Congrats to the Stanley Cup Champion LA Kings

Just wanted to take a moment to make mention and congratulate the 2012 Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings. They were far from the best team in the regular season (as they barely got in being the 8th seed in the Western Conference), but they were far and away the best team in the whole Stanley Cup playoffs, which I guess is all that matters.

But, just to summarize this playoff run, with the exception of the two games prior to Game 6, this team was DOMINANT. In their road to the final, through their own conference, they went through the 2-time defending President Trophy winning #1 seed Vancouver Canucks, beating them 4-1, they swept the #2 seed St. Louis Blues, and they beat Pacific Division champion #3 seed Phoenix Coyotes. All teams had good to great goaltenders. Fortunately for them, they had a better one in Conn Smythe trophy winning (Playoff MVP) goalie Jonathan Quick.

Honestly, with the way they dominated the prior 3 series, the series against New Jersey should have been a sweep. But, they kind of rested in their laurels in Game 4 and 5, and could have easily let them back in the series. The knockout game is always the hardest to win. However, they took care of business in Game 6, as they pretty much stomped on their throat when they scored 3 goals on a 5-minute major penalty. It was pretty much over.

I would be remissed if I didn't mention how this would relate to my favorite hockey team, the Washington Capitals. Honestly, the Capitals' run this season is somewhat similar to the Kings' (as they were both teams with mediocre records, and just got hot at the right time). Not to mention, they both seemed to be built with the future with a good amount of young stars, and are both set at goal with a young star minding the net. Where the Caps went wrong was that they let Game 5 against the Rangers get away from them (as they lost the lead from that game with 6.6 seconds to go), to ultimately lose that game. And they just didn't come to play on Game 7.

But, if this franchise can win its first championship ever, there's hope for the Capitals. These days, it's hard to repeat championships in sports. However, I wouldn't be surprised if the Kings will be up there again next season. It would be nice if the Caps will join them, but they first have to find a coach that will get them there that can build on what they did this year.

Now that hockey season is over, I can focus my sports attention to the NBA Finals, which begin tonight. Oklahoma City and Miami should be an entertaining series with some must-see action and story lines. I'm particularly looking forward to it.

#OBE

OBE and Ovi at the Capitals Convention

In the spirit of the start of hockey season today, I thought that I would briefly evaluate on an experience I had this weekend. I had the privilege to attend the Capitals convention, held by Washington Capitals NHL hockey team. 

Many people would know that I am a huge mark for Washington DC sports. As far as Washington professional hockey is concerned, my appreciation for it is no exception. I do admit that I haven't followed this team as long as many of the die-hards our there, but I have followed them a lot longer than most of the bandwagon fans that has recently followed this team during the past couple of years when the team just started getting good. I have followed this team during their perennial playoff runs, as well as their first Stanley Cup run in the late 1990s, and have been interested with them ever since. From the acquisition by Ted Leonsis, to the signing of Jaromir Jagr (ugh), to drafting of all the young stars, and the eventual rebuild to prominence, I have been followed this team for more than a decade.

Since this team has captured a part of my heart, I figured I'd show some support and attend this event. I wanted to see what it was like. I wasn't able to attend the previous year's convention, and I heard the experience was pretty good. From the revealing of the 2011 Winter Classic Jersey, to the return of Olie the Goalie to the Capitals organization, there were definitely a lot of things to look forward to in this convention. There were also lots of opportunities to take pictures with players, autograph sessions, panel discussions, and even lots of things for the kids (such as games, street hockey, etc). There were also plenty of opportunities for local vendors to showcase their wares.

To get to my experience, I wanted to absorb the atmosphere, do as much as I can, and meet as many players and alumni as I can. In reality, it was a bit impossible to do all that... so I had to narrow it down to a few main objectives to try to accomplish. Meet Alex Ovechkin, shake hands with Ted Leonsis, get some Winter Classic Gear, and hopefully get something for free that my nephew might like. I was able to do 3 out of those 4 things.

After the Winter Classic gear was revealed, I thought I would get some kind of WC paraphernalia. Therefore, I decided to get a John Carlson #74 Winter Classic shirt. This convention was the only absolute place to get gear like this. I also bought a big magnet of the W eagle logo to stick on my car (which along with the Nationals' "DC" logo, is one of my favorite logos in sports).

As far as possibly getting something for my nephew, I was able to snatch a huge Alex Ovechkin poster for him when the cheerleaders were throwing free stuff out. I was about to get him a Slapshot (the Caps' mascot) bobblehead, but some inconsiderate middle-aged man snatched it from my hand when the cheerleader threw it to my direction. I was honestly pretty upset when that happened and was about ready to curse out and fight the old man, since I was going to give it to my nephew and the old man had 3 posters already. However, my pacifistic side got the better of me. Instead of the bobblehead, I was able to get the poster. I did almost hurt myself getting it though, because if grown men are desperate to snatch prizes away from others, then I had to be more aggressive. So, I had to dive to get a prize. I don't know if Joey can appreciate this yet, since he's not the sports fan like I am, but as he grows up and gets more interested in sports, I'm sure he will.

But speaking of Ovechkin, as good as having a poster of him was, I am glad to say that I have had the pleasure of meeting him. I had "meeting an MVP" in my bucket list, so it was important for me to meet him. Therefore, I signed up for a picture opportunity with him. I had to shell out a few extra bucks to do so, but I felt it was worth it. The picture turned out nice. Take a look...

