'Tis The Season

Happy hump day!


I apologize for missing last week blog friends, family, and rando followers, but things were a little hectic and I really didn't have too much to say.


However, this week, how can we not talk about the Big Guy's holiday? Santa is coming?! Here?? I know him!!


During this time of year, our lives are over taken by family parties, work parties, buying presents, spending money, decorating xmas trees, wrapping, etc. on top of the normal rigor of everyday life (i.e. work) and planning for New Years. It's hard to juggle all of these things, but I mean it's worth it right? You can't beat this time of year ... everyone's in good spirits (kinda), work shuts down for at least a few days (some people a few weeks), schools out, people are around you may not see enough. Overall, good times. 

With those good times comes a little bit of stress. It's not always an easy time of year, for a lot of the reasons I mentioned above, and it's important to keep things in perspective. The big picture and what really matters. We are about to start a new year and can make that whatever we choose to make it. For me, as you know from my lofty 30 before 30 list, I'm planning for it to be the best yet. Keep that in mind when you starting to get a little stressed out over the next week ... or just go bowling and play photo hunt for a few hours. 


Ok, so the Marshy Blog question I have for you is: 


What is your favorite Christmas movie? You know it's going to happen. Curled up on the couch, bottle of wine/Jack, Christmas tree shining, fire burning, woman/man in your arms ... what's on the tube?


Here are a few classics (in no particular order):


Elf
The Polar Express
Christmas Vacation
How The Grinch Stole Christmas
Home Alone
It's A Wonderful Life
The Holiday
A Christmas Carol/Story
Miracle on 34th St
Love Actually
Wizard of Oz
Four Christmases 
Bad Santa (ok, that was a joke ...)

Nat, you have such a pretty face, you should be on a Christmas card.
Oh, you just made my day!



Enjoy the holidays all. I know I will. It's been a blast so far and I'm very much looking forward to the next couple of weeks with Nat and our families. 


Seasons Greetings and tidings of comfort ... and joy,
Marshy

Friday Night Fights ... in the NHL

Since Seguin is apparently a "good kid" and just "over slept" on Tuesday, I guess it is time to move on. What I wanted to write about today is a lot more important and significant anyway. Fighting in hockey.

Have you read the New York Times series on Derek Boogaard this week?

If not, when you have an hour or so free, do it (links below), then come back and tell me how you feel. You do not need to be a hockey fan or violent individual to appreciate these articles. Learning about the craziness of a man's life and how he used fighting and rage to complete his life long dream of playing in the NHL is pretty spectacular stuff. This also led him to addiction and brain damage making a remarkable story turn devastating.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/05/sports/hockey/derek-boogaard-blood-on-the-ice.html?pagewanted=all

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/sports/hockey/derek-boogaard-a-boy-learns-to-brawl.html?pagewanted=all

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/06/sports/hockey/derek-boogaard-a-brain-going-bad.html?pagewanted=all

For those readers who do not know the basics around hockey fights, there are a few basic rules and reasons for why and when they happen:

1) If someone asks you to go, you go.
2) Every team has at least one guy who's sole purpose and why they make a pay check is to fight. Everyone knows who these guys are.
3) If you lay out a superstar (Crosby, Datsuyk, etc.), expect to be fought.
4) If your team has no life and is getting beat around the rink, you need to go out there and fight for a spark.
5) Once the refs jump in or a guy hits the ice, the fights over.

Before I dig into the Boogaard stuff, I want to talk about point #3 for a second because it's getting a little out of control. It seems like in today's NHL, every time a guy makes a big hit, he has to drop his gloves. Like he has no choice. Whether it's a clean body check or you accidently run into someone, within seconds, someone's skating at you full speed with their gloves already off. I am all about eliminating the head shots (i.e. Marc Savard), because it's obviously having an impact on player's careers, but if a big dman or an aggressive forechecker drops a guy and it's clean, take his number for the next shift. Don't get me wrong, I love the fights, but guys should not have to fight every time they decide to throw their weight around on someone with their head down.

Anywho, back to the point at hand. There has been a lot of talk on sports radio and the NHL network around this article and the possibility of eliminating fighting from the game. I say this ABSOLUTELY can not happen.

