Application Anxiety, Sharks-Nashville, Colorado Avalanche
I'm exhausted/nervous after finishing (most) of the applications due this Friday. I've sent 3 out of the 4 in (the only one left is Chicago), but am worried about letters of recommendation being sent in time (and if they're not, hoping that the schools don't penalize me for it; the letters are out of my control). UCLA should be completed the other three have 1 letter being sent via GLS and 2 via email/online application. I'm also frustrated because I caught a grammar error/typo in my personal statement too late (I had mailed the statement to 2 schools before I caught it). I think the statement is pretty strong and one typo hopefully won't torpedo my application, but still, I'm a perfectionist when it comes to this.
On a good note, I got to meet most of the Colorado Avlanche hockey team last week (making it the 4th NHL team I've met). What was really cool is I got one of the player's (Antti Laaksonen) sticks (keep in mind sticks are worth anywhere from $50-200, depending on the material). It's really light, and while I'd love to use it to play street/floor hockey, it's kind of short (only comes up to my chest). I returned to the rink Sunday hoping to meet Wayne Gretzky and the Coyotes but they weren't there; hopefully I'll make it to practice in a few weeks (see if they're there - I've always wanted to meet Gretzky, he's a huge icon in hockey).
I went to the Sharks-Nashville game with Oded and put my new 1 gb memory card to good use (took over 300 photos at the practice and game, and had room for a lot more photos =)). We had sweet seats (Section 201) over center ice and were able to see plays very well. Nashville controlled the tempo of the game in the first period, outshooting the Sharks 10-8 (granted, not a huge difference) and generally applying pressure in the Sharks zone. The most exciting sequence in the game happened in the first period, when Patrick Marleau got a breakaway in on Nashville's Chris Mason, who saved the puck and got it to Paul Kariya, who surprisingly didn't dive, and got a breakaway on Evgeni Nabokov, who countered Mason with a save of his own. The Sharks made the most of their 8 shots by netting two goals, and would have had one or two more had it not been for early whistles. Curtis Brown (surprisingly) opened the scoring roughly 5 minutes into the game, and Jonathan Cheechoo got the first of his two goals on the night with a great one-timer past Mason, thanks to a sweet feed from Joe Thornton. Neither team mustered much offense in the second period (only 5 shots per team), but Nashville closed the gap with a goal by Josef Vasicek. The score remained 2-1 Sharks until late in the 3rd period, when Nashville took two penalties. One was Vasicek for hooking, and on the penalty kill, Scott Hartnell cleared the puck over the glass over the team benches for a delay of game call. Less than 20 seconds after the 2nd call (and with a little over a minute left in the Vasicek minor), Cheechoo buried his second goal of the evening to give the Sharks a 3-1 lead, and that held up as the final score. Cheechoo finished with 2 goals and an assist, Joe Thornton had 3 assists, and Evgeni Nabokov continued to play well at the Shark Tank, stopping 20 of 21 shots. It was nice to see the Sharks play with continued intensity and not let up (earlier in the year, they would be dominant in the first period, and ease up, and would be badly outshot in the third (and sometimes second) periods of games. This was not the case against Nashville, as they outshot the Predators 13-6 in the final 20 minutes. Before I forget, one of the referees (I think Francois St. Laurent) was injured in the second period (knee injury), and the last period was officiated by 1 referee (Paul Devorski) and 2 linesmen. This marks the second time in three games I've attended that a referee has gotten hurt (Rob Martell took a puck right above the eye in the season opener). Given those #s, can we get some Mike Hassenfratz-Kerry Frasier-Michael "I'm gonna bitch if you call me "Mick" one more time" McGeough crews to the Tank when I'm there? I'm not saying I'd do anything to them, but if I bring them some bad luck, I would shed no tears (and I doubt most Sharks fans wouldn't mind those guys being out of commission for a little bit ;)).
I'll be glad when this week is over. Applications (most) will be sent in, and I'm taking my brother to the Sharks-Ducks game Saturday for his Hanukkah gift. I'm going to 3 games in 3 weeks (a lot even for me), which should be great. I got a ticket to the Sharks-Calgary game a few weeks ago, knowing that I'd want to see a few ex-Sharks and use the game as a reward for finishing applications (I'll hopefully have the Northwestern application, due 12/31, mailed by then). I'm looking forward to the end of January. Jon's coming back from med school in Israel to visit, and naturally, his first question (in an email a few days ago) was to see if I wanted to go to a Sharks game when he's back. I thought I was a devoted fan until I read that he's waking up at 5:30 am local time to catch games on the West Coast. Other than that, I'm looking forward...sort of...to watching the Holiday Bowl, and to going to a Warriors-Celtics game to see Leon Powe play.
