"47 Mind-Blowing Psychology-Proven Facts You Should Know About Yourself"

Thanks to the awesomeness that is StumbleUpon, I stumbled upon this site the other night. ("47 Mind-Blowing Psychology-Proven Facts You Should Know About Yourself"). I found much of it quite fascinating and easily applicable to my own behavior. Since I'm always looking for reasons to explain my stupidity, I enjoyed this even more. If you don't wanna read through all 47 facts, I tried to post some highlights from my favorite topics, which are:

1. You Reconstruct Your Memories
2. Dopamine Makes You Addicted to Seeking Information
3. If You Use Social Media Without Laughter You Aren’t Being Social
4. You Overestimate Your Reactions to Future Events
5. Trust Your Gut or Be Logical? It Depends On Your Mood
6. The Desire for Control and Choice is Built-In
7. Synchronous activity bonds the group
8. People Assume It’s You, Not The Situation (Fundamental Attribution Error)
9. People Expect Online Interactions to Follow Social Rules
10. The more uncertain you are, the more you dig in and defend your ideas

Hockey Weekend in America: Favorite Moments

As part of "Hockey Weekend in America" or whatever, we are each participating in the themes each day and writing about it at A Cup A Bruin. Friday was something about favorite memories, jerseys, favorite memories in jerseys...IDK but I put a lot of time and effort into this post, so read it if you want. (While you're there, laugh at how bad I am at doing live-blogging) Or read it as copy and pasted below:

As part of Hockey Weekend in America, and today's theme of wearing your jerseys, here are some of my favorite Bruins memories. These include my jerseys, of course.

Crying into Peverley Jersey..

Here is a preview of the game tonight.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY OF THE TRADE THAT SENT WHEELER AND STUART TO ATLANTA IN EXCHANGE FOR PEVERLEY AND SOME OTHER GUY. Like all great anniversaries, and in my cast, birthdays (yesterday), consider jumping off a bridge with me.

Now let's all hold hands and cry about the Peverley news.

The injury: 3rd degree sprain of the MCL in the right knee.

What does that even mean?: MCL is Medial Collateral Ligament; 3rd degree is a COMPLETE tear of the ligament. This type of injury may never quite heal, although it is the most comment ligament sprain of the 4 major ligaments in the knee. Read more in detail about confusing physiological medical stuff here.

This hit from Hal Gill did not even get reviewed by Shanahan. Cause knee on knee hits aren't dangerous at all...they don't end the careers of like, Cam Neely or anyone important.

Cause, of course, this hit wasn't dirty at all. Oh wait, have you seen this?

Don't forget - AT LEAST 4-6 weeks is the projected time Peverley will miss. But like I said, and the many google results for the search of MCL sprains, 3rd degree is pretty serious and can damage other parts of the knee (such as ACL and the meniscus). The stability of the knee will forever be weakened.

As I panic, I question if Peverley will be able to skate as fast as he can. 

At least we can rest knowing Hal Gill will forever suck.

Also, for reference, here are some clips of similar - if not exactly the same - knee-on-knee cheap shots (including 2 Ovechkins, several Matt Cookes, and I didn't even search for either of those players - also includes Ulf Samulesson hit on Neely).

My Game on 2/14 and other Recent Bruins Thoughts

(from bostonbruins.com)

As part of this previously established log of the games I have attended thus far this season, I will reflect upon the Valentine's Day game against the Rangers...ahh what a shit show. (Boxscore)

My Valentine/guest was my friend Cassie, who had never been to a game before. She was very excited, so I was very sad she did not even get to experience a goal. But she still seemed to have a great time, and I hope to bring her to a game again soon, hopefully a win...

She wore my Bergeron jersey, and then afterwards, bought me this teeny tiny shot glass mug for a birthday present (my birthday was yesterday)

the Boston Tea Party & the Vancouver Tea(rs) Party

“We didn’t lose to the British, and we’re not going to lose to British Columbia.”

