The Rink Rat

Monday, May 11, 2009

Sydney's Outing

Syd the Kid goes for a walk on a nice Spring day.

Labels: dress, evgeni malkin, outing, rink rat, sidney crosby, syd the kid, therinkrat.com

posted by therinkrat @ 1:45 AM 5 Comments

Monday, May 4, 2009

Twitter Made Me Famous

My massive overstatement of a title notwithstanding, I did manage to get one of my tweets quoted in the Washington Post over the weekend. I grew up on the Washington Post. I read it every day. Tony Kornheiser was the man (although, so were these guys). I dreamed of writing a sharp, witty, insightful column that people clamored for every Tuesday and Thursday. I'm not counting anything in the Style section.

Instead, I started a blog. And I'm pretty sure that I'm now only 7,852 page views behind an average Kornheiser post. I guess you can call that progress. In the virtual world there are ample opportunities for fame, its just that now, the time frame has dropped from 15 mintues to 15 seconds. It's much easier that way. My "fame" had come and gone before I even knew about it. I didn't have to deal with the paparazzi since 1. they don't care and 2. they have no idea what I look like since I'm just a screen name. Sure, Kornheiser has a byline, a cable show, a national weekly prime time sporting event and tons of money. But has he ever had one of his tweets published (online) in the Washington Post. Well, I'm not actually sure, but I'm going to say no since he probably thinks twitter is idiotic.

Well Tony, it feels pretty damn good. Maybe not as good as that first time you were published in the print version of the Post. But we digital now, baby, and my backhanded jab at Marc-André Fleury's soul path is the only thing people seem to be discussing. Sure its only the three other people in my cube, but they're talking a lot. Oh wait, they stopped. It's already been 15 seconds. That was quick.

Labels: fame, the rink rat, therinkrat, Tony Kornheiser, tweet, twitter, Washington Post

posted by therinkrat @ 3:14 PM 0 Comments

Monday, April 27, 2009

Some City Will Suffer

The playoffs progress. Two game sevens are scheduled for tomorrow. Two game sixes commenced last night and two more are ongoing at this moment. For the pure hockey fan the daylight hours signify a waiting, a need, only satiated when the puck hits the ice later that night. But those fans live for the purity of the sport. They are the ones who will come home or go out and default to watching hockey. Those fans don't need their team to be playing to love the game. It helps. But since so many of those fans live in Toronto, they aren't used to seeing their team in the playoffs. It doesn't matter since they are just as happy to root against Montreal. Or maybe they will pull for Vancouver because of some OHL connection or because their grandkid lives in Pentiction,BC or some other city somewhere. Those are true hockey fans.

While those fans might need hockey as much as hockey needs them, they aren't as invested as Aunt Edna living in New Jersey right now who's not totally sure what icing is but is damn sure that Zach Parise is cute. Now I may not agree with her about Parise, but I will admit that such passion for an NHL team is what the playoffs are all about. They are supposed to insprire those fans that some call 'bandwagon' to rally behind their team. They are supposed to inspire a city. They are supposed to make Raleigh, NC and Calgary, AB scary places to visit. They are supposed to make you hoarse at work the next day. They are supposed to make you appreciate all those years your team missed out.

Tomorrow night will feature the first two game sevens of the 2009 playoffs. Four cities will watch and hang on every hit and every shot. On Wednesday some of those residents will go to work and get coffee and prepare for the rest of the year without the thought of hockey. Other fans will prepare for another series, another test of emotions and another step toward The Cup. And still others will be devastated. They may miss work. They may just exist in a haze. But they will survive. They will graviate back midway in the second round after the scars aren't as raw.

Some city will suffer. That is what game seven does. It ensures elimination. One team will exit. I just hope it isn't mine.

Labels: NHL, playoffs, the rink rat, therinkrat, therinkrat.com