I realize that I have no followers, and I haven't posted anything since I stopped being required to for class, but I have the sudden urge to blog about band-wagonning since the LA Kings won the Stanley Cup yesterday.

It's ridiculous to me how Southern Calif. goes crazy people go for sports teams that are doing well when they're from their area. During game four of the Stanley Cup finals I went to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the game since I'm a broke college student and I don't have cable. The place was PACKED. I luckily found the ONLY open seat in the place, at the bar, and as the game started more people were flooding in to stand in the lobby and watch the game.

I started thinking to myself, 'How many of you would be here if it were the Flyer's and the Avalanche playing?' and it hit me, close to none.

A few days before I was at a similar establishment watching the game and the table of guys behind me made me want to vomit in my mouth. The first one said, "How many quarters are in hockey? This is the finals isn't it?" the other one said, "I don't know dude, I don't like hockey, but if it's the Kings, hell yeah I'll watch it!" Seriously, bro?

I pride myself in being a true hockey fan, if my favorite team does poorly, it's sad, but I get over it. But I'll still watch the other games, and the winning team isn't my new favorite team. And I sure as hell don't pick my favorite team based on geography. I don't magically become a Lakers fan when they are doing well, I HATE basketball, I won't watch it.

It irritates me when I make a comment about playing hockey, and people say, "Oh cool, have you been watching the Kings games?" or "The Kings are doing so well!" I just want to be like, "Who are they playing against tonight dipshit?"

It makes me laugh though when they say something like, "Yeah and then that one guy hit the other guy and knocked him into the railing!" I can't even come up with a smart-ass comment because it just blows me away.

I was raised as a Kings fan, my dad is a die-hard LA fan, but I was also raised with my parents' political views, into my teens I started having my own opinions, but I still loved hockey. But the band-wagonning makes me feel bad for people like my dad, who can't even get a seat at a sports bar because all of the fans-for-the-season assholes who overnight became the biggest fans of the Kings franchise.

It is what it is I suppose. But I don't think I have ever noticed how big of an impact on band-waggoning had until it came to Southern Calif.

Due to the fact that my blog is dedicated to hockey, I chose to find an article explaining the recent suspension of New York Islanders forward Trevor Gillies. And I found just the one on NHL.com.

He just returned from another suspension for a similar offense, so I knew there would be plenty of talk about it.

Gillies is a repeat offender of checking from behind. Which is not only extremely dangerous, but TOTALLY against the rules. During their game against the Minnesota Wild on March 1st, Cal Clutterbuck was the victim of a blow to the head, from Gillies' check from behind.

Although Clutterbuck was uninjured, the seriousness of the offense is still great.

Gillies has only one goal this season, versus 124 penalty minutes. Which if they were minor infractions only receiving 2 minutes, that's 62 penalties in the 33 games he's played this season.

According to the article, Gillies is suspended from the Islanders next 10 games and will lose close to $61,000 is salary. However I don't feel that the NHL board is going down hard enough on him.

He is a repeat offender who just got off of a 9 game suspension after elbowing a player against the Penguins, because of that incident, he cost his team a $100,000 fine for not being able to control their players .

Only 10 games means that he will be out less than a month, which is not long at all. And for someone in the NHL, $61,000 is nothing to worry about.

I believe that if he has such disregard for the rules and for the safety of others, he shouldn't have the privilege of playing. Because hockey isn't just about who is bigger and can hit harder, but it's also about skill and grace on the ice.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=555042

A day in a Ref's skates

Obviously, when you think of ice hockey, I'm sure the first thought that pops into your heads is fights and hits into the boards. And if you're a fan of the sport the mechanics and intensity of the game may also come up. But one aspect of the game that is almost always overlooked is the officials.

Of course, it's a rarity that a ref gets mauled in the middle of action or slammed into the boards, but it does happen. And although anybody can lace up some skates and throw on some stripes, the agility and precision it takes to be a good ref is something that is extremely hard to come by.

It may seem intense for a player to be on and off the ice every two to three minutes, but a referee is on the ice the entire game and must follow the puck wherever it goes. On average, a referee skates about six to 10 miles every game. Only stopping during time-outs or after a whistle. It takes someone who is in fairly good shape to be able to skate well enough to follow the puck and make appropriate calls.

Another thing that is vital for a good referee is experience of the game. In this area, knowledge and EXPERIENCE are two different things. Obviously, even though I know all of the signals, I know what to call and why, and I know how long a player should be in the box for what penalties, someone who has actually played the game will be a lot quicker in making calls, because it's something they've seen their whole lives. They have keener eyes.

