Good Guys Links- Capitals

Since the Caps are in the heart of NASCAR country to play the former Hartford Whalers tonight, I figured I'd throw a Ricky Bobby reference out there. Here's all the links that are fit to quit to get ready for tonight's Caps-Carolina Hurricanes match.

- Tank says Mike Green should be in the lineup tonight. Greener, as you may recall (or may not), suffered what looked like a nasty shoulder injury Thursday night in Tampa. Milan Jurcina looks to be scratched.

- Chris Bourque (son of Ray) will take the spot in the lineup vacated by Boyd Gordon and Quintin Laing. Let's hope Bourque lasts longer than poor Laing did.


- One more from Tank - former Chicago Blackhawks and current San Jose Sharks forward Jeremy Roenick has no problem with Alex Ovechkin's celebrations. High praise from the greatest video game hockey player ever and the man who made Wayne Gretzky's head bleed in "Swingers."


- Since we're talking Ovie and celebrations (again), here's Tom Boswell's take.

- Japer's has this translated interview with Ovechkin by Slava Malamud of Sport Express

- Peerless is calling for a 5-3 Caps win.

- A brief preview of tonight's game from da bad guys perspective.

More From Tonight's Caps Game

Here's a clip from YouTube of Alex Ovechkin's 50th goal tonight complete with the goofy "stick on fire" celebration and Ovie's 1st period intermission interview.


After the game, Tank got the lowdown on the celebration. Apparently Jose Theodore came up with the idea and Mike Green and Nick Backstrom were supposed to participate but hung Ovie out to do it by himself. Tampa Bay coach Rick Tocchet was not amused. He must of had money on Alex Semin scoring the first goal tonight. My take: it was maybe a bit overboard but ultimately harmless. I worry about this kind of stuff more than I worry about what Ovie's celebrations do for hockey.

- Breathe easy Caps fans, apparently Mike Green is OK after looking like he hurt his shoulder in the 3rd period.

Good Guys Links - Capitals

'Cause who doesn't love UGA or English bulldogs. I've wanted to get a bulldog for sometime now and whenever I get one, I want it to look like UGA. Only instead of a University of Georgia jersey, I want to get it a Caps, Orioles and Ravens jersey for the different seasons. The spiked dog collar is choice as well.

Here are some Caps links for ya in preparation for tonight's game with the Tampa Bay Lightning. I'll have a postgame recap as soon as the game ends. I know you will be panting like a dog in anticipation.

- Speaking of bulldogs, Billionaire Ted Leonsis is also singing the praises of Brooks Laich. The Owner also raises the good point that Brooksie was acquired for Peter Bondra during the great fire sale of 2004.

- According to Tank, Simeon Varlamov will get the start against the Bolts while Brian Pothier and Quintin Laing should also play. Laing will make his 2008-09 debut, probably in place of Boyd Gordon, who is nursing an injury. Pothier will replace John Erskine, who is a healthy scratch.

-Peerless and Japer's preview tonight's game.

- OFB on Alex Ovechkin's MVP chances.

- Another one from OFB, this time on the bracket all of us over the age of 21 would like to enter.


- A preview of tonight's game from the Tampa Bay side.

Good Guys Links - Capitals

While we're doing links posts, here are some from the largesse (is that a word?) that is the Caps blog-o-sphere.

- On Frozen Blog has this laughable advertisement on Fox Sports Carolinas for Saturday's Caps-Hurricanes game. The laughable part is not the "They took what was ours" line. No, it's the "Our Team. Our Tradition" tagline. Your tradition? You are the former Hartford Whalers. People would probably like you more if you were still the Hartford Whalers. After all, who couldn't love the mighty Whale. They were mentioned in "Mallrats." They were the worst team in the history of video game hockey but they had character, damn it. The Carolina Hurricanes are shite. You know what? Cue up the fucking "Brass Bonanza." Long live the Whale! Down with Carolina!


- Speaking of OFB and teams moving, could we have seen the beginning of the end of the Florida Panthers? Love the title, by the by, mostly because it's the same as my favorite Local H album.

- Tank with a nice piece on Caps forward Brooks Laich. You gotta love Laich, who I thought was the Caps best player on a consistent basis in last year's playoffs and is the sort of blood and guts guy that will NOT be intimidated by the Philadelphia's and Pittsburgh's in the playoffs this year.

- More from Tank on holding the Panthers shotless in the 3rd period last night.

- Peerless on the Caps special teams. Or lack thereof.


- Billionaire Ted on last night's game.

Short Links/Hockey Brawl Of The Week

Because we are not above "little people" puns here at Hangar 39, we have the late, great Joe C. Kid Rock got about 90 percent less cool when he lost the man that was "3 foot 9 with a 10 foot dick." Today we don't have a lot from Ravens or Orioles world but plenty from Planet Caps. So let's get on with the show.

- The Schmucker on the O's looking into signing Pedro Martinez, who hopefully will bring his little Dominican friend with him.


- The Sun with an interesting story about Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti and his buddy, Maryland hoops coach Gary Williams.

