so much. My writing skills really lend themselves much more to dry academic papers, so my Reasons I Love Hockey always seem to end with “Therefore it if cogently evident the salient point of my argument is the popcorn at CAA does possess qualities than can, in certain cultures, be considered pleasant to the olfactory senses.”
That was a great Rush story, Andrew!
My one brush with rock star fame was seeing the Tragically Hip in the hotel in Buffalo. I had no idea who they were. And I’m such a nerd that I momentarily thought one of the band members was uber-librarian-blogger Michael Stephens. I would count a Michael Stephens sighting to be waaay cooker than the Tragically Hip. Because I am, perhaps, tragically nerdy?
Boomer once answered phones for some telethon thingie that attracted celebrities. Keith Moon called in and she answered his call.
Pookie, that is hysterical. The librarian blogger being more exciting than The Trgically Hip…that’s just…that’s Effing funny.
I got lot’s of good (well, mostly boring) musical celeb stories! Remember the other day when I mentioned the job I used to have at the music/movie distro? Well, we would get artists coming through for “meet & greets” all the time. Sometimes they would perform too, it was pretty sweet…sometimes.
Pookie, that is hysterical. The librarian blogger being more exciting than The Trgically Hip…that’s just…that’s Effing funny.
Well, I’ve never listened to the Tragically Hip and that librarian blogger inspires me to greatness in my job. Wait, what’s that you say? The president of the American Library Association is touring my library today and I’m still spending my time commenting on my entirely-not-work-related blog? Hm… ok, so maybe “greatness” isn’t the word I’m looking for here….
The only brush with rock star fame I’ve had is when I got to meet Matthew Barber. Now I know I seem absolutely cook, and intimidatingly cool online but when in real life I border on socially stunted. He was performing at Chapter’s in Downtown Toronto and it was a really intimate and nice set and afterwards people were asking him for pictures and autographs and I was incredibly nervous about doing it since I was there by myself [and plus he's about a whole foot taller than I am]. So then I wanted to chat with him a bit afterwards cause he used to volunteer at the same station but it pretty much just turned into me looking incredibly lame.
Most of the rock star encounters I had were uneventful, but I will tell one quick story.
So we’re having lunch in the conference room and Eddie Money (yeah, I know. Eddie Money…her?) is supposed to be coming to meet the sales staff. So we’re all eating lunch, waiting around, and all of a sudden he throws open the door for this grand entrance. He comes in and half yells/half sings, “I’VE GOT…!!!!”. He was fully expecting the 20 or so people in the room to shout back, “TWO TICKETS TO PARADISE!”. Unfortunately for him, the room was silent. Like, crickets chirping silent. Anyways, he was kind of stunned, but I think he wasn’t really irked by it. He just said, “Huh, guess you guys were a little too young for that one.” It was embarrasing and hilarous at the same time.
Andrew, I haven’t the slightest idea who Eddie Money is, but that story is fantastic.
Andrew, that’s awesome! I would have no idea what he was talking about. I, in fact, wouldn’t know Eddie Money if he kicked me.
This story reminded me of the time I was working at an industrial design firm in NYC. I went into the conference/lunch room and this crazy-looking ex-hippie dude was sitting there shooting the shit with everyone. I knew he wasn’t an employee but everyone seemed cool with the fact that he was there. Somehow I ended up talking to him for a long time about my career choices and my life journey and all this hippie kind of stuff. The next day someone thought to tell me the dude was the guy who composed “Hair”.
Oh Eddie Money, I don’t know who you are but I already feel for ya.
Actually, I had another encounter with semi-rock stars. Don’t know if you’re into Christian Rock, but we did meet Starfield. They were opening up for Hillsongs and after the set they were out by the merch table signing autographs and taking pictures. The people taking pictures before us were from Ottawa and it happened to be the night of game 3 of the SCF. When they were done taking pictures the band was like “GO SENS!” and I was wearing my Senators hat and that phrase must have kicked off something in my brain because normally really reserved but as soon as they said it I was like “WHOOOOOO!! GO SENSS!!!! YEAH!”. When we went to go take our picture one of them rubbed my head. I think that brought them luck…cause that was the only game the Sens won during the finals, har.
andrew, that Eddie Money story is EXCELLENT! The only celebrity story I have that involves the celeb being humiliated by no one knowing who he was is the Brendan Morrison “Don’t you know who I am?” grocery store story. Your Eddie Money one is WAY funnier.
