THE NHL PLAYOFFS... WITH LAUREN "LC" CONRAD?

by E. Spencer Kyte, Bugs and Cranks

You've got to be effing kidding me?

As my man Neate touched upon in the latest installment of Playoff Beard, the newest addition to the sports blogosphere is Lauren "LC" Conrad.

For those out there who, thankfully, have no idea who LC is, she is the star of MTV's "Reality" show The Hills, which follows the overly dramatic lives of Conrad and her clique of friends and foes as they lament the difficult lives they have. And by difficult, I mean priviledged more than you, me and 95% of society.

In her first post, LC shows mentions her "qualifications" - attending several LA Kings games over the past two seasons. You know, the same Kings that were the worst team in the National Hockey League this past season. Besides, everyone knows that attending any kind of sporting event in Los Angeles is more about being seen than seeing whatever team happens to be playing before you. Except if you're Alyssa Milano; then it's about scouting your next boyfriend.

Now, this isn't the first time a "celebrity" has hammered on a keyboard about a sporting event, as the aforementioned Milano blogged the MLB Playoffs last season to name but one, but generally, it's someone who has some semblance of knowledge about the athletic display they're commenting on. Something tells me that LC couldn't differentiate Martin Brodeur from Martin Lawrence.

I know there are going to be people out there who call this sour grapes - a nobody blogger bitching about a celebrity getting an opportunity that would never come his way - which I suppose it somewhat is. Yeah, I would love to do a Playoff Blog for NHL.com. More importantly though, would it be so hard to track down a former player or coach or someone remotely affiliated with hockey to fill this slot, instead of some pseudo-celebrity that fourteen year old girls and horny frat boys fawn over?

And the NHL wonders why they suck...