The Jarome Iginla trade

I'm not sure if this is actually how I feel, or if this is the result of my brain spending all night desperately trying to rationalize what just happened.

Phew.

Okay. Let's do this.

First, let's identify downfalls of the Flames organization over the past few seasons. They have no big centers and their prospects either have little skill and skating ability, or are very very very small. At the NHL level, they have not had a true "grind line" since 2009 instead filling the third line with 2nd line tweeners. The fourth line has been a random collection of goons, and usually can't see more than 5 minutes a night for risk of them letting in too many goals.

The Boston deal? That deal made me mad. A depth defenceman and an undersized russian with skating problems. Make no mistake, of all the pieces Calgary potentially had coming back Khokhlachev was the best, or at least had the most potential. That said, he reads like the stereotype of russians that don't make it in the NHL, so that is a huge question mark. Unfortunately, the KHL factor is a very real consideration now. Perhaps the biggest flaw with Khokhlachev is that the Flames already have him, he's just named Paul Byron. Another undersized skilled centre won't really help the organization. The real piss off was the conditional 1st rounder. For the return to be based on whether or not a player likes an organization is an unreasonable risk. That deal was basically Bartkowski and future considerations, which is very frustrating.

The Pittsburgh deal is the better deal. The Flames get a first rounder, likely late, and effectively replacing their 2nd in this draft. Okay. A guaranteed pick. Good, we need those. Now, what do the two prospects project to? First, worth noting that before joining the Flames as Assistant General Manager John Weisbrod was the head of scouting for the Boston Bruins. He spent a looot of time scouting the American college ranks. Also, during the lock out most scouts watched a ton of college hockey. If Weisbrod says these guys are good, I'm inclined to trust him. What do these players bring to the Flames? Size. Skating ability. They project as max 2nd liners, likely 3rd liners. Having shut-down players who can skate is a very desperate need for the Flames organization. They get those in this deal.

Would I have preferred Derrick Pouliot? Absolutely. But clearly the Flames are intended to do this rebuild the right way. I.E. Not just putting the sexy name into the lineup and waiting for results. Instead they're acquiring players who will play a role. More Ottawa style than Edmonton style. And I like this. Ottawa's rebuild is basically my gold standard for how you do a rebuild.

Farewell, Iggy. You were the best thing to happen to this city since oil.

On Video Games...

My video game docket is, at the moment, the fullest it has been in almost five years.

The PS3 is currently loaded up with Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. Yes, I'm playing through it again, because I need more Optimus Prime in my life. Currently warming up in the dugout is Dishonored, a game that I put two hours into and just ran out of time to play. Behind THAT is the last ~1.5 hours of Assassin's Creed III, a game that I really really REALLY liked, and is currently standing in the way of me playing through the Zone of the Enders remake.

Also worth noting? I'm planning on buying Bioshock Infinite today. So...goodness. Looks like I might need to call in sick a couple times. That is a lot of video game I need to get through.

I just want to mention one of the things which stuns me the most about Fall of Cybertron. In my previous post about how the ratings system appears to be broken I briefly touched on this, and I feel like it deserves mention again. Fall of Cybertron might be the best adaptation of external source material I have ever had the pleasure to play. What is persistently astounding to me is how everything in this game is covered in a glossy sheen of childlike excitement for everything you do. The progression of the plot reads like something a five year old would come up with while playing with his toys.

Need to get to the gates to help defend them, now we need to get the neutron cannons online, oh now we're shooting at tanks, now the cannons have become Metroplex, now our city-size robot is fucking shit up. In addition, the design of everything in this game is done with an absurd level of scale. City size guns are a thing, which is AWESOME. You enter ancient structures with kilometer high ceilings, look out upon endlessly built-up robot city, you have god damn Metroplex as something akin to a summon.

Randomly, Optimus yells out things like "Liberty is the right of all sentient beings," like some kind of house sized Robo-Lincoln. Seriously, everything about this game is like your inner five year old was given an insane budget and asked to make a Transformers movie that didn't suck. You really really need to check this game out.

And now we make the jiu jitsu

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is hard. It is punishingly, ball bustingly, verge of tears hard.

That said, I'm probably not going to stop anytime soon. The interesting thing about BJJ is that the reason it is so hard is also the reason it is so effective, and perhaps why the best in the world are so much better than the rest of the world.

The thing with grappling is that you can go balls-out, 100%, with no mercy. You can try out new things, you can look for new techniques and you don't get your head caved in. Consequently, when you're starting you get absolutely slaughtered. During this slaughter, you try out ways to fight back. You last a couple more seconds. You do that again and last a couple more seconds. After you last a few more seconds you try out something else, and see if it works. You learn to how your body can move in ways you never knew, how to feel when you're in danger.

I can't think of many other things where you learn by failure. It seems to be such an effective way to learn, difficulty aside, that it makes me wonder why this method has not been adopted in more areas.

Sidebar: GSP Diaz. Holy shit that is gonna' be cray cray.