Hockey? In Reliant Stadium? In September?

So Andrew posted the story on the "preseason" game to be played at Reliant Stadium. And while I like the idea of a preseason game in Houston, the idea of playing it at that lifeless hanger known as Reliant Stadium, in September, just strikes me as a monumentally bad idea.

I've got some thoughts on this, and I posted them over at the mothership today. Let's just say that I'm troubled at the lack of involvement from the Aeros, the venue, the lack of an agreement with Reliant, and the lack of involvement on the part of the Toyota Center and Les Alexander.

In the comments I was shocked to discover that Phoenix does actually have a fan, and that somebody thought it was my job to write positive PR for hockey so that the sport will grow. I think if you ask my editor at the Press he would probably say that I write too many positive things about hockey when he would much prefer to see me bitching about the Texans, Astros, or Rockets.

But just in case you, dear readers, don't know it: I like hockey. I want hockey to grow in Houston. I want the NHL here on a full-time basis because it bugs me that Dallas has a team and we don't. I just wish that this Coyotes/Stars game at Reliant Stadium made more sense to me because, right now, it just has "failure" written all over it which, in turn, will shine this gigantic negative light on the city of Houston.

But what do I know, right?

Polaroids From A Season Past

Heather started this the other day when she went on about Pirate Radio and how it reflected her view of the season. That got me thinking -- which is always a dangerous thing -- and perhaps it was Heather's thinking, or perhaps it came from watching Elton John videos when getting the "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word" post. But to me, this season represents Almost Famous, one of my favorite movies.

I don't know how many of you've seen the movie, it's one of my favorites, but it bombed at the box office way back in 2000. Anyway, it's about this kid named William Miller, based on Cameron Crowe, the writer and director of the movie. And it's the story of how this 15-year-old-kid lands an assignment in 1973 from Rolling Stone -- who thinks he's much older to write a story on a band called Stillwater. He joins the band on tour, and while it's supposed to be a short journey, he finds that he just can't get away from them, going from San Diego to New York City.

I've left out a lot of the nuance, and I've really simplified the story. But there's a scene about halfway through the movie where the band has a huge fight, and they find themselves in Topeka, Kansas and on the verge of breaking up. William and the guitar player, Russell Hammond, wind up at a party in a suburban neighborhood where Hammond takes LSD and calls himself a golden god before jumping off the house into the pool. William gets him to safety, back on the band bus, and they're off for the next venue.

Here comes the point I've been building to. And I'll post the clip at the bottom. But they're all gathered on the bus, all wondering what the future holds when Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" starts to play. And slowly, one by one, the entire bus breaks out, singing the song. And William says to woman next to him, Penny Lane, played by Kate Hudson, whose character is sleeping with Hammond in the movie, that he needs to go home. And she looks at him and says, "You are home."

So what's the point of all of this? Heather talked about how there's nothing better to her than being on the press row during a game with Andrew and myself. And that's damn special. But for me, it was last Saturday night/Sunday morning. It's about 3:00 a.m. and I'm on the Pennsylvania Turnpike heading to Philadelphia so that I could catch my flight home. I'm tired. I'm trying to find anything on the radio to keep me awake. There's no traffic. No traffic. And it dawns on me. It's me, but there's nothing better than this. On the road, covering a hockey team in the playoffs. Sure, Kate Hudson's not leaning her head on my shoulder like in the movie, and I'm not on bus with a bunch of folks singing "Tiny Dancer," but I'm home.

It's all over now. Next week I'm bag to my normal world of temporary legal employment. That world that pays my bills. But I know where my home is.

Now at the end of the movie, William has to write his story. Throughout the movie, he's been taking Polaroid photos, and as he writes his story, he looks at the photos. So I hope you'll indulge me a bit as I share with you, my "Polaroids" of the season.

1. I'll remember Jean-Michel Daoust putting on a pair of boots worn by the Dynamics -- he was in his suit -- after one of the Peoria playoff games. Heather was there, she saw it, too. And I remember after another playoff game, going through the media dining room to get the media room to write. And the player wives, girlfriends, and children were gathered in the room. And there was Daoust, a huge smile on his face, playing with the kids.

2. I remember the first time we interviewed Jared Spurgeon after a game, right before he got called up to the Wild. He looked so young, so tiny -- Daoust looked like a giant compared to Spurgeon.

3. There was Colton Gillies choking up, struggling to answer, as I asked about his memories of Derek Boogaard.

4. It's not so much the game seven game-winning goal against Milwaukee that I remember so much, but instead I still see Chris Jerina jumping up from his seat and banging the glass.