I just spent 45 minutes wrestling with my cable modem, router and two laptops to get an internet connection. That was exhausting! I should have just stayed at work.
Now I know I seem absolutely cook, and intimidatingly cool online but when in real life I border on socially stunted
Sherry, is the Ottawa Draft Convention going to be just a bunch of us standing around hiding behind potted plants or wearing paper bags over our heads, hoping no one talks to us?
Schnookie – Probably. I’ll be the one that’s shifting uncomfortably and looking down at my shoes.
anyways on-air time. Don’t be shy to call in again! :P
Yeah, Eddie Money is basically the guy who sang “Two Tickets to Paradise” back in the 80′s. That’s about all he’s got going for him. It really was hilariously cruel.
Some of the other famous people I got to meet (for better or for worse): Outkast, Garth Brooks, Collective Soul, Xzibit, Dave Mustaine (Megadeth), DJ Krush, Jurassic 5, Trick Daddy, Pink, Tony Iomi (Black Sabbath), and TSOL.
Some of the highlights:
Trick Daddy signing autographs in the conference room while drinking Hennessey from a travel coffee mug.
Me doting and blubbering like a fanboy idiot over DJ Krush, and him not speaking one word of english therefore not really understanding the significance of the moment.
Sherry’s story reminded me of my last day at college. I was at an awards ceremony for Tisch’s Drama Dept. It was a few hours before Game 6 against Toronto in 2001. The hottest guy in the universe went up on stage to accept the award for something like “Coolest, Most Wonderful, Hottest, More Talented, Smartest Guy in the World”. While he was getting his award, the presenter mentioned he was a big Leafs fan. We were in a small black-box theater, and there were only like 200 people total in the room, so I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to holler “Go Devils! Blow, Leafs, blow!” I figured Mr. Perfect would see me from across the room and say, “Why, I do believe I’ve just seen the light! Go Devils!” and then he’d sweep me off my feet and we’d live happily ever after. Instead, I decided not to ruin the entire awards show, and instead opted to spend the rest of the ceremony sneaking peeks at him and hoping that I was somehow telephatically emiting awesome-Devils-fan vibes. It didn’t work. He didn’t notice me, and I left the awards ceremony without being swept of my feet and converting Leafs fans to the True Way of the NJ Devils. I did however get to see a really fantastic game that night! Heh.
Here’s a little music trivia: Eddie’s real last name is Mahoney.
I’ve never had any encounters with a music star but I kinda did with a hockey player. Last year I went to the Devils-Caps preseason game in Hershey, PA. When the lineups were announced everybody started booing because Ovechkin was a healthy scratch. During the 1rst intermission I went to get a beer. As I started walking back to my seat my girlfriend asks, “Who was that in line behind you?”
“I don’t know, what guy?”
“He was two places behind you in line. Kids were asking for his autograph. He had a heavy russian accent.”
I run back to the concession stand but there’s nobody there, so we go back to our seat. Then she points up and says, “There he is.”
I look up to see Ovechkin chowing down on some nachos like he hasn’t eaten in a week.
Man you guys have such better celebrity encounters than me. Other than finally meeting Matt Skiba after like five Alkaline Trio shows of trying (and I don’t even have a good story about that, just standing around chatting with him about vegan restaurants in Ann Arbor and making myself look stupid by greeting him with “Hi! I skipped class to be here!”), the closest I’ve got is….Ty Conklin. Errr. (Although that one did provide me with a nice story to tell whenever I want to be thoroughly embarrassed over just how lame I really am.)
I look up to see Ovechkin chowing down on some nachos like he hasn’t eaten in a week.
Entirely possible. You never know with those weirdo hockey player eating habits.
Oh and I’m not going to tell you my celebrity encounter stories. For they are many and not at all funny.
Steph, my best friend is an Alkaline Trio FREAK. He would probably pass out if he ever met Skiba. I guess that’s his S,PW. But anyways, I feel your pain, I’ve followed bands around endlessly and tried to meet ‘em, usually to no avail.
(Although that one did provide me with a nice story to tell whenever I want to be thoroughly embarrassed over just how lame I really am.)
