Game yesterday with ovielove was loads of fun, even if the game itself was kinda a big fail. There was some serious assholery in our section too, but that happens, I suppose. I just felt bad for the little girls sitting in front of me who looks petrified. Still, the company was good, and watching Brooks pitch someone into the bench kinda made my life. Nicky getting mad and dehelmeted and Greener randomly punching some dude in the face were also excellent.

There was more coolness, though, and for that I'm using...

Day 06 → Whatever tickles your fancy

( Rest of the meme! )

What tickles my fancy today is a little picspam. I bought my own Christmas gift while I was at the game, and I'm so in love with it it's stupid. I got a game-used Brooks Laich stick. *snuggles it* It's glorious, and I want to share. This is it:



( More pictures of my baby, complete with boob references! )

I also got talked into buying an signed ornament for charity. It was one of those deals where you buy it, then open it up to see who signed it, like the Puck Surprise days. Anyway, it was going to charity, and I love those sorts of things, so I bought one...

( See who I got! )

My team is awesome.

Also, this cracks my shit up:



That's all really.

Okay, so I'm sure most of you have heard the guys jobbing the media in this video, but just in case... watch it. It's hilarious. Cutting Greener off mid-sentence is not acceptable, apparently. xD

I'm posting to point out two things I noticed... first, I'm pretty sure the other voice besides Brooksie's is ShaMo, which is just fabulous. Secondly, I'm pretty sure what Brooks yelled was "Oh fuck it! You guys are all fired. It's fucking bullshit. In the future... Mike, don't give out any more interviews." which cracks my shit up. Then, of course, the weird-ass noises are beyond compare. My team is so damn weird. XD

I love those boys. Ovie being injured sucks, but you can really see just how close and upbeat these guys are in the face of that, and they do love being underdogs. Should be interesting to see how this all unfolds from here.

Edit: Ahahahaha, if I had to be subjected to this, so do you guys. The original Pasha is roller-fabulous! On a trading card!

Ovie is week-to-week.

Well... crud. I wasn't concerned before, but I sure am now. "Week-to-week" never means anything good on this team, and the fact that it came after an MRI tells me that it's probably structural damage of some sort. Not good at all. I'd rather he take the time off than let this be a lingering thing, though.

There is part of me, though, that thinks this isn't entirely doom and gloom. I know we are not even close to the same team without him, of course, but I can't help but be curious... what are we without him? Who is the player who takes the reigns when we are down? Brooksie takes the early polls, but still. Who scores the goals? Who makes the hits? Do the goalies step up? I think we're still a good team without him, but we'll see. It's been years since we had to find out. Part of me is actually a little excited.

All that said... get well soon, Russian Machine.

As crazy as it sounds, I'd rather my Caps play like this than like they did against Atlanta on Thursday. I just like owning the third period. XD I love my boys and their crazy comebacks too. It's how we roll.

Also major props to Theo for a great game and Brooksie for being a badass mofo, but I gotta give most of my love to Greener on this one. I pick on him like hell when he fails, but it's games like this that make you forgive him for all that. He just cared more than anyone tonight, I thought, and got pissed when he needed to, played through pain, started the comeback, offered Brooks a beautiful assist on the game-winner and initiated a goal celebration that is going to have me smiling like a fucking retard all night.

So yeah. You go, Greener. xD I hope the asshat that kneed you falls on his face in the parking lot tonight.

EDIT: Hahahaha, OMG:

Drive-by post before I start to pack for the weekend (barf). I just had to share my intense love for this article about Nicky first. I'm sure most of you have read it, but can I just say again... I love this kid more than is remotely okay. Seriously, it's ridiculous. Anyway, the highlights of the article as I see them:

"There's something that's ingrained in him," Boudreau said. "You don't think of it with Nick because he's a blond, blue-eyed, Swedish, good-looking young man. But he's got a toughness that belies all that, a toughness that coaches just love. He's not going to fight, but he's tough. I saw him last year where he could barely walk, but he was playing."

Damn. Just damn. He hides his aches and pains freakishly well, I will say that. I never saw him looking that busticated last year, which tells you something.

Ovechkin, never one to pass up the chance to rib his friend, walked in and began singing Lupe Fiasco's "Superstar" in his thick Russian accent.

"If you are who you say you are," Ovechkin sang, altering the lyrics, "a Backie-star."

*iz ded* XDDD I love this team so hardcore.

Anyway... guess I should pack now. Fun times. >.< Also, if you haven't heard the song "Some of Us" by Starsailor... do. It's really cute. Here.

I feel like I should have something intelligent to say about the situation with Nyles being sent down to the Grand Rapids for a "conditioning stint," but really it's hard to say what's going on here for sure. All I got is this:

HA HA HA HA HA HA HAHAHA~. WOOOOOO!

