Workout of the Day - Jan 28

I stumbled upon this blog post by one of my favorite Ottawa Senators
media guys, Ian Mendes. This guy usually places a nice bit of
observant, self-deprecating humor in his writing. So, instead of the
usual, cliche commentary about the Senators, he's actually fun to
read.

This post had nothing to do with hockey and everything to do with the
gym. I loved it. I have my own list of gym stereotypes, but simply
agree with his last category. Put me in there too.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2010/01/28/mendes_gym/

Workout of the Day - Jan 28

Work has been a bit depressing this year. I think it's been stealing
all my energy. Has been getting worse the last couple weeks. It takes
all I have to get into the gym and hammer out a marginal workout. So,
I've been searching for some inspiration. I considered a workout
partner, but I'm an army of one considering the lifting I do and the
time I'm at the gym. After some online searching, I signed-up at
bodybuilding.com. Lots of good info there. I started a profile, which
allows me to chart my workouts. I'm in the process of adding my
workouts from the last few months and see how my progress looks.
The inital request from the website is for your fitness goals. Hmmm, I
don't really have any. I want to stay in shape, get in better shape
and be able to keep-up with and lift my children. That's about it.
Maybe a defined target will help motivate me further. We'll see...

Ottawa Update

After losing 5-straight, the Sens have righted the ship and won
6-straight. Crazy. Rookie goaltender Mike Brodeur stole the show with
a couple solid games. Alfredsson came back from a shoulder injury and
has been scoring it up and stabilizing the special teams play. Kuba
and more recently Spezza and Michalek are back from the IR. With
reinforcements in hand, the goaltending has stepped-up. Elliott got
NHL first star of the week for his solid play. It's hard to believe
that this is the same team that started the year 1-5. These ups and
downs are making me seasick.

Vegas

Had a great Vegas weekend! The California Cluck'n Omegas were going
for a 3-peat in the Women's Rec Tournament. They handily beat their
first opponent from Washington, got roughed-up in a close game #2
against San Diego, rebounded 8-0 in game #3. That ended pool play and
they had a playoff rematch against the same San Diego team; with the
winner going to the Championship game on Sunday. The Omegas
figured-out their errors from game #2 and used their speed to counter
the physically imposing team. 4-1 win.
The Championship game featured two Southern Cal teams. There was a lot
of familiarity, as most of these ladies play with or against each
other in their respective rec leagues. The Omegas took a barrage of
shots, yet managed the first goal and the lead after 1 period. Two
quick goals midway through the 2nd and the Omegas were trailing. 1-2.
They made a strong offensive push in the third, but that created a few
too many odd-man breaks. 1-4 final score, in a tough game. Their
opponent had a pretty deep, talented team and the Omegas were using a
short bench. I think that the extra skating ultimately caught up with
the team.
I'm bummed that they couldn't pull it off once again. But it's a great
time. The ladies take their hockey seriously, but also their fun. I
think it's fortunate to have such a collection of players that can
come together and play such an entertaining team game. I look forward
to this Tournament each year. Word is a possible San Jose tournament
this Spring. Sounds good to me.

Red Bull Flugtag 2010

Just saw a tweet from Red Bull USA concerning their 2010 Flugtag
schedule. First, they are bringing it back to the US and second, Long
Beach is mentioned as a location. Sweet! After a failed attempt at
getting into the 2009 Los Angeles Soapbox Derby last Summer, I am
undeterred. Besides, the idea of going off a launch ramp into water
sounds much more exciting than just a plain 'ole road race. And
designing a "flying machine" will be more fun than a car.
If nothing else, I will hopefully get another free box of Red Bull as
a consolation prize for submitting an entry.

Winter Olympics 2010

The Olympics are coming up. Should be fun to watch. But I'm not a
total supporter of NHL'ers in the Olympics. I think it is the mystique
of the Miracle on Ice, and knowing that it didn't happen with NHL
players. Actually, I guess it can. I would consider it a minor miracle
for the US to take home the gold. No offense, but looking at the
roster of Canada, Russia, & Sweden it's obvious that the NHL is not
overrun with US-born superstars. I think Canada has so much depth that
it could field two teams and both would be very competitive.
But at the end of the day, it's still a team game. Throwing together
the top talent doesn't guarantee them playing as a team. My hope is
that the US has the right personalities that can work together, and
Miller (or Thomas) is lights out in goal. Miller has been spectacular
so far this year, so there's hope!

Fro-yo!

One day later.

What a difference a day makes. Both of my teams won last night. Ottawa
stopped their losing streak. That's in part to Mike Fisher.
Apparently, he let a slapshot go in practice that caught Leclaire
square in the dome. He is diagnosed with a severe concussion. I'm not
sure this is a bad thing, as AHL farmhand MIke Brodeur made his second
appearance of the year and got a shutout! It's only one game, but it
felt great to get a win.

The Kings also won. They faced a very hot Ducks team that is going in
the opposite direction as the Kings, having won 5 games or so, in a
row; climing back into playoff contention. So, both of my teams hold
onto a playoff spot.

