Bored "Fan" Writes A Letter To the Raleigh News and Observer...Film At Eleven

Wow...it's been over a week already?! Time *really* does fly when there's hardly any Canes news...of course, in my instance, it helps to have a couple of rather ambitious projects to do, which I will touch upon here later.

You know it is *very quiet* on the Canes news front when this is the biggest thing to have caught my eye lately...

"Canes' inaction over Staal's arrest is sad

So no disciplinary action will be taken by the Carolina Hurricanes in regards to Eric Staal's arrest for disorderly conduct?

That's a great message the Hurricanes are sending to the young people in this community -- if you are popular, young, rich and athletically talented, and you act like a jerk and get arrested, the team you are the public face for doesn't think it matters.

It is obvious that the attitudes of the NBA, NFL and other sporting organizations have carried over to the NHL: "You are better than everyone else because you are a professional athlete. Go on out there, have a good time, drink, party, get arrested, no problem! We'll look the other way!"

Pathetic. I would have expected better from the management of a Stanley Cup-winning team. I'll think twice before going to a Hurricanes game this season."

Definitely one of those types that need to be within five feet of a giant megaphone blaring "Boozefests happen in hockeydom...GET OVER IT!!".

I was not all that approving of what happened to the Staal brothers...BUT, unlike the bozo cited above, I take into account that...

1. It *was* a bachelor party...the only way a bachelor party would NEVER have drinking is if its participants were a bunch of Charles "Chaz" Finster* clones.

and

2. Something that the N&O and quite a few sources failed to pick up on about the Staals' big bachelor bash gone wrong is that according to at least one or two other sources I read (and posted here...just scroll a little further down), the Staals weren't the ones cutting up. Instead, it was two or three of their friends who did not heed the resort's request to stop partying and go to bed. And therefore, just like 27-29 students in a classroom having to put up with a class clown or two or three, all of the other participants of the party, including the Staals, were punished for the actions of an overwhelming minority.

Apparently, Jim Rutherford and company (along with the Pittsburgh Penguins honchos in regards to Jordan Staal) heard about #2 too...because if they did not hear about AND apparently believe it (along with me), there probably would have been a reprimanding of some kind by now.

In closing, I think someone has a lot of damned gall to call what is quite a minor incident NFL/NBA/etc.-like, when the said big leagues are dealing with far bigger problems than a bunch of bachelors being spoiled by a few rotten apples.

Current Music: "Boom Boom Out Go the Lights" by the Pat Travers Band (Live Version)

* - [TV geek]For those of you who aren't Rugrats (at least before Dil Pickles came along) fans, I am way more than willing to bet that a guy who would rather watch a chess tournament than the Rugrats universe's equivalent of the Super Bowl probably does not imbibe, even just a little bit, too.[/TV geek]

BREAKING NEWS: The Canes Roll Out the "Welcome (Back) Matt!"

Ladies and gentlemen, *her voice suddenly gets deeper and takes on a Carribean accent* it is a beautiful day...yes, a beautiful day!! And that is because...as if one could not tell from the title...MATT CULLEN IS RETURNING TO THE HURRICANES!!!

"Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has acquired center Matt Cullen from the New York Rangers in exchange for defenseman Andrew Hutchinson, forward Joe Barnes and a third round pick in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft."

As much as I have knocked Mr. Rutherford around for "reunion moves/trades" since last year, *this* is a good reunion move. As opposed to the others being for guys from 2002-03, this one is not only for a guy from the FAR BETTER 2005-06 season, but also a guy who is EASILY the best thing the Canes have ever had going for them shootout-wise thus far.

God, it feels good to finally laud Jimmy for a GREAT move instead of the complete opposite...'cause really, I am not *that bad* a fan AND person. I just want to see some good moves made and/or players coming to my most beloved NHL team. And I certainly know I am not the only one...
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Speaking of former Canes players returning...you know it is a slow news day at the Raleigh News and Observer when they decide to touch upon the fact that the Raleigh/Durham/general Triangle area is, *gasp*, home to celebrities!! As I found out from here.