Also look at my new icon. It is relevant to my feelings.

I'm being boring but productive today. Not the most fun ever had, sure, but totally worth it to avoid any more moments of sheer terror this week. xD Lots yet to do too! Luckily the cafeteria was serving breakfast foods for dinner tonight, so I've got my fuel.

In the process of taking a little break to work on fic, though I had to look up the word "slumping" because my spell-checker didn't recognize it. Confused, I went to dictionary.com to make sure I wasn't losing my mind and found this:

slump  [sluhmp]
–verb (used without object)
5. to sink into a bog, muddy place, etc., or through ice or snow.

Huh. Learn something new every day! That happened to one of my sneakers once.

Back to work on my Shakespeare paper now. I know, I know... I'm a glamorous mofo. ;)

Aww, look how cute they are. ♥

Highlight of the Skins game so far was watching Ovie successfully kick a field goal before the game. In theory he has thus far generated three points more than the entirety of the Washington Redskins.

See that? That's how I'm feeling right about now. I'm rocking out to Caps music as I get ready this morning, probably bugging the shit out of my roommates in the process, and fighting the urge to count down the minutes until seven.

It sounds like a lot of people are missing the game tonight one way or another, so I won't glee text you guys. XD I can sympathize a little anyway. I don't get VS, so I'll either be streaming it or camping out in The Rat tonight. Pain in the ass, but it's better than missing it completely. :)

But who cares, really. We survived the offseason, guys! We freaking made it! *flails happily*

Per Corey:

* The Caps are going to play paintball this afternoon as a team bonding exercise.

The extent that I want to witness this is epic. There better be pictures. And video.

Fantasy draft tonight at 9:30 ladies!

Hope at least a good batch of you guys can be there to draft. I'll probably be chatting on AIM at the same time as "lovelyracketeer" if you want to pop in and say hi.

Peeps in the fantasy league listen up! A few things I need to say regarding the league:

First and foremost, you guys are awesomesause. I totally didn't think I'd end up with a dozen people. xD You guys rock.

I kinda "closed" membership for now because a few days have passed and we have a nice even number of teams at the moment. If anyone still wants to join or has a friend they want in the league, though, just let me know and we'll figure something out.

IMPORTANT: Right now the draft is set for next Sunday the 26th at 9:30. It occurred to me after I set it that this is probably quite stupid. XD As such, I need to know what evening you guys are free for draft shenanigans. Obviously we won't ALL be around on any day, in which case the automatic pick can do it. Just let me know. We have to do it before the 1st, obviously, but other than that any day that accommodates the most people works.

I'm stupid excited about this, guys! XD

Other than that, not much to say here. Had a nice weekend at home, didn't get as much done as I should have. The Redskins won (YAY!), Dallas lost (YAY!) and the Caps play on home ice for the first time this season tonight (DOUBLE YAY!). I'll be busy busy with schoolwork, but I'll have the radio on at least. Going with capshockeygrl to the 'Hawks game on Wednesday, though, which I'm super excited about. We always have fun. :P

Rocking out the "Jars" by Chevelle and finishing up a Shakespeare paper right now.

Yeah.

I'm hardcore.

Tags: fantasy league, football, hockey, real life

Okay, so I've never done fantasy hockey before, and I'm... curious. I'm an old hand a fantasy football, and I know my hockey players better if anything.

I guess what I'm asking is would any of you be interested in doing a fantasy league? Like I said, I'd be a total newbie, so we could try to figure it out together and be awful homers together or something. xD

The power of Brooksie compels you.

Today is, as I'm sure most of you know, Ovie's 24th birthday. I was temped to do a picspam, but I'm too busy to ATM. Maybe tonight after I drag my ass back up to MD. xD

Either way, happy birthday, you doofus! Don't do anything too stupid tonight. <3

My username is lovelyracketeer. Lord, I hardly remember why. xD I do remember that I once typed "racketeer" looking for the word "raconteur" and decided I thought it was a fun word. The "lovely" was actually a defense mechanism because everyone on one of my old SNs thought I was a guy. Mostly, though, I think I just liked the sound of it.

My journal name is Jess, because it's my name. xD

My title is "A Clean Escape". It's a lyric from the song "Landlocked Blues" by Bright Eyes, which is kinda like my song. The whole line is "I just want to make a clean escape."

My subtitle is "I'm leaving, but I don't know where to" because it's the next line in the song.

My friends page is Friends. xD I need to fix that, really.

