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Talking to Myself - Sharks game blog 11/27/10

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~~~~~Pregame Show~~~~~

Poor Devils Get Eaten by Sharks! 10/27/10

Disclaimer: 

I am watching the Sharks @ Dallas Stars so there may be some cursing, etc., if tonight's game doesn't go better than the first 17 minutes did.  And while I'm still pissed off about the loss last night, let me just say:

Poor Ginner!!  Not only do I believe that he had a good goal taken away from him (although I do not fault the officials since the angle was almost impossible to judge on the replay) but then to hear that he felt terrible because the puck might have been going in anyway and he fucked it up by touching it! 

*sob* The heart - it breaks.

I don't have any scoreboard pictures showing the Sharks vs. Devils logo to bore you with.  Not sure why actually.  You'll have to make due with a blurry shot of the neato 20th Anniversary puck sculpture!

San Jose Sharks (true) Home Opener 10/16/10

Vs. the Gilligan's Island Blackhawks. 
Castoffs?  Get it?  Never mind.
:clears throat:

Vs. the Atlanta Thrashers! 

Gorgeous night in San Jose.  In case you haven't noticed, this is the 20th anniversary for the Sharks. 

That very much featured at HP Pavilion in new banners, etc.

2010 Sharks Teal and White Game September 21

Thanks to a couple of nice posters at HF Boards, Adie and I decided to "sneak" into the Teal and White game (TWG). 

The TWG is the Sharks annual preseason welcome for season ticket holders.  The event is free with your ticket holder id and there are autograph tables set up for all the players followed by a scrimmage.  Needless to say, we are not season ticket holders. 

One poster emailed me the "save the date" flyer to use as a season ticket holder invitation and another poster pm'd me his phone number in case the "invitation" didn't fly. See?  There are still awesome people in the world.  Otherwise, I might not have made the drive to San Jose with no guarantee of getting in the doors.  We did have a backup plan, which was to backtrack to Oakland since the A's were in town. 

But, with just a little stress, we got in!  Yay!  First thing we did was note that all of the lines to the autograph tables were already hella long.  No thank you.  The sucky thing (for me) was that 3 of the 4 tables were located in the upstairs eateries...so you couldn't just walk thru and see the players and take photos.  You had to actually stand in line if you wanted to gawk.  Again...no thank you.

So, thanks to the setup, here are a ton of pictures from the ONE table that was located directly on the concourse. 

Luckily three of my favorites were at the table,

My Day at Sharks Training Camp

The things I'll do for my new-found passion....I didn't realize the transition from casual hockey fan to passionate Sharks fan would put so many miles on my car!    I left Sacramento @ 5:47 a.m. on a Sunday morning to head to Sharks Ice in San Jose for day 2 of the Sharks training camp.  I should have been snuggly in my bed.  But, les presents d'occasion as they say. 

It was a semi-eventful drive - hit some rain in Dixon...saw some crazy looking mountain sheep on the side of the freeway near Sunol...saw a dude dressed in Raiders gear come out of a perfectly barren field to walk up to a CHP car that was monitoring the road construction.  Asking directions to Oakland perhaps?

I pulled into Sharks Ice at 8:05 and immediately walked over to the nice old gentlemen who were handing out wristbands.  Mr. Wristband asked what my tattoo meant....I answered "Peace & Harmony, Hope, and Honor" to which he replied "Well, I like the honor part".  hahahaha

Even though some people were lining up outside of the entrance to South Rink (for autographs presumably?), I headed over to the North Rink to grab a seat.  Settled in at center ice in the second row at about 8:16.  The Zamboni came around at 8:18 and kept me awake for the moment. 

I woke up in full a few minutes later when I heard a booming voice entering the rink. No, it was not Joe Thornton...  It was a fan whom I shall call Mr. Friendly.  In a demonstration of my usual luck, Mr. Friendly chose to sit right behind me, although there were many open benches on the bleachers. 

"Hi!  Hello!" said Mr. Friendly to just about everyone... "How long have you been a Sharks fan??" was a question put to most.  "ZOMG! I love the Zamboni!!"  Mr. Friendly put a strange (although possibly accurate) emphasis on the syllables.  Zam-bone-EE!  He proceeded to give a history of the Zamboni and then go on about how much he wants to ride one.  A couple people agreed that it would be really fun, at which point he sounded disgusted that they had fallen into his trap. "It's just an ice scraper.  No big deal."  Did you know that the ice at the Tank is only 2" deep? 

