Good thing he's a hockey goalie By Jim Caple Page 2 columnist |
Anaheim goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere has been as defiant as the French Resistance and as difficult as a French waiter. He allowed a single goal during the Mighty Ducks' conference finals series sweep over the Minnesota Wild, including three straight shutouts, making him the first goalie to ever accomplish that feat in a Stanley Cup semifinal. Nothing gets by this guy. The Red Wings, Stars and Wild may disagree, but the rest of us should be glad that Giguere didn't take up a different career. What if ... Giguere worked at the airport? [A DISNEYLAND-LENGTH LINE OF FRUSTRATED PASSENGERS SERPENTINES THROUGHOUT THE AIRPORT. BUSINESSMEN NERVOUSLY GLANCE AT THEIR WATCHES WHILE THEY WAIT FOR TSA SECURITY AGENT OF THE QUARTER JEAN-SEBASTIEN GIGUERE TO FINISH CLEARING A PASSENGER. THE MAN HAS TAKEN EVERY ITEM OUT OF HIS CARRY-ON AND IS COMPLETELY DISROBED.] GIGUERE: I'm sorry, sir. You'll have to remove your fillings. What if ... Giguera took over as President Bush's secretary? [CONDALEEZA RICE APPROACHES GIGUERE AT HIS DESK OUTSIDE THE OVAL OFFICE.] GIGUERE [IN A SMARMY DAVID SPADE VOICE]: May I help you? RICE: Yes, I'm here to see the president. GIGUERE: And you are ...? RICE: Ummmm, Condoleeza Rice. GIGUERE: And he would know you from ...? RICE: I'm his National Security advisor. GIGUERE: And this is regarding ...? RICE: Today's National Security Council meeting. GIGUERE: And you had an appointment ...? RICE: Yes! I'm Condoleeza Rice. I'm his National Security advisor. It's the weekly National Security Council meeting. I run the meeting. GIGUERE: Yes, well, you may stay for now, but could you be a dear thing and take a seat over there? With those other gentlemen? It would be so helpful. [RICE RELUCTANTLY SITS DOWN NEXT TO SEVERAL OTHERS.] RICE: It is so difficult to see the president ever since he hired that miserable new secretary. COLIN POWELL: Tell me about it. That little SOB has kept me from seeing the president for four months. GIGUERE: I heard that! What if ... Giguere worked for the cable company? [A CUSTOMER LISTENS ON HIS PHONE TO THE NEW CABLE COMPANY SERVICE OPERATOR -- GIGUERE.] GIGUERE: Our first available appointment to install service is 2004. You'll need to have someone home from February to November to meet the representative. What if ... Giguere was a Minneapolis traffic officer? [Randy Moss slowly pulls his Cadillac Escalade out of a Minneapolis parking ramp until Giguere blows his whistle and holds up his palm.] GIGUERE: I'm sorry sir, you can't go this way. You'll have to turn right. MOSS: Yes, sir. [MOSS CAREFULLY TURNS RIGHT AND SLOWLY MOTORS AWAY.] What if ... Giguere ran your company's e-mail system? [SOFTWARE ENGINEER PETER GIBBONS TURNS TO HIS INITECH OFFICE MATES, MICHAEL BOLTON AND SAMIR.] PETER: Now that you mention it, Samir, it's been weeks since I received an e-mail telling me I can earn $2,000 a week from home. MICHAEL: And that Nairubian Queen has stopped promising me $50,000 in two months if I send her $1,000 now to help her out of a temporary jam. PETER: And no one is offering nude photos of sexy Japanese lasses, either. SAMIR: How about an offer to enlarge your penis? Has anyone gotten one of those recently? MICHAEL: No. PETER: No. SAMIR: In fact, when you get right down to it. I don't think I've gotten an e-mail from outside the Initech system since January. PETER: Yeah. All we get are Lumbergh's reminders to file our TPS reports. SAMIR: I think it changed right about the time we hired that Giguere guy to replace Milton. PETER: He must really know his stuff. Nothing gets through his firewall. SAMIR: It's very impressive. And we're much more productive now that we aren't bothered by spam. [THE THREE ARE SILENT AS THEY GO BACK TO WORK. AFTER A COUPLE MINUTES, MICHAEL BREAKS THE SILENCE.] MICHAEL: I do sort of miss the penile enlargement ads. What if ... Giguere coached football at Alabama? [AS A DANCER PERFORMS IN FRONT OF HIM, GIGUERE GLANCES AT HIS WATCH WHILE HE SITS AT THE BAR IN A STRIP CLUB. THE BARTENDER TAKES HIS GLASS.] BARTENDER: Another drink, sir? GIGUERE: No, I'm cutting myself off. I have to get up early tomorrow. [HE RETURNS TO HIS HOTEL ALONE.] Jim Caple is a senior writer for ESPN.com. |
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