Randy Pausch, 47; terminally ill professor inspired many with his 'last lecture'
His speech at Carnegie Mellon University after a pancreatic cancer diagnosis became an Internet phenomenon and bestselling book.








http://www. chicagotribune. com/entertainment/reviews/critics/la-me-pausch26-2008jul26,0,5191339. story?page=1



Randy Pausch, a terminally ill professor whose earnest farewell lecture at Carnegie Mellon University became an Internet phenomenon and bestselling book that turned him into a symbol for living and dying well, died Friday. He was 47.



Pausch, a computer science professor and virtual-reality pioneer, died at his home in Chesapeake, Va., of complications from pancreatic cancer, the Pittsburgh university announced.



When Pausch agreed to give the talk, he was participating in a long-standing academic tradition that calls on professors to share their wisdom in a theoretical "last lecture." A month before the speech, the 46-year-old Pausch was told he had only months to live, a prognosis that heightened the poignancy of his address.



Originally delivered last September to about 400 students and colleagues, his message about how to make the most of life has been viewed by millions on the Internet. Pausch gave an abbreviated version of it on "Oprah" and expanded it into a best-selling book, "The Last Lecture," released in April.




Yet Pausch insisted that both the spoken and written words were designed for an audience of three: his children, then 5, 2 and 1.



"I was trying to put myself in a bottle that would one day wash up on the beach for my children," Pausch wrote in his book.



Unwilling to take time from his family to pen the book, Pausch hired a coauthor, Jeffrey Zaslow, a Wall Street Journal writer who had covered the lecture. During more than 50 bicycle rides crucial to his health, Pausch spoke to Zaslow on a cellphone headset.



"The speech made him famous all over the world," Zaslow told The Times. "It was almost a shared secret, a peek into him telling his colleagues and students to go on and do great things. It touched so many people because it was authentic.

"

Thousands of strangers e-mailed Pausch to say they found his upbeat lecture, laced with humor, to be inspiring and life-changing. They drank up the sentiments of a seemingly vibrant terminally ill man, a showman with Jerry Seinfeld-esque jokes and an earnest Jimmy Stewart delivery.



If I don't seem as depressed or morose as I should be, sorry to disappoint you.



He used that line after projecting CT scans, complete with helpful arrows pointing to the tumors on his liver as he addressed "the elephant in the room" that made every word carry more weight.



Some people believe that those who are dying may be especially insightful because they must make every moment count. Some are drawn to valedictories like the one Pausch gave because they offer a spiritual way to grapple with mortality that isn't based in religion.



Sandra Yarlott, director of spiritual care at UCLA Medical Center, said researchers, including Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, have observed that work done by dying patients "resonates with people in that timeless place deep within.

"

As Pausch essentially said goodbye at Carnegie Mellon, he touched on just about everything but religion as he raucously relived how he achieved most of his childhood dreams. His ambitions included experiencing the weightlessness of zero gravity; writing an article in the World Book Encyclopedia ("You can tell the nerds early on," he joked); wanting to be both a Disney Imagineer and Captain Kirk from "Star Trek"; and playing professional football.



Onstage, Pausch was a frenetic verbal billboard, delivering as many one-liners as he did phrases to live by.



Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.



When his virtual-reality students at Carnegie Mellon won a flight in a NASA training plane that briefly simulates weightlessness, Pausch was told faculty members were not allowed to fly. Finding a loophole, he applied to cover it as his team's hometown Web journalist -- and got his 25 seconds of floating.



Since 1997, Pausch had been a professor of computer science, human-computer interaction and design at Carnegie Mellon. With a drama professor, he founded the university's Entertainment Technology Center, which teams students from the arts with those in technology to develop projects.



The popular professor had an "enormous and lasting impact" on Carnegie Mellon, said Jared L. Cohon, the university's president, in a statement. He pointed out that Pausch's "love of teaching, his sense of fun and his brilliance" came together in his innovative software program, Alice, which uses animated characters and storytelling to make it easier to learn to write computer code.



During the lecture, Pausch joked that he had become just enough of an expert to fulfill one childhood ambition. World Book sought him out to write its virtual-reality entry.




He didn't get to be Captain Kirk, but actor William Shatner, who played the starship commander, visited Pausch's lab at Carnegie Mellon. Pausch believed that watching Kirk had taught him leadership skills. After the speech, Pausch was given a walk-on role in the "Star Trek" film due out in 2009.



Inside the auditorium, Pausch dared the crowd to overcome obstacles.



The brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. They are there to stop the other people.



After his applications to become a Disney Imagineer were repeatedly rejected, Pausch said, he talked his way into spending a sabbatical in the mid-1990s at the company's virtual-reality studio. He helped design such virtual-reality rides as Aladdin's Magic Carpet at Walt Disney World.




Randolph Frederick Pausch was born Oct. 23, 1960, in Baltimore and said he won the "parent lottery" with Fred and Virginia Pausch. His father sold insurance and his mother taught English.



As a teenager growing up in Columbia, Md., he was allowed to paint whatever he wanted on his bedroom walls. His artistry included a quadratic equation, elevator doors and the rocket ship that adorns the cover of his book.



After graduating from Brown University with a bachelor's degree in 1982, Pausch earned a doctorate in computer science from Carnegie Mellon in 1988. At the University of Virginia, he taught for nine years. When he got tenure, he thanked his research team by taking them to Disney World.



Although he didn't make it to the NFL, Pausch said playing high school football taught him to master fundamentals and accept criticism. A month after his speech, the Pittsburgh Steelers invited him to a practice. Pausch caught passes, grinning ear to ear.



Last fall, he moved his family to southeastern Virginia so that Jai, his wife of eight years, could be near relatives. He tried to "build memories" with his children, taking his oldest, Dylan, to ride a dolphin and introducing his son Logan to Mickey Mouse at Disney World.



For his final Halloween, his family -- including his youngest, daughter Chloe -- went as the animated characters the Incredibles, personifying his end-of-life mantra:

We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.



With the newfound status the speech bestowed on him, Pausch called attention to the need for cancer research, appearing before Congress in March and filming a fundraising spot for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.



The same friends who called him "St. Randy" to poke fun at his media image were "not surprised that he's moving the world," Zaslow said. "They always thought he was special. Even his doctor said, 'If I picked one patient who would become famous and inspire the world, it would be him.

' "

Weeks after his book was released, 2.3 million copies of it were in print. It is being published in 29 languages.



By the book's end, Pausch sounds like a parent imparting advice as fast as he can. The chapters grow shorter as he tries to fit it all in: Don't obsess over what people think. No job is beneath you. Tell the truth.



Ever the comedian, Pausch delighted in his mother's use of humor to keep him humble.



After I got my PhD, my mother took great relish in introducing me as, "This is my son. He's a doctor, but not the kind that helps people.

"

His mother couldn't have been more wrong.



In addition to his wife and children, he is survived by his mother and a sister.



Donations may be made to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, www. pancan. org, or to Carnegie Mellon's Randy Pausch Memorial Fund, www. cmu. edu/giving/pausch.

I always thought that when you wake up at 2am to let the dog out and discover you have a migraine headache that hits you like a bat out of hell that’s it the day is over, before it began, and no possible way it can be good. I’m talking head feels like your brain is trying to squeeze through your eye sockets and the slightest bit of noise or light is a fatal attack! So you pass out on what ever is closest to you cause that is better than trying to find your way back to the safety of a bed. That is just about as bad a beginning of a day as you can get! And certainly not how I planned on March 18th starting!

So whatever I took four advils and went back to bed at seven o’clock the migraine was feeling better. At 10 Ag and I were on our way to the LIRR- park in the daily rate parking lot for seven bucks and then hop on the LIRR to Penn Station. The first part of the day, as in up until 345 we spent at Borders and Cosby’s.



I collect Russian nesting dolls and occasionally new ones come in to the store. I already had the Ranger set and a set of Gretzky in all his different uniforms.


Russian Nesting Rangers

So yesterday I added a Detroit Red Wing set, New York Yankees and Vancouver Canucks! Still my coolest nesting doll is the one that has the Czar Nicholas and his family- you know Anastasia and all that! Let’s see what next! Oh yeah, yesterday was the totally free day at the Garden as in we weren’t gonna spend a dime on Garden product! (Don’t feel bad they have tons of my money and will be fine) Now since we were spending the entire day we brought what was left of Ag’s home made banana bread for breakfast (yummy) sandwiches for lunch and for dinner we had two good sized pieces of Ag’s home made Irish Soda Bread!- this would be the tricky part since your not supposed to bring food into the Garden. (I only put this in here so you all can see how beautiful Ag’s soda bread is)-? See!!


Ag is still trying to figure out how she forgot to cut the telltale Cross in the top of the loaf.

So at 345 we went to the 4 Penn Plaza door because Chris Drury is a creature of habit and uses that door every day and he comes in early- like 405! Well since he was one of my must get sigs I was there early because nothing was gonna stop me from getting that autograph! So here it is my signed puck by Chris Drury! Thanks Chris almost three whole letters and from what I understand that was a good one! ? I’m kidding I love Chris!



