What a Game!

In 1993 the Los Angeles Kings went to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first (and only) time in their history. Even though they lost to the Montreal Canadiens in 5 games, it was a magical season. Especially for me because that was the season that I became a hockey fan.

However, somewhere between college, The Great One's retirement and a hockey strike, I stopped watching the game. I stopped that is, until the Winter Olympics started 2 weeks ago. Between Curling, Short Track Speed Skating and Hockey, I've logged a lot of ice time these past 14 days. It's been great...especially the hockey.

So today for the Gold Medal game between Canada and the U.S. I went to Nick's at the Pier to watch it with some friends. The place was packed, the game was on nearly every screen and people were into it big time. When Zach Parise tied it at 2 with 24.4 secs left in regulation, the place erupted.

All of a sudden I had more then just a few friends, everyone in the bar was my new best buddy, and I theirs. High fives, hugs, shots, USA chants...it was a great moment. That's the moment I'm going to remember when I think about the 2010 Gold Medal game, because that's the moment that united a bar full of random strangers, most of whom probably weren't even hockey fans.

And people wonder why sports are so popular.

The San Diego Starlettes

*Authors Note: Due to circumstances beyond my control (more on that later) I was unable to post a picture of the day photo yesterday...so you get two entries today.

You know how smart people with glasses always say things like, "It's not the destination...it's the journey"? Well there's a reason they always say things like that...they're smart.

Taking any and all religious undertones and dogma out of it, life's destination is death. So you better believe it's all about the journey, because once you reach the destination "Wally's World" is closed.

So in the interest of the journey, I did something I had never done before this weekend, I went to a Roller Derby Bout...and it was awesome!!! First things first, you'll notice it's called a bout and not a match. There's a good reason for that...these girls take a beating. The last time I went roller skating I couldn't sit down for a week afterwards because my tail bone was so sore...and I only fell down a couple of times. These girls were getting knocked to the ground left and right. Tough chicks for sure.

Clever ones too for that matter, the names they come up with are hilarious. Juno EscareMe, Marcy Slayground, Wonder Whoop'em, Michelle Otrama, The Real Slim Sk8dy. It's everything you would imagine it to be, plus 50%

Like I said it was awesome.

Working for the Weekend

Let me just make something clear right from the start...I have a great job! It's a dream job in fact. I get paid to talk about sports, go to games and meet athletes...in my hometown no less. So we are clear, right? I love my job.

Now that we have that out of the way...work is brutal sometimes isn't it?

I have a hunch that every job feels like that now and then. For whatever reason, my job felt like that this week. But you know what they say, if life hands you a lemon, make some beer...and that's exactly what Big John and I did at the end of this week.

Really though it's not even about the beer (though that didn't hurt), it's more about blowing off some steam and just shooting the breeze with good people. It's theraputic.

How do you think Happy Hour got invented.

My New Backyard

My Wife and I have lived in our house for 2 and half years now, and while we have done a pretty nice job decorating the inside...the backyard is a disaster. The sad part is, that's one of the first things I wanted to get done...but shit happens.

We moved into our place in August of '07 and were engaged that Nov. So with a wedding in the mix, the backyard would have to wait. No problem...I'll get to it next summer.

Next summer the economy went in the tank and my wife was laid off...probably not the best time to tackle the project.

Well it's 2010 and our adjustable rate mortgage is one more year closer to adjusting, so I figured it was time to get on with it...and that's exactly what Megan and I are doing. We've hired a landscape architect to make sense of our myriad of ideas and give us a solid foundation for finally doing something with an extremely under-utilized piece of our property.

I'm happy to report that we met with Tracey (that's the landscape architect) today and she showed us a couple of different plans for the backyard. After some mixing and matching, we feel like we have a really kick-ass space just waiting to be developed.

Now the only question is...whose parents own a lumber yard and/or nursery?

$187.32

Is that a good price for new tires? You betcha!

Is that a good price for a new tire (as in singular)...not even close. Believe it or not my first quote was for $240...from Discount Tires. Discount my ass. I mean, it's not like I drive a Lexus or something...it's a Mazda 3. The chick car of the new millennium.

So why the hell are my stock tires so "F"ing expensive? The explanation, because they are low profile tires. Low profile? Not with a price tag like that.

But what are you going to do? It's not like I can rock the Schwinn tire for the rest of the year. I don't want to sound cheap, it's just that seems a bit excessive for one tire. It's not like I'm on the Tokyo Drift racing team or something.

So what's the lesson...you tell me. I guess it's, "Don't run over a nail." That and nobody likes a cheap-skate.

Trio

So this is Megan Kennedy, Trio to you and I.

You know her as the inspiration for my blog, I know her as one of the most caring, selfless, friendly, and most fun people I know. Trio is one of those people whose energy is contagious. She is always down for any adventure, be it a happy hour or a theme party or volunteering with kids.

Today was her birthday so we all met at the PB Ale House for some happy hour beers and food. Seeing as it was her special day, there were cards and gifts exchanged, but none of the gifts better then this bottle of Cougar Pinot Grigio.

It just goes to show that taste, aroma, and grape consistency can only take you so far in the world of wine, what you really need is a fun label and a cool name.

Check and check.

Well That Sucked

I'm 33 years old which means I've been driving for 17 years now. In that time I've had to change a flat about 4 flat tires. It's not my favorite thing to do but it really isn't that bad...more of an inconvenience then anything.

Well today was my 5th tire change and it was by far the most disappointing. Not because I missed my chiropractic appointment or because I had to have some stranger explain to me where my car jack should be positioned under the car (he informed me that his wife has the same car so he knew what he was talking about...great I drive a chick car), no the reason it was so disappointing was because of the spare I had.

My old car had a full sized spare tire. My new one has a Schwinn.

Talk about embarrassing, no wonder it's considered a chick car. My spare tire looks like it comes from the Barbie Corvette. Things only got worse when I had to drive it back to work on the freeway doing a cool 51 MPH. I had old ladies flipping me off and I'm pretty sure one truck drive took a picture so he all his buddies could laugh at me the next time they got together to drink broken glass.

Good thing I'm married, because nobody wants to date a guy with a little wheel. Believe me, size matters sometimes.