Scoring and boring

Now THAT'S what I call a great hockey game. In Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals, The Chicago Black Hawks defeated the Boston Bruins 6-5, in overtime, to even the series at 2 games apiece. Finally, at long last, a bunch of goals were scored. Though some hockey purists may disagree, yours truly maintains hockey is a lot more fun to watch when the players put the puck in the net several times a game. I don't want to hear about some goalie making 36 saves to record a shutout. I want to see goals.

I've been to hundreds of games in various sports over the years, but I've never understood how people find "low-scoring" contests exciting. In baseball, they call it a "pitcher's duel". Forget that. It's boring. Sure, there's nothing wrong with a good pitcher striking out a few opposing batters, but I want to see the ball get banged around the ballpark as well. Stolen bases and hit-and-run plays are exciting too, but they can't happen if a pitcher is working on a no-hitter. Boring.

In football, they might call it a "defensive struggle". Well, would you really want to drop a few C-notes to attend an NFL contest only to watch a 3-0, or 6-3 game? Give me a few touchdowns any day. And throw in a long punt or kickoff return while you're at it. I want my money's worth -- dammit.

If you like watching a game for hours waiting for a score, watch soccer. Ever wonder why there's always a futbol clip featured on ESPN's top 10 plays of the day? Because ANY goal is a highlight. Those guys/girls probably collectively run for 500 miles during the course of any soccer game -- and they might only score one goal? How boring is THAT?.

Better yet, watch a soap opera. As a young man, many moons ago, I tore up my left knee playing ball and went under the knife. I also lived in a second story apartment in Rochester -- no elevator -- just stairs. I was going to be off work for several weeks. To boot, I had a 454 Chevy SS Chevelle with a 4-speed, and a stiff clutch. Even if I could have made it down the stairs on crutches, there was no way I could drive my own car. So basically, I was landlocked -- not going anywhere, and at the mercy of my then-wife, who was gone during the day at her own job. So I picked a couple soap operas and started watching them every day. Fast forward a month, and I think those shows had moved forward about 2 days worth in their time. I finally realized that unless I had about 20 years to devote to watching those shows -- I'd never actually see a plot play out. Can't remember which ones they were for sure. "Search for tomorrow" sounds close, because tomorrow never seemed to come on those programs. General Hospital? I'd have settled for Private First Class Hospital, as long as they kept things moving along. I was being force fed the guiding light to insanity. Remember Jack Nicholson in "The Shining"? It was starting to get like that. As I was growing my hockey playoff beard, and hair, thankfully my ex, God rest her soul (no, I didn't kill her -- we eventually divorced and she died of cancer many years later), saw the wisdom in getting yours truly out and about before she experienced a "Here's Johnny" moment. Somehow it worked out, but enough about that.

At any rate, the Blackhawks have regained home-ice advantage after their Game 4 win in Boston. Now it's the best 2 out of 3. Both teams are REALLY good, and I wouldn't even venture a guess as to which is going to come away with the Stanley Cup in the next several days. I really didn't think Chicago could go into Boston and win a game, but obviously I was wrong, again. Now it's pretty much a coin flip.

I'm still rooting for the Hawks, Deb, but those Bruins are the real deal. We'll see.

Either way -- let there be goals.

Lots of them.

Regardless, it beats the hell out of soap operas. Huh. I wonder if maybe some of those TV "judges" were ever laid up like I was and went through the same ordeal. That might explain some of their bizarre, aggressive behavior. Same with major league baseball umps, come to think of it.

Just a thought.