My default userpic is Stecks, because he's a gorgeous mofo whom I doubt I will get tired of looking at anytime soon. xD

And just because I can, here is the best version of "Landlocked Blues" for those who don't know it or have only heard the crappy album version:

I just have to comment on this real quick because it's building up inside me and I have no other outlet...

This story makes me sick. This poor girl is eighteen years old and an extremely gifted athlete who has obviously worked her ass off to accomplish what she has... and in turn the world questions a deeply personal matter in a disgustingly public way.

Look, regardless of X and Y, this woman is just that... a woman. She isn't faking it or cheating by just being who she is. If the reports coming out now are true, she just happens to be a woman born with a birth defect that is going to affect her self-identity and future in profound ways. Is it an advantage in terms of her event? That's yet to be seen, but even if it is... so what? Should Michael Phelps be disqualified for having freakishly big feet that work like flippers? Should a basketball player who is freakishly tall be disquallified because he became that way due to a hormone defect?

In my opinion this test never should have happened. I understand why it did from a logical standpoint, but I would be glad to give up every metal my country could ever win to save an eighteen year-old girl from dealing with this with the world watching.

Sometimes it seems like we've lost perspective.

Back from the first day of training camp. Left before the last group came out because I'm not feeling 100%, but it was awesome all the same. It was nice to see those of you whom I saw! Wish I was in shape to stick around, but I have a busy week coming up and don't want to kill myself. xD

Things I noticed:

• Poor Flash! D: He has all my best wishes. <3
  
• NICKY. He looks more adorable than ever with his new haircut--Juice seemed to agree, as I caught him pawing at it at one point--but better even then that he looks slick and ready and in better shape than most. He never once had to lean over in exhaustion or anything.
  
• Knuble looked a bit awkward on a line with Nicky and Ovie at first, but he picked up as the day went on. Had a few pretty goals on 2-on-1s. He and Nicky seem to get along pretty well too.
  
• Ovie was, as reported, the first one out before the Zamboni even finished. I wouldn't say he was the best player on ice today reallt, but he sure seemed ready to be there.
  
• On a related note, during cool-downs Ovie and Nicky were laying on their stomachs chatting like girls at a slumber party.
  
• Juice looks to be in good shape. He caught my eye a few times.
  
• Fehr also looks good, if a tad stiff in the upper body. Skating well, though.
  
• Sasha looked bored as sin.
  
• My eyes were drawn to Jose quite a bit over the course of practice, and with his helmet off I could see him smiling and accepting what I'm guessing were birthday wishes. He seems well, considering, though the whole thing kinda made my heart hurt for him a little.

That's all I got today. I have a ton of homework to do, so I should get to that before the Skins game comes on and distracts me completely. xD Go Skins!

Just got back from camp! It was wonderful being around hockey again. It was nice to see some of the hockey girls and meet some new ones too. The best part of the day was definitely after rookie camp ended, though, and the veterans poured out onto the ice. It was like... MY BOYS! <3 It was more fun then it had any right to be.

Here are things I noticed/thought were interesting about the rookies:

• Carlson was easily the best out there... again. Kid is something else.
  
• Varly looked a bit sluggish at first, but found his skates as practice went on. He and Irbe chatted a good bit, and he mimicked him uncertainly a few times. It was cute.
  
• Bruce's sons look very similar. We started referring to them as "the twins" because we couldn't figure out who they were.
  
• Hauswirth is figgin' huge. So is Finley, but we knew that.
  
• Who was in shape and who was not became very evident during suicides. Varly and Holtby are both troopers.

And about their older counterparts:

• First vet I saw was Mike Green, who came behind the bench to chat and watch the rookies. In street clothes you can tell just how in shape he's gotten. He looks good.
  
• The guys came out and ran their own practice, with Dave Steckel as the apparent idea man. He's very loud seemingly effortlessly.
  
• They ran some drills and the like, but the highlight was the half-ice scrimmage between black and white. It was pretty even and everyone seemed to be having a ton of fun. Boyd Gorden scored a hat trick, I believe.
  
• At one point during the scrimage Stecks got stuck in the splits. Brooks laughed at him.
  
• Green seems back to his place with the grinders. I wonder if it will continue when the Europeans are back in town. Either way, good to see him like that again. He was also up there with Stecks and Bradly as the players who looked the most eager to be on the ice.
  
• Three players went out of their way to give autographs: Greener when he was in his street clothes, Stecks before he went on the ice and Brooks when he came off of it.

That's the scoop as I saw it. I'm so excited! I can't wait for training camp next weekend. :D

Per Tarik:

Also, Mike Green and Nicklas Backstrom are expected back in town tomorrow.

*toes curl happily*

EDIT: This is my 30-in-30 for today. There was fun chattery, so I'm leaving it. xD