Ah, Youth...No I In Team...Holiday Smells

Where the hell you been, girlfriend? 
I know...slacking here on the bloggy a bit lately.  It's not that I haven't wanted to write, rant and curse - cuz I have.  I gots tons-o-stuff just bubblin' up and ready to spill out onto a white, pristine new blog post.  Life's just been gettin' in the way these days.  And I've come to realize that being out in it (life, that is) is infinitely better than parking my wide load in front of a computer screen all the time.  

Youth Hockey
OMFG, I'd let myself forget how much fun it is to watch youth hockey games.  Especially now that there's legitimate chicks with sticks programs.  Although, I'm a huge fan of letting the talented girls play on the boys' teams but I won't get all political on your ass here.  I've been pestering Coach Daggett to let me attend his kids' games.  I just wanted to practice with my camera and evaluate the need for the tele-photo lens of my dreams. 

What I got was an instant transformation back to my youth and a huge smile in my heart.  Yeah, the arenas are cold - you need a blanket to keep your bum from going numb.  Yeah, there's little kids running around all over the place cuz there's NOTHIN-TO-DO while waiting for big brothers or sisters to finish their games out on the ice.  Hockey moms and dads, huddled in tight sections, clearly separated by the blue line - indicating territory between conference or division foes.  And the cheers - lots of heart felt cheers.  There are Oooooohs!! for that so-close-how-could-that-puck-not-have-gone-in move.  And the Whistles, Cheers and Howls when the puck does go in lets you know these kids don't have one set of parents, they have dozens.  Each kid coming out of the locker room to join family members on the bleachers is greeted by the 'tribe' and commended on his/her great play with mentions of a particularly good shift or move with the puck.  And summarily, each kid greets his team mates much the same way, with a recap of their favorite play of the game.

What a difference from the lack of heart and soul down at the Xcel 

Hockey Dad (Fletcher) said he's counting to three and if everyone's not behaving there will be Hell To Pay.  He really showed this team, his coach and the paying fans he meant business when he told the team to "start winning or else." 

The team promptly lost the next two games.  The players disappeared for 21 minutes in a game where the coach gave praise to the Hockey Gods about the 39 minutes of effort he did see.  Mikko, pouting and petulant, whined some more (this time to the St. Paul Pioneer Press) "When things are going well, everybody's your friend," he noted, not smiling. "When things are not going the way you want, people turn their backs on you. But whatever happens, it's up to us in this room, and that's all we can do." 

Mikko needs to be grounded to the press box and the C taken off his sweater.  Captains don't act like babies when they're not being adored by fans who know the difference between solid hockey effort and the crap the Wild have putting out there on the ice.  Perhaps big brother Saku could give him some advice on how to behave like an adult first and secondly as an adult NHL player.  Maybe Saku could remind his little bro that it's not smart to antagonize the hands that will be feeding you, starting next season, $5.4 million with bonuses of $1.89 million paid every other year and a double installment to raise the figure to $9.18 million in the final season.  I wonder if Saku would be able to translate this into Finnish so that Mikko will understand completely when I say: There's no I in TEAM, but there are three U's in SHUT THE FUCK UP! 

It's Beginning To Smell A Lot Like Peace On Earth
With only four days left until the big event, my kitchen is in full production mode and the house smells like almond.  My clothes smell like almond, my hair smells like almond and I swear to God - Buster smells like almond.  You people and your addiction to Fairy Drops - it's almost like a Meth thing, huh?  At least there's no potential for my house to blow up during the 'cooking' process.  At worst, all you 'FairyHeads' will suffer a mild sugar-induced coma from consuming them by the dozens.  I guess there are more tragic things in life, huh? 

That's enough for now - the timer is about to go off and another batch of cookies is due to come out of the oven.  Then it's off to the store to pick up the last of the food stuffs for Saturday's Soiree.  It will be good to get some fresh air - that doesn't smell like almond...

Speaking of Sugar Plum Fairies