So this week did not go at all as planned. Remember how I was going to be driving boxes back and forth from the apartment to the house all week? Didn't happen. We hit yet another snag in the closing process - seriously, buying a house is one big pain the butt - so we're now moving next week. Or Mark's moving next week I should say since I'll be somewhere in Pennsylvania. Heh. (For the record, I did offer to bail on my family and stay here to help but I was told that was out of the question.)
Still, I did manage to squeeze in some good stuff. I got a lot of reading done which delights me since that goes on the back burner a lot of the time. Watched some DVDs. Stayed up till all hours of the morning and then slept in to compensate while also indulging in the occasional afternoon nap. Did some shopping, both the fun and non-fun variety. (I came across these while looking for a birthday present for my nephew, Luke. Luke's pretty lucky there were no Han and Chewies in stock because it would've been happy birthday, Aunt Heather.) Chillaxed at the Bisons game yesterday with a friend. (I was supposed to be seeing Travis Hafner but his rehab schedule didn't coincide with my schedule. I did see Victor Martinez though.) And Kate's coming over in a couple of hours and we're going to see if we can pull together a podcast.
So it was a fairly quiet week but I love those weeks. I'm planning on having a lot of fun next week but it'll be a lot more go, go, go so resting up this week probably worked out well.
Ideally I'll be making at least a couple of posts from PA but I'm not sure what the wireless situation is going to be since we'll be bouncing around so we'll see what happens.
Here's a slightly more detailed recap of my week:
THE LAST FIVE THINGS I WATCHED:
1. Baseball Tonight
2. Mets vs. Astros
3. Seinfeld (The Burning - "Don't boss me! This is why you're going to hell.")
4. The Wire (Just finished up season 2, moving on to season 3. I find this show very difficult to watch sometimes - there was a moment in season 1 that made me cry more than anything else on TV ever - but it's so, so good.)
5. Project Runway
THE LAST FIVE SONGS I LISTENED TO:
1. Want To - Sugarland (Totally obsessed with Sugarland right now. I'm not really fond of a lot of female vocalists but I love Jennifer Nettles' voice.)
2. You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This - Toby Keith
3. Crash Into Me - Dave Matthews Band (I know I said they're overrated but I do like this song quite a bit.)
4. Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home) - U2 (I don't go out of my way to listen to Christmas music in the off-season but if it comes up on my iPod and it's a song I really like, I won't change it.)
5. Small Town - John(ny) (Cougar) Mellencamp
THE LAST FIVE THINGS I READ:
1. Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant - Daniel Tammet
2. Look Me in the Eye: My Life With Asperger's - John Elder Robison (I didn't really meant to read these two back-to-back - I had Look Me In the Eye on request at the library for a long time and it showed up right after I checked out Born on a Blue Day - but they actually made for a very interesting one-two punch.)
3. Hope's Boy - Andrew Bridge
4. The Big Field - Mike Lupica (I'm not super familiar with Lupica's newspaper work although I hate him on Sports Reporters which used to be one of my favorite shows. I have read almost all of his YA novels however and I do like them a lot.)
5. The Memory Keeper's Daughter - Kim Edwards
LAST FIVE NON-HOCKEY WEBSITES I VISITED:
1. Celebrity Baby Blog
2. Fire Joe Morgan
3. YouTube: Punch-Up in Piestany (I'd never seen this video until a few days ago and I can't even tell you how many times I've watched it since then. I'm completely fascinated by it. If you've never seen it - or even if you have - you should check it out. Whoops. I guess this one is kind of hockey related. Oh, well.)
4. Gizmodo (Gotta keep up on my iPod rumors!)
5. Do They Have Salsa in China? (For a while we were talking about international adoption and I got hooked on this blog then.)
FIVE THINGS I HOPE HAPPEN WHILE I'M ON VACATION:
1. Jason Pominville signs a contract for 25/5.
2. Jason Pominville signs a contract for 25/5.
3. Jason Pominville signs a contract for 25/5.
4. Jason Pominville signs a contract for 25/5.
5. Jason Pominville signs a contract for 25/5.
You know what, here's the Punch-Up for those of you too lazy to follow a link. It's awesome.
I'm out! I'll see you when I see you!
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
Top Shelf Reviews: God Save the Fan and Saved
But first! I'm really not a huge fan of the Home Run Derby. Home runs are not my thing. I think it gets pretty boring watching them after a few minutes and the Derby seems to get longer every year. Something that would be a fun little 30-45 minute exhibition is forced into being some kind of spectacle and it doesn't work for me. But I tuned in this year to watch Lance Berkman and thank goodness I did because Josh Hamilton's display in the second round was amazing. I won't repeat his whole story here because chances are you've heard it, but if you're not familiar with Hamilton I highly recommend this recent Sports Illustrated piece. He's an amazing story. I admit it, watching Hamilton stand at home plate with an ear-to-ear grin on his face while the crowd went crazy made me a little teary-eyed. Just one of those fabulous moments where you're watching so much more than just a sporting event.
Okay, moving on...
It's the off-season and I recently had a week off from work - Regents exams gypped me out of my usual two weeks this year - so I had a little bit of time to sit down and read a few books. A couple of the books I read were sports-related so here are a couple of reviews for your enjoyment. While I fully endorse you reading all the hockey blogs you want, especially this one, you should think about reading a book too, especially if you haven't done so recently. It won't hurt, I promise.
First up is God Save the Fan: How Preening Sportscasters, Athletes Who Speak in the Third Person, and the Occasional Convicted Quarterback Have Taken the Fun Out of Sports (and How We Can Get It Back) by Deadspin.com founder Will Leitch. (I actually started reading this a few days before school ended but it was tough to hide that cover from the kids.) Before I get into the review I'll admit that I have mixed feelings about Deadspin. Obviously, I'm pro-blogs and blogger, and I think Leitch and company have done a tremendous job of providing coverage for fans who didn't feel like they were getting what they wanted. I think the site is often well-written and funny. But I'm not a regular reader for a few reasons. One, I never got over their site re-design, requiring you to click through to read every single thing which is just a weird quirk I have.* Two, you have to wade through a lot of basketball and football which I don't particularly care for to get to the baseball and hockey. Three, its target audience is clearly very male. So while I was definitely interested in reading this book, I'm not a huge Deadspin devotee.
The book is a group of essays, some shorter than others, split into four groups: Players, Owners, Media and Fans. Each section concludes with a glossary that goes along with that section's theme. As an example, here's the entry for Buffalo Bills fans: "Still shell-shocked from those four Super Bowl losses, now happy to just have the team hanging around to make living in Buffalo at least slightly interesting. That is, until the team leaves for San Antonio or Los Angeles. Thinks O.J. is innocent."**
I hate the glossaries. I read every entry and while a few of them are really funny, most of them are space-fillers and a lot of them repeat something Leitch already made a point of in one of the essays or in a previous glossary. If he was really attached to this idea, it should have gone at the end of the book, I think.
Unfortunately, I think the essays are pretty hit and miss too. Again, some of them are very funny and occasionally insightful, but most of them are only mildly amusing and they don't really say anything that hasn't already been said, especially if you're a Deadspin reader. Only one of the essays is a direct rip from Deadspin.com (the very amusing John Rocker interview) but most of them are ideas and thoughts that have been expressed there so there's nothing that feels new or different here. You're not really reading a print copy of the blog... but you kind of are.
The one essay I remember a couple of weeks later is entitled "What Athletes are Talking About When They're Talking About God" and while I'm always interested in hearing about how pro athletes weave their religious and spiritual beliefs into their very unorthodox and temptation-filled lives, I think part of the reason it stuck with me is because it seemed so un-Deadspin. Leitch writes about Zach Johnson, the unexpected winner of the 2007 Masters, and how immediately after the win he said, "Jesus was with me every step of the way," and then started crying. Reporters groan and wait for him to say something interesting and fans roll their eyes and complain that no one ever thanks God when they lose and that God doesn't care who wins or loses and I admit, I fully expected the essay to go right along with that idea. Leitch went completely the other way on me though:
While we (non-Christians) see someone acting as if he won because Jesus Christ decided he deserved to win more than the other guy - as if Jesus said, "Hey, Johnson's a nice guy, let's move his ball closer to the cup on that drive" - a Christian sees it as something else entirely - that is, a humble acknowledgment that nothing any person does can be attributed to themselves. It's a guard against pride... Just because they believe Jesus was with them while they won, that doesn't mean they believe Jesus was only with them... Why this bothers us more than, say, LeBron James flashing his Nike logo every time he talks to Jim Gray is bewildering.
And while it's possible that yes, I just quoted the one essay in the book that the average sports fan might not care about, I think the book could've used more pieces like this. It's a perspective we haven't heard over and over about an issue that doesn't get as much press as how much ESPN sucks. I understand why so much of the book deals with why so-and-so and such-and-such suck - that's what the Deadspin Empire is built on - but it's all very been there, read that. But like I said, I'm not a huge devotee of Deadspin and therefore probably not the target audience for God Save the Fan. If Leitch had wandered too far from what got him to this point it's possible that I would've really liked the book but everyone else would've hated it.
Back when I first started watching hockey, I immediately went out looking for hockey books of any kind. I didn't know anything about how the game worked, I knew very little about the sport's history, and I didn't know any of the characters beyond the obvious stars of my youth so I had a lot of catching up to do. (Note to writers: More hockey-related books, please!) My favorite out of that first batch of books I read - maybe my favorite still - was Jack Falla's Home Ice: Reflections on Backyard Rinks and Frozen Ponds. It's pretty much what the title suggests and has nothing to do with the NHL, but I loved it almost immediately. I've never set foot on a backyard rink - although we did have a frozen pond once, just for a few days - but it made me feel like I had and the feeling that I really needed to learn to ice-skate started way back then. If you've never read Home Ice I highly recommend it. It's one of those books that's about sports on the surface but really about something deeper - how sports can connect us to the people and places we love even years later. It's really lovely.
Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to find Saved, Falla's first novel on the new book shelf at the library not that long ago. Saved is the story of veteran goalie J.P. Savard and his best buddy and Boston teammate Cam Carter. Both guys are veterans who know their window for winning a Stanley Cup is just about to close. Nothing earth-shattering happens and chances are you might figure out some of the plot points before they come but that's okay because the book is funny and sweet and tough and seems realistic. Falla covered hockey for Sports Illustrated among other places and his characters and the situations they find themselves in are totally believable. My only complaint would be how every character uses sports cliches and references in their daily life. One of the characters, newly married, says he and his wife are going to enjoy themselves for a while before "pulling the goalie." Maybe athletes really do talk like that but if so, well, thank god I didn't marry one because I don't think I could handle that. It's a minor complaint though. Saved won't change your life but it's perfect for a nice, relaxing read while on vacation or wrapped up in a quilt on the couch.
* - In addition to hating having to click through to read complete posts, I also hate those links that show little pop-up images of the site being linked to. Ugh.
