Awesome Time

In the fall of 2004, as the Red Sox stood poised to complete the greatest comeback in MLB history, a message board thread cut to the heart of New England baseball fans. Begun by a teacher in Connecticut, the main post was titled “Win It For…,” and it was simply a list of all the people this fan wanted the Red Sox to win the World Series for. By the time his team completed its first championship run since 1918, the thread had swelled to over 300 pages, a cathartic tome that let go of 86 years of frustration.

On the eve after the 2006 AFC Championship game, after the Steelers had walloped the Broncos to punch their ticket to Super Bowl XL, I cribbed the idea from Red Sox Nation. On our old blog, I posted a “Win It For…” thread for the Steelers asking people to share what the first Steelers title in more than 25 years would mean to them and their friends and loved ones. It didn’t spread to anywhere near 300 pages, but there were still some special responses and a nice reminder of the uniting power of sports.

With the Penguins set to play in their first Stanley Cup Finals since 1992 on Saturday night, I thought it was time for another one of these threads. It hasn’t been 86 years since the Pens last title, or even 26 like the Steelers; but in the 16 seasons since they downed the Blackhawks, there have been enough peaks and valleys, enough twists, turns and heartbreaks that it might has well have been.

Without further ado…

-Win it for Colby Armstrong and Erik Christensen, neither were superstars, but both were key parts of a core group that brought the team out of the mid-decade doldrums. What a better way to remember that than to have their names etched together with their old teammates on the Stanley Cup.

-Win it for my mother and grandmother, who, without hesitation, let me skip dessert on Mother’s Day to watch Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

-Win it for my cousin Will. He’s too young to remember the two Stanley Cup teams, but old enough to remember all the playoff frustration that came in the years just after. Just under a decade ago, while he was finishing up middle school, his family moved from Pittsburgh to Pierre, SD. The sports loyalties of youth sometimes fade in those situations, but Will’s passion never faded, even through four last straight seasons, aided by streaming broadcasts, message boards, and the Post-Gazette online sports section. He’s spent the past two semesters, his junior year of college, studying abroad in Hong Kong, no doubt tracking the team as feverishly as if he went to school down the street from Mellon Arena. Will’s plane back from Asia touches down in Pittsburgh on Saturday afternoon, and assuming there’s no traffic, he should be in front of TV by faceoff.

-Win it for the Karasic’s the most generous family on the planet. They’ve given a poor liberal arts grad a chance to hold one of the hottest tickets in town 5-6 times a year for the last three years.

-Win it for Marian Hossa, Sergei Gonchar, and Gary Roberts. The conventional wisdom is that the Penguins core of young talent is still a few years away from peaking. That may be true, but due to salary restrictions and age it’s virtually impossible that these three players will be in Pittsburgh beyond the end of 2009. All have made invaluable contributions to this incredible run, from OT winners, inspired back checking, stout defensive work down to Roberts’s pure passion in Game 1 of the playoffs, the spark that lit the powder keg.

-Win it for Tina, my office manager, who’s rediscovered her passion for hockey over the last two years. Two falls ago, I had to explain to her what offsides was; now she’ll come in to work wondering if the Penguins mistake the night before was going too early to the one-four delay.

-Win it for Shaggy, a true Penguins fan in every sense. Thanks to this team, it’s come to be accepted that we’ll both be late returning to work after our Tuesday hour conversation.

-Win it for Mario Lemieux, the one and only reason there’s still a hockey team in Pittsburgh, let alone one that’s four wins away from a championship. Perhaps I’m biased, but I can’t imagine there’s another team in professional sports that treats its fans as well as the Penguins do, and that’s an attitude that starts at the top. An adopted son in a town that doesn’t always take well to outsiders, Mario decided to hold onto his financial stake in the team after the new arena deal was completed. “It’s time to have some fun with this,” he said at the time. Well, I think it would be pretty fun for him this season and reach perhaps the one goal he never accomplished as a player: the chance to raise the Stanley Cup on home ice. So win it for Mario, in four or six if you can. Although something tells me five or seven would be just fine with him too.

