A great day, in fact.
First of all, I awoke to the news this morning that Democrat Barack Obama is the first black President of the United States. As I've mentioned in previous blogs, I really don't pay all that much attention to politics, but one would have had to be living under a rock not to get caught up in this epic Presidential campaign.
From what I've seen of Obama, he's an articulate, intelligent man, and he certainly impressed me far more than his Republican counterpart, John McCain. (I won't even get into Sarah Palin...)
It was an historic vote, not just for Americans, but for the entire world.
In Obama's first speech as President-Elect, he said this about the tasks at hand: "The greatest of a lifetime - two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president, and we know that government can't solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face."
I can't wait to see how Obama's reign as President unfolds, and how it will affect us as Canadians. We'll find out soon enough what kind of a leader he is, because with the world in the precarious state it is in, he'll either sink or soar.
But something tells me the future has been left in very capable hands. He has the potential to be one of the greatest Presidents in history. Indeed, today is a very good day.
So what makes today a great day?
Why, the smile on Mike Fisher's face last night when he scored in OT to beat the Washington Capitals before a hometown crowd at the Bank in Ottawa.
What a beautiful smile it was!
I haven't blogged much on the Sens yet this year, due to the fact that they've gotten off to a bit of a shaky start, and the fact that I still miss Wade. Painfully so.
But we've all been hearing the mutters about Mike Fisher as this young season develops. "He works so hard, but no points in the first ten games? Not good enough for a guy making $6M this season."
No one could ever question Mike Fisher's grit or heart, but people were starting to squirm impatiently the longer he went without any points. Secondary scoring has been an issue for the Sens the past few seasons, and he's supposed to be one of the key guys providing it. As Bryan Murray publicly mulled over the possibility of moving a roster player to acquire a puck-moving defenceman (ahem...anyone remember when we used to have one named WADE!?!), or possibly a goaltender, Fisher's name was starting to come up as the guy they might have to lose in order to gain in other areas.
Safe to say the Fisher Frenzy was starting to reach fever-pitch going into last night's game. He just had to do something about it.
I only got to catch the last few minutes of regulation time, with the score dead-locked at 1 apiece, and when I arrived at my spot on the couch, I was informed by the family that Fisher had broken his point drought by assisting on Dany Heatley's goal. I let out a sigh of relief, glad to know the pressure on him would be lessened now that he had made it onto the scoresheet.
Mike Fisher's not my favourite all-time player or anything, but losing him would sure decrease the Hotness Factor on the team!
(And I supposed I would miss his hard-working, all-heart performances as well).
In any case, I wasn't a fan of the talk of him leaving town, so hearing that not only did he have a beauty assist on Heater's goal, but also that he could have arguably been called the best player on the ice throughout the game, proved to me that Mike had decided to take his fate into his own hands. He was making sure to step up to the plate and prove to the nay-sayers that he is perfectly capable of being one of the best players on this team.
With time winding down in Overtime, a sweet play developed when the Sens stormed the Washington end and Alfredsson slid a pass over to Fisher in the slot. Fish one-timed the game winner past Caps goaltender Brent Johnson to put an exclamation point on his stellar performance.
So yes, the smile on his face as he was mobbed by his teammates was beautiful.
I'm sitting here smiling just thinking about it.
And that's what makes today a great day.
