thursday challenge #69: "sports"

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Thematic Photographic 82: "2009 - The Year that Was" v.2.0 - Prodigal Son Returns, Canes Make Playoffs, and Another Car Show

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"Return of the Maestro"
Greensboro, NC - April 2009 (Click to embiggen)

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"Nobody Greets Marty With a Runway Party"
Raleigh, NC - April 2009 (Click to embiggen)

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"Three 1960's vintage MG A's"
Raleigh, NC - May 2009 (Click to embiggen)

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My son the music major returned home in the Spring semester of his junior year, leaving the remote and frozen environs of Potsdam, NY and the Crane School of Music for the closer-to-home University of North Carolina at Greensboro. In April he played his first recital at UNC-G followed shortly by his first gig with the school's Symphonic Band. This shot was from the former event obviously.

And about the same time he returned from the North Country, the Hurricanes returned to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since winning The Cup in 2006. After knocking off two of the top three seeds in the East in dramatic fashion (a pair of Game 7 wins, one on a buzzer beater and the other in overtime) Carolina ran into the juggernaut that was Pittsburgh, the eventual winner of the Stanley Cup. But until The Penguins marched into town, the middle-of-the-night welcome home parties at RDU International were in full swing each time the team returned home from the road.

And two days after Scott Walker banged a rebound past Tim Thomas to chase the top-seeded Boston Bruins from the playoffs, I was listening to the radio re-broadcast while on a photo tour with the Tonka Unit. Stop number one on the tour was the Antique British Car Show hosted by North Hills... what do they call it now that the mall isn't there anymore? Anyway, I question the antiquity of some of the cars on hand (somehow a 2006 Lotus doesn't seem like it would qualify) but while pondering if I had ever had occasion to use the plural of "Lotus" (I don't think I have) I caught this collection of 60s vintage MG A's.

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Thematic Photographic 80: "Abstract" v.4.0 Abstract by Time Lapse

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"It May Have Looked Like This To Some People"
Raleigh, NC - April 2009 (Click to embiggen)

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This is another happy accident that occurred at one of the "airport rallies" during last spring's NHL playoffs. I'm not letting any secrets out of the bag here, this was just a case where I squeezed off a shot before my flash coudl recover leading to a really slow shutter speed, leadin gto everything being blurred beyond recognition. Kinda neat, in a been-there-done-that kind of way.

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Wherein I Rant: "And Tonight's First Star, from Your Dallas Stars, Kerry Fraser!"

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Yeah, it's politically incorrect to call out the officials when you lose, and normally I wouldn't.

Photo: MIKE FUENTES - AP (from The News & Observer Online)

'Cause normally they do a great (okay good) job and if they blow one you gotta overcome, right? But when this (see photo - click to embiggen) isn't a penalty, something's wrong. Don't get me wrong, I like a good open ice hit as much as anybody. But when you come from half a rink away and leave your feet to go stick-first into a guy's head, there's got to be consequences. In this case, there were consequences, just not to Ott and the Stars. It wouldn't piss me off quite as much if they hadn't whistled Carolina's Tom Kostopoulos for retaliating in Dwyer's (the "target" of Ott's cheap shot) defense which led to Jamie Benn's goal on the ensuing power play. But they did and I am. Not that the Canes didn't take their share of (monumentally) BAD penalties later in the game. But this is the guys in stripes deciding the outcome. Literally. Because there was a straight line from a blown call to the game-winning goal. (And photographic evidence to back that statement up.) And even Kerry "Ted Koppel Award" Fraser will tell ya that shouldn't happen.

As for Ray Whitney's disallowed goal, all I can say is I didn't see "incontrovertible video evidence" that the call on the ice (goal) should be reversed. But I only saw one angle of the replay since there was no local TV (thanks very much Fox Sports Carolinas!) so I will grudgingly concede that one (even though it appeared in the highlight I saw that the puck changed direction from hitting Whitney's stick blade).

For the record, the referees in the NHL are generally pretty good, and the guys in the replay booth are usually pretty good at pointing out just how often the on-ice officials are right. Which is a lot more often than they're wrong. But in this case? Fraser, O'Rourke, et. al., you kicked it. Badly. And multiple times.

Okay. I feel better now. A little.

