Tedquarters » Other hockey

Playoff mustaches? Playoff mustaches.

Ted Berg — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 14:53:39 +0000

With a mustache like this, Brandon Dubinsky deserves a hug:

Seems like a pretty effective way to get in the postseason spirit and creep the hell out of your opponents all at the same time. The Times has more. Via Tom Boorstein.

Rangers get a sandwich

Ted Berg — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 15:58:06 +0000

In honor of the Rangers’ playoff appearance, Katz’s Deli has unveiled the Rangers Hat Trick. It is pastrami, corned beef and brisket on rye, apparently with mustard. It looks like this:

Color me only vaguely enthused. Katz’s has an edge on most of the other old-school meatpile New York Deli places because its meat is, if I remember correctly, legitimately juicy, flavorful and delicious. And to this sandwich’s credit, it doesn’t look nearly as gimmicky as the Carmelo Anthony sandwich from the Carnegie Deli.

On the other hand, it costs $18.95, which is one of the problems with Katz’s. It’s not that they make bad sandwiches — anything but, really — but to be worth $18.95 a sandwich has to be pretty much mind-numbingly awesome, and I’ve never found them to be that.

Drafting fictional players

Ted Berg — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 15:59:00 +0000

The 1974 NHL Amateur Draft was an example of these tactics coming to a head. The draft was conducted ahead of schedule and via secret conference call in order to prevent leaks. The system, however, had a significant downside — it was tediously slow. And for the first time ever, an NHL team drafted a Japanese player. With the 183rd pick in the draft, George “Punch” Imlach, general manager of the Buffalo Sabres, announced his team’s selection: Taro Tsujimoto, the star center of the Tokyo Kitanas….

A few weeks into training camp, Tsujimoto had still not shown his face in Buffalo. Disgraced by the mocking? Visa troubles? Nope. Tsujimoto hadn’t arrived because Imlach had made him up; the byproduct of a bored general manager frustrated by the league’s cloak and dagger draft.

- Dan Lewis, Now I Know newsletter.

Cool. I think drafting fictional players and hyping them up is something I’d definitely be tempted to do if I were running a professional sports franchise. You need a good endgame, though, because otherwise you’re just going to end up with an empty roster.

Anyway, this tidbit from Lewis’ newsletter reminded me of a couple points: First, late in the 2010 season, Chan Ho Park earned his 124th win to pass Hideo Nomo as the winningest Asian-born pitcher. It’s weird; I think I’ve come to associate Park so closely with his big contract in Texas, his brutal one-start stint with the Mets and his diarrhea kerfuffle from earlier this season that I forget he was actually the first Major Leaguer in the recent wave of imports from the Far East. He actually tossed two innings at the beginning of the 1994 season, a full year before Nomomania set in.

Second, now seems like a good time to pop Lewis’ newsletter, which is awesome. It’s basically one random bit of trivia a day, and it’s a breeze to read. You can subscribe here.