Kittens and Sucker Punches
(Quick thought on this blog title – is “Sucker-Punching Kittens” the best band name ever, or is it just me that thinks that? Just me? Crap.)
*****
Ahhh, another beautiful day in the sports world.
A badass MNF game, a good slate of hockey, and the confirmation that yes… this week Bri and I get our first pet, a Scottish Fold/American Shorthair cat. And, like a pregnant couple noticing everyone else who’s pregnant, we’re noticing all things cats. For example, this lolcat is, um, noteworthy. For being awesome:
Here’s the little bastard we’re picking up Wednesday:
Tyson (face tat)? Darius (street Bri and I grew up on)? Whaddya think for a name?
*****
A friend of mine is playing over in Norway, and sent me this hilarious clip of himself I had to share - it’s basically a three-second flipbook, but on the internet. It came with the caption “These Norwegians think they can run their mouths and nothing will happen”. Cue the sucker punch. Yeah. Those Norwegians, man…
*****
Sooo, I just learned this yesterday, which basically explains: 2010 Olympic hockey? Not gonna be played on “Olympic” ice. Seems kinda counterintuitive, doesn’t it?
They didn’t want to take out seating, which makes sense. As most of you know, an NHL rink is 200 x 85. An olympic sheet is more like 200 x 100 (actually, it’s 60 meters by 30, making it 200 x 98.5), giving the skaters more room, but making the game less physical. Ah. Ohhhh…. less physical. Did I just stumble onto another major reason? Smaller sheet, more physical game, better for the Canadians? Ignore this segment.
GO CANADA!!!
*****
Recently I linked to the Shane Doan article where he explained that “if we win, fans will come”, because I like to pat myself on the back. It was my “I sorta made that point too!” moment.
Well, here I go again.
Not sure if you read my last column for USA Today – basically it explained, from my point of view, that the game is less safe because of things like the salary cap and instigator penalties.
And, here’s the link to the article I wrote for The Hockey News on head shots. And so, for the Bourne-on-Bourne back-pat, here’s New York Rangers coach John Tortorella a few days back- explaining we need to do something about head shots and the instigator penalty. Not like it’s breaking news, but hey, indulge me.
*****
Those of you who follow me on twitter already read these, but they’re too good not to share with the blog crew. The best TextFromLastNight ever came a few days ago: “I guess I finally out-drove Tiger Woods this morning…”
Followed by the tremendous tweet: “@nealbrennan Tiger Woods: half black/half Asian. Beef with wife – black. Can’t control car – Asian.
Ohhh, the joke deposit these comedians found to mine…
I'm a hockey player turned writer. After playing for Alaska Anchorage in the WCHA (NCAA), I carried on with an NHL tryout (New York Islanders in 2007) before spending a couple seasons in the AHL/ECHL (last year was 2008-09). My father, Bob Bourne, won four Stanley Cups with the Islanders in the '80's, as did my fiancee's dad, Clark Gillies. I'm now the web editor for theScore's hockey blog "Backhand Shelf."
