Hi Def, are you watching ?

This summer I took the HD plunge.

I got a medium sized plasma Panasonic HDTV and ordered the Comcast Hi Def package. The plasma was supposed to be the best for sports, so I took that over the DLP, projection and LCD models.

I was really amazed at the picture. Maybe it's because I grew up with black and white TV's and rabbit ear antennas. Or maybe because the picture is just that good. You hear so much about it, but you can't really appreciate the quality until you actually see it for your own eyes in your own house.

Of course I got it mainly for sports, but I found myself watching everything and anything in Hi Def. From baseball to football to Discovery and even the Food Channel. (But that should be no surprise to anyone who knows me. Boston cream pies in Hi Def, oooooh lala.)

Hockey and football are nice in Hi Def, but I have to say that baseball was the best so far. Maybe it's because there wasn't alot of movement of the players like there is in hockey and football.

Some of you probably have had Hi Def for a while now and it's not a big deal anymore. But for a guy who still listens to tapes, and remembers the 1976 Bicentennial parade, watching TV in High Def is surely a revolution for the resolution.

A light for sore eyes

Dashboard ads are now part of the game, but do I have to wear sunglasses now while sitting on my couch?

I'm talking about the lighted advertising banners on the benches and on the dashboards that some rinks have.

I have yet to figure out what any of them are trying to sell me. They are impossible to read on the television and distract you while trying to watch the game on TV. Maybe in the arena they look nice, but those lighted signs are realling pissing me off as a television viewer.

The two rinks that come to mind are Ottawa and I believe LA is the other one. (I think the New York Islanders have one or had one too.) The point here is not where, but why?

The game doesn't need any more distractions or anything that will turn the viewers away from watching. I find that if I have a choice between games to watch, I will not watch the games that have that lighted banner down at bench and ice level.

I shouldn't have to wear sunglasses while watching a hockey game on TV. And besides, you can't read those things anyway.

Green with envy

As if it couldn't get any worse for the Bruins. Once again the Red Sox and Patriots are hogging all of the New England sports attention. And what, if any, attention was left has been gobbled up by the Celtics and their big signing of Kevin Garnett this fall.

In past blogs I mentioned that the Bruins need to sign someone, anyone, that is a household name. Well, the Celtics, not the Bruins, took my advice and signed a top player to their squad.

If anything else, it will sell tickets and get people to watch. I will even watch, and I'm not a basketball fan. Atleast I'll know someone on the Celtics, even if Larry Bird is not walking through that door.

Good for the Celtics. I hope the Bruins are green with envy.

Breaking the Seal

It's been a few years since I have written for a hockey magazine, mostly covering the AHL Worcester IceCats and Manchester Monarchs, with a few general commentary articles thrown in.

Aside from a couple of small projects and some contributions to a few articles in hockey magazines and publications, my hockey writing for the most part, has been a healthy scratch.

Now with the introduction of Blogs, I can finally break the seal and get my unique, and sometimes humorous hockey writing off the bench. And yes, any chance I get I will mention the Golden Seals. I hope you enjoy the IceHog Blog. Feel free to leave your comments on my blogs.

New Bruins Logo should be...

The Bruins have a new logo, a new jersey, a new look, a new coach, but it will be the same old Bruins once again this season.

The July 1st summer free agent free-for-all has come and gone, and many household NHL names found new homes. None of them will have their mail sent to Boston.

The Bruins were supposed to be ahead of the game when the strike ended a couple of years ago. That didn't happen. So to solve the problem, they got rid of Joe Thornton. I could go on and on, but you all know the story too well.

So I'm asking the Bruins, please, please with Sweet & Low on top. Sign somebody I know. Stop putting together teams that just miss the playoffs every season. Stop getting the brothers, cousins, sons and nephews of the league's Superstars. Get the damn Superstars themselves.

Heck, bring back Greg Hawgood, Gary Galley, Glen Featherstone. Anyone that I have heard of please.

But it's all wishful thinking. They will once again field an average team that will win just enough games to keep people watching until they get eliminated from the playoffs in March. I really hope I'm wrong, and that this team does well. Really, I do. But I am also a realist, and from what I have seen and not seen the team do lately, the B's should finish just ahead of Columbus in 2008.

All that being said, I figured I'd help the team with a new logo. Here it is. A big F. F is for Failure. F is for Forgetting how to be a winner. F is for Fahgedabout the playoffs. And especially, F is for the Fans, which once again will get stuck without a team from Boston in the playoffs. I think this new logo is Fitting...