the max

Tampa and Sunrise are about 250 miles away from each other on the highway. You'd be looking at at least 4.5 to 5 hours going from one to another. Tampa is a "rising" franchise because they're winning. People down here are bandwagon jumpers. They all hopped on the Panthers wagon in 96 and a few got on when they made their "try to get into the playoffs" run at the end of last season. It's up to the owners to move the team or give the fans a winner to support. There's nothing there anymore. Luongo was the draw. Now Jokinen is. While Jokinen is an underrated player, he's hardly a marquee name or player like Luongo was. Bertuzzi was there, but he's gone now. The Panthers do not have anything going for them. Meanwhile, they're fucking nuts about the Dolphins and Heat in Miami. Thus, the Panthers aren't high in the pecking order. Tampa doesn't have anything else. There's no NBA team locally, the Devil Rays have been an embarrassment since their inception and the Bucs are on the down slide. Thus, they have something to cheer for. Take Tampa's big three out and they have nothing. For that same reason, you can't be serious about bailing on Washington now. Ovechkin IS a marquee name, he makes people care about hockey in DC. Outside of Ovechkin the Caps have nothing, but they have a bright future.

Ice is bad, I'm recording this game and watching it in ten minutes tomorrow before work. We can't wait for Game 3 to hear the Canadian anthem sung by Ottawa fans. Are they going to be as loud as Edmonton's were last year? The girlfriend says no. I say yes.

If it's large, the gator could use its weight to topple it. Or just scoot under it. Those chain link fences are secure on the top, but if there's so much as an inch between the bottom of the fence and the actual ground, it can be bent up enough to fit a person. We used to bend the fences up at the junkyard to get inside. A gator could slip through there, his skin is tough, so once he sees that he can get under the fence and the fence will bend enough to let him through. As for the stairs, no. Unless we're talking some kind of longer, flat stairs. Like you'd have on a natural sloping ground. If we're talking a set of stairs in a ranch styled house, no way.

I built two Surge can pyramids my freshman year of high school. That stuff was fantastic. My contribution:

This was sarcasm, right? Who doubts the hitting prowess of David Ortiz? I meant that he can hit with power to the opposite field and not have to pull everything. I think people get too caught up in the "DAVID ORTIZ!!! CLUTCH HOMAH~!" stuff to realize that he's more than just a homer guy. He's a good, patient hitter and that's why he's dangerous. Not just because of the power.

Teams pitch inside to Ortiz on occasion. The problem is that if they bust him in too much, he'll turn on one and go long. Ortiz is a better hitter than people give him credit for. Plus, why take the chance of hitting Ortiz when Ramirez is right behind him?

Ottawa in 5. I think the layoff will kill Anaheim's momentum. Their size could be a problem, since Ottawa hasn't really faced a big team yet, nor a team with two or more defensemen that are capable of playing defense. But even with what will be a 9 day layoff for Ottawa, I think they're a better team.

The Ducks should do like they did in D2 and have cardboard stand-ins in the crowd, since all of the games will be starting at 5 PT. WTG. Also, we get to wait six days so NBC can get their game on a saturday (6-2). Hope there isn't a prerace horse show to cover on 6-2!

Basically, they're going to use cavemen to comment on race relations because they're too scared to use blacks, whites, asians, etc. Awesome society.

Lipstick Jungle = Girl's Club - Lawyers.

It was the same thing with the Red Sox prior to 04. Once the team tastes success, the bandwagon hitches up and you have people jumping on.

Seeing "It" on ABCFamily was worse, IMO.

Buffalo got off to a ridiculous start and coasted from there. Ottawa picked it up after xmas and were one of the hottest teams down the stretch, thanks in large part to Chris Kelly filling in for injured Spezza. Buffalo's lack of a true checking line will hurt while Ottawa's defense and defensive-minded forwards will play nicely for them. I agree that this won't go long. And I think Ottawa takes it in 5.

I don't know how much a difference it really makes, but thank you whoever broke Gregg Zaun's thumb. Former Blue Jay Eric Hinske. While it sucks for Zaun, at least Hinske hit something. His average is barely above .200.

So the only reasons for Ottawa beating the Crosbys and the Devils was the HAS line? They may have put up the points, but it's not like the rest of the team played like dogshit. Vermette is always dangerous, as are Kelly and Fisher. The difference is that the rest of the team hasn't really kicked it into gear yet pointswise compared to HAS. Some would say that's a good thing for Ottawa, seeing as how they made quick work of two pretty good teams (the Crosbys were all offense and Sergei Gonchar as their best defenseman while the Devils defined "one-line team") with one line. You can shutdown that top line, but players like Vermette and Fisher are dangerous in the playoffs because they seem to be in the right place at the right time. It's not a slight to the Sabres, who are a great team. But they've really coasted at times so far this postseason as if they're already guaranteed a spot in the finals. They played two teams who they were much, much better than and won in a convincing number of games, yet there were games where they didn't look all that strong (they looked downright beatable against the Rags, who are a one-line team).

Ray Emery drives a fancy car because he's a fancy man.

The thing is that if someone took a stand against Jackson's bullshit, it might stop. Don't look at the attention whore and he'll go away.

It's been said, but when CBS caved to Sharpton and Jackson over Imus's stupid joke, it opened the floodgates for these asshead special interest groups to try and mount a head on their wall. Welcome to the world of radio. Where something can go unfined with the FCC but cause a shitstorm for hurting someone's feelings. We're all going to have to listen to the same hack zoo crew as this stuff keeps up. O&A will probably be next. Take your pick of which stupid interest group is going to take them down.

I wonder if we'll get to hear more of the complete non-story that Emery's car accident was. Christ on a pony, VS. was ignoring game 5 to discuss a fucking fender bender. Ottawa in 5 (OMGZ) Detroit in 6

Vancouver? Chicago. Leafs and Bruins. Buffalo? Rags? Pens.

...and with the 28th pick of the 19th round...

And it's a judge making a joke of our justice system. I hope this guy dies in a fire.

Santana v. Tavarez tomorrow. I hope we get to see a bit of dominant lefty Pedro.

Thanks for the reminder, Mr. Nantz.

Prison Heat 2: The Hilton.