If you don't like hockey, you might not want to read this

It's opening day, people. Opening day and I feel hopeful even though tonight's matchups are somewhat strange - Ottawa v. Toronto is the only one of the three that makes sense. And I hit that one late - the game was over and not close. So I'm presently witnessing Dallas losing to the Avs. I don't like the Dallas announcers, they don't seem to be supporting the team. Could be it's early, could be that I witnessed two power-play goals within a couple minutes of each other. Could be that Brett Hull is a color guy. But you do not beat up your team. Why did I get to be a Blackhawks fan? Most of it was because of the announcers. The Hawks were not a good team when I started listening to them on the radio, but the announcers would find something positive to say. It could be 10-1 in favor of the other team and they'd say, "at least it wasn't a shut-out" or commend the work of one player or another. They would never come out and say that the team was crap and you'd be better off turning off your radio. One of the nice things about NHL.com though is that I can change over to the announcers on the other side. Which is what I'm doing. I'm more friendly toward the Stars because they used to be in the Norris division (with the Blues and the Blackhawks), back when there was such a thing and when hockey was hockey, but I couldn't take the negativity anymore. I must state this because at the moment it is very true - the Chicago Blackhawks are undefeated. That's wonderful. Colorado had 22 shots in the first period. That's more than happens for a team in some games. Just found the bright spot for the Stars - goaltending. With 22 shots against them, it could be a heck of a lot worse than it is. I really shouldn't have to do the announcers' job for them. Can the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup? At this point anything's possible, but I won't get excited about playoff possibilities until late February. And they would have to survive the inevitable trade of all the great players by Bill Wirtz at the deadline. That's a rant waiting to happen another time.

No way. That's not right. I think the commentator meant 1500, because he said Joe Sakic was just points away from 15000 for his career. Well, that's definitely over-emphasizing the positive.

If you don't like hockey, you might not want to read this

It's opening day, people. Opening day and I feel hopeful even though tonight's matchups are somewhat strange - Ottawa v. Toronto is the only one of the three that makes sense. And I hit that one late - the game was over and not close. So I'm presently witnessing Dallas losing to the Avs. I don't like the Dallas announcers, they don't seem to be supporting the team. Could be it's early, could be that I witnessed two power-play goals within a couple minutes of each other. Could be that Brett Hull is a color guy. But you do not beat up your team. Why did I get to be a Blackhawks fan? Most of it was because of the announcers. The Hawks were not a good team when I started listening to them on the radio, but the announcers would find something positive to say. It could be 10-1 in favor of the other team and they'd say, "at least it wasn't a shut-out" or commend the work of one player or another. They would never come out and say that the team was crap and you'd be better off turning off your radio. One of the nice things about NHL.com though is that I can change over to the announcers on the other side. Which is what I'm doing. I'm more friendly toward the Stars because they used to be in the Norris division (with the Blues and the Blackhawks), back when there was such a thing and when hockey was hockey, but I couldn't take the negativity anymore. I must state this because at the moment it is very true - the Chicago Blackhawks are undefeated. That's wonderful. Colorado had 22 shots in the first period. That's more than happens for a team in some games. Just found the bright spot for the Stars - goaltending. With 22 shots against them, it could be a heck of a lot worse than it is. I really shouldn't have to do the announcers' job for them. Can the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup? At this point anything's possible, but I won't get excited about playoff possibilities until late February. And they would have to survive the inevitable trade of all the great players by Bill Wirtz at the deadline. That's a rant waiting to happen another time.

No way. That's not right. I think the commentator meant 1500, because he said Joe Sakic was just points away from 15000 for his career. Well, that's definitely over-emphasizing the positive.

