I tried.
I really did.
And I tried harder when it was challenging.
I really did.
And yet, it all fell apart about 10 minutes after Alec Martinez scored in double overtime to give the Los Angeles Kings their second Stanley Cup in three years. And it did so because a handful of people decided that when I said two weeks ago that I was pulling for the Rangers to win the Stanley Cup — for the sake of my uncle for the most part — that I was lying to get a rise out of people.
For starters, here is what I said before the start of the series. I won’t repeat the entire post, but will share the part that explains the most in the simplest of terms.
Pretty simple. Uncle Mugga is about to turn 55. Mr. Gelb isn’t getting younger. And there were a lot of others who I’d mentioned previously, as well, for whom I would be happy had the Rangers won the Stanley Cup. Unfortunately for them, the Kings won it — and it was the same ending, as it has been every other year in his career, for Henrik Lundqvist, a world-class goalie who just can’t seem to find a stretch of good luck that allows him to be the victor in the final game of an NHL season.
Yet it’s been the reaction of some — I won’t name names here — that has baffled me the most. It started before Game 1 was even played when one person spent more than an hour telling people on a Rangers forum that I was, indeed, “trolling” around, waiting for the first opportunity I could find, to change my avitar to something anti-Rangers, or to make a faux newspaper front page to rip Lundqvist for always seemingly ending games flat on his ass.
For starters, here is what I said before the start of the series. I won’t repeat the entire post, but will share the part that explains the most in the simplest of terms.
“So yeah, as I push 40, I stand here almost humbled. Maybe I have
early-onset senility. Maybe it’s just that as guys who I love and admire
— like my Uncle Mugga and Bob Gelb — get older, the chances of them
getting to see one beyond ’94 are becoming slimmer. One thing is for sure — unlike 1994, if the Blueshirts win a Stanley
Cup, I won’t be sulking for days on end with intense anger. Instead,
somewhere, there will be a smile — a genuine smile. Plus, I mean, what’s
better than hearing a pro-Rangers crowd loudly chanting ‘Marty,’ even
if it’s not for the right Marty, right?”
 |
| Mugga |
Yet it’s been the reaction of some — I won’t name names here — that has baffled me the most. It started before Game 1 was even played when one person spent more than an hour telling people on a Rangers forum that I was, indeed, “trolling” around, waiting for the first opportunity I could find, to change my avitar to something anti-Rangers, or to make a faux newspaper front page to rip Lundqvist for always seemingly ending games flat on his ass.
