Rocket Richard is the Man

Thank goodness! Butterstick Zimmerman isn't going anywhere any time soon (courtesy of the Washingtonian):

The star third baseman bought this seven-year-old, three-bedroom end townhouse in Arlington’s Clarendon neighborhood for $965,000. The 3,000 square-foot house has floor-to-ceiling windows, a two-sided fireplace, and a two-car garage.

He's in a great location, especially for being a young and highly coveted athlete. He's walking distance from Clarendon Ballroom, O'somebody's faux Irish pub (they're all the same in Arlington), and the soon-to-be likely hotspot Liberty Tavern. Ryan Zimmerman, coming soon to a yuppie bar near you...

Last night Chanuck and I went to the Canadian Embassy for this (thanks Mr. Smooth for the heads-up):

As part of this year's Francophonie in DC Festival, the Quebec Government Office and the Canadian Embassy invite you to a special screening of the award-winning film by director Charles Binamé: Maurice Richard (The Rocket), 2005. Starring Roy Dupuis as the legendary Maurice "The Rocket" Richard, this biopic follows the early life and times of one of the greatest players in hockey history. The film was nominated in 13 categories for the 27th Genie Awards in 2007 and won nine of the 22 awards. It was also nominated for a Jutra Award in 14 categories, including Best Actor for Roy Dupuis. An English-language trailer can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFL8mwinLPM

It was in French, with English subtitles (even though half the movie was actually in English). You should've heard the gasps of excitement in the audience when Patrick Roy's name appeared on the screen as a contributor or something. I enjoyed it very much, especially the part where Sean Avery got beaten to a pulp- it was a dream come true. The only problem was that the guy who played Maurice Richard reminded me of someone who I couldn't put my finger on. It came to me this morning:

Separated at birth?

update, 5:42 p.m.: Hi Roy Dupuis Message Board readers! (Wow, there's a lot of you.) I meant no offense to Roy, really. To be fair, I'm adding a non-Maurice Richard character pic. Better? :-)

So a severed leg washed up on my estate...

There was an interesting omission in a recent Houston Chronicle article about men's college basketball coach Tom Penders:

His teams have gone 584-400 in his 33 years of coaching at Tufts, Columbia, Fordham, Rhode Island, Texas and Houston.

Huh. Funny that there's no mention of GW among those schools. Why is that?

When Jarvis left for St. John's after the 1997-98 season, Tom Penders came in and made one more NCAA tournament, but he resigned after three seasons in a scandal involving players who made long-distance calls on an assistant coach's calling card.

Not surprisingly, the name of that assistant coach was Tom Penders, Jr. Apparently there was also a lot of favoritism with the players. Now, the calling card story may not seem like a big deal, but Penders has a history of weird issues:

Penders was forced out at Texas after four of his players went to the house of the athletic director, DeLoss Dodds, on March 8 to say that they had lost faith in the coach and his program.

I wonder how THAT happened.

Well, it's not just "pick on Tom Penders" day- it's also "laugh at NYC" time!

A severed human leg that washed up Wednesday on the Long Island Sound estate of billionaire James Dolan was possibly linked to a tattooed torso discovered inside a suitcase three weeks ago on a Westchester County beach, authorities said. Dolan is the CEO of Cablevision Systems Corp. and the chairman of Madison Square Garden, owner of the New York Knicks and New York Rangers.

Ew...

Here's another one. Wonder what happened here?

George Steinbrenner's daughter filed divorce papers this week against her husband, Steve Swindal, a move that appears to end his chance to take over as head of the New York Yankees. In June 2005, Steinbrenner said Swindal eventually would succeed him as head of the Yankees. Swindal currently is a Yankees general partner and chairman of Yankee Global Enterprises LLC. The New York Times, citing a source with direct knowledge of the situation, reported on Wednesday that Steinbrenner now has no intention of promoting Swindal, but removing him from the team altogether could be complicated since he is a partial owner of the club.