- Caps winger Donald Brashear is still a little shaken up following his KO at the hands of Nashville enforcer Wade Belak and could miss tonight's tilt with the Philadelphia Flyers.

- More from Tank and Brash, this time on fighting.

- Japer's with some nice work on Eric Fehr's contributions to the Caps this year and Brian Pothier's attempt to comeback after missing almost two years with concussion issues.

- For those in the Hershey, Pa area, the Stanley Cup and the American Hockey League's top trophy, the Calder Cup, will be on display. (Per On Frozen Blog)

- From the Philly side of things, Caps Public Enemy #1B will likely play tonight. That's right, Danny Briere and his emo bangs will be on the ice. No word if Panic At The Disco is doing his entrance music.

"Hey guys, is this where I can pick up my Jimmy Eat World tickets?"

YOUR HOCKEY BRAWL OF THE WEEK
In honor of tonight's Caps-Flyers rivalry game, I present this line brawl from the early 90s between these two clubs. Observe Officer Don Koharski taking notes while all five guys plus the goalies go at it. Way to go Officer Koharski!


Non-Sporting Links:

- The Quantum Mechanics of Bloomfield loves him some bailout humor.

- Maki At The Movies has all your entertainment links that are fit to print.

- The Icon has the word on The Rock's steroid use in college.

"The Great One says inject his ass jabroni!"

- More info from the Icon on the upcoming Nine Inch Nails-Jane's Addiction tour.

- Finally, your YouTube clip to swing your heavy metal hair to is "Get To The Choppa" by Austrian Death Machine. We here at Hangar 39 fully support the integration of brutal death metal and Arnold Schwarzenegger lines.

Linkage is back...

Because we frequently pay homage to bad movies here at Hangar 39, here's Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear helping kill the Farrelly brothers career with "Stuck On You." What does this have to do with links? Absolutely nothing. So, with that being said, here's some links about the Good Guys with some non-sporting links thrown in. Accumulated by me, so you wouldn't have to look for it.

- Ray Lewis' deal: 7 years $44 million with a $12 million signing bonus. Interesting deal. A 7 year contract for a guy who will be 34 years old come regular season? I know the Sun is saying that it's basically a three-year deal but knowing Ray Lewis, there has to be something else here. My hunch is that there has to be some sort of handshake agreement to keep Ray Lew in a prominent role after he retires. He can't play until he's 41 right?

- Longtime readers of Hanger 39 (both of you) will know I've sung Derrick Mason's praises before as one of the nicer Ravens. Um, yeah, I may want to revise that in light of his new contract demands.

- Tank and Japer's have the recaps of last night's Caps-Predators tilt.

-Excellent get from Dan Steinberg over at DC Sports Bog: an interview with the founder of Easterns Motors about Alex Ovechkin's upcoming ads. If these results are any indication...


...Ovie needs to sing more often. It's a tough call which clip is better. The Easterns Motors clip is catchier, even more so with Ovie's Russian accent. But at the same time, it's hard to top his "Washington DC...ARE YOU READY TO ROCK!!" combined with Mike Green and Jose Theodore's emo eyeliner and Brooks Laich's Mark Tremonti guitar poses.

- In the days since my last links post I missed three Orioles spring training results (not that they matter): a 2-0 defeat to Minnesota, a 9-8 loss to the Mets and a 5-1 win over the Red Sox.

- The Sun on Aubrey Huff's metamorphosis from useless free agent bust to "guy who could fetch something nice in a trade this summer".

Non-Sporting Links:

- Sad stuff out of Alabama and Germany.

- Bernie Madoff may get 150 years in the slammer. I imagine Bernie in jail will be just like Albert Brooks in "Out Of Sight." BTW, if you have never read Harry Markopolis' whistle-blower report that brought Madoff down please do. Here's an HTML link to it from the original PDF format. It's a truly fascinating read, even if you don't know what the hell a hedge fund is, like me. I just love the Madoff case because it's brought the term "Ponzi Scheme" back into the national consciousness.

- The Bushies are still pushing Dubya's "legacy." Please, people, you've done enough, really.

- From the Icon, they are making a movie based on N.W.A. and "Straight Outta Compton." Better than a remake I suppose. Just as long as "I Ain't The 1" is in it, I'm cool.

- Finally, today's YouTube clip to swing your heavy metal hair to is "Institutionalized" by Suicidal Tendencies. All the guy wanted was a Pepsi!

Some small links...

Get it? Sometimes I just kill myself! Anyway, here's your usual batch of links at a much later hour than usual, keeping you abreast of what's going on in the world of the Ravens, Caps, Orioles, THE Towson University Tigers, sprinkled with a liberal dose of pop culture. Can you count, SUCKAS!


