Monday Morning Mish-Mosh

What a weekend! It's amazing how much you can cram in a 48 hour time frame.

A Saturday day game in Boston that I expected to be another Bruins blow out against the Islanders turned into a well fought 2-1 loss. Kudos to Yann Danis for an amazing effort.

Also notable for me in that game was Jack Hillen doing exactly what Scott Gordon expects of his squad. "Don't you ever give up on the play!" Jack didn't. Even flat out on the ice protecting the puck and having the where-with-all to clear it with a backhand poke while he was being mugged. I liked him when he first skated in an Islanders sweater. I'm liking him more and more.

Sunday's win just proves that the Islander boys haven't gotten the memo from the fans. "Excuse me, guys! You're supposed to be losing."

They will have none of that. So Peter Mannino called up from Jack Capuano's Bridgeport squad has his first NHL win in front of his parents in Chicago. It must have been a great day for him.

Mark Streit (whom I can't seem to find a picture of on my computer) has a three point afternoon as my husband yelled at me asking who was the last Islanders defenseman to score a hat trick. It's obvious Streit will be the NEXT one. He was on fire.

My Sunday was capped off by attending a surprise party for one of my favorite PR people and new found friends. Yes, "Lighthouse Katrina" is now officially in her "adult" years. Her mother Linda staged a party for friends and family to celebrate the occasion complete with balloons, DJ and goody bags. Oh, and Mickey Mouse ears. No adult gets through life without having their own set of ears.

This was one heck of a week for Katrina as she vacationed in Canada, attended three hockey games (two of which were Isles games), did a guest blog for a Habs site and STILL managed to have her finger on the pulse of everything Lighthouse. Yep, multi-tasking mayhem Katrina!

Finally, I was awakened at 5:30 am by a very vivid dream that included ex-head coach Ted Nolan. So, if my Moncton readers could let me know if there is anything wrong with Teddy, I'd appreciate it.

That's the morning's mish-mosh. I guess I should start heading to work.

The Color Of Commitment 10-8-08

I think you have seen the new full page, full color Islanders ads in Newsday. Graphically, they are all striking and editorially all poignant.

One of the first was the one on the back of the Shea Stadium pull out section called "The Color Of Commitment."


"There’s nothing quite like being a sports fan on Long Island. In particular, the winning combination of the Mets and Islanders has created a sense of pride in our culture and a passion in our hearts.
It’s a tradition that has embraced six championship titles, and decade after decade of unforgettable moments and record-breaking success. For these steadfast teams and their faithful followers, the future is as bright as orange and blue." *

I'm bringing this ad up for a reason (even though I'm a Yankees fan). It's that "commitment" statement.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of lunching with Katrina Doell, the Public Relations director from the Lighthouse Project and author of The Lighthouse blog. Commitment would be a perfect word to describe what we discussed over lunch. A commitment to Long Island and a commitment to this team.

I know that as fans we are constantly bombarded with talk of moving our team to far away places starving for NHL hockey. They throw daggers at us when they say "The Lighthouse will NEVER be built."

I think it's time we start throwing some back. We need to supply all the support we can for this project to push past the political red-tape of Nassau County. Check Katrina's blog often as she will have information on the pending town hall meetings. (Those in of themselves are interesting as hell if you've never seen your local government work!) Use the letter forms on their website which we have linked to the NYIC message board.

And by all means, stop by the Lighthouse table on the concourse during games and say hello.

I told her all the talking we did at lunch was off-the-record with the exception of one really exceptional quote that I couldn't help but write down.

When I told her that I'm criticized often for being a cheer-leader and wearing orange colored glasses and just trying to "see the light at the end of the tunnel" she sighed and looked me in the eye and said "Dee, if there's NO light at the end of the tunnel, then it's just a hole."

And the only "hole" we're looking for is the one they're going to dig in the parking lot of the NVMC to build our new home.

Sidenote: Tambellini on facebook chat at 12:30 pm. Anyone want to bet we crash the website by 12:36?

*Kudos to Tom Chiesa from The Wilen Group for great copy!