The tale of the Tie -- Ted’s Tie that is.

Prompted by my in-thread game day conversation with Sybo, who precariously dipped his toe into my cosmic karma thinking wading pool, I decided to take him up on the analysis of Ted’s ties and how they relate to wins and losses. (Obviously, I will come up with any excuse not to take down my Christmas tree.) After exhaustive and grueling research -- over three hours watching ITV post game videos and having it crap out on me every fourth video -- I managed to enter the data into my cosmic-karma database (an excel sheet). I’d like to take this time to thank ITV for giving me the tools to perform this research but would ask that they not take such close-ups of Ted during his press conference as to completely obscure his neckwear. I’d also like to ask the other reporters to keep their damn microphones with their large emblems away from that area during the filming of these interviews. Thank you.
(Also, what’s up with New Year’s Eve? They couldn’t find an ITV crew sober enough to cover the after game press conference? But I digress.)

So the tale of the tie goes as follows:

Ted has donned 23 different ties so far this season. None of which has been last year’s “Grandma’s wallpaper” tie. Mind you, it has already been revealed that I’m slightly color blind, so the dark blue or black thing may be incorrect, but I can tell the difference between red and pink. The color choices have been as follows: 7 of them have some sort of Pink in them, 5 have a deep Red in them, 3 are solid Purple, he has 1 Orange stripe tie which he’s only worn once so far, and 1 Gold and grey stripe, and 2 have some sort of Green in them. Again, can’t tell the difference between the dark blue background and black, so no accurate data was gathered for that.

Wins & Losses:

The Sage & Black tie has brought 2 wins and 1 loss. His Red paisley tie has brought a loss every time (3). So has his Black with Gray circles tie (although again, it could be Navy Blue). Whereas the Pink/Black/Mauve stripe and the Gold/Gray strip have each brought 2 wins and 1 loss. It comes down to the Purple ones. Ted’s won 6 times and only lost twice with the Purple ties. So not only do they look good on him, they may be the winning ticket.

In conclusion I can state that….. The team needs to score more and that will guarantee more W’s than L’s and Ted should go buy some more Purple ties.

Damn it… Why hasn’t someone ELSE taken down that Christmas tree?

Looking for a cosmic win over the Senators tonight!

Darryl -- We Hardly Knew Ye

Of course, I shouldn't be writing tonight. There are probably 12 things more important that I should be doing. One of which is sleeping since I only managed about 5 hours last night because of the late night game. But I couldn't help sitting down to vent.

So it happens again -- I find a player who I look forward to watching progress on the team, and while my back is turned, he's voted off the island. Such is the case with one tough player who will be able to say he had that proverbial "cup of coffee" with the NY Islanders. I can't even find the date of my post when Darryl Bootland was thrust upon the Blog Box crew and made an instant impression on me. I later came to find out it was just that "Scorpio thing" we do. It's like a secret underground society and we just all seem to recognize each other. (When I owned a bar, I had annual "Scorpio" parties for all those friends of mine born under the same sign. We also had our own saying: "Whose better than us? Nobody!" But I digress.)

It was after 5 pm when my Blog Box buddie, Tom Liodice (and fellow Scorpio I might add!) sent me the news as gently as possible. "You're not going to like this." with a link to the trade information. "Shall I bring tissues?" A very kind gesture, but not necessary this time.

Bootlad was amicable and friendly even though his role seemed to be enforcer. ITV did a feature on him at the Police Academy in Yaphank. I remember speaking with Josh when they had filmed it. He was worried he was going to be shipped out before the feature even had time to be uploaded. He was shipped to Bridgeport and probably never did see the Islander Illustrated magazine issue with his photo on the cover either.

This is the hard part of this business. I can't imagine it's easy to suddenly be told "See ya!" I will never be able to comprehend the emotional roller-coaster that must ensue. I suppose they are prepared for it -- Maybe.

Good luck Darryl. Drop by any time.

Sleepwalking

I think that's what we'll all be doing tomorrow. As I said before, I don't like the west coast trips. The late starts throw me all off. It disrupts my routine and makes it difficult to function.

Certainly, I still maintain my "game day" traditions of wardrobe choices: Blue, orange, white. All 82 game days, you can always tell the Islanders are playing simply by looking at what I have on. I'm like a walking game calendar when I walk into work and ask, "What day is it??" I wait for the answer that at this point in the season is almost an auto-response. "Game day." Thank you. It would be easier if I were allowed to wear my jerseys to work, but I'm not, so I have to be creative.

The later game starts give me more time to have dinner and clean the kitchen, but keeping my eyes open seems to be the problem. Yesterday I made coffee at 9 pm and then regretted it by 10:30pm as they were losing and I was getting wired. I didn't need to be wide awake and dissapointed. I'm certain the team was too as they travelled on.

An even later start tonight from Vancouver, but I opted to see what black tea would do. Well, it's now 11:42 and I'm still awake, though not wired. Struggling with the desire to close my eyes, and my desire to see what the third period will bring. So far with 13:45 left in the 3rd, it's yet tied again, this time at 2.

Sadly, I know what tomorrow will bring. The alarm will sound at 6 am and I will be a miserable, sleepwalking zombie. The question is will I be a walking zombie with a smile on my face at two points gained so far from home? Or one wondering how I could be so foolish as to risk falling asleep at the wheel driving to work because I had to watch the third period.

Oh yes... the things we do for hockey. The only fact that makes me feel better is.... Right now there are 30 other people on NYIC that are foolish enough to be doing the same damn thing I am. Staying awake... yelling at the TV, and praying this damn game doesn't go into overtime. At least I won't wonder where I am when I wake up tomorrow morning. Providing I have enough energy to actually WAKE up in the morning.