Welcome to Implausible Dreams! (May 2006)

How about them Aggies!?!?!?!? At least so far, Texas A&M has acquitted themselves rather well in both the baseball and softball playoffs so far. The men have won their first two games in the College Station Regional and the women have won their first two games in the College World Series, beating an incredibly tough Virginia Tech team and surviving a spirited Louisiana-Lafayette team.

On the Stars front, we're watching the team that knocked us out of the playoffs tear Pittsburgh a new one. Looks like we lost to the team that is going to win the Stanley Cup and unless Pittsburgh can muster up a win in Detroit - a place it has yet to score a playoff goal - we will have been the team that gave them the hardest run.

Am I going to have to put a Rangers page together? I want them to do well, of course, but they have been mired in mediocrity for so long.... yet now they are not only above .500, but are close to being second in the division. I'm not ready to declare them the next dynasty just yet, but they sure seem to be doing the right things - patient hitting, pitching, defense, etc. And it sure seems like the minor league teams are doing well also.

US Soccer Links

FC Dallas		MLS		General Soccer
Official		Official		ESPN
3rd Degree		Pro Soccer Talk		Fox Sports
Big D Soccer				CNNSI
The Inferno				USA Today
Guardia Roja		Goff Blog		Yahoo
Los Toros		Ives Blog
Big Soccer		Big Soccer		MLS Teams below
USSF		Lower Divisions		Womens
Official		NASL		WPS (ceased operations)
Mens		USL USL Pro		WPSL Elite W-League
Womens		PDL		WPSL
Sams Army				Lamar Hunt US Open Cup
American Outlaws				Fan Page
Big Soccer				Official
Historical				MISL PASL
American Soccer History Archives				NTPSA
RSSSF				NTCSA
NASL (unofficial)				NTWSA
National Soccer Hall of Fame				CONCACAF
Dave Wasser's Historical Soccer Videos				FIFA
		MLS Teams
Team (Official)		Big Soccer		Supporters Group(s)
CD Chivas USA		CD Chivas USA		Legion 1908
Chicago Fire		Chicago Fire		Section 8		Ultras
Colorado Rapids		Colorado Rapids		Centenial Firm		Class IV
Columbus Crew		Columbus Crew
DC United		DC United		Barra Brava		Screaming Eagles
Houston Dynamo		Houston Dynamo		Texian Army		El Battalion
Kansas City Wizards		Kansas City Wizards		Mystics
Los Angeles Galaxy		Los Angeles Galaxy		LA Riot Squad		Galaxians
New England Revolution		New England Revolution		Midnight Riders
Real Salt Lake		Real Salt Lake		Loyalists
Red Bull New York		Red Bull New York		Empire SC
San Jose EarthQuakes		San Jose EarthQuakes		The Casbah		Club Quake
Toronto FC		Toronto FC		Red Patch Boys
Seattle Sounders		Seattle Sounders		Emerald City Supporters

Here is a link to the old Soccer Links page.

Neil Peart Condolences Page

A long time ago, a favorite musician of mine, Neil Peart of the band Rush, suffered an incredible set of tragedies. In a somewhat rare situation, he chose to keep his experience and mourning private. This was completely understandable, but unique. One of the specific things that I believe he asked for was to not have fans write in to him.

Now, at the time and even now, I get that. And certainly, I and most of his fans want to respect that.

On the other hand, while certainly not as directly affected as he was, I think many of us were touched by Neil and that his experiences impacted us as well. As such, I put together the Neil Peart Condolences Page. It was designed to be a voice for those who wanted to share their thoughts and feelings about Neil and Rush and how they impacted our lives.

The original page detailed a few more things, including the incidents in question and Neil's journey after that, up to the writing of the book Ghost Rider. And I had a number of people email me their thoughts that I have shared on that page.

Unfortunately, I lost the ability to update the page a few years back and until recently didn't have the avenue to include other submissions I received. Thankfully, now I can. I will periodically update this section of my page with new entries. A note about entries - which you can submit via email to klindstr@flash.net: Please proofread them well as I am going to be a reluctant editor.

For now, though, please take a look at the original page and let me know your thoughts.

