HOLD THE OCTOPUS!

No matter, though, because I found myself staying up late last night and watching all of the 3rd period and all three overtimes of last night's classic Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals. In terms of sheer excitement, maybe only the NCAA men's championship hoops game comes close in 2008 thus far.

First, there we were, less than a minute away from the Red Wings claiming their first Stanley Cup in eleven years, in Detroit no less. Joe Louis Arena was rocking, the fans pregnant with anticipation to hurl octopi down on the ice, and surely later, torch a vehicle or two.

You hear the term "fighting for their life" a lot in sports, but never has the metaphor seemed more apt than it did last night in Game 5. The Pittsburgh Penguins, their postseason lives nearly extinguished, desperately flailed at the puck in that final minute in the Detroit zone. It wasn't pretty, but they never surrendered and just kept sending that puck toward Chris Osgood in goal. 

Maxime Talbot's tying goal, which came with 34 seconds remaining, had all the aesthetic qualities of sweeping trash into a dust bin. But who cares? It gave Pittsburgh renewed life.

Throughout all three overtimes, Detroit controlled the puck. And usually, even I know, the side that controls the puck and gets more shots on goal will eventually win in overtime. But then Detroit gave the Pens the opening they needed, a four-minute high-sticking (okay, that's actually my favorite-sounding penalty in all of sport) on Jiri Hudler midway through the 3rd overtime.

Within a minute Sykora, who during one intermission had jokingly told NBC's Pierre McGuire that he'd score the game-winning goal, did just that. OUnforgettable stuff. And well worth the 110 minutes of hockey it took to decide Pittsburgh's 4-3 win.

Game 6 is Wednesday night in Pittsburgh. I'll be watching.

OBAMA, TOP DOG?

Gray's Papaya, Mahhattan's self-billed "Famous Hot Doggery", has apparently come out in support of Barack Obama. On the window of the Upper West Side landmark is a giant sign that reads "YES, SENATOR OBAMA", and below, in smaller letters, "We are ready to believe again."

What are the ramifications of this newfangled version of political pork-barreling? Can we expect Hillary to venture on to Papaya King and other such hot doggeries to solicit their endorsement? Will Clinton, a New York senator no less, scorn Gray's for abandoning her and in turn open herself up to accusations of sauer grapes?

I'll tell you what. If I were Obama's campaign director, I'd have him stand in front of the cameras, thank Gray's for both their endorsement and their "crunchy, juicy" hot dogs, and then finish by saying, "And now it's on to Famous Ray's Pizza!"

LIV TYLER, OR DIE TYLER?

Curiosity got the best of me and I went to see The Strangers on Sunday. The best, and scariest, thing about it is that the bad guys are not supernatural or armed with chainsaws or flesh-eating zombies or anything like that. They could be any three bored ne'er-do-wells in any small town in America. The worst part? The nihilism of it all.

 I don't want to ruin it for anyone who plans on seeing it, but here are a few non-spoiler observations:

1) Lesson No. 1, and by now we'd hoped every horror-flick victim had learned it: Never, ever, ever split up. Especially when there are only two of you.

2) I don't care how scared I might be, when some chick in a pickup rear-ends my Volvo on purpose, my first instinct is to kick ass...and then, of course, to exchange license and registration information.

3) It's 2005...what's up with the record player?

4) Anyone who's seen the movie want to explain Liv's late costume change?