The Tootoo hit

I went to the Predators game last night against the Dallas Stars. Thankfully, the Predators were able to get back on the winning track. And I even got to witness a record being broken when Dallas's Mike Modano became the leading American scorer in NHL history.

However, there was an ugly incident near the end of the game. You can go here to see if for yourself (sorry for some of the language of some of the posters). The whole scrum happened down on my end of the ice. Jordin Tootoo leveled a big (yet very legal) hit on Modano. When Tootoo was getting up he saw a Dallas player coming in to "defend" the star, so Tootoo... um... punched him (live it just looked like he pushed him). Unfortunately the punch completely knocked the guy out. But then Modano swings his stick at Tootoo. I won't defend Tootoo, he got what he deserved (4 minute penalty for roughing) & the Dallas player got the penalty he deserved (2 minutes for charging plus a bit he didn't deserve in a concussion). However at the game, when I saw the referee call a penalty, I thought it was going to be on Modano for slashing Tootoo with his stick because you just DO NOT use your stick as a weapon. Yet in this case, no penalty on Modano & when I watched the highlights on ESPN last night, the only thing that was mentioned was that Tootoo "suckerpunched" the guy (well that & that Modano broke the record... you woudn't even know the Predators had won from how they covered it).

You have to wonder... would this have been spun differently if the cast of characters had been reversed. I for one think it might have been. I guess you can't have a guy break a record & get such a penalty in the same game huh? Now, I've been reading media types saying that Tootoo deserves at least a 10 game suspension... good grief. All I know, if the league does suspend him, they best be handing out some punishment against Modano as well.

Let's just say, the Predators now have another team that does not like them. The Dallas fans on the message boards I read were calling the team & fans classless. Partially because they didn't acknowledge the record being broken in the arena & partially because we were taunting & booing Modano. As far as the fans go, I think most everyone the arena was very respectful while they were tending to the hurt player. It wasn't until the game resumed and they announced the penalties (or lack thereof) that the crowd let Modano know what we thought of him... that he sucked & that he was a sissy. We just called it like we saw it. And you know, when Dallas returns later this month, I'm sure we'll continue taunting him.

March Madness

What a day... First, the Vols played a very scrappy game & are going to the sweet sixteen for the first time since 2000! I can't help but love this team & I'm going to really miss Dane Bradshaw next year. He has been the heart of this team since Bruce Pearl became the head coach.

Then the Lady Vols play their first round game. After shaking off the rust from not playing for 2 weeks, they dominated the 2nd half of the game. I was starting to feel a bit sorry for the other team.

Here's what I'm really proud of... the State of Tennessee produces some really good basketball (teams & players). In the NCAA this year, there are 4 men's teams (UT, Vandy, Memphis, & Belmont) & 5 women's teams (UT, Vandy, MTSU, Belmont, & UTC). So far, everyone but the 2 Belmont teams & UTC are still in it.

As for the MTSU team, I must admit I have a soft spot for them. You have a head coach who's already a legend in high school basketball in this state. But it was a hiring that many people questioned. The media types around here really wondered if he could coach & recruit at a high level. So far so good. And now the national media's starting to notice. Here's a piece I found this afternoon. What I loved most about it, the writer actually compared their game yesterday to hockey. Describing how Gonzaga looked against MTSU...

"The Bulldogs looked like a team trying to kill an opponent's power play for most of the night. At times, simply throwing the ball into the frontcourt might have made more sense. After all, there's no icing in basketball."

Happy March Madness! Do like I'm doing the next few weeks & enjoy some basketball!

Trina

Keep Trina in your thoughts & prayer this week. She's on a spring break mission trip this week to Scotland. It got off to a bit of a bumpy start with her group getting stranded in Newark on Friday. Last night they were finally able to fly out & I got a call this morning from my mom that she had arrived safely.

I can't believe it

Now I've read a few positive articles about the Predators. I have not read too many positive articles about the town & fans of the team so I was shocked to read this one.

"Now, no one will mistake this column as an economic viability study, but from my vantage point in section 218, row G, seat 17, the Predators are a team worth rooting for and there are more than a few folks in Nashville who are having fun with NHL hockey."

My only wish after reading that sentence... why didn't I buy seats in that section? That way, the last part of the story would've been about how a woman was taking her dad to see his first hockey game (& her sister to her 2nd game). The story about the mother & son was good but a story about my dad would've been great! I think dad enjoyed the game even though it made for a long day. If nothing else, I think he understands why I enjoy it so much.

