Gribblenation

Editors Note: I apologize for going off-topic here, I intend to do a personal "world through my eyes" type blog but haven't yet.  So I'm posting it here! With Rod Brind'Amour's jersey retirement tomorrow night - I found this note I wrote during the 2009 Playoffs on how in 30 days in the Spring of 2001 I became a Hurricanes fan.  Rod Brind'Amour may have scored some of the most important goals in team history and one of those goals in an important late regular season game the night before my 24th birthday started it all. March 23, 2001 – April 22, 2001. 30 days. That’s all it took. It began with a drive up from Charlotte for a Friday Night game against the Pens – the reason I bought the seven game stretch drive plan in the first place – and ended on a Sunday afternoon playoff game against New Jersey. Those 30 days were when and how I switched my allegiances from the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Carolina Hurricanes. It wasn’t easy. ...

  In what has become a Christmas tradition for Maggie and I, we've gone outdoor skating in Pittsburgh.  Last year, we skated at the public rink in PPG Plaza.  But this year was different, and on a Christmas Eve that is typical of a Pittsburgh winter gray, overcast, and just cold enough to support a fresh layer of snow in the morning, we had a memorable experience at the 2011 Winter Classic Community Rink.  The rink, which was constructed as part of the festivities for the 2011 Winter Classic between the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins, is located just outside of Heinz Field. In the time span of five days, the parking lot that sits between Stage AE and Heinz Field was transformed into a regulation ice rink where public skating, youth, high school, and college hockey games will take place.  Sure it's not a Rockfeller Center, but you really can't beat skating outside with an entire city skyline as a backdrop! If you follow this blog or know me, ...

I visit my old haunts of Oswego County, New York a few times a year. When I'm in Oswego, I tend to see a road sign honoring Oswego native Erik Cole, a National Hockey League player that many readers of this blog are aware plays for the Carolina Hurricanes. This sign rests next to a sign honoring my alma mater, SUNY Oswego, in their 2007 national championship in Division III men's ice hockey. It is certainly more noteworthy than the Shelby Lyons (who?) sign that used to adorn the entrances into the Port City of Central New York. About ten miles to the south, in the city of Fulton, there is a new road sign honoring their hometown NHL player, Rob Schremp. Being someone who bleeds the blue and orange of the New York Islanders, this is especially nice to see, as the player affectionately nicknamed "Rob Schremp Hockey" has played for the Islanders for a couple of seasons now.