Charitable Donations

Ah, the day after.

Clarks golf tournament was another huge success, but I may be biased because I won a new driver.  So like I was saying, huge success.

Ex-Islanders and athletes alike raised money for kids through Clarks fund, a fund that’s committed a million dollars to the construction of Huntington Hospitals “Clark Gillies” pediatric wing.

If you’d like to contribute, please make large checks out to “Justin Bourne” and I’ll handle the rest.  Trust me, it’s for a good cause.

Game six tonight!  I asked everyone connected to hockey (no namers like Lafontaine, Trottier and Brianna Gillies), and nobody was willing to write Pittsburgh off.

They’ve been dynamite at home, and for all intents and purposes, anytime every analyst says a team is going to lose, they won’t.  It’s the “nobody believed in us” factor that makes winning easier.

Anywho, I need to get something in my stomach, like a pancake, or half a dozen Tylenol.  Enjoy game six.

I Have No Time For You

Okay, in reality I just have very little time for you.

I’m in New York so I can be a part of Clark Gillies Celebrity Charity thingy, which has meant that finding time to write blog posts between cocktails hasn’t been easy. 

The good news, is that I do have time to congratulate Pittsburgh for completely sucking at life and puking on themselves in Detroit yesterday.  Clean yourselves up.

I shall continue to naively wish for a game seven.

On the upside, I bring you my new favourity blog, courtesy my friend Neil Corbett.  Well advised good sir.  Well advised.

www.fuckyoupenguin.blogspot.com – as you can tell by the URL, it’s a special site.  Enjoy.

And, if you’re feeling like doing some Bourne’s Blog reading, and this isn’t cutting it, check out my latest Hockey News article at: http://thehockeynews.com/articles/26590-Justin-Bournes-Blog-The-art-of-slumpbusting.html

The Table Is Set

Detroit Red Wings 2  Pittsburgh Penguins 2

Sadly, I need to pack my life for NY, so I’ll be quick:

Nice to see Detroit show some signs that they might not actually be the most talented robots in the history of hockey.

To all those that voted for Ossy in my Conn Smythe poll (I think he’s still leading it), you can’t blame him for tonights loss the same way you can’t reward him for their previous wins.  The amount of goals scored is not always an accurate reflection of a goaltenders play – the team tries to stop goals too.

I’m sure the NHL pooped a bit when that final buzzer went tonight.  This is shaping up to be something special.  And the Cavs aren’t in the NBA finals.  Welcome, viewers from Ohio!

Whaaaaazzzzaaaappppp???

Before game four AKA game seven starts tonight, I’ve got a few blog worthy musings that barely pertain to hockey (if at all).

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I’m bringing back “wwwwwwhhhhhaaaaaazzzzzzzzzzzzzzuuuuuppppppp????” and you can’t stop me.  It’s been gone just long enough for it to be hilarious again. Trust me.

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I think pecs inhibits the natural golf swing.

For years, I would come home from the hockey season and head out to the golf course.  Once the rust/hangover wore off, I’d start firing a few low numbers, figuring that this was the year I’d finally give Tiger a run (no?).  Of course, I always came home from hockey run-down-ragged and skinny, but that never seemed to affect my ability to golf.

As the summers went on, I spent a lot of my non-golf time in the gym, bulking up for the next seasons training camp.  And, as I got towards the end of the summer, I filled my shirt better but my scorecard worse.  One stroke here.  Two there.  Hosel OB.  I never could figure out the cause.

I’ve recently been back in the gym battling the post-jaw-injury skinny upper-body/fat lower-half condition I developed.  As I’m getting more muscular again, my score is starting to creeeeep up on me.

The other possibility, is that I’m desperately searching for anything to blame other than playing like Roy Macavoy of Tin Cup on 18, because that’s damn near been happening lately.  Let’s move on.

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Richard “Shakey” Krouse was the trainer of the Central Texas Stampede, where my Dad coached many a years ago.  As Dad moved up in leagues and changed teams, he always brought his life-of-the-party trainer with him, without fail.  Shakey treated my brother and I well, and sure enough, he’s moved on to become a New York Islanders staff member.  When I was at Islanders rookie and main camp, it was so nice just to know someone who wasn’t evaluating something I was doing.

Now, Shakes has agreed to come to work the bench at the Hockey Greats Fantasy Camp!  We’re proud to have him and look forward to his company.

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How about Shaq “twittering” that he wants Kobe to win his fourth NBA title? 

No he doesn’t. 

All he wants is to avoid a “Kobe sure showed you” interview where he has to defend himself while the media act like he just got “Punked”.  He doesn’t want Kobe to win anything but the herpes lottery (which would seem foolish to buy a ticket for).

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As for tonight, I’ll be watching the game and packing to head out to NY for the Clark Gillies Charity Classic (a tournament where, I’d like to point out, they haven’t let me play since I dethroned four-time long drive champion Mario Lemieux).  There, I’ll either be playing or on the high-traffic drink cart with Breezy, so that’s a win-win.  After that, I’m registering my car (which has been a Gillies driveway fixture for months), and driving it cross-continent to Kelowna BC.  Good times!

The Conn Smythe, a Plug and a Kobe

Heyyy, the Pengy’s finally won one!

