Song of the Day - NY Rangers Give a "Good Feeling" - Flo Rida

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I'm posting this song in honor of the New York Rangers, who've been giving myself and thousands of other Blueshirt fans a really good feeling lately.  It was 20 years ago that the Rangers last won the Stanley Cup, one of the most iconic trophies in sports, and they just went up 2 games to none in the semi-finals against the legendary Montreal Canadiens in their building.  It was the Blueshirts 5th win in a row and these guys are actually starting to look like they may just do it.  The series goes back to MSG on Thursday night and here's to hoping that there are more good feelings to come!

Rangers Rout Devils at Yankee Stadium

I said that yesterday was going to be a good day for TV, and I was right.  The Grammys, as predicted, ended up being a pretty memorable show, with several great performances, which I will discuss later on tonight, and yesterday's hockey game was pretty exciting too, especially for Rangers fans.

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Believe it or not, yesterday's game at Yankee Stadium was delayed by the sun, which shed a glare onto the ice that would have interfered with play, but once the puck dropped it was on and the Devils quickly jumped out to a 3-1 lead.  The two-goal cushion wasn't enough though to last, as snow started to fall and so did the pucks into the net of the Devils, six straight times to be exact, and the Blueshirts ended up with a rout, 7-3.

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Check out the full story at Sports Illustrated and USA Today, and stay tuned for Part 2 of this outdoor series at Yankee Stadium when the Rangers face off against the Islanders on Wednesday.

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Hockey, Where It Belongs

Oh, today is going to be one of those rare days where I watch a lot of television.  First of all, the Grammys will be on tonight and it looks like it's going to be a great show, but also today marks the first of two hockey games this week to be played in an outdoor venue, and both feature my team, the New York Rangers.

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So far this year I have been neglectful of any kind of sport.  I remember a time when I used to watch all four of the major sports regularly: Yankees baseball, Jets football, Knicks basketball and Rangers hockey.  Hockey has always been my favorite sport.  To me it's the only sport that truly is non-stop action and very exciting to watch (most of the time), and the Rangers have given me plenty of excitement over the years.  

Well, a few years ago, the NHL started the annual Winter Classic, which has been held on or around every New Year's Day since 2008, and my Rangers played in it once, two years ago, beating the hated Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 at Citizens Bank Park in Philly.

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This week, the Rangers will be playing not one, but two outdoor games at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, and both games are against crosstown rivals.  Today's game, which starts in a little over an hour from now will be against the much-hated New Jersey Devils, and then on Wednesday the Blueshirts face off against the NY Islanders, another hated foe.  

Prepping Yankee Stadium for the big games

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So today's and Wednesday's hockey games should be cool to watch, whether you're a big time hockey fan like me or not. The game is being carried on NBC, channel 4 at 12:30, and I will be watching, for sure! Hockey really began as an outdoor sport, so I think these events are awesome.  Stay tuned...

Oh, and 

Let's Go Rangers!  

Rangers' Dan Girardi, Ryan Callahan, and Devils' Andy Greene and Bryce Salvador

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A First for the NY Mets Brings Out the Worst in Mets Fans

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Earlier this week, the New York Mets swept the New York Yankees in their first regular season "Subway Series" of the season.  It was the first such time that this has happened since 1997, when regular season inter-league play between National and American League teams began, and even though I am no die hard sports follower, I am a Yankees' fan and I just had to respond when some of my friends felt the need to gloat on Facebook after the sweep had been completed.

I learned a long time ago not to get too involved with sports.  I loosely follow all four major sports: baseball, football, basketball and hockey (my favorite!), and when I was much younger I used to be a super duper die hard like many sports fans, catching every single game and never missing a beat.  But I eventually learned that living and dying with a team is not a good way to live.  First of all, it's a passive activity, where a person watching the game has no control over its outcome, and when you do live like this, you're moods tend to elevate and deflate, consequentially, after wins and losses.  Also, when you find yourself not being able to miss a game, you tend to miss out on a lot of other things that life has to offer.

