Wednesday, December 19, 2007

terribly early in the morning

The Wranglers & The Leafs - Two Choking Peas in a Pod

My parents took Leigh-Ann and I to the Las Vegas Wranglers midnight game, which is generally a fun and festive affair.  Apparently, the Wranglers forgot to take care of the festive for us.  It was absolutely the same as any old game, which was disappointing.  Remind me to get around to complaining to them.  They were winning the game 4-1 at one point, and leading throughout the entire game.  They allowed three goals in the third period, then choked further (the goalie was pretty sucky - it was someone we’d never heard of before) in the shootout.  The easy victory snatched away by the jaws of stupid defeat reminded us so very much of the Maple Leafs, of this year and last, and the year before that, and the year before that, and so on.  We were kind of out of it, as we went out to breakfast after the midnight game, then went grocery shopping after that.  So, our schedule was all out of whack.  That meant that we missed last night’s Leafs’ game.

This is from the Toronto Star.  Does it sound vaguely familiar?  Like many of the games from the team we know and occasionally love?  After almost three periods of solid hockey, the Leafs’ top left winger made an incredible gaffe, leading to the tying goal and, ultimately, a 3-2 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes before 17,045 at the RBC Center last night..  What a surprise.  Not.  The Leafs must constantly make winning difficult...or impossible.

That said, we had a good time at the Wranglers’ game.  The game had lots of action, we each got our pretzel & cheese (a deliciously fresh crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, warm pretzel), and except for the stupid classless woman sitting behind my parents who spent most of the game cussing at the players and the ref (the officiating actually DID suck), I think a good time was had by all.  Of course, it could have been better if the Wranglers had actually attempted to go out of their way and give the pre-Xmas crowd some entertainment.  Chuck-a-Puck and having two guys attempt to put on a frozen t-shirt at center ice?  Not really entertainment.  The best midnight game had Mini Kiss performing.  Last year had a crappy Billy Idol impersonator, but at least they tried.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

late at night

Someone is too big to share cat tree cubicles

But, I won’t mention any names, Scampi.  Carlo looks a tad alarmed, like Scampi is sucking all the oxygen out of the cube in the tree.  I can’t remember the last time we had a fully grown cat attempting to share the cube with anyone.  Not to mention, Carlo is no tiny kitty anymore.  We thought he would grow up to be the size of a Guinea Pig, and except him not being healthy, I was okay with a teeny tiny cat.  Alas, the Wild Kitty Cat Food (you do NOT want to type in plain ol’ Wild Kitty DOT com, unless you like popups of an adult nature), not only fixed Carlo’s poopy problems (cramps, diarrhea, not making it to the litterbox, etc.), it’s turned him into gigantor kitten.  He’s a big soft fluffy cuddly kitten, who kneads on you like he really really really means it.  He concentrates so hard.  We’ll have to get video of it sometime.

So, have you finished up all your shopping yet?  Have you started?  Have you no time for anything other than NaBloPoMo and work?  Not me, just work and sleep.  And more sleep, and some vet visits.  By the way, Bunny is doing really well on her meds, and except for being extra cuddly (she’s a tad confused by all the attention, I think), she looks completely normal on the outside.  She has an echocardiogram scheduled for Monday morning, so we’ll find out how her insides are doing.  If you know of any super wealthy people who love cats and can’t figure out who to donate to this holiday season, might I suggest a cat rescue near and dear to my...er, house, Wee Paws Animal Sanctuary.  This absolutely does not mean anyone we know - we don’t know any millionaires, so this is only if you might happen to know Bill Gates or Steve Jobs or Stephen Spielberg or Oprah - hell, we’d even take money from Ellen.  She has some amends to make over that overwrought weeping Izzy ordeal.  Rescues generally aren’t overflowing with cash, so when you (meaning Ellen) make life miserable for a rescue (death threats...because a puppy didn’t go where you wanted it to go?  Seriously???), all you’re doing is hurting animals who need help. 

And to end on a good happy final note - “Chuck” was picked up for a full season.  If you’re not watching “Chuck”, you’re missing some terrific tv.

