Podcast time!

Hey everyone, thought we would try something different this time and gave podcasting a try. Joining me are my friends Jamie and Pablo. We chat about the Pens and the NHL in general. Hope you enjoy!

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The Dynasty Continues

Well the NASCAR season has ended, and the outcome was the same as it has been for the past few years. Jimmie Johnson won his 5th straight championship.

Could the outcome have been different? Possibly.
Hamlin battled many issues throughout the day, including spinning out and a poor handling car.

Harvick looked to be in contention, until a questionable speeding penalty put him behind for awhile.

I still can't believe the result, and I think that NASCAR needs to try and tweak the Chase format somehow, because Johnson has obviously mastered it, and is basically controlling the sport.

Pens vs Hurricanes: A Night of Incredible Luck

As I said last time, I went to the Pens vs Hurricanes game on November 19th with my friend Jamie and another friend of ours, Pablo. Jamie & I had tickets up in section 225, Pablo did Student Rush and ended up in section 116. We were all pumped to be going to the game because we all love the Pens, and Jamie & I were excited to get to see one of our favorite non-Penguins, Eric Staal, play in person.

The Final Stretch

Well, the 2010 NASCAR season is about to draw to a close, and for the first time in years, we are going into the final race not knowing who the champion will be.
With the points lead is Denny Hamlin, a driver everyone counted out early in the season when he had to undergo knee surgery.
15 points behind Hamlin, is 4-time defending champ, Jimmie Johnson. At this point, everyone simply expects him to win everything.
And in 3rd place, 46 points behind, is dark-horse Kevin Harvick. Someone most people have not expected a whole lot out of, but is a skilled and determined racer.

Any of these 3 drivers could come out of the race on Sunday lifting the Sprint Cup trophy. One mistake could cost any of them the championship.

I can't wait to watch the race Sunday (& I actually will get to, as long as it doesn't run past 6 when I have to go to work) and find out what will happen. This the most I have looked forward to a race other than ones I've actually gone to.

Oh, and on a completely unrelated note, I am going to the Penguins game tonight, so my next post will likely be about that.

More drama in NASCAR

The 7th race in the Chase for the Championship was this past Sunday, and if there could be more races like this, NASCAR's ratings would be through the roof.
The race started with 4-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson holding a slim points lead, and ended with Denny Hamlin not only winning, but taking a 33 point lead in the standings, with only 2 races remaining.

But it was in between the green flag & the checkered flag that was the real entertainment.



Kyle Busch was penalized for speeding off of pit road after coming down to repair some damage. He felt this was the wrong call and made and flipped off the official standing by his car, and proceeded to string together some very colorful language about NASCAR over the team radio. He was held for 2 additional laps. (He has since been put on probation until the end of the year and fined $25,000).

Next up, the main attraction. An on-track incident between veterans Jeff Gordon & Jeff Burton caused both cars to wreck. Gordon was understandably upset at the incident. He climbs out of his car, walks to Burton & attempts to fight him. Now I may have only been watching NASCAR since 2005, but I know that A) Fights do not happen in NASCAR and B) Jeff Gordon is generally a calm individual. So when I was was watching the race on Sunday, I literally almost fell out of my chair when that happened. The best part? No penalty on either driver.

Now, I may be a bit biased here as I am a Kyle Busch fan, but is an obscene gesture & some heat of the moment cursing really worse than attempting to beat up on a fellow competitor??

Then, another moment that has people talking. Jimmie Johnson had been having horrible pit stops all day, costing him valuable track position. Since his teammate Jeff Gordon was out of the race, Johnson's crew chief made the call to "bench" his crew and put in Gordon's. Now, while the two are technically the same "team", that is only due to the fact they are owned by the same person and come out of the same shop. If you are going to switch teams with someone, do it during the week, not in the middle of the race. You have to deal with what you have.

With only 2 races left, things are definitely starting to heat up, and this is the most excited I've been about the last few races of a NASCAR season since Tony Stewart was battling for the title in the 2005 season. If Johnson have 2 incredibly solid races, he could pull of a ridiculous 5th straight championship. But if the 48 team continues to have issues, and Denny Hamlin or Kevin Harvick can have strong finishes, someone may finally be able to upset the current top dog of the sport.

