First NHL Game, Bruins vs. Candiens Game 3

(Photo Courtesy of Elsa) For the first time Sunday night I attended a National Hockey League game, and luckily it was the playoffs, game 3 in Boston at the TD Banknorth Garden between the Bruins and Montreal Canadians. I was invited by uncle and cousin so I knew it would be a fun time regardless, I just was hesistant since I'm not a big hockey guy. We parked in the north end of town, and got there early enough where went to an awesome pizza spot, kind of hidden, but it was definately some of the better pizza I've had in a while. After that we walked to the Garden where before even getting in there were tons of "habs" fans, more than i expected, but they came down by the busload from Canada.. The nickname Habs according to Jaime Fitzpatrick is: "an abbreviation of "les habitants," the informal name given to the original settlers of New France, dating back to the 17th Century."

Once inside we met up with the guy that hooked us up with tickets and headed to our suite. I'd been in a suite there a few years ago for a Celtics game but it was perfect eye level for the game.

The Bruins were on the board first courtesy of a Milan Lucic goal. The Canadiens answered however with a Tom Kostopoulos goal, and 1-1 is where the score remained until 9:25 seconds into OT when Marc Savard netted his first career playoff goal. During the OT period, I thought for sure the B's were going to lose it, Montreal was getting way to many shots, and Tim Thomas was making fabulous save after save. In the case of the goal it was a delayed penalty and Savard was the extra skater that hopped on when Thomas reached the bench.

I must admit it's a hundred times better watching this sport in person than on TV. Zdeno Chara, the Czech defenseman and Captain is an absolute monster, as he's listed at 6'9 251 without skates and equipment. Tim Thomas kept them in the game in over time. There were probably 60/40 Bruins fans to Candiens, without question the most away team fans i've ever seen at a sporting event.

Below is the video of Savard's goal:



Quote of the Night: (as a Candiens fan was getting arrested)"Welcome to America, let us show you how our justice system works." -Said by a passing by Bruins fan

An Absolute Must See...The Last Lecture

After a gorgeous Thursday afternoon, when I woke up Friday morning the last thing I wanted to do was go to class, but such is life. After 50 minutes each of organizational behavior and international business management I engaged in my daily website rotation of e-mail, facebook, fantasy sports, eBay, and espn.com. And while I frequently read articles on ESPN's website something really caught my eye, it was a preview of a Diane Sawyer piece she was doing on a man named Randy Pausch, a 47 year old profession at Carnegie Mellon University. He even has his own wikipedia page (I think this summer i'm going to create my own wikipedia page) The reason she was doing a story on him? From reading subsequent articles and watching youtube videos he is well educated (Brown for his undergraduate, CMU for a PhD) and is one of the leaders in the virtual reality field. More importantly he can be defined as a beloved husband, dad, colleague (here's his CMU website), professor, and friend. Sadly, Dr. Pausch has pancreatic cancer, and has only a few months left to live. So instead of dwelling in self pity, he's "having fun day," and doing what he can before he leaves us.

That is a brief synopsis of his background and where he's at. The story connects with ESPN as he is a huge Steelers fan and gets to hang out, play catch from Hines Ward, and other Steelers, which can be seen here. Here is a picture of Randy and HinesAnd from reading that, and googling him, there were mentions of this infamous "last lecture." So through changing around some of the words I found it on youtube, and have posted it below. It's 1 hour 16 minutes, so break it up if need be. This captivated me and i was hooked, I watched part of it before my mass communication class and couldn't wait to get back to listen to this lecture. (so i finish classes on a Friday yet want to continue to hear a professor talk, weird) His was different, the way he spoke, the underlying message, maybe because of his condition I wanted to judge whether he's being spotlighted for that, or because he's a great husband, dad, colleague, professor, and friend.

Below is the video, and again i STRONGLY encourage you to watch even just the few minutes and hear his story, his philosophies on life, and his future.

Ouch Charlie

YouTube video of the day:



Comment with your request for your favorite videos

2008 Final Four-North Carolina Breakdown

With a break to catch up on classes, I'll now get back into the blogging aspect of things again. So where to begin? The first will have to be with the March Madness going down in America, which has no gotten itself down to the Final Four which will be located in San Antonio, Texas. And for the first time in Division I history all four number one seeds have made it to the Final Four. They are the University of North Carolina Tar Heels, Kansas Jayhawks, Memphis Tigers, and University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) Bruins. Memphis will play UCLA Saturday at 6:07 P.M. (Eastern Time) and meeting his former employer for the first time Roy Williams and his squad will take on Bill Self and his Kansas University team at 8:47 P.M.

As a huge fan of Carolina, I obviously want them to win, but there are several players that will be crucial to their success:
First is Junior All-American from Poplar Bluff, MO, Tyler Hansbrough.
Next is the motor that drives their offense, an Oak Hill Academy product, sophomore point guard Ty Lawson
Third will be 6th man Danny Green, who has come through some adversity to produce the best season he's had in Carolina blue. Also Check out the infamous Danny Green Dance:

Third for the Tar Heels will be the ability of Marcus Ginyard to shut down the oppositions best player, whomever that may be.

Additional factors: Wayne Ellington's (who was a high school teammate of Duke guard Gerald Henderson) and how well he shoots from the perimeter, and Quentin Thomas' ability to play back up point guard at an efficient and productive level.

21st Birthday...No Joke

As we know, today is the best holiday of the year, April Fools Day. Not only that but it also is my 21st birthday, and no I'm not joking...

So hopefully some pranks go down around the businesses and schools today, its what makes the day great.

Movie of the Day: April Fools Day