That being said, I still follow sports, catching games when the mood strikes me, but the only thing I do on a semi-regular basis is check out the box scores to see how my team is doing.  Of course, being a Yankee fan, I wasn't happy about the outcome of the week's series, but I wasn't going to go into a depression because of it.  Then I checked my Facebook page...

Mets own this town!!!

Anytime they beat the hated Yankees is a huge barrel of fun for me!

I love how Yankee fans are crying that the Mets beat there AAA team.Well boo freakin hoo they had to field a team like most of the MLB without a 20 million dollar player at each position.for once they could not buy a win.

These are just some of the many,, many comments made by Met fans, and I'm sure there are many more like this that I hadn't seen.  Now I don't have any problem with Met fans celebrating.  They have all the right to...but when you have to disparage the Yankees in doing so, well that's another story.  I already know, and have seen this week, their answer to my complaint: well we're doing it because of Yankee fans.  Okay, then, I understand if you're gloating in the faces of Yankee fans who do the same thing, but I am not one of them, and besides, isn't that a little childish?

To me, it's a classic example of little brother-big brother envy.  The Yankees are probably the most storied sports franchise ever, and even with their 27 World Championships (most recently in 2009), there have been countless times that they've been in the running for the championship and didn't make it.  The Mets, on the other hand, have won two World Series titles and are rarely in the mix to win it all.  So sure they have a reason to celebrate, but not to gloat.  Currently the Yanks are in 2nd place, only one game out of first, and the Mets are in 4th, and ten and a half games out.  Here was my FB answer for those gloaters:

Okay, now I'm not trying to pick a fight or anything, but I've seen enough posts from Met fans gloating over their sweep that I had to say something. Ok, congrats Mets. You beat the Yankees 4 times in a week, but PuHleese!!! All that gloating just exudes your envy because you know that if the Mets were to win the Series every year from now, we'd mostly be dead by the time they ever reach the Yankees' success.

So okay, yeah, congratulations to the Mets.  And to the Met fans who choose to gloat like they won the World Series, I say see you in October?

The Empire State Building in blue and orange after the sweep

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Rangers-Devils, Game 4 - UGLY, Just Ugly!

I swear this is not becoming a sports-related blog, but since the Rangers are a part of John's World and in the thick of it for the Stanley Cup, I feel I need to report on them here and there.  Until now, my posts on the playoffs have been sporadic, and they will probably continue to be so, but since my last Rangers' post was about last night's game and how I wished them to take command of their series with the Devils, I feel the need to follow up on the ugly game it turned out to be.

NY Ranger's fans are some of the longest-suffering teams in all sports.  We went 54 years between two Stanley Cup titles, and now it's been 18 since their last one already.  Going into the playoffs, they were surely one of the favorites to win it all, having finished the regular season in a tie with the St. Louis Blues with the second most points overall behind the Vancouver Canucks, and at the moment they are the only remaining team of the three still in it.  But nothing comes easy for the Rangers or their fans.

The first round the Blueshirts faced the 8th seed Ottawa Senators, who played in a style much like the Rangers, and it turned out to be a really good, close one.  The Sens played their asses off and took the series to the limit, before the Rangers moved on with a Game 7 win at MSG.  The second round against the 7th seed Washington Capitals was much the same, with neither team getting up to a two game lead and the Rangers winning it in 7.  Like I said, nothing comes easy!

Now it's the Rangers and the 6th seed, much hated Devils, and this series looks like it may go the full seven as well, especially after last night's game.  So far, the Devils have had the best of play throughout, though the Rangers have managed two shutouts in Games 1 and 3 behind the brilliant goal-tending of Henrik Lundqvist.  I've been a believer all season long and I think that the ability to be outplayed and still find a way to win is the mark of a championship team.  Of course, nothing comes easy!

That being said, last night's game was UGLY!  After falling behind 2-0 in the first period, hope was still alive that the Blueshirts would come back, but an early third period power play goal by the Devs' captain Zach Parise really iced their chances, and that's when it got ugly!

