May 05, 2009

You know all that hype? Believe it.




Look at Ovechkin. Look at those two grown men embracing. Good times are being had by all. (Well, except the Penguins. And their fans.)

It's Ovechkin vs Crosby and Malkin. Ovie vs Sid and Geno. Three of hockey's finest players, none older than 23, squaring off in the second round of the playoffs. A series that is so far - somehow - actually living up to its incredulous media hype.

And I've been kind of apathetic towards it. I figured it was just that: hype. 

I've caught about 45 minutes of actual action throughout the first two games. Truthfully, I've been watching more Toronto Blue Jays baseball. Hey, they're a first place team, asshole. (Playoffs!!1)

Full highlights of games one and two have been watched, though. Amply. A helluva playoff series is going down. The stars are shining. Well, except that Malkin guy. And, umm, where was this Varlamov character all season?

I caught the third period last night, and my reaction to hat-tricks by both Crosby and Ovechkin was a hearty "fuck off." (Ovie's third was something, enough for Bob Cole's trademarked "OH BABY!") Both #87 and #8 have officially taken their game to the proverbial "next level." It certainly does exist. And it's slightly arousing to watch.

Wednesday night, the Blue Jays are in Anaheim. Which means a most accomodating 10:05 PM eastern start time. One that works out perfectly because, clearly, there's a hockey game to be watched.

As the fine folks at Puck Daddy pointed out a few days ago, Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky never met in the playoffs. I guess this is what it would have been like.

Some quick, penetrating thoughts: Crosby complaining about hats being thrown on the ice to celebrate an Ovechkin hat-trick - the nerve of Washington fans! - is going to do wonders for his reputation as a whiny little bitch crybaby. He must have the same PR guy as Mats Sundin ... Chris Kunitz is officially a douchebag. Cross-checking the goalie in the neck? Stay classy ... Mario Lemieux's playoff beard can only be admired and appreciated. I am in love with that man. Did you know that when he came into the league Lemieux asked to wear #99? So as to not draw too much attention to his desire to be better than Gretzky, and create his own brand, he simply flipped the numbers around. What a man ... It's going to be quite the afternoon: Brett Cecil makes his MLB debut for the Jays, followed by Man United vs Arsenal. For Cecil, the beginning of a promising career. For the Gunners, the end of their Champions League aspirations.

7 comments:

Gooner4ever said...

Hey!!!

"For the Gunners, the end of their Champions League aspirations."

WTF!!!

Escaped Lab Rat said...

I want to see you do a live blog of one of these games. The entertainment value would be high.

I'll be monitoring Cecil's debut...can't get swept by the Indians.

general borschevsky said...

"People kept throwing hats," Sidney Crosby said tonight. "I was just asking if he could make an announcement to ask them to stop."

Good golly! Is that an actual quote? Thank goodness Crosby doesn't already have a reputation for whining or complaining or people might think... oh, wait.

furcifer said...

United, Man United, Their name is Man United and they're heading back with hands empty.

kushnir said...

heading down to the SKYDOME in about 45 min.

do i need to post numbers, or is my hill>pedrioa thoughts still valid?


oh, and dustin got jelous of arron last week, so he decided he would steal home too...

Junior said...

Gonna miss game 3 (live, at least); I'll be at the OHL final Game 4 in Brampton. This series has been something, though - I was saying to Spouse earlier today that if things keep up this way, it's possible that in the future will be talking about this series the way they talk about Bird vs. Magic: with hushed tones, sheer reverence and a crappy video game for the Commodore 64 to commemorate the moment.

Navin Vaswani (@eyebleaf) said...

Gooner: Man United 2-1 over Arsenal today. Book it.

Escaped: That's a good idea. Perhaps on Saturday night, if the series goes that far. Maybe Malkin can wake the fuck up and help in that respect. And, yes indeed, it's CECIL TIME!!!!1

General: Unbelievably, it is an actual quote. Sidney will never learn. Just shutup. Let your game do the talking.

Furcifer: Man United rarely leaves without the trophy; you know that.

Kush: You bastard. I'm jealous. I wish I could be there. And I've hopped aboard your Hill>Pedroia train. He's proving it.

Junior: That's what I was getting at; perhaps we're watching history right here. Perhaps this is a series we'll tell the grandkids about.