UnSeen

When the darkness is ruptured
And bleeds into an unseen darker pool
The air runs out…there is no air
Face down unable to scream or move
Is this a second or forever
My heart speeds up, hammers in my chest
Eyes open or closed seeing nothing
I pray my pain doesn’t leave me all alone

Can’t Have It Both Ways

What do you want
What do you need
Will you play it off
Until you see me bleed
I’m not stupid
And neither are you
I know what you are doing
It kills through and through

When you hated them
When you needed me
So why keep going
Playing just to see
I’m not going anywhere
Leaving me wide open
If you change your mind
Or am I blindly hopin’

From here what happens
Do we live happily ever after
Or does it go awry
And my heart gets shattered

Energy Drinks

Anyone who knows me knows I sometimes partake in ingesting these vessels of energy voodoo. My favorite is Full Throttle in the black can…the other flavors in the Full Throttle family will do in a pinch but are not preferred. Outside of Full Throttle I can do Amp Energy – the Mixed Berry flavor only – the rest are pretty nasty.

Of the rest: Rockstar, Monster, Red Bull, etc – not so much of a fan. If I had a sweet tooth sensitivity – then it would rocket off the charts on these variations. Blech. Just my opinion.

Swinging back to Full Throttle, I genuinely like the taste and it makes me feel peppy and toe tap-ish. Even when it hits room temperature it still has a drinkability that the others would taste like fresh tree sap.

After a stressful day yesterday and fitful night of sleep I broke down and opted to purchase an Amp Energy from the company cafe (they do not carry the Full Throttle brand – booo!). As of the writing of this blog (late morning) I am feeling a bit sleepy so maybe this will propel me to greater accomplishment later today.

As a footnote – my friend Joe aka The Commish is the one who actually introduced me to this product so he gets partial credit or blame for my addiction.

Have a great day & bottoms up! Cheers!

Hockey Analysis

 

Good morning or applicable time of day relative to you at this point!

First off let me say I am and have been a VERY casual hockey fan since the Mike Keenan era in St Louis where he gutted the soul of the franchise (Brendan Shanahan traded for Chris Pronger). So pretty much since then I have hung back and given a golf clap here and there to the boys sporting the Blue Note on their sweaters…at least until the second round of the playoffs hits (see St Louis Blues Playoff Choke Jobs on Google).

This year at the trading deadline the Blues swapped out one of their trusty goalies of the last few seasons with a pretty impressive regular season record in Jaro Halak. Starting from the 2011-2012 season through the trade this year with the St Louis Blues – Jaro had a record of 56 Wins 26 Losses 12 Overtime Losses 13 Shutouts with a Goals Against Average for each season never higher than 2.48 (Note: Halak did miss some extended time due to injury in the 2012-2013 season). In the same time frame, Ryan Miller albeit with a weaker defensive team posted 63 Wins 60 Losses 15 Overtime Losses 6 Shutouts with a Goals Against Average for each of those seasons never lower than 2.55. Boil each down to just wins and losses: Halak W 56 – L 38 Regular Season (W 10 – L 11 postseason) vs Miller W 63 – L 75 (W 25 – L 21 postseason). Based on just these numbers, Miller has a slightly better postseason track record but worse regular season with a slightly higher GAA in both.

OK now that I threw out some garbage numbers for you to mull let’s argue something that is intangible like team chemistry. Let me turn back the clock 20 or so years. The 1990-1991 season the St Louis Blues were in first place in the entire league heading into the trading deadline. The front office was doubtful their finesse team would be tough enough come the start of the playoffs and they pulled the trigger on a trade that brought defenseman Garth Butcher to town – in the process jettisoning fan favorites Cliff Ronning and Geoff Courtnall and to a lesser extent Sergio Momesso. A good deal of the team’s chemistry and momentum as shipped out of town with this move and in the end the team did not advance out of the second round of the playoffs.

Flip back to the present. Halak and under-performing Chris Stewart plus draft picks sent to the Buffalo Sabres for their face of the franchise in Miller and their captain Steve Ott. So far the Blues have had relative success since Miller arrived but looking at the small sample of work its not unrealistic to think Halak and tandem goalie Brian Elliott couldn’t have produced similar results. Their hopes of capturing the President’s Trophy for best overall record in the league seem to be faint with a 3 point deficit behind Boston with only 3 games remaining for each team. Of immediate concern should be finishing with the best record in their conference which will come down to the Blues or the Colorado Avalanche or the Anaheim (Mighty) Ducks.

The perception around the league is that Miller is a bigtime goalie that will be a difference maker in the playoffs. Is he Jonathan Quick of Los Angeles Kings fame? In my opinion no but he could be the X-factor in the Blues desperate push for a first Stanley Cup. The flaw that I see with bringing in Miller to this situation is that Miller is used to a game flow where he is constantly being tested in goal and it allows him to stay sharp and focused with constant repetition. With the defensive system in place in St Louis, the amount of shots he sees has been significantly reduced and on some of the goals allowed he looks a bit sloppy and like he is trying to do too much. Halak and Elliott have been conditioned to the style and tempo the Blues defense allows the other team – Miller seems to be struggling to relax and focus in the short bursts needed. I predict the Blues shortcomings in this year’s elimation games will be what it has been since Brett Hull moved on – lack of that game-changer play-maker. Ovechkin, Jagr, Crosby or Datsyuk single-handedly draw special attention from everyone on the opposing team – just like an Al MacInnis slap shot from the point back in the day. The Blues lack that dynamo on offense. Alexander Steen has had a nice season and Valdimir Tarasenko was starting to validate some of the hype around his arrival but the Blues are more of a supporting cast goal you to death by committee. Should be an interesting last week of the season into playoff time.

I figured now would be the time to bust this out. Like I said I am a very casual fan so I may look like a huge arse when this is all said and done (I thought the St Louis Cardinals in baseball were done during the stretch run in 2011 as well). As someone who loves sports and loves to debate both sides of an argument…let’s see where this goes.

Happy Hump Day y’all! 🙂

April 2031

OK its not April 2031 which is actually a song by the hair band of the 80’s Warrant with now deceased frontman Jani Lane. Youtube it if you feel so inclined.

April flowers attract April showers or something along those lines is the proverb. Well maybe not a proverb per se but hey I expect flowers and greenery to appear soon especially with the increased shower activity mother nature is providing.

As of the writing of this blog the Cleveland Indians are undefeated (1-0) as are the St Louis Cardinals (1-0) in Major League Baseball. The NHL hockey season is down to the last handful of regular season games and NBA basketball might also be winding down the regular season. My friend Mike is a huge Los Angeles Lakers (and Kobe Bryant) fan and they are sucking mightily this year due to injuries but he has the St Louis Blues and Cardinals to ease his pain.

At least once a day I get the song Timber by KE$HA and Pitbull stuck in my head.

The tectonic plates in my life are shifting slowly and I am anxious to she how things realign in the future.

Play softball or whatever you like to do. Cheers!