Looks like someone's gravy train ran out of steam! Bummer for him, I guess. I'm curious if his DUI in February was an embarrassment to the family and he had to go? Who knows. Steinbrenner seems fickle and stubborn, all at the same time.

The way to Play

How is it that Miss Chatter and I get less airtime than some clueless girl who doesn't know who Bobby Boswell is? Maybe I should have done a jig like the girl's friend (or Ashlee Simpson, for that matter)...

It's a conspiracy!

So I was perusing the Washington Post online, as I do every morning, and noticed a story in the Sports section:

"Kobe's Streak Ends; Lakers Embarrassed"

Since I'm neither a Kobe fan nor a Lakers fan, I wanted to read all about how the Lakers were embarrassed. I clicked on the link and this is what I was greeted with:

I read the first line ("L.A. Lakers 88, Grizzlies 86") and was confused about how the Lakers were embarrassed; after all, according to that score, they won, right? Then I kept reading and realized that "the lowly Grizzlies" actually had a "shocking 88-86 victory" over the Lakers. Yeah, they made a mistake. But it underscores another point: while no one would argue that the Grizzlies are anything but "lowly" with a 18-54 record, L.A. isn't exactly a powerhouse. So why all the love and adulation for the Lakers? They have one amazing player and that's about it. A 38-33 record is hardly the stuff of, say, Dallas, Phoenix, or Utah. I will never understand it.

Noticed at the Caps game last night: the Dunkin Donuts stand at the Phone Booth featured yellow-frosted donuts as the special of the day. Yellow, when the Penguins are in town? That's just wrong.

Screw winning the Cup, just buy it

Thought this snippet from Tarik's blog was interesting:

Semin and Bryan Muir dropped their gloves and exchanged punches toward the end of yesterday's practice. The confrontation began after Muir checked Semin in the corner during a five-on-five drill. Neither player was injured during the fight, but Muir appeared to be bleeding from the nose. Ironically, it was enforcer Donald Brashear who broke up the scrap.

It's nice to see that Semin can get into it when needed. Of course, it would be better if he would scrap with guys who aren't on his team, but baby steps, you know?

In case you ever wanted one, you can buy your very own Stanley Cup replica, complete with gloves, crate, and table cover:

This officially licensed 2' tall replica Stanley Cup® Trophy Pack from UPI Marketing includes a crate, table cover, white gloves and a "New Keeper of the Cup" Certificate.

It can be yours for the bargain price of $224.99. Seriously! Now, who do they expect to buy this, exactly? It's not like you're going to walk into someone's house and be like, "Wow, you own the Stanley Cup?" Every hockey fan will know it's a replica. I guess you could convince some dumbasses, but what's the point of spending $225 to do that? I suppose one could do all the things with it that the players do, like drink crap beer or Carolina Hurricanes out of it or throw it into a pool. Yeah!

There is a God

Someone up there was listening to my prayers:

Joe Theismann will be replaced on ESPN's Monday Night Football, says an industry official with direct knowledge of the move.

What a relief that MNF will not be "The Joe Theismann Show" anymore. Sure, sometimes I don't mind listening to narcissistic jerks (that's why I'll watch "Around the Horn" on occasion), but for the most part, what purpose did Theismann serve other than being the obnoxious blowhard? "Well, that's not how we did it when *I* was in the league." "I had one game where I threw 500 complete passes in a row." You get the point. I'm still not completely sold on Kornheiser, but I like Mike Tirico. Here's the prospective candidates to join them:

Candidates to replace Theismann include ESPN studio analyst Ron Jaworski, as well as Bill Parcells and Emmitt Smith, who were recently hired as studio analysts.

Jaws would be a great addition. Parcells and Smith? Eh. Parcells might have some good insights, but Smith would just be more of the same. "When *I* was in the game..." I'd love to know how he continues to be employed.

By the way, here's the latest in jewelry boxes. Just ask Michael Vick!

Dumbass. Who uses a water bottle as a "jewelry box?" Give me a break.

In case you missed it...

