Coming Up with Resolutions

As the New Year approaches, I'm attempting to come up with resolutions that aren't obvious--for me, those would be "spend less money" and "exercise more"--while those things will also be on my list, I want to add others that will help with self-enrichment, like learning to play another instrument or to speak another language.

I tried learning Czech for a while back in the summer of '08 but then got distracted by other things, so I may have another go at that. Right now I'm obsessed the release of all the hockey Olympic rosters, so I'm going to repost the provisional Team Czech lineup here as a sort of representative of some of my interests (and to show you what Czech names look like):

Goaltenders (Brankáři): Ondřej Pavelec (Atlanta Thrashers/NHL), Jakub Štěpánek (HC Vítkovice Steel), Tomáš Vokoun (Florida Panthers/NHL).

Defensemen (Obránci): Miroslav Blaťák (Salavat Julajev Ufa/KHL), Jan Hejda (Columbus Blue Jackets/NHL), Tomáš Kaberle (Toronto Maple Leafs/NHL), Filip Kuba (Ottawa Senators/NHL), Pavel Kubina (Atlanta Thrashers/NHL), Zbyněk Michálek (Phoenix Coyotes/NHL), Roman Polák (St. Louis Blues/NHL), Marek Židlický (Minnesota Wild/NHL).

Forwards (Útočníci): Petr Čajánek (SKA Petrohrad), Roman Červenka (HC Slavia Praha), Patrik Eliáš (New Jersey Devils/NHL), Martin Erat (Nashville Predators/NHL), Tomáš Fleischmann (Washington Capitals/NHL), Martin Havlát (Minnesota Wild/NHL), Jaromír Jágr (Avangard Omsk/KHL), David Krejčí (Boston Bruins/NHL), Milan Michálek (Ottawa Senators/NHL), Tomáš Plekanec (Montreal Canadiens/NHL), Tomáš Rolinek (Metallurg Magnitogorsk/KHL), Josef Vašíček (Lokomotiv Jaroslavl/KHL).

(from Hokej.cz)

It makes me happy that Milan Michálek (a former Shark) and his brother Zbyněk both made the team, but I digress. The various marks, as you can probably guess, indicate pronunciation changes. For example, "Z" sounds like the English Z, "S" sounds like S and "C" sounds like "ts", but Ž becomes "zh", Č is "ch" and Š is "sh". Pronouncing the words is fun to me, but I started getting confused when I was introduced to different endings of nouns, which I unfortunately can't explain right now as I haven't quite been able to understand it.

I considered posting more rosters and attempting to write stuff about them (i.e. "Slovakia: The Occasional Reminder that Anze Kopitar is Slovenian, That's Why He's Not on This Team"), but while I love watching hockey, my knowledge is limited. Another thing to work on next year, perhaps.

Whatever your resolutions or plans are, I wish you all a Happy New Year and all the best in 2010.

Babble on Recent Sports Stuff

Wow, I rambled on this message board like I was writing a blog entry. So perhaps I should just re-write it here and add more links while I'm at it! :P

Current poll on CSN Bay Area:

If the Giants finish the season 5 games behind Colorado how would you characterize this season?

A) Succesful
B) Mildly Successful
C) Average
D) Below Average
E) Failure

I'd vote "Mildly Average". :P Honestly, I don't know. They've obviously done better than what was expected when the season started; however, the management has driven me nuts at times. I'm finding myself having more questions than answers:

Freddy Sanchez has been here how long and he's been injured twice?
Will Buster Posey get a start this season?
Speaking of starts, did Ryan Garko really start in 26 games? It's seemed like half that.
Did you enjoy the return of the Uribe chant? (I did!)
Angel Villalona?

Oh, but hey, they won tonight and the Rockies lost. It is not (mathematically) over.


In other news, hockey's almost here! (Well, technically it is here, but it's preseason.) Here's something else I wrote over on that board right after the Heatley trade broke:

But at least the drama is done now and everyone can just focus on training camp. I will say that I have a bit of a fear that Heatley's arrival just might have an Avery-in-Dallas effect. It's very irrational, very worst-case-scenario, I know, but the fear exists. If the franchise is strong enough and can get him to be effective (this is assuming he is like the media's portrayal of him--I'm kind of comparing the best-case scenario to the way things worked out with the Patriots and Randy Moss, at least that first year), then the sky's the limit. I wish everyone luck.

Stuff I've been doing, reading

It's been a while. I haven't gone missing, it's just that every time I try to write something here, the words disappear from my head. I'll try to fix this now. Here are some recent points of possible interest:

- I went to the State of the Sharks last Tuesday. See my half-assed account here.

- Travels with Carlo (The Wonderful World of Loser Domi)
I don't know who Carlo Colaiacovo is, but he seems to get injured a lot, and I think his name is awesome. Anyway, Loser Domi writes funny stuff.

- It took me forever to sign up with sports message boards because I couldn't think of a handle to use. (Also, I'm not very witty and never know what to write, but I digress.) On Saturday, I was at the MYFO liveblog for Game 1 and I wanted to comment on something, so I had to come up with a name. The only thing that popped in my head was "insert bad Czech pun here" which got shortened to "Bad Czech Pun". Guess I have a handle now. It's better than the names I've come up with in the past, so I'm fine with it.

