Revenge of the Nerds

Dear Buffalo fans from last night's Tragically Hip show,

We need to talk. I'm a little concerned about your behavior. Let's go through it, shall we?

- Did you know that The Tragically Hip is a band and this was a concert? I think you may have been confused, since many of you wore Sabres or Bills hats, t-shirts, jerseys, or any combination of the three. Now, hats are fine, t-shirts a little iffier. But jerseys? Who wears a hockey jersey to a show at the 9:30 Club? I apparently now have my answer- many, many people. I understand that the band is from Canada (Montreal, to be exact), but I don't think they're Sabres fans. Canadian wear, fine- it was interesting to see some of the hats or shirts that some members of the audience were wearing. But jerseys are for sporting events, not concerts.

- I'm sure you thought you were quite clever by taking every opportunity to yell, "Let's go Sabres", "Let's Go Buffalo", or "Rangers Suck." Indeed, all of the other lemmings were happy to yell with you. However, I can't help wondering if the encore would have been longer than 2 songs (the shortest encore I ever saw) if you hadn't been so persistent about yelling one of the aforementioned chants almost every time there was a lull. If I was in the band, I wouldn't want to play for you either.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
DC Sports Chick

On a side note, Chanuck and I ran into J.P. at the show and got the lowdown on the scene at Saturday's Sens-Devils game. Not surprisingly, he was able to score lower-level tickets the day before the game (and more were available the day of, I checked). Where are the Devils fans? For a team that won 3 cups in the recent past, you'd think there would be more fans around.

Yanks in the tank

The snow ho debate has started up again thanks to OFB. I'm not going to repeat myself anymore than I already have, so read Caps Chick's thoughts on the subject- I agree with her completely.

Onto the Nats- two in a row? Who'da thunk it? And over the hated Smets too! Guess they missed Radomski passing out drugs in the locker room. Anyway, I'm hoping this is all leading up to a big win next Saturday at Wrigley Field, when Chanuck and I head to the game. I fully expect lots of taunting from the Cubs faithful, especially regarding Soriano, but all will be forgiven if the Nats can pull off a win. Even if they lose the other games in the series! It's all about saving face. At the moment, the Nats aren't even the worst team in the league- that title goes to Kansas City, yet again. The Cubbies aren't too far up the ladder themselves, with a 9-13 record. (Nats are 8-15 as of today.) So who knows? The Nats could do it!

Similar to last year's Braves scenario, when was the last time you saw the Yankees in the basement? Awesome!

Special jersey alert- and it can be yours!

Don't forget to tune into the DC United game tomorrow:

On Saturday, the team known as the Black-and-Red will not be wearing their traditional colors. In honor and tribute to the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings, United will be sporting maroon jerseys, which will then be auctioned off to benefit the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund. Read more here: http://www.bobbyboswell.com/dc-united/virginia-tech-tribute-auction

And after you watch the game, go bid on one. It's an easy way to help, and you get a cool collectible!

Mememememememe

Marci-kins tagged me, so here goes:

