Three weeks ago, everyone and their mother was fawning over the Washington Capitals. They were the hottest team in the NHL and they were finally drawing fans (albeit fair weather fans) to their home games. ESPN, the NHL and NBC were all hoping for the Capitals to steamroll the Philadelphia Flyers on their way to a "dream" match-up with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Cindy Crosby. Unfortunately for everyone outside of Philadelphia, the Flyers had other plans. They pounded the Caps every chance they got and Alexandra Ovechkin showed her Cindy-side with a beautiful dive in game 3. Seriously, I'll give him a ten for that landing. Apparently fed up with the Flyers physical game, Washington Post columnist Mike Wise wrote this article about the physical aspect of the NHL playoffs. I'm guessing Mr. Wise is himself one of the three week old Capitals fans.
My favorite part of the article has to be this little nugget:
It's almost impossible to fathom, but the Capitals took the ice in front of a building as loud as Verizon Center last Friday. The fans wore orange instead of the Capitals' red, and many of the women and children looked as if they could work security for Megadeth.
I like how it's impossible to imagine that Philadelphia, who love their sports more than life itself, would be anything but a loud, raucous crowd. It's been two years since the Flyers hosted a playoff game and that is far too long for any real Flyers fan. He then moves on to credit the Capitals for creating the 'Sea of Red' (sorry, but Calgary did that four years ago on their run to the finals and the Flyers began their Orange Crush that year as well). But his crowning moment has to be his comparison of our women and children to metal heads and thugs essentially. Wait, you're insulting women and children and complaining about Philadelphia fans being classless? Am I the only one to see the irony in this statement?
Wise goes on to show how little he understands the way fighting works in the NHL with this quote:
Five minutes into the game, they showed a video of Philly's top brawls this past season, many involving Cote grabbing hold of an opponents' shirt for leverage before pummeling him to the ice, which is just a swell environment for children -- children of Patrick Roy.
According to Wise, Riley Cote is the only fighter in the league that grabs onto an opponents jersey during a fight. The other ironic part of this, is that Wise is complaining about Cote's fights, yet the Capitals employ one of the most feared fighters in the league, Donald Brashear.
It's always entertaining when someone is so desperate to win that they suggest the league step in and fix the series. Wise suggests it a few times in his article, here:
Can't Gary Bettman pay off someone to ensure his meal ticket for the next decade advances to the second round? Doesn't Tim Donaghy live close by? Does he still have his whistle? Can he skate?
here:
The Flyers are an instant repudiation of what Gary Bettman wanted the league to become. They are a reminder of the NHL's pugilistic past that just won't go away.
and here:
Quick, someone find a number for Donaghy.
But the best part of the whole thing has to be that after the Capitals finally capitulated to the Flyers in overtime of game 7, it was the Capitals fans that showered the Flyers with whatever they could throw, including beer bottles, one of which struck Jeff Carter. I pose you this question: Which fans are the thugs? The knowledgeable, passionate fans that cannot escape a checkered past? Or the bandwagon fans that jumped on late and don't know how to handle losing to the extent that they throw stuff at the opposing team.
I have always respected the Capitals since I've been a hockey fan, and you would be hard pressed to find someone outside of D.C. that is a bigger Ovechkin fan than I, but Ovie's swan dives, and the disappointing acts of their fans has eroded all the good will I have felt for them over the past several years.
...At least they can enjoy the memory of Joffrey Lupul's smiling face for the next four months while they're golfing.
2 comments:
I'm still amazed that Caps fans won't admit that Ovie took a dive.
And although I have no doubt that we would have thrown things at Ovie had the tables been turned, it's nice to see that Philly fans aren't the only classless ones!
nah, the flyers have lost plenty of playoff series at home. us fans would not have thrown stuff on the ice. a rare type of phenomena must occur for that to happen.
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