Archive for June, 2009

A rotten rumor about Kelly Pavlik has been circulating nationally.  The rumor is that Kelly Pavlik is in alcohol-rehabilitation.  Seeing a very healthy-looking Pavlik at tonight’s Thunder game, I am disturbed by what some people are writing and publishing on the national level when they do not know or understand any facts, but rather base a story on heresay to boost hits.

Being from Youngstown, and a nationally recognized blog, I am going to do the right thing and try to set the record straight.   Pavlik is not and was not in alcohol-rehab.  Everything the poor guy does is magnified times twenty because he is now famous.  In the months between training for a fight and fighting, Pavlik is all business.  What he does in the recreational time he has between the end of a fight and starting to train for the next fight is his business.

I know Kelly throws darts and shoots pool in sanctioned leagues in Youngstown.  Unfortunately for him, the dart matches do not take place in a church basement, but rather at a bar.  So he goes to a bar two or three times a week to throw darts or shoot pool with his friends.  Does that mean he automatically has an alcohol problem?  I shoot pool in sanctioned leagues too, the same ones as Pavlik.  I go to bars four nights a week, should I check into Betty Ford now? 

President Obama was photographed at a Washington Wizards game this past Winter.  He was photographed relaxing and drinking a beer.  Should we impeach him now?  I thought it was one of the coolest photos I ever saw because it showed him being a human being, an American.

First of all, drinking is legal in this country, and if any citizen chooses to drink, it is their legal American right.  Secondly, Kelly Pavlik is a self-advertised proud father, to him family comes first.  To me, that is respectable, because family comes first here as well.  Finally, I have had conversations with Jack Loew, Pavlik’s trainer, am friends with Mike Romeo, a member of team Pavlik, and have several common friends with Pavlik.  If this rumor were indeed true, I would know.  If I found out it was true, I would not write anything, especially in defense of Pavlik.

Bottom line is that my sources are people on the inside, and they would tell me the truth knowing I would not publish anything on this website to harm the reputation of someone who is pictured in my banner.  I can report here and now that Kelly Pavlik is just fine and that RingTalk.com writer Pedro Fernandez needs to re-check his sources because he was sorely misled.

The credibility of this website hangs on the balance of what I type every day.  I am willing to risk my own credibility based on who I have talked to and what they know. 

With a new deal in place with Top Rank signed about a month ago, Pavlik will continue to defend Youngstown.  With my credibility and reputation at stake, I will continue to defend Kelly Pavlik.

The Mahoning Valley Thunder finally won the paying crowd a free crunchy taco by scoring 50 points.  However, the Thunders record continued to make its own run for the border with another nerveracking loss Friday night at The Covelli Centre.  The Manchester Wolves know they won one they didn’t deserve to win, finishing ahead of Mahoning Valley on the scoreboard, 59-53.

The game started out all Thunder as quarterback Brad Roach was impressive early on.  The Thunder hurried out to a 20-0 lead and really looked like a well-oiled machine in doing so.    Manchester outscored Mahoning Valley 59-33 the rest of the game.

In a weird fourth quarter, where both teams scored 37 points, turnovers proved to do the Thunder in yet again.  Tied 41-41, Roach found Mr. Thunder, Quorey Payne on a 15-yard TD to give the Thunder a 47-41 lead.  On the extra point, the snap went over the holder Jermaine Moye’s head and was caught by kicker Nathan Palkovic.  Palkovic found lineman Kenny Shayne who caught the ball on about the five but came up a half-yard short of getting the two-points. 

The Wolves answered quickly as Mike Potts found Steve Savoy who made a circus catch for a 28-yard TD.  The Wolves kicked the extra point to take a 48-47 lead with less than a minute left in the game.  Quorey Payne returned the ensuing kickoff 53 yards to put Mahoning Valley back on top.  The two-point conversion failed and the Thunder held a 53-48 lead with :45 left in the game.

