PITB Sells Out

In case you missed it, Pass it to Bulis has joined the Vancouver Sun just in time for the playoffs. For those who think we're selling out, understand that selling out requires the promise of far more money than we're forecasted to receive.

Make sure you update your bookmarks to http://www.passittobulis.com (or, our clunky new URL, http://vansunsportsblogs.com/ topics/ hockey/ passittobulis/) rather than http://passittobulis.blogspot.com.

Updates will no longer be posted to Blogspot. Wish us luck adapting to a finicky new Wordpress engine.

Rest assured, we will continue to provide the same quality of commentary on the Canucks that you have come to know and love, and that we do not intend to become [bigger] jerks. The only reason this was at all possible is because we have the greatest readers in Internet history and we don't intend to lose sight of that.

Now go here, because that's where we are now.

HNIC Revisits the Tanner Glass Scrabble Challenge

I'm sure you're getting a little tired of Canucks Scrabble coverage, but we've had requests for the Subway bio clip featuring Tanner Glass. With that, (and thanks again to the remarkably generous CanucksHD), here's last Saturday's Hockey Night Subway bio, featuring Tanner Glass, PITB, and a brief return to the Canucks' Scrabble challenge. As you can see, HNIC smartly avoided any photos that would feature yours truly, instead opting for candid shots of the extremely photogenic Tanner Glass. I'd have done the same. Wise choice, CBC.

Scott Oake seems confused as to who won, but he's got a decent line on DOUGHIER: I think that's what happens to goaltenders after they quit playing. Likely a shot at Kelly Hrudey, like every other joke he makes. Funny stuff, although I prefer Daniel's line: As in, Harrison is doughier than Tanner Glass. It's funny 'cause it's true.

Ryan Kesler on After Hours, Scott Oake Loves PITB

Here's Ryan "Astro Boy" Kesler on After Hours. As usual, the segment's a must-watch, and you have to admire Scott Oake's skill as an interviewer to make it so. Kesler's not an easy interview. He's a surly guy that punches questions, and ends sentences abruptly. There's simply no avoiding dead air when he's the guest.

This one also features the best PITB mention yet (and the second time on the evening someone on the HNIC crew said my name; it was Harrison Night in Canada). At 17:55, Oake asks Kesler another @passittobulis question, marking the third time we've gotten a tweet on the show (first, second). The question in question? Ask Kesler if it's just a coincidence that his son was born exactly 9 months (to the day) after he signed his big contract extension. Regular Bulies might know that we stumbled across this suspicious synchronization of dates while putting together the 2010 in review year-end retrospective.

Kesler is so caught off guard by this question that he a) cracks a disbelieving smile, then b) is briefly rendered speechless, then c) proceeds drop a swearbomb live on the air. He explains how it was during the postseason and he caught crap from AV about sex in the playoffs. Except he doesn't say crap, no sir, he certainly does not. Move over, George Stromboulopoulos, Ryan Kesler's the new badass in town.

This video is also worth watching for Kevin Weekes' blue velvet blazer. Do you like blue velvet? Well, tough, because Kevin Weekes does. And so does David Lynch.

Canucks TV: Canucks Scrabble Battle

Cory Schneider on After Hours, PITB Remains Famous

As though he weren't already doing enough to make himself eminently desirable to other organizations, here's Cory Schneider on After Hours, proving he's a downright fabulous interview to boot. Turns out he's as great in front of the camera as he is in front of the net. He's open, he's honest, and he's funny. For example: when asked about his days playing baseball, he deadpans, "I played catcher, so I must have some sort of equipment fetish." And if dry wit's not your flavour, he even does... wait for it... impressions. Yes, you heard correctly. Cory Schneider's Jannik Hansen impression is deadly accurate, and therefore hilarious.

This interview also marks the second time Scott Oake has read a Pass it to Bulis tweet to an interviewee (after the Brendan Morrison sitdown from late October). We are so famous. The question in question, at 7:52 of the clip: "Ask Schneider if he's ever considered putting laxative in Luongo's water, like Dany Sabourin did to get some playoff minutes."

