Hockey

I love Hockey. There isn't really any other sport that drives me crazy or makes me scream with joy or anger than Hockey. Yea, sure, I'm a football fan and I'll yell at the TV about this bad call or that bad call but with Hockey... it's different, it's this beautiful combination of what I'd have to say are the most graceful, skilled, talented and fierce athletes on the planet. Not only must they skate fast and with purpose, they must do so holding a stick and aiming at a puck. They must also do this while being thrown into the walls by rival players, and must be willing and able to fall then jump up quickly enough to score.

My team is the New Jersey Devils. I am a big fan. Martin Brodeur is what initially turned me on to my local team (when I was in NJ) and ever since I watched them score 3 Stanley Cups in a rather short period of time, I fell in love and have been a loyal fan ever since. Between, Martin and Zack Parise, both Canadian Olympic Hockey Teammates who won the Gold Medal in Hockey in 2010, and the rest of the very talented lineup from Ryan Carter to Stephen Gionta to Adam Henrique to Ilya Kovalchuk and the rest of their players (those are obviously my favorite scorers) the Devils have managed to do pretty well during the 2011-12 playoffs.

After beating the Floaters in a 4-1 Series, they've been almost head-to-head with the NY Rangers (a pretty arrogant team) and have been doing pretty amazingly, considering the Devils play a completely different game than the Rangers. The Rangers are about their Defensive Linemen and about their aggressive offence, but they play mean. Grabbing faces, throwing punches, choke holds, jersey-grabbing... Just not a fair and expected game. Just the other game (Game 4 of the East Final Playoffs), a Ranger attacked Brodeur causing an on-ice brawl between the Devils and Rangers. The Devils play differently, they aren't as aggressive towards the rival players but they will hit back given a good opportunity and reason, and yes, sometimes, our own players commit an error in judgement as well. It's just that the Rangers have been playing dirty and the calls while at Madison Square Garden have been less then ideal, unless you are a Ranger's fan then you must have been happy to see how many roughing calls the refs missed of your D-bag team roughing up one of our amazingly talented players.

Sorry, trash talk.

Friday night is Game 6 and the Devils have a real opportunity in front of them: End the Series with a swift victory and win the Eastern Conference Title for this season and enter the Stanley Cup Final Playoffs against the LA Kings for a chance to win the ultimate NHL honor a team can get: Stanley Cup WINNERS! This year, Jersey really has a chance, for perhaps the first time since their last run (and win) at the cup in 2003, almost ten years ago. It's our time.

So, to my Devils, Brodeur, Parise, Kovalchuk, Gionta, Carter, Henrique and the rest of the team: Please do NJ the honor of having the cup in our beautiful new arena that has never held it!! Please make your state proud, your Devils Army proud!!! Good Luck!!!

Red Alert, Friday, we're taking home the Conference Title :)

Serial killers and self-defense

I have become pretty addicted to Dexter, a show about a serial killer who hunts murderers and other serial killers. It's pretty awesome and has fed my one daydream of being a killer who kills murderers and child molesters and rapists, you know, the scum of the earth. I don't think I could kill an innocent person but someone who is stone-cold guilty, yea I think I could do that if I knew I wouldn't get caught.

It's the same reason I love the Boondock Saints movies so much. The idea of vigilante ways appeals to me but I'll probably never do anything about that. I have too much to lose, my family, friends, freedom. The big Fs. And I think that's what keeps me from seeing someone do something heinous and not lose my mind and find a way to make them pay for it, when our court systems fail us so many times.

If there was a killer out there who killed for the right reasons, I wouldn't want him caught. It would be good incentive for people not to step over that line, open that door and walk through into the darkness of humanity.

I day dream alot, about different things. But when I'm at a range, and picturing the target, in my stance, remembering the lessons I was taught regarding my weapon and the bullets inside, I picture the face of the latest child molester to pop up on my tv screen, or the latest corrupt cop who is using his gun and badge for things other than protecting the innocent... and I take a deep breath, steady my hands and aim through my target. I'm almost a perfect shot, fyi. For my next birthday, I'm getting my conceal permit and my dream gun, which is actually torn between two .45s.

I grew up using weapons and I like them. I know how to disarm an attacker with a knife. I know that if someone wants to take me somewhere else, to fight like hell because they probably want to make the kill slower, might as well go down fighting and have a chance of freedom. I know how to flip a man twice my weight and have him fall to the ground without using too much effort of my own. I know the weak spots on a person's body and the pressure points that will disable my attacker. I know these things because I was taught them. Some lessons were given to me by my father (once I sliced his hand open by disarming him with his Kabar). Some were taught by friends. Everyone saw me as a small, petite little thing, easy to overpower without the training, so I was taught. I was taught that my size makes me seem like the perfect victim, which I guess is good because I've had to use my training a time or two in my past, to get away from a bad situation before it got worse. Better me, than some girl who can't defend herself. My daughter will get that same training too.

I often wonder why more girls aren't taught self-defense. Why they aren't taught things like the ability to throw knives or shoot a weapon with better-than average accuracy. Why they aren't given that power of knowing they might be small but size doesn't matter as much as training and most attackers aren't trained. They are simply taking advantage of a situation that appears to give them the upper hand.

My advice to any women out there: get some type of self-defense training. Not kick boxing. Not karate but genuine, self-defense. Whether you learn how to kick a knee cap perfectly or body slam a man twice your size, that's all important. Women who get hurt, 9 times out of 10 don't have any type of training. They are weak, maybe  not by choice, but because they don't know how to protect themselves. And that really bugs me.

So for my next birthday, I'm getting my right to conceal a weapon and wear it when I'm unsure of my environment. The threat of a weapon is the only thing needed by most dirtbags to high tail it. I'm getting my dream gun that I will be trained in using. I will have my protection no matter what. Part of being who I am, growing up the way I did, makes me realize the benefit of firearms and I know the risks, but I also know this: that my children will grow up with a heavy respect for weapons, whether they be knives or pistols or rifles. And that's not only because their father is in the Army, but also because their mother has never touched a weapon that wasn't hers without permission and will teach them the proper way to shoot and the lessons that are involved. Lessons I might write later, when I have the time.

It's funny how a show about serial killers makes me think about my own protection, and those I love. I will be prepared for anything when it comes to my family and I will not rely on my husband to do it. Partially because I never know when he'll be gone and partially because I know I am capable.

Anyways, much love and please, ladies, listen to what I said. Get into self-defense class and kick ass. There is no reason any woman should be at the mercy of a man, ever.