If it rains in Pittsburgh on Jan 1st...

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No. The NHL Winter Classic is being hosted at Heinz Field between the Pens and the Caps. They're predicting rain on Saturday in Pittsburgh. I'm hoping the accuweather forecast is as full of shit as it normally is. They're also predicted temps in the low 50's as a high, which is unseasonably warm for Pittsburgh in late December/early January.

My wife's cousin is actually going to the game though, and I'm super jealous.
Added at: 22:05
HOLY CRAP! I've been looking for this! This is that HBO special that premiered a few weeks ago right?
 
No. The NHL Winter Classic is being hosted at Heinz Field between the Pens and the Caps. They're predicting rain on Saturday in Pittsburgh. I'm hoping the accuweather forecast is as full of shit as it normally is. They're also predicted temps in the low 50's as a high, which is unseasonably warm for Pittsburgh in late December/early January.

My wife's cousin is actually going to the game though, and I'm super jealous.
Added at: 22:05


HOLY CRAP! I've been looking for this! This is that HBO special that premiered a few weeks ago right?
Yes. New episode tomorrow at 10 EST.
 
I dunno, I got a thing against big, fat whiny coaches who are supposed to drive and motivate finely tuned athletes, while at the same time they look like they just stuffed their faces with donuts and wear size 52 waist pants.

I'm lookin' at you Andy Reed.
 
I dunno, I got a thing against big, fat whiny coaches who are supposed to drive and motivate finely tuned athletes, while at the same time they look like they just stuffed their faces with donuts and wear size 52 waist pants.

I'm lookin' at you Andy Reed.
 
I'd laugh my ass off it it rained.

Three advantages to having All-Star Game tickets 1) not having to worry about the weather outside the RBC Center 2) Getting to go to the All-Star Game, and 3) Listening to Pens fans whine about how they deserve to be hosting the All-Star Game.
 
You ever notice that Jim Schoenfeld sounds like the third McKenzie brother in that clip? :D
Added at: 16:36
(ETA: new 24/7... check out Ben Lovejoy's face after the plane ride to DC. >_<)
 
Watching Mario Lemieux, Paul Coffey, Ron Francis, Larry Murphy, and Bryan Trottier skate today made me feel about 10 years old again, sitting in the living room wearing my Number 66 or 68 jersey and wishing to grow up to be like those guys . LOVED IT!
Added at: 12:03
 
DAMNIT! Now I won't get to watch it since I'll be at the Hurricanes v Devils game. So much for my day filled with hockey.
 
I root for my team, and the Hurricanes are on the cusp of being great this year. Besides I'll take fifth row seats over a televised game played on shitty ice any day.
 
I think this game was a lesson for the NHL to only have the outdoor events in a stadium that can use a sort of cover in case the weather is going to lead to a huge degradation of the hockey performance on the ice. It was pouring out there! Players prolly felt sorta miserable out there and you can tell that it affected the behaviors of the puck and the speed of the game. Heck they even changed sides during the game as one team had a huge clear advantage over the other.

What really got to me what the absolutely DREADFUL camera work in this game! What the hell? The camera never stopped moving up and down, left and right and felt downright trippy.
 
What the NHL needs to take home from that game is that bad ice makes great players average. And that's not good for TV. ,
 
How in the smurfing smurf is a smurfing bear hug considered "incidental contact"? >_<

That whole game was a cluster smurf. It just proved one thing: you can't play hockey in the rain. The better team didn't win. Even if the Pens won, I wouldn't have considered it a victory. The winner of that game was the team that got the luckiest puck-puddle bounces.
 
A few things:
  1. This was the death knell of Winter Classics starting before 6 PM local time from here on out. This game is going to be played at night from here on out. The NHL saw the ratings for this thing and dollar signs started dancing in their heads.
  2. The elements were a key reason, at least for me, why I wanted to watch the game. Adding that factor to the game made it even more fun to watch. Eric Fehr's game-winner was completely the result of the weather conditions: Fleury went to play the puck, shot it out to where (normally) it would bounce off to a d-man on the boards, but instead it got slowed down in a wet puddle - and Fehr collected it and scored. Maybe it's just the Packer fan in me, but it's fun seeing professional athletes having to battle the weather as well as the other team.
  3. The only thing about this game that probably sucked was actually being there and watching it live. And NBC's camera shots were atrocious. Just because you have an overhead blimp shot does NOT mean you should use it constantly, especially when there's a rush up the ice.
  4. The NHL needs to have a rotation of venues and opponents for this game, or it won't help with growing the sport. Next year, get a West coast team involved in the game - LA, San Jose, Anaheim, maybe even Phoenix - while playing at a pre-set venue. I'd be all for either a game at Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium or at "The Big House" in Ann Arbor.
 
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