From the Slot: On Johan Franzen

Look, we all have those things that we are passionate about doing, whether it's good for us or not.

I have a friend who's running through an injury because she has a goal to run a 15K this year.

I've been guilty of it myself, running through knee injuries, playing softball through arm issues, but there is one place everyone should draw the line, and that's head injuries.

Second Impact Syndrome is a real, and very serious condition that could at worst, end your life, and at best, turn you into a vegetable.

Franzen had been out since January of 2015 with a serious concussion. Not his first, and actually the latest in a long line of concussions for him. He gave an interview where he said that he spent two months being unable to pick up his kids.

But somehow, a week after he tells Brad Galli he sometimes still has to sleep for 4 hours after a hard workout, he's approved to come back and play?

Franzen said he had to go home from four-hour workouts and sleep the rest of the day. I asked him the last time he had to. "Last week."

— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) September 2, 2015

Fans seem a hell of a lot more worried about this than the team, especially given that he was cleared and has played in the first few games of the 2015-16 season.

Sure seems like maybe people are getting rushed back.

— DetroitHockey.Net (@detroithockey96) October 15, 2015

I really hope Johan Franzen retires. Hockey is not worth taking the risk.

— Red Wings Memes (@RedWingsMemes) October 15, 2015

OF COURSE HE IS. HE SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN PLAYING IN THE FIRST PLACE. https://t.co/eXiHVuK3nt

— Jenny (@redwingsdiva87) October 15, 2015

Mr. Franzen, The hockey world will miss its Mule. But please - for the love of your children - say goodbye. Sincerely, Those Who Also Care

— The Production Line (@TPLhockey) October 15, 2015

Franzen is out indefinitely after his concussion problems have returned. It's not worth it Johan. Your life long health is most important.

— Red Wing Diehards™ (@RedWingDiehards) October 15, 2015

Farewell, Franzen... I think it's time to call it in.

— Ky.L. Stine (@KyleWIIM) October 15, 2015

We know there are a lot of things to take into consideration, but shouldn't your health be number one? Being able to play with your kids? Spend time with your wife?

In my personal opinion, it is irresponsible, and probably reckless endangerment or neglect, for the Wings Organization and/or the League to let him continue to play.

If the Wings want to be known as an organization who takes care of their players, then step up to the plate. Eat the cap hit, or put him on LTIR, just make sure he stays alive.  Like many fans, we don't want another Jiri Fischer situation that turns out so much worse, because this is most definitely going to end that way if Franzen keeps playing.

Be happy with the career you had, it's not worth your life to keep trying to come back.

From the Slot: Undrafted Players and the Hockey Hall of Fame

A question has been nagging at me: who is the first un-drafted National Hockey League player in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Well, the fast answer is the entire 1945 class of inductees.

But let's pretend we want to delve a little deeper and set a few parameters.

In 1963, the The National Hockey League Amateur Draft was the first entry draft to the NHL. Previous to that, players were found and signed by teams on their own.  Only North American players were drafted in the original conception of the draft, and even when European players began to defect to North America, they were ineligible for the draft and usually initially played for the team that helped them leave their home countries.

Peter Stastny. Photo Credit here.

The draft continued in the original fashion until 1979, when the NHL absorbed the World Hockey Association, and the rules changed so that any North American player from 18-20 years old and any European player of any age can be drafted in the newly termed NHL Entry Draft.

With players of all nationalities eligible for the draft, Tomas Jonsson (Sweden) became the first drafted European player as the 4th pick in the second round (29th overall).

The following year, Peter Stastny defected from Czechoslovakia with his brother Anton after winning the European Cup in Innsbruck, Austria. Having never been drafted, but played in the NHL with the now (sadly) defunct Quebec Nordiques,  the New Jersey Devils, and the St. Louis Blues, he becomes eligible to become the first un-drafted player to be inducted to the HHOF, and indeed, he did so. In 1998, three years after retiring in a Blues kit, Peter the Great was inducted into the HOF with Roy Conacher, Michel Goulet, and Athol Murray becoming the first un-drafted player in the HHOF by this definition.

Some of you might cry foul and say that Björe Salming was the first un-drafted player inducted. But, given that he wasn't eligible to be drafted before his rookie year in the NHL (six years before the draft rules changed), he was disqualified to be the first un-drafted inductee in the context of my question.  It's only fair that the first be after everyone is eligible for the draft, and given that European players weren't eligible in 1973 to be drafted, well, you get my point.

Regardless of whom you feel is the rightful first un-drafted NHL Hockey Hall of Famer, there is quite the illustrious list of un-drafted NHL players in the HHOF.  Eddie Belfour, Dino Ciccarelli, Joe Mullen, Adam Oates, the list goes on.

