Cup on My Mind

The Phillies are struggling mightily right now, getting shut out in three straight games against the Mets of all teams, getting swept by New York. Horrible. The Sixers have been making noise, getting the No. 2 pick, hiring Doug Collins, and now deciding between Evan Turner or Derrick Favors with said second pick. And I definitely have some opinions about all of that, but honestly, I can't muster up any energy or excitement to write about any of that right now. Why? Because one thing and one thing only is on my mind … Lord Stanley's Cup.



I want to be speechless. I want to see Mike Richards skate sports' greatest trophy around the rink. I want that feeling. I've wanted it since I first started watching as a child. Philadelphia is a great hockey city, but there are still plenty of people who don't pay much attention to the Flyers during the regular season. Their losses don't hurt as bad as the ones for the Eagles or the Phillies or even the Sixers, at least when Allen Iverson was in town. But for me, June 1997 was every bit as horrifying, as hurtful as October 1993, as January 2002 and 2003 and 2004, as February 2005, as June 2001.

Watching the Eric Lindros-led Flyers get swept, get blown off the ice by the Red Wings made me sick to my stomach. Watching Darren McCarty put the final nail in the coffin was on par with Joe Carter's home run, Troy Vincent's bum leg getting attacked, Ronde Barber's interception, every last turnover against Carolina, Deion Branch's big game, Robert Horry's deadly threes. I don't want that feeling again.

The Blackhawks are the favorites. They should be. This series will be a war, the toughest test yet. But this team has overcome so much for so long this season, what's four more wins against a heavy favorite? Just four more wins.

LET'S GO FLYERS!!!!!!!