Mahoning Valley then tried something people were confused about, an onside kick.  Coach MacKeown told me after the game, “In arena football, you want to have the ball last, I figured if we got the kickoff, we could run out the clock.  If the kick failed, we would get the ball back with enough time to mount a drive and score.  People were screaming at me from the audience, calling me an idiot, but with the speed of the game and scoring happening pretty frequently, you always want to have the ball for the winning drive.”

Manchester recovered the onside kick attempt and scored when Potts jogged around the right side for six, and a two-point conversion made it 56-53. 

The kickoff hit a bar and the screen before Quorey Payne could field it cleanly.  He struggled to get the ball out of the end zone and was tackled on the one.  After a seven-yard completion, Roach fumbled the snap from center and Manchester recovered.  Mahoning Valley’s defense, which played well most of the night, forced Manchester to kick a 35-yard field goal.  The Thunder got the ball back with 10.5 seconds left.

CJ Brewer caught a Roach pass to get the ball near midfield with :03 left in the game.  On the last play, Roach lobbed a pass into the end zone, but it was knocked away and the Thunder came out a day late and a dollar short losing 59-53.

Mike Potts led the Wolves offense on 32-47 for 273 yards with 5 TD’s and 4 INT’s.  Of the 4 interceptions Potts threw, Mahoning Valley’s Brandon Taylor collected a franchise record three picks for the Thunder.  Manchester receiver Steve Savoy caught 12 balls for 120 yards and 4 TD’s.

Brad Roach was 16-32 with four interceptions.  Roach played much better than last week saying, “I am still learning the speed of arena football, everything is happening fast on the field.  I feel more comfortable and like this team, we can win once we eliminate turnovers and mistakes.”  Roach was given a vote of confidence by Coach MacKeown, “Brad is only in his second week, and really his first to prepare.  He is learning fast and if this were the eighth week of a new season, people would be Brad Roach fanatics, he is going to be great.”

Next week, Goliath returns to Youngstown as the 9-2 Wilkes Barre team revisits The Covelli Centre.  Coach MacKeown was adamant that this loss and last weeks were very different, but both still losses.  “I won’t rest until we win.  It’s going to be a tough week against Wilkes Barre, but if we play like we did most of tonight, we have a chance.”

#1. Popeye – Spinach My Ass.  Whatever was in that can was laced with some kind of HGH.  The guy is 65 years old and can still twirl Bluto on his finger effortlessly. 

#2. Superman – What do you think he was doing in that phone booth besides changing clothes?  He pulled out his Super Syringe and bulked up quick.  Kryptonite was just an excuse not to get tested.

#3. Captain Caveman – A little too much energy and spotty behavior convinces me this guy is using some kind of foreign substance.

#4. Batman – This picture shows Batman really needing a hit.  Robin was really a dealer who kept all of the injections and pills in order for Batman. 

#5. Hercules – This guy was the one responsible for starting this whole mess.  Would have hit 80 HR’s in the New York Yankee’s new stadium.  The father of steroids.

#6. Thor – Another early user, went down the same path as Hercules.  Swinging that big sledge hammer just isn’t possible au natural.  There was something going on there.

#7. Mighty Mouse – Definitely the smallest offender on the list.  If you study the picture above, you can see obvious pupil dilation and facial discoloration.  Two sure signs there was horseplay.

#8. Foghorn Leghorn – This was one of the first examples of why PETA jumped into Kentucky Fried Chicken’s business.  Genetically enhanced meat here. This is also the perfect example of what happens when you juice but don’t work out enough.

#9. Fred Flintstone – Look at the appetite imbalance.  Flintstone was another example of how not working out defeats the purpose.  He also tried to juice little kids in his Flintstones Chewable Vitamins.  What do you think was really in those?

#10. The Incredible Hulk – Another no doubter on the list.  Obvious skin discoloration and facial sagging.  He is the best example as far as mood swings as a side-effect of abusing steroids.

