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Dallas Stars fever
April 21, 2008I now have caught it. Which is pretty weak that it took this long, considering my past.
Growing up in Dallas, I was a die-hard Stars fan. Watched nearly every game. Can recall nearly every huge playoff contest.
I can tell you how awesome the line of Joe Nieuwendyk, Jamie Langenbrunner and Dave Reid were in the '99 playoffs, which ended with a Stanley Cup.
But soon, I moved to Wichita Falls, where unfortunately every Stars game cannot be seen. And then the first-round playoff exits stared culminating, leaving me too disappointed.
And now that I work nights, that makes it even harder to watch the Stars play.
It is with some sadness that I admit I had not watched much of the Dallas-Anaheim series before Sunday's Game 6. I was even off a couple of those nights, but found other things to do.
I know a lot of the players, but would not be able to tell you the lines the players are on.
My brother, who rarely misses watching a game and even attended Game 4, has supplanted me as the ultimate Stars supporter in the family (Or maybe my mom should hold that title. She loves, and I mean LOVES, the sport. She even had partial season tickets a couple of years ago).
But after watching the Stars knock out the defending Stanley Cups champs with a 4-1 win, I cannot wait for them to play again.
I want to know when the next game is. And who they will play. And how will I make sure I do not miss this upcoming series.
You see, I love football, baseball and basketball -- but postseason hockey cannot be beat. Low-scoring, hard-hitting fun is had every night.
It provides an edge-of-your-seat drama that no other game can match. There aren't a gazillion timeouts that drag the outcome out, like in basketball.
You have to win 16 games to hoist the Stanley Cup, unlike four in football. It is far more intense and physical than baseball.
A few years ago, I wrote a column saying the hardest championship to win is hockey. I got a couple of criticizing e-mails from that, but I will go to my grave believing it.
And now that the Stars are out of the first round since 2003, I am jumping on the bandwagon. Stanley Cup, here they come!
Posted by at 12:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