I think Vancouver may have taken this a little too seriously. I mean, the whole Revolutionary War era has some great stuff. Although it was before the actual war, the Boston Tea Party is the only way anyone anywhere in the world at anytime in history will be able to talk about “tea” being a “party”, and a pretty badass part at that. Throwing barrels of tea into the water, dressed up like Native Americans, being crazy and definitely drunk…

Perhaps the riots after Game 7 were just the British Columbians trying to revolt against the evil imperialism of the United States, taking Canada’s game and putting most of it’s teams in the US. And like the refusal to pay taxes without representation, the identities of Canadian players as Canadians is overshadowed during the NHL season by their status as whatever team they play for - a Bruin, a Wild..(is that right?), a Shark, and worst of all, Canadian players wanted to play in the NHL usually will be playing in the US, so they are thus Bostonians, Minnesotites…(? seriously what is wrong with the Minnesota Wild’s name), and San Jose- fuck it let’s just say Californians in that case.

The one opportunity the hockey lovers in the America’s Hat had at bringing good ol’ Stanley “back home” to where he “belongs” was ripped away but a bunch of vicious jerks from Boston. So they said “fuck you, American Empire. We want our freedom! We want all our Canadian teams back that you stole from us and put them in such horrific places as Colorado, Phoenix…and the ones that disappeared all together! We want our Maroons, Wanderers, and St. Patricks back! Damn your colonization, America!” and somehow thought that destroying their own city would accomplish something.

Although I have done a poor job of really illustrating any coherent comparisons between the two events, let’s just pretend that Boston Tea Party was a cool way to rebel, and Vancouver wanted to be cool because even though they say they hate Boston, they secretly love them (Like Lucic). But much like Luongo, they were unable to anchor themselves in reality.

Now, before we get to the obvious destruction of cars, starting fires, looting stores, assaulting your fellow citizens, and etc., etc., think about further motivation against the Evil Empire they wanted to revolt against. That’s right…THE CAMPBELL CONSPIRACY. They were screwed by Colin Campbell’s 1994 Rangers, and they were screwed by once again by him AND his son (ugh, just like the Kings of England). Campbell’s wizardry is astounding, as he was able to persuade every executive and official in the NHL to do whatever they could to give the Bruins the upper hand - even if it meant letting crazy Slovaks that tried to behead and otherwise decapitate a good and pure Canadian citizen (or American citizen playing in Canada, whatever) as a free man, clearly on the hunt for more people he could purposely hurt without consequence. CAMBPELL CONSPIRACY.

And thus the need for wasting perfectly good tea in protest and for the sake of dressing up in costumes, was fulfilled. They did their best to dress up like Native Americans (bandanas over their faces and tears in their eyes count, right?), and were ready to let all taxed goods burn in the name of FREEDOM. FREEDOM FROM ALL THE THINGS.

As Chara was about to raise the Cup, you can see actual mini-barrels (sometimes called plastic cups..) of tea-like substance (sometimes called beer) being thrown into the (frozen) harbor (sometimes called an arena, although much like a harbor if you think about it…it serves as the place of exchange to import and export goods like fans, players, teams, wins, losses, food, jerseys, tears, and tire pumps - the last of which was clearly being smuggled out of the country). The Vancouver Tea(rs) Party was about to begin.

But they couldn’t handle the excitement of revolution and refusing to pay taxes like those from the original Boston Tea Party. Instead, Vancouver fans tried to seek independence from their own city in the most literal way by trying to destroy it and burn it down until it no longer existed in any form.

You can’t tax us, or take our Cup from us that was never really ours, if WE DON’T EXIST!

GREAT GAME.

This picture makes me all sorts of HAPPY! (Photo: Brian Babineau)

Just some thoughts and brief musings on the fantastic game I witnessed today!! Also some pics. Enjoy!

Bruins: 7 Assorted Spokes

(Photo Credit: VickeVictoria/Flickr)

7 various topics are discussed in a few short paragraphs below:

• Line Changes and Trades
• Tim Thomas and Facebook-gate
• Shawn Thornton Quotes
• Refs, Goalie Interference, and Clockgate
• Bruins Are 1-3 in February
• Bruins Charitable Work
• Predators on Saturday Afternoon

Preview: Bruins v Penguins

The Boston Bruins have been vowing to get out of this "funk" for several weeks now, but have yet to actually follow through on the ice. Matinee games never help, but maybe it's just what the Bruins need to mix things up. They are coming off of a 3-0 shutout loss at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes, but the good news is that the Pittsburgh Penguins are also coming off of a shutout loss, 1-0, against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Both teams are 0-1 in February and also have eerily similar records from January: the Penguins were 8-4-0 for 16 points in 12 games, while the Bruins were 8-4-1 for 17 points in 13 games.

Handy Trade Guidelines

What's Happening to the Bruins?