It looks like I will be covering the Mahoning Valley Scrappers this season.  I am excited for this opportunity and cant wait to cover the Cleveland Indians-affiliated group in Niles.  Remember, there have been some pretty solid guys who played for the Scrappers.  How about CC Sabathia, Ryan Church, and Victor Martinez, for starters.  I am encouraging everyone in the area to get to a Scrappers game this year to see the couple of guys who will be big-league stars someday.  I am also covering the Thunder and will opt to go to their game tonight instead of the Scrappers opener.  They only have a couple of games left and have been good to me.  The beauty of covering both is that the Scrappers play so many more games, so I will make my share after this hectic week.

That being said, here are some other great stories from around the blogosphere:

• SBC Blogging has the story of some trash talking between Mike Golic and Ocho Cinco on Twitter which results in Golic saying he wants to fight Chad Johnson.
• Yanks Go Yard gives a testemonial on Sammy Sosa and whether or not we should even care about steroids.
• Zoner Sports found an interesting picture of a kid wearing a Sammy Sosa jersey with some alterations.  Check it out.
• Major League Jerk composed a steroid opinion poll, which I voted in and my results are in his article.  Pretty interesting answers to read here.
• Josh Q. Public takes a look at the reason Colorado has caught fire – Jim Tracy, he also assesses the performance of Joe Morgan with the Red Sox.
• Gunaxin has compiled an interesting list on the Top Ten athletes with illegitimate kids.
• Fansided analyzes the rebuilding process in sports.  The Pirates should check this out as they have been rebuilding for 17 years.
• Detroit4lyfe looks at Dontrelle Willis as a head case.  Willis has just been put on the DL for anxiety disorder.
• NESW Sports posted a music video which pays tribute to all Pittsburgh sports teams called Pittsburgh Sports Teams Rock.
• Style Points submitted an article of a school teacher diving in to save Tom Brady when he kayak spilled.
• Bootlegger Sports reports that Jose Canseco has filed a class action lawsuit against MLB and the players association.
• Lake Show Life found Lamar Odom giving his fellow Lakers a customized bottle of Crown Royal XR as a gift for winning the NBA Championship.
• PSAMP found Max Talbot writing about how it feels to win the Stanley Cup on his blog.
• Steady Burn compiled a list of stories from fellow bloggers about what their earliest memories are in relation to sports.
• PacMan Jonesin’ posts that the UFL ran a suprise draft.
• Sports Rubbish has video of Kobe Bryant appearing on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien.

Baseball is trying to clean up its act.  Unfortunately, most of it’s biggest stars over the past ten years are somehow linked to steroids and HGH.  As baseball continues to try to weed out the artificial enhancements, the point is raised that there are plenty of other sports where steroid use is obviously rampant.  When will the other sports be forced to take the same stance as Major League Baseball?

Tony Mandarich can be called the Jose Canseco of the NFL.  He has not outted guys the way that Canseco has, but he has been quoted as saying that steroid abuse is very popular in the NFL.  Is John McCain a baseball purist?  He spent almost a year scolding MLB’s testing policies but said very little about football players.  Let’s face facts here.  Steroids are all about adding bulk and muscle.  NFL lineman are the bulkiest athletes in sports, yet you are not hearing about too many of them using steroids.  Football has adopted the slogan “bigger faster, stronger“, in its description of a complete player.  In a league where bulk is everything, we all know they are using.

Boxing may be the most corrupt of all sports.  For years, talk of fixed outcomes and political agendas have scarred the sweet science.  Recently, the names of “Sugar” Shane Moseley and Bernard Hopkins have come up in steroid discussions.  They are both in the “old man” bracket, but have come off of recent performances where they looked like they were 20 years old.  I wouldn’t put it past boxing to hide the drug testing results of any of its participants to keep the popularity wave on an increase.  The heavier the fighter, the more likely he is on something. 

