In case you missed it, and judging by the ratings that hockey normally pulls in, that's quite possible, the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup (That's hockey's equivalent of the SuperBowl for anyone not informed in the ways of the puck) on Friday night; beating the Detroit Red Wings 2-1.
This series was as epic as you are gonna get in hockey or any sport, but don't take my word for it, let us count the ways...
1. It was a rematch of last years NHL Finals that saw Detroit pummel the Pens in route to hoisting the Cup.
2. The series went 7 games, with the champion Penguins overcoming losing the first two games and even falling behind 3-2 in the series.
3. The Pens 2-1 game seven win was at Detroit, as hard a place to grab a win as any place...ever.
4. The win made Pens Captain Sidney Crosby the youngest ever to captain a Stanley Cup winner. Convinced yet?
Congrats to the Penguins for a hard fought victory and congrats to the city of Pittsburgh for bringing a second Championship to the city this year (The Steelers won the SuperBowl in February, for any non-football readers out there.)
Which brings us to...
Marking another one off the list!!
Ok, let me explain what I mean by 'marking another one off the list'. You see, any true sports fan worth his weight in beer and nachos (mmmm, nachos...'drools') has a set number of sports where he (or she, no sexist writers here at CraveOnline) has his (you know the drill) TEAM. And I say TEAM in all caps because 1. the fanatic loyalty we show is only expressed in all caps and 2. there can only be one TEAM...none of that "oh, I like the Browns and the Packers" crap for us true fans, just a steadfast devotion to one TEAM in one sport.
With the TEAM concept explained, let's move on to the 'list'. The 'list' is made up of all our TEAMS and can only be marked by the winning of a Championship in our adult life by our TEAM (I know, the caps thing does get old, but we've come to far now to abandon it.). As an example, we will look at my TEAM list.
College Football: Ohio State Buckeyes (check)
Pro Football: Pittsburgh Steelers (double check)
Pro Basketball: Cleveland Cavaliers (soooo close)
Pro Baseball: Pittsburgh Pirates (Ugh)
Pro Hockey: Pittsburgh Penguins (check)
As you can see, I have three out of five of my TEAMS checked with a fourth primed to do it within the next season or two (my Cavs) and the other....well, let's just say it's a good thing I'm still relatively young (the Pirates).
Though, as the saying goes; where their is life, their is hope. And I do see some life out of my Bucco's this season so who knows, maybe I'll get my list checked off sooner than expected and can live a life of ease for my remaining years.
Suuuuuuure!!!!!!!
So with the list explained, now you can understand my excitement in seeing the results of Fridays hockey matchup. I can only hope your list is as complete as mine and be envious of those that are even closer.
Next week all!
*Oh, almost forgot! Congrats to the hated (by me) Los Angeles Lakers for winning the NBA Championship Sunday night over the Orlando Magic. Come back Wednesday to hear my thoughts on it and the NBA offseason.