- Jersey Joe Flacco made the rounds today at the Entertainment Steeler Programming Network (that's ESPN for those who can't figure your acronyms). The Sun has all the details. Of course, the Unibrowbomber was asked about one of ESPN's favorite butt boys, the recently released Terrell Owens, and whether the Ravens would have any interest in him. Quick answer: Absolutely, 100 percent fucking NO! As is his wont, Joe Cool (that's three Flacco nicknames in one segment. Impressive Ryan. Most impressive) deflected these queries with his usual Joe-speak. Do any of these ESPN guys remember how Terrell pretty much told the Ravens to go fuck themselves when they traded for him in 2004? Or how he mocked the recently re-signed Ray Lewis' pregame dance after scoring a touchdown against the Ravens in 2004? Or trying to justify his actions by saying he wasn't so bad since he never faced double murder charges like Ray? Or how in his book, Owens accused Ozzie Newsome of being a closet racist? I think Oz would rather do this...

...than sign Owens to play for the Ravens.

-By the way, Big Mike Preston has been on a roll this off-season. I love this idea, even though Ozzie would never do it.

- New Raven Matt Birk is happy to be in Baltmo. Glad to have you too Matt.

- O's win again in exhibition play with a 5-2 win over the Florida Marlins. Last year's first-round pick Brian Matusz looked impressive. A very good sign for the O's future pitching prospects.

- Caps try to get off the schniede (lost 3 of 4 at home) tonight against the bottom-dwelling Toronto Maple Leafs at the Phone Booth. Tank El-Bashir is reporting that Michael Nylander will be back in and Alex Ovechkin, Tom Poti and Jose Theodore are all expected to play.

-Not Caps related but a worthy read from Deadspin on ex-Flyer and current Tampa Bay headcase Steve Downie.

"You ain't got no future Steve! You're a A-1 nutboy, Grissom knows it."

Non-Sporting Links:

-Our resident movie reviewer Greg "Snake" Maki has his take on "Watchmen."

-Per The Big Lead and Vanity Fair. This a long but fascinating read from Michael "Moneyball" Lewis on the collapse of Iceland's economy. And here I thought Iceland was only known for this...


-Finally, today's YouTube clip to swing your heavy metal hair to is "Jesus Christ Pose" by Soundgarden (it does have a short Chris Cornell interview at the beginning with Spanish, I think, subtitles!). If this clip doesn't give you an epileptic seizure, I don't know what will.

Friday lazy links..

Hello to all out there, you cheeky bastards. I'll have a couple of posts later today, the first will be getting a Redskins fans' take on the signings of Albert Haynesworth and DeAngelo Hall and the second will be related to my babysitting of two small dogs. I'm sure you're waiting with baited breath. Until then, here are your links...SUCKAAAASSS!!!


-Here's the lowdown on last night's Caps win from from Japer's and the Tank.

-The Orioles won their first exhibition game of the season, 11-3 over the St.Louis Cardinals. The Sun has the details.

-Another O's story, this one about new shortstop Cesar Izturis. He may not be able to hit a lick, but there's not a chance he's any worse than Freddy Bynum or Alex Cintron.

-Free agency has begun in the NFL and Bart Scott, Ray Lewis, Jason Brown and Jim Leonhard are all out there for the Cowboys and Redskins to overpay for. I love Ozzie and I trust him, but how in the world could he not get a deal done with ANY of these guys before they hit the market?

-From last night's Caps game, my new Facebook friend Donald Brashear vs. Eric Boulton.


Non-sporting links:

-Icon vs. Icon has some info about Kiss, who are going into the studio to record their new album "The Search For More Money."

-More from the Icon regrding DMX beating up a prison guard. Nice to see that life behind bars has changed him.

-Finally, today's YouTube clip to swing your heavy metal hair to is "Let Me Give You A Hand Throwing Yourself Out" by Killwhitneydead. One of the most violent music videos ever made.

More Crosby vs. Ovie

Per Dan Steinberg & Tarik El-Bashir’s Washington Post blogs, here’s Sidney Crosby’s take on Alex Ovechkin, followed by my own personal opinion:


Sid: I was skating to the bench and he pushed me from behind so I gave him a shot back," Crosby said. "That's hockey and he likes to run around these days. That was it."

Me: “STOP WHINING!!!!”

Sid: "I don't like it personally, but that's him," Crosby said. "And like it or lump it, that's what he does. Some people like it, some people don't. Personally, I don't like it, but you know what, he's a good player."

Me: “STOP BEING SUCH A PUUUSSEEEE!!!”

Sid: "He had a couple good chances and he's out there hitting guys like he normally does," Crosby said.

Me: "STOP EEEET!!! YAHHHHHHHH!!!!"



Sid: After the game, Crosby was asked about the words thrown in his direction from the Caps; "that's always the case," he said. "You know, it doesn't change from team to team."

Me: "SHUTTHEFUCKUP, SHUTTHEFUCKUP, SHUTTHEFUCKUP, SHUTTHEFUCKUP!!!!"



Sid: A reporter said it seemed like Crosby was unhappy with Ovechkin at times, and asked whether it was "just hockey."

"Yeah," Crosby said, "I guess."

Me: “What happened to you Crosby? You used to be someone I could trust”




Ovie: “I must break you.”