IT HAS BEGUN

Boston Bruins banner raising screenshot, 10/6/2011, a photo by mod as hell on Flickr.

I liked how the last NHL season ended. (Uh, sorry to leave you like that!) And thus, how this one began, as I scrambled to find a working feed online at 6 pm Central time, as I begin my third season of NHL watching still cable-less. (But now with speakers on my computer. Seriously, I've been using it, what, 4 years, with only the sound that comes out minus speakers. Sometimes I'd use headphones, but it's nice not to be tethered to the computer.) I got to see this entire Philadelphia at Boston game (which did not end as I'd like) and all minus a few minutes of the Pittsburgh at Vancouver game (I liked that one a little better.)

I can now say I've posted every day of the NHL season. We'll see how long I keep this up. Though hockey is still far and away my favorite sport, I'm watching baseball with moderate enthusiasm now as well...hoping to see more soccer and rollerderby and football in 2011 too. I make no promises about what happens with this blog, but I like the IDEA of coming back...

GAME SEVEN GAME SEVEN GAME SEVEN

I'm cautiously optimistic for the Bruins in this. Sorry I didn't get a pre-game post up, nor am I able to live-blog it, or even live-tweet it on my dormant @alittlechippy account. Nor did I do a proper goodbye-to-the-Stanley Cup for the Blackhawks for their last few hours as current champs (if not "defending" champs--I assume that ended when they were out of the playoffs). I'm just trying to enjoy the moment. And hopefully only a few more minutes of the game...

okay. GO BRUINS

I'M NOT READY FOR HOCKEY SEASON TO BE OVER. Even if I've hardly written about it this year, even if I didn't do very much hockey-related travel this season (some pretty great trips though--well, if you follow me on social media, you saw that), even if--eek--I didn't leave a single comment on a single hockey blog all season.

I'm still caffeinated from the coffee in this photo, at Knockbox in Chicago's Humboldt Park (awesome overlooked place, so I'll mention them wherever. Grilled cheese served with applesauce! Lowest price on bottomless coffee of indie places I know!) and I've been wearing my Boston Bruins bag (which I bought in the 2009-10 season, mind you) around town. I wish I could be in Boston watching Game 6 tonight, even just at a bar. Again, GO BRUINS (and man, am I sorry I didn't see the team this year).

a city on edge...

Picasso sculpture with Blackhawks helmet, a photo by katherine of chicago on Flickr.

...AND THAT CITY IS VANCOUVER! Heh, I'm a little excited the Blackhawks managed to pull off the Easter Sunday Game 6 win against the Canucks and force Game 7 (or "a decisive Game 7!" as every report seems to need to say).

Oh, that was amazing. People have no reason to believe me on this (except that I never lie) but I got a feeling well into the overtime of that game that Ben Smith could be the hero with the game-winning goal, and quite unexpectedly to nearly everyone, he was.

Just a few minutes after the game, my Boston-area friend who took me to my first-ever hockey game (Blackhawks) called and we chatted about the playoffs so far. Twenty-some minutes about sports and then he mentioned a family member's wedding at the end of the call. Heh. It's been an exciting few days.

Obviously I'd LOVE for the Hawks to win (almost more to erase the Bruins' playoff choke of 2010 as the most recent, than for them to continue, as I wasn't honestly expecting them to go very far in the playoffs) but I am genuinely okay if they don't. Playing well, not getting swept, giving us an incredibly entertaining series, and putting fear into Vancouver (and much of Canada, even) were great; a win would be gravy at this point.

(I took this photo Saturday, before Game 6, since that could have been the end. It wound up prominently placed in a Puck Daddy post today! Which is nice, as I haven't even tried to have anything on any other sports blogs anywhere all year.)

a note

First I was too busy/lazy to write about the beginning of the 2011 NHL playoffs, then Chicago fell behind 3-0 and it was too depressing, then every game INCLUDING THE ONE TONIGHT became an elimination game and I'm too nervous to say anything. If the season ends I'll be forced to write a real piece! And spend the rest of the playoffs finally posting my photos from the past year! I'm not ready! But I had to say something! Also, Happy Easter if you celebrate it! I wish I had a lot of candy right now but I don't but for one reason or another I'll be getting a lot of candy on clearance tomorrow!

Blackhawks at Bruins 2011

It's the one scheduled game of the season between my two favorite NHL teams. I saw both of their games against each other last season, both Blackhawks wins. I've been following these teams all year even if I've barely blogged it, and not been too vocal on Twitter so I don't scare off my non-sports followers. (The @alittlechippy account will be back when I get a new password, I guess.) I've been a lot more pleased with how the Bruins have been this year, but still root more for the Blackhawks, since I live in Chicago and all. Theoretically I was extremely excited for tonight, but alas, didn't feel up to doing a preview. Watching it, I'm not sure I want to say anything about the game.

But this is the first time I've actually signed into Blogger to post here since, oh, late spring 2010, (I just restarted my other blog again and am updating it; can't imagine how out-of-date the blogroll here is) so there's a photo. Yes, it's kind of St. Patrick's-esque and it's late March, but I took it after St. Patrick's, a store window in downtown Winnetka (north suburban Chicago). It's a butcher shop or deli or something; have no idea what that can of "Digestive" is!

I'll be around in some form for the NHL (and other league) playoffs. Too much stuff not to post. Computer issues are better, but I need to reinstall my scanner so I can post cool weird things again.

obligatory Valentine's post

dollar store Valentines
Originally uploaded by mod as hell

Well, I missed a sports-themed Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, etc. so why bother with this? Just to actually post twice in the span of one week again. And I don't THINK I used this photo last year, though I did use of close-up of these hearts. Didn't feel like going out and finding/buying anything new, either.

The less I say about actual Valentine's, the better. (Or I'll be saying in an ill-advised personal piece on my other blog.) Hope any readers I still have had a good day. At any rate, half-price candy TOMORROW!

Happy...uh...February 2011

sad bike, Humboldt Park, post-2011 Blizzard edition
Originally uploaded by katherine of chicago

So I missed the whole blog-every-day-in-November thing, I missed noting any of the winter holidays including the New Year. And um, I've missed reading all your blogs, aside from links through Twitter. I'm still not "back" though, as I've gotten my Mac overhauled/fixed just to discover I had external drive issues and it's still a mess and I still have thousands of photos I haven't been able to upload yet and...I'm tired of discussing that. More importantly, there's been a lot of personal stuff outside the scope of what I'd try to discuss on a relatively lighthearted sports blog. But maybe on the other blog (City of Destiny) I've neglected!

Chicago sports have been a little less than inspiring recently, what with what happened to the Bears (2010-11 was the first time I ever followed the NFL somewhat regularly. Hey, I should have blogged that! I even went to a game), and the Blackhawks' struggles, and even junior hockey's Chicago Steel, who yesterday dropped their 22nd straight game (no wins since Nov. 20). Same day as the Cleveland Cavaliers lost their 25th straight (no wins since Dec. 18), setting a new NBA record. As lousy as some things have been for me recently, at least I haven't done THAT.

It's clear I'm not cut out, at least this hockey season, to do a daily or otherwise frequent sports blog covering the season of any specific team or league. I've relied on Twitter in its original concept as a microblogging site, especially since I finally got a smartphone as a Christmas gift and can at last post during my adventures. But I hope to be back here with random collectibles, photoessays of my sports trips (which have continued this year), goofy screenshots, and the occasional rant.

Oh, this photo--did you hear Chicago got a lot of snow last week? At least my bike is in a safer place than this one...