Jason Calls His Mom: The Dishes

This is the latest of a series of videos in which I call my mom because I don't know how to do simple things.

There is a God. Shitney is OUT!

This Will be short and sweet. Ryan Whitney is gone (cue applause and fanfare)! If you have been a loyal follower of our blog here, you are well aware of my long standing hatred for Ryan Whitney. I hated him before it was the cool thing to do. It seems over the last few weeks people have been joining in thinking they were the first to be anti-Whitney. I Assure you they were not. I have hated him for quite some time. People called me crazy when I would say he is the worst defensive player on the team and makes more mistakes than a bum like Eric Godard (editorial note: if you are reading this Mr. Godard you are not really a bum please don't punch me in the face). One of my best friends and fan of the blog Sam has been a long hater of Whitney and I have to give him props for propelling my extreme dislike for him into the realm of pure hatred. Thanks Sam. So even if we didn't get much in return for him, anything is better than that ass clown. Hell, I would have taken Michele Oullet back for Whitney. I think it was a move to get a cheap decent player and some cap room to possibly bring in a big name with an even bigger trade. I'm interested to see how it goes before the trade deadline. We will keep you all posted. Until next time kids.

Penguins Trade Analysis

This is old news by now. The trade was announced around 1pm, so I am very late on this, but here is my take on the trade.

Overall I think that this helps the Penguins. Ryan Whitney was a decent defenceman. He was overpaid in my opinion which I feel lead to him being traded. It was obvious he was gone though, considering he was playing like dick the last couple of weeks. Whitney is a solid d-man, he was just overpaid and underachieving which lead to him being ousted.

Now on to the players the Pens acquired. From Anaheim, the Pens got Chris Kunitz and Chris Tangradi. Kunitz, who is 29, has 16 goals, 19 assists, 55 penalty minutes this season. His career high is 25 goals and 60 points with Anaheim during the 2006/2007 season. He is 6-1 and 198-pounds. Tangradi, age 20, on the other hand is still playing in the OHL. He is a 6-4, 221-pounds and so far this season has 87 points (38 G, 49 A) making him the 2nd leading scorer in the OHL.

I think this was a solid trade for the Penguins. First they got a guy who can play right now in Kunitz, a guy who scores some goals and looks to be more of a role player, which is somthing that they need right now. I suppose he will probably be like a Kevin Stevens type perhaps. Regardless he brings experience, having won a cup with Anaheim. Tangradi was the other player acquired and I think he could possibly be a guy that scores maybe 30 goals in the NHL. It's a little early to tell right now, but he has size and he looks to be a solid offensive player.

I think this helps the Penguins in the long run. Getting rid of Whitney will free up some room under the salary cap and I think allow the Pens to acquire a winger for Crosby, either at the deadline this year or during the off-season. So smart move on the Pens part. As for Tangradi, he could evolve into a forward with the same skill as Angelo Esposito, who the Pens traded for Hossa last year, which was also a smart move. Hopefully the trade makes the Penguins a better team in the long run.

Here is some more analysis...

NHL.com looks at the trade

The Hockey News offers analysis too

PITTSBURGH UPDATE

So I am at work and since my job is not fun right now, I see no other way to be productive other then to write to you all and let you know what is new and going on here in Pittsburgh.

NFL free agency starts tonight at 12:01 am and what does that mean for the Steelers. Well there is good and bad news to come. Unrestricted free agents for us are: QB Charlie Batch,P Mitch Berger ,CB Fernando Bryant,
OT Trai Essex ,LB Keyaron Fox, LB Andre Frazier ,LB Arnold Harrison ,G Chris Kemoeatu ,QB Byron Leftwich, CB Bryant McFadden ,OT Marvel Smith ,DE Orpheus Roye, and WR Nate Washington

So here is my quick take on our unrestricted free agents:

Batch should and will stay he is a Pittsburgh guy, quality player , and cheap. Berger, Bryant,Leftwich, Roye, Smith : all these guys all have served their purposes on the team or have worn out their welcome and are realisticly not worth signing back. Thanks guys enjoys your ring.

