This Post Brought to You by the Letter R

The official start of the hockey season is just a week away and I had the coolest sighting! Myself and two co-workers who used to have lunch from time-to-time decided to have a farewell lunch in light of layoffs. We ate at a sandwich shop inside the Lafayette Court building on Main St. One co-worker who's known for being chatty was in the middle of a story about her family. I was in the middle of my sandwich. I was listening to her but then I heard some dude talking to someone across the way as he walked near our table. That wasn't just "some dude"...it was my hockey hero Rob Ray!! Awesome. For years I loved watching Ray beat the tar out of some hapless Sabres opponent. More often than not it was Toronto Maple Leafs goon,Tie Domi.

All I could do was wordlessly smack my co-worker on the arm and interrupt her story. She said, "Oh yeah, that's Rob Ray!" She was excited, but not like me. Meanwhile, Ray's scoping out the table puzzled that it was a woman getting nutty about his presence. He's not a traditional hottie in the vein of Michael Peca (go ahead frootloop pals, click it ;-). Besides, it's not about his looks, it's all about the throwdowns.Nonetheless, the other co-worker said hello to him while I lamented the fact that I didn't have my #32 Ray jersey or my poster. I will get him to sign my stuff--it's my goal this season and now that I'm going on unemployment, I should be able to track him down at a public event.
Courtesy of Fry a really great article about the New Orleans debacle from Rolling Stone. Author Matt Taibbi's writing is reminiscent of Hunter S. Thompson. He has keen insight and a great sense of humor. I enjoy his articles even more than the columns he wrote in the Buffalo Beast.