Letters to the Editor
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Let's Win It For (Insert Name Here)!
It's not that much of a coincidence that this trend of sentimental sports journalism started around the same time as the 24 hour news cycle, is it? There seems to be way more time to fill than there is actual content for, so we have to find some angle to focus on during the down-time between the games. The Ray Bourque storyline worked so well that, like so much of our entertainment, it got cannibalized each year after that (with the possible exception of New Jersey/Anaheim in 2003.)
You see the same thing in every Olympic telecast, human interest pieces running in place of a agood chunk of the actual events. And HBO recently took it to the next level by producing a reality series leading up to the Mayweather/DeLaHoya bout.
Curious to hear if anyone else thinks Alfredsson will be suspended for his bizarre shot at Niedermeier at the end of the second period last night.
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Some teams don't deserve to win though
The Hurricanes were a good example. Oh ok they played well enough but between the off-ice Opera of contract 'negotiations' to the insanely horrible treatment of the fans at the hands of Karmanos and Hurricanes executives to the police state that is the RBC center - I don't think the Hurricanes deserved a win and I was happy to watch them come apart at every nail after that. Let's face reality - The Whalers came to Carolina because no one was buying their crying over how they were stuck between two big media markets in NY and Boston. They came down here because of the driving radius in a sole market down here. They could care less about the fan's experience. I hope the Ducks fans get treated better, and if not then I'd like to ask them to take the Hurricanes off our hands.
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Claude
I believe that Alfredsson will be given the benefit of the doubt, given his clean record in 10+ years in the league. He has never been thought of as a dirty player, unlike Pronger, who will be suspended any time he does something borderline that looks like intent to injure, because it's safe to say that he was intending to injure.
It was a little strange the way he drilled that puck at Niedermayer. But the NHL won't put the Senators at such a disadvantage by suspending him. That's my prediction. And besides, it really doesn't matter, because whether Alfredsson plays or not tomorrow, the Ducks are very likely to win the game & the Cup.
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Alfredsson
If Alfredsson was going to get a suspension, it probably would have been handed out by now.
I'd also be interested to hear King's (or anyone's) take on Don Cherry's comments regarding the introduction of the instigation rule as a reaction to curb fighting to please American audiences. Grapesis always a great source of insightful and buffoonic comments, but we in Canada love him anyway.
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Why don't you ever write anything about hockey??
Sorry - I was worried the universe might implode if someone didn't post this.
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And they call Roger Clemens a mercenary...
Fewer things made me happier in 2004 than Karl Malone being denied a championship after a desperate jump to the Lakers. On some rational level, I don't care that a man switches jobs to work in a more fun environment with better perks (hoisting the Cup, say). Viscerally, though, the notion that some old guy is "due" because he stuck it out on mediocre teams for 20 years galls me. I think Bill Simmons mentioned Kevin Willis' San Antonio payday the other day. Baseball used to be relatively free from this sort of thing, from Ernie Banks to Don Mattingly to Jeff Bagwell.
I know positioning yourself to win a Stanley Cup isn't the same thing as guaranteeing a win - ask Karl, there's no guarantee - but it's still a little cynical. At the very least, don't expect me to applaud Ray Bourque any louder than Joe Sakic.
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Stanley Cups for Nascar fans
At LEAST this year the Cup will go to what appears to be a well-supported franchise. I am not an Anaheim fan and have no idea how much coverage it they are receiving in the LA area.
I wonder if the pressure on the Canadian/NE US (see Buffalo) clubs to win the Cup is just too much and the American SunBelt teams actually have an advantage of reduced expectations from their fans. Too much pressure can produce first periods like we saw last night. Give some credit to Giguere as well, he is certainly one of the best in the league today.
Still wonderin...was it just my TV, or was the PBP announcer's (Emrick?) voice buried on the NBC HD broadcast? I could barely hear him and it was actually annoying. He sounded fine on regular cable.
Man, could anyone believe the gall of Brett Hull complaining about Alfredsson's 'skate-influenced' goal? Glad to see Cherry jump all over him for that. You asshole, Brett. All he did was whine for 15 years about not getting calls and then says he doesn't think Pronger should get suspended for his forearm shiv to the face.
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Another town that doesn't care
Going into this final, I was seriously conflicted. Having been there for Game 5 to watch the Senators eliminate the Sabres, I didn't want the Senators to win the Stanley Cup. But since I'm gleefully a niche sport fan, I decided I wanted to watch a town go nuts for the cup. Canada's capital would go nuts. Ontario's second city even though it's Canada's first would have put on a celebration that we could enjoy. That would be instead of the 20,000 hockey fans in Duckland who may or may not come out for a parade that most likely won't happen.
But then, last night. I can take watching Alfreddson score in overtime to defeat the Sabres. It was a nice goal. But I can't cheer for a guy who shoots the puck at the other team's captain at the end of the period. Just can't do it.
So, I'm hereby cheering for another crappy sunbelt team to have another crappy celebration, and fall back on the fact that Anaheim has 18 Canadians on the team that will parade the cup around Canada. Go Teemu!