4 Reasons This Lightning Fan Says "Go Blackhawks!"

Last night the Tampa Bay Lightning made history, winning game 7 on the road in Madison Square Garden and finishing off he New York Rangers 2-0 on a shutout by goalie Ben Bishop! The Bolts now have the rare opportunity to bring the greatest trophy in all of sports, the Stanley Cup, back to the Bay. Thier opponent will be determined tonight in yet another game 7 (hockey playoffs rule!) between the Anaheim Ducks and the Chicago Blackhawks. Personally, I hope it's the 'Hawks. Why? I'm so glad you asked...

4 Reasons I Hope Chicago Wins

1. The Lightning had a catchy slogan when they won the Cup back in 2004- Stanley Needs a Tan!  It's great, it's catchy and it was already on signs and t-shirts at the after game parties here in Tampa last night. But if the Ducks win, the slogan becomes confusing. Southern California is a great place for a tan as well. Either place, "Stanley" could hit the beach, go to a Disney park and generally do things not associated with hockey towns or Canada. You don't think of tans when you think of Chicago. And I want to be able to keep our cool slogan. 
2. Anaheim ditched the name Mighty Ducks and their original cool logo from the movies the team was based on. I loved those movies and loved the logo. Plus, Gordon Bombay isn't really their coach. So boo. BOOOOO!
3. If the Bolts play and beat Chicago, they will have won the Cup by beating 4 of the Original 6 NHL teams- Detroit, Montreal, the Rangers and Chicago. First of all, that would be very impressive. And secondly, it will make the snobbish fans of the Original 6 teams a little sick to their stomachs. A team from Florida? Really? Having the opportunity to gloat would be sweet. 
4. And most importantly, if Chicago wins then the finals will open here in Tampa and the Lightning will have home ice advantage for the series. We had the best home record in the NHL this season. Home is good!

So there are my thoughts on why Chicago would make a great finals opponent, but the truth is the entire Tampa Bay area is psyched to play whoever comes out of tonight's Western Conference game 7. I love playoff hockey. The Bolts have made this postseason simply electric. And now this city is ready to explode as the team seek to finish this quest. 4 more wins and Stanley comes back to town. Why do we care? Because it's the Cup, baby! Because it's THE Cup...

5 Sports Teams I Love To Hate

Yesterday on Twitter my friend Robert tried to "poke the bear" a little bit by reminding me that the Duke Blue Devils- he referred to them as "America's Team"- were playing basketball last night. Robert knows of my love for the UNC Tar Heels, which means my default setting is to dislike Dook. And generally speaking, I do. But the truth is more complicated. While it is always fun to watch Duke lose to other ACC teams and especially to UNC, I often cheer FOR them when they play teams from other conferences. This includes conference games against Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Louisville and Notre Dame, because those schools are actually Big East teams pretending to be in the ACC. But the point is, when pressed on the issue, I don't hate Duke quite like I used to. And the reason is simple- there are other sports team I LOATHE with a passion- a far deeper, seething hatred that makes my dislike of the Blue Devils seems tame by comparison. Who are the teams? I am so glad you asked...

Before the list of teams, and before the hate mail starts, you should know that I do realize that a part of my dislike of these teams is due to their success on the field of play. I am jealous of their high level of achievement. But it's not just that. All of these teams and programs are arrogant from the top down. They have coaches who believe their own press clippings, players with attitudes and fans who are sometimes insufferable. Several of them live on the edge of improper conduct in their respective sports; a few have been caught cheating and never bothered to apologize. These are teams and players who win all the time, so when they do fail it is one of life's great joys for me. So without further adieu, here is my list of 5 sports teams I love to hate. To be honest I hate the word "hate." But it SO applies in this case...

1. Whichever team Lebron James is currently on until he decides to leave them and go to greener pastures in his never ending and FUTILE pursuit of being the next Michael Jordan
2. The New England Patriots (I'm still not over Spygate. Plus the Hoodie & the Pretty Boy just annoy me)
3. The University of Alabama football team (It's all about the Saban)
4. The University of Kentucky men's professional basketball team (Some team members take a pay cut when they go to the NBA after their 0ne year of "college")
5. The Dallas Cowboys (Since around 1966 when I first started watching football with my Dad the Washington fan- so I was born into this one!)

So there you have it, and as you can tell it's going to be a long season for me. The Cavaliers will be very good and compete for the NBA championship. The Patriots looks like serious Super Bowl contenders. The Crimson Tide will likely get a shot to play for the national championship trophy, and Kentucky is stacked beyond description this year. My only hope is Dallas. They still have time to get their act together and finish 8-8 once again. 

Thanks for allowing me to be petty and snarky today. I'd love to hear which teams go on your list. I know some of you will hate on my Tar Heels, and that's cool.  One of the advantages of being a Tampa Bay Bucs fan is that no ones cares enough to hate on your team. But do your worst! Have a Happy Hump Day!

