Mid-life crisis fantasy garage

I've been spending way too much time on Craigslist and eBay looking at cars for sale or auction. Since I'm now on the other side of my 40th b-day, I figured it's a good time to put together my mid-life crisis fantasy garage. Anybody got some cash they want to give me?

1985 Ferrari 288 GTO - the supercar of the '80's - $950,000

1989-1994 Chevy Corvette ZR-1 - King of the Hill - $50,000+

2008 Porsche 911 GT3    $100,000+

1986-1992 Ferrari Testarossa    $60,000+

2013 BMW M5   $90,000+

MW3 - Flag Defender & the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders

I couldn't find a 2011-2012 image for the DCC, so you get the above, which is from a recent calendar shoot I assume. Standards are standards for a reason folks.  The DCC set the bar.

Cod:MW3
Of all the gametypes availble in the new COD:ModernWarfare 3 game, I'm mostly enjoying Flag Defender and Ground War.  I'm not good enough to play without Assassin Pro as a perk to hide my ass from UAVs, especially when there are 10 dudes on the other teams looking for me.  I say dudes, and that just made me think of some YouTube vids I've seen with chick gamers playing MW2. How hot is that?  I want a chick that can golf, dance it up in the club, and throw down on some Team Deathmatch on a Sunday afternoon.

 I did see this also, and thought it was entertaining enough to share . . .

Are you f'ing kidding me?!?!?!

Really? So the reset button thing didn't work.  Got distracted with other things again and blogging takes a back seat.  Just a couple things since the last post . . .

• The Cardinals made probably the most improbable run in the history of major league baseball to win the World Series.  My October 2011 is a f'ing blur.  Still not sure how to put that experience into words. This town is so baseball crazy that a run like that will have people in a good mood for a long time.  As long a Pujols doesn't sign with the Cubs, we'll be smiling until Opening Day.

• I organized and attended my 20th high school reunion.

• I have picked up a regular DJ gig as a second income stream (nice!)
• I parlayed a competitive job offer into a significant raise
• I bought a new MacBook Pro
• I bought a second vehicle (Jeep to haul my shit around)
• Went on two dates (dead ends)
• Dropped my personal trainer and trying a new diet

Phew. 

Blues get a new head coach

Ken Hitchcock. Okay.  Looks a little crotchety to me and didn't get fabulous results in his last job, but I'm willing to give any coach that has previously won a Stanley Cup a try. Brett Hull called Hitch a true hockey man and exalted his ability to enforce accountability and attention to detail, so we'll see what happens.  Doug Armstrong (Blues GM) is obviously pinning his hopes on this change.

Backes is the deserved captain, Oshie and Bergie look strong, but we continue to need scoring.  David Perron needs to get that noggin healthy (@DP57 we need you!!!). Pieterangelo looks promising still.  Little trade of defensemen this past week bringing in Russell, a Blue Jacket, for one of our prospects (Nikitin). Shattenkirk is my new favorite, jersey to be ordered shortly.

Last night we beat Tampa Bay at home.  This was a big win as TB is a good team from the Eastern Conf and they were employing some crazy new formation (1-3-1) that supposedly is akin to the much hated neutral zone trap.  Regardless, we figured it out and beat'em 3-0. Brian Elliott got the shutout. Aforementioned Kris Russell scored in debut and Blues are 5-0-1 at home in last 6 home games.  Need to keep home dominance going if we're going to make playoffs.

MW3 > MW2

Also this week, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 came out.  Of course, I was sharpening up my game the past few weeks by putting in time on MW2 as it is a far superior experience to COD: BlackOps.  Not disappointed. Couple administrative changes, but really solid.  Still wish shotguns could be a secondary, and the strike package thing is a little weird, but I'm getting used to it.  Overall, awesome game.

Headed to Lake Tahoe in a couple weeks for some drinking and gambling with the B-school buddies. SHould be debaucherous. Stay tuned.

