RANDOM THOUGHTS ON A HOT DAY IN AUGUST

Nice to be back in Texas after a spell up north at the lake...my crack had so massively missed that constant moisture and occasional trickle down it.

So lets see, what’s up…Got a text from a friend at 7 this morning asking who bought the Stars. I hit him back with a blunt IDK (I Don’t Know) and then pumped some sources for info. Nothing. Maybe it’s that group from Florida that was going to buy the Chiefs? Who knows? Cuban? Don Carter?...Those Canadians?

I do know that the recently consummated marriage between Carrie Underwood and Mike Fisher has hit its first snag. I guess you can take the country girl out of Nashville, but not out of the country. She’s said to be balking at the move to Canada’s capital city. I have a solution, Fisher to Dallas for ___________. She can sing her sweet little heart out based right here in Big D and commute to the Opry, if need be - and he can make the Stars much better.

Speaking of hockey player’s not so new magnetism when it comes to hot, young, female celebs, Esquire magazine had this in their September issue article entitled “Encyclopedia of Now” under the letter “H”; Hockey Players. The kind of guys that Carrie Underwood, Hilary Duff, Jessica Stam, Hilary Rhoda are currently attracted to, and the focus of a troubling question: Hockey Players?

Have you been keeping up with the “testing” at the NHL sponsored Research, development and Orientation camp? Me neither. But every time I do read something on it the “research” reads like one of my past blogs – the ones about how to fix some issues in our game – like yellow lines behind the goal lines to help video review on goals. Your welcome Brenden Shanahan.

And finally, I stumbled across a new sport being played in Italy that makes hockey – even brawling 70s hockey – seem powderpuffy. Check out the description and marketing flick for this violent, maniacal, manly man “game”:

You probably haven't heard of the Fight Football League. By the time you finish reading this post, it will be your favorite sport.

Formed in Italy, the Fight Football League reminds one at first of something akin to rugby. Players move a ball by carrying or passing it up the field, scoring by getting it in a net at the end.

Then you notice they're wearing MMA gloves. That's because it's perfectly legal to beat the snot out of anyone on the opposing team, MMA style, whether they're carrying the ball or not.

It's more than legal; it's encouraged. If you knock out or otherwise injure a player, his team doesn't get to substitute for him. So instead of flopping around to draw a red card to put your team a man up, FFLers will simply pummel opponents into unconsciousness to gain a man advantage.

For now, Fight Football exists only in Italy. That's fitting, because according to the organizers, it's inspired by an ancient Roman ballgame called Harpastum. A dubious claim, because the rules of Harpastum remain mostly unknown, but we'll let slide anything that lends legitimacy to a 20-man battle royale.