I was on my way home last week after a few days on the road for the gig that pays the bills. To set the stage let’s back up a few hours. After a wild night on 6th street in Austin, TX compliments of the old expense account, I arrive at the airport extremely hung-over to check in. Wouldn’t ya know it, my fine friends at Don’t Expect Luggage To Arrive have upgraded me to First Class all the way home. Before I was able to get my IPOD fired up, I had already tossed back a screwdriver. I guess my overtly gay flight attendant had some ulterior motives as he kept em coming. You know you are doing pretty well when the flight attendant says Sir, you drank all the vodka on this flight. By the time this bad news was shared with me, I had had my share of OJ at that point so I was happy to move onto the King of Beers.
I step off the plane and begin my journey home to MBH and the Million Dollar babies. Who do I see coming the other way? None other than Mr. Raymond Bourque. Now I have met / seen him up close about 20 times in my life at various events. Without skipping a beat or slurring my speech, I reach back to Miss. Fairbrothers 9th and 10th grade French class (oh how I wanted her in every evil way) and bust out Bonjour Raymond.Ca Va? His response – Bonjour, Ca Va Bien! and that was it. My brush with greatness was quick and yet gave me the chills like you would not believe.
It got me thinking, when a superior athlete retires why does the next generation have to live up to them? I loved watching Bourque, Neely, Lafluer, 99, Mario, etcbut that doesn’t mean I want the next guy stepping into those skates to duplicate what his predecessor did. Of course I would love to have them possess similar characteristics but give the kids a break. Take Sid the Kid for instance. He’s got all the yackers making comments about comparing him to 99. Are you fuckin kidding me? 99? The greatest hockey player evah? That’s like my boss comparing me to Zig Ziglar. Each generation provides us with a handful of highly skilled and exceptionally talented players. Why don’t we just sit back and enjoy it vs. (no not the fuckin channel that nobody can find to watch hockey) yakking about how so and so was great and this kid ain’t no so and so!
Killer, Saw Bubba last night at the Tsongas. Hershey was in town, and Bubba never misses one of Chris’s games. Chris isn’t a bad player. Same skating stride as his old man. Might get a shot in the Show someday. Anyway, Ray was mobbed by fans per usual after the tilt, so I didn’t get to speak en francais with him.
Versus and The Golf Channel have teamed up to share an HD channel on Comcast. Check your local listing for the specific channel number.