On a good note, I got to meet most of the Colorado Avlanche hockey team last week (making it the 4th NHL team I've met). What was really cool is I got one of the player's (Antti Laaksonen) sticks (keep in mind sticks are worth anywhere from $50-200, depending on the material). It's really light, and while I'd love to use it to play street/floor hockey, it's kind of short (only comes up to my chest). I returned to the rink Sunday hoping to meet Wayne Gretzky and the Coyotes but they weren't there; hopefully I'll make it to practice in a few weeks (see if they're there - I've always wanted to meet Gretzky, he's a huge icon in hockey).
I went to the Sharks-Nashville game with Oded and put my new 1 gb memory card to good use (took over 300 photos at the practice and game, and had room for a lot more photos =)). We had sweet seats (Section 201) over center ice and were able to see plays very well. Nashville controlled the tempo of the game in the first period, outshooting the Sharks 10-8 (granted, not a huge difference) and generally applying pressure in the Sharks zone. The most exciting sequence in the game happened in the first period, when Patrick Marleau got a breakaway in on Nashville's Chris Mason, who saved the puck and got it to Paul Kariya, who surprisingly didn't dive, and got a breakaway on Evgeni Nabokov, who countered Mason with a save of his own. The Sharks made the most of their 8 shots by netting two goals, and would have had one or two more had it not been for early whistles. Curtis Brown (surprisingly) opened the scoring roughly 5 minutes into the game, and Jonathan Cheechoo got the first of his two goals on the night with a great one-timer past Mason, thanks to a sweet feed from Joe Thornton. Neither team mustered much offense in the second period (only 5 shots per team), but Nashville closed the gap with a goal by Josef Vasicek. The score remained 2-1 Sharks until late in the 3rd period, when Nashville took two penalties. One was Vasicek for hooking, and on the penalty kill, Scott Hartnell cleared the puck over the glass over the team benches for a delay of game call. Less than 20 seconds after the 2nd call (and with a little over a minute left in the Vasicek minor), Cheechoo buried his second goal of the evening to give the Sharks a 3-1 lead, and that held up as the final score. Cheechoo finished with 2 goals and an assist, Joe Thornton had 3 assists, and Evgeni Nabokov continued to play well at the Shark Tank, stopping 20 of 21 shots. It was nice to see the Sharks play with continued intensity and not let up (earlier in the year, they would be dominant in the first period, and ease up, and would be badly outshot in the third (and sometimes second) periods of games. This was not the case against Nashville, as they outshot the Predators 13-6 in the final 20 minutes. Before I forget, one of the referees (I think Francois St. Laurent) was injured in the second period (knee injury), and the last period was officiated by 1 referee (Paul Devorski) and 2 linesmen. This marks the second time in three games I've attended that a referee has gotten hurt (Rob Martell took a puck right above the eye in the season opener). Given those #s, can we get some Mike Hassenfratz-Kerry Frasier-Michael "I'm gonna bitch if you call me "Mick" one more time" McGeough crews to the Tank when I'm there? I'm not saying I'd do anything to them, but if I bring them some bad luck, I would shed no tears (and I doubt most Sharks fans wouldn't mind those guys being out of commission for a little bit ;)).
I'll be glad when this week is over. Applications (most) will be sent in, and I'm taking my brother to the Sharks-Ducks game Saturday for his Hanukkah gift. I'm going to 3 games in 3 weeks (a lot even for me), which should be great. I got a ticket to the Sharks-Calgary game a few weeks ago, knowing that I'd want to see a few ex-Sharks and use the game as a reward for finishing applications (I'll hopefully have the Northwestern application, due 12/31, mailed by then). I'm looking forward to the end of January. Jon's coming back from med school in Israel to visit, and naturally, his first question (in an email a few days ago) was to see if I wanted to go to a Sharks game when he's back. I thought I was a devoted fan until I read that he's waking up at 5:30 am local time to catch games on the West Coast. Other than that, I'm looking forward...sort of...to watching the Holiday Bowl, and to going to a Warriors-Celtics game to see Leon Powe play.