THE DROUGHT IS OVER!!!!

I had two separate hockey league games yesterday and they couldn't have been more polar opposites. The 1st game was a 12-2 blowout at Wells as we had no goalie.  I also decided to use my head to closely inspect the ice and the boards about 5 minutes into that game.  The second game was later at Columbia and I was on the right end of a 9-2 decision.  I finally broke both the Columbia and the Mutineers Red Jersey curses with two goals and an assist on the evening.  The second goal was particularly pretty, a one timer on a cross ice feed.  Today I'm paying for it, as I'm tired and sore, but ohhhhh was it worth it.  What a fun day!

s

Hockey on the Caps home ice.

Below are the pics from my scrimmage at Verizon Center last Friday.  We lost 8-3, but I was on the ice for two of our three goals.  The ice was terrible, I can't believe the best players in the world play on that. The ice had nothing to do with why we lost, for the record.  It was also very hot playing under those lights.  I haven't sweated like that in a long time.  Overall it was a wonderful experience, I'm so glad I got to do it.

I've got some new stuff going up on Down N Dirty, so keep your eyes peeled!   Enjoy!

Need I say more?

Unless you live under a rock, you probably know the result of last night's USA/Canada hockey game.  All I have to say is, what a game, and I hope we get to see a rematch later in the tournament.  Thanks to si.com for the photo.

I played twice yesterday and am feeling the burn today. I went 1-1 yesterday and scored a goal(a sweet one if I do say so myself).  Carey's team had an easy 4-0 win. Overall it was a good weekend.  I just need to figure out if I can get in a nap today here at my cube.

s

Another big night for number 31!

I played hockey with my team in College Park last night, the Sharks. The College Park league is a mixed league, which means there are high and low level players on each team. Last season I played 20 or so games with this group and I was unable to register a point. No goals, not assists, no nothing. It was a little bit frustrating for me. Last night, in my first game with this group for this winter I broke out big time with two goals. One was a "garbage" rebound goal from about a foot away. The second was a beautiful backhand shot over top of the goalie who had laid out to try and catch a shot off of a nice crossing pass. I haven't been that excited after scoring a goal in quite a while. It make me feel really good to finally contribute to the team. We lost 8-6, but we gave it all we had. Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come for my game for the rest of the winter. I think my efforts during the Saturday morning clinics are paying off. I have a game tomorrow, and two more on Sunday, so hopefully I'll have some good results to post. Have a great weekend!

s

Thoughts on hockey...

Happy Tuesday,
I was surfing through si.com this morning, as I usually do at some point during the day, and I found a gallery of pics from a recent sled hockey tournament. Sled hockey is set up so that folks that have had amputations, or some issue that has caused their legs to stop working, can play the best game in the world. The sled has blades on it, and sits high enough that the puck will slide underneath it. It was awesome to see the pictures of these folks playing. The gallery made me think about how lucky I am to be able to play hockey, no matter how frustrated I get with myself while playing. I also figured with this being the week leading up to Thanksgiving that the message was appropriate. Congrats to the the folks in the pictures. Keep playing and having fun!

s

The Mad Hatter!

What a way to start the summer season!

Last night I accomplished another of the items on my Ice Hockey "to do list". I scored a hat trick. For those of you that aren't up on the hockey lingo, that means I scored three goals in one game. It's kind of a big deal for me, considering I haven't scored more than one goal in any game I've ever played. I was also fortunate enough for Carey to be there to see it(and give me crap about it), which was awesome. The only downside I can see, is that last night's game was my first with a new team, so I managed to set the bar really high. Hopefully they will still want to keep me around after I get back to my normal "non scoring" games. Here's a snapshot of some of the items I have accomplished on my hockey "to do list"

1. Score on a breakaway.
2. Win a league championship.
3. Score or assist on a goal that involves Carey.
4. Be on the ice for an overtime(sudden victory) game winning goal.
5. Score a Hat Trick.