No, wait, more good news - the Leafs won a game.  They finally didn’t choke in the last period.  I’m sorry that it was at the expensive of Helly’s Thrashers.  And for local good hockey news - the Las Vegas Wranglers are 14-2, with a ten game winning streak.  We may only be ECHL, but we (almost) always have a great team, and we have a great little arena.  Mmm, I miss my hot pretzels & cheese.  This is the first season since the Wranglers have existed that we haven’t been to at least one game by now.  We attended every other opening home game.  Maybe we’ll get some tickets for Leigh-Ann’s birthday.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

late at night

Congratulations to Jeremy Roenick on his 500th Goal

Since my tendency is to like players with personality, and who are occasionally a little annoying, I’ve discovered that year after year, the player whose comments (yes, comments - what, you look just for skill or somethin?) I look forward to hearing the most are Jeremy Roenick’s.  Not to mention, when we went to Frozen Fury two years ago, and there was a problem with the glass that took at least 20 minutes to repair, Jeremy Roenick saved the day with a little dancing.  (video of said dancing to follow news story) Since I’ve been without a favorite player since Tie Domi started displaying his true personality off the ice, I’ve had no one whose jersey I could long for - I’ve decided on the Jeremy Roenick SJ Sharks jersey.  Pretty colors, good team, entertaining player.  I don’t think we’ll find too many players who can be entertaining and back it up with talent.  Sure, sure, he’s had a few tough seasons lately, but you try to be good on the Coyotes.  I dare ya.

San Jose Sharks centre Jeremy Roenick scored his 500th NHL goal at 6:35 of the second period against the Phoenix Coyotes, his former team, on Saturday night.

Roenick slapped a shot toward the Coyotes net that appeared to be stopped by goalie Alex Auld, but the puck dribbled free and slid across the line, giving the Sharks a 2-1 lead.

Roenick raised his hands and yelled as soon as the referee signalled the goal. He was immediately mobbed by his teammates.

The game was delayed a few minutes as Roenick skated in front of the Sharks’ bench with the puck raised above his head. He pointed into the stands as the crowd gave him an extended standing ovation. Even a few Coyotes players joined in tapping their sticks.

Roenick became the third American-born player to reach 500 goals. The nine-time all-star ranks 40th in goals and 44th in points on the NHL career lists.

And, another everlasting Jeremy Roenick memory from Frozen Fury - he was throwing some souvenir pucks into the stands...and hit the sign, knocking out a few lights.

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

evening

Oh, Maple Leafs, Why Do You Hate Me So?

Ugh, the Leafs are just terrible to watch.  They’re not winning, they’re giving up leads left & right, and even the return of Kyle Wellwood means nothing to them.  Nothing.  Every season, it’s the same thing.  Me and my high hopes.  Frankly, who would’ve ever guessed that the Tie Domi Leafs were the Leafs to beat?  The Tie Domi Leafs made the playoffs.

Speaking of crappy teams - I renamed my 0-8 fantasy football team the 0-fers last week because they’ve just been so darned, uh, good.  Every time I have someone good on my team, they’re guaranteed to be injured.  Ugh.  But finally, finally, I won a game.  I’m sure it’s only to spite me because I changed the team name to the 0-fers.  However, I’m now the 1-fers, so look out, I’m on a roll, man.

Monday, October 08, 2007

terribly early in the morning

Hey, San Diego Chargers Fans, You’re Welcome!

I knew exactly what you needed to get Philip Rivers out of his slump.  I dropped him from my fantasy football team earlier in the week, to pick up a quarterback who had a bye.  I played Jon Kitna, who had an enormous 2.54 points.  Of course, he almost looked like a superstar compared to Larry Johnson (yes, that Larry Johnson) who had 1.5 points.  It’s been five weeks and Larry Johnson, who started the season ranked #3 in the whole league is now performing at #90. NINETY!  My kicker has more points than my superstar running back, and he isn’t even the #1 kicker.  My other players are getting injured left & right, and my team, no matter how hard I’ve tried and no matter how good they look on paper, they’re 0-5.  Normally, I’d blame myself, but these guys SUCK!  Seriously, how can I blame myself when Larry Johnson has yet to score a touchdown this season?  My team is so bad that I can’t even settle on what to name them.  I think I’m going to change the team name to Witness Protection.

At least the Leafs won on Saturday.  Oh, and Marl told me that the Wranglers signed identical twins, Chris & Peter Ferraro.  <---They've been playing so long that an article about them appears on an Angelfire site.  Remember Angelfire?  Oh, and here's a site more about the guys and less about the sad story of Chris’s wife, Jennifer.  But, it’s so old that it’s a Tripod site.  Remember Tripod?  Here’s the latest info from the Las Vegas Wranglers’ website - I like how the webmaster thought to him/herself, “They’re identical twins, let’s save space and only picture one of them.  Surely they won’t mind, they’re identical after all.” Anyway, it sounds like they’re pretty good (if a bit long in the tooth) and will add some character to the team.