A- Available or Single? Aren't they the same thing?
B- Best Friend: Chanuck, Miss M
C- Cake or Pie: Both, please
D- Drink of Choice: Diet Coke + anything, a beer at the game, vodka soda (just like Marci)
E- Essential Items: my iPod, sound machine, Caps hoodie, Nats hat
F- Favorite Color: Eagles green
G- Gummi Bears or Worms? Bears. ROAR!
H- Hometown: Wilmington, DE
I- Indulgence: Cool Whip right out of the tub. And not that fat-free crap either.
J- January or February: January- NFL playoffs, baby!
K- Kids: Someday
L- Life is incomplete without: NHL Center Ice, any teas from The Republic of Tea
M- Marriage Date: September, a few years ago
N- Number of Siblings: Older brother, younger sister
O- Oranges or Apples? Apples. Green ones, like my favorite color.
P- Phobias/Fears. Clowns...sleeping bags...hillbillies...Lucky's carrot people
Q- Favorite Quote: "To alcohol: the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems."- Homer Simpson
R- Reasons to smile: Sean Avery getting pummeled in "The Rocket." Too bad it's only a movie.
S- Season: Fall. The start of hockey and football seasons, MLB and MLS playoff time!
T- Tag Three: Chanuck, Lucky, Mr. Smooth
U- Unknown Fact About Me: I LOVE Neil Diamond. And Shane Doan.
V – Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animals? WTF kind of question is this? If I eat meat, I'm a killer? Ooh, I'm a bad girl.
W- Worst Habits: playing Sudoku for hours, not doing the dishes, shopping online
X – X-rays or Ultrasounds? Ultrasounds, I guess. X-rays remind me of the teeth ones at the dentist and I hate going there.
Y- Your Favorite Foods. BBQ...burgers...chicken tenders...desserts...peanuts...lasagna
Z- Zodiac: Libra. As if the moodiness didn't tip you off.

Michael Vick, so misunderstood

It's hard to be Michael Vick these days. When he's not passing the dutchie on the left hand side, he's not showing up on Capitol Hill or he's allowing his dogs to be treated like garbage. What an icon for our age!

The Falcons quarterback was scheduled to lobby on Capitol Hill, hoping to persuade lawmakers to increase funding for after-school programs. But Vick missed a connecting flight in Atlanta and failed to show for his Tuesday morning appearance.

Now, my first question after reading that statement was, "Why is he taking connecting flights? Surely someone as rich as he is can afford a nonstop?" And of course, the natural inclination is to blame the airline:

Vick's publicist, Susan Bass, said it wasn't his fault. The quarterback was in Tampa, Fla., on Monday to play in teammate Warrick Dunn's charity golf tournament, then caught a flight to Atlanta that was supposed to arrive in time for him to make another flight to Washington's Reagan National Airport. But the AirTran flight was late leaving Tampa, Vick missed his connection and wound up stuck in Atlanta, Bass said.

Lousy AirTran, right? Think again:

AirTran, which has an endorsement deal with Vick, gave a different account of Vick's travel arrangements. While acknowledging that the flight from Florida was late getting into Atlanta, causing him to miss his 8:35 p.m. connection, airline spokesman Tad Hutcheson said the player was booked on a 10:50 p.m. flight. Vick failed to show and the flight left Atlanta with about 20 empty seats, Hutcheson said.

What kind of low-class loser has an endorsement deal with AirTran? If I was going to endorse an airline, it would at least be one of the major ones...or JetBlue. Certainly not one who's best known for the Everglades disaster (as Valujet).

But that's besides the point. How many seats did he need? It's not like he's Nell Carter or anything.

Today, the news was all over the Hampton Roads TV stations:

Police are investigating the possible makings of a dog fighting ring based at a Surry County home owned by NFL star Michael Vick. Police found about 30 pit bull-type dogs, some heavily scarred, while conducting a search of the home where Vick’s cousin, Davon Boddie, lives. Vick is listed in county records as the property owner. Police obtained a search warrant after arresting Boddie in Hampton on marijuana charges April 19. Police, who were at the property Wednesday and Thursday, also found various paraphernalia associated with dog fighting, according to court records.

While investigators were at the property, they discovered three buildings behind the home that housed several barking dogs. "When they had a chance to go to the site, they discovered animal neglect," Surry County Administrator Tyrone Franklin. Franklin said that the dogs appeared to be hungry and forgotten.

I'll give him a teeny-tiny pass since he doesn't live at the house. But he does own it, and I'm sure he travels to that area periodically (on AirTran); it's not like he's never been to this house and had no idea that there were THREE BUILDINGS behind the home that housed dogs. I won't even go into the description of the dog "rape stand" that was in one of the buildings because I'm already sickened and angry enough. What's with this guy? Give him the Pacman Jones treatment (not the making it rain, the suspension). He obviously hasn't learned to stay out of trouble yet.