Only goes to show you that not being drafted isn't the end of the world.

Sources here, here, and here. 

From the Slot: Wings 6 - Sabres 3

Wings finally pull their heads out of their asses, and snap their 6 game losing streak to a surprisingly hot, yet terrible Sabres team. I think it's safe to say now that they aren't trying to tank the season to get McDavid.

Kindl spontaneously combusts twice to allow the first two Buffalo goals. The second occurring on a Red Wings power play, in his first shift after being benched for sucking. Only reason he saw ice at all is because Kronwall got waxed, and now is said to have an "upper body injury." The third goal happened, and I wasn't happy about it.

Weiss scores on the PP for DET's first goal, then gets hurt on a legal, but lethal, check from that one guy. DeKeyser nets one in the second to keep the Wings in it until the third where Datsyuk makes me incredibly happy with a beauty of a pass to Z for the first goal in the third.  Which kicks off a streak of four unanswered goals where Franzen scores on his birthday (in more ways than one) and Tatar gets two for the frosting on the cake.

Merry Christmas, the Wings stopped sucking in the third, let's see what happens when they come back from break.

Jesus, this team is killing me.

Why Not Us?

As you all probably have figured out by now, I am a huge Detroit Red Wings Fan.  And as I write this, I am watching my boys fight for breath in the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the San Jose Sharks.

I follow the Detroit Red Wings on Twitter and they asked for motivational videos.  I, of course, tweeted back with this:

and a fantastic re-speeching (I didn't know what else to call it) done by the cutest five-year-old!

He watched Miracle so many times he had the speech memorized!  And he's so freaking cute.

Anyway, as a part of their motivational movement, they started a hash tag, #whynotus because the (1-0 Detroit) Wings have never, in franchise history, come back from an 3-0 deficit in the playoffs.

This season is special.  It's the 20th season in a row that Detroit has made the playoffs.  20 seasons straight.  Since I was four.  (yes, I'll be 24 at the end of the month)

So let me say this to you, my wonderful, talented, hardworking Red Wings.

I believe in you.  You have won four Cups in my lifetime.  You can make it five.

When you first signed Datsyuk, my Dad and brothers didn't think he was very good, didn't think he'd be able to hack it in the NHL.  I believed in him, he was my instant favorite, right behind (2-0 Detroit) Yzerman and when Stevie retired, he became my #1 man.

I admit there are and have been players that I haven't particularly liked, but I refuse to abandon my Wings.

You guys are rocking it out so far this game.

Be the first.  Come from behind.

I'll be here, on my couch, in the stands, for years to come.

Wearing my gear.  Loving my Wings.

Why. Not. You.

Even if you lose tonight, I will throw my wings up at graduation tomorrow.

GO WINGS.

http://thejacketsblog.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/det.png?w=300&h=300

It's the end of the semester, so what do I do? Procrastinate!

Yes, I procrastinate.  But I have several days until these papers are due, and I have one of them halfway finished.

So anyway, as I sit here days away from graduation, Gentle Thursday and Friday tomorrow and the next day, (which I swear, I will use to finish my paper Mom, I promise), I am throwing myself a pity party.  I went shopping at JC Penney's today because they are having a huge sale and I want to get a new dress for graduation.  I found a gorgeous white sundress that I want to wear to graduation, but it's on clearance, and surprise, surprise, my fat ass doesn't fit, or rather, my stomach, doesn't allow the zipper to close.  Also, my inability to contort myself like an acrobat to be able to reach the zipper, the dress doesn't fit. And I am sad because it is freaking cute, I love it and it's a size too small and JCP doesn't have any in a larger size.

Because of this, I resolute (again, I think, but I'm too lazy to look) to blog about my weight loss journey every Friday.  Updates on my work outs that week, whether I managed to stay on plan that week, my weigh ins, etc.  I cringe when I think about putting this out there on the internets, but I feel I need to be accountable in some other ways than I am already, because I obviously am not being accountable enough.

I will write more about what I think are my issues with food on Friday, and obviously about my week.  As for now, I need to go procrastinate by watching the last 1:44 of the third period of game seven of the Penguins vs Lightening.

Penguins need to lose.

Happy Saturday!

Ah, Saturday, not quite as lazy a day as Sunday, but still a nice break from the busy week.

Today, we are home from Mount Pleasant, visiting our families.  Yay!  Last time we were home it was the weekend before Dress for Dead Man's Cell Phone, now, it's the week before Into the Woods Dress.  But, this trip home is happier - not that the last one was sad - but this time we are going to see Zack's first game officially on the BRHS Varsity Hockey Team!  It's not a season game, it's a controlled scrimmage.

