I think it’s safe to say that last year’s promo featuring Harry Caray singing “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” can’t be topped, but this year’s commercial for the Winter Classic has me pretty amped.  I’m not sure what you’ll be doing on New Year’s Day, but I’ll be watching this.

“I’m Shipping Up To Boston” just never gets old and the Winter Classic is the best idea since night baseball.

Every so often, these Randy Moller videos turn up on YouTube and in turn make me extremely happy for the rest of the day. The Dan LeBatard Show has put together another collection of the Panthers’ play-by-play man’s greatest hits, so grab some popcorn and enjoy!

My top three:

3. “Mike Bibby be floppin’.”
2. “I ain’t got time to bleed!”
1. “Beyonce had one of the greatest music videos of all time!”

About three weeks ago, I wrote a post about Florida Panthers radio announcer Randy Moller and his awesome goal calls.  Well, round two is up courtesy of The Dan LeBatard Show.  Get your popcorn ready, sit back, and enjoy!

By the way, the Florida Panthers website has a page devoted to Moller’s calls.

The Carolina Hurricanes have made a three-team deal which will bring Erik Cole back to Carolina. The Canes traded forward Justin Williams to the Los Angeles Kings for center Patrick O’Sullivan (who by the way was the first NC born player ever drafted in the NHL) and a second-round draft pick, then traded O’Sullivan and their own second-round draft pick to the Edmonton Oilers for Cole and a fifth-round draft pick.

In my opinion, this is the best deal the franchise has done in a year and a half. They improve the offense, get healthier, and clear enough cap room to re-sign Cole in the offseason. Somehow, this post redeems itself now.

So tonight, I’m going to see the Carolina Hurricanes play the Tampa Bay Lightning at the RBC Center, and I have a little dilemma on my hands.  Which jersey should I wear, red or white?

For Christmas 2006, my wife bought me a white Hurricanes jersey with my favorite player’s name (Cole) and number (26) on the back of the jersey.  Every home game I’ve worn the jersey to, the Canes have won (including a thriller against Toronto last year where they scored 2 goals in the final 3 minutes and won in overtime).  The two games where I didn’t wear the jersey, they lost… pretty soundly.

Well, Cole was traded to the Edmonton Oilers in the offseason, and my wife felt that I needed a new jersey.  I disagreed.  She wanted to get me the black third jersey, but I would refuse to wear it on the principle that the logo is not accurate.  So, for Christmas 2008, I got a red Hurricanes jersey with no name and number on the back.

Tonight is the first game I’m going to since I’ve got the red jersey.  I fear if I don’t wear the white one, the Canes will lose, but I feel like I have to wear the red one for tonight’s game.  On top of that, if you look at the past three home and road games for the Canes, they’ve won all their road games by a total of 15-4 (wearing white) and lost all their home games by a total of 15-4 (wearing red/black).  They obviously play better in the white jerseys as of late.

I don’t mean to sound superstitious, but heck, I’m a Cubs fan, and we know if we have a good thing going on, why rock the boat?

Thoughts?

Update: I wore the red jersey, and they still won 4-1.  So I guess it doesn’t matter which color I wear, as long as I wear a jersey.

I really need to publish my list of favorite and least favorite sports announcers.  I will do that, but first, I want to tell you about the guy who will end up second on the list of my favorite announcers (The Great Gus Johnson will hold the top spot for a long time).

Randy Moller is the radio announcer for the Florida Panthers.  I discovered him recently when XM carried a recent Canes vs Panthers game from Florida.  Moller, an ex-player, has taken a fondness to using pop culture references during goal calls.  I don’t think you’re ready for this, but here’s a sample of his work.

So so good. I’ve already listened to it three times, and I hear something new each time. My personal favorite has to be the “She blinded me with Science” one, but “Ma! Where’s the Meatloaf?!” is a close second.

I wish I was able to go to Wrigley on Thursday for this. I’ll definitely be watching it on TV.