5. I remember being on the ice after game seven against Hamilton as the guys came out to the salute the crowd.

6. Jon DiSalvatore always had this little twinkle in his eye during the playoffs. It was like he couldn't believe how much fun he was having, and just how much he was enjoying his teammates.

7. There were the three games toward the end of the year against Oklahoma City. That beating that Patrick O'Sullivan took shift after shift, game after game. And I thought that those people who thought O'Sullivan was soft had obviously never really seen him play because I couldn't believe the punishment he was taking, punishment he was taking yet kept getting up from.

8. I think the biggest thing I'll most remember about this team is the same thing Jon DiSalvatore will most remember. It's the guys. The way they rallied around each other. The way they sacrificed the good of their game for the betterment of the team. It was a joy to cover this team, to be around this team.

9. And I'll remember the press box, table more like it, that I shared with Andrew and Heather every game. How's that awful old song from the early-70s go, "We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun." It's hard to believe it's over. Thank you for allowing me to share a table with you.

10. I remember that game when Patrick O'Sullivan joined the team. And it became evident then just how special this team could be.

11. And I still can't get it out of my mind. Robin Lehner throwing his stick in the air and the Senators going into full on celebration mode as the Aeros sunk to their knees on the ice, not able to believe it was all over. And I'll remember the fans, applauding the team, applauding the Sens as the Calder Cup was rewarded to them and they passed it around.

And finally, some thank yous and acknowledgements.

Thank you, Rich Bocchini, for your assistance throughout the season. He took over the media relations position literally right before the season started. He was under constant pressure throughout the season, but whatever I needed, or Andrew, or Heather, he got us.

Thank you, Joe O'Donnell. You're a true professional who we're lucky to have here on your way to the big time.

Thank you to Dave Maxwell who helped with access, and with getting us the players we needed for interviews. He was a special help on the road during the playoffs when he was conduit to the locker rooms in Peoria and Milwaukee and made sure I got the players I needed.

Thanks to team trainer Jody Green for coming through with the sinus meds I so desperately needed in Peoria after game four. And thanks to the entire medical staff who so generously shared their spot on the corner with me after I tried the photography thing.

Thanks to the entire Aeros staff of trainers and equipment guys we talked to and bumped in to and got in the way of every night. Thanks to Gary and the rest of the security staff.

Thanks to Mike Yeo, Darryl Sydor, and Brian Wiseman for not treating me like the idiot about hockey that I truly am. And thanks to Jim Mill for that same reason. Maybe someday I'll know all of the ins and outs of hockey like I do of baseball.

Thanks to Jon DiSalvatore for always being willing to take questions, even after painful, difficult losses. And thanks to Jed Ortmeyer for that same reason.

I want to thank Fred Trask for being with us, and me, in spirit. I was afraid that Fred would be upset with me for trying to photograph the games, because Fred should have been the one doing that. But Fred offered me advice on what cameras to purchase and gave me tips on what I should try to doing to make my work better. Thanks, Fred. I'm just your temporary replacement, and I hope that someday I can relinquish back to you the role of T3I photographer.

Thanks to Chris Jerina, our Midwest Bureau Chief, for so willingly traveling all around Illinois and Wisconsin and other parts to provide us with photography and news.

Thanks to Andrew and Heather. And thanks to everybody for reading.

Who would have thought in December that this season would have gone like it did? Who would have thought then that everybody would be so disappointed? It was a special season for the Houston Aeros, and it's one that I'm happy that I, in my own way, was able to participate in. That we all, in our ways, were able to participate in.

And as promised...

Fact Checking Can Be Your Friend

There's this blog called The Victory Formation. I don't really know much about it. I've never even heard of it until today. But today they decided to write about Houston, the Aeros, and why it's an awful idea to move a NHL team to Houston.

I should probably just leave it alone, but they got a few facts wrong. A few facts that are easy to check wrong, so I just can't let it go. So...

The Aeros play in the AHL, not the IHL. That's a pretty easy thing to check. It's called Google. Then they state the Aeros average around 5300 a game. Once again, that figure is wrong. The Aeros actually average 6131 a game, one of the best average attendance figures in the league. And once again, this is a pretty easy number to check. Go to ahl.com, go to the stats page, and check the attendance box for 2010-2011. Then again, to do that, one actually has to know what league the team you're talking about is playing in.

