Although it's over a week old, I just read a wonderful article about Mike "Doc" Emrick, who is widely considered the Voice of the NHL. Growing up in North Jersey, I listened to Mike Emrick on a regular basis, since he has been the play-by-play voice of the New Jersey Devils for as long as I can remember. Much like John Sterling with a Yankees baseball game, I simply associate Emrick with the sound of a hockey game.
But unlike Sterling, my admiration for Emrick isn't based in mere nostalgia or a sense of entertainment. It's because Mike Emrick is damn good at what he does. I think Sam Flood, the executive producer of NBC Sports and VERSUS, put it best:
"No one calls a hockey game better, no one paints a better picture, and no one is better at building up a moment. He is the voice of hockey in this country, and as talented a play-by-play guy as there is in any sport."
With the Atlanta Thrashers announcing today that they will be moving to Winnepeg, I figured it was a good time to bring out a relocation trivia questions--here they are:
The Thrashers will be the 10th NHL franchise in the to relocate (actually move, not move arenas within a city) in the modern era (since 1976). Who were the other 9*?
Bonus #1: 13 Major League Baseball teams have relocated--can you name them?
Bonus #2: 13 National Football League teams have relocated--can you name them?
Bonus #3: 20 National Basketball Association teams have permanently relocated--who are they? (the New Orleans Hornets did temporarily during Hurricaine Katrina but I left them out).
Put your answers in the comments below. Good luck**.
*Side Note: Not among the 9 you need to name is the San Jose Sharks who were an expansion team but basically split off from another NHL franchise in one of the oddest sports stories ever where the Sharks were allowed two drafts--a dispersal draft and an expansion draft. Thought the dispersal draft wasn't really a dispersal draft but a reverse merger of a professional franchise. Seriously, this happened.
After I got home from Madison Square Garden last night, I realized I forgot to post a "View from the Seats" on the blog. But you aren't missing much (that doesn't mean I wasn't appreciative for the tickets, though, so thanks to Ben W and Glenn). The Rangers lost 3-1 last night to the Pittsburgh Penguins and playing one of the top teams in the NHL showed the Rangers weakness: they don't have enough difference makers. That doesn't mean they don't have a good core--Brandon Dubinsky, Ryan Callahan, Henrik Lundqvist and Marc Staal make up a pretty great young core--but they don't have players who you rely on to finish.
Sean Avery's Rangers couldn't get the puck into the net last night (WaPo)
Brandon Dubinsky leads the team with 12 goals, Brian Boyle has somehow notched 10 (considering he generally seems to have bad hands), and Marian Gaborik has 5 despite only playing in 13 games, but with the game on the line, there's few guys you want to stop from getting the puck. I admit that I haven't watched as much Rangers hockey as I usually do, but watching the Rangers gameplan for Sidney Crosby (who should have been ejected for a slew-foot and I think has cemented his place as the most hated opposing player in the NHL) and Evgeni Malkin made me realize the Rangers need to find a way to develop more scorers. Maybe a guy like Derek Stepan (6 goals) or Artem Anisimov (7 goals) develops into that sniper, but right now, who from the Rangers really scares the opposition besides Dubi and Gaborik?
The real problem is that the Rangers have been killed in free agency and did the right thing this year going with lesser cost moves to try to fill holes. Unfortunately, guys like Ruslan Fedotenko, Alexander Frolov (who The Blueshirts Blog points out got 1:37 of icetime in the 3rd period last night) and Todd White haven't produced for the Rangers. Ditto Sean Avery, who is stuck at 1 goal on the season. If you're going to have a team that has problems finishing, you need to be dynamtie on defense and the Rangers last night showed they have way too many lapses there. Michael Del Zotto (who has developed into quite a good player despite his propensity to miss the net) made a great defensive play coming back but besides D-Z, no one really looked overly fast or overly skilled which is not good when you're not putting the puck in the back of the net.