Fox, Frazier, Harrison, Essex : these guys are all worth hanging on to and I don't think we will lose them, they are great role players that do the little things so well. These guys are the ones that are willing to do anything for you to step on the field.

B- Mac is really the only guy I see we need to keep. He is a physical shut down corner. It is time for you, Steelers, to step up and write the damn check. This guys has earned it. Ike and B- Mac as your corners for the future teams better come up with some schemes then just the wildcat to confuse this defense. As far as I am hearing B- Mac is as good as gone cause he is the most talented free agent as his position and will probably grab more money some where else. Nate Washington is another one I am hearing is as good as gone. I am hearing he could wind up being a #2 receiver somewhere for another team. I am fine with that. I like Nate, but we drafted Limas " I can catch a cold" Sweed for a reason.

The biggest joke of the day that I read on Pittsburgh Post - Gazette was that this shitty no talent hack is going to get his pay day somewhere other then Pittsburgh due to the fact that no one in his position is up for free agency. Chris Kemoeatu is suppose to get a big contract from other teams in the NFL, well good luck guys I am glad we in Pittsburgh aren't falling for this free agent bust. Damn I wish I could go into work every day and do nothing besides screw up and just be a big lard and earn a pay day like this guy. If someone signs this guy for more then 1.7 million a yr it will be obvious that economic times aren't are bad as they seem if you have dumb money spend on him.

Restricted: OT Willie Colon ,FB Sean McHugh ,CB Anthony Madison ,
G Jeremy Parquet, and S Anthony Smith: all these guys will more then likely be back due to the fact that they are cheap with the exception of Colon, who they are working on a tender offer as we speak. Yes folks even big mouth Anthony Smith, who never even dressed for the playoffs will have another shot to go out and back up that diaherra mouth of his. What a waste of a pick, makes me think if Jemaine Stephens, Troy Edwards, and another defensive stopper Ricardo Coclough. lol

So by the sounds of it the Buccos got off to a big start tearing the cover off the ball yesterday. Thanks to Bices' blog I got more information then what I was intending on hearing for the rest of my life about lazy ass Paulino.

My question is this the last time we will see that Pirates over .500 and have a winning record. Stay tuned, someone here at ClassicGangOnly will keep you updated. Maybe if we start getting more hits we could afford to bring on Lanny as a writer for us, seeing he his jobless.

BREAKING NEWS: Pens trade the most over rated player on their team Ryan Whitney. Wow...who did Craig Patrick and the Pens hire as magician to pull this one off.

BREAKING NEWS: CRIS aNgel was spotted at Cheerleaders Strip club down in the Strip Districtlate last night. He must have been celebrating his biggest magic trick pull off of all time. The lucky winner (loser) Anaheim Ducks. QUACK QUACK QUACK!! THIS JUST IN THE ANAHEIM DUCKS JUST HIRED GORDON BOMBAY TO COACH THE DUCKS TO A STANLEY CUP FINALS APPEARENCE!! Hell, that is what it will take to get them to the finals as long as they have Ryan Shitney on their team. Good luck Ducks or (*UCKS)!

Santonio Holmes has just also waived his right to a hearing on his charges on possesion of weed. Actually, I think we as good people of the law should not waive anything, but shake his hand for that amazing grab that earned us the title 6X SUPERBOWL CHAMPIONS and him SUPERBOWL MVP. Thanks Holmes.. get it that is my use of ebonics . Now puff puff pass, quit F'N up the rotation Santonio.

The forecast down here is not bad the weather is overcasted and about 40 or so on this fine Thursday afternoon on Feb.26,2009. The only unfortunate thing is as I am attempting to blog I have Bones' Favorite artist blasting on my radio, Kid Rock. So, if you don't like this blog them you can send all your complaints to that " no talent hack" ,as Bones would put it.

Well guys, fortunately for me the time has come for me to leave work. Which is good news for you because you don't have to waste any more of your time reading this bullshit...lol

Live Blog: Pirates vs. Phillies

Hey Gang! I have nothing better to do today so I'm going to blog live from Bradenton, Florida! And by Bradenton, Florida I mean Shitty Boston. Yay. I'll give you my take on this meaningless game, as well as how I feel about new announcer Tim Everett.

