I just got a second dose of reality in as many days in these hard times (cab drivers words not mine) of Italy...
... Since the mafia book was written there has been an all out struggle for power between the government and the mafia in southern Italy...
... in recap... the tell-all book was written... the bounty was placed... the president said 'thou shalt not'... and the scared writer booked it out of the country anyways...
... since then...
... there has been over 100 mob-related arrests in Southern Italy...
...after...
... the mafia declared war on the government and started killing a whole bunch of people... ...before...
... the government brought the army into Southern Italy to fight against the mafia...
... and I'm not sure if this means the end of the mafia in Italy or not... according to people I've talked to here the newly elected president has mob ties and has no intentions of carrying on the war... and the people that were arrested were only from one small area in one small town and thus would do nothing to really tear down the machine that is the mafia...
... on a side-note: I just heard a guy on you-tube slamming the overuse of the dot dot dot (...) on the internet... and in all ways he was completely true and uncompromisingly blunt in a hilarious sort of way... ["the dot dot dot means so much more than the dot or no dot at all... and at most times is used by a person trying to express something or multiple somethings that to the writer seems sophisticated and subtley profound... but to the reader, by it's fifth use, is actually lame and overused..."].. but alarmingly I choose to keep using it as a tool... representing the dramatic effect of time... (or I'm lame and overused)... this blog is about living... and these dots represent the passing of time... during the day... that events or thoughts happen so people get a feel of living instead of just reading... so if I have to stand in line at a counter for 10 minutes... ... ... ... ...you will probably have to wait with me... and if I have to step back from a situation to evaluate how ridiculous the ref was in my game... then dot dot dot... and if I'm in the middle of a thought that I've thought about the whole day and talked about with 7 different people at the rink or at home... then... but then it ends... this is usually why I finish with just a dot...
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Reality Bites
In a new place it always takes me a little bit of time to get out of vacation mode and enter into reality... umm... mode...
...'Vacation mode', similar to 'honeymoon period', is the time when your new emotions blind you from all that is bad in the new place, or person you are holding hands with... Reality Mode is when you realize for the first time that girls actually do... ahem... 'ausfahrt'...
... and Italy... like everywhere else in the world... is... unbelievably I know... still in reality... and still 'ausfahrts' every once in a while...
... I found out two things about reality here... just today actually...
... The first... that I heard... a man in Italy wrote a tell-all book about the mafia here in Italy... and now he has a bounty on his head... a bounty!? And everybody knows this... the whole of Italy is aware of the bounty and knows that the mafia wants this man dead by December... The President himself even spoke about this and said that no one should touch the man because the mafia is a bad influence on society and should not be aided... not enough for said man, however, as he is believed to be leaving the country for good shortly...
... The second... I heard... that the same President is planning on slashing 85,000 teaching jobs in Italy... 85k!?... We have 2 teachers on our team at present, and this means they're on strike for what will probably be quite some time... I remember I was watching CNN talk about how the US lost 79,000 jobs this year and how tragic it was... and here we have 85,000 jobs in maybe a month if this does go down... What I can't figure is how the country could absorb such a job loss... 85,000 jobs in a country of some 50 odd million... has got to take it's toll...
...'Vacation mode', similar to 'honeymoon period', is the time when your new emotions blind you from all that is bad in the new place, or person you are holding hands with... Reality Mode is when you realize for the first time that girls actually do... ahem... 'ausfahrt'...
... and Italy... like everywhere else in the world... is... unbelievably I know... still in reality... and still 'ausfahrts' every once in a while...
... I found out two things about reality here... just today actually...
... The first... that I heard... a man in Italy wrote a tell-all book about the mafia here in Italy... and now he has a bounty on his head... a bounty!? And everybody knows this... the whole of Italy is aware of the bounty and knows that the mafia wants this man dead by December... The President himself even spoke about this and said that no one should touch the man because the mafia is a bad influence on society and should not be aided... not enough for said man, however, as he is believed to be leaving the country for good shortly...
... The second... I heard... that the same President is planning on slashing 85,000 teaching jobs in Italy... 85k!?... We have 2 teachers on our team at present, and this means they're on strike for what will probably be quite some time... I remember I was watching CNN talk about how the US lost 79,000 jobs this year and how tragic it was... and here we have 85,000 jobs in maybe a month if this does go down... What I can't figure is how the country could absorb such a job loss... 85,000 jobs in a country of some 50 odd million... has got to take it's toll...
