Marty

It's Game 7 and halfway through the period there was a noticeable number of empty seats. I don't care where the fans were, they should be watching that game. How old? Old enough for Mike Babcock to tell the media the Wings were out of gas. Don't get me wrong, they're still a great team but old man time is creeping in. Did I say WOOOOOOHOOOOOO?

Did I say WOOOO HOOOOO?

Thanks bud. Feels pretty good here now!

It's one big party here now! Wow! We are the Champs! I had the wonderful experience of watching the Cup win with 14 little boys between 6 and 10 years old. It was AWESOME! These kids will never forget how awesome it was. The excitement was ridiculous. Five observations: 1. Fleury came up HUGE! I was worried about him. 2. Alot of empty seats in Detroit. 3. Classless fans. Booing the Cup winner? Detroit deserves the misery. 4. They are getting old. Pens got to more loose pucks tonite than in any other game. 5. PENS ARE YOUNG! Jump on the wagon! Super Bowl and Stanley Cup in same year. And to be the world's best fisherman, we have the trifecta here in Pittsburgh. Yeeeeehaaaawww! Lucky for the world that the Pirates suck, my ego would be worse than it is!

That was fun! What's up with all the empty seats?

C'mon, Pens can't win. Stoty says it was over after Game 2. LET"S GO PENS!

Say what you want Stoty and the other Wings apologists, Detroit has lost 3 of the last 4 games in this series. The Wings are good and still could win the Cup but they aren't that much better than the Pens. Now that this series has come down to one game, game 5 is now irrelevant and I just hope Fleury can put one good game together on Wings' ice. God, I wish the Pens had home ice. They'd be favored to win that game. And, by the way, the others are dead on. Osgood kept that game close. The Pens dominated the play tonite. Here's to hoping these kids can find a way to win in Detroit. And yes, I think Billy Guerin looked sloppy tonite. Orpik struggled too. Say what you want about Malkin but the guy is the catalyst right now. I'm hoping Sid hasn't played his best game yet. Let's get this town a Cup to go along with our Super Bowl trophy.

Lunker, You're talking about a different play. I know which one you're talking about where he laid on the ice for a bit. I'm talking about the one that occurred at the end of game 4 with about 2 minutes left. He didn't lay on the ice at all. He got right up but it was clearly a penalty. The one you're talking about was a penalty too but I think that was game 3. He just embellished it too much.

We Pens fans sure are quiet. That was a total embarassment. I'm just glad I was stuck at my daughters' softball game and didn't make myself sit through that game. I didn't see Talbot's slash but the no call trip/slash at the end of game 4 on Crosby was gutless too. I can't remember who it was but it was gutless sour grapes when the game was over.

Very cool.

Been fishing the Nip and the Upper French for almost 30 years and never seen one. I'd like to get into some though.

Too bad he's not down here in Pittsburgh. My son loves Dave. Even at 6, he gets the birdsnest routine at the opening of the show. He laughs so hard every time. That's a very cool thing. My only concern is what happens if he's invited to a Leafs game. Will he bring an auger?

The Pens have surprised me, for sure. Didn't think Fleury had it in him. He still scares me. Crosby has hardly been invisible. He's set up more good scoring chances than anyone. Ask Babcock. He's tying up the Wings best players and making them chase him all over. The Wings are devoting so much time to contain him he's making Malkin the most productive player in this series, on the second line nonetheless. He's made Osgood the second most productive player. He's had a ton of chances and he's set up even more. Ozzie's been pretty darn good. The Wings are starting to argue among themselves on the ice too. I like that. Talk about whining, on every draw they were complaining to the refs. The officiating hasn't been great either way but there is no doubt but they have gotten away alot of neutral zone interference. The Versus commentators talk about it constantly. The Pens fans may have been down after being 0-2 (just like any fan would against Detroit) but the only thing worse was the cockiness of the Wings fans. C'mon Stoty, you know this one isn't over yet. Odds still favor the Wings but it's going to be a fun ride. Few bad bounces and goals and the Pens could very well be up in this series. Barry Melrose said it best. The Pens weren't sure they had a chance, now they know they do. The Wings thought it was locked up. Now they know it's no sure thing. Attitude favors the Pens. Sure hope the Wings get some rest. They sure need it. In any event, the Pens aren't making a bad showing for a team that had a slim shot at the playoffs with a month left the season. Being such big underdogs in this series, the pressure is on the Wings.

Dawn, welcome to OFC! I can assure everyone that Todd and Dawn have more respect for that fishery than anyone. The campers are well advised about the regs and they are enforced strictly there.

Whew. I'm glad I read the entire report. At first I thought Marc was setting up a quick strike rig. Nice report.

The Pens are in trouble. Down 2-0 is real bad for them. However, to say that Detroit has dominated the play demonstrates you haven't watched the games or you're just stoking the fire. They have, however, dominated the score board and three bad goals given up by a goalie who like to flop around like a fish and an uncharacteristic inability to finish some tremendous scoring opportunities have put the Pens where they are. The Wings will win at least one here.

Let's Go Pens! My nephew will be there cheering them on.

Will you adopt me? If not, when I die, I wanna come back as you.

That visual brings back the memories. I am laughing so hard right now.

Thanks for the kind comments everyone. Spiel, I'm not sure we're going to make it this year but Dawson keeps telling me he wants to have his birthday party at Lakair. I told him we may have problems with the guest list. Rob, change isn't always a good thing.

That's funny stuff.

Great report guys. Wow, I know I called my trip with Marc a "trip of a lifetime". Now that makes two. How does he do it? Anyone take a shower?

For the Memorial Day holiday, the whole family headed out to a local farm pond for some panfish and bass fishing. We also took my nephew Carson with us. Carson had only fished one time as a very young child and asked to come along. Of course, it wasn't a problem. This pond is loaded with big bluegills and sunfish and yields the ocassional 5 or 6 pound bass. Yesterday didn't give us a big one but it sure put out alot of fish. Some of you have met Dawson, my 6 year old son. He lives to fish (Sorry WFN). He baits hooks and helps take the fish off and release them. He just has to touch every fish that's caught. Here he is with his big smile (and hat autographed by Dave Mercer) knowing the fish he caught on a tube was bigger than mine: He had a blast: Haley and Hannah, my 10 year old twins also got into the act. They put a hurtin on the fish. Here's Haley: And Hannah: Ally, my 8 year old, showed me how it's done: Finally, Sarah, the 3 year old, liked to catch them but she didn't want to touch them: One of the best parts of this trip was taking my nephew Carson. He only fished once as a youngster but he's 10 now. He had a smile the entire time. He told me that he now wants to go fishing with us whenver we go. Gotta love that (and he sure knows his football too): It was a great day with the family. I was so proud of all of them. They didn't want to leave. Can't wait to get back out there.

Not boring at all. The best catch of that day may be the fishin flu your girlfriend caught.

Raf, I have the H3Os (Tsunami). I love them. I've used all three lenses. I've had them for about 7 years and they have held up great.