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Thematic Photographic 75: "Travel" v.5.0 - Cold War Battlefield

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"'Snow' in Lake Placid"
Lake Placid, NY - August 2005 (Click to embiggen)

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Snow. In August. Yeahright. Sorry, not even in Lake Placid is this happening. I suspect that this mound of "snow" fell not from the belly of a cloud, but the belly of a zamboni or two. Just a hunch, but the proximity of two Olympic sized ice rinks is a pretty strong clue. Both of those rinks have played host to Olympic hockey tournamets, in 1932 when the US team took home the silver and Germany won the first of its only two medals in the sport (the West German team also scored bronze in 1976). Canada took home the gold in that tournament, which included only four teams (Poland was the fourth).

But far more famous was the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" which saw an upstart Team USA take down the mighty Soviet Union which had collected seven gold medals in nine tries since their Olympic hockey 1956 debut. You didn't have to be a hockey fan to appreciate the enormity of that moment as the final seconds ticked off the clock and a bunch of college kids from Boston and Minnesota and opints in between who didn't realize what they couldn't do went on to the final game. The game between the US and Sweden to determine the gold was nearly lost in the uproar following this upset victory. But it was more than just a game or even a medal that came out of that rink in a small town upstate. It was a win at a time when the country desperately needed a win. Any kind of win. It's different now. The breakup of the Soviet Union and the IOC's allowance of NHL players have pretty well narrowed the field of teams that can be competitive to a handful. Besides the USA, Canada, Finland, Sweden and the Czech Republic, most other countries represented in the NHL were former Soviet satellites. And bound together under the umbrella of the USSR, they presented a formidable force. Individually however they boast relatively few professional players on their rosters, handicapping them significantly in a round robin competition like this. It's still entertaining to watch, mind you, but the dyas of "miracles" in Olympic hockey are probably gone for good.

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Thematic Photographic 74: "Red" v.3.0 - Red Hot (Even if the Team's Not)

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"Brandon Sutter (C) DOB: 2/14/1989 6'-3" - 183 lb - Shoots: Right"
Raleigh, NC - September 2007 (Click to embiggen)

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The name Sutter is hardly new to the NHL. Back in the day, there were six Sutter brothers who did tours with various NHL clubs including Brent, father of The Hurricanes first round draft pick in 2007. Carolina went for the genes in that draft, and despite the fact that the kid can't seem to bulk up his 6' 3" frame (the roster lists him at 183... I think they must've weighed him with his skates on and both pockets full of rocks) he's showing a remarkable amount of moxie for a 20-year-old. In the Canes last three games he's scored their only 2 goals. And he did it centering the fourth line. He's quick, he's got good hands, and great instincts. He's responsible defensively and has very little downside other than a lack of bulk and a shortage of experience. But he played major minutes with the Albany River Rats (the Hurricanes' AHL affiliate) before being called up to fill a roster spot vacated by injury. Now with three of Carolina's top 9 forwards on the shelf including iron man Eric Staal (who had played 349 consecutive regular season games and an addiitonal 43 playoff games before sitting out Wednesday's game in Florida) sidelined for two to four weeks and winger Erik Cole just coming back from a broken leg, I'd expect to see Sutter moving up the food chain. Possibly centering the second line even. (Coach) Paul Maurice is big on giving the ice time to the guys who're getting it done and Sutter is earning his minutes. This photo was taken during a pre-season game the year Brandon was drafted. Andrew Ladd was wearing the #16 sweater at the time, but Sutter has reclaimed that number since Ladd's departure in a trade with Chicago. If he keeps playing the way he is currently, hockey's newest Sutter may just be in the NHL to stay.

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Thematic Photographic 70: "Hard" v.5.0 - Hard Rockin'

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"Rockin' the House"
Raleigh, NC - June 2006 (Click to embiggen)

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Note: Please take a moment to stop by the Written, Inc. and visit this post. And pay your respects to TP's creator, Carmi, on the sudden loss of his father. Best thoughts for you and your family Carmi.

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I suppose there's a twisted sense of irony in booking a band named "Suckerpunch" to play for the pre- and post-game festivities at a hockey game. And this wasn't just any hockey game, this was Game 7 of the 2006 Stanley Cup Final. The band was rockin' hard, and so was the home team, winning 3-1 to take the Stanley Cup Championship in front of a hard-rockin', standing-room-only home crowd that boatsed celebrity guests Kid Rock, Tim Robbins and Cuba Gooding Jr. But at the end of the night, those stars were eclipsed by the hard-working guys in red, white and black.

Your Turn: Got a "Hard" photo to support this week's theme? Feel free to share a link in the comments. If you're new to Thematic Photographic or just wondering how this works, you can find out all about it here or better yet, here at TP's usual home.

