Friday, May 8, 2009

Playoffs, Round 2, Day 9

Two games today, for your viewing pleasure:



Today @ 4pm
VERSUS, CBC, RDS, all HD
Caps lead series 2-1




Today @ 4:30pm
VERSUS HD, RIS, TSN HD
Canes lead series 2-1

Recapping last night's games:

For some reason I can't get into the Hawks/Canucks series. No idea why, it's just not doing it for me. It went to OT last night and I was most excited when it ended. It hasn't been a bad series, but I just can't get into it. I've been amazed at the nearly impenetrable wall of goalie that is Luongo, but that's about as far into as I've gotten. Hawks won in somewhat dramatic fashion in OT 2-1.

The big show for many in this area was last night was Ducks/Wings. The Ducks got pounded, losing 6-3. It was nearly 7, but somehow Jiggy got back to his net in time and I think the puck went wide. Jiggy? Yep. Hiller got pulled for the third. It just wasn't his night.

Some debate as to whether or not one of the goals scored on Hiller was 5 hole or not. Doesn't matter as it as in the net either way. The win allowed the Wings tie the series at 2.


The Coyotes will be back in court on the 19th. The folks over at Five for Howling have fairly complete coverage of these events.

Personally, I am sad, but not surprised, to see this degrade into personal attacks against fans on the various message boards. The fans are the ones getting screwed here. If you've lost a team, you should at least be able to understand how they feel, even if you disagree with their point of view. This effects the entire league. It is not "us v them", nor is about who is "worthy" of having a team.

Maybe it's that I grew up a baseball fan. Baseball is America's past time, but I have never felt like we "owned" it. Many other countries have fallen in love with the sport and it has expanded across the globe. I love that. Something we love here is loved with equal passion elsewhere. Even if we have no other common ground with someone, we can talk about baseball. Seeing a sport expand beyond it's traditional confines shows its strength and appeal.

Maybe it's that I am the fan of a relocated team. The A's were moved here in 1968. They picked up and left two cities before settling in Oakland. (Technically 3, but when they moved from Indianapolis, they had just made the AL and they weren't yet the A's.) In their case, the two other fan bases did get a team, but that doesn't mean they weren't upset. It also doesn't mean Oakland was any less worthy of the team they got. The fans here had nothing to do with the move. Businessmen and the league decided the team's fate, not us. Is the team moves again (ah, stadium troubles) believe me when I say the fans had nothing to do with it. If the A's end up moving out of state/the area, I'll be pissed, but their new fans wont have made my team move. They won't have stolen it. They're caught in the middle, just like I am.

The fans are the ultimate victims in any move. Stop blaming them and start trying to see the complexity of the problem.

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