My blog n'at

This weekend I took Teaspoon out for a couple of firsts. First hockey game and first basketball game for his 3rd birthday coming up at the end of the month.

He has been asking me to take him to a hockey game all season so that was a no brainer. The real question was if he would be able to sit in his seat for 3 periods since the game was at 7 and would be pushing it on his bed time.

From the drop of the puck his attention was locked in and I thought the kid stopped blinking. The action was fast and he did his best to keep up with the only time looking away was to take a bite of chicken fingers. This was met with hockey moms gushing over him and he knew how to play it.

Towards the end of the first period the PA announcer gave a basketball update for the RMU Men’s basketball game. I felt a tug at my jacket and heard “Daddy, we go watch bas-ket-ball. pleeeeaassee.” I caved in.

We arrived to the men’s game at the start of the second half and once again he was mesmerized by the fast pace of a sport. What broke his attention though was Mr. Slice from Hometown Pizza. He’s never been afraid of larger than life figures before but this one was unique. He actually chased the pizza around so he could get a hi5 and then finally calmed down enough so I could get the picture.

Just before the game ended I could see he was winding down so he snuck in one more pizza hug and ran to the door. Only thought in my mind was “Please god dont let him run on the court”!”. He didn’t.

When we got home he ran to his mom and shouted “mommy! mommy! pizza! bas-keet-ball! haw-key!” Moments later he crashed hard.

We had a fantastic  night and its great to find inexpensive yet competitive sporting events in town. He probably won’t remember this night but I most certainly will.

 Its been a long summer but the time has come.

Nothing else in Pittsburgh matters now but hockey.

DO IT!

Once the puck drops tonight at 10pm nothing else matters.

Steelers season is over.

Did the NBA ever really exist?

Baseball is… come on its been 19 years since I’ve cared about games in October. Next year, right Pirates?

Tonight the Penguins season starts in Vancouver and with it 8 months of non stop hockey coverage in my house. Trash talking has already with my cousin Heather whom happens to live in Vancouver and is a season ticket holder. I’ve got my jersey and caffeine ready to stay up for the lat night west coast session all in anticipation for the home opener next Tuesday, which for me, is better than Christmas morning.

Strap in Penguins fans, this is already shaping up to be the most interesting season ever and when you mix in some college hockey with the Colonials I’ll be impossible to be around until mid 2012.

Enough already, lets get this started!

I’m spending my day attending a college hockey double header of Colonials with the final game vs RIT already sold out.

Little known hockey facts about me

• My first hockey game was watching the Erie Golden Blades with my cousin Leslie when I was in 2nd grade.
• I still have ticket stubs from the Erie Panthers
• My family never taught me to skate, they would take me to public skates and tell me to figure it out.
• I have the ticket stub from my first pro hockey game somewhere. My brother took me to a Pens game at the Civic Arena in the 80′s where player Jimmy Mann sat next to me. Jagoff still owes me a stick. Find out why.
• One of my friends on our highschool team had more penalty minutes than ice time. Rumor has it he was suspended for trying to stab someone from the rival school with his blade.  Wouldn’t surprise me. Now he’s protecting our country.
• Until my nephew Ben started to play hockey I was the only fan of the sport in my family.
• I played in net for my 2 years at Pitt. For a game I played with the “Jason” mask. We drew stitch marks on it afterwards for everywhere I got hit.
• I bat right and left in baseball but can only slapshot a puck left handed. Goalie though right is my stick side.
• I haven’t skated since 1996
• I own 2 pairs of roller blades I never wore.
• My favorite player of all time is Martin Straka. He’s magical.

I’m gonna need a second or third job if my boys will play hockey. Bah I didn’t need sleep anyways.

Here is a memory from my first ever professional hockey game which was during the 87-88 season. I grew up in Erie so see hockey above the Erie Golden Blades level wasn’t much of an option. I was 12 and my brother was living in Pittsburgh working for the Pirates. He figured out with my parents that I would be able to come visit for the weekend and see a professional hockey game. I don’t recall the team they played and think I still have the ticket somewhere in my mom’s attic but the highlight was 2 fold. First it was the first time I ever saw troughs for bathrooms and also it was the night I met Jimmy Mann.