- Win it for Sid, Gino, Gronk and Flower; all under 25 and living the dream.

-Win it for Matt, Zavo and Phil, my best buddies from high school, and with whom Penguins hockey has been one of the constant threads running through our friendship. The first time we went to a hockey game together was winter break during our freshman year’s of college. It was December 2001, Jaromir Jagr had been traded, Ivan Hlinka and the Penguins were already beginning to free-fall towards the bottom of the standings. The seats were partially obstructed, we couldn’t see the far end of the ice, and the Senators thrashed the Penguins 5-2. It was a trend that would continue for the next four seasons; we didn’t see a winning game in person until the 2006 home opener. That shouldn’t really be surprising though, as the Penguins during that period lingered near the bottom of the NHL standings, never a playoff contender let a lone a championship caliber team. In spite of that, there’s probably nothing during the course the last eight years we’ve shared more laughs, joys and frustrations over. It’s what sports are all about really. Win it so that we can share a championship together.

Add your own in the comments…

The trick to figuring out if an artist is going to be a one-hit wonder? Just ask yourself, was he or she ever parodied by Myron Cope.

And people used to wonder why Myron wasn’t remember as being one of the most talented football scribes of all time.

Although the subject faded as the series progressed (getting pummeled into a three games to none hole, and vanquished in five will do that to you), the Rangers accusations that Sidney Crosby is a “diver” were a major story line early on in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. New York’s choice to employ such verbal sparring seemed questionable at best.  Crosby had been on the receiving end of such accusations throughout much of his rookie year, and rather than weigh him down, they stirred his motivation to one of the finest freshmen campaigns in NHL history. Calling out The Kid didn’t do much to influence calls on the ice either, as Martin Straka was whistled for interfering with Crosby in the waning moments of a tied Game 1. The Penguins netted the winning goal on the ensuing power play.

What’s interesting, is that, apparently, there’s even some historical precedence to suggest accusing a Penguins superstar of on ice theatrics is a bad idea. The feature archived issue in SI.com’s Vault this week is from June 1992, featuring Mario Lemieux on the cover following the Pens Stanley Cup sweep over Chicago. In the story that wraps up the finals, Sports Illustrated author Jon Scher is drawn to comments made by Blackhawks coach Mike Keenan earlier in the series regarding the Penguins captain.

But the sound Lemieux heard in the background throughout the playoffs was not the roar of appreciation. Instead it was the rattle of ancient skeletons behind doors he thought had been sealed in the spring of 1991, after he had led the Penguins to their first Stanley Cup. The head rattler was Chicago coach Mike Keenan, who tried desperately to get the attention of league officials with a withering attack on Lemieux during a press conference in Pittsburgh before Game 2.

Keenan accused Lemieux of repeatedly taking pratfalls after incidental contact with opposing players. “I can’t respect Mario for diving,” Keenan said. “The best player in the game is embarrassing himself and embarrassing the game.” The aroma of sour grapes was unmistakable: Chicago defenseman Steve Smith had been called for hooking Lemieux with 18 seconds left in Game 1, and five seconds into the subsequent power play Super Mario flicked a rebound past Blackhawk goaltender Ed Belfour to win the game 5-4. It was a crushing defeat for Chicago, which had led 4-1 in the second period.

“I actually didn’t dive that time,” Lemieux said. Other times, many other times, he has tumbled to the ice hoping to attract a sympathetic whistle. Early in his career Lemieux was excoriated behind his back by opposing players, coaches and front-office types who saw his flopping as unseemly behavior for a would-be superstar in a sport that likes its rough edges razor sharp. After Lemieux led the Penguins to a Cup, the criticism faded, only to be revived by Keenan in a pointed attempt to influence the referees in a series that, from Keenan’s perspective, had already gone awry.

As usual, Lemieux played it close to the sweater. “No comment,” he said after scoring the winning goal in Game 2. a 3-1 Pittsburgh victory. Then he smiled and added, “For now.”

