Below are the 8 most recent journal entries recorded in lakingshockey's LiveJournal:

Tuesday, December 26th, 2006
5:42 pm	End of the year Well, it's that time. 2006 is coming to a close and everyone is spewing out their precious lists. (Actually, here's an entertaining one.) So why not pile on, just a little? To me, the athlete of the year is Roger Federer. Without question. 92-5 record this year, 12 singles titles including three grand slams (and he says he dedicating himself to winning the French Open in '07, so watch out!). It has to be Roger, this year, and the two reasons he isn't dominating Tiger Woods and LaDanian Tomlinson for the honor are 1) he isn't American and 2) because he plays tennis. That's just poor, Associated Press. There are several moments that stuck out for me in '06. Agassi retiring, George Mason beating UConn to advance to the Final Four (among history's greatest upsets), the arrival of Ovechkin and Crosby. But here are the three moments, in descending order, that made me lose my mind 3. Liverpool winning the most dramatic FA Cup -- perhaps ever -- over West Ham United. The comeback was largely thanks to English Player of the Year and now living legend, Steven Gerrard. 2. The Lakers weren't supposed to beat the Suns in the first round of the playoffs (and they didn't), but Kobe's winner at the buzzer in game 4 was one of those magical moments in Lakers lore and it had everyone believing that LA had a real shot of winning this thing (they were one rebound away in game 6 from doing so). Anyway, this shot had me screaming "Black Mamba!" and jumping around for a good five minutes straight. 1. His name is Fabio Grosso and he's my personal hero for 2006. The Italian fullback scored the decisive penalty kick that won the World Cup for Italy over France (I haven't been so mental in my life, I think), but he etched his name in glory the match before during the semifinal where, in the 128th minute (final two minutes of extra time), he famously broke German hearts. Everyone in the bar lost their minds. It was the best. Some predictions for 2007 Orange Bowl - Louisville vs Wake Forest: Doesn't matter. Fiesta Bowl - Oklahoma vs Boise State: Doesn't matter. Rose Bowl - Michigan vs USC: Doesn't matter. Sugar Bowl - LSU vs Notre Dame: Doesn't matter. All of the above games are as relevant as the prestigious MPC Computers Bowl or the Papajohns.com Bowl. Maybe not as much as the prestigious Emerald Bowl, though. BCS National Championship game - Ohio State vs Florida: Chris Leak throws not one, but TWO shovel pass interceptions in the first half, allowing the Buckeyes to set the pace early and coast to the 4th quarter where the Gators salvage some dignity, but fall short. Final score: Buckeyes 36 Gators 22 Allen Iverson and the Denver Nuggets will finish either 7th or 8th in the Western Conference, then get knocked out of the playoffs in five games. Roger Federer will win all four Grand Slams. The Colts will not reach the AFC Championship game. The Bears will not win the Superbowl. The Spurs will win the NBA title, beating Phoenix in the Western Conference Finals. The representative from the East will be swept by either team. Sidney Crosby will win the Hart Trophy. Florida will repeat as champions in college basketball and UCLA will repeat as runners-up! Greg Oden will go #1 in the draft. It doesn't matter who the Oakland Raiders select with the top pick in the NFL draft, they'll screw it up. Daisuke Matsuzaka will have a relatively strong first half of the season before completely folding after the All Star break. The Phoenix Coyotes will finish ahead of the Los Angeles Kings this season. I will get $10 from my dad. The fans will screw up balloting for every All Star game. Again. Terrell Owens will not be in Dallas next season. If Barcelona doesn't win the Champions League, it'll be because they lost to Olympique Lyon. The Pittsburgh Penguins will miraculously find a way to remain in Pittsburgh. I still won't give a crap about Nascar or golf. Your mom. (Comment on this)
Thursday, November 2nd, 2006
1:19 pm	Fan Etiquette -Part 2 Okay, let's continue with The princess' code of fan conduct. You've got your Penguins' seasons tickets and and you've spent all that money on your new Sidney Crosby jersey. What happens the first time you wear it? Some ingrate, in your building no less, and wearing a Darius Kaspairitus jersey starts talking a whole lotta nothing about Sid the Kid and you have this need to rearrange his/her face. Just say no, don't be pushed. Who's gonna get thrown out, let alone have their season's tickets revoked? It's not the loser in the DK jersey, it's you. But come to think of it, why would you want to throw down with somebody wearing Darius' jersey for anyway? Would somebody please explain to the princess why you have this need to pound the glass during a hockey fight if you're in seats behind the glass? That's not at all proper and besides it looks and sounds really annoying. Word to hockey fans, if you're going