A Big Damn Sunday....

Some good sports on TV Sunday a recap:

First up was the New Jersey Devils vs. the Washington Capitals in DC. They had played Saturday in NJ with the Devils losing. I heard that one on radio while I was at work. The good news Saturday was the Cam Jansen, the Devil's designated fighter, scored his first NHL goal in his 82nd career game. WTG Cam!

Sunday the Devils finally rested Marty Brodeur after he started what was I believe 32 games in a row. Scott Clemmenson made his first start since some time since the trees still had leaves. The Devils went on and got Clemmy a 3-2 victory with my hockey pool choices Zach Parise and Jamie Langenbrunner each had a goal and an assist. LET'S GO DEVILS!

Next up was the Na$car race from California. Ho Hum. It's a big track, passing seems best done via pit stops and the cars go round and round. Dale Earnhardt Jr and his teammate each blew up an engine and they seemed to want to blame the unleaded gas that they are now required to use. Oh Well... Matt Kenseth won but I didn't see that cause I was watching......

The Tour of California bike race. I got home in time on Saturday to watch stage 6 which set up Sunday. Something heroic happened on Saturday. Levi Leipheimer of Discovery Channel had lead from the start in San Francisco a week earlier. Discovery Channel is the former US Postal team and Lance Armstrong's old team. Anyway Levi had a small lead going into this weekend's final two stages. Stewart O'Grady of the rival CSC team was part of a nine rider breakaway that soon had a three minute lead over the pack or as it is called the peleton. O' Grady had started the day about 2:15 behind Levi and so he had taken the overall lead on the road. Now the heroic part. George Hincapie, Levi's teammate had crashed near the start of the stage. It turns out he broke his wrist. George got back on his bike, rode through the large pack to the head of the peleton and with about 60 miles to go started to help his teammate pull in the nine rider breakaway. Not only did they make the time up they caught the breakaway right near the end of the stage, thereby preserving the lead and ultimately earning the victory for Levi Leipheimer. Sunday morning George Hincapie had surgery to put a pin into his wrist. WOW. The final stage on Sunday was very cool as it was in Long Beach. They did 10 laps on an eight mile circuit that included parts of the old Formula 1 course.

Although the Tour of California is not (yet) part of the international cycling tour many of the top teams participate to get ready for the European season. The scenery is spectacular and it also gives a chance for some of the U.S. teams to see how they stack up against the European pros. There were an estimated 1.6 million spectators over the 7 days of the race. Perhaps someday this will be a part of the Pro Cycling tour and then all the pros will compete.......

DEVILS v. rangers Part Deux

Perhaps two of the best regular season games that have been played since the lockout. It is 2-2 right now as I write this and they are going to a shootout. So here is a live blog cast of the shoot out. This game had all the intensity of a playoff game as did Tuesday night.

Devils shoot first: Zach Parise: Score 1-0 Devils

rangers: Nylander: Score 1-1

Devils: Patrick Elias Save 1-1

rangers: Hossa Save 1-1

Devils Brylin Save 1-1

rangers Cullen Save 1-1

Devils Langenbrunner SCORE 2-1

rangers Prucha Hit the Post The DEVILS WIN THE DEVILS WIN

This is the first time in 25 years the Devils win a home and home series with the rangers.....

Here is a pic from Tuesday night's game........LET'S GO DEVILS

Your Letter Carrier has NO contract

We have been working without a contract since November 20. Of course we cannot and IMHO should not, go on strike. Of course we continue to work under the provisions of the old contract so it's OK.

Anyway at our union meeting tonight we discussed what is on the table for our next contract. Without going into boring details, let's just say that this one could be a life changing event. Or not. If 21 years in the Postal Service has taught me one thing, it is don't get too worked up about something until it happens. However, having said that, I must say at this point in time I do NOT support our contract proposal. There are a few hitches in it which I think could, over time, prove to be serious flaws. But and OK this is a big BUT, things will change 20 times between now and the time the ink is put in place, so at this point I'm not too worried.....

