I dream of being a writer.
This is only literally true in the newest, stupidest sense of the word. I don't remember my dreams, so I might dream of being a writer. But, apparently 'literally' can be used to mildly emphasize anything.
I hate people. (And yes, I know I'm a people). I stand by what I've written.
Friday, July 24, 2015
Friday, May 1, 2015
Late Thoughts on Round one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs
So the best, er....I mean first, round of the Stanley Cup playoffs are done. Like everything in my life, my commitment to watching, and writing about, them was sporadic. But that won't stop me from having strong and uniformed opinions on them. (It's one of my charms).
1) I am developing a serious man-crush on Carey Price. I don't mean to say 'man-crush' because I want to maintain some heteronormative bullshit. It just isn't sexual. At least not yet. He's just so fucking cool. He is calm and centered and a magnificent goalie. In interviews, he has that 'I've seen some shit, but I'm okay' vibe that too many of our First Nations people have. I hate, or at least dislike, the Habs. But I'd be okay if this was the year of Carey.
2) I had a short twitter exchange with James Mirtle. Not surprisingly, he was getting shit about analytics. I get it. There is a certain segment of the analytics community who are smug know-it-alls. Of course, there are a fuck of a lot of old-time hockey folks like that too. The twitter exchange, and his mentions, reminded me of something that bothers me in academic discussions. Too many, far too many, people prefer to attack with discussion rather than create a dialogue that connects different points. And as Mannheim, and a bunch of other big brained folks, pointed out most arguments are about different things. It must be frustrating for someone like Mirtle to discuss possession numbers and have responses like "well, that doesn't tell the whole story", or "sometimes it is all about the goaltending". No shit. A discussion of possession numbers is a discussion of a particular way to view the game over an aggregate of games / seasons. It reveals trends, and shows probabilities. No one has ever argued it is the only way to look at a game, or that is is 100 percent predictive of the outcomes. When you find yourself disagreeing with someone, try and figure out what they are actually saying. You will save everyone a lot of time and energy.
3) I'm beginning to think losing your top defenceman is bad. Letang, Giordano, Weber. All gone, and all gone. Of course, none of those series was only about that--see above blurb. But, not being able to get the puck out of your own end consistently makes it hard to score. (I figured that out all by myself). As a former target I understand the importance of a top defenceman. It makes everything so much easier. I also understand defencemen, as a group, are the dumbest fucking people in sports. But, that is another story.
4) Unless Chicago wins, this has the feel of one of those, "Really, Washington won a Stanley Cup" playoffs. See also: Tampa Bay and Carolina.
5) The Canucks sucked hard and will probably suck harder next season. As Edmonton is showing us, you need depth in your system and good scouting to be successful. The Canucks drafting was a wasteland for many years.
1) I am developing a serious man-crush on Carey Price. I don't mean to say 'man-crush' because I want to maintain some heteronormative bullshit. It just isn't sexual. At least not yet. He's just so fucking cool. He is calm and centered and a magnificent goalie. In interviews, he has that 'I've seen some shit, but I'm okay' vibe that too many of our First Nations people have. I hate, or at least dislike, the Habs. But I'd be okay if this was the year of Carey.
2) I had a short twitter exchange with James Mirtle. Not surprisingly, he was getting shit about analytics. I get it. There is a certain segment of the analytics community who are smug know-it-alls. Of course, there are a fuck of a lot of old-time hockey folks like that too. The twitter exchange, and his mentions, reminded me of something that bothers me in academic discussions. Too many, far too many, people prefer to attack with discussion rather than create a dialogue that connects different points. And as Mannheim, and a bunch of other big brained folks, pointed out most arguments are about different things. It must be frustrating for someone like Mirtle to discuss possession numbers and have responses like "well, that doesn't tell the whole story", or "sometimes it is all about the goaltending". No shit. A discussion of possession numbers is a discussion of a particular way to view the game over an aggregate of games / seasons. It reveals trends, and shows probabilities. No one has ever argued it is the only way to look at a game, or that is is 100 percent predictive of the outcomes. When you find yourself disagreeing with someone, try and figure out what they are actually saying. You will save everyone a lot of time and energy.
3) I'm beginning to think losing your top defenceman is bad. Letang, Giordano, Weber. All gone, and all gone. Of course, none of those series was only about that--see above blurb. But, not being able to get the puck out of your own end consistently makes it hard to score. (I figured that out all by myself). As a former target I understand the importance of a top defenceman. It makes everything so much easier. I also understand defencemen, as a group, are the dumbest fucking people in sports. But, that is another story.
4) Unless Chicago wins, this has the feel of one of those, "Really, Washington won a Stanley Cup" playoffs. See also: Tampa Bay and Carolina.
5) The Canucks sucked hard and will probably suck harder next season. As Edmonton is showing us, you need depth in your system and good scouting to be successful. The Canucks drafting was a wasteland for many years.
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Thoughts on the Stanley Cup Playoffs: Days 6 - 8
1) Poor Winnipeg. Great fans. Fun team. The city has a real problem with racism, but so does most of the world. I guess I shouldn't hold it against the Jets. Big Buff looked ordinary for most of the series. Pavelec oscillated between unbelievably good and dishearteningly bad. They should be good for some time, and most teams do not go deep their first time into the playoffs.
2) Anaheim is not a likable team. For a Canucks fan, this gives me great satisfaction to say.
3) No player is more beloved by the media than Ryan Kesler. I don't understand. He is good. But, the media treats him like he's a more skilled version of Steve Yzerman. He had a great series once versus Nashville. Fine. Can we calm down that he helped beat fucking Nashville.
4) I know my dislike of Kesler is irrational. He just seems like such a douche.
5) Fine, 3 OTs, I'll care a bit about Nashville and Chicago.
6) Ottawa wins a game and shows why lifelong NHL goalies tend to be better than lifelong AHL goalies. Hammond has been a great story, and, just like they can't take away the Vezina Jim Carey stole from Hasek, they can't take away this run.
7) The state of hockey analysis is atrocious. (Says guy with a series of pointless comments on the games). The in-studio product is benign but boring (Grapes notwithstanding). It is also absurd at times. Kypreos explained to the audience that defenceman should simply play more like Lidstrom and be better positionally. Oh, is that all Nick? Just be as good as the best defenceman of his generation. Great advice. The colour commentary isn't much better. Stop explaining the obvious to us. I can see the game. Point out those things that are hard to pick up. Don't explain an obvious penalty, explain how someone got away with something and saved a goal with a subtle hook. So bad, so often.
8) The Canucks are sliding towards obscurity.
9) The Pens might be too. What a waste of talent.
10) With the Jets out, the Canucks about to go, I do not know who to cheer for. Calgary is a nice story, but I don't love the team. I know too many Habs fans to cheer for Montreal with any real effort. Maybe I cheer for Washington. It'll be exciting, and it'll break my heart. I'll find that comforting.
2) Anaheim is not a likable team. For a Canucks fan, this gives me great satisfaction to say.
3) No player is more beloved by the media than Ryan Kesler. I don't understand. He is good. But, the media treats him like he's a more skilled version of Steve Yzerman. He had a great series once versus Nashville. Fine. Can we calm down that he helped beat fucking Nashville.
4) I know my dislike of Kesler is irrational. He just seems like such a douche.
5) Fine, 3 OTs, I'll care a bit about Nashville and Chicago.
6) Ottawa wins a game and shows why lifelong NHL goalies tend to be better than lifelong AHL goalies. Hammond has been a great story, and, just like they can't take away the Vezina Jim Carey stole from Hasek, they can't take away this run.
7) The state of hockey analysis is atrocious. (Says guy with a series of pointless comments on the games). The in-studio product is benign but boring (Grapes notwithstanding). It is also absurd at times. Kypreos explained to the audience that defenceman should simply play more like Lidstrom and be better positionally. Oh, is that all Nick? Just be as good as the best defenceman of his generation. Great advice. The colour commentary isn't much better. Stop explaining the obvious to us. I can see the game. Point out those things that are hard to pick up. Don't explain an obvious penalty, explain how someone got away with something and saved a goal with a subtle hook. So bad, so often.
8) The Canucks are sliding towards obscurity.
9) The Pens might be too. What a waste of talent.
10) With the Jets out, the Canucks about to go, I do not know who to cheer for. Calgary is a nice story, but I don't love the team. I know too many Habs fans to cheer for Montreal with any real effort. Maybe I cheer for Washington. It'll be exciting, and it'll break my heart. I'll find that comforting.
Monday, April 20, 2015
Thoughts on the Stanley Cup Playoffs: Day 5
1) I'm not a fan of early start times for playoff games. I understand it makes sense for everyone involved in the business. But, for fans, it takes the frenetic joy of 4 or 5 hours of concurrent hockey games and makes it a day long ordeal.
2) My two favourite things about the Stanley Cup playoffs are: the goalie who gets hot and carries a mediocre team deep into the playoffs; and, the journeyman player (let's call him a 'Weise' type) who scores important goal after important goal. Both are great examples of the will that determines so much of playoff success. (And luck too). The goalie stands in front of a better team, with world class snipers and a potent offence and says 'no'. The journeyman tries so hard, every shift, they are rewarded with ice-time and offensive chances. The environment for success in the NHL playoffs is like three tin can lids connected by rubber bands. You have to balance skill, will and luck between the three lids in order to succeed. This is why the NHL will always be a surprising, frustrating, joyful agony to watch.
3) As a Canucks fan I've cheered for a lot of unsavoury players in the past 7 or 8 years. It is better this year, with some notable departures. But, I still don't like cheering for Kevin Bieksa.
4) Speaking of the Canucks, how are they losing to this Calgary team? I know Hiller has been great, but this is ridiculous. It isn't surprising. At least, I'm not surprised. I am oddly comforted by their ineptitude. It feels like home.
5) I would like to see Washington get to the Cup Final. It isn't looking promising, but Ovie is an all-time great and we hold his playoff disappointments as evidence that contradicts this. That is bullshit. The only person who has ever been able to win a playoff series nearly singlehandedly is a goalie.
6) I can't manage to muster a fuck about Nashville vs Chicago.
7) I'd love to see Carey Price win the Cup. But, I'd like it more if they could do it without alerting all the self-righteous Canadiens fans in Canada.
8) I don't believe in the New York Rangers. Maybe I should, but I just can't.
9) I just finished watching the BCHL championship series. The culture of hockey is turning, more and more, into a culture of trash-talking and tough guy posing, without any consequence. I've said it many times, but fighting isn't about individual games, but 'the game'. Fighting battles the egos and narcissism of young men. Fighting enforces modesty.
10) I chose ten things to mention for no reason, other than the symmetry and I never could wrap my head around base 12 number systems. Plus, as a Canucks fan number 10 Pavel Bure is greater than number 12 Stan Smyl.
(Okay, that last one was pretty lame).
2) My two favourite things about the Stanley Cup playoffs are: the goalie who gets hot and carries a mediocre team deep into the playoffs; and, the journeyman player (let's call him a 'Weise' type) who scores important goal after important goal. Both are great examples of the will that determines so much of playoff success. (And luck too). The goalie stands in front of a better team, with world class snipers and a potent offence and says 'no'. The journeyman tries so hard, every shift, they are rewarded with ice-time and offensive chances. The environment for success in the NHL playoffs is like three tin can lids connected by rubber bands. You have to balance skill, will and luck between the three lids in order to succeed. This is why the NHL will always be a surprising, frustrating, joyful agony to watch.
3) As a Canucks fan I've cheered for a lot of unsavoury players in the past 7 or 8 years. It is better this year, with some notable departures. But, I still don't like cheering for Kevin Bieksa.
4) Speaking of the Canucks, how are they losing to this Calgary team? I know Hiller has been great, but this is ridiculous. It isn't surprising. At least, I'm not surprised. I am oddly comforted by their ineptitude. It feels like home.
5) I would like to see Washington get to the Cup Final. It isn't looking promising, but Ovie is an all-time great and we hold his playoff disappointments as evidence that contradicts this. That is bullshit. The only person who has ever been able to win a playoff series nearly singlehandedly is a goalie.
6) I can't manage to muster a fuck about Nashville vs Chicago.
7) I'd love to see Carey Price win the Cup. But, I'd like it more if they could do it without alerting all the self-righteous Canadiens fans in Canada.
8) I don't believe in the New York Rangers. Maybe I should, but I just can't.
9) I just finished watching the BCHL championship series. The culture of hockey is turning, more and more, into a culture of trash-talking and tough guy posing, without any consequence. I've said it many times, but fighting isn't about individual games, but 'the game'. Fighting battles the egos and narcissism of young men. Fighting enforces modesty.
10) I chose ten things to mention for no reason, other than the symmetry and I never could wrap my head around base 12 number systems. Plus, as a Canucks fan number 10 Pavel Bure is greater than number 12 Stan Smyl.
(Okay, that last one was pretty lame).
Sunday, April 19, 2015
Thoughts on the Stanley Cup Playoffs Days 1-4
1) I like writing and reading lists. Elliotte Friedman knows about the power and beauty of lists, so does Umberto Eco. Both are smart. Although Umberto's knowledge of hockey is questionable.
2) Sportsnet's coverage of hockey is brutal. The hockey is fine. Although not everyone has a 90 inch HD super-tv. Don't be afraid to get a little closer to the action with your camera shots. Mostly the peripherals around the game are atrocious. I get so tired of watching a game I love (yes, I know this is a silly thing) commented on by those who either actively dislike it, or barely put up with it for a paycheque.
3) As a straight, middle-aged, fairly well educated white dude I am not such a fucking narcissist I need only that demographic reflected in my hockey coverage. Yikes. Try and represent a small portion of the other folks who watch and love hockey, Sportsnet.
4) If we insist on adding more, already-on-staff Rogers employees to hockey coverage would it kill them to break Stephen Brunt out of his glass case. He fits the 'straight, middle-aged, well educated white dude' prerequisite. Plus, he seems to actually like sports. And he won't faint or go into a moral panic at the sight of blood.
5) Winnipeg is getting hosed on the penalties against Anaheim.
6) The amount of luck that decides every hockey game is why I both love it and hate it.
7) Hammond will be back in his role as career AHL backup next year, and ever after.
8) So will that BU goalie.
9) People who think Eichel is as good as McDavid should see a doctor about concussion-like symptoms. McDavid would have scored 120 points in the NCAA this year. He plays in a better league against better players and scored at a much higher rate then Eichel. Both are great, but McDavid is significantly better. This isn't Taylor versus Tylor. This is Modano versus Linden.
10) I haven't the slightest idea who will win the cup, except that as a lifelong Canucks fan I know it won't be them.
2) Sportsnet's coverage of hockey is brutal. The hockey is fine. Although not everyone has a 90 inch HD super-tv. Don't be afraid to get a little closer to the action with your camera shots. Mostly the peripherals around the game are atrocious. I get so tired of watching a game I love (yes, I know this is a silly thing) commented on by those who either actively dislike it, or barely put up with it for a paycheque.
3) As a straight, middle-aged, fairly well educated white dude I am not such a fucking narcissist I need only that demographic reflected in my hockey coverage. Yikes. Try and represent a small portion of the other folks who watch and love hockey, Sportsnet.
4) If we insist on adding more, already-on-staff Rogers employees to hockey coverage would it kill them to break Stephen Brunt out of his glass case. He fits the 'straight, middle-aged, well educated white dude' prerequisite. Plus, he seems to actually like sports. And he won't faint or go into a moral panic at the sight of blood.
5) Winnipeg is getting hosed on the penalties against Anaheim.
6) The amount of luck that decides every hockey game is why I both love it and hate it.
7) Hammond will be back in his role as career AHL backup next year, and ever after.
8) So will that BU goalie.
9) People who think Eichel is as good as McDavid should see a doctor about concussion-like symptoms. McDavid would have scored 120 points in the NCAA this year. He plays in a better league against better players and scored at a much higher rate then Eichel. Both are great, but McDavid is significantly better. This isn't Taylor versus Tylor. This is Modano versus Linden.
10) I haven't the slightest idea who will win the cup, except that as a lifelong Canucks fan I know it won't be them.
Thursday, February 26, 2015
The Station Agent
I'm always uneasy when I borrow shame and discomfort from others. I do that when I watch 'The Station Agent', I think.
I love this movie. But, I'm uncomfortable with the way it resonates for me.
The central character is a little person. You know him as 'the Imp' from 'A Game of Thrones' on HBO-Peter Dinklage. He plays a lonely, introvert who shuts out the world before the world can hurt him. He encounters a lovely, but broken women, Patricia Clarkson, and a childlike man, Bobby Cannavale, who brings the group together.
It is a lovely little film. It has great performances and is touching.
I worry I am touched for the wrong reason. It may seem odd to ascribe a judgement to being moved by a picture. But, I borrow hardship and torment from others, when my life has been okay. In my mind I am sometimes ostracized. I am the other, and set apart from the world I want to touch.
This is mundane and silly melancholy and bullshit.
I do look different, but I'm unlikely to be sent into a bell tower. I get the odd look, and the occasional question. But, I haven't lived a life like Peter Dinklage, or his screen counterpart. I feel bad, sometimes, when I borrow their pain and their story of perseverance.
My story arc is much shallower.
And, of course, neither should involve shame.
That said, wonderful movie. Watch. Enjoy. Let it carry your baggage for awhile. I do, even if it makes me pause.
I love this movie. But, I'm uncomfortable with the way it resonates for me.
The central character is a little person. You know him as 'the Imp' from 'A Game of Thrones' on HBO-Peter Dinklage. He plays a lonely, introvert who shuts out the world before the world can hurt him. He encounters a lovely, but broken women, Patricia Clarkson, and a childlike man, Bobby Cannavale, who brings the group together.
It is a lovely little film. It has great performances and is touching.
I worry I am touched for the wrong reason. It may seem odd to ascribe a judgement to being moved by a picture. But, I borrow hardship and torment from others, when my life has been okay. In my mind I am sometimes ostracized. I am the other, and set apart from the world I want to touch.
This is mundane and silly melancholy and bullshit.
I do look different, but I'm unlikely to be sent into a bell tower. I get the odd look, and the occasional question. But, I haven't lived a life like Peter Dinklage, or his screen counterpart. I feel bad, sometimes, when I borrow their pain and their story of perseverance.
My story arc is much shallower.
And, of course, neither should involve shame.
That said, wonderful movie. Watch. Enjoy. Let it carry your baggage for awhile. I do, even if it makes me pause.
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