To the Calgary Flames, the Calgary fans, and all Canadian hockey fans, on a superb season. Calgary knocked off 3 division champs to get to the cup series, including my team (Red Wings). They, and you, have every reason to be very proud of their effort and their success. That was, arguably, the best cup series I've ever seen. Bravo.
Definately one of the best play-offs series. Either team could have won the cup. I can't remember the last time I saw two teams that even. Plus it was nice to see a series without any Devils or Red Wings.
Congratulations Tampa Bay.
BITE YOUR TONGUE!
Why in the world would I do a painful thing like that?
it certainly was refreshing to see two young, hard-working teams that evenly matched battling down to the wire. After last year's final, which was about as exciting as watching paint dry, this was a treat. I'm sure a lot of people might not understand, but it was a great thing for Canadian hockey to have a Canadian team in the final again (even if they did lose). The unifying effect across the country was incredible.
On a related note, I certainly hope they are able to come to a labour agreement to prevent a work stopage next season. Should lend a whole new level of anticipation/excitement to the World Cup if they don't though.
Because you dissed my Red Wings, THAT'S WHY!
(Did I actually write "dissed"? OY!)
hey sid-
i was curious to the whole 'canadian unity' thing when it came to the flames. nice for you to mention that.
on a more scarstic note.. let me prempt this statement with the fact that i consider canada the mother of hockey and everyting in the hockey world. am i the only one who finds it extremely ironic that the stanley cup champions are from an american owned franchise that is the farthest NHL team from the canadian border.. not to mention, a town from florida that has hasent seen snow in probably the last 20 years.. throw in the fact that the whole tampa bay roster has only 2 american born players on it.
its all just too wierd to try and absorb.
bigjohn
Sssh John. You're touching a sore spot. They'll just point out that their olympic hockey team always defeats ours.
BigJohn - don't worry, our baseball teams are all full of American players so it balances out.
One of the local stations had a great story when we had a freak spring snowfall - did a stand-up with three American players on our Northern League (unaffiliated) ball team who had never seen snow before.
Bren R.
There is definintely some irony to that BigJohn. Not a lot different than when Dallas won the cup though. Canadians can take solace in the fact that nearly all of the players are Canadian.
Actually, if you must know, I cheered for Tampa Bay in the finals just so I had something to argue with people about - it's no fun if everyone cheers for the same team!
ah, the stars.. those were the good ole days.. i was drinking coffee from my 1999 dallas stars stanley cup championship mug just this morning. although, i still think hull was in the crease on hasek!! of well, what ya gonna do??
it was nice to see sydor win another cup with tampa after the way he was run out of dallas. once hitchcock left, the mgmt just started axing people left and right.
i feel guilty, i only watched the last 3 games of the series, but those were some great games.
i cant wait to see the pistons stomp the crap out of the lakers again tonight. i dont really care for basketball, but i love to see the lakers get beat.
bigjohn
I don't know whether you are aware of it or not BigJohn, but the same owner controls both the Lightning and the Pistons. Who says money can't buy happiness?
i did not know that .. very interesting.. looks like that guy is having a good week.
i would love to be a relative of that guy.. get to go to the NHL finals and the NBA finals in the same week.. and get great seats to boot!!
he doesnt own an NFL tean, does he??
bigjohn
definetly a awesome series,edge of your seat till the very end of game 7,gotta love it--being that i am not a fan of either team,it was nice to see a 22 year veteran get his first cup....ron
Yeah, Bill Davidson, owns both the Lightning and the pistons. He also owns the Detroit Arena Fottball League team and the Detroit WNBA team. And according to Fortune, he's the richest man in Michigan, worth close to $2 billion.
Thanks..
As a Calgarian I'm happy for the team and for the city; even thou we lost. People still celebrated until 3am (Red Mile). This is probably the best series I've seen for a long time.
All I can say is lots of Parties and lots of Boobies..lol
I didn't really care who won and just wanted a good series. But as I was watching it last night and realized not only was Tampa going to win, but that Fedatenko was going to score their only goals, it just made things worse. First Philly trades him away (which looked like a good deal at the time and may still be depending on what Pitkanen becomes) then he helps beat us to get to the finals and win it. The Philly curse continues. Even Smarty Jones lost to top it all off.
Go Eagles! (Yes, I'm already writing off the Phillies of being able to have a shot to win at all...a trip to the playoffs at all would be a success for them).
Yea, Flames didn't come out that game...they look dog tired. They couldn't skate or pass. They only started playing last ten min. Oh well; they had a great run.
zarak-
so your an eagles fan, eh? you and me should have some fun conversations come football, cause i am a huge cowboys fan..DUH!!
your eagles get to come to the BIG D for a monday night football game this year. it will be the first MNF game in dallas in like 3-4 years. i got to go to the eagles-vs-cowboys game last year in texas stadium, and it was great.. we kicked some a$$, and had a good time..
