Not About The Bike

This is the first blog in ages, and it isn't about the bike...it's about Hockey.

Let's preface this by stating what most already know about me:  I'm an Edmonton Oilers fan.  My earliest memory of Oiler fandom is 3rd grade.  I distinctly remember a classmate and I lying to one another about "being at Mark Messier's house last night" or that we "played video games with Jari Kurri and Bill Ranford."  Brutally dishonest and weird claims by a pair of 8 year olds in 1990 -the year the Oilers won their last cup.  Odd stuff.  Comparatively, my earliest memory as a Laker fan was in 6th grade, and Denver Broncos recollections are early (around the time of Tecmo Super Bowl, NES) but without as solid a foundation as my adoration for the Oil.  How'd I come to be a fan?  Not sure exactly, have some theories, but I will say it had nothing to do with being blasted by LA Kings marketing -which is very simple when geared towards impressionable kids.  I somehow missed that boat, and became an Oiler fan.  Odd/hazy origin story, but one i'm proud of, and part of why it's so fun for me to be a fan of the team.

I write this to take a break from the social media shit-storm that's made it difficult to accurately express how it feels to watch this inexplicably successful Kings playoff run.  I never hated the Kings.  Dustin Brown I hate.  He is a piece of filth, who I wish was an Oiler, but everyone else?  They're solid guys.  Jon Quick is having a post-season for the ages, and the Kings are riding him and their anemic offense (until today, I guess) to a Stanley.  The Oilers were also an 8 seed, 2006, also riding a super-hot Conn Smythe lock in Duane Roloson...then this happened:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTUyFgPr6P8 So yes, I am a bit envious of how fortunate the Kings have been.  That, and Dustin Brown is a classless goon who I predict will ruin the Kings after signing a massive extension next season -but who cares? A decade of mediocrity is worth a Stanley, easily.

I salute the die-hard Kings fans.  Those who cheered the team emphatically through the NUMEROUS thin years -which up until @#^$#%!ing May, included 2012!  Pancaeks Penner was a healthy scratch for a month straight almost!  What's cemented my unwillingness to cheer for the Kings is a very special type of bandwagoner, whom i'll label "poser die-hard".  This distinct group has come out of the woodwork and proclaimed to be a "Life Long Super Die Hard ULTRA fan" of the team.  No, you are not.  You couldn't be begged to go to a Kings game for $0 for the last decade, easily, and suddenly you're putting yourselves above the cute and fresh bandwagoners?  Silly.  I will not stand with these people.  May the Kings burn in hell in 2012-13.  When the teams battle in the fall, I vow to cheer the Oil louder than ever, which will probably warrant getting kicked out of Staples Center (or at least my section).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nail_Yakupov