tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360632.post2547582443446457349..comments2023-10-28T04:43:49.178-05:00Comments on Out of The Loop: O CanadaMichaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04253196269498737011noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360632.post-23251491828292720682009-04-24T19:17:00.000-05:002009-04-24T19:17:00.000-05:00Oh, and the best rendition of O Canada is at the C...Oh, and the best rendition of O Canada is at the Canadian pavilion at Epcot .... 360 degree movie... it's almost as good as being there.<br /><br />;)Cindyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05147416487171740144noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360632.post-47105249470660677172009-04-22T15:03:00.000-05:002009-04-22T15:03:00.000-05:00They were all helmetless when I started watching h...They were all helmetless when I started watching hockey, and I can still recall seeing goalies with no masks, which is unreal.<br /><br />A ref got hit by a puck in the last reg season Hawks game a few weeks ago. Right in the cheek after a bad bounce off the boards. He was wearing a helmet, but it still found its way to hitting him. Blood all over the place, had to leave the game.<br /><br />I was thinking then that refs all used to go helmetless, which arguably is more dangerous than the players' doing it because refs aren't always watching the puck.<br /><br />God what a fast moving sport. Forgot how much fun hockey is, now I'm getting hooked again.<br /><br />Late night huh? That's when I want you commenting on my blog buddy!!Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04253196269498737011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360632.post-81434998207178902342009-04-22T14:31:00.000-05:002009-04-22T14:31:00.000-05:00It was only like thirty years ago that helmetless ...It was only like thirty years ago that helmetless (scarred, toothless) ice hockey players were the norm. Even helmetless goalies. (Looking it up, the last helmetless NHL goalie was playing for Pittsburgh in 1973. The last helmetless skater retired in 1997--I used to know his name.) It would take a total psycho to stand in front of hundred mile an hour pucks even in one of those plastic Jason masks. (A friend used to say that goalies are all a little nuts anyway, something about being a suddenly explosive type who never, ever blinks.)<br /><br />K<br /><br />[I deleted the earlier comment to this post, by the way, because when I looked at it the next morning, it was utterly incomprehensible. I mean really, I couldn't decipher what the hell I was trying to say, and I am pretty sure I wrote it. It was, uh, a late night.]Keifushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00287358319899471490noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360632.post-62482189497326584792009-04-20T12:20:00.000-05:002009-04-20T12:20:00.000-05:00I've been watching more hurling videos. Kinda see ...I've been watching more hurling videos. Kinda see how Tom Roberts broke his back. There are some terrible collisions, especially when the offensive guy is running full speed while bouncing the sliotar on his hurley. His attention can wander down to look at the ball for just an instant, and that's all it takes. The defender thinks the offensive player is going to zig, but he zags instead and ka-boom! Big crashes in the open field.<br /><br />You brother Michael lives in the most hockey-mad country on earth. Probably a Senators fan. They just missed making the playoffs this year for the first time since '97. Good team.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04253196269498737011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360632.post-35956359814193858602009-04-20T11:45:00.000-05:002009-04-20T11:45:00.000-05:00Yes, Joe of Portumna [lovely spot on the Shannon, ...Yes, Joe of Portumna [lovely spot on the Shannon, just down from my sis's house on Lough Derg] is Ireland's best right now. His brother Ollie ain't so bad either. Joe has skills that continue to stupefy, a genius with the sliotar.<br /><br />My brother Michael who lives in Ottawa is certifiably nuts when it comes to ice-hockey ... well, that, and golf. And the uncle who just died won an All-Ireland medal for Tipperary in Hurling.LentenStuffehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03185396264367723474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360632.post-23075452251852991542009-04-20T10:50:00.000-05:002009-04-20T10:50:00.000-05:00Found these two YouTube vids this morning after wa...Found these two YouTube vids this morning after watching some Nicholas English stuff.<br /><br />I see what y0ou mean about the helmets. Probably more than half of the players are wearing headgear in the Best Goals of 2008 clips.<br /><br />What a remarkable sport! Just look at the hand-eye coordination. Full speed run bouncing a ball on a hurley, stop dead in their tracks, and hit the friggin ball (hey I learned a new word~sliotar) like a baseball.<br /><br />This guy Joe Canning, he's in several of these clips....he be real good huh? There's one in here, I think it's #7, where the defender is covering him like a blanket along the goal line and yet somehow he twists free, and hits the corner of the net from a seemingly impossible angle.