to diss or clown on another team, and you're in THEIR building, make sure there's a least SOME hockey history between the two teams. Talking cacapoo about the Los Angeles Kings isn't too swift if you're wearing a Mike Richter jersey like some of you were at the Rangers-Kings game the other night in Purple reign country. No hockey history there, folks, very tacky. (You could have at least worn your Dan Cloutier Ranger jersey or that Wayne G Ranger jersey that you've hid in your closet all these years.) Just because you slapped down all those 'dead presidents", it doesn't give you the right to get up close and personal with a player, even if you'd LOVE to have Todd Bertuzzi's new address in South beach. Big no, no. Don't get all stupid crazy and litter the ice so that the referee will have to stop the game. It doesnt matter if it was Montreal-Boston game, act like you've been at a rivalry before. People, leave the thrash talking and the dissing to the hockey players, some of them are really very good at it. Be a true and proper hockey fan because we hockey fans are special and don't we know it! (Comment on this)
Friday, August 18th, 2006
11:44 am	A Century Hoves Into View, But For Now Here's The BH89 I have three more of these 50-question blighters coming up over the next few days. Be, like, prepared. Oh look, a butterfly. 1 Who published his first short story Little Herr Friedmann in 1898 and in 1905 married Katia Pringsheim, with whom he would have six children: Erika, Klaus, Golo, Monika, Elisabeth and Michael? 2 Which Japanese singer and actor, who died in a plane crash in 1985, is best known for his song, Ue o muite aruko/Looking up while walking, which was known as Sukiyaki in the West, which topped the US pop charts in 1963 - the first and only song to date to do so sung entirely in Japanese? 3 Which actress, who had an illegitimate daughter by Clark Gable thanks to a dalliance on the set of 1934's The Call of the Wild, won an Oscar in 1947 for her performance in The Farmer's Daughter? 4 Which English electrical engineer and winner of the 1979 Nobel Prize for Medicine is immortalised in the name of the scale that serves as a quantitative measure of radiodensity used in evaluating CAT scans, and is defined in units with the symbol HF? 5 Sometimes described as "Zen for roundeyes", what seemingly jokey modern, chaos-based religion founded in the late 1950s celebrates Zaraday on August 12 and has a foundational document written by Malaclypse The Younger (most likely an alias of Greg Hill)? 6 The well-known ruins of Mitla, a town in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, have been attributed and claimed to be the tombs of the ancestors of which civilisation, who call themselves always by some variant of the term "The People" (Be'ena'a)? 7 The last British steam passenger train service run took what 314-mile route on August 11, 1968? 8 Riduan Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, was arrested in Bangkok on August 11, 2003. Of which terrorist organisation was he leader? 9 Daughter of Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Marguerite Louise d'Orleans, who (1667-1743) was the last of the Medicis? 10 Known for his mastery of the historical novel genre, four of which Japanese writer's (1892-1962) books have been translated into English, including Miyamoto Musashi/Musashi, Taiko ki/Taiko: An Epic Novel of War and Glory in Feudal Japan and Shin Heike monogatari/The Heike Story: A Modern Translation of the Classic Tale of Love and War? 11 How many Famous Five novels did Enid Blyton write between 1942 and 1963? 12 What collective name, taken from a recurring character who is in search of his missing father, was given to the series of six children's books Blyton wrote that all began with the letter "R...", e.g. The Rockingdown Mystery (1949) and The Ragamuffin Mystery (1959), and featured brother and sister Roger and Diana, the children of Mr and Mrs Lynton? 13 Which series of six books by Enid Blyton were about a boarding school of that name and followed the heroine-twins Patricia ("Pat") and Isabel O'Sullivan from their first year on? 14 Active from 1980 until 1997, which "Rock en espanol" band from Argentina including among its members lead singer Gustavo Cerati, Charly Alberti and Zeta Bosio and released such albums as Nada Personal (1985) and Rex Mix (1991)? 15 Widely considered one of the greatest geniuses and polymaths of the 15th century, which German cardinal of the Catholic Church was imprisoned by Duke Sigismund of Austria for his clerical work in 1460, for which Sigismund was excommunicated, and is known for delineating his mystical ideas in his essays De Docta Ignorantia/Of Learned Ignorance and De Visione Dei/Vision of God? 16 Named for the 18th century French mathematician, physicist and sailor who devised it in 1770, what single-winner election method sees voters rank candidates in order of preference and determines the winner by giving each candidate a certain amount of points corresponding to the position in which he or she is ranked by each voter? 