While we were waiting we meet up with a fellow who we have seen before and I must say the guy has to be a top candidate for Dad of the year! He had an 8x10 of his son with Fedor Tyutin which he was waiting to get signed, it would complete the set and his son would have the signed pictures with the entire team (including the traded away and the traded to guys! Good work!) As we were waiting for Tyutin and Rozsival to pull into the parking garage Malik came by so we wished him a good game. Then we got a surprise who should walk around the corner but Ron Greshner! I got a signed puck and not only did he sign it but he personalized it! Same for Ag except since her name isn’t really Ag she actually got her real name on the puck?



Next was Betts! I know what your thinking don’t we already have him? Well not like this! The unveiling of how we waste our time! The pic of this little item will be shown later but lets just say Betts laughed!

Then we waited for a long time and I was getting worried that some how Tyutin was gonna fool us and come in a different way which would have been sad because we were rooting for Dad of the year to get the signature!

While we were waiting Steve Valiquette in an awesome hat came strolling out of the parking garage so yup- add that puck to the collection! Oh and Ag had a puck and pic she wanted signed and a kind young lady waiting to get Straka’s signature on a jersey took Ag’s puck so she got two sigs from Valli!



Finally Tyutin and Rozsival came strolling out of the parking garage! Again Ag- sorry don’t mean to be dissing your man but Tyuts is the smart one- he takes a slow step and leaves Rozsival exposed all alone to the dogs then skirts by as people mob Rozi! That’s allright everyone was successful in their signature hunting and Rozsival and Tyutin were very nice and signed for everyone!

Then we started heading around to the other side of the Garden with the Father of the year and while we were walking through the breezeway Mark Staal came by so I got an awesome 8x10 of him signed!

We waited and Jagr came in but alas I was not one of the few to get the JJ. That’s alright I got my quota on Sunday from an awesome kind very nice and personable Jaromir Jagr.

We continued around to the 8 Penn Plaza entrance thinking we might get lucky and get Shanny! (That was my other must get sig of the day!) I have a pic of him coming to a stop with the puck back in the days when he was a RedWing! We waited for a bit but it was 530 and chances were he was already in. That was ok because after Ron Greschenr how could I complain it was already a good day!

So with the tickets we had been given was a Meet and Greet with Rangers Alumni forum thing!!! So um . . yeah we were excited for this one! A day earlier we had received an email telling us that Ron Duguay, Stephen Matteau and Nick Fotiu were scheduled to appear! Yeah so remember how I referred to something with Betts being how we waste our time! Keep that in mind for the three gentleman just listed!

So we went in got little name tags and headed to the forum- nice little appetizer things were provided- just to help our free day- oh yeah the Soda Bread was buried at the bottom of my Cosby’s bag!

Anyway we were sad to discover that for some reason Matteau couldn’t make the event! But don’t be sad because in his place was Ron Greschner and ADAM GRAVES!!!!! So we got online to get Adams sig but apparently we were the cut off and they told us to come back after the forum was over and he would sign!

So of course we got off that line and scurried over to Nick Fotiu’s line since the Garden Staff had yet to break that one up! Well I got him to sign my ---- and Ag was right behind me but the Garden Staff member said "That’s it you can’t sign you have to go to the stage" and Nick sad "No one more I have to sign my ---" and he signed for Ag.



Then we all got settled for the forum and Ron Duguay was the host. So he introduced the forum members and himself (as if he had too). Apparently Nick and Duguay had been roommates together and this was not so fun for some of the other Rangers as they were a pair of joksters (or yokesters as it may be said with some foreign accents).

Someone of course asked about Duguay’s Sasson jeans which caused Ron to be like "I was hoping no one would ask" he paused and then began singing and dancing on the stage "oh la la Sasoon". And now I think it was Gresch who said that Duguay would do that on the ice while skating past the other bench.


Its out of focus because he was dancing and the others were laughing...
Someone also asked if they had any advice for the current Rangers powerplay and Fotiu suggested declining the penalty!

Graves said it was still a young team and that the trade deadline moves were good cause they didn’t lose young players. And as far as the powerplay goes he felt they had the players they need!

Then they had trivia and no joke I knew every answer! Who did Dubinsky debut against? The Islanders.
How many NHL teams has Shanny played for? Five.
How many career shutouts does Henrik have? 16.
And finally how many points did Straka have last year? (ok I didn’t know this one but I was close thinking 67 or so and he had 70!) But Ron never called on me so I didn’t win!!

Then we had time for a few more signatures with the alumni! We got Greschner on cards.



And then we got Duguay-





time for the unveiling here it is!





Duguay - Fotiu - Betts! Aren’t they cute? We had Matteau’s waiting but hopefully they will be signed another day!

Then it was game time! And well you know how that went! Rangers 5- Penguins 2 Henrik win 100! Avery two goals! Did ya’all hear the resign Avery chant going through the garden!

This is a youtube video we put together with some of the pictures Ag took:




After the game we headed to 8 Penn Plaza exit! I had to get my Shanny pic signed! Avery came out in his usual hurried way but I got a puck signed for Ag.



Here we meet a fellow and his step-son. We said we met Dad of the year earlier, well put this gentleman in the running for step-dad of the year! They had been at a meet and greet as well through Continental Airlines, with Rod Gilbert! I was going to trade my Ron Greschner card for a Rod Gilbert but his were personalized so the trade didn’t happen! Oh well, we met one of Ag’s myspace friends Kelly- huge Drury fan! And then we waited and waited and waited John Giannone came out and chatted for at least an hour! Finally Shanny came out! Ag was taking a pic for the kid but she had forgotten to change her camera back to automatic (she needed manual for the game photos!) So she apologized for making Shanny wait but he was cool and did! And while she did that I got my Red Wings pic signed!!!



Oh and then he signed her puck!



By the way all afternoon Ag was getting a team pic signed! It’s a photo Ag took at the Bryant park viewing party with a Rangers shield in gold on the tv screen reflecting up off the freshly cleaned ice! She already had Shanny and Gomez. So yesterday she added Malik, Betts, Valiquette, Rozsival, Tyutin, and Staal!



Pretty good day, huh?


This is the album with all the pictures we took it is named with the date and score: http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=25769063&albumId=1621924

Soda bread is a type of quick bread in which baking soda has been substituted for yeast. The ingredients of traditional soda bread are flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk. Other ingredients can be added such as raisins or various forms of nuts.
The buttermilk in the dough contains lactic acid, which reacts with the baking soda to form tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide. Soda bread can dry out quickly and is typically good for two to three days; it is best served warm or toasted. In Ireland, typically the flour is made from soft wheat; so soda bread is best made with a cake or pastry flour (made from soft wheat), which has lower levels of gluten than a bread flour.
Various forms of soda bread are popular throughout Ireland. The bread is either brown or white, with the former known colloquially as "brown bread" in the Republic of Ireland or wheaten bread in Northern Ireland. The two major types are the loaf and the "griddle cake", or farl in Northern Ireland. The loaf form takes a more rounded shape and has a cross cut in the top to allow the bread to expand. The griddle cake or farl, is a more flattened type of bread. It is cooked on a griddle allowing it to take a more flat shape and split into four sections.
Damper is a traditional Australian soda bread most likely brought to Australia by Irish immigrants.

Soda bread dates back to approximately 1840, when bicarbonate of soda was introduced to Ireland. Because the climate of Ireland hinders the growth of hard wheat (which creates a flour that rises easily with the assistance of yeast), bicarbonate of soda replaced yeast as the leavening agent.
There are several theories as to the significance of the cross in soda bread. Some believe that the cross was placed in the bread to ward off evil. It is more likely that the cross is used to help with the cooking of the bread or to serve as a guideline for even slices.
Soda bread eventually became a staple of the Irish diet. It was, and still is, used as an accompaniment to a meal.
The Soda Farl is an important part of the Ulster fry of Northern Ireland.

Jaromir Jagr had a signing at the Roosevelt Field Mall today. He arrived late because of Renney’s emergency practice.

He was a perfect sweetheart, honestly. He signed and was friendly and talked with people and took pictures and was just about the most gracious athlete I’ve ever met at a public signing. I have heard people say so many times that he is grumpy or moody. And after losing two games and having an emergency practice and a late flight, I was prepared to be understanding, but I needn’t have worried!!!

He signed a picture I took of him scoring a goal on Feb 24 against the Panthers (its in my photo album, aptly named) and a puck. For Jo he signed a puck, and also a Macfarlane action figure that my Mum got her for Christmas, and finally a card which is number 68. If any don’t know number 68 is important to Jagr because that was the year when Soviets invaded Czechoslovakia and the Czechs had a spring revolution (in my blogs, if you search for it (if you care) I did a report on a Czech photographer named Josef Koudelka who documented that invasion http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=25769063&blogID=325897901&Mytoken=1F7E4805-4F7F-490F-98CCCCAF3FEF84F359201030 ) Ayway Jo had received the card from a very kind man we met at the Ovechkin signing earleir this year.




