o Blackhawks winning this year's Stanley Cup Championship. Ice hockey may not be your favorite sport but I have to confess that I enjoy watching it. Last Friday they had the huge victory parade in downtown Chicago and I had it up on my computer in a little box streaming it live. I grew up in rural Louisiana and we did not receive very many stations to watch. In fact, we mostly only had one unless the clouds were just right or a storm sent something different our way. When that happened we felt like we were receiving signals from a foreign land like Lufkin or Beaumont. We did get the ice hockey game of the week each Saturday and I became a fan even as a kid. Maybe it was the thought of ice when we lived in an almost tropical climate; or perhaps it was the thought of flying across the ice at unbelievable speeds; or slamming into people with collisions similar to what you see on the highway; or maybe it was that huge curved stick that could be used to make a shot on goal or hit your opponent over the head; or the announcer dude that talked at least 1,000 words per second and made the game breathless, not only to himself but also to those watching, whatever, can't be sure, but I was a fan.Fast forward to today's version of the game and you see what you see in most professional sports. The at
hletes are huge. They tell us the Stanley Cup is the most difficult championship to win in all of professional sports. Why? The grueling grind of 250 pound, 6 foot, 5 inch muscled up guys hitting each other head on at 40 plus mph, not just once but day after day, week after week, and then even more so during the playoffs. It is truly a survival sport but one that demonstrates skill, agility, strength, and sheer determination about as well as any sport around. I know the football folks would argue each and every point I've mentioned and the baseball people would say what about the variety of skills required to play at their highest level. Then basketball would have its say and don't forget about the emerging strength of soccer as it grows in popularity here in our country. To me, it's an individual matter, but ice hockey is not for the faint of heart. Finding a ice hockey player that still has his real teeth is about as rare as finding a good set of molars in a crowded hen house. I am only able to watch it on a hit and miss basis but I do try to catch up with it during the playoffs and championship finals. For Chicago, it's been forty one years since they have hoisted the cup and the city has gone bananas. And, why not? They have huge problems in Chicago especially with what may be the greatest amount of political corruption per square inch of any major city in the world. Remember, that's where our current President learned the ropes and many observers say he and his team are trying to bring that same style to the entire nation. Whatever, the people that buy tickets are certainly entitled to enjoy this brief respite from 2 hour newscasts needed just to read the crime reports, and I do not begrudge them their joy.Of course, our politically correct society most likely will file a class action suit to get the name changed of the Chicago franchise. It's become archaic and insensitive to have teams with names that carry an American Indian logo. Hey, even the animals have formed their own lobby group to try and get their names off of sports teams. We have become one huge group of offended people and it's quickly leading us to an institutionalized sense of helpless victim hood. We see it on every corner of life and the results are devastating as it becomes bred into our psyche. I well remember the image on the screen of Ted Turner and his then wife, Jane Fonda, sitting in the stands watchin
g the Atlanta Braves, and both of them doing the famed tomahawk chop along with the huge crowd in cheering on their team. The team at that time was owned by Ted Turner. What made this funny to me was the fact that these are two of the most liberal wackos on the planet and their chop chop for the cameras was about as politically incorrect as it comes. This just shows you how that one man's insult is another liberal team owner's opportunity to party. It once again comes down to how we are able to process and view the stuff that comes at us on a 24 hour basis. For me, I think we should do all we can never to intentionally offend, make fun of, are denigrate others. On the other hand, addressing any and all perceived issues should be done with a huge amount of common sense and balance or otherwise we will end up being not much more than robots who all look the same, are wired the same, and pretty much function in the same way. For now, I say congratulations to the Chicago Blackhawks! They showed up to play, they never gave up, and they stayed to the end. That's not a bad suggestion for us all! Amen. .......More later.
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