Life Is Random

Before I tell this story, I need a bit of set up. I have partial season tickets for the Predators with 3 good friends who are co-worker/ex-co-workers - Ted, Michelle, & Kendra. We have all become die-hard fans & I affectionately refer to us as the hockey gang (or sometimes Ted's harem). Michelle's a bit obsessed with one particular player - Adam Hall. The rest of us, including her boyfriend Matt, have a running joke teasing her that he's falling on the ice all the time. Really, it's funnier than it sounds.

Any way, there I was today, sitting at my computer working away, like always, when Ted calls & tells me that he'd just received an email from the Predators that Adam Hall would be at Neeley's Bar-B-Que which is just around the corner from the office to meet fans this evening. He wondered if Michelle knew. So after a few text messages, I had a short & humorous conversation with her where she went back & forth on going or not.

Long story short, of course she wanted to go & picked up Ted & me from work (too bad Kendra lives out in the country now). I didn't plan on doing anything but eating dinner, but it wasn't very crowded & Michelle can be very persuasive. So before I knew it, I have autographed photos of Adam Hall & Ryan Suter as well as a puck with both their autographs (& you know, pucks are very heavy). And Michelle wouldn't be Michelle without her camera. It was easier to say ok to a picture with them than try to explain why I didn't want a picture with them (I absolute hate having my picture taken). So whenever she sends me the photo, I may even post it.

So, I had planned on working late, heating up a frozen dinner, watching some TV & going to bed. Instead, I enjoyed dinner with some good friends, had some laughs, & got to talk to a couple of very good (& I must say cute) athletes. I like this random life.

The Fins get Silver

Too bad - but still better than the Americans & Canadians and for that matter the Czech. Guess I should have been wearing my wonderful Timonen jersey that my family got me for Christmas.

And now we return to normal life. No more funny Finnish names. No more strangely dressed ice dancers. No more crazy Dutch fans at speed skating. No more Bode Miller not caring how he does or what people think about him. No more stone sweepers & confusing rules. For 2 weeks we get to enjoy all these odd sports & then just as suddenly as they come, they leave. Leaving us to all wait 4 more years. I guess it's a good thing that the X Games are every year - at least we'll get to see the flying tomato!

Hey the next one's in Vancouver - anyone up for a trip? We could dress in our Tennessee orange & hang out with the Dutch fans.

So Sad

I opened my paper today & saw that Don Knotts had died. I loved (& still love) The Andy Griffith Show. Then there were all the movies that I watched in rerun on the Disney channel growing up.

Right below that article in the paper was one about Darren McGavin also dying. I didn't recognize the name at first, but saw that he was the dad in my all-time favorite Christmas movie - A Christmas Story.

Thanks for all the laughs! I'm sure they would both be glad to know that their work will be enjoyed for generations to come.

The Blueprint Has Been Made

What you do to beat the Lady Vols it seems is full court press & make your shots. The first half of the game, Tennessee hung in there because Florida was not hitting their shots. The second half, the shots starting falling. & yes... like always when the game goes south & my blood pressure goes up, I had to turn it. There was a lovely documentary about skiing on a uninhabited island close to Antarctica on OLN. I did at least see that the girls took it to overtime. Too bad. And on Senior day.... argh!

My 1st top 10 list...

I love lists & hope to make them a regular part of my blog. I remember the episode of Friends where Rachel gets mad at Ross because he made a pro/con list to choose which woman to date. I never understood why she was so upset. It seemed like a perfectly logical thing to do. Now maybe it was going a bit overboard to do it on the computer & print it out.

Anyway... since I'm sick at home tonight instead of at the Will Hoge concert I thought I'd make my 1st top ten list be of the best concerts I've ever seen. Some of these are on the list because the music was wonderful & perfect. Some are on the list because of the energy & excitement. And like all my lists, I may change my mind tomorrow (I am a woman after all & have that right). If you haven't heard of some of them, google them & check them out.

So here we go...

10. They Might Be Giants - conga line, great interaction with the crowd
9. Sting - so smooth
8. Third Day - what a voice & wonderful songs
7. Barenaked Ladies - witty improv lyrics, lots of energy, & FREE
6. Sonia Dada - so much soul!
5. Ben Folds (with Fleming & John) - showing you can rock on the piano
4. The Eagles - the 1st reunion tour - amazing
3. Will Hoge - one of the most engaging rockers - why I keep going back
2. Eric Clapton - perfection
1. REM - dancin' in the rain to my all time favorite band

so guys... what are your favorite concerts?