My brother and I got to our seats and right away I tried to follow the action. We were sitting up in the D level and that was higher than anything available at the Erie Civic Center. I’m the only member of my family who’s really been into hockey so I knew that asking typical kid questions about the sport weren’t going to be answered. That’s when they guy next to myself started chatting me up. He was explaining everything to me about icing, penalties, the slot, why the goalie comes out and other misc. things. At the end of the 1st intermission my bro left and came back with a few snacks. When he sat back down the guy said to us “Do you know who I am?”. We were both oblivious. My bro was a basketball and baseball guy and heck I was only 12. He said “I play for the Pens. I’m Jimmy Mann.” I thought “yeah right, buddy” but then again in 87/88 I only knew Mario because I read about him in Kids Sports Illustrated. From what I recall he was on the DL or some jazz like that but he showed me his picture in either the program or heck he probably kept articles about himself in his pocket since he did only get 9 games in a Pens uniform.

As bad luck would have it I excused myself and ended up falling ill to arena food for the 2nd period. I returned to my seat in the 3rd and found out that Jimmy had left. My bro told me that Jimmy sends his wishes that I’d feel better and would send me an autographed stick. While I waited for this stick that summer Jimmy managed to hit up my bro on multiple occasions for free tickets to the Pirates games.

Months turned into years and a heartbroken 12yr old realized he was never going to get the stick. Thankfully it didn’t turn into a grudge that all pro athletes were jagoffs until I met jerk pack Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla. I did keep a soft spot for hockey though.

Over the years the story turned into a joke between my brother and I. “You have a better chance to get that Jimmy Mann stick than to <insert ANYTHING>.” Currently it’s “You have a better chance to get that Jimmy Mann stick than the Pirates do reaching .500!” In fact anytime we crack jokes a “f’n jimmy mann” gets thrown in there.

I have a son now and I tell him stories of going to the arena and early hockey days. Granted he’s 13 months old but its never too early to start them, right? I’m sure when he gets a little older and he starts understanding the sport more that the Jimmy Mann story will come up.

Right now as I’m shopping for our first house I would like nothing more than to mount that stick with pride in my future residence along side a picture of me with Jimmy but for now it’ll end like this…

Here we are, 22 years later, and I’m still waiting for that stick.

I love playing hockey video games and for the longest time they were the same game with different players so I grew bored and my PS2 collected dust. From the conversations on Twitter I read stories of how NHL 10 revolutionized the experience and I gave in.  In fact THE reason why (amongst others but this was #1) I got the Xbox360 was for this game. I knew I was taking a risk buying a gaming system for the purpose of one game but believe me when I say that this game is crack… mind crack.

Be A Pro
This part of the game is what has sucked me in 100%. Not the sleek game play overall or the quest for the cup but the fact that I get to create myself as an early draft pick with the Penguins and work on my career. the game does a great job of making it feel like its really you in the game from the warm up and entering the ice to focusing on your player throughout.

Number 10? No idea. I need to change that to 22. Right now it’s my tribute to Gary Roberts and Pierre Larouche. When you create your player you can customize the heck out of yourself. Hair, eyes, nose, facial features, build and as you can see I have some work to do on myself. As you gain more experience and reach new levels of skills you can upgrade your equipment and also increase your personal performance.

You can either get drafted or assign yourself. I opted for the Pens since I can’t live with myself if the Flyers drafted me. Starting the season in WBS has been cool so far and updated rosters has helped me learn some of the young guys who may make an appearance some day. Being a former goalie, I really have no idea how to be a forward, so I made myself a power LW. The HUGE plus to doing this is that when you’re playing there are blue arrows showing you where to be on the ice and what angle you should approach the blue line so you’re not offsides. My first game I was skating around lost but did manage to get a point of an obscene 25 shots. Games 2 and 3 I was a huge ball of suck.

Game 4 the unthinkable happened…

Someone got their groove back

As luck would have it the clock hit midnight and I had be up in 5 hours so all of the magic was going to sleep.

It’s going to take me awhile to get use to this Xbox controller but for the most part I have it configured the way I can remember.

I’m absolutely hooked and plan on playing out the season in full for the first time since NHL 06. I’ve talked to a few friends about joining a pickup league so I only have a few more weeks before I get my ass handed to me on a regular basis.

HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY!

Looks weird when its repeated over and over again eh? You know you wanna spell check it.

I wish I could properly express how freaking psyched I am for tonight. Not only is it the home opener but its the raising of the Stanley Cup Champions banner and the start of the final season at the Mellon Arena. Oh yeah, and there will be fireworks!

