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I tried to watch this on Sunday, when it originally aired ... it's actually pretty boring. A bunch of scientists-types create a robo-animal and have it bite through shit (like a melon or a coconut) to show how strong it's bite it. But for the actual fight, they just use CGI to create a mock battle. Secret: you should just watch the last 10 minutes to see the 'fight' and skip the boring scientist babble.

This was the first Sens game that I've watched in it's entirety in a long while (it seems that most Sens games happen the same time as B's games, and obviously I tend to watch Boston more, but I digress ...) and I was going to ask if Lalime is always that careless with the puck. Besides the Green goal and the Murray goal (which was amazing to watch, btw) there were at least one or two other opportunities where the B's could have scored due to careless handling by Lalime. If he had played the puck more sensibly, last night's game would have been much closer, and could have gone either way. So, my question is: was tonight the exception to the rule, or is he always so shaky with the puck?? Now, here's hoping that the Bruins can come out and play a full 60 minutes of hockey like that against the Leafs tomorrow night. If so, I'll finally start to feel completely confident heading into the post-season. And TC, if I remember correctly, back in the Vernon/Osgood days, the Wings would basically split the playing time towards the end of the regular season and then pick the hotter goalie to carry the load in the playoffs.

Just think of the reign of terror that HHH will unleash on Raw for taunting him after he got drafted. You just know that they're going to make a big deal of it.

Flik, it's funny, I don't think that you and I disagree ... we're just viewing it a little differently. If ESPN wanted to, they could make hockey a legitimate 4th major sport in the US. They'd just need to wait until the playoff seedings were finalized, and put on a one hour show about each match-up, or dedicate 5-10 minutes on Sportscenter to each match-up. If it's Boston vs. Montreal, show the history behind the matchup (e.g. Too Many Men On the Ice or McLaren waffling Zednik and MTL responding by knocking the top seeded B's from the playoffs) and then show this season's excellent from goaltending Theodore and Raycroft. Same with the other (*current) Eastern matchups (well, at least the Battle for Ontario and the Philly-NJ grudge match ... TB-NYI doesn't have much history). But instead, ESPN will leave it crammed into a 30 minute NHL2night that will only be watched by the same hockey fans that always watch the show. And then to take it the step further, if it was 4 Canadian teams in the Conference finals, ESPN would give it even less attention than they normally do. The network caters to the casual fan, and the casual American sports fan doesn't like hockey much, and likes non-American sports even less. Sad but true.

It's funny, Belak would have (most likely) been healthy scratched for the first 2 playoff games anyways, so it's basically a 6 game suspension.

The early stuff that Agent Orange did was pretty good, but by the time that they released "This is the Voice" they were pretty much a straight up pop band. It's a good pop album, but not a punk album by any stretch of the imagination.

If incorporating jazz (and other musical genres) into rock is what makes a drummer great, then wouldn't the guy from Phish have to be on the list, too? And being the first at something doesn't necessarily make you the best at it. Nor does being an influence. Are you on drugs? If he's the first to do it, others follow suit, then ADMIT that Baker was an influence - then I'd say that he is an influence. Which part of this don't you understand? I knew I shouldn't have come back in here...y'all make me brain hurt. I think that I worded my statement poorly, as it left poor 'trane confused ... let me rephrase my statement ... And being the first at something doesn't necessarily make you the best at it. Nor does being an influence make you the best at it. (added the bold to correct my open-ended statement). I fully recognized your point about Baker being an influence, I just find it to be a bullshit reason to have someone be considered one of the all-time best. I erred by not finishing my sentence in my original post, and apologize for making your brain hurt. And, no, I'm not on drugs.

