Shanahanigans from the Wings Alumni Charity Softball Game...

On Saturday, Liz and I went to the Wings Charity Alumni Softball game. We were both pretty excited, but I don’t think either one of us were fully prepared for the events of the day. I don’t know how I haven’t made it to one of these things before. That truly is a shame.

The Wings/Tigers alumni roster featured Darren McCarty, Dino Ciccarelli, Joey Kocur, Dave Rozema, Jeff Daniels, Jason Wolley, Manny Legace, Steve Avery, Eddie Mio, Kevin Miller, Wayne Presley, George Bowman, Gary Taylor, Mike Krushelnyski, and Pat Peake. I think it goes without saying that D-Mac stole the show. He was pretty obviously the fan-favorite. I loved the fact that a grinder upstaged a recently-elected Hall of Famer. I also loved the fact that while most of the guys wore cargo shorts and sneakers, Mac came decked out in cleats, baseball socks, knee pads, and sliding shorts. He looked like he was having a pretty good time out there.

McCarty played third base, which made me happy because that was my primary position in my youthful days of fastpitch. It turns out that he’s a pretty good player. He turned some nice plays over there. He also entertained the crowd:

Another fun Mac moment came after the first game when he was eating a blue sno-cone. He was stopped for some autographs and had nowhere to put the cone cup, so he just held the edge in his mouth. When we walked by, he was standing there with blue sno-cone lips dangling the cup from his mouth. We laughed. A lot. Sadly, we didn’t manage to snag a picture of this.  Instead, I took one of him making some totally RAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHH party horns aka the two out sign:

Joey Kocur pitched all three games in between having seemingly endless cell phone conversations. He got lit up for a couple of home runs by a strapping young policeman in the third game, but it ended up not mattering as the Alumni team went on to sweep the tourney.

We also learned that Dino Ciccarelli can throw a mean fastpitch fastball. He was whipping pitches in pretty quickly when he was goofing around in warm-ups. We were impressed. He’s clearly done that somewhere before. It’s not the kind of thing you just pick up and do well.  Unfortunately, he didn't do so well at the plate.  I maintain that he would've gotten a hit if he'd taken our advice about which bat to choose, but he didn't listen.  By the third game, he was sitting in the dugout icing his shoulder with an entire party store bag of ice.  We were amused.

Speaking of pitching, during the second game, Liz and I decided to head over to the radar they had set up (They brought a radar speed rig that would normally be found on the side of the street and set it up behind the backstop on one of the diamonds.) to have our pitching timed. I was a mediocre pitcher back in the day and had never had my speed clocked, so this was mildly exciting. I think both of us regretted this decision the next day.

The highlight of the day came between the second and third games. Darren McCarty gave an impromptu concert in one of the tents. Liz and I sat in the front row. I know you’re jealous. Thanks to Mac, I’ve had ‘Ain’t that America’ (which I've just been informed is actually called "Pink Houses" for reasons that I don't quite understand [UPDATED: 8-11-10 15:25]) stuck in my head since Saturday. And yes, I did get his performance on video. You’re welcome.

After the mini-concert, we got a chance to meet him and take some pictures.

Other things:

• When we stopped to have pictures taken with Rozema, Liz was kind enough to bring up the time he got my dad kicked out of a Hooters at Tigers Fantasy Camp by throwing ice cubes at the waitress.  His response?  "It's Fantasy Camp. You have to do stuff like that."  Oh fun times.
• Rozema was also entertaining people when he ran the bases.  He was making safe calls and waving his arms around.  I'm not entirely sure what he was doing, but he seemed like he was having fun.
• We enjoyed the fact that the base coaches took their beers out onto the field with them.  It was literally beer league softball.
• There was a drunk guy claiming to be Taylor's son who came and stood by us when we were taking pictures up against the fence.  He decided to lean into the field through the open gate to inspect the bats.  He spilled his beer on them.  I was amused.
• People are obnoxious.  I knew that already, but Saturday reinforced it.
• Jeff Daniels does a mean Mr. Peanut pose.

The rest of my pictures are over at Photobucket.

Red Wings 5, Oilers 4: Post Game Snipes...