To be honest, I missed it too. Here's Peyton Manning in a skit on SNL. According to ESPN, everyone was fair game in Peyton's monologue:

"He then introduced his brother Eli -- the New York Giants' starting quarterback -- before asking his mother, Olivia, to stand up during the live television broadcast on NBC."

"She never made it to the NFL," Manning said, feigning disgust. "Didn't have what it took. Got cut by the Dolphins, tried Canada for a bit. She's a real disappointment for all of us."

Still trying to grasp the concept of "free"

Oh boy oh boy oh boy!

I'm trying to figure out if the Redskins learned from last year's "Fan Appreciation Day" or not. Like last time, this event features "free admission", and there's also "free hourly giveaways" and "free autographs." At a minimum, this one has free parking. However, it's in Williamsburg, so if you don't mind driving 3 1/2 hours to get there and spending $2.50/gallon on gas, it's free. I'm wondering about the "Dress Like a Redskin" photo op. It isn't marked free; does that mean you'd have to pay for the opportunity to dress like a potato/Indian? In all seriousness, would you really want to put on a sweaty helmet or jersey that 10,000 other sweaty kids have put on?

I'll give the Skins credit: at least they're trying. Draft day events (and pre-draft day parties, for that matter) are among the most boring events in sports, IMO. Please don't tell me that people were glued to their TVs in 1998 to watch Ryan Leaf get drafted? I realize that for every Ryan Leaf you've got a Reggie Bush or a Peyton Manning, but how about the guys who weren't even drafted and turn out to be stars (Rod Smith, Adam Vinatieri)? Now you know what I'm NOT doing at the end of April.

We put the "spring" in Springfield

I am so ready for spring. Days like today (well, the afternoon, anyway) are my favorite of the year: beautiful weather, no pollen. Plus, they put me in the baseball mood. Is Opening Day here yet?

The Nationals have been doing surprisingly well at spring training. They've actually won four of their last five games! I'm not sure what to think yet- obviously one can't predict how a team is going to do based on the preseason. (Then again, there are teams like the 2006 Redskins whose preseason accurately showed how the team would do that year.) I'm glad that the Nats are supposed to be this year's Kansas City Royals; when expectations are low, you're never disappointed. Plus, it makes it easier to move around and sit anywhere in the stadium. Losing does get annoying after a while. As long as it's not like Homer Simpson's team...

Lenny: Homer, last year we were 2 and 28.
Homer: Look, I know it wasn't our best season...
Lenny: Actually, it was.

Check out the size of those eggs

A newer Eagle Insurance ad (early 2000s, they say), just as stupid as the other one. Look at those low rates!

I never knew they were called "Zubaz" and not "Zoombas"

In Part II of Miss Chatter and myself posing with a local athlete, here's us with Bobby Boswell at his website launch at Play last night:Note that Bobby's wearing DCU colors- red and black. (I don't think it was intentional, but who knows?) He wanted to wear a tux, cowboy boots, and a cowboy hat, but was talked out of it by a couple of his close friends. Too bad, it would have been fun, but he looked great nonetheless. (Then again, he'd look good in Zubaz and a muscle shirt.) Nice guy, enjoyed meeting him.

Fun party, interesting crowd (a fascinating one to watch, for sure)- a good night was had by all. Plus, it's always entertaining to talk to Dan Steinberg, even though I was disappointed that he didn't have a pic of his baby girl to show. And as always, it's great to see Miss Chatter and Mr. Smooth.

Is this for real?

Saw it on The Soup recently- the hair just kills me. That and the way the one chick says, "No." Pure comedy gold.

Quickie

Around 1:30 a.m. on Friday night/Saturday morning, Chanuck and I were in the lobby of our NYC hotel waiting for the extremely slow elevator. There were a few other people in the small-but-fashionable lobby, who appeared to have just come in (from National, judging by the luggage tags). One man in particular, who was very tall and wearing a (ick) Sabres hat, seemed very jumpy and nervous and wouldn't stop moving around; he caught my eye for that reason. But I never recognize anyone; they never look like their on-field or on-screen personas. Chanuck whispered in my ear, "That's Jim Kelly, the Bills quarterback." Sure enough, it was. Wonder what he was doing in the Big Apple...

