The Faux Brummles

A few friends of ours dropped us an email a saying "A friend of Allison's (from work) husband is playing as part of a band on Friday night, do you want to go see them. The band is: Phil Keaggy, Dave Perkins, Lynn Nichols, Rick Cua, Mark Williamson, Mike Radovsky, Tom Howard, and several other players. Playing nothing but covers. Small cafe venue. $5 cover. Do you want to go see them?"

My response was essentially: "ARE YOU KIDDING?!"

And apparently i was so excited i completely neglected to invite Jamie, my dad, or anyone else who would appreciate seeing Phil Keaggy play with half of Chagall Guevera (and half the band that played on his amazing "Crimson and Blue" album) with some of the other best musicians in Nashville.

So, i'm a jerk.

Not only that, but i neglected to adequately test my Canon S3IS's ability to record REALLY LOUD music. It handled it better than my Sansa, but not quite as good as the old tape recorder in my pocket used to when i bootlegged every show i saw. Oh - and i also didn't think to take two SD cards, just a single 2GB job that could hold about 70min of video tops.

But at any rate, i recorded what i could. But i missed the last 3 tunes (including Rick Cua's one and only amazing bass solo) and the audio quality is poor.

However, even though the audio is fairly trashy, it unfortunately gives you an accurate feel for the sound that evening. REALLY LOUD and unbalanced. The drums and organ were way too loud, and you could barely hear Phil Keaggy's or Dave Perkins' guitars, or Phil Keaggy's and Mark Williamson's vocals. But all-in-all it was still pretty amazing.

I recorded video when i felt like i could. I didn't have a tri-pod and i wasn't sure they really wanted the whole thing video taped, so i just left it sitting on the table recording the lens cap and sound most of the show, and occasionally would pick it up and pretend to take still photos and shoot video of the band. I realized after the fact that they probably would have been fine with me setting up a tripod in the corner and recording the whole thing... lessons learned.

Anyway - here's a rough version of them covering the Beatles' "Get Back". I'll try to clean up the audio and post the whole show later.


The Faux Brummles from Paul Nicholson on Vimeo.

Note about the band name: They were the Faux Brummles...named after the Beau Brummels, a 'fake' British Invasion band that was really from the 'States. Since these guys weren't really a band, they figured they'd be a fake-fake-band. I took the misspelling of "Brummles" from the marquee out front, but who knows if that was a typo or intentional. They said if they ever play again it'll be under a different name, so don't look for them too hard in the future.

the return of Turbo

Overclocking PC's makes sense to me. Manufacturers send out PC components clocked to certain standard speeds that make sure the components operate well for long periods of time with no errors - but usually they could go faster if a few tweaks are made, so some people (as i have done a few times) change a few settings and boost the performance of their system a bit. Simple enough.

Some manufacturers even make 'pre-overclocked' systems where they take the biggest, baddest hardware available and push it even higher. They are sold at a high premium for gamers that want the absolute best performance possible.

But what i haven't seen since the 486 era is a turbo button. But check out MSI's new videocard - the 9600GT will have a big red "Turbo" button on it that will automatically overclock the card.


Why? If the card is stable enough to run overclocked, what person in their right mind would turn the "turbo" off? It never made sense to me back in the 386/486 era either.

UPDATE: To be clear - i know why they do this. It's all psychology. Just like Spinal Tap. 11 is one higher than 10, so if my amps go up to 11, then they are louder. If my video card has a turbo button on it, then surely it is faster than some old "normal" overclocked card.

I'm on Google News!

For those that don't know, Google News pulls stories from major news sites, but also pulls stories from blogs as long as they are authored by more than one person (like say, ghia's blog).

There are also a number of sites such as Bleacher Report and BallHype that aggregate sports blog stories and republish them together. The practical upshot is that post that a person makes on an individual blog now show up like they are posted to sites authored by many people, so Google News will search them.

You can also setup Google News to search for certain terms and display those results for you next to the pre-set categories (such as Sports, World News, etc). I have it setup to search for Nashville Predators news and guess what just showed up...


Look familiar?

Not that big a deal, i know. But i just think its cool that something i wrote would come up on Google news :-)

We're getting our U-verse!

I don't know yet if Christy and i will actually sign up for it, but sooner rather than later we will finally have the option of subscribing to AT&T's U-verse.