There has also been plenty of chatter lately about the use of steroids in golf.  Maybe that is why many of us common folk can’t hit our drives 300.  Granted, I am not dropping any names in this category and the reason I chose the Tiger Woods picture is simply because of the pose.  Golf, questioned to even be a true sport by many for years can quite possibly be the next big list of names we see dropped when the muscle police get done with baseball.

Call Dana White a genius, I will continue to call him a weasel.  MMA may have the highest percentage of users.  Many MMA fighters have more muscular definition than bodybuilders and it isn’t because they can jump rope for an hour straight or learn how to pass a guard in an octagon.  I look for MMA to head down the same path as professional wrestling soon.  Not in the sense that the match outcomes will be predetermined, but rather it’s stars start dying at young ages due to all of the substances used in training.  The UFC is not a legal sport in many states.  The states that do permit MMA would be wise to start drug testing as a mandatory requirement.

Bodybuilding and pro wrestling do not need to be mentioned, I would be stating the obvious.  Batista of the WWE is way too big, too muscular and has to be on something.  He is only one example.  Vince McMahon is a weasel, moreso than Dana White, but is awfully bulky for a man at his age. 

Bottom line, any athlete who competes and brings home a check needs to be tested by an outside company before and after competing.  If this were ever going to happen, America’s new #1 sport will become archery.

 John Cena is the face of WWE Wrestling right now.  He has been put in that position because of the excitement he generates, both positive and negative.  You either love him or hate him.  I have never seen crowd reactions like his over such a long period of time.  75% cheer him, 25% boo.  It has been this way with him for a very long time.  I don’t think Cena will be around for more than a couple more years.  He is going to go in a different direction, probably acting, much like The Rock did almost ten years ago.

John Cena was born April 23, 1977 in West Newbury, Massachusetts.  He is the second oldest of five boys.  He went to college at Division III Springfield College where he earned All-American status as a center.  Pay attention, Cena wore #54 when he played football, and he wears that number in WWE alot.  He graduated with a degree in exercise physiology from Springfield in 1998.  He made money driving limousines and competed as a bodybuilder before hitting the mat.

Cena’s training took place at Ultimate Pro Wrestling, where he was used as a robot-type character named The Prototype.  While at UPW, Cena held the championship for a little over a month.  WWE signed Cena to a developmental deal in 2001 and sent him to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) to continue training.  Cena held the OVW championship twice and the tag-team championship once while wrestling at OVW.

Cena first popped up on WWE airwaves in 2002, answering an open challenge from Kurt Angle on June 27.  Cena lost a hard-fought contest, but kicked out of Angle’s Olympic Slam before losing.  WWE teamed Cena with Billy Kidman as partners in WWE’s tag-team tournament.  After losing in the first week of the Smackdown branded tournament, Cena turned on Billy Kidman blaming him for the loss and tournament elimination.

The rap image came to be on the Halloweem edition of Smackdown when Cena rapped, imitating Vanilla Ice.  From this point, Cena started cutting all his promos via freestyle rapping.  Into 2003, Cena rapped and wrestled his way to then-champion, Brock Lesnar.  It was during this storyline that Cena unveiled his finishing maneuver, the FU.  The FU has since been renamed to the Attitude Adjustment as WWE continues to strive for moral cleanliness.

Cena beat The Big Show at Wrestlemania XX to earn his first title, the US Championship.  Cena lost the belt to Carlito in an angle which Carlito’s bodyguard, Jesus, supposedly stabbed Cena at a nightclub.  This angle was used to free Cena up to film his first movie, The Marine.  When he returned, he won the belt back from Carlito, and debuted the new “spinning” WWE Championship belt.

During a 2007 match with Mr. Kennedy, Cena suffered a legitimate torn pectoral muscle injury which shelved him for seven months, forcing Vince McMahon to strip him of his title ending what was the longest WWE Championship reign in over 19 years.

Cena is currently involved in an angle with The Big Show.  Cena has beaten Show at Judgement Day and Extreme Rules PPV’s but the feud is still moving forward. 

