With yet another premature flame-out by the Sens complete (comments welcome regarding who will be blamed and run out of town), summer officially begins. Our thoughts turn to other things … like what we’ll do with our precious weekends, and what terrible work trips will drag us away from sun and fun.
- I’m off to China next week, Fuzhou and Changchun. I’ve been to Fuzhou before so not that excited, but Changchun should be interesting. It’s pretty far north!
- Shannen’s off to Toronto later in the month for her annual conference. While she’ll be busy with work while she’s there, she’ll also take advantage of the trip to catch up with friends and family she doesn’t get to see very often.
- Late June sees us moving into our new house, sure to rekindle my hatred of moving, and ensure that we stay put for at least a few years. Or until the hatred fades …
- We are back in Toronto for the Canada Day long weekend for a Murphy family reunion. Here’s hoping it’s rain-free and sunny!
- My May trip to Calgary was bumped because of China, so we’re going to try to reschedule that to late July or early August, when Shannen and I both can go, and spend more than 1 whirlwind night exploring Cowtown.
And that doesn’t even include any camping yet. I’m eager to expand the campsite review section of the website.
In other news, Crispy smells.
That is all.
Kel - Okay, Dan, I’m afraid to ask this, really, but: Do you mean “Crispy smells” as in, someone or something named Crispy is malodorous? Or were you just tossing out a sort of stream-of-consciousness evocation of smells that invoke crispiness, like, say, bacon?
Mmmm . . . bacon . . . .
Gary - For someone who loves listening to coherent sports talk radio, this is the worst time of year. It took about 5 minutes of listening to the stream of Senator “fans” ranting about the playoff loss before I had to turn off the radio and actually get out of bed. According to these callers, the loss can be blamed on, in no particular order, Alfredsson, Muckler, Chara, Redden, Fischer, Ghandi, The Conservative Party, and Osama bin Laden.
Fans seem to have had a disconnect with the reality of pro sports and their part in it. It seems as though a lot of fans think that they’re paying the team to win when they buy a ticket to watch them play. One caller actually said that “because they didn’t win the cup this year, he’s not buying tickets next year”. Apparently, the scale back in salaries wasn’t enough for him and he wants a better deal. Look, all fans want the team to win and are disappointed when they lose but we’re buying the tickets, paying for cable to watch them, and buying the gear because these are the best players in the world and we want to be entertained watching them. It’s great when they win and it sucks when they lose but there are 20 or so players on the other teams bench that are trying to win too. Let’s give them some credit.
If you want my opinion on why we lost I think it’s 2 reasons. Defensive breakdowns (the D was bad) and crappy fans. I won’t rant about the defense but let’s discuss the fans. Ottawa’s fans are so freaking uptight when the playoffs arrive that they transfer their tightness to the team. The team can feel the crowd and if the fans don’t think they can win, that will transfer over. Here’s an example. In game 5, Bufalo scored within the first minute of the game and the place was deadly quiet. The fans just died and stayed quiet until we tied it up. In Edmonton in game 3 or 4, the Oilers got scored on early in the game by the Sharks and after about 20 seconds of shock by the crowd, they then GOT LOUDER cheering for the Oilers to come back. The Oilers felt that energy and did come back and won. Anyway, I’m about done discussing the hockey season. It’s summer and the Boys of Summer are out to play and the Jays are playing well. Let’s beat those Yankees!
mark - I don’t understand why fans aren’t satisfied with amything less than a Stanley Cup. When did the Sens become the Yankees?
I’m in the vast minority who think we did ok. Dissapointed sure, but nobody seems to be thinking about how it actually happened:
-Lost 3 games in overtime.
-Lost the series by a total of 3 goals.
-Played the whole playoffs with a rookie backup goalie.
-Since the beginning of December, Buffalo has been much better than Ottawa, record-wise.
The Sens didn’t get killed by a vastly inferior team – they barely lost to a team that’s been better than them for the last 5 months. This really shouldn’t be all that surprising to anyone.
Jen - This is totally non-hockey related.
Just wanted to say I am excited about your ctown trip 🙂 🙂 Yay to non-whirlwindiness.
dan - We’re excited too. What should we do that weekend? What are the Calgary Top 5? It’s not my town anymore. Maybe a hike out at Bragg Creek?
Kel - I still want someone to clear up the crispy mystery for me. So that I can stop dreaming about bacon.
dan - Why would you want to *stop* dreaming about bacon? People pay good money to have bacon dreams. Relish it while it lasts. It may soon be replaced by dreams of overcooked liver or old, stale cinnamon buns.
Jen - Bragg creek would be fun – I actually haven’t been out there yet either.
Take your pick!
Calgary Top 5:
5. Drive from the far NW to downtown core during morning rush hour. Find parking.
4. Ride the C-train from City Hall to 8th St station when it’s +28 degrees
3. Happy hour at the Cecil
2. An evening stroll through Forrest Lawn
1. Saturday night at Cowboys
OR
Alternate Calgary Top 5:
5. Drive to Banff and have dinner at Fuze. Stop in Canmore for fun.
4. Hang out at Bragg Creek
3. Tube floating down the river
2. Drinks at Red Door Bistro
1. Stampede*
* July 7th – 19th
Gary - I don’t know who Kel is, but I find it amusing that everyone is refusing to answer his/her question. I’m of the opinion that it’s Dan’s responsibility to either continue the silence or not.
Sonja - I really like the sounds of the Alternate Calgary Top 5. Count me in! ;0