Well before I get to how the NCAA came down on Penn State, I have to get to this...It was announced this afternoon/evening that my New York Rangers, finally got a deal done with the Columbus Bluejackets, for star winger, 28 year old, Rick Nash...Even better, is what the Rangers gave up for Nash...The Rangers sent forwards Brandon Dubinsky, Aretm Anisimov, and defenseman Tim Erixon, along with a 2013 first-round draft pick...Besides getting Nash, who has 6 seasons left on his contract, the Rangers get defenseman Steve Delisle, and a conditional 2013 third-round draft pick...

Dubinsky was one of the key guys in the locker room, and while his offensive numbers dipped last season, his toughness, willingness to drop the gloves, and defensive play were very important to the Rangers success...His contract size pretty much made him expendable...Columbus fans will love him, on and off the ice, just as they did Nash...Anisimov is a good player, but hasn't yet reached his full potential...Erixon had a cup of coffee in the NHL last year, and should make the Jackets roster this season...Lots of upside in his game...

As the talks have gone on for months, names like Kreider, Stepan, and Del Zotto kept coming up...No way did I want the Rangers to move Kreider and Stepan...As much as IO love Nash, I didn't want to lose those guys...DZ okay, but those other two kids, give the team so much extra jump...Stepan has already shown the ability to be an excellent two-way player, and the spark Kreider gave the team in the playoffs, made it clear that this kid is one of the key building blocks...

Adding Nash's offensive skills is huge, especially since Marian Gaborik will be out for the beginning of the season recovering from a shoulder injury...Nash's work ethic, and professionalism will fit right in with the Rangers and what coach John Tortorella has been doing there...I'm very happy with deal!

Now, to the way the NCAA dropped the hammer on Penn State...$60 million fine...Yes!
4 year ban on PSU going to a bowl game...Yes
4 year ban on conference championship and national championship eligibility...Yes!
Loss of 40 scholarships over 4 years...Yes
All wins from 1998-2011, stripped...Yes/Wow!
I have to say, stripping the wins, shocked me...

It's rumored that PSU had this option, or to have a 2 year "Death Penalty"...Shutting down the program for two year...I have to say, this may actually do about the same kind of damage to the "Death Penalty"...Losing 40 scholarships, and the 4 year bans, just kills recruiting for at least 3 years...And yes, there are still PSU alums, and fans, and students bitching and moaning about this...And yes, the Paterno family is holding firmly to their belief that Joe Paterno was a mother fucking saint...He wasn't...I'm sorry you were fooled...We all were...Even people like me, who aren't Penn State fans, we all respected Paterno as a coach...He seemed like a no-nonsense guy...He disciplined his players fairly, and harsher then most coaches did...Sadly he didn't do the same when it came to his coaches...

This was a strong statement by the NCAA...All programs have been put on notice, that this shit can't go on...But now that the NCAA has taken, a moral and social stand, they need to live up to it...There are plenty of other wrong doings that have and will go on...They need to continue to be firm if they want to change the "Football first culture" that NCAA President Mark Emmert spoke of...

That's it for now...

Later, The Beeze.

  I always feel like the weekends fly by...Saturdays not so much, but Sundays always seem to get right past me...It's just unreal how the time goes by when you're not having to grind through the work week...

I've been feeling pretty negative lately...I mean look at some of my lat few posts...There was THIS about a stupid "Unfair" PSA...Fucking assholes! Then I had THIS ranting and raving about idiots being offended by comedy...But then there was Penn State, Jerry Sandusky, and Joe Pateron to really keep my blood boiling HERE...Yeah, the PSU crew has been really good at keeping my blood pressure up since November...

So even though my Monday Moaning post normally is filled with more negativity, I'm going to try and be a bit more positive this week...I figured I hammered out enough anger the last couple weeks...Let's start with this bit I saw on "The New York Rangers Blog"...They got a tip from Julie Robenhymer at HockeyBuzz about young, talented, star winger, Chris Kreider after he had played in a charity game...

"After the game, the players posed for a team picture and then headed towards the locker rooms to shower and change....except for one. Chris Kreider saw a kid along the boards waving a pen at him. He skated over and went up and down that side of the rink signing everything handed to him...Forty-five minutes later he made his way back to the bench where a few volunteers were waiting for a picture. At this point, all of the other players had showered, changed and left the rink and while the ice was being resurfaced behind him, Kreider continued to sign autographs and take pictures with anyone and everyone who wanted one as a new line formed near the entrance to the bench."

It's really great to see a young guy these days, that actually gets it...It's been awhile since I've seen a story like that.

-As many of you may know, I coached the Little Beeze's Tee-Ball team the last two Summers...This year he moved up to Coach Pitch, and yes, I'm coaching again...The coaches aren't actually pitching...The rec has high school kids that work there, do the pitching, catching and umping...