Ah, TSN

You'd think they could wait until the game is over to get the correct final score before posting an article that mentions Tampa Bay's embarrassing loss in Washington. I'm OK with mentioning the shellacking, but at least get the score right!
(You'll note that in the Beasts story, the score is 5-1, while the story underneath it has the right score, 7-1.)

Also note Tkachuk's cute pink stick, for breast cancer awareness. It seemed to help, as he scored the winning goal in Buffalo.

Speaking of the Trash, when I was perusing their crappy press release archives (they haven't updated since February), is it wrong that I giggled like a schoolgirl to read this headline?
"02/01 -- Thrashers Acquire Delmore and Deveax in Exchange for Wanvig, Baby"

My initial reaction: The Thrashers had a baby and gave it up to Tampa Bay?
Yes, the player in question is named "Stephen Baby," though it's pronounced "BAH-bee." Kinda like "Ass-WEE-pay" or "Shuh-TAN."
Imagine that name on the back of a jersey; if he ever makes it to the NHL on a full-time basis, would anyone wear his sweater?

This & that

The only thing that helped to temper the disappointment of GW's men's team's performance was this:
I didn't think Duke deserved to be in the tournament in the first place, given their crappy play this year. But of course DOOK has to be in it! It wouldn't be the NCAAs without them! Hah.

This was nice, too:
Way to go, Emilio!

Not a fan of this, though:

The custom-made kit included Bonds' name and #25 on the back. It was such a hit with Bonds and his teammates that several other players have requested their own.

So sick of Barry Bonds, but I'm all right with other Giants wearing the jerseys. Kinda funny, in a way.

You knew I was going to go there

This is a really nice gesture:

Canada's National Women's Team will wear pink jerseys for one game during the 2007 IIHF World Women's Championship, Hockey Canada announced Thursday. The jerseys, to be worn for one game on April 7th, will honour the 1990 National Women's Team, the first-ever women's world champions.

You know what would be even better? Instead of wearing pink jerseys to honor them, how about wearing, say, replica jerseys of the 1990 National Women's Team?

The initiative will also show support for breast cancer research and Hockey Canada's grassroots programs.

Now, I'm OK with wearing pink jerseys for breast cancer research support. But Hockey Canada's grassroots programs? I don't quite get that. People, pink does not automatically mean women, believe it or not.

(Props to Karsten Brown, who created the above image. Hope Karsten doesn't mind my borrowing it. This should be the only time that the STD queen appears on my blog.)

This is an interesting POV. Got the heads-up from someone at the Washingtonian:

On the Wednesday before the start of the NCAA basketball tournament, March madness has overtaken the nation, and the Washington Post has not one column on the front of the Sports section. Nada. Zip. The biggest sports section in the nation’s capital published no columns...[Tony] Kornheiser dished about plastic surgery, suggested his partner, Mike Wilbon, has had some on his eyes, and added: “I would like to get a couple of things done.”

I realize that Washingtonian is not a publication to be throwing stones. Still, they have a point: the day before is a day of speculation, of what could be, of who the next Cinderella team will be. ESPN and USA Today had plenty of columns about the tournament. Even the Washington Times had something. So where's the Post columnists? At least the Bog kept up a lot of NCAA chatter (and props to Marc Carig for picking GW, even though they sucked).

Free drinks and Bobby Boswell

Well, the drinks are free from 10-12 if you're a woman, anyway...but it sounds like fun, especially for the DCU crowd.

The city of Garcia love

Sometimes a girl's got to get the h--- out of town. This past weekend Chanuck and I went to Philadelphia to visit some friends. In our haste to get downtown on Saturday, we didn't think about two key things that were going on:
- the flower show
- the Flyers game
So that led to a nice big congested mess. Oh well.

Speaking of the Cryers, Chanuck had a nice little argument with a fan in a pickup truck. Seems the fan took exception to Chanuck's personalized Caps license plate- but it was all in good fun. I'll get him to post the story soon.