• In my GP, I said that I was going to have to buy Hollis a beer next time we all get together. I lied. I’m going to have to buy him an entire keg. This was incredible and amazing and wonderful all wrapped in a blanket of spectacular.
• I got to the Joe early and headed down by the Wings’ bench hoping to meet some of my new favorite people to watch warmups. I got to meet Sara’s little munchkin, and Homer came over and flipped him a puck. I was also amused by Franzen, who was playing hacky sack with a puck to entertain his teammates.
• Then I headed up to the suite. Nicole had a little “blogger station” set up for Drew and me with the banners from SSDD (Really wish I'd gotten around to making my updated banner sooner...) and NOHS printed out so we almost looked credible.
• I also got a bag full of goodies left over from giveaways—the bag itself was one of them, in addition to one of the mini dental kits and a couple more Hockeytown: No Limits signs. I also snagged an autographed picture of Joey Kocur that I’m going to give away as the prize to that contest that I still haven’t gotten around to judging.
• Some of the folks in the suite came in from Florida after they won the tickets. That, sunshines, is dedication. I think everyone had a great time in the suite. I tried to hang back and not get in the way so the people who actually won the contest could meet with the alumni and enjoy themselves. I will, however, admit to snagging the last can of Coke out of the fridge. I was burning up in my jersey.
• At different times, Joey Kocur, Brent Fedyk, Dennis Hextall, and Gerry Abel stopped in to sign autographs and take pictures. I’m told that some of the folks in the suite also tracked Gordie Howe down out in the hallway, but I didn’t think it would be appropriate to chase him down the hall.
• Hextall hung around and watched the game in the suite for quite a while.
• It turns out that my brother skipped class to come to the game. I didn’t know that, and my mom found out he was there from something that I tweeted. I just so happened to be on the phone with her when he walked in the door after coming home. I was not at all sympathetic about inadvertently ratting him out. He ended up sitting really close to Sara. I tried to take a picture of him, but he just glared at me.
• We were having a grand old time when the Wings were up 4-0. When Edmonton got their powerplay that they scored four seconds into, Drew and I didn’t like the call, but figured it wasn’t a big deal since the Wings had a big lead. Oh how that would come back to bite us.
• When Edmonton tied it up in the third period, we were having flashbacks to October. Luckily (very luckily, in my opinion), they managed to pull out two points. And they even did it in regulation, not that giving up a charity point to the Oilers would be heartbreaking.
• The Wings caught a break on Stuart’s goal. I didn’t realize it had been deflected until the replay and I was busy laughing at how silly the shot had made D-D look. As soon as I saw the deflection, I had a terrible feeling that it was going to get called back. I’m almost positive that the only reason that goal stood up was because it was originally called a goal on the ice. If the ref had waved it off originally, I think we would’ve gotten to see overtime. It was close for sure, but I don’t think the video was conclusive enough to overturn the call on the ice. How awesome is it to see two reviews go in the Wings’ favor in such close proximity? It sure beats getting LaRued.
• At least Edmonton didn’t sweep the season series. That would’ve been pretty embarrassing.
• How many glorious scoring opportunities did the Wings blow by hitting the post or missing the net? They could’ve easily scored ten goals tonight. Those missed chances nearly came back to haunt them.
• It was Henrik Zetterberg's 500th game and Pavel Datsyuk's 600th game. How fitting was it that they both hit milestones not only on the same night, but on a night on which I was there representing SSDD, their namesake blog?
  
• On my way out of the Joe, I ran into a mob that was surrounding Larry Murphy. I got his autograph on my old jersey and took a picture with him. And for those of you who were asking, there wasn’t the slightest trace of alcohol. So there.
• Have I mentioned that I really enjoyed the game notes package? I’m going to try to find time to write some stuff up from it.
• I also took a bunch of pictures, which I’ll put up on photobucket as soon as I have time. That will most likely be sometime this weekend.
  

GP Answers:
1. Can the Wings keep up their meteoric rise through the standings by beating the worst team in the league? This is exactly the kind of game that they like to sleepwalk through, which explains why more than one tenth of the Oilers points this season have come against the Wings. (How many times have I written that exact same sentence this season?)
They looked darn good for the first part of the game. The shot differential was exactly the way it should be against a last place team. Then the team decided to make things interesting and let Edmonton tie the game. Sixty minutes, boys. Six-oh. That being said, I guess I can’t really complain about a victory at this point.

2. How is Jimmy Howard going to follow up his birthday performance, shut/shootout victory, and subsequent listing as a top 3 star in the NHL? Please let it be with more spectacular play.
I wasn’t a big fan of Mr. Duff’s goal. Despite playing as well as he has, Jimmy’s given up a couple of softies lately. It’s hard to pin anything on him though, since most of the team seemed to shut down after they scored their fourth goal.

