Round One

WOW!

Holy hell!!

Less Than Three Hours...

How can someone, who is NOT participating in any way, be this nervous about a hockey game?  I actually don't feel hungry (VERY big news) and my stomach is all tied up in knots.  I don't dare take my blood pressure because I'm sure it is up.  My head hurts, my hands are shaking, and I'm developing a headache.  And this I do to myself--after all, I'm a Red Wing fan!

I have no idea how I will be feeling six hours from now--and I won't dare to predict.  Whether I'm happy beyond words or miserably sad, tomorrow is another day.  Life will go on.  And the Wings WILL be back next year.  But with that said:  GO RED WINGS!!!

Feeling Tremendously Pissy

I feel for The Husband when I'm in one of these moods.  He doesn't deserve to be around me when I'm like this, but he DID vow to stick with me till the bitter end.  Little did he realize just HOW bitter things would become 36+ years later--but, he was young and in love and now he's stuck with me.  Such is life--and such is life when you're married to a hockey/Red Wing fan.

As everyone knows, I haven't been too hopeful about this series right from the beginning.  (Who am I kidding, I wasn't very hopeful all year long.)  The way this series has gone has caused me to be even deeper in my 'doom and gloom' mood  than usual.  So, when it was announced on Thursday that the Rangers had been sold and are leaving Marquette, any happy thoughts I would ever entertain having about hockey went right out the window.  Even though we have been anticipating the sale and probable move of the team for quite some time, I didn't expect to feel quite as horribly about the news as I have.  Actually, this news was as devastating to me--almost--as the loss of game 7 was last year in the Cup finals.  I really can't explain why I have been hit this hard by the Rangers leaving.  I guess this is something for me to analyze at a later date--I don't have the inclination or energy to do it at this time.

Unfortunately, the win by the Wings on Friday only gave me a minor lift in my spirits and I had hoped that our 36 hour road trip would do a lot to help my mood even further.  It didn't.  While it always is good to be with friends for a visit and good food (with some adult beverages thrown in for good measure), my shopping didn't go as well as planned.  Thus, I was well on my way to having today's game put me into a major depression--and it did.

I could have gotten over the depressing aspects of the game--at least a little--if it wasn't for The Brother and his asshattery.  I don't talk to the person I have to call my brother--we haven't spoken for over six years and THAT was an unavoidable exchange of approximately 20 words.  Before that, I don't remember how long it had been since we spoke--although, I believe the vitriolic emails he sent to me were about 11 years ago.  So, when I have to see his comments about the Red Wings on Facebook, it does nothing to lighten my mood.  Of course, he has to bring out that oh-so-clever 'Dead Wings' zinger and has to point out that the Wings are a 'has been' team and 'way to go Coyotes,' etc etc etc.  And all of this is going on as comments to my Oldest, as she laments the loss--and he just gloats and loves the pain that Wing fans are feeling.  Just a general, 100% pure, asshat.  That sums up my one-and-only sibling.  And people wonder why I stay as far away from him as I possibly can.*  And now I have to figure out whether I can stay on Facebook or not.  If Asshole continues to comment on my daughters' statuses, I just may have to close my account.  Too bad, too, as this has been a very nice way for The Daughters and me to communicate other than by phone.  Just another reason for my very bad, very horrible, very terrible mood.  {sigh and f&%# it all to hell}


*The Red Wings have absolutely NOTHING to do with my estrangement from The Brother or the rest of The Family.  The whole sordid thing is long and involved and I have only touched on it slightly in my other blog.  And I will not go into any of it here.  (To the absolute delight of the one or two people who may stumble across this mess that I update infrequently.  ;))

The Usual

Sunday afternoon, Red Wings play.  CHECK!

Broadcast by NBC.  CHECK!

Wings lose the game.  CHECK!

Another Sunday, another loss.  And it didn't surprise me in the least.  Sorry, but I have absolutely NO confidence that this team can win a Sunday afternoon game.

Happiness...For Now

You would think I could be happy for longer than a few hours, but it will not happen.  It's only been a few hours since the great win over Phoenix and I'm already starting to get stressed about Sunday's game.  Such is my life.

Many people will look at tonight's game as 'good.'  They are happy to have a fast-paced, end-to-end game that is pretty up in the air until the end.  I'm not like that.  Frankly, I would LOVE to be bored with 10-0 wins for the Wings every time they play.  It would save me a whole lot of stress.  Maybe I'm not a 'real' hockey fan.  Hmm.  ;)

So, what did I love about the game, other than it being a win?  I loved seeing Abdelkader on the ice again--the kid did good.   LOVED seeing Zetterberg getting the hat trick--hat tricks are always fun.  And my Baby Boy had a great game--two goals and an assist.  I'm loving it!

Traditions and Superstitions

I finally figured it out:  My pessimism can't be stopped.  Not that I CAN'T stop being pessimistic, just that it can not be allowed for me to stop.  Every time I let myself believe that POSSIBLY, maybe a team I am rooting for might win a game, they lose.  Examples:

--Game seven of the Cup finals last year.  I figured the Wings would win.  I was pretty certain they would win.  And we all know how THAT turned out.