In baseball, there is a such thing as an unearned run. It's a run that not the pitcher's fault because some player on his team made an error. Errors themselves are not exactly cut and dry: "could the player have caught the ball?", "did they touch the ball?" and "is this a catch you expect the player to make?" are all questions asked before an official scorer gives an "E" or a hit. I think this is a great way of figuring out the true performance of a pitcher. While the pitcher should be expected to hunker down and not let runners score even when an error is made, the fact that a run resulted from that error can't always be seen as a pitcher's fault. Here's a few other statistics in sports that need to be changed among the same principal idea:
Eli Manning's numbers would look a lot better if tINTs were taken out (WSJ)
NFL -- The Tipped Interception: Eli Manning has had a really good season overall. He has the 5th-most passing yards in the league and is tied for Phillip Rivers for the most passing touchdowns...but he has 13 interceptions to 19 touchdowns, a pretty bad ratio for someone considered an "elite" quarterback. Those 13 INTs put him second-worst in the league to Brett Favre. But anyone who has watched the Giants this season know that Eli Manning didn't truly throw 13 INTs--over half (the Wall Street Journal says at least seven) of those were balls that were either tipped or went through the hands of a receiver right into the arms of a waiting defensive back. Tom Coughlin calls it a "damn plague". In my opinion, those types of picks need to be separated from the chuck-em-up-into-a-crowd INTs (which Manning will throw some of as well). My proposal? A tINT stat that measures the amount of balls that were tipped for INTs. Now balls that the QB threw horribly, a receiver gets his fingertips on and is intercepted by the defense doesn't count here (some of it will take a scorekeeper's ruling like an error), but this will help separate real INTs from the Tipped Interceptions.
MLB -- Team Errors. I know we already have the unearned run in baseball, but we need the team error as well. A pop up to shallow right has the right fielder, second baseman and first baseman all racing for it. All 3 get there but then they look at each other as the ball falls to the ground. No one touched it so no one can be charged with an error, but is this truly the pitcher's fault? No. This should go as an error as well. E-Team. It is totally ridiculous that a player usually has to touch the ball to get an error (mostly in the outfield) since many of the time the issue is that the player doesn't touch the ball. If a player should have caught it but there really is no one to give the error to, just give it to the whole goddamn team. It's totally ridiculous that the announcers blame the ball for falling into the "Bermuda Triangle" when it really just falls in between a bunch of fielders who should have caught it. E-Team.
It's been a long, long time since I blogged about the New York Rangers. A few thoughts: I've generally liked their off-season moves (especially the fact they haven't felt tempted to go out and sign another casual top clogging player). I still don't understand why Marc Staal hasn't signed yet (and it seems he can't figure that out either and is still waiting for an offer sheet). I also can't get why Glen Sather still has a job but when the other Madison Square Garden team owned by James Dolan has a schoolgirl-like flirtation with Isiah Thomas, it makes a little more sense why Sather still is able to have his job--though it doesn't make any Ranger fan more appreciative.
Rod Gilbert was an odd person to leave off the list (SI)
Today, though, I don't want to talk about the Rangers off-season or preview their upcoming season, I want to talk about the Rangers Mount Puckmore, a series on Yahoo!'s Puck Daddy that has been coming up with the four most important people in each NHL organization. Jim Schmiedeberg of Blueshirt Banter compiled the list for the Rangers edition, and while he probably is much more knowledgeable about the Rangers, I have to quibble with one selection. While Brian Leetch and Mark Messier are no brainers, and I can understand the selection of Frank Boucher, I'm not a fan of selecting Jamomir Jagr to the New York Rangers Mount Puckmore over guys like Rod Gilbert, Jean Ratelle, Eddie Giacomin, Mike Richter, Adam Graves or Brad Park.
First of all, Jagr played all of 3 1/2 seasons in New York, and put up gaudy numbers in a time when every hockey player should have been putting up large totals thanks to the new rules after the NHL lockout. Rod Gilbert played parts of 18 seasons with the Rangers and would seem like a much more deserving choice. Here's one knock against Gilbert: he never scored 100 points. Guess what? No one did back then! According to Hockey-Reference's Play Index, from 1963-1977 only 20 guys scored 100 points. In the three full years that Jagr was on the Rangers, 11 other guys did it. And if one season of high marks gets you in, then Adam Graves 50 goal season at the beginning of the neutral zone trap phase should have gotten him.
As I've discussed previously on this blog, the Hartford Whalers hold a very special place in my heart. Although I grew up as a Devils fan in New Jersey, I went to tons of Whalers games with my grandfather (a longtime season ticket holder), so I certainly felt like a part of the Whalers family. And here's the kicker -- the team's gritty captain, Kevin Dineen, has Crohn's Disease just like me! Plus, he used to emcee the charity golf tournament that my grandparents helped run in Simsbury each year to raise money for the CCFA. Needless to say, I was devastated when he and the rest of the Whalers left for North Carolina in 1997.
