Monday, April 26, 2010

game 4 round 1: vancouver 6 - l.a. 4/game 5 round 1: vancouver 7 - l.a. 2/game 6 round 1: vancouver 4 - l.a. 2


Like that sharty Staind song... IT'S BEEN A WHILE....

Don't think I forgot about this thing, because I didn't. Don't forget I'm a fanatic and even though I'm normally a rational person, I noticed that the Canucks won every single game I didn't write something about and I'm not going to funk with the power of the jinx. Don't forget I'm the guy that once yelled at a friend during a World Junior Championship final because I correlated a U.S. comeback to the fact that he stopped ripping putrid farts. Don't ever forget that.

And don't forget that I'm a lazy fart.

But we made it, didn't we Canucks fans? It was a rocky road. I spent all of games two through five in a haze of alcohol and in times that could be described as grand. Game Three hurt me. To steal a line from someone more profound than I, I was a pendulum that night, swinging from date to game. I was sort of nervous about both. I drank more than I should have and spent less time devoted to each than is permissible, and I couldn't get out of my own head. Luckily, my date was forgiving and she talked me through my ups and down. Game Four, I spent on the run, as I watched a Marlon Brando (circa Last Tango in Paris) meander like a sore thumb through a nifty loft party with the Wind-Up Radio Sessions and some other bands without names. It was all good laughs, even with the dead hipsters and teeming polygamists. I got updates from Fredward Scicssorhands throughout the night and I was so damned euphoric, I walked home from Griffontown, singing along to 'Wanna Be Starting Something' looped to repeat on my iPod the entire time. I watched the game highlights alone in a Pizza Pizza on St. Catherines, surrounded by club stars and junkies. Game Five, I spent with my charming date again and I was far more comfortable with her and the team and things were just peachy all around. Game Six, well, I made amends with Roberto Luongo and I feel as if I've about four of my nine lives during these past two weeks.

Sammy Swedeheart? Come on, that's pretty good...

L.A. is going to be scary good as soon as they get that goaltending sitchy figured out. They are deep. They are punishing big. They have all the ingredients you need. They're what the Chicago Blackhawks were last year. It kind of dawned on me too why they've become good and the Oilers have fallen off so badly - the Kings took away all the players that made the Oilers tough to play against, ie. Smyth, Greene and Stoll. Anyways, we haven't heard the last of that squad. And I'm talking about the Kings here.

There is a lot to be excited about in Canucks land. We didn't even have our second line rolling in that series and we managed to knock off a deep team. The Sedins have lived up to their billing and Sammy, with his playoff reps, shoot-first-and-hit-everything-that-moves mentality are complimenting the Twins nicely. The Wellwood-Bernier-Demitra line has been a surprise and the D, with the emergence of Edler as a bonafide star, are shoring up at the perfect time.

Luongo seems to be gaining his confidence again too and hopefully he is just starting to hit his stride, as we are poised for a rematch with Nemesis Kane and the Hawks. The speed of the Hawks scares me a bit, but I love how it feels like the Canucks are never out of a game.

If there was ever a time to 'Getcha Popcorn Ready,' it would be now. This series is going to be a dandy.

Not only that, folks, but the Habs are doing what no one has expected. I went to work today and it seemed even the most hardcore fans of the Rouge et Blanc were cracking jokes about the Canadiens and how they would blow it tonight. But Jaro Halak descended from another planet and put on a show that reminded me of Bobby Lou against the Stars and Ducks a couple years ago. He was unbeatable tonight.

The Halak/Price debate is officially over (even though it has been for months, for all intents and purposes.) The city is buzzing right now. Cars are honking, flags are waving, people are yelling, cops are scowling. It's great stuff.

My favorite part about all this, though? We get to see Joel Bouchard's hair again on Wednesday.

Have you seen his hair in HD yet? If a shark had hair, I'm sure it would look like Joel Bourchard's.

I have been lazy though lately, I'll admit. Our old pal Jung sent me a nice email the other day that sort of kicked me in the patooter to keep writing.

This city is like a gift and a curse. It's literally non-stop inspiration. I've been pretty much relegated to Centre-Ville since I arrived (my own doing) and lately, I've been meandering around the Plateau with some folks who know the score and it's just money. Little pubs on every corner. Restaurants run by grannies in nooks and crannies. Too much to see and do.

The last two weekends have been absolute gems. You know how you feel when you're on vacation and you spend your time aimlessly following your immediate impulses and your stomach? That is what I've done the past two Saturdays and I haven't been let down at all.

The downside? It leaves little time for a quasi-neurotic guy like me who likes to spend a lot of his time ranting and raving to do much of any ranting.

This is the city of characters, but I feel I've got no time to write about them. I'm too wiped by the time I get home to put anything together. But that's no excuse. That's just me being lazy.

It seems everyone I meet is in a band or living this alternate life after work, where they are following their ambitions. It's time I started doing the same. Whatever that is.

No more excuses.

(Just no more Canucks updates. The power of the jinx is real, my friends.)

And a very late RIP to Guru. Gifted, Unlimited, Rhymes Universal.

No comments: