New York Islanders: Draft Day '08 Bargain Shoppers?

I think I finally figured it out this morning—the reaction my dynasty die-hard husband has to Friday's events.

He and his buddies whom I've heard from all feel the same way.  I heard it all weekend, from the most eloquent "Arrogance and ignorance are a lethal combination when you're running a hockey team," to the simplest "Hey Dee!  Can you introduce me to Garth Snow?  I'd like him to trade me two $20s for a $10."  Ha ha, boys.

But as no one was paying attention to Saturday's draft events, because the main focus was Friday night's first round, any and all good moves made would go unnoticed for hours. 

I learned about some of the additional round picks through the good graces of Tom Liodice and Mike Schuerlein, on their cell phones from the draft floor in Ottawa.  I'm certain I was the only one on a softball field in New Jersey whose phone was receiving hourly updates from Ottawa.

But Monday morning, I figured out the problem the dissapointed fans were having on Friday night, whether they were at the Coliseum or frantically hitting the refresh button on their computers.  It's the same thing as I have in my household when it comes to my food shopping.

My husband and daughter both WANT Honey Nut Cheerios. You know, the REAL Honey Nut Cheerios. The one that has those cute commercials they see every hour on every channel every day. Because they are the BEST, or so they have been trained to believe.

So what happens? I go to the store and come home with Toasty O's because they're half the price and have the exact same ingredients. What do I come home to? Anger! "Why can't you just buy freakin' Cheerios? What's wrong with you?"

So I tell them, "Well, I actually got three boxes of cereal for the same price I would have paid for ONE. There's MORE for the same price and it does the same job!"  They don't care. They grumble and growl at me every time they open the box. So this is life in today's world.

Islander fans were sold on Cheerios.  REAL Cheerios.  That's all we saw for weeks.  The present PR machine at work.   The Islanders organization? Well, they brought home Toasty O's and a few other boxes of cereal their "family" didn't have their heart set on.

I'll confess, though. Every now and then, I do come home with REAL Cheerios—when they're on sale. And then I get, "Oh! Finally!"  No difference this weekend. Garth Snow went shopping. He did what he had to. The family will just have to deal with it.  In the long run, it may be better for everyone.

Ultimately though, the big difference for me on Friday was that this time—I MYSELF WANTED THE DAMN CHEERIOS!