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.