It was nice watching you but you know that things were going sour. Especially once you lost, it was hard not to notice that other exciting Spanish team. You know... the one in the ugly colours. I was already thinking of adding Barcelona into the ever growing group of teams that I've been watching... Of course winning that Champions League title over a certain English team with a certain whiner on it, helped a lot. I wasn't ready to give you up but then something happened...
Something truly awful involving the aforementioned whiner.
YOU'RE GOING TO GET HIM?!!!!!!!!!!! HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET HIM? AND WHY THE HELL DID YOU GET HIM?! WHY? WHY? WHY? DAMN YOU REAL MADRID AND DAMN YOU CRISTIANO RONALDO!
Seriously. It's over Real Madrid. I can't watch or cheer for you anymore. Sorry.
And I will still hate Man U. Goes with liking Liverpool =)
Make it seven! No wait, make it five....?
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
So you've probably heard of the Make It Seven campaign. Which is to bring another franchise (hello Phoenix) to Canada and thereby upping our total of NHL teams to seven. But why seven? That would be implying that we have six NHL teams now. Let's see... Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary. That seems like five to me... Oh right... Toronto allegedly has a team. Right. Well, there's now a campaign to send the Leafs to the AHL. Have a look for yourself *g*
Anyway... the rumor mills are spewing "Heatley Wants Out" rumors. As long as he ends up on the other side of the continent, then I'm a happy person. Now if we could just find someone to take the whole darn team, I'll be a really happy person. Barring that, I'll settle for rehiring Hartsburg instead of Clouston. I had more fun when Hartsburg was in. And speaking of Ottawa and goalie problems, the Flyers signed Ray Emery!
Anyway... the rumor mills are spewing "Heatley Wants Out" rumors. As long as he ends up on the other side of the continent, then I'm a happy person. Now if we could just find someone to take the whole darn team, I'll be a really happy person. Barring that, I'll settle for rehiring Hartsburg instead of Clouston. I had more fun when Hartsburg was in. And speaking of Ottawa and goalie problems, the Flyers signed Ray Emery!
All I can say is... Poor Squeaky Marty....
Perky Roger time!
Yeah, back to tennis. I hate hockey right now. But anyway, I found this really awesome interview with Roger when he was just starting out as a pro. He must've been like, 19 or something.
With the wonderful benefit of hindsight, it's kind of funny to watch this actually. Of particular interest to me where the bits were he said he got compared to Anna Kournikova because he hadn't won a title, he didn't think it was possible for another player to come along and dominate the game like Sampras did, he hoped to be number one one day and where he said he wanted to win a Grand Slam. "Maybe Wimbledon because it's my favorite one or maybe the US Open once".
Once? ONCE? How about FIVE times? Oh and let's throw in five Wimbledon titles, three Australian Open titles and the French Open too. As for that number one bit... yeah.... you were only number one for 237 CONSECUTIVE weeks. Now maybe I'm wrong here but to me, that sounds like a guy who's completely dominated the tour. But of course itty bitty 19 year old Roger wouldn't known that =p At least he's not being compared to Anna Kournikova anymore....
With the wonderful benefit of hindsight, it's kind of funny to watch this actually. Of particular interest to me where the bits were he said he got compared to Anna Kournikova because he hadn't won a title, he didn't think it was possible for another player to come along and dominate the game like Sampras did, he hoped to be number one one day and where he said he wanted to win a Grand Slam. "Maybe Wimbledon because it's my favorite one or maybe the US Open once".
Once? ONCE? How about FIVE times? Oh and let's throw in five Wimbledon titles, three Australian Open titles and the French Open too. As for that number one bit... yeah.... you were only number one for 237 CONSECUTIVE weeks. Now maybe I'm wrong here but to me, that sounds like a guy who's completely dominated the tour. But of course itty bitty 19 year old Roger wouldn't known that =p At least he's not being compared to Anna Kournikova anymore....
Imagining the Stanley Cup....
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
In my wonderfully emotional state today, I was actually imagining what it was like to watch that final between Montreal and LA. Given the date and my frame of mind, you can't blame me too much for wondering what it would've been like to see the Canadiens holding the Cup. It was pretty easy to imagine actually...