It's A Predator Kind Of Day

1st goal of the game by Martin Erat.

2nd goal by Marek Zidlicky.

3rd goal give an assist to Erat.

SHUTOUT by VOKOUN!

The only bad thing was that it meant no medal for Danny Markov who was playing for Russia.

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Just one more Olympic hockey game - go Kimmo Timonen & go Fins! Let's hope tomorrow's a Nashville kind of day too. Then it's back to our previously scheduled NHL action.

This is what my baby really looks like

And you can see my fireplace. One day I may even use it for something other than decoration. And the chair... that's where I'm sitting right now typing on the computer. I'm such a wealth of important information!

Hockey

It was probably a good thing I didn't feel like getting on the computer last night. I may not have been able to stop gloating with Canada & the USA being ousted... and that's not good for my teams karma. And you know what... it worked, the Lady Vols just won! Ms. Parker almost had her 1st dunk as a Lady Vol. That would've made the Sportscenter top ten list for sure.

So today I made the rounds & there was lots of moaning & groaning in the blog world. I've shown you where to look if you want so no links from me;)

Amazingly, all 5 of the Predators that made their country's Olympic teams are still playing. Granted Vokoun was benched for yesterday's game... I'm torn on wanting him to play or not. Part of me wants him to stay on the bench & get rested for this last stretch of the NHL season.

It's Official

I'm sick. It's the usual cold thing that's going around at work. About a third of the office has had it & the rest are afraid of us. The only strange thing is that I'm getting some of the symptoms individually. Monday into Tuesday I was extremely tired (& stayed home from work Tuesday & slept). Yesterday my throat was very sore but wasn't really tired anymore. Today I started the very annoying (especially to my co-workers) phase of coughing but I'm not tired & the throat isn't as sore as yesterday. Then this afternoon I started feeling achey all over. Aren't all these things suppose to start at the same time?... well except for the coughing. I'd much rather it hit all at once so I can get over it already. Especially since I have tickets to see Will Hoge play Saturday!! Not fair!

They're so funny

I'm watching Olympic ice skating. I know the commentators are being very serious in their critiques of the skaters but I'm cracking up listening to them! You'd think they were telling us the meaning of life or something. One poor couple skated to Bolero (which is my all time favorite classical piece) & apparently someone else years ago skated to the same thing & got perfect scores. So this guy compared it to having Roseanne Barr sing the National Anthem after hearing Whitley Houston sing it. Ouch! What a slam. And to tell the truth, it looked just as good as the other stuff I've seen tonight. I almost think I'm watching Mystery Science Theater 2000 or Cheap Seats (on ESPN Classic).

Explaining the links on the left

Since I don't have anything else worth writing about today, I thought I'd explain what the links on the left are. Basically these are some of my almost daily reads. You will notice that it's a lot of sports. I do keep up with the news but if you can get to my place, you don't need my help getting to those sites. I used to read some political blogs too but for now I've stopped. I'm so burned out on all the whining &/or mean-spiritedness. I also read the big general sports web sites: ESPN, Sports Illustrated, FoxSports, CBS Sportsline, TSN (Canada's ESPN). But once again, if you can get here you know how to get to them. So here we go...

Women's Basketball Links:
Women's Hoops Blog - This was the 1st blog I ever read. I must have read about it on a women's basketball message board. It was started by a married couple - Sara & Ted who live in Minnesota. They now have a whole group of people who help them keep up with the games. It's mostly top 25 college & WNBA.

She's Got Game - I don't have a clue who writes this one. It's mostly links to articles in newspapers. They search around so you don't have to. Lots of pictures. Which makes me ask - what's the protocol for putting pictures on your blog that you didn't take? I can't imagine this person has taken ALL these pictures.

The Summitt Message Board - Mecca for people wanting to discuss Lady Vols basketball. I just read so don't try to decide which of the posters is me.

Hockey Links:
Off Wing Opinion - 1st hockey blog I discovered. I found it from a link on Women's Hoops. Written By Eric Mcerlain who lives in the DC area. He's pretty much thought of as the "blogfather" of the hockey blogs & is always my 1st hockey stop of the day. You'd think being in DC, he would be a Capital's fan but if he is he keeps it under wraps & writes about the entire league. He is a big fan of their rookie Alexander Ovechkin - but who isn't (guess I should say, in the hockey world, who isn't).

