Oh yeah, here's a quickie...

And I can't believe I let this one slide for as long as I did, but I'm actually on the Thrashers website, all because of blog night! Check out the linkage here.

Of all the bloggers that partcipated and the entries that were made about the evening, a selection from your's truly was the leading quote for the rest of the blogs. Pretty neat, I say!

vs. 'Duhs - 2007/01/26

So the last entry started out how I intended it, but then it just turned into a retread of the blog night... which is fine, because that definitely deserved to be put out there. And since this wasn't mentioned ANYWHERE in that entry, I just wanted to thank Ben, Micah, and anyone else of the Thrashers who was responsible for putting together the blog night because it was something that I'll always remember whenever I go to a game or event at Philips. Not all teams are doing things like that for their fans/internet contingency, so for the Thrash to take the next step is just great and I hope it happens again.

As for the game, it started off somewhat akin to how the first Islanders game this season began - DiPietro turns to swiss cheese and coughs up a few softies to give the Thrash a decently-sized lead. A few things were not similar to the first meeting though - the soft goals did not hold up and DiPietro got yanked in favor of the much-loved, appreciated, and celebrated goalie in Thrashers history, Mike Dunham (uh, note the sarcasm).

Yes, yes - everyone knows the significance of this, but we'll get past that.

I wished Ted Nolan stuck it out with D.P. for a little more because, unlike most everyone else, this season I really do have a bit of fear in Dunham. Last season's stay with the Thrash was more of an aberration on his career. While never a true, reliable number one goalie in the league, he definitely did have some power years with Nashville and even with the Rangers. Somehow, things were off last year, including injuries, and Dunham was cast out of Atlanta in favor of Johan Hedberg. But with comments like, "Just put the puck on Dunham and he'll take care of the rest," or, "Get him moving and he'll be out of position like he usually is," or really anything negative, this isn't the year to say that about Mike. Unfortunately for us Thrash fans, Dunham is having an average year and being a suitable backup.

After letting in three goals on five shots in about six minutes' worth of play, DiPietro's bad work was negated by solid work by Dunham. The Thrash put on some quality shots and Dunham was there to answer. With a combination of a little slacking off after the three-goal barrage in the first, Hossa's absence throughout most of the second, and Dunham, the Islanders were able to creep back into the game and made it more exciting than it should've been. The game should've been over after the third goal of the night and the Thrashers should've kicked their game into high gear. Fortunately, there were only two penalties against the Thrash, so the Isles PP units weren't able to apply that much pressure.

As a whole, started the game off with a bang, but the team hesitated to either jump start themselves or jump over a few hurdles between the astonishing start and incredible end.

What still amazes me is the HOSSA chants that blow off the arena's top each time he does ANYTHING noteworthy. When he goes down with an apparent injury, HOSSA heats up. When he comes off the ice with an injury, HOSSA. After coming back from what appeared to be a career-ending (sarcasm, *knocks wood*) injury, HOSSA. After he scores a goal 19 seconds after coming back... eh, that's implied. I mean, it's getting to the point that if Marian Hossa has exact change when paying for a hamburger, a HOSSA party will ensue. It's ridiculous... but you know it's true. There's no denying the passion and the energy that Hossa brings to the lineup and it's even more amazing that the fans bring that same spirit right back, trying to get him off the ice, trying to get him to score that game-winner, trying to get him to do anything for the win. He's the true team player and he deserves any kind of HOSSA (yeah, respect works here, too) he can get.

Recap: Blog Night @ Philips

Maybe it was fate... destiny... or really just poor goaltending from D.P. Who knows - but on the Thrashers' inaugural bloggers night, the Thrashers set the tone early (like, "six minutes" early, too), made Rick DiPietro believe he was swiss cheese, and led to a few glares directed towards me from other bloggers in the press box. I don't really think I need to clarify that.

I could do an entire narrative-style post about how the night progressed, but I won't do that. Seems more personal and, eh, livejournal than what I think should be represented. I mean, what I was a part of on Friday night was pretty amazing.

Aiming to be more progressive with their audience (primarily their internet audience), the Atlanta Thrashers opened their press box to anyone with an Atlanta-area blog - to see what it's like to be a member of the press, to tell the story of the experience, to just spread the word that there's a pretty damned good hockey team in town and to look at how some of their most important fans are treated. I'm sure that there are teams around the league that open their doors to bloggers/outsiders as much as the Thrashers did the other evening (the Capitals instantly come to mind). But to have this kind of respect and responsibility bestowed upon a few faceless bloggers is pretty damned trustworthy and forward-thinking. We were handed personalized press passes (with access to nearly everywhere, at any time, although I didn't take advantage of the latter), massive amounts of literature about the game/players/stats from around the league, and given a seat on the ninth floor of Philips Arena to watch the game.

