A Damn Yankee Shame! 9-13-08

Big Angry Man tells me to stay the hell away from talking about baseball. I certainly don't know enough about it. But I can't help it as I sit here trying desperately to write my entry on my interview with TV 55's CJ Papa, but watching the Yankee game.

I have to be a Yankee fan in this house, I have no choice. But it's pretty easy to be a Derek Jeter fan. So how painful it is to watch his frustration as the Yankees are heading into the worst season ending in 12 years.

This will probably be the first year in his career that Jeter will not be playing baseball in October. And THAT is just one DAMN SHAME!! But at least he's on target to setting his final record at Yankee Stadium for hits as that seems to be the only thing Yankee fans have to cheer about this afternoon.

Maybe tonight's game of the double header will be better. Or maybe it will just be more pain.

I feel for you Derek. I really do!

Now... I gotta get back to Hockey writing... before my husband finds out about this! Doh!

One Less Assistant... 9-12-08

This just in:

The New York Islanders have announced that Assistant Coach Gerard Gallant has been reassigned as a special consultant to General Manager, Garth Snow.

Good move? I cetainly can't tell. But I know there was speculation that Gordon should have his own coaching staff has come up prior. Personally I believe anyone who has an opportuntiy to work with Garth is lucky.

Now... Can they drop Lacroix off in Moncton and sort of .... leave him there...

Happy Birthday to my daughter. Fourteen years ago, you were the light of my life coming into this world. Today, for the most part, you are my perpetual heartburn. But I love you anyway.

Mears & Kinger's New Home - 9-11-08

The Islanders long awaited radio deal for the season was announced today. There was much speculation over the last few weeks as to where they would broadcast the games and what sort of coverage they would have.

The press release I received late this afternoon came as a pleasant surprise. Personally, I enjoy 94.3 FM and the fact that I can actually get the station all the way to my house on Eastern Long Island is actually... a bonus!

Before XM Radio and Home Ice, there were many nights we'd leave the Coliseum a little early (especially if it was a school night) and wanted to listen to the last three minutes of the game as well as the post game on our long ride home. First of all, locating the channel was a problem, then keeping it was even worse. Once we'd get to a certain point and it began to sound like "Snakes on the Radio," Big Angry Man would turn it off on me and I'd be very disappointed.

With XM carrying the games and the post game, I no longer have to worry about that. But I'm glad that the Islanders have partnered with the Long Island Radio Group. I think it will work out well for everyone.

Now... CAN THEY JUST GET IT PIPED INTO THE BLOG BOX SOMEHOW??? HELLO?? We're incommunicado there! We've tried web streaming NHL Radio feeds but to no avail. Basically, we are at the mercy of every one's phone to get crucial "at the moment" information because we can't hear anything.

How far can Steve and Kinger be from us in 201? I've got unlimited minutes now with my Verizon plan. Can I just CALL upstairs and leave the phone on? Just a thought.

Well, this is all good news for those who live outside our geography and good news for the Islanders.

Stop back on Sunday as (with any luck) I'll have an in depth interview with non-other than CJ Papa from TV 55/Channel 10. The hardest working sportscaster in the business. But first I have to get through my daughter's birthday. Amazing how quickly time flies, and yet, what seems like a blink of an eye also seems like a separate life time ago. So much has changed in the years since she first arrived in this world. She's not the same, and neither am I. And the one thing us Scorpios know how to do is perpetually reinvent ourselves.

Strange how these things work. But I guess... That's life.

Rookie Camp before Moncton

We get to hear skate blades on ice once again at Ice Works next week when 20 prospects participate in a Rookie camp Monday - Wednesday.


Of course this news would have tweaked my interest anyway because any excuse I can use to get out of work for an extended lunch hour to get down to Ice Works is always welcome. But what caught my attention was the name Vladimir Nikiforov.

A few weeks ago, the boards were buzzing with questions about this kid being tagged to play on the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. It seems either he or his relatives were telling patrons and pee wee players that he had been asked. Some members even asked me if I could get any additional information.

We all know that THIS is not the type of information that I can usually uncover. Prospects? Camp Invitees? Rumor? Not exactly my forte. But, I have a hard time saying no if someone asks me to investigate.