I wanna text you up

What's going on in women's college sports these days? Another coach has to quit because of "inappropriate conduct":

Boston College women's hockey coach Tom Mutch...abruptly resigned Tuesday after a university investigation into allegations of inappropriate conduct between him and a student-athlete...The Boston Herald, citing an anonymous source, reported the nature of the conduct involved graphic text messages allegedly sent to Mutch by 19-year-old Kelli Stack, who just completed her freshman season under Mutch...Mutch, who is married and whose wife gave birth to a girl in September, played hockey at Northeastern from 1986-88.

Class act all the way. What's with these people? First Pokey Chatman, now this guy. The recipients of this attention certainly share some of the blame, but it's the coaches who are ultimately at fault. Athletes look up to and depend on their coaches to mentor them and show them the way. Hard to do that with a bunch of inappropriate texts. If it's the students who are coming on to them, then it's up to the coach to nip it in the bud, not encourage it. And if it's the coaches who are starting it- well, that's even worse. I doubt BC would fire the guy if it was entirely one-sided, on the freshman's part, considering everything he's done for the women's hockey program there. Guess we'll find out soon enough.

Legendary Moments in the NHL

Since the NHL has the night off, here's some highlights over the years. Any compilation that features "The Goal" can't be all bad, right?

Sports-related, I swear

On Friday, Chanuck, a friend, and I took in Artomatic 2007 in Crystal City. If you're in the DC area, I highly recommend checking it out. There's always something interesting to see, whether it's Tic-Tac art:a chair made out of pull-tabs from cans (it took the guy 3 years!):

or a portrait of Mr. T:

I pity the fool who doesn't check me out!

Anyway, one of the most intriguing displays was the one that was the least expected. We were walking around the open space on the 8th floor when all of the sudden, my nostrils were pleasantly assaulted by the smell of buffalo wings. It was the DC Divas, who had one of the coolest areas: astroturf, big screen TV showing clips from their games, free posters, and food. I was a little intimidated to get anything (those women are tough), but I was suitably impressed by their display. It was attracting a lot of attention; even the security guards were busy watching the TV and commenting on what badasses these women were.

Their season starts next Sunday, so if you're looking to fill that football void (the draft just won't do it), check them out. I'm adding them to the list of things to check out this summer, which includes a vintage baseball game.

That IS a good question

Shout-out to William, who has a good point on one of his posts today. Where exactly are these $2.50 hot dogs? I'd love to know. (For that matter, where are they in Camden Yards? I don't go to many games there for obvious reasons, but I don't remember if they had $2.50 dogs because I usually get Boog's BBQ.) Love those Dodger dogs in L.A. and don't mind paying $4.75 for them. Not surprisingly, Pittsburgh was the cheapest. What is Pittsburgh putting in their dogs to make them so inexpensive? Draw your own conclusions.

Twistin' the night away

An extra-innings game? Who cares about that when you can watch Thomas Jefferson do the twist?

Speaking of Touch...

Alyssa Milano's new MLB clothing line, Touch, has been the topic of conversation on a few different blogs lately. One of the commenters on Ladies... reminded me of this ad from the late '80s/early '90s. Is it bad that I still remember the theme song? (Then again, I suppose she got the last laugh, since we're still talking about it.)

Viva Fred!

Since Lucky whined like the Canadian Diving Team Captain about getting up a recap of the DC United debacle on Saturday, here it is. (Just kidding, Lucky asked nicely, but I can't resist a chance to get Crosby's nickname in there. BTW, is Crosby ever going to update his website? It's been "coming soon" for months now.)

Chanuck and I braved the elements, along with a large number of dedicated fans, to attend Saturday night's wet and cold DC United vs. Kansas City game. Here are some of the brave souls who stood in the rain the entire evening:And it wasn't just the Screaming Eagles, Barra Brava, and La Norte standing out there! More brave souls were standing in their seats on the other side of the pitch! Not me, though.Overall, the game was a disappointment (no shocker there). Most of the discussion in our group centered around the nonexistent midfield, will Olsen ever stop complaining, and the lack of defense. Speaking of which, I would have liked to see Bobby Boswell do less of this:and more of this:But hey, the season's young. They'll all get it eventually.