While the Wings and the Pens took to the ice, I was imagining that I was watching that final between my Habs and the LA Kings. I imagined that the butterflies I was feeling right then for the Wings would've probably been about ten times worse as I watched les boys take to the ice of the Forum. Instead of seeing Lidstrom, Datsyuk and Osgood out there, I would've been watching guys like Carbonneau, Savard, Roy taking to the ice. Heck was that really Breezer and Schneider out there too? Instead of Mike Babcock standing behind my guys, Jacques Demers would have been standing there. Instead of boring Dan Byslma I would have seen.... Barry Melrose? For real? These two guys? Maybe the reality of Babcock and Byslma currently behind the benches at Mellon Arena was a little easier to take.
I'm sure a billion thoughts would have been racing through my mind at that point as the refs were about to drop the puck in the Forum. First there would have been the immediate thoughts: Can we actually win this game? Can we seriously close out the series and win the Stanley Cup by beating the Kings? Would I actually be watching the Canadiens carry the Cup tonight? I would've run down the other games in my mind too just to remind myself just who it was that had a 3-1 series lead.
Of course that horrendously awful game one drubbing would've come to mind. The Great One would've definitely have bugged me much like the Anointed One continues to do now. I would've particularly remembered how it was Breezer who had caused a turnover that would've put the game out of our reach (some things, they just don't change, do they?).
Game two would've been remembered for that whole illegal curve thing with McSorely's stick. I would have probably have thought that Demers was insane for 1) asking to have the stick checked in the first place and 2) pulling Roy. I would've probably bitten my fingers with anticipation until finally! Desjardins scores! We're tied, baby! And then just like that, only 51 seconds into OT, Desjardins would score again, sending the Forum crowd, previously totally silent with the prospect of their team going down two games to nil heading back to LA, would've gone ballistic. It would've been insane. Would I have been able to sleep that night? Doubtful. I would've literally dreamed about Desjardins goals after replaying them in my mind for the rest of the night.
Games three and four would've been long, long nights. The cheering after the quick leads, only to be replaced with finger biting and screaming as the Kings fought back to force OT.... and then the elation as John Leclaire would score both OT winners to bring us back to Montreal again. Back for a chance to see our guys carrying the Cup.
Those OT winners in particular would've been fresh in my mind as the puck dropped in Game 5. I would've remembered to try to stay calm no matter what lead we took tonight. Goals can be scored and leads can turn into ties. Ties can be broken by the right team or the wrong team. We needed to play a full and complete game. We needed to win this one at here at home. We needed to send the Kings back to California. Let Kings have the Great One if they wanted him. We were going to win this one. We weren't supposed to be here but now that we were here, we sure as hell weren't going to lose to the Kings.
There would've been cheers that you could probably hear across the entire island as Paul DiPietro scored the first goal. Then there would've been finger biting again as both teams came close to scoring again. Would I have cheered on Roy like I cheered on Price and Halak as he made a save? Of course. Roy would've been my goalie. The end of the first period would've been the most wonderful thing ever. I would have had a chance to relax my tense muscles, try to calm down my frayed nerves. Maybe throw in a jibe or two at the Great One as well. Dissing the enemy was a great way to stave off the thoughts that the opposition could still score.
Period two would not get off to a good start. Marty McSorely with his now perfectly legal stick would've beaten Roy. Tied game. But before we could all moan too much about it, we'd get the goal right back. A much younger looking Kirk Muller than the guy I remember seeing behind the Habs bench last year, would've scored just 71 seconds later. There would have been a "thank the hockey gods!" prayer followed by more finger biting. Could we hold this lead? Could we actually win? We were winning now. But leads meant nothing before.... OH GOAL! Stephan Lebeau would score on the powerplay. Maybe I would've fallen off my chair at that point as I screamed with joy. Or maybe that would come a little more than half way through the third period when Paul DiPietro would give us what would turn out to be our last goal of the game to make it 4-1. FOUR TO ONE. Just under eight minutes to go. Could the Kings score 3 goals in that amount of time? Anything was possible, but was it probable? The Kings would've looked dejected by now. The Habs would've tasted blood and knew victory was in their grasp.