Jaromir Jagr posing :^)


Jaromir Jagr and Jo


Jaromir Jagr and I


Jaromir Jagr signing


Cheers,

Let’s Go RANGERS!!
BLEED BLUE!!

So we grabbed our pucks, cards and cameras and headed out to the Garden. We have roughly an hour to go on the train so we contacted the creators of Hockey House-- to get the first scripts of the season... more to come on that later. (If you don't remember what Hockey House-- is don't worry you will soon enough)

We arrived at Penn Stationa and went to the breezeway between Penn and MSG. We did this specifically because we knew Betts and Malik would come through there. We wanted Malik's autograph because Ag found a card from 1995. It was from when he represented the Czech Republic in the World Junior Championship. Anyway Ag wanted to see his reaction, if any, to the card which has a young Marek Malik, possibly thinking himself a rather dapper fellow. Unfortunately it was in a plastic sheet and when Malik started coming Ag was unable to get either the card from its pouch or the puck from its case so all she got was a picture...



Man is he tall!!

But Jo got him to sign a puck for her, and since he wasn't traded, Ag can always try again



As he finished Jo meant to say "Have a good game, Malik!" But she stumbled on her words and ended up just saying "Good game Malik!." (Well by the power of positive thinking her decree managed to carry forth, Silvianno!!)

Now where to next... we have strict instructions to give the location of each player.

Blair Betts was amazing!!! We walked towards the parking garage because we knew Betts came from that way, and that he gets there early (last time Jo saw Malik Betts was very soon to follow.) Sure enough there he was, at the side of the Garden hanging with a crowd of people. By hanging I mean standing there just waiting, signing things and taking pictures until everyone was satisfied.



Ag got a picture and we both got pucks signed by Blair Betts.



Next was Martin Straka coming out from the parking garage. We crossed the street so we were right outside the parking garage and we both got him to sign pucks, a signature which we don't think contains a single letter which appears in his name!



Then Ag got a picture with him, and unfortunately he closed his eyes just as Jo pushed the button



Then Ag stepped back and Jo went across the street. Ag patiently waited while Straka continued signing and taking pics with other people, when he finished she held out a draft card for him to sign, which he did.



Jo waited for him to cross the street before getting him to sign her Penguin hologram card.



Then there was the two missed sigs (we could really count it as three, since we know where Henrik went in, though we didn't go there) Dubi came from down the street (8th Ave) but disappeared into MSG before anyone could stop him. We were told this was odd, that heusually stops, but he may not have since a security guard held the door until he entered. Staal also came trhough the breezeway, possibly up from Penn Station.

Next Fedor Tyutin and Michal Rozsival. Jo thinks Tyutin is the smart one as he stayed a step behind Rozsival using the Czech as a shield. So Rozsival was mobbed and Tyutin skated to the side, for an attempted get-a-way, haha! We crossed back over to the parking garage. Jo went straight to Tyutin, preventing the escape Jo got Tyutin to sign a puck.



And Ag got a card signed.



At this point Rozsival was being thoroughly mobbed and looked for his Russian teammate. He appeared slightly lost as he said "I have to get to Fedor." He caught sight of Fedor through the crowd and moved in that direction. Since Jo was getting her puck signed she was there and Ag was able to get a picture with both gentlemen.





And then Ag got a puck signed by Fedor, and Jo got one signed by Rozsival. We were about to cross the street a car was passing quickly when Ag saw Rozi grab a kid who was about to step into traffic, and said car, by the shoulder and he said something like "watch the car."

For some reason we went back across the street to the Garden side! We say for some reason because when Hossa came out of the parking garage we ran back across the street, well, Ag limped... While Hossa was signing Ag saw a card hold up a page of four cards, and he signed all four, so perhaps the precaution we took with Straka waiting for everyone to get one before we got two was unecessary, but still polite. Oh yea, speaking of Straka's signature we thought that was bad, but we can't figure out which way Hossa's autograph is supposed to be...



Then Ag got a picture with Hossa



We continued waiting for a while, because we know Jagr comes form the arking garage as well. But some of the others waiting there saw his car pull in first. They went through the parking garage to the back to follow him into the Church. They mobbed him as he went in. (Now the man may be a hockey player, and a star, who gets millions of dollars, but he is still also a man, and he deserves just a little privacy.) They mobbed him going in and this upset him so justifiably he avoided everyone waiting by the garage. We received word later that he had gone back out through the back of the Church and cut around to MSG.

Now it was almost five so the parking garage entrance had been very successful. We went up the steps to where Cosby's is to wait for Shanahan who apparently always arrives late. Stan Fishcler (for all you Fischler fans) was in Cosby's as he often is before games. Unfortunately at approximately 5:20 we were told that Shanahan had already gone in thorugh theeigth avenue employee entrance (green canopy.) So we went to the box office to pick up our tickets from will call. We waited in the box office to get in.

Oh! Ag saw a kid with a program, and guess who was on the cover - I bet you guessed! It was Rozi. So she went and bought the program. Then one of my Mom's train friends came over and we talked briefly, but we couldnt yet show her the spoils of the afternoon so we said we would find her during the second intermission.

At this point we had yet to go in, but, we both already agreed that no matter how the game and the rest of the day went (but Silviano we were still positive) It was defintely a good day. We don't understand the ebay people, because we don't want to part with any of these pieces, every one has a great story!!

A little bit after six they finally let us into the Garden. We were sitting in section 402. But first we went to ice level, to watch the boys warm up. We stood in the section right next to the player entrance tunnel. We cheered when Al got two (we think) pucks to bounce off the wall andinto the center pocket (since he does this every game, we think he really should be better at it by now. As the boys warmed up Ag noticed (foreshadowing perhaps) that Malik was hitting the net rather well and, in a sort of shoot-out drill, he beat King Henrik. In the beginning of warmups, Ag saw Callahan and Rozsival playing with the puck, shifting it quickly from their forehand to their backhand. Ag really marveled at the beauty of this smooth motion. Callahan switched so seamlessly it was like the puck was floating. Jo watched Straka for awhile. He was sprinting up and down the ice (the man can really fly.) Betts was moving horizontally across the ice doing a drill like the grapevine. Shanny had three pucks set in triangle and he stickhanded a fourth puck around, between and through them. While most players were shooting on Valiquette Rozsival was raced forward across the ice and turned backwards at the face off circle, continuing the distance backwards. Everyone did this, but Rozsival kept going while others rejoined the shooting drill (Perhaps he ought to keep with the shooting warmup, thus encouraging him to shoot more often). Anyway he practically lapped the others during the drill. It's fun to watch all the work they do in warmups, the different parts of the game. Also I think Avery through a puck into the crowd, but I may be wrong. (Note: we should have gone one aisle over, by the tunnel you can't go right up to the glass, over one and you can go closer)

THe warmups were over and we headed up to our seats. On the escalator we were behind Dancin' Larry, so we introduced ourselves and agreed where to meet during the first intermission, for some Ranger Nation (nyrnation.com) business. We also met another Ranger Nation member, Prucha025.

So in the 400 section you can only buy beer or candy, so we bought beer :^P
We found our seats, row G seats 9 and 10 section 402 - right through the entrance form the escalator. Great seats!! We would not be sad at all if those became our season tickets! We filmed a bit of the ice to show how great the view was- full ice and the score board were clear.

First Gomez scored to get the ball rolling and Ag suggested that Jo try and film people singing the goal song. You really hear the people around us more then the music but ah well...



Malik had the next goal (positive thinking-Silviano!!)


Jagr's goal was awesome!!



I am thinking of getting this signed when Jagr comes to the Roosevelt field Mall, but I am not sure yet.

During the first intermission we waited for Dancin Larry to come by so we could film the spot. As we went into the stairwell we talked and joked and people called out for Larry to dance. We filmed the segment twice and talked about Ranger Nation (NYRnation.com) for awhile. Ag also got Larry to sign a puck for our dentist. He is a Dancin' Larry fan and well.. neither of us has dental insurance so any little bit helps (j/k!) On Monday we gave the puck to our dentist. He was very pleased, it brought a smile to his face, and he said he is going to bring it with him to a game to thank Dancin Larry in person.

By the time we finished with Larry there were only about five minutes left in the first intermission so though Jo and Ag were hungry we headed back to our seats.