Congratulations to Steve Blass on his 50th year of Pirates Announcing. (I think thats what I heard but I'm not sure. Maybe its his 50 years in the organization. Either way Blass is old!)

So Chris Bootcheck is starting today and he led off the game with a first pitch strike. Greg made a comment about how Joe Kerrigan wants to see a lot of first pitch strikes this year. No Shit Greg. Although this has been a major problem of Pirates pitchers in the past. Then again what hasn't been a problem of Pirates Pitchers?

And Bootcheck sets them down 1-2-3. Striking out Shane Victorino.

And here comes the Buccos.....

Nyjer Morgan leads off against Jamie-Old As Shit-Moyer. One hopper to Rollins and he's out.

Freddy gets a single. Hopefully he's healthy this year and returns to some semblance of his 2007 form.

I'm beginning to realize how boring its going to be if I blog about every at bat so I'm only going to mention important things. Lesson Learned.

Chan Ho Park explains to Ronnie how to suck effectively.

RONNIE PAULINO SIGHTING: I completely forgot Paulino was traded to the Phillies. Apparently he made the trip but won't be playing today because he is asleep.

After Striking out Ryan Howard, The Bullpen Bully, Matt Capps just walked the bases loaded. Luckily, this is only spring training.

Capps just got out with an inning ending double play. Tits!

Apparently Walk and Wehner aren't in Florida yet. Well they are in Florida, just at the airport bar.

And Laroche strikes out looking. His in-season approach to spring training is getting off to a beautiful start.

Moyer walks back to back Buccos. Runners on first and second. LaRoche out.

And Jack ends the inning with a two hopper.

On to the third...

Jimmy-our fans suck-Rollins just hit a one out single off the Big Chief. And yes, Philly fans do suck!

And Rollins scores from 2nd on a Raul Ibanez single.

Greg and Steve were just poking fun at how big the Chief is. This reminds me of another fat ass pitcher we used to have.....

So my internet just went out but I guess Freddy is working on the cycle with an opposite field double. I'm guessing Morgan got on and scored a run cuz it's now Buccos 1 Phillies 1.

And Adam is up to his old tricks, striking out again. I like LaRoche. I really do. I mean his theme song is from the Karate Kid and who doesn't love that song?

And our Rule 5 draft pick, Donnie Veal, is on the mound. He gives off a lead-off single Jenkins. Donnie is not related to the great Bob Veal. Although he may be related to Ann-the wall-Veal. Arrested Development reference, anyone?

UPDATE: Donnie Veal is black. Ann Veal is not. There goes my theory that they are related. Also, Veal got out of the inning. Apparently a nice double play was turned by the BFF's Freddy and Jack.

Ronnie woke up and seems to be catching behind the plate! Oh wait, he's behind the plate but he's still asleep.

We have 2 aboard for Jack Wilson. He's probably my favorite Pirates and I'm glad he's still on the team. It's hard to believe that his 200 hit season was 5 years ago.

And Jack gives them a two run lead but it went off someones glove. Brandon Moss scores on the Wilson Base-Hit.

2-1 Pirates

Jeffy Salazar, pinch hitting for Nyjer Morgan, swings at one out of the zone and strikes out.

Shelby Ford hits a line-drive home-run over the right field wall 5-1 Bucs!

And the inning is over.

Major Substitutions: Diaz, McCutchen, Walker, and Hinske are in somewhere. You can probably figure out where.

And Paulino is at the plate with a bat in his hands. Don't let it fool you though. Yes, he is still asleep.

Tim Everett has entered the booth. I'd say he has a good baseball voice. He sounds familiar, but can't pinpoint who he sounds like right now.

The pitcher accidentally hit Paulino's bat and the ball flew in the air but someone caught it. Paulino out!

Hinske makes a fine catch in left field and we are out of the inning.

Diaz gets a base-hit. Steve Pearce hits one inside the third base line for extra bases and Diaz is waved home.

6-1 Pirates!

Wow, judging by the views counter people are actually reading the blog. Hopefully they aren't all Huha. Feel free to post comments telling me how awesome or how much of a douchebag I am!

