An Incredible Game in My Backyard, and I Missed It (Twice)

Tonight I followed online what I can only guess was one of the most amazing NCAA Ice Hockey Tournament games ever. It was carried on ESPNU, which I don't think I get on Comcast Digital. More disappointing was the lack of coverage on WCCO Channel 4 after the game.

First, the details: The University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs trailed Princeton 4-2 late into the third period. They scored with :40 left, and then again with .8 second left to tie. They won 5-4 in overtime. (As an aside, this is yet another game to remember when some idiot complains about a team pulling their goalie late in the game because "that never works!" I've personally seen several games in which it has worked.)

WCCO news was the only local news program on late enough to have the score and highlights, because they were delayed by the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Despite being delayed, my old roommate Mike Max made no effort to truncate the sportscast. Yet as long as he went on about the T-Wolves' obvious loss, the basketball tournament, the state high school boys' tourney, and a meaningless Twins spring training win, he couldn't fit even twenty seconds in to mention the hockey game. They couldn't even preempt the program-ending clip of LeBron James hitting a long basket in one-take for a 60 Minutes bit or something (who really cares?).

Not to pick on Maxie...he's a good guy, honestly. But he was never a hockey guy, and that may have something to do with it. (I've always wondered why so many Minnesota sports media guys are so disinterested in hockey...how do they even get jobs in this market?)

'CCO may say that even in this state and market, the NCAA hockey tournament isn't a big enough story for them to cover. But that would be hogwash. Consider:

1. This is supposed to be "The State of Hockey"
2. The game was in town at the U of M campus
3. The game featured a Minnesota team
4. It ended in plenty of time to relay the scores and video back to the station

Maxie once asked me what icing was. I'm sure he's better educated on the game now, but he's still a basketball, baseball, and football guy far ahead of hockey. Too bad. From Sid Hartman to Dan Barreiro, the Twin Cities mainstream sports media is lacking in depth in the hockey department, and has been for years.

Hopefully, YouTube will come to the rescue for me.

Start 'Em Young

This morning I was trying to get my three-year-old son ready in time to make it to day care by 8:30 so he wouldn't miss breakfast. He yelled at me, "Daddy, I don't want to go to school! I want to go to a hockey game!"

A Minor Distinction

I remember pushing my younger sister with my feet when we were kids, just to bug her, push her out of my way...whatever. I don't really remember why, but that's irrelevant. I just remember doing it, and her yelling to our parents, "He's kicking me!!"

I, of course, was too smart for that, so I would say, "I am not kicking you! I'm just pushing you with my feet!"

My point was that "kicking" made it sound like I was hurting her, when in fact I was merely irritating her.

So why is it, then, that when my three-year-old "pushes with his feet" his 22-month-old brother, I scold him to "stop kicking him?"

Idle Thoughts while Watching Golf

I don't have much on my mind today, but since it's been a week since I've blogged, I figured I'd better just get online and start writing. Watching golf and blogging beats putting away the several dozen books that my two youngest scattered about.

I've got three projects at work that I need to work on tonight. Plus, tomorrow I begin performance reviews for my 12 reports. By day's end Friday, they will be done. Normally, performance management is probably the least desirable part of being a Lead or Manager. But I'm pretty blessed to have a such a great team, so it should be mostly positive. I think the worst part of my job is never feeling caught up, and never being able to erase work from my mind, even while on vacation.

Speaking of which, my wife and I narrowed down Myrtle Beach as our vacation spot in late April. We went there in 2003, before we were married. That year, we went in mid-March. This year it will be warmer, so we may actually spend time on the beach. It will be my sixth visit to the Grand Strand. Oddly, I'm really not a huge advocate of the place. In some spots it's kind of dirty and second-rate, and these days the courses are overpriced, unless you get a good package deal. I just love the volume of golf available there, plus the seafood buffets.

One thing I've noticed about golf trips, and I've taken many of them, the best of which included the Prince course at Princeville, Poipu Bay, and Kauai Lagoons' Kiele course: there really is no better golf to be found than right here in Minnesota. The Classic, Deacon's Lodge, and the Cragun's courses hold their own against any other resort courses I've played.

Now, I have yet to play Pebble Beach, but from what I hear, it's the scenery that makes it worth the trip. The course itself, while very good, is no better than many other 4 1/2-star courses you'll find listed in Golf Digest's Best Places to Play.

Again, that's what I hear, or rather, have read. I still intend to see for myself someday.

Expiration Dates Revisited

I had some Act I microwave popcorn I found in the back of the Lazy Susan ready to nuke as a post-Gophers-basketball-game depression snack. Before putting it in, I noticed the "Best By Jun 2006" stamp on it. (Yes, "June" was abbreviated, saving the corporation's shareholders untold millions in ink expense, which is especially important in these times. Except it was printed before Jun 2006, at least a couple years before "these times" began.)

So I threw out the bag, which is pretty ridiculous on a few levels:

1) I have three other bags from the same box, which I did not throw out; I'm too lazy to go back to the Lazy Susan. I'm not sure if that is technically ironic, but it sounds like...something.
2) As hot as it gets in a microwave, any dangerous spoilage that may have occurred due to the age of the prodcut would likely have been completely fried.
3) I highly doubt any serious spoilage did occur. That stuff is probably suitable for bomb shelters.
4) Even if spoilage is not the issue, but simply product freshness/quality is, am I really that picky? No, not one bit. As evidenced by my second choice: Orville Redenbacher Organic low-cal, stamped "Best By Dec 2008," and slightly burnt.

I think I threw out the wrong bag.

Limbaugh's Success From This Former Radio Guy's Perspective

I did not see Rush Limbaugh's speech at the CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference), but I did read some of the transcript. Mehh. Same old Rush, saying things some really love to hear, despite how ridiculous it looks in print.

Thinking of Rush, I get a kick out of his tired old meme about a liberal media. It is terrific marketing, however. Look at it this way: If, by and large, you have a nationally syndicated radio show that gets a 5% market share in the major markets, you will be very wealthy. Regardless of whether the other 95% of the people find you deplorable, laughable, dismissible, or a useful tool to their own cause of rounding up the idiots, as long as you have that 5%, you will be very successful. (The number is admittedly arbitrary, I don't know Rush's actual numbers market-to-market, but they are just a small piece of the pie. The point is, it's a bigger piece than most others' individual pieces.)

So why hasn't liberal radio succeeded by following the same formula? Well, so far, much of liberal radio is dull radio, and thus will not reach Rush's popularity. A huge reason for Rush's success is that from the start of his rise to success, he brilliantly positioned himself against the rest of the media, which he called "liberal." So the rest of the media "wins" with a cumulative 95% share (including music stations), but Rush really wins because he's alone with his 5%. Liberal radio, on the other hand, has struggled largely because its representative voices identify the enemy as right-wing radio (Rush, Hannity, etc.). Simply refuting the lies and B.S. of your foes makes for very boring radio.

Liberal shows like Stephanie Miller's, however, have a good chance because she: 1) is talented, 2) takes the mainstream media to task in some instances, and 3) sometimes takes a few liberties in how she represents the Right's positions (although rarely as inaccurately as Limbaugh does to the Left's). It's all about finding that niche, and you don't even need 5%, either.

I should note that my bias shown above is much more strong than my overall left-leaning bias in American politics. It is simply my disdain for Rush Limbaugh coming through.