More games, and some art to be uploaded...

Well, I got three new Gamecube games today: Wave Race Blue Strom 2003, and Madden 2003. I love 2K3, and it's brought back a lot of memories of when I played the old games for SNES and N64. Speaking of which, if I get a chance, I should pick one of the SNES games. Anyway, Wave Race 64 was the first game I ever bought for the N64, and I loved it back then. It's held up pretty well in Blue Storm, but I can't wait to see if they have something in mind for the Wii. As for Madden... Well, it's not Tecmo Super Bowl, but it works, and it's football for the NGC.

What else... *looks at title* Oh, right. I haven't got it scanned in yet, but I'll soon have some of my little doodles from my sketchbook uploaded to my DeviantArt account. I'll post links when I get them up.

Anything else... Well, as soon as I get done with Mission 10 of my fanfic, I'll post them all up. Well, I've still got to go through as do a final spelling\grammar check, but other than that, they're ready. The reason I'm waiting is because Missions 1-10 sort of set the foundation for much of the next 25 Missions, and everything builds up from there.

BTW, Nintendo, you should have made the "Smiles and Tears" track unlockable in SSBB. That would have made up for not including Earthbound in the Masterpieces section.
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All-Time Utah Jazz player elimination game

We have done this on the game board with All-Time PG's, All-Time NFL Wide Receivers and All-Time NHL goalkeepr. The rules are simple. You give (-1) point for the worst Jazz player on this list and give (+1) for the person the person you want to keep on the list. One by one the other options are eliminated and you get down to one who becomes the winner.

Scoring will be +1/-1 until we get down to five, where it will then be +1/-2.

No votes allowed with the same hour of previous timestamp.
(ie previous vote: 4:13, then next eligible vote is 5:00 - more legitimate, fair, etc)
(other rules, such as no responding to yourself are still in place)

Karl Malone 10
John Stockton 10
Adrian Dantley 10
Darrell Griffith 10
Thurl Bailey 10
Pete Maravich 10
Rickey Green 10
Jeff Hornacek 10
Andrei Kirilenko 10
Bryon Russell 10
Matt Harpring 10
Mark Eaton 10
Jeff Malone 10
Mehmet Okur 10
Carlos Boozer 10
Rich Kelly 10
Bobby Hansen 10
Jeff Wilkins 10
Deron Williams 10
Greg Ostertag 10
David Benoit 10
Howard Eisley 10
Blue Edwards 10
Antoine Carr 10
Mike Brown 10
Tyrone Corbin 10
Adam Keefe 10
Shandon Anderson 10
DeShawn Stevenson 10
Paul Millsap 10
Scott Padgett 10
John Crotty 10
Marc Iavaroni 10
Jacque Vaughn 10


I could list more but I probably have too many but it will be fun still! So I will start!

Just a general post

Somehow the days are going faster to the ponit that when I'm about to post an entry of somesort, it's already late and I would become tired. Go figure. However, just a couple of things which are on the mind and are awaiting to be put up here.

Tonight was the start of the mini-series against Philly for hte Leafs. They needed four points from these games. Thus far, 2, but have given up 1 due to the game going into overtime. Being down 3-0 in the 3rd, coming all the way back to tie it then winning in OT....I guess it's a good feeling for the Leafs' players but the overall goal of winning in regulation was missed. So a definite must-win will be tomorrow night in Philadelphia.

The outdoor game looks to be a staple on the's schedule for basically for the foreceable future. New York, Chicago or Detroit are good destinations, but in baseball stadiums rather then NFL football stadiums.

If it's Detroit:
Play it at Comerica Park. That'll draw plenty of fans. Involve Toronto and Detroit. Common rivals from the Original Six in an Outdoor Game? Why not! Windsor's divided 50/50 between Wings and Leafs fans to begin with. It'll be a huge success!

If it's in New York:
Rangers, Islanders, Devils. PLay it in Yankee Stadium, which is being talked about. Not a bad idea, yet a funny way to send off Yankee Stadium in 2009. To be the last sporting event there before demolition. A hockey game? You'd think it was baseball!

I'm concerned about Gustavo Chacin. Last year, surgery. Year before that, more surgery. How about this year? If he's still injured, I don't know what the Jays will do, but offer Jesse Litsch the 5th spot in the rotation.

