Are You Kidding Me?

"This season, the Islanders are looking to create an even better Blog Box and are looking to add three established bloggers. If you would like to be one of the newest Isles bloggers, auditions will be held at the 2010 Islanders Draft Party on Friday, June 25 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The selected bloggers will then be interviewed by the Islanders communications staff and the winners will be notified.

We are looking for you, so come on out to the 2010 Draft Party and show us what you can do!"

If you can dance, juggle chainsaws, cut DP in half, guess Doug Weight's real age, then you're in!

Kidding aside, you have to imagine that they meant interview rather than audition, right? Or is this another stab from the 'establishment' that bloggers are shaved monkeys on typewriters in their parent's basements?

Only On The Isle

The reign of stupidity in Uniondale continued today as the Islanders fired Ted Nolan.

I almost feel bad. Well ... no, not really. It will be all that much easier for the Rangers to beat the Islanders. But still, I mean, seriously: are they trying to lose? First came the dismissal of Neil Smith, and now this??? All Nolan did was keep a pathetic roster competitive and they fired him. Quoting "philosophical differences," Garth Snow made the announcement without having another coach in mind. I think Bozo the Clown would be the perfect candidate because that franchise is just a joke. Charles Wang seems intent on replacing capable personnel with friends of the family, to the detriment of the product on the ice.

Man, I hate the Islanders. This is awesome. Keep it up Fishermen!

Killin' Time: Tuesday Night Edition

Henceforth this summer any posts of random observations/news will be called "Killin' Time" because, let's face it - that is all we are doing at this point of the year. There is some hockey news but no hockey games ... and that sucks. So, onto this evening's edition:

*The Rangers made Paul Mara's return official today. Andrew Hutchinson, meanwhile, is leaving Hartford for Tampa Bay, where he will be given a chance to replace some of the departed Dan Boyle's offense from the blueline. Hutch was stellar for the Pack and the Rangers were unable to give him a chance because of the idiotic return waivers that he would have had to pass through. Should Wade Redden stumble and fall - and I am fully expecting him to do just that - then letting Hutch go will have been a mighty mistake. The Rangers could have given him the one-way deal he wanted and signed Jason Smith (who went to Ottawa to replace Redden) instead of Mara and had more stability on the blueline, a better veteran presence in the locker room and a lot more cap room to spend on next summer's stellar crop of free agents.

*The Rangers also let another Hartford player go - Mitch Fritz. Mitch left for the Isles of all teams (traitor) after barely playing last season due to injury. Mitch was a big guy with a big heart and certainly one of the best hockey player bloggers. It would have been nice to see him healthy and playing for the Pack this season but, now that he has joined the enemy, he will just be another oversized goon in the Isles organization to boo.

*While making a mistake in letting Mitch go, the Rangers have possibly made another by bringing Mike Barnett on board as the Senior Advisor to the President and General Manager and Director of U.S. Amateur Scouting. The former agent to Wayne Gretzky did indeed set the ball rolling to respectability in Phoenix through good scouting, but he also made such stellar moves as trading away Daniel Briere and Daymond Langkow, trading for Mike Comrie and signing Oleg Kvasha and a way-past-his-prime Tony Amonte among others. Let's just hope that Glen Sather's signing only enhances the stellar work done by Gordie Clark and the Rangers scouts while doing nothing towards wheeling and dealing. And who knows what this guy is being paid? It surely isn't a pittance and that will come out of our season ticket money.

*Speaking of which, its mid-July, why haven't the Rangers sent out invoices yet? It is annoying not knowing how much next season is going to cost but it does have its good points - the money stays in our accounts longer earning interest for us, rather than the Rangers and the NHL schedule is coming out next week so we will know exactly what we will be paying for ...

