Dang

From the NWS in ABQ:

West to southwest winds will increase today across New Mexico and moreso on Sunday. Sustained speeds on Sunday will range from 20 to 35 mph with gusts up to 50 mph. These winds are in response to an upper level system that will track across the central rockies. The strongest winds each day will be located over the west central and Southwest Mountains as well as areas along and east of the Central Mountain chain.

The unseasonably strong winds will combine with  critically dry and very warm to hot conditions across the region. Even some near record warmth may occur throughout the southeast plains on Sunday. Extreme fire weather conditions will develop statewide today and linger into the evening hours... then redevelop and potentially be more dangerous on Sunday. The threat may persist into Monday for the eastern plains of New Mexico where windy conditions are likely again.

This shit is gettin' OLD.  It's way beyond "old" but I don't have words at my command to express just how annoying and obnoxious this situation really is.

―:☺:―

Meanwhile... in Boston:

There were over a million people at the parade, according to what I read at the usual (hockey) source.

Odds and Ends

Tim Thomas, Zdeno Chara, and Patrice Bergeron on the Today Show:

Via the usual (hockey) source, where it was noted "Geez, a full two minutes for Tim Thomas, Zdeno Chara and Patrice Begeron (sic) to talk about winning the Cup.  Wonder how much time they would get if the NHL wasn’t on NBC?"

―:☺:―

This photo made the Puffington Host and appeared in my e-mail twice yesterday:

My first reaction was "nice P-Shop."  Turns out I'm way too cynical, the photo is indeed real.  Here's the back-story.  (h/t: Deb)

―:☺:―

From the (other) usual source:

An End to RPA Incentive Pay?: House defense appropriators funded assignment incentive pay for remotely piloted aircraft operators at Creech AFB, Nev., only for the first quarter of Fiscal 2012, according to the report accompanying the House version of next year's defense spending bill. They said this mark is consistent with the Defense Secretary leaning towards not extending this pay beyond December 31 "without substantive and compelling econometric analysis to validate continuation." Since July 2008, Creech-based RPA personnel have been eligible to receive $300 per month for the first 36 months and $750 per month for service beyond that under this initiative. This pay was meant to offset the base's high operations tempo, austere location, and limited infrastructure. However, the House legislators wrote that conditions at the base have since improved, with new facilities constructed. (HAC report; caution, large file.)

For those of you Gentle Readers who don't know... those "RPA operators" at Creech are the guys and gals who fly the Predators, Reapers, and other RPAs over Afghanistan, Iraq, and various other garden spots on the surface of the globe.  

That incentive pay amounts to a nice chunk o' change, especially if you happen to be in that job for over three years.  Just for grins and giggles... assume you're a rated (pilot) captain (O-3) with over four years of service and you've been flying Reapers (breakin' things and killin' people what needs killin') for over three years.  Losing that incentive pay knocks 9,000 Yankee Dollars off your annual income of approximately $85,632.00.  Would you be upset?  I sure would...

(Full disclosure: "annual income" includes base pay, basic allowance for quarters with dependents, separate rations, and aviation incentive pay... all amounts obtained from the military pay tables here)

Another Great HNIC End-of-Season Tribute

Some of these scenes are painful... unless you're a Bruins fan.  Coz there's only ONE Stanley Cup champion.

Next year, bitchez.  Next year!

Anxiously Awaiting...

 ... the start of tonight's Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals, which is still two and a half hours away, as we speak.  But we are suitably attired for the event after rummaging through our vintage tee shirt collection.  See?

I'm fresh out of Bruins paraphernalia and would never even consider buying Canucks stuff, so this is as good as it gets.  You will forgive me, no?

So what's all the brouhaha about, Gentle Reader?  Just this...

Some Game 7s are like a bridge wired to blow, and the tension builds and billows and flares until, the next thing you know, you’re white-knuckling your armchair. And some Game 7s are like a bridge that collapses, and the losing team is suddenly grasping at air, wishing they could just start over, reset the clock, and just get one more chance to get it right.

But the whole point of a Game 7 is that you get one chance, and one chance only. The Boston Bruins have faced this scenario twice in these Stanley Cup playoffs; the Vancouver Canucks found themselves on the precipice once. Both these teams went to overtime in Game 7 in the first round, meaning they were a bounce from the void. But that bounce never came, and Wednesday night, they will play the last game of the season, with the whole of the season on the line.

[...]

And while every game in Boston has been a rout — 8-1, 4-0, 5-2 — every game in Vancouver has been a one-goal tightrope, with the Canucks scoring the winning goals with 18.5 seconds left to break a scoreless tie in Game 1, 11 seconds into overtime in Game 2, and early in the third period to mark another clean scoresheet in Game 5. If those games were any indication, this Game 7 will have a lot of fans on both sides of the aisle feeling, for most of the game, like they are going to vomit.

