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The Bloomington Prairie Thunder

GOODave — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:30:54 GMT

For three years, now, I've taken my (now) 8 year old son and, more recently, my 6-year old daughter to two or three Prairie Thunder hockey games at the Coliseum (er, you know which coliseum, right? ;) ).If you have not been to a game, you really don't know what you're missing. Three, 15-minute periods of highly charged athletes chasing a small hard plastic puck around the ice doesn't SOUND "engaging," but it definitely is.We took in last Friday PM's game against the Dayton Gems and I have to tell you, that was one exciting, hard fought game... including two Prairie Thunder Goals within 10 seconds of each other. The Prairie Thunder, btw, extended their home win streak to five games with that one; extended it to 6 games against the Mallards the following night ... and go up against the Komets tomorrow night, at home, for a shot at #7 straight home win.I've sat along the west side of the coliseum and I've sat at the north end behind the goal ... and I have to tell you, there really is not a bad seat in the house. Section 113 and 112, though, do seem to be center-ice for all the action: I assume it is the same across the rink on the other side, too.The Coliseum is under an economic crunch these days, as are all of us, and a Bloomington Prairie Thunder game is really inexpensive entertainment: Support both the team and the coliseum.

MLB Playoffs

GOODave — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:18:52 GMT

My first observation is that Southern California is going to be a quagmire for most of the rest of this week.

Both the Angels and the Dodgers are in their respective division play offs and both have better records than their opponents (Red Sox and Cardinals, respectively) so the playoffs in the AL and in the NL both start, the first two games, in the teams' Southern California stadiums.

For those unfamiliar with the lay out: Angel Stadium (so-called "Edison field") is in Anaheim at the interchange between CA-57, CA-22, and I-5. A scant 25 miles north on I-5 puts you right smack dab adjacent to Chavis Ravine (or "Dodger Stadium").

Now, the I-5 is pretty jammed, ANYWAY, becaue it was laid in the 50's and has not been significantly updated since then other than the odd two or three mile long "widening" that might have taken place (mostly down on the Anaheim end) ... so with the regular bumper-to-bumper traffic that starts at 2:30 to 3:00 every day and lasts until 7:30 ish ... layerd under the traffic moving from north to Dodger Stadium and from Los Angeles to Angel Stadium ... and the reverse, I'm encouraging all of my Southern California friends to either take vacation the next week and a half or check into Public transportation.

OH, and dare I express a fervent hope for a "Freeway Series" in the West this year?

Cubs

Mertness — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 12:52:49 GMT

Let's talk about the highlights, good and bad, from this weeks games.

NBA Playoffs

GOODave — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 08:11:51 GMT

Being from southern California, of course I'm a Laker's Fan. However, I do have to say I'm a bit surprised they handled the Nuggets the way they did. Not as surprised they got past Utah and, then, San Antonio though.

The Magic should have beaten the Celtics: Not sure how the Celts made it as far as they did. But I was also surprised that the Magic seriously thumped the Cavs (did the Cavs have TOO MUCH time off waiting for the Magic to beat the Celtics?).

So we've got the finals starting Thursday.

Magic has all the tools, no question about it. The Lakers "D" will have to show up every single game just to keep it respectable. I think if the Lakers can keep the Magic out of the paint, they should do O.K. and if they can control the paint AND grab the rebounds ... the just might pull this thing out.

Thoughts?