One player who I was very pleased with was Fred. He was all over the place and hustled his ass off. Look, he even made a new friend!Anyway, while it was a high-scoring affair, it would have been nice to see a win. But like I said, it's early in the season and there's plenty more opportunities to see DCU turn it around. Once the team gels a little more, they'll be fine- especially with Luciano Emilio and Fred there. Should be interesting!

Here they go again!

First it was the 2006 "Fan Appreciation Day," then it was the Pre-Draft Party. An eagle-eared Chanuck noted the tag in the TV ad for the Redskins Beach Blitz: "Go to RedskinsBeachBlitz.com to buy tickets." Sure enough, the Redskins are charging $15 for the following (and I quote):

- FREE clinics with the players, coaches, and cheerleaders
- FREE autograph sessions
- FREE parking
- Entry into the Redskins Beach Blitz Football Challenge, where you get rushed through throwing a few passes and pushing some tackle dummies. Ooh.
- And don't forget the "Redskins merchandise opportunities!"

Yes, for $15 for "two to three hours," you get all this. But don't worry, kids 2 and under are FREE!

Busy day

Here's some of the teams I'll be rooting for today:
3-for-3? It can be done!

I just had a thought

With the Nationals' awesome win last night (really, it was a good one), it got me thinking. At the rate of one win a week, the Nats are on pace to win 26 games this season. See? That's not so bad! The Memphis Grizzlies would LOVE to upgrade to 26 wins, seeing as how they have 19 right now...it's all a matter of perspective.

One fan's experience

A couple of weeks ago, I wondered how some lucky Caps fans won during Fan Appreciation Week. Today, one such fan wrote in to tell me what happened to her:

I noticed in your blog you wondered how the winners were chosen for the prizes at the Caps/Panthers game. I can tell you how I was chosen for mine - I sat in section 105, because my season ticket seat partner was using our two tickets in section 426 and I couldn't resist going to the game. I too wonder how the whole prize giveaway really worked. This year, on the last game of the season, a Chris Clark autographed stick went to the empty seat directly behind me one row away.

I was the first winner on Tuesday night - an autographed Olie Kolzig cutout. Now, take into account the fact that I am a huge Kolzig fan, which trumped the fact that I 1. live in a studio apartment and 2. had arrived at the game as the passenger in a Toyota Spyder (2 seats, no trunk). The thing is huge. I got it home via a cab after riding Metro to L'Enfant Plaza (an interesting ride, to be sure). I brought it into the apartment, and thought - now what? Headboard for the bed? Back drop for the TV? How do I display this thing without making my apartment look like some guys basement shrine? No time to figure that out - I was scheduled for back surgery on April 10. My best friend, a goalie from upstate NY arrived to surprise me and take care of me for a few days after surgery. He had the answer, and a visit to Home Depot while I was recuperating made it happen - here is how you turn your Olie Kolzig cutout into pop art for the apartment:

He just needed a net to tend :-) What I really want to see is what happens when I set loose my Roomba robot vacuum and it head over towards him - will Olie come to life and poke check it away?

Funny part about my friend from NY - like I said, he's a goalie in an adult league, and he was sitting on my couch trying to figure out what to do with the cutout - once he got started it was comical to watch, him trying to make sure Olie looked right, guarding the net correctly, having the right angle. Before he left last night, he had to have his picture taken, and then made sure to say goodbye, "tapping gloves" with Olie as he left.

Now I'm even more jealous- an autographed Kolzig cutout and a great friend to rig it up. At least the Caps got one giveaway right!

