Black (and orange) Friday

So you may recall that I wanted to go to the Flyers' Black Friday game. Well, Pops and I did wind up going... after buying tickets at 12:30 this afternoon! We are so spontaneous these days. And our seats were surprisingly awesome! On game days, I guess you can get lower level seats for cheaper prices just because they want to move tickets, so we snagged seats downstairs, center ice, with a lovely view of the bench. And we were in and out of the box office so fast, we didn't even miss warm-ups. Sweet!

Oh, hey there, Jeff... Fancy meeting you here.

Speaking of warm-ups, I now know one more of the Flyers warm-up songs: "1901" by Phoenix. (It's in some car commercial, and I literally just googled "car commercial song" and found it immediately.) Anyway, I saw lots of Carter as he was camped out in front of our section, and Giroux was nearby, doing some stick-handling like Dwayne in D2. I was hoping to see if Giroux had some B.A. black eye or other remnants of his fight, but we weren't close enough to the glass. Oh, and speaking of B.A.! Ian Laperriere took a puck to the face and came back for the third period with a full shield. Daaamn. I wish there weren't quite so many injuries in this game, though. Kind of a buzzkill.

But Coburn's goal was quite exciting, especially because I could see it all the way from his stick to the back of the net! I don't know that I've ever been to a game where a d-man fave of mine has scored a goal. My mom couldn't even believe it and texted, "u must be good luck 4 him!" I don't know about that, since he only started doing well once I cut him from Foxy Lady Byng, but whatevs, I'm just glad he's no longer a -1000! And though Pops and I missed Carcillo-Rivet round one, we came back in time to witness Carcillo going apeshit and like lunging across the ice to start round two. Madness! When they escorted him to the locker room, I envisioned him pulling a Dean Portman and like attacking a table while yelling, "I should be OUT THERE!!!" (Two D2 references in one post?! No one can live at that speed!)

ANYWAY, Pops was Chatter McBox and made friends with our seatmates, as always. That is, until Lauren Hart came along and sat down in front of us. The "Hart" jersey gave her away... along with that blinding rock she's got on her finger! Pops actually has a bit of a crush on her, so his reaction was, "Merry Christmas to me!" However, he was too overwhelmed by her presence to talk to her. Oh well, there's always the Carnival!

Hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving, complete with lots of yummy food and crazy relatives! If you had a dance party to "Last Christmas" in the kitchen after dinner (and overheard someone exclaim, "Well, I can't dig up your father and ask him!"), then we had pretty similar Thanksgivings, yeah...

Quoted for truth

Giroux: Ha ha! Jess and Soph are totes breaking up with you and yo' team...

Carle: Oh snap!

Friday I'm in Love

Cuz I'm going to see the Flyers! And it will be awesome. I haven't really been to too many hockey games this year, so I'm super excited. And I've got some kickass seats on the glass for my brother and me. It will be awesome.

I'm also going to be openly rooting for the Flyers. I know there's not like a rivalry between the two teams, but I've never gone to a game wearing the opposing team's colors. Pray for me?

God bless 'em anyway

I first got into hockey during the 2000 playoffs. The year the Flyers won the 5 OT game and came thisclose to winning the eastern conference. After the Flyers were eliminated, the headline was "God Bless 'Em Anyway," and that's pretty much what I'm feeling for the Phillies. In the words of my friend Ellen, who LOVES the Phillies, "They had a GREAT season." And they did. Too bad it didn't end as fabulously as last year, but god bless 'em anyway. (Hopefully, my mom and aunts will be okay... they're going through total baseball withdrawal!)

Despite the stressfulness of this week for Philly sports fans, it was comedy hour at our house on Monday!

Me (pre-game): Aaahhh! Grab your Phillies shirt and your rosary!

Pops (post-game): If there's a game seven...
Me: Oh no, I'll be in class!
Pops: No way! I'll write you a note! And it'll say, "P-H-U-C-K class."
Me: Hmm, somehow I don't think my professor will appreciate that...

Pops (watching snippits from the '93 World Series): Freakin' Joe Carter! There went my music career!

Little known fact! Pops and his friends wrote a song for the '93 Phillies that was actually played on the radio! They even had a P.O. box for cassette tape requests (and fan mail?). However, when the Phils lost that year, record sales crashed. They were on the verge of going platinum zinc, until Joe Carter hit that home run. Curses!

ANYWAY, with the end of the World Series, there is nothing to distract us from total hockey love! The Flyers continue their jacked-up schedule with a game tomorrow against the Sabres, and hopefully, they'll perform well on three days rest! (Though Soph and I do enjoy our beloved Craig Rivet, and we've welcomed Staffy and Pommers onto our fantasy teams with open arms!) Speaking of the Sabres, they'll be here on Black Friday, and I really want to go to that game. (Soph, Pops, and I had a fabulous time at the Black Friday game last year... even though I think the Flyers lost in OT?) I guess I better start twisting Pops' arm now!

