WHO Keeps Bringing It Up?

One more time the story about The Boy not shaking hands with Lidstrom after the 'win' is making the rounds--and the Wings and fans are being accused of beating a dead horse.

Michael Farber at SI posted this:

"After the Stanley Cup final, Sidney Crosby's tardiness in joining the handshake line rankled the Red Wings to that point that Kris Draper grabbed an SI reporter and told him to make sure he mentioned in the magazine that Crosby had stiffed Detroit Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom, who grew fed up and left the ice. Two months later, the feeling among the Red Wings has not altered measurably. Defenseman Brian Rafalski, who is as cool as Draper is fiery, shrugged his shoulders and said, "Last year we didn't make them wait.""

Now, where exactly does it say that Rafalski brought this up to Farber--or anyone else in the media, for that matter? From the way this is written, I have the understanding that it is Farber himself who brought this up, not Rafalski. If the Wings or the fans were constantly talking about this, THEN they could be accused of not letting go. Instead, it seems as if this just might be something that the Wings will look back on and give them a little more motivation to win it all this year. But the media wants this to be a big deal to the Detroit players and fans--and they want to try and make them out to be poor sports and bad losers. Just another way to try and 'take down' the Wings.

Not Hockey, But...

Living in Michigan's Upper Peninsula has many challenges. Of course, we have the weather to contend with and the rural living, but it is more than that. Other than our identity with being Yoopers, most of us are divided as to how we view ourselves. While we ARE a part of Michigan, we have the tendency to identify more with Wisconsin--the northern part, anyway--than we do with the Lower Peninsula. And, frankly, it seems as if the LP would rather the UP just go away and leave them alone--kind of like hoping an unwanted step-sister would disappear. So, we are a divided people--and nothing shows this more than the way we follow sports teams.

There are as many--probably more--Packer fans here in the UP than there are Lions fans. And the Packer fans are very typical. And I haven't found one yet that I like. (They are really obnoxious--at least the ones I know.) This means that I have to be bombarded with Packer news 24/7. When a Packer player finally shits after being constipated for a few days, I hear it--multiple times through multiple media venues. So, this brings up the whole Brett Favre saga.

Red Wing fans have been accused of whining. I guess there is a case to be made for that, in some instances, but I think most people would agree that the Penguin fans whined WAAAAAAY more over the whole 'Hossa moving to Detroit' deal than Wing fans ever had about anything. This brings me to Brett Favre and Packer Backers. WHOA!!! These people are so over the edge about this entire thing, that they are fast becoming the whiningest fans in sports--even worse than Pens fans. As I'm a football hater, I couldn't care less about where Favre plays, I just wish he would go away. I'm tired of hearing about him, but I think I'm even more tired of the Packer fans and their whining about the whole thing. Get over it already!

By the way, even though I hate football, I hope the Vikings beat the snot out of the Packers when they play each other. I'll smile.

Yeah, It Happened

I'm not any happier with the signing of Bertuzzi than I was with Williams. But, what can you do? This is the team and that's that. Now that I have had a little while to digest both signings, I have calmed down. I'll give the benefit of the doubt--at least until Helm, Leino, or Filppula lose ice-time because of either of these two. THEN you will see me in full bitch mode!

Can't the season start already?

Very Sad--If It's True

The school I graduated from was VERY small. In fact, the entire school had just a few more students than were in The Youngest's graduating class. The stars of the school were the athletes, the basketball players. (Other than track, the school only had basketball.) I don't think a basketball player could have gotten into trouble if he had beheaded someone in front of the district superintendent. That is how much power the athletes had. And I found the same mind-set when I went to the local university--only THERE it was the hockey players than were worshiped as gods. And so it goes at every level of our country: athletes can get away with anything. And so we come to today's story of Patrick Kane's arrest.

By now, I think everyone--at least hockey fans--have heard the story. Kane and his cousin took a cab ride, the cabbie didn't have $.20 in change to give them, the cousin and Kane beat the guy and took their $15 back from him. The kids were arrested and now the waiting begins for 'the rest of the story (?).'

Thinking that ANYONE would beat another person over $.20 is ludicrous. To think that someone making the kind of money that Kane does, is beyond belief. However, it is almost implied in some of the reports that alcohol may have been a factor in this incident. (The area of Buffalo where the two were picked up is the night-club district.) Most people don't beat someone up just because they are drunk, but a lot of people do stupid things while drunk--especially when very, very young. (I still, even at my advanced age, can embarrass the hell out of myself if I have too many drinks.)

If the real reason this happened--if it proves to be true--is because Kane feels entitled as an athlete, then I hope he gets knocked down so low that he would need a ladder just to see the underside of a snake's belly. But, unfortunately, too many athletes--professional and non--believe they are entitled just because they can run, jump, hit, shoot, etc, better than most other people. And too many times, they are proven right.

I don't really expect anything to come of this incident--for Kane, anyway. I think there is a better than even chance that the cousin will take the fall and the cab driver will get hush money. Patrick Kane will have an NHL career for as long as he wants--or as long as he can score goals.