Tag: Boston

NHL Stanley Cup Quarterfinals Predictions – Round One

Here’s the thing about the NHL this season. I didn’t watch a single game outside of the East Division. There are 12 teams in the playoffs this year that I know literally nothing about. Here’s how I am going to handle it, predictions wise. For the East it is business as usual. For the other three divisions, I am going to make a gut feeling pick based mostly on the standings, but I am also going to make a coin flip pick. After the first round is over, I’ll compare the two and see how it went.

First, though, the East Division…

No. 1 Pittsburgh Penguins vs No. 4 New York Islanders: The Islanders have two strikes against them and the Penguins only have one. The Islanders are from New York (BOO!) and I have no faith in them at all. Two strikes. The Penguins’ only strike is that they are the friggin’ Penguins and I really hate the friggin’ Penguins. Still, I gotta pick them for this round. Pittsburgh will win.

No. 2 Washington Capitals vs No. 3 Boston Bruins: So there I was, at the trade deadline thinking, Taylor Hall? Really? He’s not going to put us over the top. He’s no winner. Well… I might have to stand here corrected. I am standing here beside myself corrected. I hope. My heroic, triumphant Boston Bruins have had a few clunkers of late, but I see them steam rolling the Caps in the first round. Please please please please please don’t make me eat those word too. Boston will win.

Next, the Central Division…

No. 1 Carolina Hurricanes vs No. 4 Nashville Predators: Not much doubt about this one, even without knowing anything about the two teams. I say Carolina wins this one. The coin flip (heads for the higher seed) says Carolina wins too.

No. 2 Florida Panthers vs No. 3 Tampa Bay Lightning: I’m picking the upset here. Probably because I am still thinking of the Lightning in terms of last season. I say Tampa Bay wins. The coin flip also says Tampa Bay wins. Weird.

On to the North Division…

No. 1 Toronto Maple Leafs vs No. 4 Montreal Canadiens: I hate the Montreal Canadiens with every fiber of my being. I hate them I hate them I hate them. Also, Toronto doesn’t have to play Boston in the first round so they won’t automatically lose again. I say Toronto wins, and probably wins the next round too. The coin flip says Toronto wins too. Is the coin like, reading my mind? Spooky.

No. 2 Edmonton Oilers vs. No. 3 Winnipeg Jets: I could maybe try a spoiler here too but I won’t. I say Edmonton wins (and probably pretty easily too). The coin says Edmonton wins too. Okay, this is starting to creep me out now.

Finally, the West Division where I will once again just pick the higher seed.

No. 1 Colorado Avalanche vs. No. 4 St. Louis Blues: Hey St. Louis, I got your Stanley Cup right here! (imagine me making a very rude hand gesture) You buncha jerkies. I’m not picking the Blues because I’m still pissed off about the last time. Also because I have a sneaking suspicion that the Avs are going to have a parade this year. They might get to do some on ice celebrating, possibly in Toronto. Hashtag foreshadowing. I say Colorado wins. The coin says St. Louis wins because the coin is an asshole. At least we finally have one where we didn’t pick the same team. Hey coin, I got your randomness right here! (imagine me making a very rude hand gesture)

No. 2 Vegas Golden Knights vs. No. 3 Minnesota Wild: Did you know that Minneapolis, MN is the only city outside of Boston, MA where I’ve attended an NHL game? Think that will lead me to pick them to win this series? Think again. I say Vegas wins. The coin, however, says that Minnesota wins. We shall see, Mr. Coin… we shall see.

There you have it, my first round playoff predictions for this the second 2021 playoff season which is also the second Covid-19 playoff season.

Go Bruins.

Way Too Close to Home

Yesterday I wrote about how I watched the first episode of The Handmaid’s Tale and how the dystopian future of a religious police state felt a little too close to home in today’s socio-political climate?

I just watched the second episode.

The show takes place in Boston.

My home town.

Now it’s politically too close to home and LITERALLY TOO CLOSE TO HOME.

Holy shit snacks.

