Whining, Conspiracies, Bad Officiating... OH MY!

I shouldn't have done it. I always regret it when I do. But come on! You know you cannot pass by an accident on the freeway without taking a peek. If you say you can, you are lying. You don't want to do it, you get mad at other drivers for doing it, but when it comes to your turn... you look.

So, I was reading my favorite fan blog , Fear The Fin, this morning when someone mentioned a lot of whining going on in Detroit (or by Detroit fans) over the officiating. And there was a link. If there wasn't a link I could have held strong and not been tempted to search out RW fans and read about their views of the game and how the series is going so far. I mean, I pretty much know what their view is right now. Not good right? I wouldn't like to be down 2-0 in a series. I would be a mess. I would probably be vowing to not watch game 3 thinking that I must be the one bringing them bad luck. I would have been curled up in a ball last night not reading any media coverage. I guess I would probably, to some extent, be complaining about the officiating as well.

Suffice to say I didn't want to click on the link. I really didn't. I had no real need to. My Sharks won and that should be enough for me. I didn't want to get ahead of myself and start believing that we can't lose or that we have this series in hand. I want to keep that edge by believing the bottom could come out at any minute and that this could potentially be yet another play-off fail as in years past. But there was a link. One click, no work to do on my part, someone had already done it for me. So? I clicked. Here is what I learned:

1. Red Wings fans are funny. Not in the quick-witted or humorous kind of way, but in the tin-foil-hat-wearing-sort-of -brain-washed-drank-to much-Kool-Aid-at-the-last-cult/AA-meeting-sort-of-way.
2. Some of them believe there is a conspiracy against the Wings by the league's commissioner Gary Betteman. Seriously? Can he really control whether a team wins or loses? Really? If he was after the Wings then how did they get by Phoenix in the last round? If no one would watch a "non-Wings conference final or Stanley Cup Final" then wouldn't it be in the best interest of the commissioner to manipulate a RW victory? Maybe this is all part of the drama to ensue an epic comeback by the RWs and really get everyone's juices flowing. Wow. I wonder if he knows how much power he has. He is like Superman!
3. Bad officiating loses games. It doesn't matter how many face-offs you win/lose, how many shots you take, how many opportunities you create for yourself by out-playing/hustling the other team or, and this is important, the fact that the REFEREES DON'T PUT ANY PUCKS IN THE NET FOR EITHER TEAM. None of that matters, however, because according to my research reading RW fans' opinions and reactions, if you lose it is the referees fault. Good to know. I wish I knew that during the Colorado series. It could have explained a lot.
4. RW fans will be forever entitled because of their long history. Are they entitled? Absolutely. Their history speaks for itself. Their championship runs are unmatched. They are scary good and deserve all accolades thrown their way. With that being said... entitlement doesn't win games. Just ask the Sharks. Just because they should win doesn't mean they will if they don't bring their heart and soul to the ice. This series will go to the team who wants it the most. Not to the team who "should" or is "entitled" to win. And, yes that goes both ways. If the Sharks don't bring it and leave it all out on the ice... they will lose.

If I ever start to sound like a RW fan (other than those who actually put accountability on their team's performance) then please shoot me. If we are still winning 20-30 years from now and get caught underperforming in a game or series I guarentee it will be on our players or on the opposing players for being the better team and not a conspiracy against the Sharks or bad officiating.

You have to win despite the calls on the ice. Sometimes it just isn't your night. Sometimes it just isn't your time. Sometimes you need to grow up and accept the knocks which ever way they go. Sometimes you need to go back in history and actually learn from it instead of expecting it to repeat itself because that is the way it should be.

Sometimes you should just keep driving and not look at that accident on the road.

Go Sharks!