Second period was just as great as the first. It opened with a little Garden Vision trivia. "Who has the Ranger record for twenty goal seasons?" The choices were (A) Jean Ratelle (B) Rod Gilbert or (C) Mark Messier. Jo chose Rod Gilbert immediately! Ag agreed whole heartily. Then we started chatting with two men sitting to our left (next to Jo!) One said the answer could be Jean Ratelle. Jo replied that Jean Ratelle had more points but that Gilbert had more years. The other gentleman agreed with Gilbert, while the dissenter continued insisting it could be Ratelle. The dissenter said the trick is that they were on the same line as Hadfield who was the goal scorer (he had 50 goal season you know) Which he informed us was before our time. To which Jo said "yea... but the answer is Gilbert!!" Then we joked we were on the wait list for season tickets and we liked it up where we were sitting. To which the dissenter responded "Well these tickets here," motioning to empty seats "are season ticket holders, but you never know the could croak!" To which Jo replied by making the sign of the Cross and saying "I wouldn't wish for that!"

During the second intermission we went to section 330 to find our Mom's train friend. We showed her all the signed stuff and Ag's pictures with the players. By the time we finished there were only a few minutes left and we really needed to get something to eat so we split a nutritious meal of a pretzel and cracker jax!! Then we returned to our seats for the third.

In the third period the trivia answer came up. No surprise it was Gilbert! Jo was quite pleased. We watched excitedly as Straka got his seven hundredth career point. And couldn't help but feel slightly nervous with only a five goal lead (after all you never can be sure... but, Silviano, we remained steadfast in our optimism!) How could we not? This was an awesome day. Ag has always been a Neil Diamond fan and so there is nothing sweeter then singing "Sweet Caroline." We wanted to film Dancin' Larry with his spotlight but we didn't have a good angle. You would really need to be across the ice to see him. When the boys won we all stood and cheered as they congratulated Henrik on his 8th shutout tying Giacomin (We love the King! Long live the King!) The three stars were announced and Malik got a standing O from where we were ("Good game, Malik!" Jo had said.) Henrik, the first star, threw his stick into the crowd.



After the game we went down the escalatorwith Prucha025 and Dancin' Larry, where chants of "Let's Go Rangers!" filled the air. We stopped by Cosby's to wait for players to leave, which is where we have been told to wait by numerous people-however Jo is stubborn and has heard that Avery and Shanahan commonly use the 8th Ave. employee entrance (green canopy) to leave. And, since Ag got her pick with Rozsival she wasn't going to begrudge Jo. We laughed with Prucha025 as she tried to get Larry moving towards Local. Jo yelled "look its Avery!" but that only got a head turn from Larry as he talked and talked.

We went to the 8th Avenue Employee Entrance (green canopy) to wait for players. On the way a cute little kid kept asking anyone he saw with a hockey stick if they were the ones that caught Henrik's stick. Al Trautwig gave a wave as he came out. Jo turned to the side and thought, honestly thought, she saw Hollweg slipping out so she kindly said "there goes Hollweg!" to which several people mobbed him-unfortunately it wasn't Hollweg but it looked so much like him that people had to get right next to him before they realized the error-on second thought maybe it was Hollweg and he duped everyone as he bought his hot dog.

Then a guy in all silver with a top hat and accordion began playing Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire." We don't know where he came from, but he was, at first, entertaining. And that quickly changed. More about him later...

Then John Giannone, the social butterfly, came out. He was wonderful and chatted with everyone, and even signed things for people. He started talking with a couple of people about Rozsival (Ag's ears perked up) and how he needs to shoot more and that other defense-men with the same amount of points have twice as many shots as he does. Then John saw the silver man, who asked him to sign the accordion. While John was signing Jo called to him and asked if he would play us a song, to which he turned and pretended to hit the keys. When he finished signing and talking with the silver man he came to where we were. We all said hi and Ag said Rozsival does need to shoot more and a kid nearby got John's autograph on his ticket. Then John actually managed to leave without joining in another conversation. Once again we make a joke, but John is an awesome fellow.

The man himself came out-Avery. He was in a rush so Ag couldn't get anything But Jo ran after him and got his autograph on a puck (for herself)



After Avery left the silver man then came over and asked "Who was that guy? famous?" and we answered, "yes, he is Sean Avery." Then the man held up a five dollar bill and said "he gave me five dollar!" The he began auctioning off the five for twenty dollars- yes the first time was funny- every following announcement was annoying- Jo thought about buying the five just to shut him up and would have considered Sean's five as a contribution to the "shut the silver man up fund." Then Ag asked a security guard if there was anyone else left inside and he shook his head yes. We knew who we were waiting for. Then finally Shanahan came out. Jo got him to sign a card



and Ag got a puck and picture.





A few moments later another security person came out and announced that everyone was gone and he began taking in the bike racks. So Jo asked him where would be the best place to wait, maybe by Cosby's. He replied "I didn't say the word but yeah." Which we really already knew. But next Sunday we will return to the 8th Avenue entrance (green canopy)to try and get Ag's picture signed by Shanny and something for her from Avery (hopefully a picture and a puck!!!)

Then we went home. You might think the story ends there, but no! It doesn't. Good thing we were quite lazy about getting this blog together... and waited so long. Becuase on Monday our Mom was talking on the phone to her coworkers who are Ranger fans, telling them about our awesome day. Well her boss overheard and on Tuesday a customer offered him tickets to a Ranger's game. Well he isn't a fan but he took them anyway to give to my Mom for us. So now we are going to the March 18th game verse Pittsburgh, sitting in section 223 Row C seats 9 and 10. YAY!! We might try and film Larry dancing since we will be directly across from him. Not sure though since video cameras aren't really allowed!?! And that ends our awesome, totally cool day.

The end.

So I have been having a lovely discussion with a game on user codenamed "Ribs." ANyway our discussion tends to center ( ;D ) around Blair Betts. Ribs beleives Betts is useless, I like him :D. I think he is a good defensive center who unfortunately doesn't score much and is perfect for a fourth line and SH situation. My main focus is that if he had wings that could, occasionally at least, play hockey (that means go for the puck, not just the man carrying, or hoping to carry, or previously having been carrying it). I went looking up some stats and ended up wiht this (which took about half an hour or more to get onto the msg boards because I kept hitting a spam blocker.... >:(

I put alot of work into it, and as a result I will ask every hockey fan I know what they think... feel free to tear me apart, or suport me!!



Some faceoff numbers.

Drury
overall F-O% 55.7
Even Strength F-O% 55.8 (599)
Power Play F-O% 60.2 (176)
Short Handed F-O% 51.5 (196)

Gomez
overall F-O% 53.3
ESF-O% 52.1 (696)
PPF-O% 59.5 (163)
SHF-O% 46.7 (30)

Dubi
overall F-O% 50.2
ESF-O% 50.1 (499)
PPF-O% 51.6(128)
SHF-O% 25% (4)

Betts
overall F-O% 48.1
ESF-O% 48.7 (458)
PPF-O% 53.8 (13)
SHF-O% 46.2(169)

Now clearly Drury is the best Face off man we have but let's look to the others. Obviously this is a defense of Betts and obviously he still does not have the numbers the others have (except that he betters Dubi in shorthanded face offs, but I'm not going to hold that against the kid)

Betts's shorthanded face off number (not including Dubi) is the worst, but its only a tad behind Gomez's, so I would like to see some criticizing of Gomez before jumping down Betts's throat for that. And as to his other numbers his limited power play face-off % is better then Dubi's, and those face offs, along with his even strength face offs are had when he is the only forward who plays hockey consistently on the ice. I think if you gave him a winger who, you know, occasionally would play the puck he would have better numbers. As it stands the vast majority of his face offs are taken when we are down a forward (either SH or just counting Hollweg, and that is considering Orr as occasionally playing actual hockey)

I'm not saying Betts is the best hockey player known to man, what I am saying is that he is a good center who is very defensive minded, that being said, I was screaming bloody murder at him last game with the golden opportunity... and at Drury and Avery on their chances, seemed no one could elevate the puck that day... >( , I just think that with some actual line mates his numbers would be better. The only number that we can compare is the shorthanded F-O% and while that is nowhere near Drury's it isn't that far off from Gomez's. In fact out of all centers in the number (not percentage) of SHF-O won BEtts is listed as number 15 (ironically enough!!)
http://www.nhl.com/nhlstats/app?fetchKey=20082ALLCACAll&page=Stats&service=page&sort=shortHandedFaceOffsWon&viewName=faceOffPercentageAll


You complained about him losing F-O in the defensive zone, I (once upon a time) had a website that split F-O into offensive, defensive, and neutral zone. I am fairly certain Betts was strongest in the defensive zone. I, alas, can not find that website or else I would go to it (even if it proved me wrong...) Once I find that site I will get those numbers...

http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/story/7781888/Rangers-need-to-think-about-the-future


I trust that Larry Brooks knows what he is talking about...


Scott Gomez is 28, he's in the first season of a seven-year, $51.5 million contract, and he's been the Rangers ' best player in 2007-08.
Jaromir Jagr will be 36 on Friday, he's in what appears to be the final season of his contract, and he's on pace for his least productive season since he was a rookie in 1990-91.

When the Rangers look to next year, Glen Sather's obligation will be to find a first-line right wing who is compatible with Gomez, rather than to find a first-line center who is compatible with Jagr.

