Pens Lose, No April Fools Joke Here

i was going to make a comment about the pens winning, then immediately following that up with "april fools!" however, i thought about how much that pisses me off when people (over the age of 14) say something stupid on the 1st of april, then twist your mind around by proclaiming "april fools." so instead, i give you cold, hard "april facts." the pens lost, but it was an acceptable loss. by forcing overtime, the pens gained a point that didnt seem likely at the midpoint in the game, when t-bo was being pulled in favor of maf. t-bo had let 4 goals in, and maf was called in to stop the bleeding. he did just that, playing solid defense and allowing his team to make a remarkable comeback. ryan whitney scored with 4 seconds left in the 3rd, tying the game, and giving pittsburh a critical point in their race against nj for tops in the atlantic division. by way of the overtime loss, the pens move from 5th to 2nd in the division again, with nj having a game in hand and one more win. unfortunately, kaberle scored with a minute five ledt in ot, and the pens left toronto with 1 out of a possible 2 points.

i tip my hat (im not wearing one right now, so i guess i'll tip my scalp...gross) to the pens, because toronto is always filled to the brim, even when the leafs are terrible. however, the leafs are currently on the outside of the playoff bubble, and the crowd knew it. towards the end of the game, and especially overtime, the toronto crowd was electric, hoping to push their team to a much needed win. you can call it whatever you want, playoff intensity, end of the season adrenaline, whatever, the pens were in hostile territory. getting a point out of this game was remarkable.

watching the crowd, my primary thought was, "playoff atmosphere is gonna rule." pittsburgh hasnt seen playoff hockey in quite some time, and toronto's crowd got me pumped up for the start of the playoffs. can you imagine the igloo once the playoffs start?

so far, no one had tried to pull any april fools pranks or shenanigans on me, and heaven help them if they try to.

more later...

(more=mpotd)

Uh...You Sure Ben?

ben roethlisberger doesnt want to blame his injuries from the past offseason (and at the beginning of the season, for those who forget an unblocked adalius thomas), as the reason he struggled to a 7-8 record as a starter in 06. i understand wanting to put the past behind you, and there could be other reasons that ben threw 23 interceptions as compared to only 18 touchdowns. but ive seen the pictures. im sure the accident (among the appendectomy and adalius thomas) had a dramatic effect on why ben was bad all year.

its hard to look at these pictures and not blame them for everything that went wrong last year. i guess bens a better person (and by better, i mean the person with the fakest face).

Roethlisberger also told the newspaper he was able to put last season in
perspective with the help of Hall of Fame quarterbacks Jim Kelly and Dan Marino.

great choices, ben. you officially have more super bowl rings than both men combined. im surprised he didnt look to akili smith and jeff george for advice as well.

devils lost. to the leafs. thats good for the pens, who dont lose any ground to the atlantic-leading devils by way of their loss to the rangers two nights ago. wade belak fought cam janssen, obvious retaliation for janssen's hit on tomas kaberle that has caused the talented maple leaf to miss the past 8 games in a crucial push for the final playoff spot in the east.

pens dont play till tomorrow, when they travel to long island to meet "the rick dipietros."

still waiting for the sweet 16. i know i have the panthers losing in the sweet 16 (those who picked pitt to keep going obviously havent watched pitt basketball for the past 10 years or so,) but it would be cool to actually see them advance to the elite 8.

mpotd later...

got some stuff to do