That’s okay — Scott Stevens was one of the few players at the ’97 All-Star Game that we were willing to approach to talk to (because we are, like Sherry, cripplingly shy), and I spent my few moments chatting with him totally insulting him. I actually pointed out to him that no one at the game was cheering for him. It was so nice of me to say that, I think. (I don’t remember what point I was trying to make, but we were chatting about having traveled from Jersey to SJ for the game.) Fortunately, Scotty seemed just as shy about meeting us as we were about meeting him, and he’s almost painfully kind, and he’s also none too bright and if he noticed I’d insulted him, it probably wasn’t until much later (“Heeey! That girl totally said no one likes me!”). At least you were just being goofy with Ty — I was being a total simpering jerk to the Devils’ resident Superhero. Me so cook.
Oh, and Sherry’s Starfield story reminds me of X’s approach to other Devils fans. She was like the opposite of us, socially, in that as retardedly introverted as we are, she’s an extrovert retard. If she ever saw anyone wearing a Devils logo anywhere on their bodies, she would swoop down on them and be all, “So what did you think of that call on Brylin in the second period of that Bruins game six weeks ago? Was that bullshit or was that bullshit?” and then if the person was like, “What the hell are you talking about?” she’d go all crazy “TELL ME WHEN!!!” on them. It was entirely beyond her realm of understanding to realize that some people just happen to own Devils hats or t shirts and don’t memorize every second of every season. Whenever we were with her when stuff like this happened, we’d have to embarrassedly slink away while sending “I’m so sorry!” vibes to her unsuspecting victim.
Steph, my best friend is an Alkaline Trio FREAK. He would probably pass out if he ever met Skiba. I guess that’s his S,PW.
Oh man, if I would have met him at the first Trio show I’d gone to I probably would have done the same. I actually finally ran into him seeing his side project Heavens and it had been several years by this point, so I was able to stay decently calm and actually have a conversation. I think he still manages to have S,PW status though. I mean, before I really got hockey and Hemsky obsessed, it was him I made jokes about marrying. He’s was a great guy though, even went out for beers afterward with us! (Of course, I couldn’t get beer at that point, but…)
At least you were just being goofy with Ty
I like to think I was just setting myself up in a position where he’d remember me. You know, for the next time I chase him down on a street corner in Grand Rapids waving a crumpled up Ty me to the bed sign.
Steph, honestly I think he’d have a hard time forgetting you. And I mean that entirely positively.
I like to think I was just setting myself up in a position where he’d remember me. You know, for the next time I chase him down on a street corner in Grand Rapids waving a crumpled up Ty me to the bed sign.
He’s like, “Man, if I had a dime for every time that happened to me…” You’re just another face in the “Ty me to the bed” crowd, Steph.
“…even went out for beers afterward with us!”
That actually is pretty sweet. I can’t say I’ve ever had beers with a celebrity.
“…for the next time I chase him down on a street corner in Grand Rapids waving a crumpled up Ty me to the bed sign.”
I would pay good money to be there the next time that happens.
Steph, honestly I think he’d have a hard time forgetting you. And I mean that entirely positively.
I really hope this is a story he tells people on occasion, the same way I do, only from his end it’d be like “so speaking of crazy fans…” and then everyone will probably just look at him like he’s the crazy one for having insinuated he has fans.
Of course, I also like to hope that his teammates at the time spent the whole game teasing him about it and that it was, in some small way, embarrassing for him too :P Man even while liking him I am still terribly mean to the guy.
You’re just another face in the “Ty me to the bed” crowd, Steph.
Dammit! I clearly have to step it up next time.
That actually is pretty sweet. I can’t say I’ve ever had beers with a celebrity.
I’ve only ever gone out and gotten beers with writers – and that was mostly when I was in Prague (I’m still bragging to people about Ivan Klima). But with Skiba we were in Chicago, which is his hometown, so mostly he just invited us along to tag along with him.
I would pay good money to be there the next time that happens.
I wish somehow this could have been videotaped. I just don’t think my story does it justice. But rest assured Andrew, next time it looks poised to happen, I’ll give your aluminum can a ring.
“next time it looks poised to happen, I’ll give your aluminum can a ring.”
HA! Nice one Steph. I’ll keep it close by.
next time it looks poised to happen, I’ll give your aluminum can a ring.
Well played :D
I’m with Andrew, I’d pay good money to see that if it ever happened again.
Killed it dead. Again.
Awww, Mags, how I’ve missed you and your threadkilling ways.
Clearly you just have to time visiting with a Pens game somewhere. I’ll reenact it just for you.