Schneider's a pretty solid sport, again deadpanning a humorous response: "You never get your hands dirty. You gotta have someone else do it for you. You gotta stay away from the crime scene."

It was a solid night for Canucks' tweeps overall, as @Bieksa_Luvver3, @Guts_Mctavish24, and @TheFalconer all had questions read on-air as well. The Falconer's was my favourite, as it led to the Jannik Hansen impression I had no idea existed. We might need to pick his brain in the future, as he appears to know a lot of things we don't. Who are you, Falconer? Are you Batman?

The Tanner Glass Scrabble Battle Is On

How did he get a shirt? We don't even have one yet.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Tanner Glass Scrabble challenge is officially a go. If you'll recall, back in November, we issued an open challenge to the Canucks' grinder, calling him out and questioning his Scrabbling abilities (which, rumour has it, are questionable). Two weeks later, shockingly, Tanner Glass accepted. Also, there were t-shirts. We promised to update everyone in the new year.

Well, here's your update: Tanner, the Canucks, and PITB have come together, and the Scrabble Battle will go down Wednesday, February 23, at 3pm. We're stoked. Here's Derek Jory of Canucks.com with the details:

Whether Harrison Mooney, half the manpower behind PassItToBulis.com, was serious or not when he posted an open Scrabble challenge to Tanner Glass after hearing the Vancouver Canucks forward reveal he is an avid player on road trips on the Team 1040, Glass has accepted and the stage is now set for the first ever Scrabble Battle.

The inaugural Scrabble Battle will pit Glass and Mooney in a one-hour showdown of everyone’s favourite word game on Wednesday, February 23rd at 3 p.m. PST; fans can follow each player’s moves as they happen on Canucks.com/scrabble via the virtual game board and by following @VanCanucks on Twitter.

The goal of the Scrabble Battle is to raise as much money as possible for Canucks for Kids Fund. All proceeds from the t-shirts go directly to Canucks for Kids Fund, (CFKF) which has reached communities throughout BC by granting more than 32 million dollars benefiting areas of health and wellness, grassroots hockey and education since 1986.

If you want to show your support for either Team Glass or Team Mooney, pledges are also being accepted with all funds generated again supporting CFKF. The hook here is that the player who raises the most money by the morning of the 23rd will get to play first during the Scrabble Battle.

And that's that.

The best thing ever? In the header photo, Tanner is mimicking his pose on the shirt while wearing the shirt. It's very meta. It's like the Inception, but with shirts.

Here's the deal, Bulies: please, please, for the love of all that is good, go donate money on my behalf. I want that first move and I need all the help I can get. I'm not sure if you know this, but Tanner Glass has some wealthy friends. This one Italian guy he knows is making 10 million this year. This other Italian guy he knows pays the first Italian's guy salary. Suffice it to say, I'm in tough.

But so help me if Glass gets that first play. I could wind up playing from behind all game, and that's unacceptable. And so help me if I lose. If that happens, I'm retiring from blogging forever. Disclaimer: no I'm not.

Anyway, #TeamMooney.

Adventures in Road Hockey: PITB Is Unstoppable, Vancouver Wellwoods Runners-Up at Nationals

The Vancouver Wellwoods, PITB's adopted women's road hockey team.

In case you live in a cave (or another country), you probably already knew that last weekend was the 1st anniversary of the 2010 Winter Olympics, that awesome party we hosted last year. To celebrate and relive the fever of those awesome two weeks, Vancouver residents reconvened on Granville street for festivities and, appropriately, hockey. PITB was there, as our pal Richard Loat, founder of Five Hole For Food, invited us out to take part in a Canucks' bloggers mini-tournament with fellow blogs Head to the Net, Canucks Corner, and Canucks Hockey Blog.

