Here it is -- the second annual "Jesus-Christ-what-am-I gonna-do-now-that-the-season's-over" entry. For starters, I'll self-medicate. Double the dosage of Zoloft, which is just Skittles and Ecstacy, anyway. Actually, the combination of a severe lack of sleep and feeling like the rest of my life is hanging over home plate like a Tim Wakefield knuckler about to be driven back through my chest cavity, leaving a hole about three times bigger on the way out than it created on the way in, has me distracted. Yeah, these are the analogies I use on a regular basis.

So ... on to hockey. The Frozen Four was, uhh ... well, the games were average. One good one, one stinker, and one middle-of-the-road match. Whaddaya gonna do? They all can't be Miracle on Ice. The rink is nice, as they all are these days [except for Joe Louis, which is a cesspool] and Denver, my adopted hometown, didn't disappoint. I miss the place. It's so vibrant and happening and constantly changing. No question I need to get back there ... permanently.

And, of course, there was Inside College Hockey Frozen Four Party V. I think everyone had a good time. It's always good to see some old friends and meet some new peeps. It's kind of a bitch, though, because unless you plant your ass at the bar like Gladdy [not that it's a bad thing] you end up working the room and drinking one beer an hour. By the way, I was totally being facetious about us being rock stars in the last post a week or so ago, but Gladdy agreed. And, hell, if he said it, it must be true. So, yeah, I guess it's fun to go into a bar and, to steal a phrase from Jeff Howe, make it rain -- just with pink wristbands and hand stamps instead of dollar bills. If that's what rock stars do, then that's what we are for four days a year. Except we're a shitty band like Fall Out Boy. Guess that makes me Pete Wentz. Mother effer. Better start rockin' the guy-liner and a wristband.

So what's next for INCH? I'm glad I asked. We'll podcast later this week, and we're sure to have plenty of deterioration in that one. We'll do some of the short preview stuff for next season -- 10 for '09 -- over the next couple of weeks. I'm going to write this year's ode to the Frozen Four [cue sappy violin music] maybe tomorrow. Is sarcasm an emotion? There's a bunch of recruiting stuff to update, the NHL playoffs continue, of course, and the flippin' draft is about two months away. In Ottawa. New city. Just keep checking. We promise to update it on a fairly regular basis. It might be pictures I take at Lollapalooza, but hey, it's something new.

That's it for now. Later, yo ...

Mike