- Yesterday I went shopping at the Scrapbook Nook. That place is dangerous. I'm also super-new to scrapbooking, so I was overwhelmed. I was able to pay cash for all the stuff I got, but that's because I only bought travel-related stickers. I should find some kind of primer for scrapbooking to help me organize in my mind how it all works. I can't see myself making actual scrapbooks because I know I'd get tired of it too easily, but I could definitely make gift tags, invitations and other small things like that. I also want to host a party in mid-December with a tropical theme, so it would be awesome if I got the gist of it by the time I need to send out invitations.

Who am I rooting for in the next round?

At this point in the playoffs (the point where I have no real rooting interest left), I wonder who to root for. In recent years, it's been all about the team(s) whose fans I hate less. Taking this into account, I'm rooting for the Flyers in the east, which is a bit surprising to me. In the west, it's a wash as there are people on both sides of that fence that I just can't stand--though none of the Dallas fans are people I personally know. So let's forget that criteria and look at the players, shall we? To be honest, I don't hate Team Sweden West at all. I like the guys out there on the ice, especially now that they aren't playing Hasek. The Stars, though...let's see, I'll throw some names out and see what pops into my head:

Modano - Respect.
Turco - Meh.
Zubov - Hm. ...Actually, I have no problems with him.
Ott - Dislike. (Note that this is more of a default response for the type of player he is. Do the Sharks need a pest? I've been wondering this for some time. Not that I think picking up Avery would be a good idea. But I digress.)
Ribeiro - HATE.
Morrow - Undecided.

...Hm. Maybe I won't throw my support anywhere and just see how things go. (By the way, Wings in 5.)

I thought the game would never end.

Frankly, it almost didn't. I'm not going to nitpick as I'm sure others will. Why do that? What's the point? Everyone was dead tired, and you knew SOMETHING had to happen to end the game. I applaud the efforts of all the players, especially Nabokov and Turco. Damn. And congratulations to the Stars. This was a tough series; anyone who knew these teams knew that it would go this way, though most of us probably didn't see the 3-0 start coming.

I am worried about Milan Michalek. The hit was clean and all, but man did his head snap back, giving me visions of Raffi Torres' hit on him a couple of years ago. Whatever happened to him, I hope that it's nothing major and that he'll fully recover. So is Brenden Morrow going to ask about him or is he going to be an ass and not care? I'm asking seriously; I know nothing about his character. This will be a major factor regarding who I root for in the conference finals. (I'll probably be rooting for Dallas anyway. Pacific Division Represent!)

I am proud of my team. Despite finishing second in the conference, they had a tough draw and they did what they could with it. People will be calling for radical changes over the offseason...I don't know how much needs to be done, really. We'll have to wait and see.

Game 5: You bet your ass I'm going.

Let me begin with a super quick Game 4 recap:

Apparently the key to a Sharks victory was to let Dallas score first. Devin Setoguchi was aware of this and acted accordingly:



(I kid! I kid. We love you, Devin!) Marleau had another shorthanded goal soon after that, and the Sharks managed to win the game, 2-1.

And with that, Game 5 is here. You can mention the Stars' dominance in the Tank until you're blue in the face, but each game is its own entity. Someone I was listening to on the radio today (I want to say it was EJ Hradek) said he wasn't even sure of when the Stars last lost. ("Stars last lost"? Say that three times fast.) I can tell you. Remember that long-ass winning streak in March? It happened then. Granted, it was an OT win, but it was a win. Now if he meant regulation win, uh...I can't help you there. But it doesn't matter. I am proud of this team and what they have been able to accomplish so far. So let's keep it going! The Tank will rock as hard as it ever has, and I will holler and cheer until my voice gives out.

GO SHARKS!

JR's Karma Is Huge

Sorry. I blame this headline on the in-game Love Guru promos.

If you didn't see the Versus telecast of Game 7 of the Flames-Sharks series (or On the Fly later that night), then you probably missed this Jeremy Roenick postgame interview, so I'd like to share it with you here. The timing in the beginning just about killed me.

NHL Round 2 Playoff Scenarios + Predictions

(Note: The following is mostly a repeat of yesterday's LJ post updated to include today's events.)

I went back and forth on whether to get tickets to Game 7. I ended up deciding that I should go. I will cheer this team on to the bitter end if it comes to that--hell, that's why I went to Game 5. So once the clock struck 10 today, I did my thing. I will be there with (virtual) bells on as well as my jersey bearing the name and number of a player who has had a craptastic time lately--let us not speak of this last game--so perhaps my support will help. (Pfffff.) Anyway, the game should be interesting, to say the least. I have no freaking idea how it's going to go. "Momentum" has meant jackfruit in this series.
The following video has been posted somewhere by me after each Sharks' playoff loss, so it was time I did so here. This sketch from Late Night with Conan O'Brien originally aired the evening after Game 1. I share it with you because of the ending.



