Superstar's tryin' to work here

What is it about celebrities of the sports world and their cheesy car dealership commercials? Here are some examples as to why our beloved Superstar " Mad Max" Talbot owns when it comes to these things.

The San Diego Padres' pitcher Chris Young recently did a commercial for Carlsbad Lexus and I almost died laughing when I saw it. Naturally, I though of how much better Max's were. Yes, that's right, plural. Max is so awesome he has 2 commercials. Take that Chris Young!

Of course I have them for your viewing pleasure. I couldn't embed Chris' so you will just have to click here instead. It's ironically posted on a "talent" website.

Pretty sad, right? No originality, really boring, and it really does not make me want to hop in my car and drive over to Carlsbad Lexus at all.

Now I present, in all of his superstar glory, Maxie's commercials.

Unfortunately, Alex (of A & L Motors fame) disabled embedding on one of his vids too. Tough luck today. Here is commercial number one.

Chica Chiiiii

Here is commercial number two.

Clearly Max's acting skills vastly improved during the taping of this second commercial, as did his facial hair. Not to mention his accent is hot and so is his wardrobe. Work those rims too, baby<3

Max is so cool he even has outtakes because he's hilarious.

Max's commercials are filled with humor, wit, and charm.

But Chris Young and Max Talbot have something else in common: getting into fights.

Chris Young's fight vs. Derrek Lee

Max's fight vs. Dan Carcillo

The difference between these two fights is that Max's fight gave his teammates the second wind they badly needed in a playoff game agasint the Flyers. Even though Max lost the fight, the Penguins rallied to win the game. Max's "shhhhh" to the Flyers crowd has become iconic.

Max always has memorable hand motions, it seems, coming from the guy with "little bit bad hands" and I love him for it.

Hockey Night in Canada

No. Not the program. There is, however, a rather important scrimmage tonight. (Live right now!) This is Team Canada's scrimmage during camp. As Sid has mentioned in interviews, it's like an All-Star game. There are so many talented Canadians on the roster tonight. It's going to be interesting to read up on how they pair well together. There has been a lot of talk about who will be captaining this year. Sidney is definitely a frontrunner, I believe, though he has not been a captain too long. However, this kid is special and it really doesn't matter. He deals with immense pressure every day of his life being the captain of the Penguins and he handles it so well. His competition looks to be Scott Niedermayer. Coach Mike Babcock has thrown his name out to the press and then tried to downplay it so we shall see. Tonight we'll see Sidney on a line with Rick Nash and Jarome Iginla. Everyone's been talking about that all week and it was confirmed tonight. That is just a top notch line right there. Sid will play center while Nash will take his left side and Iggy will fill the right spot.

Here are the teams/defensive parings tonight via NHL.com

TEAM RED

Patrick Marleau-Joe Thornton-Dany Heatley

Brenden Morrow-Mike Richards-Jeff Carter

Milan Lucic-Andy McDonald-Dan Cleary

Jordan Staal-Shane Doan

Scott Niedermayer-Shea Weber

Jay Bouwmeester-Brent Burns

Duncan Keith-Mike Green

Francois Beauchemin-Marc Staal

Martin Brodeur

Marc-Andre Fleury

TEAM WHITE

Rick Nash-Sidney Crosby-Jarome Iginla

Derek Roy-Jonathan Toews-Martin St. Louis

Eric Staal-Jason Spezza-Corey Perry

Ryan Smyth-Vincent Lecavalier-Patrick Sharp

Chris Pronger-Dan Boyle

Robyn Regehr-Drew Doughty

Dion Phaneuf-Mike Green

Dan Hamhuis-Stephane Robidas

Roberto Luongo

Cam War

Steve Mason

Oh how I wish I could be in Calgary tonight and get to watch this scrimmage! Unfortunately, I'm a bit south of the Canadian border tonight in CA. Luckily for me, at least, Dan Rosen over at NHL.com is live blogging!

Here's a small sample I felt was worthy to mention:

Second Period

14:30: All three Staal brothers are on the ice right now. I think it's the first time they have all been out there together tonight. Somewhere in Thunder Bay, Henry and Linda Staal are proud.

That is awesome. Somewhere, I know someone is taking shots right now. Perhaps using Billy G's Cobra Scorpion Whiskey? :)

You can follow along with the live blog here.

Cheers everyone. It's almost preseason.

It's still August

Preseason is almost upon us. Thank God. In the meantime we can pour over everything pertaining to the 2010 Winter Olympics. Team Canada's orientation camp starts tomorrow.

Team Canada revealed their rosters for camp and all three Penguins (Fleury, Sid, and Staalsy) are on the white roster, therefore, I am betting the white roster will dominate the red.

Also of note, of the three Staal brothers, Jordan and Marc are on the white roster while Eric is on the red. It's Staal and Staal versus Staal. If only they would air the team practices on tv, we could enjoy another Staal Brothers Drinking Game courtesy of the brilliant minds of the PH staff.

