Finding Loopholes: Making Rules on the Fly

I don't know how to frame this without going on about what a drama queen Marty Brodeur is, how slanted the reffing has been, and, and... okay - instead, I'll recommend the following.

watch this first...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ec_2oKWe2Gw

...and then read this:

http://rangers.lohudblogs.com/2008/04/14/the-avery-rule/

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A Night On The Town (crosspost)

Wednesday night in my livin' room watchin' a game--crossposted from my blawg. Warning: contains some 'colourful' language.

So let's recap:

Wednesday morning, everyone in the Caniac Nation was all up in teh dramaz about the Caps pwning face on us. I slapped around some dumbass who got all up in the whiny because I said that Alex Ovechkin can be a dirty bastard--and yes, he can be--and then I took a shot at people that were claiming that there's some kind of Sooper Sekrit Conspeerohsee going on to get the Caps into the playoffs at our expense.

Wednesday afternoon, EJ Hradek decided to clown on my coach's meltdown behind the bench in DC. And, admittedly, it was funny--though really my coach is far less nebbishy-lookin' than EJ is (not, yanno, that there's anything wrong with being nebbishy-lookin'. Just saying.)--but I knew that the 'Canes were going to get it together against the Lightning that night...and my favourite Spicy Italian, John Tortorella, gave us a lil' hep by putting Mike Smith in goal.

Mmmm.....Spicy Italian. *ahem* sorry.

Then a friend of mine leaves me a ticket at Will Call--and my car is out of gas. Hubby was at work, clear out on the other side of the Containment Area for Relocated Yanquis. So I was stuck in my "AQ has no cash and can't call a cab to take her to le jeu" living room for the night, which didn't make me very happy--but what can you do, right?

So I settle in to watch the game--and 32 seconds in Eric freakin' Staal shows why he is The Chosen One by scoring on a breakaway while practically wearing Vinny Lecavalier. I knew then that it was going to be a fun night. Merlin decided, at that point, to decamp to the foyer for some odd reason. The rest of the cats (including Jasmine the Feline Mute Button), however, parked their furry butts on the couch and watched the game with me. Martin St. Louis scored a few minutes later while Keith "Tater" Aucoin was in the box for tripping, and I bellowed "STOP SCORING ON US, YOU LITTLE VONTZ!"

Jasmine, tiny little dainty kitty that she is, then jumped on my chest and nipped my chin to let me know that I was too loud and needed to be quiet.

Then Chad LaRose, the Chuck Norris of Hockey, scored at 16:10 to put the 'Canes up 2-1--and on to intermission we went!

Now, the second period was kinda surreal. Rosie scored again (and there was much rejoicing. YAAAAAY!), Andreas Karlsson hooked Trevor Letowski in the wedding vegetables, and then a few minutes later there was a knock at my door. I opened it, and there was Scott Walker. "Hey there, Your Infernal Majesty," he said, "Mind if I come in for a moment?" How could I refuse one of my tribesmen, right?

I let Remo in, and--after paying the Pet Tax to Merlin--he ripped off this shot from atop my coffee table while Mike Smith was off at the Cook-Out on Western Boulevard to get a huge Cheddar-Style with double extra onion and a side of hushpuppies. "Thanks," Walks said merrily before reaching down to pick Merlin up. "C'mon little buddy, we're going to need you later." Then he left, and I went back to watching the game just in time to see Jeff Halpern attempt to use Ryan Bayda as a missile weapon against his own goalie...and then try to re-enact a scene from "OZ" while poor Mike Smith is dopeslapping both of them with his blocker and hollering "GET OFF ME WITH THAT SHIT MANG, THAT AIN'T MAH SCENE."

Then the phone rang. It was my husband. "As your lawyer," he said to me, "I advise you to keep the noise level down so that we don't get tossed from our apartment." And Jasmine nipped my chin again, punctuating it this time with a meow. And the neighbours upstairs started trying to loudly remind the world that they like to engage in conjugal relations from time to time. Point taken, I turned down the TV in the living room and ChuckandtheletterK in the computer room.

Tuomo Ruutu went off for hooking, and I wondered 'How long can we maintain?'* The answer was "as long as we have to".

Vinny Lecavalier got dinged for a double-minor at the end of the period after he got called for interference and then decided to tell the refs what he thought of their parentage, and I knew that it was about to get surreal. More surreal. Something like that.

I was not, I assure you, disappointed.

Bishop Ruutu canonized a shot from the faceoff circle that beat Smith like a rented mule, Halp thought he was a Cap again and managed to score, and then the Chuck Norris of Hockey, Chad fuckin' LaRose, got his hat trick.

It was at that point that I saw Merlin firmly ensconced on the top of John Tortorella's head, and I decided that fatigue had definitely gotten the better of me and that it was time to go to bed. I walked over to the TV set and turned it on to a dead channel-white noise at maximum decibels, a fine sound for sleeping, a powerful continuous hiss to drown out everything strange*. Then I went into the bedroom and collapsed into bed surrounded by four furballs and seeing my team as monster reincarnations of Horatio Alger: men on the move and just sick enough to be confident*.

(This post inspired by (and the asterisked lines cribbed from) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Good night Hunter S. Thompson, wherever you are.)

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Classy vs. Classless

Last night, during a very feisty matchup between the Phoenix Coyotes and the Vancouver Canucks, I noticed something from the corner of my eye that royally pissed me off and I'm wondering if any of you have ever noticed something like this in all your years/months/days as hockey fans.

Bieksa was in the box for the Canucks; he was testing Weller's temper management, he might want to ask OKT how well that works (sorry twin). That's beside the point. The fact was that he was sitting in the box stewing and plotting ways to maim the refs when a fan behind the box dumps his drink (not sure whether 'drink' means water, soda or beer and it really doesn't matter) over the glass and practically onto poor Bieksa. Now, I was a few rows back and about half a row away so I can't be positive whether any of it actually hit Bieksa but that's really not my point here.

Bieksa, naturally, gets pissed off and slams his stick into the glass. The jerk of a fan is ejected and the game gets back on track. All is right in the world. But it's not.

I'm just sitting there thinking; which is always dangerous. First of all, if you're going to make a move like that, why would you do it when the refs are right there reviewing a play? You think maybe they won't see? Second, why would you even do that to begin with? I don't care how much you dislike a play or a player, it's a respect issue. Even if you don't respect Bieksa, himself, have enough respect for the Canucks, the game of hockey, the Coyotes and all fans that are watching you act like a complete tool.

I had a couple of Canucks fans sitting next to me and they witnessed firsthand what sort of fans we have here in Phoenix. Even if they go to every single game until the end of time, they're always going to remember the guy that dumped his beer (again, speculation on my part) onto Bieksa. It doesn't matter what sort of good fans they see (like myself, ha ha) the one that will stick is the one who does something stupid.

Tell me who your friends are and I'll tell you who you are.

The same basic concept applies here: because one Phoenix fan let himself get carried away, all of our fans look like loonies.

So thanks for that, fan. You've single-handedly turned us into Red Wings fans.* Kudos.


*I'd like to point out that I don't mean ALL Red Wings fans. There are exceptions to every rule but for the most part, we get the most pissed off version of Wings fans in Phoenix. Those are the ones I am referring to.

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