I have met, probably the worst hockey ref in history, literally. In fact, he works at Ice Town. But the he is so bad is because he has never played a day in his life. He tried starting a roller hockey team when he was younger, but playing roller is almost detrimental to someone who wants to play ice. And one day I'm sure he told himself, "Hey, I like hockey, and I own some skates. I should try reffing to make some extra cash!" Bad decision.

Another thing that makes referees so respectable to me is the crap that they have to deal with. There is nothing on this earth worse than a hockey parent, there just isn't. Because of the fact that they spend so much money to get their kid to play, it's an abomination for them to get a penalty. No matter how obvious the infraction was.

Although I do admit, there are some pretty horrible hockey officials out there, such as said Ice Town kid...it's not an easy things to do. So before someone tries to argue a call or just jumps on the band wagon and hates referees of any sport, try throwing on skates and stripes, beware that it's more difficult than it looks, and there's no crying in hockey.

Age-old Rivalries should stick to turf

On Friday Jan. 21, 2011 the age-old rivalry between the University of California Bruins and the University of Southern California Trojans met on the ice, to battle for the crosstown cup. Unfortunately, this is a rivalry that should stay on the football field.

During the first period, the first whistles seemed to be pretty bad calls. Either head ref Matt Robinson either really dislikes the Trojans, or he just likes calling tripping when there was nobody tripped. The first two calls were against USC for tripping. However, throughout the game it became obvious that most of the UCLA players were not very sturdy on the ice.

In the words of a spectator, "Stop sliding this is hockey, not baseball!"

The first goal of the goal of the game was scored by the Bruin's No. 13 Michael Madatovian at 2:47 in the first period. But USC tied it up a few minutes later at 4:57.

Just another few minutes later at 6:23 the last goal of the period was scored by UCLA, taking back the lead.

After the 15 minute intermission to zamboni the ice between the periods, the rivals came out to fight once again. However, the 2nd period came out to be all about hits. But remember the horrible skills on the skates mentioned earlier? Apparently USC wasn't any better.

The fans all loved the aggression and of course, college guys are almost always obnoxious at school functions, whether they know the sport or not. They were banging on the glass and yelling as loud as they could. But I'm sorry boys, I'd be more impressed with your checks if you could stay on your feet after hitting someone.

The Trojans tied the game at 18:55.

The 3rd period proved to be slightly more eventful. Robinson once again showed that he more than likely doesn't like the Trojans, although they were good calls, he seemed to turn away when UCLA made obvious penalties.

On two separate occasions in the 3rd period UCLA was on a power play of 5 on 3. They nearly took back the lead during one of the power plays but it was waved off by Robinson because the Bruin's forward was in the goalies crease.

USC ended up winning the game three minutes into overtime and took the crosstown cup back from UCLA. Although the fact that almost all of the calls were made in UCLA's favor, the coach was very upset about the waved goal and threw a stick at Robinson.

Other than the sticking-throwing, it was an uneventful end to a relatively uneventful game, this age-old rivalry is on that should stay away from a hockey rink.

Angelos Final

For my final, I chose an article from the New York Times that was one of the most interesting advances I've seen in hockey. There was no way that I was not going to use this for my blog.

A small town in Northeastern Alberta, Canada has opened the first full sized rink with a synthetic surface. How is it supposed to be called ICE hockey, without the ice?! However, it sounds so cool that I couldn't help but be intrigued. A rink with real ice is extremely expensive, not only to make but also to maintain.

The community of Fort Chipewyan before the rink opened only had a three month long hockey season because of weather conditions. And it was only accessible by a 100 mile road made of ice, and during the summer, by boat. And the price of flooding a rink and freezing it, proved to be too pricey for the town.

I love ice skating, and although I was initially skeptical about the idea of a synthetic surface, after reading the article, it almost sounds beneficial to players. The article says that if proper mechanics aren't practiced, it is nearly impossible to skate. So if parents want their children to learn to skate well, and correctly, this would be a great way to get them started.

Something that I thought was really awesome is that real skates can be used on the synthetic surface. And it saves time during clean-up because instead of having to zamboni, all that needs to be done is vacuuming. But something that isn't helpful is that skates need to be sharpened more often, which can get a little pricey.

I really liked this article because it was extremely informative and there were a lot of quotes. The lead also grabbed me which, of course, is a must in journalism.

Another thing that I find very interesting about the information in this article is that through the quotes and content, it was made clear that it's a little bit more tiring to skate on. And I think that if teams were to use synthetic surfaces during practices, the teams would be a lot more fit, bringing more agility, speed and strength to the game.