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Rap up
on THURSDAY.... we got 10 goals... 10 GOALS!?... After two straight scoreless games we rebound with 10? and win 10-2... (the other team got bag skated because of it)... but it happens... after a week straight of practicing how to score goals... based on the kinds of goals and situations you actually see in a game... we score some... weird?... smart coaching?... funny how it happens... *cliche alert*... when you 'practice how you play'...
on SATURDAY.... we were tied 3-3 with 10 minutes to go... We had just scored and have all the momentum... And then... and then?... and then??... and then the wheels fall off!?... they score a go-ahead goal the exact same way Pontebba scored a goal to tie us just 2 weeks earlier... 3 on 3 the guy pulls up, drops it to the guy at the blueline (who should not be open cause our backchecker should be there), he shoots it, the guy driving the net tips it and... It's crazy how we can't deal with even man rush situations... It should never even be dangerous and they scored twice like that against us...
and then on SUNDAY.... disaster... what can not be said about Sunday?... I mean... there are those mildly slightly annoying hardships that a man can deal with... and there are those stunningly awkwardish aggravating situations that a man may or may not be able to deal with... and then there are those situations.. so utterly mindnumbingly aggregious that... that... that... that you must snap if you ever hope to keep any credibility as a man...
... these situations usually have to do with food... (sometimes sleep... but 90/10 food)...
... and when you have to wait in a Chinese restaurant for 2 hours for food... other customers walking in after you, eating, paying and leaving... full... and you're still sipping your 2.50 Euro bottled water... it gets you... it has to... gets you SO... *(&#)@&$*@*... and it did...
... but... still... we didn't walk out... didn't..... because a) I hadn't had Chineses since we got here... b) It smelled good... and c) because they kept telling us it would only be 15 more minutes and we believed them... the spring rolls were decent... the wonton soup had lettuce in it... the rice was amazing... and the sweet and sour chicken was 7/8ths deep fried stuffing...
... lesson learned... chopsticks are bad...
on SATURDAY.... we were tied 3-3 with 10 minutes to go... We had just scored and have all the momentum... And then... and then?... and then??... and then the wheels fall off!?... they score a go-ahead goal the exact same way Pontebba scored a goal to tie us just 2 weeks earlier... 3 on 3 the guy pulls up, drops it to the guy at the blueline (who should not be open cause our backchecker should be there), he shoots it, the guy driving the net tips it and... It's crazy how we can't deal with even man rush situations... It should never even be dangerous and they scored twice like that against us...
and then on SUNDAY.... disaster... what can not be said about Sunday?... I mean... there are those mildly slightly annoying hardships that a man can deal with... and there are those stunningly awkwardish aggravating situations that a man may or may not be able to deal with... and then there are those situations.. so utterly mindnumbingly aggregious that... that... that... that you must snap if you ever hope to keep any credibility as a man...
... these situations usually have to do with food... (sometimes sleep... but 90/10 food)...
... and when you have to wait in a Chinese restaurant for 2 hours for food... other customers walking in after you, eating, paying and leaving... full... and you're still sipping your 2.50 Euro bottled water... it gets you... it has to... gets you SO... *(&#)@&$*@*... and it did...
... but... still... we didn't walk out... didn't..... because a) I hadn't had Chineses since we got here... b) It smelled good... and c) because they kept telling us it would only be 15 more minutes and we believed them... the spring rolls were decent... the wonton soup had lettuce in it... the rice was amazing... and the sweet and sour chicken was 7/8ths deep fried stuffing...
... lesson learned... chopsticks are bad...
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Throw me a rope...
Hard work, this crazy world has decided, is the be all and end all solution for every problem... Ask any hockey coach... hard work... put your head down and... hard work... look at the guy across from you and... hard work... when I say jump, you don't even ask how high, you just jump and pray that it's... hard work... defense is simple isn't it?... hard work... well the reason you're not scoring goals is you have to pay the price to get in front and... hard work... The harder you work the luckier you seem to be... Nothing beats hard work... Hard Word beats skill if skill won't Work Hard...
... it's the American Dream... you can pull yourself up by your own boot straps... hard work guarantees success... I'm sure you've heard the quotes enough times from enough different people...
... ergo... it must be true...
... BUT thing is... so often it's just not true...
... and it's a hard reality to face about hard work because that's... that's... isn't it?... what everybody says...?
... Wrong... a mini-mites team wouldn't beat the Toronto Maple Leafs just cause they worked a lot harder now would they...