Which is why the Rangers GM is obligated now to find out what he can get in return for Jagr as the Feb. 26 trade deadline approaches.

It is difficult now to conceive of the scenario under which Jagr will return to the Rangers next season. Before his latest slump, Jagr had just begun to navigate a reasonable path to 84 points and the initial option trigger on his contract. Now, though, that road seems a dead end. Held pointless in yesterday's 2-0 victory over the Flyers, Jagr needs 37 points in the final 24 games to hit the first trigger, with the second a playoff round victory for his team.

Sadly, there is little in his body of work this season in which he had recorded 47 points in his first 57 games that suggests he is capable of mounting such a scoring surge. As such, without triggering an automatic one-year extension of his cap-friendly deal, Jagr will become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

In that case, the Rangers owe it to themselves to see what bounty Jagr might bring back on the rental market. Surely he is a more proven and valuable commodity than Marian Hossa. Surely he is as equally attractive as Mats Sundin.

In the right spot, on a team where he would be surrounded by more complementary talent and wouldn't necessarily have to carry the offense - Detroit, anyone? - Jagr could very well be the difference between winning a round or two and winning the Stanley Cup.

This is not a call for Sather to give Jagr the bum's rush out of New York, my goodness it is not that. Jagr has been an immense Ranger throughout his Broadway tour; Sather's best acquisition and the best big-name acquisition since Mark Messier. Jagr is the individual most singularly responsible for the franchise's return to hockey credibility following the lockout. He has earned credit in New York. No one should ever forget that.

Jagr put the Rangers on his back and carried the franchise out of the Dark Ages into this Renaissance Era. When the world believed the Blueshirts would finish at the bottom of the league in 2005-06, Jagr guaranteed a playoff berth on the first day of training camp and then delivered on that uncharacteristic pledge with a Hart Trophy-worthy campaign in which he established franchise records for goals (54) and points (123) in a season.


The Rangers have changed since then. The Euro is no longer the currency in the room. Jagr has not changed. He can't or he won't after 17 years in the league in which he has carved a Top 25 all-time career. He wants and/or needs to play a slow-down puck-possession game with linemates who share his vision. Gomez needs to play a hurry-up, give-and-go game with linemates who share his speed.

Jagr is a very bright, very aware individual, sensitive to his environment. He understands the situation as well as anyone. The fact is, whether he would ever publicly acknowledge this or not, Jagr likely would be better served himself by continuing his career elsewhere. Indeed, he probably would be best served by playing in the West, against defensemen who aren't so familiar with his game.

As a Ranger, Jagr is matched against the same defensemen game after game after game. There's nothing he has that the Zdeno Charas, Hal Gills, Derian Hatchers and Mike Komisareks of the conference haven't seen dozens of times. He's begun to get pounded routinely again; punished as he holds on to the puck longer and longer, desperately trying to create something for himself, desperately trying to be the force he was two years ago, the force he was in Pittsburgh.

Again. This is not a cry for the Rangers to dump Jagr. There is no reason whatsoever to send him away on the cheap. He does have the ability to get hot. He does present a huge challenge for a potential playoff opponent.

This is, however, a reminder that that the Rangers have an obligation to investigate what they would be able to bring back for No. 68 on the rental market. Detroit should be interested. Phoenix and Wayne Gretzky should be interested. Dallas and Brett Hull should be interested. If even two teams are interested - and perhaps there would be five - Sather could raise the ante.

This season has never been about only this season for the Rangers. This trade deadline can't only be about this season either.

The future is about Gomez. The future may arrive as soon as Feb. 26.



---Larry Brooks


No one can deny Jagr is having a bad year. But he does not deserve all the crap he is taking. He did do a great job for the Rangers the last two years, and if he is faiing now it isn't becasue he has changed so much. Its because the team changed around him. Most notably Gomez instead of Nylander.

I'll be honest, for all that Jagr has done I want him to retire this year as a Ranger, want to know why (I know you don't care) its becuase I fear that, despite what he has done for the team these last two years, Ranger fans will boo him him mercilessly, just ike the classless fans in Pitts. He won them cups, he played great for them. They boo him when he touches the puck... That would have been like Ranger fans booing Leetch, but we didn't becuase we were greatful for what he did. I fear Ranger fans will sink to the classless level of forgetting that he took a team that was supposed to be dead last and brought it to the playoffs. He took a team that was supposed to be a contender maybe and brought it to the second round.



Now the team changed around him, I never thought Gomez would be a good fit for him. It was clear when Sather signed Gomez and Drury he was giving up on the direction that he had been going in. Maybe he was tired of rebuilding slowly, maybe he was getting pressure form DOlan since we all know the KNicks have no chance... I don't know. But really Sather doomed JAgr's year and contract by changing the team. Now Gomez has been a great player and he wil be the future, with a contract his size he better be a damn good future, but it isn't Jagr's fault that he was given up on. ANd it isn't his fault that he is older and unable to change his game to match Gomez's. Everyone complains that Jagr is a player who is selfish and will not change, the question is, with all the success he has had why should he? Gomez is equally responsible for not changing his game, but the truth is neither should have to completely change their game.

Its kind of like Chris pointing out we are drafting offensive skaters to put them in a defensive system?!? Jagr was here and doing well, then Gomez came. If we had a center that played a similair game to Jagr's and Nyl that would be fine but we don't. Jagr was hung out to dry.

I can't say he has had a good year, I would be stupid to try. But with all the disrespect he gets, all the crap he takes. I just can't see questioning his desire, and I am tired of hearing fans boo him when he has done well for them, and I don't want to hear our fans boo him and prove they have totally forgotten what he did.

He doesn't suck, he just doesn't fit anymore. THe GM changed directions and Jagr was left exposed. He doesn't have a center that plays his game and he doesn't ahve a player to protect him from the abuse he gets (that is the cach's fault, its also the coach's fault that the coach doesn't speak up for Jagr against the refs) JAgr deosn't piss and moan, he takes the blame on himself. He clearly lives and dies for the team. WOuld he maybe do better if he weren't captain? Maybe. Fans would lighten up on him if that were the case at least, maybe.

But Brooks is right, somewhere else, in a system that hasn't left him behind Jagr would be his old self, and fans would take that as proof he hated NY rather then proof that he was written out of the team. If the Rangers trade him they can get plenty because everyone in the league recognizes that he isn't washed up, even if some Ranger's fans (not necessarily the ones here its all over) thats why he constantly covered by three defensemen.

Anyway thats all I got right now.

Go ahead and tear me apart for defending him now...

http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/story/7781888/Rangers-need-to-think-about-the-future


I trust that Larry Brooks knows what he is talking about...


Scott Gomez is 28, he's in the first season of a seven-year, $51.5 million contract, and he's been the Rangers ' best player in 2007-08.
Jaromir Jagr will be 36 on Friday, he's in what appears to be the final season of his contract, and he's on pace for his least productive season since he was a rookie in 1990-91.

When the Rangers look to next year, Glen Sather's obligation will be to find a first-line right wing who is compatible with Gomez, rather than to find a first-line center who is compatible with Jagr.

Which is why the Rangers GM is obligated now to find out what he can get in return for Jagr as the Feb. 26 trade deadline approaches.

It is difficult now to conceive of the scenario under which Jagr will return to the Rangers next season. Before his latest slump, Jagr had just begun to navigate a reasonable path to 84 points and the initial option trigger on his contract. Now, though, that road seems a dead end. Held pointless in yesterday's 2-0 victory over the Flyers, Jagr needs 37 points in the final 24 games to hit the first trigger, with the second a playoff round victory for his team.

Sadly, there is little in his body of work this season in which he had recorded 47 points in his first 57 games that suggests he is capable of mounting such a scoring surge. As such, without triggering an automatic one-year extension of his cap-friendly deal, Jagr will become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

In that case, the Rangers owe it to themselves to see what bounty Jagr might bring back on the rental market. Surely he is a more proven and valuable commodity than Marian Hossa. Surely he is as equally attractive as Mats Sundin.

In the right spot, on a team where he would be surrounded by more complementary talent and wouldn't necessarily have to carry the offense - Detroit, anyone? - Jagr could very well be the difference between winning a round or two and winning the Stanley Cup.

This is not a call for Sather to give Jagr the bum's rush out of New York, my goodness it is not that. Jagr has been an immense Ranger throughout his Broadway tour; Sather's best acquisition and the best big-name acquisition since Mark Messier. Jagr is the individual most singularly responsible for the franchise's return to hockey credibility following the lockout. He has earned credit in New York. No one should ever forget that.

Jagr put the Rangers on his back and carried the franchise out of the Dark Ages into this Renaissance Era. When the world believed the Blueshirts would finish at the bottom of the league in 2005-06, Jagr guaranteed a playoff berth on the first day of training camp and then delivered on that uncharacteristic pledge with a Hart Trophy-worthy campaign in which he established franchise records for goals (54) and points (123) in a season.


