GO PENS GO!!!!!!!! The First TSCS "Pep Rally" of 2009

This is what we've all been waiting for:

And so it begins...

This is why they get up in the morning:


This is what happened last year:

Click to enlarge for a kick in the stones.

NOT. THIS. YEAR. This is OUR year. And the first casualty in our quest will be the Philadelphia Flyers. The following photos come from our 2008 Round 3 series where we took the Flyers out in 5 games:






And this one is, well, it's pretty self-explanatory:



I'm not the only one who thinks the Pens are going to topple the Flyers. Check out a preview of the predictions that are featured in the Sports Illustrated Playoff Preview in this week's issue issue:

Pierre McGuire’s take on the 4 Penguins vs. 5 Flyers: “WELCOME to a whole lot of nasty. This series will be about Philadelphia center Mike Richards crashing into Pittsburgh center Sidney Crosby, about Pittsburgh center Jordan Staal crashing into Philly center Jeff Carter, and about Pittsburgh power forward Bill Guerin grappling with Philadelphia defenseman Kimmo Timonen, the Flyers' on-ice leader. Penguins' goalie Marc-André Fleury needs to stand up to a potent power play (third in the East) that's led by Carter and Daniel Brière.

Penguins in Seven”

And finally, it wouldn't be a true TSCS Pep Rally if I didn't provide an mp3 download. I've offered some of these before, but if you didn't get them back then, YOU MUST put these songs on your iPod now. There are 3 versions of The Boys of Winter and 2 variations of the Mellon Arena goal horn. The file MellonArenaGoalhorn0809.mp3 is brand new. (I just prepared that one yesterday.) Enjoy! :)

Fair Warning - Expect some Flyers fans to show up in The Friends' Zone. It's the nature of the beast. But I am asking you to completely ignore any that violate The Friends' Zone Policies, because they'll be deleted within a few hours. Thanks in advance to any visiting Flyers fans who check out and honor our requests for commenting in The Friends' Zone. Just know that a lot of little kids read this blog, and I don't want them to see any filthy language here.

On that note, I'm going to end today's rally with a HUGE

LET'S


GO


PENS


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GO PENS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Another TSCS "Pep Rally"

IT'S "PEP RALLY" TIME!!! Our Boys still need us - we're not out of the woods yet... It's definitely a great feeling knowing that we dodged the nearly-insurmountable odds of a 3-0 deficit, but we won't be able to breathe again until we even things up and make this a BRAND NEW SERIES! So to all of our Friends that are lucky enough to have scored a seat at the Mellon on Saturday: CHEER TWICE AS LOUD FOR US!!! Think of all of us at home watching on TV and give it all you have. The Pens obviously needed our support, so I expect all 17,000+ of you to give them enough love at tomorrow's game to cover Game 4 AND to carry them through for a win at Game 5!!!!!!

LET'S GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!

Now here are some more things to that will PUMP YOU UP for tomorrow. First, a quick video that you need to watch:



At the risk of sounding like a complete loon, I have decided to use the same format as the last "Pep Rally," so you'll understand at the end of the post why I wanted you to watch that... :P

Next up, Friend of The Show Lexie101 sent me a link to a fight song from Pittsburgh's B94 radio station. Click here to listen to "Bringin' Stanley Back" by Kobe.

David Staples of The Cult of Hockey gives us the lowdown on Game 3.

Friends Alison from Akron, Ohio, and Bobby T. of IFHSA™ fame sent in a few pictures for us. Akron Alison sent in a picture of the signs she keeps out on her porch - it may not seem like a big deal to some, but supporting Pittsburgh sports is VERY RISKY BUSINESS in and all around Cleveland. I worked in Mentor (a small town just outside Cleveland) for several months in 1998, so I've seen first hand how intense they can be to Steel City supporters! (← In my experience, it was all in good fun, of course!) Also note: Her brother sketched the Pens logo freehanded. :)



Bobby sent in a photoshop he made:


For anyone who couldn't grab the Mellon Arena goal horn ringtone, you can download the mp3 here: Penguins Goal Horn. Now that's a sound we want to hear more of, am I right?

Finally today, I've got TWO treats for you. The first one came about with some help from Friends Michelle B. and Clare L. It is a ringtone of Mike Lange's original "Slap Me Silly, Sidney!" goal call - snagged from the video above. (Haha, I told you I'd eventually explain that!)

(Click here for the mp3.)

And this treat is from Bobby. It's another Mike Lange "Slap Me Silly, Sidney!" goal call - but this one comes from Wednesday's Game 3 after Sid scored for the second time.

(Click here for the mp3.)

What's even better is that Bobby also provided the iPhone ringtone for us! Click here to get it.

All right - let's go over today's "Pep Rally" now:

1. Pep talk - Check.
2. YouTube video - Check.
3. Silly Penguins-related song - Check.
4. Random Penguins article link - Check.
5. TSCS Friend photos - Check.
6. Pens-related mp3 link - Check.
7. New Pens ringtone - Double Check.

It's a best-of-7 series and, despite what this guy thinks, it ain't over 'TIL IT'S EFFING OVER.


Many, MANY thanks to everyone who contributed to today's post, and to ThePensblog.com staff for sharing the Wings Parade link.

GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GO PENS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A TSCS "Pep Rally"

Admittedly, I am both in personality and looks just about the farthest thing from a cheerleader as one can get, but I'm going to do my very best impression of one right now because [cliché alert] it's times like these - when things seem their worst - that we need to rally behind our Boys of Winter and show them how much we believe in them. We had a chance to vent our frustrations in the comments section of the last post, but today's comments section should be labeled "Positive Vibes ONLY!" ;) If any team in the NHL can rise above a situation like this, IT'S OUR PENGUINS.

