So Heather said (in her very good post about the Ovechkin/Briere incident):
I think my team was crippled by injuries during last season's playoffs and I think that worked to the advantage of the Hurricanes
And my first thought was "Gee, if you change a couple words around, you could sign that "Sincerely, Philadelphia". Pardon me while I roll my eyes."
So yeah, it's really snarktastic and bitchy for me to say that--but I'm really sick and tired of hearing eleventy billion variations on "If our team had been 100% healthy we'd have pwnzt you!!!1" from J. Random Fan (and his good buddy Captain Bitterman) whenever the 2006 playoffs are discussed--if it's not the wanker that comes into my store all the time (usually with his idiot friend) and engages in tons of Sabres'-related dickwaving over their regular-season standings, it's some unhinged Habs fan on a message board screeching about Justin Williams like he's some kind of serial axe murderer or a cerebrally-challenged Devils fan bleating "Three Cups, bitch! Three Cups, bitch!" on a blog or XM or wherever.
It all sounds the same to me: Wah wah, my team deserved to win because they're from north of the Mason-Dixon line, boo hoo. It's like the team's geographical location is supposed to determine that team's "worthiness" to advance in the playoffs (or, in the minds of some, to even exist in the first place), and that just galls me. To me it's disgusting. It's bad form, dirty pool, sore-loserdom, a bad reflection on your team. And dealing with a constant barrage of this garbage for years is why I'm so defensive about my team.
Injuries or no injuries, the bottom line is: We won. You lost. If the situations had been reversed, y'all would be saying the same thing and y'all know it.
Just sayin'.
*puts the 20-grit sandpaper away*
16 comments:
I don't want to apologise for the nasty Habs fans because really, I don't want to have to explain for every fan - that and I'm hoping if I look the other way they'll die one day. I think it's great that Saku Koivu's alright with Williams and they've made their peace. Because, like Ovie, it's a game and bitterness just makes the game ugly yaknow.
But I can see what you're saying, not really since it seems to be some sort of patriotic thing where people fight over who has the better tourist attractions or something.
However I do like it when you have a crippled team and you destroy a fully loaded team on a bad night. It just gets me all smug.
I hope I can be this bitter should my team find success.
(Not every hockey complaint is regionally motivated. Lamenting injuries can happen on all sides of the border.)
I hear it said a lot that Southerners don't appreciate hockey the way Northerners do, and that somehow reflects on our worthiness to have hockey down here in the first place.
How can you truly appreciate something you never had access to before? It took having a hockey team in my backyard for 8 years (more or less) before I finally got around to checking out the sport. It took me no time at all to love it.
It's gonna take some time, but I think one day we'll have some Southern hockey dynasties worthy of y'all's respect.
Besides all the NHL players are Yankee, Canadian or European anyway so what's it matter? When a Bubba born and raised hoist the Cup, then it'll really be time to moan and wail. :-)
Regardless of injuries or whatever else, I have to say that the Carolina-Buffalo series was one of the most exciting playoff series I've ever seen and absolute proof that hockey in the South is the real thing.
Don't worry, AQ - people will start to catch on to our awesomeness sooner or later :)
Y'know, the only thing worse than being a sore loser is being a sore winner. "Your" team won, so you're just gona have to live with the slings and arrows. This also puts you in a bind: if (or rather) when the 'Canes lose, you're just gonna have to take it. No excuses.
I hope I can be this bitter should my team find success.
Earl, you seem to have "angry" and "annoyed" confused with "bitter".
And as for littlefury's comment....
Y'know, the only thing worse than being a sore loser is being a sore winner.
And I'm a "sore winner" how?
Southern teams. We don't care about you. Nobody would mind your existence if teams in Winnipeg and Quebec hadn't had to move away (and it wasn't because of attendance). Yeah, I think I'd shed not a single tear for all the fans who lose their beloved Thrashers or Hurricanes or Panthers or Coyotes (note that you find fewer of those up here) if we could get teams back in cities that deserve a team. Yeah, I'm saying it: You don't deserve a team as much. Is it because the average citizen doesn't know what offside is or because the snow melts as it touches the ground? I don't know. That's just the way it is. When not one of your players hails from within 500km of the arena, your win is a waste of everyone else's time. There are empty seats because they only fill during the good times, and so when the times are good, we resent you for it. Southern teams.
Injuries? Yeah, people will complain about injuries because they do make a huge difference. People have the right to complain and they ought to be upset, because all of a sudden they go from holding the "This year the Cup's comin' back home babyyy!!" mentality down to reality. And we'll do it all again next year.
