Well, it's September 29, which means one thing: opening day of the hockey season is only 7 days away. Everytime it gets to this time of year, I'm inundated with information and can't stop talking about how great the season is going to be. It's a nasty habit that, thankfully, my better half has grown to love...errr....tolerate over the last four years.
When it comes to the National Hockey League, there's only one team for me. I've been a Los Angeles Kings fan for about 16 years now, which, considering that equates to about 60% of my life, is pretty impressive. I have alot of respect for those who have been fans since hockey came to L.A. in 1967. It's been a long run of things. Sit in the section where my tickets are and you can see just how wearing it is. I've never seen a group of people, who spend a decent chunk of money to sit where they sit, so bitter and disinfranchised before the season has even begun. Not even Red Sox fans get that way until about 130 games into their season.
In their history, the Kings have been to as many Stanley Cup finals (1) as the Anaheim Ducks (then "The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim"), Florida Panthers, and Tampa Bay Lightening. They have fewer Stanley Cup Championships (0) than the Lightening and Carolina Hurricanes. The Kings are entering their 40th season of play. Those other teams have been around for less than 14 seasons (now, I know Carolina used to be the Hartford Whalers, but when they moved to Carolina in 1998 they were just terrible; they might as well have been a new franchise).
The last few years have been rather trying, very reminiscent of my all time favorite 90210 episode. I'll sum it up with three short words: "Donna Martin graduates." (Have you ever noticed how in TV land, adults and other authority figures always cave to a group of kids? When does this ever happen in real life? Also, I think 90210 missed a prime opportunity for a Donna Martin spin-off. Donna doesn't graduate and is kicked out of the house by her parents. Lacking a brain and a place to live, Donna is forced to sell the only thing of value she has left, her virginity. After years of elicit drug use, stripping, and whoring around, Donna falls in love with her pimp, Arch Bishop Don Magic Juan; Spelling missed a goldmine....but I digress)
For the fans, that's what the last few seasons have been like. We get drunk on the early successes of the team and start dreaming of a bigger things. Then, bam, we get caught by the injury bug and the wheels start to come off. With the possibility of not making the postseason looming over our head we rally around our "Donna Martin." Only, our rally doesn't work. The administrators don't cave to our collective preasure. And, in the end, while Donna get's to go be a Condor of California University (which, I might add, looked suspiciously like Occidental College), we get an early summer break and a chance to try senior year all over again next year.
So, here I am, senior year looming 7 days away. Will we make it through this year? Will we finally graduate? I just don't know. The team has gotten younger and older at the same time. Some major concerns were addressed during the off-season, while other concerns, maybe not so much. With all the information I have crammed in my head, I think I'm going to try a different approach. Maybe the postseason shouldn't be required to graduate. After all, last time I checked, "C"s get degrees.
It's time to take a step back, time to take a new approach (I'm too young to be suffering like this). I'm rooting for some improvement. I'm rooting a for team that plays consistently hard, night-in and night-out; a team that has most of its talent around for more than 25 games a season. Show me that and, win or lose, I'll go home happy every night. Show me that and I'll call this season a success. Show me that and maybe we surprise some people. Show me that and maybe we can be this years valedictorian....
Damn it, there I go again.
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