Needless to say, we wrecked house. Our team (comprised of Cinnamon Toast Funk bassist Jason Vander-Hoek, my boss Jared Ginter, and Skeeter in goal), was, in scientific terms, hecka boss. And speaking of bosses, it turns out mine rocks at road hockey. Also, Daniel was a freaking wall. Even I had an honour roll moment, thoroughly undressing CHB's JJ Guerrero before going forehand-backhand on their stunned netminder.

As Bruce Ng said, it was as if the rink was tilted (also: it was). Additional observation: Richard Loat is big, but he doesn't play big. Quit being such a perimeter player, Loat.

But enough about us. Last weekend's real road hockey newsmakers are the Vancouver Wellwoods, PITB's adopted women's street hockey team. If you'll recall, the Wellwoods were headed down to Victoria to vie for the Redwood Cup in the national road hockey championships. After the jump, the ladies in baby blue tell you all about the tournament in their own words:

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Well, we’re back. And no, we didn’t bring home the National title, the thousands of dollars, or the obscenely large trophy. I figure Welly wouldn’t have wanted it that way--it would have been far too cliche and predictable. What we did do was have a fantastic weekend playing our collective guts out on the streets of Victoria, against quality female teams from all across the country.

True to our motto, we didn’t train or practice at all for this 5-games-in-2-days marathon. We’re all busy girls with full time jobs - Julia “Bergy” Staszewski is an up and coming lawyer, Laura “Kos” Kosakoski is in her first year of medical school, and Kelly “Sunshine” James spent the past two months in Patagonia with the penguins! So really, we wouldn’t have had time to train, even if we wanted to.

DAY 1: ROUND ROBIN

Let me make one thing clear about street hockey: it’s not ice hockey. And our failure to realize that probably what cost us our first game of the tournament. As ice hockey players (we’re all UBC Thunderbird alumni) we kept trying to make too many cute, off-the-curb breakout passes instead of just airing the ball out of our zone. I found myself making sliding motions that, instead of propelling me across the crease, simply removed the skin from my knees. On the ice you can coast a bit, but on dry land you constantly catch yourself standing still. The team we were playing, the Victoria Extreme, are an actual ball hockey team, so they already knew all of this. They won the opener handily, 4-2.

My knees! The Road Warrior pads do nothing!

After game one, we a) ate a bag of bagels, and b) put our heads together to come up with a better game plan.

Editor's note: eating and thinking--how Wellwood of you.

The team we were playing next, Regina, was the team that knocked us out of the tournament in 2009. We decided that we had to open up our game to generate more chances off the rush, which meant we’d also be backchecking like we’d never backchecked before. It payed off, and the girls found their scoring touch in the second half. We took Game 2 by a score of 6-1.

It was a beautiful day at this point, and Wellwoodian spirits were high. The sun was out, lots of fans had gathered to watch the afternoon games, and “Dog Days are Over” was pumping out of speakers lining the harbour (which, by this point, was festively sprinkled with dozens of colourful, floating hockey balls!). It was a great day for hockey, and we had one round-robin game to go.

Game 3 against the Calgary Mudpuppies was a tough one to take because we played our best game of the tournament and still came up short. The girls worked hard in the corners, and blocked a TON of shots, including a nasty one that Kali-Ann Cameron took up high off the chest. Cammy is definitely the Ryan Johnson of the Wellwoods, in that she loves to block shots in the most horror-inducing way possible. I remember one time a guy shot her so hard in the stomach that the first words out of his mouth were “Oh God, you weren’t pregnant were you!?!”

Editor's note: that guy needs to practice speaking to women. Also, he seems to have a lot of faith in the strength of his shot, considering he asks this question in past tense.

She’s a tough cookie. Anyway, that Calgary game was probably the most evenly matched female street hockey game ever played, a nailbiter right to the end, and was decided on the final shot of the shootout. Ping! Post and in. I hate that sound.

Our 1-1-1 record was just enough to get us 3rd place, and a bye into the semi-finals on Saturday. We were exhausted on Friday night... in our postgame hot tub sesh we sat there and marinated in stunned silence with thousand-yard-stares on our faces. We went out for burgers, sampled some local microbrews, then we all passed out watching Criminal Minds in our hotel room at 7:30 p.m. We are WILD.