3. Am I going to survive the night, or just explode from pure joy right there in the middle of Joe Louis Arena?
Hey look, I made it. How about that? Seriously though, this was awesome. On my way home, I was thinking about the crazy ride this blog has taken me on, especially in the last week or so. I never imagined the opportunity to do something like this or attend a gathering like H2H when I randomly decided to start spouting my thoughts out into the internet a little less than a year ago. I really am grateful to the Wings organization and especially Nicole who is a full-fledged all star.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Brad Stuart
I still have no idea if his stick was actually below the crossbar, but kudos to him for tipping the shot for the winner and sparing us overtime/a shootout.

Patrick Eaves gets the Golden Facepalm
No really. This is deserving of a couple of these in a row. He totally got Eavesed.

What I Learned:
Greatest organization in sports. Final, period, end of discussion (tm Jeffy).

The Night I Met Steve Yzerman...

These are going to be even less coherent than normal due to the fact that I’m still a little bit giddy, and I’m not entirely convinced that I didn’t just imagine this entire evening.

Post game snipes:

• So, uh, tonight I got to watch the game from a suite at the Joe, hang out with a bunch of other crazy Wings fans who Twitter, and MEET STEVE YZERMAN. I don’t have a whole lot to say about the game, though, since I was so completely distracted by the overload of awesomeness that I experienced.
• I wasn’t particularly impressed with the Wings’ play tonight, but let’s face it, from the first intermission on, I could not have cared less about the outcome of the game. Vancouver outplayed them for most of the game, and on any other night, I would’ve been sitting at home frustrated and yelling at my TV. But not this night.
• I was a little surprised/disappointed at the lack of "Stevie! Stevie!" chants during the puck drop ceremony. Who would pass up an opportunity to rock the Joe with that old favorite one more time? You never know when you're going to get another chance to do it. Shame.
  
• I got to bring one person with me to the game, so after much agonizing, I selected my dad. We ended up getting to the Joe right as the door opened, so after picking up our Yzerman plaques, we decided to take a leisurely stroll around the concourse before heading up to the suite. It turned out that if we had gone straight there, we would’ve been able to watch the first period from right behind the Wings’ bench. Oh well.
• We stopped to enter a raffle for a signed plaque with the famous picture of Kronwall destroying Havlat. The woman working at the table kept yelling, “win an autographed Kronwall!” I asked her which one. She didn’t get it. Maybe the winner gets to choose.
• The Stanley Cup (and the Conn Smythe and some other trophies that we don’t really care about here in Hockeytown) was on display in the concourse in all of its shiny glory. I knew then that it was going to be a good night.
• While we were waiting outside the Joe, we saw Filppula pull into the lot (driving one-handed, of course). Then Larry Murphy showed up a couple of minutes later. After seeing his vehicle of choice, my dad disgustedly said, “He drives an Audi?!” It was a pretty good moment.
• During the first intermission, I was standing kind of in the door between the suite and the seating area watching the kids do their shootout thing when my dad grabbed my shoulder and told me to turn around. Right there, not five feet away from me was my childhood hero Steve Yzerman. (I would also like to take this opportunity to not how immensely proud I am that I didn’t do anything completely embarrassing. It turns out that I’m occasionally capable of not acting like a psychopath after all.) The Wings’ PR staff that was there said we could only take one group shot that they would send to all of us so we were a little disappointed. However, after we posed for the picture, he said, “So…you guys want any autographs? I can stick around for a little while.” As if there was a chance in this universe that we would’ve turned down that offer. A mad scramble for autographable items ensued as people pretty much dove left and right trying to find stuff to get signed (I’m kidding. Everyone in the suite was incredibly nice and I think we all had a wonderful time together.). I shook Stevie’s hand, and he signed the back of my gorgeous old-school #19 jersey as well as the front of the old midget-sized one that I intend to get framed. He was incredibly gracious and I think there was a general consensus amongst the 12 of us there that we could all die happy right then and there.
• After he left, one of the guys realized that he had walked out with his Sharpie. He said (and this is one of those things that doesn’t really translate well to text), “Steve Yzerman just stole my Sharpie……*realization dawning*……STEVE Yzerman just stole my Sharpie! :)” I’ve included the little smiley face there to aid you in your interpretation of the quote. I really can’t do it justice. It was a pretty awesome moment in all of our lives. I just wish he had stolen my Sharpie instead. I don’t even know what that says about me.
• Okay, I am most definitely not the excitable type. I tend to be even-keel to the point that I’m often mistaken as being heartless. So it was absolutely bizarre to discover that my hands were still shaking a little at the end of the second period. All things considered, though, I think I handled it well. Prior to arriving at the game, I had wondered if a meeting might maybe be in store for us, and I had warned close friends that if they never heard from me again that it was safe to assume that I had had a heart attack and died. But it would’ve been okay because then when I got to the pearly gates (whether this would actually be my destination sparked some debate…) I would be able to say that Steve Yzerman was the last person that I saw on this earth. It turns out, though, that I didn’t die, which is probably evident by the fact that I’m typing this post.
• He was wearing his shiny new Hall of Fame ring. I didn’t get a picture of it, but I noticed it when he was signing things for people. Way cool.
• It’s now 3:30 AM. I’ve been up since 5:30 AM. I barely got 5 hours of sleep last night. I have absolutely no idea why I’m still typing. I definitely need to fix my priorities.
  
