More Wings

So the Wings lost last night, but played pretty well for most of the game. Take away that minute and a half where SJ scored three goals, and it's a dominating performance for the winged wheels....but it's not like you can do that in sports. Sometimes dominating for 59 or 60 minutes will not get you the win, and as a veteran team the Wings should know that.

Anyway, I meant to put this pic up yesterday but got sidetracked (I know that's a shock, right?) somehow and forgot to post it. Well here it is. It's not from a recent game, but it's a great moment after a goal....especially if you look to the left of Lidstrom and check out the classy Chicago fan saluting our goal scorer.
(Click on picture to enlarge)

NHL Playoffs 2010, Round 2, Part 2

And here's a little something I just read on the Detroit Free Press site that makes the schedule for this upcoming round just that much more inconvenient.

"Apparently the Red Wings knew the way to San Jose, they just didn’t know about the curfew at the airport.

It seems the Norman Mineta San Jose International Airport bans airplanes from landing or taking off between 11:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m.

The Wings, who eliminated the Coyotes from the playoffs with a 6-1 victory Tuesday night, flew in from Phoenix after the game and landed at 12:19 a.m. Wednesday.

According to the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Wings are subject to a $2,500 fine.

Game 1 of the Wings-Sharks Western Conference semifinal series begins at 9 tonight."

I know a $2500 fine isn't going to bother the team in the least, but what happens when they want to fly home after game 2 and/or 5? Game 2 starts at 5pm in San Jose, so there shouldn't be any problem getting out of there before 11:30 unless the game goes into OT. Game 5 however would start at 7pm local time, and the team would have to rush out the door to get to the airport in time to leave before the curfew.

Now I assume the planes are required by the FAA to get clearance from the tower at each airport before take off. Would this ban completely stop them from taking off until 6:30am? Cause I gotta figure that sitting on a plane, no matter how nice the plane is, for up to 7 hours after playing an NHL playoff game might just take it's toll on some players.

I know I am dealing with "what ifs" here, but I could see this becoming a real issue if the bitter San Jose fans working at the airport don't handle these situations with tact.

NHL Playoffs 2010, Round 2

Last night as I laid down for bed, I still hadn't heard what the schedule was going to be like for the second round match-up between Detroit and San Jose. I thought that I came up with a pretty good schedule myself, and thought that there was a good chance that it would be very much like I had expected it to be. The one detail I forgot was that this was the NHL we are talking about....logic doesn't mean a thing to them when it comes to scheduling. So I am still trying to figure out how this makes sense.

Game 1: Thursday, April 29 at San Jose, 9:00 p.m.
Game 2: Sunday, May 2 at San Jose, 8:00 p.m.
Game 3: Tuesday, May 4 at Detroit, 7:30 p.m.
Game 4: Thursday, May 6 at Detroit, 7:30 p.m.
Game 5: Saturday, May 8 at San Jose, 10:00 p.m.
Game 6: Monday, May 10 at Detroit, 7:30 p.m.
Game 7: Wednesday, May 12 at San Jose, TBD

There are so many things I could question here, but the biggest thing to me is the quick turnaround after travel days for each venue change other than between games 6 & 7. I guess it could be worse....Chicago and Vancouver play every other day throughout their series, and the travel time between those two cities is almost as bad.

Whatever. The scheduling must be harder to figure out than I think, right? But no matter what, it can't be as hard as it's going to be for the SJ defenders to figure out how this....

turns into this....

in the blink of an eye.

McPhotos

I'm not going to turn this into a Redskins blog or anything, but seeing this photo made me kinda giddy. Since I've been a fan, the Redskins haven't had a quarterback that I like nearly as much as I like Donovan....and he was an Eagle until recently, so it's pretty amazing that I liked him as much as I did before the trade. There are the concerns about his age and durability to worry about, especially if Rex Grossman ends up being the second QB over Colt Brennan now that Campbell is gone, but I am comfortable with the risk for the reward. With Shanahan running things and three talented, albeit a little older, RBs to choose from, I think the running game will be what carries this team....something McNabb never had with the Eagles.