I just need to take time off to travel around the states and see you guys. Not that that is in any possible, but a girl can dream right?
As long as I can dream that I get to go with you (We can stop in Edmonton even though we don’t know anyone there right? I promise meeting Hemsky could come close to being as funny as Ty), then yes. Yes you can.
Oh man! I forgot to tell you guys! I had a weird dream last night. I dreamt that there was a big IPB party! Details are fuzzy, but I can only assume it was at the -ookies’ pad. Anyways, I don’t remember much except that it started raining, which was fine, but then we ran out of beer. Went to the store to get more and they only had, like, 2 kinds! I was saying, “What the hell is wrong with New Jersey? Where’s all the beer?” That’s it, that’s where it ended.
Yeah, I dream about beer. I know, I got issues.
andrew, that dream is AWESOME! I’m so sorry, though, that your subconscious mind seems to equate IPB with a world in which there are only two types of beer! (Although maybe it’s true in North Jersey and that’s why no one ever wants to sign with the Devils…)
I don’t want to mention here how often I dream about IPB.
Steph, sure you can dream that. Because I would totally do it.
Andrew, that is so cool! Even the dreaming about beer thing.
Speaking of dreams, I dreamt -Ookies and the entire IPB Irregular crew came to see one of my hockey games. I have no idea what the score was, or whether we won, but all of you fell asleep because it was so boring! Not that I blame you in any way.
“…but all of you fell asleep because it was so boring!”
Mags, I didn’t know you had signed with the Devils!
Yeah, I said it!
“…but all of you fell asleep because it was so boring!”
Mags, I didn’t know you had signed with the Devils!
Yeah, I said it!
BURN! And to think I was going to offer that if you were even in this neck of the woods, I’d be sure we had more than 2 types of beer on hand.
but all of you fell asleep because it was so boring!
After our years of training watching the Devils, that would have to be SOME KIND of boring! That’s an impressive dream, Mags! :P
And Pookie’s right — if anyone comes to our neck of the woods, we’ll be sure to have at least three types of beer. But no more than that.
Andrew, I have long since held to the belief that my new hockey team are Europe’s hockey killers. But they do it whilst wearing loud contrasting colours, which makes for a rather entertaining crowd.
“And to think I was going to offer that if you were even in this neck of the woods, I’d be sure we had more than 2 types of beer on hand.”
Damnit! I totally blew it! I guess I’m going to have to bring my own beer on my next trip to Jersey.
Only three types of beer? I don’t know, it might take more than that to get me out in East Conference territory.
Only three types of beer? I don’t know, it might take more than that to get me out in East Conference territory.
OK, how about 3 types of beer and some homemade marshmallows?
If I ever come out to the IPB party I’m bringing loads of European beers. They have some pretty crazy kinds here.
Only three types of beer? I don’t know, it might take more than that to get me out in East Conference territory.
How about if we have an expansive collection of non-beer alcoholic beverages?
how about 3 types of beer and some homemade marshmallows?
Now that’s more like it.
If there is an IPB convention someday, I will volunteer to bring the sidbits (not the Sidbits, that’s someone else’s responsibility).
I’ll bring the Sidbits, Amy. Oh yes, come hell or high water, I will bring the Sidbits!
I don’t even want to begin to imagine how you’re going to get them Schnookie, but somehow I don’t doubt you will.
Sid won’t even know what hit him.
Poor unfortunate robot boy.
Good day, everyone! I’d catch up on comments, but I’m still swamped here at the office.
The last two days have been especially rough–maybe it’s because I’m waking up too early to hear Sherry not give IPB shoutouts?
Hey Earl! That blows that you’re paying such a steep price for being so dedicated to Sherry’s shoutouts!
Hmm, well okay that’s the last time I try to wing a show [as in I don't think it went very well]
I’m sorry Sleek, my brain isn’t functioning that well in the morning either, I forget I have such loyal listeners all the way in a different time zone :P It will be amended next week I promise.
Aw, I’m just kidding, Sherry. The fact that you opened with new Cake this morning was good enough for me.
Dude, Sleek, had you started listening sooner you would have realized that I’ve played the new Cake album at least 4 times by now.
