Wednesday 2/19/25
People talk like they're going to die forty or fifty years before they're statistically likely to (even as people in terrible shape). Is everyone that bad at math? Or is it thinking? Or that good at wanting an excuse for everything?
When I was a kid, people would talk about attitude. At hockey camps, it was attitude this and attitude that. And I found that annoying, probably because I was just so focused on getting better. Doing the drills right, competing my ass off. But you know what? All of that attitude talk--extrapolated to this cesspool of shallow, whining, defeatist people that is our world now, makes a ton of sense to me. The whole needs a major attitude adjustment.
I had this teacher in high school named Chester Bater. That's right--Mr. Bater. No joke. You can imagine how that went. Anyway, he'd talk about the Beatitudes a lot and use that as an excuse to make his go-to pun and serve up his leading piece of life advice: Be your attitude.
Now, it's a bit more complicated than that--actually being things. But if you have a terrible attitude, you won't be anything worthwhile. Whether that's a genius artist, a decent person, someone who respects themselves, what have you.
It's that time of the year where you still see Christmas decorations outside and the Easter stuff is on the shelves at CVS.
Outside Christmas decorations really do stay up for a long time, which I don't mind. This is the time of the year when I begin looking forward to the autumn and Christmas. Not in my life as it presently is; but in my life as I'd like it to be. This is when my joy for those things would be rekindled.
Say what one will about spring and summer, but it's the colder months that best lend themselves to appealing types and flavors of coffee.
This week I've worn a winter jacket for just the second and third times this winter, complete with scarf. It's the wind. Classic Boston wind this week. A wind that sounds violent when you're inside like it's just having at everything.
I take Easter as a challenge.
Was called "young man" by someone on Monday. That's what we're going for.
People are so embittered and nasty. Full of loathing. Self-loathing. All of their hate warps their minds and prevents them from seeing anything as it is. I saw this post from a woman--and I checked her bio after, and of course it had everything you'd expect if you still have a brain in your head--and she was berating these hockey dads near where she lived, because she was at the rink where these fathers also were with their hockey-playing daughters, and the dads she spoke to didn't know that there was a PWHL event two-and-a-half hours away. She lambasted these men in her post before concluding--as you'd expect--"Do better."
Here were these guys with their daughters at the rink. Do you know how much time and expense goes into hockey for a family with a hockey player? It's a lot. That's what you're doing--you're going to rinks. You're in the car. You're up at very early hours of the morning on the weekend. And this green-haired person with her pronouns and her bio boasts about being an ally and an advocate and being a cat mom was laying into these guys.
And I thought, "This is why no one likes anyone like you, including you." It's so mean. Needlessly mean. And dumb. The PWHL doesn't do a great job, I'd say, marketing the league. You hear little about it here in Boston, and this is something I'd be interested in. I watch a lot of women's hockey--it's just usually college. And two-and-a-half hours away? That's not exactly close anyway, is it?
Despite having to hang on, Canada got their win against Finland and everyone will get the expected/preferred Four Nations final at the Garden tomorrow. I'm expecting a Canadian victory--I just think they have too much top-end talent. McDavid will do his thing, Crosby is so great in these situations. Their weakness is in net, which is a strength for the Americans. We're most likely talking a close game, and the goaltending can make for all the difference--I felt like it did the other day when these teams met.
The US does have a home rink advantage. The Garden will be jumping. The irony is that this exhibition game that's essentially All-Star break filler will be the most watched hockey game of the year, probably by far. I doubt a Game 7 Stanley Cup Final would come close to doing the same numbers as this game will do.
Charlie McAvoy makes one impactful play in years--the hit on McDavid--and what do you know, now he's injured and will miss time for the Bruins. So even when this guy does something there's a negative, if you want to look at him being out as a negative. It's definitely not a negative for team USA if Quinn Hughes can play in McAvoy's stead. He's much better than McAvoy and his skating game can help the US.
People were celebrating McAvoy's "game-changing" hit. Charlie "Big Play" McAvoy! First off: McDavid turned him into toast on that first goal of the game. Secondly, everyone who has ever played hockey has had a teammate on D who was a liability, did nothing, turned the puck over, made bad pinching decisions, but who, every now and again, would drill someone. Law of averages. They'd finally connect. There's a difference between being that guy and actually being good. It's one play.
The mid-February drama with the Red Sox continues. Tristan Casas decided to open his mouth and pop off for the latest time, holding forth on who should play where. Devers belongs at third he said, Bregman is the second baseman. He just starts picking sides and yapping. When none of this is remotely part of his remit. Why would you do this? Casas must be insufferable to be around. I don't mind him as much as most--a lot of people really can't stand him. Casas said Devers is a great third baseman. Wouldn't rather have anyone else there. What an idiot. Casas talks like he's been around for fourteen years and won a couple Triple Crowns, except a player who has been around for fourteen years would know not to say shit like this. Bregman won a Gold Glove last year. He's your teammate, too. Bonehead.
Fitness effort hasn't been great. Part of that has to do with February in Boston, but all of it is on me. 100 push-ups on Saturday and that was it. Twenty-five push-ups on Sunday--bad C-Dawg--and that was it. Walked three miles and did 200 push-ups on Monday. Another 200 push-ups yesterday and ran 3000 stairs at City Hall. Sunday marked 3143 days, or 449 weeks, without a drink.
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