Cena, with his array of throwback jerseys and incredibly glib microphone skills is in the prime of his professional wrestling career.  Overexposure has to be a concern for WWE, as it seems when healthy, Cena is involved in a major storyline.  Injuries have sort of kept Cena away for periods, but he gets airtime, and ratings.  His Boston loyalty and his name are real.  Look for John Cena to be around as long as he wants to be, and look for a heel turn by the end of this year.

The Indians are still in the crappy divisional AL Central race.  Their bullpen couldn’t get 6 outs in most minor league games without giving up a couple of runs, but the offense is carrying the weight to keep Eric Wedge floating along.  Here are other great stories:

• PSAMP has video footage of Mario Lemieux being made a knight in Quebec, Canada.
• Gunaxin takes a look at the five best fictional golf caddies of all-time.  Bagger Vance and Danny Noonan did make the cut…
• Rip City Project thinks that maybe Brandon Wright could be the “banger” that Portland needs to get over the top.
• Steady Burn recalls his early 90’s trip to Fenway during the Clemens era and what he could remember, good read here!
• Zoner Sports is in Chicago, home of Sammy Sosa.  Zoner reports that even the Chicago faithful do not think Sosa belongs in the Hall of Fame.
• NESW Sports has a good video of Kenny Mayne and Scoop Jackson from a recent episode of Mayne Street.
• Moondog Sports poses the question… Who is leaking the names of the 104 baseball players who failed their drug tests in 2003?
• Josh Q. Public pens a masterpiece on who are the greatest non-users of steroids in the steroid era of baseball.  Check the list, you may not agree with all of the choices, good read here.
• Hugging Harold Reynolds pays tribute to OJ Simpson going nuts 15 years ago.  HHR also has the famous call for the Howard Stern show which Peter Jennings had to bear.
• Intentional Foul looks inside the very steep concession prices at the new Dallas Cowboys stadium.
• My Sports Rumors submitted “Wang’s wife delivers, can he ?”
• Major League Jerk talks of his recent trip to Wrigley Field.

The 2009 Pittsburgh Pirates are overachieving so far this season.  The pitching has been great with the exception of Ian Snell and some shaky middle relief.  The offense has been almost bearable as compared to seasons past.  So where does this team go from here?

With the trading deadline fast approaching and Pittsburgh right there in the hunt, wouldn’t it be cool to see management make a trade to go out and get a big name free agent pitcher?  Show the fans you want to win.  Many Pirates fans are under the impression that the front office has been more concerned about minimizing finacial losses instead of paying people to create on the field wins.

Go back one year.  Jason Bay and Nate McLouth in the outfield.  Bringing up Andrew McCutchen would have given the Pirates one of the strongest outfield trios in all of MLB.  But no…  Bay had to go, he had a contract coming up, McLouth was one of those deals where quantity exceeds quality, and had McCutchen not been a mandatory call-up, they might have left him down just to keep him in the organization at league minimums.

Paul Maholm is the new meter to me.  If they trade this guy less than 6 games out, you know that their hearts are in the pockets instead of on the field.  I would be completely ecstatic to see them do something nobody would expect.  Go get Ryan Spilborghs from Colorado.  Let the hot Delwyn Young play second base and for God sakes, do something with the LaRoche brothers.  Eric Hinske should be the everyday third baseman.  Ryan Doumit will be back in about three weeks, teach Jaramillo to play first and keep Robinson Diaz to back up Doumit.

Shake it up.  Want people in the seats?  Put them there.  A Matt Capps bobblehead doll won’t sell you a seat on a Tuesday night non-promotional game.  Putting a quality product on the field that can win, will put people in the park.  If management is confused, call the Rooney family for tips on how to win wiithout spending millions on free agents.  Call Mario Lemieux and ask him how important it is to snag guys from teams that have no chance to win anything.  They must know something, look what they did in 2009.

This isn’t rocket science to me.  It is not a bocce league where teams don’t usually know much about each other, it is Major League Baseball.  Get busy and try to deal some of these stale prospects from Boston and Atlanta to get some star power back.