Boston’s First Full ICU

When my step son’s diabetes first tore into him he was taken to the intensive care unit at Boston Medical Center.  They were in the news yesterday.  It looks like it was the first time COVID-19 maxed the capacity of an ICU in Boston, and it was that same Boston Medical Center ICU that did so much to save Harry’s life that night.

Read this article from WBUR’s website, written by Carey Goldberg, Martha Bebinger, and Elisabeth Harrison…

In what appears to be the first time a Boston ICU has reached capacity in the coronavirus pandemic, Boston Medical Center was treating so many patients who needed intensive care on Sunday that it had to stop accepting new patients into the ICU during the overnight hours, the hospital says.

The worrisome milestone comes at a time when state, federal and local officials are warning that the viral outbreak may be entering a surge period in Massachusetts and other states.

BMC says that overnight Sunday, ambulances brought patients to other hospitals instead. By Monday, the hospital says, it was able to begin accepting ICU patients again.

Boston health officials say this is the first known case of a Boston hospital reaching ICU capacity during the current COVID-19 crisis.

According to numbers reported Monday by the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association, Boston Medical Center has 140 COVID-19 patients with 39 in the ICU. On Sunday, the group says the hospital had 147 COVID-19 patients with 42 in the ICU.

 

More Repercussions

Yesterday I mentioned that the city of Boston cancelled their St Patrick’s Day parade because of COVID-19.  Today I heard of another repercussion, Harvard has asked students not to come back from Spring Break.  They will hold classes online post-break.  Apparently Amherst College made the same call yesterday.

Still no word on whether or not Vermont is going to do anything similar.  Bellana is home for spring break right now.  She took her laptop home with her just in case.  The numbers are low in Massachusetts, and as of yesterday they were lower in Vermont.  Still, they have students scattered to the winds right now and they are all supposed to come back next week.  It’s not out of the realm of possibility that the number of cases will spike after that.

There is still nothing that directly affects me or my family, other than Jen getting some telecommute time.  I’m sitting at my desk in Waltham, and in about 20 minutes I am going to head over to another one of our buildings in another town.  No problems.  Tomorrow I will be in two of our buildings too.  Again, no problems.

I heard a few personal stories on Facebook today.  Nothing from anywhere near New England though.  I belong to a bunch of guitar related Facebook groups and one has a thread where people are reporting having gigs cancelled.  Most of us in the group are like me, weekend warriors.  If I play three gigs in a year I consider it a big year.  A lot of people are hearing from bars where they have gigs booked over the next few months and being told not to show up.  It’s understandable.  Yes it’s annoying and yes it might be an overreaction, but it’s also the safe and smart move.  I did hear from one guy though who is a professional and has just had a five date UK tour cancelled.  Ouch.  That’s a lot of paychecks to miss in a short stretch of time.  He says he’ll have to make sacrifices, but his family should be okay.

Am I worried?  Nope.  Not at all.  Just paying attention.  Keeping an eye open and an ear to the ground.  It’s going to directly affect us one of these days, probably sooner rather than later.  We’ll be ready and we’ll deal with it and we’ll be fine.  No problems.

On the upside, traffic has been ridiculously light during my commutes.  It’s not as light as Christmas Eve, but it’s in the ball park.  It’s like the song said, you take the good, you take the bad, you take them both, and there you have the facts of life.  I have no idea how that applies in this case, but I’m 100% sure you sang along in your head while you were reading.

COVID-19 Counts Update

The MA Department of Health updated their counts of COVID-19 cases in the state.  We went from 28 yesterday (one confirmed and 27 presumptive) to 41 (one confirmed and 40 presumptive).

The quarantine count stayed the same.

Boston cancelled the St Patrick’s Day parade today.  My company suspended travel outside of the US.  Jen’s company is testing work from home options.  Every day it gets closer and closer to affecting my day to day.

I’ll update again tomorrow after 4:00 PM.

Women’s March

Did you see the pictures today? I was watching a CNN stream from Washington. Half a million people? It looked incredible, and that was just one city. There were marches and rallies all over the country. It was amazing. Outstanding. They said Boston topped one hundred thousand people. That’s my city, people. In my city, we know what’s right.

To hell with that fascist prick.

All of the women who marched today are American heroes.