The remaining time would've been agonizingly slow. Every shot that came near Roy would've had everyone ducking for cover. Nobody wanted to see the Kings score. Not now. We needed our win. We needed the Stanley Cup. Finally, the last minute would've arrived. I would've counted down the seconds. 60 seconds..... 30 seconds.... 10..... 5.... 4...3...2...1. WE WON! There would've been even more shouting. Even more jumping up and down. Hugging too perhaps. It would've just been a blur of noise and total elation.
The Canadiens had just won their 24th Stanley Cup. WE WON. Not those Penguins who were supposed to come into these playoffs as the favorites and had gotten booted out in 7 games by the Islanders. Not the hated Nordiques. Not those pesky Islanders themselves who had taken out Mario Lemieux and co (I'm pretty certain that Lemieux would've annoyed me almost as much as the Great One). And definitely not the still highly touted Great One and his band of desert followers. No. WE WON. The Montreal Canadiens won.
I would've watched Carbonneau take the Cup. I would've seen the other guys, Muller, Schneider, Breezer and Roy hold it. Nobody would have cared too much at that moment that Roy had won the Conn Smythe trophy too. Sure it was nice. Sure he deserved it, but we would've watched him carrying the Stanley Cup around the Forum. I probably would have spared a small thought for the Great One but just a small one. And it would've been a "Hah!" type of thought anyway. Not particularly mature but someone had to win it and I was watching MY boys carry the Cup.
This time sixteen years ago we would have probably still been jumping up and down. We would've been talking about the game, the series, the playoffs and the season. We would've been talking about how we never expected to see it happen - but it did. We won. And we would've heard about the rioting... oh.... the rioting.......
Of course this was the point where the day dream faded away and I once again saw Sidney Crosby instead of Wayne Gretzky on the ice. Osgood replaced Roy. Instead of Breezer plays, I got Rafalski plays. Carbonneau, who I probably would have liked as a player, faded away to be replaced with Lidstrom. Babcock was back and was looking angry. Melrose's antics were replaced with boring Bylsma. Thanks to Kennedy, the Pens will be heading back to Detroit for game seven. On Friday night, one way or another, someone is walking out with the Stanley Cup. Another season over. The sixteenth now since Les Boys brought it home.
Maybe if I'm in the right frame of mind I can imagine the goalie holding the Cup on Friday is Roy or maybe even Price. Maybe for a split second I can see my Habs holding the Cup. I'm looking forward to the day when I don't have to imagine what it will be like to see my team win because like it or not, I will be there when they win. I will get to see them raise their 25th Stanley Cup.
[and maybe I should stop writing things at 2 o'clock in the morning... hmm... ]
While the Wings and the Pens took to the ice, I was imagining that I was watching that final between my Habs and the LA Kings. I imagined that the butterflies I was feeling right then for the Wings would've probably been about ten times worse as I watched les boys take to the ice of the Forum. Instead of seeing Lidstrom, Datsyuk and Osgood out there, I would've been watching guys like Carbonneau, Savard, Roy taking to the ice. Heck was that really Breezer and Schneider out there too? Instead of Mike Babcock standing behind my guys, Jacques Demers would have been standing there. Instead of boring Dan Byslma I would have seen.... Barry Melrose? For real? These two guys? Maybe the reality of Babcock and Byslma currently behind the benches at Mellon Arena was a little easier to take.
I'm sure a billion thoughts would have been racing through my mind at that point as the refs were about to drop the puck in the Forum. First there would have been the immediate thoughts: Can we actually win this game? Can we seriously close out the series and win the Stanley Cup by beating the Kings? Would I actually be watching the Canadiens carry the Cup tonight? I would've run down the other games in my mind too just to remind myself just who it was that had a 3-1 series lead.
Of course that horrendously awful game one drubbing would've come to mind. The Great One would've definitely have bugged me much like the Anointed One continues to do now. I would've particularly remembered how it was Breezer who had caused a turnover that would've put the game out of our reach (some things, they just don't change, do they?).
Game two would've been remembered for that whole illegal curve thing with McSorely's stick. I would have probably have thought that Demers was insane for 1) asking to have the stick checked in the first place and 2) pulling Roy. I would've probably bitten my fingers with anticipation until finally! Desjardins scores! We're tied, baby! And then just like that, only 51 seconds into OT, Desjardins would score again, sending the Forum crowd, previously totally silent with the prospect of their team going down two games to nil heading back to LA, would've gone ballistic. It would've been insane. Would I have been able to sleep that night? Doubtful. I would've literally dreamed about Desjardins goals after replaying them in my mind for the rest of the night.
