Where Are We? Where The Hell Have We Been?

We're baaaack. Or at least I am.

IT'S HOCKEY SEASON! FINALLY! Too bad our teams haven't exactly blown up the standings, huh (well, not yet, anyway)?

To the Rangers fans: Be patient with Drury. He's a fantastic player who needs time to adjust to his new surroundings. He'll be fine and remember: He has won a Stanley Cup already (he was on the Avalanche team that won the thing after they picked up Ray Bourque).

To the Sabres fans: Be patient with this team. They're starting to pick up the pace here. Seasons like last year don't happen often and growing pains were bound to happen with this very young team. But hey, how 'bout that Clarke MacArthur?

Sabres at Canadiens tonight. Sabres are going for four wins in a row after beating Montreal twice and Ottawa once at home (the Sabres' only divisional opponent based in the States is the Boston Bruins). This is the fifth meeting between the two teams...and it isn't even December yet. ENOUGH! NO MAS!

In other matters, my new website is up! Check it out: http://www.edklingenberger.com

Now THAT Was A Weekend...

Happy Almost August, peoples. This past weekend was home to a festival called BoulderFest here in Rochester. Naturally, since you're dealing with me here, I was one of many musicians pulling at least double duty during the course of the fest.

It all started Friday afternoon. I played drums for Journey of Jasmine late that afternoon (JoJ was the second band to play BoulderFest this year. Not a bad time slot, either). I stuck around to see The Isotopes that night - those guys were awesome. It takes a lot of guts to cover Edgar Winter's "Frankenstein" at all, let alone play it almost note for note perfectly.

Saturday, however, was The Day Of Madness. At around noontime, I took the stage playing percussion for my friend Dan Ball Jr. About three hours later, SMOCK finally took the stage and rocked the crap out of the place. I should know 'cause I definitely had sweat in my eyes a few times during the course of our set. But wait! - it doesn't end there. That night, I was invited to sit in on piano for the band CHEA! for their show (they got the band back together!) outside of the festival. So I did, and beat the crap out of a piano for about an hour and a half or so. At the end of the day, I was exhausted, my hands hurt, my legs were tired, and I probably smelled funny. Such a good day...

It doesn't end there. About 12:30 Sunday afternoon, I got a call from a friend of mine asking me to fill in for his band's percussionist. So, uh...I did. I scrambled down to his place for a quick rehearsal, went to BoulderFest again, and then found out their percussionist was actually going to make the show. But since they still wanted me to play and realized he and I played different hand drums, The Kitchen Sinks took the stage with two percussionists.

So there you have it. Five shows in three days. All in all, the shows went well - Journey of Jasmine especially so - and this weekend was completely amazing. Same time next year?

The End Of A Season, The Start Of A New One

Well, there we have it. Sabres lost in overtime today. The Senators won The Prince Of Wales Trophy That Nobody Touches Out Of Severe Superstition and the right to play for the Stanley Cup. Tough loss for the Sabres, perhaps poetic justice for Ottawa. Last season, fourth seeded Buffalo eliminated top seeded Ottawa in five games, winning all three contests in ScotiaBank Place. This season, the exact opposite happened - fourth seeded Ottawa eliminated top seeded Buffalo in five games, winning all three contests in HSBC Arena. But it's not like this Sabres team was worse than last year. The problem this year was the fact that the Senators were a much tougher defensive team than I ever remember. In my opinion (and I know I share this one), Ryan Miller is still a better goaltender than Ray Emery, but Emery played well enough to win and his defensemen frustrated Buffalo every night.

Now, with that out of the way: I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Buffalo Sabres this season. This team was fast, aggressive, lethal with the puck, and a LOT of fun to watch. When a team finishes a regular season with six 30 goal scorers, you know they're good. This team fully captivated the Western New York region from October 'til May and certainly made many new hockey fans in this area. I'm a little concerned about the pending free agencies of both Daniel Briere and Chris Drury, I must admit. But otherwise, I'm looking forward to seeing how well this team rebounds next season.
BUT since the Sabres are done...it's baseball season! As I was typing this, I saw the conclusion of today's Yankees / Mets game. Mets won. I saw two errors. I was happy. Unfortunately, Tim McCarver was in the broadcast booth. He sucks.

"But what team does Berger follow?", you might be asking. Well, I follow two: the Minnesota Twins and the Milwaukee Brewers. I have my reasons, but that's another post.

And no, I have no idea who's gonna win the Red Wings / Ducks series. But I'll keep watching it. Go sports!

My band made a music video. It's completely ridiculous, but that's the point.

What?! You've Got To Be Kidding Me!

I can't believe it. There's no NHL hockey tonight! There's an AHL game going on (Hamilton Bulldogs vs. Chicago Wolves), but good luck finding it outside of those two cities. So, we're probably stuck watching baseball. Talk about a serious threat of hockey withdrawl! If my band didn't have a show tonight, I wouldn't know what to do with myself...

It's a Smock show.
We're playing here.
Best. Beer Commercial. EVER.