Bredesen just signed the bill that allows for state-wide cable franchising, which basically means AT&T can skip all that tedious mucking about in hyperspace with regional franchising in every county.

So now AT&T can offer U-Verse state-wide with the (theoretical) flip of a switch. Why is that so cool? Right now they offer a package for $92 a month that includes local phone service, high-speed internet, 200 channels of digital TV including HD, and an HD DVR. Wow.

Best of all, they have a build-your-own package that lets you pick and choose the channels you want, which would probably be what we do since we only want about 15 channels and would rather the rest not even be available (too much time-suck already). Those packages start at $77 per month including TV, internet, and phone.

That i have seen, AT&T has not yet announced when they sill start offering U-verse services in Tennessee, or in what markets it will be offered first.

All Predators games in HD "soon"

Good news Preds fans - more HD is on the way!

I had the "HD will do more for hockey than any other sport" discussion again last week. Between the ability to see the puck (sans glowing) and the ability to see more of the play developing on the ice (much of hockey actually happens away from the puck), the benefits of getting as much hockey in HD as possible are evident.

Last year, we Preds fans groused about not having more games in HD repeatedly. Center Ice didn't show the games in HD (even if they were available) and Fox Sports Net: South, which carried most games locally) only provided a relative few games in HD. The worst came in the playoffs, where Preds fans only got one game (on NBC) out of 6 in HD. Out of 94 Predators games played in the 07-08 season, only 23 were available in HD in Nashville (1 NBC, 1 Versus, 21 FSN-S).

We were told that most of the games weren't available in HD because there was 1) a limited number HD production trucks at FSN's disposal and 2) a limited amount of bandwidth and signal processing ability to simply handle that many HD feeds.

So, back to the "good news": FSN just announced that they will soon be opening a new signal processing facility in Houston that will allow them to "handle up to 40 live [HD] games per day". More importantly, they promise that "in 2009", they will be 100%, 24/7 High Definition.

Of course, that could take until December of 2009...or they could miss their target entirely. But the fact that they are making a concerted effort to get as much HD out there as possible is a good sign. And 24/7 means that even if the NHL is the last thing they support, it will be here eventually!

Side Note: If they can get all Preds games in HD sooner rather than later, and the NFL does indeed go into a lockout*, this could be a very good year for hockey in Nashville indeed.

*I like the Titans just fine, and wouldn't wish a lockout on other fans for anything. But from a strictly business point of view, you know having the NFL go into even a short lockout would be a boon to the Predators business. UPDATE: If the NFL does go into lockout, it won't be until the 2011 season.

Bus riding again

I love taking the bus, especially the afternoon trip home. Very relaxing, and they are surprisingly clean. (And for all you sheltered suburbanites, the ridership isn't scary.)

It's great to let someone else drive and i get to sit back and channel surf the radio or mess with playlists on my Sansa. But getting up just 30 min early is, well, tough to say the least. Especially when it's raining. But even the morning rides are well worth it. For instance, i get to make blog posts on my way to work. :-)

Of course, it is ridiculous that it is more efficient in time and money for me to drive from my house into downtown, park, then ride the rest of the way in to work. Not having any transfer fares makes the full system as a whole nearly untenable.

Erat joins Legwand as a long-term Predator

The Predators just announced that Martin Erat has signed a 7-year deal worth $31.5 mil. This would keep him here into the 2014-2015 season, one year longer than Legwand's deal. Tying up a young core like this is great. Both deals feel a little on the steep side right now, but given the growth, potential, and - more importantly - the rapidly rising salaries around the league, these deals are both going to feel like steals in a few years. Erat will be 33 at the end of the deal, which sounds pretty perfect to me.

Also, if my math is right (and the numbers on NHLnumbers.com are correct), this means that the Predators salary for next year is at approximately $40.4 mil - right at the salary floor for next season. Of course we are still well below the $56mil salary cap, which i don't think we'll be too near, despite David Freeman's promises of spending to win. We still have to sign Ryan Suter and Shea Weber, and hopefully go after a forward or two to replace Gelinas and Hordichuck (who i assume won't be re-signed). I'm thinking/hoping that Hlavich and Peverly are possibilities, but of course i also have a wish-list of stars that would be great to add. And of course we still have to work out the goalie issue with Mason and Rinne both on contract, but Ellis hanging around as the incumbent starting goalie.