Games three and four would've been long, long nights. The cheering after the quick leads, only to be replaced with finger biting and screaming as the Kings fought back to force OT.... and then the elation as John Leclaire would score both OT winners to bring us back to Montreal again. Back for a chance to see our guys carrying the Cup.
Those OT winners in particular would've been fresh in my mind as the puck dropped in Game 5. I would've remembered to try to stay calm no matter what lead we took tonight. Goals can be scored and leads can turn into ties. Ties can be broken by the right team or the wrong team. We needed to play a full and complete game. We needed to win this one at here at home. We needed to send the Kings back to California. Let Kings have the Great One if they wanted him. We were going to win this one. We weren't supposed to be here but now that we were here, we sure as hell weren't going to lose to the Kings.
There would've been cheers that you could probably hear across the entire island as Paul DiPietro scored the first goal. Then there would've been finger biting again as both teams came close to scoring again. Would I have cheered on Roy like I cheered on Price and Halak as he made a save? Of course. Roy would've been my goalie. The end of the first period would've been the most wonderful thing ever. I would have had a chance to relax my tense muscles, try to calm down my frayed nerves. Maybe throw in a jibe or two at the Great One as well. Dissing the enemy was a great way to stave off the thoughts that the opposition could still score.
Period two would not get off to a good start. Marty McSorely with his now perfectly legal stick would've beaten Roy. Tied game. But before we could all moan too much about it, we'd get the goal right back. A much younger looking Kirk Muller than the guy I remember seeing behind the Habs bench last year, would've scored just 71 seconds later. There would have been a "thank the hockey gods!" prayer followed by more finger biting. Could we hold this lead? Could we actually win? We were winning now. But leads meant nothing before.... OH GOAL! Stephan Lebeau would score on the powerplay. Maybe I would've fallen off my chair at that point as I screamed with joy. Or maybe that would come a little more than half way through the third period when Paul DiPietro would give us what would turn out to be our last goal of the game to make it 4-1. FOUR TO ONE. Just under eight minutes to go. Could the Kings score 3 goals in that amount of time? Anything was possible, but was it probable? The Kings would've looked dejected by now. The Habs would've tasted blood and knew victory was in their grasp.
The remaining time would've been agonizingly slow. Every shot that came near Roy would've had everyone ducking for cover. Nobody wanted to see the Kings score. Not now. We needed our win. We needed the Stanley Cup. Finally, the last minute would've arrived. I would've counted down the seconds. 60 seconds..... 30 seconds.... 10..... 5.... 4...3...2...1. WE WON! There would've been even more shouting. Even more jumping up and down. Hugging too perhaps. It would've just been a blur of noise and total elation.
The Canadiens had just won their 24th Stanley Cup. WE WON. Not those Penguins who were supposed to come into these playoffs as the favorites and had gotten booted out in 7 games by the Islanders. Not the hated Nordiques. Not those pesky Islanders themselves who had taken out Mario Lemieux and co (I'm pretty certain that Lemieux would've annoyed me almost as much as the Great One). And definitely not the still highly touted Great One and his band of desert followers. No. WE WON. The Montreal Canadiens won.
I would've watched Carbonneau take the Cup. I would've seen the other guys, Muller, Schneider, Breezer and Roy hold it. Nobody would have cared too much at that moment that Roy had won the Conn Smythe trophy too. Sure it was nice. Sure he deserved it, but we would've watched him carrying the Stanley Cup around the Forum. I probably would have spared a small thought for the Great One but just a small one. And it would've been a "Hah!" type of thought anyway. Not particularly mature but someone had to win it and I was watching MY boys carry the Cup.
This time sixteen years ago we would have probably still been jumping up and down. We would've been talking about the game, the series, the playoffs and the season. We would've been talking about how we never expected to see it happen - but it did. We won. And we would've heard about the rioting... oh.... the rioting.......
Of course this was the point where the day dream faded away and I once again saw Sidney Crosby instead of Wayne Gretzky on the ice. Osgood replaced Roy. Instead of Breezer plays, I got Rafalski plays. Carbonneau, who I probably would have liked as a player, faded away to be replaced with Lidstrom. Babcock was back and was looking angry. Melrose's antics were replaced with boring Bylsma. Thanks to Kennedy, the Pens will be heading back to Detroit for game seven. On Friday night, one way or another, someone is walking out with the Stanley Cup. Another season over. The sixteenth now since Les Boys brought it home.