I wasn't alone in my heartbreak. After living in Hartford and West Hartford for the last four years, I have found that people are still obsessed with The Whale around here. Whenever my Brass Bonanza ringtone goes off, I'll notice a knowing smile from someone around me. Whenever I wear my Dineen jersey or any of my various t-shirts and hoodies featuring one of the best logos ever, I inevitably get high-fives and a "Let's Go Whale!" cheer from passersby. Since I'm used to my spoiled peers (a.k.a. Yankees, Giants, Devils, and Nets fans), it is incredibly inspiring to see such passion from such a small market, especially about a now-defunct team that won only 1 NHL division title in 27 years!
Deadspin wrote a tongue-in-cheek blog post congratulating the NHL for "growing a pair" by putting the kabosh on the deal. And truth be told, as Barry Petchesky wrote, the league's effort is admirable. Clearly, the Devils purposely structured the contract to circumvent the CBA and minimize its annual salary cap hit. Clever. Let's take a look at what the Devils did, courtesy of Petchesky's handy math:
On a snowy February day, Paul is back with another guest post. Paul "likes" include Joba-to-the-'pen, college sports, beating the Red Sox, classic rock concerts and hot cocoa K-cups. His "dislikes" include "clowns" (such as Johnny Damon), the New England Patriots, and the UConn Huskies. When bad things occur, Paul's signature phrase, "BRUTAL!", comes flying out. With that all in mind, let's get to Paul's guest post.
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As the very dull month of February is coming to a close (yay!), I figure it’s a good time to review and rank all the months of year based on a combination of sports enjoyment and life in general. For instance, August is a dull month in sports but I can’t rank it last since the weather is great. Below is my list, best to worst:
1) October – Easily my favorite month of the year; baseball playoffs, NFL and college football are in full swing. Also there is fall foliage here in the Northeast and the weather is cool and very comfortable. It’s a very festive time of year with Halloween, craft fairs, pumpkin coffee/muffins/ice cream/beer, etc.. Heck, even Bill Simmons mentions why October is his favorite month
2) March – This choice is here based more on location. It follows the worst month of they year (see below). March has "March Madness", of course, which I love as a college hoop fan. In addition to the tournament itself, the conference tournament week is sometimes even more exciting. I don’t watch spring training closely but the official return of baseball happens this month. Now March has daylight savings back with more daylight due to a change a few years ago (what a great idea, by the way). The feeling I get in this month is that spring is finally coming after a long winter!
3) December – I know it’s a cold wintery month, but we have the holidays to enjoy/stress out about. From a sports point of view, there is a lot going on including NFL regular season wind down and the start of college bowl games. College hoops starts to get in full swing, also.
In case you haven't noticed, and judging by the subject matter of this blog you haven't, the NHL is back and its ratings are threatening to climb out of the cellar. (H/T Harry Doyle)
One of the surprise stories so far in the 2009-10 season has been the New Jersey Devils. After suffering one of the most heartbreaking elimination-game losses in NHL history -- Martin Brodeur giving up the game-tying and game-winning goals within the last 1:20 of the 3rd period in Game 7 of the first round series -- the Devils have bounced back in a huge way.
They stand at 13-4-0, which is good enough for the 3rd best record in the NHL (despite having played 1, 2, or 3 fewer games than most of the "top 10" teams. The Devils also have a nice-sized, 2-point lead in the Atlantic, again having played 2 fewer games than the 2nd place Penguins.
Oh yeah, they're also 9-0 on the road following their convincing 4-1 win over the Penguins in Pittsburgh.
Why is this surprising? The obvious reason is that the team won the division last year by a comfortable 7 points, got a 3-seed against Carolina with home ice advantage, and lost the series when arguably the best goalie in hockey history mailed in one of the worst choke acts in hockey history. So yeah, it's tough to come back from that.
But even more surprising is the glut of personnel changes that have altered the face of the team. Former Stanley Cup winners Brendan Shanahan and Bobby Holik? Gone. Former Stanley Cup winning coach Jacques Lemaire? Welcome back! John Madden and Brian Gionta, who combined for 83 points last year? Gone. Exciting new guys such as Niclas Bergfors and David Clarkson? Welcome to New Jersey!
Injuries have also wracked the Devils. Patrik Elias and Brian Rolston have missed time. So have Johnny Oduya (extremely underrated defenseman in last year's regular season) and Jay Pandolfo (great name).