RESET button

Intentions were good - write a semi-weekly blog musing about sports (mainly Blues hockey), observations on pop culture & politics, and include some random dating stories. So far - fail. I haven't posted since January. Renewing the commitment. Just saw The Social Network for the second time the other day and among other inspirations I took from the movie, I want to write regularly as an outlet and a development opportunity. I will keep notes going throughout the week and get something out every couple of weeks through at least hockey season. And if, God forebid, the Blues win the Stanley Cup, I guarantee this will be the most entertaining corner of the blogosphere as I document the party that will ensue. Cool? Cool.

Dallas - Who Shot the Blues?

Mainstream 80's references not withstanding, the Blues, after a successful preceding weekend beating a couple of Eastern Conference foes in Ottawa (W 5-2) and New Jersey (W 3-2) and a mid-week shootout win over Nashville (W 2-1), fell in a (now rare) home and home to Dallas (L 2-3, L 1-2). Sounding like a broken record (updated reference would be a corrupted MP3 file) - we need more scoring. Boyes has seen a partial resurgence and Backes recently got off the schnide, but we still lack a sniper/scorer. The offensive punch that is lost to having both TJ Oshie and David Perron on the shelf due to injuries (broken ankle, concussion respectively) is tough to address with current personnel. Halak can stand on his head every night, or in what looks like a consistent pattern about 3 out of every 4 nights, and we still will need to find a way to put the biscuit in the basket. Positioned well for a playoff appearance, but perhaps and early exit. Prognosis: plateau - probably no better or no worse that current performances would indicate.

No More Mid-30's

I will turn 38 in 2011. Last serious relationship was two years out of college, after which it was clear to me that it was more fun (read less hassle) to not put effort into finding a lifelong commitment. I'm not closed to it, just not actively pursuing it. I rebel against the philosophy that a relationship is work. I agree there may be occupation-like trials that need to be overcome, assuming the two parties are bought in. But a relationship should be easy, comprimising, reaffirming, balanced, and fulfilling. With rare exception, all my married friends bemoan the lack of almost all these qualities in their relationships. And in classic, you only want what you can't have fashion, the women I'm most attracted to are uncomprimising, type-A drivers that are used to getting what they want when they want it. Go figure. I'm chasing the high performing, win at all costs, careerists when I should be perusing the elementary schools for a cute 5th grade teacher. Yet, I'm pretty comfortable by myself. I'm enjoying my Nash equilibrium on the dating gameboard. For all you non-Econ majors that that reference is lost on, see the movie "A Beautiful Mind" (with one of my favs of all-time Jennifer Connelly ).

Dating tactic of the week: Approach attractive women of similar age and ask, "Just curious, why are you not hitting on me?" Advantages: makes the first move while faux-challenging the social norm of men being the aggressor; could be parlayed into fun convo about female pick up lines; might actually get valuable feedback about approach. Disadvantages: Sounds like cheese; puts the focus on the wrong party. I'll let you know how it goes as I have a couple of happy hour opps this week.

Thankful

It's T-giving weekend, so just a few things I'm thankful for:

• Twitter & Facebook - outlets for expression and a great way (although impersonal) to stay social and network with others
• Family - everyone is happy and healthy, gainfully employed, etc.
• DVR technology
• MIDI mapped DJ controllers
• The Karate Kid, Back to the Future, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Fletch, Swingers, and Kevin Smith's New Jersey Trilogy - the movies playing on a constant loop in my subconcious
• Intelligent all-wheel drive - I love my Inifiniti
• St. Louis Cardinals baseball and St. Louis Blues hockey

1/25/10 @ Calgary - It's been awhile

So, I've been slacking on the blog updates due to a heightened pace of things at work plus just now getting caught up from the holidays. I will have to say after reading my last post again about the Tiger crap that went down at T-giving that I was right on with affairs and hookers.

Quite a lot's happened since I last wrote some musings . . . Coach Andy Murray was fired, the Saints & Colts are going to the Super Bowl, and, well, it's 2010! Oh yeah, and I attended the 1/16/10 victory over the NY Rangers (4-1) - a rare home win. The boys are in 13th place in the West coming into tonight's game with 52 points. The Flames are sitting in 8th with 58 points. We need this win. Deny them any points, get us two.

