AJC > Sports Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2007 > March > 10
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Deep-sixed … again
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
What is it that makes the six-game winning streak so elusive? What makes it so wily, so cagey? Is it its ability to adapt to any environment and survive in any climate … like Rambo? Is it its heightened intelligence? It’s sixth sense, if you will?
Once again it has slipped through our fingers, shimmying off into the shadows just when we thought we had a bead on it. It’s the Road Runner to our Coyote. The Moby Dick to our Ahab. The Trix to our Silly Rabbit. Well, I’m sick of being the damn Silly Rabbit. I just want to taste the damn Trix for once. I think it was Yogi Berra who once said, “You can’t win ‘em all … especially when you’ve won the last five.”
I’ll have to take your word on this game, as it wasn’t televised. Again. Tell me … when your average cable system has 600-some channels on it, how can you not find one to televise your major professional sports franchise in a heated chase for its first-ever playoff berth?!! For God’s sake, if I flipped through the channels, I’d see about six shopping networks, “Da Vinci’s Inquest” (what is this show? and why is it on a 24-hour loop on some of these networks?), and about 14 stations airing the “Greg Behrent Show.”
Long story short: This team needs to be on the TV at this time of year.
To make matters worse, I couldn’t get the NHL.com audio stream working. So I was left to watch this game through the eyes of a buddy, who IM’d me play-by-play as if he was my own personal GameCast. It sure read like an exciting game.
I was going to post the transcript of our IM account of the game, but too many times we diverged into filthy talk of coworkers and friends, saying things that if they were to be printed here, we’d have too much explaining to do to wives, employers and clergy.
Here was his best line, though:
(9:03:20 PM): xlb’s head is somewhere around his duodenum tonight
Now … I don’t know what a duodenum is. But I’m pretty sure I don’t want my head near it.
It was actually a pretty exciting way to follow the game. When Tkachuk scored to pull us within one, I could sense the deflated crowd, the anticipation of the Thrashers picking up the pace for a final charge. Sounded like Mellanby had Belfour dead to rights in the final scrum and just couldn’t get the puck up off the ice. Ugh.
Also sounded like the PP was terrible, Lehtonen let in two softies and bobbled several others. I’m beginning to really believe he has depth perception problems.
Anyway … I’d love to hear your accounts and assessments of the game. We’ll be right back at ‘em Monday vs. the Crapitals … on Versus, no less.
