Thank You Penguins

To say the NHL gained a fan over the past five months would be to underscore the sheer amazement and enjoyment I've experienced while watching the conclusion to the 2007-2008 season. Looking back, the small amount of blogging I have done in the past few months has been centered more around the Pens and their corresponding actions than anything else. In fact, it has been the main focus of my out-of-work life since roughly mid-January.

So, with pride, this is the last time I say: "Now I don't know enough to form an educated opinion about [hockey]..." I feel like through the course of the season and the extremely exciting playoffs I've picked up enough to be a somewhat educated hockey fan. Granted, some of the rules and terms still baffle me, but with time I hope to improve.

There's already been enough "I's" in this entry to make me puke. This one is deservedly sent out to our Pittsburgh Penguins, who have done their best in the past two years to not only make me realize what a truly great sport hockey is, but to inspire an entirely new generation of Pittsburgh hockey fans.

To hear the raucous ovation given to every Orpik bone-crusher, to every Crosby deke, each Malkin laser to the back of the net and the flashes of brilliance displayed with a Fleury glove save (and a beauty) makes the hair on the arms stand up and the heart race with an intensity not present anywhere else in my sports watching life.

The NHL season is grueling to say the least. To think I've been glued to my still not digitally upgraded television multiple nights a week since before the playoffs started shows that the game of hockey is not nearly as dead as some may think. You really form a relationship with your team as you see them crash the boards and raise the sticks each night. For as much as I was disappointed the Pens did not procure the oldest trophy of them all this year, I was equally as disappointed to see the season come to an end. Going into tonight, it became apparent that the most hockey there'd be to view until the fall were two games.

Sure, it's easy to poke fun at Mike Emrick. But the man endeared himself to me this post season. I certainly won't appreciate Jim Nantz's overly-judgmental attitude in the upcoming NFL season as I do Emrick's "Driiiiiive!" calls and his innate ability to make each and every second exciting just by his diction.

So, it's with this we leave the NHL season until next fall. Some wish the season would be shortened as to increase the excitement for each game. But I say let's start skating as soon as possible. Penguins, it was a hell of a season and you all deserve a standing ovation. Because, as it turns out, there's more to sports than waving a Terrible Towel. Thanks.

The Honeymoon's Over, Penguins

Well, there it is Penguins. Your first lost of the 2008 playoffs. Out the window is the chance to become the first team since the Oilers in 1985 (by memory, if that is wrong correct me) to win their first eight playoff games in a single playoff season. From the eyes of this uneducated fan, there wasn’t any lack of hustle or complacency, ya just lost the game. After all, the Rangers are a good team. Beating them twice on their home ice would be tough. Besides, what’s sweeter than a series-clinching victory on home ice in front of 20,000 raucous fans?

There is one thing I’d like to let you in on, though. The honeymoon is over. As they say, welcome to Pittsburgh, aka, the most pessimistic and critical sports town on earth, with one of the most uneducated fan bases this side of the Siberia golf league.

On the drive to work today, I could just hear it in the radio DJ’s voice. It was all they could do to not criticize the Pens for losing one game. One asked, "Sooo, how many points does Crosby have in this series?" His question was laced with judgment, but fortunately, the sports guy on the other end sat in silence until muttering, "Uhhh, I don’t have it in front of me, but quite a few."

The answer is four, and you would think a person getting paid to absorb the sports knowledge of the day would have an answer to how many points hockey’s biggest star would have in this series.

That’s the problem with bandwagon Pittsburgh hockey fans. Admittedly, I’m a bandwagon Penguins fan. No question about it. But, as I’ve said before, I only know two people who were fans while the team sucked. Bandwagon fans, regardless of the sport, should be prohibited from publicly or privately offering any sort of negative or critical opinion on the state of the team.

Pittsburgh is a town that feels connected to its teams. It all goes back to the 1970s and the steel bust and the blah blah blah story we’ve heard ten thousand times before. So with the Steelers it is expected. Steeler Nation is incredibly vocal in their support (or disdain) of their team. Despite 70% of the fans not knowing a damn thing about the game, they still feel entitled to scream their opinion from the nearest sports talk show.

With hockey it’s a completely different story. I’m figuring roughly 95% of current Penguins ‘fans’ know nothing more about hockey than goals, assists, offsides and icing. These are the same people that will diagnose the Penguins’ loss, or why they aren’t playing nearly as well as they should be. I don't believe for one second that anyone aside from Scott or Cory can tell me anything about hockey that can be considered educated.

So for now, Penguins, you remain the sootiest city’s darlings. But if this whole ‘losing games’ thing continues, expect to be lambasted, insulted, and generally discredited as athletes humans by people who have absolutely no right to do so.

Facebook Unsure of Penguins' Trade

A chuckle and head shake were all the more I could manage last night upon signing into Facebook and checking everyone's status. Roughly 50% of the 36 friends with recently updated profiles had their status set to their reaction about the Penguins trading Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, Angelo Esposito and whoever the other guy was for Thrasher's star Marion Hossa and some French guy. Some were "excited!", while others believed "Hossa's great, but not worth the price we payed," and there were the skeptics who remained "unsure :-/."

I'll follow the Pens, can't say I'm a diehard, but I give credit to those who are. Hockey is a tough sport to be a fan of. Your games are on Versus and the league is consistently fighting for its mainstream survival.

Back to the Facebook thing, the reason I got such a kick out of it is that, a few years ago, everyone a lot of people besides Scott and Cory trounced the Penguins and said they didn't care if they stayed in Pittsburgh or not. They claimed hockey sucked, the Penguins sucked and it wasn't worth wasting time following such a bum team. Many of these people are now thrilled with the team and can't imagine a Pittsburgh without them. I tend to agree.

How quickly many forgot the glory days of the 90's and the mania the Pens instilled. The rants of apathy for a once formidable organization and competitor for the other Pittsburgh sports team accompanied the Pens on their way to the basement of the NHL. This of course all changed when the Pens miraculously won the lottery draft after the lockout season and landed Sidney Crosby, who immediately regained the old fanbase while luring an entire new generation of fans to the Igloo.

I don't mean to say that the fandom displayed on Facebook is bad, I don't mean to make fun of Penguins fans, hell, I don't even really care to use the word 'fandom.' I just wonder where all these people were four years ago?

UPDATE: 10:15 am

Get ready for the 'RIP Myron' statuses tonight.