Jaromir (Mario Jr.) Beats the Pens

pens lost. 2-1. and on mario jr's lucky goal. i know it was a goal, but thanks to rob scuderi's stick. the pens were gonna lose at some point, so i guess its better now than in the playoffs. i thought the pens were at least given a chance once ouellet finally got one past lundqvist (whats up with all the -qvists in the league), but t-bo couldnt come through in the final minute. sucks losin that way. we could have moved into a tie with the devils (imagine that) with a win, but the czech captain still showed why he can still perform when called upon. now i will quietly reminisce about the dazzling moves and puck-handling skills that he displayed while winning 5 straight scoring titles for the pens...

mike tomlin is laying down the law in pittsburgh. tomlin seems to be doing all the right things, and stressing a team-first attitude in the smallest details, including workouts, can only help a team comng off a very poor season. i was never a fan of the "personal-workouts," or 4-5 superstar guys hanging out in some warm climate and slacking off. football mentality needs to start sooner than training camp, and working out together allows the team to realize the team's goal for the season (one for the pointer finger on the other hand).

oh, and i was right on 2 of the 3 main subjects that i touched on last week in john buccigross's weekly column for espn.com (meatloafs 2 out of 3 aint bad dominates the background of my thoughts right now). he didnt mention teppo numminen, but he did:

(1) mention r.e.m.

(2) mention his kid (son) and there was a picture of some other person's son with a littleass hockey stick.

the article was pretty good (i never said i didnt like bucci, i was merely making a point that espn needs to give more attention to the nhl, and just because espn doesnt own the rights to broadcast games, that doesnt mean the sport deserves less coverage). it was set up like a message board-type article. my favorite line was:

[To Sidney Crosby]...You are the best thing to happen to Pittsburgh since Andy Van Slyke almost went 30-30 in 1988 and warmed my heart every time he threw home and did a somersault in center field.

good one, bucci. that somersault did rule.