The Rhombus of Evil (Sports Edition)

Rhombus- a simple (non self-intersecting) quadrilateral whose four sides all have the same length. ( and people think this blog isn't educational...)

Many of you may remember the speech President Bush (43) gave in the early 2000's in which he referred to 3 countries in the world as the "Axis of Evil."  These were the nations he deemed most like to do harm to the United States. This past Friday night I was talking with an old friend about sports and who our favorite teams are.  Over the course of the conversation she revealed to me that she and her family pull for many of the teams that I consider to be pure evil- the Darth Vader's of the sports world.  This set to me thinking- who would make my sports version of the "Axis of Evil?"  I also threw the question out on Twitter to get a feel for how others would respond.  I quickly realized that there are 4 major sports that I really care about- College Football, College Basketball, Major League Baseball and the NFL (I don't really care about the NBA, plus LeBron James is an Axis of Evil unto himself!).  So I need more than an axis- I need a rhombus!  Four sides, and 4 teams that I wouldn't root for if they were playing the State Prison All-Stars.  Here are my choices; I cannot wait to hear yours! 

Major League Baseball:  Boston Red Sox- This is the most recent addition to my list of teams that I utterly despise! I am passionate about baseball and have been for a very long time. For the longest time there was no team I truly despised year in and year out. I grew up a huge Atlanta Braves fan and still pull for them.  And for a long time my American League team was the BoSox. One of my first memories of MLB was watching my favorite player, Carl Yaszstremski, win the triple crown and led the team on the 1967 impossible dream. I felt the pain of losing the Reds in 1975.  I lived in New England in 1986 and watched with horror as the ball rolled through Buckner's legs. The names Bucky Dent and Aaron Boone haunted me. I was really a Yankee hater until around 2005, after the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series.  Slowly but surely in the years since, both their players and fans have become increasingly obnoxious and are now worse than the Yankees. Living in Tampa and pulling for the Rays allows me the luxury of disliking both. But I can now honestly say there is no team in baseball I do not pull for against the Red Sox. They have made the list.

College Football: University of Alabama- I love college football, but except for the rare season in which my UNC Tar Heels are competitive, I have no real "favorite team."  Back in the day of the wishbone offense I loved the U. of Oklahoma; more recently I have favored the Florida Gators and right now I am in love with the offense of the Clemson Tigers. But the evil empire of college football for me has long been the Crimson Tide and that ridiculous elephant mascot.  It sounds blasphemous, but I never liked Bear Bryant. I became an Auburn fan way back during the Pat Sullivan to Terry Beasley years, and that pushed 'Bama higher up the list. And they cemented that spot for all-time when they hired Nick Saban a few years back. I don't use foul language, so I will simply say "I don't care for the man."  I also could have gone with Nebraska or most any team from the Big Ten...

NFL:  Dallas Cowboys- I grew up in NC as a Washington Redskins fan, so disliking the Cowboys came naturally.  But I didn't really start to HATE them until 1975, when they beat the Minnesota Vikings on the worst no-call on offensive pass interference in history. Roger Staubach to Drew Pearson.  It still hurts.  You have to go all the way back to Don Meredith to find a Cowboys player I really liked.  And as for Tony Romo...he has one playoff win in his career.  Just like Tim Tebow.  If the Cowboys had played the Russians during the Cold War, I would have pulled for the Russians.  I don't even dislike the Oakland Raiders quite that much.  :)

College Basketball: Duke University- Where I grew up, college basketball is not a sport, it is a religion.  You become a fan of a school early on and you are a fan for life.  I began watching ACC basketball and cheering for UNC at a very young age, in the days of Larry Miller and Charlie Scott. And I have never looked back. And so quite clearly, without any doubt, the blackest heart of any team in any sport can be found at Cameron Indoor Stadium on the campus of Dook University! Some years it is just the team that seems like pure evil. Other years evil has a specific name: Bobby Hurley, Christian Laettner, Shane (Flop) Battier, Cherokee Parks or J.J. Reddick.  I must admit that Coach K is a good man and a great coach; he is second only to Dean Smith on any legitimate list of best coaches ever in the Chapel Hill/Durham area.  :)  Nothing in sports feels better than beating Dook; nothing is worse than losing to them.  People here in Florida think that UF/Florida State is a big deal.  Others might say Michigan/Oho State is the big one.  My response to that is put both schools in same place, 8 miles apart, and then come talk to me.  UNC/Dook is the ultimate rivalry, and the Blue Devils are without question the Darth Vader/Hannibal Lechter/Lex Luthor of my sporting world.

So there you have my rhombus; who makes up yours?  Feel free to add different sports if needed.  I just want to know the teams that make your blood boil- in a bad way.  It's time to vent!