Thanks to my bud Joshua for this from Kobe Bryant's wife Vanessa's Instagram feed. He says:

it appears kobe bryant and his wife and also matt leinart were all chilling with a mini pony this weekend

And then Deadspin and KSK picked it up from our conversation, so thanks also to Muzthetruthspkr, Nick, TJ and Sean for the heads up from them.

Now I had set out to get some backstory on this picture, because there's at least two famous athletes, a wife or two, some random people and a mini pony in one photo collage. The story was begging to be told. And then I remembered that I was trying to find out information that included famous rich people and also Matt Leinart was in there so it was probably some uninteresting tale of a backyard weekend brunch with like cucumber sandwiches and Natty Light (for Leinart). So I gave up and just posted the picture and then this explanation.

An interesting little side note to the Penguins Game 3 loss in Ottawa last night that has hardly anything to personally do with the cities of Pittsburgh or Ottawa, the Penguins or Senators teams, or even simple rationality and math skills.

Via my bud Sean Leahy comes a story of a waitress in North Carolina and a rogue anti-Penguins fan (we'll explain) who gave a nice tip. The guy sat alone watching Pens-Sens Game 3, and passed along a very generous tip to the waitress for having to wait out (pun not intended) the four-hour two overtime Pens loss. We were apologizing to our waitresses at Foley's in NYC last night as well so I feel the love being shown.

Only then the guy decided to describe himself as a man who takes pleasure in Pittsburgh's demise, while also referencing the Chive's fratty, bro-centric KCCO, misspelling the word "forward" and failing math by adding $19.77 to $50.33 and coming up with $70.00 instead of $70.10. There's also a possible "Senattors" spelling in there. Basically the one thing this guy is good at is tipping at a bar, and even then don't ask him to correctly add it to his bill.

The only thing missing is spelling the city as "Pittsburg."

Now, I know Sean as a friend and a fellow Pens fan, writing a story such as this had to pull at some strong mental strings. In the headline he refers to the customer as a "Hockey Fan," while forwarding the waitress' description of the tipper as "born in Ohio and raised to dislike all things Pittsburgh." Like, how do you reconcile those two aspects while trying to describe the fan himself? Ohio guy in North Carolina who is a Senators fan just for this series? Penguins hater? Grouch? Idiot who doesn't realize cheering for your own team is way more fun?

Oh wait Columbus isn't still playing and the Senators are down 2-1.

Go Pens.

Thanks to fenn for this, an unreal mini pony that was hanging out in Schenley Park yesterday. And apparently the mini pony brought his awesome lamb friends and what looks like a goat butt. That little girl is probably in bliss and she won't even realize how fantastic this moment in her childhood is until she's older and grown. Youth, wasted on the young. George Bernard Shaw gets it.

Thanks (?) to Pat for this. He says:

OH NO!!!

A dog got loose in Massachusetts, killing a mini pony and injuring another (in the above pic) as well. Go ahead and make your Joey Porter jokes. Me, I'm focused on the survivial of the other great horse with help from the cute barn manager.

Thanks to my sister and also Ed for this. It is a goat riding a mini pony, and then the mini pony bucks the goat off its back. If you think that I just wrote the best sentence in history then let me buy you a beer.

Video below:

Thanks to Matt and Charlie and Lucinda for this. Now, my m.o. for loving mini ponies is the fact that they're pretty much dog-sized. This one ups the ante and is around pug or housecat-sized.

Whenever anyone asks why I love the adorable animals I'm just gonna show them this post.

Despite the moans and groans when the Pens and Isles were tied at 2 games apiece, Pittsburgh pulled through with back-to-back wins and a ticket to the 2013 NHL Playoffs 2nd Round.

So you better believe I got my old friend China Jack back on the horn to properly toast the passing of Round 1 as we look for positivity in Round 2. The Senators are a different monster than the Islanders, so we thank Jack for lending his calming voice for another round.

His audio is towards the bottom of this post.

***

My friends,

After 6 intense games, our Penguins have dispatched the Islanders through determination and will. The young team from New York proved their surprise playoff spot was not a mistake, as they hung around and created many problems for Pittsburgh. The experience of the Pens won out, with 2 shutouts and 2 overtime wins between goalies Fleury and Vokoun.

With the win, the ghosts of David Volek in 1993 have been exorcised and banished to hell. And the Pens move on.

Waiting are the Ottawa Senators, the next team to feel the crush of the Pens. Matt Cooke and the Pens gave the Senators reason to hire a forensics doctor team with an accidental skate to the achilles earlier this season, this time the Pens will help Ottawa conduct a team autopsy after a thorough series thrashing.

So raise your glasses, or bottles, or shots, as we toast the success of Round 1 and look for more in Round 2.

Cheers, to the Penguins! Lets Go Pens!

LET'S GO PENS!

***

2013 Pens China Jack links:

China Jack's 2013 Pens 1st Round Playoffs Toast

China Jacks' 2013 Pens Season Opening Wishes

Thanks to Timothie for this. He says:

Dude, I had to pull over off the freeway when I saw this little fella today. I think it could be good luck for game 1. Hahah

I'm for it! Only now the success of Game 1 tonight against the Senators rests on Timothie and his Australian freeway mini pony. Get it.

Trends and Internet viral sensations are fickle. One minute you're planking and the next day that's old news and you're already sitting like an owl or Tim Tebow or any other random thing that one person laughed at on a message board.

Take the "Harlem Shake" of literally three months ago:

Now at the time, it was annoying, and then the Penguins were even represented in a hockey version due to a crease scrum with the Flyers. And that was on the tail end of the meme. I mean look at that downward trend. And now at a Pens rally tomorrow, oddly for the 2nd Round, one lucky Pens rug-cutter will star in a Penguins Harlem Shake video.

We're at the point where that link I'm referencing and this PSAMP post and then the actual video will quite honestly be the first people discussing a horrible old trend in forever in Internet time.

Go Pens.

via Sideshow Raheem

Thanks to Andy for these. He says:

MINI PONIES IN MY YARD

It should be a felony to not always have a mini pony petting zoo in your yard.