Grypho

TOLD you we had a game! AND a shift in momentum. On that PP, the Sharks actually looked afraid of the Wings quickness, like they knew the puck was going to get stripped from them. Good job, Wings. We're matched up after all!

No, you're looking at it all wrong! They were just reflecting exactly what the WIngs were doing on the ice, including their wake-up out of the fog after that goal. Now the TEAM is saying, "we scored a goal, yes! we can score! we will win! watch out sharks!" How can you call that disappointing? This is a GAME now!

Don't forget, zf, Grier's goal was every bit as lucky. They all count.

I cannot believe how fast that first period was. Total blur.

NOW it's just one goal, the crowd is getting back into it, and we now have ourselves a game.

Don't mess with me, biznitch, or I will own you. (How's that?) As for standing up to trolls (Shark trolls, anyway), no problem here. That is where I get downright nasty sometimes. But even then, I'm aware that some moderators could interpret this as making the situation worse - so I'll walk the line and try to learn what's acceptable and what's not. If I get nasty with a troll, or a classless San Jose fan, it won't be to engage in a flame war, or pollute the boards further. It will be more to let the troll know that s/he is out of line, and then I'll leave it at that.

I like moments like that, because contrasting thoughts and concerns can help put things in perspective, as that experience obviously helped you with. However, I also think this can be a trap, because caring about different things is never an either/or proposition, and the contrasts, while vivid and sometimes glaring, need not represent an internal conflict. You could substitute other things for hockey to illustrate this -- "caring about [my children] [cooking breakfast] [having friends over tonight] when we have people dying in war"... I keep thinking of the classic non-sequitur guilt trip some parents used to lay on their kids back in the day -- "Eat your dinner, there are children starving in [enter starving children country here]". Yeah, I often thought back then. Eat all that food on your plate and they'll stop starving. It's not like dropping or abstaining from any one of these things we also care about would solve another other thing you cared about more. If I thought giving up hockey would put an end to war, I'd give it up in a heartbeat - and I do love hockey. But we are not choosing between people dying and hockey (or movies, or any other recreation), nor is our participation in these things any measure of how much or how little we care about other things (and quite possibly with even more passion). I guess I'm saying that it's important to remember that we are capable of caring (and doing something about) many things simultaneously.

It's natural on any board, I think, for regulars who know each other well to prefer the interpersonal. The in-depth talk about teams, rules, strategy, etc., happens as well, but I think a lot of it depends on the context in which it is presented. A stranger from an opposing team, with no introductions, will have a harder time engaging others in an "objective" exchange, and even the reticence is understandable, because too often it becomes a rhetorical back and forthing, as one "objective" observation is one-upped by yet another "objective" observation from the other side. It's difficult and rare to get a completely objective and honest exchange in a public forum. But here, given the civility you mentioned, at least you've got a shot. I got caught up in a flame war on my own boards with fellow fans within my first few posts, and we weren't even on opposing sides! I'm glad that's behind us, but I didn't face anything like that here, as making "noobs" feel unwelcome is grounds for banning. My favorite debates, if you want to call them that, are ones that I have with my friends, where I take their team's side, and they take mine. We don't get to be homers. It's not that we're cheering for each other's teams; it's just that we're taking a more modest approach, as we find out what we truly agree on about both teams, both ways. That's makes for an interesting exchange. And that goes hand in hand with another observation about this site - something that I also witnessed on the Canucks site, although not to quite the same extent: There are many fans here who are more than willing to concede any point to get an accurate read on any situation. I've seen this pounced on and thrown back in their faces faces in a "yeah, you do suck" mode, when that's not what they were saying at all. Don't even want to cite any examples, because they're not important, and I'm happy to ignore them. But seeing the Wings fans even make repeated efforts to be diplomatic and civil, and beyond all the homer talk, was something that I found profoundly impressive. And it wasn't just a few fans either. It was like that spirit of discussion permeated the forum. Anyway, I think all the deeper talk you'd want is there in spades, if that's all you're truly looking for. You just have to get to know them first, I think - and the ones who are convinced will answer back eventually, if a point is truly provocative or insightful (as opposed to provoking and inciteful).