funny story-- i had always heard all this stuff about how philly fans were the worse and they were loud, drunk, and beligerant. well, that is all true. in fact, there were LOTS of philly fans sitting in the section that i was in, and they were causing quite a ruckus.. but this was the funniest part.. they kept trying to pester dallas fans, and 'pick' fights, and just be crazy in general, but none of the dallas fans would take the bait.. so, by the 4th quarter, the philly fans are plenty liquored up, and losing the game, so they just started fighting each other.. it was the craziest thing i had ever seen. there were 3 fights just a few rows down in front of me, all the guys were wearing philly jerseys, and not a one cowboy fan stepped in to stop them. they finally had to get security to come take them out, and the whole section stood up and started cheering. it was the coolest thing i had seen in a long time.
so, all that stuff you have heard about philly fans, BELIEVE IT.. but they sure are fun to watch
bigjohn
Zarak,
seems pretty depressing but Pitkanen is going to be a superstar - no doubt about it. Unfortunately, with the age of the Flyers and the impending work stopage, most felt the Flyers chance was now. Has to be all the more heart breaking knowing that Fedotenko scored 6 against them in the Conference finals.
Yeah...we've kinda gotten used to getting close and not making it at the end over the years. I still can't believe Fedotenko was scoring like that...he's either greatly benefitting from those around him (my initial thought) or he's just gotten a lot better since he left the Flyers(which I was starting to believe towards the end of the playoffs).
As far as the Philly fans...I won't deny that there are a large portion(mostly Eagles fans) that do end up drinking to much and causing problems at games...why else did they need a court with a real judge setup in the basement of stadium the past couple of years. In general though, the fans are great and there's a small group that give the rest a bad rep. The fans here love their teams and live and die(mostly die) with their teams. If a player gives a good effort and it obvious that they are trying their best, they'll be liked in this town. But if they are lazy, don't hustle, or just don't seem to care, they are going to get booed. Primeau is an example of ones of those guys that wasn't liked a couple of years back after he helped run Bill Barber out of town as coach. He has played hard since and given a great effort, and especially this year was just amazing in the playoffs...I can't remember such a great performance in a long time by a single player, and all has been forgotten. We cheer when you are trying and doing well, or for some players like Pat Burrell last year even when you aren't doing well but you're trying hard. It's the players that don't give the effort that get booed.
BTW...I know there is a big trip being organized of people going to Dallas for the MNF game this year.
Zarak, every city has it's rude, stupid sports fan, and, indeed, they get all the attention.
All the national media refers to, here in Cleveland, is the dog pound, and the crazies that dwell there. You never hear anything about the 60,000 well behaved fans.
I used to have seasons tickets about the 30 yard line, upper deck, and we never had one problem, even when fans from the opposing team were nearby (including Pittsburgh fans - take that Ray!
).
i make it to at least 2-3 cowboys games a year. might be less this year with the new baby, but thats another thread.. anyway, being that dallas is 4-5 hours drive from here, it it impossible for me to make it to the MNF game and still try and get back to work the next day. i ended up not getting tix for that game, and gave them to my sis and brother-in-law.. so they will be there to watch the cowboys beat the eagles on monday night..
i plan on going to dallas for the lions game in october, and against the saints in dec. other than that, my only other choice is to see the giants, but i went to see them last year.. plus, i dont even wanna see eli manning cause i might just go nutso on his sorry a$$ and end up getting arrested.. so to avoid that possibility, i will just not go to that game.
i gotta stop talkin about football.. its way too early to start gettin my hopes up about it.
bigjohn
In reply to:
Zarak, every city has it's rude, stupid sports fan, and, indeed, they get all the attention.
Tell me about it! I can't stand outspoken Raider's fans.
Head for the hills!
No need to get excited bigjohn. It's the Eagles year this year. The fans are setting themselves up for disappointment here I'll admit though. Talk radio was taking polls a couple weeks after the TO signing of whether the Eagles would go 16-0, 15-1, or 14-2.
My only concern is the corners. They both played last year, but looked good sometimes and bad others. The line will have to step it up.
I'm excited because I'm going to my first game at the Linc this year (the new stadium that opened last year for those not familar with the nickname). I'm going to Eagles vs. Carolina in October. Should be a good one! They should have a little more trouble shutting down our WR's this year with TO in the mix.
Are you ready for some football??!!!
Now I'm the one getting to excited. I guess there isn't much else sports wise to get excited for right now. The baseball season is too long and each game isn't meaningful enough to follow that on a daily basis. That doesn't start to pick up and get exciting until around the time football starts, and even then it's only exciting if your team is still in the race.
Jack, I'd suggest that while you didn't have any problems in Cleveland with the fans, you also didn't have any Super Bowl wins.
Of course, the Brownies couldn't get any of those because the Steelers were scooping them up in bunches.
I'm gonna be sick.
If we're going into the ancient past, let's go back to the 1950's and compare records, including championships.
Ditto on the Raiders fans. Wussy poser scumbags.
Phoey on the Steelers! Yuck!
If we manage to get eleven guys out of jail at the same time, Baltimore will win it again this year. You Eagles fans will be welcome to drive down here and take a look at the Lombardi any time you like.
Oh... And congrats to both Tampa Bay and Calgary that was a series to be proud of.
You just used the evil apostrophe wrong! 40 lashes!
I was just acting like a Raider's fan, nomesayn?
I gotta admit that the Steelers haven't been their normal smashmouth selves for a couple of years, but they are my boys.
...and the leagues byatches.