The Jays rotation:
1) Roy Halladay
2) A.J. Burnett
3) Dustin McGowan
4) Shaun Marccum
5) Jesse Litsch

The only drawback that I see is that there isn't a lefty in this rotation. In a key series, having a lefty in there would make the opposition's batting lineup sometimes weaker and less powerful. J.P, might as well look for a lefthanded starter.

More Jays news that I heard from today was Cassey Janssen, a big cog in the bullpen from last year, was experiencing shoulder pain when throwing in the bullpen. Uh-oh. We'll just hope for the best.
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Sharks-Wild: Sharks Franchise-Best in Shootout Win

In order to understand why I'm so strict on defensemen is because of the fact that I used to be a defense...woman. I played soccer for about six years, playing a role of a shut-down defensewoman. I've got to admit, I was pretty mean. I had a hell of a kick, and it was hard for other girls to get past me when I was on the field. I've also got a good stare. However, school came calling and I had to stop due to my busy schedule.

So, if you read my articles on a daily basis, you know why I notice that type of stuff.

The Sharks won 3-2 in a shootout against the Wild, extending their win streak to a franchise-best nine games, despite losing a 2-0 lead.

Just because they won the game, however, doesn't necessarily mean that the win came easily. Oh, no. My Sharks never make it easy for the fans, especially with some of the defensive errors that happened during the game.

Before the game, the Minnesota Wild was on a two-game losing streak and had the pleasure of dealing with a hectic schedule; this game was the Wild's third game in four days.

I was also a little pessimistic going into this game, knowing how good of a hockey club the Wild is.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, the Sharks have been the hottest team in the, winning nine straight since February 21. But I'll get to that later.

The Sharks scored inside the first minute of the game from Milan Michalek, with assists from Brian Campbell and Christian Ehrhoff. Michalek just shot the puck, which skipped a little, and went over Niklas Backstrom's pad. The goal was kind of bizarre, but it was good that the Sharks were able to set the tone of the game with the first goal. The goal was Michalek's twenty-first goal of the season.

The surprise of the game has to go to Plihal's second goal of his rookie year from a penalty shot. The puck just came up over Backstrom's blocker, and that was a big moment of the game.

Kurtis Foster scored a goal around four minutes into the second period, and the Sharks were horrible defensively on the goal. They should have taken away the shooting lane and put more pressure on the Wild instead of just standing around.

Even though I am strict on the defensive mistakes, I also notice some good things. Christian Ehrhoff, one of the most-improved defensemen, made a good play along the boards during the penalty kill, drawing a little hook to create some four-on-four play.

What I really started to notice at the end of the second period was that the Wild is so good on the trap. The Sharks had some trouble in the neutral zone because of it. However, Campbell did help out a lot because he was able to open up more ice because of his strong skating.

Back to what I said before, the Sharks never make it easy for their fans. Brian Rolston scored in the final minute of regulation, forcing overtime.

The whole reason why the Wild were able to score was on a bad defensive play by Mitchell, something you'll never catch me say very often. Mitchell had time and room to skate with the puck, but decided to ice it. Next thing you know, the Wild win off the draw. Rolston's shot deflected off of Marc-Edouard Vlasic two times, some bad luck for the Sharks. Like I've said in previous articles, the Sharks don't catch any breaks.

Patrick Marleau was the the Sharks' saving grace in overtime, who knocked Marian Gaborik's shot out of harm's way to force a shootout.

The shootout is always suspenseful, but for some reason, I knew the Sharks would pull through. Before the All Star game, I was convinced that Nabby was a horrible one-on-one goaltender. Post-All Star game, Nabby's been almost perfect in the shootout.

Joe Pavelski is absolute money for the Sharks, just using his amazing release on an amazing shot on Backstrom. I swear, he never misses.

Jonathan Cheechoo's shootout attempt was a little weak, missing on the back-hand. He had Backstrom down on the ice, and had him fooled, but Cheechoo just lost control of the puck.

Patrick Marleau's goal in the shootout was awesome, just slapping the puck under Backstrom's arm.

Now, I think the reason why the Sharks have been playing so well as of late has to be due to four people: Brian Campbell, Patrick Marleau, Jonathan Cheechoo, and Ron Wilson.