I'm through reporting about the rollercoaster season these two teams
are having. It's bound to be this way the rest of the year. The
standing are so tight, that going from 5th to 12th can happen within a
week. So, I'll try to focus on the big stuff. Like the big trades the
Senators are going to make to re-tool the team or when they fire GM
Bryan Murray. Or when the Kings officially make the playoffs,
hopefully not the last day or two of the regular season.

Show some Pride

I am a newer MMA fan. But I watch any/all events, not just the UFC. I
have seen Bogdog, Affliction, Sengoku, Strikeforce and Dream. But I
never really watched much Pride FC, besides highlights on YouTube.
Well, the UFC bought all the rights to Pride when it absorbed some of
Pride's most popular fighters. What's my point? The Best of Pride airs
tonight on Spike at 7 PM PST. I am going to set the TIVO for yet
another series to record...

2010 Limping into the New Year

It's been a tough week as both of my teams are on losing streaks.
Kings have dropped 3 straight home games and the Senators have 5
consecutive losses. For the Kings, it's about a competitive team
dropping games at home. That's very discouraging. The Sens are simply
a trainwreck. Sure, the roster is hit with injuries, but they are
losing these games BADLY. 1-4, 2-5, 0-3, 1-4, 1-6. That's averaging
1.0 goals for and 4.4 goals against! They usually spot the opposing
teams 2-3 goals by the end of the first period. Goaltending is falling
apart. Leclaire is getting pulled and then Elliott plays just as bad.
Take last night for example, Pascal allows 3 goals in the first;
Elliott allows 3 more for the rest of the game. (sigh)

The problem is that I smell changes in Ottawa. This is typically when
a GM will panic. But, which team wouldn't have trouble scoring with
their top three forwards out? Do you blame the head coach? That excuse
is getting old. Clouston has finally brought some stability to the
team.

You have to admit that several deals did not pan out. 1.) Leclaire is
not a good goalie. He was often injured and unproven at best. 2.)
Michalek and Cheechoo are not a replacement for Heatley. Michalek has
been streaky, but is now injured. Cheechoo has wasted a boatload of
playing time with little production. 3.) Kovalev is not working out.
He has a hattrick game and even a 4-goal game. But that's all he's
done. He just floats around. 4.) Both goalies suck. I think Ottawa is
the only team with a goaltending tandem where both are sporting save
percentages below .900. These are all gambles that Murray made, that
have come up snake eyes. I think Murray has to go. I've given Murray
plenty of rope and he hung himself with it.

Weakend Roundup

So, both of my teams are struggling. After beating arguably the best
teams in the league: Sharks and Capitals, the Kings have opened a
7-game homestand with back-to-back losses. Bummer. Meanwhile the
Senators are freefalling with 4 consecutive losses. Spezza and
Alfredsson are out, but add Michalek, Winchester and Kuba to that
list. Goaltending sucks (what else is new.?!). Bad goaltending and top
scorers on the IR are bad news. They had a players only meeting after
the last loss, and will hopefully rally the troops for the rest of a
5-game road trip. I'm not holding my breath, since Ottawa has the
second worst road record in the league.

Saw the WEC fights last night. Well, all but the main event. While my
buddy was nice enough to DVR the fight card and invite me over, he
also didn't record extra time. Golden rule of sports TV, always DRV an
extra 30 minutes. My TIVO asks me if I want to record an extra 30 mins
on all live sports events, kinda cool. But my friend didn't have
Directv, but that's also why he has Versus and I don't...

I love the WEC. It was a good card with Faber, Brown and Varner vs.
Henderson headlining. Urijah was in front of a very friendly home
crowd in Sacramento. He beat a very tough Assuncao. A good showing
after a long layoff from hand injuries. Brown was coming in off the
loss of his belt, and put a beat down on some poor dude I've never
heard of. I saw part of the first round of Varner/Henderson. Varner
was in control, but I read that he lost. Sweet. I am one of many
people that hate that guy.

Tonight is UFC Fight Night. More fights to watch, sounds good to me.
There are two UFC events in February, but I'm looking forward to the
one in March. UFC 111, I believe. It has GSP/Hardy and Mir/Carwin. Two
title fights. Good stuff.

At the hockey rink

Video Game Review: Uncharted 2

So, I got the perfect gift this Christmas. I am a PS3 gamer and love
the NHL. EA Sports NHL 2010 fits that pretty well. The only problem is
that I suck at the latest hockey games, and it infuriates me. Am I the
kid that leaves and takes his toy home when he can't win? Absolutely.
As a general rule, I don't play if I it's not fun' (golfing excluded).
I've played most of the NHL hockey video games since Nintendo Ice
Hockey and Genesis Blades of Steel. No problems with the simplistic
games, but the problem with growing-up Atari 2600 is that I am mildly
retarded with the latest controllers. D-pad, two sticks, 4 buttons, 4
triggers, start & select; that's a lot more than a stick and a button.

