Sunday Potpourri: ... And Thanks For All The Fish

Allow me to start today by publicly thanking those of you kind enough to "chip in" to support the blog.  I have sent (and will continue) to send each person that has done so a personal thank you.  I'm nearly overwhelmed by the quick responses to the effort.  I honestly anticipated a slow but hopefully steady progression, so I'm pleasantly surprised (and heartened) to have raised $185 dollars so far.  I know it says $145 but one donation came outside of the widget's purview.   I recognize that everybody doesn't agree with everything I say here, so to still appreciate the blog with money speaks volumes about those people's character.

The intent of the "Chip In" campaign is to raise enough funds to support sending two people to Final Five when the Seawolves get there next year.  Should that eventuality not pan out for our team, the funds will be used for blog enhancements.  I currently only use "free" software for the chats etc ... but there are things I could purchase which could improve the reader experience and content here.

Why two people?

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I have received and accepted an offer to add an author/contributor to the blog.  So the effort here is no longer going to be a one man show.  Yay!  There is no firm date for any particular first contribution but when he first posts I hope everyone welcomes him on board positively.  Who is it?  JimJamesAK is his chosen byline.  He is a lifelong UAA supporter, arena volunteer and regular poster on USCHO's fan forum.

I've encouraged Jim to find his niche here and suggested many different ways he might consider doing so.  I'm not going to act as his editor per se.  He's a big boy and like me will be answerable for what he posts.  I doubt that he'd tend to be as controversial as I sometimes can be.  But he has mentioned bringing more multimedia content as a possibility.  Or maybe some erudite statistical analysis to offset all my ranting?  The one glaring hole here (for a blog with a media pass) has been the complete lack of player interviews and post game coverage.  I'm hopeful JimmyJam will find time to focus on that area.  It's kinda not my cup of tea.

I'm all about "the organic" here.  I have no grand plan or blueprint for success.  As I said, I hope JJ finds his niche.  If you like what he brings to the table then we will know he's found it, right?  Going forward I don't think this means that I'll personally be posting any less necessarily but pushing myself to post something everyday during the season can be cumbersome.  Hopefully for me, it just means that when I am posting it doesn't seem like a job.

That's why two people.  The Seawolves get to the Final Five next season and JJ and I are off to St. Paul to cover it for you guys ... if enough funds are raised.  And at the rate we've received them the first few days, I'm pretty confident that's a good possibility.

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I'm not one to take pleasure in other teams misery so much.  But it doesn't make me cry that DU and UND got knocked off by teams that EVERYONE figured they'd roll.  It's a valid argument that it's a good thing to cheer for teams from our conference to win.  But, it isn't possible for me to do so.  I wasn't cheering against them.  I was a little miffed to see some of their fanbase use the "we played like crap" rationalization.  No fellas, you're teams got beat.  No excuses in the NCAA tournament.  You win or you lose.

I was pulling for UAH.  And after reading some of the tripe from Miami fans, I'm officially anti-them forever and ever.  Douchebags all are their fans to me.  Cheer against them eh?  Doing so will enhance your soul.  Trust me.  They just beat Michigan in OT as I write this.  Sigh.  Oh well, not like the ugly helmets losing is ever a bad thing.

UA_?  Like I said last week, I wasn't cheering against them.  That was the best I could do.  Now let me say this; 

Dear University of Alaska Fairbanks,

Isn't it time you dropped the branding pretense of Alaska Nanooks?  One putz in the hockey world uses the moniker as you intended.  Everybody else calls you UAF or Alaska Fairbanks.  Your own fans still chant UAF, UAF, UAF .... Give it up Forrest.  It didn't work the way you thought it would ok?  And since the whole UA_ thing is now in wide use on the internet, don't you think it's sort of backfired?  The intent was transparent when it began and now it's just a joke. 

Sincerely,

Me

SCSU finally won an NCAA game.  And the world didn't end?  WTF?  No, I won't be cheering for the lone WCHA team in the Frozen Four.  Who will I be cheering for?  RIT?  Nah, nobody.  I could give a shit about RIT, I don't know them from Adam.  I'll just be a semi-interested observer and it won't bother me in the least if they beat Becky.  And yeah, the Frozen Four in a football arena is stoopid.