Random (Hockey-related) Notes

• Janssen doesn't need to be fighting guys that are 6'4" (Like CGY's McGratton) WTF! He certainly doesn't need to be fighting twice a night. It makes me wonder how many times Twister or Chaser fought twice in the same game? I'll put that on the list of things to look up when I'm not being lazy.


• With Backes getting banged up and not playing, TJ Oshie has been playing some Center and looking real good doing it.


• Do we really need Crombeen & Winchester? They're kind of the same guy right? Kind of like McDonald and Kariya, no? Could I ask a few more questions as part of this note?


• I really like Conklin as a capable backup.


• How about the Winter Classic at Soldier Field featuring the Blues & Hawks? Close second? Even though most of the U.S. would not turn it on I would love to see Toronto and Montral. Does that make me part Canadian? I don't feel funnier.


• EA NHL10 loves Alex Pietrangelo. And he was voted most outstanding defenseman at the World Juniors tournament. Something to look forward to.

Trade Rumors (Rumours for you Canadians)

• Bring Ilya Kovalchuk to the Blues please! Hey Atlanta - I will give you Perron and Berglund and a draft pick - if we can sign him. Please don't let Chicago get him, although according to various reports and opinions, the Blackhawks are only interested in a rental because of their cap situation. Apparently the B-hawks think this is the year they can make a deep run, to which I say your Kane-Toews is no Crosby-Malkin. And Huet is no M. Brodeur.


• Dion Phanueuf is available? Apparently had a locker room riff w/ coach Brent Sutter after recent loss to division leading Colorado. Really, dude is 23 years old, he would look good next to EJ. But, we need a sniper. We need the guy that Brad Boyes was 2 years ago. A legitimate 50 goal guy that can anchor a scoring line for a few years. Kovalchuk is that guy.
  
• How bad is it in Toronto to be out of a playoff spot? If this was baseball and the Yankees were out of the race by mid-season there would be unrelenting fan upheaval. BBurke needs to work some magic or start dumping some guys for a wholesale franchise reset.
  
• Turco to Capitals? Tail end of a solid career, he could bolster any number of Cup hopefuls that need a netminding upgrade. Washington could be a good fit. Split some time w/ retread Theodore.
  

Chicks

Just threw out the 2009 Maxim calendar with Elisha Cuthbert as the December pic. I continue to be amazed by her beauty, however every time a see Redline with Nadia Bjorlin (@RealNadiaB on Twitter) I swear she is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. I might have to re-jigger my top 5 hottest females list for 2010.

Tiger's accident and my hatred of all things Detroit . .

Alright, so, that lasted one day . . . 'that' being the momentum that the Blues created for themselves. On Saturday they hosted the Red Wings (hurts to even capitalize their name) and played a great first period 2-0 and then got outscored 1-3 the rest of the game leading to an overtime and shootout scenario where we were in it the whole time, but Todd Bertuzzi (yes, he of the mugging and cheap shot school) made a pedestrian out of Mason on the last penalty shot - forehand to backhand to roof over gloveside. Got me thinking about how much I hate Detroit, how many years we were competitive with them, coming up short in the playoffs virtually every time. This dislike led to the much misguided following of the Colorado Avalanche as a vicarious foil for Yzerman & Co. Hockeytown USA? Really? How about Buffalo? Minneapolis? Just because you're close in proximity to Toronto doesn't give you the right to claim you are the capital of American hockey. Gordie Howe - blah,blah. How many Cups? 5? 10? I don't care, just happy that they don't have Ovechkin, Crosby, Carter, or EJohnson. (That DHelm looks like a great little player though.) Jealousy you ask? Yeah, bite me.