Brian Campbell has been playing as one of the best defenseman on the Sharks. He can skate, and helps out a lot on the power play that needed some re-vamping before the deadline. Once he gets the puck when he's on the blue line, he wastes no time with the puck. Doug Wilson certainly did his job on the trade deadline.

Patrick Marleau and Jonathan Cheechoo can certainly be clumped together as two players that started off the season a little slow (to say the least), but have improved considerably.

Marleau had one of his best games almost all season, scoring the game-winning goal in the shootout and stopping a shot that almost went in the net towards the end of overtime.

Cheechoo finally got healthy, recovering from his hernia surgery, and has been more aggressive offensively.

I think coach Ron Wilson said it best when he said, "I've said all along we'd be fine as soon as Cheech and Patty Marleau started scoring. Now they're scoring and you see a huge difference in our team."

Speaking of Ron Wilson, he has had a part in the Sharks' improvement. Because he hasn't been juggling the lines every game, there is no disconnect between the lines anymore. Then again, Wilson has no reason to change the lines now that the second line has finally found its identity.

The Sharks will play on Tuesday against the Nashville Predators, closing out their three-game road trip.

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Sharks-Blackhawks: Sharks Extend Win Streak to Eight

I hate listening to the radio. In my car, I plug in my iPod and set it to shuffle. At work, I turn on the XM radio to the 7890 or '80s Hits station. So, you can imagine why I was a little apprehensive to listen to the game tonight.

I really could have gone to my local sports bar and watched the game, but with astronomical gas prices and my tips disproportionately lower, I was forced to remain on my couch listening to Jamie Baker flaunt his Canadian accent.

My pain was rewarded with a 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.

Before the game, I was trying to imagine how the Sharks would fare, since all meetings between Sharks and Blackhawks have been close, one-goal games. I was a little worried, to be honest. There's only so long until the Sharks break their winning streak, and I had the feeling that with the Blackhawks on a roll, going 8-4-0 in their last twelve games, the Sharks would have some trouble. I'm really optimistic, right?

Sure enough, the Blackhawks managed to score around three minutes into the game on the power play because of a roughing penalty from McLaren. Seabrook managed to score backdoor by shoving the puck in the net.

Before I even finished typing my last sentence, Cheechoo scored his twenty-second goal of the year in the slot and chipped it in the net. Michalek deserves a lot of credit for helping out with this goal because of his excellent fore checking and ability to win battles along the boards, an area the Sharks as a whole excel in.

Here's the surprise of the game: McLaren's fourth goal of the season. McLaren's not my favorite defenseman, but I was glad that he was able to contribute offensively. He made his goal from the point with a pass from Thornton. McLaren was coming down the slot and was wide open to receive the pass. The funny thing was that two guys were on Cheechoo, yet the Blackhawks failed to notice McLaren. Heck, even I fail to notice McLaren. Joe made a nifty spin move, made a pass to McLaren, and that was all she wrote.

The next goal was from Jonathan Toews, one of my favorite players in the (go Sioux!). He tipped a goal on Nabby. Duncan Keith took wrist shot with a minute and fifteen seconds left in the first period, and Toews tipped it in.

With five minutes left in the second period, Patrick Marleau scored his fourteenth goal of the season. The Sharks captain has scored four goals in last three games. Marleau went down the ice, chipped the puck past Brent Seabrook, and scored short side under Lalime's blocker. I'm glad that Marleau's picked up his play, not because I'm a fan, but because it's helping the team.

The Sharks were lucky tonight. Rene Bourque almost scored with thirty seconds left in the third period, but the goal was disallowed because he re-directed it in the net with his glove. Once I heard they didn't count the goal, I was a little surprised because the Sharks never catch any breaks.

Tonight was another great game for the Sharks. The players were all very supportive of one another and controlled the neutral zone very well. They managed to regulate an offensively talented Blackhawks team to only seventeen shots, an impressive achievement.The game was just a great team effort overall.

Unfortunately for the Blackhawks, they faced one of the hottest teams in the and came out unsuccessful.

Even though they managed to come out with a win, the Sharks were just horrific on the face-off circle. Thornton was only twenty-two percent tonight, which was a little unusual.

The Sharks are now three points ahead of the Ducks and one point behind the Stars with two games at hand on both teams.

The Sharks will play on Sunday against the Minnesota Wild, their second out of three road games.