Janice and The Music Therapy Show!

Janice (formerly Harris, now Lindstrom!) has a Blog and Radio Show! It started early in 2008 and has been going on weekly ever since. It has been really exciting watch her listenership grow and develop.

Based on inspiration from FlyLady and Jonathan Roche, Janice has put together what looks to be a great information source for people who are interested in Music Therapy through a Blog and Radio Show. The radio show is called The Music Therapy Show with Janice Lindstrom and airs via Blog Talk Radio every Friday at 11:00 CT. I was really excited about its potential because there isn't anything like it out there, and she is a pretty educated person when it comes to music therapy - and as I had hoped, she has done great! Take a look at her blog to get more information.

She was kind enough to let me write, perform and record the music for her show. Thanks to Ace Radio Live of The Footie Fetish Show fame for the technical help in getting it uploaded! It was pretty cool to get back in the swing of things in terms of playing and writing.

The intro piece is called Marie, and is something I wrote in college. Completed, it will be a full instrumental piece with drums, guitar and a lead instrument (probably bass), but right now it is just the basic bass line. Mostly this is because we just need a bit of an intro piece and nothing too complex, and it was easy to record the bass line.

The exit piece is College Station Blues, and is another piece I wrote in college. I'm still playing with ideas for the name a bit, but College Station Blues will work for now. Again, it is just an exit piece. I haven't written a lead or words to it yet.

For the May 17 show, I did another guitar break - "Texas 287." It is a song that I've had for a while and although I've never put lyrics to it, it always gave me a feeling of movement, of hope - sort of like a road trip. I've taken a lot of road trips on Texas highways, and one of my favorite is Texas 287 that goes up northwest on the way to Colorado and New Mexico. We're going to use it for the break before the History of Music Therapy segment.

For the May 31 show, I introduced another piece, Open Skies. It is similar in feel and idea to Texas 287.

I'm hoping to record a few other things to use as breaks, assuming Janice likes them. It has been a lot of fun working with Janice on this - taking my journalism background and putting it to good use on the blog and radio show. She comes up with the creative and we work on the logistics together. There have been some understandable growing pains (of course as neither of us has actually done a radio show before), but mostly it has been very cool to work with her on this.

Cygnus X-1 - Leht's Go Stars!

Welcome to my Dallas Stars page. Here you will find some cool links, my favorite players and overall comments about the team. (See the bottom of the page for the answer to the question, “Why ‘Cygnus X-1’?”) The main idea of this page is to be an information source as well as hosting commentary. If you have any links you think I should add, please let me know by emailing me.

Also, I've added a new fan-page/blog - The Sign Girls. It contains some cool stuff from some fans who really care about the team and aren't afraid to show it!

Dallas Stars and NHL Links

Official | NHL Official Page | Dallas Stars Official Page | AHL
ESPN | Stars Team Page | Schedule/Results | Roster | Stats
ESPN | NHL Page | Standings | Scores | Schedule
Stars Fan | Dallas Fanatics | Dallas Stars Podcast | Stars Official Fan Forums

The Winds of Change 2.0

So, now that the 2011-2012 season is all but over, here is my brief wrap-up and a look towards next season and the Stars future in general.

NHL Realignment?

I also wrote an article a while back looking at potential realignment options.

The Winds of Change

And Hicks decides that he wants to go with GM Joe, and Nieuwendyk goes with Marc Crawford as his new coach. See my blog post for the Dallas Stars Podcast for most of my current thoughts about the changes. I'm not sure it is fair to Tippett as he seemed to be given some pretty tough cards to play, but that is life in the big city. Tipp will be back and I'm glad for all that he did for the Stars.

2008-2009 Season - Well, at least it is over

The injuries kept coming and despite the fact that the team overcame the Avery debacle, they just couldn't scrape into the playoffs. It will be interesting to see what the club tries to do to recover from this. Is it as simple as get healthy? Considering the success of 2007-2008, that would be my thought. Unless through the haze of all the injuries, the organization thinks that something changed between two years ago and this past season that needs a change.

2008-2009 Season - so far, not so good...

