Thirds Are Killing the Caps

http://media.fans.capitals.nhl.com/_Thirds-Are-Killing-the-Caps/blog/1517279/122873.html


Nearly a third of the way through the 2009-10 regular season, the Capitals are tied for the top spot in the Eastern Conference with 32 points. The Caps are 13-5-6 on the season. As The Washington Times' Corey Masisak astutely Twittered last night, that’s a winning pct. of just .542. Hardly anything worth writing home about.

As we all know, you could go through an NHL season without a single win and still amass 82 points. It wouldn’t get you in the playoffs, but the NHL is the only major North American sport that rewards teams for losing.

The Caps don’t make up the rules, they just play along. And although the Caps’ winning pct. might not be impressive, the Caps have collected two-thirds of the possible points available to them this season for a points pct. of .667. Right now, Washington is on pace for a 109-point season. That would be one point better than last season’s franchise record-setting team.

Half full or half empty? Not sure, but first periods are definitely half full and third periods are definitely half empty. Washington has outscored its opponents 29-12 in the first period of its 24 games this season. The Caps have been outscored 31-30 in the third period and overtime of those same 24 games.

Shots on goal don’t tell much of a story. The Caps have outshot foes 260-234 in the first and they’ve been outshot 253-243 in the third. That’s insignificant.

Here is something that is significant. The Caps have had to kill just 21 first-period power plays this season. They’ve killed 20 of them for a first-period kill rate of 95.2%. The Caps have killed 27 of 34 (79.4%) of the opposition’s second-period power plays this season.

From the start of the third through overtime, Washington has faced a whopping total of 40 opposition power plays. That’s almost twice as many as they’ve faced in the first. As you’d expect, having to kill so many penalties so late in games is a losing proposition, often literally. The Capitals are 27-for-40 (67.5%) on the kill after the start of the third period.

Washington has had 18 penalty-free periods this season, but only three of those have been in the third period of games.

That’s what’s killing the Caps. A late lack of discipline accompanied by some spotty penalty killing. Having more of a killer instinct when they own an early lead – something they have had in the second period or later in all 24 of their games thus far – would also go a long way to make this bunch look more battle-tested come playoff time.


It’s still early, but it won’t be early for long.

Holidays, in general...

- I hate them. Not because of what they represent, but what they have become, celebration-wise. Thanksgiving, nowadays, seems to be best known as "the day before black Friday" rather than the day of thanks. The hooplah that surrounds holidays drive me nuckin' futz.
Christmas has become a joke, in my mind. I mean, really... Ask a kid (or teenager for that matter) "what do you think of when you think Christmas?" Betcha 99% say "I get presents."
- Spend, spend, spend: the American way of life (and holidays.) Ads all over the newspaper, tv, radio, interwebz, etc.
- So, if Home Depot can sell a washer and dryer combo for $600 on black friday, why can't they sell it for that much the other 364 days of the year? And who gives laundry equipment as a 'gift' for the holidays? That's like me giving my wife a new mop for Christmas then saying "Go ahead, honey. Try it out! Start with the kitchen."

- Better yet, who possibly has everything in the world, that they'd possibly only resort to asking for clothes-washing devices, because they have everything else they'd need? Uhm, hmm...

- And don't ask me what I want for Christmas.. I especially hate the response when I say "X", and they reply "I'm not gonna get you "X", that's silly."
Then don't freakin' ask me what I want! Just get me what "you" think "I" should get, since what I want is apparently silly.

[exhales]

School loan repayments

How is it, that one can get an education loan, for a tic-tac over 5% APR, $21k, pay on it for 6 year @ $200+/mo., and still owe over sixteen grand, and still have 113 payments remaining? I mean, really. WTF?

Let's do some quick math... 6yr X 12mo = 72 72 x 200 = 14,400. 21000 - 14,400 = 5700 + Int. so somewhere in there, is a magical 11,000 in interest?

I'm no loan officer, or calculator for that matter, but I smell some butt-sex and I'm the 'catcher' in this financial "relationship"...

Science of the Day

someone, whose blog I follow, posted 100 interesting Science facts today. I found it very interesting, especially with Cody's (my son) fascination with Science as of late. So, I've decided to try and post 1 Science Fun Fact per day. We'll see how long I go, before I forget to do it.
Here's the first one.

Hawaii is moving towards Japan at the speed of 10cm a year. This is because they are on different tectonic plates.