The Blueshirts were clearly frustrated with how the Devils were outplaying them and responded with stupid penalties that gave the Devils plenty of power play time the rest of the game, further diminishing their opportunity to come back.  Fisticuffs erupted for the first time in the series involving McDonagh and Henrique, Rupp and Brodeur, and even the coaches Tortorella and DeBoer came close to getting it on.  Yes it was ugly, and it was the Rangers, who've really been cool all season, that completely lost it.

The only redeeming quality of the whole game was the fact that the Rangers broke Martin Brodeur's shutout with a late goal by Fedotenko.  I, and many of my fellow Rangers' fans really hate the Devils and I think it satisfied all of us that at least we could do that much last night.

So yeah, nothing comes easy for Rangers' fans.  The top seed in the Eastern Conference has been met with the stiffest of competition from the 8th, 7th and now 6th seeds, which shouldn't be.  The only thing I can say is that if it were easy, it wouldn't be as exciting.  I'm still believing!

Let's Go Rangers!

Image Sources:

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Rangers Report Blog

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Rangers go for 3-1 lead in semi's against Devils

Tonight is Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and Ranger fans like me are hoping beyond hope that the Blueshirts can finally take a commanding lead in a playoff series this year.  So far the Rangers have yet to hold a two-game advantage in this year's tourney.

Rangers' forward Brandon Prust won't be in the lineup tonight, serving a one-game suspension for a high hit in Saturday's game against the Devils' Anton Volchenkov.  The suspension has heated up the tension between these two longtime rivals, and a war of words between the coaches erupted earlier today.

The Rangers bounced back on Saturday after a home-ice loss last Wednesday that evened the series at one game apiece, scoring three goals in the third period in an almost mirror image of Game 1 last Monday.  Henrik Lundqvist was spectacular in goal for the Blueshirts, proving once again that he is a force to be reckoned with in the NHL.

So let's hope the Rangers can take command in this one tonight and arrive within one game of their first Stanley Cup Finals appearance since their championship year of 1994.  I Believe!

Let's Go Rangers!

For more coverage of the Rangers' quest for the Cup, check out the NY Post's web page here.

Image Source: greenobles

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Do or Die for Rangers

Well, we're just about an hour away from yet another game 7, with the Rangers and Caps squaring off at MSG to see who'll face the New Jersey Devils in the next round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.  Wednesday's game 6 loss was pretty bad for the Blueshirts, who looked worse than the final 2-1 score showed.  Up until that night, it seemed like the Rangers were still running on a lil bit o magic, but of course any game 7 can go either way.  So good luck to the Rangers tonight!

Image Sources:

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Rangers snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, go up 3-2

What a game!  That's all I can say.  Last night things were not looking good for the Rangers in Game 5 of their playoff series against the Washington Capitals.  After leading 1-0, the Blueshirts gave up two goals, one in each in the 2nd and 3rd periods to trail 2-1. As the game wound down to the final minutes, the Caps were protecting their lead with abandon, never letting the Rangers even get set up to try and tie it.  It looked as if they'd go down in the series, just as they had in the first series against Ottawa, three games to two, with possible elimination looming on Wednesday night in Washington.  But it wasn't meant to go down like that.

After the Caps' Joel Ward got called for a double minor for high sticking the Rangers' Carl Hagelin with 21.3 seconds left, the Rangers frantically stormed the Capitals' net with Hendrik Lundqvist on the bench and 6 skaters pressing.  With a mere 6.6 seconds left, the Rangers' Brad Richards managed to get one past Caps' goalie Braden Holtby in a mad scramble and the Garden crowd erupted.  The game was going into overtime.

The Blueshirts entered the overtime period with a man advantage on the second of Ward's two minors and quickly went on the offensive and at 1:35 into the period, Rangers' defenseman Marc Staal blasted one into the Caps' net and the Rangers win and can finish the Capitals with a win in their building on Wednesday night.  Ya gotta believe!  

Image Sources:

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These Guys Are Crazy! The Birdmen Free Falling In Norway

Last night my pal Rich told me about this segment on last Sunday's "60 Minutes" about the craziest extreme sport I'd ever heard of. I decided to check it out myself and you can take a look for yourself below. These dudes literally jump off mountains literally a mile high in Norway wearing special kinds of winged/webbed suits and free-fall perilously close to the rocks and one another in one of the craziest things I've ever seen. Check it out:



Image Source: amazing data



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Madonna's Super Bowl Performance: Wow! Now let's stop hatin' and move on!

When it was over, all I could tweet was "WowWowWow..." And many of my fellow Tweeters, famous and not so famous, did much the same:

Wow best halftime show ever!!! Wow Madonna! Wow - Serena Williams

Wow Madonna is still the Queen of pop! Great show! - Heidi Montag

Madonna is crushing it!- Ashton Kutcher

Nothing I have watching musically has made my heart pump with so much joy then Madonna's performance #thesuperbowl f***ing amazing!- Kelly Osborne

I have no words. In 12 min, you gave me chills, made me dance, and cry. - Chris Yosef

Wow, just wow! Madonna...half time...EPIC!!! - Christiana

Madonna = perfection - Rosie O'Donnell

Madonna killen the superbowl her show is soo fresh. Wowoowowowowowoowowowowowow!- Snoop Dogg



Madonna was amazing tonight, there's no doubt about it. Unfortunately, though, this nasty war of words among diva fans came to front during and after the performance, as well. Kylie Minogue fans tweeted that she copied Kylie's Greek gear from her Aphrodite set of last year, even though Mo's garb was decidedly Roman...but that wasn't the worst of it. Of course it was Lady Gaga fans who ranted the most about the performance, using words like 'tired,' 'old,' 'sick,' or gaming on her for lip syncing and even 'copying Lady Gaga.'



Well I've got news for all of you Gaga loving haters out there. You're really kind of pathetic for hating on Madonna like you do. Believe it or not, it is possible to love both Gaga and Madonna, and like it or not, Madonna has been a huge star for almost thirty years now and undoubtedly Ms. Gaga has been influenced by Ms. M., that's plain to see. I'm sure that if she were not playing into this silly war of words between fans, she would say so herself.

I mean, things are so bad even Betty White (not really, lol) got in on the action:

You know right now Madonna is thinking, "F*ck you, Lady Gaga!" - Betty F*ckin' White

And as for her age? Ha...honeys there's this thing called karma, and believe it or not, all of you will be Madonna's age one day, and trust me you shouldn't be ragging on that. It'll come back to bite you one day cause karma is a bitch! May we all age as gracefully as Madonna.



And to Madonna fans who hate on Gaga, I say why? For copying our idol? That's kind of ridiculous, don't you think? Part of what makes music so great is the way artists are inspired and take some of what they've loved about an artist and make it into their own. Gaga, Britney, Christina and many others have been inspired by Madonna, whether musically, artistically, choreographically (is that a word?), or whatever, just like Madge was inspired by those who she listened to growing up. In the end, it's all a means of expression and we get to benefit from their work.

I own every single song Madonna's ever recorded, and I also own all of Gaga's records, and I listen to them both...a lot! Of course Madonna's my girl...I grew up with her...but I don't hate on Lady cause I love Madonna. I've got room for them both! My favorite answer to some of the hate was tweeted by former Seduction member and radio host Michele Visage:

Please. So the frig WHAT she didn't sing live!!! DONT HATE the sheer brilliance of the performance. Bitch was wearing HEELS!

Now that I've said my peace, I'd like to get back to the show. I wasn't sure what to expect from it, but I knew it would be good. I just didn't think it would be that good. To anyone who found fault with it, I say lets see if you can do it better!

Rather than comment on the performance, I'll steer you to towards some early reviews that were republished on madonnarama right here. In the meantime, enjoy the show all over again right here:

Madonna Superbowl XLVI Halftime Show from A-Rock on Vimeo.



YEAH!

Images were sourced from madonnarama.com and you can check out plenty more photos by clicking on the link.

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New York Yankees: 2009 World Champs