Forgive my long absence, but as is so often the case in life, well ..... life gets in the way. Summer mode has officially hit and suddenly I find myself bombarded with hot weather, t-ball, playdates, a child that wants to be outside at all hours of the day whether or not it is 85 degrees and scorching and of course, all the typical mundane, everyday "stuff" that somehow still must get done even if all one really wants to do is hang at the beach.
My technical difficulties began last Saturday after my nephew, Matt, came and babysat for us. While here he perused the Internet (with permission after Miss Isabelle was in bed) and it would appear inadvertently picked up an unwanted guest/virus which took up residence on my computer masquerading itself as some kind of spyware. My current Norton did not detect it, and I have spent the last week logging many hours attempting to dislodge this ugly monster (first to determine if it is, in fact, legit and not just some scam to get me to buy something I do not need and second if legit, how to get rid of it.) Well, wonder of wonders, just when I was about to call it quits and call in the experts after failing miserably and also not being able to log into anything including my own blog thanks to this nasty bug, I figured it out. Yeah, me who literally fumbles my way through computers clicking on things. Turns out one of my own security measures on my computer was turned OFF (why?!) which is how this truly legitimate virus snuck into my computer, so I turned it back on and, when I did so, it promptly detected said bug and eradicated it. Knocking out the bug made the invasive spyware icon disappear as well. Poof! All gone. Hallelujah! And, now here I am once more with free access to my blog. (Well, at least after I figured out how to put "blogspot" onto a list of secure websites that I trust). Looks like I actually learned something new today.
On a totally unrelated note I spent all of last week being reminded of the incredibly gorgeous place I am blessed to live in. Last Wednesday I came up stairs to make Isabelle lunch and glanced out my kitchen window to see a doe and a fawn, who could not be more then two days old, standing in my back yard. I watched transfixed as the spotted little one on all four spindly-legs wobbled around my hanging basket on the edge of the woods and then slowly wandered off after her mother. Postcard perfect. This was followed later in the week by a peaceful evening spent with dear friends around a bonfire on Lake Michigan's shoreline, staring up at a star-filled sky and capped off with a brilliant blue sky Sunday, watching Isabelle and her cousin, Matt, splash in Ostrander lake while I sat on a deck chatting with Helen and my sister-in-law. Even this Wednesday as my friend, Kerri, and I sat on Gladstone beach looking at the sailboats on the bay while our kids played in the sand I could not help but feel so fortunate to live where we live. Yes, the winters are stark (although there is much beauty in the starkness too) but no where does any environment speak to me the way this place does. It is home.
Finally as my last piece of random information I will offer this: my daughter informed me today in total dramatic four year old fashion that I am "ruining her life." (Yeah, would love to know where she picked up that phrase.) I was loading the dryer with clothes and when I would not cease immediately to read her a book of her choice she threw it on the laundry room floor, stamped her foot, and as she was pounding up the stairs let loose with the above statement. Frankly, I found it hard not to laugh, but I think I responded with "I'm sorry to hear that." If this is what her fourth year holds in store for me ..... well, lets just say I think I better stock up on some more alcohol!
Friday, June 26, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
Game 7: Red Wings 1, Penguins 2
The good guys do not always win. Isn't that the lesson you learn as you grow up? Well, that is how I feel tonight, and yeah, I am sad. And no, I did not watch them skate around our ice with the cup. I do not believe in torturing myself unnecessarily, and watching Bettman fawn over his prized Penguins is something I could do without.
Here's the thing though. I still adore and love my team. And I am so proud of them. The Wings played a hell of a season, and I had a blast watching them. The playoffs were phenomenal and that series with Anaheim, in my opinion, was the true Stanley Cup round, no matter what the NHL or the Penguins might think (that series was something else). I have no doubt when the injury reports come out in the next few days we will have quite the list; this was a major year of overcoming obstacles for us, and we almost overcame them all.
There is always next season and it just means the octopus will be all the more hungry, right?! Now, I just have to figure out what the heck I am going to watch now that hockey is over with.