<br /><br />Awesome.<br /><br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTwP2RdrIDA&NR=1<br /><br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUK--No2F6s&feature=relatedMichaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04253196269498737011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360632.post-46631115334818461512009-04-20T09:20:00.000-05:002009-04-20T09:20:00.000-05:00I forgot to mention, you're right about Gretzky. Y...I forgot to mention, you're right about Gretzky. You know you're good when your nickname is "The Great One." I had completely forgotten that he played in St. Louis.<br /><br />I watched some more hurling videos after replying to you yesterday. You're right, that is a rather elegant sport. Not sure if Roberts was a professional, but I see Tipperary is rather serious hurling country eh? Some are starting to wear helmets? Imagine that sport played over here. Our hurlers would be head-to-toe padding, no doubt.<br /><br />If I ever get the nerve up to sit on a plane for the flight to Shannon, a hurling match it is. You can explain the rules to me.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04253196269498737011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360632.post-49436974463909866342009-04-19T21:50:00.000-05:002009-04-19T21:50:00.000-05:00Now Hurling is the best-kept secret of them all. I...Now Hurling is the best-kept secret of them all. I love rugby fanatically, sure, but hurling is the supreme game. It's so damn good that we can't export it, won't export it, but if you ever come to Ireland I'll take you to a county championship, field-side, where you'll see poetic magic unfold before your eyes. I kid you not.<br /><br />Some hurlers now wear helmets. They take about a second to strap on.<br /><br />Nicky English was in my class in school: himself and Christy Ring [Hall-of-Famers in the Hurling Pantheon] are the only two people, besides Superman, I think, who put both pants legs on at the same time. Check him out on Youtube. He was the business.LentenStuffehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03185396264367723474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360632.post-87733891112915718592009-04-19T19:43:00.000-05:002009-04-19T19:43:00.000-05:00This city is very weird when it comes to its sport...This city is very weird when it comes to its sports teams. Hard to explain other than to say that Chicagoans take it a little too seriously at times. <br /><br />The Blackhawks were an absolute passion of mine as a kid, but then I just lost interest because the owner was an asshole. Wouldn't put games on TV because he felt like it was unfair to the people who actually went to the games. Now how fucking stupid is that? Talk about passing up a marketing opportunity.<br /><br />Anyway, the guy died and left the team to his son, Rocky Wirtz, and within 2 years he's totally turned things around. All games are on TV, he's picking up talented young players, and the city is hyped on hockey more than in the last 20 years, at least.<br /><br />I enjoy watching rugby, although the rules escape me. Rugged sport. Always liked the fact that opponents go out together and tip a few pints after matches, no matter than they were just hammering the shit out of each other on the field. That's cool.<br /><br />Americans are funny ducks when it comes to soccer and rugby. Both seem like the kind of sports our athletes could excel at, and yet there never seems to be an embrace or a groundswell of support for either. Not sure why.<br /><br />I have a customer named Tom Roberts, I think he's from Tipperary. Told me he used to do all the work on his own house, but he can't now because he broke his back in a hurling match. He gets around okay, but he's afraid if he falls from a ladder he'll lay himself up for good. Never watched hurling until I met Tom, but I've watched some videos on YouTube since. Looks like it can get rough too. Not much padding there either.<br /><br />Dude you're so right about Yanks and our equipment. Back in my football days it took 25 minutes just to get dressed with all that shit.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04253196269498737011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360632.post-34909252273058140542009-04-19T13:56:00.000-05:002009-04-19T13:56:00.000-05:00I know nothing about ice hockey, being a rugger ma...I know nothing about ice hockey, being a rugger man, but when I lived in St. Louis Gretzky was signed by the Blues. I knew something big had happened. He's like a god, right?<br /><br />Anyway, Ireland won the Grand Slam and 6 Nations in Rugby this year, and it looks like my home team, Munster, will win both the Heineken Cup and Magner's League. Munster is probably the best club side in the world. I'd say their first team would beat the All Blacks. <br /><br />I wish you Yanks took rugby seriously. Then the game would really have world class competition. But, no, you prefer those sissy games where you have to dress up in Hallowe'en costumes, straps, assless chaps, scrotum-tightening knickers and nipple-twisting body armour ...LentenStuffehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03185396264367723474noreply@blogger.com