But as Scott Burnside points out, Lemaire is the right personality for this team at this time. He's been in NJ before and won a Cup there in 1995. He can rebuild a team that lost some big leaders and point scorers. He's got more experience than Brent Sutter, even if he's a little less fiery with the pregame talks. And you know what? He's off to a hell of a start. So many changes have happened in Newark, but he has the team poised to establish a new core of talent. And like we've known for the last 16 years (!!) we still have Marty Brodeur in net. And his Game 7 performance earlier this year notwithstanding, there's nobody I'd rather have between the pipes in a big game. In that way, he's like the Mariano Rivera of hockey - the ageless wonder, the guy who (99% of the time) comes through in pressure situations, the guy who always represents the ace-up-the-sleeve that your team has and the opponent does not. I challenge you to find a player on some other team in some other sport who is more like The Great Mariano than Brodeur.
Anyway, before I go, I should say that since NYaT isn't a hockey blog, I better embed these here because I might never have another opportunity! Enjoy, Devils fans...
Well that wasn't very good. The refs are again killing the Rangers. Avery got two bogus calls against him. Actually, I've felt like most of the calls have gone against the Rangers in this game. Aren't you supposed to get the calls at home? Like, really, did Avery deserve an interference call? Do the refs have to make it that obvious they're targeting him for penalties? Ugh.
And regardless of the calls the Rangers aren't going to win if they don't put home rebounds. The rookie has been good in net, but he's let out rebounds. King Henrik tried his hardest but the Rangers have not been helping him out. The Rangers look slow and tired in this game. They are trying to play with Washington in this wide-open game and the Rangers are showing they're not equipped for that.
I said the Rangers needed to hit the goalie but they need to hit Ovechkin too. Finally Staal tried to at the end of the period. But after spying on their practice and being a general pest, they need to make him hurt.
Also, on a side issue. I'm having real issues seeing the game on my TV. I wonder if it's MSG or Time Warner but the picture looks really dark. Weird
Not a great period for the Rangers. They got a little unlucky when the refs didn't catch Alexander Ovechkin's stick spill some blood from Michael Roszival (it would have been 4 minutes) and it's amazing with two referees and two linesmen on the ice that no one noticed it. They got extremely unlucky when Ryan Callahan's shot went from one post to the other and somehow didn't go in. And that led directly to the 2nd goal. It would have been 1-1 and instead, it's now 2-0.
The Rangers have played a lot of this series in the defensive end and this game it's been especially glaring. The Rangers, in my opinion, need to take a run at the rookie goalie or give him a little nudge over from in front of the net and try to rattle him. He is too comfortable when those shots come through and they need to pounce on rebounds when they come out. Sort of like Callahan did, but actually score.
1) The Rangers are up 2-0 against Washington having won both games on the road. I have to say I'm shocked. Although both were one goal wins, they Rangers showed an intensity in their commitment to defense that I hadn't seen yet from them all season. According to Ranger Rants, the Rangers have blocked 50 shots in two games including 17 from Alexander Ovechkin. Pierre LeBrun of ESPN correctly pointed out that the Rangers dominated the game both physically and mentally. More on this on the cleanup spot.
2) From Rob Neyer: • During yesterday's game, Michael Kay said that Cary Grant "was kind of the Tom Hanks of his generation." I'm just saying. Oh Michael Kay. Just shut up. All our lives will be better.
3) Should have linked to this sooner, but great look from Dugout Central on what the 2010 Yankees will look like. Nady's injury and pending free agency certainly changes things a bit...or does it?
4) The Rangers shouldn't get cocky, but they have a great chance of winning this series. It's been three years since a team has come back after losing the first two games at home to win the series. And the Rangers are going back to Madison Square Garden which should be rocking on Monday night. The Rangers have thoroughly frustrated Alexander Ovechkin who is arguably the best hockey player in the world. They've had Michael Roszival shadow him and blocked a ton of his shots. So frustrated in fact that after Ovechkin missed a shot from point blank in the third period, he threw up his hands in frustration. So add Roszvial to Sean Avery (pest), Ryan Callahan (energy) and Henrik Lundqvist (stopper) as players who have thoroughly frustrated the Caps in this series. I have to say I'm surprised and I hope they continue this play.
5) NL East: Did you notice that Mets star last weekend wasn't on TV from the start? Want to know why? Baseball Digest tells us why. And on the other side, a look at the Phillies awesome World Series rings.
6) It was good to read two articles on steroids that had nothing to do with the Yankees. One on baseball from the New York Times and one from ESPN on football.