But I would only want to see these surfaces in practice. To me, hockey just would not be hockey without the ice. I don't even like roller hockey. It would also slow down the game and make it less exciting because the synthetic surface isn't as fluid (pardon the pun) as real ice.

Although the article was in the sports section, this to me is more of a news article, because of the content. The content was mostly covering the advances made by Fort Chipewyan and the pros and cons of the synthetic surfaces. And not so much the sport itself.

Overall, I though this was a great article that flowed well and was extremely informative. It grabs you with the first sentence and keeps you interested throughout and also contains quotes from NHL players, coaches and businessmen involved with the synthetic surface industry. I really loved this article. Take a look!

"Who Needs Ice? Synthetic Surface Extends Season" Brett Zarda- The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/13/sports/hockey/13ice.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=hockey

Banner Final

For my final blog I chose to write about an article from PE.com covering the game between the LA Kings and the Minnesota Wild on Dec. 11th. I was interested in this article because the Kings had been on a three game winning streak, and the Wild broke it during overtime, causing themselves to have two consecutive wins after a five game slump .

In the first two weeks of Nov. LA had another recording breaking winning streak with six wins in a row. Which was taken away by the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 15th. The San Jose is my favorite team so I was very intrigued by their breaking of this streak. So of course, when LA came back two weeks later to start a new winning force, I had to follow it.

This article is a coverage of the game and what I liked most about it is that there was a full chart of the stats at the bottom including penalties. Another thing that I really appreciated was that it was posted the night of the game, almost immediately following, that is something that I am hopeful about in the future, covering games is one of my favorite things to do in journalism.

Something I didn't like was the lead, I feel that one of my strong points in my writing is my ability to write leads. That is how I always find my angle, I write my lead first. And the lead of this article is very plain and doesn't make the reader want to continue to the end.

Perhaps I'm being a little overly critical, but I thought that some of the information wasn't relevant. Although it was a synopsis of the game, some of the information just wasn't needed and made the article a little wordy.

But, to keep my critique balanced, I really appreciated the fact that the writer used hockey lingo. It makes me feel good when I can read something that not everyone would understand and completely get it. However if someone who didn't know hockey was reading it, they would be slightly lost.

Something I thought was funny, it must be the editing pet peeves, is that it was an article on PE.com but it was provided by the Associated Press and they didn't even follow AP style! Maybe it's a little different when it's something that goes on the web instantly, BUT the writer should know a little bit more.

There was one quote, from LA's goalie Jonathon Quick, saying that he feels responsible for the loss. But I wasn't sure if the writer got it themselves or if it was another source, and if it was, there were no attributions. And it was also placed in an awkward spot in the article.

The content of the article was very informative despite its inconsistencies and I was excited to read about the game considering that I was unable to watch it for myself. Overall I liked the article despite my many issues with it. It also makes me happy that an inland empire publication takes the time to not only cover big issues in hockey, but also posts game coverage.

"Overtime goal ends LA's streak" PE.com

http://www.pe.com/sports/hockey/breakout/stories/PE_Sports_Local_D_kings_12.3fafa79.html

The Clash of the Titans...and the Skatin' Utes

On Friday Oct. 15 the Cal State Fullerton Titans took on the University of Utah Skatin' Utes. There was no comparison as to which team was better, the Titans owned the first two periods with amazing offense and just as impressive defense.



Although Utah held their own and came back to lose only by two points, (Final 6-4) they obviously had the stress of midterms in mind and weren't playing to full potential. However they did play extremely dirty, which only hurt themselves (literally) in the end. One player was escorted off the ice to be treated for a head injury after falling from trying to check one of the Titans.


During the first period the first goal was scored by Jake Daniels, number 23 of the Titans. The second goal was scored due to an amazing assist from Dalton Braniff to Sean Saligumba.

CSUF Titan Ice Hockey is yet ANOTHER great example of Riverside County hockey players going somewhere with the sport. There is Elan Dunaev, whose brother owns Ice Town; Dalton Braniff and Andrew Hodge, Eric's best friends (: and Anthony Webb, who all grew up playing at Ice Town...just to name a few.

The Titans also play a number of big schools from acrossed the country, which is pretty impressive for a state where hockey is one of the least popular sports. Some of which are, Long Beach State, which seems to be their biggest rival; Northern Arizona University, a school I considered going to; The University of Utah, Western Washington, Maryland, and Texas.

With the excitement of knowing athletes on a great college team, the screaming fans, the intensity of the game and not to mention that Eric was lining it...the game against the Skatin' Utes was an awesome experience.