Okay, so news broke over the weekend that Tiger was involved in a 'serious' accident. He ran into a fire hydrant in his neighbors yard at 2:30a in the morning on Friday after Thanksgiving. Taken to hospital with facial lacerations, police and parameds on scene, wife Elin broke out back window of Escalade with golf club, no alcohol involved. Hmmm, possible explanations have ranged from dog/cat interference to Elin throwing a fit over an alleged affair. Tiger is being tightlipped and calling the events leading up to the accident 'embarrassing' and 'private'. Using his words, I've come up with a list of my own on what might have happened:

• Dude was hungry and needed a crave case
• Learned of Walmart's doorbuster deals and urgently needed to get his hands on the cheapest off-brand HD TV for the garage
• Was sick of changing diapers
• Grew tired of listening to his swimsuit model wife bitch and moan about how few diamonds she has and just 'had to get away'
• Remembered that he left his 'special putter at the course and needed to retrieve it for some night putting, you know, putting at night
• Was really giving the neighbor a lawn job for not inviting him over a party the night before
• Was testing the off road capabilities of the Escalade and thought, 'Watch this baby take on that fire hydrant'.
• Dropped a stogey on his new, prototype golf pants - water and wind proof but not fireproof
• Was headed into town for a loaf of bread and a quart of milk
• Headed to meetup with his Cialis source
• Heard Phil was coming in on an early flight and wanted to spread nails & other debris on the runway
• Was hitting a new danceclub in town that plays only Cablinasian techno hits
• Forgot he ordered a pizza three hours earlier and was trying to make up the time by cutting through the nighbor's yard
• Was juggling cell phones while driving, trying to figure out which one was the illicit, unpaid one that he lets the hookers use
• Thought the hydrant was really a paparrazzi camera placement

Whatever it was, now that it's got the news coverage, time to come clean Tiger. Squeaky clean image be damned. Maybe if you disclosed that this was something that happened to normal people, that would be okay too.

Picking up the pace - finally.

Well, well, well. What a difference a couple weeks make! Coming off a dreadful few games where it appeared everyone on the team making more than $2 mil/yr was going on siesta for the first half of the season, the Blues are in the midst of a nice run including a win last night @NSH where the boys beat the hottest team in hockey, winners of 7 straight. C-Mason had a huge game, Backes is on a points streak, Kariya scored on a sweet assist from Oshie, and the team generally looked like they wanted to win. Now we need a good December. We don't want to have to come from 12th place to try to take the last playoff slot with three months left - Now is the Time to move up the standings. Another game tonight with Detroit - looking for Conklin to get the start.

Also, neat promotion going on at stlblues.com. Brett Hull's going to be honored for his hall of fame induction and he will pick his favorite all time Blues team based on guys he played with. Fans are invited to submit their own guesses as to who the 23 players are that Brett selects. Winner gets tix and VIP access for the game at which Brett is being honored. Interesting candidates out there - Brian Noonan?, Pavol Demitra?, Adam Creighton? Bernie Federko? Of course, Oates, Janney, Gretzky, MacInnis, Duchesne, Housley, Stevens, J. Brown. Should be fun.

Detroit tonight. Let's go Blues!

H-ween costumes & how we can't score on Vokoun

Here are my favorites costume ideas for next year (never too early!) assuming they will still be relevant, of course:

1) Drunk airline pilots: Seriously this is a great idea. You'll still look good, being able to dress in a suit with a tie and some sort of pimpin captain's lid has a lot of pluses with the ladies. Dusting off the Top Gun-style aviator sunglasses = bonus. And then the ultimate, ever present accessory = a rcok glass with some whiskey in it! Brilliant. Props to Nelly & Co. for pulling it off this year (clown notwithstanding).

2) Batman and Robin: This assumes your date/girlfriend looks as good as this chick! I'll have some of that please. And with the suit doing the hard work of making the physique look better than it likely is, all you have to worry about is poking someone's eye out with your bat ears. Seriously I need to work an invite to this party next year. Of course a good Catwoman outfit would also be an appropriate sexy complement.

