It’s Super Week, which means it’s time to pose dreamy solutions for Tom Brady’s hair situation, and make comparisons of Eli Manning to Charlie Brown. The Super Bowl is upon us, there’s no escaping its glitzy grasp. You head to the grocery stores and there you’ll find pre-made dips shaped like pigskin, pyramids of twelve packs, and potato chips with every imaginable flavoring you can dream up (Jalepeno-Bacon-Cream Cheese?). It also marks one of the highest points on the entertainment calendar for the young year of 2012. Because deep down, the Super Bowl is less about the spectacle of sport, pitting man against man in a hard hitting whirlwind, and more about what happens between the plays. Commercials inch to the 7 digits for 10 seconds and GoDaddy sickens you to your core with overly sensualized spots. And although it’s an event that is both over hyped and over produced, it’s something that I just can’t take my eyes off of.
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What The Super Bowl Half-Time Show Should Be
Cornet Gets Large. But In Charge? Maybe
Photo courtesy of Rob Ferguson. All rights reserved.
Philippe Cornet. A bastion of hope that the Oilers farm club is indeed churning out future NHLers. Or not. Today, the Oil announced the recall of recent AHL All-Star, Philippe Cornet. The 2008 fifth rounder is the Barons only current 20 goal scorer. He’s riding a shooting percentage of nearly 33%. He plays on what is considered the top scoring line for the Barons. Thus, on paper, he has deserved a callup. And for as bad as the Oilers have played lately, finding a young spark might do the big club some good. But there is more to the Cornet story than just a nice, slightly erroneous score sheet. A healthy dose of perspective is needed.
Coming out of camp, Cornet was the most impressive returnee. He bulked up and sped up in the off season. In October, I picked him to be my darkhorse showman this season. Indeed, through nearly 40 games he’s done me a solid.
Cornet has found top line combos for the first half of the season. He’s usually centered by Mark Arcobello or Josh Green, two guys that are beyond solid at that position in the minor leagues. They are natural players makers as well. You place Hartikainen in that same spot and he’s probably a 20 goal guy at the midway point as well (He still might have been if not for the shoulder injury). Now there’s nothing scientifically accurate to prove this point, but my eyes tell me that Cornet is getting top line treatment with really solid playmakers around him. Is Cornet successful by association? I believe that he is.
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What Grounded Pan Am?
It’s hard to imagine a world where air travel was a mesmerizing, enjoyable experience. As a 31 year old guy, my fondest memories of airlines were probably my earliest thoughts as well. Free peanuts, Sports Illustrated magazines wrapped in a plastic sheet cover, soft pillows, dark blue blankets, and the fizzle of high altitude soda. 30 some years doesn’t give you the full timeline of air travel around the world, but it’s easy to point out the less-than-glamorous life that is flying coach in our world during that span.
Indeed there was a time when such endeavors were tolerable, even enjoyable respits as you glided from point A to point B and back again. The 50′s and 60′s were full of a wonderous new age age of aero travel that was a glorious pursuit of the senses. Fancy drinks, on-board-smoking, dressed to the nines crew of stewardess, a friendly captain, and spacious lounging. But somwhere along the way, we’d forgotten about this glorious age. Then comes the ABC period drama, Pan Am, which was intended to remind us of days gone by. Continue reading →
Post Holiday Egg Nog-Less Pledge
Today I drank the last of the egg nog, removed Home Alone from the DVR, and newspaper wrapped the last of the ornaments. And with one fell swoop the holiday season grinds to a screeching yuletide halt. It’s not anyone’s fault but my own. I embrace Christmas like snowman Sam likes to tell a wintry story – with all that’s within me. And while the college bowl season might inspire an awakening from lack-of-holiday depression, the truth is that the holidays provide a gentle escape from whatever grind with which you daily participate. This respite is both rare and needed more often for virtually every working adult in North America.
You eat what you want, play when you want, watch ridiculously cheesy movies, spend absorbent amounts of time with family, sing old time classics, and give/receive as you’ve not done in eleven months.
As we usher in a new year, and hopefully learn from the past, it’s time for me to shake loose the shackles of leftover ham. For I refuse to bah humbug my way through life for the next 300+ days. And while I’m doing so, I’ll learn to live life as I do in the 25 days of Christmas window. With joy, kind-heartedness, and fun, making every day a special time of the year. You should too.
Bumble The Abominable Snow Monster “Stuff”
The treasured classic “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” is a yearly staple in my house. It’s equal parts nostalgic and classic storytelling wrapped in an old school stop motion wrapper. From Hermey the elf dentist to Sam the snowman, there is a lot to love about this mid-60′s holiday special.
In my mind, the scene stealer of the entire program has always been Bumble the abominable snow monster. As a child he frightened the Charles Dickens out of me. Then again, his story of being a mis-understood, tooth-aching good guy has always been his redeeming quality. Thus the fear of his form is also coupled with a great Christmas character who in the end is a pretty decent snow monster who finds new life as a tree decorator. Continue reading →
The NBA Is A Blessing & Really Not A Curse
Photo courtesy of Keith Allison on Flickr. All rights reserved.
The NBA announced this week that the season had been resurrected following a tenative aggreement between the players and owners that is nearly a 50/50 split of basketball related incomes along with a slew of “b-sides” that slightly changed the previous collective bargaining agreement. The decision to finally have a season, which begins on Christmas Day, comes with a feeling of consternation. There are some that desperately missed the NBA, but the majority of sports fans didn’t miss the doldrums of an early season. Including this afficianado. Continue reading →
Winning While Wounded: A Barons IR Tale
Photo courtesy of Steven Christy Photography. All rights reserved.
Oklahoma City as well as our fair neighbors in Edmonton have been kicked in the shins. Kicked in the shins, and jabbed in the face. No stranger to injury filled seasons, the Oilers organization seems to find themselves in another bout with Mr. Gimpy. Tis the season for the grind of professional sports to wear down even the toughest of competitors. For the Oilers it’s all about the defensive injuries plus one young phenom. Cam Barker and Corey Potter are dealing with ankle injuries that won’t be healed any time soon. Andy Sutton gets the honor of wearing the badge of “first-groin-pull-of-the-season” and isn’t expected to be out as long as the ankle-biters, but out nonetheless. Then comes the jab in the face. Taylor Hall, with an undisclosed shoulder injury that might keep the offensive threat out for nearly a month or more. Ouch. This pushes a ton of weight onto the shoulders of two Oilers goaltenders and a random assortment of minor league up-and-comers. Continue reading →
The Trouble With Defense
Photo courtesy of Rob Ferguson. All rights reserved.
After a ghastly defensive game on Saturday evening we started to see a developing trend with our Oklahoma City Barons. Colten Teubert and Taylor Chorney, the two most recent call-ups to the fill the injured defensive gaps in Edmonton, aren’t the greatest blue line prospects, but they did provide some rock solid work in the minors. Like Petry before them, we never realized what we had until it was gone. More precisely, our young Barons defenders are nearing a struggle. A struggle involving consistency on a blue line that needs to be good in the post-November/December second half of the season. The trouble with the defense is knowing when to adjust. Continue reading →
Christmas Twang From She & Him
Very few actresses are as hot right now as Zooey Deschanel. Her dorikness has struck a chord with folks far and wide including this humble tv watcher. Yet, Mrs. D has a pretty potent and respected side project that’s as equally as hot. One half of She & Him, Zooey is the soft-toned songrestress that bellows breathy melodys while accompanied by the rest of the one half in the guitar playing M. Ward. Separately, these two are superb at their individual crafts. So, when they get nudged together into the band She & Him, it’s always exciting to see what transpires. Continue reading →
