This-n-That

Well, it’s another one of those weeks where I am being a very bad blogger, partially because of work (too much time in front of the computer at the office = lack of enthusiasm for it at home), but also because I’ve just been feeling lazy about writing. A few of the ideas percolating around in my brain are going to require serious effort, and I am resisting. So instead, here are a few random tidbits, some about the blog, some not.

Blog-related:

1. Yeah, I know — I am really late on getting last week’s Project 365 photos posted. I do have them and am hoping to post them tonight. But then, I was planning to post them last night, so no promises.

2. I also know I’ve been terrible about doing my three beautiful things posts of late and promise to improve on that, as well. I may shift it to another day of the week, since I am not always as smart or motivated on Mondays as I might be.

3. Eileen and I are beginning discussions about having her become my official co-blogger, instead of just a now-and-then guest writer (and also instead of her possibly starting her own blog). Any thoughts on this? Does the current template make it easy enough for you to tell who has written what? Or do we need to think of a new design along with a new name?

Not blog-related:

4. My dishwasher isn’t broken! I’ve thought it was for months, but (as if by magic) it is now working again. I don’t have enough words to say how happy this makes me. Had I written a 3BT post any time in the last few weeks, this would have been on it.

5. I’ve been hearing these really weird ads on NPR for a production of Pirates of Penzance at Wolf Trap. The ad begins normally, but then end with “including the song ‘I am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General.’” I don’t know why this needs to be spelled out — it’s one of the songs in the show; why would it not be included?

6. I’m loving the fact that the DC Sports Bog is covering the National Spelling Bee finals. When one of the participants questioned why she was being interviewed by a sportswriter, blogger Dan Steinberg told her “once it’s on ESPN, it’s a sport.” Her reply is classic:

“Sports is, like, athletics,” she noted. “This isn’t athletic at all.”

7. Speaking of sports, I’m finding this still-developing  news story very depressing and want it to not be true. (And I have to say, the complete vagueness of the accusations gives me some hope that it isn’t.) I’ve never thought of hockey as being a steroid-driven sport, so would find the Caps’ involvement very surprising, and, well, if the Nats are taking steroids, they need better ones.

8. I’m starting Arabic lessons on Tuesday with a couple of the girls I went to Jordan with. I’m very nervous, as I’ve never exhibited much of an aptitude for languages. (See: my almost complete inability to communicate effectively in either German or Spanish despite years of classes.) We’re hoping to make another trip to the Middle East next year, and thought having at least some ability to communicate in Arabic might help.

9. This is cute. (Hat tip to Rudi for sharing.)

Well, I thought I might make it all the way to ten, but alas… I think that’s all I’ve got for now.

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Updated to add numbers 8 and 9. I guess I had more than I thought.

There’s No Cheerleading in Hockey

Our awesome friends Charlie and Mary invited us to game five of the AHL Western Conference championship with the Houston Aeros playing the Manitoba Moose.  We had an old school hockey, yelling our heads off blast (by the way, no big surprise here, the officiating sucked).  It was a wild game — almost 14 minutes of uninterrupted play in the second which took the Aeros to a 3-0 (maybe a 3-1) lead, and then in the last 30 seconds of the third period the Aeros gave up two goals to tie the game (the last one with literally two seconds to go).  This was a do or die game for them so you might think that they would have, I don’t know, played offense in the third period but they did not.

Anyway, all this detail is beside the point.  It was a great game, and the Aeros live on to play a game six in Winnipeg.  But since when does hockey included cheerleaders or pom-pom girls, or a cheer squad or whatever the hell euphamism you want to associate with this travesty? Hockey is an old school sport.  It is not for (well, I can’t actually say the word that comes to mind – I hate that word).

Newsflash people – if you need 3/4 naked women prancing in spandex to fill your seats, your sport is in big trouble (kinda like  if you need slots at your race track, you’re not gonna make that either, but I digress). And if you are not doing it to fill the seats, why exactly are you doing it? Can someone explain to me how exactly this helps the guys win a face off or score a goal — that is afterall why I am there to begin with, right?  Here’s a thought, in this age of frugalism and economic conservatism, ditch the cheerleaders and pocket the cash.  I’m cool with that.

Is there really no sport left where you can just go and apprecaite the sport of it?  I guess baseball maybe.  But I am ashamed of my sport – this is beneath hockey.

See You in October

Well, that was an ending I didn’t see coming. Not so much that the Caps lost; it was the final game in a series where three games went into overtime and only one game was decided by more than a single point, so losing was always a possibility. No, it was the utter collapse that surprised me. As Brian so aptly said as we were leaving the Verizon Center, it was pre-season hockey in a game seven. (Eileen’s reaction is here.)

Tomorrow, we may know more about why — there are reports now that a huge number of guys were injured, including defenseman Tom Poti, who has apparently played the entire series on a broken foot (ow!), as well as Ovie, Alexander Semin, and Mike Green. The last two are not surprising at all — Semin and Green have really been off their games this series, and Green’s whole “I had to switch to a different kind of stick” excuse just seemed too lame to be believable.

Though the end was disappointing, it was still an amazing season. Those of us who stayed ’til the end (read: not the bandwagon fans) started our standing-O at two minutes left in the game. Obviously, we’re all sorry to be out of the playoffs, but think about it — in a season and a half, the Caps gone from the worst team in the NHL to repeating Southeastern Division champs and made it to game seven of the semi-finals for the Eastern Conference. That’s pretty damned impressive. And our team is still so young — we have plenty of time to build. The Stanley Cup will be in the Nation’s Capital soon enough.

So, Washington Capitals, thanks for all the great hockey, and see you in October. Let’s go Caps!