Sunday, April 11, 2010
Last Thrashers Game 2009-2010 Season
Last night was the Thrashers last game of the season. It was a great game to end the season. We played the Pittsburgh Penguins. Not only did we win, it was a shut-out. Then there were the fights. There was a so-so one with Boulton. He had a few good punches. THE fight was Kane and Cook. I think it took one good punch and Kane K.O'd Cooke. Cooke hit the ice HARD. They brought the stretcher out but he eventually skated off the ice himself. Here is an awesome picture from a Thrasher's fan of the Kane punch...
We had a good crew at the game. There was Darrell, Jesse, Josh, Kyle, Zach, Steve, Liz, Joel, de-Tag, Valorie and me. I also got to see Steve P., Joe P, Alex and Jay at the game.
This was Valorie's first hockey game and I think we have a fan.
We started out the night at Taco Mac. It was Steve's (Darrell's brother) birthday. Taco Mac has a sweet set-up. There is an entrance from Taco Mac to Philips Arena and you can actually take a to-go drink into the arena (non-alcoholic). Dinner was quick for Valorie and me since it took a while to get seated. I wanted her to see the warm-up down near the glass.
After warm up's we headed up to the seats. There was a 50% off on jersey's so Darrell picked him up a new blue jersey and he got me a yellow practice jersey. I had been looking at them all year.
It was a great game to watch and there was much fun to be had...
Josh's Thrashers Mullet wig made the rounds...
The whole gang!
Monday, March 22, 2010
Thrashers Hockey Catch-Up!!
Lately, it seems like I am consistently running 2-3 weeks behind in everything except the Blog. That is more like 4-6 weeks behind!
I know the last few entries have been ‘bundle’ entries with several events being covered. Well, this one will be no different. In fact, it will have a slew of events covered. Sorry, but this is going to be a long post.
Well, after the last entry, it was all about Olympic hockey, specifically men’s hockey. While there were no Thrashers on the USA team, they were represented on several other teams. Ilya Kovalchuk played for Russia, Tobias Enstrom represented on the Team Sweden and both Ondrey Pavelec and Pavel Kubina both played for the Czech Republic. Even though I am a die-hard Thrasher’s fan, I admit I did become a bit of a Ryan Miller fan too. He is an amazing Goalie!
After the Olympics, I began a whirlwind of Thrashers games. They started off O.K. but then it turned pretty bad with a loosing streak that did not want to stop.
March 2 – Panthers v. Thrashers – WE WON!
March 7 – Hurricanes v. Thrashers - Not so great...
March 12 – Rangers v. Thrashers - Really not so great...
March 14 – Coyotes v. Thrashers - Lost in the Shoot Out.
Then there was the Sabres game on March 16th. Walking around, I think there were more Sabres fans in attendance than Thrasher fans but that was OK.
Something that night changed and while I’m not sure what it was, I liked it. My theory is that Mike attended the game with us… as a Sabres fan. Mike is a great guy, he just happens to be a Sabres fan. For the past few years, he and his wife have always sat with us at the Sabres-Thrashers game. Every game he has come too, the Thrashers have won. I consider him my own little twisted good luck charm. Don’t worry Mike, we’ll make sure you and Melissa have tickets for next year’s game.
(Quick Note: A ‘bucket’ is a helmet; specifically a Star Wars costume helmet like a Stormtrooper or Darth Vader. Just so the rest all makes sense)
Also, it was a bucket night for Zach (and Steve so Zach wouldn’t be alone). The official ‘Bucket Night’ was the following Saturday, Mar 20th against the Flyers. Since Zach had to go out of town that weekend, he decided to have his own bucket night before he left Atlanta.
We arrived at the game early and decided to get some pictures of Zach down by the ice. We picked a spot near the tunnel where the players exit to the bench. I had never been able to wait there before. It was usually too crowded. Guess that’s what a losing streak will do for attendance. Anyhow, as we were waiting, the SportSouth camera man was setting up to film the team’s entrance to the ice when he spotted Zach. He asked Zach to hold one of the Thrasher’s hockey pucks and point to it. It was a quick shot. We really didn’t know if they would use it and were ecstatic when we watched the game later on Tivo to see Zach right after the 1st period. Here is the clip:
It was also some of the best player photos I have been able to take. Here is my favorite of Eric Boulton.
Of course, the most exciting thing for me was hanging my hand down and getting the fist bumps from the players as they went back to the locker room. I know it’s silly but I loved it!
