The transition will not be televised

Greetings all from my new laptop. I am tinkering with the new bells and whistles and figured this would be as good a time as any to work on a blog posting. Actually I am thinking this will turn into a glog at some point, seeing as how game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final is tonight and depending on the outcome, it could be the last game of the year, as Detroit holds a 3 games to 2 lead in the best of seven series, so this may be my last opportunity to glog before next hockey season, and I have very little interest in glogging baseball, so the next thing up would be football season.

As if my interest in baseball could wane anymore than what it already has, the Pirates went and traded away Nate McClouth only one of the team's best players, and a player that a mere four months ago team management said was one of the players that the franchise was looking to build around for three minor league prospects. This didn't come as much of a shock to me, I am all to aware of how the team is in the business of trading talented players for prospects, but yet it came as a shock to some of the local faithful. Bad enough that the team has already said that a handful of players are available for trade and they have went and limited the at bats for Freddy Sanchez, who has a contract bonus coming should he get to 600 at bats this year. This is what happens when you run your franchise on the cheap and the only thing you are concerned with is turning a profit and not fielding a competitive team.

Elsewhere I guess there are some things to talk about. Work continues to go well, at least as well as can be expected. I had an overnight shift Friday which messed with my sleeping routine a little bit. Plus it pulled me from my normal stock person duties and stuck me on register. I was actually scheduled for register for three days in a row, Friday overnight as well as Sunday and Monday morning, but neither of the stock people that were scheduled for Monday showed up, so I escaped cashier land and went back to what I enjoy doing. Of course I had to then do the work of two people, and we did get two deliveries Monday, a 7 UP truck I had to catch and a grocery order I had to check in and put away on top of normal stocking duties, plus nobody bothered to put away Friday's cigarette order and among the grocery order was another display that had to be built, so I had my hands full most of the day. I have noticed something, that I am actually getting couple of muscles from all of the lifting and stair climbing involved in my new job. Because we keep all of our back stock in the basement, any time we need to replace an item on the floor, we have to go downstairs, fetch it and then bring it upstairs. Probably the hardest is bring up all of the stuff to fill the beverage coolers, which tend to run out pretty quickly, especially with the weather getting all warmer these days.

Well I am getting all hacky and stuff and busting into a wireless network so I can reset my clock and calendar. I am hardly a computer expert in such matters, but the signal I am stealing looks unsecured so I am content to steal from it for the time being.

I have been staying away from political postings recently, not because I couldn't do them, but because there is way too much vitriol out there and I am not in the mood to be drug down by it. I just have very little interest in the "Democrats are socialists, Republicans are fascists" banter that seems to take place far too often these days. Some people may find that type of stuff to be entertaining, to me it is just the equivalent of two kids sitting in the back of the family car punching each other in the arm. at some point some one needs to pull the car over and either try to straighten them out or just leave them by the roadside. For the time being I am opting for leaving them by the roadside, there are far bigger fish to fry out there.

While I am staying away from the political stuff, I would be remiss in not mentioning that the G20 has decided to visit my little hamlet in September. Again I will not get into the politics of it all, though I wonder just how we were selected for this particular honor and just offer this bit of warning to the to be expected protesters that will surely be here, as they take following around the G20 and yelling slogans much the same way potheads take to following around that epidemic lack of talent known as The Grateful Dead and say that if any protester gets in the way of me trying to make a living at work downtown with one of there silly little chanting sessions, rest assured you will be catching my fist in your face. I don't keep you from earning a living and I expect the same courtesy. The furries come here every year and manage to behave themselves, you can do the same.

Hey, here is a novel thing, I had today off and I managed to not visit the bar. I have been spending a little too much time there recently, though part of the reason I didn't go was I was waiting on the UPS guy to deliver my laptop (I was following the tracking information online, so I knew it should arrive sometime today). According to the website I was to expect a 3-5 business day wait for my purchase, but it arrived in two days. I assumed it would be here today when I saw it arrived in Pittsburgh around 7:30 this morning. Still it didn't get here till after 4pm, which helped me stay away from the alcohol for a change.

Another add to the change meter is forthcoming, another 2.76 brings the total $99.82 and I am thinking I have a very good shot of cracking $100 before my birthday. Yes, the dreaded 40 comes in just 9 days, I trust you all have been out doing the requisite shopping that is required for such an occasion. Truth be told, I have been doing well buying stuff for myself, getting this laptop, my MP3 player and clothes this spring.

Obviously the Multiply upgrade looks to be complete, I have yet to tinker with the bells and whistles. I am not real big on bells and whistles to begin with, just let me post my normal babblings and I am a happy guy. That doesn't seem to be affected all that much, I have added some content since the switch and posted a couple of replys with no problem thus far.

We are getting closer to face off of the hockey game, probably time for some of you to tune out. Once again NBC is blocking broadcast of the game from outside the arena (Versus allowed the Pens to show the games outside) which while I understand the business reasons for such a blackout, NBC is missing the bigger picture of trying to sell the sport to a national audience. They need to show fans enthused about the product they are offering and the last game that was shown outside the arena drew an amazing 10,000 people. The more people you show enjoying the game, the better chance you have of getting people interested in what you are offering.