The Rangers have changed since then. The Euro is no longer the currency in the room. Jagr has not changed. He can't or he won't after 17 years in the league in which he has carved a Top 25 all-time career. He wants and/or needs to play a slow-down puck-possession game with linemates who share his vision. Gomez needs to play a hurry-up, give-and-go game with linemates who share his speed.

Jagr is a very bright, very aware individual, sensitive to his environment. He understands the situation as well as anyone. The fact is, whether he would ever publicly acknowledge this or not, Jagr likely would be better served himself by continuing his career elsewhere. Indeed, he probably would be best served by playing in the West, against defensemen who aren't so familiar with his game.

As a Ranger, Jagr is matched against the same defensemen game after game after game. There's nothing he has that the Zdeno Charas, Hal Gills, Derian Hatchers and Mike Komisareks of the conference haven't seen dozens of times. He's begun to get pounded routinely again; punished as he holds on to the puck longer and longer, desperately trying to create something for himself, desperately trying to be the force he was two years ago, the force he was in Pittsburgh.

Again. This is not a cry for the Rangers to dump Jagr. There is no reason whatsoever to send him away on the cheap. He does have the ability to get hot. He does present a huge challenge for a potential playoff opponent.

This is, however, a reminder that that the Rangers have an obligation to investigate what they would be able to bring back for No. 68 on the rental market. Detroit should be interested. Phoenix and Wayne Gretzky should be interested. Dallas and Brett Hull should be interested. If even two teams are interested - and perhaps there would be five - Sather could raise the ante.

This season has never been about only this season for the Rangers. This trade deadline can't only be about this season either.

The future is about Gomez. The future may arrive as soon as Feb. 26.

No one can deny Jagr is having a bad year. But he does not deserve all the crap he is taking. He did do a great job for the Rangers the last two years, and if he is faiing now it isn't becasue he has changed so much. Its because the team changed around him. Most notably Gomez instead of Nylander.

I'll be honest, for all that Jagr has done I want him to retire this year as a Ranger, want to know why (I know you don't care) its becuase I fear that, despite what he has done for the team these last two years, Ranger fans will boo him him mercilessly, just ike the classless fans in Pitts. He won them cups, he played great for them. They boo him when he touches the puck... That would have been like Ranger fans booing Leetch, but we didn't becuase we were greatful for what he did. I fear Ranger fans will sink to the classless level of forgetting that he took a team that was supposed to be dead last and brought it to the playoffs. He took a team that was supposed to be a contender maybe and brought it to the second round.



--Larry Brooks


Now the team changed around him, I never thought Gomez would be a good fit for him. It was clear when Sather signed Gomez and Drury he was giving up on the direction that he had been going in. Maybe he was tired of rebuilding slowly, maybe he was getting pressure form DOlan since we all know the KNicks have no chance... I don't know. But really Sather doomed JAgr's year and contract by changing the team. Now Gomez has been a great player and he wil be the future, with a contract his size he better be a damn good future, but it isn't Jagr's fault that he was given up on. ANd it isn't his fault that he is older and unable to change his game to match Gomez's. Everyone complains that Jagr is a player who is selfish and will not change, the question is, with all the success he has had why should he? Gomez is equally responsible for not changing his game, but the truth is neither should have to completely change their game.

Its kind of like Chris pointing out we are drafting offensive skaters to put them in a defensive system?!? Jagr was here and doing well, then Gomez came. If we had a center that played a similair game to Jagr's and Nyl that would be fine but we don't. Jagr was hung out to dry.

I can't say he has had a good year, I would be stupid to try. But with all the disrespect he gets, all the crap he takes. I just can't see questioning his desire, and I am tired of hearing fans boo him when he has done well for them, and I don't want to hear our fans boo him and prove they have totally forgotten what he did.

He doesn't suck, he just doesn't fit anymore. THe GM changed directions and Jagr was left exposed. He doesn't have a center that plays his game and he doesn't ahve a player to protect him from the abuse he gets (that is the cach's fault, its also the coach's fault that the coach doesn't speak up for Jagr against the refs) JAgr deosn't piss and moan, he takes the blame on himself. He clearly lives and dies for the team. WOuld he maybe do better if he weren't captain? Maybe. Fans would lighten up on him if that were the case at least, maybe.

But Brooks is right, somewhere else, in a system that hasn't left him behind Jagr would be his old self, and fans would take that as proof he hated NY rather then proof that he was written out of the team. If the Rangers trade him they can get plenty because everyone in the league recognizes that he isn't washed up, even if some Ranger's fans (not necessarily the ones here its all over) thats why he constantly covered by three defensemen.

Anyway thats all I got right now.

Go ahead and tear me apart for defending him now...

This story is amazing for many reasons, the obvious color barrier and the fact he was blind in one eye... All this comes from this website... http://missioncreep.com/mw/oree.html

Soul on Ice
The Willie O'Ree Story



by Mike Walsh

In 1958 a young man named Willie O'Ree made his debut in the National Hockey League. He was with the Boston Bruins for two games. In 1961, after two more years in the minors, O'Ree had a longer stay with the Bruins--41 games. O'Ree never played another game in the NHL.

This may not seem particularly significant, but O'Ree was different from every other NHL player who had come before him during the league's first 50 years. He was black, and there wouldn't be another black in the NHL for 25 years.

Hockey was about 10 years late when it came to integration. All the other professional sports, including tennis, bowling, golf, baseball, football, and boxing were racially integrated by 1950. Hockey was the holdout. It was the whitest sport. There were no black players, coaches, team owners, or sportswriters.

Boxing was the first to integrate with black champs Jack Johnson and Joe Louis dropping one Caucasian after another during the first half of the century.

Jackie Robinson integrated baseball to great fanfare in 1947, but O'Ree's breakthrough hardly merited a mention. O'Ree did not appear on the nightly news. The New York Times, for example, did not find it newsworthy. Since Canada didn't have the racial strife that plagued the U.S., no one called much attention to O'Ree.

O'Ree played successfully in the minors until the mid-1970s, and he won numerous scoring titles. To this day, he is regarded as a footnote in the world of sport. The hockey encyclopedias give him only passing reference, if any at all.



O'Ree was born in 1935 and grew up in Fredericton, New Brunswick, a small city in coal mining region just north and east of Maine.

"In the city where my family lived, there were probably only two or three black families," says Willie. "Most of the black families lived on the outskirts of town. In retrospect, I think my living around whites made me feel I could play in the pros. I always knew I was as good or better than they were."

He started skating when he was three years old and began playing in a league at age five. "That was the thing to do in the winter," he says. "Everything freezes over, the ponds, rivers, creeks. Every chance I had, I was on the ice. I even skated to school. My Dad squirted the garden hose on the back yard, and we had an instant rink."



Willie played in local hockey leagues before joining a junior team while in high school. The juniors in Canada roughly equate to college hockey teams in the U.S.

Willie was also a heck of a baseball player. "I was a pretty good shortstop and second baseman. In 1956, I was invited to the Milwaukee Braves minor league facility in Waycross, Georgia. I told them that I planned to make hockey my career and that I had no interest in becoming a professional baseball player. I played baseball in the summer just to keep my legs in shape and to keep my reflexes sharp. They talked me into going anyway. I was in Georgia for about three weeks. I had a good camp, but I was afraid I would catch on and it would interfere with my hockey, so I left.

"That was my first time in the south. Its customs, you know--like white-only or colored-only restaurants. I never experienced anything like that in Canada. When I left, I had to sit in the back of the bus. I couldn't move to the front until I got up north."



During the 1955/1956 hockey season, Willie played for the Kitchener-Waterloo Canucks, a junior league team. During a game he was struck with a puck in the right eye. The injury was so serious that he permanently lost 95% of the vision in that eye. A doctor advised him to stop playing, but that was inconceivable to Willie. In eight weeks he was back on the ice.

He had only one problem. "Being a left wing, my right eye was closest to the puck. When I came back, I would loose sight of the puck, and I was getting body checked much more. So I switched to the right side. I had to take most of the passes on my backhand, but it didn't bother me. At least I had vision of the rink."

Willie turned pro the next season when he signed with the Quebec Aces, a minor league team affiliated with the Boston Bruins. He signed for $3,500 with a $500 signing bonus. That year the Quebec Aces won their league championship.



Willie spent a few weeks at the Bruins training camp before starting the next season in the minors. One of his coaches told him, "Willie, you could be the first of your race to make it to the NHL. You got everything it takes. You can skate, shoot, you're strong, you're diligent."

That winter the Bruins roster was depleted by injury, and the team found itself especially short at winger. Willie got the call. On January 18, 1958, in Montreal, Willie took the ice with the Boston Bruins, becoming the first black player to make it to the NHL. The reaction to Willie's achievement was decidedly underwhelming.

"I was expecting a little more publicity. The press handled it like it was just another piece of everyday news. I didn't care that much about publicity for myself, but it could have been important for other blacks with ambitions in hockey. It would have shown that a black could make it."