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Photo Hunt #48: "Sports"

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"Well What'd You Expect? Curling?"
RBC Center, Raleigh, NC - September 2007 (Click to embiggen)
Next Week's Challenge: "Open Week"

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Two4Tuesday #23: "Triumph/Defeat"

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"The Triumphant One is 13 in Red"
Raleigh, NC - January 2007 (Click to embiggen)

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My World Tuesday #50: "It's That Time Again"

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"Center Rod Brind'Amour (C)"
Raleigh, NC - September 2007 (Click to embiggen)

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In only a few short days my favorite season will kick off for another round. "Fall?", you ask. No, hockey season. Training camp is winding down, the rosters are being finalized, pared down to the limit that the NLH says a team can carry on active status. And around here, that means watching to see if top prospects like Brandon Sutter (yes, of the Sutters) will stay with the Big Club for opening night or be sent to the AHL to keep in shape and gain experience. Sutter may very well find himself in that position, not because he hasn' tacquitted himself well in camp -- he has -- but because the Hurricanes are stacked at the center ice position. Down the middle Carolina features a former All-Star MVP in Eric Staal (yes, of the Staals), a two-time Selke Award winner in their captain Rod Brind'Amour (above), and the most likley suspects for the other two spots on the roster would be Matt Cullen and Stephane Yelle. All four of these guys have their names on the Stanley Cup, three of them with Carolina's 2006 team and the fourth (Yelle) twice with the Colorado Avalanche.

Another off-season priority for GM Jim Rutherford was shoring up a slightly suspect defense corps. Not that the Canes were weak along the blue line, but with Glen Wesley retiring, there was no "veteran leader" stepping up to fill that vaccuum. This, proabbly more than anything, prompted Rutherford to re-acquire former Hurricane Aaron Ward from Boston. Ward was an integral part of Carolina's two trips to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2002 and 2006 and is the owner of three Stanley Cup rings, one with the 2006 Hurricanes and two with the 1997-98 and 1998-99 Detroit Red Wings. That kind of experience is irreplacable and Ward -- who kept his home in the Raleigh area even after leaving for the Big Apple via free agency in 2007 -- should fill the void left in the locker room by Wesley's retirement admirably.

In goal, expect Cam Ward to get the kind of workout his boyhood hero Martin Brodeur makes routine. In his last tour of duty with the Hurricanes Coach Paul Maurice rode Arturs Irbe to seasons of 74 and 77 starts in consecutive years. I wouldn't expect Ward to see that kind of work, but if his late season play last year from mid-February on is any indication, he may well be up to the task. Which leaves the question of how ready Michael Leighton will be if called upon to play for an extended period due to an injury. Ward's career has been fairly injury free with only a few relatively minor cuts and strains keeping him out of the lineup for more than a game or two. But I'd feel better about life if Leighton got some work.

Speaking of coaches, after Rutherford shocked the world by bringing Paul Maurice back behind the Carolina bench mid season last year, "Mo" devised a coaching program thta's almost modeled on the NFL. With first-ballot Hall of Famer Ron Francis working the offensive side of the house and another Hall of Famer, Tom Barrasso working the goaltenders, Maurice - always a defense-first style of coach - is free to oversee the "big picture". The system worked well enough last season as the Hurricanes turned the ship around and stormed into the Eastern Conference Final only a few weeks removed form being below the cut line for the playoffs. How well it works over the course of a full season remains to be seen, but the outlook is promising.

And then there's the X-Factor. Or more accurately the "O-Factor". "O" as in "Olympics". In the last two Olympic years (the real Olympics mind you, not those nantsy Summer ones) Carolina has claimed two Eastern Conference titles and a Stanley Cup. Coincidence? Probably. Or maybe the extended break in the schedule for the Olympics does something for these guys that it doesn't do for other teams. Whatever. I'll take it. And a Stanley Cup to go.

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Pic A Theme #15: "Twos" - 9.21.2009

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"Retired Number"
Raleigh, NC - September 2007 (Click to embiggen)

To see more from the Pic-A-Theme Community of Bloggers, visit Pic-A-Theme

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Hurricanes #1 in the NHL

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I gotta say, I did not see this one coming. The Hurricanes getting the love from ESPN? Maybe the bitterness of separation has finally worn off, eh?

It's not like the Bristol, CT based network had any regard for the team when they were still in Hartford. Prior to the move to North Carolina, it's doubtful that even a hardcore hockey fan south of New York City could have named more than one player on the Whalers' roster. (I couldn't... could you?) We simply never, ever saw them play (unless of course, they were playing the Rangers who seemed to be on every other broadcast). But all that's changed now in the world of the NHL on Versus (which still baffles me).