• Shortly after Yzerman departed, Joey Kocur stopped by. He stuck around for a while and chatted with us. He was not familiar with the concept of Twitter, so we took it upon ourselves to explain it to him. I don’t think we converted him.
• After we got done explaining things to him, he looked around the suite and said, “Hey, you guys got beer in here?” When he was informed that we did not, in fact, have any beer, he joked that he should’ve stopped by the Molson suite first.
• He actually signed all of his pictures “To Soandso, all my best…” This led to some fun moments when he was trying to talk and write people’s names at the same time thus leading to a couple of inventive spellings.
• All in all he was a pretty fun guy and I didn’t mind missing the first few minutes of the second period chatting with him. Still though, I felt a little bad. How do you walk into a room after Steve Yzerman has just left and expect to wow people? It’s got to be a little disheartening. Talk about a tough act to follow.
• I really liked Zetterberg’s goal. A lot.
• Jimmy Howard didn’t make me want to bang my head against the wall. Sure he gave up some juicy rebounds, but he came up with a few big saves, and he was tested a whole lot more than Luongo was.
• Kronner’s empty netter (Make sure you watch until the very end as Z gives Nik what must be some sort of strange Swedish sign of affection.) was one of the two most amusing empty net goals I've seen. We could see that the puck was heading on the right trajectory toward the goal, the only question was whether or not it would cross the goal line before the Vancouver player caught up to it. As it inched closer (seemingly in slow motion), the whole arena started to go, “oooohhhh,” rising in pitch as it neared the line. It was pretty awesome and completely unexpected. (For those of you who are curious, this is the other most amusing one.)
• I uploaded all of my pictures over here for your viewing pleasure. With any luck, I’ll have time to go through and actually label them tomorrow…and maybe even rearrange them so they’re in the right order. I might slap together another post about tonight if I think of anything else or bother going back to discover just how incoherent the rest of this post has been.
• Overall, we were treated like royalty by the Wings staff. We had an amazing time, and I can’t say enough about getting this opportunity.
• We made out like bandits. Obviously the two jerseys were mine before, but everything else was given to me.
  

Cookies and Cupcakes for Steve Yzerman.
Sure he wasn’t on the ice, but he made my life tonight. I’m never going to forget this game. The only reason I’m convinced that tonight actually happened is because there’s a big old signature adorning the 9 on the back of my jersey.

Brett Lebda gets the Golden Facepalm
It was only a matter of time before he ended up with one of these. I’m going to admit that this is more of a reputation call than anything else. He made a couple of pretty bad defensive zone turnovers that really stand out in my mind though, and I’m almost positive that he was one of the D-men on the ice during that long stretch in the third period when the Wings were hemmed into their own zone and unable to clear the puck despite having numerous chances to do so.

What I learned:
That meeting The Captain makes me giddy like a schoolgirl. Not that that should come as a surprise to anyone who has ever met me before.

One final note:
For one of my classes at school, I got assigned to live blog an event of my choosing. Obviously, it didn't take a whole lot of thought to decide to do a Wings game. As such, two of my classmates and I will be setting up shop at a bar on Saturday night and live blogging the game against Anaheim. (Yeah, we're going to be sitting in a bar on a Saturday night with our laptops doing homework. I'm pretty sure it's going to be the ultimate college moment ever.) I'll post the live blog here and send some reminders on Twitter over the next couple of days too.