Neo

I am 58. I’ve said more than a few times “just once in my lifetime so I can go happy.” As my age increases, and as my teams improve, I find myself looking over my shoulder for Mephistopheles!

I’m happy where we are. First world problems. I don't disagree with many of the nits, but ... the fan base is evolving along with the team. We’re 5-1. We beat Miami by ten. Allen was 62%, 117 QBR, 2 TDs, no turnovers. Allen led another 4Q comeback and has a great W/L in games he’s started and finished. We’re not NE and he’s not Brady. We’ve advanced from losing to being not totally satisfied with how we win.

We felt the same way about Kemp, kiddo. I’m not sure about Sammy Baugh.

I will be on an airplane for this one and will check NHL.TV on a layover. I’m returning from a family trip that began with temperatures 50 degrees colder than home and ended with EMTs in a hotel room. All is well. The totality is beauty and joy that leaves me grateful and without words, yet. I have a Things That Are Awesome post coming!

Yeah, I’m out of my depth on this topic, for sure. I believe I’m sympathetic to physicians, maybe to a fault. I see scientists who need to be artists and believe that inevitably comes with error. I’m grateful they try. On another note, I’m sympathetic to lawyers, too. The same science/art construct applies. Glad for Josie’s friend, in the situation’s totality.

The costs of training, time, regulation and insurance ... whole industries necessary when health care and litigation merge. Want health care reform? Want to reduce health care costs? Want more physician availability and accessibility? Tort reform .... Acknowledged ... I’m not a lawyer nor am I a physician. I am a consumer, though, and know I’d get more health care for less money if we didn’t jump to “sue!”

Am I alone in thinking that getting a lawyer whenever someone errs isn’t always the right thing to do? I mean, we all err. Those in more consequential positions err more consequentially, sure. That’s definitional. I was misdiagnosed recently, the other way (under diagnosed). A specialist corrected my generalist. I was on the wrong medicine for two years. It could’ve been bad. I asked the specialist “how was this missed?” out of intellectual curiosity. I froze the poor son of a gun! All he could do, I’m sure, was picture himself in a deposition when I sued my GP. I laughed. “Dude, I’m not suing, I promise ... did he blow it?”. long pause ... “He blew it”. Wanna shut a doctor up? Ask him about another doctor.

Without weighing in on the tragedy (for brevity; my view is uncontroversial), I want to acknowledge this effective use of language and structure to make the point.

Side Note ... I’m with Tom Webster on Turgeon’s value. I’m trying to remember if I was this thoughtful during our first trip down this road two years ago. He put up about 700 more NHL points than Lafontaine did after the trade ... Patty was great, but we paid dearly.

I keep “seeing” Rick Nash.

Dudacek is right on. You used "Top" at number one, and "Best" at number two. My brain allows me to see them differently. Top ... Gil Best ... Dom PS ... there was a VERY thorough and thoughtful deep dive a few years ago. I like this for the Anniversary year, though, the prior thread notwithstanding.

I stopped watching NFL football about five years ago, with the exception of my beloved Bills. Watch the play, watch the result, check for a flag ... pause ... pause ... cheer. It is a horror show. I’m not sure I can finish even a Bills game. I believe the NFL cares less about the game day live/tv experience, and more about fantasy football and stats. There’s no way sentient human beings in New York don't know the games are unsatisfying chores.

Kick its butt, big guy ...

I SAW that .... classic!

I had to google “Zoltar”.

Thank .. You .. Sabres!

Forty nine years ago, plus or minus a week or two, I was sitting in my family’s living room watching TV. I was nine years old and it was a school night. I crawled aross the room and turned the channel knob, probably looking for Love, American Style or The Courtship of Eddie’s father. I came across an interview. It was clearly an athlete, in uniform and sweating, but I had no idea what he was talking about. I’d never seen a hockey game. I’d never heard the word “hockey”. I sat and watched Gerry Meehan, between periods. I continued watching, over my sister’s protestations, and the rest is history. I listened to or watched nearly every game for decades. I went to airports to greet returning playoff teams. I slept overnight in front of The Aud to get SRO tickets and chanted “Bernie, Bernie” when Parent skated the Conn Smythe around the ice in 1975. I bought “Schony”, sang “We’re gonna win that cup”, and wore a Sabrejak for years. We all did back in the day of no internet, four tv channels, and a shared community experience. Life would take me into business where I’ve worked with franchise groups in three cities, helped build a few arenas, advised owners and players. I’ve had cocktails on grand lawns in East Aurora, dinners with owners in private dining rooms, sat with Robert Gordon Orr* for a playoff game, fielded phone calls from Jim Kelley and talked quietly with brawlers and enforcers. John Muckler let me wear a ring. Bob Probert shook my entire arm with a massive hand. Craig Simpson told me how humble every achievement made him feel. Bob Swados yelled at me. I’ve used parents and agents to talk to 19 year olds who spoke only French. I answered my cell phone, once, and helped a future HOFer use a debit card. I’ve talked to people in Meehan’s player agency. Like some Zelig or Forrest Gump, I’ve found myself in wildly interesting situations. It all started with a random turn of a TV dial, and a Gerry Meehan interview, forty nine years ago. I just saw Gerry on TV interviewed between periods of a hockey game, again, tonight ... I’d love to tell him my story and his role in it. In the words of Ricky Fitz, “Sometimes, there is so much beauty in the world .....”. * of Parry Sound, Ontario.

I purchased NHL.TV today. I was an NHL Center Ice subscriber in years past. The move to NHL.TV is consistent with me dropping cable and going “all streaming” three or four months ago. I love the extra video content. Tonight, I’ll see my first game while sitting with a Sazarac in a cocktail lounge. I’ll be peeking at an iPad. The app is on my TV as well as my iPhone and iPad,. I’m also recording on the TV app and will be able to watch the gane in its entirety when I’m home. $144.99 for one year.

It’s 5:38 am and I’m bleary eyed. Had this maxim revealed itself to me four hours ago, I’d have made my way to a tattoo parlor, posthaste.

Well, yes. And they might have been undefeated and un-scored upon. I’m commenting only on what they were.

I don’t know. I have a heart and mind full of four years of euphoric memories to believe the Super Bowl disappointments outweigh them. Life’s the journey as much as it is the destination. Those maddening goofballs were my boys.

The worst category of all!

Jimmy Dishes sounds so ... Goodfellas.