Hockey is the greatest and most exciting sport that there is. Nothing else compares to hockey. Don't get me wrong, I love the Tigers, Pistons, and yes even the Lions. And it was exciting as hell to watch their re-surgences. But I have to say - I almost fell asleep at the last Tigers game I went to; I haven't watched any of the Pistons playoff games until the 4th quarter, and I continue to suffer watching the Lions despite knowing that they can have a 20 point lead in the 4th, only to eff it up and lose somehow.
I can't explain what hockey does for me and everyone else that I know. My earliest memory of hockey was when I was 8 years old and watching my dad screaming and jumping up and down in the living room at some amazing thing happening on the tv - the Red Wings winning the 1997 Stanley Cup. That was all it took. The next year, the Wings repeated on June 16 - my birthday - and to date has been the best gift ever. My first Red Wings game was in St. Louis in 1999...during warmups I was in awe, I couldn't believe I was actually standing inches away from the players I idolized seeing on tv. I couldn't believe I was actually seeing Steve Yzerman for real, not on the tv. And all of a sudden, Darren McCarty reached over the glass and handed me a puck - I almost fainted. I still have that puck, it's in a special case on my bookshelf with D-Macs player card. After that, I was 100% fully hooked on hockey, and I decided right there that the Red Wings would be my team for life.
Hockey also serves as an escape for me and so many other people. After a crappy day, turing on the Red Wings can somehow make that all go away. I can't believe people would rather watch golf than hockey. They haven't lived yet. And that comment that a basketball player suffering a hockey like injury is true as gospel. I love seeing how they flop over when someone so much as sneezes on them (maybe Floppa's would be good in the paint) and I think, they wouldn't survive 2 minutes on the ice. It takes real men to play hockey.
