Think Happy Thoughts

I'm bitter. Bitter and annoyed. Bitter and annoyed and frustrated. Bitter and annoyed and frustrated and...

Okay. I've run out of words.

My point is that I had big plans this evening and all the gods seemed to be conspiring against me so I couldn't enjoy those big plans.

Mind you, none of these plans actually involved me being social (unless you count talking to some HLOG girls online, which I totally count). Nonetheless, I was excited about it. I was going to grab some dinner, watch the Habs beat the Rangers, watch the Nats beat the Diamondbacks, watch Joe Finley and the Fighting Sioux beat Boston College, watch the Flames beat the Sharks...not terribly hard to do, right? Overstimulating, yes. Difficult? Nah.

Enter the angry gods.

But first a little back story. I'll admit, I caved and paid an exorbitant amount of money for Center Ice Online. I'm not proud. See, I don't have a satellite dish and RCN doesn't feel the need to carry any sort of hockey package - although we do get Versus...yay...so I figured I would swallow the price and chalk it up to the cost of being an obsessive, crazy hockey fan. When I first got it I was overjoyed. I could watch my Habs, watch my Flames, all in the comfort of my own home, right?

Wrong.

Turns out the technology is not quite perfected for whatever reason, so I only get to see whatever feeds decide to come through on any given night. Sometimes all of them work and I actually get to see a game I want to watch...other times it's just some thrilling match like LA vs. Chicago. Long story short, tonight was a Kings-Hawks kind of night. I missed most of the Montreal-New York game, I missed most of the Toronto-Islanders game, I have yet to see any of the Flames-Sharks game...ugh.

More frustrating even than that though was the fact that the Habs lost. And the Nats lost. And North Dakota lost. [Note: At this time, Calgary is not yet losing. Yet. Although I can't watch, so who knows.] Oh, and did I mention the Habs lost? Grrrr.

Both Montreal and Toronto lost tonight. They play Saturday night in Toronto. Neither plays again until that time. That game will literally decide the final playoff spot, unless through some miracle the Islanders manage to beat New Jersey on Sunday (I wouldn't hold your breath...)

See, this is why I root for a consistently under-producing team like the Caps - less stress. None of this hand wringing, "oh, will they make the playoffs?", waiting with baited breath for a team like the Islanders to decide your fate...nope, we know right away the fate of the Caps. Golf course, baby!

There is a light on the horizon, though. This weekend is packed with hockey thrills and chills - and I defy the angry gods to try and piss me off over the next three days. I'm actually being social in my hockey obsessiveness, too - really. I swear.

- Friday night: Alumni game, baby! It's all about Coco's return for me. I'm giddy with anticipation at the prospect of seeing Cote lace 'em up with the likes of Rod Langway, Pat Peake, Lou Franceschetti, and of course our nasal-voiced friend, Craig Laughlin. It's fate, really - it was only a few weeks ago that I was waxing poetic on my love for Cote, and here he is, back in town. Magic.

- Saturday afternoon: This is the end...beautiful friend. This is the end, my only friend, the end. One more time with feeling (hopefully) as our boys take on the Sabres in the final game of the season. You know, if they lose I don't think I'd want to go down to the ice for the 'jerseys off our backs' thing. Nothing like taking a free jersey from a big angry hockey player.

- Saturday evening: Post-game wake/party at Clyde's! You know you want to be there. All the cool people are going (and by cool people I mean Caps bloggers and other crazy fans...hey, stop laughing, I'm serious!)

- Saturday night: The non-social part of my weekend, when I shall plop down to watch the Habs demolish the Leafs and make their way into the postseason...thereby saving my sanity for just a little while longer.

- Sunday evening - My very first trip, at least as a cognizant adult, to Hershey's Giant Center as I'll be in attendance for the Bears' final regular season game against the Baby Pens. It's an odd feeling to be going to a game against a Penguins team without some sort of sense of impending doom. I'm a little thrown, but I'll get over it. :)

Ah, just thinking about it has replaced my anger and frustration with excitement and anticipation for what I hope will be a great weekend of hockey! I invite everyone to join me for all of these events, too - it's gonna be fun...

...but I still hate Center Ice. Boo.

[Update: CI's customer service/technical support is surprisingly swift and it looks like they may - MAY - be able to fix this problem soon. I'll kick them up from "hate" to merely "am annoyed by"...more news as it becomes available, I know you're all on the edge of your seats in anticipation.]