Caps vs. Islanders - last night (11/11/09)

What a weird game! Semin scores off the opening faceoff, 8 seconds into the game, followed by the Isles' score about 50 seconds later.. midway through the first period, Isles had 5 shots on goal, three of those were GOALS.. WTF is up with you, Theodore? Rated one of the 'hottest goalies in the league right now' with a great record against the Islanders throughout his career, basically crumbled to nothingness. "Gabby" pulled him early, just under 7 minutes in, and stuck my favorite goalie, Simeon Varlamov (sim-yawn var-la'-mov, Russian) into the 2 goal deficit situation, where he began to play to his nature, and started blocking shots and closing out the 1P at 3-2, Isles. The 1st and 2nd periods proved to be a score-fest, starting the 3rd period at 4-3 Caps, having made 3 unanswered goals.
In the 3rd, Trnt Hunter (NYI) tied the game up with a wicked slapper from the right side, about 50' out. That's where it stood at the end of Regulation, and remained 4-4 through the OT period, leading into a shoot-out. ELEVEN rounds of SO went by, with Semin and Clark scoring in the shoout-out for the Caps, and Tambellini scoring the sole goal for the Isles.
Caps closed the game out with Semin getting 3 goals, Fleishmann and Fehr each getting one.. Caps had 41 SOG to the Isles' 31.
'Twas a good night in the nation's capital :) Friday, it's Caps vs Minn. Wild, who are ranked last in the Wester Conference, with a 7-10-0.

HP is the work of the devil

Yes, I said it.  At this point, I now absolutely hate Hewlett Packard and anything they "make."  Apparently, they have a known problem with laptops, spanning over MANY, MANY models, sub-brands (Compaq, etc.) with a hibernation/BIOS/standby issue that basically self-destructs the laptop's motherboard.  They know about it, know what the fix is, what causes it, but unless you research the hell out of it before yours bites the dust, then it'll happen just after their "sorry, we'll fix it" offer expires.  Perfect.

Case in point:  My mom's Compaq started an issue where it would no longer boot up; it would cycle power over and over, never reaching boot POST.  So, after hours on the phone with them, and escelating up 3 or 4 'Managerial tiers', I finally got someone to agree to fix it; they did, for free.

Fast forward to last week.  My sister and her husband both have HP Pavilion laptops.  Guess what?  BOTH did the same thing as moms, 1 week apart.  HP says "unfortunately, the fix expired in August, 2009."  Sweet.  They suck.  Let alone that they don't make it easy to find, but the information is on their website, acknowledging the problems.  I hate HP, and will never purchase another one of their devices.  Ever.

COD6: Modern Warfare 2 (first reactions)

Well, I stood in line at GameStop (GS) last night, from 10p-12a, and picked up my reserved copy of Modern Warfare2: Prestige Edition. It's packaged well, complete with Night Vision Goggles (NVGs), a 'hardened' game case, and a snap-tite head to hold the goggles for display. I also picked up a strategy guide, for some damned reason; not that I'll ever really read it or use it.
So I got home, and decided I'd start off with checking out the NVGs. I know, I know, put the game in and let's check it out!! Nah, I wanna see these $90-worth of NVGs.. Oh wait, it takes (5) AA batteries.. Not 4, as in what the packs of batteries come in, but 5.. requiring I buy 2 packs. Luckily for me, Google let me know this ahead of time :) so I picked them up on my way to GS.

So after 15 minutes of trying to get the NVGs untaped, untied, and out of the frigging packaging, I get the batteries in, turn off the kitchen lights, and fire the NVGs up.. WOW! They're actually a little better than I expected, for $90-worth.a quick trip out in the yard, and I see their shortcomings. The viewing range is about 40-50' with the setting on HI. On low, it's about 5-10' at best. There's a green/black or white/black setting. The white/black give it that whole "Blair witch" look to everything... I prefer the greener side, as my prior military experience has that engrained in me.
So, back to the game... I fire it up, and it has a lot of that COD4 feel to it. I "private match" into a couple of maps, to have a snoop around. It's pretty cool. The graphics and attention to detail are great. Weapons are, again, following suit of COD4. There's a good bit of realism in this one's design and graphics. On thing I don't reall care for, is that when you receive damage, you get this blotchy, blood-spattered look on the screen, until you regenerate your health.

Moving on to some multi-player gaming, the first thing that we (playing with friends) notice, is that there's no "Party Chat", only a Game-Chat. You can party up with your friends, but you're forced into listening to everyone else in the pre-game lobby. That SUCKS.

I played in a few matches, just trying to get a feel for it all, and it's proven that there are some individuals that had it long before the 12am release last night, which I think is pure crap, but whatever...
Tonight, I'll dip into the Campaign level to see what it's like, and report back on that, tomorrow..

Until then, "Release the Hounds!"

Tatoos..

Are you serious? This is cool? M'kay.. Clearly, we have different ideas of 'cool', don't we?

I like tatoos, and I even have one..  One.  I'd love to get a couple more, but that whole thought of how they look and where they'll ultimately reside, when I turn 80, keeps me from getting another one.  Can you imagine what this cat will look like when he's a senior citizen?  I can see him now, trying to get his senior discount in Hardee's, when they think they're seeing a "dead man walking."  I'd probably piddle a little...

Fan of the Washington Capitals - even though they piss me off.

