Congratulations to all my fellow Rangers fans out there.
Last night, as many of you know, the Broadway Blueshirts became the first NHL—ever—to come back from a 3-1 deficit despite trailing in all three of the comeback games.
This is such a tremendous victory that our city's oldest professional ice hockey team is even making a run at St. Peter's basketball, in the total back covers standings.
Pretty cool—and, I have to admit, much better than I thought they'd do. After their initial, heartbreaking loss in triple overtime, at home, I figured that this Rangers season would end—like so many others—not with a bang but a whimper.
I was wrong.And now, in our juju-haunted world, the question arises: Does the rise of the Rangers have some greater meaning?
Could this be a sign of the End of Days?? (You know, besides all that incidental, worldwide plague, constant mass shootings, war in Ukraine, deteriorating climate, democracy in peril, bees no longer producing honey stuff.)
Or...could it be an omen for your New York Yankees, presaging some greater destiny come this October???
I dunno.
But being a Rangers Skeptic, and based on the whole, long history of MSG's cavalcade on ice, I expect that this gutsy, heart-stopping victory will be followed by...losing in four to the team formerly known as at the Boston Whalers.
And being a Yankees Skeptic, I suspect that our own Pinstripers' season will also likely end sooner than greater. But hey, we can always dream!
Thank you Hoss. I've been a Rangers fan since 1961. This year is starting to look special...
ReplyDeleteThe Rangers team this year has defied the pre-season prognosticators. This was supposed to be a rebuild season but someone they played well enough to have the 7th or 8th best record in the NHL this season. There are parallels to the 93-94 cup winning team. They have an identical W-L record. They have a 52 goal scorer as they did 28 years ago. They made timely deals at the deadline acquiring Motte, Copp, Vetrano and Braun similarly to the trades in 94 to get Craig MacTavish, Glenn Anderson, Stephane Matteau and Brian Noonan. They have one of the best goalies in the league with Igor as they did with Richter.
They are never out of a game. They don't play perfectly but they play good enough to have a puncher's chance. So they've made it to the second round which no one expected. They are playing with house money now and anything from this point on is gravy.
LGR!!!
MATTEAU !!!!! MATTEAU !!!!! MATTEAU !!!!! MATTEAU !!!!!
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ReplyDeleteWinnie...The best sports call in all NYC sports history by Howie Rose! I will cherish that as long as I live.
ReplyDeleteranger_lp...I started watching the Rangers in 60 or 61 because they had promos/commercials on WOR, channel 9 during the Saturday morning kiddie shows that I watched. I'd bet you did as well.
From 1994, I still have my NY newspapers in plastic from the next day and a souvenir mug wrapped in bubble plastic that the Post was selling.
Drury will get the credit but Davidson and especially Gorton deserve the praise for the turn around. Especially Gorton. He mad some of the best trades and draft picks in their history.
Horace....It was great when the Boston Whalers couldn't make it in the WHA because the Bruins so dominated that hockey market. Why? Well, that pushed Howard Baldwin to relocate the franchise to the "Arena in the Mall" in downtown Hartford. It was so great because Ranger fans could easily buy tickets, very good seats, to 4 games at the Civic Center each year. It got to the point where the crowd became top-heavy with Ranger followers. For me, it was an hour drive with little traffic unlike the trek on I-95 south through the Bronx and into heavily congested Manhattan streets.
Unfortunately for the Hurricanes, like my curse on George Steinbrenner and his quick demise thereafter, I now put the most fatal juju against that cocksucker, Peter Karamanos, who until a few years ago owned the team. He loudly proclaimed that he would keep the team in Hartford if they sold at least 11,000 season tickets which they did. The very next year that lying carpetbagger moved the team to Raleigh. He will now have to pay with his life!
It’s official, you’re bored with the Yankees winning so much. The Yankees are boring. Where’s the consensual rough sex? Where’s the look-the-other-way juiced players with 32” necks? Does anyone else recall the exciting era when Ortiz not only got regular shots in the ass, but also got shot in the DR? Hasn’t ANYONE masturbated in the dugout lately? Can someone please get an amateur pilots license? These white bread Yankees are enjoying a coke, when the yankees of old did coke. Mantle was a drunk and we don’t even have that!
ReplyDeleteClearly all this winning so boring that even the great John Sterling Blog is talking about… hockey.
Beau -
ReplyDeletePlease cut us some slack.
After all we're not talking about hockey. We're talking Playoff Hockey! I'll go one better, Successful Playoff Hockey!
You do realize that as die hard Yankee fans who are also Knick and Giant or Jet fans the average reader of this blog is STARVED for any kind of playoff success.
Last year we were all in on the Champion NYCFC and I don't even know what the name means. Something about soccer.
"Can someone please get an amateur pilots license" is Danny Thomas spit take worthy.
ReplyDeleteI know nothing about hockey and have never watched a game, but if an old NY team wins anything, I'm grateful.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry. What are Rangers? And what exactly is hockey?
Three base error by Joey, and Sevvy doesn't look great either.
ReplyDeleteTrevino, Trevino, it’s over the wall we go. Trevino, Trevino, Trevino!
ReplyDeleteBack to back…belly to belly…
ReplyDeleteNobody beats the Riz!? NOBODY BEATS THE RIZ!?