BTW, it was too fucking cold in the North Rink. I wonder how deep the ice is? :-p  And that Winnipeg is colder than Edmonton (or vice versa)?  I confess (as if you can't tell it from my prose thus far) that I was reading Solipsist and therefore feeling somewhat cynical and superior.  There are some good points in that book but I digress.  Mr. Friendly is glad when football is here because it means hockey is right around the corner.  He goes on to enumerate why all other sports suck...

...but suddenly I'm distracted because it's 8:39 and Antti Niemi enters the ice.  Thomas Greiss follows exactly one minute later.  Mr. Friendly is quite an asshole - yelling at Greiss (very LOUDLY) 'go away!  put him back in the cooler!  he sucks!' What a dick.  Now I don't feel bad about mocking him.

Group B practice was scheduled to start at 9:00 a.m., but as mentioned, the goalies and their coaches were on ice at 9:40.

Hockey Season! How about a little Captain's Skate 9/9/10?

I'm sitting here (mainly) watching the Blackhawks and Avalanche start their season.  Go Avs!  And Sharpie!  Funnily enough I'm having a tough time cheering for the 'Hawks for the following reasons:

1)  They swept us!  Come on!
2)  I want Turco to suck ass.
3)  We have Niemi who is our defacto starter; Greiss (and possibly Niitty) had a better camp.
4)  John Michael-Liles
5)  Tutu!

SHARKS NEWS

Jumbo is our captain!  Jumbo is our captain!  So happy this makes me!

Awwww...I luvs Joe Thornton!  There will be a lot of naysayers but I think it could be a really, really good thing for Joe and the team.  And I'm glad that Danny Boyle is the A; he deserves it.  Patty and Clowie will share the other A.  In honor of our new captain...  O Jumbo, my Jumbo!

courtesy of NHLPA

In other Sharks news...I'm inclined to believe that Doug Wilson is a bit of a dick. 

Now, I know that I don't fully appreciate the business side of hockey and definitely come from a homer fandom point of view.  That being acknowledged, I think it was a total dick move to take Thomas Greiss to his home country of Germany and then not let him play in the preseason game.  Give him one fucking period already. 

I understand that your new acquisition is late to the party...errr, system...and needs all the playing time and practice he can get so that hopefully he will be a semi-decent goalie for us with our fairly crappy defense.  And I also understand that you're not going to admit that Niemi might not be the greatest goalie to ever win a Stanley Cup.

But that was pretty damn bad.

It was also pretty lame to take Lilja to Europe and then release him just before the start of the season.  When he has like 4 days to fly home and gather his family to move them back to Sweden.  Unless he finds another job. 

End Sharks News

And now for another installment of Captain's Ice.

(But may I just interject that Vampire Diaries is killing it tonight?!?!  Awesome...)

Oakland Athletics Breast Cancer Awareness Day 9-5-10

So, still in the process of "catching up" on my blog entries.  I'm trying to go in chronological order of my various outings and decided that today would be a good day to post this one since Dan Haren pitched against the A's today.  And he was high on my priority list when I made it a point to attend this game.

The highest priority was, of course, Breast Cancer Awareness. 

An acquaintance of mine - who is one of the most sweetest, most beautiful human beings I've come across - is currently fighting her battle against this horrible disease.  She is young, has three young children and no family history of breast cancer.  She's gone through the surgery, chemo, etc., and is now on the road to recovery.  My prayers go out to her and her family. And to all those affected by this disease.

The A's were playing the Angels - unfortunately now the team that my Danny Haren calls home.  Yuck.  So I got there pretty early because I wanted to be sure to get into the park early (and get my giveaways) and I was glad I did since I was treated to PITCHER'S WORKOUT!  This used to be one of my very favorite A's photo opportunities back in the day when we had the hottest pitching staff on the planet.  They're not so hot now; but they've got great personality!  But I digress...  Pictures!

