Who the Frick Is Joe Barnes?* AND Friday Frivolousness

Ah, here's Jason Karmanos...let's ask him!

“Joe gives our organization size and depth at the center position. He was impressive at our conditioning camp this summer, showing good strength at a young age and displaying a solid work ethic that will fit nicely in our organization.”

Yes, that's great. But who or what is Joe Barnes?

Hey, look...it's CH.com to the rescue!

Jason Karmanos, Vice President and Assistant General Manager of the 2006 Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has agreed to terms with center Joe Barnes on a three-year contract. The first year of the deal will pay Barnes $450,000 at the NHL level and $50,000 at the minor-league level while, the second and third years of the deal will pay him $475,000 at the NHL level, and $55,000 and $60,000 per year in the minors, respectively. Along with his salary, Barnes receives a $150,00 signing bonus.

In 2005-06, Barnes (6’ 3”, 205 lbs.) notched 25 goals and earned 27 assists (52 points) while accumulating 55 penalty minutes in 55 regular-season games with the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League. Despite missing 17 games due to injury, the Winnipeg, Man., native ranked fourth among Blades skaters in goals and sixth in points.

Veeeeery interesting...well, why didn't Jason just say so?!

Tend to agree with the overall consensus here that Joe will be a River Rat before a Hurricane.
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Speaking of rodents, I'm sick of the field mice invading my bedroom and overall home. My family and I never had a mouse problem when living in Wake Forest/Raleigh...and now, grrrrrrrr...

And my brother, who's recovering from having his wisdom teeth removed yesterday, claims that the same mouse who kept running in and out of my "apartment" through the door's bottom slit (which I finally shut out with an old windbreaker pushed up under the door) JUMPED OR CRAWLED UP onto his bed last night. Ewwwwwwww...I don't have the fear of mice my mother has, but at the same time, I do not like them wandering all over my home AND ESPECIALLY all over my bed either.
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Also, while I'm at it...now that Fantasy Hockey time is just about among us, I got another thing I want to complain about: Live Drafts. I hate them, Sam I Am. They are a waste of two-three hours of my life AND I feel they were practically invented by chat room junkies for chat room junkies only. I have NEVER totally been a chat room junkie...though, I have given them a try a few times in my life, mostly when I'm bored and have had absolutely nothing better to do.

Though I made a vow to myself to never, ever do Live Drafts since I started doing Fantasy Sports in 2002...I broke that vow last year when I attended two Fantasy Football Live Drafts to "be nice/flexible". That only made me hate Live Drafts more...especially when at both drafts, my Steelers and Panthers-centric picks, particularly my sleeper pick of Ben Rothelisberger, made the chat rooms LTAO. The real kicker (no pun intended)? It wasn't like I was criticizing the other managers' picks...I was actually completely silent throughout both drafts. Sometimes, I just don't get people...offline AND online.

It should be noted that my teams in both leagues came in around third-fifth place...easily my best performance in Fantasy Football ever. Not bad for some pretty darn hilarious picks...that said, I bet they would have laughed at my prediction of a Steelers/Panthers Super Bowl too. And hey, to paraphrase a certain Meatloaf, one out of two ain't bad.
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It's funny I bring up a certain sport involving pigskin when...

1. Tonight is the best holiday known to those who have lived in Bluefield, VA/WV all their lives (not me)...the Bluefield High Beavers vs. Graham High G-Men game. And we're talking THE GAME...bigger than UVA vs. Virginia Tech AND Pittsburgh vs. Indianapolis/New England/Cleveland/Cincinnati. The game is so huge that eating out, if you have a desire to do so, is complete hell AND possibly shopping too...since everyone loves to get together at Wal-Mart or mall after the game to talk about it.

Anyway, this too gets on my nerves...with the exception of the national LeBron James "high school phenomenon" hype a few years ago, I have never seen high school sports pimped as much as they are in these parts. And when I say "pimped", I mean it...the "Sports Night" local news shows are all totally devoted to *just high school sports, primarily football*, absolutely nothing else. Not even MLB/minor league baseball, NFL/college football, or even NASCAR. And with all due respect to the region, believe it or not after this rant, does anyone get sick of high school football, especially with all of the non-stop coverage...hell, the local newspaper, the Bluefield Daily Telegraph, had a FREAKIN' COUNTDOWN to tonight's Beavers/G-Men game since June!! Can't say I am too surprised since we are talking about a paper that will devote most of its sports section to the NBA playoffs, but only wants to barely acknowledge (and THAT's being generous) the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Again, hell, when the Canes won the Cup, there was nada local mention of that...wonder what would have happened if the Canes were instead called the Carolina Beavers or Carolina C-Men?

AND finally...

2. Coming back from lunch at Subway earlier today, I happened to see the Louisville Cardinals' team bus on its merry way down I-77. Not every day you see that...especially as rather nicely decorated, complete with the Cardinals' logo, as the bus was/is.

Current Music: "Red" by King Crimson (Live, Absent Lovers - Live In Montreal 1984 Version)

* - I've never heard the song (and movie?) the main title of this post is referencing...but geez, does that title get stuck in your head.