And perhaps I’d be more open with giving shoutouts if you guys gave me names that I don’t feel odd saying on the air :P
It sounded fine to me, Sherry. I almost thought about calling in and telling you to talk about Ty Conklin again just to be annoying, when you told people to call, but I decided that was 80 cents better saved for next week when I could actually come up with a request :P
Dude, Sleek, had you started listening sooner you would have realized that I’ve played the new Cake album at least 4 times by now.
I can’t listen, except for that quick half-hour before leaving for work!
And perhaps I’d be more open with giving shoutouts if you guys gave me names that I don’t feel odd saying on the air :P
If you give any on-air shoutouts to Sammy Pahlsson, Chris Pronger, or Corey Perry, I’ll know they’re for me.
And perhaps I’d be more open with giving shoutouts if you guys gave me names that I don’t feel odd saying on the air :P
Hey now!
Sherry, it was a great show! And what’s so hard about saying names like Pookie and Schnookie on the air? HM?
I can’t listen, except for that quick half-hour before leaving for work!
Excuses, excuses ;P
If you give any on-air shoutouts to Sammy Pahlsson, Chris Pronger, or Corey Perry, I’ll know they’re for me.
How about a name that doesn’t make me feel like a tool, hmm? I’m not allowed saying those times unless they’re in context of a news story.
Steph, you’re exempted from the ridiculous-name-tag
And what’s so hard about saying names like Pookie and Schnookie on the air? HM?
Nothing, I just pretend I’m saying “cookie”. Have you not noticed how fast or quiet I end up breezing through them? :P
I actually didn’t like the playlist much today [as in, oh right I'm doing a show this afternoon, guess I better pull some CDs] and because our printer’s still on the fritz I didn’t have any news stories to read so I had to sort of wing it. Bah.
Instead of Pookie you could say Pookichu, Pookietron, El Pooque, Pookadoodledoo or any other variation thereon. I answer to them all!
I love Derek Roy even when he’s bugging the hell out of me which is fairly often so I’m glad we have him wrapped up. He doesn’t get as much glory as some of the other youngsters but
Steph, you’re exempted from the ridiculous-name-tag
Score! You know I always felt left out for only once in my life and only among a few people having any sort of weird not-my-name type nickname. And now it is advantageous, TAKE THAT!
Have you not noticed how fast or quiet I end up breezing through them? :P
Okay I confess, I giggle a little every time you do that.
How about a name that doesn’t make me feel like a tool, hmm?
Hey, I haven’t referred to your show as Robert Lang in weeks now!
As I was saying… Roy is one of the most versatile guys on the team and one of the most likely to wear a letter with a little more maturity. He did a much better job with the diving this season (though don’t get me wrong – he still had his Flipper moments) but the whiny complaining about everything has to stop.
The closest I’ve ever come to a celebrity encounter is cashing out Doug Flutie at Blockbuster. He was a total asshole and left one of my co-workers in near tears.
And Sufjan! Finally someone I know and love!
Hey, I haven’t referred to your show as Robert Lang in weeks now!
Oh, and to add to this, it probably was the last day I did hear an IPB shoutout. This could be a slippery trend you’re setting, Sherry, only responding to veiled insults.
Steph – I’m glad my awkwardness comes through so well on-air, I think it’s part of my charm :P
To be fair, ‘Sherry’ isn’t my real name either, but I do respond to it.
Sleek – Not the point! You think I forget stuff like that? ;P
Eeeeeeee! There’s going to be a Crunchy McFarland figure! Eeeeee!
So yeah. I promise I’m going to stop complaining about this, but probably not for another two weeks when the THREE RANGERS GAMES IN A ROW are done in this series.
Oh, I think I’ll stop complaining when the season actually starts up. It’s the Devils way to complain about everything since we get shafted (except in the case of teddy bears). I think the whole let’s pick the suckiest games that the Devils won is a conspiracy from MSG to turn everyone into Rangers fan so they can pay for the two SFW they acquired.
I’m pretty sure the only musician I’ve ever met was the Beach Boys when I was like 2 years old. Oh and I was around Mae, Lovedrug, The Audition, Matt Pond PA, The Format, and Straylight Run from volunteering to help set up for their shows at my school. The only person that I talked to and didn’t admire from a far was someone from Lovedrug cause he was setting up their shop.
Sherry, no matter what other people are saying you were a big hit here. I made my sister listen over the phone and she was all “hey, she mentioned you! That’s way too cool! You requested a song for me? That’s so sweeeeeeeeeeeeet”. So there.