It is certainly one of those 'don't get me wrong' sort of things...while I am glad to be informed on and off of how my birth/original home area has become quite the hotbed for my most favorite of sports, at the same time, I think articles like the one I've linked to are unnecessary. Especially in regards to celebs, like the ones mentioned in that particular article, having a hard enough time finding at least a little privacy as it is.

Though, despite my saying that, I cannot help but touch upon something I read at that Score Boards link...

"I think Tom Barrasso can be added to the list. He was in town looking for a house around Wake Forest. He wants his kids to go to school here."

I certainly hope Mr. Barrasso is looking into sending his kids to a private school or two instead of what Wake Forest has to offer on the public school route. Being a former Wake Forest area public school pupil, I know of what I speak...and you more prudish readers may want to briefly look away because I just cannot say this in a mild manner: Wake Forest area public schools SUCK. With maybe, MAYBE an exception or two or three, since I am talking about AND went to WF Elementary, WF-Rolesville Middle, and WF-R High...never had the opportunity to attend the Wakefield complex, despite the fact that it was closer to my family and I's house. But anyway, from what I have heard lately, at least one of the schools I attended is not getting any better...specifically WF Elementary, which is possibly getting ready to lose its Magnet School status (scroll down to "You have to pull in magnet status debate").

Current Music: "Es Solo Musica" by Mamborama

No Pictures, Please!

Fighting pictures, that is...as addressed by a fellow reader to the Raleigh News and Observer...

"Jerry Barker of Raleigh wrote a letter to the sports editor, published Sunday, that urged The N&O to not publish photographs of NHL players fighting. Barker wrote: “Do everything you can to help promote good sportsmanship, positive fan behavior, civility and good, clean competition.”..."

I will admit that when I first got into hockey in 2002, I was very mixed about fighting...but that all changed rather rapidly when I noticed how much of a necessary evil it is. Without fighting, you would have crap like what Pronger did to McAmmond in Saturday's game, what Scott Stevens has done to quite a few players in his career, etc. happen way more often than such events have overall. I have been AND still am of complete belief that there is no better way of telling a team and/or certain members on it to "cut the crap" than fighting.

If there is anything in that sentence from Barker's letter that throws me for a loop, it's that bit about "...positive fan behavior...". Bzuh? Has the N&O published pictures of fans fighting that I have somehow missed?! Last time I checked, it's pictures of PLAYERS fighting, NOT FANS.

But overall, Mr. Barky Von Schnauzer needs to get a muz...er, grip. And the following goes for not only him, but also a lot of those trying to soften up hockey by having the fisticuffs removed: It ain't gonna happen, OK?! I have lost count of how many times I have laughed at the nuts who say one of the most beautiful things about "the new NHL" is the "the lack of fighting"...I don't know what games these people are looking at, but I am noticing just as many fights now as when the NHL was "old".

And speaking of "the old NHL"...in closing, here is a moment from then that proves that even the most sportsman-like of players found/find themselves in a situation where they had/have to put up their dukes...and were/are not afraid to do so.



Current Music: "Don't Forget Those Forgotten" by Nelson Rangell

"Fix the Canes"

The Raleigh News and Observer has come up with a new contest, where they want you to...well, "Fix the Canes".

Oh, to be a fly on the wall when the N&Oers start going through and reading the entries for this thing. I will be more than willing to bet that most, if not all of the responses will be no different from a lot of the prattling I've already read at various message boards. At those places, everybody and their cousin has blamed everyone from David Tanabe, to Andrew Hutchinson, to Jim Rutherford, to Peter Laviolette, to even Rod Brind'Amour for the Canes' Stanley Cup hangover and overall woes this season.

I would LOVE to be proven wrong, and that the winning entries in the contest end up proving that we have some decent and different thinkers (and writers) in the Caniac Nation, as I know we do. But as it stands, I would not be surprised if this contest ends up coming across as if the N&O does not pay attention to the MBs and/or blogs around them.

Current Music: "Sea of Love" by The Honeydrippers