Editor's note: I've long suspected that Wellwood prefers Law & Order.

DAY 2: THE SEMIFINALS

The alarm clock on Day 2 was immediately followed by a symphony of groans. Everything hurt. For once, I felt glad to be a goalie, because even though my muscles were killing me, at least my legs weren’t rainbow-coloured like the other girls’. Our semi-final game was against Victoria, the team that beat us in our opener before we had our heads screwed on properly. And unlike Friday, it was NOT a beautiful day out there. There was some serious weather going on. Taking the advice of a team that had already played, we wrapped hockey tape sticky-side-out around our running shoes for extra traction.

“One, two, three, WELLWOODS!”

Rather than sum up the semi-final, I’ll just recommend you check out the footage. The first half of that clip is the men’s semifinal, but if you skip ahead they filmed a lot of our game. At 49:30ish you’ll hear us get an excellent shoutout on HNIC. Surely Kyle Wellwood must be aware of us now! Other highlights include Kos’s beauty of a tying goal at 56:50, and of course the shootout at the end, where Sunshine sniped blocker side to seal the victory. I love shootout victories because I get to execute the glove-and-blocker-throw celebration. PITB was well represented at the semis by @beninvictoria, who braved the rain with a sign that said “Wellard”. Is that a Wellwood/Ballard combo or something? I can never keep up with the Internet.

Editor's note: One Bulie is hardly "well-represented." But thanks to Ben for being our Victorian ambassador.

We only had forty minutes between the end of the semis and the final against Calgary. We used the time to try and dry off, which in retrospect was 100% pointless. While we were inside, the rain turned sideways and got angrier.

It was wet out there.

I think there were two interesting things about the final game. One was that there was live play-by-play commentary over the speakers. It’s a strange feeling to play hockey and be able to make a play and hear it evaluated with your name mispronounced all at the same time! The other interesting thing is what happened to Kim Allan’s face.

“Why so serious?”

This is Kim Allan, and her face doesn’t always look like this. Despite getting her teeth loosened by a high stick in the first half of the final, she stayed in the game and didn’t miss a shift. The Calgary player was very apologetic after the game, so there are no hard feelings, but it was still a gruesome moment . Being girls, we usually wear full cages, so eating a hockey stick is a relatively rare occurrence. It’s three days later and she’s still tweezing fibreglass shards from the inside of her mouth.

I guess I’m obligated to mention that we lost the final by a score of 5-1. But it was 2-1 with three minutes left, so it was actually a really close game! Ben, who donned a stylish poncho for this one, can vouch for that. Calgary scored on a penalty shot to make it 3-1, then I got pulled in a desperate attempt to come back, and it backfired on us. I don’t want to talk about it. Too soon, too soon.

As runners-up, we got our hotel rooms comped for the weekend and a nice buffet breakfast on Sunday morning (mmmm.... Victory Bacon...). Even though we didn’t win Nationals, we had a great Saturday night out on the town, and then finally it was time to drag our hung-over bodies back into the team bus (read: my Ford Taurus wagon) and board the ferry back to reality. What a weekend, though. It was awesome to have a good old fashioned hockey roadie with some of my best friends.

That’s the greatest thing about the Wellwoods, really... when push comes to shove, I know every single one of those girls has my back, and vice versa. I’d take a bullet (or a mouthful of fiberglass) for any of them. And teams like that don’t just come along every day.

“When the wind blows hard and the sky is black, Wellwoods fly together!”

Thanks for reading, and keep following @TheWellwoods because you definitely haven’t seen the last of us. "Soft hands, Sharp minds, and Overall Adorableness!"

Editor's note: many thanks to the Wellwoods for being the best group o' ladies since the cast of Designing Women.

