There have been some pretty big changes in my life so far this year. Part of the reason my posts here have slowed to a trickle is that I just haven’t had the kind of time to devote to the .org that I’ve had in the past. I’ve still got lots of potential topics on my trusty whiteboard, but finding the time and focus to write a proper entry on them has been difficult lately. It probably doesn’t help that I’ve been Twittering more than usual, but that’s kind of unavoidable under my present conditions. I really need to post here more often — I still view the .org as an extension of my professional career, so it reflects poorly on me when I don’t keep it updated — so I hope to remedy that soon. Too many parts of my life seem to be falling by the wayside, and I need to correct that.

As a case in point, my interest in sports seems to be dwindling to almost nothing. Normally I make a point of catching the first Tigers game of the regular season, but I really didn’t feel like watching it, and then I had a dinner date pop up at the last minute. I figured that I would catch another game after that, but the only time I’ve been home and able to catch a game was Tuesday night, and I just didn’t feel like watching past the first couple of innings. I’ll probably catch a game sometime next week, but I’ll be doing so more out of a sense of obligation than because I actually want to.

I don’t think I need to say too much about the Pistons or the Bengals here, except that I’ll catch the NFL Draft later this month, as usual, because I like watching thirty-two-sided chess matches where I have no idea what the pieces do or who the players are. The only way the Bengals were going to be interesting this year was if they’d signed Terrell Owens; I loathe his homophobia and egomania, but trying to see him and Chad Johnson, er, Chad Ocho Cinco trying to function on the same team would have too intriguing of a trainwreck to ignore.

I don’t even feel that attached to hockey any longer. The Red Wings will either get knocked out in the first round, or they’ll lose to San Jose in the conference finals; there’s no way they can repeat as champions this year given how erratically they’ve been playing. It says something that even I want the Red Wings to start Ty Conklin in net instead of Chris Osgood; I love Ozzie dearly, but he just hasn’t been dependable this year. If nothing else, it would give USA Hockey a chance to audition Conklin for Vancouver 2010. I’ll go ahead and give my pick for the finals, as much as it hates me to say it: Sharks over Devils. Worse yet, I’ll even be rooting for the Devils, if only because they have Brendan Shanahan. I don’t mind if Shanny doesn’t get his name on the cup again, but it’ll be worth it to me if he cheap shots Claude Lemieux and takes him back out of the NHL. (I’d also love to see Shanahan knock Sean Avery’s lights out if they meet in the conference playoffs.)

It’s not just Red Wings hockey I’ve lost interest in; I really don’t care to watch Hockey Night in Canada like I used to. The show used to be a staple for me, but I’ve missed it more times this season than I can remember, and I don’t really care. I still love Don Cherry dearly, but between the new presentation, the loss of the old theme song, and my general lack of enthusiasm for sports in general, I can’t bring myself to care for the show like I once did. I’m making a point of catching the final broadcast of the regular season tomorrow night, but honestly, I’m kind of hoping the Red Wings get knocked out of the playoffs early this postseason so I have an excuse to stop watching. I wouldn’t have even entertained these thoughts one or two years ago, but now I just want to stop feeling so tied to the Red Wings and the NHL, so I have time for other, more important, things.