Name me one franchise.  Just one.  In any league, anywhere.  Find it and I don’t care where you look or what you reference.  Look as hard as you want for as long as you want.

There is not one team, not a single one, as pathetic as the Detroit Lions.  I have great sympathy for the die hards, and there are thousands.  They’re crushed today, not so much because they expected the Lions to succeed, but because they’re disgusted with themselves for allowing optimism in their lives, as if Matt Millen or the Fords had left Detroit.

Worried about that mythical Cup hangover?  I haven’t been, but it seems to be a topic of discussion among those wishing you sadness.  And there are many. Mike Heika, of the Dallas Morning News, says Marian Hossa’s the reason the Wings will come out firing.

The summer is short anyway, due to the fact you played until June; and when you make that a summer of partying, it makes it very difficult to get back into the routine necessary to fight through a tough season. Mix that with the fact every team is gunning for you, and there’s clearly Stanley Cup hangover.

But Hossa changes that for the Wings. He is a respected player who has told his new teammates that he believes in them, and that he wants to do everything he can to help them win again in what could be his one season with the team.

That’s pretty powerful.

We’ve reached day 19 of my private quest to keep my own personal, political views away from A2Y.  I’ve been successful, but only barely.  It’s my intent to maintain this neutral posture.  Why?  Because nothing, and I mean nothing, is more divisive than that topic. 

Having said that, I do feel compelled to point something out to those of you who may be riding the fence…

Ken Holland told the Windsor Star’s Dave Waddell that this is the strongest Wing team since ‘97, but that next summer could bring some difficult times.

“We’ve kind of got a one-year window here because of the contracts we signed players to and where their careers went,” Holland said.
“That allowed us to bring in Marian Hossa. That’s not going to be the case a year from now.
“We have Hossa, Zetterberg, Samuelsson, Franzen they’re all UFAs. Hudler is an RFA, so we’re going to have to make some decisions over the next 12 months.
“This is probably the deepest team we’ve ever had, but we know a year from now we’re going to start losing players.”

The Diggers are waking up and the FNG is keeping pace.

Dave Dye, while not technically “new” (he’s been covering MSU and other sports for the News for nearly two decades) has reported for duty as the Wing bubba at the Detroit News.  And if he keeps up this pace, he’ll be getting a call from Khan(!) soon.  Something about expectations of mediocrity.

An article and a blog entry.  In the hypothetical words of Ansar..."Slowwww down big boy. It’s early.”

Last year we live blogged a call to Verizon. It was a huge success.  Huge.  This year, I’m ramping it up. Mainly because the dumpster diving nimrods at Verizon still aren’t offering the Center Ice Package.

Tonite, I’m dialing up Direct TV and it’s only fair that we offer them the same access and opportunity for success.

George Malik brings us this from Helene St. James,

“Jimmy is going to lose any tie. I’ve explained that to Jimmy. Our plan is that he is going to be on our team in ‘09-10 for sure.”

1.  HSJ, like a school teacher, seems to work from September through June.  Welcome back.  She also has a few tidbits from Conklin and how it’s “neat” to be skating with the big boys.

2.  Yeah, I stole “conkblock”.  So what.

Good morning.  Happy Labor Day plus 1.  Are you considering all those mothers out there?  You should be.  Yesterday was a holiday to celebrate the history of labor.  In many cases, at least twenty to twenty eight hours of it.  Men? We can’t fathom labor.  And we’re reminded of that frequently.  No matter how hard our days are, our weeks, our months at work.  It makes no difference.  Labor’s labor and no man can understand it. No pain we’ve ever experienced rivals it.  And we’d better keep that in mind.  At all times.

We’ll never know labor.  And that’s a shame.  Really.  So hopefully yesterday, on Labor Day, you took a minute to pat the chicks on the back and let them know we appreciate the fact that when it comes to labor? They’ve cornered the market. 

First off: how long do you think it will be before RWBill tells us Sarah Palin is hot?

Second?  There’s a core characteristic of a true rival that we haven’t touched on with our first two entries.  Fear.  There is nothing to be scared of when we discuss St. Louis or the girls in Denver.  You can’t look at either team and fathom a scenario where they’d beat the Wings in a seven gamer.  It just can’t happen.

The Poultry?  They scared me last year.  Imagery of the fluttering puck from Game 5 Hell wouldn’t leave me.  Destiny promised me we’d see them in the playoffs.  She guaranteed it.  But she lied and I wasn’t sad.

But that doesn’t mean Anaheim doesn’t frighten me.  They do.  Fetally?  No, but I still fear the Duck.

Nope. I’m not talking about the roster.  I’m talking front office.

While the Diggers napped, Craig Custance stirred a little vinegar in your coffee this morning.  The Emperor found it at the Sporting News Today (fancy).

Paul broke this Holland quote out, “He’s probably getting to the point where he’s just about ready to run his own team.” If you didn’t click, you might have missed the next line from Tick Tock regarding Steve Yzerman.

I’ve got line combinations running through my head, but I can’t make sense of them yet.  I have a post about Darren McCarty, and if he’d actually bring value to the Wings this season, bouncing around up there too.

I know Aaron Downey was offered a two-way deal for 565K...if he sticks in Detroit.  About 1/6th of that if he goes down to GR.  But that story bores me.

So here’s something.  The biggest baby in the history of Weld County started Kindergarten this week.

Not sure if the Pensblog boys have caught this one yet.  I’m sure it’s an image that will bring them nothing but sunshine and puppy-like joy.