Well, that wasn't the kind of first half we were thinking we were going to get, now was it? The whole Avery mess, the injuries (Zubov, Morrow and such) etc., and the Stars are far from being a top team in the West, but are more like a team struggling to smell the playoffs, let alone get in. December seemed to reveal some signs that Tip has the team moving in a more positive direction.

2008 Draft

The Stars took a goalkeeper, Tyler Beskorowany of the Ontario Hockey League (Owen Sound Attack) with the 59th pick in the 2008 NHL draft. Follow the rest of the draft on the Stars page.

Back to Reality

And then it was over. Game Six, and we lose to the Red Wings at home. But not before we gave them a heck of a run. The great thing is that we found out that we could compete with them. Obviously, a lot goes into a season and we can't assume that we'll be back to the WCF next year, but it sure does give Stars fans a better feeling going into the off-season to know that the boys have the stones to do some damage in the playoffs once again.

Stars Win! Stars Win! Stars Win!

Game Five - Dallas 2, @ Detroit 1!

And we have ourselves a series. It took a lot of hard sledding, and needless to say, it ain't over yet. But rather than just win one game for pride on Wednesday, the Stars have now injected themselves into the series. No time to think about winning the series just yet - now is the time to focus on Game Six and nothing further. Especially considering that it has taken everything the Stars have just to get to this point.

So let's reflect on what we've seen so far. Wednesday, we saw the Stars play their guts out and dominate the game. Today, we saw them play their guts out and eek out a win. But in both situations, it took maximum effort for 60 minutes to get the wins. How much more do the Stars have in the tank at this point?

The other thing - both games relied on Dallas getting the lead. Does Dallas have to keep Detroit from scoring first to win?

What is new?

Last year, the Dallas Stars Havoc Fanatics were formed. Rather than do the gimmicks that have been done by the Dallas Mavericks, etc., the Stars decided to try to rustle up some real rowdy fans – and it worked! The Fanatics were born. Located in Section 332 (sometimes called the Asylum by Stars color analyst Razor Reaugh), these fans are as active as any fans you’ll see supporting any team anywhere. They’ve borrowed and stolen from traditional hockey fans, soccer fans and good ol’ American sports stuff to create a fun atmosphere for every game.

But make no mistake – this isn’t about fun. It is about supporting the Stars – it just happens to be a lot of fun to go all out for your team. I’ve had a lot of experience doing this for the Dallas Burn and FC Dallas, and when I saw the Fanatics for the first time last season, I fell head over heels in love. Imagine my surprise when they reached out to me via my job with FC Dallas! Now I get to be a fan again, and I’m having a blast.

HERE is their website – check it out!

Feel free to email me if you have any questions or comments about what the Fanatics are or how to join.

Fan Commentary

Well well well. What have we here? Is it the rebirth of the Stars as a perennial Western Conference power?

It sure smells like it. While we've had some tough times since after the 2000 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and especially since the 2003 playoffs when we last won a playoff series before this year, this year has seen us defeat our divisional nemesis, the Anaheim Ducks - who just happened to be the defending champs - as well as the division winners, the San Jose Sharks.

While we're in quite a dog-fight with the Detroit Red Wings and need to get a win Monday night, winning the past two series sure seems like vindication for Marty Turco and Dave Tippett. It sure feels like a team that is in its ascendancy.

This is a section that I will update as the season goes on, so feel free to check back from time to time to get my latest take on all things Dallas Stars related.

Favorite Players

Here you will find my favorite Dallas Stars players with a bit about them and why they are my favorites. Currently this is a simplified version of what I want to have in the end, but you have to start somewhere, right?

Jere Lehtinen – Gritty, aggressive, with the ability to score. He is what I would want to be if I were a hockey player. I love the idea of outworking the other team, but not just being a grinder – being someone who can put a bulge in the old onion bag, too. He is my favorite hockey player in the NHL for that reason.

Brenden Morrow – similar to Jere, but also the captain of the team and seems to have learned at the foot of his father in law, the great Guy Carbonneau. I love the ties to hockey tradition with this team – all the Canadiens personnel who helped make the Stars what they were in the 1990s. Brenden seems to me to be a legacy player of those times.

