auxlepli

Celebration!
Congratulations to the 2007 -2008 Detroit Red Wings, this year's Stanley Cup champions. They went wire-to-wire as the best team in hockey. Truly impressive.

Parade!
My brother and I drove to Detroit and took part in the revelry. We had a blast! As a city Detroit receives a lot  of criticism; it's not fair in my opinion. The people are hospitable, and every time I've visited I've had a lot of fun.

Flood!
So, the southern Indiana floods are the reason why this blog entry is at least a week late. I was involved with that for eight days the week before last. The damage was wide-ranging, but it seems Iowa and Wisconsin received the brunt of it. I really feel for the people in those states and Hoosiers who were affected.

So anyway, now, I can finally relax. My anxiousness rises when my team gets closer to their goal. And while I wasn't superstitious about posting during the Wings' Cup run, as evidenced early in the playoffs, by the time of final I couldn't  handle absorbing all the information, processing it and writing about it in a coherent matter without crazy with nervousness. I needed time to detach myself from the process.
As an example: Game Four I went to my brother's house to watch the game. As soon as it came on he was all about Pittsburgh and Crosby. He wanted to see a close series. As a fan I understand that, but the Wings are MY team. I felt he was goading me, which I'm sure he probably was a bit. I had no stomach for it at all. Penguins score the first goal, my brother is whooping and hollering.
"You don't even care about hockey," I said. I expected him to support me and MY team. "If you're acting like that I'm leaving." And I did.  Couldn't handle it.
See, with hockey, the best team doesn't always win. A flukey puck bounce, a ticky-tack penalty penalty call, a non-call or an injury can all lead to a momentum swing or even a whole game.
Anyway I'm not really happy unless my team is winning, by a lot. Especially in the final series. I can't be calm. That's at least one reason why I drink beer when watching a hockey game. It dulls the senses. Even then it's not a guarantee.
Seeing the Wings skating around with Cup, I thought of Bobby Knight's quote after his Indiana Hoosiers won it all 1976.  "That should've been two."
It sounds presumptuous, but Hockeytown's brain trust thought they should've won last year too.

Anyway it's all Stanley Cup goodness now.
Congratulations to the Detroit Red Wings.