For Better or For Worse

I don't know what anyone else thinks but For Better or For Worse is the best comic strip ever. So imagine my shock when I read that the creator Lynn Johnston is going into semi-retirement. To allow herself to have a life, she's freezing time. I've been reading this strip religiously for years now. One of the things that I've loved is that stories don't arch over weeks or months but sometimes it takes years for things to happen (just like real life). I'm very conflicted on this...

Darfur

Isn't it strange to see a celebrity truly use the spotlight they're in to do good for their fellow man? Usually all you see is some kind of benefit where everyone is very fabulous looking & throwing their money at a situation. While that's all well & good, there's something to be said about a person who will actually get in the middle of dangerous situations in order to transfer their spotlight to that situation. When I first heard about Angelina Jolie becoming a spokesperson for the United Nations I never thought she would be person who would be willing to get her hands dirty. For that I applaud her (& let me make it clear... I don't approve of all of her life choices).

I found an editorial piece she wrote for the Washington Post yesterday. To read it in its entirety go here (unfortunately registration is required - but worth it). Here's just a sample...

"As the prosecutions unfold, I hope the international community will intervene,
right away, to protect the people of Darfur and prevent further violence. The
refugees don't need more resolutions or statements of concern. They need
follow-through on past promises of action."

Getting Some Props

Sports Illustrate has a nice article on the Preds. It touches on the fact that there's a lot of Wings fan in the area (with the Saturn & Nissan plants nearby). What it doesn't say is that Wing fans are bad but Predwing fans are even worse. They show up at every other game in their Predators gear but when the Wings are in town they are suddenly wearing that strange wheel wing thing (I know it's sacrilege to say such a thing about a original 6 team... but obviously I don't care).

I Didn't Believe My Eyes

I was watching the Tennessee vs. Florida game on ESPN & all of the sudden Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt and her assistant coaches come out dressed as cheerleaders. She started out by singing Rocky Top & let's just say, it's a good thing she gets paid the big bucks to coach... she's not a singer. Then she & the assistants did a pyramid stunt & help the cheerleaders out with the usual UT cheers. The crowd absolutely went crazy.

So why did she pull such a crazy stunt? Well, it's this crazy thing called school spirit & it seems to be at an all time high on the UT campus since the hiring of UT men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl. About a month ago, Coach Pearl showed up when the Lady Vols played #1 ranked Duke. And to show his school spirit, he & some of his assistants & players came out in orange body paint. It was a absolute hit among UT fans (& I should know because I was there)! So it was only fitting that coach Summitt return the favor.

Update: I finally found something on the web about Coach Summitt's stunt.

A Little Good News

Every now & then you've got to read a feel good story to balance all the craziness in the world so here you go. Read about the divas at the Elephant Sanctuary. And if you feel have a few extra dollars burning a hole in your pocket, visit the gift shop (or just make a donation) to help the girls.

I don't understand...

Granted I haven't paid a lot of attention to the story of the climbers found on Mt. Hood today but why did they have their dog with them??? From what I understand, climbing Mt. Hood especially in February is not a walk in the park. Why would you take a dog on such a trip? With all that said, I'm really glad everyone was found & no one was seriously hurt.

They're trying it agian

I heard this morning on the radio that the U.S. mint was trying it again.... dollar coins. I personally think coin dollars are a great idea. I used pound coins in the UK last summer & didn't find it difficult at all. Plus in the long run, coins are more economical to produce because they will last longer.

That being said, once again this will not work. The only people who will get the coins will be coin collectors. Until the government's willing to remove dollar bills from circulation no one will actually use these coins.

The Marching Orders

The Predators just received very clear marching orders from the owner... in the form of Peter Forsberg. This year, just making it to the playoffs will not be enough. When you're willing to trade 2 former first round draft picks (Scottie Upshall & Ryan Parent) as well 2 future draft picks, it better not be one & out. Apparently this is the year that they're seriously going for that big shiny thing & he's one of the best players to ever play the game. I hate to see either of these players go but... Upshall's shown glimpses of why he was picked in the first round. Parent's still playing in junior hockey in Canada but I've heard nothing but great things about him. But wow... Peter Forsberg! Let me say that again PETER FORSBERG!!!!!!! And now I'm going to go dance around the room.