(This has also been posted at Aerys' Sports)

When winning the Stanley Cup last spring and going 21-3-1 between November and December of this season, the Bruins seemed to be almost perfect - the complete team: great offense (most goals scored in the league), solid defense (fewest goals allowed in the league), intense physicality, quality depth and strong bonds with one another.

As of February 2, 2012, the Bruins are 5-5-0 in their last 10, losing all 4 games of the season against the Eastern Conference’s most abysmal team, the Carolina Hurricanes, including a 3-0 shutout at home. Even in the games they have won since the calendar turned to 2012, the Bruins have not seemed like themselves. In every position, less-than-average play has prevailed with simple, lazy mistakes being made on seemingly every shift.

Chalked up to a “Cup hangover”, the Bruins started the season on the wrong foot, going 3-7 in October, but bounced back with an impressive record of 12-0-1 in November, including a 10-game winning streak broken only by a shootout loss to Detroit. Reflecting the slow decline of the Bruins dominant play, they went 9-3-0 in December and then 8-4-1 in January. In the infancy of February, they are 1-0-0 with zero goals scored in 1 game.

The Bruins have had a habit for as long as I can remember of losing to really awful teams. That trend hasn’t changed much this season, as the majority of their 17 losses have come against teams that likely won’t make the playoffs. They have only lost more than once to the same team twice – twice against Montreal, tied for last in the East, and four times against Carolina, also dead-last in the East. The other Eastern Conference teams the Bruins have suffered a loss to this year – Philadelphia, Winnipeg, Florida, Tampa Bay, New York Rangers, and Washington – are mostly currently out of a playoff spot. Aside from the Rangers, who are 1st in the East, and the Flyers, who have the same number of points (66) as Boston, and the Panthers who have 57 points but lead their division, the Bruins have suffered embarrassing losses to bad teams such as Tampa Bay, and teams struggling just to make the playoffs such as Winnipeg and Washington. In the West, the Bruins have lost a game apiece to the top teams: Detroit (71 points), Vancouver (69 points), and San Jose (64 points), as well as 9th-place Dallas.

In short, the Bruins losses have come 59% from teams ranked 9th-or-worse in their conference. As far as losses in regulation, 66.7% of those losses have come against these non-playoff teams.

In the last month, the Bruins have played alarmingly awful, giving up too many goals, scoring too few, missing golden opportunities to put the puck in the net, lazy passes, not moving their feet, turning the puck over, making mistakes in every zone, and appearing to be lacking depth they were praised for having during the playoffs.

Where did their depth go? The playoff run of 2011 was historic for the Bruins and the NHL in many ways – Tim Thomas made more saves than any other goalie in history, Nathan Horton had 3 GWG in his first playoff appearance, Rich Peverley stepped in to when Horton got injured and put the puck in the net, David Krejci led the league in scoring, all 4 lines were effective in scoring and producing energy and momentum, and their top 6 defensemen skated in every game except for just a few – Game 2 against Montreal in which Chara was sick and Shane Hnidy stepped in, and against Philadelphia when McQuaid injured his neck. The pairing of Chara and Seidenberg shut down every team, followed up by strong defensive and offensive play by McQuaid, Boychuk, Ference, and Kaberle. If that failed, then Tim Thomas was practically a brick wall in net, posting 4 shutouts and winning the Conn Smythe trophy.

The Bruins were lauded for their depth during the playoffs, but they were also lucky for the most part in that nobody was injured or missed extended time (save for Marc Savard, of course, and then Horton’s Game 3 SCF concussion). When a forward did miss a game or two – such as Bergeron at the beginning of the Conference Finals against Tampa Bay – a player such as Tyler Seguin was ready to step in, or a role player such as Shawn Thornton. The Bruins never had more than 1 forward missing per game, and never more than 1 defenseman per game. As a result, the strength of the 20 players on the roster shined.