ReplyDeleteTHE MASTER IS GENIUS!!
Fuck.
If he comes up with a money store themed HR call, that will complete my bucket list.
ReplyDeleteRanger, I hope you know how triggered I feel by the back to back , belly to belly. I feel so nasty and dirty now.
ReplyDeleteThe Faucet is not good. Why is he being entrusted with closing games?
ReplyDeleteChappie is in playoff form.
ReplyDeleteYankees Win!!!
ReplyDeleteBoy, does Torrents ever suck.
ReplyDeleteGoing back to what Beau said earlier. I lived in the building that Cory Lidle eventually flew into. I moved out a few years prior to the accident. Lidle was flying up the East River in dense fog below the height of the bridges and buildings and the flying instructor was like, "So how many Yankee players have killed themselves flying? Yeah, just take the left onto 72nd crosstown ... "
ReplyDeleteThe Orioles have put "the home run chain" on Santander. An odd celebration.
ReplyDeleteBut you know, this is the difference between Yankees fans and the rest. I would FUCKING hate it if I rooted for Baltimore, and their players did shit like this.
"Hey, you guys have seriously contended 3 times in the last 25 years, and you've come with cute little rituals? Fuck you all. Take up cute things to do when you win some ballgames, you fucking fucks."
Or, you know, something like that.
Ho hum, Yankees win again. Did we move to the NBA? What's with this record?
ReplyDeleteWe are all going to suffer exquisitely before this is over. Mark my bitter words.
Win, that's a good story. I felt bad when Lidle crashed. He was a valuable part of the rotation at the time, if I remember correctly. Such a waste.
ReplyDeleteHoss, the Orioles haven't had a winning culture in a long, long time. That the kind of crap that happens when you expect to suck. Which helps to make you suck.
And Beau, what's more, no Yankees manager has challenged a player to a fight for 45 years! Wussies.
ReplyDeleteStill, I never get bored with winning.
A great man once warned us, we'd be sick and tired of winning.
ReplyDeleteCarl Weitz, I remember those Boston days. The city was hockey-mad. Before the Whalers, they started an AHL team they called the Boston Braves...that used to sell out! When the Bruins or the Celtics weren't playing in the Boston Garden, they'd schedule the Braves.
ReplyDeleteThe Whalers put an end to that but yeah, they couldn't compete with the Bruins. And it WAS horrible what they did to Hartford, a town that's been struggling for a long time to bring itself back.
In general, hockey should NEVER be played below the Mason-Dixon Line.
Whose idea was it to make Beltran part of the broadcast team? Just horrible.
ReplyDeleteThat is a truly terrifying speculation, Warbler...but pretty funny.
ReplyDeleteI remember that 1994 playoff well. I had foolishly made plans to go down to New Mexico and visit my sister and her husband. The state is amazing, they were terrific hosts, etc.
But it was right in the middle of the epic, Rangers-Knicks dual fight for the championships. Every night, I was trying to glean information from local TV sportscasters who could not have cared less.
The final game against the Devils, some bored, smirking guy down there ended his broadcast by saying, "And in hockey, the Rangers were leading until the last eight seconds, when New Jersey tied the game, and then won it in overtime."
I had a stroke. The next day I woke up, looked at the Taos Times or something like that, and it told the real story. It was like waking up from a terrible dream or something, just unreal.
Too bad that couldn't have happened in 2004.
Meanwhile, down on the farm….the Tampa affiliate struck out 24 TIMES in their loss the other night. Not a typo, they were led by 4 k’s by Jason Dominguez. Our future seems assured!
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, down on the farm....we won again EVEN THOUGH I PURCHASED MLBTV at 50% off a few days ago! This could mean the end of days people. Better watch your favorite Johnny Depp movie ASAP because whether or not you Amber Heard - this SHIT'z gunna get real, real quick. Gotta better know your Banker 'cause its time to withdraw all your paper money and invest in Tampons because you're going be called on to stop the bleedin . . . . wait a second. I've just got a call from the dairy farmers union on line six. Gotta take it. Be strong People.
ReplyDeleteI just read an article on si.com that was tremendously insulting to Donaldson, Gallo, Kiner-Falefa and Hicks right the subhead line.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.si.com/mlb/2022/05/16/yankees-notebook-the-opener
The sub headline was “They are a club without an obvious flaw”. How dare SI imply these four fine fellows are not obvious. Are they now collectively Mr. Cellophane? Can ya look right through them? Walk right by them? Not even know their name? I’d prefer that, but it’s not true at all. Shame on SI
Verducci is a toad. Pretty much all of his writing is crap as poorly researched as that.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of another piece of historically bad sports "journalism":
https://nesn.com/2011/01/2011-red-sox-will-challenge-1927-yankees-for-title-of-greatest-team-in-major-league-history/
That story never gets old. So many gems included in it. For example the phrase "healthy Ellsbury". Shame they removed the comment section.
Publius...you omitted the word "con" between great and man. No doubt a miscue on your part.
ReplyDeleteAlright, Horace. A great Rangers win!
ReplyDeleteThat WAS one for the ages, Rufus. And even before the rise of Babe Benitendi.
ReplyDeleteGood times.