Sunday, April 20, 2008

Weekly Topic 1: Let's Go...???

It's just so difficult, isn't it? There's so much at play here, and it's hard for me to decipher all of my feelings.

First of all, I have been programed at birth to hate the Islanders and the Devils. Being that the Islanders didn't make the playoffs and that the Rangers played the Devils in the first round, it was quite hard to put any team immediately on my "I hope you lose and lose bad" list. I also hate the Flyers, but I'll get to that later.

There are certain characteristics of teams I like. Original Six is an important one. Props to Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings for making the playoffs. But the Canadiens and the Red Wings happen to be the 1st seed in their divisions, and no one really like a front runner. The other problems with Original Six teams are that rivalries are in full swing. How can a self-respecting Rangers fan like myself root for the Boston Bruins?


And then the complications of the playoffs hit. If I root for the Bruins, and they win, the Rangers will likely play the Caps or Philly. If I root for the Habs, the Rangers will face more challenging opponents such as the Pens or the Canadiens. So I rooting for the Bruins so that the Rangers have a better chance of moving on.

And then there are gut feelings. Why am I rooting for the Avalanche over the Wild, while I hate how Colorado is trying to get an "old glory days" feel and I'm not a personal fan of broken-foot Forsberg over there? I couldn't tell you. I have gut feelings against the Penguins, too, although that stems from my gut feeling that they have been handed success just for being a franchise that is bad at life. Yet I still like Crosby better than Ovechkin. (I want a Sidney Crosby winter classic jersey for my birthday sooo soooo bad!)

Speaking of Ovechkin, I hate the Caps Cinderella story- and I'll be completely honest, I'm not sure why. They're playing the Flyers, who I also hate with passion, being from the Atlantic Division and just basically being violent and mean. Toss up here.

So now that I have eliminated cheering for any Eastern Conference team, I look towards the West. Not only do I know little to nothing about each of these teams, I just look at them and draw big question marks and "who cares" feelings beginning to arise. Plus, I do have some Eastern Conference pride. I'd like to say that I care if the Stars or San Jose go on... but I don't, not to mention both teams hurt my "no hockey south of the Mason-Dixon line" sensibilities.

Does California REALLY need three teams? Come on! And don't get me started on Floria.

Anyway. The point of this post?

Let's go Red Wings!... Original Six, all around talented team, and they want to be in the Eastern Conference anyway. They'll choke though. Don't they always?


5 comments:

Shan said...

Actually, science has proven that whoever you root for has no impact on the outcome of the games.

Also, you seem to have a lot of baseless hatred (glory days? Cinderella story? violent and mean? warm climates?). And I find your desire for a Penguins Winter Classic jersey to be highly questionable.

Kerri said...

Science is wrong.

My hate isn't completely baseless, though I didn't think I needed to explain the different reasons I hate all thirty teams in the NHL. And I'd be more than happy to go over with you why I am sick of hearing Ovechkin's name, why I think the Pens franchise has been just handed saviors upon saviors, why I think Colorado should move on (lord knows it took the Rangers forever, and I hated that, too), why I find the Flyers violent and I in fact do enjoy warm climates. Though that might be more of a Bible and less a blog post. :-P

Though I would like to find out why you are so against a Pens Winter Classic jersey. Should I get a Buffalo one instead?

Shan said...

Oh you DO need to explain it. That would be a great post.

I like the Sabres Classic jersey, but I don't care at all for the Penguins Classic jersey. Sometimes a jersey looks a lot better though when you hold it in your hands, so I might be wrong about it.

Shan said...

Let me add that that Pens jersey is nice and neat. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to wear it. You know, if I was still playing roller hockey.

Dare said...

Hey Shan, is it the baby blue factor? It's actually grown on me, to the point that I actually think it looks pretty nice.

Of course, I may have been baby blue brainwashed this year, given that I started playing for a team with said jersey colour, but hey.