One more Grump and Happy Hockey!

OK I was tired when I posted my grumps and I forgot my major Grump on the Daytona 500. 3:30 pm starting time? You have got to be kidding me! OK they need the lights for the July 4 race, it is very hot there in July. But it had to be cool to cold sitting in grandstands as the sun went down on Sunday. Besides, I'm old school: Everyone knows the Daytona 500 starts at 12:15pm...right? Rant Mode Off.....

OK the Devils have started a week that features two home and home games first with the rangers and then the Washington Capitals this coming weekend. Tonight was the first game against the rangers in New Jersey. The Devils were playing without their two best forwards, Brian Gionta and Patrick Elias and the rangers were without Brendan Shanahan who was seriously injured on Saturday in a violent collision with the Flyer's Mike Knuble. The accidental hit dislodged Shanahan's helmet and the back of his head hit the ice. He was knocked out cold for several minutes. Here is wishing him a speedy recovery....

So anyway, this game was played like a playoff game with great hitting and rushes up and down the ice. ranger bad boy Sean Avery was getting into Marty Brodeurs face all evening and finally near the end of the second period they got into a shoving match. Lot's of emotion and intense play throughout the game. The Devils wound up winning 2-1 on a goal by Zach Parise in the third period. And the best part is they meet again on Thursday night in Madison Square Garden! LET'S GO DEVILS........

Grumpy Weekend

I had a very Grumpy weekend. Work was, well, cold outside and cold hearted inside. Outside the weather was frightful, cold, ice on the ground. It took a lot out me physically. On Friday I missed a MSP scan on my route, only for the second time since the program started. MSP or Managed Service Points are bar codes that are placed in mailboxes at various intervals around a route. We have to scan all of them everyday. So I missed one out of thousands that I hit. Yep, I got called into the office for a lecture. Oh Well...... Grump, Grump.

Friday night we went to up to Bridgeport to see the Soundtigers v. the Lowell Devils again, for the second time in six days. First off I put the car about a foot to far into our steep driveway and yep, it got stuck on the ice. My wife finally got it out after taking to the bottom, turning it around and making several runs up the sheet of ice. It took about a half hour to free the trusty Camary. Grump, Grump.

So we get to the game, just in time for the start. It was just a boring game. Hey , it happens. Bridgeport won 4-1, but there was no outstanding play, nothing to point your finger at and say " Hey that was cool." And the Arena at Harbor Yards was empty or almost so. Still it was a night out, but frankly I need to see a bit more action when paying $50.00 for two tickets to a minor-pro game......Grump, Grump.

Ah the Daytona 500. At one time the sporting event that I lived and died for. This year I didn't follow anything at all during the week that leads up to the race. Heck, I didn't even know who won the truck race Friday night. That is usually a must see for a true fan and by all accounts it lived up to being the best race of Speedweek, but I just didn't care enough to find out about it. Of course I blame NA$CAR. They cooked the golden goose and threw away the leftovers. It just is not the same sport that I enjoyed growing up. Grump, Grump.

So, by rote I made the traditional Daytona 500 chili and we headed off to Scott P's house. Scott is a customer on my mail route and he has the big HD TV with the surround sound, so that was cool. While the early part of the race was boring and my guy, Tony Stewart, got knocked out early, I cannot complain about the finish itself. It was spectacular. HOWEVER, I had some major problems with the coverage:
A) OK Kelly Clarkson do one song and get the heck off the track, Three Songs? You have got to be kidding me. I wanted to see a race, not a concert.

B) Too many adverts and at the wrong time. This is a complaint among all fans, but this year it seemed really bad. I saw the start of one crash as they were leaving the air to go to commercial why didn't they cut back? Perhaps a commercial free pay per view option should be made available, shoot with a bunch of guys watching we could come up with say $50 for the Daytona 500.