The bases are loaded as Hinske draws the walk. Pine-Richlands own Neil Walker steps to the plate.

Walker gets out at third but a run still scores. Credit Walker with the RBI.

7-1 Pirates!

Machado gets a base hit.

8-1 Pirates!

Double Play ends the inning.

And Tim Everett is taking us the rest of the way. Lanny is somewhere in a corner crying.

Mateo gets out of the inning. Nothing too exciting happened here.

In other news, ESPN 2 shows soccer in the afternoon. You know why? Because Soccer sucks and nobody is going to watch it anyway.

And Shelby Ford follows up his home-run with a pop out. If he makes the big league club, Greg Brown can say "And Ford "Drives" in a run! hahahahahahahahah. Get it?

3 up and 3 down go the Bucs. Let's go to the Seventh!

Craig Hansen is now pitching for the Bucs. You all remember him of course as part of the Bay Trade. Yeah, the one with blazing speed but no control.

I just checked over at some of the comments at the PBC Blog. Baywatch doesn't seem to care for my language.

Baywatch wrote re: Play ball: Exhibition season begins (Day 12)

on Wed, Feb 25 2009 7:45 PM

jasonbice is using bad words over there. I guess I'm used to a family-friendly blog.

Well in baseball they use bad words, so catch 22.

Anyway, Hansen Strikes out 2. 3 up and 3 down. Looking Good.

And our first round pick, Pedro Alvarez strikes out and looks like crap doing it. First at-bat jitters?

Hinske hits a long fly ball but its caught in front of the bullpen. 2 Outs.

Inning over. Let's go to the 8th. Pirates still lead 8-1.

Evan Meek comes to the mound. For those of you who don't remember. Evan Meek was the rule 5 draft pick last year who was responsible for us losing the home opener.

Fairly uneventful inning. Meek does a swell job.

These spring training games get boring towards the end eh?

Well hey gang, it's been real. I'm going to cut out early because I have other things to do. Like watch Full House. Let me know what you think of the live blog.

Here is the Pirates official recap of today's game.

WWIII: Crosby vs. Ovechkin

So now that hockey fans have the rivalry they so desperately wanted, I'm gonna give my take on it. I'll have links at the end for you to read and get up to date on what is going on.

I know I've said this before and I'll say it again: I love the way Ovechkin plays the game. He plays hard and he plays to win. I don't care who you are, you'd love this guy if he was on your team. But when a guy goes after another guy that isn't cool. Ovechkin tried to wreck Malkin in just about every game the two played earlier this season. Crosby now seems to be the guy that Ovie has his sights set on. I really just don't understand the point of trying to intentionally cheap shot a guy. I mean, Ulf Samuellson, as Pens fans know, ended the career of Boston Bruins star Cam Neely in a playoff game a while back. It's not cool. It is good for the game to have two stars duking it out for supremicy, but if you are going to cheap shot a guy, it's not a healthy rivalry and needs to be addressed. I don't like it when anyone goes after another player with the intent to cheap shot him. It's just flat out wrong. So I guess I am hoping that Ovie takes it down a notch and doesnt decide to cheapshot Crosby. Bottom line seems to be that the Caps are taking a little too much joy in the fact the Pens are floundering this season. That's very classy. Thankfully the two teams play only one more game this season. Unless that is, the two teams meet in the playoffs...

Check out PensBlog for more on Redskins TE Chris "I think I'm so" Cooley and what he said about Crosby.

The Post-Gazette has a little tid-bit on the Crosby/Ovechkin fued.

A Washington Post columnist shares his two cents.

The NY Times had a story about the fued.

Also, here is an update on some trade rumors as we near the deadline...

Fox Sports.com has a list of "rumors" yinz should check out.

Sporting News is reporting a Lecavalier to Montreal rumor.

Hockey Buzz has some trade rumors as well.

Marc-Andre Failure!

