Goodbye, August!

August is simply the worst month to be a hockey fan.

In June you have the finals (whether you have a horse in the race or not) and the entry draft.

In July you have free agency and the yearly shenanigans of some new crazy ownership group trying to make a splash.

Then, in August, you get nothing. It's quiet. Sure, this year we had the Mats Sundin saga (seriously, Mats. Get off the pot) and the continued misadventures of the Tampa Bay Lightning (good luck with Meszaros over Boyle) and whatever is played on the NHL Network.

But mostly, you get nothing. It's like we've all been banished to watching clip after clip from the upcoming Best of Hillbilly Jim and Uncle Elmer DVD. I don't know about you, but I can't takes no more!

So here we are. Mark Parrish is still a free agent and even though Chris Botta thinks it would be a mistake to bring him back, I am still holding out hope. Sure, he only scores goals in bunches but last time I checked, you win hockey games by scoring goals. Would Parrish be taking time away from the young guys coach Scott Gordon is trying to develop? Maybe...but it wouldn't be much. I still think you can add Parrish and maybe one of the remaining free agent defensemen out there with some experience like a Bret Hedican or even Marek Malik. As the Isles have proven over the last couple of seasons, you really can't enough defensemen.

No truth to the rumor that our armed forces are now treating prisoners to DVD's of Hillbilly Jim and Uncle Elmer as torture, either. Not that it wouldn't work; we just can't confirm it.

For those who asked me about the hockey cards, I have actually bought six more packs since last report and no Islanders. Not even the guys who aren't on the team anymore. I did pick up the Kyle Okposo rookie from a popular auction site that we won't name but as of this writing, said Okposo has not arrived at it's new home.

Special thanks to those who wrote in wondering where I was over the past few weeks. Well, I was around but I just wasn't moved to write anything because, as we said, nothing was happening. I've tried watching Islanders Illustrated but I'm not exactly the biggest fan of watching TV on the computer so that has been hard. Overall, a decent show though. Slight thumbs up because of my TV-on-the-computer bias.

Also, to everyone who wrote to me about the Comcast travails, I feel your pain. Shocking how much people like to vent about cable companies. And yes, I know Cablevision blows too, even though I don't get their (ahem) service.

Long story short--for those who wanted to know about resolution--is that we got everything squared away....sort of. Chalk it up to a huge nightmare. Also, a warning to anyone who is a Comcast customer that wants to order WWE 24/7--Comcast still does not offer the full programming slate that the WWE makes available. They've not showed any NWA TBS shows in August and did not show either the Stampede episode from 1986 a lot of people are talking about or the Terry Funk Film Session that I desperately wanted to see in July.

September is Ric Flair month. I hope to hell that everything is offered as it is supposed to be...but I am not holding my breath. Suffice to say, Comcast still sucks.

And yes, if I flip on the channel and the full programming as listed on the WWE website (and other carriers' websites) then I will post the good news here. Don't hold your breath.