** - Not true. When my brothers-in-law went to Canton for Jim Kelly's Hall of Fame induction they took a picture of one of them strangling O.J.'s bust. I think most Bills fans think of O.J. (allegedly) murdering his wife as one more example of why God hates them.
Okay, moving on...
It's the off-season and I recently had a week off from work - Regents exams gypped me out of my usual two weeks this year - so I had a little bit of time to sit down and read a few books. A couple of the books I read were sports-related so here are a couple of reviews for your enjoyment. While I fully endorse you reading all the hockey blogs you want, especially this one, you should think about reading a book too, especially if you haven't done so recently. It won't hurt, I promise.
First up is God Save the Fan: How Preening Sportscasters, Athletes Who Speak in the Third Person, and the Occasional Convicted Quarterback Have Taken the Fun Out of Sports (and How We Can Get It Back) by Deadspin.com founder Will Leitch. (I actually started reading this a few days before school ended but it was tough to hide that cover from the kids.) Before I get into the review I'll admit that I have mixed feelings about Deadspin. Obviously, I'm pro-blogs and blogger, and I think Leitch and company have done a tremendous job of providing coverage for fans who didn't feel like they were getting what they wanted. I think the site is often well-written and funny. But I'm not a regular reader for a few reasons. One, I never got over their site re-design, requiring you to click through to read every single thing which is just a weird quirk I have.* Two, you have to wade through a lot of basketball and football which I don't particularly care for to get to the baseball and hockey. Three, its target audience is clearly very male. So while I was definitely interested in reading this book, I'm not a huge Deadspin devotee.The book is a group of essays, some shorter than others, split into four groups: Players, Owners, Media and Fans. Each section concludes with a glossary that goes along with that section's theme. As an example, here's the entry for Buffalo Bills fans: "Still shell-shocked from those four Super Bowl losses, now happy to just have the team hanging around to make living in Buffalo at least slightly interesting. That is, until the team leaves for San Antonio or Los Angeles. Thinks O.J. is innocent."**
I hate the glossaries. I read every entry and while a few of them are really funny, most of them are space-fillers and a lot of them repeat something Leitch already made a point of in one of the essays or in a previous glossary. If he was really attached to this idea, it should have gone at the end of the book, I think.
Unfortunately, I think the essays are pretty hit and miss too. Again, some of them are very funny and occasionally insightful, but most of them are only mildly amusing and they don't really say anything that hasn't already been said, especially if you're a Deadspin reader. Only one of the essays is a direct rip from Deadspin.com (the very amusing John Rocker interview) but most of them are ideas and thoughts that have been expressed there so there's nothing that feels new or different here. You're not really reading a print copy of the blog... but you kind of are.
The one essay I remember a couple of weeks later is entitled "What Athletes are Talking About When They're Talking About God" and while I'm always interested in hearing about how pro athletes weave their religious and spiritual beliefs into their very unorthodox and temptation-filled lives, I think part of the reason it stuck with me is because it seemed so un-Deadspin. Leitch writes about Zach Johnson, the unexpected winner of the 2007 Masters, and how immediately after the win he said, "Jesus was with me every step of the way," and then started crying. Reporters groan and wait for him to say something interesting and fans roll their eyes and complain that no one ever thanks God when they lose and that God doesn't care who wins or loses and I admit, I fully expected the essay to go right along with that idea. Leitch went completely the other way on me though:
While we (non-Christians) see someone acting as if he won because Jesus Christ decided he deserved to win more than the other guy - as if Jesus said, "Hey, Johnson's a nice guy, let's move his ball closer to the cup on that drive" - a Christian sees it as something else entirely - that is, a humble acknowledgment that nothing any person does can be attributed to themselves. It's a guard against pride... Just because they believe Jesus was with them while they won, that doesn't mean they believe Jesus was only with them... Why this bothers us more than, say, LeBron James flashing his Nike logo every time he talks to Jim Gray is bewildering.
And while it's possible that yes, I just quoted the one essay in the book that the average sports fan might not care about, I think the book could've used more pieces like this. It's a perspective we haven't heard over and over about an issue that doesn't get as much press as how much ESPN sucks. I understand why so much of the book deals with why so-and-so and such-and-such suck - that's what the Deadspin Empire is built on - but it's all very been there, read that. But like I said, I'm not a huge devotee of Deadspin and therefore probably not the target audience for God Save the Fan. If Leitch had wandered too far from what got him to this point it's possible that I would've really liked the book but everyone else would've hated it.
Back when I first started watching hockey, I immediately went out looking for hockey books of any kind. I didn't know anything about how the game worked, I knew very little about the sport's history, and I didn't know any of the characters beyond the obvious stars of my youth so I had a lot of catching up to do. (Note to writers: More hockey-related books, please!) My favorite out of that first batch of books I read - maybe my favorite still - was Jack Falla's Home Ice: Reflections on Backyard Rinks and Frozen Ponds. It's pretty much what the title suggests and has nothing to do with the NHL, but I loved it almost immediately. I've never set foot on a backyard rink - although we did have a frozen pond once, just for a few days - but it made me feel like I had and the feeling that I really needed to learn to ice-skate started way back then. If you've never read Home Ice I highly recommend it. It's one of those books that's about sports on the surface but really about something deeper - how sports can connect us to the people and places we love even years later. It's really lovely.
Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to find Saved, Falla's first novel on the new book shelf at the library not that long ago. Saved is the story of veteran goalie J.P. Savard and his best buddy and Boston teammate Cam Carter. Both guys are veterans who know their window for winning a Stanley Cup is just about to close. Nothing earth-shattering happens and chances are you might figure out some of the plot points before they come but that's okay because the book is funny and sweet and tough and seems realistic. Falla covered hockey for Sports Illustrated among other places and his characters and the situations they find themselves in are totally believable. My only complaint would be how every character uses sports cliches and references in their daily life. One of the characters, newly married, says he and his wife are going to enjoy themselves for a while before "pulling the goalie." Maybe athletes really do talk like that but if so, well, thank god I didn't marry one because I don't think I could handle that. It's a minor complaint though. Saved won't change your life but it's perfect for a nice, relaxing read while on vacation or wrapped up in a quilt on the couch. * - In addition to hating having to click through to read complete posts, I also hate those links that show little pop-up images of the site being linked to. Ugh.
** - Not true. When my brothers-in-law went to Canton for Jim Kelly's Hall of Fame induction they took a picture of one of them strangling O.J.'s bust. I think most Bills fans think of O.J. (allegedly) murdering his wife as one more example of why God hates them.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Heather Chooses the Best Draftee
I'm a serious bookworm. I love to read. I'll attempt to read anything that looks even slightly interesting and I'm absolutely one of those people who will ignore everything else going on around me if I'm involved in a book. The world ceases to exist until I'm done. I don't like to sit anywhere without something to read. My mom used to yell at me for reading at the table which I still do to this day. I always have something to read in the car. I'm a reader. So I'm always interested when an athlete says he likes to read but a little skeptical. There's nothing wrong with loving Mario Lemieux: Great Hockey Player or Greatest Hockey Player? but it would be nice to see some interests beyond hockey.
According to the profiles at the official NHL Entry Draft website, the Buffalo draftees have some pretty decent taste. The Tylers both list Harry Potter as their favorite book and while it's not exactly creative - or even particularly specific since there are seven Harry Potter books* - there's not a hockey player to be found in them anywhere. Corey Fienhage says his favorite book is A Million Little Pieces which is yet another real book with lots of (false) words. Justin Jokinen goes with To Kill a Mockingbird, one of the most perfect books ever written in my opinion. (He probably read it a couple of months ago in HIGH SCHOOL.) Usually Jokinen's excellent taste would put him squarely at the top but this year there's one player that stands above him: Luke Adam. I don't care if Luke's a future star or a future bust, he will always be my favorite draftee in the 2008 class because of his favorite book.
Mr. Popper's Penguins is quite simply one of the very best books of all-time. For those of you who have never read it - and good grief, what is WRONG with you? - Mr. Popper's Penguins is the story of Mr. Popper. Mr. Popper lives a happy, quiet existence with his wife (Mrs. Popper), working as a house painter. Mr. Popper never quite gave up on his dream of living a life of adventure however and he spends all his free-time reading about faraway places, especially the North and South Poles. When he writes a fan letter to explorer Admiral Drake, Drake responds by sending him a penguin. The Popper family quickly expands from one penguin (he lives in the ice box) to twelve penguins and eventually the whole gang hits the road as part of a traveling show. Madcap slapstick and hilarity (with a little dose of sweetness) ensues.
I love this book. I very clearly remember Mrs. Dabney, my third grade teacher, reading this aloud to us. I made my mom buy me a copy - which I still have, by the way - so I could read along. It's sweet, funny, and charming and I have to say, I think it's pretty adorable that a future NHLer freely listed it as his favorite book. Meg was a little concerned that the selection means Luke hasn't a read a book since he was 8, but I don't even care if that's the case. Anyone who remembers Mr. Popper's Penguins well enough to still love it years later is a-okay in my book.
I'm more perplexed by his shootout move, "going cheese." I have no idea what that means.
*- My favorite Harry Potter book is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. My favorite character is Snape.
According to the profiles at the official NHL Entry Draft website, the Buffalo draftees have some pretty decent taste. The Tylers both list Harry Potter as their favorite book and while it's not exactly creative - or even particularly specific since there are seven Harry Potter books* - there's not a hockey player to be found in them anywhere. Corey Fienhage says his favorite book is A Million Little Pieces which is yet another real book with lots of (false) words. Justin Jokinen goes with To Kill a Mockingbird, one of the most perfect books ever written in my opinion. (He probably read it a couple of months ago in HIGH SCHOOL.) Usually Jokinen's excellent taste would put him squarely at the top but this year there's one player that stands above him: Luke Adam. I don't care if Luke's a future star or a future bust, he will always be my favorite draftee in the 2008 class because of his favorite book.
Mr. Popper's Penguins is quite simply one of the very best books of all-time. For those of you who have never read it - and good grief, what is WRONG with you? - Mr. Popper's Penguins is the story of Mr. Popper. Mr. Popper lives a happy, quiet existence with his wife (Mrs. Popper), working as a house painter. Mr. Popper never quite gave up on his dream of living a life of adventure however and he spends all his free-time reading about faraway places, especially the North and South Poles. When he writes a fan letter to explorer Admiral Drake, Drake responds by sending him a penguin. The Popper family quickly expands from one penguin (he lives in the ice box) to twelve penguins and eventually the whole gang hits the road as part of a traveling show. Madcap slapstick and hilarity (with a little dose of sweetness) ensues.
I love this book. I very clearly remember Mrs. Dabney, my third grade teacher, reading this aloud to us. I made my mom buy me a copy - which I still have, by the way - so I could read along. It's sweet, funny, and charming and I have to say, I think it's pretty adorable that a future NHLer freely listed it as his favorite book. Meg was a little concerned that the selection means Luke hasn't a read a book since he was 8, but I don't even care if that's the case. Anyone who remembers Mr. Popper's Penguins well enough to still love it years later is a-okay in my book.
