@ bingofuel

Good points, Thanks for answering my questions.

I'm going to the game tonight and it makes me sad to say that if I could get rid of my tickets, I would.

I agree with what you say. One thing, though, R Brownlee has officially named me Naive, not sure I want to share the honour.

Thinks. Oh well, Naivety likes company, but not to close. You can join the ranks of the Naive Ones.

Used to be we went to games for the emotional wringer we went through, living and dying with every pass, shot, or save. Who cared what the players made, they made more than we did, even in the seventies when I started watching. So now they make a whole lot more than we do, and every fan is an apprentice accountant (and we know all know the reputation of accountants as fun guys to be with, and now even if they win, we critize how they won, rate the goals as lucky or flukes, and don't even enjoy the rare elixer which of late is a even more rare win.

Can't for the life of me see the sense of worrying about games which won't even be played for months, to say nothing of arguing in December in terms of life and death who would be the best player to draft in June. Seems to me there will be more than enough time to argue draft choices in April, May, and June when everybody elses team is in the playoffs and our guys are playing golf, fishing, looking for new places to live, etc.

*searches keyboard for the "slow clap" button*

bingofuel wrote: Oilers brass went into this season with blinders on. Sure, we couldn't have predicted the sheer amount of injuries, but as fans we were fooling ourselves to think we had more than an outside chance at the playoffs as well, it pains me to say. Hindsight, and all that.

As fans, we've picked the Oilers as our team. To abandon them now just smacks of illegitimacy. A true fan recognizes that we're screwed, and will rail against management to turn the Oilers into contenders again. You don't just leave the party, cheer for someone else (or no one else) then come back when the getting's good.

True fans sit through the bullshit and cling to the seemingly ridiculous notion (at least at this point in the season) that the sun will shine on the Oilers' insignia again.

To me, that's what it means to be a true fan. Sitting through the crap and reaping the rewards of hanging in there. And when the team's fortunes do turn around, then those who stayed put have the satisfaction of saying they hung in there, while the bandwagon jumpers resurface with shin splints and shit-eating grins on their faces.

Does it suck to be a fan right now? Hell yes, it sucks. But I love this team, I love this town and I'm not going to go cheer for the Canucks, or the Flames, or the Sharks, or the Caps or anyone else just because we're in the muck. Call me a masochist, call me naive. But fortune favours the naive masochists, as they say.

Let's suck it up, and but our big-boy panties on, yeah? The season's in the shitter. But true fans will hang in there and reap the rewards of our eventual success.

Sincerely,

Angry Bingofuel.

AMEN ANGRY BINGO!!

Don't be sad, even in the glory years, I got rid of the occasional tickets becauze I didn't want to go for one reason or another, including the games were boring. Strange as it may seem now, even with the best team in the world, us fans considered the games often to boring to watch. And they could not always get rid of the tickets either.

Amen to Angry Bingofuel's comments. True fans stick around through all the crap, and then we get to enjoy the good times that much more. Maybe this is what Oiler fans really need, after all we have been rather spoiled in Edmonton's moderately short sports history. These troubled times will just make the soon to be (please God soon to be) good times that much more enjoyable.

This is a very good point. Although if this game is anything like the game I went to last year, I'll be 3/4 in the bag before the puck drops. I guess I'll just take it a period at a time and see what happens. I'll probably spend more money buying Oilers merch than beer anyway. It's still a good idea to get both a home and away MacIntyre jersey right?

hmmm. 15.95 ....beer or PPV....this is a tough one. Some amazing beers can be purchased for 15.95.

~take the best day of your life & put it in your mouth~

As I have not watched any games due to my busy xmas family juggling tonight is not the night to spring to buy the game.

I will instead start on my 6' Under boxset or Assassin's Creed 2.

I still can't believe Rickard's stole my go to line I use when I'm about to seal the deal with a fine lady. What the hell am I supposed to do now?

Robbie Schremp will be on HNIC radio on 97 and 127 here in a few minutes. Should be interesting.

Google that line - see what you come up with on CraigsList :P

@ bingofuel

Glad to see that I'm not the only one here who wears big-boy panties.

10-4 I really liked the first one!

Plus it's made in Quebec, so we have to support that video game industry so they will take less equalization payments from Alberta....

Was talking with a friend, and he is of the opinion, the big financial deals with the proposed taking over half of downtown for the rink, entertainment district, is the major hindrance to making the team better by diverting internal management resources from coming to grips with the needs of the whole hockey organization, including the owner. Have to say, I can see his point.

Then again, there are the Hockey Canada diversions for "key" management types.

Perhaps, the management needs to taken away from any duties except those involving the Oilers and the Farm Team.

Here is the free link for tonight's game.. hxxp://www.channelsurfing.net/ or justintv

I am humored with the excitement for the DFF, when it appears that the light at the end of tunnel seems positive in all this darkness.

I know all about the illegal streams of games. I would be prepared to find a different link though. Im pretty confident the NHL and Oilers have Justin.tv targeted and have them take down the streams immediately.

I'll take them

You mean the hockey gods still watch the oiler--I thought they tuned out a long time ago.

jeanshorts wrote:

It's still a good idea to get both a home and away MacIntyre jersey right?