*Say it ain't so Stu, say it ain't so! Stu Barnes is considering retiring from the NHL. Now Stu was one of those players who you didn't really know unless he was on your team, and if he was, you loved him. The veteran forward played more than 1,100 games for Dallas, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Florida and Winnipeg. He caught my eye in a tiny little blurb in Newsday back when he was playing in the AHL after scoring a hat trick for Moncton (which I actually saved, as you can see laid over his rookie card on the right). He went on from there to have a solid career in the bigs that included two trips to the Finals but no Cup (damn that Brett Hull). A classy player to watch, he worked hard every shift and did all of the dirty work it takes to win games while even popping up to score a clutch goal or two. It is certainly sad to see the pool of former Jets grow ever smaller in the NHL, and I just wanted to wish him the best of luck should he indeed retire.

*On the topic of goodbyes, Chris Botta signed off from his Point Blank Islanders blog. The p.r. guru for the Isles decided to move on from the Mistake In The Mausoleum and is pretty much leaving behind his nice behind-the-scenes blog. Wherever he goes, whatever he does, he is leaving a solid legacy that included the Blog Box. Happy trails Chris, and know that no one could have made the Isles look good so don't consider your time there a failure.

*A quick return to the Rangers for a second, people are saying that the captain's C should go to Chris Drury next season - and he will likely get it - but here is a underrated candidate: Blair Betts. Bettsy sets a never-say-die standard that the young Rangers would look up to while letting Dru continue to work out of the spotlight he dreads so much.

I miss hockey. Is it September yet??

A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing

So I am splitting my Monday night experience at the Islanders-Pens game into two posts - the first being this one, on the Islanders Blog Box itself.

As I mentioned, the Islanders were gracious enough to give me a credential and allow me entry into the building, as well as a spot in the box. I managed to not wear a single item of clothing with the Rangers logo on it (quite the task, let me tell you) and I covered up the Rangers stickers on my laptop. I also replaced my usual wallpaper (which I shot myself on opening night) with this (where you couldn't see the bottom line thanks to the Macbook's dock.

I have to say that it is really a wonderful idea with pretty good positioning -- it is on the penalty box side of the ice in the Islanders end so you get a nice view of the ice and the benches. However, the way they shoehorned it into the space behind the lower bowl causes it to have some problems. It is only on a foot-high dais so if there is someone in the row directly in front of you, their head blocks a solid portion of the ice. It would pay to be higher, but at the same time a female blogger - Dee from Seventh Woman - had a bit of trouble to climb up so steps would be nice. I found it best to stand, which is fine with me as I usually stand for much of the Ranger games in the last row of the 300s. But still, when people in the row in front of you stand, you can't see a thing.

Speaking of the female blogger - there were nine seats but just three other writers sitting there. I am not trying to make a joke here, but the Islanders can't give away free seats? Could you imagine the line of writers who would be at the Garden? There was another blogger there who sat in his season ticket seat (Mike from Isles Blogger), but that brings up the point that teams don't really need to give free spots away to passionate fans/bloggers - we go anyway. If the Rangers gave me a free seat to blog, they could lose the $2,200 I pay for my season ticket ... and why would they do that?

But in the case of the Islanders (and the Capitals and other teams with attendance/marketing/coverage problems) I really do think that it is a great way to get more eyes on their team. The writers there are passionate and care about their team - a far cry from the bored beat writers who may or may not show up to every game. It is also a little weird to hear cheering from other writers. After covering sporting events in the past as MSM, I had been used to a quiet (bitter, annoyed) press row but this was a great change.

And after the game we were allowed to go down to the locker room to participate in some interviews - Ted Nolan, Dubi and Sean Bergenheim all spoke. This again brings up a debate on bloggers: are we fans who act like media, or are we fans who act like fans? Basically, do you play it straight or do you ask the burning questions? I played it straight, asking a legit question to Dubi about how he prepares for the games behind all of these kids (no change, just hope they don't relent in the third period). But as a fan, I would have asked what was wrong with his stick as he lost it three times during play (and no teammates gave him theirs - for shame).

But for all of the nitpicking, and for all of the debates that it brings up, the Blog Box really is a great thing, not only for the Islanders but for the sport as well in that it brings the fans even closer to the action. I am very thankful to the Islanders, in particular VP of Media Relations Chris Botta and VP of Communications Josh Bernstein, for the opportunity.