But playoff hockey isn't about assaults on the ice, or goalies dropping the gloves, and that's what most American non-hockey fans get excited about. If you ask the average American sports fan to name more than 3 people on either the Flames or Senators, you'll be waiting a long time. (hell, ask them to find Calgary or Ottawa on a map and you'll probably be waiting for a while.) And if they don't know much about a team, they won't be as passionate about watching them play. I still think the reason that the Ducks got so much love from ESPN & ABC last season was because of the Disney connection. If that was the Sharks or Kings or Coyotes having a remarkable run, they'd have gotten much less press. And if it was two CDN teams in the Cup, ESPN wouldn't take the time or energy to create the drama needed to get any ratings.

While an all Canadian final 4 would be fun to watch, it'd go over like a fart in church here in the States, and that's the last thing that the league needs before a potential season long lockout. The league really needs to have some of the major US markets play well, and go deep, in the postseason (e.g. Detroit, Colorado, Boston, Philly). Best case scenario: Second round consisting of Tampa Bay vs. Toronto & Philly vs. Boston (hopefully with TO and Boston winning, leaving two orginal 6 teams with a long drought since their last Cups) in the East, and Detroit vs. Calgary & Colorado vs. Vancouver in the West. This would keep a surplus of CDN teams alive, and also keep the markets that still care about hockey in the US active as well.

I kind of figured that they'd have to do a Cena-HHH feud at some point, seeing as it was Cena that pulled HHH's name out of the tumbler, and thus forced him to leave Raw.

If incorporating jazz (and other musical genres) into rock is what makes a drummer great, then wouldn't the guy from Phish have to be on the list, too? And being the first at something doesn't necessarily make you the best at it. Nor does being an influence.

Whether it comes to fruition or not, Trump is getting his name, and the name of the show, a bunch of extra press and publicity. Looks like mission accomplished, regardless of the end result of this stupid trademark attempt.

While I wouldn't be surprised if Messier got off easy because of his imminent retirement, I'm laughing at the notion that there really are Leafs fans that think the league is biased against TO and gave Belak a longer suspension as a result. First of all, if they wanted to punish the Leafs, they'd have made them play Belak MORE not suspend him. And I find it really hard to believe that the league would go out of their way to purposely hurt one of their premier teams. 8 games sounds about right for big Wade, and I'd have guessed that Messier (if retirement wasn't an issue) would have gotten about 4-5. This next week will have a huge say in how the Northeast pans out ... the Bruins have 3 consecutive home games against Ottawa, Toronto, and Montreal. If they can win at least 2 of the 3 (or gain 4 points, however it's done) then they should be in a good position to capture the top spot in the division. And Spiff, I'll say it again - I wouldn't be surprised if the Flyers pull the trigger on a goalie change far too early. I know, I know, you disagree. But we'll find out who's right soon enough.

The choices are bullshit, and are age-biased. (kidding) I'm already 29, and have never worn earplugs to shows, with minimal hearing loss (I say minimal because there is some, but not enough to complain about.) And I've been into the punk/hardcore/Oi scene since I was in middle school, so I've certainly seen my share of loud shows. I think people fuck over their hearing more by blaring their music in their cars or rooms. If I see 3 or 5 shows a month, regardless of how loud they are, it's only 10 or so hours of loud music. Add countless hours of loud music in every day living, and then is when you fuck over your hearing.

There's something funny about you saying that the Ramones won you over, but you question other bands abilities to play instruments. Many (if not most) punk bands could play circles around the Ramones.

If UNH can beat Michigan, I wouldn't be surprised to see them beat BC. The Eagles played pretty poorly at the end of the year (like 1 win in their last 5 or 6 games, or something like that). As long as one of the local schools wins it, I'll be content.

Maine vs. UMass was one of the best college games ever. Didn't get decided until halfway through the third OT, and was as offensive of a 2-1 final as you could imagine. (and by offensive I mean full of offense, not offensive as in distasteful). Maine taking their regional is the only one that I'm confident in. I could see 3 of the 4 teams in both the Northeast and Midwest regions (sorry, Niagara and Notre Dame) and either Dakota or Denver winning the West. Frozen 4 > Final 4.