C) The video game recreation of the accident? Throw that in the trash NOW.

Grump, Grump.

And finally Ms. Spears haircut. Page 6 material at best. Yet the New York Daily News and ( I'm sure) several other papers around the USA devoted not one but two days of front page headlines to the brat. Uh, 'suce me, how many people died in Iraq this weekend? Hello, aren't we at war? Wouldn't a city council meeting have more meaning to an average Joe, than Ms. Spears? Just wondering?

Grump Grump!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Valentine's Day 2007

Ah love is in the air....no wait that's freezing rain. Yep, we had a big old ice storm today. Froze the doors shut on the trusty Camary. Not too much snow here. We live right on Long Island Sound so the warm water pushed the snow away, but not the cold, so everything is frozen solid. Perhaps we would have been better off with a foot of snow? Anyway I took today off from work, to take my wife to the doctors. First off I planned this before I knew about the weather and second it was not fun going out in the trusty Camary today. Oh well, we got home safe. We even stopped at Stew Leonard's. Stew's bills itself as the world's largest dairy store and is a bit of a tourist destination in our hometown. It is usually packed and the parking lot is big time crazy. The ice kept the open store empty today and I had a pleasant shopping experience there! So it's not all bad..............................

Shootout Heck

We went up to Bridgeport to see a hockey game last night. The Bridgeport SoundTigers (farm team of the NY Islanders) faced off against the Lowell (Mass.) Devils, the farm team of the New Jersey Devils. Being a New Jersey fan (oh do you think!) it was a treat to see the farm team. Lowell was loaded with a lot of players who have been called up to New Jersey including Jim Fahey, Andy Greene, Barry Tallekson, Grant Marshall, Dan McGillis, and others. Also two brothers of current Jersey players, Steven Gionta, brother of Brian, and Jordan Parise, brother of Zach, play on the farm team. Steven Gionta took warm ups but was scratched from the game. Jordan was the starting goalie and did a fair job.

As in our previous two trips to the Arena at Harbor Yards, this game was decided in a shootout. UGH! I still don't like shootouts! Oh well, Bridgeport won the shootout and took the victory 4-3. It was an entertaining game with a lot of hard hitting in the 3rd period.

We had great seats about 6 rows from the ice at the blue line. $25.00 a ticket may have had something to do with the fact that the Arena was more than half empty. Hockey, and especially minor league hockey used to be a blue collar sport, but now the working man cannot afford to go to every game. I know I would go more often if I could afford it. I hope that Bridgeport draws enough fans to stay in business, but from the three games I went to, I just don't know.........

The Tao Of MARTY !!!!

Shutout number 10 of the year and 90 of his career, Marty Brodeur and the Devils blank the NY Icelanders 2-0 LET"S GO DEVILS !!!!!!!

The Tao of Red Barber

Red Barber was a Hall of Fame sportscaster who was best known as the voice of the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was from a different era, but his wisdom and common sense transcends time. Here is a taste of the Ol' Redhead from the book Fridays with Red, A Radio Friendship, by Bob Edwards:

" It seems that there are so many unhappy ballplayers today, with all this money than there used to be. When I was broadcasting, the players were just delighted to have their jobs. I remember during the Depression, one ballplayer, asked if he was holding out, said "No I'm holding on"......

I'm Baack......

Ok after taking some time off I have returned to my blog. I've just finished reading a wonderful book called Fridays with Red, A Radio Friendship by Bob Edwards. Bob Edwards was the long time host of Morning Edition on National Public Radio and the Red of the title refers to Red Barber the legendary baseball announcer. Red had a four minuet segment with Bob Edwards every Friday morning for 12 years. Over that time period Red, who did the broadcast from his home in Tallahassee, Fl., and "Colonel' Bob, in Washington DC developed a strong friendship and a loyal group of listeners. The topics not only included baseball and sports , but gardening, cats and world events. I will ,as time permits, share some of Red's philosophy here on the ol' blog......