Imagine this. Things are going well. You’ve got some tenured seniors. You ran up the score on your conference. You’re on your way to a #1 NCAA Tournament seed.
And then you watched your not-our-rival-little-brother beat your arch nemesis Duke. You laugh.
Then you watch your not-our-rival-little-brother beat UVA in an OT thriller. You laugh.
Hilarious right? A gassed NC State team playing its 5th game in 5 days is all that stops you from claiming a title. You laugh.
You have an 84% win probability rate at the tip off. You laugh. Eat some cheese. Sip your wine and put on your gaudy golden Tar Heel belt buckle. You laugh some more.
And then you watch your team get dismantled by the gassed, 5th game in 5 days, not-our-rival-little-brother. You watch them cut down the nets. Your old coach is in the stands, not laughing.
Your laughing stops too.
One of the funniest quotes from ‘The Dynasty’. Matt Cassel on Belichick in the film room:
“One time I don’t see a corner blitz and I get absolutely annihilated.
Belichick comes in and he says, ‘Cassel, can we figure out the corner blitz? Because I don’t wanna have to write your mother a letter that says: Dear Mrs. Cassel, We’re sorry to inform you that your son is dead – because he’s a dumbass and didn’t see the corner blitz.’”
Hockey is just the most fascinating blend of “suck it up, be a man and play through that broken leg” and “that fucker took a hard shot on our empty net. This has hurt our feelings. He must die.”
A reporter asked Sidney Crosby if there's a problem with hockey's culture. Crosby said he didn't think this huge scrum of "15-second soundbites" was a good venue for such a topic, and said he'd be happy to talk privately with the reporter after. Then he actually did. Good on him.