What a Game

After watching the end of the USA/Canada Gold Medal game for the Winter Olympics - I couldn't help but think that that might have been the best hockey game I'd ever seen (keeping in mind I was 2 for the Miracle On Ice). Two teams loaded with NHL talent playing for the gold and leaving nothing out on the ice.

What an amazing tournament - Ryan Miller was unbelievable and the drama was intense. The Canadians wanted this badly and maybe they needed it more for the hockey hungry Canadians. As soon as Sidney Crosby sent his shot past Miller in overtime, you could hear an entire country collectively cheer.

It was heartbreaking to watch the faces of the USA team accept their silver medals, just mere minutes after coming so close. It was amazing to watch an amazing hockey tournament from beginning to end. I loved watching Patrick Kane provide explosive offensive creativity and spacing for the US team. I loved seeing Jonathan Toews' consistent and gritty effort lead to good things for Canada time and time again. Duncan Keith was possibly the best defender out there and Brent Seabrook gave it his all as well. Great to see the Blackhawks (let's not forget Hossa and Kopecky from Slovakia) make their countries proud.

Now let's win that Stanley Cup.

Wow....surreal

So, Jordan and I went to the Bulls game the other night. During a break in play, it was time for the LuvaBulls to come out and perform. For those that don't know - the LuvaBulls are basically the Bulls' cheerleaders/"dancers". They are clearly not there to court the women or families in attendance. Now, surprisingly, all the girls came out in baggy, shabby clothes carrying weird miscellaneous things like buckets, brooms, mops, etc. At this point, we both kind of looked at each other. And then "It's a Hard Knock Life" from Annie came on and they began singing and dancing in character to the song. I looked at Jordan and said, "So clearly at some point here, they're going to strip off the peasant clothes and start dancing, right?" He shrugged and nodded. We watched some more as the song progressed. "I mean, seriously right? Like they're really only at these games for one purpose." The song continued as a quasi-Broadway song was done on the floor and finally the mean landlady character (another one of these hot cheerleaders dressed in a fat suit and a ridiculous gray whig in curlers) scolded the girls and the song was over. And just like that, they were done. No dancing to some popular dance song. No skimpy outfits. A performance from Annie.

I turned to Jordan. "Do you think it was like Broadway night or something and we missed the announcement?" He answered back, "I don't remember hearing anything. Broadway in Chicago maybe?"

They never actually did any other major dance routines that night. All I could think to say was "That was the weirdest thing I've ever seen. No one wants to see Annie at a Bulls game. I mean, seriously, the weirdest thing ever. That was surreal." And it was.

Plus, the donut beat the coffee in a race where the coffee was literally inches from the finish line with a huge lead and just inexplicably stopped making progress despite his legs continuing to move. I smell a fix. Just a strange night.

Re-dedication to Blogging Take 3

Per Malcolm Gladwell's book "Outliers" - after 10,000 hours of blogging, I will achieve excellence. I have spent approximately 27 minutes blogging so far and 18 of those minutes were apologizing for not blogging more. This time, it's for real.

And yes, I did update my list of people I want to punch. No, that's not a typo, Billy Bush is back at 1. I am waiting for some charity auction to offer a punching of Billy Bush and I will empty the savings account. Also interesting to note that David Caruso maintained a slim lead over Voldemort. Take that for what you will.

The Olympics

While I enjoy the Olympics as much as any American, this year's Winter Olympics have left me somewhat cold. Bad pun intended.

I enjoy the good storylines as much as the next guy and the speed skating, downhill skiing and hockey have not failed to capture my attention. However, the fact remains that while bobsled and luge are exciting sports - they are not necessarily great TV. The fact that it's the Olympics doesn't ever justify watching a "sport" like ice dancing will never be great TV. So, while I will continue to root for the USA and for the exciting athletes and stories like Lindsay Vonn, Shani Davis, Shaun White, Patrick Kane, etc - I find myself looking forward to when Chuck, The Office and 30 Rock come back. I will, however, continue to enjoy curling until that time.

And yes, I understand that by publishing this blog, I just lost a brother.

Barilla Pasta

By now, you've probably seen the commercial. It starts with a handsome mustachioed man and his family in an Italian field. The man is holding wheat in his hands, expounding on its virtue to his children. Before you know it, you, as the viewer, are immersed into a novella that brings you across the ocean to the United States. Into a New York that looks remarkably like the Godfather II's flashbacks. A small shop making and selling spaghetti by hand. The shop growing and making racks of pasta at one time, a large "family" portrait of all the workers of the Barilla pasta family. Into the present and the wonderful luxury of buying pasta in a store until suddenly we're back in the field with Guisseppe Moustache and the wheat.

Sounds too good to be true right? I mean, this commercial is immediately more immersing than most of what's on TV. Pretty ambitious commercial when you figure it's about a minute long. Clearly the good people at Barilla want consumers to know there's a story behind their pasta. And you know what - it worked. I'm convinced - I want to be part of that story.

In the meantime - screw those fat cats at Prince brand Spaghetti.

New Look, New Beginnings, Soaring Pessimism

So, I've decided to try out the blog one more time. I've changed the layout and while I still have no concrete plans, I am hoping to at least get back to some writing. I'm not going to lie. The outlook is still bleak. I know how things are and the odds are still more likely I will not be proficient. But I will die trying. Otherwise I'm just the Brett Favre of blogging - coming and going, crying and annoying millions, all without the painkiller addiction.

Did I mention I sincerely hope to see Urlacher snap his leg when we play the Vikes this year?

Why my blog sucks

So, let me tell you why my blog has sucked so far. I think the first most obvious reason is the lack of a post in over a month. I think it's tough to have a great blog or a horrible blog if you don't...you know...blog. However, I re-dedicate myself to showering the world with my awesomeness. We'll see.