Hi, and welcome to Jason Elliot Benda's Home Page, Version Eight.
"Wishing you a pleasant day and a higher GPA since 1995." Gee, it doesn't seem like five years....

New Jersey Devils Win Stanley Cup

If you have ever met me, chances are you probably know I'm a New Jersey Devils fan. I have been since John MacLean beat Darren Pang in overtime in the last game of the '88 season to send New Jersey into the playoffs for the first time, a run which ended in a Game Seven loss to Boston in the Wales Conference Finals. In 1994, New Jersey suffered a heart-wrenching loss in the Eastern Conference Finals, dropping the seventh game 2-1 in double overtime to the New York Rangers. (Despite being under orders from my counselor at Naperville North to work on academics the whole Memorial Day weekend so I could graduate, I spent that Friday night glued to the TV, hoping my beloved Devils could pull the upset.) In 1995, Mike Emrick announced to a national TV audience as time expired in Game Four against the Red WIngs, "The championship to New Jersey; the Devils win the Stanley Cup!" Five years later, on another magical Saturday night (albeit this time in Dallas), New Jersey once again claimed hockey's ultimate prize, as Jason Arnott took a cross from Patrik Elias and ripped it high past Ed Belfour eight minutes into the second overtime of Game Six, giving New Jersey the game, 2-1, and the series, 4-2. That was six hours ago, as I write this. I don't know what else to say right now, except I hope that Petr Sykora is all right (he left the game in the first period on a stretcher and was being hospitalized overnight in Dallas). It really hasn't sunk in yet that New Jersey actually did it: for the second time in franchise history, the Devils have won the Stanley Cup.

You are visitor number to my page since Arnott's game winning goal in Dallas to end the series and win the Stanley Cup. Hi! Thanks for visiting.
The newest tweaks to JEBHP 8 are always on my computer at home. If you are sitting at my computer, click here to load the local version of this page.
Jason Elliot Benda's Home Page is Y2K compliant.
(Gee, I should hope so, since you can read it now, and it is the year 2000.)
Jason Elliot Benda's Home Page continues to be a non-smoking environment.
If your computer is smoking, please extinguish it immediately.
Thank you for your cooperation.
(If you are using Netscape, there is a flashing warning above this line. If you are using Internet Explorer, it's not flashing. Your loss.)

What's On My Mind

(Note: I'm having some difficulty updating this section of my home page. I apologize for the inconvenience (it's inconveniencing me, too, believe me).
Here's what's on my mind at 6:32 pm on Wednesday, 10 May 2000:
  • Applications make me nervous.
  • Mustangs wear umbrellas.
  • Nobody ever likes a scorekeeper.
I've gotten four of them so far, those applications which I, for some reason, dread. Homewood-Flossmoor was first, then Elmhurst and Indian Prairie after that, and Downers Grove was today. The things make me panic. I would assume it is just my own low self-esteem, but I'm almost afraid to touch these. I have to, of course, have to fill them out and send them back to each district. I have to send them a resumé, and a copy of my certificate. I have to send copies of my transcript from Lewis; some even seem to want (shudder) the Urbana one. I have to get my credentials sent from Lewis; I have to first drop off some resumés there. It's just an irrational, underlying fear that I can't really explain. Downers Grove South insists on playing softball against us. I don't know why. The game from 07 April which was rescheduled for yesterday has been rescheduled again for tomorrow. DGS rescheduled the game initially without telling our athletic office, it seems. Coach Williams would like to eliminate a game before the 20th so that we could play another game on that Saturday night. But it looks like mere rain will not drive off the Mustangs. I'm used to being not liked. That's a general statement, and I stand by it. Especially, though, I'm used to being not liked as a scorekeeper. I used to keep the book for a rec slow-pitch team in Lemont. I got plenty used to the complaints and questions brought about by irate players who didn't like my decisions. Then I started umpiring in the same league, and it was worse. Then they started playing for money, and I quit. I've worked for the softball program at Naperville North for eight years now. I don't know whether I will be back next year, and a small part of me now doesn't know if I want to be. I expect questioning from the players, and I've had actually a little less than what I consider my fair share of grief from them this year. (That is grief about the book; I get other kinds of grief from them, too.) I have coaches questioning my decisions, which is agaion something I expect. Sometimes I'll relent to the coach; most of the time I stand my ground. I don't mind making a change when I reasonably could have done that, when I thought about scoring it a different way at the time. It's all part of the job. Coach Williams had a meeting last week with the parents, and I know part of what that was about dealt with complaints from parents about how he does his job. He is the coach, and it is his decision which nine players he has out on the field at any given time. No one really has the right to question what he does; the only one who is even close is Neil McCauley, our athletic director. Twice this year now, I have had a parent (different parents) complain to me about statistics. I really don't feel that that is their place. Unlike Williams, though, I hold no real title to my job with the team. I volunteer my time and efforts; I don't have a right to the post. I can't defend what I do with any real muscle, since I don't really have the right to do what I do. Maybe someday I will, but I don't now. Maybe I shouldn't until I do.