I'm really looking forward to what Poile does the rest of the summer, and i'm glad we're getting these guys' contracts out of the way quickly (Erat is still at the World Championships for goodness sake).

Next year should be a good one. Grab your tickets now :-)

UPDATE: Erat's initial contract has been rejected by the NHL. Apparently the actual contract was loaded too heavily in some years and too lightly in others. My understanding is that for salary cap purposes, the total deal value is divided by the number of years to just give an average to be used for cap calculations - so i'm not sure why they made the contract this wonky. According to TSN, the original contract was arranged something like this:

08-09 - 3.50 NHL
09-10 - 5.25 NHL
10-11 - 5.25 NHL
11-12 - 6.00 NHL
12-13 - 5.50 NHL
13-14 - 3.50 NHL
14-15 - 2.50 NHL

Of course the eventual deal will be re-jigged and approved i'm sure. Strange that 1) it was this unbalanced to start with 2) the Predators weren't careful enough to know the NHL rules about salaries.

The other very interesting fact that came out is that apparently Erat has a "No Move Clause" go into effect in July 2009. That means that Erat cannot be traded, waived for a claim by another team, or assigned to the minors without his consent - even more strict than just a No Trade Clause. Wow. That i know of, the only other such clause Nashville has ever handed out was a NTC on Zidlicky's much shorter contract. Very interesting indeed.

Happy Mother's Day from the Predators

In yet another shining example that the Predators new ownership, management, and marketing teams clearly "get it", they just released this fabulous video for Mother's Day (which i think was clearly filmed a few weeks ago while everyone was still in town).



Happy (early) Mother's Day, mom :-)

put in your pre-orders now

Just had to take two seconds out to make sure everyone knew that Firefly on Blu-Ray is now available for pre-order on Amazon. No release date yet, but you can bet it will be out before Christmas '08.

FYI: I hope to continue blogs about the Predators' past season and make my wish, to-do, and hope-to-see lists - but those may be delayed somewhat since i just picked up Echochrome (amazing), Burnout Paradise (think Tony Hawk Pro Skater with cars), and am playing through Star Wars Lego: The Complete Saga with Christy (again)...besides doing lots of other things in the real world.

more good news for Predators fans

First, just wanted to point out this article from the Tennessean about the Predators gearing up for off-season moves and signings. I'll talk much more about this in my upcoming post about player/personnel, and we've already talked about it some on previous post (check the comments)

Important thing to note in this article is the following quote from team Chairman David Freeman:

“I will be shocked if the Nashville Predators don’t have the biggest increase in payroll — both percentage-wise and in sheer dollars — of any team in the NHL,’’ said David Freeman, who heads the team’s ownership group.

“There’s always been that chicken-and-egg question about who should go first: Should the team increase its payroll and then hope fans and sponsors follow suit? Or should the fans and sponsors put up the money, and then the team will spend the money? We are very clearly saying we’re taking the lead. We’re spending the money first.’’

Second, good news that the Preds aren't planning on raising ticket prices very much this year at all. 1% - 8% max (depending on the seat), which is nothing compared to the 7.25% - 41.7% increases we saw last year. Yay!

Last, but not least, I wanted to post the email that was sent out from Ed Lang ( Predators President of Business Operations) to all season ticketholders. In addition to the text messages and other thank you's that we've received, this not in particular was really nice to get. Not overly dramatic or "rah-rah team", but what (to me anyway) comes across as a sincere thanks to the fans for supporting the team - and asking them to do what is needed most - spread the word. He doesn't ask for us to buy a bigger ticket package, sponsor the team, buy merchandise, or spend more money - just get the word out to your friends.

I think the team and management was genuinely surprised at just how the fans reacted at the end of the season. When i heard Trotz interviewed on the radio a few days ago (after the end of the season), he said that he and the coaches and players really felt like next year would be exciting and that "Now we feel like we really have something to play for. We aren't just playing for ourselves, but for all the fans and the city of Nashville". Let's just hope that small group of insanely passionate fans can continue to grow (again...that's another post to come soon).

Here's the letter:

Dear Season Ticketholder,

The 2007-08 Predators season was filled with many memories. You likely have the Sommet Center memories of last-minute game saving stops by Dan Ellis and Chris Mason or overtime goals by Martin Erat, Alexander Radulov or Shea Weber as well as the thrilling playoff wins over Detroit.