Zach and Steve made the jumbotron in their buckets but it was so quick, I couldn’t get a picture of it. The best part of the night – WE WON!!!! The loosing streak was over! It was a beautiful thing.
The next game was March 20th against the Flyers – The Official Bucket Night 2010.
Earlier on game day, BenThrashers had put out a Tweet (yes, I love Twitter) that Hedberg was in Goal that night. Since I had made a special Star Wars related hockey sign just for him, I was excited. I replied to BenThrashers that “we would have 7 Thrasher lovin’ Troopers and Darth Vader at the game that night.” He retweeted the message to all of his followers. I was really getting excited about the game. At the last minute we heard from Zach. He was coming back from his trip early and was heading straight from the airport to the game on Marta. We had a ticket waiting for him.
Again, we arrived early and to a huge crowd for a nice change. The gang convened at our seats in section 309. We had me, deTag, Liz, Darrell as a Republic Commando, Steve as a Biker Scout, Josh as Vader, and Alex, Jesse, Kyle and Zach as Stormtroopers. At this point in the evening, my main focus was photos and some video.
All I can say was it was AWESOME! First and foremost, we won the game. Lots of people came down to our seats for pictures – just as many adults as kids – gotta love that! The guys made the jumbotron TWICE! I was able to catch it the first time. I turned on the video as soon as I heard the Imperial March start playing…..
The second time was so unexpected and I didn’t have the camera ready.
After we got home, I received an email from Steve stating we had made SportSouth again. I pulled up the TIVO and sure enough, there we were. They caught at an awkward moment. Not everyone had their bucket on. It was between the 2nd and 3rd period. We were watching Thrash shoot his t-shirt cannon.
Liz had brought her puppet Frash to the game. Everyone loves Frash. He is this awesome bird puppet she has made just for the Thrashers games. He got his own little blip on TV during the ‘Final Take’ that is shown after ‘Thrasher’s Live’.
So, as you can tell, Bucket night was a huge success.
Monday, February 8, 2010
HOCKEY!
It is that time of the year. The time we start attending those beloved hockey games. This is just a quick catch-up.
We went and saw the Thrashers v. Hurricanes back on Jan 21st. Thrashers lost. It was a sad night.
Then we had the opportunity to see the Thrashers play the Ducks on Jan 26th. A much better game. Thrashers won!
I also had an opportunity to get near the ice for warm ups.....
What brought on a post about hockey? Well, I was going through a bunch of old stuff today and came across this awesome cartoon. I just had to share it, along with all my other other recent hockey pix!
Monday, October 5, 2009
Disney 2009 - Day 1
We were up early this morning. We had to finish the last few packing chores and be at Jesse’s by 8:30a. I was surprised to see deTag already there when we pulled in. He had to come through the nasty Atlanta traffic so he left extra early just to make sure he made it in time.
Jesse had been kind enough to run by Chick-fil-a earlier that morning and pick everyone up some chicken biscuits for breakfast.
Once we were through with our breakfast, Jesse, Darrell and deTag started getting the Thule on top of the Denali and loading everything up. Not long after we started working with the luggage, Steve and Liz arrived. We packed the last few items, got everyone situated and were ready to go. We were officially hit the road at 9:30am.
The trip down was not as drawn out as I had feared. We actually arrived at Disney a little before 5pm. We checked in at the All-Star Music resort, grabbed a luggage cart and were able to get all the luggage in one go. We had requested a room half-way between the Lobby/Food Court and the back of the resort. Instead we were at the very back of the resort – Building 5 in the ‘Country Fair’ section. It made for a longer walk but there was absolutely no noise, especially pool noise. It offered its own privacy and by the end of the week, we were thankful for the location. We had three rooms in s a row. My and Darrell’s room was adjoined with Jesse and deTag’s room with Steve and Liz on the other side of us. Once the luggage was taken to each room, we began to settle in and unpack. This means different things to different people as you can see…
Around 7pm, Zach came over to the resort to visit and escort us to our California Grill reservation. He arrived the most awesome little gift bags with hand=drawn pumpkin faces! Each bag contained a bottle of water, park maps & schedules, snacks, a WDW pen and a Star Wars toy. I ended up with Chewbacca and deTag got Vader – we swapped.
After some visiting, it was time for to get ready and head to dinner at the California Grill in the Contemporary hotel. Zach accompanied us on the bus to the Magic Kingdom and on the monorail over to the Contemporary.