I Find This Photo Awesome: Tanner Glass Signing A Scrabble Board

Here's your New Year Eve's dose of awesomeness. Look closely at this photo and you'll see that Canucks fan Elson (@awesomeguyelson) brought a Scrabble board--cleverly done up like the Tanner Glass: Scrabble Champ t-shirt--to a Tanner Glass signing appearance. Needless to say, I find this photo awesome.

Tanner Glass is such a cool guy. He's been such a great sport about all this, and seems as genuinely shocked by the attention and interest as we are. I don't know how many Tanner Glass jerseys sell at the Canucks team store, but I can confidently say I'll be buying one someday soon.

Tanner Glass: Scrabble Champ t-shirts will be on sale early in the new year with all proceeds going to Canucks Place Children's Hospice.

Thanks to our pal Katie Maximick (@canucksgirl44) for the tip.

The Tanner Glass Scrabble Challenge Lands on HNIC

In case you missed it, here's the Subway Bio from tonight's Hockey Night in Canada telecast, which focused on Tanner Glass and PITB's Scrabble challenge. Very cool.

If you're still in the dark about this whole thing, here's the summary: we issued an open challenge to play a game of Scrabble with Tanner Glass. One of our readers (the unsinkable Annie May) made a t-shirt. Glass saw the t-shirt; he accepted the challenge. Now it's news--big news at that. The way this story continues to spread baffles us each time we think about it.

Many, many thanks to the invaluable CanucksHD for providing us with this clip. You sir, are 1000 shades of grand.

The Tanner Glass Scrabble Challenge Goes Mainstream

Up until today, you might have been forgiven for not knowing that Tanner Glass had agreed to play Scrabble with PITB. The challenge had made its way around the Twitterverse and the Blogosphere, but it hadn't yet escaped to a larger audience. If you weren't online, you probably wouldn't have known. But now, the mainstream media's got the story. Now it's news. It's true. Yesterday, both Jason Botchford of The Province and Ian Walker of the Vancouver Sun offered up stories on the Tanner Glass Scrabble challenge. Let us examine them together:

• Tanner Glass Taking Scrabble Challenge Seriously -- Jason Botchford, The Province

Botchford was the first to weigh in. In his piece, he recaps what has happened so far, then delivers this delightful bit of reconnaissance: Glass isn't that experienced. So he's doing what any good Dartmouth alum might do--he's studying:

Now, Glass doesn't like to lose much and herein lies the rub. While Mooney has been playing regularly for five years, Glass had only played about 15 times before this year when he started what he calls a heated word rivalry with Aaron Rome, on the road.

"I played very little before this year," Glass said. "I played a bit in Rochester with this kid Pete Aston, he was good, and his girlfriend, they were both really good. Never played (as a kid). I'm no Scrabble whiz by any means."

What does he do about it?

"I've been researching a lot," he said. "Words that are seven letters or less."

I think the big scoop here is that I overestimated Glass's Scrabbling experience, but don't think that means I'll be taking him lightly. According to Botchford, he still hates to lose, and that's gotta count for something. Plus, he's a fourth-line winger: if he can't finesse me, he might wear me down with physical play. I should wear shin pads in case he tries to kick me under the table.

Anyway, for chuckles, I recommend checking out the unique comments on Botchford's article. They're all over the place. Some are supportive of me ("Mooney will crush him... He is so smart it's not even funny"); some are skeptical of me and supportive of Glass ("quite frankly, how smart can a guy be who blogs about a sports team? GO GLASS"); some are hilariously spiteful ("kudos to glass for not backing down to these clowns"); and some are just hilarious ("Tanner should call that bookworm Kyle Wellwood to get all smart and stuff").

The instances of vitriol surprised me. I'm interested in the allegiance some Canucks fans have to their players--an allegiance that makes them view any challenger, even one as innocuous as a Scrabble opponent--as pure evil. Thanks to this sociological trend, some people have decided I'm some sort of monomaniacal nerd in need of a good smackdown.