Some of the items that are left:

1. Take a major penalty.
2. Score a game winning goal.
3. Score on a penalty shot.

I'm sure there are more, I just can't think of them at the moment. Enjoy the Holiday weekend. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM(tomorrow)



s

Hockey Day in DC

Today is the beginning of the NCAA's final four of Men's Ice Hockey, known as the "Frozen Four". Its the first time this event has been in our area. I was lucky enough to have my name pulled out of the hat by the NCAA and got tickets to both semi-final games today as well as the finals on Saturday. I've never seen a college hockey game before, so I'm looking forward to the new experience. Tonight's game are on ESPN2 at 5:30 and 8 if you are interested. I'm seeing this as one of those experiences I can check off my "hockey player to do list". I've been pretty lucky as a player over the last 4 years and done some really cool stuff, (i.e. playing pond hockey, assisting on an overtime game winner in the playoffs, scoring a goal in front of my parents), but this will certainly be a highlight for me. We will also have the opportunity to hang out with a bunch of our hockey friends(as it seems they all got tickets as well). It should be a memorable weekend. By the way, I'm pulling for Miami of Ohio. They were a low seed, and they wear red. GO HAWKS!

The Day After

Its been a good couple of days. Over the weekend I got to play hockey in Hershey, PA. I have attached some of my favorite pics. The weather tried to be uncooperative, but we managed to get the tailgate in. Sunday was spent with the folks, the in-laws, and some friends. Twas a fun day.
Yesterday was the highlight of the month. I got to meet Alex Ovechkin and had him autograph my Caps jersey. It was so cool to be in the presence of the best hockey player in the world. It was totally worth the price I paid, and the wait in line.

This week will be filled with hockey and exercise. I'm hoping to lose a pound or 2 this week if I'm lucky. Enjoy the pics!

s

Happy Monday...

Today is better than average for a Monday. I'm only working a half day today. WOO HOO. I'm headed to the doctor's office for a physical this afternoon. Nothing is wrong, I'm just gonna get checked out. Its a good excuse to not have to work this afternoon. :-)

The weekend was fun. I surprised myself, and got up at 4:45am on Saturday to take part in a hockey clinic. I was in full gear and on the ice at 6am. It was an awesome workout, and a learned some stuff. I was sore most of the rest of the day, but it made of a great start to the day. Honestly, the only way I'm gonna get better at the game is to put in the kind of work that I did on Saturday. My goal is to significantly improve my conditioning and skating over the summertime so that when the College Park league starts back up in the fall, I'll be able to keep up. I've also got something else fun on the horizon. This weekend I've been invited to participate in a scrimmage up in Hershey, PA. A local team that I have some friends on rents the ice at the Giant Center where the AHL's Bears play. We play a full 3 period scrimmage, then tailgate all day, and finish the day by taking in the Bears game that night. Its going to be an awesome day.

The NCAA Division I Men's hockey tournament gets going this week. I'm excited because the wife and I will be at all 3 games of the "Frozen Four"(the hockey equivalent of basketball's final four). We are very much looking forward to that in a few weeks as well.

As far as the NCAA Basketball tourney goes, I'm happy to report that I have NOT had to tear up my brackets. I'm actually in second place in my pool. This is a 1st for me, usually by the end of the 1st weekend, I'm out. The other thing I'm looking forward to is the cheerleader galleries on si.com. I'll link you to them when/if they show up. ;-)


Otherwise life is good. I'm just preparing to enjoy the warm weather, and the PLAYOFFS!! Lets go Caps!

s

Being in IT has its perks

For college basketball fans yesterday and today are the greatest days of the year. I personally don't follow the college game very much, but I do enjoy catching as many of the tournament games(especially the early ones) as I can. Besides, it helps me know exactly when I should tear up my brackets.