So I sat through the last episode on the Tonight Show under Jay Leno's tutelage as well as Conan O'Brien's first show and let me say that Jay left the show on a most classy note. The ending of the show with the stage full of all of the children born to members of the Tonight Show cast during Jay's run was a really nice touch, and while Conan didn't really trip over himself or anything his first night, it wasn't a smashing success either. It was a tamed down Conan, which may play well for the older audience he now has, but it wasn't as good as his previous show. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad, just not great either, kind of like mac and cheese in that regard.

Okay, the hockey game is about to start, time to open my sportsline window and to turn the volume up on the TV just a tad. Here's hoping that this isn't the last game of the year. Okay, that is just the homer in me coming out.

First thing to note of tonight's telecast is that they opened with a shot outside the arena. Again I stand by what I said earlier, if you allow the broadcast to be shown outside the arena on the big screen, you have a far better visual with a throng of people that you do with just the typical outside of a sporting venue.

First commercial break and so far nothing idiotic to report. I would have expected at least one promo for that insipidly stupid "I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here", where the major claim to fame of all of the participants is they really aren't all that much on the celebrity radar, because god forbid, even celebrities have standards.

One change to report to tonight's contest, Satan is a healthy scratch and is replaced by Petr Sykora. Not sure I like the move, but Satan has been pretty quiet this series so the move isn't unexpected.

Another commercial break and we are just about underway.

Matt Cooke registers the game's first shot for the Penguins, but it is easily handled by Chris Osgood and we are officially underway.

Sidney Crosby has the game's first good scoring opportunity, but is denied by a poke check from Osgood, and it is immediately followed up by a flurry of shots from Detroit, but Marc Andre Fluery is up to the task and the game remains scoreless.

Henrik Zetterberg gets a prime scoring opportunity for the Red Wings but is denied, and in fact, ends up getting penalized for goaltender interference and the Penguins will get the game's first powerplay. The call was a tad bit iffy, it looked more like Zetterberg was shoved into the goaltender than Zetterberg actually ran him. Still the Pens get the man advantage for the next two minutes.

Another flurry of activity in front of Osgood but nothing gets by him, and you start to understand why he is one of the best goaltenders in Stanley Cup history.

Detroit successfully kills off the penalty and the game is 7 minutes old with no score. The Pens have a decided advantage in shots, 6-2 but nothing to show for it.

First commercial break almost 10 minutes in. So far there have been few whistles to stop play, just a couple of icing calls and the penalty from earlier, beyond that the action has been pretty fast paced to this point.

Okay a Chysler commercial is on. Excuse me, but aren't they bankrupt or something? Just asking......

More end to end action and neither goaltender has yielded a goal to this point. Surprisingly, Bill Guerin has been credited with 5 shots already, not what you would expect, but then again this may be Bill Guerin's last chance to play for a Stanley Cup.

Another penalty on Detroit, and the stoppage of play means I can stretch my arm out a bit after leaning on my elbow for the entire game to this point.

Valeri Filppula gets the tripping call, 2 minutes for you, young man. Pittsburgh gets their second power play of tonight's contest. Crosby again denied by Osgood, who has been really good here in this period, standing up to everything the Penguins have thrown at him.

Another penalty kill for the Red Wings, Pittsburgh is now 0 for 2 on the power play.

The Penguins continue to enjoy a shot advantage here, it is now 10-2.

Zetterberg gets another quality scoring chance on Fleury, but is once again denied. The question seems to be which of these goaltenders will crack first.

A promo for the Dew tour, because nothing excites me more than watching grown men do bicycle tricks.

One minute left in the first period, and the best thing I can report to this point is that my laptop is still very much functional. Woohoo. And we are 20 minutes closer to my 40th birthday, I trust you will take the time during the first intermission to do the requisite shopping that is called for during such an occasion.

　

Okay, second period is underway. I spent part of the first intermission playing Hammerfall on Facebook, I just picked a fight with a Bone Mage that is probably going to take a while to complete, so I will focus on the game and come back to it.

We have our first goal, as Pittsburgh is on the board with a Jordan Staal goal after getting a two on one breakaway in on Osgood. The goal is Staal's fourth of the post season and assists go to Tyler Kennedy and Rob Scuderi. Pittsburgh has a 1-0 lead here in game 6, though this game is far from over. A stoppage in play and I take the opportunity to eat some elbow macaroni with gravy. Yes, I cooked tonight, you can tell because my Facebook status didn't update. I need to quit eating out so much anyway, my wallet will thank me in the long run.

Daniel Cleary with the Red Wings first good scoring opportunity here in the second period, but he was turned away by Fluery, who has only faced a handful of shots to this point, but many of them have been quality scoring chances.