First and foremost, the NHL would lose millions of dollars and fans. Not that people solely go to games or watch the B's on NESN to see a fight, but it's a huge part of the entertainment factor for the regular fan. Secondly, the strategy and impact of a hockey fight is something that makes hockey truly unique. In no other sport, are you allowed (minus a 5 minute penalty) to take matters into your own hands and call out a rival or goon/ass/dbag who's been sticking guys all night and actually fight him. Basketball? Football? Think about how sick it would be if these guys could square off and have a go.

"Marshy, hockey players wear pads, they don't even feel it."

HA, not only do I say I'd love to see you get in a hockey fight and tell me how fun it is, but take a look at Shaun T's face (see right). That's not WWE blood.

Fighting makes the dirty players, namely Sean Avery, think twice and if he wants to play dirty, he knows he will have to stand up for himself and be accountable for his actions. Hate Avery as much as the next guy, but the guy fights when he needs to and draws penalties when he doesn't.

I follow NHL fights pretty closely and check ESPN box scores daily to see who scrapped the night before and this is usually followed by a quick trip to YouTube to see the tilt. It's such an important and GREAT part of the game that I would be devastated to see it go. The fact that guys brains are turning to mush or these guys in their mid twenties have to sit up at night crying because they know they will have to fight Donald Brashear or Colton Orr the next tight is terrible, but in the case of Boogaaard and a few others (Rick Rypien, Wade Belak) there were other elements to their downfall, including addiction to painkillers, alcohol, etc.

Fact. Getting punch repeatedly in the face leads to brain problems or dementia. Obviously. I don't need to cut Boogaard's brain in half to tell you that.

These are grown men who are making the decision to fight on the ice and none of that blame can be put on the sport or the NHL. Why is the MMA even in existence if fighting is the reason these guys are dying? It would be a shame to lose that element which has been around since its existence to an already great game.

My Top 10 Favorite Hockey Fighters of all time:
10. Darcy Hordichuk
9. Jared Boll
8. Shaun Thornton
7. Donald Brashear
6. Joey Kocur
5. Lyndon Byers
4. Cam Neely
3. Tie Domi
2. PJ Stock
1. Bob Probert

Notables: Wendall Clark (AHL), Kevin Kaminiski (AHL), Jay Miller, Milan Lucic, Chris Nilan, Dan Carcillo, Terry O'Reilly, Georges Laraque (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxFS2JAyleo&noredirect=1)

Who'd I miss? Who are your favorites?

Have a good weekend!
Marshy

And we have our answer ...

Tyler Seguin is a dbag.


For those of you who didn't watch the B's last night or listen to the Sports Hub on your drive to work this morning, our boy #19 skipped team meetings/breakfast yesterday morning in Winnipeg which led to Coach Julien sitting him out of last night's game. 

"I'm going to carve you up, Seguin"

Apparently this has happened on multiple occasions - and what great timing to provide us with the answer we have been looking for over the past few days.


The kid's a punk. I've picked a side. It's official. As my buddy Colin points out, let's look at Derek Jeter. Can we compare Seguin to Jeter? Maybe not, but let's take out the sport they play and think about Jeter at Seguin's age. Seguin has the potential to be a 17-20 year guy in this league accruing awards and accolades similar to that of #2. As much as I hate to say it, pretty safe to say that playing for the Yankees and in New York City is a FAR bigger stage than the Bruins and Boston. 4 rings in 5 seasons, 12 more seasons without causing any type of riff in New York possibly the world's biggest sports stage, and signing massive contracts solely based on his character at this point in his career. Jeter has done it right. Thanks, Niloc for the email rant, as always.


#19's excuse for not making the meetings, "I set an alarm, but my phone was still on Boston time." News flash - that makes no sense. If he set his alarm for right now, 10am Boston time, he would have been woken up at 9am Winnipeg time which in most cases would have actually made him early for meetings. This theory might not make complete sense but did you hear what Jack and Brick said? The window for this breakfast and meetings was extended and a total of 3 HOURS! He had 3 hours to roll over and be like, "shit i'm late" and get his ass downstairs to sit in a chair, eat something and listen to someone talk. We've all heard stories about NHL hangovers and long nights with players puking on the ice or in a bucket at breakfast the next morning. The kid can't get himself from a hotel room to a lobby?

"Listen, I'm hung over, your hung over,
and this kid doesn't show up. Dead man."