Then the guy mentions that the Aeros record attendance number is just a little over 13,000 people. Once again, as you probably guessed, this is wrong. The team's record attendance number is, the best I can find, 15,552 at Dr. Joel's House of Love, a.k.a. The Summit/Compaq Center.

So if you're going to blog about something and act like an expert while doing it, try to get the basic facts, the ones that can be easily checked at least, right. Because the guy's basic premise may be right and the NHL could fail in Houston. I think he's wrong, and I think this based on the fact that the team draws as well as it does playing in a minor league and with a minimal advertising budget. But while his premise might be right, I just can't believe in it since he got the facts supporting his premise wrong.

But there's also this: if the guy got all of this little, easy, stuff wrong about the Aeros and Houston, then what all did he get wrong about every other team and location he discussed. So excuse the rant, I just hate it when people get easy, verifiable facts wrong.

The Year In Aeros Hockey: 25 Random Thoughts Centered Around Ice Girls

Hey gang, I've got a new post up over at the mothership in which I offer up my thoughts on the Aeros of 2010. And as always, I ask the big question that we all have: where are the Ice Girls?

Beyond that, it's really just my thoughts on the end of last season, the start of this season, and some of the shakeups and changes which the team has undergone. So before you head up to Toyota Center for tonight's game, how about giving it a read and letting the bosses know you enjoyed it, or hated it. (BTW: I've got to cover UH basketball tonight, so I won't be there, but I'm sure Heather and Andrew will be around to give you lots of good details. I will, however, be at the game on the 26th).

And speaking for myself, Happy Holidays, and thanks for reading, both here and the mothership. It is much appreciated.

In The Houston Press, and Random Thoughts

My latest Aeros bit in the Press is now posted -- remember, it's through the Press that I get my pass press, so let them know you're appreciative.

Now a few random thoughts.

1. If you read my stuff in the mothership, especially during baseball season, or just listen to me talk, you know that I have a love/hate relationship with the Astros, one that has veered more to hate the past decade or so -- I'm a former employee, so my feelings of Drayton McLane are anything but happy, and his failure to hire anybody competent to handle any job since he forced out Gerry Hunsicker continuously make me angry. I'm really not fond of Ed Wade, who I can't believe is still allowed to work in baseball.

What's this got to do with anything hockey, well, reading the comments from some of you guys makes me feel downright giddy when it comes to the prospects of the Astros, and me feeling giddy towards the Astros just doesn't happen.

I know that's lot of you aren't happy with where you see the team heading. I'm not either, but, it's only seven games into the season. Don't press the panic button yet. Give Mike Yeo a chance to implement his system and his plans. I think the regime in St. Paul will give him a bit more leeway than they gave Kevin Constantine last system, primarily because Yeo's their guy, so maybe that will help a bit.

2. That said, the Aeros are a FARM CLUB of the Minnesota Wild, and the team exists to serve the needs of the Wild. So if they want the Aeros producing defenseman and goalies, then so be it.

This team is never returning to the Chuck Watson days -- I don't get your nostalgia for that guy because he's the guy who kept Les Alexander from bringing the NHL to Houston, yet I read about nothing but the greatness of Chuck Watson. In many ways, I consider Watson to be on par with Bob McNair as being one of those guys treated like a saint who has done nothing to actually earn the sainthood status. And things are a bit different, primarily being that, for most of Watson's ownership, the Aeros were in the IHL, and the IHL was a bit different from the AHL in that the IHL teams didn't have lots of NHL affiliations and they could do what they wanted.

But unless the team has independent ownership, like Chicago who basically does whatever it wants, then the team is going to have to deal first and foremost with satisfying the needs of the parent club.

3. Get over Krys Kolanos already. That's a myth that's not returning, no matter how much you bitch. It wasn't the Wild's fault he didn't come back, last year's staff didn't want him back, despite his performance for them. There's a reason he's generally with a different team every year -- and doesn't even have a contract at the moment. The entire Wild office, however, did want Corey Locke back, but he got a tremendous offer to sign with the Rangers.

4. Finally, just give the team a chance, for a bit. It's not showing record-wise, but I can see a better team on the ice than what there was last year. Just like, with the Astros, I can actually see a better team on the field now that they've cut ties with a bunch of guys and have made a try at start over with a new system.

Try Harder. Execute Better.

I think John and Andrew said enough on Sunday's game. I'm not gonna say it feels like last year out there. I do think there's more chemistry. But I feel like the result is going to be the same if they don't find a way to take the tools they have demonstrated and put them all together into a cohesive game.