Early on my team was looking rough...The boy throws and hits well...The last couple weeks he has been just ripping line-drives past people...But he was always doing a home run trot, no matter how the ball was hit...We fixed that...There is another kid with a great baseball IQ, that his dad drilled into him...He was suppose to help coach, but he flaked out...He never showed for practices, and shows for half the games, and rides his kid...His kid then tends to yell at other kids on the team if they boot one, or don't make "the right" play...One game I had enough, and told him, "Be quiet, you made 3 errors today...You yell at anyone again, you won't play the rest of the rest of the season on my team!"

You see, this is a league that doesn't keep score...It's about kids having fun, learning the basics, getting outside, and playing with others...I've excepted that, and embraced it...So fuck that kid being an asshole, because his dad's an asshole...(Yeah, just got a bit negative)

We have an 8 year old boy who crushes the ball, and is pretty good in the field...And a 9 year old girl who is awesome at it all...She'll be on her way to a softball scholarship...Then there is a 7 year old boy with no attention span at all, and is often leaving the field to pee, or get a drink...When he's on the field, he's playing in the dirt...So he has found a lot of time in the outfield...His older sister started out afraid of catching the ball, and having trouble hitting...She's gotten better in the field, and is ripping into the ball now...

Then there is our little peanut...She's a tiny 7 year old...The smallest bat we have, are too big for her...She should have been in Tee-Ball, but they put her here...She's never played before...She's been held back a bit by her home life...Her mother with a disability,and two younger kids, plus bouncing between mom's house and dad's house...I'll be honest, I've worked more with her, then any of the other kids...That may sound bad, but she learned how to throw, at our first practice...She's always smiling, and positive...A couple weeks ago, she fielded a ball in the infield, and made the throw to first...The runner was safe, but I was thrilled, and so were the people in the stands...

Hitting has been tough...The league rules say, after 4 swings they use the tee...But at the beginning of the year, all the coaches agreed to screw that, give them 5 and then it's a strike out...This is about learning, and we want the kids to learn to hit off the pitch, and that failing is part of the game, and it's okay...There are a couple kids that coaches have used the tee for, that were really struggling...

Peanut had gotten a few hits that were weak...really weak grounders...The kids pitching were trying their best to hit the bat with the pitch...She never cries, or gets down about it...She feels good when she gets a foul ball...And the parents and others watching in the stands have been great...Everyone, including from the other teams, are rooting for her...When she's made contact, they go wild...And the kids pitching and catching, often say one more...Everyone is pulling for our peanut...

Lately, it seems like she is a bit frustrated...Our game on the 3rd was rained out, even though it rained in the morning, and the fields were fine...Oh, and they neglected to call the coaches...I ended up running a practice with kids from my team and 3 other teams...One was tee ball team...And that coach had a tee with him...Peanut was batting and after about 15 pitches, she asked if she could try the tee...I said sure...She ripped it...She hit a few more times off the tee, and you could see the excitement and confidence it gave her...Afterwards she asked if she could use a tee in the games...I said, "How about we still try the pitches, and if you don't get it after a few, then we'll use the tee?" She said okay, with a big smile on her face...

This past week she needed the tee, but that's okay...She got 3 hits in each game...And her confidence is growing...She wants to play 3rd base this week...Tuesday I'm going to put her there...And the kid with the asshole dad is going in the outfield...She's got a much better attitude, and hasn't made nearly as many errors!

This week is our last week of the season...I've heard other coaches who don't want to be there, and can't wait for it to be over...Me, I'm going to miss it...And I'll be excited for next year...Oh, and during that practice we had...My oldest decided to join us...She's never played, and she did great...She wants to play next year...I may be coaching two teams!

That's it for now....Have a week...

Later, The Beeze.

 
Happy Memorial Day...Isn't it stupid of us to say "Happy Memorial Day?" I mean, it's a day celebrating those who gave their lives for our country...Why should we be so happy? We go to parades...We fire up the grill, drink beers maybe check out the baseball, and we're over-joyed to not be at work...Yeah, I guess it would suck if we spent all day moping around a cemetery...I guess me and my high-horse are saying, take a few minutes and remember why the hell you aren't at work today...

Now on with our regularly scheduled blog...So far this weekend has been crazy for me...I'm writing this at 10:30 PM Sunday, and all I want to do is sleep...We had to go into Erie, PA Saturday to check on some things with my Father-in-law...I won't get into it all, but he's losing his marbles...During the afternoon, my in laws were all fired up about us taking the kids to a Russian Festival at a local church...Okay, so we get there and all it is, is a bunch of old people listening to people singing in Russian, and some Russian food...Nothing fun for kids to do, except joining their father in a classic, 'U-S-A-U-S-A-U-S-A' chant!