... Extreme... but true...
... sometimes it's just not hard work... Sometimes... hard work won't let you pull yourself up out of the dirt... Cause sometimes that dirt isn't dirt... sometimes that dirt is quick sand... and thus the harder you work the quicker you sink... (see applicable title)
... So ya... if you want... "enough talk, just get out and work" can be as far as you want to go... but consider this... the Roughriders played that way to the sound of 6 straight losing seasons... and then for one season Kent Austin took the same bunch of guys and made them into Grey Cup Champions... Did they just work harder?... Did they finally jump high enough?... OR... for one miraculously smart season did their second down reverse screen play make a fool out of the Montreal defense and gain 30 yards... eventually leading to a touchdown... when this hard working team a year previous we would have gone for a blood and guts, REALLY HARD WORK run play up the middle for 3 yards and then kick it off... ? ...
... figure it out...
... One smart guy wth a plan is the difference between playing as a 'team' and just a bunch of guys (chickens with their heads cut off) running around the field accomplishing jack squat...
... Like, in hockey... if you know hockey... against a 2-3 forecheck you can try going D to D and passing the puck up the boards to the winger on the hash mark all you want to (because that's solid hard-working hockey coming down low into the zone), but if the other team has a high winger and a D pinching down shadowing your winger all it means is the puck in the back of your net... I don't care how hard you think you're working... CHALK IT UP AS A LOSS.*
Now I'm all about this little thing called hard work... truly... but I've had enough of everyone saying that it's all you need to win a game... cause I truly believe if you asked a coach like Kent Austin he would tell you there's about a thousand little things that all have to go together... smartly... and then you work hard... and then you win... and then you go in front of the microphone and praise how hard the guys worked... so that the other teams listening won't ever realize that they were beat by the systems... before they even stepped out on to the field... so you can go ahead and beat them the next time too...
*The D to D pass has wasted so much time that the 3rd forward and the D (who are usually behind the play) are now right up on the board-side wingers. Even if the winger gets it and chips it it won't get out because he's on the hash marks and the other D is backing up on the blueline. And if the D tries to bypass the winger and put it off the glass the same D backing up the play will be able to knock it down and get a shot... or the puck will go over the glass and you get whistled for delay of game and a 2 minute penalty. If you still don't understand.. ask me and I'll draw it our for you sometime...
... it's the American Dream... you can pull yourself up by your own boot straps... hard work guarantees success... I'm sure you've heard the quotes enough times from enough different people...
... ergo... it must be true...
... BUT thing is... so often it's just not true...
... and it's a hard reality to face about hard work because that's... that's... isn't it?... what everybody says...?
... Wrong... a mini-mites team wouldn't beat the Toronto Maple Leafs just cause they worked a lot harder now would they...
... Extreme... but true...
... sometimes it's just not hard work... Sometimes... hard work won't let you pull yourself up out of the dirt... Cause sometimes that dirt isn't dirt... sometimes that dirt is quick sand... and thus the harder you work the quicker you sink... (see applicable title)
... So ya... if you want... "enough talk, just get out and work" can be as far as you want to go... but consider this... the Roughriders played that way to the sound of 6 straight losing seasons... and then for one season Kent Austin took the same bunch of guys and made them into Grey Cup Champions... Did they just work harder?... Did they finally jump high enough?... OR... for one miraculously smart season did their second down reverse screen play make a fool out of the Montreal defense and gain 30 yards... eventually leading to a touchdown... when this hard working team a year previous we would have gone for a blood and guts, REALLY HARD WORK run play up the middle for 3 yards and then kick it off... ? ...
... figure it out...
... One smart guy wth a plan is the difference between playing as a 'team' and just a bunch of guys (chickens with their heads cut off) running around the field accomplishing jack squat...
... Like, in hockey... if you know hockey... against a 2-3 forecheck you can try going D to D and passing the puck up the boards to the winger on the hash mark all you want to (because that's solid hard-working hockey coming down low into the zone), but if the other team has a high winger and a D pinching down shadowing your winger all it means is the puck in the back of your net... I don't care how hard you think you're working... CHALK IT UP AS A LOSS.*
Now I'm all about this little thing called hard work... truly... but I've had enough of everyone saying that it's all you need to win a game... cause I truly believe if you asked a coach like Kent Austin he would tell you there's about a thousand little things that all have to go together... smartly... and then you work hard... and then you win... and then you go in front of the microphone and praise how hard the guys worked... so that the other teams listening won't ever realize that they were beat by the systems... before they even stepped out on to the field... so you can go ahead and beat them the next time too...