--I gave the Rangers at least a fighting chance to win it all in the NAHL.  At the very least, I thought they would win the division.  They were swept in the first round of the playoffs.

--And on Wednesday night, I was convinced--secretly--that the Wings would beat Phoenix.  And they would win by more than two goals.  HA!

So, from now on, I will never get my hopes up, I will never think WHEN.  I am going to live under my cloud of doom and gloom.  If the Wings lose, I won't slit my wrists, cause I knew it all along.  If they win, I will be pleasantly surprised.  And that is how I will live out the playoffs.  ;)

Perplexing

I cannot understand a lifelong hockey fan/player who is also a lifelong resident of the UP of Michigan becoming a Penguin fan.  Do you just wake up one day and decide to jump on the bandwagon?  Do you want to cause your family members considerable amounts of pain?  Or are you just an utter asshole that likes to piss people off?  Knowing the person I'm talking about, I definitely think the reason is number three. The older I get, the more I don't understand people.

I'm Ready

The countdown is going.  The playoffs start on Wednesday.  The Wings are in Phoenix.  And I'm ready.

--Red Wings shirts are all clean.  *check*

--Wine is chilling in the frig.  *check*

--Playoff bracelet is ready to accept 16 red beads.  *check*

LET THE PLAYOFFS BEGIN!!

Now, about my playoff bracelet.

I seem to have enough female hormones coursing through my body to keep me from being able to grow a playoff beard.  Despite the fact that the motto of my generation was 'sex, drugs, and rock and roll' and that we all were (borderline, at least) hippies in the day, I CANNOT let the hair on my legs grow instead of growing a beard.  So, I came up with another idea:  a playoff bracelet.  And this is what it looks like right now:

 (My goodness, but that pic is horrid!  My arm doesn't really look THAT bad.)

All through the playoffs, I add a red bead for a win and a white bead for a loss.  When the playoffs are over and the Wings have won the Cup, I then make a permanent bracelet.  The one from 2008 looks like this:

I'm looking forward to making a permanent bracelet in June--and hope it has a whole lot less white beads than this ^ one.  Go Red Wings.

I Got A Happy Today

It was great to see the Wings beat Chicago once again.  I DID chuckle to think that the 'Hawks chances for 1st-in-the-conference glory was thwarted by the Wings--as it should be.  Hopefully, this won't give Chicago too much desire and ammunition when the two teams meet somewhere down the road during this playoff run.  I mean, I AM correct in thinking it will be Chicago and Detroit playing in the conference finals, right?  An interesting end to an interesting season, for sure.  And things are just getting started...

Next...

One really crappy hockey weekend.  And I just want to forget it.  Next...

UGH!!!, Part 2

I am genetically bred to be a pessimist.  (You would have to know my family to understand what I'm saying--compared to the rest of them, I'm the Good Humor Woman.)  So, today's Wings loss has me back in the depths of despair that I was in a month ago.  I know, I know, things really aren't all that bad.  After all, they weren't even IN the playoffs a month ago and now they just have to find out what position they'll be in.  Still, they lost a game.  And they lost to the same team they couldn't score on at all last week.  This makes me extremely nervous.

Many people would take my pessimism as not having faith in the team--and some would say I am just a bandwagon fan.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Sometimes I think I crave the doom and gloom, just so I can be pleasantly surprised when I am proven wrong.  And I can't change this far into my life.  (As the saying goes, 'you can't teach an old dog new tricks.')  Of course, if they beat Philadelphia, all will be forgotten--until the next game they don't play quite as well as I think they should.  My life is just so fun.  :D

**********

We were at the Rangers game tonight.  I'm very afraid--and this isn't just my pessimism talking--that we saw the last game they will play here at home this year.  They lost both games they have already played in the best-of-five and next weekend they have to play downstate.  For them to get into the next round, they have to win the next three games--and I don't see that happening.  It is sad, considering they won the division for the first time ever--and yet, they couldn't get going for the playoffs.  I DON'T have a happy.

Now, this MAY be my pessimism talking, but other people are saying the same thing:  we just may have watched the last Rangers game, ever.  (For us, that is--we don't follow the team out of town.) Word is that the owner of the team only began it so that his son could play.  His son is now aging out of junior hockey and rumor is that the owner is going to try and sell the team.  And considering there doesn't seem to be support of the team like there should be, I don't know if anyone will want to buy it--and that would mean it moves or completely disbands.  Again, no happy for me.  Oh well, I guess there are worse things in the world.

UGH!!!

Playoffs. Round one. Game one. Home ice. And the Rangers lost 5-2. They came out playing with a lot of energy and they shot a lot of pucks, but the bounces weren't in their favor. It was just like when the Wings get 3 gazillion shots on goal and yet lose eleventy three to zero--and the other team only got eleventy four shots at the net. The puck was missing by justthismuch--at one point, it sat on the goal line and the goalie noticed it just in time: before HE put it in the net. It was frustrating for the fans, so I can't possibly imagine how frustrating it was for the players. They play again on Saturday--hopefully the outcome will be better.