Sunday morning homily XVII

Technically, this posting should be called a Sunday afternoon homily. As you can see, I didn't get started until after noon, spending the morning napping in my recliner and, whenever I awoke, trying to figure out how to put together pieces of Colin's Lego Castle Tower Raid toy.

Ah, the joys of being a daddy.

My work schedule has been all over the place lately, beginning shifts at either 7 a.m., 2 p.m., 3 p.m. or 6 p.m. Still, though, I'm happy to have a job in the newspaper industry. It's just that it makes it hard to keep a set sleeping routine.

I suppose, too, that the layoff in hounding down here in Hockey Bay has contributed to my general state of laziness. This weekend marked the first in many when we didn't have a team to hound or tickets to a game. And now that we've reached the midway point of the season -- the NHL All Star Game be damned -- it couldn't have come at a better time.

The Lightning's remaining schedule is chock full of home dates between now and the end of March -- 21 games and likely just as many hounding adventures. In other words, I'll soon be stepping and fetching with teams like Dallas, Buffalo Chicago, Boston, Pittsburgh and Columbus all making winter trips to this corner of the Sunshine State.

It sounds like it's time, then, for another nap.

What's with all the mustaches?

Watching the Leafs-Flyers game last night, I wondered who was the Loafs' Mini-Me version of Anaheim's George Parros. It turned out to be thug-wannabe Ryan Hollweg, with his long hair and bushy mustache. Then, I noticed Loafs defenseman Ian White and his mustache.

All I can say is, what gives? Are these players channeling Lanny McDonald and his famous facial hair?

Are they supposed to make these guys look tougher? Really, all these mustaches look like to me are really bushy caterpillars that have taken up residence on a couple upper lips.

And given the Leafs sub-par play this season, don't you think the team's players should be focusing on something else? Then again, as a Sabres fan, I love nothing more than watching the Leafs stumble.

On second thought, let's have the Loafs keep working on the mustaches.

5 Big Sigs

With the Philadelphia Flyers and the Florida Panthers coming to town this week, we should have ample opportunity to add the following to the collection:

~ Philadelphia's Simon Gagne on a Quebec Remparts puck and the Team Canada jersey;
~ Philadelphia's Jeff Carter and Mike Richards on the Team Canada jersey;
~ Philadelphia's Mike Knuble on the Team USA jersey;
~ Philadelphia's rookie defenseman Lucas Sbisa on a Flyers puck; and
~ Florida's Jay Bouwmeester on the Team Canada jersey.