All I have to say is, I really don't want to see this picture again:

Fan Attacked at Hockey Game

Earlier this week, the Vancouver Canucks played against the Minnesota Wild in Minnesota. Vancouver ended up losing 6-2. At one point, there was a bit of a scrum on the ice, which resulted in one Canucks player being sent to the locker room. On his way there, the following happened:


Now while hockey is definitely a tough game, and losing by that much is never easy, there is no reason a player shold EVER go after a fan, no matter what the fan may have said. You do not physically go after them, you make them sorry in another way, by going out and scoring, preventing their team from scoring. Something, anything, but never physically attack them. Look at what happens everytime the Penguins play the Flyers in Philadelphia. The entire arena chants "Crosby Sucks". What does Crosby do? Goes out and scores goals. Crosby hasn't gotten off to a good start this season, but the first game in Philly he scored 2 goals.

But back to Rypien. He has been suspended indefintely by the NHL, pending a face-to-face hearing with the league. Rumors are the fan attacked is seeking legal action against him.
It will definitely be interesting to see what comes out of this mess.

Student Rush

Been a little crazy the past week, otherwise this would've been sooner. But last week, on October 13th, I participated in my first Student Rush for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and attended my first game in the new arena.

Now for those of you who don't know what Student Rush is, basically the Pens take whatever tickets they have left unsold for the game and set them aside for college students with a valid ID and sell them for $25.

And so it begins...

 

Well, it's finally here. Hockey season. After a long summer, the Penguins are not only back to playing, but are opening up the brand new Consol Energy Center with a game against their biggest rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers.

 

 

 

No word on the official roster as of yet, which likely will not be announced until this afternoon, but we do know a few things.

 

 

 

• Forward Jordan Staal is still out indefinitely with a lingering foot injury/infection from the playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens.
• Forward Arron Asham is day-to-day, but missed the last several preseason games, and may possibly not play the opener.
• Penguins prospect Eric Tangradi was sent to the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL last night, but was recalled to Pittsburgh early this morning, most likely he will be in if Asham can not play tonight.

 

It will definitely be interesting to see what the line up looks like tonight, but nothing will be able to change the anticipation surrounding this game.

 

First game of the season.

 

First regular season game in a long-awaited (and much needed) new arena.

 

A game against the Flyers.

 

 

 

So, not matter what the outcome of tonight's game is, it is guaranteed to be memorable.

 

 

 

It is truly...

Start of Hockey is Around the Corner

Tonight the Pittsburgh Penguins finished off their preseason games with a 5-1 record. For a team that many weren't sure would have the defense to perform after many off season changes, this is a good sign.

The regular season starts on Thursday October 7th, in Pittsburgh, with the Penguins facing their biggest rival, the Philadelphia Flyers. What a way to open up the new arena for the Penguins.

This season should definitely be an interesting one for the Penguins, and not just because they have a new arena. They have almost an entirely new defense, and a fair amount of new forwards. Jordan Staal, their top penalty killer, is out for a fair amount of time, although it has not been determined exactly how long.
Also, they were knocked out by in the 2nd round of the playoffs by what should have been an inferior Montreal Canadiens team, after making the Stanley Cup Finals for 2 years in a row. Seeing if that will affect the team at all will be interesting.

I will definitely be looking forward to the start of the regular season, not just to see how the Penguins do, but to see how every team does compared to last year.

Penalty Upheld

Today, NASCAR made it's decision on Richard Childress Racing's appeal on the penalties handed out to Clint Bowyer's #33 team, and decided to uphold the decision. Full article can be read here.

Now this is quite common for NASCAR to do, but I would just like to comment on a few things from the article.

First, this stat:
"According to NASCAR, in the past decade there have been 132 appeals heard:
• 92 decisions were upheld;
• 28 penalties were reduced;
• 10 penalties were overturned;
• 2 penalties were increased."


Very rarely does NASCAR ever overturn appeals. I have been closely following the sport since 2005 and can't recall off hand one incident where a major penalty was repealed. Nearly anytime I have ever heard someone was going to fight a penalty, my first reaction was "Oh that's not gonna change".


Second, the face that NASCAR would not listen to the accident reconstruction specialist that RCR had brought in to argue their side. They would not even give them a fair shot, it was as if they had already made up their mind about the situation and were simply going through the motions with the hearing.


NASCAR has gotten a bad reputation amongst fans about not really caring or having solid reasons for doing something. Continuing to have accusations such as these is definitely not helping this reputation.