7) Hugging Harold Reynolds has a very funny aritcle on the opening of Citi/Taxpayer field and of course never questions the sexuality of Mike Piazza
8) Denny Neagle sounds sort of creepy, though I really am not that surprised. He looks creepy (H/T Jordan)
9) Check out this article from the NHL Tweetup. Not only did my Twitter handle make the article but my picture is the second one down on the left! Speaking of Twitter, Fangraphs has Twitter feeds for every baseball team. Pretty Awesome!
Do you know who else loves fish sticks besides Kanye West? Islander fans!
Let me just go to Wikipedia to explain: Fans of the New York Rangers of the NHL often taunt their rival team and fans, the New York Islanders because in the mid 1990s, the Islanders briefly changed their uniform from their traditional logo to a more new-age logo that featured a fisherman that many thought resembled the one on the box of Gorton's fish sticks.
I don't see how any more proof is needed (BTW, if you haven't seen Kanye's Gay Fish Video or Kanye's response to the Gay Fish Video, well, check them out!) . I still chant "Fish Sticks!" when the Islanders play the Broadway Blueshirts play the Islanders. The Islanders just got the first pick in the NHL draft but who wants to play for a team of gay fish? The Islander's history book (who knows if this book was ever even printed, but just go with it) was called "Fish Sticks". And do you know what happened to those guys who came up with the Fish Stick idea? They were crooks. Now they'll be someone's Gay Fish in jail. Don't drop the soap!
Today was one of those Sundays where sports ruled.
The New York Metropolitans started out the day. And Johan Santana was dominant for the Mets against the Marlins. But despite 13 Ks and no earned runs from Brohan, he still was hung with the loss as the Mets lost to the Fish (their arch nemesis the past few years).
Next was the Yankees. A cold, rainy day in Kansas City started out fine. Joba allowed only one earned run over 6 innings and handed a 4-3 lead to the bullpen. Bruney got 3 outs and then Marte got 2 more. And then, inexplicably, Girardi decided it was important to go mix-and-match. He brought in Veras who walked the first batter on 5 pitches. Girardi then goes back out to bring in Phil Coke who not only blows the save, but loses the game as well. Soria dominated for the save. I know it's early in the season, but a loss like this stings for the Yanks. Torre overused and abused certain guys in the bullpen (see Scott Proctor's Arm). Girardi micro-manages games (a la Buck Showalter) and the loss has to be hung on him. Other goats include Phil Coke (BS and L), Cody Ransom (.050 BA) and Melky (who had 2 GIDPs).
Next was to the Masters where, despite huge days from Lefty and Tiger, they left some strokes out on the course and it ended up hurting them in the end. There's still a few different guys in it, but Angel Cabrera looks like he's more interested in finishing and getting to the buffet than winning this tournament. Kenny Perry or Chad Campbell seem to be the two frontrunners right now.
Also on TV, the Rangers are playing a meaningless game in Philly...at least for the Broadway Blueshirts. The Broad Street Bullies have home ice advantage to play for. Even so, the Rangers seem to be matching the Flyers as the score is 2-2. Dubinsky has 2 goals. Despite a tremendous start to the season and a lot of promise, Dubi's two goals today only gives him 13 for the season.
There is one baseball game still on that I'm keeping my eye on: Angels vs. Red Sox. The game started off with Bobby Abreu pissing off Josh Beckett who in turn pissed off the entire Halo bench. This led to a Torii Hunter ejection. "Shockingly" no Sox player was ejected. 4-3 Angels in the 7th there.
One last thing. I got a call today from Jay, a contributer on this blog, who wanted to revive the Joba debate after what happened today. I hate rehashing the same argument I give everyone (would you want a great pitcher to pitch 60 innings or 200?), so I pointed out that the Yankees would haven't been in the position to win today had it not been for a really good start from Joba. Look at what happened to the Yankees the first two games of the season when they got really crappy starting pitching? They hardly had a chance to win. But Joba gave them a good chance to win the game today. If it wasn't for Girardi, I think it probably would have been a W. But I'm sure this blown save will bring out the naysayers...
You want some more links? Well I have plenty more links (this one didn't fit into the 4 major sports, but needed to be posted:
Baseball -Good riddence, Curt Schilling. Probably my most hated of opposing baseball players, Curt made sealed his postseason legacy by putting ketchup on his sock, injecting his ankle with HGH, and pitching the Red Sox past some curse. I don't think his overall numbers are Hall of Fame, but he will get in because of his postseason "heroics". Some people will have a problem with 216 wins, but, as I argued very well in the past, this guy should be in the Hall of Fame AND the Hall of Assholes.