Here are the official Team Canada jerseys

Here is a close-up look at the maple leaf crest

These images were stolen borrowed from Hockey Canada's website. They're kind of going for that old-school look. Thoughts? Like or dislike? Personally, I think they could have done better, but from what I undertand, they tried to get several designs approved so this was the best they could do thanks to the International Olympic Committee.

If you want to read more on who's on which roster, click here.

Oh no you didn't...

I just lost a tiny bit of respect for the longtime running soap
"All My Children." Now, you may ask, "ew, do you watch that show?"
The answer is no, but my mom does. I happened to be in the room
while she was watching it on the DVR one night and glanced at the
screen only to see this:

I can only hope Susan Lucci is scolding him for being a fan of the
Red Wings, of all teams.

I was horrified. Why, Thorsten Kaye, why? You disappoint me. I
always liked you, even when you were on Port Charles and no one
watched that show except me. (Yeah I was cool and watched shows
that had vampires in the plot before all you people got obsessed
with Twilight.) Speaking of Twilight, this is worse than finding
out that Taylor Lautner is also a Red Wings fan.

Thorsten has apparently blogged about the Wings, 3 years in a row,
on nhl.com

Let me give you a taste of what he blogs.

First line of his May 6, 2009 post: "Regardless of what happens in
this series I think that whoever comes out of the Detroit-Anaheim
series is going to win the Stanley Cup this season."

WRONG.

That's like the video that some Red Wings fan posted on
youtube set to the Black Eyed Peas' "I Got a Feelin'" the night
before game 7 took place. My theory is that Thorsten totally made
that video. Unfortunately, the video was taken down by the user-
for obvious reasons of feeling ashamed to call themelves a Wings
fan (I assume, of course.) However, I did find this video which
has the song in case you really wanted to hear it. I ain't
embedding that shite!

In other Red Wings cheerleader news, Chris Chelios just won't die. He wants to come back to the NHL even though no one wants him since Detroit dumped his ass.

Go Pens.

Yinz ready for camp?

The US Men's Olympic Team orientation camp starts tomorrow so I thought I'd run through some of the guys who will probably make the roster.

Defensemen


Brooks Orpik: We all know Free Candy is awesome. He was even named an alternate captain while Gonch was out with his shoulder injury. He is a stay-at-home defensive defenseman which I think is important. We don't need every defensive guy scoring goals from the blue line. We need to protect our own net. Orpik isn't afraid to dish out the hits, usually accumulating a lot of penalty time, but who cares?


Rob Scuderi: It's no secret I am a big fan of Scuds and was disappointed when he left the Pens for LA. Naturally I think he deserves a spot on the roster because he is "The Piece." Last time checked the Winter Olympics website, he was still listed as being with Pittsburgh so damnit, just for the hell of it, I'm going to count him as one! Scuds has proven himself as a great defenseman and no one will ever forget his amazing saves at the end of Game 6 in this year's SCF.

Scuderi being a BAMF


Erik Johnson: He's young and pretty talented. He was drafted 1st overall back in 2006 by the Blues. He was injured this year and missed most of the season. Don't know if he's recovered enough to be on the roster or not, but if he is, he'll be an asset. Team USA is going to need all the help they can get since a certain Canucks player is going around making promises of beating Canada...


Ryan Whitney: Ryan is more of an offensive defenseman. Kind of only mentioning him because he used to play for the Pens. I'm glad we traded him and picked up Chris Kunitz (who's been great on Sid's line) and promising prospect Eric Tangradi (who you know I am pushing for from older posts.)


Forwards


TJ Oshie: Oshie plays for the Blues as well as a right winger. This kid is fast and a fan favorite. I don't really follow the Blues so I don't know too much about him, but I know he's got a lot of energy and Team USA could really use the youth he brings to the table.


Patrick Kane: Of couse our favorite felon has to be mentioned. Kane is young and talented and not afraid to drop the gloves off the ice.

He was also picked 1st overall, but in the 2007 NHL draft. He's a great addition to the team and a reason why the Blackhawks are becoming a stronger contender for the Cup.

Staff


Team USA is being coached by Ron Wilson.


Things to note: Neither Bobby Scuds or Orpik have played in an Olympics before so this is really exciting to see them get their chance at making the team. I know they're not in for sure yet, but I know that they would dominate on D.

2 months ago today...

Two months ago today Sidney Crosby and the Pens were hoisting Lord Stanley's Cup over their heads and celebrating on the ice. On Detriot's home ice. After a Game 7.

This is nothing new, but in honor of the win I thought I'd post this today.

It's damn catchy and with awesome lyrics like "Gonna read the names on the Cup somehow but probably not, cause there's a fucking lot of em!" and "Believe me when I say you fucked up Hossa!" you can't go wrong.

Also awesome is the fact that Staalsy's shorthanded goal is included in the video.

You can download the mp3 here from Eddy Spaghetti and while you're at it you should just add him on twitter because he's awesome. Be sure to check out his blog at http://eddyspaghetti.com/.

We won the Cup! (That never gets old!)

Canada loves the Staals

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last year you should already know that the 2010 Winter Olympics are being held in Vancouver, Canada. I am excited for this year's hockey games because of all the young talent that was invited to the summer Olympic camps.

