Wednesday (Calgary woes) edition: Wha’ Happened?
Posted on January 23rd, 2008 – 8:04 AMBy Michael Rand
The Wild lost Tuesday in Calgary. And this morning, there was a common glow in the Eastern sky: the sun. We’re here to ask the question: If some teams are just inevitably doomed in certain locations (the Wild is now 3-14-4 all-time in Calgary), just what percentage of sports is mental? Now, obviously physical skills to play at a particular level are a given. Guys wouldn’t be pros if they didn’t possess world-class talent or some other sort of intangible. But when a fairly good team plays 21 games against another team at its relative skill level and only wins three times, you have the classic case of a mental block. These mental blocks are inevitable, but the best teams and best athletes move past them much more quickly — a game or two? — than the rest. The questions before you are these: When does a losing trend become a mental block, and how does a team get out of that rut? Amateur RandBall psychologists, have at it!
*Sometimes, however, losing is the product of questionable offseason coaching moves — even though a nice win over Tennessee last night gives the new guy at least one more quality victory than Tubby. (Photoshopped image courtesy of The Wizard of Odds, who found it at Losers With Socks.
*Larry Brown says the Knicks were spying on him while he was coaching the team. Seriously, can this organization get any more dysfunctional?
*And, finally, the Fasola-link. This is a great day to be alive folks. It’s even better if you enjoy pie. That’s right: It’s National Pie Day. (There’s a Pie Council? Discuss.)
35 Responses to "Wednesday (Calgary woes) edition: Wha’ Happened?"
I know where I’m going to get my pie tonight (though the fruit innards will come from a can this being the wintry months)…and I know, by heart, the lyrics of “Bye, Bye Miss American Pie”, a song I liked the first 1000 times I heard it, but I have this serious question….where did that disgustingly sexist expression “pie” evolve for girls who might appear in a Van Halen interview, or those in yellow bikinis at a Packer game ? Curious minds want to know, but Jpegs would be enough.
Seriously, can this organization get any more dysfunctional?
No. No, it cannot.
Pie Rankings:
1. Pecan
2. Custard
3. Key Lime
4. Pumpkin*
5. French Silk
6. Apple
7. “Custard Pie,” Led Zeppelin, Physical Graffiti
8. Cherry
9. Blueberry
10. Rhubarb
*Served w/Kool Whip
Whoa.
You don’t consider the victory over Army “quality?”
Neither do I.
Stu
I disagree, until Kevin McHale is part of the Knicks organization it can get more disfunctional.
If the Apple pie is Dutch does it get a higher ranking?
If the Apple pie is Dutch does it get a higher ranking?
No, it actually isn’t even considered, as I am racist against the Dutch. I’m not proud of it, but it’s who I am.
I’m telling Bert Blyleven, see if you ever get circled.
Re: the mental blocks, it’s particularly hard to understand when the drought transcends personnel changes. College football/basketball, where the teams (and in many cases, the coaching staffs) have complete turnover every few years, and you’ll still see these losing trends (or maybe it’s just the Gophers). So it’s not a personal history of failure there, you’re taking on the past failures of the program. I suppose the burden to win just becomes that much higher.
Stu - my mom makes buttermilk pie. Is that the same as custard?
What in the heck was that “Wild now 3-14) hyperlink about ? I blew out my audio properties on my Sound Control putting in a much too big (apparently)speaker system so I couldn’t hear it, but I agree (visually) with this guy
“dancrdan”s” comments below…(his spelling by the way)….
speachless, laughing in shock, disgust, and hilarity!!! absoluely priceless!!! love it, gonna keep me smiling for a long time.
RandB, do you want the Mary Poppins answer to what makes a “losing trend” ? Well, here’s my take. A losing trend is where the players feel everyone around them stink. A winning trend is where a player feels only he/she stinks. A little overstated, perhaps, but not too far off.
Let’s not forget Humble Pie (feat Peter Frampton), Cherry Pie (the Warrant album), Fruits of the Forest Pie (an excellent berry-based dessert), and quiche (which is basically cheese and egg pie).
On second thought, let’s forget quiche.
my mom makes buttermilk pie. Is that the same as custard
Wiki says it’s custard-like, so we can roll with it.
Humble Pie’s “30 Days in the Hole” checked in at #13, just missing the Top Ten, along with Boston Cream and Lemon Meringue.
Warrant’s “Cherry Pie” makes my brain hurt.
Y’all forgot about my favorite kind of pie…POONTANG PIE!
“30 days in the Hole” together with “Hot N’ Nasty” on the flip side of that album are two of my favorite songs. And too bad, “pie” isn’t mentioned, but Frank Zappa’s “Susy Cream Cheese” deserves an esteemed place in history !!
The censor bot must be on vacation. Jimmy’s F-bomb and now this.
Don’t worry. That link is SFW.
Shepherd’s Pie needs to make at least the top 10. Either that or a Pot Pie. Meat in pie form is always delicious.
More Super Bowl news just in…
Tom Brady…likes to drink soda.
Eli Mannings car…is green.
Are we going to see a Boston Cream Pie on Super Bowl Sunday?
I just hope that Eli’s underwear is not green. Green in the front brown in the back, right?
Another thought on loser’s/winner’s block….it occurs when you take the field or court, look around you, see that you indeed have a bad team, then if you say..”damn, we su.k”, you are a winner. But, if you say, this is just another game, you are not.
Just try to imagine what went on in Peterson’s mind when he rode the pines after being hurt. Imagine him looking at the offense he would soon rejoin. Would he say “whoopedee, I’m going back into this O scheme again !” or would he be thinking, to himself, how many years he had left on his contract ? Only the Shadaow knows..
I was always told that 3/14 was Pi(e) day. Well, as it stands, it looks like I will enjoy two Pie Days this year and let this mess get sorted out next year.
+1 Dano, that may be to educational for this crowd though.
Pi was a good movie?!
Sheperds pie is spectacular food. I like to make it during weeks like this when comfort food hits home.
By the way, I am willing to bet that Kentucky gets into the big dance and the Gophers are left kNITting. Any takers?
Speak for yourself, jama. I’m smart, not like everybody says. Not dumb, I’m smart, and I want respect!
R E S P E C T
There you go AZ, you got it. Now how many digits of Pi can you go?
No Pie beats Revenge of the Nerds Pie….”ohhh…hair pie…”
I’m sorry Rand…I really couldn’t resist…
Where’s the love for banana cream pies? Or ice cream pies for that matter? Oreo crust, ice cream, possibly some frozen fruit, chocolate syrup…
This aggression will not stand, man.
top 3 pies:
1) French Silk
2) Key Lime
3) Apple (heated, with ice cream)
Value of pi (I chopped it down..it’s been calculated by Cray super computers to billions of digits) is …pi = 3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749 44592307816406286208998628034825342117067982148086513282306647093 84460955058223172535940812848111745028410270193852110555964462294 89549303819644288109756659334461284756482337867831652712019091456 48566923460348610454326648213393607260249141273724587006606315588 17488152092096282925409171536436789259036001133053054882046652138
I offer this only for anyone to drop it into a conversation at a bar …Warning! you must be prepared to leave said bar if you do so !!
Warning! you must be prepared to leave said bar if you do so !!
I can leave a bar alone without reciting an endless number string, thankyouverymuch.
I’ve watched when these monstro computers spit these numbers (OK call me bored) and they come out on the monitor so fast, they become a straight line ——————————-
It’s an important function in math/science circles, though not the best bar line, I admit…
“There’s only two things I hate in this world. People who are intolerant of other people’s cultures and the Dutch.”
- Nigel Powers