I don't have a laptop, so I initially felt awkward being a blogger, but unable to immediately represent myself at the game. So I sweet-talked the ladyfriend and used her's for the evening. Turns out that I actually felt more awkward WITH it because I couldn't pay attention to the game. To actually devote a few minutes of typing during a fast-paced hockey game was a little more difficult that I thought and, in the end, it wasn't the way I wanted to go about the evening. It was pretty neat to be at the game, have any kind of information at your side (by way of all of the papers that were dished out), and check out instant updates online of what was happening. For example, when Hossa went down in the second in anticipation of an injury, minutes later it was brought to my attention that news of it made it to the NHL wires that Hossa was out indefinitely. This was probably no more than five minutes later after the incident. That's something I would've missed if I were watching the game on TV or anywhere else. With the internet, it's pretty ridiculous how fast things develop... and unravel. I mean, the same article that was very quick to report that Hossa was out is now reporting that he did go down, but came back to score the fourth Thrashers goal of the night (link).

It was also great to have the chance of being a member of the press. I really felt like wearing a press hat, but I'm assuming that wouldn't have gone over too well. It was weird enough wearing a jersey or trying to NOT cheer/yell/etc. or be "just a fan" in the press area. Other than those aspects of it, it's basically a dream job for me. To have that kind of positioning during the game, the kind of freedom around the arena, and just write... especially about something I'm fairly passionate about (ha!)... I couldn't think of anything there that's negative. So to say that my experience on Friday was anything short of amazing would be a complete lie. I had a ton of fun doing something that maybe I'll do again, maybe not (only of that opportunity never arises).

I wish that the bloggers could've either talked some more or that there was an opportunity made to talk about what they represent online and how they feel about the position they were in on Friday (i.e. bloggers with press credentials?). That would've been nice, but then again, we're not talking college classes here... we're only talking about hockey games.

But as a whole, it was pretty awesome Friday and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

I took a few pics of stuff that happened that evening, and the album is found on my flickr site. Take a look and see what I saw!

THIS JUST IN - OMG - HOCKEY GAME 2NITE!!!1

Yeah, rumor has it that there's a game at the city arena tonight... who knows how that's going to go down. Riiiiight.

We're about to find a way to get around the sans-laptop scenario I'm dealing with and it does appear that I won't be the odd-man-out at the Thrash game (meaning, the only one who won't be feverishly (?) typing away), featuring bloggers from around town. Here's a list of some of the blogs that will be represented tonight. No formal names (sorry!) as this is a perfect example of snippetry - list courtesy of The Web Guy:

http://ptbigadventure.blogspot.com

www.ugascubadawg.blogspot.com

http://carolan.org/thrashers/

http://www.godsendjen.com/ and http://southeastshootout.blogspot.com/

http://thrasherstalons.blogspot.com

http://girlslovehockeytoo.blogspot.com/ and http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=4985

http://www.americanangst.com

http://erbystang.livejournal.com/ and http://thrashings.blogspot.com/

http://www.kitbaty.com/ssw/

http://www.manoeuvrebored.com/

I look forward to meeting y'all tonight and let's have some serious fun with this! Yeah!

"So, yeah, I'm this blogger..."

As I've mentioned in the past, Friday night the Thrashers are hosting their first blog night. Basically, anyone who has a blog in the Atlanta area (and actually applied for it) will be given press credentials for the game against the New York Islanders Friday and will be allowed to tour the arena, live it up in the press box, and attend the post-game press conference. Needless to say, I'm in for the ride and while I'm unsure if you can expect an actual posting session from the event, definitely expect a follow up on the events that transpired that evening this weekend. I'll have my camera, so I can at least take some pics of things that the typical "commoner" (which is what I thought I was...?) would not be exposed to.

Speaking of this, though, definitely brings on a pretty good topic of debate. I've never given it a second guess because the blogs I read are pretty credible in terms of who they are and what they represent. While this appears to be a one-night-only deal (and that's fine with me!), AJC Thrashers beat writer Craig Custance, uh, blogged about the validity of bloggers and, moreso, wondered if giving press credentials for sporting events to bloggers was acceptable.

Where do I stand on this? Obviously, I'm quite biased, but I still don't feel that "bloggers" need official representation in the press box for events like this. Now, as we've read on Hockey Buzz, Eklund is over at the All-Star Game in Dallas and is writing about it. Now clearly, he is not a member of the press. His main claim to fame is that he somehow has connections in the hockey world and is able to throw out rumors about anyone in the league and provide his readers with a pretty good insight on things that might go unnoticed. But what gives him the right to attend such a high-profile game with such limited credentials, since he also prides himself on being so anonymous in the hockey world?