The saddest part of watching them win was admitting that they just aren’t the better team.  I so badly wanted them to be.  Sigh…  But, at least there’s hope. 

I was so convinced Crosby was the Penguins Conn Smythe guy after the conference finals it was silly.  I figured, even if Malkin steps it up in a big way in the finals it wasn’t going to equal Crosby’s contributions to how far they’ve advanced.  Now, it’s looking a little dicier.

What about the Wings?  Zetterberg or Franzen?  Or… Osgood?  Back to back Zetterberg’s right?  The last time I can remember an offensive player playing defense that exceptionally was Fedorov in his heyday, also for the Red Wings.

[polldaddy poll=1675957]

On the vacation front, there’s good news in regards to our Hockey Greats Fantasy Camp this year.  Aside from having guys like Dale Hawerchuk, Bryan Trottier, Clark Gillies, Billy Smith, Cliff Ronning, Dave Semenko and many others locked up, we reached a long term agreement with the beautiful lakeside resort “The Cove” on the Westside of Kelowna BC.  The camp wouldn’t be the same without that setting, so I want to give a major thank you to them for partnering with us. 

With agreements and sponsorships, we’ve been able to cut entry down to $3000 (with sponsorship packages ranging from $150 to $20,000).  We provide the ice time, cover transportation in Kelowna, provide lots of free gear, your resort suite, a round of golf, breakfasts and appy’s, an afternoon on a houseboat and other extras. 

We’re working on bringing Trevor Linden into the fold, and next year we have Kelly Hrudey committed to hosting.  Signing up this year also affords you a discount on next years entry.  Contact me if you’re interested in being involved August 5th to the 8th in Kelowna BC at jtbourne@gmail.com – there’s actvities, accomodations and entertainment in a relaxed environment for every guest.

Sorry about the shameless plug – I just really love the event we’re running out here.

I need to mention something else before I call today over (PS, plugging that made me feel like Vince at ShamWow. “ShamWow, it’ll have ya sayin’ wow every time”).  I’m watching the Spike Lee documentary “Kobe Doin’ Work”. 

What is this guy’s deal?

It’s so awkward watching him justify every play and decision throughout the whole documentary.  It just seems so forced.  I’m not sure why I still get the vibe that the guy is insecure.  What does he want, more money, fame?  I’ve tried so hard to like the guy.  He’s A-Rod awkward.  God, what a chotch.

And lastly, my latest The Hockey News entry on slumping will be up in the next day or two.  I’ll post the link when it’s up!  Go Pens!

Reffing, Superstars and King Hippo

I want to start today right by thanking my readers – the month of May was the fifth month this blog has been in business, and in that month it recieved nearly 20,000 hits.  I’d throw you all a party, but my hunch is you’re not all that local – so like I said:  Thanks.

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Somewhere between the conference and Stanley Cup finals, the referees decided to revert back to the days of yesteryear. 

I’m all for letting the players decide the game.  But remember what happened when we let everything go in the ‘90’s?  Remember the hook ‘n’ hold grab-fests that minimized the games greatest players and elevated guys like Claude Lemieux?  Why are we doing that again? 

Hockey turned the corner in the last three or four years, thanks largely in part to a number of rule changes that allowed our games greatest stars to really demonstrate their talents.  

Fans have fallen back in love with the game.  Close fought playoffs contests have ended in scores like 7-5 and 5-4 because we’ve taken the reigns off and let the horses run.  It’s a shame to see the refs revert back to the old whistle-in-the-pocket theory, calling a mere five powerplays combined for both teams over both games (with the exception of the end of game two where five more were called in a Malkin induced outpouring of frustration). 

In the end, the games aren’t about the reffing.  All you can hope is that at the end of the series, nobody thinks about them ever again.  That’s the sign of a job well done by the stripes. 

But we need consistency - Pittsburgh is a team that thrives on working hard to create powerplays and striking like some venomous viper the second they have the extra man.  Detroit is deadly on it too. 

Teams need to play five on five to decide the games, for sure – but you can’t argue with what calling the game tighter has done for the way guys defend, and the room it afford the studs.  Aaaannnnyyyways, let get on to the really important stuff, like Nintendo’s Super Punch Out.

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But first, superstars:

Isn’t it interesting how teams seem to take on the personality of their superstars?  Take the Penguins.  Wouldn’t it be impossible to goof off and not care when you know Sid is gonna commit Hari Kari if he doesn’t win?  Or, on the other side of the coin, wouldn’t you slowly get ostracized in the Capitals dressing room if you weren’t able to have fun while playing?

The Cavaliers are fun because Lebron is.  The Lakers are as fun algebra because Kobe is, and the Yankees are awkward and unlikeable because Go Away-Rod is.  This has to be why teams are putting in more time getting to know the kids they’re about to draft than back in the day.

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How about Nintendo making the Super Punch Out comeback with class.  I loved this commercial (and even found the extended version), namely because nobody got stuck on King Hippo… he was a real soup can.

Glass Joe should stop boxing.  I mean, really, that guy was a bad fighter.  He doesn’t even look like he likes to fight.  I dunno, just a thought.

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That’s all for today.  I’m due to bust out a new piece for The Hockey News and Max Hockey, so I best get to it!

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