Can Kathleen Edwards make me a hockey fan?

My sports acculturation took place in Florida in the 1950s and '60s, so hockey wasn't part of it. The Tampa Tribune sports pages had short pieces about the exploits of teams with odd names like Maple Leafs (Didn't they know the plural of leaf is leaves?) and Red Wings, but they were there for the benefit of snowbird vacationers and retirees. I've been to two hockey games in my life. The first was in 1970, when I was a junior lawyer at a New York City firm visiting a client in Buffalo and got taken to a Sabres-Bruins game in which Bobby Orr set some record (a friend who knows hockey suggested it was probably "scoring by a defenseman"). The other was a Rangers-Senators game at the Garden in the 1980s, about which I remember nothing except that I'm pretty sure Ottawa won. I did learn a little about the rules of hockey from watching Slap Shot.

Kathleen Edwards is a Canadian singer I got to know, and like very much, through the good offices of Eliot Wagner. Her video of "I Make the Dough, You Get the Glory" (clip above), including her attempt to imitate the Hanson Brothers, gives me a whole new perspective on the game. I'll lace up your skates anytime, Kathleen.

Mets finish fourth again; Rays get wild card.

The Mets failed to meet even my modest hopes, once again finishing fourth in the National League East, largely because of a dismal late-season performance against the Nationals. As consolation, my old hometown (and now, sorry dearest wife, favorite American League) team, the Rays, have won the AL wild card. Should they survive the playoffs, I'll be forced to root for the Phony Baseball League entry in the World Series. Brace yourself for a few more baseball posts.

Update: The Rays start strong with a 9-0 drubbing of the Rangers. If they were the Red Sox, my wife would take this as a bad omen.