Saturday night we did get to hook up with some friends and check out some Double-A baseball, As the Akron Aeros (Indians) traveled to take on the Erie Seawolves (Tigers)...Erie won 7-3...But more importantly, the kids had fun, and were well behaved...Even over-tired, Molly was there busting a move to "YMCA"...The little Beeze got restless, but that happens when he's tired, and his Allergies are flared up...And they were big time...

When we got back to the in laws, it was way past bedtime...Molly was a bit thrown off about her bedtime surroundings, so I stole my oldest daughters ipod touch and got into the Molly play-list...I've set her up with some good tunes...Most 17 month old kids aren't this cool...She likes Coltrane, Portishead, Damien Rice, and Paul Westerberg a lot...But the first one on there was Billy_the_Kid...And it was Billy that got her to relax and comfortably doze off...

Here's a tune Billy wrote about a guy who was a foster kid, and when he was 18 not knowing what to do or where to go with his life, he signed up to serve in the military...10 years or so later and he keeps going "Back in the Sand."




Sunday morning I took the kids to a park for awhile, then we hit a local Candy store-Ice Cream shop-and Coffee shop...What the hell...Just an evil combination for my fat ass, let alone my sugar loving kids!

Later in the afternoon we headed back home...Then we went to a Memorial Day weekend party at one of our friends house...Like I said at the time...Party just sounds odd to me...But it was great seeing a number of friends...My one buddy from high school and I were just shaking our heads at all the little kids, and the fact that we were responsible for 3 each...Seems crazy sometimes when you think about it...

-In sports...Well, I'm not happy...My New York Rangers lost game 6 Friday night to the New Jersey Devils...That pissed me off enough, but then there were dummies on Twitter...Dummies like ESPN's Mike Greenberg, who was one of many who called the game revenge for the Rangers beating the Devils in 1994...SO I of course had to respond...

"@Espngreeny really, the 3 Cups they won after '94 weren't revenge...You know nothing about Hockey...Shut the hell up!"

"@Espngreeny Your stupid network doesn't even cover Hockey...Be quiet you gash!"

Seriously, revenge...Brodeur is the only Devil left from back then...And there is no one left on the Rangers...How the fuck is it revenge...Like I said, the 3 cups the Devils won after '94 probably made up for it...Fuck stains!

-As for the Stanley Cup Finals, I can't root for the Devils...And I'd feel dirty rooting for the LA Kings...SO I'll sit back and just try to enjoy the hockey...Although with as hot as LA has been, including the stellar play of their goalie Johnathan Quick, I think the Kings will take it...

-Have you heard about Curt Schillings shitty video game company...First he jerked around people in Massachusetts, and got a sweat deal to move to Rhode Island, which included a $75 million loan from the state...Well, 38 Studios (the company's name) couldn't make their $1.25 million payment last week...And their staff hadn't been paid since the end of April...Well, Thursday the entire staff of 379 people were laid off, and lost their health benefits...Somehow I bet ya, Curt and his bloody sock will come out of this okay...Shady fucker will find some way to beat the system, while the little guy, his employees, and the taxpayers will be getting deep dicked!

That's it for now...Well, except for this...




Have a week...

Later, The Beeze. 

 
This week's post was going to be mostly about my family's trip to DC...But things didn't work out quite as we planned...We were to leave on Thursday...Monday the wife got a stomach bug...By Tuesday she was fine, but I got it Monday night...I took Tuesday off to try and beat it...Wednesday I was back at work...By Wednesday night, I was dying...Fever over 104, chills, puking, shits, pure hell...I wasn't better Thursday, and the baby got a touch of it...Slight fever, and the Hershey squirts...

The wife and other two kids went...The whole reason for the trip/family get together was her uncle's military funeral at Arlington National Cemetery...


As they rolled into town the first thing they saw was the Washington Monument...I later found out from my brother-in-law that Little Beeze started calling it "The Mega-Weiner"...That's my boy!


There he is with his big sister at "The Mega Weiner."


Here's the boy at The Smithsonian...They were really excited to go there...They were talking about it for a couple weeks...The Mrs. talked about coming back Saturday, knowing that I was having a rough time, and she was missing the baby...But I told her no way...They had to go to the Smithsonian....There was no way they were going to get short-changed because I had the shits...

They got back Sunday, and Molly went bat-shit crazy when they pulled in...She was dying to see her big brother and sister, and mom...It made Mother's Day nice, having mom get home...

So while they were away, what did me and my peanut do, besides being sick...Well, she got over it quick...I didn't start feeling well until Saturday, and then I was still rundown...Over the course of these few days we played a lot at our front window...