I was thinking the same thing ... unless Sapp is willing or able to spend a bunch of time at DE, they're going to be paying a bunch of money for a guy (Washington) that will be sitting on the bench a fair amount of the time. Because you can't put big Ted on the outside. How about on 3 and long? Do both Sapp AND Washington sit?

Yes, Crass was a pretty piss poor band ... but they really drank the anarchist kool-aid. My problem with Fear is that they only released one true punk album. More Beer is horrid, and everything that they released after that is worse. If we're talking about loud, obnoxious, borderline offensive punk rock, I'd take GBH or the Exploited, and potentially the Hard-Ons, over Fear. If we're saying US punk only, I'd prefer The Freeze (Land of the Lost) or MDC (anything pre-Millions of Damn Christians, which is punk in attitude only)

CRASS (damn, I wish I knew how to make the "anarchy A" to put in the middle of that.) Not only talked about anarchy and starting a revolution, but outright wanted it to happen. They were real punk.

After watching both Lightning games this weekend, let me reiterate my statements that they'll be lucky to get past round one, and if they do beat the Isles (or Sabres) then they'll be eliminated in the second round. They looked great in getting a 3-0 lead against the Bruins, but then showed absolutely no killer instinct in letting the B's come back and tie it. And Vinny Lecavalier looked HORRIBLE in getting not one, but two Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalties. And, after choking a game away to Boston, you'd think that they'd have come out like a house on fire against the Isles. (as in the team that they're most likely going to be facing in the first round of the playoffs). But nooooo, they look flatter than hell and get shut out by a much weaker team. Plus, Tortorella is publicly questioning Khabibulin for giving up so many softies (and this was before he gave up 5 goals against the Bruins) ... Tampa fans, enjoy the regular season, because it looks like your postseason is going to be a short one. And Spiff, I still think that history will repeat itself and Philly will juggle it's netminders as it chokes another playoff run away.

Good post, BwG - you definitely made a few good points. Who's greater, Bobby or Raymond? Orr, without a doubt. I think it's a misconception that he missed a lot of games, in his first 9 years in the season he only played less than 60 games once. The problem with Orr was that his last three years were junk, with something like 50 games played (total) in the three of them. And when he was healthy, Orr basically re-defined the defensive position. Is good as Forsberg is, I wouldn't say that he's re-defined anything. Yes, Orr's missed time is very comparable to Forsberg's. But it's also a factor when people talk about the all-time greats. Gretkzy and Howe are universally named as the best two, and there are people (even some non-biased, non-Boston writers) that say that Orr would be up there if he'd played longer & healthier. And I agree with that assessment, but also think it holds true for Forsberg: his standing in the history of the game should be effected by the time missed for injuries. Same with a guy that stays healthy his entire short career but retires early: he'll be less likely to be considered an all-time great, unless he really dominates the league or re-writes the record book in that short career. (like Jim Brown did) I do disagree with your opinion that Forsberg isn't a power forward, because even the way you describe his play (taking punishment on offensive, deliver punishment in the defensive end) is how I define a power forward. He's probably more comparable to Thornton, in that he doesn't park in front of the net (a la a standard power forward) the way he plays (and is played against) is at the level of most power forwards. By that definition, 90% of the NHLers are great. I can think of very few players that last in this league if they're not dedicated on both ends of the ice. Maybe Kovalchuk, but he's still a kid. Even Federov learned to play more defense, and was lauded and rewarded for it.

Stereolab :: Our Trinitone Blast

He indeed was the "black guy" ... I feel ancient to admit this, but I remember the early days of MTV and JJ was always the one that I thought was coolest, the one that I was most envious of, the one that I thought did the best job of being a VJ.

I disliked Mars Blackman, disliked Jordan, and hate Spike Lee to this day, but I do have to give this commercial props for at least one thing: I still say "it's gotta be the shoes" to this day. Any commercial that can spring a saying that lasts so long can't be too bad, I guess.