3) Stephen Hawking: Now this may be more than you're willing to commit to, but you have to love the motorized wheel chair and only talking via a computerized voice. Screw the sensitive types that may be conscious of the using the handicapped as a costume.

4) Leopard dude: Seriously, per the internet caption, this is Heidi Klum's personal trainer and what he wore to her party. Maybe a little out of hand but I'm sure this dude had a load of ass to choose from. Any girls that might read this - feel free to comment.

Vokoun = brick wall!

So, Blues lost 4-0 to the Florisa Panthers last night. I'm coming to the conclusion that the grinding style and personality of this team is just not going to be enough to match the firepower of most of the teams in the NHL. Mason will keep us in games and EJohnson and Pietrangelo will be very good in coming years, but relying upon on Kariya, Tkachuck, Berlund, Oshie, Boyes, and Perron to score goals every night is just not going to lead to long-term success. We had one shot in the second period last night. Which tells me we had little or no sustained pressure in the offensive zone for an entire 20 minute span. Unacceptable. It's not like the Panthers are going to be threatening for the Cup this year. Vokoun is world class, but having to stop only one shot is light work to say the least. I'm ponderng solutions, but it is clear we could use some speed and another sniper/scorer on the first two scoring lines, especially if McDonald is going to be out for any time due to his head first crash into the boards last night. I love the workman-like, bring your lunch pale efforts that the Blues have put up so far this year. But, at some point, we need to upgrade and get some glamour player with consistent scoring potential. So, let the trade rumors begin . . .

Dallas kickin' our ass & Wild Turkey Honey

So, went to a big ass halloween costume party at my college buddy's house. Sharpened up the DJ chops and threw it down old school while keeping one eye on the Blues game (since Mizzou was getting blown out by Texas). Saw a couple of Dallas goals which led to the eventual loss 4-1. Didn't really care as I was up to my ears in draft beer, frisky housewives and some crazy ass drink called Wild Turkey American Honey. Now, if your familiar with regular Wild Turkey, like I am, you understand that to consume it regularly means you have a drinking problem. Because no one chooses it for the flavor. To give you and idea of what I'm talking about - my father, who almost never drinks, pours himself some Wild Turkey for its medicinal purposes to battle sever colds and flu symptoms. This new stuff is unbelievably smooth even poured straight. The host and I were doing several chilled shots of the stuff and I could have done that all night long. My liver is thankful that didn't happen. Head was aching this morning, but probably more because of that awful keg beer than from the hard alcohol. Makes me wonder how we downed all those kegs in college with little physical consequence. I guess the young, college-aged metabolism is just adept at processing that stuff, whereas the mid-30's phsyiology rejects it outright. Regardless, rough Sunday with too much to do and no hope of a day off this week. Oh well. I may attend the Blues game on Halloween night at its seems there is a glut of tix available due to all the parents having to do the parental thing and pay attention to their kids. Keep you posted. Also upcoming: Mizzou on Nov 7 for Baylor. My prediction: Cold & drunk. May have to bring some of this new concoction for warmth.

Blues 3 - Wild 1

Yes sir! Home game #3, hosting the Wild, solid outing. Victory on the back of Chris Mason's strong goaltending, David Perron's first goal of the season. Beautiful effort off of an odd man break, came in from the right wing, beat the goalie to the far post. Good times in the corporate suite, although didn't get to hang with all the people I wanted to. Spent the third period in the club schmoozing with some VP's from the Blues. They seem to be happy with ticket sales and fan enthusiasm so far this year. If the crowd last night was any indication they should have a good year financially. To nearly sell out an early season game against the largely unknown and non-descript Wild is an accomplishment. Who is the Wild's best player? Havlat? Belanger? Friday nights are good nights for hockey. How about some more Friday night dates on the schedule? Bud Lights @ $8 per, not so much of an accomodation.