The Chicago camp insisted later in the week that no disrespect to Lemieux had been intended. “We don’t mean to cast anything negative toward Mario,” said Darryl Sutter, the Blackhawks’ associate coach. “We’re just asking the question, Is there another set of rules, unwritten rules, that are there for Mario and Mario alone? Based on what we’ve seen in this series, the answer is yes.”

So what does that tell us? Well for starters, Mike Keenan was a dick even back then. Also, it’s probably not a good idea to give the superstar captain of the Penguins extra motivation. But, most importantly I think,  is that it’s good perspective on the accusations surrouding Sid. Thankfully, the diving accusations aren’t even a footnote to Lemieux’s career and it’s doubtful they will be for Crosby either. I guess it’s just hard sometimes for others to accept by beaten so thoroughly by natural talent.

Picking the right college stressed me out. I had no idea how I was supposed to decide where to spend the next four years of my life based on course catalog’s, and 45 minute campus tour. By February of my senior year I was lucky if I got three hours of sleep a night, and couldn’t stomach much beyond saltines. And I wasn’t even a high school athlete, let alone the most sought after one in the country.

It should come as no surprise then that Terrelle Pryor, considered by many services to be the best high school quarterback in America has a few short nerve endings these days. Still, according to this story in the Washington Observer Reporter, he has to be a little more careful with how he handles the pressure.

At a basketball game Friday Saturday night, the two-sport star Pryor was taunted mercilessly by the South Fayette student section. “One student dressed in a red sweater vest - think Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel. Each time Pryor took his position for free throws, he heard it, [as in] ‘here’s your daddy for the next four years!’”

Despite scoring 24 points, along with 21 rebounds, seven blocks and six assists to lead Jeanette to a tense overtime victory, Pryor became rattled as the game progressed. He began jawing at the opposing crowd, only inciting them further and leading to the ejection of two South Fayette students. However, it wasn’t until the game concluded that things got really interesting.

“As dumb as [the ejected South Fayette students] were, Pryor topped them after Jeannette pulled away in the overtime.He continued his dialogue with fans. Then, after postgame handshakes, Pryor immediately went toward the student section. Following a ridiculous, prolonged exchange, Pryor’s teammates intervened. Why they didn’t stop him before is unknown. Why his coaches allowed it to happen is an even greater injustice.

Officials escorted Pryor and Jeannette toward the locker room, where the two teams were side by side. That’s when a Jeannette assistant exited the Jayhawks’ locker and complained about the conduct of the South Fayette students. That’s something he had a right to do.One officer, however, did not appreciate the direction of the conversation. He was present when Pryor accosted the South Fayette fans.’You’re lucky we didn’t take your kid (Pryor) in,’ the officer said. ‘He threatened to go into the crowd.”‘

Thank god Stephen Jackson wasn’t in the house, or else things might have gotten really ugly.

In honor of Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg commencing the eighth year of their ESPN radio morning show, the World Wide Leader staged a roast for them last Friday night in Las Vegas. According to the Atlantic City Press, it wasn’t just the backslapping circle jerk you’d expect. In fact, it was worse.

Take this nugget:

Luckily, rock-pop trio Lifehouse played a semi-acoustic set to open the evening, performing a 20-minute, hit-filled set that included “Hanging By a Moment,” “You and Me,” “Falling Even More In Love With You” and “Who We Are.” While short, the set was certainly sweet as frontman Jason Wade showed off his great vocal chops. It definitely added some value to the night

I guess “Train” was already booked. Does Lifehouse actually have a song called “Falling Even More In Love With You”? Or did the author just list “Hanging By A Moment” twice under a different name? I’m too lazy and ambivalent to Google it.

H/T as usual to Deadspin.

I love sports message boards. Initially I used to poke around the Pirates.com fan forum around the July 31 trade deadline, scoping for links to rumored deals. As I’ve gotten more into college sports, I’ve become a long time lurker of the Pitt basketball and football boards through Rivals.com.