-Rob Neyer thinks the Yanks should keep Gardner and trade Cabrera. Well he's probably right. But if Swisher DHs one day, you leave yourself with no backup OFs currently. Not a good place to be. I'd build up some trade value also, before you trade the Melk Man.
-Stephen Strasburg is downright filthy. With that name, I'm keeping my fingers crossed he's Jewish as well (probably not with the spelling). It would be good publicity for our people. Regardless, he's going to make some team in the draft very happy and--because he's represented by Boras who already wants $50 million--very, very poor as well.
Football -Football players get into the weirdest shit. Example #4815162342 (by the way, those numbers don't mean anything. Go play them in the lotto. Go. Try it. It's good luck...)
-The compensatory picks are in for the NFC East (the Giants got the highest one)
Basketball -We're sorry we missed Shawn Bradley's birthday. I was in a Dallas area restaurant during a summer he was playing for the Mavericks and all of a sudden this enormous beast walked in. Immediately I knew who he was. He had a tiny little wife (at least in comparison). But, seriously, he was a lanky beast. People shouldn't be that tall.
-Forgot to post this two days ago, but this is a preview of what you already saw. Otherwise known as useless. Unless you DVR'ed all the game. In which case, you're welcome.
-A Bill Simmons column about basketball geeks makes me wonder if they have the same for hockey. If not, I volunteer myself to start the movement.
-Al Harrington should be benched for the rest of the season after the shit he's pulled. If they want to change this losing culture, they need to knock out stupid shit like this.
Hockey -Crazy threat at NHL game. Not the way to go, buddy. Most people don't even know your team exists--in your own city!
-Lastly, if you haven't seen the video below of Bruins prospect, Tuukka Rask freaking out, well..it's worth watching. I imagine it looked like Tortorella in the lockerroom after the Rangers' latest debacle. Here's the full story on Rask.
Big evening of sitting front of the TV watching college basketball (when, in fact, I could easily have gone to the gym and done the same thing...oh well)
-Coach K says the President should worry about the economy and not the tournament -- AKA as Barack-etology (H/T Deadspin on that name). In other news, Coach K is a HUGE Republican. In other, other news, I now have even more reason to hate Coach K
-Reviews of the new stadiums for the Mets and Yankees from the New Yorker
-One of my favorite baseball subjects is Jewish ballplayers. From Sandy Koufax and Hank Greenberg to Shawn Green and Kevin Jew-kilis, it makes me proud to be a part of the Tribe. This article from LoHud's Sam Borden looks into just that (H/T Pete Abraham)
-This A-Rod situation keeps on getting wierder and wierder. What Madonna song is he talking about here???
-Matt Mosley puts the Giants on the clock and talks about draft prospects. Even if they think Plax may be out part of the season, they may be better off drafting someone like Nicks if he falls to them.
-Watch With Kristen asks if someone on The Office is pregnant (and other Dundler Mifflin news)
-Her frenemy, Ausiello, has his weekly Ask Ausiello and says this about Big Love:
Question: I am hooked on Big Love. I'm begging for scoop on Sunday's season finale! --Heather Ausiello: Bill Paxton...revealed that, unlike last season's capper, this one ends with a cliffhanger. And here's a little season 4 scoop: Damages' Zeljko Ivanek, who debuted two weeks ago as a creep who may or may not have fathered a child with Nikki way back when, will be back next season in a major way.
-Next, the New York Times advises to take advantage of the low air fares because they won't last (H/T Sarah). I just saw $399 each way to New Zealand and Australia on Qantas.
-I linked before on the blog about a suggestion to revive the White House "kitchen garden" and Yahoo! reports that it's coming back
-NPR goes over which politicians got the most from AIG donations (*hint* you may have heard of the first guy...but then he got a lot of donations from EVERYONE)
-Another reason for guys to go to hockey games (as if they needed any more!)
-And, lastly, is Marc Savard a bigger vagina than Sidney Crosby? That would be QUITE a feat
I was hoping that the retiring of #3 tonight by the New York Rangers would mean that Rozsival had been traded. Instead, they just gave him number 33. Damn...
Another lackluster effort tonight by the Rangers...it's like watching this past year's Yankees: not a lot of offense, not a lot of energy, and moving towards a lack of playoffs as well.
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