What a weekend (plus a day)! So much to cover, from a wedding, to a sneak preview of Cars Land, to the cherry on top, the Kings winning the Stanley Cup. I’ve been waiting all playoffs to actually write something about them but didn’t want to commit anything to the blog, lest I upset the balance. I loved the quote from the announcer at the end of the game, “The Kings . . . are kings!”
I am a child of the Gretzky trade, when he first came over was when I first started paying attention to hockey (of course, I was 8 at the time, so I hadn’t had much time yet). Being the only L.A. team at the time, I was naturally drawn to the Kings and the 1993 playoff run only cemented that. The Kings still ranked third in my L.A. allegiances, however, behind the Dodgers and Lakers, but I always followed the Kings until their inevitable regular season end (and occasional playoff exit).
That changed three years ago, when the Kings put together a promising young core and I got a new TV. It was suddenly a lot nicer to watch hockey, especially once we moved up to HD. After getting my heart stomped on in the last playoffs when the Kings went up early in the first round series and then fizzled out. A roller coaster season this year led to a lot of uncertainty heading into the playoffs, but the journey since has just been jaw dropping.
I’ve seen some bandwagon accusations since the Kings won (not about me) and just have to say, welcome aboard. Judging by the team’s construction, you might be hanging around for a while. It’s not too early to say, I’m looking for a repeat next year!
Weight: 229 Loss: 11 lbs – Running Yearly Mileage: 177.5 miles
Fitocracy Level: 21 ID: disciplev1
One Response
Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.
My daughter was born, my eyes were dry. She married, same reaction. I misted up some for the birth of my first nephew (more from mellowing with my age than his rank in comparison to my own flesh & blood) and I get a little damp at the mention of the name “Sandy Koufax”. But last night it was “tears, not misting. Tears”. With 5 minutes left they started to roll. Got it together, but they came back with a vengeance in the last minute, the crowd countdown and the final buzzer. Once again regained composure as Quick got the Conn Smythe, even held it together when the Cup was brought out, but I lost it again when Brownie hoisted it over his head. Even today as I read the stories in the Times I found my eyes getting wet again. Tried to figure it all out. I had just turned 5 when the Dodgers won in 59, with only vague memories of it. I became aware of Trojan football with the 63 Rose Bowl win over Wisconsin, adn a National Championship. Even the Lakers were “winners” early in my life (though never quite as “good” as the Celtics). I expected them to win and they all did, frequently. But I came to the Kings late, high school, maybe even 1st year college, and the wait? The wait was INTERMINABLE! Good teams, but not quite good enough. 1st and 2nd round exits, IF they made the playoffs. 3 year rebuilding plans, scrapped. 5 year plans, stalled. Coaching changes, front office changes, regime changes, ownership changes. Veterans, kids, stars, nobodies, offensive teams that couldn’t keep goals out of their net, defensive teams that couldn’t score, all with the same results. Even Gretzky’s teams as fun and as good as they were had a feeling of “Edmonton South” about them, and still they fell short. So it was the wait and how unexpected it all was this year. From the optimism (again!) of the Richards trade, to the slow start (only made shutteringly tolerable by Quick’s skills) the coaching change, (anger over getting a good hockey guy like Murray fired, and fear (on my part) that Sutter would come in, scrap the defense first mindset and blow the team apart with his reputed impatient, firey tirades on a VERY young team, contrasted with the more quiet coaching of Terry Murray. The deal of (a personal fave of mine) Jack Johnson for Jeff Carter and wondering if it was a harbinger of another purge of youth (Brown next?). The run for playoff position that looked like they could get a Division championship and maybe a 3rd seed, only to falter on the last weekend and barely get in. And then “the run”, totally unexpected, the only thing “for certain” was knowing it would all come crashing down, eventually. Like I have said “I’m a Kings fan, I EXPECT to lose.” That is the formula, the wait, plus the unexpected equals salty discharge from my eyes. Thank you, Kings. Forgive my weak faith. The payoff you gave was well worth the wait!