Some Russian Politics; Islanders Trip

Today, Russia held an election to choose a successor to President Vladimir Putin. Putin has been in office since 1999, and over the course of his term, relations with the U.S. have been deteriorating. However, to the likely dismay of U.S. leaders, Putin essentially named a replacement who was expected to win the election and become the next President, but then the unexpected happened. A Villanova/Georgetown level upset: Stefan Valiquettov shocked the world and won the vote.

Valiquettov is a bit of an unknown in the realm of politics. He's bounced around from place to place a lot, and he's always been the second guy behind some more well known leaders. Despite his relatively obscurity, President Bush couldn't be happier.

"Obviously... we're pretty pleased with the election. As you know, here in America, we love democracy. And democracy has spoken today. Stefan- I call him Stefan, has great leadership skills. And if you ask the uh, that ice league, he has great five hole coverage."

Reaction from Russia has been decidedly mixed. Dmitry Medvedev, who was expected to become the next President, was obviously disappointed. Vladimir Putin, who claimed to not even know who Valiquettov is, vowed to take the opposite stance of whatever the United States said about him.

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On an actual note, as my reader knows, I went on a bus trip to the Islanders game on Saturday. The game was great. The food was great. Nassau was okay. The people sucked, and as surprising as it might sound, the New York fans were better behaved than Philadelphia fans on that day.

In the emails I've been getting about the trip, drinking was permitted, but responsibility was demanded. That wasn't quite the case. Some people chose to get around that by getting completely drunk before the trip began... at 9 in the morning. Some chose to just completely bypass it and bring on giant coolers or cases that they had no intention of sharing. There were two coolers that completely blocked the aisle, and one guy couldn't even fit his case into one of those overhang compartments they have on coach buses and planes. This one woman was the most obnoxiously loud person I've ever seen. She screams incoherent things at other passengers and the television screen, almost starts a fight with someone else and then starts crying about it for half an hour. People were saying, "Man, she's the coolest chick I've ever met! She knows her sports! Awesome!" I couldn't believe it. I'm still a young dude and haven't met many people, but I'd prefer to never see her again. She didn't know a thing about sports. She would probably rather have a team of 20 Donald Brashears than a team of 20 Ovechkins. We were the movie Youngblood on the way back, and at times, she would scream "Yeah! That's hockey, yeah! Real hockey!" Well, no. That's a bad movie. Real hockey is big hits and skilled players making me feel like a dumbass sitting here at night writing a blog.

Once we got up to Nassau, it was pretty cool. The concourse got a bit packed because it's only one level. However, on that concourse, they have some great food. Sorry, Philly. They made a better cheesesteak there than I can get at Flyers games. The fries I had weren't too bad either. The Stanley Cup was there for you to take pictures with until the game started, and even though we were some of the first people through the gates, the line was too long.

The seats were okay. It's an older arena, so despite being in the 3rd to last row, it was still pretty close to the ice. The only problem was the large overhand that prevents most of the upper level from seeing the scoreboard. They had TV's on the overhand so you could still see what was on the scoreboard, but it was an inconvenience anyway. The best part about my seat? Winning an Islanders fan appreciation giveaway. It was an Islanders history DVD while some people were getting autographed sticks and tickets, so I gave it to the guy sitting next to me.

The atmosphere was pretty good. For the bad attendance they get, their fans can make some noise in the upper levels. It was weird not cheering when the goal horn came on, but it was an easy win and it didn't take long to get comfortable.

On the ride home, some other guys emerged as the most obnoxious people ever, but it still wasn't as bad as the way up. Overall, it was a fun time, and it was cool to enjoy a Flyers victory somewhere else.