End Results

All's Well That Ends Well 
Dog owners and 9 year old boys at heart will appreciate this...
So, for whatever reason Buster's been a little backed up the last two days.  Since I hold the title of Poop Patroller, I notice these things.  In the interest of moving things along I gave him a fresh beef bone last night after dinner to see if the richness of the marrow would help.  Buster was a happy dog, noisily grinding on that bone for 3 hours straight.


No results during the last potty call before retiring for the night which didn't alarm me too much.  Still nothing brewing this morning as I stood outside in the -3 degree temperature at 6:30 a.m., except the mental note in my head that I should have taken care of business myself, before standing outside in -3 degree weather waiting for the dog to do his business.


I load Buster into the truck after breakfast and off the park we go for our daily walk.  Buster excitedly bounds up the path and then back to me making sure none of my joints had frozen solid and was his usual happy-to-be-outside dog.  Typically, a good run gets things moving for Buster but still nothing for me to bag up and deposit into the garbage can as we exited the park.  I'm a little concerned and decide that I'll call the vet from home once my nose stops running and I can feel my fingers enough to dial.


Back home, I'm sitting at the table with the phone in hand - Buster's curled up to the right of my chair working on the bone from last night.  All of a sudden there's an audible signal from his rear end...and I do mean AUDIBLE.  And a good 5 seconds in length - long enough for me to realize that he's actually farting out loud (not me, really) and to see his complete surprise at his butt's ability to do that.  Buster jumped to his feet and started turning circles while barking at his butt,  pretty much the same way he barks at sounds he thinks he hears outside when there's nothing there but he needs to show me he's The Defender Of The Realm.   


Taking this a sign of things to come I quickly headed for downstairs with Buster in the lead.  We barely made it to the back yard in time.  On this day I am thankful for below zero temperatures so that what is now liquid will be a solid mass later for easier disposal, 'nuff said.


Buster is fine, no ill or lingering effects.  He's napping in a patch of sun on the living room floor now completely relieved, physically and figuratively speaking.  I'm relieved as well to have been home for this episode - ugh, I don't even want to think about what could have been... buy hey, everything worked out in the end, right?  ;)

End of Days
That's it folks, wrap it up.  The holidays are over.  Okay, there's Epiphany on Thursday this week for you Traditionalists out there but after that there's really no excuse for getting the house back to normal.  Get that dried up crispy Christmas tree out the door in time for the garbage collection this week.  It's a fire hazard.  It has been for at least a week now.  Admit it.  You stopped watering it before Christmas Eve, didn't you?  Turn those outside holiday lights off, especially the hideous blue ones...WTF does blue have to do with Christmas??  

The kids are back in school, already whining about how long it will be until their next day off, which will still come sooner than your next company paid holiday.  All you're left with now are stale Christmas cookies and the visa bill due by the 15th.  Happy...Merry...wait, nothing until Memorial day weekend: 5 months and 6 days from now.  Looking at the 3 foot snow drift on my deck really drives that point home.  
Makes you think about...

Wild vs Coyotes Recap

As if to prove a point regarding inconsistency - the Wild played yet another game tonight where they showed up for the game in short bursts during each period but didn't put in a full game's effort.  A fairly weak first period with the Wild tying the game in the waning seconds.  They built a two goal lead in the second by putting in some solid shifts, driving to the net and working at rebounds.  The Wild came out in the third period with some serious attitude problems, thinking they were all that and a bag of chips.  The Coyotes made them pay for it by scoring two goals inside of 13 seconds to tie the game.  The boos rained down on the Wild and rightfully so given the Coyotes were outshooting the Wild 10 to 4 at that point in the period.  The Wild spent the next six minutes pouting before deciding to play intense hockey again.

And look at that - they scored on a determined attack in the offensive zone, including catching a rebound to put the puck in the net.  Phoenix, not wanting to be taken lightly, promptly scored two goals by skating around our defense and from the faceoff to take the lead back.  The Wild stepped up to the challenge.  With Jose pulled the team did a great job of owning the offensive zone.  Bruno sprung the puck from behind the net to Bouchard who tied the game with 25 seconds left.  And how's this for a 'who'dathunk' finish to the game - Cam Barker gets the winning goal 46 seconds into overtime!  This is Wild Hockey at it's best...just think if they could put in three full periods of it.