And my name is not awkward :P
Does it count as ‘meeting’ a rock star if I’m almost pushed onto the stage and almost crashed into their drum kit, thereby almost effectively ruining their show? Because that’s what happened one time when I went to see DFA 1979. There were a bunch of kids there, whom I swear must have been in middle school even though the show was clearly way passed their bed time who felt like moshing and pushing to everything and because I was right in front of the stage and it was a low one, almost fell into Sebastien’s drumkit. Yeah, it wasn’t fun. The kids were really rowdy, Sebastien even had to ask the people in the front to stop grabbing his crotch [I think it goes without saying I wasn't one of the perpetrators, right?]
Aww, Mags thanks so much. And yes, a double thanks for not having an awkward name :D
Have you not noticed how fast or quiet I end up breezing through them?
Chiming in a little late on this, Sherry, yes I’ve noticed. And I’m always like, “Is it really that bad?” :P (If you must you can call me Liz. Although I can’t promise I’ll realize you’re talking about me.)
There’s going to be a Crunchy McFarland figure! Eeeeee!
I can only imagine this one is going to be the funniest one yet!
Sebastien even had to ask the people in the front to stop grabbing his crotch [I think it goes without saying I wasn’t one of the perpetrators, right?]
Would’ve known you could be so restrained!
WHO would’ve known. Think before you type.
Aww, Mags, don’t worry about it. I type more nonsense and typos than any three Irregulars combined. Do I ever correct them or apologize? Hell no! In fact, about half the time, I actually see them before submitting. I’m just too lazy to correct ‘em.
Chiming in a little late on this, Sherry, yes I’ve noticed. And I’m always like, “Is it really that bad?” :P
It’s not bad at all, Schnookie. In fact, it’s quite an awesome name. I just need to get over my fear of…whatever it is. Next time I shall say your name loudly, at a normal pace and proudly.
Would’ve known you could be so restrained!
Hey, I have trouble hugging people, forget about crotch-grabbing!
To be fair, ‘Sherry’ isn’t my real name either, but I do respond to it.
I think it counts well enough because you use it everywhere I’ve seen and it’s normal sounding :P
Er, I mean, I am totally not saying anything about the normalcy of names like Pookie and Schnookie. What?
Surprisingly, I’ve actually heard people muck it up but it’s a rare case.
Anyhoos, I’m out of the office now, see you all later :D Love you guys.
Earl Sleek could be somebody’s name! In fact, it’s my name, but I throw off people by playing that I have some other “real” “given” name.
It’s brilliant–it’s the last thing that people guess!
Andrew, thanks :). I usually see them right after I’ve pressed “submit comment” and I’m totally anally retentive about things like that.
Hey, I have trouble hugging people, forget about crotch-grabbing!
Maybe I shouldn’t come to the draft. Despite being very introverted I’m totally a huggy person around people I know.
“I throw off people by playing that I have some other “real” “given” name.”
I usually avoid the whole subject by introducing myself as Pat McCrotch. That way people don’t even want to continue the conversation…
Mags, we’ll be able to tell you apart from the other introverts at the convention because you’ll be the one leaping out from behind your potted plant hiding spots to give unsolicited hugs!
Hah, you guys, I’m totally not an introvert, so should I make it to the draft I’ll be poking my head around all the potted plants and babbling at you all because I talk non-stop.
I usually avoid the whole subject by introducing myself as Pat McCrotch. That way people don’t even want to continue the conversation…
Oh my god — we must be related! Because my real last name is McCrotch! Heeeey… what are you saying about the name “McCrotch”?
Actually, I think whenever you’re forced to get that real cell phone, andrew, you can just leave an outgoing message on it saying something like, “You’ve reached Pat McCrotch; I can’t answer the phone right now…” and so forth. No one will ever leave messages or call you back!
Mags, we’ll be able to tell you apart from the other introverts at the convention because you’ll be the one leaping out from behind your potted plant hiding spots to give unsolicited hugs!
That and I’ll be wearing the shirt my mom got me today. “Beware: Inappropriate hugger”. Thanks mom.
Meanwhile you’ll all be able to tell who I am because I seem to lack any sort of introversion and when I see you I will yelp your name and chase after you with signs.
“You’ve reached Pat McCrotch; I can’t answer the phone right now…”
I’ll definitely keep that in mind Schnookie. It just might work…
And yes, you have a fabulous last name.
should I make it to the draft I’ll be poking my head around all the potted plants and babbling at you all because I talk non-stop.
