A girl, 9, and boy, 8, were playing in the middle of the street. Their ages are guesses by me. I'm not the creepy guy that goes up to a 3rd grader and strikes up a conversation. Their grades are a guess also.
Anyway, the girl is calling herself "Brodeur" and apparently the kid was "Elias." Now, this did make me mad, because this week has increased my hatred of the Devils (and their 10,000 fans, including Kevin "Silent Bob" Smith). Then, the 15 year old brother came out and decided he was going to be Marty Straka.
Pretty bad ass, to be honest. Reminds me of when we all used to play in the middle of the street when I was that age. I loved being Dale Hawerchuk (when I was real small) and then Tony Amonte (until he was traded to Chicago for Brian Noonan and... Stephane Matteau). I assume after that point, I was too old to pretend to be other people, but I am still happy that 15 year old kid appreciated the silent warrior-like effort of #82.
Well, that's it. I think it's awesome that these kids know these players and that people in NY are still watching hockey. Sometimes, I feel like it's just me, Bryan, and Sam Rosen who care about the sport. I hope the Rangers go on a long playoff run not only for my own glory but so that kids get captivated again by this amazing sport. The more kids play hockey, the more they will watch, the more parents will watch, the more people go to the games (hopefully boosting the Islanders attendance as well), the more the sport grows. Maybe that can help TV ratings so they can get a better channel (Versus does a good job, but the lead-in show is about killing deer). That's also the one - and only - reason I hope the Islanders succeed: so that the sport grows in NY.
When I was in 4th grade, the Rangers won the Stanley Cup. They played - and swept - the Islanders in the first round of the playoffs. I remember one day in gym class, the whole class was divided, and half of us chanted "Let's Go Rangers!" while the uneducated chanted for the Islanders. Imagine, a whole class interested in the coolest game on Earth!
Reading Newsday, you would never know that the Rangers and Devils fought to overtime in Game 3. The 3 stories on the cover of the Newsday sports section the day after? Mets lose, Yankees Lose, Tiger loses at the Masters.
This took entirely too long. I just wanted to write about those kids knowing who wears #26 on New Jersey and how impressed I was.
By the way, they stared at me in my Rangers fleece - maybe because it was 75 degrees out and they saw a fat man wearing shorts and a heavy fleece sweating as he was taking a stroll alone.
(Oh, and stat on Versus: Joe Thornton is now the 3rd player in NHL history to score a game winning goal in the third period on the road in the last 10 seconds of a playoff game. Know the other two? Me neither, Brian Engblom never told me).
Oh man... I remember playing in my driveway as a kid. We were always the Islanders. I would be Pierre Turgeon, unless my friend Mark (who was much better at hockey) was there, in which case I'd be Benoit Hogue or Steve Thomas. In any event, each game ended with a Stanley Cup skate. We had this big aluminum garbage can that we'd hoist over our heads as we skated around. If I could still do this, I would.
ReplyDeleteB, you can still do it, and you did at Lou's house in October. You were a man on fire, until you ralphed behind his garbage cans.
ReplyDeleteI actually meant to mention that. My top three hockey highlights that I can recall...
ReplyDelete1) Scoring 6 goals and 4 assists in the 2007 Thanksgiving Day game. The one that gave us the lead was my first ever goal scored off a deflection.
2) Scoring 4 goals while extremely drunk, then throwing up in Lou's backyard. I'd put it up there with the Michael Jordan Flu Game in the '97 Finals, or T.O. in the Super Bowl against the Patriots.
3) Getting into a fight in the first game of the season at Sportime in 2002. I was just glad I didn't get my ass kicked.