No matter what, I am already more excited for this coming season than I have been for any approaching season in years. I have mentioned more than once that I felt a change in myself pretty much right after my crash. Well, lately I have seen a lot more of my old self shining through and looking forward to the upcoming season is another good example....but that is an entirely different blog post.

Both of these photos are courtesy of Getty Images, and are just a part of the recent photo shoot they did with Donovan. Click on either of them to get a nice hi-res version.

Round 1 of the 2010 NFL Draft; My Thoughts and Observations

The NFL draft has been one of those "can't miss" events for me for more than a decade. Mark and I started a tradition of going to BW3 for the draft quite by accident. One year in the mid to late 90s we were up at CMU visiting some friends for the weekend and decided we wanted to watch the draft, but didn't want to hold their TV hostage all day (the house we were staying in was occupied by four girls) and we really didn't want to watch it on a tiny TV anyway. One of the girls, either Kelley or Angela I believe, suggested BW3 when we asked if there was a sports bar or something similar that might be open for the draft. We had never heard of the place before, even though we drove right by it every time we came to visit them....which was pretty damn often.

So we went there, had some food and some pop while we watched the draft and really enjoyed ourselves. I know it was only pop, even though Mark pretty much HAS to have beer when he watches anything sports related, because it was the 1997 draft or earlier and we wouldn't have been 21 yet. Because of some unfortunate events brought up myself by sheer stupidity, I missed most of the 1998 draft after trying my damndest to suck it up and make it through at least the first round. That didn't happen, and when I was told that the Lions drafted Terry Fair in the first round, I felt even sicker that when I had left BW3.

This year marked a HUGE change in the draft plans for us. Instead of meeting up at BW3 for an all day event on Saturday, the NFL decided it would be a good idea to have the first round in prime time this year....on a THURSDAY night. As if I don't have trouble finding time to sleep as it is. Thanks Commish.

The whole thing kinda soured me about our plans for the draft this year until, through a series of events at work, I found out I would be going in late on Friday morning. After that, I was cool with staying out late enough for the first round to be completed....especially when I found out Mike was willing to drive to the Dearborn BW3 for it.

Anyway, here's just some random thoughts I had about the draft.

Ndamukong Suh was not the first overall pick in the draft, Sam Bradford was, which pleased my inner Lion fan. Well, that part of me wasn't 100% pleased until Roger Goodell officially announced Suh as the second overall pick. The Bucs didn't do anything surprising at number 3 and took Gerald McCoy like everyone expected. Then it was time for my Skins to pick....and that's where the first surprise of the draft hit.

The pick itself did not surprise any of us, I had even told Mike who we'd pick just a few minutes before. It's not a flashy pick at all, but it's the perfect fit for the team needs as seen by Mike Shanahan. The surprise was how Goodell announced the pick saying, "Trent 'Silverback' Williams" when he read the card. Williams explained it all later on, saying that he jokingly asked the commissioner to use his nickname when he was announced as a pick. He didn't expect it, but he seemed very happy about it and gave Goodell a big hug.


Speaking of....did anyone else notice that Mr. Commissioner was kind of lovey dovey with a bunch of these guys last night? If I didn't know any better, I'd say Roger was about 4-5 fingers in by the time the draft started.

"How YOU doin?"

After the 4th pick, my level of interest dropped a bit since my two favorite teams had already picked for the night, but there were still a few things I'd like to go over....unfortunately I have run out of time for this post. It's amazing how much longer it takes to write this garbage of mine when there are a bunch of pics involved. Hopefully I'll get a chance to finish this up on Monday.

Happy Earth Day

Save the owls. :-)

You Spin My Head Right Round

I feel as if my head is spinning lately. It's spinning so fast that nothing has a chance of attaching itself to my brain right now. Add on to that the fact that insomnia decided to pay me a visit again last night, and I am gonna be a God-damned train wreck come later tonight....when I have two major tests to take in one class. Fun.

My thoughts and words seem to be failing me of late. For someone that fancies himself extremely adept at both, it's rather disconcerting. I don't seem to know what to say or even think most of the time right now. Even writing this is a struggle for me. My thoughts used to funnel into the same place, and while there was a lot to sift through....they were always there.