I'm trying not to be Debbie Downer...

Well, yesterday was a super Saturday for two of our faves! First, Braydon Coburn got two goals in the Flyers' 6-1 win over the Canes! Huzzah! I'm mostly glad to see that I have not, in fact, totally hexed the poor guy. Kind of like with Debbie Downer, my love is the number one killer of NHL defensemen (and not domestic cats, as far as I know). Coburn's goals break that streak (for now), in addition to making my heart happy.

Jayson, I think our relationship would be a real home run...

(Sorry Chase.)

Then, J. Werth added two home runs in the Phils game! I love that man... he's just so cool. And the cast of Glee sang the National Anthem. (Too bad they couldn't throw, like, "Bust a Move" or "Don't Stop Believing" in there too! They're always looking for new mash-ups, no?) Otherwise, that game was rather a downer. The only silver lining is that last night was take two of the Smooch Chooch Party, so I got to see most of the game with my crazy family, who were literally waving rally towels while standing in the living room. (There was also a pretty intense round of Pop Culture Trivial Pursuit going on during the rain delay... I know you're all jealous.) I've baked cupcakes, I've done my part... now the Phils just have to win three games! Come on, guys!

Also also: Today is November 1st, which means it's Day 1 of National Novel Writing Month! So break out your quill pens and typewriters and get writing! I highly doubt that I can bust out a whole novel in a month... but I'm going to try to finish a novella that I've been working on. (Which means I'll have to push through my usual problems of "Everything I write suuuuucks!" and "No! No! Too much schoolwork! Can't. write. ever.") We'll see what happens with that...

Randy Jones is coming back...

Sike! (or is it "Psych"? I've never actually written it out before) The Kings stole him on re-entry waivers.

Now not only is he's not playing but the Flyers still get half of the caphit. It's perfect since the Flyers have so much cap space to work with it. Beeeeeautiful. I love paying for nothing. Love him or hate him, this is no good.

As You Dislike It

How did they know Pops was coming?!

So last night, Pops and I went to the Flyers-Sharks game, and I had some mixed emotions going into it. I've been rather disenchanted with the Sharks this season, since they've blown up the team that originally captivated us in '07. I just don't know these guys anymore. As for the Flyers, something is wrong with them. I don't know if it's the bizarre schedule they've had so far this season or what, but they just don't all seem to be on the same page... Richards' really unnecessary hit on David Booth certainly didn't help matters. (That was so sad/scary to watch. Here's hoping poor David Booth has a speedy recovery! He was a former member of Slightly Sucky, so we obviously love him.) We're shocked Richards wasn't suspended because that hit was definitely questionable.

But don't worry! Once we got to the game, my mixed emotions got thrown out the window:

Me: Aaaahhh! PICKLES!
Pops: I thought you didn't like the Sharks anymore...
Me: Whatever, man!

Woo, woo, woo, Claude Giroux!
And Coburn, sneaking in past the camera

I would totally baby-sit Shelley's kid... getting paid to go on Facebook would not be a problem!
I also like Dan Boyle a lot, though I always forget he's on the Sharks now.

I enjoy Timonen's dramatic glance here.
I wonder if he can smile with his eyes like on ANTM...

Pronger always looks like he's in pain in my pictures.
Perhaps because Carter is about to mow him down?

Pops also decided to bring a sign for Soph:

Pops: I want the bald guy to find us on the Sharks' feed!
Consequently, during the game, Pops would ask when Drew was going to find us as he waved his little sign!

Here are some things that made me happy:

• Powe-wow scored! I always forget that I like him, but I do. He brought a lot of energy tonight. And he scored for the famous CASE OF TASTYKAKES!!!111!!! Lucky him!
• No propositions for the Kiss Cam. Woo!
• They still play "Swagger Like Us" during warm-ups!
• Coburn was a starter and didn't get booed! I was really worried for him...
• When Syvret got his delay of game penalty for knocking the puck over the glass, Pickles immediately dimed him out, pointing frantically at the glass. Oh Pickles, what a tattle-tale!

Things that made me sad:

• It was just a weird game overall. It went by really fast but had like no flow to it.
• Coburn and Timonen were each a -3.
• Timonen lost his stick for an extended period of time and no other Flyer gave him one. And then the Sharks scored. Aren't forwards supposed to give up their sticks to a defenseman in need?
• I still have my death cough and thus spent most of the game coughing (and probably making the cute couple next to me fear for their lives).
• Soph wasn't there with us. Major sad face :(
  

I guess Pickles got the last laugh:

Even with my mixed emotions, I can't wait to go to another game. I'm gonna have to face it, I'm addicted to hockey!

*Fun Fact! This post's title came from this conversation during the game:
Pops: The power-play looks like a high school production of A Midsummer Night's Dream...
Me: Um, what?! (seconds later) God, I hate that play! And As You Like It. More like, As You DISLIKE It!
(Ooh, BURN, Shakespeare! My B.A. in English will be promptly revoked, don't worry...)