I think Canada is going to win this year. Let's take a look at who might be representing them. (Note: I'm only listing the few I care to talk about.)

Goalies

Marc-Andre Fleury: We already knew he was a champion in our hearts before game 7 of the SCF, but now he's got a ring and the respect from others to prove it. He deserves to be on that team and should be picked to go on the roster from training camp.

Cam Ward: He's not bad (except against the Pens)

He plays for the Canes and they are a decent team - we played them in the Eastern Conference Finals afterall and they did beat #1 seeded Boston- an upset. Plus I think he's good looking so he's got that going for him, not that it will help him in front of the net.

Defensemen

Marc Staal: What can I say, other than I think Marc is the best-looking Staal brother in the NHL. He gets an automatic mention just because he's a Staal. I have also decided that he is the nicest out of the 3. (Jared, you don't count yet until you graduate from the AHL.) Hopefully Marc can beat out Chris Pronger for a spot on the Olympic roster. If he makes the team it will be his his first Olympics.

Forwards

Sidney Crosby: The "Kid" is a man! No real explanation is needed as to why he's at camp. He'll be on the roster for sure, unlike last year when he had to sit out because of a groin injury. Just for the heck of it, here's a reminder that he had 65,000 people show up for his parade the other day with the Cup. Four years in the NHL and already has been to the SCF twice and won this year. Oh captain, my captain...

Eric Staal: He's pretty good, he's an alternate captain for the Canes afterall, but the Pens were able to stop him and held him to, I believe, only one goal during the Eastern Conference Final series. His goal was scored in the first two minutes of one of the games- not exactly a game-winner.

Jordan Staal (Staalsy): Jordan is awesome. I've dedicated whole posts to him before. He scored a shorthanded goal against the Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Finals. It was amazing. He continues to impress me and I think he deserves a spot on Canada's roster.

Joe Sakic: The Avalanche's famous forward just recently retired from the NHL, but I think he will still play for Canada's Olympic team. He captained Colorado for a long time and helped them win two Stanley Cup titles in 1996 and 2001. Oh yeah, he also won an Olympic gold medal with Team Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Staff

Mike Babcock is coaching Canada's team and we all know he coaches
the Red Wings in the NHL. He is a respectable guy and we know
he's a winning coach. He got his team to the finals two years in a
row. Not surprised by this- he should do a good job.

Of note from the AP: Among those not selected for the Aug. 24-27
camp in Calgary are forwards Steve Stamkos, Marc Savard and Jason
Spezza, goaltenders Chris Osgood, Carey Price and Marty Turco
and defenseman Brian Campbell.

Of course fattie didn't make the cut. Not after his performance
in the SCF's this year. Look for MAF to dominate.

More proof that Canada loves the Staals:

So let's tally up, shall we?

Pittsburgh boys across the pond = 3 for Team Canada

Staal brothers across the pond = 3 for Team Canada

Ode to greatness

First off, happy 22nd birthday to Sidney Crosby, our young captain. Thank you for all that you bring to the Pittsburgh Penguin's organization. Thank you for your selfless actions every year and for helping bring Lord Stanley's Cup home to the Burgh this summer.

You can read up on part of Sid's day with the cup through NHL.com here.

This is pretty sweet as well. Sid just seems like a ridiculously nice person.

Of course everyone will be covering Sid's day with the cup and the HHOF Stanley Cup Journal will get updated so I will post more on this subject later.

It's still only the beginning of August. But at least we have the cup to enjoy all summer long.

CBC is awesome

It's August. 4 days until Sidney's birthday and his day with the cup. Awesome.

The CBC is awesome because they make the best montage videos ever. I'd like to share two videos in particular with you today and 1 honorable mention, I just decided. I was going to post them in reverse order to be dramatic, but it's too hard to decide between the top 2 so I'll just post them in the order that they were aired on CBC; that's fair, right? Besides, the honorable mention is the first one I'm posting anyways.

CBC HNIC opening intro montage for Game 3 SCF 2009

This vid got an honorable mention because it's pretty good. It's really high-energy thanks to Green Day's "Know Your Enemy" which is a fitting song and for the use of high-impact clips of guys falling all over the place. It's great.

CBC HNIC opening intro montage for Game 6 SCF 2009

This vid is sick. Nonpoint's cover of Phil Collins's "In the Air Tonight" is hauntingly beautiful and paired well with the clips. Sorry that this particular video starts off kind of rocky and that it is not widescreen format, but it's better than the other two posted on youtube becuase it a) has the correct version of the song and b) times the clips with the music closer to CBC's original broadcast than the others.

CBC HNIC closing montage of the playoffs after Game 7 SCF 2009

This is an amazing vid. The music is City and Colour's "Sleeping Sickness" featuring Gordon Downie. It's such a good song- I'm addicted to it. I mean, come on, it broke my Top 25 Most Played Songs playlist in my itunes library not long after I added it, it's that good. This video also includes highlight from Game 7 itself, not just the playoffs, making it just that more special. The music is touching and brilliant.

CBC is brilliant for creating all these montages. Thanks, CBC.