Here's the thing though. I still adore and love my team. And I am so proud of them. The Wings played a hell of a season, and I had a blast watching them. The playoffs were phenomenal and that series with Anaheim, in my opinion, was the true Stanley Cup round, no matter what the NHL or the Penguins might think (that series was something else). I have no doubt when the injury reports come out in the next few days we will have quite the list; this was a major year of overcoming obstacles for us, and we almost overcame them all.
There is always next season and it just means the octopus will be all the more hungry, right?! Now, I just have to figure out what the heck I am going to watch now that hockey is over with.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
5-0
Game Five: Absolute dream game if you are a Red Wings Fan! One more win to Lord Stanley. Bring it home on Tuesday night, Wings!
Friday, June 5, 2009
Sigh
I am too emotionally involved. Anyone who knows I am a Red Wings fan knows this. Now with the Stanley Cup series tied at 2-2, I find myself at a new level of stress for my team. It has been a brutal, hard-fought challenge to get to this point, and no, I am not talking about this series. I am talking about this season, and this entire playoff road for the Wings. From the second they won the Cup last year it has been one steady up hill climb to try and get back to the same moment again. There is a reason why so few repeat to win the Cup. It is nearly impossible.
Last night we did not do ourselves any favors, as I watched an abysmal penalty kill and as Henrik Zetterburg bluntly said we put on a "turnover clinic" to give the Penguins all they needed to take a couple goal lead. While the Wings went on to put in a solid third period and log more shots on goal then the Pens, they were not the quality shots we needed. The Wings have no one to blame but themselves for the loss they suffered in Game Four, and they know it.
And, of course, everyone is saying we are tired. Duh. Of course, we are tired. We played a bone-crushing series with Anaheim (one I would challenge the Penguins to have survived, I might add), went on to Chicago, which beat us up a bit more and then with no more then two days between started this series with back-to-back games. We are missing a key player in Pavel Datsuk and many other key players are injured and are essentially pretending not to be. Meanwhile, the Penguin's swept a tanked Carolina team (who spent themselves in a seven game series on the Bruins) and enjoyed multiple days rest between games during it, plus received three additional days off before starting the Stanley Cup finals. Gee, ya think the Wings might be more tired? (Yes, the Wings are a bit older in years, but in this case we have just played more hockey and more hard hockey so don't kid yourself.)
And like it or not call it a conspiracy, call it "tilting the ice," call it whatever, but there has been a huge amount of, shall we say "hiccups" in the Red Wings path this playoff road. Let's face it: It is not in Bettman's interest to have the Red Wing's win the Cup. He has made the Penguins the face of the NHL with Sydney Crosby as his poster boy. Anyone who has watched the NHL promos for this past season would think the Penguins had won the Stanley Cup last year!
Through it all the Wings continue to battle through questionable calls or non-calls..... Game Three in the Anaheim series when a tying goal was disallowed, which would have sent the game into overtime, instead the Ducks win. Game Three in the Chicago series when Kronwall gets a game misconduct and a major penalty on a hit on Havlat that every expert/talking head I could find and read called a clean hit. It changed the whole dynamic of the game, forcing the Wings to play without a key defenseman for more then half the game. Consequently, in this series if Kronwall so much as taps someone he gets a penalty (i.e. the weak "tripping" called at the start of Game four last night. The CBC announcer's remark said it all when watching the replay, "Well, I guess that was tripping.") Game Two of this series Malkin's automatic suspension reversed because he "was not sending a message," and has no history of fighting. (Check last years series in the Stanley Cup finals .... he actually did the same thing in Game Two with a few seconds left, just not to the same degree.) Game Three of this series when the Penguins play for 21 Seconds with a sixth man on the ice until he skates off (in front of the ref!) and yet no ref calls a penalty for too many men. Or last night when Matt Cooke literally boarded Nick Lidstrom (who was not playing the puck, can you say interference!) during a power play, and it was just ignored. Both the CBC and Versus announcers were calling for a penalty on it.