I’m so relieved to know we’ll have a designated ice-breaker/conversation-reviver! As the rest of us all twist our fingers into knots and stare at our shoes.
And yes, you have a fabulous last name.
It really helped me break into the pee porn industry. I mean, with a name like Schnookie McCrotch I couldn’t fail!
And Steph, I can’t wait for you to shout after me, “SCHNOOKIE MCCROTCH!” when we’re at the draft. As if I won’t seem creepy and old enough just leering at all those teenaged hockey boys…
And Steph, I can’t wait for you to shout after me, “SCHNOOKIE MCCROTCH!” when we’re at the draft.
I am so glad there isn’t any liquid anywhere near me right now.
Steph, that would just be fabu.
Schnookie, *gigglesnort* Remember, you’re there to chaperon Vinny and I. Or something like that.
My mom is giving me a whole list of “Mags’ defining characteristics”, but they’re all awful! Gee mom, didn’t know you felt that way!
And you should be forewarned, Steph, that when we meet in person I fully intend to bellow across a crowded public space something to the effect of “You can TY me to your bed”. I figure you wouldn’t want it any other way.
Schnookie McCrotch is fantastic!
Sometimes, when I’m going incognito, I’ll answer to the ever-so-smooth moniker, Holden McGroine.
Meanwhile you’ll all be able to tell who I am because I seem to lack any sort of introversion and when I see you I will yelp your name and chase after you with signs.
Oh, that sounds like a fabulous way to cure my planned hangover!
I figure you wouldn’t want it any other way.
I forsee this quickly escalating into no one else wanting to hang out anywhere near us all weekend long.
My mom is giving me a whole list of “Mags’ defining characteristics”, but they’re all awful! Gee mom, didn’t know you felt that way!
Heh. I don’t need my mom to tell me my unpleasant defining characteristics. I frequently passhole-aggresshole my need for affirmation by saying stuff like, “I don’t know why you put up with me,” and she’ll respond with, “I don’t either.”
I forsee this quickly escalating into no one else wanting to hang out anywhere near us all weekend long.
Oh I’d hang out with you. But I don’t think I’d be much fun because I’d be rolling around somewhere laughing my ass off most of the time.
Also, Schnookie if you remind me really nicely before I head out, I’ll even bring that sign with me.
Schnookie, she finished off the list with “why are you looking so anguished! If you tell them you’re a horrible person it can only get better from there!”. I don’t think it occurred to her that if I sound horrible no one will hang out with me to begin with.
I forsee this quickly escalating into no one else wanting to hang out anywhere near us all weekend long.
You just described every weekend of my life!
I forsee this quickly escalating into no one else wanting to hang out anywhere near us all weekend long.
IPB Ottawa ’08 is shaping up nicely already!
IPB Ottawa ‘08 is shaping up nicely already!
Does this mean that Lucille is coming, Andrew?
Who’s this “andrew”? I only know a guy named Holden McGroin.
This reminds me of when Boomer told Schnookie she should fill out the name on her college application as “Martylla Tittyrama” so she’d get in.
You know the admissions board at Amherst — they hear a name like Tittyrama and just can’t say no!
Woo-hoo! Quitting time! I’m outta here. Tonight the denizens of IPB are actually attempting to be sociable. Scary, I know. We have to get all our visits with our friends in during the summer, since we can’t hang out during the hockey season, you know.
Tonight the denizens of IPB are actually attempting to be sociable.
Well I never would’ve thought! Have fun :)
Oh hey, Earl, the Tigers are playing the Angels tonight. You’d better be planning to redeem yourself for the sad excuse for a series against Chicago!
Okay, I know in relative comment terms I’m stuck in the ice ages, but I just want to say I’m feeling pretty good about this Roy deal. It’s insane that $4 mil is the going rate for a player like Roy these days, but since it is, I’m glad the Sabres weren’t afraid to step up and pay out. He’s going to be key, and I’m pretty confident that by the end of the contract it’ll look like a deal. That being said, stop diving, dude.
Also, I just finished listening to him on the radio, and at one point he said he “kept all his eyes and ears open” around Briere and Drury. Oh my God, the kid’s an alien!
I’m sorry I missed the brush with fame stories, because I could give anyone a run for their money in the “lamest celebrity encounter” arena. I once met Wendy the Snapple lady at Chef’s in downtown Buffalo. I was about 9, and the only thing I can remember is that the ceiling was leaking on my head.
