Pittsburgh Wins the Cup

Congrats to the real Pitt fans and "Fuck you" to the posers.

I'm still in shock. The band wagon got pretty full there near the end. Many folks must have sold their soul. I lost about $40 on last night's game, but was in a position to take in $220. If you do the math, I managed to get myself in with fantastic odds. 5 1/2 to 1 for Detroit on home ice. It just didn't work out. The funny thing is I'm probably going to get ribbed by a Leafs or Sens fan on this outcome which is just the sort comedy that will help bring me out of this funk.

Red Wings v Penguins : Islanders v Oilers

You know, we're really getting down to it. The mighty Red Wings of Detroit are now 5 wins away from defending The Cup, something I would argue that is tougher than winning The Cup. I would be right. It is looking like we are going to have a rematch of last year's finals, something that hasn't happened since the Islanders and Oilers met in back-to-back Cup finals in the early 80's.

I know people are drawing similarities between those Islanders/Oilers and today's Red Wings/Penguins and it's only going to be more so as we move forward. There are just too many people writing about sports/hockey to start with and now that we're down to 4 teams what else are they going to do? They will compare Crosby's young Penguins to Gretzky's baby faced Oilers. They will tell the story of how the "kids" had to go and lose first before taking that next step.

The Red Wings play the role of grizzled veterans and, to some extent, the role of the Bad Guy. Neutral fans don't like the Red Wings as much as they used to. It's probably because we've knocked so many other teams out of the playoffs over the years. Sustained success for one team is great if you're a fan, but outside of that I can see how the New England Patriot Syndrome can set in. Impressive yes. But I always cheer for them to lose because they are just so good. Every year.

Enjoy the Islanders/Oilers comparisons when we finally get down to business. Just remember, The Isles were on the way out while the Red Wings have the pieces in place to continue to play to this level into the future. The Penguins have a bright future too and it will not surprise me one bit to see The Cup being hoisted by Crosby and Co. within the next 5 years in Pittsburgh. It just won't be this year.

Movin' & Shakin'

The Red Wings just scored in the first period of game 2, but the refs are looking at it again. It was kicked and then, but not at the goal. It inadvertently went off a couple of Duck's players and into the net. The goal should hold up. It does. Folks are happy at The Joe.

I just got back from a Sunday morning bike ride. I forgot my backpack down in Chinatown last night. Nothing beats a good 3am feed after a hard day work and some dancing with Caution Jam down at Grossman's Tavern.

Fucking Ducks! They are up 2-1 now. How fast things change.

Caution Jam songs I remember: Mustang Sally, I'm a Hog For You, All Over Now, Shakedown Street, Dark Star (v1), Scarlet Begonias, Fire on the Mountain, Good Lovin', I Got Stoned and I Missed It (Dr. Hook).

I helped my sister move yesterday. Discount messed up her reservation. (Detroit scores. 6 min. left in the 1st. Game tied 2-2.) They took the reservation, but dropped the ball when they were unable to HOLD the reservation. Seinfeld covers this nicely. After having to go right downtown I was on my way, rumbling through the city in a 18ft cube van. Look out.

Discount sucks. Remember that folks. If you take anything from this, anything at all, it's the advice that you should never go to Discount. Especially the one located on Dundas St W just north of Bloor. Filled with idiots all hired by this Shitty company Discount Car & Truck Rental. Shitty company, Shitty employees, Shitty experience. Fuck you Discount. (That was for my sister)

The load out of her old place was a cinch. They packed up nicely which was huge. Nothing worse than helping on a move where the proper preparations haven't been made. We had lots of help. 8-10 people. The job increased in difficulty at the new place. Stairs. The bane of all moves. It was a workout, but we were all in place up on the rooftop patio by 3pm with beers in hand. Less than 5 hours start to finish. No too shabby.

There were two rain delays early in the proceedings and then things cleared for the duration. Their patio is set up well to experience sunsets while still offering decent views of downtown Toronto. It's nice to know I'll be enjoying more time there.

Red Wings and Ducks are tied 3-3 and now it's headed to OT. I gotta focus.

Discount Fucking Ducks.

LIVE BLOG!!! Redwings @ Blackhawks CBC/NBC

Toronto, ON

1:30 PM: OK. Here we go!!!

1:33PM: I'm off to a late start but it appears I've not missed much. Went deeper than expected in a poker tournament, busted just shy of the money (%&@#!) and it appears all that's happened was the opening ceremony.

1:37PM: Blackhawks powerplay. The rink looks great on TV. I will be flipping back and forth between CBC/NBC. Pierre McGuire is doing commentary on NBC so there will be some jacked-up analysis. 5 on 3 now for Chicago. 1-0 Chicago. Shit.

1:44PM: I am going to flip the channel every goal. Now I'm on CBC and the Red Wings are on the PP. This really looks great on TV.

1:47PM: Just noticed the advert in the center ice circle. Will this space soon be for sale at NHL regular season games? Things are chippy. Red Wings are back on the PP. Daniel Craig's new flick Defiance looks pretty cool.

1:53pm: 1-1 for the Red Wings! Haha! Back to NBC.

2:00PM: 2-1 Chicago. Now they're back to the PP. All my post times are Eastern Time Zone.

2:14PM: 3-1 Chicago. End of 1. I am watching Coach's Corner with Don Cherry and Ron Maclean on CBC.

2:22PM: Coach's Corner was OK. Don covered some Blackhawk's history, Justin Morneau was there. He was being honored for being named The Canadian Press male athlete of the year. They say that Righteous Kill is no good, but with DeNiro and Pacino I feel obligated to watch it. I am over to NBC to begin the second period.

2:34PM: 3-2 Chicago. The NHL has to be loving ll these goals. We went to Rancho Relaxo on College St last night for NYE. Caution Jam was playing. It was fun. Got pretty drunk and we didn't crash until around 4:00AM. In no particular order here are some songs I remeber being played: Iko Iko, New Minglewood Blues, China>Rider, West LA Fadeaway, Jack Straw, ...I'll add more as they come to me. Ha ha.

3:03 PM: 4-3 Detroit! Datsyuk just scored to put Detroit into the lead on a beauty. Reebok is running a contest where you need to identify the player without their logo on the back of the shirt. End of the second period. I will be watching NBC for this intermission.

3:18 PM: How does Mike Milburry get work? He had GM talents rivaled only by Matt Millen yet here he is on NBC and TSN up here in Canada. Why does everyone think he knows what he's talking about. That's never been proven. He will take the oppisite side of an arguement just for the sake of doing so.

3:32 PM: 5-3 Detroit. The Big Red Machine is rolling. I'm off to CBC...

3:42 PM: 6-3 Detroit. I missed the goal as I was ordering a pizza. 40 minutes or it's free. The countdown is on. I'm back to NBC. They are doing a pretty good job. NHL should get some good numbers for this and hopefully made some new fans. Khabibulin is in net for Chicago now. Wings rule!

3:52PM: Take me out to the Hockey Game has just been performed. I guess they had to do it. Both jerseys are great. I would love to see this rivalry heat up again. It'd be great for the NHL.

4:04 PM: Red Wings are going to win it 6-3 it looks like. Pretty good game especially from the Red Wing's perspective. 6-4. Chitown scored with 10 seconds to go. Game over.