Halloween Scrooge

So yesterday was Halloween and personally I'm not really into it. Maybe I'm a Halloween scrooge but you can buy candy at the store and not have to go door-to-door to get it off strangers in the freezing cold. I'm also really not into the whole dress up and go to parties as adults. To me it's a kids holiday that's become so overblown (thanks Hallmark). Thank god I don't live in England because they do "fancy dress" parties all the time. But since the rest of the world doesn't share in my Halloween issues, we have been graced with some hockey players donning costumes.

Raffi Torres of the Coyotes dressed at Jay-Z and his wife completed the look as Beyonce with a sparkly dress and baby bump. And since he is white, he blackened his skin to better match the look of Jay-Z. And then someone screamed racism. How exactly I don't get. I thought when you dress like someone or emulate them, it's a tribute to them as you like them in some way. Torres is supposed to be a huge Jay-Z fan, and honestly I'm shocked no one thought of this sooner. Jay-Z and Beyonce are two of the biggest superstars in the industry today. He couldn't exactly have pulled the costume off if he didn't "blackface" himself and why should only a black person be able to be Jay-Z for a costume party. Some are calling this racist, I'm calling it "I have nothing better to do with my time and needed something to complain about." I'm sorry but this is nuts. I wish Jay-Z would give a statement about it, but if he doesn't like it what would he say? And if did like it, someone somewhere would mange to contort it into meaning he doesn't see himself as black or something else equally as wacky. Props to Torres and his wife on a great and well done costume. Of course the Coyotes PR department also don't seem to get the massive controversy and they said so in defense of their player.

In the non-controversy corner of Halloween, we have a bunch of random Penguins being rather low-key in comparison. Geno went as a pimp from the 70's complete with a creepy mustache and purple satin shirt. Sid was a gladiator (fan of the movie or does he view himself like one? better question, where do you keep your wallet?), Lovejoy was a banana (and eating one in the picture he tweeted), and Kennedy and Staal teamed up to be Dumb & Dumber (one of the most over done costumes ever in my opinion). There is also a picture of Letang floating around the web where he is holding a dog dressed in some random costume that looks like half a bad superhero costume. I don't even want to know what he was supposed to be.

Moving on, I've had my fill of strange costumes and would like to talk about something more interesting. Like Mike Rupp of the Rangers hurting his knee and Torts calling up Sean Avery. The fans have been dying for this to happen and at noon today he cleared re-entry waivers, meaning no one but the Rangers will deal with him. Maybe his trip to Hartford has taught him something on how to deal with coach Torts better. Hopefully he keeps his mouth shut long enough for his trip back to the Big Apple. Of course don't doubt he might be on the first train back to the AHL once the Rangers are healthy again. I would love for him to stick around through the new year though. Torts versus Avery versus the Flyers on 24/7...it's been than a scripted comedy on NBC.

The Flyers have had enough of goalie Ilya Bryzgalov's wacky comments and changed their media policy a number of times regarding Bryz talking with reporters. As of today it's that he won't talk to them the day before a game or game day. So basically after a game or 2 days before at most. Talk about a muzzle! A Sportsnet writer has pointed out this might not be allowed as some reporters don't travel with the team they cover and therefore would only talk with him limited times during the season. This is exactly what the Flyers want to do, but the Professional Hockey Writers Association is looking into the matter since they are the only team to do something this radical.

In Penguins news, Matt Cooke recorded 4 penalty minutes all month and 4 goals. If he keeps this pace up, he will have a career year, in more ways than one. Congrats to him. Staal has some sort of lower body injury but should be able to play this upcoming Western roadtrip. Crosby on the other hand will not be playing. He admits that he's probably got to get hit a bunch more times in practice but that's it. He says he can't be any more conditioned. People now think November 11 is the date. I wonder how much money is up for grabs for the person who guessed right?

And finally, today is November 1, which means the Penguins held their usual mustache boy shootout. Joe Vitale lost, so here's hoping he was planning on celebrating movember because he will be sporting a mustache for the month!!

Where has the Time Gone?

It's already August 5th which is just insane to me. Been a busy last week or so for me, but not so busy in the hockey world. Teams seem to have settled with rosters (till training camp opens next month) and the major players have been signed. Seriously when the best headlines you can find are about Sean Avery and Patrick Kane being very Sean and Patrick like, you know the times are slow.

Avery was arrested last night at his LA house for shoving a cop that dared to appear at his house when his party got a bit to loud for his neighbors on a Thursday night. Obviously the Sean Avery calendar doesn't understand the meaning of work on a Friday morning. He posted bail and is free to make more loud noises till his trial next month. Interestingly enough Avery is a poster boy for causing problems but the extent of his issues have never come to law enforcement. Just enforcing his opinions (right or wrong) on the ice and at fellow players. Of course this happened to a guy currently in the 2nd biggest TV market in the country that happens to play for a team located in the biggest. Therefore this story is going to take some wild twists and turns. Oy vey.

Patrick Kane showed up on a some blog drunk at a Belmar bar (Jersey Shore). Most shocking part of this- we haven't had evidence of him hitting up a shore bar before. Least shocking- he hit up a Jersey Shore bar. The boy seems to show up everywhere but a game drunk, so this is really just a natural progression. Yeah buddy!! (Jersey Shore reference, moving on)

In real hockey news (yup, believe it or not something actually happened that has impact), Shea Weber was awarded the biggest one-year deal in arbitration history setting a new bench mark for lesser players to dream of attaining. While Weber dreams of ways to spend his $3million plus raise ($7.5 million for this season which makes him a top 10 paid player this season), the Predators are probably having nightmares about what to do next summer when he is once again a RFA and will need yet another contract. GM David Polie will need to do some serious number crunching as Pekka Rinne and Ryan Suter are due new contracts next summer. If they can't make Weber happy, will Rinne and Suter stay on? If they elect to leave, will Weber follow suit and bring his services to another team. One thing is clear- the Predators made the playoffs this year and have that bittersweet taste of what a trip to the Cup could be like and they want more. But if you aren't going to pay them, then the better players will almost always follow the trail of hundred dollar bills for a year-in and year-out playoff contender. Wonder which way Polie will go?

In other news....

NFL is back in the swing of things. Camps are open, criminals have contracts for more money than I will ever make and Favre still can't figure out what to do. Basically they are back to their old tricks.

Osi Umenyiora is being typical Osi. Every team has to have their problem child and he is theirs. The Giants are done with wanting to trade him but they also don't want to pay him anymore. Baby Soapbox: Seriously dude, you are due to make like $7million this season to play football. Games are once a week, for 16 weeks if you don't make the playoffs. Since your always injured you will most like roll in your millions on the IR at some point so please, just find your cleats and zip your mouth.

While the headache of Osi rolls onward, Kevin Boss will be moving upward. Wait, I meant onward. To the Raiders. So basically Eli can throw the ball anywhere he pleases and no one can say he made a bad pass since there's no one to target right? Awesome, so when does hockey start again?

In baseball, while Jeter still reigns as the King of all things Yankee and NY, A-Rod has been rehabbing his knee after surgery in sunny Tampa. I guess he wanted to make sure no one missed him or forgot about him so enter the story of poker-gate 2011. The story is so twisted and crazy, if you didn't tell me it involved A-Rod, I'd believe you made the whole thing up as a plot for a movie. If I had his money, I'd have bought private island and would never been seen unless they need me at the game. Of course it's A-Rod so maybe he would lose the island in an illegal poker game. Ahhhh it never ends with him...