17 The first office holder to receive a fixed salary of £27 instead of the historic tierce of Canary wine, which Poet Laureate from 1790-1813 wrote the prose work Summary of the Duties of a Justice of the Peace out of Sessions (1808) and was described by the historian Lord Blake as "the worst Poet Laureate in English history with the possible exception of Alfred Austin"? 18 Designed by the son of the company's founder, who manufactured the Type 57 (whose later variants included the famous Atlantic) between 1934 and 1940? 19 Named after the departement in which it is located, at which track is the Le Mans 24 Hours sports car endurance race held annually? 20 Established on the grounds of the same-named castle in Prague, which cemetery is the final resting place of such luminaries as Antonin Dvorak, Karel Capek and Bedrich Smetana and has for its centrepiece the Antonin Wiehl-designed Slavin Monument? 21 Which branch of voltammetry, the category of electricoanalystical methods used in analytical chemistry and various industrial processes, was founded by the Nobel Laureate and Czech scientist Jaroslav Heyrovsky? 22 Born Barbara Betty Pankel in Vienna, which influential 19th century Czech writer of the final phase of the Czech National Revival movement was the author of the novel The Grandmother? 23 The term "the 10th of August" is widely used by historians as a shorthand for the storming of which building on August 10,1792, which signalled the effective end of the French monarchy until its restoration in 1814? 24 The killing of King Sinsharishkun on August 10, 612BC was swiftly followed by the destruction of which ancient capital? 25 August 10, 610 is the traditional date given in Islam to what day, meaning "Night of Destiny" or "Night of Measures", on which Muhammad began to receive the Qu'ran? 26 At which 955 battle did Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor defeat the Magyars, thus ending 50 years of Magyar invasion of the West? 27 What was the occupation of the killer David "Son of Sam" Berkowitz? 28 Which space probe reached Venus on August 10, 1990? 29 The Ukrainian-born cosmonaut Yuri Ivanovich Malenchenko became the first person to do what in space on August 10, 2003? 30 Introduced in 1998, which best-selling real-time strategy computer game that concerns a war between three galactic species - the human Terrans, the arthropodic Zerg and psychic humanoid Protoss warriors - was played continuously by South Korean Lee Seung Seop for 49 hours before he dropped dead from exhaustion in 2005? 31 The idea for what came to William Willett after riding his horse in Petts Wood near his home near Chislehurst in Kent early one summer morning and noticing how many blinds were still down? 32 Who was the first US President to be born west of the Mississippi River? 33 Born in Stettin, Pomerania in 1878, which German expressionist novelist is best known for publishing his novel Berlin Alexanderplatz, the story of a small-time criminal named Franz Biberkopf, in 1929? 34 Known for his creation of the Adrien Zograffi literary cycle, of which 1929's Kyra Kolina/Kyra My Sister or Chira Chiralina was the first story, which Romanian writer was nicknamed The Maxim Gorky of the Balkans? 35 In a 1941 horror film, which Lon Chaney Jr title character went by the real name Lawrence Stewart "Larry" Talbot? 36 Which 70s rock and roll band had a US number one with Make It With You in 1970 and soon went on to have their most enduring hit with If? 37 Using the catechism called Catechismus Teoforii, which modern revival of the indigenous Baltic religion practiced by the Latvian peoples prior to Christianisation was started in 1925 and advanced in its early days by Ernest Bravins, and has for its primary triumvirate, the Gods of Fate Mara, Laima and Dievs, the god who emanates the other gods as aspects of himself? 38 Which Roman Emperor was defeated by the Visigoths at the 378AD Battle of Adrianople in present day Turkey and killed along with two-thirds of his army? 39 What country was founded as a Khanate on the south bank of the Danube after the defeat of the Byzantine armies of Emperor Constantine IV in August 681? 40 Which Pope died on August 9, 1048 having reigned for only 23 days? 41 Actually called Untitled 1986, which 200kg and 25ft-long fibreglass sculpture by John Buckley was erected in Oxford on the 41st anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki? 42 Wayne Gretzky was traded in one of the most controversial transactions in ice hockey history between which NHL teams in 1988? 43 Which comic strip character was drawn with his necktie down on August 9, 1994, thus signifying he "lost his innocence" with Liz? 44 Which London chronicler and merchant of German descent is best known for compiling the Chronica Maiorum et Vicecomitum, which spans 1188 to 1274? 