While message boards get a bad rap, I’ve found they’re mostly a pretty good cross section of most amateur writing that you’ll find on the internet. There’s some very worthwhile opinions and analysis, a plethora of unfounded rumors, the occasional insider tidbit and then a lot of ranting that can degenerate into age-inappropriate personal attacks. In a sad way, this is what entertains me the most.

For example, over the holidays I came across a family friend whom I knew to be a regular poster on the football board. He’s a local accountant around my parents age who graduated from Pitt in the early 70s. When I asked him why he hadn’t written anything in a while, his cheeks got very flush, and he instinctively swallowed down his glass of wine in one gulp. “Oh you didn’t see?” he said. “I got into a spat.”

He then proceeded to tell me about how earlier in the season, another poster had called him out for his repeated criticism of running back Larod Stephens-Howling. After a few messages going back and forth with debating the relevance of various stats, the thread degenerated into something like this:

Family Friend: I’m not sure you know enough to figure out what channel the game’s on next week.

Other Guy: Whatever. Why don’t you go screw up some more tax returns?

Family Friend (Apparently shocked and appalled that this guy knew who he was and what he did for a living): I couldn’t concentrate. I was too stunned from when I saw you at a game last year and found out how fat your wife was.

Other Guy: That’s very mature. You just think you know everything about everything, don’t you?

Family Friend: Ain’t it the truth brother!

Then, realizing that the conversation had crossed some sort of line, and petrified that people knew who he actually was, Family Friend deleted the account. “I’m much happier these days that I’m not stressing out over the opinions of some guy who’s made over 5,000 posts to an internet site,” he told me.

I was reminded of that interaction when I clicked onto the Pitt message board today, after hearing that West Virginia had hired Bill Stewart as its new football coach. Stewart led the Mountaineers to a 48-28 thumping of Oklahoma last night, a dramatic win especially on the heels of former coach Rich Rodriguez’s departing for Michigan just weeks ago. Still, Stewart is a 30 year assistant coach without the pedigree or track record of most of the other candidates. The combination of the win and the hire seemed perfect for message board fodder. I wasn’t disappointed by what I found.

Like this thread about the West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin being on the sideline:

“Does the WV governor do anything except meddle in WVU football affairs?***”

“ I Read his Lips - He was trying to tell [WVU RB Noel] Devine that if he sticks around one more year he will qualify for his MBA.”

“Then he’ll have his MBA before his GED.”

What else is he gonna do? Shoot skunks, get lickered up, nuzzle his sister, propose to his dog?

Or this one, about FB Owen Schmitt’s post-game interview:

I gotta admit, when Schmitt started crying in his post-game interview…I started to get goose bumps. No matter how much you hate WVU, and I certainly do, you have to love seeing a kid who plays the game hard, leaves his guts on the field and loves his school and his state.

Re: I gotta admit, when Schmitt started crying in his post-game interview… He looks borderline retarded to me.

Hey, Schmidt was born with a cleft palette. Some online heroes amaze me. You know NOTHING about the kid and you say he looks borderline retarded. You sound like a straight out idiot and hardly borderline. How will you like it someday if you read on the internet some idiot calling your child borderline retarded? How old are you? 9?

Who cares about his disfigured mouth? He got a mohawk to distract from his mouth problem. I respect Schmitt and think he is a heck of a player. They interviewed a MAN on TV today named Owen Schmitt. A guy I would like on my team anytime. Patty, it’s now time to give your bj for three as your board name says.

Cleft “palette”, or rather “palate”???…Wow… Your enlightenment has finally after years allowed me to see how a disfigured mouth relates to Owen Schmitt’s mental retardation. I guess they’re both birth defects, but one is often the result of drug/alcohol use during pregnancy and the other is often the result of inbreeding—both of which would fit the mold of a model citizen of West Virginia. What the hell is your point again??? PS…I have all my teeth and visit the dentist every six months. How about you and yours?

Brilliant, right?