On Sunday, in our haste to get downtown, we didn't think about two key things that were going on:
- the flower show
- the St. Patrick's Day parade
At least there wasn't a Flyers game going on.

This sign highly amused me.

People looked like this EVERYWHERE around Philly yesterday.

It's not just lunch. It's LUNCH! And it's super.

We spent the entire weekend wondering who would buy $railroad-damaged appliances$ and just how damaged would they be- like "flattened penny on the tracks" damaged or merely fell off the back of the train?

The inside scoop on Brashear's catwalk

I posted the video the other day of Brash's strut at the Caps season ticket holder event. Believe it or not, it could have been even greater. My wonderful inside source tells me that before Brashear was about to go out, he spotted Slapshot standing there.
"Give me your head," Brash says.
"What?!?" says Slapshot.
"Give me your head!"
Can you imagine how great it would have been to see Brashear walking out with Slapshot's head on? Too bad it would have scared the kiddies- it would have been the moment of the year.

Avery lays down the law

The hockey world is abuzz with talk about Chris Simon's nasty hit on Ryan Hollweg in last night's Rangers-Islanders game. But how about this quote from miniature whiny jerk Sean Avery?

"I think that's just as bad as what Marty McSorley did to Brashear," Rangers agitator Sean Avery said of Simon. "You can't just two-hand a guy in the face with your stick."

Fundamentally, I agree with him. However, I think it's funny that Avery, of all people, is talking about what a player can and can't do. Apparently it's acceptable to shove a guy in other areas, no matter how dangerous the results could be:

I call this one "Stop hitting yourself":

Personally, these are my favorite pics of Avery:

Tiger roars

Somehow I missed seeing this Hockey 'N Heels video until now. (Miss Chatter and I are in one of the shots- we're getting seated by the white-haired guy.) Watching it again, I only wish Carol Maloney had finished the toast:
"Here's to the men that we love
Here's to the men that love us
But if the men that we love aren't the men who love us,
Then f*$& all the men and here's to us."

How about Tiger Woods?

So Tiger Woods was in town -- perhaps you heard? On his last stop Wednesday, a reception at American Red Cross headquarters where he was mobbed by swooning business leaders, Woods opened the floor to questions -- the perfect chance to ask him about Charles Barkley 's plan to launch him into politics with Barack Obama 's help. ("He's ready. . . . You'd be the perfect place for him to start," the former NBA star is quoted as telling the senator in this month's GQ.)
Soooo . . . true? Woods groaned. "Politics. . . . All I know is, that's harder than hitting a high draw," he said, to chuckles from the golf-happy crowd, who seemed to get the joke. "My life is pretty full now. I have this tournament, my wife and I are expecting our first child. . . . Politics, I don't know. I have a few things I want to take care of on the course first."
A shout from the back of the room: "So that's a yes?"

Only in Washington...

If you haven't seen it already...

A couple of blogs have posted this already, but it's worth sharing again. Brash sure knows how to rock a stage.

Monday, Monday

Don't forget about the Caps Bloggers Happy Hour on Monday at Grand Slam. You don't necessarily have to be a Caps blogger to attend, or even a Caps fan (though it helps). So far it sounds like a good crew will be there. Maybe our collective will can produce a win for the Caps, since they're overdue for one. Game against the Trashers starts at 7- hope to see you there!

Ichiro and his silver man-purse

I loved these items on benmaller.com:

The Phillie Phanatic was attacked Saturday morning by 93.3 WMMR DJ and Sixers' PA announcer Matt Cord's dog Scout. Cord was on air covering the line at the Wachovia Center box office, where tickets for The Police, playing this summer at Citizens Bank Park, went on sale...The Phanatic came outside of the Wachovia Center to start giving stuff away, when the mutt lunged at the lovable green goofball, prompting a man in line to shout that the dog "must be a Mets fan."