The Washington Capitals are my favorite NHL team. I don't watch the NFL, NBA, MLB, or any other sport, for that matter. HOWEVER, I will watch the Dallas Cowboys, whenever they are on TV here in the Redskins Nation (whom I hate, btw.) Cowboys are my hometown team, as I was born/raised in Dallas.

So, back to the Capitals, and how they're pissing me off, as of late.
As most know, that follow NHL, Alex Ovechkin is injured with an upper body injury, and listed as week-to-week. I don't forsee him being out much longer than this week, but we'll see.

With AO out, the other guys really need to step it up. Last night's game against the NJ Devils, was a freaking joke. NJ was 1-4 at home this year, and there's no reason why we shouldn't have made it 1-5, other than we just didn't show up to play, and Alexander Semin took way too many penalties. I think he finished the night with 3 or 4, and them scoring on at least one of those. He needs to be the player he's shown he can be. It's contract year, for crying out loud!
Semin finished with three shots on goal on the night, but had none until the third period. He committed three offensive-zone penalties on the night, including two in the third period. On one glorious final-frame scoring chance, Semin was unable to lift the puck over Martin Brodeur, who was able to reject him with a pad-stacking block.

Later in the 3rd, Semin came out of the penalty box and went off on a breakaway, but couldn't get a good result from the shot.


Matthew Perreault made his rookie/first NHL game debut. Perreault turned in a strong performance, collecting two assists, two shots on goal, two takeaways and a +2 on the night with just 10:30 in ice time. He's a keeper, if he can do this, consistantly.
“He plays with a quiet confidence,” observes Knuble of Perreault. “He’s a steady guy in the center, good on pucks and good on draws. Obviously he’s a passer.”


Nick Backstrom launched his own website, which has tons of good info on it. for your own viewing pleasure, go to http://www.backstrom19.com and have a looksy.

Caps are now 8-3-4 with 20pts, leading the SE division over a 2nd place Tampa Bay Lightning, who are 5-4-4 with 14pts and 2 games in hand.

Caps are 2nd in the Conference, 4 points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins with their 24, and one point ahead of 3rd place Buffalo Sabres' 19 points. Buffalo has 3 games in hand, having only played 12, to Caps' and Penguins' 15 games.

A completely different animal now..

So the past couple of weeks, or so, I've been trying to find the root cause as to why this Cummins Turbo Diesel (CTD) is so lethargic. Last weekend, I did a good bit of maintenance that it needed, like fuel filter replacement, pre-filter cleaning, air filter cleaning, etc. Also replaced the stock 3" exhaust with a much larger 4" section, and turn-down just beyond the cab.

I adjusted the AFC's position, moving it full-forward (it's a P7100 pump, if you're hip to diesels), and cranked the starwheel back to help pre-boost fueling. Both of these helped responsiveness a little bit, but it was still weak.

Last week, I ordered a #10 fuel plate for the injector pump (allows much more fuel for the pump, than the stock plate does), and it arrived on Monday. I installed it Tuesday, after work. Oh-MFG! I istalled the #10, and boost restricter elbow for the wastegate, and the truck came alive! It is insanely different. Before, I could only get a max of ~12psi boost, at WOT. Now, its 35-38psi, tons of fuel and the truck takes off like a rocket! Well, maybe not a 'rocket', but really quick 7000lb 4wd truck. I'm a member on http://www.cumminsforum.com/ as well as http://www.dieselbombers.com and the members there helped me a lot.

Next on the truck's agenda, a overflow valve (controls fuel pressure) and then an uprated torque converter and performance valve body for the transmission.

Screen captures

funny shit I see on the internet, taken out of context, of course :)

Here's the first..

Halloween.. Seriously?

I'm not much of a 'holiday' kinda guy.. Any of 'em.. New Year's, July 4th, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and especially, Halloween... We spend 20-30$ for candy, to give away to total stranger's children. Sure, the small are in it for the candy and costumes, but what about when they turn13 or 14, and older, and their idea of 'trick-or-treating' is wearing the clothes they had on all day, like jeans and a t-shirt, throwing on a wig or something that takes about two seconds of preparation, grabbing a pillow case, and taking off to the neighbor's house? I say "no candy for you." Same person shows up, with a well thought out costume, then I'll hook 'em up with some goods.

And what about those "parents" that carry the bag to the door, no kid in sight, and say "I'm trick-or-treating for my son/daughter who is tired of walking." I say "take their ass home, then." I can see it now, thirty-five years ago, me telling my mom to go for me, because I'm tired. I'm sure she would've said yes. LOL - Whatever.. she'd been like 'Hell no. If you want it, git up off your ass and go because if you stay here, you're cleaning the kitchen.' So that's how I am now (thanks, mom, for making me the hard-ass I am today! I love you!)

It's a damned good thing the Capitals weren't playing Friday night, else noone woulda got an answer at the door.