Modernday sport needs a Lord Stanley

My heart is still in mourning over the soulless new york metropolitans, the organization, the players, and the stadium that will house them all seem empty to me...no heart...

I was looking for an uplifting distraction and I read this today...

"I have for some time been thinking that it would be a good thing if there were a challenge cup, which would be held from year to year by the leading hockey club in Canada. There does not appear to be any outward sign of a championship at present, and considering the interest that hockey matches now elicit, I am willing to give a cup which shall be held annually by the winning club."

So mused Lord Stanley of Preston in 1892, at a sports banquet in Ottawa. The following year Canada's governor-general was true to his word, purchasing a silver bowl for $50 and naming it the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup. Hockey folks went with a less formal designation, the Stanley Cup.
The first winner was a Montreal team that finished atop the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada, considered the best league going at the time. But in its early years, the prize was not exclusive to one hockey league, nor was it meant to be. It was a challenge cup, changing hands in much the same way as a boxing title. Contenders issued challenges, and the champions held the Cup for as long as they could fend off all comers. Independent trustees ensured that legitimate challenges were met on a regular basis.
In later years, as professionalism swept the game, it was accepted that the Stanley Cup could not remain exclusive to amateur teams. The Stanley Cup officially turned pro in 1910, when the National Hockey Association took possession of it. But it was not until 1926 that the National Hockey League emerged indisputably as the top league in North America, effectively taking control of the Cup. That control was formalized in an agreement signed with the Cup trustees in 1947.


Awesome story... 'as professionalism swept the game'...ugghhh more like a plague that steals the soul of sport...but at least the cup is a legacy that can't be torn down....

I haven't even been to a hockey game in like 6 years...and the only players I know on the Islanders are DiPietrio, because he's the goalie and Comrie, because he is old and the Capetian...but I just know the names... I used to really like it and go to games a lot in high school. Its not as important as baseball of course, but then again, it doesn't hurt as much when they suck because you're not expecting much...

anyway...

Nothing that resembles what Lord Stanley proposed truly exists anymore.....and it made me think about the issuance of a 'challenge' and playing for love of the game and for honor and striving for personal best and team work...every sport is so corrupt now...but I think hockey has it right...for the most part...because the market isn't as big as the other major sports in the US and Canada, at least not in a baseball town like NY...but in general the players make much less than your A-Rod's and Ramirez's who travel from team to team seeing who will pay the most...you don't see that as much in hockey...look at the greatest players in recent times...most played for one or two teams...'the great one', messier, limieux, jagr, roy, bossy, borque, trottier, federov(okay like 90s players or Isles guys because that is all I know...and federov is a major dirtbag...but whatever) they didn't move around as much as free agents, just two or three teams...maybe because hockey is less about the individual performance and much more focused on everyone one working together on the ice than other sports...

Anyway....the point is, I loved this little piece on the Stanley Cup...I picture Lord Stanley wearing a monocle while saying it and I picture frozen guys playing on ponds for the ultimate bragging rights....and that makes me happy :) :)




TANGENT

I have been thinking about hockey to distract myself from baseball...although I am rooting for an all Chicago World Series. I'm rooting for the Cubs, I love seeing 'curses' broken, and the Sox already broke theirs...except when the rangers broke theirs, that was tooooo bad.... :(

Go Sox tonight....the Mets could have used some of the heart the Sox showed yesterday to push tonights playoff game. I hope they beat the Twins...I've lived in Minnesotta and seen their team and been to their trash bag of a stadium...they and it both suck and I'm not a fan...

I don't have any love for the White Sox either...but if you love baseball and your team doesn't make it...October= Fan Free Agency... It lacks heart, but the players do it...why can't we?

Cubs winning the World Series??? hope so...lets face it they are the National League's best shot this year...we have to salvage something...maybe the Angels will get team food poisoning or something...