Takes and trash talk from both ALL sides of the NHL's most obscure PATHETIC* rivalry

* Thanks, Kevin Lowe!

Friday, July 11, 2008

Happy Sleek Day!

That's right, kiddos, it's Uncle Sleek's birthday today, turning a ripened old 31 years old and getting quite near that stage of life where I can start retiring once a year. If you want to know why I come off so satisfied and smug on this blog, that you can blame squarely on birthdate numerology, which has blessed me with an inordinate amount of luck.

7-11-77. It rhymes, it multiplies, and it stinks of good fortune! My whole life I've kept an eye out for good luck, you know, just to see if the birthdate prophesy was being fulfilled. I've certainly been fortunate on a lot of levels, as I'm sure a lot of us have. This blog, for one, is mostly a creature of luck, and a ton of thanks to the fellow bloggers and readers who keep it all chugging.

Another lucky thing: I've got a new nephew coming soon whose due date rivals my own, 8-8-08. They haven't told me the kid's name yet, but it doesn't matter. I'm going to call him "Ocho".

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I do want to talk about Brian Burke's unique version of media silence yesterday, but today's not a fair day to do it. I'm off with the folks and siblings to Napa Valley, and won't be back until Tuesday. So a full post/dialogue will have to wait until next week, but here's a quick bulleted version.
  • I think only one of Kevin Lowe's comments deserved a public response: SoCal being called a "pathetic hockey market". Everything Burke did beyond addressing that singular point was unnecessary and foolish. Foolish isn't all bad, though; I certainly had a good chuckle at Burke's goodie-two-shoes lawyer impression.


  • I think we should acknowledge SoCal for what it is: a maze of Laker fans. It's still a market that does need to be won over, but that is an important feature, not a flaw. A developing fanbase that does demand results amidst competition is not a bad thing, even for a Canada-strong league. It can serve as a more measurable barometer of hockey's entertainment value than the always-full houses in Edmonton.


  • One other takeaway: I think Brian Burke is stuck in Anaheim the rest of the year. Tom Benjamin had me convinced that Burkie was going to leave midseason and Dave Nonis would take over, but how can Burke go to Toronto now? Now that he's turned "tampering" into a league buzzword, he's painted himself into a corner.
Anyway, that's a rough draft of some thoughts; feel free to discuss while I'm gone. I'll express my thoughts a bit better when I get back to SoCal.

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For now, it's time to blow out some candles and start some drinkin' (for me, Napa-style!):



Hockey news on the front page? I wish!

Go Ducks.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Earl, my question is about the Scott Niedermayer allegations (really just "hints"). What is the story there? I never heard about anything fishy when Scott signed in Anaheim. What's the background on this? Thanks!

Earl Sleek said...

Sunny, I don't really know what that's all about either. I'd think it had to do with having Rob speak to Scott? I don't know, though. Maybe Scott got a free back massage or a free tank of gas.

Any guesses? Feel free to leave 'em here.

OK, I'm off to Wine-land!

Just My Type said...

Happy Birthday Sleeky and enjoy those Napa "Big Gulps"!

Miss. Scarlett said...

Happy Birthday Sleek and enjoy your vacation.

I'm going to call him "Ocho".

Well, everybody needs a crazy drunken uncle in the family, I guess :P

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday Sleek. If you need to make a pit stop on the way through to Napa, gimme a buzz. Beers are on me.

Unknown said...

7/11 is also Free Slurpee day at all 7-11 stores across the country! Good thing too cuz its hot today (so you are lucky)

Patty (in Dallas) said...

Happy Birthday, Earl!

Ken said...

Happy Birthday Earl, Drink up my friend.

Mike in OC said...

Happy Sleek day.

I can see Earl smuggling his Jack and Coke into the vinyards.

PJ Swenson said...

Hockey somehow speaks to Isabella Masenga. It does it in ways her parents and twin sister - or anyone else for that matter - can't fully understand. Saturday at Staples Center, as the Kings scrambled back to take their game against the Dallas Stars into overtime and then a shootout, hockey made a profound connection with the soon-to-be 10-year-old from Pasadena who lives with a form of autism that prevents her from verbal communication. "It's probably the best day of her life," said her mother, Suzanne. "It's the happiest I've ever seen her," said her father, Tom. Until recently, no one in the family knew that she even was aware that the sport existed.

About a month ago, Suzanne faced the annual task of trying figure out what gifts to get her daughters for Christmas. "Sophia (Bellie's twin sister) could tell me she wanted an iPod or an American Girl doll," Suzanne said. "But Bellie ... this is a girl who's never asked for anything. She was never able to." Handing Bellie the word processor, Suzanne approached her about what she'd like for Christmas. "Hockey game," Bellie typed.

"The two sports I watch at home are rugby and football, maybe a little baseball," he said. "How'd she come up with hockey? And as it turned out, she was very specific about the Kings, not the Ducks."

Happy Birthday

Earl Sleek said...

Thanks everybody! I'm up in Napa now, only two glasses in, but ready to get raging!

Yee hah!

Mr. Plank said...

WOOOOOOOOO happy birthday sleek.

*ducks4cup* said...

I'm new on here, but I want to wish you a Happy Birthday Earl!

Sarah said...

Happy Birthday Earl! I tried to arrange a Schneider trade to celebrate your big day, but Burke isn't taking my calls anymore.

Mr. Plank said...

Happy Birthday Earl! I tried to arrange a Schneider trade to celebrate your big day, but Burke isn't taking my calls anymore.

Thats funny haha

Ingmar "W" Bergman said...

Happy B-day EDog.

In Sweden we sing:

Ja må hon leva,
ja må hon leva.
ja må hon leva uti hundrade år!
Ja visst ska hon leva,
ja visst ska hon leva,
ja visst ska hon leva uti hundrade år

Och när du har levat,
och när du har levat,
och när du har levat uti hundrade år,

ja då ska du skjutas,
ja då ska du skjutas,
ja då ska du skjutas på en skottkärra fram.

Which translates to something like this:

Here's to you living a hundred years x6

And when you've lived a hundred years x3

Well then we'll shoot you x2
And then we'll drag you down the road in a wheelbarrow.

That's how we roll in Sweden. And people wonder why we have the highest rate of suicides in the world...

Happy Birthday.

Earl Sleek said...

And then we'll drag you down the road in a wheelbarrow.

This probably applies more to my 21st birthday than to my 100th. :)

Once again, thanks for the nice birthday wishes, everyone. Napa's going swell -- bring on more wine!

Mike said...

Happy Birthday. Just don't pull a Clowe while you're up there.

Kirsten said...

A happy belated birthday to you, Sleek! Here's to many more years of being the most reasonable and entertaining Ducks fan I know of.