55fan

Guitar. I've played piano since 1974, trombone since 1976, and organ since 1978. Granted, I haven't picked up the trombone since 1995, but I played well enough to get a small scholarship in college for playing in the jazz band. As a music major, I had to learn the fundamentals of trumpet, french horn, baritone, saxophone, clarinet, flute, and percussion instruments of all types. I picked up all of these easily, but I was a complete and utter failure on the guitar. The person below me has had to shut off their computer and walk away to avoid being banned for posting in anger and calling someone very bad things.

If the nail acknowledges the hammer, the hammer is screwed. Oh, look. It's a hammer.

Good to know. I know for a while we weren't that good at all. Hopefully the upward trend will continue today.

Of course. What else would I listen to my tapes on? I'm not going to go out and buy all the Beatles stuff over AGAIN. I'd have gotten CD's had I planned on doing that. The person below me has sung a solo in public.

Can we re-name that Kronwall's Law? Newton has so many... Or Kronwall's Law can be a re-write of Newton's first: An object in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by a Kronwalling force.

We generally fare badly in afternoon games, IIRC, but I'm not sure if that's just the regular season or not. This is important. They know that. They'll be bringing their A game today.

I do. I have a big head and lots of hair. The person below me "does" their hair each day.

BOGO. At my age, YOLO is merciful. Offense or defense?

Both teams were bad for years. The Wings got good- really good- and started kicking butt for years. The Blackhawks stayed bad until 2010 when they finally won a cup. Now they're actually pretty good. We fans were pretty disdainful of them before they won, just like they are of us now. I recall making this little item for the photoshop war in 2009. Since then, they've won a cup, but then they didn't do so well after that. We have lost a bit of our overall dominance, especially with Lidstrom retiring, but the future is looking good with the young'uns coming up. Chicago had a good youth movement with Kane and Toews, who eventually took over the team and lead them to victory. We may not be as good as them on paper this year, but we have leaders who have tasted success for more than just one season, and hungry kids coming up. It may take us another year or two to regain the glory of the last 20 years (give or take), but thanks to guys like Stevie and Nick, our team has been given a good past on which to build and from which to learn. Their team has had a nice season or two in the last few years. Credit is certainly due to Toews and his group for what they've done, and they may well be headed for another cup this year, but it in no way makes them the superior team for years to come. That will be determined only by time. As for this year, yes, they look better, but looks can be deceiving, and as long as we have Hank and Pav, I wouldn't write us off so easily.

I really have no desire to go to either, but if we're talking about a nice secluded beach where you can just swim without tripping over other people, then I'll take the beach. Woods are creepy. There's a reason all the darker fairy tales are set in them. The person below me sometimes wears jewelry below their knee.

<checks calendar> Nope, not April 1st. Kane? Really? Is the Lady Byng now for "most gentlemanly compared to previous years"? Maybe "most gentlemanly on the ice compared to off it"? Or "so darn gentlemanly that a soft Euro can rip out your mouthguard and you almost don't cry"? No way he wins it.

Mostly because he doesn't really fit in. You wouldn't want to mess with the lines that are clicking, which means he's a 4th liner. With Sammy, Bert, and Eaves as competition, he's the odd man out. The person below me sleeps with their feet at the east end of the bed.

Use the Force, eh.

Charging my phone right now so that I'll be able to get updates at work. Go Wings! You've proven that you can take on big dogs and win. Kane kind of reminds me of Perry. Hope they end up the same- defeated and scoreless.

Don't feel bad. I did the same thing last year, but I welched out before the playoffs had even started. For some reason, I had mis-remembered what I had done the year before and over-did it. Once I realized how deep I'd be in, I had to take it back and make it more like what I have this year. Had I known we wouldn't go far last year, I'd have kept it.

Wow. Just wow. I wish I could go back in time and re-live a lot of those games.

Pretty much. The person below me sleeps on their side.

Regular turtles. Mango or papaya?

Heck, I was driving back then. I kept spare change in the ashtray of by '68 Newport (yes, really) and could fill on $5-10 bucks. Of course I was making less than $3 per hour. Rent was $85. The person below me has had a car that they really wish they could have back now that it would be cool instead of just old.

I pretty much agree with your assessments. Grading is somewhat subjective without a hard rubric, but I'm pretty much with in a + or - of your assessments, although I had to miss a couple of the games due to work, so my assessments might be incomplete or slanted in a different direction due to incomplete data. However, I'm not posting this just to say that I agree. I'm also posting to give kudos for a very well-written and well-thought-out piece. It was an enjoyable read.

I have no actual skills, but here goes:

Good thing the Ducks scored that last goal. That makes Val's the GWG, which means $10 more for the kids! Go Wings! Up to $23 right now.

In that case, I wish they'd have octuple OT in Toronto. I actually get CNBC.

It makes sense, though. The Wings play in the west, and you can't cut the end off a game. It's the end. You can cut off the beginning and show highlights if needed, but there's more because the beginning isn't the end because it's at the beginning. If you cut off the end, the people who were watching it won't get to see the end because it's at the end and you can't show it later because it's over at the end, and they'll be sad because they wanted to see how it ended and they'll say, "we want more we want more" but they can't have more because it's over and there is no more.