Meeting him ended up being the highlight of my day. And although I slightly upset his reps by doing so (since I apparently held up the line for two very long seconds *sarcasm*), I got to give him that copy of "You Are Awesome". He's already accomplished a lot, so he doesn't need to read it to be reminded of being awesome... but it couldn't hurt. I also did give a copy of the book to one of his lesser known teammates, Mathieu Perreault during the autograph session. Perreault has been re-assigned to AHL's Hershey Bears, so I'm sure it can impact him more if he reads it.

But, as you may guess, the one thing that I didn't get to accomplish was to meet the Caps' owner Ted Leonsis. If you have read this blog previously, you would know how much respect I have for the guy, and I even have meeting him in my bucket list. I wanted to personally thank him for the impact he had in my life, and in philosophies, and I was hoping that I would have gotten him to sign my copy of his book "The Business of Happiness". To me, meeting him would be like meeting Donald Trump for most people. The bright side is, since I do plan on being plugged in to this area and attending a few Caps and Wizards games/events, I'm sure I'll eventually get a chance to meet him.

But, overall, the convention was definitely a great experience. Sure it wasn't perfect, as there were long and confusing lines, crowded areas, rude people and staff members, but it was still a great event that I would recommend that fans of not only the Washington Capitals, but fans of hockey can enjoy. Whatever mistakes they made, will eventually be corrected the following years, knowing the organization that's running it. And as someone who has been around his share of events, and appreciate event management and community engagement, I really found this event worthwhile. It can also be a great event to take the kids (so long as they can appreciate it). There's something for everyone.

But, I figured I'd it's appropriate to talk about this experience, not only because the NHL season started today and I'm pumped about it... but also to again remind all my readers that it is important to do what you like, invest in your interests, meet your heroes, and have as much fun as you can. And in some points, if the situation isn't the best, you still have to make the best of it. Out-of-the-box empowerment? You're damn right it is.

OBE and Ovi? You bet! No 6 degrees of separation needed here. :-)

D4P...PD!!!

-OBE

PS: Let's go Caps!

Rocking the Red and Unleashing the Fury

Alright... I said I'd talk about "other sports" in my last blog. And, since my favorite team, The Washington Capitals are in the midst of a 10-game winning streak, I thought it's a good time to bring them up.

First off, I just want to say that I'm not like most of the Caps fans here in the District that just jumped in the bandwagon in the past year or so. I have been following the Caps ever since their last Stanley Cup run when they fell short to the Red Wings in '98, and people didn't know who "Olie the Goalie" was. In fact, I can even tell you who scored the winning OT goal against Buffalo who brought us to the Cup Finals that year (for those of you who don't know, look it up... but his name is the capital of Alaska). I can tell you the captains since that run, and I even got some Caps paraphernalia with the old crappy logo. Although, I do admit that they were tough to watch during the re-building years (sort of like how the MLB's Nationals are now, who I also am fans of). Like I said, I'm pretty much the ultimate "DC" homer in sports (with the exception of DC United, since I can't get into soccer).

But moving right along, ever since that Cup run, they've blown up the team, rebuilt, and got to where they are today... as of now, at the top of the Eastern conference. They just won their 10th in a row against Tampa today, and I honestly could see this streak going for probably a few more games. Next, they play a Boston team, that's on a bad of a slump as any team can get (with the exception of the Oliers, whose losing streak is longer than our winning streak). And they are just playing mind-blowing hockey!

Here are just a few stats...

• They are currently leading the NHL at 214 goals... the closest team to them has 187 (San Jose)
• They scored 65 more goals than they have allowed, also leading the NHL. Closest team to them is at +53 (also San Jose)
• They have a 23 point lead in the division (in basketball terms, they have about a 11.5 game lead over their closest divisional opponent).
• 4 of their players have over 50 points, 9 over 25.
• They are averaging 3.82 goals per game (almost 4 goals per game).

And, the best part is... they are doing all of this with their star Alex Ovechkin scoring less, and their #1 goaltender Varlamov on the shelf. Everybody is contributing. Jose Theodore has filled in well during this run and has not looked like "Jose Three-or-more". And the kid Neuvirth is solid between the pipes as well. In this streak, with the exception of 3 games (Detroit, the comeback SO vs Florida, and the recent one against Tampa), they have won their games handily. Most of which by at least 3 goals.

I'm not gonna go out there and start predicting '10 Stanley Cup champs at this time of the season. They still have a very long way to go to get there. But, I will say (and have been saying for a long time) that the sports fans here in DC really has a team they can be excited about and proud of. It's just a shame that only a few people are just discovering this now. Let's just hope, that come June, we'll still be "Rocking the Red".

But on a somewhat related note, I did buy Caps owner Ted Leonsis' new book from Amazon "The Business of Happiness". As I've said in a previous blog, he's definitely one guy in my short list that I strive to be one day because of all that he's accomplished, while at the same time, staying grounded, genuine, and even accessible. I for one am very interested to know his "secret sauce". Even if I accomplish just a small fraction of what that man has accomplished, I would've probably lived a good life.

Til next entry...

D4P... PD!!!

John