Jose faced 44 shots in his 250th career win.  That's a completely unacceptable amount of shots to face and I was glad to hear Brunette say as much in his post game interview from the ice.  Seven players with minus ratings even though a couple of them had goals.  Havlat was the worst with a -4 for the night but Brokziak was right behind him with -3.  The Wild only put 29 shots on goal.  Nystrom notched his first point at home since coming to the Wild...sad, really sad.


Player of the game has to be Mikko with 4 assists and his decision to lead the team in determination. Bruno is my pick for number two.  The third spot is a tie between Burns (who had a good overall game despite a couple of really stupid plays) and Barker (who is the luckiest bastard on the face of the earth).  

New Year Resolutions, What's Wrong With The Wild

I Resolve To...
I'm not much for New Year resolutions, mostly because I tend to over-aspire which sets me up for failure and then being very hard on myself for not achieving those lofty goals.  That, and I'm incredibly lazy...really.  That being said, I did read a column today in the Pioneer Press  that made me stop and think - and then come back to it for a second read.  While I don't agree with everything she wrote most of it really rang true for me.  I hope that you will find something of value in her words as well: Kathleen Parker's Resolutions For All Time
My favorite part of her column:
Here is giving: Listening. Sparing time. Not interrupting. Holding that thought. Leaving the last drop. Staying home. Turning it off, whatever it is. Making eye contact. Picking it up. Taking the room's temperature. Paying attention. Waiting.


Wild Woes
The Wild continues to be inconsistent in their efforts.  They struggle to put more than two strong games together.  Heck, they struggle to put two strong periods together, much less two strong games.  They don't play together well, often looking lost out on the ice.  The passing is horrible.  The turnovers are too many.  The lack of puck possession is pathetic.  The time spent in our own zone is embarrassing, especially when we're on the power play.  I'm not saying anything here that we all haven't witnessed for ourselves for a season and a half now. 

The coach's response?  He hits the rewind button on his pre-recorded patent answer for the post-game pressers: "We'll look at the tape and we'll talk about it."  One time he came out with this little diddy:  "I'm sick and tired of being booed at home."  Evidently that was only valid for one well-played game.  After that it was right back to SUCKING ON ICE for the game against the Nashville Predators.  According to an interview with Bruce Brothers of the Pioneer Press, Todd was really bothered by that 4-1 loss to the Predators.  He actually lost sleep over it and woke up at 4:30 a.m. on Saturday thinking about how to "get players to play better."  His answer for the next two days...

1. Saturday's practice was cut short because the arena had to be prepped for the Schwan Cup event starting at noon.  So, the coach couldn't have called the players in early in order to get a full practice in??? 
2. Sunday's practice was very optional.  Seven skaters and Jose Theodore showed up.  Yep, I'd say that Coach Richards has his finger on the pulse of this team and is making EVERY effort to make it clear what's expected of them.  In case some of you are not familiar with my writing form, that last sentence is dripping with sarcasm and loathing - bordering on hatred.  

In all fairness to the coach, the Wild's lack of effort cannot be pinned entirely on the man behind the bench.  These are professional hockey players we're talking about, right?  And haven't we heard the players say they need to step it up and lead by example?  Well, okay - after Koivu threw his temper tantrums in both Twin Cities newspapers he decided that maybe as the captain he should man up.  But it hasn't lasted for him any longer than most of his teammates.  Now one of his line mates has decided to weigh in on the Wild's serious issue of don't-give-a-shit-itis'. 

In the same interview with Bruce Brothers, Antti Miettinen states "It's the five guys on the ice", he said.  "We have all the systems; you've got to execute as a team."  He admits to the team not playing with same level of intensity Friday night as they had in the previous couple of games.  But he didn't let it bother him..in fact, he said he slept well Friday night.  Antti went on to say that he thinks the team has played pretty consistently lately and he's "not concerning himself about that."  WFT??? 
But have no fear, Wild fans because Antti also says he got ticked off about the game when he got to practice the next morning and directed that anger in the right way to get some energy from it...during a short practice on Saturday, followed by an optional practice on Sunday morning.  So, Antti - were you one of the seven skaters on the ice Sunday morning?  

Here's the full Pioneer Press article. 

With attitudes and practice routines like these - gee, I wonder what could possibly be the problem with the Wild?  Things that make you go hmmmmm.