But the memories for those of us within the Predators' organization, from ownership and staff to players and coaches were those unbelievably loud and lengthy ovations of support and encouragement to the team that began in the regular season finale and continued in the playoffs.

Those are memories we treasure and illustrate exactly why local ownership stepped up to purchase the franchise, why the players and coaches have pledged their commitment to Nashville and why we have the best fans in professional sports. We offer a heartfelt thank you for your continued support and overwhelming passion. None of what has transpired over the last 10 months would have been possible without your commitment!

As we begin building towards the 2008-09 season, we hope you will share some of your memories with family, friends and business colleagues with the hope that even more of middle Tennessee residents will join Nashville's Team!

Thank you for a great season of support and memories!

Ed Lang
President, Business Operations
Nashville Predators

I love technology (and the Spurs)

We don't have cable, but that hasn't prevented me from watching any of the Stanley Cup and NBA playoffs. Thanks to MyP2P, which provides live feeds from China (makes you realize how useless the commentators are when they speak another language and you don't miss anything), and ESPN360.com, i've been able to watch all i want, live over our broadband connection.

ESPN360.com is particularly great. I can watch anything on any ESPN/ABC sports property around the world (including rugby, soccer, etc if i wanted to), many of which are available on "replay" (on-demand). Best of all, the quality is outstanding. The feed of last night's Spurs/Suns game (which the Spurs won handily) was a feed of the HD broadcast (which means widescreen) and i think darn close to HD resolution itself. Certainly looked great.

Here's a screen cap (click on it to see it full resolution) so you can see the awesomeness.
Best part: it is free, at least for anyone whose ISP supports it, which AT&T (Bellsouth DSL) does. Not sure about those on Comcast or TDS or other ISP's around Nashville.

Predators Seasons Wrap-up: Owners and Management

This will be a series of posts about elements of the Predators organization as it stands at the end of another year. Stay tuned for more posts about the coaches, players, fans, etc.

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As i explained to a co-worker today, this is series of blog post i was hoping to put off writing for a while longer. He was talking in very positive terms about the "great fight that the Preds gave the Wings". While that is true, and it is awesome that this team even made it to the playoffs, it is still disappointing to have the year come to an end. I think many of us (the fans and players) really believed this team had more in it.

I'm not going to get to rear-view focused here. This last season was a crazy one, not to mention the off-season that proceeded it. I'm going to try to keep this about 'where we go from here'. The exception is the first section, which by its nature will necessitate looking back at all the changes that have taken place, in order to appreciate the changes left to make.


Ownership/Management
Christopher Cigarran, Thomas Cigarran, Joel and Holly Dobberpuhl, William “Boots” Del Biaggio, David Freeman, Herbert Fritch, DeWitt Thompson V, John Thompson and Warren Woo

This group has been awesome. Not just the fact that they stepped up to buy the team and keep it in town (and buy us free drinks). But the other efforts as well. Marketing has improved dramatically. Advertising still leaves a little to be desired (the billboard and TV ads look like were pasted onto a PowerPoint template) but the frequency and visibility of ads has been much better. And the over-all way the team is presented around town has been outstanding.

Most of all though, they have once again made the Predators a ticket to have in town. In the final weeks of the season, we saw Governor Phil Bredesen, Jeff Fisher, Vince Young, Rob Bironas, Eddie George, Jimmy Fallon, Vince Gill, Amy Grant, Dierks Bentley, Jodee Messina, and many other celebrities have been seen at the game - on the megatron. Some of these may have been just naturally attending the game, but i can pretty much guarantee you that 'their people' were asked if it was ok to show them on screen. What's better, every single one of them (with the exception of Fisher) was wearing Predators gear. This isn't by accident. It's marketing and promotion at its finest. Vince Young and Rob Bironas even participated in on-ice intermission entertainment. Tie-ins with the Titans is brilliant. I just hope they can continue with some quid-pro-quo next year and get some Predators featured at a Titans game or two!

It hasn't stopped there. The Predators website has been great of late. Predators fans complaining about a lack of media coverage just haven't found the Predators TV section yet. The local TV stations may not be covering the team well, but they team is! Toward the end of the year the team filmed a pre-game 'show' of around five minutes each featuring highlights and back story about the teams, what has been going on, etc (see the show from game 6 here). They also usually posted the full press conference videos and player interviews done both pre- and post-game. Oh, and of course more highlights than you could shake a stick at. The only failure here has been in not getting the word out about just how awesome this section of the site has become.