The "whole of the season on the line"... and it don't get much better than this, Gentle Reader, impending nausea or no.  You can bet I'll be on the edge of my seat when the puck drops in a lil over two and a half hours' time... and I'm likely to stay there for the next two hours or so.

Update, 1845 hrs:  We're off to a good start... Boston 1, Vancouver 0 on Patrice Bergeron's fifth goal of these playoffs (at 14:37 of the first).  The team that's scored first has won each and every game of this series.  History is bein' made!

Let's go, Bruins!

Update, 1935:  2-0 Boston... on the seldom-successful wrap-around by Brad Marchand.  One more and Luuuu is gone.  COOL. 

Update, 1945:  Bergeron gets a shorty... 3-0, Boston.  The goal is under review as I type but I think it will stand.

Update, 2041:  It's all over.  Vancouver pulled Luongo for the extra skater with around 3:30 left in the third.  Bad move.  Marchand shot one in an almost-empty net and it's 4-0 Boston.  The only semi-mystery is who gets the Conn Smythe but that's no mystery at all.  Tim Thomas, hands down.

Update, last:  Your Conn Smythe winner:

Only 110 more days 'til hockey season! 

These People Have More Money Than Sense

Or mebbe they have just enough money.  At any rate... all those folks you see above?  They are monied, if nuthin' else.  Regarde:

From a StubHub press release today, these observations about their sales:

• Today, fans have been paying an average price of $3082 per ticket
• Yesterday, that average price was $2413
• The most expensive ticket purchased has been $6500 – 2 tickets each at this price for Club 106 (Row 12), purchased by a Vancouver buyer yesterday

And you could even spend more, if you want.  TheFourthPeriod notes this on Twitter:

2 tickets, 2nd row for GM7… $10,345 on stubhub… hot damn.

That’s EACH ticket.

Over at SeatGeek, they’re comparing prices across multiple sellers and see even higher asking prices for the game. Average listing price? $$8,688 per ticket. You can see their seat map here. 

That's by way of Alanah, posting at the usual (hockey) place.

Updated, 1445:  The naked truth about Canucks fans... work-safe.
 

Two Vancouver women had Canucks jerseys painted... by tvnportal

Heh.  A photo of the final result is here.  Wimmen Bruins fans?  The ball's in your court.

Flag Day

Today isn't a national holiday... in the sense people have the day off from work... but it IS the day set aside by Congress for Americans to honor their flag.  I suppose I should say "some Americans" as the traditional observance of this day isn't what it used to be.  Flag Day has never been an occasion for parades, speeches, barbeques, and the like but I remember flags flying from lamp poles downtown and on nearly every house in the neighborhood in years past.  Times change, eh?

Speaking of change... our flag has been in its current configuration since 1960 when Hawaii entered the Union.  I'm old enough to remember both the short-lived 49-star flag and the 48-star flag.  Then there's this, interestingly enough:

As the exact pattern of stars was not specified prior to 1912, and the exact colors not specified prior to 1934, many of the historical U.S. national flags shown below are typical rather than official designs.

That explains the unique characteristics in some of the flags in the above illustration.  The Wiki has a good article on the evolution of our flag here.

―:☺:―

In other news... we're goin' to Game Seven!  The last hockey game of the year will be played in Vancouver tomorrow night and either Boston or Vancouver will raise the Cup and skate it around the ice of Rogers Arena sometime around 2030 hrs, Mountain Time.  I'm hopin' the ONE constant thing about this series doesn't hold true: the home team has won every game.  I don't know what it is about the Canucks, but they come apart at the seams in TD Garden.  That said, those same Canucks have only barely been good enough to beat the B's at home... no blow-outs there.  I wanna see Boston win this but the reality of the situation?  It's a toss-up.

Clever People, Those Chinese

From our Taiwanese friends at NMA-TV... their take on the SCF:

Which isn't so far off the mark, as far as the take on sports by your run-o'-the mill American.  "Red-headed step child," indeed.  Cute.

Now... all THAT said... I'm no longer agnostic on the subject of who to root for in the SCF.  Let this Fact be submitted to a candid world:  GO BRUINS!

(And don't be callin' me a bandwagoneer.  The series is tied at 2-2, I've watched both teams throughout their playoff run, and I hadn't made up my mind until now.  So there.)

Timmeh!

You don't see THIS very danged often...