*The D to D pass has wasted so much time that the 3rd forward and the D (who are usually behind the play) are now right up on the board-side wingers. Even if the winger gets it and chips it it won't get out because he's on the hash marks and the other D is backing up on the blueline. And if the D tries to bypass the winger and put it off the glass the same D backing up the play will be able to knock it down and get a shot... or the puck will go over the glass and you get whistled for delay of game and a 2 minute penalty. If you still don't understand.. ask me and I'll draw it our for you sometime...
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Axis and Allies
Does any German-Italian... Germanic Italian?... Italian who (that?) speaks German... Octoberfest go to-er or running of the bulls follower... defensive soccer specialist that would rather tie a game 0-0 than win a game 7-6... have a problem with the fact that the grocery store I was just in was selling an Axis and Allies video game? Axis an Allies... a World War 2 video game that Germans and Italians lost... Italy and Germany being a part of the Axis... and the US, whose tag 'made in the US' is on the back of the package, was part of the allies... I know it's history long past and we're all friends now in a joint battle to infinitum against the terrorists... but still as a history major it just feels kinda.... something?... awkward... weird... ironic?... wrong... maybe?
Friday, October 17, 2008
Game 6: Alleghe
Besides being in the middle of nowhere, Alleghe is also the hardest road trip I've been on so far... dizzy... lightheaded... woozy... I haven't figured out the best way to get around all those turns on a bus without feeling horrible in the end. My best strategy so far is to turn my head to where the bus is going, and then as the bus turns I keep my head straight so the bus turns into where I'm already facing... make sense?
... Alleghe itself has just become demoralizing... it's like quicksand.. the more you struggle the faster you sink. They scored a goal from the corner... We made some bad defensive mistakes... and we didn't score on rebounds in the slot, breakaways or powerplays... and then they added an empty netter to top it all off.
... There are so many fingers to point everywhere... not getting in front of the goalies eyes... turnovers... not being able to hold the blueline on their rushes... holding the puck too long trying to do too much... no real systems to speak of... but when it comes down to it I can really only point the finger back at myself right now... and the quick fix is to mix up the lines and see if we play better with new people... We'll find out Saturday...
... Alleghe itself has just become demoralizing... it's like quicksand.. the more you struggle the faster you sink. They scored a goal from the corner... We made some bad defensive mistakes... and we didn't score on rebounds in the slot, breakaways or powerplays... and then they added an empty netter to top it all off.
... There are so many fingers to point everywhere... not getting in front of the goalies eyes... turnovers... not being able to hold the blueline on their rushes... holding the puck too long trying to do too much... no real systems to speak of... but when it comes down to it I can really only point the finger back at myself right now... and the quick fix is to mix up the lines and see if we play better with new people... We'll find out Saturday...
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Game 5...
... was another mishmash of good plays, golden chances and harsh feelings. 0 for 12 on the power play pretty much sums up our night last night... And still we were up 2-1 with 2 minutes remaining... doing our very best to give the game away... giveaways... gripping the stick too tight... absolute and complete panic by from our players so worried that we might actually win a game... and then they scored on a 2 on 4 to tie it up...
... I had just stepped on the ice... which sucked...
.... The one guy stops up wide-side on the blue-line... both guys give so much lee-way because 'their trying to play good defense... giving the guy enough time to wait for the other guy to snaps a shot on net. The other guy going to the net somehow gets a stick on the shot (all our player that standing directly beside and skating stride for stride with him had to do was tie up his stick!?) and Kelly has no chance... 2-2... Overtime I have a great chance on a rebound to win but I didn't want to take the chance to bring the puck to my backhand on snowy ice and risk the puck jumping... allowing the goalie a 33% chance to stop the puck depending on if I shot the puck high, middle, or low... a rock-paper-scissors kind of thing... I've never really been that good at rock-paper-scissors unfortunately... I shot high... he picked high... and we're going to a shootout... I scored in the shootout but... We again... lost in the shootout...
.... it's really hit or miss going down because the puck is bouncing all the way down on snowy ice... so maybe it stays down and you have a chance to score... maybe you hit the glass 4 feet wide, 2 feet high and skate back to your bench getting heckled by the other team...