Yes, in Bettman and the NHL's need to pander to the masses and try to create more interest in the sport of hockey I would caution them to be somewhat careful that in so doing they do not alienate the fans who were here all along. I would ask them to not be so quick to "kick to the curb" a team that has 11 Stanley Cups in its history, is an Original Six team, and carries itself always with class and dignity and does not make excuses (even when their fans, myself included, cry foul for them) Because here is the deal. I think this is a good series without the referees or the league interfering. I don't think the Wings are necessarily done just yet because they tend to find the will and determination when no one else can. No, do not jump on the media bandwagon and count the Wings done now that the series is tied for you would be wrong to do so. BUT, if they should ultimately come out on the downside of this I would like to know that it was because they just got beat (and I am okay with that, they are still my team) not because they were "not allowed" to win.
Last night we did not do ourselves any favors, as I watched an abysmal penalty kill and as Henrik Zetterburg bluntly said we put on a "turnover clinic" to give the Penguins all they needed to take a couple goal lead. While the Wings went on to put in a solid third period and log more shots on goal then the Pens, they were not the quality shots we needed. The Wings have no one to blame but themselves for the loss they suffered in Game Four, and they know it.
And, of course, everyone is saying we are tired. Duh. Of course, we are tired. We played a bone-crushing series with Anaheim (one I would challenge the Penguins to have survived, I might add), went on to Chicago, which beat us up a bit more and then with no more then two days between started this series with back-to-back games. We are missing a key player in Pavel Datsuk and many other key players are injured and are essentially pretending not to be. Meanwhile, the Penguin's swept a tanked Carolina team (who spent themselves in a seven game series on the Bruins) and enjoyed multiple days rest between games during it, plus received three additional days off before starting the Stanley Cup finals. Gee, ya think the Wings might be more tired? (Yes, the Wings are a bit older in years, but in this case we have just played more hockey and more hard hockey so don't kid yourself.)
And like it or not call it a conspiracy, call it "tilting the ice," call it whatever, but there has been a huge amount of, shall we say "hiccups" in the Red Wings path this playoff road. Let's face it: It is not in Bettman's interest to have the Red Wing's win the Cup. He has made the Penguins the face of the NHL with Sydney Crosby as his poster boy. Anyone who has watched the NHL promos for this past season would think the Penguins had won the Stanley Cup last year!
Through it all the Wings continue to battle through questionable calls or non-calls..... Game Three in the Anaheim series when a tying goal was disallowed, which would have sent the game into overtime, instead the Ducks win. Game Three in the Chicago series when Kronwall gets a game misconduct and a major penalty on a hit on Havlat that every expert/talking head I could find and read called a clean hit. It changed the whole dynamic of the game, forcing the Wings to play without a key defenseman for more then half the game. Consequently, in this series if Kronwall so much as taps someone he gets a penalty (i.e. the weak "tripping" called at the start of Game four last night. The CBC announcer's remark said it all when watching the replay, "Well, I guess that was tripping.") Game Two of this series Malkin's automatic suspension reversed because he "was not sending a message," and has no history of fighting. (Check last years series in the Stanley Cup finals .... he actually did the same thing in Game Two with a few seconds left, just not to the same degree.) Game Three of this series when the Penguins play for 21 Seconds with a sixth man on the ice until he skates off (in front of the ref!) and yet no ref calls a penalty for too many men. Or last night when Matt Cooke literally boarded Nick Lidstrom (who was not playing the puck, can you say interference!) during a power play, and it was just ignored. Both the CBC and Versus announcers were calling for a penalty on it.
Yes, in Bettman and the NHL's need to pander to the masses and try to create more interest in the sport of hockey I would caution them to be somewhat careful that in so doing they do not alienate the fans who were here all along. I would ask them to not be so quick to "kick to the curb" a team that has 11 Stanley Cups in its history, is an Original Six team, and carries itself always with class and dignity and does not make excuses (even when their fans, myself included, cry foul for them) Because here is the deal. I think this is a good series without the referees or the league interfering. I don't think the Wings are necessarily done just yet because they tend to find the will and determination when no one else can. No, do not jump on the media bandwagon and count the Wings done now that the series is tied for you would be wrong to do so. BUT, if they should ultimately come out on the downside of this I would like to know that it was because they just got beat (and I am okay with that, they are still my team) not because they were "not allowed" to win.
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