And this one about Ichiro Suzuki:

Former Mariners OF Jay Buhner is the master trash-talker, and Ichiro's wardrobe has provided a fine opportunity. Someone asked what Buhner would have done back in the day with Monday's ensemble, which included sparkly gold sneakers with a silver man purse. "We'd have dipped that (stuff), thrown it in the freezer and then taken it out right before he came off the field and hung it back up."

I desperately wanted to find a pic of Ichiro with this stuff on. That's almost as weird as the Ichiro Monchichi. Theme song, anyone?
"Monchichi, Monchichi, Oh so soft and cuddly..."

DING!

As much as I love Southwest (ok, not really), why can't these teams go to an airport that's, you know, closer to the town that they play in? Yes, I know that Southwest is the official airline of both teams (not that any of the players would ever fly it), and BWI is a hub. So what? Southwest flies out of Dulles now; why can't they go there?

MARCH 5- The Washington Wizards provided an assist to the team’s official airline by becoming Southwest Airlines’ Employees for the day. Wizards players Caron Butler, Roger Mason, Jr., Jarvis Hayes, DeShawn Stevenson, Andray Blatche, former player Gheorghe Muresan, Wizards’ Dance Team members and G-WIZ “subbed-in” for Southwest Airlines Operations Agents and Ramp Agents at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

Washington Capitals players Matt Bradley, Chris Clark, Ben Clymer, Matt Pettinger and Dainius Zubrus assisted the team’s official airline, Southwest Airlines, by becoming Southwest employees for the day on Thursday, Dec. 7, at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

I realize that the Caps would like to attract more fans from the Baltimore area, and the Bullets/Wizards used to play there. But dude, it's a hike; if I lived in Bawlmer, I sure wouldn't be trekking to DC for a hockey or basketball game on a regular basis. I love the "trading places" idea and wish they would do it at an airport that's closer to the fan base, one where fans might actually see them. But that's OK.

Is anyone really surprised by Ron Artest's recent arrest? What does it mean for the Kings?

"The Kings have excused Ron Artest indefinitely from any further participation with the team due to his arrest today for domestic violence. The Kings will continue to accumulate reliable and official facts and information over the next several days before taking any further action."

No sympathy here. They knew what they were getting when they (stupidly, IMHO) picked him up. I'm wondering about the fan reaction, especially after this recent comment someone left on my blog:

At 4:24 AM, Anonymous said…
hello! just thought i would share this with you-i'm writing from Sac california area- IT'S THE FUNNIEST THING to drive the very very popular highway 50 route from sac to lake tahoe-well someone DETESTED ARTEST as much as you do-there are banners, signs, posters posted on the freeway and overpasses "STARVE ARTEST" "DETEST ARTEST" "NO K-9'S "4" ARTEST" ETC... IT'S GREAT-THANK YOU ANIMAL MEDLER!!!!

I almost wish I could get out to Sacramento just to see what signs are going up now. If he was that disliked last week, what's it going to be like now?

This post from The Sports Hernia about Vladimir Radmanovic is worth checking out, if only for the "Miami drug dealer" photo...

The Uncertain Future of Maple Leaf Gardens

Any hockey fan, whether a Toronto fan or not, can admit that Leaf Gardens was an icon back in its day. So it's kind of sad to see what's going on with it now- the interior shots are fascinating.

Women's softball comes to DC

Bet you didn't know that there's a new team in town: the Washington Glory- women's professional fastpitch softball.
Yesterday on the show, we interviewed the Glory's owner, Paul Wilson. He told us about the team (so far they have several talented players, including Amber Jackson from UMD and Monica Abbott from Tennessee). Washington joins other teams in the league, powerhouses like Chicago, New England, Philadelphia, Akron, and Rockford, IL. (Apparently the Chicago area is huge for softball.) Yes, players like Jennie Finch (Chicago) and Cat Osterman (Rockford) are playing in the league. The Glory will play about 28 games at home (they'll play either in Loudoun County or Fairfax), so it's worth checking out.

But hey! If you want to own your own team, you can! All you need is about $300,000 and a stadium.