Absentee Blogger

So work has been really hectic lately, too much work and not enough money at a non profit? Who knew. My blog has, consequently, suffered some serious neglect. I haven't blogged about the Caps in 6 games. It's the last week of the regular season and teams have been battling for playoff spots, so pretty exciting stuff going on. Quick notes and thoughts from the week or two I've missed:

Flames @ Caps, Sunday 3/28/10

• Coming off a great weekend, got a call from Katie. "What are you doing at 3 today?" PERFECT. Almost. ALMOST. wish I hadn't been there. It was 4-0 at the end of the 1st. "When's the last time the Caps have let 4 without responding?!" I asked Katie. "The last time?" she asked, meaningfully. "Ah...yes." Penguins-Caps playoff series last year, game 7. UGH. Finished 5-3 Calgary. A highlight was Matty Perreault's goal, I REALLY liked him out there, lots of gumption. About 4 hours later, we clinched the Eastern Conference for the 1st time in franchise history with a Devils loss to Philly.

Senators @ Caps, Tuesday 3/30/10

• STRESS. I needed to balance picking up my newly fixed life source (lap top) from Best Buy, long planned wing night at 51st state, and making sure I caught the entire game. Rudy once pointed out to me that 75% of Seinfeld situations would not have happened if they had cell phones. Well that's how I feel about my life, but with DVR. Original plan? 51st State for 1st period, cab home to make sure I didn't miss any game time, pray that the game didn't go into OT so I could jump in a cab RIGHT afterwards to make it to Best Buy before they closed at 10. Luckily, Avi, unexpected hero, came to wings and stayed for the whole game. Saving me one frantic cab ride. The game went to OT of COURSE. Caps lost 4-5 in the last moments of OT. Matty had another goal this game, I REALLY like the guy. Ran out of the bar at 9:38, made it to Best Buy at 9:52, and brought my newly repaired baby comp home. Ta-da.

Thrashers @ Caps, Thursday 4/1/10

• Nisha chats me around 2pm telling me we're going to be best friends today. I ask why. She lets me know approval for tickets were pending. I told her that was amazing bc it was Brooksy's first night back and I would get to see him! SHE TELLS ME "Well these are section 108 row H, so you'll be able to see him skate. Or whatever you call it." Un. Real. And it wasn't an April Fool's joke (The "White House" and Starbucks had really good ones this year). The city was a mess bc of the warm weather, cherry blossoms, and kids on spring break. My bus went half a block in 20 min and I wasn't even allowed to get off because we were in the middle of the street. DAMN TOURISTS. When the bus driver finally, FINALLY let me out, I ran for it. Met Dicksy, saw a pony along the way, went to our unreal, amazing, out of this world seats. Won the game 2-1 and Mandy won a signed and framed photo of Knubs in a silent auction. Came home, watched the recap, you know to hear what Joe and Locker had to say about the game. After Matt Bradley's game winning goal, I saw...me. ME. ME AND DICK. ON TV. HILO!!!!! The Washingtonian, Comcast Sportsnet, I'm basically a local celebrity. Who knows what's next. The Express? LSN? Stay tuned... Next day found out Colby Armstrong got handed a 2-game suspension for his non-penalized hit on Matty. Sweet revenge.

Capitals @ Blue Jackets, Saturday 4/3/10

• Woke up still wondering what the point was of continuing to live, as a result of watching Up In The Air. Parents and sister arrived, first day this year out in SHORTS. Drove down to the tidal basin, got a SWEET parking spot, and took a lovely cherry blossom stroll. Ate a wonderfully surprisingly delicious hot dog and acquired a purse pretzel. Drove to the Verizon store and got new phones for all the lady Changs. Finished up just in time to make our reservations at Coco Sala. Very delicious! Home just in time to catch the CBJ game, somewhat of a homecoming? for Chimera. 3-2 win gave the Caps their 51st win of the season, a franchise record. Later, Umberger had some really interesting thoughts. If my team was 14th out of 15 in the conference and 26th out of 30 in the league, I guess I'd be spewing unsupported nonsense too.

Sharks @ Avalanche, Sunday 4/4/10

• Sharks lost 4-5 to Avalanche, clinching the first President's trophy for the Caps. OK CAPS!!!!

Bruins @ Caps, Monday 4/5/10

• MORE STRESS. Comcast has recently decided to switch half their channels to digital only. Because my cable package is included in my rent, I have pretty basic cable and no digital box. Both my building and Comcast are incompetent and as a result I haven't had half my channels for about 2 weeks now, as I continue to wait for my digital box from Comcast. I have the TV on at 6:30. There's no pregame coverage on CSN but I figure there's a lot going on in sports. NCAA Championship game that same night, McNabb traded to the Skins, etc. No room for Caps pregame. Then, all of a sudden, it's 7:00 and the game isn't on. INSTA PANIC. It was being aired on Versus, which is one of the channels I don't get right now. Ended up cab rushing over to Mihlf's and forced him to host me for a Caps game (THANKS STEVE :))Well played game on both sides, I really liked the intensity I saw out of the Caps. And what I liked EVEN MORE was adorable, caged Brooksy baby's overtime goal to win it 3-2. So glorious. A visual, courtesy of Katie. Although I don't necessarily think the front of net is Knuble's office... Also, Em's first Caps game! Also Walker's first game back after his knee injury and a rest for Mike Green.

And finally...

Caps @ Penguins, Tuesday 4/6/10

• Thankfully, realized this game was also going to be on Versus. Courtesy of Comcast, I had to change my plans to have people over and make dinner. Went to Jen and Em's instead, delicious fajita dinner. Watched the game on a delay again, something about Pittsburgh games. Two favorite moments. 1) Fleury throwing a FIT after being pulled. 2) Ovie scoring the last open net goal to tie back up with Crosby for goals scored this season and make the final score 6-3. SWEET VICTORY. Feels so good. Like a million little feel goodies, feeling good. Read earlier in the day that Alzner and Beagle had been called up, so I knew there would be some more resting happening. Surprisingly, it was Greeny again. I was also slightly surprised to see Varly in goal, but he had an amazing night.

In the conference tonight, the Rangers lost to Buffalo, Philly won, Montreal lost to the Isles, NJ beat Atlanta, Ottawa beat FL, and Carolina beat Tampa Bay. Boston is in 8th, points ahead of the Rangers and 1 point behind Philly, with the Sabres, Canes, and Caps left to play in the regular season. Not sure who we'll be playing, it's looking like it will be Montreal, Philly, or Boston. I'd prefer it not be Montreal... They ended our winning streak and they just don't sit well with me.