KarateKen

Bush - Everything Zen

Joe Pavelski has retired. He played over 1,300 NHL games, over 900 of them with the Sharks.

Doors - People are Strange

Brian Coyne - Won't Step Down

One more week until the new seasons drops!

I think it does.

Joey Scarbury - Believe it or Not

Two months to the day now and not a drop. Not interested in it. Happy to tell people I don't drink. I was hanging out with some friends this weekend and one was drunk and not feeling well. I was thinking "yep, been there enough times and never going back." I will never drink alcohol again. Unless it is NyQuil, but we all know that doesn't count.

The Beatles - Birthday

Chandler has been offered Islam Makhacev for a fight in October but.......said that if C. McG is ready in September he would still take the fight.

Hope everyone had a fun and happy 4th of July. I bought about 200 dollars of firecrackers to blow up.

Pete Droge - 4th of July

Sounds awful. I've seen mild versions of it but nothing like that.

Guns N Roses - Out To Get Me

Entrances and Exits by Michael Richards

My first Martial Arts class was when I took TKD, I started in September of 2000. I don't recall the date of my first test, but I would guess maybe March 2001.

That was one of the most exciting hockey games I have watched. The Panthers win the Cup beating the Oilers 2-1. Not only do they win their first cup, but they do it on home ice, in game seven, and avoid the humiliation of being up 3-0 and losing the series. Florida scored first, the Oilers scored two minutes later, and the game was tied after the first period. Panthers got up 2-1 in the second and that ends up being the final score, as Florida's defense was able to hang tough and hold off the Oilers late game push. Much pressure applied by Edmonton in the third period, but they couldn't get it in the net. The Canada Cup drought continues as no Canadian team has won the cup since 1993. A lot of discussion about the MVP going to Connor McDavid. He was the best player in the playoffs and set some all-time records, but they did not win, and he was held pointless in games six and seven. I'd have given it to a Panthers player since they won, either Barkov who was sensational especially early in this series, or Sergei Bobrowsky who had some great performances, including in games one and seven of this series. They definitely do not win the cup without the play of those two. It is strange to me that a player who did not win the cup won the MVP, and McDavid did not stick around to pick it up, which makes sense since they lost. Of course, who I would give it to doesn't matter since other people make those decisions. Anyway, a series that started out with me having no real interest ended with one of the most memorable games I have watched. Congratulations to the Panthers. Next season will be here before you know it, the draft begins on Friday.

Supertramp - Goodbye Stranger

I'm in season 4 of the show and I am noticing things that I did not pick up on the first time I watched it and seeing how some of the foreshadowing. For season six I hope we see Kreese kill Terry Silver. As Norm MacDonald once said "that is some bad luck right there when the one person who would die for you, kills you. You can't have worse luck than that." It would also be great if Col. Dugan and Julie from The Next Karate Kid were somehow involved in the final season. Not sure if there are any plans for that or how they would be mixed in, just hope to see it.

Congrats to sperki.

Game 7 of the SC Finals happens about 20 percent of the time, so once every five years. The most recent one happened in 2019 when St. Louis won game 7 in Boston. Boston won game 6 in St. L to extend the series only to lose at home in game 7 and see the Blues lift the cup. The last time the Oilers were in the Finals was 2006. They lost to Carolina in seven games. This is the first game seven for the Panthers. The first game 7 of the finals I recall watching was in 1994 when the Rangers beat the Canucks. However, this is more than just a game 7 because Florida had a 3-0 series lead and now the Oilers can win it. This is only the third time in history that a SC Finals team was down 3-0 and came back to force a game 7, the most recent being in 1945. It's been a while. Toronto went up 3-0, Detroit won the next three, and Toronto won game 7. The other time it happened was in 1942. The matchup was also Toronto and Detroit. Detroit won the first three, Toronto came back to force a game seven. Toronto won game seven. It is the only time a team has come back from 0-3 in the SCF to win, 82 years ago. The Oilers are only the 10th team in NHL history to force a game seven after being down 3-0 in any best of seven series, finals or not. The most recent to come back and win game 7 were the LA Kings in 2014, beating the Sharks in the first round. LA went on to win the cup that year. Looking at some other sports, it has only happened one time in Major League Baseball. It was the 2004 ALCS when the Yankees were up 3-0 against the Red Sox and Boston came back to win in seven, taking games six and seven in New York. Boston ended up winning the World Series. The Red Sox had not won a WS in something like 80 years or whatever it was. No team in NBA history has comeback from being down 3-0 however in 2023 the Boston Celtics did force a game 7, losing to the Miami Heat. In my opinion, all the pressure is on Florida in game 7. Losing this game is the type of thing that could take years for the franchise to recover from. All the momentum is with the Oilers as they have been the far better team the past three games. Scoring first is key; I believe whoever scores first will have a big advantage. History shows that in every SCF game seven since 1987, the team that scored first won the game. Trends are not everything, I just see that falling behind for either team is going to be tough, especially Florida because of how well the Oilers have played defensively in recent games. Florida needs to get back to their game and I did not feel like they showed the urgency they needed to in game six. If the Oilers do win, McDavid is the clear MVP, it is a no brainer. If the Panthers win then I think a lot will depend on how the final game unfolds. Either the Oilers will come back from 3-0 to win the cup or the Panthers will lift the cup for the first time. Either way a historic result will be witnessed Monday night in Sunrise. Enjoy the game.

My first Karate belt test was five years ago today (June 22). It was a Saturday and I think we stared at noon. The test was about 2.5 hours from what I recall, and I felt worn out at the end. In a way I find the first test with a new instructor to be the most challenging because I have never tested under him/her before. It causes a lot of anxiety. I remember forgetting stuff that we practiced (specifically club defenses) and trying to sneak a peak at others when we were doing drills that I was confused about. I passed but I did not feel confident that I did so well and remember being worried that I was going to fail. When I learned I passed I was more relieved than excited. I slept well that night. I've always had terrible anxiety before the test. I never sleep well the night before the test and am in a constant state of worry. Did I remember to go over everything? What if I freeze up? What if I get hurt during sparring and can't finish the test? The worries go on and on. Once the test starts I don't notice the anxiety so much, there is no longer a fight or flight option, only fight. But leading up to it is rough, no matter how prepared I am the anxiety is strong, though feeling fully prepared does help curb it a lot. Karate is not my first art, TKD is. I don't recall my first TKD test but I do remember some of the others and there is always self doubt involved. I have never failed a test but I've always been worried that I would. I have seen students fail tests because of several reasons, one being that a college girl in TKD had done well on the test but failed to break the board at the end. This led to her failing the entire test and have to try again next month. She broke down and cried. I also hold rank in Hapkido and Japanese JJ, and every test and every instructor is different, but they all have one thing in common for me. Anxiety. Anyway, I hope to read some of your thoughts, feelings, and memories from your first belt test in any or all of the styles you have trained.

Joe Esposito - You're the Best

I guess Silva did not really try to win? I am not sure. I didn't see much info about it here in the USA but it looks like there was no official winner, though Silva was the better performer.