Help!

WANTED: A sport called hockey. Played on ice using skates, sticks and a rubber puck. Involves a number of men from various different backgrounds playing on 30 different teams. Has been missing since June 5. If anyone has any information, please call 1-800-WEHATEVERSUS.

I feel like that little fake wanted ad could be true. This summer/offseason feels like it has been the longest time without hockey in a while. ...Yeah, okay, so it is, but this is like torture. So much so that I even forget about it! I know, what a tragedy! No one should have to go through this.

Seriously though, it feels like the season is still so far away. Even the start of training camp aka Puck Drop or whatever seems like it's months away, when it really only is a month-ish. Throughout this remaining time left before it all starts up again, we have these things to ponder:

• Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego Jason Pominville and his shiny new contract?
• How awesome would it be if the World Juniors were held here in 2011? (I think it would be such a perfect event for us: extra hockey, $$$, seeing future players... awesome.)
• What is Max going to do this season? (After the injuries, talk of trading, etc, I'm pretty interested to see how things go. My opinion is that he'll be back towards his normal self, seeing as that he's not with the all crazy lines like last year.)
  
• What world saving event is Paul Gaustad planning now? (He's single handily helping Russia and Georgia stop their fighting, then uniting them with... something environmently friendly and useful.)
  
• Why is John Mayer so amazing? (Actually, I'll get that answer tonight, woooooooo!)
  

And how have 83 people (or maybe 1 person 83 times?!?) searched for "patrick kane nhl awards sister"? I only have one little post that barely mentions it... I know people want to know what he was talking about but it's also slightly weird, haha.

Okay, September 20, or even better, October 10, you can come anyyyy time now.

I have a problem.

I have to admit, I am not a huge Olympics person. I don't really know why, but I rarely ever watched any games, whether summer or winter. For some reason I started really watching this year... now I would like to say that I'm ADDICTED.
I wake up to get ready for work at 6 in the morning (today's the last dayyyy!), yet I still watch until the very end. Hi, my name is Mary, and I am an Olympics junkie.

- There has been a lot that's great so far. First of all, there's the rowing. My brother rows for Canisius HS and then for West Side Rowing Club in the summer, and it's practically all my parents ever talk about. With Steve Coppola, a West Side guy competing for USA, it's like he's a family member. I've met him at various crew events, and he's another great Buffalo guy. His men's eight boat is defending the gold medal from the Athens games; after winning the repechage on Tuesday, they're moving on to the finals on Sunday. I know that in this house, we'll all be keeping track of that!

- Then of course, there's swimming. That 4x100m relay, like most people have said, was crazy. I think with all the screaming, we woke up the whole neighborhood. Since I'm mostly a Olympics newbie, it was one of the best events I've seen. The trash talking from the French, the epic goal of Michael Phelps, how we weren't supposed to win, etc. Pretty awesome.

I love facial expressions.

- ANDDD... speaking of Michael Phelps and his record breaking amount of medals, the analysis of how he is a perfect swimmer made me laugh. They covered a lot of ground, like the fact that he has the legs of a 6' tall man, but a torso of a 6'8" man to help him push off the wall, and "dinner size plate" hands and size 14 feet to use as paddles. All they needed to add was that he takes his dog Splash* out for a walk every 3 hours, calls his mom everyday and then they'd have every known fact about the guy. Whatever, NBC.

and then with his 800 foot wingspan, he flew himself to Bejing to cut down on carbon emissions and smog.

- Oh, and Hungarian weight lifting. That's all that needs to be said. Ew.

In other news besides the Olympics, my sister and I made a video to enter a meet and greet contest for the Jonas Brothers. I'm being totally serious. I was a JoBros fan before they were dropped from Columbia and signed with Disney's Hollywood Records (they were pretty great in concert opening for The Veronicas way back when!), and we thought it'd be funny to do it. I think it's too late for consideration, but it's great. We're our own sisterly band looking for our competition/another family band, and we "travel" to NJ and other places to try and find them. I'm surprised we actually even did it, but it was fun.

This Puck Drop Sabres event sounds pretty awesome. I'm hoping I can come home for it, because who can miss training camp and all that other fun stuff. It's going to be a mad house with the tickets on sale and then everything else, but that basically sums up my fan status.

In closing, reader from Gilbratar, you are awesome.

* I don't know his dog's name, and if he even has a dog. I feel like it's stereotypically fitting.

Wait, it's summer?

Is it sad that I want to go back to school so I'm not so busy? There has been so much going on this summer, and especially these past 2 weeks.
I've been working at a special education summer school which is surprisingly fun (though exhausting), I've had 80 billion appointments before school starts, and then this week my brother Joey riding his bike got hit by a racing cyclist.
Yeah, weird situation, but the guy was going so fast in Delaware Park that he ran into him and my brother got knocked off his bike. Stupid cyclist didn't even stop. He's got some really nasty cuts on his arm and legs... so while my parents are taking him to get stitches taken out and the like, I'm doing a ton of stuff at home. I haven't had a lot of time for anything, and it's super tiring.

Anyway, I have been trying to catch up on news in the sports world. First of all, as most people, I could care less about the Brett Farve ~drama~.

BUTTT...Mike Ryan situation say what? I was really surprised by that, mainly because he was still a Sabre in my mind and just hadn't signed yet. According to the Buffalo News:

Regier said the Sabres had inquired with Ryan about a two-way contract so that he could be sent to Portland but Ryan decided to pursue other options.

We never really knew the super true feelings that he had about Buffalo, since he wasn't one of those spotlight players. But it seems like he didn't want to be stuck in the role of the two-way guy or not always having a spot, and that's understandable. Whatever he was thinking, he's caused a broken heart and I hope he can live with that. I'm so sorry, MJ!

I'm also super happy with the Teppo resigning. I think it's a great move to have him back as a leader for the team, and also for the defense. He seemed like he was the solid rock for the blueliners, and it showed when he wasn't there last year.
Quick story... the day Teppo came back to practices, he was one of the first people out there. Mike Funk was still playing with us, and he came out right after. Never playing with Uncle Tepps before, he went over and introduced himself, shook hands with him and everything. Not only was it pretty cute (lol), it showed how much respect Teppo gets, and how his presence was missed by everyone on the team.

new BFFS!

No matter if he's a main guy, or the 7th guy who takes a night off every few games, it's definitely good!

Now, unless there are more unforeseen setbacks, this and next week will be a good one. Summer school ends on Friday, I'm going to the fair on Wednesday to see my sister's/my old jazz band play... then next week is Jack's Mannequin (can't wait!!!) along with John Mayer and OneRepublic (even more excited!!!)! And school starts not too soon after that, which I'm actually really excited for. Not so much the classes, but the seeing everyone and all that jazz. It's going to be a fun end of the summer.

And if it would EVER stop raining, it'd almost be perfect.