Check out the 30 minute post-season press conference with GM David Poile and head Coach Barry Trotz here--


The team even started (finally) using their SMS text message service that everyone had signed up for (when they sent "PREDS" to 66937 during intermission to win tickets). I've gotten several messages in the last few weeks notifying me when game 6 tickets went on sale, and about the viewing party held for game 5, Predators Pride day, etc. I hope they continue to use this to good effect (though not enough to cross the line into spam). Best message of all was the one that thanked me for my support. This new ownership group has taken nothing for granted, thanking people and companies all over the place for their support - and it is making a difference.

Other positive call-outs: The return of major sponsors (Taco Bell, Jack in the Box, Dodge, Toyota, etc, etc) bringing in extra revenue. Nice looking tickets for season ticketholders during the playoffs. Instead of a nice booklet of tickets for the regular season this year, Craig Leipold send out ticketmaster tickets for everyone. For the playoffs they returned to the nice tickets with photos of players, etc (even if they were old pictures of past players).

What i still want to see:

More HD. I know this group doesn't have total control over games appearing in HD on Fox Sports, but the fact that none of the playoff games were available in HD in Nashville is an absolute travesty. HD has a bigger impact on hockey than any other sport - actually making it watchable for casual fans (who can now actually see the puck and more of the ice).

More Any games on local TV. They also need to get every game on TV, and more available on broadcast TV. There is no reason the occasional weekend afternoon game in Feb/March/April shouldn't be on MyTV 30 or better yet Channel 2, 4, or 5. I know the ratings aren't great for Predators games (yet), but they have to be better than re-runs or infomercials. I don't care how cheap the team has to sell the rights for, they MUST get on TV more, and in a higher profile (more widely available) location.

Better ads. Both billboards and TV ad series that were run at the end of the season were well placed, and not horrible, but they didn't look big-league. They looked very amateur. Maybe it was on purpose, but i think the team would do well to appear more professional. Hopefully having the summer to put together a new plan will help.

Preds season comes to a close

Many many words will be written about this team and this series. I'll chime in with a few of my own shortly, but first, i think this video says a ton all by itself.

This is the final 4.8 seconds of the Predators season on the ice, followed by the fans thanking the team for the crazy ride this season turned out to be. Then the team returning the favor, saying 'thank you' to a city that rallied behind the them.

This team never gave up, just like their fans who refused to give them up to outsiders who called us 'unworthy'. Many said this team wasn't capable of finishing above 10th in the conference, and many of the same people said this city couldn't and wouldn't support a hockey team. We proved them all wrong.

Thank you Predators!
See you back at prospect and training camps this summer :-)

really? this is news?

I stopped going near CNN's website a long time ago.
I tried subscribing to their Twitter feed thinking it would be headline breaking news...i un-follwed when they posted "When your spouse is a slob (link to story)".

A friend just pointed out this story on their front page. Wow.

I'm sorry for her and all, but why on earth would anyone want to read that story?

Just, wow.

Predators Lease Changes Pass Council

Unless i'm wrong, this is finally "it".

The Preds lease changes finally passed Metro Council.

The ownership has changed hands, lease changes negotiated & passed all governing bodies, and attendance marks met.

Now we can focus 100% on hockey!

(For the record, I'm not thrilled about the lease changes. I don't think they are really to the great benefit of the fans or the city, and only slightly to the team...but they are what the owners say they needed...and it keeps the team here. So that's that.)

Preds Win Game 3 (and more)

"Breaking News" - not only did the Preds win game 3 tonight, but the Metro Council finally has the new lease out of committee and looks ready to vote on it today (tomorrow...er...Tuesday the 15th). Good timing!

I'll leave it to those smarter than me to dissect the game fully (or you can just watch highlights below). Sufficed to say, Trotz made adjustments, something he hasn't done well in the past. The adjustments in lines and match-ups freed our players to do what they needed to do, and they got the job done.

You will also hear much regarding the crowd tonight. Once again, there were several long standing ovations, and the final 3-4 minutes was probably the loudest i've ever experienced at a sporting event of any kind (and i've been to San Antonio Spurs games in the NBA Finals, etc). I'm not going to say it was the loudest ever in history...but it was pretty nuts. To put it in perspective, i'm a drummer, and i was afraid of having some serious hearing damage.