I'm more perplexed by his shootout move, "going cheese." I have no idea what that means.
*- My favorite Harry Potter book is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. My favorite character is Snape.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Top Shelf Review: Cold-Cocked: On Hockey
I'm going to take a break from the Sabres today. I've had this book review half-written for weeks now and this seems like a good time to throw it up for public consumption. Happy Easter! I'll be back on Monday.
It was with much anticipation that I curled up in my blankets with Lorna Jackson's Cold-Cocked: On Hockey. I'd heard a lot about how it was the first book about hockey from the perspective of a female fan and I was ready to absolutely love it to pieces. Unfortunately, I wanted to love it more than I actually did love it.
I will admit up front that I was a little turned off before I even started reading the book. I flipped it over to read the back cover blurb and read the following:
Star-struck biographies, nostalgic histories, gonzo road trips: hockey books say we're obsessed with the game because we grew up wanting to be players. Not women.
I've mentioned before that I didn't grow up watching hockey but when I was a little girl watching baseball I totally wanted to be the players. I wanted to be diving across the field to grab the scorching line drive. I wanted to make a perfect throw to nail the runner at the plate. I wanted to feel the crack of the bat, wave the ball into fair territory and run around the bases, fist high while the crowd went bananas and chanted my name. When my sixth grade counselor and I set long-term goals, I said, in total seriousness, that I was going to play in the Majors. Even now when it's pretty safe to say I've missed my chance to make the NHL, I watch hockey with a little bit of sadness that I didn't grow up in an area where kids played it. I don't know how good I would have been at it but knowing the kind of kid I was and the kind of athlete I was, I do know I would've loved playing it. I thought saying "women don't watch hockey that way" was a pretty broad statement to make in a time when lots of little girls are playing hockey, more colleges have womens programs, and the USA and Canada, among many other countries, have women;s national teams. So I kind of went into the book feeling like maybe it wasn't for female fans like me.
There's a lot in Cold-Cocked about Jackson's family - her father, their relationship through the years, her relationship now with her daughter - and other parts of her personal life. While I mostly see how the things connect in her mind - she talks a lot about the rhetoric of hockey as war and players as warriors in comparison to her father who was captured and held prisoner for a time in World War II - I think the way the different aspects are spread across the book is disjointed and kind of all over the place. The transition from the stories about her father's life to the travails of the Canucks are not always very smooth. Her father has an interesting story, it just often felt to me like I was reading two very different books.
Which is not to say the book was all bad. When Jackson does talk about hockey it's interesting and funny and different from a lot of "rah-rah, sports are beautiful" sports writing. She's clearly a fan of the game but she also doesn't hesitate to criticize it, particularly on the topic of violence. I don't have a problem with fighting in general but there have definitely been times when I've been disgusted with how little the league or the players orthe Flyers certain teams seem to care about head shots and concussions. Concussions are not broken arms or sprained knee ligaments. When you're dealing with them, you're dealing with a guy's long-term health, something that's going to affect him long after his playing days are through. Jackson is following the Canucks during the time of the Steve Moore-Todd Bertuzzi incident so that gives her ample opportunity to talk about some of the issues surrounding the game that bother her.
I did also really enjoy the sections of the book that dealt with Jackson's efforts to get interviews with a few players for the book. I have no doubt that being a female in the world of pro sports journalism is sometimes bizarre and uncomfortable even in this day and age and I liked how honest Jackson was about her desire to come across as professional and intelligent but also at least somewhat attractive and how thrilling it was to be up-close with the players she roots for. In those moments, the book really is different from other hockey writing.
But in the end I just didn't feel like there were enough of those moments. And while I do appreciate that there is sometimes a difference in how males and females take in sports and athletes, I don't think it's as easy as men here and women over there. I'm writing this long after I finished the book so I have to admit that now I don't know if it was really the book itself or just the press releases and reviews that came with the book, but it was definitely presented as, "Finally! A woman speaks about hockey!" And while it's true that there doesn't seem to be a ton of writing out there by women about hockey, as I said in the first paragraph, I'm obviously coming at sports different than Jackson is and it's possible I would've liked the book a little more if it had been less "This is how women feel about hockey!" and more "This is how this particular woman feels about hockey." One of my favorite fellow bloggers is Kate of The Willful Caboose and while we're both smart, reasonably insightful fans of hockey (in my oh so humble opinion :P) I think it's pretty safe to say that if we both wrote books about following the Sabres they'd be two very different books.
And while I'm totally getting off-track here (I'm sorry!), at the risk of upsetting my fellow female hockey fans and bloggers, I'm kind of over the whole "I'm a female hockey blogger!" thing. Don't get me wrong, one of my favorite things about the hockey blogosphere is that there are a ton of really smart blogs being written by women and I very, very rarely run into a neanderthal male blogger who disregards my opinion because my handle is clearly a female one which is a refreshing change from real-life. When I first started writing Top Shelf I was very self-conscious about saying anything that was too female-y - I never talked about players being good-looking for example - because I wanted people to take my blog somewhat seriously and I worried that if I mentioned Henrik Tallinder's dimple or Jochen Hecht's shy smile, people would immediately label me a puck bunny. But eventually I decided that was stupid. If John Vogl can talk about which team has the best-looking Ice Girls and still be taken seriously as a journalist, why can't I acknowledge that I think Hank is an extremely talented defenseman AND an extremely handsome man? I don't want to sleep with him. I'm not even sure half the time I want to actually meet him. But yeah, I kind of noticed that he's good-looking. I figure there's enough hockey content here to balance that out and anyone who would accuse me of being a puck bunny is probably not that smart and therefore not worth worrying about. I'm proud to be a woman blogger but I don't really have a desire to wave a flag and yell I AM A WOMAN BLOGGER and I'm just not sure how important it is to other people that I'm female. Do people go read Goose's Roost for the male point-of-view and then come here thinking, "Now to get the female point-of-view!" I don't know, maybe they do. I don't really think so though. I'm just... another blogger, you know?
Anyway... Back to Cold-Cocked. In the end I liked it enough that I would probably check out something else written by Lorna Jackson but it definitely left me wanting. I do seem to be in the minority though from what I've seen. Here are some other reviews:
Scarlett Ice
Untypical Girls
Hockey Blog in Canada
It was with much anticipation that I curled up in my blankets with Lorna Jackson's Cold-Cocked: On Hockey. I'd heard a lot about how it was the first book about hockey from the perspective of a female fan and I was ready to absolutely love it to pieces. Unfortunately, I wanted to love it more than I actually did love it.I will admit up front that I was a little turned off before I even started reading the book. I flipped it over to read the back cover blurb and read the following:
Star-struck biographies, nostalgic histories, gonzo road trips: hockey books say we're obsessed with the game because we grew up wanting to be players. Not women.
I've mentioned before that I didn't grow up watching hockey but when I was a little girl watching baseball I totally wanted to be the players. I wanted to be diving across the field to grab the scorching line drive. I wanted to make a perfect throw to nail the runner at the plate. I wanted to feel the crack of the bat, wave the ball into fair territory and run around the bases, fist high while the crowd went bananas and chanted my name. When my sixth grade counselor and I set long-term goals, I said, in total seriousness, that I was going to play in the Majors. Even now when it's pretty safe to say I've missed my chance to make the NHL, I watch hockey with a little bit of sadness that I didn't grow up in an area where kids played it. I don't know how good I would have been at it but knowing the kind of kid I was and the kind of athlete I was, I do know I would've loved playing it. I thought saying "women don't watch hockey that way" was a pretty broad statement to make in a time when lots of little girls are playing hockey, more colleges have womens programs, and the USA and Canada, among many other countries, have women;s national teams. So I kind of went into the book feeling like maybe it wasn't for female fans like me.
There's a lot in Cold-Cocked about Jackson's family - her father, their relationship through the years, her relationship now with her daughter - and other parts of her personal life. While I mostly see how the things connect in her mind - she talks a lot about the rhetoric of hockey as war and players as warriors in comparison to her father who was captured and held prisoner for a time in World War II - I think the way the different aspects are spread across the book is disjointed and kind of all over the place. The transition from the stories about her father's life to the travails of the Canucks are not always very smooth. Her father has an interesting story, it just often felt to me like I was reading two very different books.
Which is not to say the book was all bad. When Jackson does talk about hockey it's interesting and funny and different from a lot of "rah-rah, sports are beautiful" sports writing. She's clearly a fan of the game but she also doesn't hesitate to criticize it, particularly on the topic of violence. I don't have a problem with fighting in general but there have definitely been times when I've been disgusted with how little the league or the players or
I did also really enjoy the sections of the book that dealt with Jackson's efforts to get interviews with a few players for the book. I have no doubt that being a female in the world of pro sports journalism is sometimes bizarre and uncomfortable even in this day and age and I liked how honest Jackson was about her desire to come across as professional and intelligent but also at least somewhat attractive and how thrilling it was to be up-close with the players she roots for. In those moments, the book really is different from other hockey writing.
But in the end I just didn't feel like there were enough of those moments. And while I do appreciate that there is sometimes a difference in how males and females take in sports and athletes, I don't think it's as easy as men here and women over there. I'm writing this long after I finished the book so I have to admit that now I don't know if it was really the book itself or just the press releases and reviews that came with the book, but it was definitely presented as, "Finally! A woman speaks about hockey!" And while it's true that there doesn't seem to be a ton of writing out there by women about hockey, as I said in the first paragraph, I'm obviously coming at sports different than Jackson is and it's possible I would've liked the book a little more if it had been less "This is how women feel about hockey!" and more "This is how this particular woman feels about hockey." One of my favorite fellow bloggers is Kate of The Willful Caboose and while we're both smart, reasonably insightful fans of hockey (in my oh so humble opinion :P) I think it's pretty safe to say that if we both wrote books about following the Sabres they'd be two very different books.
And while I'm totally getting off-track here (I'm sorry!), at the risk of upsetting my fellow female hockey fans and bloggers, I'm kind of over the whole "I'm a female hockey blogger!" thing. Don't get me wrong, one of my favorite things about the hockey blogosphere is that there are a ton of really smart blogs being written by women and I very, very rarely run into a neanderthal male blogger who disregards my opinion because my handle is clearly a female one which is a refreshing change from real-life. When I first started writing Top Shelf I was very self-conscious about saying anything that was too female-y - I never talked about players being good-looking for example - because I wanted people to take my blog somewhat seriously and I worried that if I mentioned Henrik Tallinder's dimple or Jochen Hecht's shy smile, people would immediately label me a puck bunny. But eventually I decided that was stupid. If John Vogl can talk about which team has the best-looking Ice Girls and still be taken seriously as a journalist, why can't I acknowledge that I think Hank is an extremely talented defenseman AND an extremely handsome man? I don't want to sleep with him. I'm not even sure half the time I want to actually meet him. But yeah, I kind of noticed that he's good-looking. I figure there's enough hockey content here to balance that out and anyone who would accuse me of being a puck bunny is probably not that smart and therefore not worth worrying about. I'm proud to be a woman blogger but I don't really have a desire to wave a flag and yell I AM A WOMAN BLOGGER and I'm just not sure how important it is to other people that I'm female. Do people go read Goose's Roost for the male point-of-view and then come here thinking, "Now to get the female point-of-view!" I don't know, maybe they do. I don't really think so though. I'm just... another blogger, you know?