After the Grammy's

Well it looks like it was a good choice to not live blog the Grammy's. I spent a bit of the night getting immersed in the what/if/how's of a potential Predator's trade for Peter Forsberg. As of now, there's still no word on if it will materialize. But as soon as I read a particular message board post from a guy I know who I know has some inside connections, I was hooked on finding out everything I could.

Now back to the Grammy's. I remembered why I liked & why I didn't like to watch. For the most part, the music was good. The speeches & awards... boring. And I get very competitive. I want all my picks to win & when they don't, it's almost like my team losing a game. Any way, the Police were great. Gnarls Barkley was very cool. Mary J. Blige was awesome & I don't know why I didn't pick her to win some awards. The rest seem to be a jumbled mess in my mind.

So let's see how I did (winners are in bold)...

Record of the Year:
My pick: You're Beautiful-James Blunt
Probable winner: Not Ready To Make Nice-Dixie Chicks

Album of the Year:
My pick: St. Elsewhere-Gnarls Barkley
Probable winner: Taking The Long Way-Dixie Chicks

Song of the Year:
My pick: Jesus, Take The Wheel-Carrie Underwood
Probable winner: Not Ready To Make Nice-Dixie Chicks

Best New Artist:My pick: Chris Brown
Probable winner: James Blunt
Actual winner: Carrie Underwood

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
My pick: Unwritten-Natasha Bedingfield
Probable winner: You Can Close Your Eyes-Sheryl Crow
Actual winner: Ain't No Other Man- Christina Aguilera

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance:
My pick: Waiting On The World To Change-John Mayer
Probable winner: Bad Day-Daniel Powter

Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal:
My pick: Over My Head (Cable Car)-The Fray
Probable winner: Over My Head (Cable Car)-The Fray
Actual winner: My Humps- The Black Eyed Peas

Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals:
My pick: Hips Don't Lie-Shakira & Wyclef Jean
Probable winner: Promiscuous-Nelly Furtado & Timbaland
Actual winner: For Once In My Life- Tony Bennett & Stevie Wonder

Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal:
My pick: Steady, As She Goes-The Raconteurs
Probable winner: How To Save A Life-The Fray
Actual winner: Dani California- Red Hot Chili Peppers

Best Rock Song:
My pick: Chasing Cars-Snow Patrol
Probable winner: Lookin' For A Leader-Neil Young
Actual winner: Dani California- Red Hot Chili Peppers

Best Rock Album:
My pick: Broken Boy Soldiers-The Raconteurs
Probable winner: Stadium Arcadium-Red Hot Chili Peppers

Best Alternative Music Album:
My pick: St. Elsewhere-Gnarls Barkley
Probable winner: St. Elsewhere-Gnarls Barkley

Best Female Country Vocal Performance:
My pick: Kerosene-Miranda Lambert
Probable winner: Jesus, Take The Wheel-Carrie Underwood

Best Male Country Vocal Performance:
My pick: Would You Go With Me-Josh Turner
Probable winner: The Reason Why-Vince Gill

Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal:
My pick: Boondocks-Little Big Town
Probable winner: Not Ready To Make Nice-Dixie Chicks

Best Gospel Performance:
My pick: Made To Worship-Chris Tomlin
Probable winner: Victory-Yolanda Adams

Best Gospel Song: My pick: Mountain Of God-Third Day
Probable winner: Mountain Of God-Third Day
Actual winner: Imagine Me- Kirk Franklin

Best Short Form Music Video:My pick:Here It Goes Again -OK Go
Probable winner:Here It Goes Again -OK Go

Well, I didn't do too bad... if you combine my picks & the probable picks (61%). Now only 17% of my picks were correct.

Well I'm off. Got to go see if there's any new trade news.

The Grammy's

I like the majority of the people in the America watched the Super Bowl last Sunday. In the midst of all the football & funny commercials was a few commercials hyping the Grammy Awards tonight. In particular, hyping the reuniting of the Police! So for the first time in years, I will be watching. At first I thought it would be fun to try to "live blog" but I know me. I'd get distracted and forget what I was doing. So instead, I'm going to let you know who I think should win a few of these awards (as well as who will probably win). Some categories I don't know enough about the songs/albums nominated to have an opinion & others I don't care enough to have an opinion. You can find the complete list here

Record of the Year:
My pick: You're Beautiful-James Blunt (with Crazy-Gnarls Barkley a close 2nd)
Probable winner: Not Ready To Make Nice-Dixie Chicks

Album of the Year:
My pick: St. Elsewhere-Gnarls Barkley (have to admit of the nominees this is the only one I've heard the entire album)
Probable winner: Taking The Long Way-Dixie Chicks (they are Grammy darlings after all)