You may be asking yourself, what the hell is a controlled scrimmage?  Don't worry, I didn't know either until this morning.  In a controlled scrimmage, each team gets a period to pick something they want to work on and then just play a period straight out.  It should be interesting, because if one team decides to work on their power play, the other team has to play down a man the whole period.  I think it should be very interesting.

I must also pause here to tell you how proud I am of Zack.  He made the varsity squad for hockey after he ran his personal best in cross country regionals last week.  YAY!  Ok, now you know I'm very proud of my baby brother, who really isn't a baby anymore, more like, a giant force to be reckoned with.

Anyway, this weekend should be fun, even though I have an exam on Monday.  It started off pretty well, Central beating Western for another year in a row (HAHA! We suck less this year!), Ferris Beat #1 Miami OH in hockey and the Red Wings won!  Oh, yeah... good sports times....

I don't really have much else than that. I'm going to have a great weekend at home than kick the rest of the semester's ass! HAHA!  At least, I will until Thanksgiving, then I will take those four glorious days to do nothing school related and I won't be blogging either.  You have been warned.

Note to self: don't forget apple pie, sweet rolls and apples with caramel dip for Thanksgiving (sorry, imaginary friends, you don't have to remember that, but I do!)  Have a great weekend!

Self-Esteem

A reader commented that she loved that I had such great self-esteem and wished that she had better self-esteem.

So, I would like to talk about my journey to the self-esteem I have, and hope that it helps those who don't have very good self-esteem.

When I was in middle school I had alright self-esteem, nothing special.  I didn't really have fantastic self-esteem, in part because I wasn't really paying attention, but I also had some incredibly bitchy people in my grade who were not nice.  It was here that Girl Scouts helped me stay out of the danger zone of zero self-esteem.  I also think that it played a big part during high school as well.

Once I got to high school it got a little better because I wasn't stuck with those people in every class day after day and I could make more friends outside of my grade more easily.  Band was a huge help here as well, one class for all four grades 9-12.  There were still dark times in high school.  For example, the fact that I had a date for exactly one high school dance.  The rest I went with friends.  Now as I look back, I don't care, but at the time it mattered a lot.  There was also this time on Valentine's Day that I had cut a bouquet of flowers into a bunch of single flowers and gave them out to my friends and basically anyone who asked, I thought everyone should get something on Valentine's Day.  A girl a year or two older than me whom I had never met started a rumor that I was a lesbian because I was handing out these flowers.  So much for logic right?  Even at the time I thought it was ridiculous, but I wondered why someone who didn't even know me would start a rumor about me.  I'm still baffled, but I must have started to get my thick skin even at 15 because I didn't care what she said, I'd never met her and I just think she was jealous of my awesome flowers.  The point is, I don't even remember her name.  Jessica maybe?

Part of my self-esteem issues in high school was that I did not dress well.  I dressed for comfort and didn't really take care of myself 100% of the time.  I took better care of myself on the weekends because there were boys.  (Hockey tournaments and all that.)  I gained weight steadily through out high school and continually dressed in sweats.  I tried to lose weight a few times, but nothing ever stuck.  I didn't really try either - I loved sleeping more.  It never clicked for me.

Then - miracle of miracles!  Something sunk in!

The summer before my freshman year in college, I got a great job working for a kick ass boss.  I was a part time student worker so I could leave early and work out for an hour, every day, Monday-Friday before riding home from work with my Dad.  I lost 50 lbs.  I loved how I looked and I felt so healthy and happy.  My self-esteem (and probably my ego) got a huge boost.  Also that summer I started dressing better.  For my body type, my job and because I had a good paying job I had disposable income that allowed me to buy the clothes I wanted and really liked with out having to beg my parents for money, which was AWESOME.  I started realizing little things about myself.  I saw a picture that my Grandma had taken of me and I loved how natural and happy I looked.  I thought to myself, wow, I could look like that all the time.  And that's what I strove for.  My two years at Ferris were amazing in that I realized that you dress how you feel.  In high school I dressed in sweats a lot and was fairly diminutive in my demeanor and personality outside of my house.  At Ferris I stopped letting myself wear sweats.  I'd wear jeans or other nice pants instead and I put myself out there.  I couldn't really dress business casual all the time because I had to walk all over campus for class and heels + walking a lot = bad news bears. 