I've got some things to help get you geared up and in the mood for tomorrow's game. First up, you'll need to watch this as a refresher before I go any further (note - pay close attention to what the Saint says):



Well, it looks like Ruutu's not the only one who can claim to be an artist's muse now! Friend of The Show Maria T. found out that Sid's got a song now, too. Click here to listen to "Sid the Kid's on Fire" by Heavy Eric. If you want to put it on your iPod here are instructions:

• Mozilla Firefox users - click the link and choose "Save" instead of "Open"
• Internet Explorer users - right click the link and choose "Save Target As..."

Show veteran Michelle B. sent in a link to this Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Q & A session with Siddo.

And finally today, Friend of The Show Marie M. sent in some pictures from last night's game. Her shots all come from the pregame warmups (make sure to check out the shots of the groups of Pens fans at the Joe):

LATE EDIT: "Where's Waldo?" TSCS style - Click this image to enlarge it and see if you can spot the Alex Ovechkin jersey in that sea of red. WTF?!

It is undeniable that we're down. WAY down. BUT WE'RE NOT OUT. We're a long way from it. The team needs us now more than they ever have, so let's not let them down!!! I've got two more things for you to get you pumped for tomorrow. First, here's the "Boys of Winter" mp3. And I've made another ringtone for you. It is the sound we ALL want to hear MANY, MANY times tomorrow night:

More from snoopyjode at Myxer

Thanks SOOOOO MUCH to Maria, Michelle, and Marie for their contributions to today's post! :) Now say let's all say it together:

GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Supportin' Our Pens

A couple of days ago, I put out a call for some pictures of how you are supporting our Pens on their playoff run. Here's what I got.

First, I'll start with a quick explanation of my own Pens shrine. The shelf sits above our TV. My husband put it up a few months ago, but I couldn't decide what I wanted to put on it. Gradually, it turned into this:

Click this for a supersized view of all the Penguin-y goodness. Yes, that is a Mario Lemieux rubber ducky - my sister got that for my husband when he and I were first married. I have no idea where she got it, but isn't it hilarious? The hairdo on it matches Le Magnifique's hair perfectly! (Oh, the Pens/Sens playoff puck and the towel on the left are from last year's playoff series.)

This is in my dining room. Usually I write a message related to the current holiday or the menu if I'm having a dinner party, but now I'm not allowed to erase my terrible little doodle of Lord Stanley's Cup.

Now here's how some of the Friends of The Show are pledging allegiance to Pens Nation (all of these can be clicked to be enlarged):

XDancexxForxxMeX has this McFarlane Sidney Crosby figurine set up and ready to go for every game.

Cassie C. has this on her desk at work. (You can get one for your desk at ThePensblog.com)

Scott S. and his girlfriend have a game day ritual: "Chubbs (the Penguin) sits in the neck of my hanging Pens jersey and my girlfriend hugs him before each game and places him back." If you haven't already figured it out by the superstitious ritual, Scott himself is a hockey player. :)

I wonder who Stephanie B.'s favorite player is... ;)

This is Stephanie S.'s playoff seat (complete with adult beverage, I see!). She's also a Stars fan. That is okay right now, but if it ends up being Pens v Stars for the Cup, we might have a conflict of interest. ;) Oh, and that's a pretty kick-ass picture on her computer screen!

traumagirl14 usually works weekend nights at the hospital. (← That explains the name!) Since she always has to have her badge showing, a friend got her a Pens badge holder so that she can always show her loyalty to the Pens.

Michelle B. "outshrines" us all... (Picture 1)

...Michelle B. again... (Picture 2)

...Michelle B. one more time... Picture 3

...Michelle B.'s phone... (Picture 4)

...Michelle B.'s shirt collection... (Picture 5)

...and lastly, Michelle B.'s bobblehead collection. snoop = JEALOUS (Picture 6)

John L.'s Scion xB. He said, "It's a lot easier to get a Pens plate in Ohio. :)"

Lacey's chalkboard > snoop's chalkboard

This is a Friend's desk at work. She said, "Being a Pens fan in Montreal is lonely, indeed!" but...

...she wasn't completely alone. Here's the story on this: "Next, a post it left by--well, y'know (although I wrote the "in the whole world" part). He was flown to Montreal for treatment on his broken foot, and paid us a visit--and left that when he saw my bobble." This is a perfect example of why Mad Max is one of my favorites! That's too funny!

Vanessa D. and her daughter, Kelly, had the opportunity to support Bugsy in person!

Lexie101 is shown here at last night's game. She watched it on the lawn. :)

And all the way from California, this is Eighty-Two and his son, Alexander Crosby. (← Click his name for the story of how he got his name.) WHAT A CUTIE-PIE!!! He's getting so big!! It's good to see the little guy being brought up as a Pens fan! :D

This one is a late addition from Mike @ Japan. Due to the drastic time difference, we'll forgive him! ;) How AWESOME is it that there are Pens fans literally all over the world?! What an adorable pair!!!

Many, many thank yous to all who participated. I know there were quite a few of you who said you didn't have a picture to send in, but don't worry - we know you love the Pens as much as we do!! :)

One last thing: Friend of The Show Amanda found this video of Sid talking about his mom, Trina, after last night's game (his interview is about 1:46 in):



Thanks for the video, Amanda!! We're heading to Broad Street tomorrow.

GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!!