I sent Corey Witt an email about something else and, oddly, he answered me. When I figured I had his attention, I posed the question. "Hey! Corey! Rumor has it that Nikiforov will be playing for Bridgeport this coming season. Can you tell me if that's true?"

Surprisingly I DID get another response. Although I wasn't surprised at the content. One word, and the word was "HA!" Not exactly as clever a response as his former boss would have bestowed on me, but one I fully expected.

On today's Islander website story the following is posted:

Vladimir Nikiforov

Born- 10/7/1987

Height- 5'8" (Other sites have him listed as 5'7")

Weight- 170

Position- Right Wing

Nikiforov is a Long Island native invitee. Last season, he started the year with the OHL's Barrie Colts before being traded to Sarnia. Over the first 36 games of the
season in Barrie, Nikiforov scored 21 goals and 32 assists for 53 points.
Despite playing in just over half the season with Barrie, he was second on the
team in goals, first in assists and second in points. With Sarnia, in 15 regular
season games he had four goals and ten assists. He then added a goal and four
assists in nine playoff games. On the year, he had a total of 17 multi-point
games, including three four-point efforts.

So I guess being invited back to Rookie camp is one step closer to the Sound Tigers. Let's hope this Long Island native does better than he did in August when he was injured and couldn't continue competing.

We need more Long Island players in the league. Even if they were born in Russia.

Read it and LEARN! 9-8-08

Me again after a bitterly rough day at the salt mines and still cooking food that needs to be cooked at 8:15 pm. But there's always time for a quick entry and a glass of merlot.

There are two blogs I'd like to share with you. The first because someone I respect a great deal used to tell me all the time "Look at things from a different angle, Mrs. Karl." I try. Although sometimes the only "different angle" I can think of is from my couch. But there is one gentleman that had a different outlook that will give you cause to see our beloved game with perhaps just a slight difference. That's Doug from USA Hockey and his IslesOfficialsOutlook. He's going to be working on a series of penalty explanations that I'm sure will be worthwhile. So give him a look.

The other blog I've come to be hooked on has nothing to do with hockey (what a surprise!) and everything to do with Long Island. LIBizBlog has the most unusualy, informative articles about what is happening right here, and with their own spin. I'm addicted. So if you're looking to find out what's REALLY happening that you're not seeing in the papers, check them out! And if you have a wordpress account or sign up, you can comment on it the same way as any other blog.

DING! Okay pork chops need to come out of the oven and pizza needs to go in. Ah yes! The perils of having a Chambers Stove. The one Rachel Ray has. The oven isn't even the size of my microwave, but DAMN!!! Can this thing COOK! (And so can I!)

Hockey Static - 9-8-08

What an incredibly empty weekend on the hockey front. Good thing since I was busy with my usual September whirlwind family responsibilities. So much to do that I can't even get excited about the impending start of the 08-09 season... yet.

This morning I took some time to read the headlines from all the major sites to see if I missed anything. Um. Not much. There are a FEW hockey related tidbits that I did want to mention. I guess you could consider this "twitter."

Congrats Chris Chelios: So the man who Bill Jaffe called "a freak of nature" has signed up for yet another season of Hockey with the Red Wings. Good for him! The Hockey News has a great article on the time line of his career. Chelios: Setting the standard for excellence in aging.

Ron Wilson not high on Sundin: Ya think? It's like being held hostage. Totally not fair to the Leafs new coach. Good for him for speaking out. Shouldn't the league have a rule that says you need to make a decision no later than Labor day if you're playing or not?

NHL Live to Return to XM 204 on 9-15-08: Thank God. But I'd like to see an announcement on the NHL.com site. But thanks to TravelChic for the information.

Belated Happy Birthday to Jason Blake: Wishing you a better year to obliterate the memory of this one.

Thanks to Islesblogger.com Mike S.: He didn't take the nickname on the NYIC board of "teknics" for nothing. Every time I have a "technical" question, he's the first one I go to. And thanks to his constant iPhone addiction, it doesn't take long for the proper answer. I owe you, and I didn't forget YOU didn't get Birthday cookies. I'll have to rectify that soon.

Single Ticket Event Sept. 13th: Single game tickets go on sale Saturday the 13th. Let's overtake the Ranger fans on the line this year people. It's our building, let's make sure it stays that way.

Are we there yet? Almost.