Anyway... Back to Cold-Cocked. In the end I liked it enough that I would probably check out something else written by Lorna Jackson but it definitely left me wanting. I do seem to be in the minority though from what I've seen. Here are some other reviews:
Scarlett Ice
Untypical Girls
Hockey Blog in Canada
Sunday, March 2, 2008
I Got Nothing
I got nothing.
I've been sitting here staring at my screen and I can't come up with a single coherent thought - positive or negative - about this game or this team. I'm completely blank inside. I have thoughts on other things but when I try to zero in on hockey all I can remember is Harry Neale talking about Henrik Tallinder making a misplay when he wasn't even on the ice. There's nothing else. I think my mind is trying to protect me by blocking everything hockey related out.
However, I have nothing else to do right now - so I'm going to throw out some stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with hockey. Feel free to comment. Hey, it might be good for you to block it out too, you know.
- I'm about halfway through the second season of Battlestar Galactica and I really, really like it a lot. It's no Firefly but what is? I'm hoping to catch up with it completely before it starts back up with the new season. I totally hated Starbuck at first but she's kind of grown on me. I have a weird thing about Edward James Olmos - he creeps me out - so I wasn't sure how that was going to work out but he's good. I'm all about Tigh. That guy kills me even if he is a screw-up.
- When Lost is all said and done, all I really want is a happy ending for Desmond (my current wallpaper) and Penny. I hate Jack and Kate. Could not care less about them. I like Locke and Sawyer but they're probably both domed and I'm fine with that. But if Desmond and Penny don't reunite, get married, have lots of adorable babies and live happily ever after, I'm going to be disappointed. Disappointed enough that the whole show will be a let-down for me. I really think they've become the emotional underpinnings of the whole show. What do you think the chances of a happy ending actually are?
- I've long been opposed to a new Indiana Jones movie, not because Harrison Ford is old but because I think they were pretty lucky to get out with three decent to great movies (Raiders of the Lost Ark - great, Temple of Doom - decent, Last Crusade - good). I had no desire to see that ruined, particularly after hearing the first script wasn't up to George Lucas's standards. (Lucas is certainly a genius when it comes to certain things but screenwriting is not one of those things.) But I'm not gonna lie, the teaser trailer for the new movie gave me happy chills. Usually there's only one summer movie I really HAVE to see and everything else goes in the rental pile but this year there are a few big movies I want to see in addition to the new Indy, The Dark Knight and Iron Man being the other two must-sees. I'm so stoked about Robert Downey, Jr. in Iron Man.
- Since BSG has been sucking up most of my time, I haven't watched a lot of movies lately. I did see Across the Universe which I really expected to hate but I kind of liked it. Parts of it didn't work (skip the Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite sequence) but parts of it were really sweet and touching, I thought. The lead guy's voice reminded me a little of Ewan McGregor in Moulin Rouge so that was a plus in his favor since I adore Ewan in MR.
- I want Jillian to win Project Runway, but I think it's going to be Christian. Which will annoy me to no end.
- I've been devouring U2 by U2 the last few days. I got this for Christmas last year - it's a coffee table book full of little tiny print interviews and tons of amazing photos - and while I loved what I read, at the time I was working two jobs and it was tough to carry around with me so I didn't get too far into it. I pulled it down off the bookshelf Friday night and have gotten totally lost in it. It's very cool because unlike most U2 things which focus on Bono and Edge, this includes exhaustive interviews with all four guys. I've always had a soft spot for Larry - so handsome! so stoic and private! so dryly funny! - so I'm loving getting into his head a little. (My favorite album is The Joshua Tree although I think their best album is Achtung Baby. My ten favorite U2 songs - off the top of my head, no thought at all which is the only way I can do this or I'll be here all night changing the list: I Will Follow, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, Bad, All I Want Is You, One, Until the End of the World, Acrobat, Wake Up Dead Man, Beautiful Day, City of Blinding Lights. Interesting. Maybe Achtung Baby is my favorite album. Okay, I'm changing the subject now because I'm already having second thoughts about that list and I could do this forever.) I've never seen a book with its own commercial. That's pretty cool.
- Some of my favorite non-hockey sports blogs/websites: Fire Joe Morgan, Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke?, The Dugout, SportsJustice (for the Astros stuff - I skip the football and basketball talk), and The Hardball Times. Guess I should have just said "baseball" instead of "non-hockey."
- And now I leave with you my favorite recent YouTube video:
Worst blog entry ever? Maybe so. Better than that Sabres game? It might be.
I've been sitting here staring at my screen and I can't come up with a single coherent thought - positive or negative - about this game or this team. I'm completely blank inside. I have thoughts on other things but when I try to zero in on hockey all I can remember is Harry Neale talking about Henrik Tallinder making a misplay when he wasn't even on the ice. There's nothing else. I think my mind is trying to protect me by blocking everything hockey related out.
However, I have nothing else to do right now - so I'm going to throw out some stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with hockey. Feel free to comment. Hey, it might be good for you to block it out too, you know.
- I'm about halfway through the second season of Battlestar Galactica and I really, really like it a lot. It's no Firefly but what is? I'm hoping to catch up with it completely before it starts back up with the new season. I totally hated Starbuck at first but she's kind of grown on me. I have a weird thing about Edward James Olmos - he creeps me out - so I wasn't sure how that was going to work out but he's good. I'm all about Tigh. That guy kills me even if he is a screw-up.
- When Lost is all said and done, all I really want is a happy ending for Desmond (my current wallpaper) and Penny. I hate Jack and Kate. Could not care less about them. I like Locke and Sawyer but they're probably both domed and I'm fine with that. But if Desmond and Penny don't reunite, get married, have lots of adorable babies and live happily ever after, I'm going to be disappointed. Disappointed enough that the whole show will be a let-down for me. I really think they've become the emotional underpinnings of the whole show. What do you think the chances of a happy ending actually are?
- I've long been opposed to a new Indiana Jones movie, not because Harrison Ford is old but because I think they were pretty lucky to get out with three decent to great movies (Raiders of the Lost Ark - great, Temple of Doom - decent, Last Crusade - good). I had no desire to see that ruined, particularly after hearing the first script wasn't up to George Lucas's standards. (Lucas is certainly a genius when it comes to certain things but screenwriting is not one of those things.) But I'm not gonna lie, the teaser trailer for the new movie gave me happy chills. Usually there's only one summer movie I really HAVE to see and everything else goes in the rental pile but this year there are a few big movies I want to see in addition to the new Indy, The Dark Knight and Iron Man being the other two must-sees. I'm so stoked about Robert Downey, Jr. in Iron Man.
- Since BSG has been sucking up most of my time, I haven't watched a lot of movies lately. I did see Across the Universe which I really expected to hate but I kind of liked it. Parts of it didn't work (skip the Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite sequence) but parts of it were really sweet and touching, I thought. The lead guy's voice reminded me a little of Ewan McGregor in Moulin Rouge so that was a plus in his favor since I adore Ewan in MR.
- I want Jillian to win Project Runway, but I think it's going to be Christian. Which will annoy me to no end.
- I've been devouring U2 by U2 the last few days. I got this for Christmas last year - it's a coffee table book full of little tiny print interviews and tons of amazing photos - and while I loved what I read, at the time I was working two jobs and it was tough to carry around with me so I didn't get too far into it. I pulled it down off the bookshelf Friday night and have gotten totally lost in it. It's very cool because unlike most U2 things which focus on Bono and Edge, this includes exhaustive interviews with all four guys. I've always had a soft spot for Larry - so handsome! so stoic and private! so dryly funny! - so I'm loving getting into his head a little. (My favorite album is The Joshua Tree although I think their best album is Achtung Baby. My ten favorite U2 songs - off the top of my head, no thought at all which is the only way I can do this or I'll be here all night changing the list: I Will Follow, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, Bad, All I Want Is You, One, Until the End of the World, Acrobat, Wake Up Dead Man, Beautiful Day, City of Blinding Lights. Interesting. Maybe Achtung Baby is my favorite album. Okay, I'm changing the subject now because I'm already having second thoughts about that list and I could do this forever.) I've never seen a book with its own commercial. That's pretty cool.
- Some of my favorite non-hockey sports blogs/websites: Fire Joe Morgan, Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke?, The Dugout, SportsJustice (for the Astros stuff - I skip the football and basketball talk), and The Hardball Times. Guess I should have just said "baseball" instead of "non-hockey."
- And now I leave with you my favorite recent YouTube video:
Worst blog entry ever? Maybe so. Better than that Sabres game? It might be.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Top Shelf Review: Cold-Cocked: On Hockey
I'm going to take a break from the Sabres today. I've had this book review half-written for weeks now and this seems like a good time to throw it up for public consumption. Happy Easter! I'll be back on Monday.
It was with much anticipation that I curled up in my blankets with Lorna Jackson's Cold-Cocked: On Hockey. I'd heard a lot about how it was the first book about hockey from the perspective of a female fan and I was ready to absolutely love it to pieces. Unfortunately, I wanted to love it more than I actually did love it.
I will admit up front that I was a little turned off before I even started reading the book. I flipped it over to read the back cover blurb and read the following:
Star-struck biographies, nostalgic histories, gonzo road trips: hockey books say we're obsessed with the game because we grew up wanting to be players. Not women.
I've mentioned before that I didn't grow up watching hockey but when I was a little girl watching baseball I totally wanted to be the players. I wanted to be diving across the field to grab the scorching line drive. I wanted to make a perfect throw to nail the runner at the plate. I wanted to feel the crack of the bat, wave the ball into fair territory and run around the bases, fist high while the crowd went bananas and chanted my name. When my sixth grade counselor and I set long-term goals, I said, in total seriousness, that I was going to play in the Majors. Even now when it's pretty safe to say I've missed my chance to make the NHL, I watch hockey with a little bit of sadness that I didn't grow up in an area where kids played it. I don't know how good I would have been at it but knowing the kind of kid I was and the kind of athlete I was, I do know I would've loved playing it. I thought saying "women don't watch hockey that way" was a pretty broad statement to make in a time when lots of little girls are playing hockey, more colleges have womens programs, and the USA and Canada, among many other countries, have women;s national teams. So I kind of went into the book feeling like maybe it wasn't for female fans like me.
There's a lot in Cold-Cocked about Jackson's family - her father, their relationship through the years, her relationship now with her daughter - and other parts of her personal life. While I mostly see how the things connect in her mind - she talks a lot about the rhetoric of hockey as war and players as warriors in comparison to her father who was captured and held prisoner for a time in World War II - I think the way the different aspects are spread across the book is disjointed and kind of all over the place. The transition from the stories about her father's life to the travails of the Canucks are not always very smooth. Her father has an interesting story, it just often felt to me like I was reading two very different books.