In the offseason, the Bruins suffered the losses of Michael Ryder to free agency (Dallas) and Mark Recchi (retirement). To replace those forwards, Benoit Pouliot was brought in from Montreal, and that was it. That rounded out 12 forwards as follows:

Lucic-Krejci-Horton

Marchand-Bergeron-Seguin

Pouliot-Kelly-Peverley

Thornton-Campbell-Paille

That translated into solid offense for a few months, but then players were lost to injury and suspension for a few games here and there (Marchand was out 5 games for suspension; Campbell missed a few games with a broken foot, Peverley missed a few games with a secret injury that apparently will persist for the rest of the year). Aside from these 12 forwards, the Bruins had to dip into their Providence forwards, which would be either Jordan Caron or Zach Hamill. At first, Hamill’s play seemed promising and he remained with the team as either a healthy-scratch of replacement for any unavailable player. As time has passed, Hamill still has yet to score an NHL goal, rarely, if ever, contributes to goals in general, and is consistently unremarkable or just plain bad. The former 9th-overall draft pick has been with Boston long enough on call-up, however, that if he were to be sent back down to Providence, he would have to clear waivers. Because of this, I think he will be used in any trades.

Before I get to the imminence of Bruins trades, the lack of depth on defense should be discussed as well. The Bruins need to get a strong forward to add to their lineup before the February 27th trade deadline, but more importantly, they need a strong defensemen to add to their core. Kaberle left over the summer to sign with Carolina, and was replaced by Joe Corvo. Like Kaberle, Corvo is mostly useless but with less talent than Kaberle. With each game, Corvo’s lack of relevancy becomes more apparent. The Bruins other defensemen (Chara, Seidenberg, Boychuck, McQuaid, and Ference) round out their top 6. If they are all on top of their game, the defense isn’t bad, but lately – Boychuk, McQuaid, Ference, and Corvo especially – the simple but costly mistakes made by the blueliners are consistently devastating. What’s worse is that the 7th defensemen is Steven Kampfer, who was decent last season but has proven to be unworthy of quality NHL time. In the case of Ference’s recent 3-game suspension, or any injuries, Kampfer steps in and it shows the extreme weakness the Bruins have at this position. If 2 top defensemen go down, then Providence call-ups such as Matt Bartowski are the next options, and those thoughts are quite terrifying.

The Bruins know they need to add a strong defenseman, and it is almost certain that they will be making a trade for any number of available, soon-to-be-Free Agent’s throughout the NHL. To make a trade like that, they would need to give up a lot – probably one of their current defensemen – but it may be the difference between the Bruins winning a game or losing a game. Trading for a forward is also necessary for the Bruins before the end of the month.

As for who that would be, I have no guesses; as for who the Bruins would give up, I am again uncertain, but I can guarantee it won’t be Tuukka Rask – or Tim Thomas. While both seem to be struggling right now, it doesn’t help that their defense is awful. They are in a bit of a funk like the rest of the team. Whether or not this funk will pass with time is uncertain; I thought it would have passed by now, in fact. It seems apparent that outside forces of a trade are what is required to bring the Bruins back to Championship form. I don’t believe the Bruins need to or will make a major trade involving any of their core players, and I trust GM Chiarelli to make the right decisions as he did in adding Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley before last year’s deadline. As a Bruins fan, I sit patiently awaiting these changes, and I also sit patiently – albeit angrily – for the Bruins to get back on the right track.

More from Brian Burke

A few weeks ago I posted a Burke video where he talks about "rats" in the NHL and I was pretty emphatic about disagreeing with him. Now, I am pretty emphatic about agreeing with him, in this short clip where he talks about gay hockey players.

I hope the days of tolerance in hockey aren't too far away. I am intrigued by this subject, actually, after I read this article in 2005.

As a microcosm of larger society in which gay rights are still a hotly contested topic, the NHL, some say, shouldn't be far behind in the growing acceptance of the gay population. However, sports are always different when it comes to stuff like this - especially sports, in fact. The idea of "manliness" and "toughness" that define sports like hockey and all those who participate in it come in direct conflict with stereotypes about gay people, who are considered "feminine" and "weak", which translate into things that do not or cannot exist in the NHL. While this close-minded approach persists, the ego of professional athletes who assume that any gay player on their own team would instantly mean they are trying to check their teammates out and be attracted to them is another ridiculous assumption that gets in the way of equality and openness. The whole idea of "family" also makes it difficult, because traditional relationships of male/female, whether it be dating or marriage, is a big part of team functions. And sometimes, player views on gay teammates may be unconscious reactions that are a result of being raised in an intolerant culture, no matter how hard they try to be accepting. 

Lots of changes need to take place in hockey - on the ice (new Shanabanning, for example) and off the ice. As far as gay players coming out of the closet, my own personal insatiable curiosity and nosiness makes me want to know the specifics, but if a player can come out to his teammates without wanting it to reach the general public, that's fine, too.