“The Rangers have done well to get this far. But to be realistic, they would have a tough time making the playoffs in the west.” – H. Wood, Junoir’s Canadian Rugby friend on the Rangers.
EL BARIO, BRONX – After the week that yours truly, Deacon Blaber, has had, let’s just say I was chomping at the bit to get to the keyboard. To be touched upon from the sports bully pulpit today are Canadian Hockey Fans, LeBron Cramps, The Injured Stars of the World Cup and The Triple Crown.
Canadian Ice Hockey Fans – The line trotted out by most people are that Canadians are some of the nicest people on earth and don’t know how to be mean or rude. Let me tell you all that you have been had! These guys have a huge arrogance streak the belies their “Eh?” and poutaine-eating faces.
First off, apparently it’s just hockey, not ice hockey. When you say ice hockey, their eyes twitch uncontrollably and their heads start shaking and vibrating like a gong. In actual terms, there is ice hockey and there is field hockey, but to those Canucks, that is unacceptable. It leads to frequent arguments between my Canadian friends and those from the eastern hemisphere (England, South Africa, Australia, etc.).
Secondly, they are rabid bandwagon jumpers and shameless at that. When my team gets knocked out, I passively support another team, like Cheesy Bruin did when his Bruins got eliminated; he hoped the Rangers did the job. For the Canucks, the bandwagon order goes 1) their local team 2) the last standing Canadian team 3) then it becomes a case of supporting the team with their favorite Canadian player or coach. As a result , most Canadian fans hoped from rooting for the Montreal Canadians to beat the Rangers to now cheering on the oddness of good ol’ Darryl Sutter (of the ice hockey royal family the Sutters).
This has lead to insane comments like the one at the start of this article. My reply to that was “You mean struggle like be the last seed. Like how LA was in 2012 and managed to get hot and win the whole thing?!” Another one followed up with this gem on how the teams matched up: Goaltending is a wash, Defense is a slight edge to Kings and upfront is all Kings. I thought it took a certain kind of homer to say Jonathan Quick is as good as Henrik Lundqvist and I felt the defense was even but they just got louder so we will just see what happens when the Rangers win it all.
If you want to experience what that arrogance looks like then take a walk over to our sister site, Rugby Wrap Up and look at the work by Jamie Wall. Jamie is not Canadian, he is from New Zealand. They are the Canadians of Rugby, small country of 4 million but Rugby is their national sport and they are rated #1 in the world plus produce and export some the world’s best coaches and players. They also don’t let you forget that and they love to watch their local games and no very little about other leagues around the world because, those leagues are so inferior they call it easy rugby.
LeCramp – Two years ago, I brought up how Lebron James just isn’t tough enough. I said if a soccer player can play a World Cup Final with a dislocated shoulder, then cramps are a joke. Low and behold, LeBron has reverted back to LeBit…er, I mean LeCramp. His team lost game 1 of the NBA Finals. That is right he is again a no-show on biggest stage for his sport. Unlike last time when they won the game without him, his team lost. Somehow I didn’t hear about this until Friday night but it appeared that the Internet almost caved in on itself. You have memes popping up all over the place. Two of my favorites are pictured above, but you can go here to look at more. Some of them are down right hysterical, then there is the creation of LeBronning , even Gatoradegot in on the act – since Lebron is now the pitch man for PowerAde. I have no sympathy for him and never will after his move to Miami and with all those Heat bangwagon fans now fumbling to defend him. No sports icon or great taps out of a match, and this continues to prove that my dad and granddad’s generation were made of sterner stuff. My new word for acting soft is going to be acting like a LeBron.
World Cup – Speaking of soccer players and world cups, the run in to this world cup has been filled with injuries. Not that anyone is paying close attention, but Colombia‘s top scorer is out. Uruguay‘s guy is doubtful. France, Germany and whole host of others are going to be missing key people, including Italy, whose captain broke his leg in a warm-up match. The current World Player of the Year, Cristiano Ronaldo is in doubt for his country, Portugal‘s games this World Cup. The part that makes Ronaldo’s story funny is one of my countrymen, a witch doctor, is claiming credit for it. It is highly unlikely but I will make some calls and find out the witch doctor’s info. Someone just needs to shoot Alain Vigneault and James Dolan a message that I stand ready to cripple Quick, Marion Gaborik, and Drew Doughty. Just say the word boys!
Triple Crown – Today is the Belmont Stakes. Will California Chrome win the Triple Crown?! I say a big fat NO! I am a New York Sports fan and I have seen enough hope end in heartbreak to know it won’t happen today and not until it has been well over 50 years before another horse wins it. But then what do I know about horse racing so feel free to bet against me.
That is it for now, hope you enjoyed by article I hope to hear from you soon. Feel free to comment below and come back tomorrow for the one and only Cheesy Bruin , who actually does know a thing or two about betting on the ponies.
P.s… If you want to read more of my ramblings as a Rugby Guy, you can find them on RugbyWrapUp.com and our Facebook Rugby Wrap Up Page and follow us on Twitter @RugbyWrapUp and @JunoirBlaber, respectively