The California Grill was amazing! The food was superb and the view it offered for the fireworks was fantastic. The timing worked out well. We were seated, served drinks and appetizers before Hallowishes. When the fireworks began, we all stepped out on the Observation deck to watch. After the show, our waiter served our dinner and then desert. It was all amazing. I think I am forever spoiled for watching the fireworks show in the Magic Kingdom.
After dinner, we walked from the Contemporary back over to the bus stops for the resorts. We returned to our rooms and prepped for the next big day in the World.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Steve Vitale's Birthday and Wontkins
This past Sunday, we celebrated Steve's birthday. It was a grand time. We met at the Vitale abode around 3pm. As with most geek get-togethers, there was much socializing followed by a around of 'check-out the cool, new costume stuff'. Back on Liz's birthday, Steve had surprised her with the beginnings of her Ghostbuster costume. Well, now the proton pack had arrived so Liz modeled it for us.
We watched the Dr. Horrible DVD. Not the normal DVD but the 'musical commentary'. Yeah, we really are that geeky. Next it was time for Steve to open gifts. There was the round of cards; my scrapbook card and deTag's always-so-awesomely-creative card. Liz saved hers for last. It was worth the wait. She had made him a Wontkins puppet! It looked fantastic!
For some background on this little muppet recreation, check out the Muppet Wiki and for more info on Liz and all her puppets, check out her website Puppetoons.
Wontkins was the hit of the party.
..and here is a vintage video of Wilkins and Wontkins in action.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Fox Trot Plagiarism
Yesterday, I got a great email from Hockey Cop. He sent me a copy of the Sunday Fox Trot comic strip. As I read the comic, I was surprised that it concerned D*C. Then I went on to read that he had altered the original strip and substituted D*C for Comic Con. Before I continue, some background...
Fox Trot is a fantastic comic strip. It frequently mentions things we geeks take great interest in like Star Wars, and Sci Fi (NOT SyFy) Conventions. Last Sunday, the topic involved Comic Con. While I have never attended Comic Con (but some day I hope too), I have attended more than my share of Dragon Con's, along with some Fantasy Faire's, Dixie Trek's, MOC's and few other choice conventions.
Well, after I saw Hockey Cop's version, I just HAD to do my own based on my D*C experiences.
Here are all the Fox Trot comic strips in order, starting with the original...
Hockey Cop's version...
My version...
If anyone else wants to give it a go, send me the resulting comic strip and I'll post it on the blog.
Have fun!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
The Pirates of the Black Bunny are SAFE!
...but not so sure about those Somolia Pirates. My buddy Zach at the Hockey Cop Blog linked to this article about Pirate Hunting Cruises!
Luckily, this crew is more about the rum and much less about the AK-47's!
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Stormtrooper at the Braves and Trivia Nights: Catching Up!
Sorry I have been absent lately. I had some medical issues last week and have spent this week catching up with stuff from last week. I need less stuff!
Now to catch up the blog! Hmmmm, we have had two Trivia Nights, we'll save save those for last. Don't like to dwell on it so I will start with Zach, Josh and Kyle's trip to Turner Field. You remember Zach. He is our Star Wars Sports guy. He arranged for the 501st to appear at a GSU game and was the first of the Crew to wear a TK helmet at a Thrashers game. Well, this past week he donned the TK helmet for a Braves game. Here are some pictures from their adventure along with an email Zach sent to me.
TK at the Braves. Horrible game. Lots of kids and others wanting pictures though.
Got on the big screen. Twice. In fact, the first time, it was really REALLY long. I ran out of dance moves so I looked at my "watch" and gestured that I was done.
I'll try to get Braves Vision to get a copy of the tape. I think it's possible.
One of the coolest things was when I got my picture with Homer the Brave (mascot) and he dragged us off into the bowels of Cartoon Network. They have a photo-op area with the background being Clone Wars.
Neato. Oh, it was retro hat give away too.
And my favorite picture: Kyle, Zach and Josh.
Trivia Night for the last two weeks. All I have to say is good food, great friends and really, REALLY crappy trivia. The pictures tell it all.
Darrell, Kyle, Alex, Jed, Jesse and Zach
There some new people at the last Trivia Night so please forgive if I get names wrong or mis-spelled. Just let me know, Jesse.
Jed, Darrell, Alex, Jesse, Katherine, Kyle and Mike. Blaine didn't make the picture.
We are working on Mike's sad face.