Stallone, Hogan, and McMahon.  These three guys were the culture of the eighties.  Rocky movies were flying, Hogan was revolutionizing sports entertainment, and McMahon was and still is a genius.  Here are todays top stories:

• Detroit4lyfe blogs about being in Pittsburgh when the Pens won the cup, and having to attend games where the Pirates beat the Tigers.
• Style Points analyzes the achievements of Phil Jackson and notes that Michael Jackson could have coached Jordan, Shaq, and Kobe to those championships.
• Josh Q. Public takes a look at the Mets great closer, K-Rod.
• Major League Jerk talks about Met losses, and how they really get their moneys worth when they lose.
• No Guts No Glory has video of a fan at the Penguins parade throwing a football an amazing distance through a window.  Dave Wannstedt, sign him to play at Pitt.
• Bootlegger Sports updates the Donte Stallworth DUI plea bargain and what it does to his career.
• My Sports Rumors talks about the possibility of the often-injured Tracy McGrady becoming a Knick.
• The Fifth Corner discusses players pulling themselves out of the NBA Draft using the ACC as an example where 6 players remain in the draft, but 4 have changed their minds.
• Sharapova’s Thigh breaks down a team (Angels) and analyzes their payroll, biggest earners, and worst acquisitions. Very good reading.

When you blog, you meet some good people along the way.  The guys over at Detroit4lyfe and I try to work together by linking to each others stories in hopes of getting an increase in traffic.  Before the cup finals, we started jawing about our hockey teams and ended up betting.  Fortunately, I was lucky enough to come out on the right end of the deal.  Being good sports, Detroit4lyfe stuck to the bet and wrote an article about the Stanley Cup Champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins.  Here is the article:

Before the Red Wings series started with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Paneech came to me seeking a friendly wager regarding the outcome of the Stanley Cup Finals.  After an extensive negotiation process that lasted about 10 seconds, we finally agreed that the loser of the series would have to write a post for the other’s blog explaining why the other’s team won and was deserving of Lord Stanley’s Mug.  Welp, the Red Wings lost so here is me holding up my end of the bargain.

For me it goes back to before this series even started.  The Penguins just swept the Carolina Hurricanes and the Red Wings were trying to take care of a feisty and youthful Chicago Blackhawks.  I had no doubt in my mind it would be the Red Wings representing the Western Conference in this year’s Finals, but I was hoping it would not be the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference.  As everyone knows, the Red Wings took care of the Penguins in the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals.  In my opinion, I see no benefit of having a Finals rematch for the winning team as bad things always seem to happen for them.   Sure, winning two Stanley Cups in a row against the same team is great for egos and bragging rights, but that could be construed as just being greedy… and mean.  In the end, yes, it’s still a Stanley Cup and, no matter who you play, winning it is unbelievably great; I just think the bad things that can come from a rematch outweigh the positive.

That’s especially the case with the circumstances that surrounded this rematch.  The Penguins were a younger bunch with two of the game’s brightest stars looking to avenge last year’s defeat against a franchise that has been winning Stanley Cups in the past 15 years like it’s easy.  If that weren’t enough motivation for Pittsburgh, one of their best players signed with the Red Wings during the past off-season because he thought it would provide him with the best chance to win a Stanley Cup.  Certainly the move can come off as a slap in the face to Pittsburgh, who traded for him mid-season of 2008 to help them win a Stanley Cup and once that didn’t happen, offered him a long term contract to help the Pens return to the Finals and redeem themselves for years to come.  Hind sight is 20/20, so after seeing the Penguins win this year, which I’m sure felt sweet for people bitter about Hossa unselfishly passing up on much more money to sign for one-year with the historically better Detroit Red Wings, it was still the right move at the time.  Detroit has won 4 Stanley Cups in the last 12 years and had the talent to easily repeat this year, especially with the addition of Hossa.  I don’t think there’s any denying that the Red Wings were the favorites to repeat all season long.  Hossa wanted the best chance to win a Stanley Cup and I think Detroit probably had the best odds coming in to the season and throughout it.  I think Hossa made the right move and I still believe that, even after Lidstrom’s last second chance to tie Game 7 pounded off of Penguins goaltender, Marc-Andre Fleury’s chest and assured Pittsburgh the 2009 Stanley Cup.  I digress.  Pittsburgh’s motivation to get back at Detroit for beating them last year and the opportunity to tell Hossa to shove it for turning down their offer was far more motivating and advantageous to them in the rematch than Detroit winning another Stanley Cup against the same team.  I think that’s the type of thing that can swing a series before it even starts. 

