WHAT?

So I was casually checking the hockey scores during my break today when I noticed that the Sabres lost 3-0 this morning (last night for those of you in the states). My first reaction was "WHAT!" Come on, I mean after the Sharks game I figured they could get at least ONE point! Instead of dwelling on it I'll e-mail some friends and take a nap. Besides, the news won't have coverage online for a few more hours. Lousy time difference.

So it's been a little bit, but here's an update on a few things.

First, since this is a Sabres blog here are my thoughts on my team. I think our boys did nicely with their road trip, and the victories over Toronto and Montreal showed that they had some left. Unfortunately Ottawa proved too much, especially for Vanek, but the way this team is built we aren't doomed to a losing streak just because one talented forward. The victory over the Sharks was big, both for the community as a whole and to show we are very capable of making a good play-off run.

This leads into the second area I want to comment on. My prayers are with the families and friends of those killed in the Continental Airlines crash. My mom e-mailed me about it. I flew on one of those planes from Newark to Buffalo and back for my Christmas leave, and my sister flew out today on the same type of jet through Continental on her way to Peru. My grandpa and uncle live in Akron, right near the Clarence border. (their street is off of Clarence Center road) I think Heather B. put it well when she pointed out how much of a small town Buffalo really is.

As for me I'm alright here in Iraq. I moved again so I won't be listening to games any time soon, but I can follow the Sabres decently enough! I'm cooking here and we have a stray dog that some of the infantry guys adopoted. Some call her Lizzy while others call her Gimpy. It's funny to see these grunts come in and ask for some leftovers for the dog.

That's all for now,
-- Sharpie

Ah, hockey, my old friend!

So I did something partly stupid -- I got very little sleep last night in order to listen to the game. I missed the first period because I messed up the time zone conversion, but it's alright. (In my defense I knew I'd have a few extra hours today to get a nap in.)

It was great to hear RJ again (it's been longer for me than most Sabres fans), and I always enjoy hearing us crush the Leafs. It sounded like at the Sabres were sharp tonight, and it helped that the Leafs didn't show up. (Have I ever mentioned how their team name bugs me? The plural of leaf is leaves, not leafs. It really bothers me!) I would have loved to see the game just to see the silent leafs fans. And to top it all off our boys wore the good jerseys tonight.

Congratulations to Vanek on his hat trick and to Miller for his shut out. Now lets keep this up against Montreal

Oh please, oh please, oh please...

IF the internet doesn't go out here and IF I can wake up at the right time then I can listen to the game at 3:30 am local time. I hope I FINALLY get to listen to a game.

I swear I typed this when it was relevant

Ok, so I was without internet access for a bit, but when I saw an article about the Stars after Sean Avery I typed up the following that day (on or about 27 January:

2 things happened yesterday while I was sitting in the barracks tent with nothing to do that made me smile. The first was an article I came across in the sports section of the free newspaper we get here. (Stars and Stripes) The article showed that Sean Avery is an overpaid loser. The stars have won more games in the last 23 games without him than they did in the 22 games before they got rid of him. According to the article his (former) teammates blame his attitude and causing distraction in the locker room. I predict his next team will be in Russia.

The second thing that made me smile was the clip in Bruce Almighty where the entire city of Buffalo is rioting after the Sabres won the Stanley Cup. That clip always makes me laugh. Really – if you're having a bad day just got to Youtube and look for the the clip! Or better yet just click the link!

Buffalo, the bar has been set for that one day when you win. We'll show Montreal how it's really done and when it's truly the right time to go on a city-destroying bender.