The home opener is the one game I get to when the gates open. I like to get in early so I can walk around without much obstruction, walk through Pens Station so I can shop without elbows to the back from a crazy yinzer rushing to get that Crosby jersey that’s been hanging since last year, and I get a chance to sit in my seat and absorb the moment… Stanley Cup Champions.  Its like the calm before the storm.

I find it hard to hate the Rangers this year. Jagr isn’t gone. Straka is gone. Avery is there but that’s not even an effort anymore since he writes his own jokes. I guess Rozsival or Prospal could be whipping boys but they’ll have to stop skating into the boards like Happy Gilmore. This leaves the hack thug Brashear. Honestly I’m expecting Avery and Brashear to beat the tar out of each other. Knuckleheads do that.

Game starts at 7:30, gates open at 6. Game is sold out so if you don’t have tickets sit on the lawn and bring an umbrella or as Yinz Team would tell you, “bring a fucking towel”.

Final score: Pens 4 – Rangers 1

(photos from the google. photoshopped by me)

Last year I made a post offering a guide to Steeler Fans on what is and how to understand the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The feedback was incredible and since this city is coming off it’s 6th Super Bowl title I think a refresher may be needed. Especially when a backup quarterback’s contract is headline news.

It can’t go unnoticed that Penguins mania is all over Pittsburgh. As a lifelong Pens fan it’s refreshing to see people wearing something other than a Steelers jersey. If you’re not from the Pittsburgh area, a Steelers jersey is considered by many as acceptable form of clothing for ANY occasion even if it’s at a different sport’s event. After a recent walk through downtown I saw the trend start to shift as people in Pens jerseys were everywhere. Granted it is the Stanley Cup playoffs season but in the past that didn’t matter to yinzers.

Seeing this lead me to think, how is Yinzer Nation dealing with Steeler pre-pre-pre training camp news not leading broadcasts? Maybe some have seen the light that there is life outside the walls of Heinz Field. For those fans confused as to what Penguins hockey is about I’ve made this list to get you ready for the Flyers series and eventually the Stanley Cup Finals.

• Kenny the COTTON CANDY HERE guy and TC the Beer Guy have jobs outside Steeler games. Do not get confused when you see them.
• Pens Station is the main store for Pens swag. There is never enough room to walk around so do NOT go in after you bought that tray of nachos with double cheese.
• Those people in Pens sweatsuits are The Pens Patrol They’re the crowd motivators… we think. Honestly besides throwing t-shirts and smiling we don’t really don’t see them.
• While you may enjoy ripping your shirt off and pouring beer over yourself while in a cheering frenzy at Steelers games, please stay dressed here.
• Face fainting, body painting and wearing loud obnoxious clothes are perfectly acceptable. Just ask the Penguin Lady.
• Don’t try to open the roof.
• Average price for a beer at the arena is $8.25. A 30 pack of Beast Ice at the local distributor is $16.50. Do the math for the same quality of beer. (*hopefully at the new arena they have craft beers. Pens, call me. we’ll talk*)
• Eat like a champion – If you want loaded nachos and fries there is a stand behind the walking ramp on the South End. Want a burrito the size of your head? By the  B/C12 entrance think… don’t quote me, blame Stoosh. I will say from experience though these are the best nachos. E north by the stairs to F. Pizza Hut stand.
  
• Stay in your seat or in the entrance to your section until there is a stoppage in play. If you walk while game is in play you will be hauled up to F Balcony by fans and tossed off. Frankly this should be a rule in all sports. ESPECIALLY Pirates games.
• We have a mascot who is a Penguin, We love Iceburgh and will defend him to the end. Plus he’s no where near as freaky as that Steely guy.
• Cleveland to you is Philadelphia to us.
• If you don’t know what is going on that is perfectly fine but don’t compensate by yelling “SHOOT THE PUCK!”, “HIT HIM!” or “DO SOMETHING”.
• There are 4 lines in hockey just as you swap players on the field. Sidney Crosby won’t play a full 60 minutes. Don’t worry, you won’t even notice.
• The Stanley Cup is the most celebrated trophy in sports. Each member of the winning team gets to spend a day with it and the stories are legendary. It’s also the most accessible trophy to the public and like hockey fans, knows how to party.
• Remember Philly is orange and black. Any other mix is probably some version of a jersey that a player had in minors or high school. We’re obsessive like that.
• The Flyers havent won since 1975. What a joke.
• “There’s no wave in hockey!” – F2 Sign Guy. Start one and he’ll pound you.

There you go. Anyone else feel free to add to this list. Most importantly enjoy the game.

GO PENS!