One can debate that there need to be guidelines established for what determines who can apply for press access to games. That could be quite lengthy, and, as with the internet, those such guidelines will have to change each and every year in order to be on top of changing cultural climates and technology. As a psychology major, I often dealt with trying to be up-to-date when it came to citing sources that originated from the internet, only because it was a constant battle to stay on top of everything and maintain some sort of credibility of what's cited. The same would apply with press guidelines for bloggers.

But in cities like Atlanta - that isn't among the most hockey-friendly places in the country - that already include minimal RECOGNIZED press coverage as it is, you'd be hard pressed to find any other stories about your favorite team locally. Any outsider who reads the paper and maybe watches the 11 o'clock news (on a game day) is exposed to hockey only through those means... maybe spotting a billboard around town, too. That is it! So if someone could get more information about the Thrashers from outside sources - like bloggers - that's definitely a plus for the organization.

So do we reject this and stick with the bare minimum or actually take a gamble and see what the army of bloggers can unleash? The way I see it, it will be a constant battle for upkeep of proper media guidelines for internet-based writers who are not recognized professionally for what they do. Of course, there are the stereotypical "lustful bloggers" who seem to focus all of their energy onto one player, obsess about them, and want to get closer to the action (which this viewpoint seems to be the most popularly held, and that's sad). Do I actually think this represents the majority? Absolutely not. Looking at the blogs that I link, I'd have no problem with them attending a game and writing about it, with press access allowed. But for a full-time thing, I don't think that bloggers should really have thing kind of pull. Yeah, we do collectively have large voices in the community and can provide some great opinions on matters that, whether they are important or not, affect how we feel about our team, and even possibly how the team performs. But with no real boundaries for bloggers to stand by, it would be difficult to control what they say. To allow that kind of liberty into such a highly regarded place as a press box with PROFESSIONALS in the field just doesn't mix to me.

The blog night on Friday is a great event for independent writers in the area. I'm standing with the viewpoint that it's more of an opportunity for me to see what that kind of lifestyle is like and weigh the options on whether I'd like to pursue something in that field. It definitely doesn't hurt that I'm also given all-access (well, close to it) to my favorite team and that I'll probably drool over that alone. If I found MYSELF seeking credentials for every home game (or even half), I think I'd be out of line for doing such. It's just not my place. Could it be in time? Sure. But as someone who's as informal about this (i.e. blogging) as I am, the last thing the Thrashers organization needs is someone who represents that kind of mindset in the mix with reporters from the AJC, or even from other places across the country/continent. People are paid to do the job that I would do, and they deserve the spot when the time arises, not myself. Besides, I'm sure that they'd do a better job with writing about the game/whatever than I would... because they are qualified to do so!

But for moments like Friday night, I'm all about it. It's definitely something new and I'm super excited. More to come on this for sure.

Gretz, who's your money on tonight?

Here is something wonderful that is being put together especially for Thrashers bloggers, but also for bloggers in the Atlanta area, from the Atlanta Thrashers:

Basically, we are extending an invite to anyone with an Atlanta-area blog to join us at the arena, bring your laptop, and live blog your experience! This is an open invitation to anyone who enjoys writing about their lives, their favorite teams (hopefully us!), or their areas of expertise to come down and give your thoughts on a night at the rink, completely uncensored!

This is going to happen January 26, against the Islanders (uhh), and is looking to include the following:

- free entry to the game
- a tour of some of the highlights of the arena before game time
- a meal (free food - who can beat that!)
- a comfortable seat where you can use the arena's wireless to give commentary on the game as you watch it
- potential access to postgame coach press activities

Sure looks like a treat to me! Do I really have to say that I've put my name into the hat for this thing? I mean, c'mon now. I'll let you know how it pans out as more details come in, but how awesome!? I've always wondered about tours of Philips, and it was pretty cool to walk through the Thrashers' locker room during the Face Off event prior to the current season. I remember doing a behind-the-scenes tour of Madison Square Garden for a birthday way-back-when, and that seemed out of this world (especially when I was busy being a bandwagon-jumper and pulling for the Rangers when the Islanders were beyond repair, but shhhh!). To actually be into something like this, and know that everything for that night is being catered towards Thrashers fans... I couldn't ask for anything more. So we'll see what happens! Needless to say, I'm ecstatic!

More details can be found here, courtesy of the super-cool Blueland Blog. It's the fifth entry down, right after "Bits and Bites".

I'll be at the game tonight with some family members (and the ladyfriend, of course!), but I think I'm going to try out the new camera and see how well it works out. We have seats in 318, I believe, but we'll be right by the overhang, so our view of CuJo will be pretty good, to say the least. It's about time my girlfriend's family gets a taste of the Nasty Nest.

There was something else I was going to add, but I'm drawing a blank here. Eh... see y'all at the game! Recap either later on today or tomorrow evening!