Thomas got credit for a hit and ya gotta love THAT.  Apropos of this unusual lil event and the rest of the SCF... so far... have I mentioned this series is MOST entertaining, far exceeding my expectations in a most wonderful way ?  I haven't?  Well, consider it said.

As Pretty a Goal as You'll EVER See

Brad Marchand, short handed:

Marchand should have got TWO points for that one... one for the goal and one for an assist on the off-the-boards pass to himself.  Sah-WEET.

So... the Bruins found their game tonight and beat the stuffing out of the Canucks, 8-1.  I don't know why Alain Vigneault didn't pull Luongo after that fifth goal, or even the fourth.  I sure would have, but mebbe that's why I'm a blogger and not a hockey coach.

I went on the record in a couple o' places today as rooting for the B's tonight.  I don't have a dog in this fight and I really, truly don't care who wins it all.  I just want to see the Finals go deep... seven games would be the best of all possible worlds, in my book.  That's a distinct possibility, assuming the Bruins continue to play the rest of the series like they played tonight.  More power to 'em!

Busy Day

We're recently in from running the day's errands... which included a trip out to the Cannon Airplane Patch pharmacy where we had a not-too-pleasant encounter with a female Staff Sergeant who told me a drug that's been prescribed for me for at least three years and which I have obtained from said gub'mint pharmacy during those three years wasn't EVER stocked by them, said encounter resolved in my favor by her quick rather lengthy perusal of my prescription history (thank The Deity At Hand for databases and patient histories)... and then it was on to The Big(ger) City™, where we had our final eye follow up, made a trip to the Suzuki store to get the lovely Miss Zukiko a new battery, and lastly a drop-in at the Top Shop for to order M'Lady a new bonnet and make arrangements to have The Green Hornet's driver seat repaired.  A full day, as it were.  Weeks will go by where the most exciting thing we do in this life is make the journey to Wally-World and then... bang!... stuff happens.

My eye follow-up was prolly the best of all possible worlds, given that my eyes have stabilized at 20/30 (distance) and we are NOT in need of glasses for distance work.  We still need readers (and I bought a spiffy new pair, which look a lot like those at left), but I can live with that.  We also ordered a pair of high-zoot bifocal sunglasses while we were at the optometrist's, the upper half bein' planos and the lower half readers, for to ensure I can read TGH's gauges and odometer and stuff while motoring on down the road at the usual, customary, and reasonable brisk pace.  I could have saved a boat load o' money if I bought those not-sold-in-stores HIGH DEFINITION sunglasses, but... whatever.  I'm thinkin' my optometrist knows more about sunglasses than those carnival barkers.

So now it's Happy Hour and Game Six of the Eastern Conference finals, which JUST started and already the Yzerbolts scored... 36 seconds into the game.

GO BOLTS!!!

It's a BEAUTIFUL Thing...

... watching the pathetic Tiburones self-destruct.  Vancouver scored their third consecutive five-on-three power play goal a few minutes ago after killing off FIVE San Jose power plays in the first 30 minutes of the game.  Canucks 3, San Jose Zip.  Nada.  Zilch.  More of this, please.

Good Game Today

I was gonna add a section to the post below about the suckage of my hockey prognostication skills, seein' as how Boston was up 3-0 at the end of the first period, which was right about the time I put that post up.  I'd predicted Tampa Bay would take this series in six, but Boston is up 2-1 in the series and the first period looked for all the world like the B's were gonna run away with this one.  Rollie the Goalie got chased after that third goal went in and it looked like the Fat Lady was tuning up...

I'm glad I held my peace as the second period was all Yzerbolts, what with three unanswered goals that evened the score.  And now those same Yzerbolts have taken the lead with seven minutes left in the third period.  This is quite the game and it looks like the series will be tied when the shoutin' is all over today.

Let's Go BOLTS!

Another Reason I Miss Hockey Night In Canada... Two of 'Em, Actually

Bruce Dowbiggin, writing in the Globe and Mail:

What if they threw a hockey game and the Green Men didn’t show? We discovered the answer Wednesday as technicians at Rogers Arena in Vancouver appeared to move the camera angle for the penalty box for Game 2 of the Western Conference final to eliminate the unitards from ruining an otherwise decent family program. But the annoying Green Men took a pass on the game, reportedly so that daddy could use the seats. (Or maybe they were stinging from the rebuke delivered by their hero, Don Cherry, back in the Vancouver Canucks-Nashville Predators series.)

CBC got something even more controversial than the Green Men, however: an eye full from a female fan who flashed her breasts live on camera as San Jose Sharks winger Ben Eager made yet another trip to the sin bin in the third period. (Which might explain why the hapless Sharks forward kept getting himself sent to the penalty box so often.) Needless to say Twitter, YouTube and Facebook instantly captured the moment for a waiting world that might have missed the passing shot, replete with allusions to the twins (not Sedin) being good on the glass, and so on.