Osgood makes another save, this time against Ruslan Fedetenko who was set up by Evgeni Malkin, and Pittsburgh continues to have a lead in shots to this point, 17-7.

Osgood with another big save to keep the game at 1-0, again Staal with the scoring opportunity but less successful than his previous opportunity.

Meanwhile Pavel Datsyuk is crushed by Matt Cooke along the boards.

Petr Sykora's time in this game may be short lived, as he dove to the ice to block a shot and was clearly at least stunned by it, if not hurt.

Detroit has managed to get some pressure in the offensive zone here about midway through the second period, but still nothing to show for it. Sykora has found his way back to the ice, so he can't be hurt too bad, though he struggled to even get to his feet after blocking the shot earlier.

Johan Franzen nearly ties the game after the Penguins give away the puck behind their own net. Fleury once again equal to the task and the Penguins maintain their 1-0 lead here about 14 minutes into the second period.

Another commercial and more pasta and iced tea for me. Have to keep the batteries charged if I am going to glog this entire game. The only bad part is I have run out of cigarettes, well ones I want to smoke anyway. I have some clove cigarettes my boss gave me, but I'd rather not go there if I don't have to.

More end to end action, but few scoring chances for either team, though Bill Guerin continues to be a shooting machine, he is now credited with 6 of the Penguins 22 shots to this point.

Zetterberg with his third great scoring chance for Detroit, but he is 0 for three in such opportunities, this time ringing the shot off of the post and the puck coming to rest underneath Fleury.

Still only two penalties called to this point, both in the first period and the referees are letting them play with little involvement from the striped shirt guys.

Osgood again comes up big, turning away first Fedetenko and then Malkin and without him in net tonight, Detroit could easily be down 3 or 4 goals.

Okay, that is the end of the second period, Pittsburgh still leads 1-0 and I am headed back to Hammerfall to finish the fight I picked.

Third period underway here and I dispatched of the bone mage in Hammerfall. The downside was that I used lots of supplies to do it and now I am at a point in the game where I need to recruit more guild members to continue.

Now we see if Pittsburgh continues to play the attacking style that has given them a large shot advantage or if they start to get conservative and try to protect the one goal lead.

Early on it is Detroit controlling the action here in the third period, but as has been the case Fleury has been up to the task.

Pittsburgh gets their first good scoring chance, a Pascal Dupuis slap shot that Osgood denies.

We have a Pittsburgh goal, Tyler Kennedy with the goal, his 5th of the post season, assists to Maxime Tablot and Ruslan Fedetenko and it is Pittsburgh with a 2-0 lead now. It isn't the stars tonight for Pittsburgh, but rather their third and fourth line guys that are stepping up here.

6 and a half minutes into the third and Pittsburgh with a two goal lead. For all of the good goaltending Detroit has gotten out of Osgood tonight, they have really gotten very little out of their offense, just 17 shots in 45 minutes of action.

Detroit finally breaks the shutout bid, Kris Draper puts in a rebound and cuts the lead in half, it is now 2-1. The goal was Draper's first this post season and assists get credited to Nicklas Lidstrom and Mikael Samuelsson.

Detroit will get a chance to tie it up here, Evgeni Malkin commits the first infraction for the Penguins tonight, a cross check and Detroit gets its first power play of the evening.

A shot gets through Fleury but before it can get across the line Rob Scuderi clears the puck out of danger to maintain the one goal lead.

Pittsburgh has killed off the penalty, but Detroit has dictated play here in the third period, and are continuing to press for the equalizing goal.

Pittsburgh finally gains the Detroit zone, but Bill Guerin gets called for a high stick and once again Detroit will go on the power play looking for a chance to tie things up. 7 minutes and 20 seconds remain in the third period, and the Stanley Cup is out of its case in the locker room area should Detroit come back and win this game.

Guerin comes out of the box and starts a breakaway feeding Crosby who sets up Kris Letang, but the Penguins can't finish the play, they have to settle for just killing off the penalty instead.

The shot advantage that Pittsburgh had earlier is slowly evaporating here in the third, it is now 30-24 with 4 minutes and change remaining in the contest.

Two and change remaining and Detroit might be pulling their goaltender soon.

Crosby again denied on a set up from Chris Kunitz, Osgood just seems to have his number this series, limiting him to just one goal.

Dan Cleary on a breakaway set up by Datsyuk, but Fleury gets just enough of it to maintain the one goal lead and Detroit is down to 1:12 remaining to try and generate the tying goal.

Osgood is officially out of the goal for the extra attacker. A pileup in front of the Penguins net and with 18 seconds left Rob Scuderi again bails out Fleury in the crease. He may just end up with the game's #1 star for his defense tonight. A faceoff in the Pittsburgh zone and after some action behind the Penguins net, Maxime Tablot clears the puck into the Detroit zone and kills the remaining seconds to preserve a 2-1 win.

Okay, time to proofread, as best as I possibly can, and then off for some nicotene. Maybe I will be back for game 7 Friday night.