Which is not to say the book was all bad. When Jackson does talk about hockey it's interesting and funny and different from a lot of "rah-rah, sports are beautiful" sports writing. She's clearly a fan of the game but she also doesn't hesitate to criticize it, particularly on the topic of violence. I don't have a problem with fighting in general but there have definitely been times when I've been disgusted with how little the league or the players orthe Flyers certain teams seem to care about head shots and concussions. Concussions are not broken arms or sprained knee ligaments. When you're dealing with them, you're dealing with a guy's long-term health, something that's going to affect him long after his playing days are through. Jackson is following the Canucks during the time of the Steve Moore-Todd Bertuzzi incident so that gives her ample opportunity to talk about some of the issues surrounding the game that bother her.
I did also really enjoy the sections of the book that dealt with Jackson's efforts to get interviews with a few players for the book. I have no doubt that being a female in the world of pro sports journalism is sometimes bizarre and uncomfortable even in this day and age and I liked how honest Jackson was about her desire to come across as professional and intelligent but also at least somewhat attractive and how thrilling it was to be up-close with the players she roots for. In those moments, the book really is different from other hockey writing.
But in the end I just didn't feel like there were enough of those moments. And while I do appreciate that there is sometimes a difference in how males and females take in sports and athletes, I don't think it's as easy as men here and women over there. I'm writing this long after I finished the book so I have to admit that now I don't know if it was really the book itself or just the press releases and reviews that came with the book, but it was definitely presented as, "Finally! A woman speaks about hockey!" And while it's true that there doesn't seem to be a ton of writing out there by women about hockey, as I said in the first paragraph, I'm obviously coming at sports different than Jackson is and it's possible I would've liked the book a little more if it had been less "This is how women feel about hockey!" and more "This is how this particular woman feels about hockey." One of my favorite fellow bloggers is Kate of The Willful Caboose and while we're both smart, reasonably insightful fans of hockey (in my oh so humble opinion :P) I think it's pretty safe to say that if we both wrote books about following the Sabres they'd be two very different books.
And while I'm totally getting off-track here (I'm sorry!), at the risk of upsetting my fellow female hockey fans and bloggers, I'm kind of over the whole "I'm a female hockey blogger!" thing. Don't get me wrong, one of my favorite things about the hockey blogosphere is that there are a ton of really smart blogs being written by women and I very, very rarely run into a neanderthal male blogger who disregards my opinion because my handle is clearly a female one which is a refreshing change from real-life. When I first started writing Top Shelf I was very self-conscious about saying anything that was too female-y - I never talked about players being good-looking for example - because I wanted people to take my blog somewhat seriously and I worried that if I mentioned Henrik Tallinder's dimple or Jochen Hecht's shy smile, people would immediately label me a puck bunny. But eventually I decided that was stupid. If John Vogl can talk about which team has the best-looking Ice Girls and still be taken seriously as a journalist, why can't I acknowledge that I think Hank is an extremely talented defenseman AND an extremely handsome man? I don't want to sleep with him. I'm not even sure half the time I want to actually meet him. But yeah, I kind of noticed that he's good-looking. I figure there's enough hockey content here to balance that out and anyone who would accuse me of being a puck bunny is probably not that smart and therefore not worth worrying about. I'm proud to be a woman blogger but I don't really have a desire to wave a flag and yell I AM A WOMAN BLOGGER and I'm just not sure how important it is to other people that I'm female. Do people go read Goose's Roost for the male point-of-view and then come here thinking, "Now to get the female point-of-view!" I don't know, maybe they do. I don't really think so though. I'm just... another blogger, you know?
Anyway... Back to Cold-Cocked. In the end I liked it enough that I would probably check out something else written by Lorna Jackson but it definitely left me wanting. I do seem to be in the minority though from what I've seen. Here are some other reviews:
Scarlett Ice
Untypical Girls
Hockey Blog in Canada
It was with much anticipation that I curled up in my blankets with Lorna Jackson's Cold-Cocked: On Hockey. I'd heard a lot about how it was the first book about hockey from the perspective of a female fan and I was ready to absolutely love it to pieces. Unfortunately, I wanted to love it more than I actually did love it.I will admit up front that I was a little turned off before I even started reading the book. I flipped it over to read the back cover blurb and read the following:
Star-struck biographies, nostalgic histories, gonzo road trips: hockey books say we're obsessed with the game because we grew up wanting to be players. Not women.
I've mentioned before that I didn't grow up watching hockey but when I was a little girl watching baseball I totally wanted to be the players. I wanted to be diving across the field to grab the scorching line drive. I wanted to make a perfect throw to nail the runner at the plate. I wanted to feel the crack of the bat, wave the ball into fair territory and run around the bases, fist high while the crowd went bananas and chanted my name. When my sixth grade counselor and I set long-term goals, I said, in total seriousness, that I was going to play in the Majors. Even now when it's pretty safe to say I've missed my chance to make the NHL, I watch hockey with a little bit of sadness that I didn't grow up in an area where kids played it. I don't know how good I would have been at it but knowing the kind of kid I was and the kind of athlete I was, I do know I would've loved playing it. I thought saying "women don't watch hockey that way" was a pretty broad statement to make in a time when lots of little girls are playing hockey, more colleges have womens programs, and the USA and Canada, among many other countries, have women;s national teams. So I kind of went into the book feeling like maybe it wasn't for female fans like me.
There's a lot in Cold-Cocked about Jackson's family - her father, their relationship through the years, her relationship now with her daughter - and other parts of her personal life. While I mostly see how the things connect in her mind - she talks a lot about the rhetoric of hockey as war and players as warriors in comparison to her father who was captured and held prisoner for a time in World War II - I think the way the different aspects are spread across the book is disjointed and kind of all over the place. The transition from the stories about her father's life to the travails of the Canucks are not always very smooth. Her father has an interesting story, it just often felt to me like I was reading two very different books.
Which is not to say the book was all bad. When Jackson does talk about hockey it's interesting and funny and different from a lot of "rah-rah, sports are beautiful" sports writing. She's clearly a fan of the game but she also doesn't hesitate to criticize it, particularly on the topic of violence. I don't have a problem with fighting in general but there have definitely been times when I've been disgusted with how little the league or the players or
I did also really enjoy the sections of the book that dealt with Jackson's efforts to get interviews with a few players for the book. I have no doubt that being a female in the world of pro sports journalism is sometimes bizarre and uncomfortable even in this day and age and I liked how honest Jackson was about her desire to come across as professional and intelligent but also at least somewhat attractive and how thrilling it was to be up-close with the players she roots for. In those moments, the book really is different from other hockey writing.
But in the end I just didn't feel like there were enough of those moments. And while I do appreciate that there is sometimes a difference in how males and females take in sports and athletes, I don't think it's as easy as men here and women over there. I'm writing this long after I finished the book so I have to admit that now I don't know if it was really the book itself or just the press releases and reviews that came with the book, but it was definitely presented as, "Finally! A woman speaks about hockey!" And while it's true that there doesn't seem to be a ton of writing out there by women about hockey, as I said in the first paragraph, I'm obviously coming at sports different than Jackson is and it's possible I would've liked the book a little more if it had been less "This is how women feel about hockey!" and more "This is how this particular woman feels about hockey." One of my favorite fellow bloggers is Kate of The Willful Caboose and while we're both smart, reasonably insightful fans of hockey (in my oh so humble opinion :P) I think it's pretty safe to say that if we both wrote books about following the Sabres they'd be two very different books.
And while I'm totally getting off-track here (I'm sorry!), at the risk of upsetting my fellow female hockey fans and bloggers, I'm kind of over the whole "I'm a female hockey blogger!" thing. Don't get me wrong, one of my favorite things about the hockey blogosphere is that there are a ton of really smart blogs being written by women and I very, very rarely run into a neanderthal male blogger who disregards my opinion because my handle is clearly a female one which is a refreshing change from real-life. When I first started writing Top Shelf I was very self-conscious about saying anything that was too female-y - I never talked about players being good-looking for example - because I wanted people to take my blog somewhat seriously and I worried that if I mentioned Henrik Tallinder's dimple or Jochen Hecht's shy smile, people would immediately label me a puck bunny. But eventually I decided that was stupid. If John Vogl can talk about which team has the best-looking Ice Girls and still be taken seriously as a journalist, why can't I acknowledge that I think Hank is an extremely talented defenseman AND an extremely handsome man? I don't want to sleep with him. I'm not even sure half the time I want to actually meet him. But yeah, I kind of noticed that he's good-looking. I figure there's enough hockey content here to balance that out and anyone who would accuse me of being a puck bunny is probably not that smart and therefore not worth worrying about. I'm proud to be a woman blogger but I don't really have a desire to wave a flag and yell I AM A WOMAN BLOGGER and I'm just not sure how important it is to other people that I'm female. Do people go read Goose's Roost for the male point-of-view and then come here thinking, "Now to get the female point-of-view!" I don't know, maybe they do. I don't really think so though. I'm just... another blogger, you know?
Anyway... Back to Cold-Cocked. In the end I liked it enough that I would probably check out something else written by Lorna Jackson but it definitely left me wanting. I do seem to be in the minority though from what I've seen. Here are some other reviews:
Scarlett Ice
Untypical Girls
Hockey Blog in Canada
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Yippie Paille, Mother F#$!@&!
Hockey talk coming, I promise. Keep reading!
So today I was looking over my bookshelf for something to read and I decided on Roald Dahl's Boy: Tales of Childhood, his autobiography. I read this book many years ago when I was a Dahl-loving child but I haven't thought about it in years. On the second page of the book he tells the story of how back in 1877 at age 14 his father fell off a roof and broke his arm. The local doctor was a drunk quack who, in the process of trying to fix the arm, yanked on it until the bone was sticking out through the skin. Orthopedic surgery not being what it is now (now being almost 25 years ago when Dahl was writing this book), they simply amputated his arm at the elbow and he spent the rest of his life carrying around a fork with the bottom edge sharpened so he could cut and eat his food with one hand. The moral of the story is this: I'm going to try being grateful that I live in the age of modern medicine and therefore still have a foot that will most likely work again one of these days. That said, I go in on Friday for new x-rays and if the doctor tells me he's re-casting my foot I'm hopping away as fast and as far as I can.
So... how 'bout them Sabres? I don't know what happened but they're starting to look like a real hockey team. Did they push through the growing pains? Are they finally adjusting to different roles? Did they wake up and realize, "Holy crow, we're not gonna make the playoffs!" Did someone send them a copy of my "I Hate the Sabres" missive? (I'm sure it's that last one.) Is it possible - maybe! - that the Sabres aren't really as bad as everyone's been saying? I say yes! Optimistic to the end!