45 Which Venezuelan-born naturalised French composer (1874-1947) is most famous for composing songs in the French classical song tradition of the melodie, including Si Mes vers avaient des ailes (published when he was aged only 13); A Chloris, a homage to Bach, and a setting of Victor Hugo's Quand la nuit n'est pas estoilee? 46 Which German physicist is best known for two achievements: his theory, named after him with Dutch physical chemist Peter Debye, of electrolytic solutions, and the eponymous method of approximate molecular orbital (MO) calculations on pi electron systems? 47 1945's Smatrollen och den stora oversvamningen/The Little Trolls and the Great Flood was the first book to feature which characters? 48 On March 18, 1978, the WBC made history by naming which heavyweight boxer its champion without the benefit of a title match, stating that they considered his victory over Jimmy Young as a title eliminator or retroactive championship match? However, he lost the title in his first defence against Larry Holmes. 49 What is the name of Posy Simmond's current comic strip series in The Guardian, which made its debut on September 17, 2005? 50 Who is Whitney Houston's godmother? M U S T D O P R O P E R W O R K Answers to BH89 1 Thomas Mann 2 Kyu Sakamoto (born Hisashi Oshima) 3 Loretta Young 4 (Godfrey) Hounsfield 5 Discordianism 6 Zapotec 7 Liverpool to Carlisle 8 Jemaah Islamiyah 9 Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici 10 Eiji Yoshikawa 11 Twenty-one 12 The Barney Mystery Series 13 St Clare's series 14 Soda Stereo 15 Nicholas of Cusa 16 The Borda count 17 Henry James Pye 18 Bugatti (designed by Jean Bugatti) 19 Circuit de la Sarthe 20 Vysehrad cemetery 21 Polarography 22 Bozena Nemcova 23 Tuileries Palace 24 Nineveh 25 Laylat al-Qadr 26 Battle of Lechfield 27 Postal employee 28 Magellan 29 Marry 30 StarCraft 31 Daylight Saving Time 32 Herbert Hoover 33 Alfred Doblin 34 Panait Istrati 35 The Wolf Man 36 Bread 37 Dievturiba 38 Valens 39 Bulgaria 40 Damasus II 41 The Headington Shark 42 Edmonton Oilers to Los Angeles Kings 43 Dilbert 44 Arnold Fitz Thedmar 45 Reynaldo Hahn 46 Erich Huckel 47 Moomins (by Tove Jansson) 48 Ken Norton 49 Tamara Drewe 50 Aretha Franklin (Comment on this)
Friday, August 11th, 2006
11:05 am	5 Great (And not so great) Hockey Brainwaves - The Brilliant, The ... 1 - In 1905 "One Eyed" Frank McGee was hockey's purest goal scorers. Prior to joining the NHA, McGee played with the Ottawa Silver Seven in the Federal Hockey League. He once scored 14 goals in a game, another time he notched 8 consecutive markers. In the 05 final against Rat Portage (now Kenora) he scored the cup winning goal with a broken wrist. All series he had terrorized the opponant with multi goal games. In the clinching game, McGee wore a specially fitted metal protector on the wrist. During the game, players for Rat Portage took liberties with the metal shield, wacking every chance they had. After the game, McGee revealed that he'd purposely placed the shield on the good wrist to suss out his opponants. Very clever! 2 - Harold Ballard was never a big fan of rules. He worshipped Leaf supporters and feared at times insulting their intelligence. When league president Clarence Campbell ordered him to put names of his players on the backs of jerseys, he balked, saying "Leaf fans know who the players are!" He eventually half conceded, putting them on the blue road jerseys, but remainded defiant they would never appear on the home whites. Campbell had enough of Ballards antics and threatened a fine if he didn't get in line. Next game, the names were indeed on the backs of the home white jerseys. Campbell fined him regardless. Ballard had the lettering done in white so they could not be seen. What a senile deviant! 3 - Roger Neilson, former coach of the Leafs and Canucks, among others, was a very inventive trailblazer for the game. Some of his left field antics are quite legendary in hockey circles. While coaching the Peterborough Petes in the OHL, he'd pull his goalie but tell him to lay his stick down in the crease. There was no rule saying he couldn't. Next season - there was. His most infamous stunt was the illegal substitution. With the Petes attempting to qualify for the playoffs one particular game, Neilson found himself in a hole towards the end of the game. Up by a goal but two men short due to penalties, he called a time out and discussed a wicked plan with certain players. When 5 on 3 play resumed, Neilson threw 2 forwards over the boards. The entire rink was baffled, including the opposing players and referee, who was unable to blow the whistle until a Pete touched the puck. Trouble was, they were avoiding touching it, as per Neilson's orders. Once they came in contact, the whistle blew, and the two players headed to the box. Asked for an explanantion by the ref, Neilson countered there was nothing in the rule book that said he couldn't do it. His ploy was to kill off the final minute of play this way. As only two players can serve penalties at once, and with no overtime in regular season play back then, Neilson was secure in the fact the penalty minutes didn't have to be served. The ref was furious and stated neilson was making a mockery of the game. The coach didn't care, he just wanted to make the playoffs. When play started once more he did it again with the same result. In fact he kept doing it until his bench was half empty and the clock out of time. League governors held an emergency meeting and countered the rule with a heavy fine and suspension. What a sneak! 