So I guess there are a lot of baseball players from Toronto, huh? Basketball players from Vancouver?
I think that it doesn't matter if there are no players born in Dallas or ice doesn't naturally come about in Florida - so many sports have spread beyond where they originated that it has become a moot point. You can have basketball players from China and hockey players from DC...all that matters is that the sport is being played.
Do I think there should be teams in Winnipeg and Quebec? Absolutely! But I also would love to see teams in Arkansas, New Mexico and Kansas, and I certainly don't begrudge cities that were smart enough to get teams just because they happen to be in a warmer climate.
When a sport spreads, that's when you see the homegrown players emerge regardless of where it may be. We're starting to see it happen here in DC and I'm sure more kids are picking up hockey sticks in Carolina, Phoenix and San Jose as well.
As for the point that attendance is only high when teams are having success, I think we're seeing that in traditional hockey strongholds, too. Chicago, St. Louis, etc. are all having trouble putting butts in seats. The Caps beat writer just did a very thorough piece on this phenomenon: http://dumpnchase.wordpress.com/2006/11/30/full-house/
Rebecca wins the commentbox.
Seeing as how the City of Raleigh and the State of North Carolina were willing to pony up for new hockey arena when Hartford either wouldn't or couldn't, I'd say that makes our city pretty damn deserving of a team.
I guess my problem is that I don't see the statement, "I think my team was crippled by injuries during last season's playoffs and I think that worked to the advantage of the Hurricanes" as an insult. I'm not sure it's even that debatable. The Hurricanes didn't have to plan for our then hottest offensive player - that's an advantage. The Hurricanes offense and power play played against a couple guys who weren't used to carrying so much ice-time, an NHL journeyman, and two kids who were playing in the NHL for the first time during the series - that's an advantage. The Hurricanes played against a team that had to put different defensive pairings on the ice for every single game - that's an advantage. If it had been Staal, Wesley, Hedican, Commodore etc. out, that would've been an advantage for the Sabres. I'm not insulted by that because it's the truth. Those advantages don't make Carolina a bad team and without those advantages the Canes very well might've won game seven anyway. But I think it's a little unfair to expect fans of injury-riddled teams to not be disappointed and to not wonder what might've happened if everyone had been healthy.
Injuries or no injuries, the bottom line is: We won. You lost. If the situations had been reversed, y'all would be saying the same thing and y'all know it.
First of all, this works both ways. If Carolina had lost Staal, Hedican, Wesley, Commodore, and another defenseman on top of that, there absolutely would be Canes fans griping about injuries and the Sabres good luck. And I don't think that's a bad thing. I think it's a totally normal thing.
Second of all, I don't think I would be saying the same things had the Sabres won instead because I just don't see what the big deal is. Some Sabres fans think a healthy line-up would've beat you? So what?! Some Oilers fans feel like the Stanley Cup should be in Canada and not the southern U.S.? So what?! Large factions of Hurricane nation (NOT EVERYONE) seem so fixated on other fanbases not being happy for them that they seem to be forgetting to be happy for themselves. I think if the Sabres ever win the Stanley Cup I'm going to be too damn happy to give a rat's ass what Joe Blow in Toronto or Anaheim thinks.
I think I definitely win if it's a contest to name the most cities/states in a single comment...I just reread it and it's a little out of control :)
Amen, Heather B.
A-frickin'-men.
Holy crap, I just went to buy some groceries and get lunch!
If Carolina had lost Staal, Hedican, Wesley, Commodore, and another defenseman on top of that, there absolutely would be Canes fans griping about injuries and the Sabres good luck.
And I'd be telling those people to sit down and shut up, because I hate excuses (and to me, crying injury and ifs is excusemaking). To me it cheapens what the team--my team, your team, anyone's team--has accomplished, and to me it's just not cool.
That was my point.
AQ: In re: to your comment on my post about Danny's hat trick, of course I believe you! I'm perfectly okay with not agreeing on everything. I know that when I talk about the Sabres' injuries, I do it with no intention of insulting anyone or cheapening anything. BUT I also know that you folks in the Raleigh area are dealing with some of the worst Sabres fans in the country and I'm sure many of them do mean it that way. And I totally agree that it's stupid to still be talking about it regularly six months later. Most of the fans I know are way too excited about the way this season is going so far to be obssessing over how last season ended.
So as far as I'm concerned, we're cool.
Post a Comment