Oh, and my theater professor and adviser played Marvin Berry in Back to the Future, and is just an all around awesome guy.
Oh crap! Go Tigers!
You didn’t know that was me screwing up Colon’s arm and Santana’s confidence? This was totally in preparation for this series!
Steph, last night my mom, a casual baseball fan (read: Derek Jeter fan), was watching the Yankees game, and I sort of casually asked about whether they ever play the Tigers. She was very suspicious.
Wow, you can do all that? This better mean you’re upping your debilitating magic to use on Saunders so PitchyCrunchy can nail a win tomorrow.
Steph, last night my mom, a casual baseball fan (read: Derek Jeter fan), was watching the Yankees game, and I sort of casually asked about whether they ever play the Tigers. She was very suspicious.
Aw! They do indeed play the Yankees – in fact I just entered some drawing that if by a bizarre miracle I win will send me out to see them play in NY. I am not sure this would actually be at all worthwhile though, as I might not come back alive.
Oh Steph, you should totally borrow the lucky green shirt–that thing’s absolutely money when it comes to lotteries and games of chance!
I’d screw up Saunders’ arm too, except I think it only works on pitchers that I’ve heard of.
as I might not come back alive.
I came out of a NYY vs Red Sox game alive. So who knows!
Does this have to be your one specific green shirt, or will it start working if I procure one of my own so long as you sanction it?
And honestly I’ve never heard of Saunders either – I just know that the Tigers’ website says he’s a lefty trying to crack the lineup and therefore he is basically the Angels’ PitchyCrunchy and must fail.
he is basically the Angels’ PitchyCrunchy and must fail.
Totally. I only have mojo for one PitchyCrunchy.
I don’t really understand the rules of the green shirt myself–it’s probable that it’s just me that’s lucky and I just try to associate it with things at hand. For instance I lost my lucky hat in G1 of the VAN series thanks to a McDonald hat trick, and braced myself for the inevitable luck swing but it never came.
But I still would encourage you to wear a green shirt (I’ll sanction this) for times when you want to be lucky. It certainly hasn’t proven to be unlucky…
Hmm, then it’s decided, tomorrow I will wear green for PitchyCrunchy. Your cheering seems to help, so I might as well try your shirt method as well.
Yeah, in looking down at the lucky green shirt (which “luckily” enough I’m wearing today), you probably want to get one of your own. Mine kind of says “Anaheim” across the front, but I’ll make sure to change before gametime.
“Does this mean that Lucille is coming, Andrew?”
She’ll be there in all her lusty glory.
And just to chime in, I decided some time ago that I don’t really believe in luck…at least when sports are concerned. Makes my life a little less stressfull. At least in one area.
Oh, see, I don’t know about believing in luck, but I sure cite it a lot. I find that drinking is better for relieving stress than any belief or nonbelief, though. If you drink enough, you can believe in anything!
Mine kind of says “Anaheim” across the front, but I’ll make sure to change before gametime.
Hmmm yeah that might test even the power of the green shirt.
But thanks to A-Oil, I do have an alternative: “Green shirts are for Pimps!”
I know someone mentioned seeing a guy on a recumbent bike the other day and saw a make your own one. This bike looks comfy enough to actually use!
Mmmm, comfy.
Okay so I come back just when everybody’s gone. Don’t tell me you guys actually have lives on a Friday night :P
I just came back from an enlightened dinner with my grandmother. If you thought MamaScarlett was passive-aggressive…
Oh Sherry, don’t worry we were both abandoned. Something doesn’t feel right when there’s no comment activity.
Genna, I agree. It’s like it’s a ghost IPB.
Don’t they know the offseason is bad enough! Then they have to go get a social life and what not. Damn you Ookies!
Exactly! Who needs a social life when there’s IPB? :P
I’m another one without a social life hee hee…although I do have to work in the early am but really that’s just a bad excuse :p
Are there people? Because if there are people I will feel less bad about exploding all over IPB with WHAT ARE THE TIGERS DOING? and SLEEK NEEDS TO RECONSIDER HIS CHEERING TECHNIQUES.
However, the pregame bit where PitchyCrunchy was (horribly poorly) doing Simpson’s impressions might have made it all okay.
I check in from time to time, I don’t follow baseball but you can rant all you want.