Jerseys and Hockey Love

Now that the Avalanche have ended their season so unceremoniously, what now?

Let’s Go, Mammoth:

The Colorado Mammoth of the NLL (National Lacrosse League) start the playoffs Saturday against the Calgary Roughnecks. It’s not hockey, but I like it.

Let’s Go, Eagles:

The Colorado Eagles are already in their playoff series, against the Arizona Sundogs in the Central Hockey League. If the Eagles win, it will be back to back cups, and three in five years of existence.

Let’s Go, Someone:

It’s still the playoffs, and hockey is still alive. It looks like I have to get behind a Pacific Division team for a little while, then I can re-evaluate. It’s still the most exciting time of year.

Let’s Go, Mud Hens:

Being in Florida for the next seven weeks, then on to DC, I will have plenty of opportunity to take in some minor league baseball. Although I would not consider myself a baseball fan, I love going to minor league parks, almost as much as I enjoy going to minor league hockey games.

Let’s Go, Tapeleg:

I have at least one new project I want to get off the ground in the next few months, and will be working towards those goals. I will need a little help, such as possible logo design, but that can wait for now.

Until then, there is hockey left to watch.

Technorati Tags: Avalanche, Eagles, Mammoth

So, let’s just say you are stuck in Detroit. You have a little time, a car, and a friend or two. What are you going to do? I suggest you go to the Cadieux Cafe for a little feather bowling.

The Cadieux Cafe doesn’t look like much from the outside, nor much from the inside, when you first step in. It is your typical bar, with a Belgian flair to it.

But step into the back room, and you have something else entirely. Welcome to feather bowling.

OK, it probably still doesn’t look like much, but let me explain. The game is like Bocce or Curling. You stand at one end of the dirt pit (hey, that’s what it is) with your ball, which looks like a smaller curling stone without a handle and made of wood. The object is to get your ball to stop closest to the target at the other end, in the case here, a feather sticking straight up.

The person with the closest ball gets the points. You get one point for every ball closest to the feather before the other persons. For instance, this would be worth one point for the red team.

Since the yellow one is next closest, red only gets one point. Speed can kill in this game, so a steady hand is helpful. We have two basic strategies, either the finesse play, where we roll it up the side of the pit and get a swooping motion, or my preferred defense, shock and awe. Yes, it is exactly what it sound like.

Action Photos!!!

So, yeah, you can wear a hockey jersey while playing.

The house rules:

We play a kind of modified version, where we each take turns. It makes for more smack talk, and a little bit more excitement.

So, what kind of men feather bowl? Belgian men. These men:

The last guy in the bottom photo is the 2007, 2003, and 1999 Champ. Do not mess with him.

The scoreboard:

Don’t knock it til you try it. When we found out we would be in Detroit, this was the thing we looked forward to the most. And I’m here to tell you, it doesn’t disappoint. Get to the Cadieux Cafe, it’s worth it.

Map to Cadieux Cafe

Technorati Tags: feather bowling, Other Sports

Talk about mixed emotions.

The Avs handed the Wild only their second loss in regulation. Mind you, that wasn’t super difficult for the Avs, as the Wild were missing Marian Gaborik, Pavol Demitra and Niklas Backstrom were all out. I mean, I could have gotten a goal. OK, no, I couldn’t. But Smyth, Svatos, and Wolski could. And did. Budaj had some stellar saves, while Josh Harding was decent in net, but had a goal go in off his melon. Two points against a division foe, it’s hard to complain. The game was decent to watch, but I was distracted, waiting for different game.

On the other end of the scale, in the world of baseball, the Rockies got swept by the Red Sox tonight to win the World Series. To say the Rockies were out matched, out classed, or out worked would have been to miss the series completely. It all came down to pitching, and the Rockies did not perform well enough on either side. The bats were never as hot, nor the arms throwing as well as the previous two series. In the series, the only wild pitch was thrown tonight, the venue didn’t matter, and right to the end, there was belief in the stands. As for the quality of the series, it could have been better. It could have been longer. It could have been a greater battle. It should have been. The Rockies were out played, but still, they showed up. They may have lost hard, but they didn’t just roll over and give up. They made it to the World Series. That alone will be great for baseball in Colorado. It created fans, and it created a new faithful.

Until a few hours ago, I had two baseball jerseys. One Red Sox, and one Rockies. Now, I own only one. I gave the Red Sox one away. I parted with a jersey. Me. I could never wear it again, in Denver, or elsewhere. I will still root on the Sox, in the American League, but even in “defeat”, the Rockies played themselves into my heart. Go Rockies.

Technorati Tags: Avalanche, Hockey, NHL, Rockies, Wild

It isn’t often that I watch an entire baseball game on TV. I love going to one, though. Catching a game at a local minor league park is a perfect way for me to spend an evening off on the road. Last season, we saw the Asheville Tourists, Charlotte Knights, and Memphis Redbirds. And, of course, we watched plenty of Top Ten plays at various bars around the country.

I would not consider myself a “Denver Sports Fan” either. If the Broncos make it to the playoffs, I can not wait for them to take a tumble (Denver is so much more calm in the regular season), and the Nuggets only serve to get in the way of my hockey. If it involves the Crush, Rapids, Broncos, or Nuggets, I glaze over like a deer caught in the wrong party dress at a bah mitzvah.

And yet, I have always had a soft spot in my heart for the Rockies. Perhaps it is because my mom took to them so quickly, after years of being a die-hard Cubs fan. Maybe it’s because they don’t cost an arm and a leg to see. It could be that they are like a manatee, so quiet and docile. Whatever it may be, I talk about the Rockies in hushed tones, with the reverent respect that one should hold for a baseball team, and it’s dicey relationship with superstition. When you play 162 games in a year, superstition takes hold where it would not in other sports.

Well, tonight, the Rockies played game 163. 163? Yes, they played in the craziest of all baseball games, the wild card playoff game. One game, after your team does the unexpected and ties another team, and you both wind up in the right place at the right time. When that happens, it turns into a cross between Michael Jackson’s “Bad” video, and a high school production of “West Side Story.” You have to dance, you have to fight, and no one knows who will be left standing.

The Rockies, in a game that should have ended an hour and a half earlier, danced the dance, came out with war wounds, and were winners in a game that should have never existed. Matt Holliday, potential MVP of the league, was the dog of the eighth inning, when he took a step the wrong way on a fly ball and scored the tying run. And later, he was the hero of the day, scoring the game winning run in the thirteenth (yes, 13th). And it wasn’t a walk off run, but a carry off, as Holliday slid in to home, and used his face to break the momentum. Cheering turned quickly to concern, and while the TV viewing audience watched Holiday squirm in pain, his team mates, oblivious to what was happening, celebrated like they hadn’t been to the post season since 1995. Oh, wait, the Rockies haven’t.

So I will be following this next series, seven games against the Phillies. You may not read about it here, because this is a hockey blog. But know that I will be watching, and cheering on, the Rockies in the post season.

At least, when I’m not watching the Avalanche.

Go Rockies.

Technorati Tags: Rockies, Colorado