I definitely feel like it's too early to panic and yet after watching all this "almost" last season, it's hard to avoid the sinking feelings of "Oh no, we suck again!" Yeo stern warnings of putting last year behind us and not looking back just aren't sticking to my emotional wall.

And speaking of almost, I thought this post from Daryl Reaugh on his very amusing (to me anyway) blog rang true for this team. But maybe I'm a bitter old goalie, too. :)

Ah crap... it's too soon... I'm not ready.

I was just looking through some T3I posts and ran across this photo, and it suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks that the season could be over by the end of the week.

The boys will all pack their shit up and go north for the summer. A fresh set of guys, and a few familiar faces, will return next year, but it's never really the same again. Maybe it's better, maybe it's worse.

I love the playoffs but I hate this time of year, where I have to, once again, come to accept that bodies need to rest and minds need to recharge, and we all (myself included) need a break from the intensity of a long hockey season.

I'll get there eventually but it does take me a while. Especially knowing Wednesday could be the last time we see this particular team on the ice together. Crummy. Get it to Round 2, boys. I'm not ready for the end.

Some Musings on Team Consistently Inconsistent

Here's my latest weekend in review post over at the mothership. And as one can expect from the games this past weekend, it's not pretty. I use the revolving/injured goalie situation as a possible way to explain the weekend, though frankly, the goalie play was not the reason the team lost all three games this weekend.

And as to something Andrew discussed about the lackluster play of Jesse Schultz and Corey Locke...I didn't see Locke after Friday's loss, but as I was talking to Anton Khudobin and Robbie Earl, I did hear Schultz fuming in the background. And he was really unhappy with the loss, and he was letting some of his teammates know about it.

So Schultz's play may not be what it was a couple of weeks ago, but the guy still seems to care. And frankly, I see his and Locke's play as being the epitome of what I earlier this year labeled as team Consistently Inconsistent. The offense isn't there on the nights when the defense and goal tending are top notch. The offense is firing on all cylinders when nothing else works. It's a maddening team to watch because, even when the Aeros are on a winning streak, they don't look good and you just wait for disaster to happen.

I've got no answers, of course. But I just thought that I would throw out my observations.

Fired for using the F-bomb ...

Mr. Tom Entwhistle? You sir are on notice.

Tom is the backup PA Announcer for the Aeros when Steve is too busy working Houston Dynamo games, going on vacation or is at home sick with bacterial throat infection. I did a quick search, and I could not find an instance where Tom was fired for anything for using the F-bomb 14 times in 15 minutes.

Tom, you need to do something to get famous like the backup announcer in Iowa did this week. Great read either way ...

--Aeroscribe

Meaningless Stat Alert

Here is a random stat that you will be hard pressed to duplicate. Bored, yet wide awake in my living room tonight, I decided to research the Aeros record at San Antonio (from both the IHL and AHL) the next game after a home loss. That is the case entering tonight's game with the Rampage.

The Aeros have played at San Antonio 11 times EVER after a home loss.

Their record is 5-4-1-1 in San Antonio after losing the game before at home. One of these games was a tie, which is reflected in the OTL column.

10/23/96, 2-4 L vs. Long Beach: 10/26, 2-1 W at San Antonio Dragons
03/28/97, 1-2 L vs. San Antonio: 10/29, 1-3 L at San Antonio Dragons
01/22/98, 3-4 L vs. Cincinnati (SO): 01/27, 2-5 L at San Antonio Dragons
11/22/03, 3-4 L vs. Chicago: 11/23, 4-5 L at San Antonio Rampage *OT
01/16/04, 3-6 L vs. San Antonio: 01/17, 1-1 T at San Antonio Rampage *OT
03/04/06, 1-5 L vs. Hartford: 03/05, 2-4 L at San Antonio Rampage
11/19/06, 3-4 L vs. Hartford: 11/21, 2-4 L at San Antonio Rampage
12/12/06, 1-4 L vs. Manitoba: 12/14, 3-1 W at San Antonio Rampage
04/13/07, 2-6 L vs. Iowa: 04/14, 4-2 W at San Antonio Rampage
10/17/07, 2-3 L vs. Rockford: 10/19, 6-5 W at San Antonio Rampage *SO
11/28/08, 1-2 L vs. Milwaukee(OT): 11/29, 3-1 W at San Antonio Rampage

So what does this all mean?
Nothing ... except now I am really tired, and it appears that an Aeros win tonight is possible, but not likely.