Post by Jim H. on Dec 11, 2023 7:08:54 GMT -5
In an age where the Hallmark Channel is boasting that it has just introduced its first racy sex scene into a Christmas special, it is good to have Old Bucks hockey which is like a Legion of Decency in vulgar pre-code Hollywood. Even the locker room humor has an innocent, G-rated halo. Take Week 14, for example. Eddie had just finished sharpening his skates on the new portable skate sharpener, and Brian Urban canvassed the room before putting it away. “Anyone else?” he asked. “How about you, Rich?”
“No, I don’t like sharp skates,” Rich Devlin replied.
“Well, then this is the skate sharpener for you!” Brian said to hoots of laughter.
It was good to have Rich Devlin back after he missed Week 13. We thought he was in Vegas again seeing U2 at the Sphere. But he told us he had sold his December tickets. After he saw them there in October he came away with this nagging thought that
I still haven’t found what I’m looking for
Which is just as well since Blue can’t live with or without him. We sat next to Joe McNamara who is an enigma wrapped in a puzzle wrapped in a babushka. Kind of like Brian’s lineups—minus the babushka. Apparently Brian has recently taken a data-driven approach to making teams, using a player matrix that combines past minus ratings with future point projections. Only on Red there was a typo that read “future pint projections” and Red, for Week 14, ended up getting all the heavy drinkers at the afterparty. Not surprisingly, Blue jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead when Chris Dougherty scored. We duly recorded the tally on our slip of paper, puzzling over the correct spelling of “Dougherty” and as soon as we looked up we saw Joe Tona bearing down on Ed Conrad and going upstairs with the famously genetic “Tona shovel” which works on the backhand too! Then Rich Devlin, in the moment, near the net, didn’t falter and buried a cross-seam pass to make it 3-0. His new office even comes with views of Kiyoshi scoring and soon it was 4-0. Not satisfied, Blue ramped up the pressure, fed off the enthusiasm, and got into the 8-1 zone. Even Ken Blankstein played well, forestalling his plan to change his name to Ken Jennings and start hosting Jeopardy.
Red finally gave Andrew Cordssen-David permission to score at will. And then shook their heads in awe as Dan Dougherty made back-to-back monster saves, one on a point blank shot that he snared with his glove (dubbed by some a save of a lifetime) and a half-minute later Andrew bore down on him with a breakaway and Dan executed a perfect pad-flailing skate blade-denying stop. Nevertheless Andrew proceed to score and, down 8-3, Red saw a glimmer of hope. That glimmer was gone when Rich Devlin, playing like his hero, Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito—the only NFL quarterback ever to be sacked nine times and still win the game—stripped Jim Heffern of the puck, did a nice inside/out move on Frankie, and wristed it in for his second goal. Blue would have seven different scorers on the night but none more audacious than Rich Devlin who capped off the hattie to make it 11-6, even with his left shoulder bone-on-bone and surgery scheduled for next week.
It was dark and windy and slanting rain fell, but that did not deter 15 people from gathering at TJ’s where week by inexorable week the club ensures that its Golden Years will outnumber its Wasted Years. Rich Devlin ordered two pies and then Tim White walked in. “Another meat ball pie!” Rich shouted to the counter. But as it turns out Tim had just had his wife’s lasagna which had pork chops in it. So there was extra pizza. Which Garrett Heffern had no trouble consuming later.
“No, I don’t like sharp skates,” Rich Devlin replied.
“Well, then this is the skate sharpener for you!” Brian said to hoots of laughter.
It was good to have Rich Devlin back after he missed Week 13. We thought he was in Vegas again seeing U2 at the Sphere. But he told us he had sold his December tickets. After he saw them there in October he came away with this nagging thought that
I still haven’t found what I’m looking for
Which is just as well since Blue can’t live with or without him. We sat next to Joe McNamara who is an enigma wrapped in a puzzle wrapped in a babushka. Kind of like Brian’s lineups—minus the babushka. Apparently Brian has recently taken a data-driven approach to making teams, using a player matrix that combines past minus ratings with future point projections. Only on Red there was a typo that read “future pint projections” and Red, for Week 14, ended up getting all the heavy drinkers at the afterparty. Not surprisingly, Blue jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead when Chris Dougherty scored. We duly recorded the tally on our slip of paper, puzzling over the correct spelling of “Dougherty” and as soon as we looked up we saw Joe Tona bearing down on Ed Conrad and going upstairs with the famously genetic “Tona shovel” which works on the backhand too! Then Rich Devlin, in the moment, near the net, didn’t falter and buried a cross-seam pass to make it 3-0. His new office even comes with views of Kiyoshi scoring and soon it was 4-0. Not satisfied, Blue ramped up the pressure, fed off the enthusiasm, and got into the 8-1 zone. Even Ken Blankstein played well, forestalling his plan to change his name to Ken Jennings and start hosting Jeopardy.
Red finally gave Andrew Cordssen-David permission to score at will. And then shook their heads in awe as Dan Dougherty made back-to-back monster saves, one on a point blank shot that he snared with his glove (dubbed by some a save of a lifetime) and a half-minute later Andrew bore down on him with a breakaway and Dan executed a perfect pad-flailing skate blade-denying stop. Nevertheless Andrew proceed to score and, down 8-3, Red saw a glimmer of hope. That glimmer was gone when Rich Devlin, playing like his hero, Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito—the only NFL quarterback ever to be sacked nine times and still win the game—stripped Jim Heffern of the puck, did a nice inside/out move on Frankie, and wristed it in for his second goal. Blue would have seven different scorers on the night but none more audacious than Rich Devlin who capped off the hattie to make it 11-6, even with his left shoulder bone-on-bone and surgery scheduled for next week.
It was dark and windy and slanting rain fell, but that did not deter 15 people from gathering at TJ’s where week by inexorable week the club ensures that its Golden Years will outnumber its Wasted Years. Rich Devlin ordered two pies and then Tim White walked in. “Another meat ball pie!” Rich shouted to the counter. But as it turns out Tim had just had his wife’s lasagna which had pork chops in it. So there was extra pizza. Which Garrett Heffern had no trouble consuming later.