With ESPN now relegated to highlight reels and the Team Formerly Known as the Whalers hoisting a Stanley Cup banner, they've begun to take notice of The Little Franchise That Could. Like this gem for example.

Since 2003 ESPN has been compiling what they call the "Ultimate Standings" for all teams in all major (by their definition, okay?) sports. In their words: "in which we measure how much MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL franchises give back to the fans in exchange for all the time, money and emotion the fans invest in them."

The formula for computing the standings is dizzying, and a few of the categories puzzle me to no end. But when they tallied everything, my beloved Hurricanes finished #2 in the overall rankings across all sports and #1 among NHL teams. It's not a Stanley Cup, but I'll take it.

So in the overall standings for all sports, we got nudged out of the top spot by the MLB's Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (WTF is up with teams from Anaheim and names that won't fit on a marquee anyway? Must be a Disney thing. At least the Ducks finally figured that one out.)

Where did some of the more "iconic" sports franchises finish? Well, predictably the Super Bowl Champion Steelers were #3, but surprisingly the Stanley Cup Champion Penguins only rose to #8. The Detroit Red Wings landed in the #4 slot despite a 7-game series loss to said Penguins in the Stanley Cup Final. (Come on Pittsburgh, get your priorities in order here!) Other notable teams, the Green Bay Packers finished in the #13 spot, and Boston's highest ranked entry was the Celtics at #20 (with the Bruins and Red Sox coming in at #56 and #58 respectively. If you want to count the Patriots as a "Boston" team, they came in just ahead of the Celtics at #19.)

And one development that had me laughing up my sleeve was the 76th place finish of The NFL's Lords of Arrogance, the Dallas Cowboys who got smoked by both of theirs neighbors, the NHL's Stars (#22) and the NBA's Mavericks (#46). Take that Jerry Jones.

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Lensday #30: "Candid"

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"Rod Brind'Amour - Pre Game Skate"
Raleigh, NC - February 2007 (Click to embiggen)

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That's My World Tuesday #31: Caniac Fever

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"Signs and Symptoms I"
Raleigh, NC - May 2009 (Click to embiggen)

It doesn't happen every year, but when it does it's unmistakable. When the end of the NHL's regular season arrives, the top eight teams in each conference begin the grueling pursuit of the Stanley Cup. Four rounds of best-of-seven and the best hockey you will ever see. If one of the eight teams in the Eastern Conference Playoffs is Raleigh's Carolina Hurricanes, there will be an outbreak of Caniac Fever. Symptoms include spontaneous and thematic decorating by both the public and private sectors, and perhaps most notably periodic gatherings at RDU International Airport when the team charter returns from a road trip. The worst outbreak to date occurred in 2006 when the Canes won their 16th game of the post-season and claimed the ultimate prize. That outbreak lasted well into the following fall.

"Signs and Symptoms II"
Raleigh, NC - May 2009 (Click to embiggen)

Banners of the type pictured above are a sure sign of the condition, and pop up all over the city. Neither the private nor public sectors are immune. As the Hurricanes go deeper into the playoffs, even the state capitol building has been known to fly the team flag from its roof. But the surest and earliest warning sign is the gathering of large groups at the airport on nights when the team travels home. For the seasoned fan, relapses of this symptom occur instantly. For the recent convert or casual observer, it may take longer. But by the time the final game is played, scenes like the one below will play out multiple times. This year there could be an unusually high number of these parties since the Hurricanes will not have have home ice advantage in any round of the playoffs, and both of the first two rounds went the full seven games. The photo below was taken after the most recent of these deciding games. Estimates of crowd size vary widely, but the range seems to be between 500 and 1000. At 2:30 a.m. on a weekday. And the Eastern Conference Finals are just starting.

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It's The Playoffs, Stupid - Dear Boston Bruins:

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To you, to your coach, to your media I say "You got owned. Get over it."

I'm sick to death of hearing how you didn't play your best game. How you haven't executed your game plan. How you're being persecuted by the officials.

You want to know why you're facing triple match point in this series? Can you handle the truth? You've been outworked, outhustled, and outthought -- in short outplayed -- by a team you came in with too little respect for. You breezed through a series with a Canadiens team that had been trying as hard as they knew how to implode for most of the year and you expected it to be easy. Trouble is, now you're up against a team with some teeth and it's not easy anymore.

It's the playoffs, stupid. If you're not gonna bring your A-game, you don't belong here. Go home. We'll help you pack.

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