Song of the Year:
My pick: Jesus, Take The Wheel-Carrie Underwood (by far the best song on this list)
Probable winner: Not Ready To Make Nice-Dixie Chicks (only because Grammy voters don't seem to like mainstream country)

Best New Artist:
My pick: Chris Brown (just because this category seems to have a bit of a curse on those that win & I don't want any of the others to suffer the curse)
Probable winner: James Blunt

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
My pick: Unwritten-Natasha Bedingfield (LOVE this song but KT Tunstall a close 2nd)
Probable winner: You Can Close Your Eyes-Sheryl Crow (another Grammy darling)

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance:
My pick: Waiting On The World To Change-John Mayer (James Blunt a close 2nd)
Probable winner: Bad Day-Daniel Powter (this song was everywhere & a major "ear worm"

Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal:
My pick: Over My Head (Cable Car)-The Fray
Probable winner: Over My Head (Cable Car)-The Fray (for once I think I may agree with the mainstream)

Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals:
My pick: Hips Don't Lie-Shakira & Wyclef Jean
Probable winner: Promiscuous-Nelly Furtado & Timbaland (the song of the summer)

Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal:
My pick: Steady, As She Goes-The Raconteurs
Probable winner: How To Save A Life-The Fray (I could've easily picked this one too)

Best Rock Song:
My pick: Chasing Cars-Snow Patrol (one of my favorite songs from my favorite album of the year)
Probable winner: Lookin' For A Leader-Neil Young (only because I'm sure Grammy voters want to make a political statement at some point)

Best Rock Album:
My pick: Broken Boy Soldiers-The Raconteurs (the only album I've heard in entirety)
Probable winner: Stadium Arcadium-Red Hot Chili Peppers (the songs I have heard are good)

Best Alternative Music Album:
My pick: St. Elsewhere-Gnarls Barkley (you can't help but love these guys)
Probable winner: St. Elsewhere-Gnarls Barkley

Best Female Country Vocal Performance:
My pick: Kerosene-Miranda Lambert (I don't listen to a lot of country so I'm only picking this because they would play it before Preds games last season)
Probable winner: Jesus, Take The Wheel-Carrie Underwood (to make up for not giving her record of the year)

Best Male Country Vocal Performance:
My pick: Would You Go With Me-Josh Turner (I love this guy's voice)
Probable winner: The Reason Why-Vince Gill (another Grammy darling)

Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal:
My pick: Boondocks-Little Big Town (my favorite country song of the year - yes I was born & raised in the Boondocks & proud of it)
Probable winner: Not Ready To Make Nice-Dixie Chicks

Best Gospel Performance
My pick: Made To Worship-Chris Tomlin (great song)
Probable winner: Victory-Yolanda Adams (most Grammy voters don't know much about this genre & she's the most recognizable name)

Best Gospel Song:
My pick: Mountain Of God-Third Day
Probable winner: Mountain Of God-Third Day

Best Short Form Music Video:
My pick:Here It Goes Again -OK Go
Probable winner:Here It Goes Again -OK Go (who cares if you like the song or not - this video is great)

The Battle of the Boulevard

I forgot to mention to my fellow Lipscomb alumni that "THE" game was played Friday night. And once again, we won! 70-60. Here's some nice articles that the local paper wrote...

The Rivalry
Game Recap
Crazy Kids
Some Background

FYI

I had to change the way comments are handled. I had a few junk email-like comments posted & just don't want that to happen again. So be patient if you don't see a comment show up right away. Until I find an easier way (for me) to handle this I have to approve all comments before they are posted & you know I'm not always in a hurry to do things. Don't worry, unless it's junk or crass, I'll approve it. I already know that not everyone agrees with me.

Beating a dead horse

Nashville's newspaper, The Tennessean, has written several articles in the past month about the attendance to Predator's games. These articles have been gleefully by "traditional" hockey fans in other locations to prove that Nashville's not a hockey town & should've never been given a NHL team. What do I see when I picked up the paper this morning. Front page above the fold is yet another article (I'm not linking it, if you want to read it I've given you all the information you'll need to do a search). It's to the point that I'm starting to believe that the editorial staff at the paper have some kind of personal dislike for this team.

