I was showering the other day, getting ready for a night out. You’re welcome for the sexy visual.
It was an hour or two before Game Three of the Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Finals and, unlike Rangers fans, I wanted to make sure I smelled my very best. A clean hockey fan is a happy hockey fan.
I stood there under the comfort of the warm, flowing water when I looked to the three plastic containers of liquid soap that sat on the towel rack in front of me. SportsChump doesn’t use Irish Spring or Lever 3000 bar soap like your average blogger. I prefer a far more fragrant lifestyle. In one container, a white, coconut aloe soap called my name. In another, a red, pomegranate soap looked appealing. In a third, a blue, ocean breeze soap sat nearly empty. All were viable options.
I questioned which one to use. They would all get the job done but, I thought for a split second, the Lightning wear blue. Reaching for the red soap, I immediately changed my mind, thinking using the wrong color soap might bring me, and the Lightning, bad luck.
As a forty-six year old man, I almost convinced myself that the soap I used before game time had absolutely no bearing on the outcome of the game. That reasoning would not fly. I used the blue soap.
While getting dressed after toweling off – again you’re welcome for the visual – I planned out my wardrobe. The last time I wore my gray Lightning t-shirt to a game, the team lost Game Four of the Montreal Canadiens series. That shirt would stay in the dresser drawer. I looked to the comfort of the navy blue button down I had worn to our last victory. Oddly enough, I found a nice black/blue striped button down hanging in my closet I had never worn before. Lightning colors. Surely it was a sign.
These are the thoughts that go through the heads of perfectly rational human beings when it comes to sports. I know I’m not alone.
Mother of SportsChump tells a story of how, as a child, she would walk around the house as my grandfather watched his sports. Grandfather of SportsChump was a huge sports fan and heavy gambler. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, the only difference being he probably won most of his wagers. If she walked past him and the team he wagered on would suddenly take the lead, she wasn’t allowed to leave his side for the rest of the game.
We all have our lucky items, our shirts, hats, jackets, pants, socks, underwear. Yes, underwear. I only wear blue boxer briefs to Gator home games. We eat certain meals on game day, sit a certain way on the sofa for game time or sleep on a particular side of the bed the night before.
We have no scientific proof these things matter yet we still do them. We’re sports fans.
Such behavior is ridiculous and inexplicable. As I grow older, I tell myself what soap, shirt, hat or skivvies I wear have absolutely bearing on the outcome of the game I’m about to watch. How could it?
All I’m saying is I used the blue soap, wore the new shirt and the Lightning won the game. So you draw your own conclusions.
The Lightning are laying down a can of whup @ss at present .
Okay… now give your fanatical readers some insight into your good luck habits when YOU personally are looking to score! (This ought to be good)…
Lightning have looked pretty good so far, Al.
Let’s see if they can seal the deal.
You’ll have to wait for the book, Dwin, although that would certainly be a good way to increase site traffic.
Being in attendance at that second period was insane. It was a chance to laugh at Rangers fans for how weak their team was for fifteen minutes
Chris
The way the Lightning have been playing in this series , I can’t see them becoming complacent ! Stamkos is proving that he is a leader one of the elite players in the NHL .
No one man is an island ? Belichick has just cast Brady out adrift without a life-jacket and raft , concerning Deflate-Gate.
Your thoughts on the lopsidedness of the conference finals in the NBA ?
Greg…
They certainly got even with us last night.
Damn, that was ugly.
That’s my main concern with this Lightning team, Al. The ability to put teams away.
In Games Two and Three, they looked far superior to the Rangers.
So what the hell happened in Game Four?
Awwwwwww …. I love this post!
Great pix. Thx 4 the shout-out 4 me & yr Grandpa Jerry. I know he’d be proud of you SC. I only wish you both could sit & watch & scream at the TV set/sports games together.
Two peas-in-a-pod. Yup… its in the blood. 🙂
Great post & keep on showering the way you are… cause the score is Lightening 3-to-2 …so its working!!! 🙂
Keep showering.
Always good advice.
Glad you liked the post.
I showered again, with the blue soap, to ensure victory right after the Lightning went up 2-0.
There’s not much left so I’ll save the rest for Game Six.
ha ha. Good call!
Yes, it was a wonderful post! And you KNOW I love that pix of you & your Grandpa Jerry (I took that pix!). Two of my very favorite people on this earth!!
And how adorable were you (I ask the all the SC fans out there …) oh yeah!
So yes, showering is good. Now we need to figure out of the amount of “blue soap” used … has a correlation with the size of the win?
Lather up but save some in case we have a few more games? ha ha
Love my SC.
The term fan is short for fanatic. Sports is passion. Gotta love it….Even if wacks like you go all Rainman over it.
We all have our things…I refuse to own a stitch of green clothing. Could care less that I get pinched every St. Patty’s Day. My Lakers blood won’t allow it and I have no shame in admitting it…Quite the opposite actually.
Love Stevie. I remember my old man playing this song with his band growing up and my mom playing the Songs in the Key of Life record over and over on the weekends. A true artist if ever there was one.
I was listening to morning radio a few weeks ago while driving to work and they we’re dissecting Stevie’s classic song Superstition. Breaking down and playing each instrument track piece by piece with no other elements. Drums, guitars, horns, keyboard and vocals played individually isolated and then with the full track. Little snippets to see how it all blends together to create a modern masterpiece.
What really blew my mind was that Stevie wrote and played every single instrument except the horns.
I have a whole new appreciation for his genius.
Unfortunately we have only one more game to see if we can advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Fortunately I have a little blue soap left.
Here’s wishing us luck.
Stevie is insane, Bleed.
Not quite as insane as you for not owning any green in your wardrobe but insane nonetheless.
Don’t judge me, lol
No shame in it man….Fuck the Celtics.
Guess you weren’t all that sad to see Doc Rivers get bounced either.
By any chance, did you happen to catch Jamie Foxx’s Doc impression on Jimmy Fallon?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGidYBqBHVw
You don’t have to watch the whole thing. The John Legend bit is pretty good and the Doc Rivers is towards the end. Pretty damn funny.
It’s not Blake’s fault.
Until this series, I had never noticed how efficient a NHL hockey game is, when there are no penalties. Fights are the reason that many residents of Tampa Bay have ever attended a hockey game. But when there are no stoppages in play for penalties, the stress and anxiety really starts to disappear from my body.