Shortly after I wrote my last post, I watched the North Carolina-Georgia Tech men's basketball game. Well, I watched the beginning. And lo and behold, there was Bobby Frasor in the starting lineup! Roy was trying to charm me, I was going to have to take back my somewhat veiled constructive criticism from the aforementioned post (which no one read, but that's beside the point). And the Tar Heels started well, and Frasor hit a lovely three-pointer, and they were up 10-5 at the first TV timeout. And then after the commercial break, there was Quentin Thomas. Followed by Ty Lawson, and they very nicely combined to piss away the lead, and Frasor only played five more minutes the entire game. So obviously I do not have to take back my original point. Yeah, I know I don't know the details, but if would appear that Ty got himself in the coach's doghouse and that's the only reason he didn't start, since he played the bulk of the minutes. And I also know that's it's not Ty Lawson's fault that the team lost, but still, Roy, still.
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On the other hand, the local hockey coach responded to being (un)named in my blog by starting a most fabulous lineup Friday night against the Penguins. I know that in hockey the starting lineup matters almost nothing, but still, it is fun to track. And I am very, very glad that I decided to purchase a solo ticket and go to that game, since it was stupidly not televised locally (sold out, TV guys, sold out, you could have done it) and it was one of the best games I have seen all season. Crosby becomes the youngest to 200 points, Canes win, can't get much better than that. Thankfully the crowd was not as into booing Brooks Orpik as they were in November (though they still did it), because that just got ANNOYING. Incidentally I think he was in the starting lineup but I couldn't quite tell because the Pens only had four guys out on the ice and one loitering (cowering away from the crowd's rage?) over by the bench.
While we're on the subject, I just saw this on ESPN.com:
ALL SID, ALL THE TIME
Nice job by NBC to rob Carolina and Atlanta fans of a chance to see their teams play in a crucial Southeast Division matchup this weekend. The game was, quite properly, originally scheduled to be one of NBC's national telecasts Sunday. But the network decided it wanted more Sidney Crosby and dumped the Thrashers-Hurricanes game, leaving no local television coverage in either market. Instead, fans in the East will get to see Crosby playing the NHL's worst team, Philadelphia. That'll be nice for all those Martin Biron fans. Memo to NBC: The NHL has 30 teams. We understand players named Hossa, Kovalchuk, Brind'Amour, Tkachuk, Ward, Staal and Stillman actually can play the game, too.
-- S.B.
I think Sidney Crosby is the greatest thing the NHL has going for it right now, but this pisses me off. I mean, the Hurricanes are still defending Stanley Cup champions. And they could still win another one this year, it's not outside the realm of possibility. Good thing ABC is my favorite national network. Take that, NBC.
One more thing: I was sitting in section 310 last night; first time I've been there. Next to me was another solo fan, an older guy who kept asking me things about the Canes and hockey, which I thought was slightly amusing, but then I did know the answers to all his questions. Next to him was a group of people who seemed to be season ticket holders. Well, the Hurricanes scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal with about eight and a half minutes left. With about six minutes left, the woman sitting closest to us got up for some reason and upon her return informed me that "we usually leave the games early." And I thought, "You are a very stupid woman," but I remained outwardly impassive. And then about a minute after that, the whole group cleared out. As she went by, the woman explained that "we have an hour's drive ahead of us." I hope that woman does not consider herself a hockey fan. You do not leave games early. You simply do not do it. And if you must do it, you do not leave a sold out, 3-2 game with a playoff atmosphere. I don't care how long your drive is. I do not like people like that.
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My crush winked at me Friday morning and I turned into a giggly high school girl. It was awful. He's probably married or something. (He doesn't wear a wedding ring, but that doesn't mean anything. I could have asked but I don't really want to know, because I still want to flirt with him. Hah. I always like the wrong ones.)