Paella Man, wing one up here

Steve Goff's "Soccer Insider" mentioned this and I thought it would be a nice tribute to tomorrow's home opener. Thank goodness that DC United is a lot more exciting than this game! (Is it bad to admit that this is one of my favorite Simpsons clips?)

The Pens are going DOWN

The first night of the playoffs was sweet. Great win by Ottawa! Now, if they could only keep the stupid penalties to a minimum and score on some of those 5-on-3s. It was nice to hear Joe B. again, but the idiot who was with him couldn't be any more transparent about his love and devotion to the Penguins. As CapsChick correctly noted, it was a total Canadian Diving Team Captain lovefest, which was really annoying. Then again, one has to wonder about Versus' target audience, based on some of the ads. There were so many strange ones! What was up with the ad for the radar detector? "It pays for itself, when you consider the cost of a ticket." Then the very next ad was for those old-people cell phones with the big, lighted numbers. Are they targeting elderly men who drive fast? Because it didn't make any sense to me otherwise.

Don't get me started on the mantra for the playoffs: "Do or Die." So the losing team is going to be killed? With some of the hits that have happened lately, that's probably not too far-fetched. It would also be nice if the NHL could find the time to update their Stanley Cup Playoffs website. But whatever.

The playoffs are here!

I'd like to see lots of this, please:

Let's go Sens!

That's one busy sweater

Seeing as how I am the self-appointed pink jersey police, Caps Nut alerted me to this:

On Friday, April 13, the second-to-last day of the regular season, USHL officials will be getting in the middle of an even bigger fight than the ones seen on the ice. They will be getting involved in the fight against cancer. USHL referees and linesmen will be donating all of their game fees for the evening to the American Cancer Society. The game fees, combined with their travel per diem and any monies collected when their uniforms are auctioned off are anticipated to raise approximately $3,000.

"Getting involved?" I respect that they're donating their fees, but wearing a pink sweater is hardly "getting involved" in the fight against cancer. This is a gimmick more than "getting involved." Who the hell is going to buy this monstrosity? (Probably the same morons who like the damn pink jerseys.) Still, anything to actually help people instead of sending them to the penalty box is a good thing.

In other news:

Glad to see Pacman Jones got what he deserved. Hope it sends a message to other players to quit the stupid crap, though I doubt it. Of course Pacman's mom was upset:

Reached at her Georgia home, Jones' mother, Deborah Jones, said: "I just pray that this can be changed. This is not fair for him. It's just not fair."

Oh, boo hoo. What WOULD be fair, according to Momma Jones? I'd love to know. Maybe if her son wasn't too busy "making it rain" and actually behaving like an adult, this wouldn't have happened. But no, the NFL commissioner is the bad guy.

In BTWs:

Like you needed another reason to detest Colin Cowherd: he hates bloggers.

If you haven't read Weingarten's story from Sunday about Joshua Bell, I highly recommend that you do so. The reaction associated with the story has been fascinating.

The pic in this story that Mr. Smooth sent me made me laugh. I love stupid humor.

Thank you time

A big thank-you to Ivette Ricco of FemmeFan.com for having me on her podcast as a guest. You can check the interview out here! Among other things, we discussed a little of everything: the Redskins, the stupidity of the NFL Draft, and why Barry Bonds is worthy of scorn (duh).

And a huge thank-you to J.P. for hosting a great party and after-party! What a blast! I enjoyed seeing the usual suspects (Chanuck, On Frozen Blog, A View from the Cheap Seats, Kevin Hatcher Fan Club, Off Wing Opinion, WFY, and Greg Wyshynski) and a few new ones (some of the 3 Grumpy Caps Fans and James Mirtle). As always, it's a pleasure to chat with Mike Vogel and Tarik El-Bashir. Thanks for letting me babble on and on, as I am wont to do.

Some pics from Friday night's alumni game:
You can check out the Flickr set from Saturday's after-party here.