VEGAS, baby

In 24 hours I will be heading east on an airplane to Las Vegas. (I could pause now to report that Dallas has just tied the hockey game by scoring 2 in the 3rd as fast as the Avs did in the first but I won't) I'm getting quite excited. Yes, I have to get through a full day of work tomorrow, but it won't be so bad. I have a great love of Las Vegas and I only made my first visit there about 4 years ago. It has to do with my love of cash flow (and not minding too much when it doesn't flow back). Oh, yeah, the casino ladies (somehow that comment seems worse if I call them "girls"). I went with my best friend on my first trip out there and we stayed at the Hard Rock. It was nice. Lots of eye candy. I went up again about 8 months later - in July. At 1AM, it was over 100 degrees. I don't think I'll be doing that again. The last time I went up, I met up with my sister. We stayed one night at Bellagio (heaven! I recommend it to anyone) and the rest of the time at CircusCircus (which would have been ok, if it hadn't followed Bellagio). It was fun, but the timing was really sucky considering I was getting over a breakup that had happened the week before. Lucky for me I don't have to worry about that happening this time.

I am a little paranoid that my family is going to be very tired and not want to do much when we're there. It's weird, but that's the feeling I've been getting - one of these - "oh, we want to sleep when we get to the hotel" - type of things. If you want to sleep, don't go to Vegas. And we only have 2 days really since we're spending a good part of Friday at the Grand Canyon. So there's a lot of ground to cover. And I just like spending a few minutes of my first night in Vegas at the Bellagio. It's also a very Soderbergh-ian thing (my great love for "Oceans 11") and being there just means "Vegas" to me. When my best friend & I walked in there 4 years ago, it was like entering Wrigley Field or the Montreal Forum (back in the day, before they tore it down) with this wonderful awestruck feeling. I felt like I was on a movie set. A Soderbergh movie set. And that was so nice. So that's my thing.

Since I haven't mentioned "Oz" yet, here's my opportunity. I nearly posted earlier at work today b/c my boss' wife was walking around talking about accounting and I thought of those scenes in season six when Omar White was explaining the theories of the universe to Idzik. It was really funny actually. Ok, maybe it was just funny to me.

Gotta go pack.

Side note - why does my "excited" kitty look so doggone tranquil?

VEGAS, baby

In 24 hours I will be heading east on an airplane to Las Vegas. (I could pause now to report that Dallas has just tied the hockey game by scoring 2 in the 3rd as fast as the Avs did in the first but I won't) I'm getting quite excited. Yes, I have to get through a full day of work tomorrow, but it won't be so bad. I have a great love of Las Vegas and I only made my first visit there about 4 years ago. It has to do with my love of cash flow (and not minding too much when it doesn't flow back). Oh, yeah, the casino ladies (somehow that comment seems worse if I call them "girls"). I went with my best friend on my first trip out there and we stayed at the Hard Rock. It was nice. Lots of eye candy. I went up again about 8 months later - in July. At 1AM, it was over 100 degrees. I don't think I'll be doing that again. The last time I went up, I met up with my sister. We stayed one night at Bellagio (heaven! I recommend it to anyone) and the rest of the time at CircusCircus (which would have been ok, if it hadn't followed Bellagio). It was fun, but the timing was really sucky considering I was getting over a breakup that had happened the week before. Lucky for me I don't have to worry about that happening this time.

I am a little paranoid that my family is going to be very tired and not want to do much when we're there. It's weird, but that's the feeling I've been getting - one of these - "oh, we want to sleep when we get to the hotel" - type of things. If you want to sleep, don't go to Vegas. And we only have 2 days really since we're spending a good part of Friday at the Grand Canyon. So there's a lot of ground to cover. And I just like spending a few minutes of my first night in Vegas at the Bellagio. It's also a very Soderbergh-ian thing (my great love for "Oceans 11") and being there just means "Vegas" to me. When my best friend & I walked in there 4 years ago, it was like entering Wrigley Field or the Montreal Forum (back in the day, before they tore it down) with this wonderful awestruck feeling. I felt like I was on a movie set. A Soderbergh movie set. And that was so nice. So that's my thing.

Since I haven't mentioned "Oz" yet, here's my opportunity. I nearly posted earlier at work today b/c my boss' wife was walking around talking about accounting and I thought of those scenes in season six when Omar White was explaining the theories of the universe to Idzik. It was really funny actually. Ok, maybe it was just funny to me.

Gotta go pack.

Side note - why does my "excited" kitty look so doggone tranquil?