Major kudos to the arena crew once again for knowing when to let the crowd go. There was more than one time that the crowd started a "Lets Go Predators" or other chant and the arena crew quickly muted the techno or whatever music they were playing in favor of letting the crowd feed off the natural hype. They also finally traded the commonly used red lights during pre-game for blue and yellow (gold) ones. You'd think this was a no-brainer, but it hasn't always been. These 'little things' did not go unappreciated!

I'm also uploading all the pictures that Christy took at tonights game. She's been grabbing better shots than me lately, so i'm letting her have the camera from here on out i think (besides, we win when she's shooting).

Of course, i took this shot during pre-game warm-ups:
They always show the pretty girls in the crowd ya know :-)

I also have to apologize to David Legwand. During warm-ups i took this picture of his skates (right), which to me showed he was clearly a decoy and not going to actually play. Thank you for proving me very wrong, Leggy.

And finally, this is now my new favorite Preds picture (that wasn't taken by me or Christy).

hockey for the fans

Quick random post...

First, everyone wear your Predators gear tomorrow (Thurs 4/10/08). It's Predators Pride Day!

Also, our good friends Matt and Josef of Beyond The Edge and Batter'd n Fried were caught in the "official" video of the standing ovation "moment" from last weeks game. Here they are (Matt and Josef in that order are the two guys in the lower right):
Also wanted to share this picture sent to me by the guy that sits next to us at Preds games (Andy). Hee hee.
Lastly - we are very close to having enough sign-ups to finally get a Predators license plate. Less than 100 to go, so hit this page and order yours now! Just $35

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The Onion also just posted a story about goalie Dan Ellis having literally moved into the net.


That is all

all things hockey

Well, for those living under a rock, the Nashville Predators secured their 4th consecutive playoff appearance last week. We drew the same opponent we had during our first shot in the 03-04 season, the Detroit Dead Things Red Wings.

The Preds will be the 8th seed against the first seeded Wings which, for the uninitiated, means we will start this series on the road. The NHL just released the schedule for the playoffs last night, and the Preds/Wings series is as follows:

2008 WESTERN CONFERENCE QUARTER-FINAL
SERIES E        TIME (Central) #1 Detroit vs. #8 Nashville  Network
Thur, April 10  6:00 pm        Nashville at Detroit         VERSUS
Sat, April 12   1:00 pm        Nashville at Detroit         NBC
Mon, April 14   TBD (6pm?)     Detroit at Nashville         VERSUS
Wed, April 16   TBD (8pm?)     Detroit at Nashville         VERSUS
Fri, April 18   6:30 pm        Nashville at Detroit         VERSUS
Sun, April 20   2:00 pm        Detroit at Nashville         NBC
Tues, April 22  TBD            Nashville at Detroit

(UPDATE: Confirmed- Game 3 starts at 6:30, game 4 starts at 8:00pm)

I already have my playoff tickets, and for anyone who'd like to try to grab the (very) few that are left for games 3 or 4, direct message me on Twitter (pwnicholson) or call my Grand Central number (615-823-1734) and i will gladly hook you up with a referral to my rep (Tiffany Vanek - 770-2338) and let you buy off my account (i get referral credit - thank you new ownership!)

Anyway...

First game is of course this Thurs night. Haven't decided yet where i'll be watching it, but rest assured i will.

Game 2 (in Detroit) is going to be on NBC! Which means, that Paul and Christy get to actually watch it at home!! (We don't have cable...season tickets instead)

If you'd like to join us in East Nashville (and watch the game in HD on a 100" projector screen), just drop me a line via email, phone (615-823-1734), or Twitter (pwnicholson) for directions. Party will start shortly before the game at 1:00pm of course.

For games 3 and 4 here in Nashville - they haven't set times yet, but for the game will be on Versus and the only other game on Versus that night is scheduled for 9:00pm central, which means i think we'll get an early start - probably a 6:30pm or maybe even 6:00pm start time. Game 4 on the 16th is the reverse situation. It is on Versus again and the only other game on Versus that night starts at 6:00pm central, so we may have a late one - guessing an 8:00-8:30 start time.

