The Dark Ranger: Betts Your Bottom Dollar

Bio of TDR

TDR is a working professional in entertainment and is obsessed with the game of hockey. More four years ago, this site emerged as a means (or an outlet) to tell some truth'isms about the game post-lockout, rather than the crud fed to us through knuckleheads like Jimmy Dolan and his lemmings universe. Today, there are a hundred Rangers sites and is thankful and grateful to all those that have come after him, but honorable thanks go to his fellow Dark-writers, Graying Mantis and J_Undisputed. And "Let's Go Rangers!"

Bio of Graying Mantis

Graying Mantis is in fact a graying legal practitioner by day (and sometimes, alas, by night). In the cobwebs of his memory, he recalls starting to follow the Blueshirts in 1970 and remembers watching pivotal playoff games against the Blackhawks on a snow-covered Hartford t.v. channel in their 1972 march to the Finals. Giacomin, Gilbert, Ratelle, and Hadfield seen skating on a small B&W TV screens always will be among his first Ranger memories. He is grateful beyond words for the opportunity to work with his colleagues here in their never ending battle to inform and entertain. Most of all, he appreciates the chance to engage with fellow hockey fans.

Bio of J_Undisputed

"J_Undisputed is an Information Tech Professional; a student, and on and off in his dreams, Mike Richter. He caught his first glimpse of Rangers Hockey when an overtime preempted his favorite pro wrestling broadcast on WWOR-9 one late saturday night when he was 5 and he's been hooked ever since. He's been watching the Rangers for 30 years despite family attempts to make him an Islander Fan (Rest easy...they're out of the will). What started as a minor annoyance has become a life long passion (and at times, a frustration...But he wouldn't trade it for anything). Lets Go Rangers!"

Bio of General Ganz

General Ganz is a cynical yet well-informed student of the human spirit. He's a professional of sorts, with a post-graduate education, some experience working in real companies, and some limited athletic ability. The total small package. He got picked on a fair bit as a kid, and he experienced his first human-non-relation kiss in his teens. He also grew up on the other side of the tracks, thereby helping to cultivate a healthy contempt for dreamers and optimists whose rosy upbringing gave them something to smile about, even when "life produced lemons." Like it or not, his only mission is to point out the potholes you're lucky enough to miss on your drive to work. To find the blemish on your daughter's carefully-stitched (and not-yet-paid-for) wedding dress. To take that little smidgen of hope that your favorite hockey teams fill you with, and pour orange paint on it. Oh, and he is a Blueshirts fan, and takes most of his fashion direction from Ron Duguay (whose name he dropped as a way to close the deal on that first kiss).

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Betts Your Bottom Dollar

So I'll make this a double-Flyers posting day, as everyone is now reporting that Brashear-bashed Blair Betts will be joining the Philadelphia Bullies in training camp next week. This obviously frees up more cap space for The 2009/10 New York Rangers and our 'alleged acquiring of every important free agent left' mantra (see Dany Heatley, Phil Kessel, Mats Sundin, etc.) as we approach our own training camp.

Gee speaking of which, we sure will miss Tom Renney and the West Point cadets tackling the New York Rangers during pre-season training camp, which always seemed strangely related to the premise in the movie Mystery, Alaska (without the skates and pond hockey) -- big bad professional team comes to local institution and challenges the locals. Maybe it's just me. But so I digress...

Wishing Betts the best of luck, as some say Philly has a chance at the Golden Cup this year. It is not a terrible idea to play for the City of Brotherly Love --- someone named 'The Donald' will be ready for your return to the Garden. When that moment happens, there will be at least one Rangers fan at The Garden cheering for you Blair Betts....and cursing his own NYR enforcer to hell and back (his name rhymes with Motty Trockey)!!!

tdr