Insert Gay Joke Here

Since I live in Boston now I don't get to see many Penguins games, so imagine my delight when I turned on the TV and saw they were on NBC. When I first tuned in the score was 3-2 Capitals. Not too bad. With the fire power the Pens have they should be able to tie it up in no time, right? Now imagine my horror as I watched the Capitals reel off two straight goals on the seemingly retarded Marc-Andre Fleury. His problem is, and always has been that he doesn't make the easy saves he should. Sure he makes ridiculously tough ones alot of the time but if you can't stop the gimmes then what does it matter? Now you may argue, "Well What about the playoffs? He was awesome!" That may be so but being good in the playoffs doesn't mean shit if you can't get there. Dammit Fleury! Get your head in the game!

Somethin's Gettin Busted But It Ain't No Brackets This WEEKEND Links

So before Photo Shop became the accepted standard for doctoring with photos, or the fact that when I was in high school back in the day I didn't know what Photo Shop was, there was Microsoft Paint. Why open with that? Well this first story we're gonna talk about needed a picture to demonstrate how the situation might have looked, and Huha the Jobless doesn't have Photo Shop and this was the best picture I could find of the actual situation, so I went pre-historic and played with Paint. GOD I FEEL LIKE PEREZ HILTON RIGHT NOW!!!

-Out in the land of Coors, it appears one of the disguises for a robbery happens to be putting a thong over your head. Hmm, that seems to be a really great disguise (NOT!). Now, I really shouldn't be making a joke about a robbery, especially since the store clerk did get a broken jaw. But, how STUPID are you that you wear a thong on your head as a disguise!!! I mean the face is still gonna be picked up on the store's camera, and at least the Alarm Clock was smarter than that. Those boys ain't right, and I don't know if it has anything to do with that Rocky Mountain High.

-So we've all stayed at a hotel at some point in our lives, right? Have you ever wondered how clean it actually is in the room? Well, if you read the front page of Yahoo! earlier in the week, then you found out. Germaphobes might be more worried than ever after reading that, and what is cleaner now exactly? Robbie Alomar, Danica's lower back in the swimsuit issue, or that Days Inn that you're hitting up in Panama City.

-Spring training kicked into full swing this week, and one of the hot topics, besides the new McClouth contract, are "the Million Dollar arms" (it's an Indian take on Idol, except it's baseball) that the Buccos signed during the offseason. There's been a media blitz at Camp Bradenton, which is finally bringing some sort of attention to the baseball black and gold. Let me say this, if these boys turn out good, the Buccos look like total geniuses, but if not, then the old saying "you can't rub a turd into a diamond" will still ring true. These boys are already drinking the Kool-Aid, and if you want more of the proverbial Kool-Aid, former Beaver County Times beat writer John Perrotto provides it to you, which has upset at least one other person so far.

By the way, the TV schedule was released Friday, and includes 125 regular season games on FSN, but look closely at the schedule, and notice the layout of TV games. Pretty top-heavy at the beginning of the season, but look at September, hmm wonder what they'll do if the Pirates turn out like Tampa Bay last season...

-Finally, I apologize for this week's not being as long as our true series premiere last week, but I didn't think as much was interesting this week, except maybe this little humdinger of a story, and you've all read some story about Skippy earlier in the week.

SO...

Til next weekend friends.

Penguins Trade Rumors...UPDATED

Anyone that is a hockey fan knows that this time of year is exciting, especially heading to the playoffs to see who will land where and what the biggest deal will be. It's trade deadline time and the Penguins are involved in several rumors. The biggest one I am seeing right now is the Malkin to Atlanta for Kovalchuk trade. I hate this rumor and I hope the Pens don't get rid of Malkin, but its very early to tell and as I said, this is just a rumor. I will have a list of more sites listed at the bottom of the page with more rumors but for now just let me say this. If you trade Malkin, the team's leading scorer, you lose the fan base. I don't care if you clone Mario Lemieux it's not a good idea...actually that would be pretty sweet, but the point is that Malkin is leading the league in scoring and is one of the Pens' great young players. Geno may end up being better than Bing when this is all said and done, but to me if you trade away a talent like that who clearly has better days ahead, it spells disaster. Now on to the rumors and please keep in mind that the validity of these rumors is unknown at this point....just rumors.

Fan House is reporting that Nik Antropov could be headed to the Pens and could Colby and Kovalchuk become Pens as well?

