Ron MacLean is a BAMF & other things

by Anne

• First and foremost, we all must pay homage to one Mr. Ron MacLean of Hockey Night in Canada who saved a man from taking his own life by diving into the Delaware River to save him. Read a bit about it here. What a dude. 

• So the Flyers won last night. I dislike both of these teams in the Final so I appreciate that these three games have been exciting and close. Chris Pronger makes things more entertaining, as always, even if it's because he's a royal d-bag.

• Zack Kassian saddens me. I know he has a mean-streak on the ice, but being arrested and charged with assault is not exactly going to endear him to Sabres fans. Darcy Regier had expressed interest in signing him to a pro-contract soon. That will likely be put off until later into the summer, if it happens this summer at all, while he deals with this situation. Idiot. Win the Memorial Cup and get arrested. Well done, Kash.

• I'm reading this book:

• I'm a big fan of the Roosevelts and I like biographies and I like biographies written by David McCullough, so this should be a good read. Thusfar I've read the first chapter, which focuses on TR's Pops, also named Theodore. He sounds like he was the kind of father any kid would want. Next chapter is about his Mama, Mittie.

• It's hard to find things hockey to look forward to. I'm not all that pumped about the draft this year. Neither the Kings nor Sabres have high draft picks, and there's no possibility of going to the draft in LA :( 

• The Sabres signed Jacob Lagace. This seriously ups the pretty factor in the prospects pool, which is always a plus for development camp. By the by, when is Dev Camp this summer? I love going up there for the scrimmages.

• Tumblr is rife with sudden pangs of lust for Dan Carcillo. Ladies, I can get behind loving even the grossest of the gross, but just not Dan Carcillo. I suppose I could understand a latent desire for Sean Avery or Chris Pronger, maybe even Dion Phaneuf, but NOT Dan Carcillo. Gross me out in all ways possible.

• Let's Go 'Hawks? I might pay attention to the NBA. The week off before the SCF started had a lot of us on Twitter watching the NBA. I suppose I'll pull for the Lakers? I don't know. I feel like the Celtics and Lakers are ALWAYS in the Final. I know that's not true but  they HAVE met 11 times in the Final.

I Always Leave The Lights On In My Car

by Anne

I really do. Like all the time. I got (almost) straight A's last semester, have a (supposedly, I don't know what the number is) high IQ and enjoy discussing Shakespeare in depth, but I cannot for the life of me remember to turn off the lights in my freakin' car. I think the last common sense problem tends to outweigh any of the other more academically related intelligences.

The Sabres had an intense practice at home yesterday before leaving for Chicago today to take on the Blackhawks. Patty Lalime will be starting in net against his former team. There are many ways you could look at the goaltending choice, but I support it. Miller has been on a string on starts, and needs the break. I know he's playing well, but the reason we signed Patty was because he was better than Thibault and more reliable. He's only gotten us 2 wins, but his game is better to watch than it sounds on paper. He's played well, but the rest of the team, for some reason, hasn't shown up to play in front of him. Hopefully that will change tomorrow night.

I'm a little disappointed that the Sabres first game against Soupy is in Chicago and not here in Buffalo. I'm not sure the reception Soupy would've gotten. I'm sure there are some that would boo, but he didn't really do or say anything to draw the ire of Sabres fans and resident Buffalonians, Chris Drury.

I'm currently about a quarter of the way through this book:

So far I'm enjoying it. There are a few sections that seem oddly out of place, but for the most part its a good read. I'm on page 60 and we've barely made it to 1973 so I'm not sure how close to the present this book is going to get. Its a good read with some interesting stories to share. The book comes with a CD that features audio interviews with some of the "Buffalo Greats" I haven't popped the CD into my computer yet to hear who those "Greats" are but I can only assume there will be interviews with some of the many many players interviewed already in the book.

I'll let y'all know how the rest of the book shakes out. Devils at Canucks tonight at 10:00! Wooo!!!

Cabin Fever

by Anne

I had a whole post written about angry things because being cooped up inside all day with an annoying cat makes me a little cranky. However, I have opted not to force you to endure my rants about why I hate Chuck Palahahahhaaniuk.

-I'm bored so I'm thinking about dying my hair really dark brown again. Yes, Anne, because it looked so good the other 6 times. I've decided to start living by the rule that if I don't have to dye my hair, I won't. Its cheaper and natural is (almost) always better.

- Also, I was considering donating my hair to locks of love again, but then I remembered that my hair looked like this for about 8 months and I reconsidered:

It may work on Posh, but not on this girl.

- When I have nothing to do, I tend to call people and IM people more often. However, I realize that this can be annoying after a while so this break I'm making a conscious effort not to excessively bother people

-I also think about road trips but unlike most of my college days, most of my friends have these things called "jobs" and most of my friends are not enjoying these lazy days of winter break.

- My sister had a concert today that we did not go to. Well, she didn't go either. I'm not sure if the concert happened or not but she's sick so she wouldn't have been singing anyway.

-The Bills actually won. I was the Negative Nancy around the house today, predicting with each of the Bills' scores what would happen next to negate it all. I was basically right until the end. I declared the Broncos get the TD and 2 point conversion and then Lindell would miss a field goal. Peg predicted an interception. The big winner here? JP Losman. Ahahhahahaha

-I know the win was meaningless in the playoff picture but it is nice to play the spoilers for once. even if Dick Jauron claims that wasn't on their minds. Really, I have nothing against the Broncos, I used to love John Elway, but it's fun to be at least some part of changing team's fates.

-Great games for Trent and Fred Jackson. There's definitely a lot more confidence in their games these days. Hopefully that will continue next week and build into the off-season.

-Reggie Corner's play at the end of the 4th to breakup Cutler's TD pass to Stokley was awesome.

-They played the kind of second half we were used to seeing out of them. Its really too bad they couldn't have dug deep for that kind of 2nd half a few more times this season.

-If Steve Johnson continues to improve as he has in these last few games, we'll have some nice depth and a few more options next season.

- Its unfortunate that some of these pieces seem to be coming together a few games too late.

-Marshawn hurt his shoulder. I care but not that much because 1. We won anyway 2. He basically has until August for it to heal up and 3. He was cheering and carrying on on the sidelines quite a bit so it doesn't appear to be too serious.

- My dogs adamantly refuse to go outside if its like 70 degrees and there's a slight drizzle. However, 16 degrees and 2 feet of snow? GAME ON.

- I hope the weather is clear tomorrow. I have some more stuff I need to pick up including a book for myself that no one will be getting me for Christmas because I didn't ask for it. I read Sex Drugs and Cocoa Puffs this summer and I've put off picking up another Klosterman book during the semester but on my list of things to read is another of his books. I'm leaning towards Killing Yourself to Live. Thoughts?

- The Pirates have put together 2 wins in the last few days, righting the ship that had started to steer off course ever since we ruined everything first by calling up Mancari and then Gerbe. Whoops. Sorry, Portland!

-Ok. Dinnertime. Then wrapping Christmas presents! Our tree is up and needs some stuff for underneath it. Yay!