Versus didn't pick this up but the CBC did, as noted above.  None of the hockey guys I follow on Twitter caught this, either, but then again they're all US-based bloggers and writers.  There's film at 1100 but a picture is worth a thousand words, too.

The twins ARE lookin' good.

Suck It (Up), Neemee

Game Two of the WCF was a rout.  Vancouver got three power play goals, Kevin Bieksa got a Gordie Howe Hat Trick, and the Canucks go up 2-0 in the series.  It's far from over, as each of these teams went up three-zip in a previous series and wound up playin' seven games after it looked like it was all over but the shoutin'.  This could be more of the same but I kinda doubt it... Vancouver just looked too good.

Still and even, it was very gratifying to watch San Jose get their collective asses handed to them.  VERY gratifying.

Rumo(u)rs

Are the Thrashers moving to Winnipeg?  It's all up in the air right now but speaking from an admittedly and strictly personal perspective I certainly hope so.  I have nothing against Atlanta but I would DEARLY love to see the NHL re-align the conferences, which would be a certainty if the Thrashers move to the Great White Up.  Here's Mr. Wyshynski on that subject:

• Obviously, if the Thrashers move, the next skate to drop will be realignment. Here's a take on the Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings and Nashville Predators, and which team could be headed back East should Atlanta leave: "One could make a case that the conferences are more about time zones than pure geography. For Columbus and Detroit, being the two Eastern Time Zone clubs in the Western Conference means playing 30-plus road games out of time zone, including eight games that are three time zones away. That makes for lots of 10:30 starts, which can be difficult for non-vampires. Nashville, in the Central Time Zone, never plays a road game that starts after 9:30 p.m. local time." [Puck-Rakers]

• Here's a long article looking at the Thrash, the Coyotes, Winnipeg and Columbus Blue Jackets realignment to the East. [The Cannon]

Leave the Blue Jackets in Columbus and move Dee-troit, please.  The Jackets are about 60 years away from bein' any kind of contender while the travel schedule just KILLS the Wings, year after year after year.  And just think:  I could get back to REALLY hatin' on those Leafs.  Win-win.

Quote of the Day

From Jack Knox, writing in the Times-Colonist:

OK, it's not your fault that you are not a hockey fan. Some people were simply born without souls (though John Cummins might see it as a life choice). You really shouldn't blame yourself for being an anti-social lone gunman/stalker type.

Besides, it's still possible to fit in if you really want to. Just learn to sprinkle the conversation with a few key points and you, too, can pass yourself off as a Canucks fan.

First runner up, from the same source:

Periodically, a man who looks like Col. Sanders' angry brother will appear on screen, dressed in a suit that appears to have been sewn from the Von Trapps' drapes by Fraulein Maria, or perhaps Colin and Justin.

This is Don Cherry, whom Canadians voted into seventh place on the CBC's list of greatest Canadians, one spot behind Lester Pearson and just ahead of Sir John A. Macdonald. Think of this the next time you laugh at Americans for voting for Sarah Palin.

Heh.  Read the whole thing if'n you're a hockey fan; those without souls may take a pass.  That said... I can't believe my luck today.  I find a guy who snarks both at non-hockey fans AND Mrs. Palin in the same piece and that's hard to do!  I think we'll kick off Happy Hour early to celebrate.  I have to get in the proper mood for the first WCF game, eh?  (It must be said:  Mrs. Palin IS a hockey fan and I give her props for that.) 

Beer me!

(h/t:  The Usual [hockey] Source)

Added somewhat later:  So I was scrolling down through the photos at the Palin link above and came upon this:

Thank The Deity At Hand for small favors.

Wow.

It looks like (a) the Tampa Bay Lightning are for REAL and (b) the Bruins-Lightning series could be VERY short.  It wasn't even close tonight, it was never close: Lightning 5, Bruins 2... with Boston's second goal coming too late to make any difference at all.

The Lightning dominated in almost every category, with Boston better only in total number of hits.  The Boston power play was non-existent and their penalty killing was worse, allowing TB's league-leading power play to go one-for-three.  And that was enough.

I originally thought the Lightning would take this series in six; I may have to rethink that based on what I saw tonight.