4 - In 1970, there were two phenominal junior hockey stars that had the hockey world anticipating their arrival in the NHL. One was Marcel Dionne, of the St. Catherines Blackhawks, the other was Guy Lafleur of the Quebec Ramparts. The Montreal Canadiens were desperate and determined to land Lafleur and began planning for it two years prior to the draft. It was a fail proof plan in the sense that if they lost out on Lafleur, they would inevitably settle for Dionne. Call it a win-win deal. What GM Sam Pollock endeavoured to do was trade players who did not fit into the Habs plans to four of the six Western Conference teams. Over the two year period, several deals were concluded to the efeect that the Oakland Seals and the Los Angeles Kings became the weak sisters of the West. Pollock had made one deal with the Seals at the previous draft giving Oakland a #1 pick in 1970, plus forward Ernie Hickey, in exchange for their #1 pick in 1971 - a pick they could use to select Lafleur. All the Seals had to do to comply was finish last. With the trade deadline fast approaching, the Seals began to win, putting a fork in Pollocks plan. The GM took a gander at the schedule and noticed that the last place overall Kings were to play the Seals three more times in the final weeks of the season. Needing the Kings to overtake the Seals to secure Lafleur, Pollock dispatched sturdy two way center and 25 goal scorer Ralph Backstrom to L.A. for a measely future considerations. Pollock did not want to remove a single asset from what he hoped would be a surging Kings squad in the final weeks. It did the trick, in fact the Kings moved all the way up to 9th overall, still missing the playoffs. They hardly cared about the draft picks - they had traded their to Boston. The Kings were hoping to avoid humiliation of having dealt the Bruins a pick that would turn into Lafleur or Dionne. The Bruins Harry Sinden and Milt Schmidt were livid with the Habs and Kings to be sure, and they vowed to never deal with either of them again. The Bruins picked 6th that year in L.A.'s spot and chose Ron Jones. The spin to Boston media was that he was better than either of the players they missed out on. Ron Jones career ended at 54 games. How wickedly ingenious! 5 - Also in 1970, at the Cornwall Royals traning camp, an undrafted walk on showed up to make the team. Head scout Gord Wood was surprised as he'd never heard of the defenseman from any scouting sources. After checking references, the player was given a tryout. Two days into camp, the lanky redhead with the long flowing locks emerged as not only the cream of the rookie crop, but also as the teams best blueliner. Everyone was stumped to be sure. After 10 days in camp, coach Orval Tessier told the big bruiser, all he needed to do to make the cut and the team was get a haircut - the team had a longstanding short hair policy. The player refused. With the team insisting the player held out for a day or two and then bolted when he received a tryout offer from the Kitchener Rangers, where a trim wouldn't be needed. The Royals did fine without him, winning their first Memorial Cup in '72. The player however would not be forgotten. He was none other than Larry Robinson! Oops! (Comment on this)
Thursday, August 3rd, 2006
6:03 pm	What The Puck? Los Angeles Times Latest Paper To Freeze Hockey ... Lord Stanley Spinning As Number-Four Sport Falls Off The California Coast The latest cost-cutting at The Los Angeles Times has put the sports section there in the penalty box. LAObserved.com reports writers assigned to The Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Mighty Ducks will not go on most road trips. Also, hockey columnist Helene Elliott becomes a general columnist and won't write her weekly league roundup. Instead, the AP and stringers will get to shoulder the hockey burden. So, when the nation's fourth-largest newspaper decides to curtail coverage of a still-major sport, what hope is there for smaller newspapers? Actually, little or none, as they don't make road trips either. Hey, at least the Tribune gang in Hollywood is actually covering the teams when they're home. The New York Times has cut back to one hockey writer who covers the Rangers, although even that team was subject to road wire coverage occasionally. As for the New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils, who between them have won seven Stanley Cups, they might as well have not even existed. Rare was a reporter sent even to a home game. That the Times relied instead on the AP was apparently viewed with little embarrassment on West 43rd St. And with word that the Times will shrink in size by 2008, cutting the newshole by 5 percent, expect a lot more of the same. (Comment on this)