That's her favorite place to play with her toys, color, and eat...Oh, and watch the birds, squirrels, and bunnies that hang around our yard...A few mornings we threw some bread out there for the birds, and then she got a kick out of watching them eat...

We also watched plenty of Baseball...Mostly Indians vs Red Sox...Let me say this, it was great seeing the Indians beat the hell out of stupid Josh Beckett, and his over-inflated, arrogant, ego...The Tribe ran his ass in 2 innings, which was good, because I had to go blow mud...Then came the Red Sox bullpen...What a Island of Misfits Toys that thing is...Then the next night was the battle of two mental defective pitchers...Ubaldo Jimenez, and Clay Bucholz...These two dolts just don't want to win games, the way they've been pitching...

The next two games the Sox beat the Tribe down...But the Red Sox pitching has some serious problems...But Saturday's game wasn't really on my radar...I had more important things to do...Early in the day we went to The Hooley...A fun little neighborhood street party with two stages, food, drinks, and more...Molly enjoyed the pony ride, and the Irish Dancers...

After we got home she had a long nap...We had dinner, and got ready to watch the Rangers take on the Capitals in game 7...She wasn't going to bed anytime soon after that nap, let-alone with dad fired up, on the edge of his seat, rooting on his Rangers, who squeaked out a 2-1 win...Monday they take on New Jersey in the Conference Finals...

And for the people who hate on the Rangers like they're the Yankees...Hockey ain't Baseball...Hockey has a salary cap...The Rangers aren't rocking some kind of Yankees like advantage...They've got a team of mostly home grown talent, hard working grinders...Not two lines of super stars...And for the people who cry and go back to the Rangers in the '90s...Yeah, they spent a ton of money, on star vets...What did they get for it...One Cup...They aren't the Yankees...And it was teams spending like that, that got Hockey to fix itself...So fuck off...Thank the Rangers, and watch them take it home this year!

And shit, I can hear the conspiracy theorists now, if it ends up New York, and LA in the Finals...Wake up dummies, and actually watch some Hockey...Look it how these two teams goalies have played...They're un-fucking-real...

Go Rangers, fuck everyone else!

Have a week...

The Beeze.

 
Here we are, another Monday...And this Monday, that Rangers fan above, and I will be rooting hard for our Rangers to reach down, grab themselves by their balls, and start scoring some goals...Otherwise, this great season they have had, will be a big fucking waste...

This week I've got plenty of Hockey talk...The big topic that has been buzzing around hockey, has been the violence...It seems every hack out there has something to say about the violence/physical play, since the playoffs have started...


Columnists like USA Today's Christine Brennan, and some douche from Sports Illustrated have decided to take on the physical play, and condemn the NHL for it...Why? Because these assholes haven't watched Hockey all year, but now that the playoffs have gotten some big TV ratings, so these dopes tine in, and get all upset when they see the gloves dropped a few times a game...


Listen you dolts, Hockey is a physical game, and sometimes the physical gets cranked up even more during the playoffs, when everything is on the line...But these hacks don't know that because all too often, they're writing little columns about golf, or tennis, or women's college basketball...Nothing against those sports...But they aren't hockey...And you don't pay attention to hockey...So don't jump in during the playoffs,and start pontificating...You're an asshole!

Now yes, not all the physical play is good...There are some guys who have shown a complete lack of respect on the ice...Number one right now is Raffi Torres, who took out Chicago's Marian Hossa this past week with an illegal hit to the head...And the NHL came down hard on him...




Some agree with this punishment, but there are many who feel it wasn't enough, considering Torees' long history of being an asshole...The worst part is at one time, Torres was a talented player with some real skill...Now, he's just an asshole!

One last bit of playoff hockey...Boston Bruins fans can't be happy with how their team has struggled with the Capitals...Well, I'll tell you who to blame...Tim Thomas...Call me superstitious, but any goalie who changes his pads right before the playoffs start, is asking for trouble...Yep, Tim Thomas switched his pads, and clearly signed a deal with Warrior to strap on their new goalie gear...It sounds crazy, but believe me, the B's are done.

Now for a bit of baseball...Indians closer Chris Perez was fined $750 and is the first victim of MLB's new social media policy, after he blasted off this tweet...

"Huge team win tonight, time for a sweep of the Royals. It's not 'Our Time,' it's TribeTime. P.S. You hit us, we hit you. Period."

This was after a heated exchange between the Indians and Royals...Sparked by Shin Soo Choo getting drilled for the 5th time of the short season...Choo already sensitive to the bean ball after it ended his season abruptly last year...

I'm annoyed that MLB is jumping on players tweets, and fining them chump change for it...I'm also annoyed that baseball has a problem with a player saying something, that we all know is true...It's just stupid...

I want to go on, but I need to sleep before my first day at the new gig, so that's it for now...Have a week...

Later, The Beeze.