Steve Ott – Cut from the same cloth as Jere, although not everyone is blessed to be that good. On the other hand, he has a nastiness to his game that seems to get under the skin of other teams and while not necessarily a fighter, isn't afraid to drop the gloves.

Sergi Zubov – While he isn’t a grinder, he is probably the smartest and most skilled player on the ice and I love watching him make things happen.

Stephane Robidas - NEW - WOW. Where did this guy come from? Tough as nails, making huge plays on offense and defense. Incredible. I'd put him in my top three right now, with Morrow and Jere.

Stu Barnes - NEW - he has shown a whole heck of a lot in the first two rounds, and I wonder how much of the team's recent struggles relate to his absence...

Thanks for Reading

So thanks for checking my website out. As always, comments are welcome. How can I make this site better? What do you agree with? Disagree with? Fire away!

Check out my other sites as well. Right now, it is just the main page, Implausible Dreams, but I hope to have the other sites I mention on that page up and running over the next few weeks.

Why “Cygnus X-1”?

As with some of my other pages, this one has a Rush theme as Cygnus X-1 is one of their songs and mentioned in another. The song itself starts with a great rif that the band builds into, and the lyrics are about a journey to – and through - that black hole. By the way, HERE is the original version of that site.

Implausible Dreams returns!

After a few years of technical issues, Implausible Dreams has returned! Sorry for the problems - although most of the links are still active and mostly still relevant, it is still good to get things back up and running with some new content, yes?

Keep an eye here as I'm going to create a blog page for each of my main pages with links to the old ones as necessary. And as always, comments are appreciated.

Here is the link to my old Main Page.

For those visiting for the first time or otherwise not familiar with my old site, here is a (somewhat) brief summary.

Implausible Dreams

For starters, as to the question, "Why Implausible Dreams?" THIS is why. I'm pretty happy that I've been able to experience a number of them come true, including a number of USA soccer triumphs on three continents and the construction of an incredible soccer specific venue in the DFW MetroPlex, among others.

I've got a number of interests - not the least of which is soccer, but also motorcycling, hockey, Rush (the progressive rock band, not the radio guy) and Texas A&M University athletics (especially, football, soccer, baseball and basketball). I'll be creating a new page for each of those, especially the Neil Peart Condolences Page, as I've had a number of submissions that I haven't been able to publish.

Soccer - Dallas Burn/FC Dallas, USSF

There have also been a LOT of changes on the soccer front. The Dallas Burn is now FC Dallas. Jason Kreis and Eddie Johnson are gone, Pizza Hut Park has been completed, and I'm no longer just a fan, but now actually work for the team. To those who get it - Yes, it is as cool as it sounds. To those who may not - imagine working for the NFL in the late 1950s or early 1960s and being there when things were about to explode. (Implausible Dreams, indeed!)

Needless to say, I'm not going to be providing any inside information about FC Dallas. You won't see anything here that isn't already public information - and I would guess that the Blogger people wouldn't like sales information on this page, so that won't be here either.

The main page I'll be updating there, though, is my USA Association Football Links page. At the time, it had a number of great links to all the cutting edge information. And it still does in some cases. As you probably can imagine, though, over the past four years enough has changed that a few are no longer around and I don't have a few of the newer sites on there. I want to get the format right, so it might take me a little time to get that one republished.

Dallas Stars/Stars Fanatics

There have also been some changes on the hockey side of things, too. I'm now a part of the Stars Fanatics - the active fans who stand in Section 332 and make noise at the games. You'll see a number of additions to that page, but for now check out their site and also the Stars Podcast page.

Popular Pages and a few loose ends

The Neil Peart Condolences Page is one of my most visited sites. Along with the Neil Peart page, my other popular site is the Motorcycle Rider Beginner Basics page, and I'll be updating that as well. There are some other music and motorcycle pages, as well as the Texas A&M University sports page, that I'll have to look at in terms of signal to noise ratio.

One new thing that is a part of my life is Texas Hold 'Em. LOVE that game. I'll probably have to put a page together for that as well.

As for now, though, let me breathe a sigh of relief as now I can get my pages current again.