Monday, July 31st, 2006
10:02 pm	Circumventing Article 3 and Other Atrocities by the Bush ... Before I begin, I want to say thank you to everyone for inviting me to participate in Blogathon 2006. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Robbie and I’m a writer and aspiring novelist. I currently have three blogs: Greetings From America’s Finest City (personal), Independent Opinions (politics), and The Round Table (Los Angeles Kings hockey weblog). Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, let’s get this party started... Right now, you should be outraged at the Bush administration for attempting to circumvent the War Crimes Act of 1996. When the Supreme Court ruled 5-3 on June 29, 2006 that President Bush overstepped his authority in ordering military tribunals for Guantanamo Bay detainees, they also in effect ruled that the Bush administration did not have the authority to torture them. In response to that, the Bush administration has drafted legislation that would grant protections to U.S. personnel for past violations of the War Crimes Act of 1996, which defines a war crime as a violation or grave breach of any of the Geneva Conventions or the Hague Conventions of 1907. What really concerns them is Article 3 of the Geneva Convention, which states the following: Article 3 In the case of armed conflict not of an international character occurring in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties, each party to the conflict shall be bound to apply, as a minimum, the following provisions: 1. Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria. To this end the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned persons: (a) Violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture; (b) Taking of hostages; (c) Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment; (d) The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples. 2. The wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for. An impartial humanitarian body, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, may offer its services to the Parties to the conflict. The Parties to the conflict should further endeavour to bring into force, by means of special agreements, all or part of the other provisions of the present Convention. The application of the preceding provisions shall not affect the legal status of the Parties to the conflict. The penalty for violating Article 3 of the Geneva Convention, as stated by the War Crimes Act of 1996, is life imprisonment or death. The death penalty is enacted if the misconduct resulted in the death of one or more victims, which has happened in the Guantanamo Bay prison and in Abu Gharib. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has consulted with Republican members of Congress for their help in covering the Bush administration’s backside. They, along with U.S. personnel that carried out these atrocities should be very afraid of what they’ve done in the name of protecting our freedom. A 55-page report by Human Rights Watch called No Blood, No Foul (you can download a PDF of the report by clicking here) details soldiers’ accounts of detainee abuse in Iraq, including reports of the use of abusive --I mean "creative" interrogation techniques such as sleep deprivation, environmental controls, hot and cold water. (Due to time constraints I cannot list them all, so please click here to download the PDF file or click here to reference the publication online.) If the Bush administration succeeds in weakening the War Crimes Act of 1996, not only will they get away with the atrocities against detainees in our prisons but an unintentional consequence will be the possible future mistreatment of captured U.S. military personnel. We don’t need a repeat of what’s going on between Hezbollah and Israel to remind us of those consequences. You as a concerned American citizen, especially those of you who say we are governed by "the rule of law", must do what is morally right. Contact your elected officials and let them know what you think about the Bush administration’s attempt to skirt its responsibility to the War Crimes Act of 1996 and Article 3 of the Geneva Convention. We ratified those agreements and it is our duty to bring those who violated those laws to justice. Technorati Tags: Geneva Conventions, War Crimes Act of 1996, Alberto Gonzales, Torture, Human Rights, Guantanamo Bay, Abu Gharib, Human Rights Watch (Comment on this)
Saturday, July 29th, 2006