NESN is saying that Martin St. Louis could be headed to Pittsburgh.

The Hockey News is also reporting the St. Louis to Pittsburgh deal.

The Sporting News is saying Colby could be coming back to the burgh.

The Columbus Dispatch has a blog and although its from a month ago, could Stall be headed to Columbus?

HockeyBuzz.com is reporting the Malkin for Kovalchuk rumor


Also remember that March 4th is the trade deadline...3pm to be exact. So it is fast approaching.

Will The Pens Make The Playoffs?

The question that plagues us all as Pittsburghers and Pens fans alike. Will they turn it on over the next two months and squeak their way in to the playoffs? Simple answer is, I have no effing clue. I don't know what to think of our beloved Penguins. I made a post before the season started saying how there should be no reason why the Pens shouldn't repeat as Eastern Conference Champs. Now I feel like a dumbass thanks to how this team has been playing all season. I think in the long run getting rid of Therrien was a good call. He was not well liked by his team, he has the personality of a wet mop, he gave his team no identity, and frankly he was a C+ B- coach. We need someone who is going to first get the defence in order. The D is slow, lazy, and mistake ridden. We need someone who is a motivator and a likable personalty. Someone who is going to get on the ice during practice and get down to the nitty gritty with these players. We need an identity as a team. When you hear New Jersey Devils, you think the Neutral Zone Trap. That is an identity. The Pens don't have one. We need a coach who will not shift lines every game to try to generate offence. Doing that nonsense will never build team chemistry. We need... Badger Bob Johnson. Not literally because of course he passed away many years ago but you get the idea. He is the type of guy we need. That is step one to getting this team back on track.

Step two is getting rid of Ryan Whitney. The man is a cancer on this team. Everyone blows him like he is the best defensive and offensive player we have. To everyone Ryan Whitney is simply amazing. Still, the only thing good specifically that anyone says about him is "man, he always has his eyes up when he brings the puck up on the rush." So that one good trait makes him an all-star. Are you fucking kidding me? He gives the puck up at least 5-10 times a game, half of those, sometimes more, are in his own zone. He never stays with his man. For a big guy he lacks physical play. One of his jobs as a blue liner on the Power Play is to keep the puck in, and he seems to not even be able to do that. Just watch him for an entire game, count the number of things he does well and count the number of things he does wrong. I can guarantee you the bad outweighs the good significantly. I know this because I have done it many times before. He has a good game though every now and then, but that is not what we need. If it was a bad game every now and then that would be fine everyone has rough games. Not a rough two seasons in a row while you are taking up 5 million in salary cap. Plus did you ever see the guy in an interview he's a dick. I know a few people who know him personally and say the same thing. He's an asshole. Get rid of Ryan Shitney and Miro Shitan and pick up a goal scorer for Sidney. Just watch at the end of this video at Whitney, what a douche bag.



So will the Pens make the playoffs? Chime in on comments if you think one way or the other. Lets hope they slip in and turn it on during the playoffs and make a run for it and my post from before the start of the season will be correct.

The Bucco's Are Coming...

Don't look now Pirate fans, but the season is just around the corner. In fact, the Pirates first spring training game is set for early next week against the Minnesota Twins, so gear up for another season of baseball in the burgh!

This isn't really a season preview, but I like to give my opinion about the old Bucs. As most know, just like Bice, I am very pessimisstic when it comes to the Buccos. Don't get me wrong, I like going to games, I like the team, and I really, really hope they do well. But I am somewhat of a realist when it comes to the Pirates and I like others, realize that the direction of this team will not change until ownership changes. And when I say change, I don't mean Bob Nutting wakes up one day and isn't a greedy bastard and decides the good people of Pittsburgh deserve a winner. I mean a new owner must take over the reigns of the club. I do feel like their is a little bit of hope with Frank Coonely and Neal Huntington running the operations though. It's just a wait and see situation.

Now on to this season. I think the Buccos will do worse than last year. With two LaRoche's on your team, you are almost asking for a loser. The pitching staff/bullpen are still very questionable. The only positive is that the position players coming back; Nasty Nate, Freddy, Doumit and Jack Flash are a positive. I say they win 65 games this year. Even if they prove me wrong, I don't think they win any more than 70 games. With this type of lineup I just don't see it any other way.