I love pink frosting

Two of my favorite peeps (not Peeps) hosted Easter dinner last night. We had this deliciousness, Beef Wellington:
Mama Bug made a cake:and so did Marci:We hunted for Easter eggs (I got more than Lucky, ha!), colored...and Laura found Diamond.All in all, it was a very fun Easter. Thanks girls!

Don't forget!

Get your RSVPs in now!

End-o'-the-Season Shindig
When: Saturday, April 7, 2007, 4:00 - 7:00 p.m. (immediately following the Caps/Sabres game)
Where: Clyde's of Gallery Place, Piedmont Room (upstairs - complete with its own bar, flat-screen television that should be showing the NCAA Championship Game, and an indoor balcony overlooking the Gallery Place mezzanine)
Who: Rink readers, Caps fans, Caps bloggers and V.I.P. guests
RSVP to Rink.rsvp@gmail.com

$20 for a one-hour open bar and a chance to win signed pucks and sticks- who can beat that?

Come on down!

My favorite goalie fight

In honor of Olie's outstanding performance on Tuesday night, here's another fantastic performance by Godzilla.

Press box popcorn is the BEST

Last night in the Caps press box was a lot of fun, even more so than previous visits because I was lucky enough to sit between Off Wing Opinion and On Frozen Blog. Despite the seating arrangement, I still managed to gather a few notes together. Enjoy!

My inside source tells me that before the game, Semin and Beech were busted when they tried to steal one of the golf carts. Beech kept honking the horn and Semin couldn’t get the key to work, so then he pretended to drive it while Beech honked the horn wildly. The scene was described by the source as “a couple of 6-year-olds having fun.”

The Caps are now doing “Fan Appreciation Week.” Fan Appreciation is starting early- so far, in the first 13 minutes of the game, they’ve given away two prizes. I wonder how these people are selected, because it’s not the usual announcement on the Jumbotron during the last game. I'm still angry about the last regular season game in 2001, when the Tampa Bay fan sitting next to me won a $150 gift certificate to The Palm and had no idea what it was. Hello!

Already tonight (16 minutes into the game) I’ve seen more Red Wings jerseys than Panthers jerseys. Is IwoCPO here? Which reminds me, why are people still wearing their Jagr Caps jerseys? Seen way too many of them.

Am I a dork for enjoying the fake scenes from the penalty box? A “Panther” is seen jamming, forefingers a'flyin, in the sin bin. Also seen on the big screen: a female fan, dejectedly putting her “Let’s Go Ovie” sign away. She obviously had no idea she was on camera.

Gustafsson is busy going through his spam. With email subjects like “thong ass” and emails about drugs without prescriptions, who can blame him for being intrigued?

Is it wrong that I like to say the name “Bouwmeester” out loud? It just rolls off the tongue…bowwwwmeeeeeeeeester.

Mr. Smooth is on the dance cam yet again- he loves the camera and the camera loves him! Response from him: “Someone has to do it! I do it for the team!” Uh, no, you didn't.

Ovie has 12 points in 8 games against Florida this season. Who knew?

Maybe this is the night that Slava Malamud is here? There IS a tall bald guy with glasses sitting in his seat up here.

16,311 in attendance tonight. That is HUGE for a weeknight when the Caps are just playing to finish the season.

In the locker room after the game, I ran into Ted. He recognized me and said hi, treating me like an old friend. He just has that way about him; no wonder he's so successful.

Mike Vogel has the best job on the planet. Writing blogs and other media articles, doing podcasts, traveling with the team, and now he's interviewing Olie for the cameras after the game- he gets to see and do a lot of cool stuff.

Not surprisingly, Ovie was in a much better mood than after Saturday’s game, laughing and joking. Also seen: Jeff Schultz (back to Hershey now) and Brian Sutherby in a suit.

Thanks to Nate Ewell and the Caps for letting me sit up there- I enjoyed it and hope to do it again next season!