I'm seriously considering getting in my "i'll be in late" request to work for the 17th now :-)

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In related news, the end of the regular season means the end of Fantasy Hockey. Final Standings ended thusly:

1. Fab Forechecker (Dirk Hoag)
2. Ice Holes (Paul McCann)
3. Rebel Mandos (Kevin Peters)
4. Preds (Paul Nicholson - me!)
5. Novice -- Fresh Meat (Kevin Hicks)
6. Disastros (David Calrson)
7. PuckNtheMouth (Brandon Felder)
   
8. Old School Blues (Gary Nicholson)
9. Nashville Starcats (Christy Nicholson)
10. Predheads (Ryan Cassell)

Not too bad all things considered. The championship bracket was everything i though it'd be, with Paul McCann (hockey blogger and PA announcer for the Predators) up against Forechecker (hockey blogger and statistician extraordinare). They actually tied 5-5-1 in the championship "game" and had to go to the tiebreaker (team goals) which Forechecker won handily (23-9). Also worth noting is Kevin's (Mandos) nice recovery from last year, where he finished 7th out of 8th in an admittedly much weaker field - this year he pounded me in the 3rd/4th place game in the final week.

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Lastly, for all those truly obsessed with hockey, make sure to watch the NHL Draft Lottery tonight. This isn't the actual draft of course, just the lottery to determine where the picks lineup. Good news for the Preds is that thanks to the Tomas Vokoun trade from last summer, we own Florida's first and second round picks, and they finished with the 9th worst record in the league. This translates in draft to mean that the Predators will have somewhere between the 5th and 10th overall pick in the draft. Show is available on Versus and online at NHL.com. Starts at 7:00pm central.

Predators make the Playoffs!!!

I'll try to blog about it more tomorrow.

Right now i've got to try to come down off this adrenaline rush and get some sleep.

Preds won. Vancouver Lost. We're in the playoffs!

Lots of pictures here (courtesy of my lovely bride, who took all the shots at tonight's game), including pictures of Titan's quarterback Vince Young, who was at the game and threw out t-shirts to the crowd.

And a video she shot of the amazing spontaneous crowd response is here:

Nashville Thanks the Predators

(If the video isn't working, that's because it's still converting on Vimeo's server...check back a little while...)

The crowd rose to give the team a standing ovation during a TV timeout after a great effort in the 3rd period. And they wouldn't stop. For a solid 2:30, the crowd just stood and cheered and waived their t-shirts* (think about it...just sit in your chair and do nothing for 2:30. That's a long time). The arena crew was smart enough not to interrupt with any videos or music. Just let the crowd thank the team. It was amazing. The game wasn't even over at that point. Gave me the chills.

Detroit vs. Nashville will start sometime next week.
Let's go Preds!

* By the way, the t-shirts look great and are way cooler shirts than past giveaway shirts

April Foolishness

I've become a pretty big fan of all the April Fools stuff that hits the web annually. Just gonna post a few of my favorites as i spot them throughout the day:

Funny through fear:

• Planet Half-life: Blackened Interactive to purchase Valve (Link broken, but it shows up in their RSS feed)
• A2Y: Red Wings coach Mike Babcock quits on eve of playoffs (including lots of links and quotes from other sources - a must for a good prank)
• Blizzard bringing Bards and Consoles into the World of Warcraft family
• Liberadio and Steve Gill are combining to form a new Left/Right radio show (fear because either of them getting even more time on air would mean having to hide on my MP3 player even more)

Funny through weird:

• Sitening: Google Streets cars forced to paint road lines
• Engadget: Robot Attack Dog
• GAMEware: Double Bass controller for Guitar Hero
• ThinkGeek: Betamax to HD-DVD converter
• ThinkGeek: USB George Foreman Grill (from last year)
• ThinkGeek: 5.25" Ez-Bake Oven for PC (from last year)
• Google: Gmail back in time

Funny through "Don't tease me!"

• Cinematical: Christian Bale and Brandon Routh signup for Justice League movie
• Google/Virgin Galactic: Project Virgle (Manned Mars Colony) Application
• Forechecker: Preds forward Steve Sullivan to return early from IR

Special mention goes to this article on DownloadSquad that mentions the idea that AOL will start distributing its software on USB flash drives through direct mail, like it used to with floppy disks and CDs. I'd love that personally. Back in the floppy disk days, it was always a pleasure to get the AOL junk mail - meant never having to buy a floppy disk again. Open, format, stick a new label on it.