• Canucks' Tanner Glass Willing to Take on Scrabble Babble -- Ian Walker, Vancouver Sun

Ian Walker (who is very cool) didn't help to dispel it either. Walker's article treads similar ground to Botchford, bringing the reader up to speed, and explaining Glass's limited experience as a Scrabbler, but it's a very different article, especially because Walker interviewed me. He also closes one major mystery: up until now, I was uncertain who it was that finally convinced Glass to play us. It turns out it was his sister, with whom we connected through Twitter not too long ago:

One thing led to another and … Glass's sister soon got involved.

“She saw it on Twitter and I guess the Pass it to Bulis guys and her got to talking online so she called me up asking if I was interested,” said the affable Glass, 27. “It's amazing in this day and age. You can't say anything without someone getting wind of it. It really is the world wide web.”

Let's just establish upfront that Glass's super-nice sister found us, we didn't go looking for her. PITB would never invade a player's personal life like that.

Anyhow, Walker's article goes a little more in-depth into who PITB is, and also delivers the half-truth that I play a game of online Scrabble every day. Only on average. I play online a couple times of week, but when I do play, it's usually four or five speed games in a row. I still play much, much more than Glass, and it will probably be apparent. Walker:

Glass, on the other hand, can count on his fingers and toes how many times he's played the game before this season — and then he would still have digits left over to wiggle his little piggies and scratch his nose.

“He doesn't have a chance,” boasted Mooney, who is one major paper away from receiving a Masters in English. “I lose friends because I'm so good. I may not be a stickler for rules — he can use the three-letter variety — but I'm going to crush him.”

This is funny stuff. While I admit these are real quotes, I was chuckling as I said them. Unfortunately, they do nothing to dispel the notion that I'm some sort of monomaniacal nerd--the black Artie Ziff.

One other thing to add here: the quote about the three-letter words is a bit off. What I meant was that I probably won't be a jerk and play an overly technical game, full of three-letter words I know are legal but could never hope to define (like CWM, or RHO). That would be dickish.

That said, here's a quick tip for people trying to expand their word list, like Tanner. Most bingos (words that use all the tiles in your rack) also include one tile already on the board, so they're actually eight-letter words. You could never know all the words in the English language that are eight letters or less. Instead, just memorize all the words you can spell with the letters in LATRINE and one additional letter. These letters are the most common seven in the game.

Better yet, forget about the big words, and memorize the much shorter list of legal two and three-letter words. The more consistent points are in small, rare words. For example: RAT is worth three points on its own. CWM, on the other hand, is worth 10. When you play serious Scrabblers, they beat you with little words, not big ones. In that respect, they play a bit like the Montreal Canadiens.

Anyhow. Thanks to Jason Botchford and Ian Walker for taking an interest in our Scrabble game, and thanks again to everyone who's helped turn this from a little thing to a big thing. We'll keep you posted.

Tanner Glass Responds to Our Scrabble Challenge

In case you're new to PITB, let us catch you up to speed. Some time ago, I heard a Tanner Glass interview on the Team 1040 and learned that he loves him some Scrabble. A massive Scrabble fan myself, I couldn't help but issue an open challenge to the Canucks winger.

Some time after that, PITB was blessed with the incredible t-shirt design by an artistically gifted Bulie named Annie. And boy, is she gifted. Check out her Tanner Glass villanelle in the comments of this post. The shirt got our challenge noticed, and was featured at Fort Nucks. We got word from a few sources that Tanner loved it, wanted one, and might actually accept the challenge.

We just got word today this is indeed the case from Tanner himself. He discusses the challenge in his latest blog.

Life on the road is as crazy as it sounds – moving from city to city every couple of days - but there are a few good things about it.

For one, we go to a lot of cities with great shopping, which can be really helpful around the holidays.

And two, I have a pretty intense Scrabble battle every road trip with Aaron Rome. We’re not the best, but our series is pretty even. I’ve been practicing so we’ll see what happens next trip.