Blues 5 - Ducks 0

So, stayed up late and was flipping between the Yanks-Angels 13 inning game 2 of the ALCS and the Blues-Ducks in Anaheim. The baseball game went real late. The Blues dispatched with the Ducks fairly easily with a 5-0 victory. McDonald looked impressive against his former team and TJ Oshie got his first goal of the season on a skate deflection (shady!). Tkachuk had a solid outing and as usual in Blues-Ducks affairs there was some chippy-ness. Crombeen scrapped to be the first Blue to get a major fighting penalty this season (really?). And Ty Conklin had the shutout making a couple of highlight reel saves. Is it possible we could have another goalkeeping controversy by the end of the year? Also of note, Eric Brewer was travelling with the team and FSN-Midwest had some b-roll of him skating in practice, an encouraging sign.

Now, prepping for NFL Week 6. Need a big fantasy win this week - Houston (Schaub) and Cincinnati (Palmer) are playing each other so I had to choose between QB's playing each other. Given that Cinci's D has been playing tough (Malaluga) and I can't name anyone on Houstons's D, I went with Palmer. Also, NO and NYG are playing in The Big Easy. Would be nice to get a big game out of Brandon Jacobs, but I have a feeling Eli will be slinging it around trying to keep up with Brees and the NO offense. I took NYG in the pool and the confidence pick'em.

Had a three hapy hour week this past week - Monday @ Corner, Tuesday @ BARcelona, Friday @ Growlers. That's a good pace, although I can't say it made me any happier. Looking forward to this week - corporate suite at the Blues game for Friday night! Probably drinks before, during and after. Nice. Til later . . .

Rams & thoughts on cheerleading

So, the Rams are allegedly taking a page from the Blues playbook and opening their club section bar to the masses for pregame and postgame cocktails. Hopefully it's one small step toward improving the sterile environment of NFL football in the Edward Jones Dome. I had the 'opportunity' to attend the Vikes-Rams contest today, such as it was, and was still amazed at the incredulity of people with high expectations for a team which is clearly in the bottom 2 or 3 in the league. The most exciting part of the game are the cheerleaders - they look good and their choreography is mediocre. And there is less of them. Must be cost cutting or something. I could have sworn that there were nine of them of each corner last year for a total of 36. This year it appears there are only five per corner for a total of 20. This deserved further research. Here is a pic of a couple of them on a visit to Afghanistan.

Ah, no 2009 squad picture available as of yet. In 2000, I had set a New Years resolution to date a Rams cheerleader. Alas, never came across that opportunity. Although around that same time, I kept a former Rams cheerleader's hair out of her own vomit. Stylish.

Of course then you have the standard against which all others are judged . . .

Really, really bad sports night . . .

Last night may have been the worst sports night EVER for STL sports fans. I was fortunate enough to have a corporate suite ticket to the Blues home opener at Scottrade Center. Fortunate because that allowed me to watch the Cards game on the monitors in the suite while partaking in the festivities (ahem) of the Blues game. Also, Mizzou football was playing a rare Thursday night game vs. Nebraska in Columbia in a monsoon that also deserved some attention. Long story short - Cards blew up due to a Matt Holliday error in the bottom of the 9th, the Blues skated to an uninspiring 4-2 loss to Atlanta (I. Kovalchuck 2 goals) and Mizzou ended up getting beat in the 4th quarter. And it rained. And rained some more. Luckily I had a busy schedule on Friday, otherwise I could have been in the bar early and late.
So, Cards in a big hole. Blues looking a bit flat. And Mizzou's slide back into medicrity seems to be on schedule. Precious.

Blog intro

Second attempt at a regular blog that will cover a variety of topics - mostly sports, some politics, random musings, thoughts on stock picks and money plays, travel, and humorous drinking stories. Will publish something weekly.

Oh yeah, the blog title, you may ask? Obviously when the St. Louis Blues win the Stanley Cup there will be a parade down Market Street in downtown St. Louis and I will be there. Probably barely coherent, but I will be there. This is also the name of a story/screenplay idea I have about four friends whose lives change drastically over the course of a hockey season.

That is all for now. Until next time, enjoy the pic of Hayden Pantierre licking the Stanley Cup. I know I will be.