Stray Talk

Hola, y'all. January's winding down and Valentine's Day hype is starting to fill the airwaves. They should just rename it Hallmark's Day.

Let's roll the clip:

• I was bummed today to hear about Chris Penn's death. Damn, the guy was only 40. He was overshadowed by his older bro Sean, but had certainly made his mark in movies, especially as Nice Guy Eddie in Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs.
• We're only a few weeks away from the start of the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Of course, I'm looking forward to the hockey tournament, which will once again feature NHL players. I hear some say that it's not the same as when amateurs played, blah blah blah. I say thee nay! These are the best players in the freakin' world. Unlike with basketball, there isn't one dominant team. I, for one, will be loving this stuff. I just hope NBC doesn't bitch up its coverage by showing edited versions of games filled with stupid fluff pieces. Let the game speak for itself. NBC, by the way, began its NHL game of the week coverage a few weeks back; regional games air on Saturdays at 2 p.m. Not surprisingly, ratings were down 11.8% the first week compared to the first week of ABC's coverage in 2004. Not a lot of bells and whistles going on, just solid hockey coverage with familiar faces and voices like Bill Clement, John Davidson, Mike Emrick, et al. If you're hoping things will radically turn around, don't bother: NHL hockey will never be a huge ratings grabber. It's a regional sport. Just accept it and enjoy it. Not that I have much to enjoy right now, with my Leafs sucking some major arse. They've lost six in a row. That Olympic break can't come fast enough.
• Speaking of the NHL, it came as a bit of a shock when Bryan Berard, a slick-skating offensive defenseman, tested positive for steroids. He was tested last November after being named as a candidate for Team USA in the Olympics, but subsequently was not named to the team. The Columbus d-man claims he ingested the steroid unknowingly in a supplement he took while training for the season. I still don't think steroid use is widespread in hockey; bulking up doesn't help hockey players, especially in the high-speed new NHL. If anything, steroids make you bulky and brittle, two things you certainly don't want to be if you're trying to keep up with the likes of Alex Ovechkin and Ilya Kovalchuk.
• The up-and-down weather we're having has made things interesting for those of us training for marathons. One day I'm running in shorts, the next I'm dodging snowbanks.
• Hooked up with some of the old Webnoize crew last weekend at the Miracle of Science for a few pops. We had a special guest, one Senor Steve Zisson, who worked with us for a few months and who I've worked with at two other jobs as well. As always, Z-man was looking for info while providing none in return. He's shady, that one. Also, happy birthday this week to OJ, who continues to crank out the quality Junkmedia music blog action even while the rest of the site has ground to a halt. And congrats to my man Big Audio Douglass, who went and got himself married this week.
• With the Patriots out of it and the Red Sox making more front office moves, we're thankfully spared here in the Boston area from the mind-numbing Super Bowl hype. That said, I'm rooting for the Seahawks. They were the first NFL team I ever supported, stemming from my two years living in Washington state.