Apparently the word is out that I’m a Scrabble fan and I’ve actually had a few challengers. As of right now, I don’t have the time to take anyone up on their challenges, but after the new year, I’ll probably play a game with passittobulis, one of the bloggers that has taken it as far as to make shirts that are pretty sweet. Maybe we can sell some of those shirts and donate the proceeds to Canuck Place Hospice.

That is awesome. Thank you, Tanner, for getting back to us. We totally understand that the holidays are much too busy a season for sit-down word games with bloggers. So the new year it is. We look forward to a Scrabble battle so intense you'll think you're on the team plane.

As for the rest of you, you heard it here first. Tanner Glass has accepted our Scrabble challenge. We are pumped. We thoroughly appreciate everyone who helped us get word to him, and we'll keep everyone posted as we work out the details. We're talking to screen printers about getting the shirts ready for sale, and we will definitely be donating a portion of the proceeds to Canuck Place. This should be fun.

For the latest updates, follow us on twitter.

PITB Continues to be Almost Famous

Solid video from The Score exploring the Blogger vs. Mainstream Media Battle Royale that Pass it to Bulis was briefly embroiled in for approximately 3 days earlier this month. Damien Cox is featured as the spokesman for the mainstream media, which is a shame, as he spews his usual rhetoric regarding how bloggers can't be held accountable because they don't use their real names, yada yada yada. He does more damage for his own position in the interview than I could ever do taking him to task on our piddly little blog.

But are we so piddly? What is that I see at 2:01 in the above video? I do believe that's a certain article written by our own real-named Harrison Mooney. Sure, they blur out our name so we can't benefit from being featured on The Score, but we still can pat each other's backs and feel good about ourselves.

Seriously guys, this is big. This is being featured in your local newspaper as the "Smile of the Day" big. This is getting re-tweeted by Iain MacIntyre big. This is World's Largest Maple Leaf big. Okay, maybe not that big, but it's still big.

Hat-tip to Canucks Hockey Blog.

Tanner Glass: Scrabble Champion Apparel is the New Hotness

I've heard a lot of talk today about what the problem with the Canucks is, but here's what it boils down to: they're playing badly. In nearly every facet. That is my analysis. Here's my prediction: it won't last and they'll get some traction again soon. Keep in mind that they won eight of nine before losing four in a row. Neither streak was indicative of their overall skill level.

But that's not why I'm posting. I'm posting because reader @plusfelonesse, one of our favourite Bulies, has designed the above image for potential t-shirts and the Tanner Glass Open Scrabble Challenge. I just wanted to share it with you. Let me just say that it's downright exciting to have such a cool readership. We've only been doing this since April, but the community we're seeing develop is really, really exciting. Here's hoping it only gets better. We'll keep writing as long as you keep reading.

Question: if we got some of these shirts made up, would you pay money for one?

An Alibi is Born: Photos From the Nucks Misconduct Tweetup

From left to right: Richard Loat (@mozy19), Sean Zandberg (@nucksmisconduct), Harrison Mooney (@passittobulis), Yankee Canuck (@nucksmisconduct), Daniel "Skeeter" Wagner (@passittobulis), Chris Golden (@lyteforce), Brian Wawryshyn (@CanucksCorner), a guy, Katie Maximick (@canucksgirl44), J.J. Guerrero (@canuckshockey), Tony Smolock (@smoboy), and fellow person of colour Chuckles Canuckles. Maybe. I'm terrible with names. If you are mislabeled, please let me know in the comments. Please. I feel really bad about this. Thanks to the very kind Ian Walker for snapping the shot. No thanks to him for saying I look like Carlton Banks from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.


In case you missed it, tonight's Canucks game was a real turd, perhaps even a festering one. The Canucks stunk up the place, falling to the Blackhawks 7-1. They literally stunk up the place. I imagine Rogers Arena had that hideous sleep smell that bedrooms have on clammy Sunday mornings, because a wave of narcolepsy swept over the Canucks during the first intermission. They continued to play while they slept (somnambulism), but it was apparent to all concerned parties they were riding a flying sleigh bed to slumbertowne.