Money Money Money Money (Money)

Now that the season is almost over, I decided to revisit the whole team salary cap vs. success on the ice thing that I did at the beginning of the season. (Here's the original post.) In the first few weeks of the season, here's how things were shaping out (data from Oct. 2006):

The top five teams (in terms of salary spent) rank as follows in their respective divisions:
Devils- first (8 pts)
Bruins- fifth (3 pts)
Flyers- fifth (3 pts)
Avalanche- fourth (6 pts)
Leafs- second (8 pts)

Now, the bottom five:
Thrashers- first (9 pts)
Blues- fourth (5 pts)
Predators- third (6 pts)
Penguins- fourth (4 pts)
Capitals- fourth (6 pts)

That was a couple of weeks into the season. How about now? (Thank you, NHL Salary Cap Info.)

Top five, ranked by salary spent, followed by the rank in their respective divisions:
New Jersey- first (102 pts)
Dallas- third (102 pts)
Toronto- fourth (87 pts)
Calgary- third (96 pts)
Atlanta- first (93 pts)

Bottom five:
Philadelphia- fifth (53 pts)
Los Angeles- fourth (66 pts)
Pittsburgh- second (101 pts)
Florida- fourth (83 pts)
Washington- fifth (66 pts)

All of the sudden, spending more in salary doesn't look so bad, does it? (Pittsburgh, as usual, is the anomaly.)

Of course, spending more for good players is never a guarantee. Just look at the Islanders; they rank 10th in salary and they're likely going to be shut out of the playoffs. Toronto's another one: they're right on the bubble for the playoffs, but they're third in salary at $45 million. It's interesting to see the difference in spending between the beginning of the season and now.

I'd like to pontificate more, but I'm being heckled by the OFB guys for blogging during the game. "Blog geek!" they call me. Well, duh- never said I wasn't!

On ice

The press box at the Caps game tonight is packed! I'm here, joined by Eric and Joe from Off Wing Opinion, and *all four* On Frozen Blog guys. It's a real treat to be surrounded by such knowledge and strong opinions. More to come, after the game...

Teddy zips in

I know the video (that I took from section 441) is crappy, but it's a different perspective from the other ones out there. I was really rooting for Teddy!

Party!

A post will be forthcoming at some point about yesterday's Opening Day, but all my pics and video are at home. In the meantime, check out this article about drunk Zamboni drivers (it's acceptable in New Jersey, natch) and this post over at Japers' Rink:

JP and KB of Japers' Rink cordially invite you to an End-of-the-Season Party

When: Saturday, April 7, 2007, 4:00 - 7:00 p.m. (immediately following the Caps/Sabres game)
Where: Clyde's of Gallery Place, Piedmont Room (upstairs - complete with its own bar, flat-screen television, and an indoor balcony overlooking the Gallery Place mezzanine)
Who: Rink readers, Caps fans, Caps bloggers and V.I.P. guests

Show up at 4:00 and just $20 will get you one hour at the open bar and an entry in the raffle for some great autographed Capitals merchandise. Show up at 5:00 and just $5 will get you a raffle ticket. More details to come in the next few hours. Stay tuned.

Look - you know you're going to be drinking anyway. You know you want cool Caps stuff. So basically, you already know you want to be there. Make it happen.

Take a second and let us know if you're coming (Rink.rsvp@gmail.com). We promise we won't use your email for, well, anything other than a head count. Thanks, and see you Saturday!

The stars were out last night

Last night Chanuck and I met up with Miss Chatter and Mr. Chatter at the Mandarin Oriental in D.C. Miss Chatter has a great writeup here, which I would recommend reading. I won't say anything else about it other than that it was nice to meet the Washington Times' own Thom Loverro. Thom was very engaging and entertaining, and it was interesting to hear his World Series prediction for this year. (For good reason, he thinks the Phillies will go far.) Thanks for the insight, Thom!

When's the next one?

Remember the Outdoor Heritage Classic from the not-too-distant past of 2003? Wish the NHL would do another game like that. (This is a nice bit from the Canadian TV show "This Hour Has 22 Minutes.")