Then I transferred to Central.  And I started wearing sweats again, mostly because of my major and a lot of my classes required easily removable outwear so that we could get to shorts easily for class.  It was this and many other factors that led me down a road that I hope I never have to traverse ever again.  It was dark and scary and utterly frustrating.  I allowed myself to be put down by fellow classmates and professors alike.  My self-esteem tanked in a lot of ways.  It didn't help that I had stopped eating healthy, going for ease of creation instead.  I gained even more weight back (I stopped going to the gym after I met Adam so that I could spend time with him, LAME, I know, bad decision alert).  Then, last November (2009) I took my life back into my own hands.  I was tired of being miserable and tired and overworked.  I changed my major.  Best decision EVER.  It seems so insignificant, who doesn't change their major at least once in college right?  I hadn't.  I added them, getting a business degree at Ferris, but never changing my major.  I was going to go to CMU for Athletic Training, damn it, so I did.

It was a first of big changes in my life that would happen in a semi-succession.  I decided Athletic Training was not for me.  I discovered that I could still graduate on time by majoring in Theatre, which was the BEST DISCOVERY EVER, because I had always loved theatre and what could be more awesome than studying something you love, right?  I signed my new major and resigned from ATEP. (I WAS FREE!!!!!)  I got married to (*SAP ALERT*) the most wonderful man.  And I started taking care of myself again.  Eating healthier and working out again.  There was a snag here, I had been working out for three months and I had gained 20 lbs (I was pissed).  I went for my annual physical and the doctor recommended Weight Watchers.  I joined that and since then nothing has been the same.  This wonderful exciting period in my life just keeps getting better and better.  I started P90X and I am in week four (I don't like the Yoga X disc but I have to do it twice this week, suck!) and I already notice changes in my body and how I look.  I feel better and I have more energy.  I also started going to bed earlier and getting up roughly the same time every day and it's amazing how much of a difference that makes.

I can tell you completely vain things that remind me every day how awesome I am which then help me turn inside of myself and find things on the inside that make me love me.  When I look in the mirror and I think I look great, I tell myself that.  If I don't think I look very good, I smile at myself and I think, "You have a beautiful smile."  Or I look myself in the eyes and say, "Your eyes are gorgeous."  On the inside, I just think about all the things I love about myself.  Intelligence, wit, confidence, love, compassion, work ethic, singing etc.  If I'm having a particularly negative day, I work out how I can improve the things that I don't like about myself.  And I always, always remember that I am a work in progress.

The point through all of this, that I want you to walk away with, is that there are always changes that you can make to your life and boost your self-esteem.  Everyone's journey to good self-esteem is different and I have shared mine.  I hope that it helps you find yours, because no one should feel bad about themselves.  I've told you what works for me, find what works for you.  If you don't know where to start, try the things I did.  Take care of yourself, eat healthy (it's amazing how depressed Burger King can make you) and go to bed at a regular time if possible and try to get at least 8 hours of sleep.

The number one thing to remember is that if someone is being down on you, SCREW THEM.  You are awesome, and you have to remember that.  If someone doesn't like you for who you are, then you don't need them and they only need you to try and feel better about themselves.

I leave you with this, a poem that is on a poster I found at a rummage sale.  It wouldn't stay on my wall, so it hung out next to my bed and I often fell asleep reading it in High School and early College years.  Maybe this played a part in my awesome self-esteem, I don't know, but I encourage you to read it as often as you need it.


My Declaration of Self-Esteem

I am me.

In all the world, there is no one else exactly like me.  There are persons who
have some parts like me, but no one adds up exactly like me.  Therefore,
everything that comes out of me is authentically mine because I alone chose it.

I own everything about me:  my body, including everything it does; my mind,
including all its thoughts and ideas; my eyes, including the images of all they
behold; my feelings, whatever they may be:  anger, joy, frustration, love,
disappointment, excitement; my mouth, and all the words that come out of it: 
polite, sweet, or rough, correct or incorrect; my voice, loud or soft; and all my
actions, whether they be to others or to myself.

I own my fantasies, my dreams, my hopes, my fears.

I own all my triumphs and successes, all my failures and mistakes.

Because I own all of me, I can become intimately acquainted with me.  By doing
so, I can love me and be friendly with me in all my parts.  I can then make it
possible for all of me to work in my best interests.

I know there are aspects about myself that puzzle me, and other aspects that I
do not know.  But as long as I am friendly and loving to myself, I can
courageously and hopefully look for the solutions to the puzzles and for ways to
find out more about me.

However I look and sound, whatever I say and do, and whatever I think and feel
at a given moment in time is me.  This is authentic and represents where I am at
that moment in time.

When I review later how I looked and sounded, and what I said and did, and how
I thought and felt, some parts may turn out to be unfitting.  I can discard that
which is unfitting, and keep that which proved fitting, and invent something new
for that which I discarded.

I can see, hear, feel, think, say, and do.  I have the tools to survive, to be close to
others, to be productive, and to make sense and order out of the world of people
and things outside of me.

I own me, and, therefore, I can engineer me.

I AM ME AND I AM OKAY.
--

Be you, that's all anyone can ask of you. <3