Anyway, I returned NHL 10 to Gamestop yesterday. And that feels like
last week, by the way, since I was up late playing the replacement
game Uncharted 2. Wow. I have not been too impressed with very many
games lately. The promise of the PS3 has not really been fulfilled in
my mind, until now. Uncharted 2 is an action game with a story that's
modern day Indiana Jones. But where it really shines is graphics,
story and playability. It's a beautiful game with highly interactive
environments. The first scene of the game blew me away; a very
realistic snowy mountain. The characters are interesting because the
dialog/acting is entertaining. The cut scenes are integrated in the
game often and very well. The effect is like acting out the main
character in an action movie, rather than a prompted cut scene that
only happens between levels. Playability is great. There is Tomb
Raider-esque climbing, jumping and light problem solving, but it's not
done to where I'm frustrated. (In fact, I'd like it a little harder)

I've only put 4-hours into this game, but it's great so far. Enough
that I'm willing to recommend it. It could end abruptly, with a bad
storyline or drag on with repetitive levels; but I'd still tell you to
try this game out 'cause it's that good up to this point.

Workout of the Day - Jan 5

It's a busy time of year for the gym. People are painfully starting to
work on their New Year's Resolutions. I was even in the gym earlier
than usual on Monday, and the crowd wasn't too bad. Keep in mind that
I have an ideal set-up. The gym is never too busy in the mornings. I
didn't really notice higher volume than normal and only a few new
faces.

Today was a different story. It was deserted. Even less people than
normal. I guess fitness isn't a popular resolution or people here are
procrastinating, not early birds, too snooty to workout at work;
whatever the reason(s) I'm glad. It looks like I will continue to have
the place all to myself.

A co-worker of mine has vowed to start working out again. I offered to
train with him, but he couldn't stomach the early schedule.
Apparently, he got started last night and couldn't lift his arms over
his head this morning. It wasn't that long ago, I was in that same
situation. But I enjoyed it at the time. It didn't take much work at
all to REALLY get a good workout. I kinda miss that.

Avatar Movie Review

I saw James Cameron's, Avatar movie over the Christmas break. In doing
so, I broke my cardinal rule of movie watching; don't ever see, read,
or hear too much about any movie before going to see it. The reason I
go and see movies relatively early in their launch is not because I
love standing in line or the crowded theater effect, but it allows me
to make my own impression of the movie before too many people have
talked about it. I read a Wired magazine article about how it was
Cameron's pet project and all the technology that went into the
production of the movie. So, I was interested in how groundbreaking
this movie would not actually be.

I wasn't able to see the movie in IMAX, but I did see it in 3-D. To be
perfectly honest, I am not a fan of 3-D. I've seen Beowulf, Up!, and A
Christmas Carol in 3-D. The graphics are extra crisp in these movies,
but I end up expecting to duck objects coming out of the screen and
eventually leave disappointed. Avatar is a little different. No, I
wasn't ducking objects that appeared to come out of the screen, but my
tendency is to take the 3-D glasses off several (many) times during
the movie and see what's going on. I didn't do that in Avatar. Either
the 3-D is superior or I was so engrossed in the story, that I didn't
take the glasses off for compare & contrast.

Avatar is a beautiful movie. Every character, spacecraft, animal or
plant is convincing. I remember watching Lord of the Rings and seeing
Gollum/Smeagol as the most impressive digital character ever made, at
the time. But it was from that viewpoint, you knew that what you were
seeing was not real. I've read some of the reviews for Avatar that
have come out, and critics are busy with taking on the tree-hugger,
racist or anti-war themes in the movie. I think that it's a testament
to how impressive the visuals are in Avatar, the digital world created
is completely believable to the point of being taken for granted. The
real magic of Avatar is that it is so convincing, that you have to
pick apart anything but the visuals.

Am I biased? Absolutely. I love several of James Cameron's movies.
(Note: I have never seen Titanic, and have no real desire to ever see
it) The Terminator and Aliens are two of my personal all-time
favorites. But the downside to seeing Aliens so many times is that I
can clearly see some of the same design elements in the spaceships for
Avatar, as well as hear a similar music in the suspenseful scenes of
Avatar.

I strongly recommend Avatar. Note: I don't go to movies for a life
changing story or scientific accuracy. I go to see visual storytelling
and to enjoy a few hours of putting my mind somewhere else; simply to
be entertained. I like a lot of movies. I think that is from a
tendency to take a movie for what it is. A comedy should be funny, a
summer blockbuster should have little plot and lots of explosions,
etc. Avatar takes you to another world and it does it very, very well.

2010

Happy New Year! It's been a week or so. Today, we are a little over 1/2 way done with the season and the Senators sit 6th in the East. My Kings are a more realistic 8th, after giving back 3-4 games in hand. However, it's pretty tight as only 3 points separate 3rd from 8th. So, the Kings can be right back near the top with a win streak.

Saw UFC 108 last night. A very exciting card. Most of the fights were first round stoppages. I like fights that don't go to a decision. A 5-round war is rare, and no one wants to see 3 rounds of snorefest. Rashad went back to his wrestling base and forced a decision over Thiago. Smart gameplan, he should have done the same against Machida. Dos Santos put a quick beating on Yvel. Sam Stout looked impressive with his striking against Lauzon.

Looking forward to the New Year. No major resolutions for me. Maybe try to golf a little more. Stay in shape and employed. I'm open to whatever this year brings.