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So I’m here in Texas trying to watch the playoffs… really hard unless you have the NHL Center Ice package (or equivalent thereof).

So with the new snafu that’s going on with the Phoenix Coyotes franchise (the owner is trying to get it put into bankruptcy so he can move it to Ontario), most likely the NHL will resolve the problem, and the ‘Yotes will remain in Phoenix.  But this brings up the hotly-contested issue of franchise locations within the NHL.  I completely agree that Canada needs to acquire a franchise (the overall consensus and my opinion: Winnipeg, MB).  I also think there are a few cities in the U.S. that really should NOT have gotten a franchise before my picks for locations.

Having read various articles, blogs, etc. on the issue, the consensus of persons commenting on the topic conclude the following cities are simply pariahs that should lose their franchise, and my pariah suggestions are noted with an astriks.

• Phoenix Coyotes (Phoenix, AZ)
  Partially Agree.  They’re in AZ for the long-haul, they have a 30-year lease at their arena.  If LA can have a team for 42 years, why not Phoenix.  Though I do think there were plenty of other cities that should have been considered before awarding a franchise to Phoenix.
• Atlanta Thrashers (Atlanta, GA)
  Agree.  WTF was the NHL thinking?  The previous attempt to franchise there (Atlanta Flames) fizzled out after 8 seasons.  The only reason Atlanta was awarded a franchise was because the league needed to expand evenly to bring in the NY Islanders (to stave off the WHA’s presence in NY-metro area).
• Nashville Predators (Nashville, TN)
  Agree.  WTF… I can see them leaving the city soon.
• Columbus Blue Jackets (Columbus, OH)
  Undecided. A bit close to Pittsburg territory.  Good population though.
• Florida Panthers (Sunrise, FL – near Miami) and Tampa Bay Lightning (Tampa, FL)
  Partially Agree.  This comes from a lot of Canadian fans, and I can understand this, I remember when these two started playing, I thought “Hockey in Florida?”  Both have been lackluster the past few years… Tampa won the cup before the lockout.  So if one has to go, it would have to be the Panthers.
• Carolina Hurricanes (Raleigh, NC)
  Disagree.  This comes from New England fans, the old Hartford Whalers should be brought back.  It’s not going to happen.  In that region you have Boston Bruins and New York Rangers and Islanders… that’s market saturation.  The Whalers were pulled in from the WHA merger.  Though I will say that Milwaukee should have gotten the old Whalers franchise.
• Buffalo Sabres (Buffalo, NY)
  Disagree.  I think I saw this only ONCE… and on a blog comment.  Canadian fans want a franchise in Hamilton, ON.  Understandable, but Buffalo’s been a pretty consistent club.  Then there are the fans, Buffalo fans are a breed apart (particularly the NFL’s Buffalo Bills) same goes for their hockey.  Need evidence?  Watch Buffalo ’66.  Enough said.  Although should the Sabres ever go under, move the team to Hamilton, ON… I don’t think the Buffalo fans would mind the drive.
• NY Islanders (Uniondale, NY)*
  Got the Rangers, the Islanders were created to squeeze out the WHA.  They’ve served their purpose.  Their stadium is one of, if not the smallest in the NHL.  Time to go.  (For complete disclosure, I am a NY Rangers fan… unless Seattle gets a team)
• LA Kings (Los Angeles, CA)*
  One Campbell Trophy in their 42 year existence.  Anaheim Ducks are close by, and they have a Stanley Cup.  Much like the NY Islanders, time to go.

My picks for cities deserving of an NHL franchise:

1. Seattle, WA
   I’m partial to this because I’m a Seahawks and Mariners fan.  Plus, Seattle is home to the first American team to win the Stanley Cup (the Seattle Metropolitans).  A nice rivalry for Canucks fans.  Needs an arena though… here’s a proposed arena.  The best part of this proposed arena is that it would be privately financed… which is a good thing, as the area residents got screwed over by the state legislature when they voted in a referendum (“NO”), but then the reps went and helped finance Safeco and Qwest fields for the Mariners and Seahawks.
2. Winnipeg, MB
   Really self explanitory.
3. Milwaukee, WI
   I saw this on an article, I agree, they have the population and the arena.
4. Portland, OR
   They used to have the Rosebuds (competed for Stanley Cup in the early days).  First professional hockey team in the US.  Nice arena capacity too.
5. Hamilton, ON
   They got the numbers and the desire.  Just a bit too close to Toronto and Buffalo.  But they can support it and therefore afford the territorial fees.
6. Kansas City, KS
   They used to have the Scouts, need a team for the western conference.

Places that have been mentioned that would really have no chance in hell:

• Houston, TX
  One of the muggiest cities in the US.  Ice conditions in the latter part of the season would be awful.  I doubt they would have the fans to support it.
• Oklahoma, OK
  I wish I remembered where I saw this.  I nearly pissed myself laughing… it mentioned since OKC got the Sonics from Seattle, they should get a hockey team too.

I recently did a bit of reading up on English accents, particularly accents and dialects of American English.  Being here in Texas, some of my native-Texan friends have noticed my Northeastern accent.  This particularly applies to the awe or ah sound of my “o”‘s, e.g. off, coffee… so I tell them to fuck awff.

After reading some wikipedia (not the most reliable source, but look at the table at the bottom of the page for the various accents of the US), I found this article linked from the Hudson Valley accent page.  The author seems to know a lot about what doughnuts are called in various parts of the country.  http://www.geocities.com/yvain.geo/dialects.html

Doughnut:

• New England: cymbals, simballs, and boil cakes
• Hudson Valley: crullers and olycooks
• Inland Northern: friedcakes
• Upper Midwestern and Rocky Mountain: bismarks
• Chicago (any sweet roll is): doughnut
• North Midland: belly sinkers, doorknobs, dunkers, and fatcakes
• Pennsylvania German-English: fasnacht
• Southern Costal: cookies

I really don’t watch much TV these days.  With the exception of a few good series (that make it past the chopping block), there’s not much there except B.S. Reality TV, game shows, singing/dancing shows, shopping networks, etc.

The one thing TV has too much of are these damn blowhards on any station you turn on, particularly when it comes to the news channels.

Talk format news is not news… in fact, it’s really annoying
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I’m in the midst of reading a rather lengthy article about computer file systems (fs) and their sometime sordid histories, here.

While reading it, it mentions a number of operating system (OS), and it evoked some nostalgic memories for me. So I got to thinking about them, and figured I’d blurb something up here. So here we go.

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For a paltry $28k… I’m sure Detroit could do it en mass for less, but that would require them to refit, retool, etc. their assembly lines (mega bucks)… something they are really hesitant to do so with carbon-fiber (hence why they aren’t tripping over themselves to do it).

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/120/motorhead-messiah.html