The main issue with this challenge to myself is that Shark Week also happens to be the same week I started a new job. By the time I get home, I'm a little worn out. BUT I said a picture a day, and dammit, a picture a day you shall have! Tonight's sketch was inspired by So You Think You Can Dance and my desire to draw a tutu. (it helps that they played Lady Gaga's "Teeth" tonight on the show)

Shark Lake, a little known adaptation of Swan Lake

We also had news of a signing today. Colin White was signed by the Sharks after being bought out by the Devils earlier this week. I have really never paid any attention to White, so I have no idea what to think of the move. I was assured, however, that he doesn't eat babies, puppies, or kittens, so, at the very least, he's a decent fellow. He has been described to me as "Murray like" but also as "God help you if he plays more than 20 minutes." Should be interesting to see how he shakes out on the ice this season.

Do what the nice Shark with the cupcake says and suggest some captions for this image. I know we have at least 3 readers, so I expect 3 comments. We may even have as many as 5, but I'm not going to be greedy.
Keep it SFW please.

Hope you had a good DAY 3 of SHARK WEEEEEKKKKKK 2011. Brent Burns did. Dude is a tweeting beast.

Ok, so it's actually a photo documenting the extreme, and real, battle between mega giant super awesome shark and stoopid octopus, but it still illustrates something. You see, over the years the octo often had the upper hand on the shark, but lately the shark has been showing the octo where his ass is, and, as is the case here, looking good while doing it. Viva la Shark! Viva Shark Week! Viva the Sharks Rolling the Wings!

Why clearance in the toy aisle is awesome, right here.

We're celebrating Shark Week the best way we know how, with totally random cartoons! One a day until Shark Week 2011 ends. We may also post commentary on some of the programming if it strikes our fancy. If they do a Hoarders/Shark Week cross over, we'll be all over that.

Rest assured, no bags of feces will have been eaten by any of the Sharks featured this week.





*Ok, so a Hoarders joke is low, BUT, if you've seen it, you know, way too many people are pooping in bags. Anxeity disorders are serious and if you are pooping in a bag because you can no longer access your toilet, you need to seek help. Seriously.

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In a move largely missed by all of the hockey people we follow online, the Sharks quietly signed Former Blues Center Andrew Murray to a one year deal, announced today. This will be Murray Part 2's first team to not be based in Columbus Ohio. According to other articles, he's interested in meeting Not Kyle because they're both from Manitoba. No word yet on whether this means they know each other, but all stereotypical super cold province signs point to yes.

No word yet on how the actually issue of having two Murray's on the team will be handled, but one suspects first initials will be donning someones jersey in the near future.

I see it every year. A team falls short of expectations and fans lament that they even tried at all. After watching the twitter reaction to the US Women's Soccer team's loss to Japan over the weekend, and seeing a barrage of “they shouldn't even have bothered trying” comments, I wondered, is there room for losing in sports? Can we measure a team's success by more than just Ws?

First off, I am not one of those “everyone gets a medal for showing up” people. Screw that nonsense. I'm glad you came to participate, but you don't get anything special because of it. Prizes are awarded to those who finish exceptionally well, and if you don't, better luck next time. You need a reason to try, in my opinion, which is what the prize does until you reach a certain level of competition. I'm not saying that we should turn sports into a love in where everyone feels good about themselves. Losing sucks, but it's a growing experience. MY question is, can a remarkable season that ends in a loss still be considered a success or do we only judge teams but how many shiny baubles they have won? (and then which particular baubles because only one really counts...)

My other half has brought up this conundrum as well. The countries that go to the Olympics all know full well that maybe 4-5 countries have athletes that can actually compete for a medal. The rest won't get a shot at gold, or silver, or bronze. They'll just get to go home. So why go? Why bother when you know you're going to lose? Why ice 30 NHL teams each year when only one can win the Cup? Shouldn't the preordained winners just compete and save everyone else the trouble?

I think this is a dangerous point of view. Sports is all about competition, driving yourself to be better than you ever have been, and chance. Unexpected chances for glory. Unexpected hot streaks, unexpected runs. Why do those other countries/team play? Because of what is possible.

If we knew the outcome every time, sports would be boring. And if only teams that won consistently could compete, we'd still end up with losers. Plus, it'd be boring as hell. Sports is interesting because of the unknown, because there is the drama of potential triumphs and upsets and crushing defeats. I think it's time we start acknowledging that there's a lot more to a season than just winning the big shiny. It's about the journey too. Success shouldn't be define by one win, it should be defined by the overall season. Winning is great, but if we only use that to determine success, a lot of us will be very disappointed at season's end.