Early Chase Controversy

Only one race in NASCAR's chase to the Sprint Cup championship, there is already major controversy.
After Sunday's race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, race winner Clint Bowyer's car failed inspection due to an infraction that was less than 1/16 of an inch off during post-race inspection. Car owner Richard Childress claims the infraction is due to the car being pushed to the winner's circle by a wrecker truck and other cars tapping Bowyer's bumper on his victory lap in congratulations. The team was docked 150 points, his crew chief, Shane Wilson was suspended for the next 6 races and fined $150,00, and his car chief, Chad Haney has also been suspended for the next 6 races. Both men are on probation until December 31st. Childress says they plan on appealing the punishments.

After winning the race, Bowyer had been leading the point standings for the championship race. After the point reduction, he has been knocked down to 12th place. Considering there are only 12 drivers who qualify to compete for the championship each fall, the loss of points could really hurt Bowyer with only 9 races remaining before the 2010 champion is crowned.




Source: NASCAR.com

While it is good to see NASCAR actually handing out punishments for teams that break the rules, they are showing just how much they limit the teams in their ability to change features of the cars in the sport today. Crew chiefs used to have much more flexibility when it came to setting up the cars, which allowed teams to have to work hard each week to stay competitive. While teams still have to work hard to have to win each week, with the new rules, the cars are virtually the same each week and it can be frustrating for the crews because they can't make their car better without being told they are cheating.

I'm all for making NASCAR more competitive, believe me, I'm sick of Jimmie Johnson winning championships each year. But there has to be a different way to make the field even. As for Bowyer, I feel bad they were caught for only being less than 1/16 of an inch off, but that's just how NASCAR seems to work sometimes.

The next 9 weeks will definitely be interesting to watch.

An Idea to Memorialize an Icon

This past week, a Pittsburgh sports icon was voted to be demolished by the Allegheny County Sports & Exhibition Authority. The Civic Arena, built in 1961, has been home to the Pittsburgh Penguins since 1967. With the Penguins moving across the street into the beautiful & much more modern Consol Energy Center this season, there was much debate on what would happen to the "Igloo"

Some wanted to preserve the entire building and convert it somehow. Others want to just save the iconic arch. Many city officials want to demolish the entire building & re-work the land it sits on. 
On Thursday the 16th, city officials voted to demolish it.  This has been met with much outcry, as supporters of keeping the arena feel it should be labeled as a historic landmark due to its unique architecture.


One fan however, has a unique idea about how to memorialize the Igloo.
Let the arena be torn down, but etch the image of it faintly into the glass windows of the Consol Energy Center, so that fans will forever be able to remember where "home" was for so many years.


Current technology has helped this idea spread like wildfire.


I first saw the idea on twitter, as I follow the person who came up with it. Next thing I know, it was on a very popular Penguins blog, Pensblog (a site that has been mentioned by players & coaches on the team). They posted the idea, asking those who also thought it was a good idea to help spread the word, to get the idea out. 
As I already said, it spread like crazy.
Later that day,Pensblog had to add another post. The idea was being mentioned on local radio stations such as 105.9 The X & 93.7 The Fan. It has gained support of those who could get it well known within the local area.
A Facebook group was created by the originator for the idea (at the time of this posting it had 1,258 members).
All this within a matter of days.
This is not only an example of how current technology has allowed an idea to spread, but also the passion of a fan base wanting to remember a location we have called home for so long.


I am behind this idea as much as it is possible to be. I realize unless a miracle happens, the Igloo is gone. And that is alright with me because the new arena is beautiful and I can't wait to attend games in there for the next 30 plus years.
But the Civic Arena deserves to be remembered. Too many memories and amazing hockey moments have happened there for it to be destroyed without some sort of remembrance. 

Introduction

Hey everyone! This is my first post on this blog, so thought I would introduce myself real quick.

My name is Chelsea, I'm from a small but not too small town in western PA about an hour north of Pittsburgh. I am currently a sophmore at Slippery Rock University, where I am majoring in Sport Management and minoring in French. This blog is an assignment for my Sport Communications class.

I'm a huge sports fan (obviously) and my favorite sports to watch are hockey, NASCAR, & football. I cheer for the Penguins & the Steelers (sometimes the Pirates), & as far as racing, I root for Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch & Denny Hamlin.

I plan on using this blog to talk about current news in sports, as well as new technology that may appear that could affect the sport industry.

Hope you all will find this interesting & that I don't bore you to death.