... Is there still a strategy?... course... If you ever watch NHL hightlights, you'd notice that the top scorers seem to score the same ways in the course of a year... In games of course but shootouts just the same... Messier had his snap shot low blocker... Ovechkin has his stop up, snap shot high glove... and when he was in his prime... Selanne comes really fast from the left hand side... fake shot, bring the puck a foot to the right, then shoot five-hole or high glove depending on the goalie... I'm pretty much an unoriginal follower of Teemu... and... it worked today at least...
Sunday...
... was a late start for a day date considering neither of us woke up till after 1... What can you expect though considering you leave the rink from an 8:30 game right around midnight... and you're still incredibly wired from adrenaline and can't settle down until 2 or so... and then if Smallville really hooks you in during that time you might have to watch the last two episodes... which takes you all the way to 3:30. Oops....
... but anyways...
... I had an idea of how to get to Fassa... Take the exit near that one town you pass on the way to Bolzano... and then at that other town with the flags go right... (is how it was described to me last night)... but I really wanted to take Danelle there just to see how amazing the Dolomites are around that area... Especially considering the pass of Sella takes you right to the very top of the mountain before dropping back down into the town... And it was exactly as cool as I remembered it. crazy 180 degree turns... an unbelievable view... and little small hamlets (each with their own set of 100 or so hotels that are closed all year round until ski season)... interspersed among miles and miles of ski trails...
... We saw a gondola set up to the top of one of the mountains... I've seen my share of gondolas before... but this one seemed have only the lower base and upper base and no towers in between... taking you straight up a 2000 foot face of a mountain... I'm pretty sure once your up there you won't see any rails on the sides of the sheer walls either... maybe... one day... when it's open... we'll check it out...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolomites
... I had just stepped on the ice... which sucked...
.... The one guy stops up wide-side on the blue-line... both guys give so much lee-way because 'their trying to play good defense... giving the guy enough time to wait for the other guy to snaps a shot on net. The other guy going to the net somehow gets a stick on the shot (all our player that standing directly beside and skating stride for stride with him had to do was tie up his stick!?) and Kelly has no chance... 2-2... Overtime I have a great chance on a rebound to win but I didn't want to take the chance to bring the puck to my backhand on snowy ice and risk the puck jumping... allowing the goalie a 33% chance to stop the puck depending on if I shot the puck high, middle, or low... a rock-paper-scissors kind of thing... I've never really been that good at rock-paper-scissors unfortunately... I shot high... he picked high... and we're going to a shootout... I scored in the shootout but... We again... lost in the shootout...
.... it's really hit or miss going down because the puck is bouncing all the way down on snowy ice... so maybe it stays down and you have a chance to score... maybe you hit the glass 4 feet wide, 2 feet high and skate back to your bench getting heckled by the other team...
... Is there still a strategy?... course... If you ever watch NHL hightlights, you'd notice that the top scorers seem to score the same ways in the course of a year... In games of course but shootouts just the same... Messier had his snap shot low blocker... Ovechkin has his stop up, snap shot high glove... and when he was in his prime... Selanne comes really fast from the left hand side... fake shot, bring the puck a foot to the right, then shoot five-hole or high glove depending on the goalie... I'm pretty much an unoriginal follower of Teemu... and... it worked today at least...
Sunday...
... was a late start for a day date considering neither of us woke up till after 1... What can you expect though considering you leave the rink from an 8:30 game right around midnight... and you're still incredibly wired from adrenaline and can't settle down until 2 or so... and then if Smallville really hooks you in during that time you might have to watch the last two episodes... which takes you all the way to 3:30. Oops....
... but anyways...
... I had an idea of how to get to Fassa... Take the exit near that one town you pass on the way to Bolzano... and then at that other town with the flags go right... (is how it was described to me last night)... but I really wanted to take Danelle there just to see how amazing the Dolomites are around that area... Especially considering the pass of Sella takes you right to the very top of the mountain before dropping back down into the town... And it was exactly as cool as I remembered it. crazy 180 degree turns... an unbelievable view... and little small hamlets (each with their own set of 100 or so hotels that are closed all year round until ski season)... interspersed among miles and miles of ski trails...
... We saw a gondola set up to the top of one of the mountains... I've seen my share of gondolas before... but this one seemed have only the lower base and upper base and no towers in between... taking you straight up a 2000 foot face of a mountain... I'm pretty sure once your up there you won't see any rails on the sides of the sheer walls either... maybe... one day... when it's open... we'll check it out...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolomites
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