Ian Walker says he once saw Bret "The Hitman" Hart plays the genie in a theatrical version of Aladdin. That sounds atrocious, but I figure I would have been more impressed with his play than I was with Vancouver's play tonight.

Thankfully, the evening was salvaged by the Nucks Misconduct tweetup, which brought together a litany of Vancouver's finest blogging talent. As well as the abovementioned hosts, folks from Canucks Corner, Canucks Hockey Blog, Canucks Army, and Nucks Misconduct were all in attendance. Also, the Vancouver Sun's Ian Walker for some reason, yours truly, and fellow Bulie Skeeter, my hetero blog wife. We crammed into our designated corner of the Forum Sports Bar and proceeded to bond over our common affliction: Canuck Badness Madness. The Canucks were bad, and we were mad.

It's bizarre to get together with a bunch of strangers you feel like you already know. I was reminded of that scene in the X-Files when Scully meets all those women who had also been abducted, and they all recognize one another, and discover they have microchips implanted in their necks. That's what this was like, except with bloggers and, for some reason, Ian Walker.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun and everybody was great. I look forward to the next time we can all get together.

Of note: if you're waiting around for tonight's I Watched This Game, it's not coming, sugar. It'll go up tomorrow afternoon when I am much less yawny. My yawns are three minutes apart, which means my bedtime is about to crown. I go now to birth sleep.

Pratt's Day Off & PITB's Brief Team 1040 Mention

So in case you missed all the fun this afternoon (and I suspect you did, as I was alone for most of the day), here's what happened:

I was listening to the Team 1040 (which I often do) while doing some laundry. After discovering one minute after 2pm that I wouldn't have the pleasure of the incorrigibly fractious Pratt-half of the Pratt & Taylor odd couple, and would instead be listening to Jeff Paterson and Don Taylor be agreeable for the next four hours, I tried to start a new Twitter meme: #PrattsDayOff. I tweeted The Team 1040 and worked my tail off for the next little while trying to get the hashtag rolling.

It started promisingly. My first tweet was read on-air. (just after the 6:00 mark), as the featured tweet of the Poison Mailbag:

@Team1040 Vancouver's favourite blustery, cyclist-hating jingoist is off today? Why? Pratt helps me feel. #PrattsDayOff

Unfortunately, the meme jumped the shark right away. We had a few amusing contributions (click the hashtag and have a gander), but the Team 1040 mention was the pinnacle of Pratt's Day Off.

It would have been nice to see more people taking cheap shots at Dave Pratt. I actually really like and respect him, but ripping him is fun and super easy to do because he's such a cartoon character at times.

In fact, it's not too late. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears: Don't let #PrattsDayOff die. Don't let this great day be in vain.

PITB Gets Mentioned on After Hours, is Incredibly Famous

Here's a little weekend amusement for you. At 3:42 of the above clip, Scott Oake asks Brendan Morrison a question, but it's not just any question. It's our question, tweeted to Oake earlier in the day. It's kind of neat. Oake leads into already smiling, confident that it will "lighten the mood" (previous questions were about despair, existentialism and why god has forsaken man). Then, not only do they say our full name on-air (take heed, Jeff Klein), they take a moment to chuckle at it. They are undeniably amused. I'm fairly sure what B-Mo mumbles there is "that's pretty good." Yes. It is pretty good.

Now, I don't mean to get ahead of ourselves, but Skeeter, I think, now that we're a pretty big deal (at least as big as Tim from Bellevue), we should quit our dayjobs. This week alone, we've landed twice on Puck Daddy (here and here), once on the New York Times, and finally, in our coup de grace, Hockey Night in Canada. Yes sir, the PITBul is running rampant in the media (btw, first time using that nickname, and I agree it doesn't work). I'm just saying, we've earned the right to be unemployed, at least.

Also: does anyone object to us calling this our first interview? We're going to call this our first interview. If anyone asks, we just interviewed Brendan Morrison.