Seriously, I'm not going to pretend the team isn't missing some pieces. And I'm not going to pretend that losing Chris Drury and Daniel Briere didn't do some damage. That would be ridiculous. But I do think the problems this season have gone way beyond Chris and Danny. For whatever reason it's just been one of those years teams have once in a while where everyone struggles. Chris and Danny don't have anything to do with Ryan Miller being so inconsistent. They don't have anything to do with Henrik Tallinder and Toni Lydman being up and down. They're not the reason Tim Connolly and Maxim Afinogenov have spent so much time on IR. They have nothing to do with the team losing Teppo Numminen - a loss that I think has been very much underrated - just before the season began. If Ryan had played a little better during the 10 gamelosing winless streak or if Thomas Vanek converted ten percent of the crossbars he hit or if the defense had been just a little more stable things could be totally different. I don't think they'd be leading the Eastern Conference and I don't think they'd be a Stanley Cup shoo-in, but I do think we'd all be a little less ready to throw ourselves over Niagara Falls in barrels with THE SABRES SUCK scrawled on the side. It's just been a perfect storm of struggle and underachievement.
A few thoughts about tonight:
- I hate playing the Bruins. I know people complain about the Devils being boring but I don't know, I don't mind them, I think because I really like a few of their players (Travis Zajac, Jay Pandolfo, and Martin Brodeur being the big three). I couldn't name you a single Bruin most days - I usually even forget Zdeno Chara plays for them until someone else mentions him - and the games with them are usually snoozers. Oh, and we have to play them 18 times a year.
That said, tonight's game wasn't bad. It helped that we scored first because that kept Boston from going into a defensive shell. Still... We have to play them again this week? What's up with that, NHL schedule makers?
- I can't even tell you how tickled I am about Danny Paille right now. (I also can't tell you how tickled I am about the awesome title of this post. I couldn't decide whether to go with "Pie-Yay" or "Paille" but I finally decided on the latter. Also, I really have to give credit to Mark who suddenly yelled out the title after the game tonight. And if you don't get the reference, rent a movie once in a while why don'tcha? If you follow the link, you'll hear some coarse language so beware.) There was a rumor 'round town last season that Drew Stafford got the first call-up because Paille responded so poorly to being cut out of training camp, kind of pouting about it. I have no idea if that's true - I did probably read it on a message board - but it really colored my opinion of him without me even really realizing it. But he's been super impressive this season. He's one of the hardest workers on the team and he's shown flashes of real skill. I'm thinking we should keep him. As soon as we saw the lines on the screen tonight I said to Mark, "Oooh, I like Paille with Pommers and Yo-Yo. That's gonna work." It's like Lindy and I share a brain, I tell ya.
- Speaking of Pommers and Yo-Yo, they continue to be two of the steadiest players on the team. I'd like to see Jason hitting the net more than he has been, but I'm not sure you can really complain about their overall game. There was a lot of hullabaloo about how losing Briere was going to wreck Pommers but I think he and Jochen have established a pretty nice chemistry too. Everyone who gets plugged in beside them comes out looking pretty good and I think that's at least partly to their credit.
- I hate the kicking rule. I can never tell what's going to be allowed and what's going to be overturned and I don't think anyone else can tell either. I'm partly convinced Toronto just flips a coin. I suppose I get the idea of protecting the goalie from guys mindlessly kicking their blades around, but I don't know, would it really be that much of a problem? I don't care what the puck bounces off of, if it goes in the net, it's a goal.
- This is totally unrelated but I don't get the goalie trapezoid either. I was trying to get Mark to explain it to me the other night and it was a confusing and circular conversation so for me it comes down to this: I don't understand it so it has no use. Let's get rid of it too.
I'll leave you with this bit from the brilliant Mike Harrington. It was taken from his game diary over at Sabres Edge for tonight:
A beautiful passing play gives the Sabres a 2-1 lead. Brian Campbell throws one diagonally to Drew Stafford, who finds Thomas Vanek in front for a tip-in that's his 15th goal of the season. But the play was made at the left point by Henrik Tallinder, who had his shot blocked and managed to outmuscle a Bruin to keep it in the zone and feed Campbell. No assist to Tallinder but he was most responsible for the goal.
I know you're all asking, "Heather? Is it really that easy to earn the tag 'brilliant' from you? Saying nice things about Henrik Tallinder?" To which I say: Yes, yes it is.
Hank Tallinder FTW!
So today I was looking over my bookshelf for something to read and I decided on Roald Dahl's Boy: Tales of Childhood, his autobiography. I read this book many years ago when I was a Dahl-loving child but I haven't thought about it in years. On the second page of the book he tells the story of how back in 1877 at age 14 his father fell off a roof and broke his arm. The local doctor was a drunk quack who, in the process of trying to fix the arm, yanked on it until the bone was sticking out through the skin. Orthopedic surgery not being what it is now (now being almost 25 years ago when Dahl was writing this book), they simply amputated his arm at the elbow and he spent the rest of his life carrying around a fork with the bottom edge sharpened so he could cut and eat his food with one hand. The moral of the story is this: I'm going to try being grateful that I live in the age of modern medicine and therefore still have a foot that will most likely work again one of these days. That said, I go in on Friday for new x-rays and if the doctor tells me he's re-casting my foot I'm hopping away as fast and as far as I can.
So... how 'bout them Sabres? I don't know what happened but they're starting to look like a real hockey team. Did they push through the growing pains? Are they finally adjusting to different roles? Did they wake up and realize, "Holy crow, we're not gonna make the playoffs!" Did someone send them a copy of my "I Hate the Sabres" missive? (I'm sure it's that last one.) Is it possible - maybe! - that the Sabres aren't really as bad as everyone's been saying? I say yes! Optimistic to the end!
Seriously, I'm not going to pretend the team isn't missing some pieces. And I'm not going to pretend that losing Chris Drury and Daniel Briere didn't do some damage. That would be ridiculous. But I do think the problems this season have gone way beyond Chris and Danny. For whatever reason it's just been one of those years teams have once in a while where everyone struggles. Chris and Danny don't have anything to do with Ryan Miller being so inconsistent. They don't have anything to do with Henrik Tallinder and Toni Lydman being up and down. They're not the reason Tim Connolly and Maxim Afinogenov have spent so much time on IR. They have nothing to do with the team losing Teppo Numminen - a loss that I think has been very much underrated - just before the season began. If Ryan had played a little better during the 10 game
A few thoughts about tonight:
- I hate playing the Bruins. I know people complain about the Devils being boring but I don't know, I don't mind them, I think because I really like a few of their players (Travis Zajac, Jay Pandolfo, and Martin Brodeur being the big three). I couldn't name you a single Bruin most days - I usually even forget Zdeno Chara plays for them until someone else mentions him - and the games with them are usually snoozers. Oh, and we have to play them 18 times a year.
That said, tonight's game wasn't bad. It helped that we scored first because that kept Boston from going into a defensive shell. Still... We have to play them again this week? What's up with that, NHL schedule makers?
- I can't even tell you how tickled I am about Danny Paille right now. (I also can't tell you how tickled I am about the awesome title of this post. I couldn't decide whether to go with "Pie-Yay" or "Paille" but I finally decided on the latter. Also, I really have to give credit to Mark who suddenly yelled out the title after the game tonight. And if you don't get the reference, rent a movie once in a while why don'tcha? If you follow the link, you'll hear some coarse language so beware.) There was a rumor 'round town last season that Drew Stafford got the first call-up because Paille responded so poorly to being cut out of training camp, kind of pouting about it. I have no idea if that's true - I did probably read it on a message board - but it really colored my opinion of him without me even really realizing it. But he's been super impressive this season. He's one of the hardest workers on the team and he's shown flashes of real skill. I'm thinking we should keep him. As soon as we saw the lines on the screen tonight I said to Mark, "Oooh, I like Paille with Pommers and Yo-Yo. That's gonna work." It's like Lindy and I share a brain, I tell ya.
- Speaking of Pommers and Yo-Yo, they continue to be two of the steadiest players on the team. I'd like to see Jason hitting the net more than he has been, but I'm not sure you can really complain about their overall game. There was a lot of hullabaloo about how losing Briere was going to wreck Pommers but I think he and Jochen have established a pretty nice chemistry too. Everyone who gets plugged in beside them comes out looking pretty good and I think that's at least partly to their credit.
- I hate the kicking rule. I can never tell what's going to be allowed and what's going to be overturned and I don't think anyone else can tell either. I'm partly convinced Toronto just flips a coin. I suppose I get the idea of protecting the goalie from guys mindlessly kicking their blades around, but I don't know, would it really be that much of a problem? I don't care what the puck bounces off of, if it goes in the net, it's a goal.
- This is totally unrelated but I don't get the goalie trapezoid either. I was trying to get Mark to explain it to me the other night and it was a confusing and circular conversation so for me it comes down to this: I don't understand it so it has no use. Let's get rid of it too.
I'll leave you with this bit from the brilliant Mike Harrington. It was taken from his game diary over at Sabres Edge for tonight:
A beautiful passing play gives the Sabres a 2-1 lead. Brian Campbell throws one diagonally to Drew Stafford, who finds Thomas Vanek in front for a tip-in that's his 15th goal of the season. But the play was made at the left point by Henrik Tallinder, who had his shot blocked and managed to outmuscle a Bruin to keep it in the zone and feed Campbell. No assist to Tallinder but he was most responsible for the goal.
I know you're all asking, "Heather? Is it really that easy to earn the tag 'brilliant' from you? Saying nice things about Henrik Tallinder?" To which I say: Yes, yes it is.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Lindy Ruff 4-Eva
I think most fans have atleast one blind spot. One issue or person that they will never ever see in any way but their way. A lot of fans are like this about their favorite player. If they like a guy enough, he could be playing like garbage but they'll never, ever admit it. I don't think I'm like that about Henrik Tallinder. I do kind of ignore it when he's not playing well - rarely will I actually say here, "Boy, Hank looks terrible!" - but I am seeing it and when other people point it out I don't get irrationally defensive. I'll admit, "Yeah, he and Toni need to be better," and then just kind of shrug and add, "They'll get it together."
I'm beginning to realize that I am pretty irrational about one person however and that person is Lindy Ruff. I've written about my affection for Lindy before and I don't think I'm alone here. In most cities, if the team was struggling as badly as the Sabres are struggling right now, the coach would be on the hot seat. Fans would be running him out of town. Granted, I am shielding myself from the more uh, zealous fans on sports radio and message boards, but there doesn't seem to be any kind of "FIRE LINDY!" uprising forming, atleast not yet. I hope it stays that way.