Catching Up - Moar Captain's Ice! 9-2-10

Ya know, for something I enjoy, I'm pretty bad at keeping up with this blog!  I suppose it's understandable when you figure I work full-time & take care of an Alzheimer's patient full-time + my naturally lazy, procrastinating personality.  :-)

In my last entry, I touched upon Thomas Greiss and the Shark's goalie tandem of Niittymakii and Greiss.  I mentioned that it was current as of that day but lasted for only one week.  As our adventures in ice continue, we learn that Grandmaster Doug Wilson went out and bought himself another Finnish goalie!  A Stanley-Cup winning Finnish goalie named Anti Niemi.  So now we have Finnish bookends at goal and a media blitz at Shark's Ice to report on this new development.



Thomas looked pretty bummed during the whole skate...  He and Patrick Marleau shared a cute moment during the scrimmage.  Thomas came out to play the puck and Patty skated up and gave him a pretty good shove.  Greiss shoved him back; then they stopped and smiled at each other.  I'm so glad I snapped this blurry picture to capture the moment \sarcasm

The Perfect Day Part II

It took us about 45 minutes of mostly light (for the Bay Area) traffic to reach the Coliseum.  We decided to park in the actual lot since the game was just about to start and I didn't want to trouble with a BART station filled with actual workday commuters.

Went to the ticket window and got pretty much the exact seats we wanted - Section 128, right behind the A's bullpen, 3rd row from the field.  Awesome.  We stopped at the concessions to buy A a hat since it was super bright out and she had forgotten to grab sunglasses or a hat from home.  Bought a couple A's magazines with Swooney and Bailey on the covers. 

We made our way down to our seats, located conveniently close to my current A's man candy, Conor Jackson. Thankfully our game was between his DL stints. *sigh*

 Missed only the first inning...but of course the A's scored.  lol  Gio G was starting and he pitched great!

The Perfect Day Part I

Wednesday, August 18, 2010, was damn near a perfect day.  After working for two weeks without a day off because my boss was in Hawaii, I begged to take the 18th off so A and I could head to the Bay Area for a sports blitz.

Sports, whether playing or spectating, are my escape...my stress relief.  Almost nothing is more relaxing to me than a day game at the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum.  So what better way to relax than combine a day game in the bright, hot California sunshine with my newfound love of ice?  Ice hockey to be exact. Shark's Captain's Skate, to be even more precise. 

We had to leave early early early in order to get to San Jose at 10:00 a.m., which is the time Captain's Skate (CS) was scheduled.  CS is kind of a crapshoot as far as seeing NHL players.  It's an informal practice and the players are not required in any way to show up.  Last week, Joe Pavelski was the only big name player who showed.  So I told myself that I was just going to be happy to be at the rink, seeing some live hockey. 

The drive was really nice...a mild glorious morning.  Going through Dixon there were about five hot air balloons in various stages of take-off which is always cool to see.  We arrived at Shark's Ice at about 9:45 and took the time to wander around the three main rinks.  Some dudes were playing pond hockey and they looked thrilled to have an audience.  Some showing off did occur. 

We eventually made out way over to the Shark's rink and practice was in full swing.  By practice, I should say more pond hockey except with NHL'ers.  I was THRILLED when we walked in and Jonathan Cheechoo walked in front of us to get to the ice!

I quickly perused the ice and saw Owen Nolan and Danny Boyle!  I LUV Dan Boyle.  Yes I do. 

Sacramento Sunday #2

Well, sorry to say...my Sacramento Sunday got a bit derailed thanks to the lovely disease that is Alzheimers.  I had planned to go to the Japanese Festival and then take me mum to a brass band concert in Carmichael Park but, alas, it was not to be. 

We did make it to church though and I'm particularly glad that we did.  Three hymns that I enjoy very much were sung:

O My Father
Tis Sweet to Sing the Matchless Love
How Firm a Foundation

And I actually remembered MOST of the alto harmony and only messed up a little! 

The speakers were very good and there was a beautiful musical interlude.  Truly lovely and spiritual; I found myself a bit teary, which happens now and then when I'm in church. 

Sacramento Sunday - Farmer's Market & Old City Cemetery Visits

It occurred to me today as I was driving to the farmer's market, that Sundays are my only guaranteed day off and that I should try to make the most of them.  I don't always do that, to be honest.  Some Sundays I am so tired or whatever, that I can barely drag myself out of bed, let alone take my mom to church, clean my house, or venture out into the wider world.

