April 1, 2008
My heart is aching right now. My head hurts. Stupid farking Flames. God how I hate them. They can’t win when we need them to, and then they come to town and KILL US. So very cruel.
Kipper gets the hook in Vancouver this past weekend (two games in a row he sucked!) and tonight he decides to play well. Stupid Flames.
It’s going to be a long off-season, that’s for sure.
The only good thing to come out of tonight is that Curtis Glencross played great and had two goals. Hope he sticks around next year. He and Kyle Brodziak are quite a team. Rollie played well, too (even though one of the Flames goals were knocked in my him, but it wasn’t his fault).
Damn it. I feel so sick. I can’t write anymore. I’m gonna drown my sorrows and take up another team through the playoffs. I have no idea who yet, as I can’t even bear to think about it. I’ll decide later when I’m not so distraught.
Stupid Flames.
March 25, 2008
Typical Boston Red Sox Manny Ramirez move in Japan in the season opener. He hit a bomb into right field, and he stopped to admire his handiwork and posed at the plate. Suddenly, as he was trotting halfway to first, he saw the ball bounce off the high right field wall, and he high-tailed it to second base. Luckily, he was safe. It’s weirdly comforting to know that Manny is a goofball in many continents, across many timezones. Hell, he even got the “hero interview” after the game. One of the guys from the NESN post-game remarked that the interview, which took place on a stage in the field after the game, looked like something out of Nascar’s winner’s circle. Don’t give Manny any ideas…he’s not above doing a spin out in the golf cart after a win. I’d pay to see him spin circles in Yankee Stadium.
The Sox wound up winning in extra innings due to a bonehead play by the A’s, when Emil Brown got picked off between 2nd and 3rd in the 10th. He could have tied the game on the next A’s hit, and his face in the dugout said it all. If I were the manager of the A’s, I’d make him stand up in the clubhouse and read the chapter on baserunning out of “Baseball for Dummies.” Good thing I’m not a manager.
I was awake in time to see the last inning, so I can’t comment on anything else. It’s nice that Japan got to see Dice-K pitch in person, on their timetable, after years of watching games in the middle of the night. The pre-ceremony was a bit much, as it seemed more like the Super Bowl than a baseball game. I looked around for cheerleaders and the team to dump Gatorade on Tito after the win, but alas, it was not meant to be. Perhaps tomorrow?
March 16, 2008
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Edmonton/2008/03/16/5021666-sun.html
Rollie made his first start since Feb. 1 and saved 38 of 40. I was hoping he’d do well, as I am a fan of his and am still in awe of his performance for the Oilers in the last half of 2006. It’s great to see him get a win for the team in a very important game. He even got an assist on their first goal!
“I felt alright,” Roloson said. “Obviously there were some game-situation things that I had to work on and prepare for. I made a few mistakes out there, but I was able to get away with them.”
Here’s the stars of the game:
1st: Andrew Cogliano
2nd: Dwayne Roloson
3rd: Shane Doan.
Hopefully the team will play as aggressively tonight against the Sharks as they did last night. The Sharks haven’t lost since Feb. 20, and are undoubtedly on a hot streak, so it’s going to be a difficult game for the Oilers. The first period is critical, as that seems to be when the Sharks come out hard. Who’s starting in goal for the Oilers? Rollie or Garon? The Oilers page hasn’t posted it yet (that I can see), but I bet it’s Garon.
March 16, 2008
The headline says it all. Chris Pronger, former Oiler who demanded to be traded from the team and won the Cup the next year, has been suspended for eight games for an incident involving Ryan Kesler of Vancouver.
Read the story from NHL (first link) or watch the video on YouTube (second link)
http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=357028
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt5rBWarx6A
Fortunately, Kesler wasn’t hurt, but it was pretty obvious that Pronger was deliberate and even missed the first time, and stopped skating so he could connect to Kesler. Cheap shot by Pronger, but that’s expected. He’ll lose $609,756.08 in salary and will return for the final regular game of the Ducks. I don’t find fault with that penalty. If Kelser was hurt, I’d think it would have been more games.
Oiler fans loved him (myself included) when he was on our team, but once he shunned the team (for rumored reasons I won’t repeat here), he’s enemy number one. It’s common, and I’m guilty of it, but once in a while when I stop looking at it from a fan point-of-view but just as an observer, it’s pretty funny.
March 9, 2008
First and foremost, congrats to Kyle Busch for winning his first Sprint Cup race at Atlanta.
I have a soft spot for “Shrub” aka “Rowdy” due to him being from Vegas (along with his brother Kurt). Plus he’s entertaining to watch: an aggressive driver and runs the track three-wide all by himself. He’s run well all season, and would have won more but for blown tires.
Speaking of tires, Tony Stewart told the Fox audience that Goodyear makes “crap” tires and should be out of Sprint Cup altogether. Leave it to him to steal his teammate’s thunder with that observation as he was getting out of his car. Would it have been so hard to just mumble an insincere congrats to Busch and save the Goodyear rant for the press conference? Well, yes, for Smoke, it would have.
I was on the Nascar.com chat room during the end of the race, and the amount of hatred the “true” fans have for Toyota is entertaining, to say the least. Personally, I don’t care what they race, as long as it’s safe and fast, but then, I can’t afford American cars, so perhaps I’m not one to talk. They even had the gall to suggest that Joe Gibbs was not a true American for adopting Toyota this year. Gibbs is a good team owner, was a great football coach, and as far as I’m concerned, he IS a true American, and would be even if he adopted Hyundai next year. Hell, Joe, just run the gamut of foreign cars, from BMW’s to VW’s, just to make the diehards mad.
