This Way Lies Pladness

[dlgood]

Are you a Hockey fan? Do you find uniform design interesting? Well then, check out the story on very special Plaid Uniforms worn by the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League. (Affiliation - Nashville Predators) -- My icon shows the regular jersey designs...






I think I kind of want one of these. It's mesmerizing. You could skate at ludicrous speed. How could any goalie defend against someone dressed like that? It's just not possible.

Olympics Note - Sasha Cohen fell on her tuchus and got Silver. Very sad for her. People will remember Michelle Kwan as the skater who kept getting beat. They'll remember Sasha as the skater who choked.

Both the US and Canada hockey teams have been bounced. It's only mildly disappointing for the US, because our team is old and slow. Which, really, is a sorry indicator on the quality of under-30 US Hockey players. It's crusing for the Canadians. They've got young players, they've got great players, how can they not even score against Switzerland? My expectation is either Finland or Russia for gold. I like Alex Ovechkin, but I have a longstanding practice of rooting for the Finns the minute the US is eliminated, for no reason other than I think Finnish names sound awesome.

Comments

[ladystarlightsj.livejournal.com]

My totally non-sports knowing, cranky Canadian (even though I hate hockey) theory on the men's team is "Maybe now we'll dump the professional players and have an Olympic team that actually practices together for more than a week before the Games."

[carlyinrome.livejournal.com]

Aaaaah! My eyes! And I like plaid! The background of my journal is plaid (okay, that's to match the cute Catholic schoolgirl in the header, but . . . still. I think the plaid's cute). What the hell. Of course, hockey is not a sport known for it's taste. Just look at the hair of hockey. Even professional hockey.

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

Heh. They can't dump the pros. You could take a team of amateurs and make them play together for awhile, and they'd get crushed way worse than how the Canadian pros did. Team Canada did fine in 1998 and 2002. (The US did well in 2002) The difference was... the US has the same players from '98 whereas Canada has had an infusion of young players. Where the US was old and crappy, Canada's guys just laid an egg...

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

How can you not love this kitsch-y plaid? It's so Milwaukee. And in honor of Bob Uecker. It's mesmerizing...

And I love the hockey hair. Not for aesthetic reasons, but because it's just so awesome that those dudes are like that. You know, when the playoffs roll around, and nobody is shaving. And you've got dudes with big grizzly man beards. And giant mullets. I still haven't forgiven Jaromir Jagr for cutting off his awesome mullet. (And also for not trying too hard when he played in DC)

[smithereen.livejournal.com]

Holy bad taste, batman!! Hee. I especially like how the numbers and patches and things are swallowed up by the hideousness. It's like an optical illusion almost.

I think unless she eventually wins at least ONE world championship, Sasha Cohen will be remembered as the skater who ALWAYS chokes. She's famous for being the most talented skater in the world not to reach her full potential. :P

[carlyinrome.livejournal.com]

I just want to go on record as saying that JAGR ROCKS AND NOTHING YOU CAN SAY WILL EVER CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE. For serious, when I was a little kid, he was one of my heroes, which is deeply strange, because . . . I was a little kid, and he was a big burly ice hockey player, and also my dad is like a huge Rangers fan. Go figure, Jagr's the man.

I'm gonna forward these plaid pictures to randompictures. Other people deserve to be horrified.

[ann1962]

They look like grunge boys gone wild, or got lost and found an ice rink. OMG it really does hurt.

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

JAGR ROCKS AND NOTHING YOU CAN SAY WILL EVER CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE

Just admit that Jagr's mullet was the awesomest hockey mullet ever.

[midnightsjane.livejournal.com]

Heh, the Canadian men didn't just lay an egg, they sucked one. I agree with LadyS, I think the game would be more exciting if the men played like the womens teams. The Canadian women were awesome. Gold covered awesome.
One of the papers had a cartoon showing the men's coach telling the players Play like girls!!

[midnightsjane.livejournal.com]

She's famous for being the most talented skater in the world not to reach her full potential. :P
She can stand on the podium with Emmanuel Sandhu (from Canada). Fabulously talented skater, chokes big time.

[canadiangirl-86.livejournal.com]

Oh my God, those are some scary-ass looking jerseys....