I understand that the changes I have looming overhead are adding some stress to my life, especially since I have no idea how to plan for school at the moment. My work schedule is definitely changing....but no one has any idea what my new schedule will look like, other than the fact that I will most likely be working Saturdays and Sundays when everything gets ironed out.

My work schedule now is one big cluster-eff as it is. With all the changes coming, they want to make sure everything is set up as best as it can be, and they have been having my switch back and forth between shifts all week. My start times are all over the place. Last week I started at 6am one day, 5:30am the next, 10am the next, back to 5:30 the following day, then finished off with an 11am start. Normally I have my alarm set for the same time every single day I work, but that had to change last week....which in turn affect me this week.

Sunday night was going to be a short night for me in terms of sleep, but I am used to that. I usually am up a little later on Saturdays, so when I sleep in on Sunday it makes it hard for me to fall asleep Sunday night. I set my alarm at about 10pm, when I was wide awake, and was laying down by about 11:15. I didn't actually fall asleep til about 2am, when I remember thinking, "at least I'll get a little more than three hours in." Well, I should have been thinking a little more than TWO hours. But I had set my alarm for a full hour later than normal, and never realized that until after I was up for about 10 minutes. I was tired. I was late. I was stinky. Thank you clouded brain.

Is it bad that I am already looking forward to laying down later tonight? I have a lot to do between now and then, but nothing is easier to focus on right now than laying down for bed later, and how happy I'll be to crawl under that blanket. :-D

Tigers Drop Game 2 in 11th Inning

With two outs in the top of the 9th, Miguel Cabrera tagged the right field foul pole last night in Kansas City to tie up the game 1-1 and eventually send it into extra innings. The Tigers took a 2-1 lead in the top of the 11th, but the Royals ended up scoring two of their own in the bottom of the inning for the win. Both teams are now 1-1.

These two teams will meet again for the third and final game of this series today at 2:10pm before the Tigers fly home for tomorrow's home opener against Cleveland.

I Was About 5, So It Was More Like....

This is the busiest week I have had in a while....this week is already rife with change. And it's only Wednesday. There is a lot going on around me, and a little going on with me, the specifics of which are really hard to discuss....in part because I don't know all of what is happening at this point. I can say, at least, that the changes I see happening now and in the near future are for the better. Some may be hard to handle, but eventually that too shall pass.

It's unfortunate that I don't have any details to share, because I am in somewhat of a babbling mood this morning and need a subject to go on about. Well when all else fails, I turn to sports....so how about them Tigers? And speaking of Tigers....how deft was that move by Tiger Woods on Monday? Holding a press conference on such a busy sports day. Kudos to his management team.

Monday was also the first game of the season for the Tigers, beating the Royals 8-4 in Kansas City and scoring 6 of those 8 runs in the 7th inning. I didn't watch one bit of the game, which is how it'll probably be for most of the season, but I did note the score. Their second game of the year is tonight, still in KC, at 8:00 pm and the home opener against Cleveland is this Friday.

The NCAA Championship game was Monday as well. Duke won....but barely.

The biggest news in sports the last few days has been the trade of Donovan McNabb from the Eagles to the Redskins. After 11 seasons with him as our bitter rival, it seems we are now hanging our immediate future on him. A lot of people are rushing to compare him to John Elway since it was Mike Shanahan who brought him in. While I must admit the numbers for both QBs up until Shanahan became their coach are eerily similar, with McNabb's being slightly better, I am going to just wait and see and be optimistic. I honestly don't see the same competetive fire in Donovan as I saw in John Elway....but only time will tell I guess.

~

Another note on my Skins; Albert Haynesworth seems to be on his way out. Shanahan tried to give him to Philly in the McNabb deal, but they didn't want him or that salary, and it seems that Haynesworth is destined for Shanahan's doghouse for as long as he is with the team. I'd hate to see the Skins/Haynesworth relationship end like this. He really is a rare talent that could be the key to Washington having a top 10 or top 5 defense the next 2-3 years, but if he does in fact get traded, I will REALLY believe that Dan Snyder is serious about keeping his hands off the team in an effort to win. It's really hard to believe he wants to let his prized catch go so easily.

....Out Like a Lamb

Farewell March....it's hard to believe you are already gone.