4:54 pm	The Five Ugliest Third Jerseys Ever After being inspired by Gôlbez's post about The Islanders "Fishsticks" uniforms, and Nick's comment (and finding!) about the Blues god-awful third jersey (that was thankfully vetoed off the face of the earth by Mike Keenan), I decided to make a top 5 of the worst third jerseys ever made. (Click the links after you've read this post, I don't want to spoil the surprise). First some history about the third jerseys. After the All-Star break in 96, January 27th, the third jersey was born. Five teams introduced special jerseys to be worn on Saturdays or on special occasions. The Ducks, Bruins, Penguins, Kings and The Canucks were the first teams to debut these special jerseys with varying degrees of success. Only The Bruins yellow Bear jersey still exists today. The Penguins played with their third jerseys for two seasons before making it their away jersey at the start of the 1997/98 season. The Kings and Ducks were simply laughed at (as you'll soon find out) and any one caught with one of these bad-boys were rounded up and fed to Bastion Booger. #5: Vancouver Canucks Third Jersey (1995-97): The organization behind the infamous "V" jerseys did it again with this bright red/orange thing that was used as a third jersey for two seasons. The French and the Japanese are known for their bad taste when it comes to humour, the citizens of Vancouver shall now be know for their bad taste when it comes to fashion design. #4: Los Angeles Kings Third Jersey (1995-96): This jersey lasted for one season and I think its safe to say the world is a better place for it. The weird (and angry!) King at the top of the uniform and the faded silver/black stripes makes you wonder how they went from the ûber-cool black Kings jerseys to the current jerseys and subsequently to this. #3: Tampa Bay Lighning Third Jersey (1996-99): Looks like someone puked on the arms of this one. Roman Hamrlik for Steve Bonsignore (EDIT: Of course it's Jason Bonsignore, thanks Jes for pointing that out), Bryan Marchment and Steve Kelly AND this jersey? (I'm not sure which is the worst of the two). How it lasted for three years beats me. Jaques Demers never knew how to read or write. GM Phil Esposito must be blind or something and not tell anyone. #2: Anaheim Might Ducks (1995-96): This third atrocity would rank number one if it wasn't for the atrocity of atrocities that is the number one jersey. Allow me to say out loud: WTF? Ren & Stimpy has nothing on this jersey when it comes to an avant garde & shitty cartoon style. You would think a company like Disney would have some sort of good taste when it comes to friggin' cartoons. But no, they actually thought this would be a good idea and appeal to folks like you and me. Hopefully the creator/creators were cryogenically frozen while still alive. I'd love to se the look on Walt's face when he's thawed sometime in 2135. The first word out of his mouth will surely be: WTF? #1: St. Louis Blues unused third jersey (1995): Technically not a third jersey since it was never used, but like the crimes of the holocausts this must be shown to the world so we will never ever forget. Not even Lance Armstrong would be seen competing in a jersey as atrocious as this. The fact that Mike Keenan vetoed against this shirt makes him somewhat of a hero of mine. I'm (almost) willing to forget his tenure as GM of the Blues for vetoing this. And what's cool about that cat? The only thing I can imagine is that the creator is one of those high-school kids that sits in the back of the class and ride special buses, but even special kids have better talent than this shit.* I hope Keenan ate the creators children as punishment. *I apologize. If I've missed an atrocious jersey, please leave a comment. Thanks to Jes Gôlbez for the inspiration for this post and Nick for finding the Blues jersey. (Comment on this)
Thursday, July 27th, 2006
10:53 am	What The Puck? Los Angeles Times Latest Paper To Freeze Hockey ... Lord Stanley Spinning As Number-Four Sport Falls Off The California Coast The latest cost-cutting at The Los Angeles Times has put the sports section there in the penalty box. LAObserved.com reports writers assigned to The Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Mighty Ducks will not go on most road trips. Also, hockey columnist Helene Elliott becomes a general columnist and won't write her weekly league roundup. Instead, the AP and stringers will get to shoulder the hockey burden. So, when the nation's fourth-largest newspaper decides to curtail coverage of a still-major sport, what hope is there for smaller newspapers? Actually, little or none, as they don't make road trips either. Hey, at least the Tribune gang in Hollywood is actually covering the teams when they're home. The New York Times has cut back to one hockey writer who covers the Rangers, although even that team was subject to road wire coverage occasionally. As for the New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils, who between them have won seven Stanley Cups, they might as well have not even existed. Rare was a reporter sent even to a home game. That the Times relied instead on the AP was apparently viewed with little embarrassment on West 43rd St. And with word that the Times will shrink in size by 2008, cutting the newshole by 5 percent, expect a lot more of the same. (Comment on this)