Candice Parker Laying (UP) the Smackdown in WNBA Action

There is nothing finer in these dog days of summer while meaningless baseball is being played, NCAA football is on the horizon and the NFL is still playing 4th stringers than getting down and breaking down some WNBA game tape, right?

While breaking down the tape I came across this fantastic sequence.  Los Angeles’s Candace Parker was so freaking excited over this completed layup Sunday night, she accidentally headbutted Nneka Ogwumike while going to celebrate. Blood oozing everywhere.  WNBA action at it’s best.

 

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Rain, Rain and More Rain it Must be Time for THE OPEN

This post was originally supposed to be up a few days ago but I didn’t get my act together before I left.  The First Lady and I are now in Scotland preparing for our visit to Turnberry on Friday.  The following is a recount of our first visit to the OPEN at Royal Troon in 2004.  

Judging by today’s weather forecast and deluge of rain we are receiving at the moment, my amateur detective skill set would lead me to believe that the British Open is just around the corner and by golly it is.  This year’s Open should be rather exciting for yours truly.  The reason being is that The First Lady and I are heading out to Scotland later in the week and we will be stalking the grounds of Turnberry along with the other hundreds of thousands in hopes to follow to Mr. Eldrick Woods.  Luckily for the First Lady and I we do have past experience to lend us a helping hand.

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South Bend, Indiana: Air Force vs. Notre Dame

 

Although it’s been a few months since I went on this trip I figured the statute of limitations of me getting in trouble for taking a day off work will be null and void by this time.  In November I was fortunate enough to ride the coat tails of Sir Patrick “Where’s the team store?” Sweeney all the way to South Bend, Indiana to the hallowed learning institution known as Notre Dame.

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The Winter Classic

I had the opportunity to attend the Winter Classic yesterday in Buffalo.  It pitted the Pittsburgh Penuins vs. the Buffalo Sabres.  Watching an outdoor hockey game was a unique experience.  Watching it in Buffalo was even more of an experience.  If you have ever felt bad about yourself and were questioning your sanity, I suggest a visit to Ralph Wilson Stadium on a blustery winter’s day.  It will be an instant remedy for what pains you.

I have to thank my pal Luddy for the tickets to this event.  He came up big with six tickets.  He also drove to the event and paid for the parking.  If there was an all star of the day he would for sure get my vote.  Some would call  Luddy (aka BILO”) heroic……………most won’t.  Our seats were fantastic for the event.  Luddy, Pin, Stroke, Kern, Flask and I were nestled like popsicles 33 rows from the ice.

The ride up to the game was perhaps the best part of the day for me.   The constant complaining of Stroke and Flask never sounded so good to my ears (well at least for the first few hours).  Kern’s Dover talk is still resonating in my ears……………YOU DON’T……………..WHERE YA GONNA PAAAAARRRRRKKKKKKKKK!!!!!! Was a classic out cry.  Getting to see Pin (who met us at the game due to his American whereabouts) was a treat as well.  King Pin greeted us with his Nanook/Nikolai Volkov hat.  It was a cherished sight.

The game itself was a little bit boring.  The ice seemed to be covered by the falling snow and the players had trouble controlling the puck and moving it crisply. The game was plagued by many delays.  Until Crosby scored the Shootout winner I had Zamboni #2 ahead of Zamboni #1 pegged as the 1st star of the game.

The atmosphere surrounding the game was top shelf though.  The fans in the stands were juiced on suds and pretzels and proved to be very entertaining (and therapeutic as stated before I feel so much better about my lot in life now).  Our section might have been the only section in the stands that people actually wanted to sit on their soaked seat.  We had fans behind us yelling to sit down.  Many verbal sparring matches ensued due to their request.  I could see a few bare knuckles being exchanged in the section down below.  The were also many lunatics who doffed their jerseys and were bare chested.  Unfortunately….none of these bare chested people were women.

    

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Calzones with the Sweeneys

I think the only reason to travel now is to see my favourite sporting events or venues.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ll travel for some fun in the sun action (so if anyone wants to send me somewhere tropical go for it). However in an ideal world I would combine the fun and sun with some type of sporting event or venue.  In the past year I have been lucky enough to go to Chicago to see Wrigley Field and travel to South Bend, Indiana to see a football game at Notre Dame.  Both trips proved to be fantastic. 

There’s nothing better than sipping on some Old Style beer while watching Julia Louis-Dreyfuss belting out “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”. (Funny though I once sang that song while bombed at a bar, but I was referring to some chick that my pal Devo was circulating around….but I digress).

Going to Notre Dame was equally impressive. The tradition and pageantry of college sports is amazing. I used to think that every time you went to a sporting event you needed an adequate supply of booze to make the event special.  The Notre Dame game proved that theory to be false. (However, the booze did make the evenings special…..especially while doing the conga line with some pals out of a bar at 3 am while be trumpeted out by the Notre Dame fight song)  Notre Dame played Air Force and got blown out, but I was fascinated by every aspect of the game and the trip.  Somehow these sporting odysseys transport me back to being a little kid.  (Some would say that I’m still a little kid both in maturity and anatomy….oh….oh….ahh..ahh…)

I went on both of these trips with a good pal of mine, Pat Sweeney (NOTE: I’m not sure what kind of resolution your computer is, but Pat is quite pasty and you might want to put on some sunglasses).

Pat’s better half Sarah and my wife Claire, both accompanied us to Wrigley Field. For the most part Pat and I were able to behave ourselves, therefore for the Notre Dame trip we felt we safe enough that we didn’t need our ladies to be our chaperones.

However, tonight is the night that the Sweeney’s are coming over to decide on our next trip.  We have several options on the table right now.  One of them being the opening round of March Madness in Washington or Colorado.   Another option is going to Yankee Stadium to see the Yanks play in the final season of the house that Ruth built.  Should be in an interesting debate.  I hope the Calzones of Death that we provide for supper doesn’t do them both in before we book the trip.   

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Sport Odysseys

Leafs-Habs in Montreal…Friday night lights in Texas…marathon chasing in Phoenix (as well as Lebron vs. Nash), Arse has seen it all. Here he tells the tales of his Sport Odysseys around the globe, everything from Chicago & Notre Dame to even across the ocean in Troon, Scotland.

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