You're skipping the third jersey? Cheapskate!!!

I get the ppv games for half price (joys of working for the cable company :-D ), but I still wont buy them right now.

I have to agree with angry bingofuel's comments though, a true fan never dies. He eat sleeps and breathes his team (even if it kills him). I've been a fan ever since I could walk. I remember being up with my grandparents, who were die hards, yelling and screaming at the tv. They had the pleasure of being around for the glory years and they passed their love of the team down on to me. As much as these past years have stressed me I will always support the team.

On that note, I won tickets to the Oilers v. Flames in Calgary on the 30th of Jan. Lower bowl seats! And I will be definately wearing my jersey! haha.

Imagine this... its the first time I'll have ever seen the Oilers in person, live. Too bad its in calgary and too bad they suck! lol

Brownlee it's about time you stopped hanging off the dairy cow. We need a new group of vetern's, we need to seperate the contender's from the pretender's and we need to start looking in the mirror (Old boy's club, you know who you are!). Let's stop riding on our laurel's of past and start a new regime in Edmonton, one that will lead by example and not perform on some sadistic form of entiltlement!!!

Hey !....now, now.....Assassins Creed 2 is a exceptional game my friends. Let's not get hasty. As for the game tonite ------who would want to waste anything over $ 1 on this shameful team ? I can watch a good movie, play an exciting game on the box, have an even better glass of wine or beer, and read a good intelligent book by the fireside. Now that's quality time. The best bang for the buck is Golden Bears hockey. Essentially (as Stauffer put it) a WHL all-star team. Aren't we lucky that there's at least 1 winning organization in town ?

K boys. Work hard and entertain me, but don't you dare win. Sorry Chris.

there are no joys working for a cable company...

i get them free, and refuse to even waste my time watching

Holy sh*t Kopitar just got murdered by Phaneuf. Talk about good timing to look up from my computer. That was a dirty play by Dion.

Not a chance!

It was a penalty, but NOT a 5 min. major. Kopitar was out there the next shift. Then Terry Murray and Brent Sutter went at it, and Murray sent Raitis Ivannins out to goon it up. What a meathead!

What's goin on in the Oil game?

Dion didn't even make a play at the puck. He was looking hit on Kopitar the entire way. THOSE are precisely the "vulnerable" hits they want to get rid of. Good for the ref for standing up and making a ballsy call.

...oh and it's a typical Oilers game. Outplayed for the most part. Brutal giveaways, bad defensive play but somehow a 1-0 lead. Whichever goaltender plays the least crappy, their team will win.

Totally a 5 min major...just lucky that Kopitar isn't hurt seriously...a race for a loose puck and Phaneuf ignored the puck saw the player in a vulnerable postion before even reaching the puck and as Kopitar starts reaching for the puck Phaneuf takes the player into the boards at a high speed

We'll have to agree to disagree for now. Doug MacLean is on my side too (oh sh*t, maybe I should rethink, lol).

Wow. Nice Dive Grabovski.

Yea if Doug agrees with you then perhaps you should take another look. He's an.. wait for it................... imbecile.

I wonder if Phaneuf was feeling squirrely after that ~brutal~ crosscheck by O'Sullivan during last night's game. I swear I thought I was watching a soccer game the way he went down.

So... when you're a youngin' coming up through minor hockey, and you're defending, are you taught to play the puck or play the man? With the fact that it was Phaneuf, I don't even want to engage in this convo because most Oil fans have blinders on when it comes to him. 2 min - yes, 5 - no.

He could have killed him. No blinders. Dirty hit. Kopitar was extremely vulnerable and Dion showed no disregard and no attempt to play the puck.

I played hockey at a pretty high level so I'm not an idiot and yes when a player already has the puck....may I highlight..."ALREADY" has the puck you play the man and not the puck....you don't run a defenseless player into the boards during a two man race for the puck before he gets to the puck...

You're Flame fan, naturally you're going to say Phaneuf is the poor innocent player on this

It deserved a 5 min major....I don't care who the player is

And when it comes to your Cro-Mag boyfriend (who looks like the bastard child of Herman Munster, yet still somehow pulls Elisha Cuthbert) you seem to have your red and black(?) glasses on.

YEEEEESSSSSSSSS!!!!!!! Oilers deadly power play strikes again!!!*

*some irony required

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

You gotta check out Dustin Brown's penalty shot.

And I'm NOT a total Dion lover by the way. Enough so that I didn't really even consider him being on Canada.

That was embarassing. Jesus.

So what's the deal? No traffic over at Flames Nation? Calgary? Phaneuf? Pfft!

Its 2-0 for the Oilers, here at OILERSnation.com

You know me... I gotta get me some ON during the Flames game to keep up to date on the Oil game. Speaking of which... ?

http://www.justin.tv/slimebocks#r=4HvRZ1c

No more excuses for you! Ha ha!

Is it just me or does it look like Gene's nose does most of the interviews?

Man I'm likin' our fourth line!

How can you tell? It's always buried in somebody's bum . . .

Very good point. Very good point indeed