So They Played for THIS?
By Four Walls
@FourWalls (65390)
United States
June 25, 2024 9:45pm CST
Yesterday there was a big game in hockey, and the winner got a Stanley cup.
Actually, yesterday was loaded with championship sports events, two of them being in hockey. The American Hockey League (AHL) had its season end when the Hershey Bears won their second consecutive Calder Cup. They’re from Hershey, Pennsylvania, not sponsored by the Hershey chocolate bar, by the way.
Also finishing up yesterday was the College World Series, which is played annually in Omaha, Nebraska. The University of Tennessee Volunteers had to hang on for a 6-5 victory in the third and deciding game of the series. Congratulations to the folks on “Rocky Top”!
Then there was Lord Stanley’s Cup (not that cheap thing pictured), the greatest of the awards. Why? Because every team who’s ever won it has every player and coach’s name inscribed on it as part of the privilege of winning it. (When the Cup gets “full,” a ring is “retired” and put in the Hockey Hall of Fame.) Not only that, but hockey has the greatest tradition in sports: after a playoff series ends, the two teams — who, in a lot of cases, had resorted to fisticuffs with each other during the series — line up and shake hands.
Listen, I love baseball; however, hockey is the only real sport. Have you ever ice skated? Okay, now do that with a stick and 25 pounds of padding and protective gear on. BACKWARDS. AND fight with someone on skates. Don’t give me these wimpy “dancing” or “hugging” things that baseball players do when the dugouts empty (although, granted, there have been a few real knock-down, drag-outs in baseball history), or shoving that a sumo wrestler would laugh at in football. No, these guys can (and frequently do) draw blood in their on-ice fights…all while standing up while punching and taking punches.
So here’s to the team from that state that just screams cold weather and ice skating — the Florida Panthers — who won their first Stanley Cup last night.
Here’s my main man, Warren Zevon, with a song about hockey. The “hit somebody” shouts were done by none other than David Letterman.
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13 people like this
10 responses
@FourWalls (65390)
• United States
26 Jun
I wish we could get bandy in this country. That looks infinitely more fun than “football” (soccer).
I long ago lost my sense of balance, so skating is out. Sorry you broke your ankle when you were so young. I did enjoy skating, and the one time I ice skated (at an outdoor arena during Winterfest in Milwaukee) I enjoyed it!
2 people like this
@LadyDuck (467179)
• Switzerland
27 Jun
@FourWalls - I went with my husband to the ice ring to watch him skating. I avoided all sports with ice or snow, bones get more fragile in the cold.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (65390)
• United States
26 Jun
Rugby scrums on ice, with fighting instead of pushing. And a LOT more padding.
1 person likes this
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@AmbiePam (88834)
• United States
26 Jun
@FourWalls That WAS low. He was elderly! Low class all the way.
2 people like this
@FourWalls (65390)
• United States
26 Jun
Yep. That was a good fight. In contrast, Pedro Martinez throwing Don Zimmer to the ground was just a cheap shot. Even if I loathe the Y*nk**s, that was uncalled for.
2 people like this
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@RasmaSandra (77609)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
26 Jun
Definitely not a sports fan. I guess I should be glad a Florida team won,
2 people like this
@FourWalls (65390)
• United States
27 Jun
I know Miami went crazy. I was watching the news coverage online.
1 person likes this
@Deepizzaguy (99643)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
26 Jun
In my opinion being an ice hockey player is the toughest of all sports to play.
2 people like this
@Deepizzaguy (99643)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
26 Jun
@FourWalls I really is non stop action.
2 people like this
@BarBaraPrz (46490)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
26 Jun
Haven't watched hockey since "we" called it quits...
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (65390)
• United States
26 Jun
I don’t have the NHL app so I don’t watch it, but I’m all in on game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals!!!
1 person likes this
@changjiangzhibin89 (16686)
• China
26 Jun
Oh, so many championship sports events ! There must have been lots of nail-biting moments in them.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (65390)
• United States
26 Jun
I think the Bears hockey game was an overtime game. The other two games were one-point differences. Very exciting!
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (170715)
• United States
26 Jun
We used to go see the Cleveland Barons back in the day. I haven't watched a hockey game in decades. Have a good day.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (65390)
• United States
26 Jun
We’ve had a couple of minor-league hockey teams here in Louisville, but they both folded rather quickly. I’m surprised our soccer team has lasted this long, because this is a college basketball and minor league baseball town.
1 person likes this
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