Pre-series concerns aside, it wound up being one hell of a Stanley Cup Finals.  When Detroit jumped out to a 2-0 series lead, it looked all but certain that Detroit would repeat and send Pittsburgh into mourning for the second season in a row.  However, behind Mario Lemieux’s calming speeches and the gritty determination of a now experienced Stanley Cup Finals group, the Penguins showed no quit.  After the Pens won both games three and four on their home ice, it was a new series and the Red Wings were on their heels for the first time of the playoffs. 

Game 5 was all Detroit back at the Joe, but not for a minute did Penguins fans or their team believe this series was over.  I certainly didn’t think so, especially since it scared me that everyone, and even their mothers who moved to Egypt to get away from hockey, believed the Red Wings would win this series after the 5-0 Game 5 humping.  In Game 6, Pittsburgh, once again, bounced back to defend their home ice in what was probably the greatest game of the series.  They eked out a 2-1 victory behind solid goaltending from Fleury who shook off being embarrassingly chased from Game 5.

That took us to Game 7, the rarest and greatest games a Championship series could ask for.  Anything can happen in Game 7s to alter the outcome; a simple bounce, bad call, or anything for that matter, can happen in one team’s favor and finish the other team’s long season of hard work with the snap of your fingers.  In this Game 7, the first Finals Game 7 for the Red Wings since 1955, Pittsburgh dominated for the first 30+ minutes and took advantage of a couple Red Wings’ defensive mistakes to put the puck to the back of the net.  The Red Wings responded finally with their patented lengthy ambushes late in the 3rd, however it was just not enough as Fleury resembled the complete opposite of his Game 5 self.  With six seconds remaining, Fleury was able to stave off one last Red Wings attack and what looked like a tying goal off the stick of Nicklas Lidstrom to secure the Penguins the 2009 Stanley Cup.

Ironically, I was in Pittsburgh for Game 7–a trip I planned months ago for the Tigers interleague series with the Pirates. As the game clock struck zeros, I had to watch 15-20 Penguins fans jump up and down together in a small apartment complex while I sat behind the couch in my Wings hat and classic Yzerman jersey with a blank stare directed toward the HD television set where the entire Penguins players celebrated on the Joe Louis Arena Ice.  One Penguins fan ran up to his room and brought down a tin foil Stanley Cup and began passing it around for his yellow and black dressed friends to kiss and raise as high as the ceiling would allow them to. 

It was at that point I exited the room and took my frustration out on a dry wall in the other room (which I will wind up paying for).  With knuckles as red as the sleeves of my jersey, but the pain in my heart much worse than my battered hands, I came to the realization that the Wings put up a valiant effort and lost to a worthy opponent.  I decided to return to the living room, where Pens fans were still rejoicing, to congratulate all my buddy’s friends on their team winning the Cup.

I’m as big of a Detroit fan as there is and despite the frustration and depression that came with this loss, a true sports fan must swallow their pent up emotions and pride, put all the mid-series trash talking aside, and admit defeat.  This series was a lot of fun to watch, write about, and even exchange some friendly smack talk.  In the end, the team most deserving of hoisting the Cup did and that’s that.  End of story.  Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the 2009 NHL Stanley Cup Champions.