Let's Go Lightning! (clap clap clap clap clap)
I've been on a sports bent of late - this should be it for a while. But I just simply could not go on without mentioning my favorite sports moment of the last few weeks. Better than the USF win, better than the 4-0 Bucs (or the 2-1 Dolphins) - yes, even better than the news of ownership change for the Devil Rays (which is still nevertheless fantastic).
Photo courtesy of the St. Petersburg Times
Yes, that's right, I still care about hockey. It's probably a lot easier for anyone to still care when you live in the city that last hosted the Stanley Cup. Who cares.
Last night was great. Beyond the banner raising, which basically boiled down to reading off a bunch of names not even the greatest of hockey fans could care about ("assistant equipment manager..."), it was great to see real live hockey again. If you ignored the sloppiness that understandably comes from a year away, the Bolts looked like the team that made so many new fans at the end of the 2003-2004 season. We even got a couple of glimpses of what the rule changes are going to do for the game. It's subtle now, but give everyone some time to get used to the idea of those home-run passes that were once two-line passes - it'll be nice to see some hockey highlights on ESPN again.
Or maybe on OLN. Sure, it's hard to get used to watching ANYTHING on OLN. Sure, hockey is still not ideal to watch on TV. Sure, Gary Bettman is still "running" the league. Sure, we beat the Carolina Hurricanes. I still don't care. Give me a choice between some of those dreadful Sunday night NFL games (it's a good thing Mexico City didn't seem to mind that we sent them our worst) and any hockey game and you can call me Canadian.
The Lightning seemed pretty bored/annoyed with the banner ceremony. Who can blame them? They've been hearing about the '03-'04 season for way too long now. They celebrated like kids at the post-playoff parade. But it's time to let the whole thing go. The Lightning now have as much claim to the Cup as the other teams in the league. This is what the guys have been waiting for all this time. As soon as that first puck dropped, you could see them having fun again. I had fun too (even if I couldn't be there - darned lottery). Welcome back, Bolts.
When Daddy comes home, you always start a fight
So the neighbors can dance in the police disco lights
The police disco lights
Now the neighbors can dance
- The Arcade Fire, "Neighborhood 2 (Laika)"
Posted by Joel at 10/06/2005 10:19:00 PM
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