This & That While I wait for Game 4 of the Finals

I understand the layover between games. But it doesn’t mean I have to like it. So what to do… what to do…

The THIS: Chris Botta’s YouTube Experiment: Not only is he innovative, he’s certainly brave too. Venturing into the YouTube culture gives me the chills. But then again, having come from the compact, hand held 8mm camcorder generation, I know how easy video can be used against you. Let’s suffice it to say…. I’ll never be running for public office…. EVER. But Botta’s video entries on his nyipointblank blog are pretty interesting.

I can’t help but look at the first installment with the eyes of a wife and mother. “What? You couldn’t hit the dinning room table with Pledge before you shot it? You can see the dust in the sunlight.” These are the things I notice.

Go ahead… laugh. But I spent 2 months wondering if Jason Blake’s wife knew his socks were dirty when they photographed him for his first major article called “A Bug’s Life” back in 2001. It was a great article, and a great photograph, and all I could focus on were the socks. I would have been mortified.

But what Botta’s first installment does prove is the amount of professionalism he puts forth even unscripted from his dining room table. Not an “ummm”, “you know” or “ahhhh…” to be heard. Communications students; please take note. There is an invaluable lesson in that clip that lasts 4:07.

The second installment on Camden Yard is a cross between a travel channel episode and a Lighthouse Project infomercial. Nice piece on a place I’ll probably never see… unless Baltimore hosts a Pony or ASA Girl’s Softball Nationals tournament. THEN… maybe I’ll see it. But it was interesting and nicely done. Even the possibly beer-tinged critique of the Men’s room was quite professional. However, it did show me that what they did successfully in Baltimore is small in comparison to what the Lighthouse project is proposed to contain. But one step at a time. The “If you build it they won’t necessarily come” line is quite prophetic, especially considering what I heard on the radio today.

The THAT: Today I sent a scathing e-mail to Toronto’s Fan590 radio station. I tuned in around 4:15 pm as I haven’t logged onto that radio station in quite awhile now that NHL.com has a video portal and pod casts. But for some reason, I felt like checking it out.

I arrived smack in the middle of basically NHL SMACK. I had to listen for a good 15 minutes before I could determine that some sort of financial report has come out that the six Canadian teams make up an inordinate share of the NHL’s profitability.

No DUH.

I could have lived with those facts and figures. Even when the figures said that there were 8 US teams, including the NY Islanders, that didn’t make HALF of what the Senators took in, and they were the lowest drawing of the six Canadian teams, I was hurt but not incensed But when Rob McGowan decided to start berating Gary Bettman, the US fan bases and just our citizenry in general, I almost punched my monitor.

This is why there is such a rift between the Canadian Hockey fan and the US Hockey fan. In Canada, we may as well be Unicorns because they don’t believe we exist. But yet, they accuse the Commissioner of pandering to this non-existent base while destroying Canada’s game.

To this I would love to say: Oh! Canada! Take your six teams and create your own league. While you’re at it… Take the Blue Jays too. BTW… Baseball is AMERICA’S game, and we don’t seem to be putting you guys down every minute for having the nerve to have a team.

Obviously, I’m heading into territory that I have no business treading. But this is what happens when there’s not much else going on, and I’m home alone with the keyboard. Maybe I should learn to knit.
Uh…. No.

Red Wings roll over the Pens and the season wil be over.

Off Season? What "off-season"?

This normally out-of-control puck junkie that dreads June - August, and who sometimes turns to a private collection of Islanders videos from 2002-2006 (featuring Jason Blake goals of course) in order to get me through the lean months of no-hockey, can’t believe her eyes when she looks at the Islanders website and their summer community calendar.
What the heck? I mean we usually get a week’s worth of prospect mini camp in July and then you don’t see anything with an Islanders logo on it until the end of August, if we were lucky! But I guess this year will be different. “Last Comic Standing” won’t be the only thing to divert my attention while I wait for pages of the calendar to turn.
So as I had mentioned a few weeks ago, the new Islanders Illustrated TV show will be premiering this June 18th on MSG Plus at 6:30 pm, just two days before the draft party on the 20th. Maybe MSG Plus won’t be such a bad thing for the NY Islanders, but we’ll have to make sure of that. If we feel they are continuing to belittle our team and its fans, then we’ll have to speak up. But at least with airing a show produced by ITV for Islander fans, this is a good start.
Speaking of Draft Day… Look forward to a very exciting announcement from some fellow Blog Boxers in the near future. Ok, maybe “very exciting” is a bit much, but when I heard it, it was exciting to me as I‘m extremely happy for them and very proud. Leave it at just another way the NY Islanders will be innovative with their fan base access. You’ll know soon enough what it’s all about.
On a personal note… I had to go to the doctor on Wednesday, and like everything else in my life, the doctor I’ve been going to since I am 19 happens to be about ¼ mile away from the Coliseum. I can’t seem to stay away from the place even when there isn’t anything going on. But since I was in the neighborhood, I had to drive by anyway. Sure, I probably could have stopped in for a cup of coffee and piece of cake as any friend who just “happens to be in the neighborhood “ can do. But my mom always told me to never go anywhere empty handed, and since I didn’t have a crumb cake or bottle of wine with me, I just drove by looking at the parking lot. There were plenty of cars in the executive lot as they seem to be really, really busy. But I also knew there were plenty that are missing from their usual spots.
I stopped at the Starbucks across the street, just because. An older gentleman in a van I parked next to stopped me to say how much he loved the color of my little orange car. I told him it went with my license plate. I ordered my “tall traditional, room for milk” and an apple fritter. Hell… the doctor didn’t yell at me about my weight, so why not. I stood in front of the store and stared across the street at the squat oval behind the chain link fence. I tried to imagine the new landscape when the Lighthouse project is completed. I couldn’t. It’s basically beyond my comprehension even though I’ve seen the plans about 30 times. I drove away shoving the apple fritter in my face and shaking my head.
It’s going to be an interesting “off-season.” I think I’ll need more Starbucks.