I've been at most of the games this season & was at many of the games last season. Yes, there haven't been a lot of sell out games. Yes, weeknight games have worse attendance than weekend games. However, just looking at the crowds, I've seen overall higher attendance this year even on weeknight games. Is there a mention of that increase in this or any of their other articles. Of course not. Since I do understand that this is a newsworthy story in a business sense, I don't fault the paper for writing an article on it. However, one article could've said everything that needed to be said. Why do they insist on beating a dead horse here? They could be doing something a bit more positive. Like articles about how we've got the #1 team in the entire NHL playing here in this city. That they play a very fast, up-tempo, exciting game that any sports fan would enjoy. And here's another thought, instead of quoting all these people who say they don't get into hockey because they don't understand the rules, how about writing an article explaining the basics of the game.

ok, off soap box now. Got to get ready for tonight's sold out game.

I'm Back

Welcome to the new and improved Random Chickidee!

After taking a bit of a unintentional sabbatical, I think I finally ready to get back to this. You know it's been a while when you have to guess at your password in order to post. Once I finally guessed correctly, I decided to upgrade to the new version of blogger. While I was at it I decided to try out a new layout. You like? Or do you prefer the old?

So what have I been up to... since November? Let's see... Right after Thanksgiving, I got sick (bad enough to go to a doctor). Then there was the stress of not having any Christmas shopping done on top of that. Just after Christmas I got sick again (bad enough to go to a doctor again). This time I told her that I was sick & tired of being sick & tired. So we're trying some different allergy/sinus medicine. So far so good. So between all of that & going to a lot of hockey games & just generally living life, I haven't felt motivated to write. I think I'm finally starting to get that motivation back.

Happy "Thank-you-giving"

I read this in an editorial in US News & World Report

"Giving is integral to the American sense of community. It has traditionally been a key characteristic of our society-"the spirit of mutual helpfulness"..."

To read the editorial in it's entirety go here. And please take a moment to read it. Then think about how you can give to others less fortunate during the holidays (if not year round). If you're stuck on where you can help, here are a couple of places to get you started.

Second Harvest - to help the hungry in your community
or
Mercy Corps - help the hungry around the world

Where Have You Been?

So if there's anyone still checking, I'm sure you've been wondering "why hasn't Sonya been posting?" Well, there's this thing called work... and lots of it. I've spent the last month working 50+ hour weeks. And when you sit in front of a computer that long at work, the eyes start to hurt, & the last thing in the world you want to do is come home & sit in front of the computer. So today's my first Saturday off in several weeks (except for that weekend I visited my parents for their anniversary). So what all's happened since I last posted. Just off the top of my head....

1. The Predators started their season! It was a bit of a rocky start, losing their 1st 3 games. But since then, they've only lost once in regulation & twice in overtime. So going into tonight's game, they have an overall record of 11-4-2. Not too shabby.
2. As a season ticket holder, I got to go to a meet the team party (I'll post photos eventually). I decided that these are really for the kids. Seeing their reactions when they got an autograph was fun. Trying to think of something to say when it was your turn was a bit awkward.
3. UT football is back. And I mean back to the usual (not that aberration that was the national championship year).
4. Candice Parker dunked in the first game of the season. Lady Vols look like they just may have a very good season. But I'm not going to jinx them by saying how far I think they'll go.
5. The Titans are looking more & more like the Oilers of old. Some of the teams moves (both by management/coaches & players) makes me shake my head.
6. The horrible political adds have come & gone. Unfortunately I don't think any politician learned that people don't like them. And I'm already hear people talk about 2 years from now. No wonder government is inept, they're always looking to the future & not taking care of the here & now.
7. Home ownership sometimes stinks. I walked into my kitchen last Saturday only to see the fluorescent light hanging only by the wires in the ceiling. I had a friend from work take it down & he discovered that of course they didn't install it on a stud. Nothing surprises me in this house. Now we just have to get it back up. In times like this, I fondly remember the apartments I lived & how all I ever had to do was call the office to get things fixed.
8. The Arm & Hammer High Performance kitty liter is absolutely horrible. Do not buy it. Smelly, smelly, smelly - even though it says it eliminate s odor.
9. I played bunko for one of the first times & won overall lowest score (& I'll admit, the goal of the game is not to get the lowest score). It's pretty funny that a bunch of Christian ladies are sitting around, rolling dice, hoping to roll 666.
10. I'm in the talking stage with friends of planning another overseas trip next summer. We'll see if it actually happens.

Well, that's all I can think of off the top of my head. It looks like works starting to get lighter so hopefully I'll get back on track. Then again, we are getting into the holiday season so no promises.