Hey 19…

   this has been knocking around the blogofile for some time...since hockey is still a month or so away, i needed to get a hockey fix.. and since the wings signed Modano, i thought we would traipse down memory lane and relish the GREATEST captain in all of sports!!!

     On Tuesday May 25, 2010 I learned that THE CAPTAIN # 19,Steve Yzerman was leaving the WINGS organization. He is off to pursue the next step in his career as a hockey legend. I wish him luck... I am not sure if it is my allergies or I drank too much water, but I believe my eyes are watering a bit while I type this blog. I will miss you, but I do understand... 

     The following video is, if not the perfect video for the purpose of this blog, it is as close as I can get in the 6 1/2 minutes or so I researched videos... As you may know, according to JADIP research...research over seven minutes is not cool... In fact, it is as close to work as you can get without actually working...

     The captain was drafted in lieu of Pat La Fontaine (the WINGS first choice, but he was already drafted THANK GOD!!) as the fourth overall in the NHL entry draft in 1983. Thank god yet again. You can google his stats and all that jazz. The captain, #19, was as I have stated before, the greatest captain of all time...followed closely by Nick Lidstrom #5...
     This video shows most of the great highlights of a 20+ year career... Obviously, it cannot encompass the whole of his greatness, but it gives the non-hockey types a chance to get a feel for the CAPTAIN!!!
(about midway thru there is the Ponger Hit, that knocked Pronger out of the playoofs that year, as he was trying to knock  Stevie out...)

     During the captain's early years I was  a hockey stalker more than a red blooded fan. I blame my first wife. She loved hockey, so I really could not be a huge fan. One thing in common could have kept us together, and that would have sucked. When she kicked me to the curb in the early 1990's I could then start the following the sport that has become my sports passion. Yet another reason to not remember fondly my ex... But do you really need a reason when it comes to an ex?

     I could also blame the LIONS, but they are so woeful that blaming them for anything besides bad luck and judgement is just too harsh. It is amazing how forgiving I am of the lions when it is off-season...digression aside, I missed a few years of Yzerman's youth, but hey, I saw more than I missed. I included this video for grins...

     When the captain hoisted the cup, ending the cup drought in Detroit, I may have shed a tear as well...it could have been the beer...I have heard that if you drink enough beer it makes you cry...It must be the amount of water in beer...Jus' sayin'...

     I nearly spent the night in jail this night...I think I may have been overserved... The Rolling Rocks flowed at a furious pace...for some reason I always had one in the on-deck circle. I was fortunate to be in a REDWINGS fan bar... I was fortunate to know the bartender. They all knew me during my mildy famous days...(Kris Draper #33, and that is why we drink Rolling Rock during the Cup Run)...

    After the cup hoisting ceremony, I had to go let my Black lab mix Buskerdog, out for a pee break. I stumbled back to the van...I let him out...we jumped back in the van. As I mentioned before, I think I may have been overserved. I awoke a couple hours later to the sound of rapping on the window. at first I thought it may have been the raven, tap, tap, tapping, but alas it was the fuzz...

this is prolly how i looked when i opened the door....

     The officer, who also knew me from the days on the street as Saugatuck's Resident Busker,  asked me a couple questions that I think I may have drunken-mumbled responses. In the end I remember him saying that I could not stay the night in a public parking lot in the Saugatuck city limits... I think my reply was something about the WINGS winning the cup...I Know I said something about Stevie skating with it...

    He did not seem to overly enthused...he asked me to blow in a Breathalyzer...I reluctantly agreed...I mentioned that I was not driving and my keys were not in the ignition. I think he did not care. He said I blew under the legal limit and he asked me if I had a friend near by that I could drive to and crash in their drive way... I said I did... he told me to tell any other officers that may pull me over that I had already passed a breathalyzer...Fortunately it was not an issue...

    I guess I could have been arrested for being drunk in public, but I was not a nuisance, and was really not very exuberant by this time...I was very tired...wjatever...ossiffier...

     I pulled in to Bro Ro's drive and slept hard. I awoke the next morning to the sound of people and a gathering crowd. It was then that I remembered that bro Ro, was having a brunch , to which I had committed attendance... I rolled out of the van, stumble up to the door, walked in and asked if it was okay for me to grab a quick shower...Bro Ro mentioned something about a rough night...I mentioned the WINGS won the cup...

     I showered and ate like a king...I went to play my afternoon gig...as much as I would have thought I would have been hungover, I felt fine..Stevie and the WINGS won the Cup!!! It was a great day!!!

     As I stood on the stage in the gazebo, and knocked out a couple of tunes, I felt the world was all right... Nothing could piss me off today...I had purchased the papers to save and the ones to read...STEVIE had done it...I had celebrated like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders as well...

     Stevie is now running the show for the Lightening, in Tampa Bay... I wish him luck...I wish him well...except when and if the lightening and the WINGS ever happen to meet in the Cup Finals...then Stevie...I still love ya but I gotta hate ya for this series...I guess he had to do what he had to do...but once a WING always a WING...except Hossa...he's a bum...Good luck Stevie...I think you will be back when Kenny Holland retires...

     There are things in life that are more important than sports. many things. whatever...As a sports fan I live and die by my team... I know that there are things more important. I know that I will still have to pay the bills, long after the euphoria of a victory is over...whatever...one day, one series, and one epic game, one man lifting the city and franchise on his shoulders...I will miss you STEVIE, but I do understand...