The Guide To The Here And Now (or, What's Here, Now)

  • Naperville North 2000 Varsity Softball Schedule -- I am in my sixth season as the scorekeeper for the varsity (and my eighth season overall). See how the Huskies are doing this year.
  • The Saga of Jeris of Pembroke -- an old story from a long time ago.
  • My Bowling Ball -- the complete history of my bowling ball. It's not very long.
  • The Film Project -- an interesting little challenge programming a weekend of cinema for a cable movie channel.
  • 26376 Fantasy Sports -- See how all my fantasy sports teams are doing.
  • The Sports Event Quiz -- the first part of a three-part thing I'm working on.
  • The Event Date Quiz -- the second part of what may become a four-part thing I'm working on.
  • The Newspaper List -- a work-in-progress, like anything else. It's a list of newspaper web sites. Handy if you want someone else's local perspective on the news.
  • The Championship Drought Page -- a look at the major professional sports towns in this country, and how long they've really gone without a championship. (Cleveland's closing in on Chicago's all-time record; only two-and-a-half years to go.)
  • The Year In Sports, As Seen By Me -- a list of the events I have seen this school year.
  • Playoff Games Through The Years -- like the last page, it's a list of games I have seen. This time, it's all the Football Playoff games I have seen.
  • IHSA State Finals -- more of the same. These are trips I have made to the State Final site, even if I did not see the champion crowned.
  • Nebraska Football Results -- There is a story behind this one, but you will have to go there to find out. (No, I've never seen Nebraska play.).

The Guide To The Where And When (or, What's Someplace Else)

  • Java Time -- Does anybody really know what time it is? Yes: the U.S. Government does. This Java applet tells you.
  • Devils Jumbotron -- Another Java applet, this one displays a scoreboard from the latest New Jersey Devils game.
  • Suburban Prairie Conference Bowling -- my cousin Jackie bowls at the varsity level in the SPC, and my cousin Janine bowls JV in the same conference. It has some good teams and some annoying elitist coaches, neither of which are found at Lemont (where Jackie bowls).
  • Lewis University -- I only put this here because of who is in the picture on the front.
  • I don't have a sister, but my sister does have a web page.
  • Patterson's web page, since she was nice enough to link to mine.
  • A pathetic excuse for a page and a slightly less pathetic excuse for a web page, although I talked to Mara and she said that she didn't even do the former one, that someone else did it for her. (I'm sure she could do better with just a wee bit of her own effort, but she has been busier than me as long as I have known her.) You can go look at her fan club; it's more interesting than her page. (It has more than one member now. Of course, I was a little proud to be the only member.)
  • Raeghan's page at UIUC, since she drew my attention to it. (I was actually waiting for it to appear there, but hadn't checked in a while. Oops.)
  • The home page of Ben, a man who needs no introduction. (In case you haven't met him, Ben Brownback was my roommate for two years in Urbana, making him the best randomly-assigned friend I have ever had.) I didn't link to it originally, but my ex-roommate called me (from Nevada) and complained. (Yeah Ben!)
    • And here's another from the olden days: Dan Sachs, the guy who lived directly above Ben and I in the res hall that first year. He claimed, "My home page is so dated it isn't really worth looking at anymore." Going to where his real home page is, I now find something real, but not even an acknowledgement of his old undergrad page. I fix this: go here to see the really old, out-of-date stuff. For me, this is worthwhile if for no other reason to go see my name still on someone's page (just follow the "friends" link. The link back to my old page is broken, sadly; the document he refers to is here).

    The Guide To The Far Away And Long Ago (or, What Used To Be Here, Sort Of)

    JEBHP 5 -- Version Five of my home page, probably the most advanced and intricate version ever published, from my heyday at UIUC.
    As always, complaints should be directed to the management. I know I didn't have a mailto link for a while, which was silly of me, especially since my sister had a mail link for herself on her page (see above).

    <05 May 2000> Just keep looking; stuff gets updated as I have time. Streaks is out of date, I know; I'm sorry. That may stay out of date until the NBA Finals are over. Softball gets updated less often than I'd like, which is still pretty often. What's On My Mind gets updated as my mind goes, which means when I feel like it. This morning I definitely felt like it, so it happened.

    <25 April 2000> Started the arduous task of restoring the Auditory Science files. Look for those files here.

    <22 June 2000> Fixed the streaks page, as advertised, after the NBA Finals.