March 8, 2008
Andy LaRoche, the Dodgers’ third baseman, is out 8-10 weeks after tearing the ulnar collateral ligament in his thumb when catcher Danny Ardoin’s pickoff throw glanced off baserunner D’Angelo Jimenez and hit him. A “freak accident” which means that injury-prone Nomar Garciaparra will most likely start in LaRoche’s place.
If it had to happen, now would be the best time…the season won’t start for another three weeks, which means that LaRoche will only miss a little over a month of the regular season. Could be worse.
At least this gives manager Joe Torre a chance to juggle the lineup (which Jim Tracy knows all to well, from his stint as manager a few years back). Look for Joe to be a pro at juggling injuries by the All-Star break.
March 8, 2008
If you have lived in Vegas for any length of time, you know that there is a shortage of doctors here…not even good doctors, just doctors, period. Most of us have horror stories (or know someone who has them) about medical treatment in Vegas…the wait times for appointments are at times months, the doctors misdiagnose, the lack of specialists, ect., ect., ect.
However, as used to the above as most of us were, I don’t know if any of us expected the docs to use used syringes/needles. I sure didn’t expect it. However, here it is…four clinics so far, and it’s still early. http://www.lvrj.com/news/16412376.html
The lawsuits are trickling in, and the TV is full of ads for class action lawsuits. Wonder if the people who voted against caps on medical malpractice cases are going to be affected? If you have HIV from a used needle from a surgical clinic, is there a limit on how much your case is worth? I didn’t think so.
We’ll see what happens as time goes by. I personally hope the state presses criminal charges against those in charge and knew about the used needles, but this state is so corrupt, I doubt they will.
February 22, 2008
I watched the Oilers at Dallas tonight, listened to the Kevin Lowe interview and was appalled at the way he said he was “disappointed” in the comments made by Dwayne Roloson the past few days. I had no clue what Rollie said, and after the game was over, rushed to the computer to find out what the latest was. I usually take Rollie’s side in any matter, as I genuinely am grateful for what he helped the team accomplish in 2006.
I know he’s not happy being a back-up and that is not what he signed up for, but he remained silent (if not angry and pouty) on the bench. Then I found this article from The Edmonton Sun:
http://www.edmontonsun.com/Sports/Columnists/Tychkowski_Robert/2008/02/22/4867657.html
It seems Rollie’s kids, ages five and seven, are being teased at school because Rollie is on the bench. I must be naive, but I am disgusted that his kids have to go through that. I understand that business is business and you have to ride the hot players, but I really like Rollie and it sucks that he and his family have to go through this. He even had his kids and wife move to Ontario to get away from the crap at their school. The school should be ashamed for allowing that to happen. No matter who you are, you shouldn’t have to see your kids go through teasing. But hey, I’m a mother, and as you can tell, it’s struck quite a nerve in me.
Regarding the sports aspect:
So he’s been benched, which sucks, but that being said, I think Mathieu Garon is doing an incredible job, and am hoping the team will sign him for years to come. Rollie is going to be 38 years old and his career is just about over. I don’t want to see him go, but for his own sake, I hope the Oilers trade him to a team with playoff hopes. After all, being benched on a team with a Stanley Cup must be easier than sitting for a team that won’t be going anywhere.
I hope the team does the right thing and lets him go, even if it costs them money for a while. The Oilers have enough of a problem keeping players…I’d hate to make it worse.
February 10, 2008
Well, crap, Saturday night’s Oilers at Flames game was a real disappointment! I managed to watch the first two periods and fell asleep during the third period. Losing 4-1 is bad enough, but the way the Oilers played, the score actually makes it sound better than it really was. The team was flat. Out-shot, flat, and the defense had more holes in it than swiss cheese. What a nasty game.
February 9, 2008
Hmm, let’s see…you’ve got Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart trading paint, you’ve got warnings and five a.m. stern lectures from the higher ups, controversy, drivers bitching about the “Car of Tomorrow” (COT) which is now the car of today, and good ole Joe Gibbs trying to calm his hot-headed driver.
Yep, NASCAR is back, ladies and gents, and since I am now a veteran fan of the sport (it will be one year since my first race at the Daytona 500), I can spout my opinions with reckless abandonment, along with everyone else.
No one’s asked me, but I think Joe Gibbs quit football because it got too hard for him to juggle both sports. It’s a full time job to coach a football team, and a full time job to own a racing team. In light of the Skins’ 21 getting killed, and Gibbs’ age, I think it’s a good move on his part. He’s going to need all his energy to keep Stewart in line, to say nothing of his latest team member, Kyle Busch. My only question is, if Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart disregard the Nascar official’s warnings about staying away from each other and get into it again, who is Kyle siding with? His brother or his new teammate? Personally, since the two brothers barely spoke last year, I think Kyle will toe the company line and side with Stewart. Since he’s only 22 and a hot-head himself, I doubt he’d keep his opinions to himself, if asked by the press. And they WILL ask.
The Bud Shootout is tonight (at the same time as the Oilers/Flames game, dammit!), and I can’t wait. It’s gonna be a good one.