Here's the thing: I understand if people are critical of Lindy. I've been more perplexed by him this year than any other year in the past. I've spent most of my days on IR hanging out over at Interchangeable Parts and Pookie has suggested more than once that it's time for Lindy to move on, if for no other reason than just to shake things up. And my brain gets it. My brain understands that yeah, maybe a new face coming in and saying, "I don't know you and I don't care about whatever garbage is going on here, this is how it's gonna be" would wake the team up. (Though my brain also gets that the Interchangeable Parts girls are Devils fans and therefore barely have coaches long enough to remember their names much less fall in love with them :P)
But at the mere mention of Lindy going somewhere else - especially if it comes about because of a firing! - my heart freaks out and my fingers start typing every defense I can think of, some that make sense, some that don't. Lindy can't make the goal scorers score goals. He can't make the defense more consistent and he can't make the goalies steal games. He can't take players who aren't physical by nature and turn them into grinders. He can't make spoiled professional athletes work hard and play like they want to win. Any lack of effort is on the players. I don't care if teams usually fire coaches because it's easier than firing the players. In fact, I've now stated in more than one place that if it's between firing Lindy and firing the team, I'd gladly say a fond farewell to every guy on the roster. And while that's the kind of hyperbolic statement someone would usually make just to get a point across, I think I might actually mean it. Take that albatross of a contract somewhere else, Thomas. Go get your 6 million in another city, Brian. Let someone else worry about your groins, Timmy and Max. Goose and Mairsy, I hope you find somewhere soft to land. Jochen, it's been a blast. Hank... Hank, I think I'll miss you most of all. But seriously, I don't care if Rob Ray and James Patrick have to come out of retirement so that we can field a full team - heck, let Lindy play - just do whatever needs to be done to keep Lindy Ruff in Buffalo until I die.
So I just wanted to give you all fair warning that if it comes to a point where people really do start talking about firing Lindy I'm going to squeeze my eyes shut and wish the whole conversation away. I won't defend him because my arguments will be irrational and desperate but I won't take part either and I'll never, ever, ever agree as long as there's still breath left in my body.
Okay, now to go totally off-topic...
I had a week or so of zen, but I really need to get this cast off and I need to do it ASAP. If I had a saw, I'd just do it myself. I'm enjoying the sitting around and reading and watching DVDs etc, I would just like to be able to carry a plate of food from the kitchen to another room. Is that asking so much?
Books I've read since being disabled: Rayzor's Edge: Rob Ray's Tough Life on the Ice (pretty good), Searching for Bobby Orr (excellent), Breaking the Ice: My Journey to Olympic Hockey, the Ivy League, and Beyond (okay), The Parting (good), and On Chesil Beach (overrated :::clap, clap, clapclapclap)
Currently reading: Home to Holly Springs and Brodeur: Beyond the Crease
DVDs I've watched since being disabled: Once (awesome - the best movie I've seen from last year and one of the best movies I've seen in the past few years), Knocked Up (pretty good but not great), Superbad (totally overrated but not really my thing), Stardust (liked it more than I expected to), Veronica Mars: Season One (very good), 3:10 to Yuma (very, very good), and Waitress (sweet and funny and geez, why hasn't Hollywood made a star out of Nathan Fillion - weak-chinned or not - yet?)
Currently watching: 30 Rock: Season One with Battlestar Galactica on deck
Heather B's favorite Oscar nominee: Falling Slowly for Best Original Song
I'm beginning to realize that I am pretty irrational about one person however and that person is Lindy Ruff. I've written about my affection for Lindy before and I don't think I'm alone here. In most cities, if the team was struggling as badly as the Sabres are struggling right now, the coach would be on the hot seat. Fans would be running him out of town. Granted, I am shielding myself from the more uh, zealous fans on sports radio and message boards, but there doesn't seem to be any kind of "FIRE LINDY!" uprising forming, atleast not yet. I hope it stays that way.
Here's the thing: I understand if people are critical of Lindy. I've been more perplexed by him this year than any other year in the past. I've spent most of my days on IR hanging out over at Interchangeable Parts and Pookie has suggested more than once that it's time for Lindy to move on, if for no other reason than just to shake things up. And my brain gets it. My brain understands that yeah, maybe a new face coming in and saying, "I don't know you and I don't care about whatever garbage is going on here, this is how it's gonna be" would wake the team up. (Though my brain also gets that the Interchangeable Parts girls are Devils fans and therefore barely have coaches long enough to remember their names much less fall in love with them :P)
But at the mere mention of Lindy going somewhere else - especially if it comes about because of a firing! - my heart freaks out and my fingers start typing every defense I can think of, some that make sense, some that don't. Lindy can't make the goal scorers score goals. He can't make the defense more consistent and he can't make the goalies steal games. He can't take players who aren't physical by nature and turn them into grinders. He can't make spoiled professional athletes work hard and play like they want to win. Any lack of effort is on the players. I don't care if teams usually fire coaches because it's easier than firing the players. In fact, I've now stated in more than one place that if it's between firing Lindy and firing the team, I'd gladly say a fond farewell to every guy on the roster. And while that's the kind of hyperbolic statement someone would usually make just to get a point across, I think I might actually mean it. Take that albatross of a contract somewhere else, Thomas. Go get your 6 million in another city, Brian. Let someone else worry about your groins, Timmy and Max. Goose and Mairsy, I hope you find somewhere soft to land. Jochen, it's been a blast. Hank... Hank, I think I'll miss you most of all. But seriously, I don't care if Rob Ray and James Patrick have to come out of retirement so that we can field a full team - heck, let Lindy play - just do whatever needs to be done to keep Lindy Ruff in Buffalo until I die.
So I just wanted to give you all fair warning that if it comes to a point where people really do start talking about firing Lindy I'm going to squeeze my eyes shut and wish the whole conversation away. I won't defend him because my arguments will be irrational and desperate but I won't take part either and I'll never, ever, ever agree as long as there's still breath left in my body.
Okay, now to go totally off-topic...
I had a week or so of zen, but I really need to get this cast off and I need to do it ASAP. If I had a saw, I'd just do it myself. I'm enjoying the sitting around and reading and watching DVDs etc, I would just like to be able to carry a plate of food from the kitchen to another room. Is that asking so much?
Books I've read since being disabled: Rayzor's Edge: Rob Ray's Tough Life on the Ice (pretty good), Searching for Bobby Orr (excellent), Breaking the Ice: My Journey to Olympic Hockey, the Ivy League, and Beyond (okay), The Parting (good), and On Chesil Beach (overrated :::clap, clap, clapclapclap)
Currently reading: Home to Holly Springs and Brodeur: Beyond the Crease
DVDs I've watched since being disabled: Once (awesome - the best movie I've seen from last year and one of the best movies I've seen in the past few years), Knocked Up (pretty good but not great), Superbad (totally overrated but not really my thing), Stardust (liked it more than I expected to), Veronica Mars: Season One (very good), 3:10 to Yuma (very, very good), and Waitress (sweet and funny and geez, why hasn't Hollywood made a star out of Nathan Fillion - weak-chinned or not - yet?)
Currently watching: 30 Rock: Season One with Battlestar Galactica on deck
Heather B's favorite Oscar nominee: Falling Slowly for Best Original Song
Monday, December 31, 2007
Odds and Ends on an Off Day
With rumors of Marv Levy's impending resignation, let me just take this opportunity to offer my fellow bloggers a friendly reminder that "resign" and "re-sign" are not the same thing. They mean pretty much the opposite really and are therefore not interchangeable.
Well, our Ice Bowl tickets have officially changed hands. Today Kate dropped by to snatch them up and it was a picture of agony. Initially I refused to let go and she finally had to pry my fingers away one by one while the sound of my sobbing echoed across the Southtowns. Unfortunately there is no medication that can heal this particular brand of pain. Okay, I'm kidding. We whined and moaned about how the Sabres have been playing, said a prayer that Soupy doesn't end up overpaid, giggled over the big story in the paper about the musical career of Drew Stafford (complete with awesome photos), and assured each other that Ryan Miller loves playing in Buffalo and will be here forever and ever and ever. And then the tickets were happily and proudly passed on to what I'm sure will be a loving and appreciative home. Plus she brought delicious cookies!
And now, the very first Top Shelf Book Review! Rayzor's Edge: Rob Ray's Tough Life on the Ice by Rob Ray and Budd Bailey
I received Rayzor's Edge for Christmas which turned out to be very helpful since reading is, thankfully, not a weight-bearing activity. I read this during my first couple of days home from the hospital. I didn't really expect much of out of it which is probably a good thing because I would've been disappointed. It's not bad, there's just not much to it. I ended up a little sorry that I read all the excerpts featured in the Buffalo News at the time of the book's release because they were some of the most interesting parts of the book. Again, what's here isn't boring but it just feels incomplete, like huge chunks of Rob Ray's career were skipped over. I give Rob credit for being completely upfront about how he feels about people - if he likes them he says so, if he doesn't he says that too. I was disappointed that we didn't get more on the whole John Muckler/Ted Nolan/Dominik Hasek dynamic. Rob says the players were being told different things from different sides and none of them really knew what was going on and while that's probably true, it didn't make for very exciting reading.
Still, despite what may sound like a lukewarm review, it was a good, quick read and I think anyone who was a fan of Rob or the team during his playing years will find something to enjoy. If nothing else, the book definitely gives you the feeling that Rob is sincere in his love for Buffalo and the people here and that's worth something. I might have gotten a little teary-eyed while reading the last page. Then again, that could've been the wooziness from the pain killers.
My favorite story from the book:
After a particularly lackluster game, Ted Nolan canceled the scheduled day off and told the players to show up for practice the next day. He had everyone skate in circles for twenty minutes and then shoot on the goalies for ten minutes. They went through that rotation a few times, skating, shooting, skating, shooting, no one quite sure what was going on. Then Ted stopped them all, screamed, "You wasted everyone's time last night and today I wasted yours!" and turned around and left. Wonder if the fellas had a similar practice this morning...
A few Rob Ray YouTube moments (Pay attention, Andrew Peters. This is how you fight in the NHL):
Well, our Ice Bowl tickets have officially changed hands. Today Kate dropped by to snatch them up and it was a picture of agony. Initially I refused to let go and she finally had to pry my fingers away one by one while the sound of my sobbing echoed across the Southtowns. Unfortunately there is no medication that can heal this particular brand of pain. Okay, I'm kidding. We whined and moaned about how the Sabres have been playing, said a prayer that Soupy doesn't end up overpaid, giggled over the big story in the paper about the musical career of Drew Stafford (complete with awesome photos), and assured each other that Ryan Miller loves playing in Buffalo and will be here forever and ever and ever. And then the tickets were happily and proudly passed on to what I'm sure will be a loving and appreciative home. Plus she brought delicious cookies!
And now, the very first Top Shelf Book Review! Rayzor's Edge: Rob Ray's Tough Life on the Ice by Rob Ray and Budd Bailey
I received Rayzor's Edge for Christmas which turned out to be very helpful since reading is, thankfully, not a weight-bearing activity. I read this during my first couple of days home from the hospital. I didn't really expect much of out of it which is probably a good thing because I would've been disappointed. It's not bad, there's just not much to it. I ended up a little sorry that I read all the excerpts featured in the Buffalo News at the time of the book's release because they were some of the most interesting parts of the book. Again, what's here isn't boring but it just feels incomplete, like huge chunks of Rob Ray's career were skipped over. I give Rob credit for being completely upfront about how he feels about people - if he likes them he says so, if he doesn't he says that too. I was disappointed that we didn't get more on the whole John Muckler/Ted Nolan/Dominik Hasek dynamic. Rob says the players were being told different things from different sides and none of them really knew what was going on and while that's probably true, it didn't make for very exciting reading.
