Friday: I guess the difference this time (as opposed to the Super Bowl) was that there, I was expecting the Steelers to win, and would have been just crushed had they lost, and even after that Larry Fitz touchdown in the 4th still had plenty of faith. Friday, as I told Kevin, I had embraced that this, in all likelihood, wasn’t going to end good. 1971 since a NHL team won a game 7 on the road, 1979 since the Buccos won a game 7 on the road, 30 out of 32 times the team that goes up 2-0 wins….it just doesn’t happen that often. While I certainly hoped, and believed, the Pens would win, this was a lot different than the confidence I had before the Super Bowl.
My sweaty palms started before the game began (Suzanne got her chuckles at my expense, as again, I didn’t feel like eating because my stomach was churning around). Start the game sitting, but, about 30 seconds of that and I’m standing in the living room for the rest of it. Hockey, with the non-stop motion, is a lot different than football and the constant stopping and starting. I don’t care if it’s Dallas –vs- Anaheim….there is nothing better than a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The evening moves along, Matthew comes down and watches most of the 2nd period with us and is forced up to his room for bed as the 3rd period begins (it’s 10 pm, he has to run early Saturday, and he’s starting to be a noisy pest….but he can watch it in his room if he wants). Game goes on, and on, and after a final 6 minutes that were simply the most exciting hockey I’ve ever seen, the Pens win and life is good. Think I shouted ‘yes’, sat down (finally) and get ready to watch the Cup.
Matthew runs down the stairs, naked as a jay bird, gets to the bottom of the stairs and is jumping up and down “yes yes yes yes!”. Gets told to go put some pajamas on and comes back down (with pants) to celebrate!
Pull the computer out….go and catch up on Seth’s blog over at the Post Gazette, and type out the Facebook post I’ve been hoping against hope I would get to post.
Hossa (v) – 1. to give up a certain opportunity at greatness (ie, That guy, he could have been the President, but, he hossa’d it). 2. to disappear (ie, “Has anybody seen Marion lately?” “No, he hossa’d a few days ago.” 3. A noun: the Czech word for the German ‘Schaudenfruede’.
Turns out I misspelled schadenfreude. This post was a lot better than the one after game 5
hey, I can go to bed early tonight.....
But that post makes me laugh now…I had friends of mine from around here who I’ve never talked hockey with; never had them come up and ask why the boys and I wear Pens gear or joke that those colors are bad…those friends showed up on Saturday to post in glee and excitement as the Pens got hammered. I’ve resisted the urge to go and visit their pages…..
Stayed up until 1 am watching CBC and ESPN and the NHL Network and reading blogs and enjoying the win.
Saturday: Off to the zoo early for the Rhino Romp; a kids race to support the new rhino exhibit that is going to be built. Kevin stays at home to go to training with Mr. Hoffman…..more on that in a later post.
Wore my Letang jersey out to the race…..had at least 10 people come up and say “nice jersey”…I’m sure there were about a thousand more giving me evil looks, but, hey, I was going to wear it out (didn’t wear it Friday night…..Suzanne noticed this in the 3rd period and asked where it was….pointed out, silly as it was, that I had worn it for game 1 and 5, and those were two losses, so, it could stay in the closet for game 7.
Anyway, race begins with a kids sprint, and I caught Merissa as she raced for the finish line.
The main race began about 10 minutes after that. The boys are in aqua-blue shirts from last year’s Dino Dash, so, pretty easy to pick out at the start (the official shirt for the race is grey). Video has both start and finish….Matthew’s a good brother and slows down and lets Christopher catch up as they run through the zoo together.
The boys getting ready to run
Also got some footage of William as he started (spun back around after the boys went by and there he was….not much video, but, it’s there) and quite a bit as he finished. Completely missed Cathleen as she finished; she was right there in front of me and I thought Christine was running with her and looked for her as the visual cue and by the time I realized Cathleen was there it was too late. Oh well.
The run is done! May be the only time that there’s a picture with Matthew and Christopher having shorter ‘cuts than William.
about the same as before, except for that crazy smile on the end!
We stayed and walked around the zoo after that. Had a good time, it was overcast and cool so the animals were out. The zoo has a new bird exhibit; 500 birds in an enclosure and you can buy seed sticks for a dollar and have them land on you and eat. It’s really cool if you’re in the enclosure and the birds, en masse, decide to go from one end to another….they zip by you and you get quite a breeze as they go by. Definitely the highlight of this visit.
this gray bird is twice as big as the others in the exhibit and certainly surprised Mom when it came in for a snack.
Mom and Christopher feeding the fowl
some love birds…the green one was really going at it!
Matthew had a hard time staying still when the birds claws would get on his skin.
and the one who wants to be a zoo keeper just had a great time!
the lion was moving around quite a bit today; that’s always good.
The other residents of Mid-Michigan who were happy with the win last night!