But I really want to change that....and I'm thinking this blog and my trusty camera(s) might be the motivation I need.

Luckily, as I had these thoughts, my camera was close at hand so I decided to introduce a new feature (YES!  My blog now has features!!) and call it Sacramento Sunday.  Each Sunday, I'm going to try to venture into a different part of Sacramento and take some photos and tell a story.  It might (hopefully) not always be in Sacramento.  But since it will always start and end in Sacramento, I think the name can hold up no matter in what part of Nor Cal I end up.

Today's Sunday venture begins under what we here in the Sacto area call the W-X freeway.  Each Sunday year round, there is a huge farmer's market there.  I'm not sure if the produce can still be considered organic with the carbon monoxide levels that must come from the freeway, but you can't beat having the shelter of Highway 50 to keep out the hot sun or rain!

One can pretty much find anything at this particular market..including fresh oysters from the Bay Area, fresh  fish from a local sustainable fish ranch, beef, poultry, pond plants, and of course all the usual features.

Mets Madness Part II!

The second day of our Mets adventure started out a bit blah...got in a bit of a tiff over a waffle.  I do not kid.  But I reigned in my temper and got out of there without slitting the bitch's throat. 

We got the hell out of Brisbane and headed back to Union Square so that A could buy something that she wished she had bought the day before.  I didn't feel like walking to Anthropologie with her so I hung out on the Square to people watch. 

I stared wistfully at the Burger Bar, thinking of my missed opportunity with Chef Hubert Keller. 

We sat right about where the white shirt is sitting.

After A finished her shopping, we had to head over to Oakland to go to Hockey Xport.  I wish I had a picture of the dude who works/manages there.  I have a serious crush on this guy.  Sandy hair, blue eyes, hockey player build.  He's yum.  And he remembered me from the last time I was there, which was in April.  But I know why he did and it wasn't because he thought I was yum.  But I digress...

Happy Marriage Day

*crying*  Sharpie is officially off the market.  /*crying*

Yes, Patrick, you iz verr verr prettys

Congratulations to Abby and Patrick and I wish them much happiness in their future life together.

Mets Madness

Every year, my daughter and I purchase some awesome tickets to go see the Mets play the Giants.  We don't really follow the Mets.  Well, a little bit we do.  I guess.  Usually in the form of watching a smattering of games here and there and hoping that the Mets don't pull a massive choke job. 

But the fact is that we are A's fans and not Giants fan.  It is also a fact that it's fun as hell to watch games at AT&T Park in San Francisco. As a matter of fact, it is mad crazy fun to watch games (especially if you're cheering the visiting team) from the awesome seats we spend a small fortune for.

We began our pilgrimage exactly one week ago today, Thursday, July 15th at 10:30.  An early start was a must for several reasons...not the least of which was the 100 degree plus weather which makes road trips a little less fun.

We had to be at John's house by 1:30 p.m. to pick up the tickets.  It's amazing that Redwood City is so bloody hot even though it is sandwiched between the Pacific Ocean on the west and the Bay on the east.  Of course it is a wide swatch of land, but I am never fully prepared for the hotness. 

Grabbed the tickets and made our way back to South San Francisco.  After a confusing and aggravating stop at Target, we checked in at our little "hotel" by the airport.  Wanted to stay in the City, but rooms were hard to come by and more expensive than usual for some reason.  This'll do.  We cleaned up and rested a bit from the heat...then headed to S.F. proper. 

After a quick stop at my sister's work to pick up her wallet for her, we headed out to Union Square for some walking and shopping.  Then lunch at the Burger Bar in Macy's.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY!  I am not kidding.  We were waiting for our food and I noticed this gentleman in a chef's apron walk by. Hmmm, that looks like Hubert Keller (owner of the Burger Bar and renowned French chef for the non-foodies).

Hjalmarsson

I wanted Niklas Hjalmarsson.  H-J-A-L-M-A-R-S-S-O-N.  In teal. Dammit.  I was beyond depressed when A called me to tell me the 'Hawks matched.  Damn Elena for leading me on! 

DW can still improve the Sharks D.  Can't he?  Please?  Make it happen DW...

Bye Nik.  C ya in Chicago.