Still, despite what may sound like a lukewarm review, it was a good, quick read and I think anyone who was a fan of Rob or the team during his playing years will find something to enjoy. If nothing else, the book definitely gives you the feeling that Rob is sincere in his love for Buffalo and the people here and that's worth something. I might have gotten a little teary-eyed while reading the last page. Then again, that could've been the wooziness from the pain killers.
My favorite story from the book:
After a particularly lackluster game, Ted Nolan canceled the scheduled day off and told the players to show up for practice the next day. He had everyone skate in circles for twenty minutes and then shoot on the goalies for ten minutes. They went through that rotation a few times, skating, shooting, skating, shooting, no one quite sure what was going on. Then Ted stopped them all, screamed, "You wasted everyone's time last night and today I wasted yours!" and turned around and left. Wonder if the fellas had a similar practice this morning...
A few Rob Ray YouTube moments (Pay attention, Andrew Peters. This is how you fight in the NHL):
Monday, September 3, 2007
Home Again, Home Again Jig, Jig, Jig
Well, did you miss me? I spent my first day back in town unwinding and surfing the net to see what went on while I was gone but it seems like things were pretty quiet, especially in the hockey world. I was relieved to see that I made it back just in time for the final unveiling of Kate's Favorite Sabre. Congratulations to the big winner! (You'll have to check out the link if you want to see the victor. I'm not spoiling it!)
I spent much of my vacation in the car which means lots of sleeping and reading. One of the things I've had to adjust to in switching my primary sports allegiance from baseball to hockey is the lack of hockey literature. Granted, no sport matches up with baseball literature of which there is a freakin' ton, some overly pretentious and dramatic but some of it just plain beautiful and emotional. I've managed to dig up a few goodies though. Before break I read Money Players: The Amazing Rise and Fall of Bob Goodenow and the NHL Players Association by Bruce Dowbiggin and while on break I finished off Road Games: A Year in the Life of the NHL by Roy MacGregor. The subtitle of Money Players pretty much explains what the book is about - Bob Goodenow's take over of the NHLPA and the overall financial health of the league, up to the season long lockout a couple of years ago. Road Games is a journey through the 1992-93 season (or as Mark calls it, "the year Lemieux got cancer and stole Patty's (LaFontaine) Hart"). The book focuses on, among other things, the first season of the Ottawa Senators, the battle for last place and a chance at Alexandre Daigle, the rise of numerous European stars, the expansion of the league, and the never-ending battle between players and ownership. I recommend both very much, especially Road Games. The journey of the Senators is particularly good, alternately funny and sad, heart-breaking and inspirational. I thought Money Players was fascinating but I'm really interested in all that behind the scenes stuff that fans usually aren't privy to. (During the intermission of a Sabres game shortly after the trade deadline, we saw a video package of Darcy Regier wheeling and dealing with Lindy Ruff coming in and out. Even though the names on the master white board were blacked out and even though the footage was carefully cut so that we weren't hearing any guys being offered for extra pucks and a box of orange Dreamsicles, I could watched footage like that all night. I was completely captivated.) Anyway, Money Players was a bit dry at times and I know that stuff is not everyone's cup of tea. But! While reading these two books, I discovered what's wrong with the NHL.
GMs are stupid.
Really, that's all there is to it. The vast majority of the GMs in the NHL are stupid morons who panic at the first sign of trouble. There's always one guy who's going to throw wads of money at every free agent star he can, okay? We all know that. That doesn't mean the rest of the GMs have to follow but... they do. Every single time they do! So Eric Lindros got an insane rookie contract. I know that means the next kid is going to want one too but you know what, GMs? That doesn't mean you have to give it to him! If the rest of you would just sit on your hands and let the big spender spend, eventually people would realize, hey, maybe that's not the best way to build a team. This is especially true when working with a salary cap. Maybe players would realize if they're serious about eating cereal out of the Stanley Cup one day, they might need to take a little less money so they can actually have other talent around them. (Some players would decide they didn't really care that much about that ol' Cup anyway but I think many would get the point. Maybe.) Throughout both Money Players and Road Games there is example upon example of GMs shooting themselves in the collective foot. No one is putting a gun to their head and forcing them to overpay players but they do it anyway. Money Players is loaded with quotes from various GMs saying things like, "Yeah, that was stupid. I don't know why we all did that." But. they. keep. being. stupid.
This is so frustrating! If the players agreed to a $10 salary cap some idiot GM would offer his star player a contract for $9.75. And instead of letting that idiot GM figure out how he's going to ice a full roster with his remaining 25 cents, some other idiot GM would decide, Hey, I want that player, and offer him $9.77. And yet another idiot GM would decide he was going to be the top dog and go for broke, offering $9.92 even though no one else's offer was even close to that and the majority of local media and fans would applaud him for proving he wants to ice a winner while completely ignoring the fact that he now has 8 cents to work with which means the team mascot will have to play in the top defensive pairing. (And I'm sorry, but why is the Hurricanes mascot a pig?!)
How infuriating do you think this is for GMs who are logical, level-headed thinkers? And yes, despite what many in Buffalo might say, I'm including Regier in that group. (Sidenote: Lou Lamoriello is totally the star of Money Players. Throughout the book he makes comments like, "We really messed that one up" but he very clearly means, "Can you believe I have to co-exist with these idiots?" He's awesome.) Forget you, Buffalo! I say, good for Darcy for letting someone else overpay Daniel Briere and yes, I'm saying it, Chris Drury. Congratulations, Lou for never flinching when a player - any player - demands more than you want to pay him. Thank you, Brian Burke for patting Dustin Penner on the back and saying, "I like you kid, but I don't like you that much." It's nice to see a little sanity creep in once in a while.
Way back on July 6th, I wrote a little entry on why the sounds of the game are one of the reasons why I love hockey. In that entry I mentioned the distinctive blaring of goal horns. Well, some genius out there in the universe put together this video, pairing each horn with its team (a few teams are left out be he covers most of them). It's a really cool idea and it's neat to hear how really distinctive the horns are. Even more so than I realized. Oh, I saw this at Kukla's Korner and borrowed it. Enjoy!
Hey, anyone have any hockey books you'd recommend?
I spent much of my vacation in the car which means lots of sleeping and reading. One of the things I've had to adjust to in switching my primary sports allegiance from baseball to hockey is the lack of hockey literature. Granted, no sport matches up with baseball literature of which there is a freakin' ton, some overly pretentious and dramatic but some of it just plain beautiful and emotional. I've managed to dig up a few goodies though. Before break I read Money Players: The Amazing Rise and Fall of Bob Goodenow and the NHL Players Association by Bruce Dowbiggin and while on break I finished off Road Games: A Year in the Life of the NHL by Roy MacGregor. The subtitle of Money Players pretty much explains what the book is about - Bob Goodenow's take over of the NHLPA and the overall financial health of the league, up to the season long lockout a couple of years ago. Road Games is a journey through the 1992-93 season (or as Mark calls it, "the year Lemieux got cancer and stole Patty's (LaFontaine) Hart"). The book focuses on, among other things, the first season of the Ottawa Senators, the battle for last place and a chance at Alexandre Daigle, the rise of numerous European stars, the expansion of the league, and the never-ending battle between players and ownership. I recommend both very much, especially Road Games. The journey of the Senators is particularly good, alternately funny and sad, heart-breaking and inspirational. I thought Money Players was fascinating but I'm really interested in all that behind the scenes stuff that fans usually aren't privy to. (During the intermission of a Sabres game shortly after the trade deadline, we saw a video package of Darcy Regier wheeling and dealing with Lindy Ruff coming in and out. Even though the names on the master white board were blacked out and even though the footage was carefully cut so that we weren't hearing any guys being offered for extra pucks and a box of orange Dreamsicles, I could watched footage like that all night. I was completely captivated.) Anyway, Money Players was a bit dry at times and I know that stuff is not everyone's cup of tea. But! While reading these two books, I discovered what's wrong with the NHL.
GMs are stupid.
Really, that's all there is to it. The vast majority of the GMs in the NHL are stupid morons who panic at the first sign of trouble. There's always one guy who's going to throw wads of money at every free agent star he can, okay? We all know that. That doesn't mean the rest of the GMs have to follow but... they do. Every single time they do! So Eric Lindros got an insane rookie contract. I know that means the next kid is going to want one too but you know what, GMs? That doesn't mean you have to give it to him! If the rest of you would just sit on your hands and let the big spender spend, eventually people would realize, hey, maybe that's not the best way to build a team. This is especially true when working with a salary cap. Maybe players would realize if they're serious about eating cereal out of the Stanley Cup one day, they might need to take a little less money so they can actually have other talent around them. (Some players would decide they didn't really care that much about that ol' Cup anyway but I think many would get the point. Maybe.) Throughout both Money Players and Road Games there is example upon example of GMs shooting themselves in the collective foot. No one is putting a gun to their head and forcing them to overpay players but they do it anyway. Money Players is loaded with quotes from various GMs saying things like, "Yeah, that was stupid. I don't know why we all did that." But. they. keep. being. stupid.
This is so frustrating! If the players agreed to a $10 salary cap some idiot GM would offer his star player a contract for $9.75. And instead of letting that idiot GM figure out how he's going to ice a full roster with his remaining 25 cents, some other idiot GM would decide, Hey, I want that player, and offer him $9.77. And yet another idiot GM would decide he was going to be the top dog and go for broke, offering $9.92 even though no one else's offer was even close to that and the majority of local media and fans would applaud him for proving he wants to ice a winner while completely ignoring the fact that he now has 8 cents to work with which means the team mascot will have to play in the top defensive pairing. (And I'm sorry, but why is the Hurricanes mascot a pig?!)
How infuriating do you think this is for GMs who are logical, level-headed thinkers? And yes, despite what many in Buffalo might say, I'm including Regier in that group. (Sidenote: Lou Lamoriello is totally the star of Money Players. Throughout the book he makes comments like, "We really messed that one up" but he very clearly means, "Can you believe I have to co-exist with these idiots?" He's awesome.) Forget you, Buffalo! I say, good for Darcy for letting someone else overpay Daniel Briere and yes, I'm saying it, Chris Drury. Congratulations, Lou for never flinching when a player - any player - demands more than you want to pay him. Thank you, Brian Burke for patting Dustin Penner on the back and saying, "I like you kid, but I don't like you that much." It's nice to see a little sanity creep in once in a while.
Way back on July 6th, I wrote a little entry on why the sounds of the game are one of the reasons why I love hockey. In that entry I mentioned the distinctive blaring of goal horns. Well, some genius out there in the universe put together this video, pairing each horn with its team (a few teams are left out be he covers most of them). It's a really cool idea and it's neat to hear how really distinctive the horns are. Even more so than I realized. Oh, I saw this at Kukla's Korner and borrowed it. Enjoy!
Hey, anyone have any hockey books you'd recommend?
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