PETE&C 2008!

Technology:
It's hard to believe, but PETE&C 2008 is here! Well, technically, the pre-conference stuff starts tomorrow, and the conference begins Monday. When you think about it, though, isn't the pre-conference really part of the conference? Although, if you include that, then what about the planning that goes into it? Discussing with colleagues, creating/presenting sessions elsewhere...I guess the conference is just the part where we can get all of us together in one physical place as opposed to a virtual place. Either way, I'm excited, even though Jim Gates told me there would be more people there this year than there were last year. Good luck to all of us for getting into the various sessions. Although, I have found I learn more when I'm not in the sessions than when I'm actually in one.

Hockey:
The Ducks are back on track! Now Teemu Selanne has returned and the Ducks broke out of their scoring slump and their losing streak.

The Washington Capitals are a really exciting team. You know, the team that was the worst in the league on Thanksgiving when they fired coach Glen Hanlon and promoted Bruce Boudreau to interim and then head coach? Well, they're in first place now. They have one of the most exciting players in the league (Alex Ovechkin), a highly underrated blue-liner (Mike Green), and a team that is playing as a team. It's so much fun to watch Ovie get so excited after every Caps goal, whether he scores it or someone else or whatever. I know Bucci has criticized the long-term deal that Ovie signed, but I don't think Ovie is playing for the money (well, he is a little, you can't expect them to play for free), and bu signing the long-term deal, he has been able to ensure a future for him AND Washington. True, he could have possibly signed a bigger money deal down the road. But what happens in a salary cap league where one player takes up a chunk of change? By doing this, Ovie has allowed for more money to be spread around to his current and future teammates, possibly allowing the Caps to attract another big star to this team. And that will only help him out. So I say bravo to this deal.

Did you see the Coyotes' Chris Weller drop Ole-Kristian Tollefsen from the Blue Jackets last night? Wow. He deserved that match penalty.