The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

Pro sports should be nothing more than a momentary diversion, an entertainment, something you can enjoy for a few hours before heading back to your everyday life. But sometimes it isn't, and you can end up like me, someone who talks about it, blogs about it, and revolves his schedule around the next game that's on TV. And we'll still do it even though it's no longer fun.

Two Saturdays ago, at a small party for infants, I turned on the radio to see how the afternoon Sens-Bruins game was going, and was quick to hear a 3-0 lead by the Bruins. As a "you got to be kidding me" thought ran across my brain, Boston scored another goal to make it 4-0. "What's the score SBP?" was asked. A flurry of f-bombs followed with the answer 4-0, not feeling too bad about my cursing as I figured anyone under the age of one didn't understand what I was saying. Then another question came forward, "Why do you bother watching, all you do is get stressed about it?"

I have been looking forward to this year's playoffs since Anaheim took game 5 last June. I thought to myself, now the Sens have taken the second-to-last step before going all the way. They now have the experience, GM Bryan Murray is savvy enough to know what tweaks need to be made to put together a Stanley Cup champion, the core group is still under contract and we as their fans can reap the rewards. But as we all know, what started off as a dream season has turned into a nightmare, where the Ottawa Senators have been one of the weakest teams in the NHL since the New Year, with no one reason emerging. It could be just one or the sum of these problems: The Ray Emery fiasco, the firing of John Paddock, the "Stanley Cup hangover", the revolving door injuries of Alfredsson, Heatley and Spezza amongst other things. Bottom line, they're clear underdogs, and no one, myself included, thinks they'll get out of the first round.

But...this doesn't mean I'm still not a fan. And it doesn't mean I won't be watching. I'll cheer them on as I always do, but for the first time in years, they'll be expected to lose. So I'm going to try to look at it as optimistically as I possibly can, try to have as much fun as possible while I watch, and not get too upset if they lose. Look at this way:

1) The East is up for grabs. It's the weaker conference.
2) Ottawa is 3-0-1 against Pittsburgh this season
3) I have as much faith in Fleury as I do with Gerber in goal.
4) Everyone is expecting Pittsburgh to win. The pressure is all on them.
3) Playoffs are a new season; it's like a fresh start.

Penguins in five. Hey, I'm being realistic, especially with Alfie, Fisher and Chris Kelly out for at least a few weeks. But I want to be there when my Sens win that one game.