My company has a device in place that will block most web sites that will allow you to get live updates or stream game audio/video. I knew this coming into yesterday. My hope was that I would get the games on my portable XM device. *BUZZ* I was wrong. I had a revelation when I came back from lunch yesterday. Sitting in the bottom of my closet in my cube was my 9 year old laptop, that I used to use when I was on-call. The laptop, combined with my ATT G3 Wireless card allowed me to listen live to the games while I was working. I was happier than a fat kid eating cake(thanks 50 cent). I plan on using the same set up to get my fix of NCAA hoops again today. This is just further proof of my theory that you should never throw an old computer away(the wife LOVES this one).

As for my brackets, I had a good day yesterday, I got 14 out of 16 correct. We shall see what today brings though. I'm gonna have to cheer for West Virgina, which for me is ust morally wrong. If i can do well today, I just might be set up to collect some cash....we shall see.

This weekend is my last official hockey game at College Park. They will be melting the rink down before too long. Its been a fun season. My team finished in 2nd out of teams. Hopefully next year there will be more participation. All else is well. Have a good weekend!

s

It's Friday...you ain't got no job..you ain't got S*** to do!

Happy Friday all! I'm so glad this work week is coming to an end. Sometimes the short weeks are harder than the full 5 day weeks. Unreal.

I ended up playing pickup hockey at Columbia on Wednesday night. I scored a goal, which made waiting until 10:30 to play worth while. It was funny listening to the college kids talking about going out to get beer after the game. FYI..the game ended at midnight. It just proves how old I am. It was a nice release from the stresses of the week. I might have to make it a weekly occurrence.

This weekend looks to be a fun one. The wife is in school all day on Saturday so I'm gonna head to the "Adventures in Travel Expo" in DC. There are always reps from these cool, far away places that I like to chat with. Saturday night is a Bull Roast up in Baltimore. The last couple of these have been serious 'drunk fests' so we shall see how things go. There will be some really cool sports memorabilia up for auction, so I may get to come home with something cool. Who knows. Sunday is hockey, all day, I better not be tooooo hungover.

All else is well, catch back up with you next week.

s

Further Proof that I'm really a 12 year old...

The wife and I exchanged Valentines Day presents last Friday night. Hers was an IPhone. I didn't pay for all of it, but my $$ helped her finish the purchase. Now that's a pretty damn cool present, most people would agree. My present were 2 boxes of sports cards. One box of the hockey cards I have been collecting all winter, and a box of the newly released 2009 baseball cards. Most people would call this quite the uneven trade, but I was like a kid in a candy store. Gleefully opening pack after pack of cards. I couldn't have been happier. Since then, I can't get my mind off the cards. I'm counting down the days until Saturday when I can run out and get myself another box. I know...."lame", but it's what I'm into. There is something about the chase that's got me hooked on the cards again. There's just something cool about opening a pack and finding a card with a piece of game used jersey on it, or one of only 100 cards of that type in existence.

So that's where my mind is today. I'm all engrossed in pulling an autograph or a rookie from a pack this weekend. Thank God for that too, cause it's been a LOUSY day. Maybe I'll play hockey tonight and take out my frustrations on a puck. We shall see.

s

They wore WHAT??

The team in the pic above is the Montreal Canadians. They are celebrating their 100th anniversary this season. One of the neat things they are doing to commemorate 100 years of hockey is wear throwbacks of all their old jerseys. I think we can all be glad they they didn't stick with these. Unreal 'eh.

Can you remember the last time we saw back to back super bowls that were as competitive as these last two? I always remember the super bowl as a game that was usually over by halftime, usually a total mismatch. These last two have been awesome. I was pulling for Arizona last night, mainly because I'm sick of the 8 million Steeler fans in the area. I have to say though, what a fun game to watch, no matter who won.

The forecasters were once again predicting Armageddon embodied in a few inches of snow overnight, so it should be fun to see what actually happens. I'm sure my teacher friends are looking fwd to another day off. Enjoy!

s