Also....I was thinking that since the Buccos are so horrible and haven't won in so long, what is it that keeps the fans interested? Individual performances from our star players? We don't have many, but it does keep fans interested. Don't tell me for one second that you didn't pull for Freddy when he was chasing a batting title in 2006 or that you didn't want Nate to have a career year last season, which he did. I always hoped Jason Bay would be closing in on 40 homers at the end of the season so you had some interest in the club. I guess we can only hope that Nate wins another Gold Glove and somehow Freddy manages to win another batting title. I can only hope.

Penguins Fire Therrien

As most already know, the Pittsburgh Penguins fired Head Coach Michel Therrien. They have brought in Dan Bylsma to try and right the ship at least until the end of the season. For the most part the Pens coaching staff remains in place. We'll get a quick look at the new guy when the Pens play today at 2pm.

It is hard for me to come to a decision on this change. I probably won't like most other things and then just agree with the experts that sound smart down the road. But I do think that there is somthing that shouldn't be lost in all of this. Here is my take.

Obviously the Pens were struggeling this season. Not having Gonchar and Whitney for half the season proved to be a negative. Take the top two defenceman from any team and they will have issues. The other thing in all of this however was that the Penguins clearly weren't the same after last season losing some key players and not getting Hossa back either. Therrien I feel was a very solid coach. But it's also tough when a guy like Satan and Sykora are supposed to be "finishers" and they are struggeling. I do think he was especially good with a team full of young players like the Penguins. Therrien's downfall though was the fact that he shuffled lines too much and was maybe too defence minded for a team with so many young talented players. Overall I think for the most part, Therrien's tenure with the Penguins will be considered a success, but this season may be remembered for his failure after coaching them to the Stanley Cup Finals last year. Overall the reason Therrien got fired, wasn't because of the team's struggles, but that they simply didn't believe in his theories and style anymore. When Therrien was first hired, everyone bought into the fact that defence would be the way to win and it was his way or the hi-way. That maybe was somthing that this team didn't want to buy into anymore with the struggles of the season. No matter what though, Therrien will be remembered for the guy that helped turn this team around and we should be grateful for that. He was the right guy at the right time for this team back in 2005-2006.

Why does Taylor Swift have such a weird face?

Has anyone else noticed that Taylor Swift looks like an alien? Either that or a fourty year old woman trapped in a 17 year-olds body. Its not that she's hideous or anything, its just that she's awkward looking. Like, I'm sure Bones would still give her the business....... Does anyone here agree with me?

First Friday the 13th of the Year AND V-Day WEEKEND LINKS

Welcome to the start of another weekend, I'm Huha with your weekend links.

If you've been following the past few weeks, you know that I open up with a little ditty like this, then just list the links I think you should take the time to look at over the weekend. Well, we're gonna switch up the format a little bit this weekend, and you can let me know how you feel about the changes in the COMMENTS or by leaving the flaming bag of poo on my porch, ringing the doorbell, and running away.

AND HERE WE GO...

-We start off this week in Sussex, England, and if you've seen the photo at the top, then you know where I'm headed with this. No, that boy is not looking after his little sister, it's his daughter. He's 13, the MUM (they're British you know) is 15. This just seems so wrong on so many levels. I have a cousin right around his age, and I can't imagine him going out and having a kid. This situation is messed up, but it's still not as messed up as the Angelina-wanna-be out in Cali that just had the Octuplets. I mean seriously here, you have 6 kids ALREADY, and you struggle to take care of them financially, then you get some wacko doctor to give you invitro, so you can have more joy into the world. No problem here though, as Octuplet-mommy has now launched a website for you to donate and help raise those kids. Someone's ending up at the shrink when they're older.

-Bice used to contribute these incredibly funny articles for The Clarion Call a few years ago, which it would be nice if I could still find them online to post as an example here. But anyways, he wrote this one article about the Greek system, and I kind of thought of it when I came upon more fun stuff from jolly-old England. It seems people are shocked and aghast at the fact that initiation to secret societies is bizarre and so out-landish, but there's been movies made to glorify this, so it's really not so secret. Come on people, this stuffs been going on for hundreds of years, and what guy wouldn't mind some random girl at the DIX party (sorry Bicey, had to use that one) coming up and kissing you. If it's worth it to act a fool to get those friends, then by all means you can do it that way. I'll just stand by and laugh.