He played another game in Boston before returning to the Quebec team. Willie toiled in the minors the next two years and continued to improve, despite being legally blind in one eye. From what he knew, the Bruins weren't aware of the his disability.



He was called up again by the Bruins in 1961, and he finished the year with the team, playing in 43 games and scoring a modest 4 goals and 10 assists.

Life in the NHL wasn't easy for a black player. "Guys would take cheap shots at me, just to see if I would retaliate," he says. "They thought I didn't belong there. When I got the chance, I'd run right back at them. I was prepared for it because I knew it would happen. I wasn't a great slugger, but I did my share of fighting. I was determined that I wasn't going to be run out of the rink."

The intimidation erupted into full-scale donnybrook one night in Chicago. "I was behind the Chicago net, and I passed the puck out front. Eric Nesterenko came around on my blind side and butt-ended me in the face with his stick. He knocked out two of my teeth and broke my nose. Blood was squirting out all over. I knew he did it on purpose, so I hit him over the head with my stick. Nailed him above the right eye. Back then the players didn't wear helmets. Both benches cleared. They had to put 15 stitches in his head."

It wasn't just opposing players he had to contend with. "Racist remarks from fans were much worse in the U.S. cities than in Toronto and Montreal. I particularly remember a few incidents in Chicago. The fans would yell, 'Go back to the south' and 'How come you're not picking cotton.' Things like that. It didn't bother me. Hell, I'd been called names most of my life. I just wanted to be a hockey player, and if they couldn't accept that fact, that was their problem, not mine."

Willie was known mostly for his speed. His coach in Boston, Milt Schmidt, said that Willie "was one of the fastest skaters in the NHL."

"My speed was an asset. I could be standing still and then take four or five strides and be at top speed." Willie's specialty was charging up the ice, shooting into a seam in the defense, taking a pass, and shooting. If the timing was right, it was a deadly offensive play.

Willie's happiest moment in the NHL came in 1961 in a game at the Boston Garden on New Year's night. "We were playing the Montreal Canadians. It was late in the third period. I received a pass and was sweeping around the Montreal defense. I took a low shot, keeping the puck along the ice, and it slid into the corner. It turned out to be the winning goal. The fans gave me a two-minute standing ovation. It was a nice feeling."

During the season, Milt Schmidt, the Bruins coach, told reporters, "Willie's got all the equipment a good professional needs and some splendid natural advantages... I hope he'll be with us a long time."

At the end of the season, Schmidt and Lynn Patrick, the general manager had a talk with Willie. "They said, 'Go home and have a good summer. We're impressed with your play. You'll be back with the Bruins."

Willie went home to Fredericton. His future looked bright. His friends and relatives were excited for him. But six weeks later he got a call from a sportswriter asking him what he thought of the trade. Willie's contract had been sold to the Montreal Canadians, and the Bruins hadn't bothered to inform him. Willie was stunned.

"Considering the talent Montreal had, I knew I had no chance of making their squad. So I wasn't surprised when I was assigned to their Hull-Ottawa minor league affiliate. I never did get any information from the Bruins on why the move was made."

To this day, the episode is Willie's bitterest memory.


Within two months, Willie was again traded to the Los Angeles Blades of the Western Hockey League.

"At that point, I was 26 or 27 and figured my hopes of ever making it to the NHL were small, but I still loved to play."

Willie played the next six seasons for Los Angeles and won the league goal scoring title in 1964 with 38 goals.

When the NHL expanded to twelve teams in 1968, Los Angeles got one of the franchises and the Los Angeles Blades folded. Willie's contract was purchased by the San Diego Gulls. The Gulls management told Willie they were glad to have him on the team instead of scoring goals against them, as he had with the LA team.

Willie enjoyed the dedicated San Diego fans. "They were averaging 9,000 to 10,000 fans per game. The place was just rockin'."

Willie won the WHL goal scoring title again in 1969 at the age of 34 with 39 goals.

The Western Hockey League folded in 1974, and Willie retired. He had fallen in love with San Diego and its warm weather, so he settled there. He managed fast food restaurants and sold cars.

In 1978 another team was put together in San Diego as part of the new Pacific Hockey League. The San Diego Hawks invited Willie to join the team. Willie had been keeping himself in good shape, so at age 43 he laced up the skates one more time. Incredibly, Willie missed only a half-dozen games of the 70-game season and scored 50 points. It was his last hurrah.

Willie's highest yearly hockey salary was $17,500. That was late in his career at San Diego. Even that didn't seem fair. Many of the players on the San Diego team were paid almost double that amount because they were owned by NHL teams.

Willie now lives and works in San Diego. He no longer plays hockey or even skates. One of his knees was so worn down that two years ago he had a total knee replacement.


Willie isn't sure why he didn't have a longer career in the NHL. "If I hadn't gotten that eye injury," he says. "To this day a lot of people don't realize that I played my entire 20-year pro career with one eye."

He's not sure if the NHL was discriminatory, but he has cause for suspicion. "There were blacks in the minor leagues and good ones too. The Quebec Aces had a history of having black players. Before my time, they had an all-black line with the Carnegie bothers, Herbie and Ossie, and Manny McIntyre. You talk about three players who were good, stick handling, passing, shooting--you name it, they could do it. But they never got a chance. Not one of them was ever called up."

Incredibly, it took 25 years for another black to make it to the NHL, and the situation today remains much the same today. Thirty-eight years after Willie O'Ree broke the racial barrier in pro hockey, minority players are still rare in the NHL. Part of the reason is that blacks and other minorities don't make up a significant portion of the Canadian population, and few African Americans take up the sport in the U.S.

Overall, Willie looks back fondly on his hockey career. He is proud "not just to be the first black in the NHL, just to play in the NHL. They called me the Jackie Robinson of hockey, but I didn’t have the problems he had. I was never refused service at a hotel or restaurant, and I was accepted by my teammates."

If he had played in today's NHL with its 26 teams, instead of when the league had only six teams, Willie might've become a rich and famous star. If ever a player deserved that kind of success, it was Willie O'Ree. He was the polar opposite of today's sports stars--polite, reserved, dignified, and well-spoken. He didn't yell at referees, dance for the fans, or taunt opponents. He was given a taste of the pro sports life, but he never got a real chance. And, sadly, he wasn't the only one.

The most fitting tribute to Willie's career came recently when the NHL created an all-star game for young minority hockey players and named it in Willie's honor. The Willie O'Ree All-Star Game is held every year at the World Junior Championships.


End of the article, he still does work with youth hockey and diversity...

I got this from my buddy Slap Shot (http://www.myspace.com/slapshotfan2)

Its got some music mixed on, I left it, enjoy!




DIRTY WATER.......


THE OFFICIAL SITE;)
http://www.bobbyorr.com/biography.aspx


LEGEND!!!!!!




HOT DOG;)



LOCKER ROOM CELEBRATION...YES VIRGINIA THE BRUINS WON A STANLEY CUP;)


MORE THAN A FEELING.......R.I.P. BRAD DELP




Truly special athletes, the ones that fathers talk about to their sons and daughters, change the game they play. Arguments emerged late in the 20th century about who most deserved to be called the greatest hockey player of all time. Perhaps it was the retirement of Wayne Gretzky in 1999, surely a contender as hockey player of the century, or perhaps it was a desire to sum up 100 years of a sport that had come into its own and grown exponentially around the world that led to these discussions.
Hockey fans in Parry Sound, Ontario, in the late 1950s saw a lot of this hockey genius in its infancy. Doug Orr, Bobby's dad, had been a speedy player and gifted scorer in his own right. He wanted his son, still small for his age but also enormously talented, to play forward in order to take advantage of his speed and puckhandling abilities. Bucko McDonald, a former NHLer who played defense in the 1930s and 1940s and coached Bobby when the youngster was 11 and 12, believed his charge had all the makings of an outstanding defenseman. He taught Bobby the ins and outs of the position and encouraged him to use his offensive skills as well.

Professional teams agreed. The Boston Bruins went to unusual lengths to land the small prospect. When Orr was 14, Boston made arrangements for him to play with the Oshawa Generals in the metro Junior A League. He continued to live at home and commute to each game. Though he didn't attend a single practice with the team, Orr was selected to the league's Second All-Star Team. All the speedy youngster required was size to make him a bona fide star. He was 5'6" and 135 pounds at 14. The next year, when he moved to an Oshawa high school and played in the Ontario junior league, he was 5'9" and 25 pounds heavier. By the time his junior career was over - when he was all of 17 and a man playing with boys - he was a sturdy 6' and almost 200 pounds. The phenomenon Boston fans had been reading about since he was a freckle-faced kid with a brushcut was ready to enter the professional game.


In his first National Hockey League game, against the Detroit Red Wings and Gordie Howe, 18-year-old Orr impressed the home crowd and the many reporters with his defensive abilities. He blocked shots, made checks and moved opposing players away from the net. He also recorded his first point - an assist.