Secondly, pretty sure if Seguin can afford that Benz we discussed in Monday's blog, then he probably has a mobile phone that adjusts itself. If you set your alarm for a certain time, that alarm goes off no matter where you are in the world at that time. Yes, it was a long flight the night before from Pittsburgh, but 23 other guys played in the same game #19 did and took the same flight. How did they get to the meetings? Side question, if Chara misses a meeting, does he get benched?


Thirdly, NHL youngsters have roommates on road trips. Unless Jordan Caron was trying to sabotage his way into the lineup and effed with Seguin's alarm or was like "go back to sleep bro, we got time", then pretty sure there's no reason Punk Boy couldn't get up. PS: what does Jordan Caron bring to the Bruins? Anything?


Back to the topic at hand, this happens once, no big deal, but 3 or 4 times, the kid thinks he's above the team which is going to lead to losses like last night. I don't care who you are, how old you are, or how many goals you've sniped, your 1 of 24 and if Bergeron doesn't dangle and feed the kid's stick for an empty net goal, how many scoring titles is Seguin going to win? Zero. Gronk is setting records and out banging porn stars, still making time to call into the Sports Hub once a week. 

"Take notes hockey player."

Couldn't Seguin just do that and at least show up to team meetings? 2nd year in the league and he is going to need his teammates and coaches to like him or it will be a long, disappointing career for a potential hall of famer.


For the dozens of people who texted or emailed or verbally expressed whether the think dbag or the man, it's time to man up and make a comment. This could be a great debate, so voice your opinion and let's come to a consensus on this.


Happy Hump Day,
Marshy

#19 at 19 years old: the man or a dbag?

This past Saturday night, was out and about around the Garden with Nat, Patty C and Finn and during our cab ride home from the North Star to have a nightcap at the Waterfront Cafe, our cab pulled up next to Tyler Seguin's dealership black Benz at a stop light.

We pulled up on his left to be blinded by his $20,000 watch hanging over the steering wheel and a slight head turn to basically acknowledge the fact that we all saw him and knew who he was. If I hadn't said "is that Tyler Seguin?", I think Finn could have stared him right in the eyes, been told he was on the Bruins, and was the #2 overall pick last year and still wouldn't have blinked twice.

It was not determined, but in the front seat was believed to be B's d-man Adam McQuaid and in the back, some nerdy looking kid who actually looked like he was 19 and still maybe in college, obviously riding his boy's coat tails ala Vinny Chase. Anyway, after Tyler got the satisfaction that we noticed him, he rolled down the window, turned up the music and started a slow head bob. He gave one more glance in our direction, then peeled through the traffic light over the bridge into Charlestown.

The reactions started flying - what a dbag? who does he think he is? is he serious? My initial reaction was "hold up, he's 19, in the top of the league in scoring, making millions, and is obviously a stud, so he can do whatever he wants." This did not go over too well, but sparked an interesting debate the next few days with the boys. Is Tyler Seguin allowed to be a dbag? Colin said it best when his response was "I think about when I was 19 and I was the worst human ever ... and certainly was not making millions of dollars to play in the NHL." 

I would like to think that if I was in that situation, I'd be classy and friendly and still doing regular 19 year old things (on a huge budget of course), but I also think I would have a little bit of swagger that people who didn't know me would classify as dbag'ish. It's hard to say that you wouldn't. You're living the dream of kids all around the world. Maybe at this point last year when he was struggling to make the every night lineup, we could say hey buddy why don't you worry about your ice time before you start peeling off, but this year, the kid has been sick. He has to be feeling good about life and where he's at that maybe some sort of swagger is undeniable.

I don't know, it's hard to say because not me nor anyone else probably reading this is in his shoes. The consensus of our cab was "dbag" as we watched his $100k+ car speed away which Natalie immediately pointed out was not his because of the dealership temp plates.

What Tyler should also know is the response he got from those in my cab that were not me:

Finn (front seat): "Who is Tyler Seguin? Should I roll down my window and tell him I was the long snapper on the Waltham high football team and I'm not impressed?"

Pat: "McQuaid is the man, I could kick Seguin's ass."

And my favorite ...

Natalie: "He's not even that cute."

So, take your watch and your millions and your future hall of fame career Tyler, and shove it. 

No, I'm not jealous. What do you guys think?

Have a good week all!

Marshy