Maybe if I'm in the right frame of mind I can imagine the goalie holding the Cup on Friday is Roy or maybe even Price. Maybe for a split second I can see my Habs holding the Cup. I'm looking forward to the day when I don't have to imagine what it will be like to see my team win because like it or not, I will be there when they win. I will get to see them raise their 25th Stanley Cup.
[and maybe I should stop writing things at 2 o'clock in the morning... hmm... ]
Exactly 16 years ago....
Thanks to Kyle for reminding me of this. Actually, I didn't even know the exact date of their win. I'm bad, I know.
I've never ever seen this before. I've seen footage of the guys immediately after winning but that was it. I'll be honest and say I'm in flipping tears here watching this. I'm pretty emotional right now anyway so I'll just chalk it up to that.... and not... I dunno... the thought that this is the closest I might ever come to seeing my team win the Stanley Cup....Oh hell I need to go find a tissue right now...
I've never ever seen this before. I've seen footage of the guys immediately after winning but that was it. I'll be honest and say I'm in flipping tears here watching this. I'm pretty emotional right now anyway so I'll just chalk it up to that.... and not... I dunno... the thought that this is the closest I might ever come to seeing my team win the Stanley Cup....Oh hell I need to go find a tissue right now...
Burritos vs tomatoes and olives
[with Roger's win, I can now go back to angsting about the Wings]
So the coach of the Puffles thinks that eating a Ancho Chile BBQ Burrito before games has actually helped his team win and that by eating one today, he will ensure a victory for the Puffles?
Apparently he doesn't know that every time *I* eat tomatoes and olives the Wings win.
Really. Throughout the entire Wings/Hawks series I ate tomatoes and olives except for game 3 where the Hawks won in OT and look what happened. Actually, I had to stop eating them before the finals, because the olives really had too much salt in them, but I have since learned that the house has been filled with tomatoes and olives again. Huzzah!
So we'll just have to see who's food propels their team to victory. And don't worry.. if it appears that my tomatoes and olives aren't doing the trick, I've always got plan B: cheer for the Pens. Worked like a charm last year when I cheered for them and they lost. And if that fails, I have plan C: voodoo dolls. Seriously, Bylsma's attempt at some good mojo has nothing on me and my cursing abilities. Nothing.
So the coach of the Puffles thinks that eating a Ancho Chile BBQ Burrito before games has actually helped his team win and that by eating one today, he will ensure a victory for the Puffles?
Apparently he doesn't know that every time *I* eat tomatoes and olives the Wings win.
Really. Throughout the entire Wings/Hawks series I ate tomatoes and olives except for game 3 where the Hawks won in OT and look what happened. Actually, I had to stop eating them before the finals, because the olives really had too much salt in them, but I have since learned that the house has been filled with tomatoes and olives again. Huzzah!
So we'll just have to see who's food propels their team to victory. And don't worry.. if it appears that my tomatoes and olives aren't doing the trick, I've always got plan B: cheer for the Pens. Worked like a charm last year when I cheered for them and they lost. And if that fails, I have plan C: voodoo dolls. Seriously, Bylsma's attempt at some good mojo has nothing on me and my cursing abilities. Nothing.
Roger is better on clay than Rafa?!
Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
Roger
Monte Carlo (RD16) - 90 points
Rome (S) - 360 points
Madrid (W)- 1000 points
Roland Garros (W)- 2000 points
Total: 3450
Rafa
Monte Carlo (W) - 1000 points
Barcelona (W) - 500 points
Rome (W) - 1000 points
Madrid (F) - 600 points
Roland Garros (RD16) - 180 points
Total: 3280
Okay, so really Rafa really is better than Roger on clay. He's won more tournaments this year (mind you, he did play one more than Roger and he beat Ferrer in Barcelona). But Roger did beat him at Madrid and Roger won the most important event on clay. But for this year, by virtue of his win at Roland Garros, he is the better one on clay. Sorry Rafa....
One last thing about Roger...
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Found this Netjet commercial. I think this is so cute and funny =)
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