Orr was better than good in his first season. He won the Calder Trophy as the best rookie and also made the NHL's Second All-Star Team. He was second in the league in scoring by defensemen and was a plus-30. Not only did he score and pass, he fought when needed, defeating his opponent more often than not, and could play a physical game. But some observers felt he was too daring, that he left himself open to hits with his all-out rushes and that his body had yet to develop to sustain him over the regular-season grind. Orr did suffer an injury in his rookie season, hurting his left knee on a daring rush. It was the beginning of a long battle with his knees that eventually ended his career.

Orr won his first Stanley Cup in 1970 and it was with a flourish only he could manage. His Bruins, a team that hadn't won the Cup in 29 years, were attempting to sweep the St. Louis Blues in the finals. Game four went into overtime. Orr had taken Derek Sanderson's pass from the corner and flashed in front of the net to bury it behind Blues goalie Glenn Hall. As Orr streaked past the net, he was upended by defenseman Noel Picard. Orr jumped, or flew, as he saw the puck beat Hall and the arena erupted. The resulting picture, with Orr's arms raised and his body floating three feet above the ice, was in newspapers and magazines around the world. Orr was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs' most valuable player, an award he would win when Boston again won the title in 1972, again with the Cup-winning goal coming off Orr's stick.

Orr revolutionized the sport with his scoring ability and playmaking from the blue line. Other defenders, beginning as early as Lester Patrick in the nascent days of the game, had been offensive threats, but Orr dominated. He won two scoring titles, the only defender to accomplish that feat, and had career season highs of 46 goals and 102 assists. More than just statistics, Orr had the ability to control the game, to take over. He had the speed to float away from defenders and also to recover should he lose possession or get caught on a rush. Often, odd-man rushes in the other team's favour were reversed by his effortless strides. Some argued that he wasn't defensively sound, but hockey people rejected these claims.

For eight consecutive seasons Orr won the Norris Trophy as the best defenseman and three times he was the league's most valuable player to collect the Hart Trophy. Orr's plus-minus rating when he was at his best was untouchable at plus-124 in 1970-71, when he scored 139 points.

At the beginning of the 1971-72 season, Orr signed a contract that guaranteed him $200,000 per season over five years. It was the first $1 million deal in hockey and Orr's agent, Alan Eagleson, predicted at the time that Orr would someday own part of the team if he continued to star for Boston. As it turned out, when it came time to negotiate a new contract prior to the 1976-77 season, the Bruins did offer Orr a piece of the ownership but the star player said his agent never informed him of the proposed deal. Orr, who had struggled with his left knee and played only 10 games in 1975-76, felt as though Boston no longer wanted him and signed instead with the Chicago Black Hawks. Once considered the saviour and then the hero of the rejuvenated Bruins, Orr left the team that had been a part of his career since he was a teen in Parry Sound.

Orr took advantage of a chance to play in a major international competition - the 1976 Canada Cup - when Chicago management gave him permission to play. Having missed all of the Summit Series, the Canada Cup proved to be Orr's only major appearance in a competition against the best the world had to offer. He was outstanding in the Canadian team's run to the championship. He was co-leader of the team in scoring, finishing the seven games tied with another great defender, the New York Islanders' Denis Potvin, with nine points. Orr was selected to the tournament All-Star team and capped the experience with the most valuable player award.

Orr's performance at the Canada Cup had the Chicago faithful energized for his first appearance in colours other than Bruins black and gold. But Orr's left knee would once again impede his career. He played 20 games of his first season in Chicago weakened by his sixth operation on the knee in April 1976. He spent the entire 1977-78 season recuperating, trying to revive his battered knee, which doctors described as nothing but bone rubbing bone after so many operations and injuries.

DINOSAUR JR. JUST LIKE HEAVEN!!!


He made a valiant attempt to return, playing six games at the start of the 1978-79 season. Though Orr didn't feel incredible amounts of pain, he was limited in his movements and unable to practise much with the team. In one game against the Detroit Red Wings, he was on the ice for four Detroit goals and described his play as "terrible." At the age of 30, he decided he was only hindering his Chicago squad. Howard Cosell, the legendary sportscaster, announced in October 1978 that Orr had retired, though it later turned out he had mistaken Orr for Bobby Hull, who was also contemplating leaving the game. A few days later, Orr called Cosell and told him he was indeed retiring and asked him to attend the press conference. Cosell refused, jokingly saying that he didn't "cover old news."

Because of his continuing problems, Orr had never collected a paycheck from the Black Hawks. He said he was paid to play hockey, and after his retirement he accepted a reduced salary to become an assistant coach, a position he had filled while sitting out the year before.

Orr was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1979. He worked frequently with charities in the coming years and maintained close links with the game. He later became an agent, helping young players benefit by sharing his difficult early experiences through the business side of the sport.

AEROSMITH.......REMEMBER.....SAW THEM THEN...GOD THEY SUCKED IN EARLY 80'S....NO PERRY...


HAD TO GET CLARKIE IN HERE;) ORR DROPS THE PUCK!!


HABS VS BRUINS...1970


SCHOENFELD TAKING ON ALL HE CAN...INCLUDIN ORR!!!


Season Club League GP G A TP PIM +/- GP G A TP PIM
1962-63 Oshawa Generals OHA-Jr. 34 6 15 21 45
1963-64 Oshawa Generals OHA-Jr. 56 29 43 72 142 6 0 7 7 21
1964-65 Oshawa Generals OHA-Jr. 56 34 59 93 112 6 0 6 6 10
1965-66 Oshawa Generals OHA-Jr. 47 38 56 94 92 17 9 19 28 14
1965-66 Oshawa Generals M-Cup 12 12 24 36 11
1966-67 Boston Bruins NHL 61 13 28 41 102
1967-68 Boston Bruins NHL 46 11 20 31 63 +30 4 0 2 2 2
1968-69 Boston Bruins NHL 67 21 43 64 133 +65 10 1 7 8 10
1969-70 Boston Bruins NHL 76 33 87 120 125 +54 14 9 11 20 14
1970-71 Boston Bruins NHL 78 37 102 139 91 +124 7 5 7 12 25
1971-72 Boston Bruins NHL 76 37 80 117 106 +86 15 5 19 24 19
1972-73 Canada Summit-72
1972-73 Boston Bruins NHL 63 29 72 101 99 +56 5 1 1 2 7
1973-74 Boston Bruins NHL 74 32 90 122 82 +84 16 4 14 18 28
1974-75 Boston Bruins NHL 80 46 89 135 101 +80 3 1 5 6 2
1975-76 Boston Bruins NHL 10 5 13 18 22 +10
1976-77 Canada Can-Cup 7 2 7 9 8
1976-77 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 20 4 19 23 25 +6
1977-78
1978-79 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 6 2 2 4 4 +2
NHL Totals 657 270 645 915 953 74 26 66 92 107

THE BREEDERS...........


CHERRY & ORR PART 1

PART 2


BIG 10" RECORD......




NEED A LAUGH...I FOUND THIS... THESE PEOPLE ARE I D I O T S !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bobby Orr is severely Overrated. Not Hall of Fame material

Bobby Orr is considered by many to be one of the greatest players in the history of the National Hockey League but a small fringe group of activists have taken a contrary view and started a campaign to have Bobby Orr removed from the Hockey Hall of Fame. Their site No More Orr (www.nomoreorr.com) claims that Orr benefited from poor competition and other factors and was not the great player many claim him to be. They have an official petition which can be signed by those in support of their cause.

THE CARS ARE FROM BOSTON..BUT HERE IS NIRVANA DOIN A COVER....


THE FIGHTS.....


THE KNEE.......................




OLD TIME HOCKEY!! PISS ON BETTMAN!!!
& PISS ON 15 YR OLD KIDS WHO DO NOT RESPECT FRIENDSHIP(NO USIN ELDERS;) WOMEN OR HOCKEY!!!
IF YA BELONG TO HIS PAGES PLEASE DELETE THIS NON FRIEND OF MY FRIENDS;)

PLEASE DELETE THIS LITTLE PRICK IF HE IS ON YOUR FRIENDS LIST!!!!!

http://www.myspace.com/nhlfans1

Other pages that are him…

http://www.myspace.com/refssuck
http://www.myspace.com/nhlhockeybashsite
http://www.myspace.com/buffalosabresfanclub
TELL 2 FRIENDS;) I SWEAR I AM NOT USUALLY THIS VINDICTIVE BUT IF YOU READ THE MESSAGES THIS KID SENT TO SEVERAL PEOPLE INCLUDIN 13 YR OLD JILLI....GAME OVER;)

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and from Jilli.......for our help;)
yeah!THANKS! you rock! and the people that sent me freind requests are awesome! THANKS SO MUCH!!! your awesome!!
and ADD HER IF YA HAVE NOT....SHE'S A TRUE YOUNG HOCKEY FAN;)
http://www.myspace.com/nhl_fans