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Why People Should Lay Off Jarret Stoll

The grumblings grew louder as trade deadline day neared:

"GET RID OF JARRET STOLL!"

This was the chorus many Oilers fans were singing to GM Kevin Lowe. People said he was a terrible player and should be traded for whatever we can get. They said that he isn't as good as he seems, and that one 68 point season in 2005-06 was a fluke. If Pronger wasn't there, he wouldn't have done as good.

The next season, Stoll notched 13 goals and 26 assists for 39 points in 51 games. What most people don't realize is that he was on pace for 21 goals and 42 assists for 63 points in an 82 game season. That's not too shabby when the team was on a steep decline.

The only problem was he got injured. He sustained a concussion after a hit from Andy Sutton of the Atlanta Thrashers, and was out for the season. He trained hard over the off-season so that he could come back this year and play at the level he knew he could.

At least, that's what everybody thought.

Stoll started the year slowly, scoring only 4 goals and 15 points in the first 39 games. It seemed he still hadn't completely recovered from the concussion, and was probably still a little scared to get his hands dirty in the game again.

He seemed turned it around in the new year, however, scoring 4 goals and 8 points in 12 January games before the all-star break. He declined again, though, in February, only scoring 6 points in 12 games.

While his scoring may be down, his work in the face-off circle is still absolutely amazing. He has only had les than 50% in the face-off circle in 24 games out of his 65, and only 8 of those were below 40%, the average face-off percentage in the.

What people also don't recognize is his special teams contributions. The Oilers are ranked 4th in the in penalty killing percentage, and Stoll is a huge part of that. He is also a big reason the Oilers powerplay has been rejuvenated. Out of the Oilers 44 power play goals, Stoll has scored 6 of them, good for 2nd on the team behind Dustin Penner. He gives the Oilers a legitimate shooter from the point, which they lost when Sheldon Souray went down with injury, who can also move the puck around and be creative, something Souray is not.

So while Stoll is not having the best of seasons points wise, he is still a major part of the Edmonton Oilers. And Oilers fans should not be so quick to throw him under the bus. Everyone has their bad seasons, and Stoll is no different. What people forget is that he is only 25 years old, and this is his 4th season. Give him a couple of years, and I promise, you will not be dissappointed.

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Bruins-Capitals: Boston get Cap-sized in Washington

Everyone's entitled to a night off.

The Boston Bruins, one of the hottest teams in the, got run over by a Russian train in Washington on Monday night.

Alexander Ovechkin scored a hat trick during a six-goal first period explosion as the Capitals blasted the visiting Bruins 10-2 at the MCI Center.

Despite the loss, the Boston Bruins have been one of the pleasant surprises in the 2007-2008 season.

Boston has won six of their past seven games and are solidly in sixth place in the Eastern Conference standings.

The Bruins overcame a huge setback earlier this season when they lost the services of sniper Patrice Bergeron.

Bergeron was leveled from behind by Flyers' defenseman Randy Jones and went head first into the boards. He suffered a serious concussion and broken nose and has been absent from the Bruins lineup since late October.

Bergeron has begun skating again without the headaches, but his strength and conditioning still remain an issue; he has not ruled out the possibility of playing in the post season.

Boston has also played nearly the entire year without free agent goalie acquisition Manny Fernandez, who underwent knee surgery in December after hurting it during a Bruins practice. The former Minnesota Wild was expected to be the team's number one netminder.

Fernandez's backup, Tim Thomas, has been nothing short of brilliant. He is second only to Pittsburgh's Ty Conklin in save percentage and ranks in the top 20 in goalie wins with 23

To their credit, the B's have gotten help from some unexpected sources as well. Namely, Milan Lucic, David Krejci and Chuck Kobasew.

Lucic has provided the B's with energy and physicality, even surviving two broken noses in the process. Meanwhile, Krejci and Kobasew have responded with some timely goals to offset the loss of Bergeron.

Boston center Marc Savard has blossomed into one of the top playmakers in the. Going into their game against Washington, Savard led the league in assists with 59, two ahead of San Jose's Joe Thornton, the former Bruin.

Defenseman Zdeno Chara should be a candidate for the Norris Trophy. The 6' 9" blueliner has been a tower of power at the Bruins backend, scored 15 times and is a plus ten on the season.

Having said all this, you can forgive the Bruins for taking a night off in the nation's capital.

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