[blackcat333-99.livejournal.com]

Olympics Note - Sasha Cohen fell on her tuchus and got Silver. Very sad for her. People will remember Michelle Kwan as the skater who kept getting beat. They'll remember Sasha as the skater who choked.

You are right. And I think that impression is the fault of the commentators as much as the skaters. Because *I* remember watching Michelle Kwan choke for the past two Olympics - the designated Queen of the Ice, the One To Beat - and she fell, both times. The fact that Michelle usually doesn't fall told me that she choked, vs. Sasha Cohen - who usually has at least one fall in her long program (her short progam is usually clean), her fall said "business as usual" to me. She didn't break pattern with her falls. I'm disappointed that she fell, as I was hoping that she would break through her usual pattern and keep it clean. Ah well, perspectives are funny things.

[smithereen.livejournal.com]

Actually although Michelle fell in 2002 in her short program, in 1998 she skated both programs cleanly. Tara Lipinkski had two triple-triple combos to edged her out technically, but there was a lot of debate about whether Michelle should have gotten the gold that year because both girls skated well, neither girl had a fall, and basically one was stronger techically while the other was stronger artistically.

As far as Sasha versus Michelle there is also the fact that Michelle has won 5 world championships. Sasha hasn't won any. I think there's definitely a reason Sasha has that reputation for choking, and it goes beyond just the Olympics. But yeah...I was hoping she would break her pattern too because she's brilliant when she's really on.

Anyway, sorry to hijack...I'm just very yay! people talking about figure skating!

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

Ah well, perspectives are funny things.

Yeah. Proper perspective might have it that Sasha Cohen isn't a choker, so much as that she just isn't that good. Not good enough to hold up for an entire four minute program.

The only thing being... I saw the look on Sasha's face before she started her skate. And it was the face of someone who was expecting to fail. Perhaps, people look at the way she skates her shorts and think that her failures aren't physical... that it's mental.

[blackcat333-99.livejournal.com]

1998... Hmmm. Okay, I’ll stand corrected. For some reason I’m thinking Michelle had a mistake then too, but it might have been that she doubled one of her triples and I just misremember it as a fall. I could swear there was *something* she did in her long that opened the door just a crack for Tara to sneak through, and Tara did. Ah well. I seem to remember that for both of the past Olympics that Michelle did compete in she skated better at Nationals than at the Games.

And yes, Sasha’s reputation for choking comes from her usual pattern, not just these Olympics. I’d love to see her break through, because she’s got the skills – it’s a mental thing she has yet to overcome.

And no worries for hijacking - I enjoy being able to talk skating with a fellow fan. Looking forward to Worlds next month. I do wonder if Johnny Weir is going to reuse this long program and try to just do better with it or if he’s going to revert back to the long program he used at Nationals. (And the commentators dropped the ball in either not noticing or at least not commenting on the fact that Johnny dropped his long program from Nat’ls and reverted to last year’s long program here at the Games.) Artistically I prefer this program, but technically his Nat’ls program was a bit stronger. And we all know what the judges are rewarding in the new points system (at this point in time – but that’s a whole ‘nother minor rant).

[blackcat333-99.livejournal.com]

I’d be one of those people. Because she has skated clean programs in exhibition (although, again, some exhibitions she has had that one flubbed jump). The thing is – her mistakes are inconsistent. It’s not just the same jump that gives her trouble so she falls on it. *That* would be a failure to properly learn an element. But she CAN and has skated all of the elements cleanly – just not consistently. One time she’ll flub a jump that she previously skated with perfect ease. Or she’ll flub a jump that earlier in that same program she got right. It seems to be a mental thing, that she expects herself to make a mistake, so she makes it: and once she’s made it, she pulls it back together and skates the rest cleanly and beautifully. Which is another baffling and frustrating thing about her skating, because most skaters that flub a major element frequently procedure to lose all their fire and just go through the moves with the rest of their program, knowing that they’ve lost. Sasha makes the mistake, and it seems to fire her up – she finishes the darn programs with a beauty and skill that makes you say “if only”. If only she had not had that one (or two) mistakes. She’s a great talent, but will not make it into a great competitor category until she can overcome that block within herself.