Go Sharks. Now, on with the second round possibilities! Bear in mind that I only slightly know what I'm discussing here, so don't take it seriously...not that I think anyone would. Also, since I obviously watch Western games more, there will be more mindless babbling for that conference than for the East.


The Campbell Cup Hunt

Detroit vs. Colorado: I seriously shouldn't be thinking of this as the "old man series"; I know that both teams have some younger stars, and that Colorado is probably a younger team than I think. But I think of Forsberg, and Hasek, and...yeah. Anyway, even with Theodore playing the way he is, I'm not all that high on the Avs. Now that Osgood is in goal, I see Detroit getting through at least one more round. Red Wings in six.

Detroit vs. Calgary: I have this feeling that should Calgary make it out of the first round, some of the Flames' play will take a nosedive here (i.e. former Sharks). Whether or not that feeling is there because I just plain don't like the Flames is debatable. I also think that they might try to get away with funny stuff and fail because they're playing Detroit. As I said before, I feel Osgood will be strong, and depending on how Kipper is this particular week, this could even be a short series. Red Wings in six.

San Jose vs. Dallas: Pacific Division Smackdown. I seriously want this matchup to happen. (Forget for a second that it's the only possible matchup involving the Sharks. Thank you.) I don't think the series would be quite as crazy as that last regular-season game, but one never knows. (I initially wrote here that the two teams hadn't faced each other in the playoffs, but it has happened twice...apparently I was successful at wiping those series from my memory, because they didn't go so well.) Sharks in seven.

Dallas vs. Colorado: I don't know how the season series went here, but I've already mentioned my feelings on the Avs. Dallas should fare better than the Wild, at any rate. Stars in seven.


The Prince of Wales Trophy Hunt

Montreal vs. New York: I somehow see the Habs having a slightly easier time in this round than the last. Why? No idea. It's not like the Rangers suck. But I can't stand Jagr's smiling mug, so Canadiens in six.
Montreal vs. Philadelphia: I love me some Marty Biron, but...once again, Canadiens in six.
Pittsburgh vs. Washington: I'd love for the Caps to win here, but one man can only take a team so far. Penguins in six.
Pittsburgh vs. New York: Rangers in six. Yeah, that's right, I said it. And I don't even like the Rangers.

Ladies & Gentlemen, YOUR San Jose Sharks!

So...what happened here? Did Semenov show up at the last minute? Could they not move everyone in that row over a little more? Asymmetry bugs me in these kinds of group pictures, so it's no wonder that I noticed this right off the bat. But whatever. Go Sharks.

Trevor Linden never played for the San Francisco Giants.

So I'm at work listening to the radio, and this one caller is going on and on about how much the Giants are going to suck this year. I zoned out after a minute but woke up when he mentioned the name Trevor Linden. He meant Todd Linden. This mistake actually happens quite a bit, and it manages to annoy me every time.

Canadiens at Sharks, 3/3/08

I was at the game tonight. I picked this game back when tickets first went on sale for two reasons: it was close to my birthday, and this was the Sharks' first game back after a long road trip. As the date approached, I wondered if I should have picked the Ottawa game on the 5th instead...but given the way things turned out I'm happy I picked this one. This was one of the most exciting games I've attended. A few random notes:

-Since Montréal was in town, I was expecting the Canadian national anthem to be sung at least partially in French. That didn't happen, but the singer was from Moose Factory, so that was cool.

-I almost didn't see Thornton's PP goal. When he shot the puck the first time, the guy in front of me stood up and stayed up, as if that shot had gone in. I should point out that this guy was really eager to stand up.

-After Cheechoo's goal, some streamers shot out over my section, landing a few rows in front of me. I later learned that this is something Sharkie does, but this was the first time I was around for that.

-I didn't start walking out until after the Campbell interview was finished. Out of all the games I've attended this season--this would be the sixth--I cheered the most at this one. I will not sound good tomorrow.

-The Cheechoo and Campbell goals made the top play list on both On the Fly and SportsCenter. Cheechoo's goal ranked #1 and #7 respectively, while Campbell's ranked #3 and #4. Interesting.

Oh, I'm still here.

Why haven't I been posting? Well, I've been lazy, sick and stressed, so...there's that. But I digress.

So I have the espn.com NHL scoreboard open. I didn't think much a while ago when I saw that that Cristobal Huet had a shot on goal in the Caps-Devils game, but just now I saw "Cristobal Huet credited with hit on Sergei Brylin"...and right before that, he won a faceoff? Obviously his name is in place of someone else's name. Also, upon checking out the boxscore, I don't see Huet's name anywhere, and it appears that no one is in goal for Washington. :P I'd find these errors less baffling if I could figure out how things are supposed to look...meaning, who actually hit Sergei Brylin?

Nabokov 2, Kovalchuk 0

This was the highlight of the All-Star Game for me. I missed the intro and half of the first period, but since Nabby played the second period, I was content.

Random Note: I just heard on the radio that the last time there was a penalty in the NHL All-Star Game, it was committed by Sandis Ozolinsh in 2000. That is funny.