Datsyuk and the Art of Elevating One's Game

I went on last evening about the brilliance of Pavel Datsyuk in last night's win over San Jose... not that any of you noticed.  Other people have noticed Pavel's brilliance, albeit not through my pathetic scribblings here at EIP.  Here's Mike Brophy, writing on the subject of this year's Conn Smythe trophy candidates at Sportsnet.ca:

Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings: An injured Pavel Datsyuk is better than no Pavel Datsyuk at all. The three-time defending Selke Trophy winner as the NHL's best defensive forward, Datsyuk was a sight to behold Sunday in San Jose. Despite being unable to take faceoffs because of a wrist injury, Datsyuk was the most dominant skater on the ice drawing three assists and playing keep-away with the puck. With so many members of the Wings playing hurt, Datsyuk's wizardry has helped keep Detroit alive.

So: noted.  Dats is great and there's just no arguing that.  What is terribly worrisome for the Wings and the future of their quest for Cup Number 12 , however, is that tell-tale phrase "with so many members of the Wings playing hurt..."  There's a quantity issue in that statement, as well as a quality issue.  It's not the sheer number of injured players, it's WHO is playing injured and how much those injuries are affecting their performance.  Case in point: Johan Franzen wound up sitting on the bench for most of the third period last night, unable to skate because of the pain from an ankle injury.  He's been playing hurt... when he's played at all... for the entire Sharks series.  And how much do the Wings miss The Mule?  Consider these records:

• NHL record for most goals in a 4-game playoff series (9).


• Detroit Red Wings record for most game winning goals in one month, March 2008 (6).


• Detroit Red Wings record for most goals in a single playoff series (9).


• Detroit Red Wings record for consecutive playoff games with a point (12, tied with Gordie Howe)


• Detroit Red Wings record for consecutive playoff games with a goal (5, tied with Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay).


• Detroit Red Wings record for most goals in a single playoff year (13, tied with Henrik Zetterberg).


• Detroit Red Wings record for most game winning goals in one playoff year (5, 2008)


• Detroit Red Wings record for most points in a playoff game (6), May 6, 2010, vs. San Jose Sharks

Franzen is a scoring machine in the playoffs and his absence explains, in part, Detroit's scoring paucity in the San Jose series.  Let's talk Zee, as well, since Zetterberg is mentioned in the same breath as The Mule, above.  Zetterberg missed the entire Phoenix series and hasn't been himself in the Sharks series, although he's improving with every game.  He isn't 100% and that much is obvious.  Those two guys are the biggest and most obvious holes in Dee-troit's offense.  So can the Wings overcome their lack of production?  Yes, with caveats.

Here's what Stu Hackel sez about that (at SI.com):

When a player ups his game the way Datsyuk did on Sunday night, it can lift an entire team. In fact, that’s just what Babcock and other coaches hope for, that their whole club moves up on the intensity scale and wants to win more. The team starts to collectively exert the extra effort to win more of those one-on-one fights for the puck, and come back harder defensively, and block more shots, break up more plays and create more of their own chances than their opponent does. You see one of your teammates give more, and you want to give more, too. It’s contagious at this time of year, or should be, and you don’t win in the playoffs without it.

This is the point in time when we discover if the Wings really have it in them to hold on, hang on, raise their game, and continue to succeed.  This is also the time the younger guys have to step up, when the vaunted depth of the Red Wings needs to materialize in substantive ways.  There's not much doubt the capability is there, all the Young Guns need is leadership and examples to follow.  I think they have both in numerous role models (can you say "Lidstrom?"  Sure ya can.)... but Dats is leading the way right now.

They can do this.

The Best Mother's Day Post...

... comes from Paul Kukla, proprietor of Kukla's Korner and a Big-Time Red Wings fan.  Here it is, quoted in its entirety (something I rarely do):

I was an early riser as a kid and found it hard to find a friend up to play at 7:00am so it was my mom at times who became that “friend”.

I can’t tell you how many times I made my mom stand in front of the painted goalie net on the garage door (no portable nets back then), gave her my baseball glove and told her stop the tennis ball from hitting the door.

She did have a great glove hand, but could be beaten low on the stick side.

Heh.  Izzat cool, or what?

Speaking of the Wings... it's about an hour until the puck drops in San Jose.  So...

LGRW!

Sweep!

Tampa Bay pulled off the improbable... winning tonight's game by a score of 5-3 while sweeping the Washington Capitols, the East's Number One seed.  The Lightning also won their seventh in a row this evening, in a game I wish I could have seen.  I got to watch a lackadaisical performance by the Flyers... the team of many goalies... who lost their third in a row against the B's.  So, we're set-up for a re-run of last year's phenomenal Flyers comeback, when they became the third team in NHL history to win a seven game series after falling behind 0-3.  Somehow I don't think we're gonna see THAT again.

And now we're watching the Beloved Wings in another close one with San Jose.  The Wings are ahead 3-2 as we speak, with nine minutes left in the third.

LGRW!