Let's Go PENS!

Here's hoping Sid isn't all alone on the ice tonight. We've come back from equally bad -- or worse-- situations. If we can get decent refereeing, output from our other offensive players, a Fleury less entranced by O-retch-kin, and a full-on, roof-shaking whiteout at the Igloo, we'll take this one tonight. And I'm considering having a stiff drink at around 6:45 to head off the incredible anxiety and high blood pressure. I have faith!!

I Can Guess That In Two Notes!

I got one of those Hallmark cards that play music for my recent 32d birthday. It plays "Super Freak" by Rick James. Abby Jane has lately taken to playing "Name That Tune" with it -- she opens it long enough to listen to a few words (during which time you are supposed to sing and/or dance), and then snaps it shut (at which point you are supposed to act shocked and make a face). As if the game weren't great enough as it is, this little girl jamming out to Super Freak is truly hilarious. Thanks for the card, LL!

I should add, however, that sometimes when she opens the card, and I start singing, she just shakes her head and looks at me with such a dour expression. If she could, she would say, "Really, Mother. Have you no dignity remaining?"

WHY Do I Watch Hockey??

I watch hockey because:

1. No other sport can match the excitement or intensity of hockey, especially come playoff time.
2. It's played by the greatest athletes in the world....players who can skate up to 30 mph on a quarter inch of steel using a 5 foot long stick to handle a frozen rubber disk which they shoot at 100mph, all while 9 other players on the ice are trying to knock the @$#! out of them.
3. Hockey is the most team-oriented sport of all the major sports. It's 6 guys on the ice all sacrificing personal goals to work towards the betterment of the team.
4. No other sport can match a hockey player's willingness to sacrifice his personal wellbeing to win a game for the team....think Bobby Baun breaking his ankle in game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals but still managing to score the OT winner to force game 7, then playing game 7 on that same broken ankle....only to miss the post-game celebrations b/c he was in the emergency room having his ankle fixed. Injuries are simply an incovenience.
5. There's no joy in winning without the risk of heartbreak from losing.
6. Plus, hockey players are pretty cute, as long as they have most of their teeth. :)

--Adapted from my friend Dan (I don't know whether he thinks hockey players are cute). I asked him why I was putting myself through the pain and agony of being down 2-0 in our second-round playoff series with the Capitals. I guess he's right.