I keep thinking about the fact that most fans in the NHL are without a hometown horse in the playoffs race; that many of them don't even have a team that came even close to making the playoffs. But a great many of those fans are still in it, and passionate, and interested, and jumping on bandwagons out of the sheer love of this game. I know it's in my blood. I was in on the Sharks expansion early years, and was excited to go watch my team get SLAUGHTERED by every other team in the NHL. I cared, but I didn't care. <---------------------- I got my badge! Yeah baby. That's what I'm talkin bout. :beerbuddy: No sport I've ever seen has come anywhere close to getting this deep into my veins. It completely replaced football for me, which took a back burner in my heart many years ago. Still interested, but start dropping pucks during Monday Night Football, and watch me change channels fast. I know I'm stating the ridiculously obvious, but after this series, only one of our teams will advance. You all hope that it's the Wings, I hope it's the Sharks, and there's nothing wrong with any of us. But if it's the Wings, that will NOT mean that I, as a fan, am out of the playoffs, or that I hate the Wings, or that I don't completely love my team. How could I? Look where our teams got us even before the playoffs! I'm ecstatic that the Sharks clinched a berth, with one fun, wild ride along the way. Detroit fans, your team clinched the division and conference with the top seed in the West! So yeah, I love my team, but it just so happens that I love the game itself even more. If San Jose had no team, I would have to go shopping for one, and that's a fact. And it would have to be one that had a ton of fans that loved the game in the same way that I do, which would put Detroit right in the running.

Screw that, and them. I'm a Platinum Supporter now, I want my badge, and let it serve as an example to them. If they offered us HALF as much as what LGW offers its fans, I would pay there as well. And if any fan on my side took me on over it, I could handle any or all of them. Trust me on this one! YOU HEAR THAT MATT? I want my badge. I need my stinking badge! It's nothing short of all-out awe-inspiring to me. Well, I hear you, but if I do contribute, it'll be pretty neutral. I have no problem cheerleading in my own camp, and ribbing my Wings fan friends in person back and forth, but in a setting with a lot of strangers, as a guest in someone else's house, I won't ever forget my manners. Yeah, China. VERY cool place. I've lived here since January, running a small company that supports the semiconductor industry here. Absolutely loving it.

Relax. She's sitting down, hasn't put on her makeup and costume yet. She isn't even humming to herself, and won't even be clearing her throat for quite some time. Until she does, enjoy the game(S). ALL of them.

First, thank you all who have welcomed me to your forum, publicly and privately. It just served as more reinforcement for what I had already concluded. Secondly, I've been crawling this site, poking around, reading threads, and I have to say that I am still awestruck. The Pre-GAME 2 (4/28): Sharks @ Red Wings thread that aflac9262 did - WOW, WOW, WOW. Once again with the spectacular eye-candy. Every other board, including my own, now feels utterly barren to me in comparison, you lucky bastages! You take the time to lay the entire playing field out, right down to right-column links to the opposing team's relevant sites! LGW members, I want to say that you're SPOILED, but I don't think that's the case at all, because you do seem to appreciate every bit of what you have here. I'm enjoying your site so much, it makes me want to become a contributing supporter (EDIT: which I am as of now), and if this is any indication of real life fans, then I am very much looking forward to seeing a game in Detroit one day. I've been to a lot of other arenas, and I've been to Hockey Town, but not during hockey season, so I haven't been to the Joe yet either. Anyway, I'm looking forward to today's game, which should be more than exciting, to say the least. (I watch via Sopcast video streams, and today's/tonight's comes on at midnight here in China -- but usually early in the morning). Wish we were in a pub watching it together. It's a lot more fun when you're watching it with the opposing teams fans, with a rivalry that is truly friendly. For that reason, I'll stick around and lurk the GDT; probably won't contribute, but I'll be there, especially between periods. GO HOCKEY - THE GREATEST SPORT IN THE UNIVERSE!

Viperar, you're right, I didn't even consider it. Smiley removed! It's just something I had fun with -- a bunch of layers I played with a while back using Photoshop and ImageReady. I'm a fan of the original Alien movie, which means I'm also a fan of H.R. Giger, the designer of the original Alien from his Necronomicon series. The image I put myself in (that's me in the background)... ...is a modified version of something Giger did. Add some gears, some water sheeting over the top with corona sparks flying, and I end up with my little mini-tribute to HR Giger - kind of, after a fashion.

Count me in as one of the non-trolling, Wings friendly Sharks fans. Love your boards (and that amazing Quest for the Cup wall that Matt created), and thanks for keeping the forum open to fans of opposing teams. Wish we did the same (so do many of the fans there), but I have zero pull where that's concerned.

Breathtakingly beautiful. An amazing job. Was this done using Photoshop?

I watched the entire game from China (game started at 7:30AM here) using Sopcast and the VLC player. Here's the Sopcast DL site. Here's the VLC Player DL site. See this thread for instructions... And here's the frequently updated site for channel info. HTH