Hockey Rants - Written by the sarcastic & witty Jes Golbez who lives in Vancouver but who's strangely enough a St. Louis Blues fan. When he gets started on the evilness of Sweden, watch out, it's very funny. His is a good site to find lots of other hockey blog links. The 2nd stop on my daily reads.

Kukla's Korner - Lot's of links to lots of articles. Although I'm not 100%, I believe Paul, the writer, lives in Detroit & is a Wings fan. I try to not hold it against him. He was probably born & raised a wings fan & doesn't know any better;o At least he doesn't slam my team just because it's an expansion team or do stupid stuff like replacing every mention of Preds with Bubba.

James Mirtle - A sports writer out of Toronto. I like his matter of fact style of writing.

Predator's Message Board & HF Message Board - A couple of message boards I like to read.

Friends & Random Links:
Daffodil Lane - Written by my very good friend Dianne & her husband Jamison (aka Mandrake). They write about family life (& have lots of cute pictures of their daughter Alexis), the environment, technology, & politics. Just remember, Jamison's growl is worse than his bite!

Mountaineer Musings - Written by a gal named Sarah who's originally from Texas but now lives in Florida with her new husband. She's really funny & writes mostly about pop culture stuff & her life. I think she's a kindred spirit.

Shaun Groves - This is the personal blog of a Christian singer. I like his music but I really like some of the topics he writes about. Sometimes he's funny & sometimes very thought provoking.

Will Hoge - A great Nashville rocker that deserves more. This isn't actually a blog but he does have a section where he writes about life on the road. Be warn, he doesn't always stay PG. Go have a listen if you haven't heard of him.

Do Some Good Links:
Since I'm getting tired, I won't actually link to each of these but if you've got some extra $$$ in your wallet, these all allow on-line contributions. So go... do some good for others. Mercy Corps & Blood Water Mission both mostly work in 3rd world nations to help people learn to help themselves. Blood Water Mission was started by the Christian band Jars of Clay. Youth Encouragement Services (YES) work with the inner city kids here in Nashville.

Tuesday's with Morrie

After church this morning I saw a matinee performance of Tuesday's with Morrie with my friend & co-worker Marcia. Let me just say... go see this play or go read this book! It was great! I was a bit worried that I would be super crying chick but it really wasn't too sad. It wouldn't even crack the top 5 of my lists of super crying chick movies (one day I'll have to make a list of those).

Karma

See what happens when you start gloating... The Czechs lose & now it appears that the Vols (men's b-ball) are going to lose too. I've really got to remember this whole karma thing - it's bit me way too many times. And yes, I admit, when it comes to sports I'm very superstitious.

My Baby

Just so you don't think that I'm only going to talk about hockey - & to see if I can add in photo's. Here's Scully. Isn't she adorable. lol:)

Explaining the previous post

To those who don’t know, I’ve become a huge hockey fan. And since I’m here in Nashville, my favorite team is the Predators.

I am not however cheering on the American hockey teams in this Olympics for one simple reason - USA Hockey’s decision to kick Cammi Granato to the curb. Who’s she, you’re most likely asking? She’s the face of USA women’s hockey, & actually the only player I knew by name. I would compare it to USA soccer telling Mia Hamm in the past Olympics “thanks but no thanks”. USA soccer got it right with the logic that you use your big names to cultivate more big names. (by the way here’s someone else who shares my opinion).

So, without me getting on a soapbox & boring you, long story short is that I’m rooting for the Czech men (& whoever is playing the US or Canada on the women’s side) in this Olympics. The Czech because there are 3 Preds on their team & my college roommate now lives there.

'Eh Canada?

Pretty big upset in Olympic hockey! And am I disappointed? Uhmmm, not at all! Especially since it makes the Czech's loss to Switzerland not look so bad.
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Canada loses

Welcome

Well here we go. Welcome to my blog. I make no promises. Will I post everyday... I doubt it. But I hope that for my family & friends, you'll have a better idea of what I'm thinking & what I'm doing. And hopefully my self-diagnosed borderline ADD won't check in & cause me to loose interest.