-The Golf Channel of all places seems to be the bastion for controversial comments early on in the year, now each of the past 2 years. Last January, Kelly Tilghman said something along the lines of the younger players would need to gang up on Tiger Woods and lynch him in a back alley, just so they'd be able to win tournaments.
Hell, she's friends with Tiger, and he saw no ill intent with what she said. But boom, some activists come out, and she's put in the sin-bin for 2 weeks.
Let's fast-forward to within the past few weeks, Andrew McGee was doing a back-and-forth with Gary McCord (who's gotten himself in trouble in the past at The Masters), when McGee made a comment about a t-shirt he saw. Now, Judge Smails and his buddies down at Bushwood, must've seen this broadcast, because Golf Channel sure heard about it through the message boards and e-mails, and have now suspended McGee for a week.
The comment you ask? 'I got kicked out of the Boy Scouts for eating a brownie.'
There has to be some other underlying reason why he's suspended, because you have to be a total prude to suspend somebody over that, he really could've said far worse.

-People always liked to joke when I attended Clarion that I'd probably never graduate, but after 6-some years, I finally thought it was time to end the Van Wilder (minus the golf cart) act, and face the real world. Now, it hasn't taken many people longer to finish their undergrad, but somebody made me feel really good about myself this past week. Former Dallas Cowgirls QB and current FOX analyst Troy Aikman is finally graduating this May from UCLA, after (get this) 20+ years. Now, I really should joke about this here, but he had 2 great underlying reasons to leave when he did, and come back now:
1) He was going to the NFL, where he'd make an incredible amount of money.
2) He promised his mother he'd eventually return to finish his degree, and he was only 2 classes short of graduation at the time.
Now for the funny part of this. I know Troy was a part of the 1990s Dallas football teams, but come on, he never had any time over the summer to somehow finish those 2 classes? There's people I've known, and myself, that have used those summer classes to make stuff up, or finish off degrees. Seriously, what the heck is he doing in the off-seasons that he couldn't have finished it up like maybe 15-18 years ago??? At least 20 years is better than never graduating at all.

-And finally, if you watched ESPN or MLB Network (my new drug) at any point within the past week, you know that Alex Rodriguez used performance-enhancing drugs during his time with the Texas Rangers. As soon as I had found this out last Saturday, one of the first thoughts to come to my head was: "Who will be the first person to call him A-Roid, or will some PA announcer, the one at Fenway for instance, say 'To the plate, the third baseman, Alex Roid-riguez, Roid-riguez'" Well, I found this shirt online, and while MLB would never approve, you know you will see shirts just like it at ballyards all across the country this summer. It's a shirt I'd definitely buy, especially since I hated him since he went to the Yankees, and now even more that he cheated to give himself some sort of competitive edge. Hey at least we know none of the Pirates shoot up. (By the way, here's WHYGAV's Bucco's Season Preview)

SEE YA NEXT WEEK!

Can I tell you how much it sucks....

This is probaby me in 3 weeks.

to not have a real job? Well, I'm going to tell you. Really bad. Not that you have a job either with the way the economy is. I guess I should be happy that I have a wonderful Pizza Place to work at.

The other day, my manger told me that I was a terrible and needed more training. This was during a conversation that he and the driver were having about how foreigners are better workers than Americans. Being one, of only two, Americans who work there, this really pissed me off.

First of all, I am not a terrible worker. I rarely make mistakes, nobody ever sends their food back that I made saying it was terrible, and in general I'm nice to customers who don't deserve it. Not that I care about being a good worker in a fucking pizza shop, but I don't find it really constructive for someone to tell me I suck.

I'm also tried of not getting jobs that I'd actually be good at and then seeing that douchebag kids, fresh out of college, are the ones who would actually be interviewing me. It just goes to show, its not what you know, its who you know. Lame.