The View From Wisconsin

• Scariest Moment In The World: You're about to pay for dinner with your debit card, and you suddenly realize you don't have it. Thankfully, with a quick search of my online banking (and a frenzied, panic search of every pair of jeans or shorts I'd worn in the last 24 hours) I discovered I'd left it at a restaurant that was (fortunately) open 24 hours. They had it in their register; when I'd stopped in to get the fish fry the previous night, I apparently forgot it there or the waitress didn't hand it back to me with my receipt. WHEW!
• I'm starting to get tired of Interleague play. Are the Twins that much better than we are, or are we just not as good as we think we are here in Milwaukee?
• The Canes can start planning their tee times for next week. Oh my goodness, Evgeni Malkin is playing like a man possessed. If the Pens actually manage to keep the Wings close, how he can't get consideration for the Connie is beyond me.
  
• Part of me wants to see Providence win tomorrow over the Hershey Bears, just so that series can be extended out beyond the Western Conference finals.
  
• I'm thinking Helio wins Indy tomorrow, and Danica posts another DNF when she tries to pull into her pit - and plows into the car in the pit in front of her. This time, though, she doesn't get restrained when she pops out of the car and goes for the other driver. (Okay, maybe not on that last thing.)
• Enough of all the Gosselin Clan hatred, already!

See, I always got Mother's Day confused when I was growing up. The reason was simple: My grandfather was born on May 13th, and my grandmother was born on June 19th. So, when we went over to my grandparent's house on Mother's Day, we'd be giving my grandfather his usual chocolates or golf balls (or chocolate golf balls!); in June, it'd be giving my grandmother her gifts and flowers (and, for some reason, my grandpa would still get his chocolate and golf balls for Father's day!).

A few milestones that the Admirals may be able to achieve during this Calder Cup playoff run. Consider this: if the Admirals...

...win two more games in their series with Houston, they would have posted their 100th playoff victory in franchise history. (The depressing part of this fact is that the Admirals have been playing as a professional team in league play for 35 seasons.)

...defeat Houston in the Western Division Finals, it would be their 10th time winning a series in the Calder Cup playoffs - more that all of the other playoff series won by the Admirals in the USHL or IHL.

...advance to the Western Conference Finals and win at least two games in that series (against either Manitoba or Grand Rapids), they would have won more games in the Calder Cup (AHL) playoffs (47 wins) than in the Turner Cup (IHL) playoffs (46).

...win the Western Division Finals series AND the Western Conference Finals series, it would be their 19th and 20th playoff series wins, respectively.

...make it to the Calder Cup Finals, it would be the franchise's sixth appearance in the league finals, and the franchise's third appearance in the AHL's Final series - more appearances that in any other league finals (2 USHL, 1 IHL).

...extend their Western Division Finals series to seven games and win, then win the Western Conference final in seven games, game three of the Calder Cup finals would be the franchise's record 23rd game of any single playoff season. (The current record is 22 in the Cup-winning season of 2004.)

…win the Calder Cup, they would have won more playoff games as the primary affiliate of the Nashville Predators (55) than in their prior seasons in the USHL and IHL (54).

They need cameras focused on the red line between the posts. That was a goal in Boston.

Anyways:

• Things have just gone completely downhill over the last year for the Cowboys. Injuries, failure to make the playoffs - and now their practice field collapses. My heart goes out to the scout who apparently is now paralyzed from the part of the structure that fell on him. Something like that is just a freak accident, but when you look at everything that's happened to Jerry's Boys... Someone out there check for goats.
• Dave Bush deserved better out there today. At least the Crew won, even if it wasn't pretty. And I don't know about you, but to me it's rather strange to be hearing "Hell's Bells" coming on over the Miller Park sound system.
  
• I hope the Admirals played their last really-bad game of the year on Thursday. They stayed in it, but the Aeros were much better. I hope that game was a "wake-up call" for Lane's boys.
  
• By the way: the black drapes that "hide" the unoccupied upper deck of the Bradley Center are a bit unnerving if you're not used to seeing them. I never knew that the BC had them in the first place; apparently they were put up at the request of the Milwaukee Iron AF2 football club. The problem I have is that when you're looking up at the end boards, there looks like this large, black mass between the ribbon boards and them. I would guess you'd get used to them after a while, but I hope they're not a permanent feature during future Admiral games.