Ten Reasons I Am Proud to be a Pens Fan…

Last night the Pittsburgh Penguins fell just short of taking the contest into overtime for a second straight game. So ended their fantastic hockey season. As with any fan-base, there will be those who boo and howl about the loss, but I am proud to stand separate from them for lots of reasons. Here are some:

  1. Those young players played their hearts out right up until the end.
  2. The victories in the playoffs and in the championship series were team efforts, not the work of just a few.
  3. They were beaten by a great franchise, not by the Flyers.
  4. They gave us a great season, providing great entertainment for their fans for months.
  5. They didn’t whine in the post-game interviews.
  6. Geno stuck with it, playing hard in spite of being shut out one game after another.
  7. Two words: Sydney Crosby.
  8. Jágr does not wear the black and gold.
  9. Two words: The Flower.
  10. I actually am from the area my team calls home.

I can’t wait until next year.

Now — bring on the NFL. GO STILLERS!

6 thoughts on “Ten Reasons I Am Proud to be a Pens Fan…

  1. Obviously, I cannot resist a couple of comments.

    I whole-heartedly agree with your #’s 1-4. Pens played hard, as a team, against a great franchise, which made for a very entertaining series.

    I also agree with your #’s 6-10 Geno played despite (as we now know) suffering from the flu in Games 1 & 2, Sydney played really well despite (as we now know) suffering from sore ribs and groin – refreshingly distinct from Jagr, Fleury played incredibly well, and Pittsburgh natives should cheer for their Pittsburgh teams.

    However, to suggest that the Pens didn’t whine in the post-game interviews (while later suggesting that Wings coach Mike Babcock whined “almost as often” as Pens coach Therrien) must be corrected.

    All Therrien did after games 1 & 2 were to whine. With plenty more after the other 4 games. This may be considered good coaching – somehow to motivate his team and bring the refs into question. All of which seemed to pay off especially with an increase in ridiculous calls of goalie interference in games 3, 4 & 5; and made it an exciting 6 game series instead of 4 straight shut-out losses.

    The Pens players may not have whined much in post-game interviews, but they did plenty of it during the game.

    And as I mentioned to you all in watching the games, Pittsburgh commentators do so much whining that it just seems to suck in the fans, coaches and players.

    Now for the log in my own eye. I am now whining about the whining. And, I am watching the game in Western PA with Pens fans et al. I’m sure that if I were watching FSN Detroit, instead of FSN Pittsburgh, I would have heard more whining from the Wings.

    On the whole, I agree with your final assessment – that “the off-ice demeanor of both teams was admirable.”

    I watched the game with my wife and two older daughters – and we pointed out the great sportsmanship of both teams. Watching guys who had battled for 6 games shake hands and smile sincerely at each other’s efforts was fantastic to see – and so remarkably different than the NBA.

  2. I am tempted to whine about your whining about the whining. 😉 I do it so well!

    Nice having lunch with you and George and Tim today!

  3. The worst part about Pittsburgh fans is their tendency to throw one-time-favorites under the bus when things go bad. Call it the Terry Bradshaw/Kordell Stewart/Jaromir Jagr syndrome. I KNOW they all acted like turkeys, but still — Mario couldn’t even make the playoffs for 7 years until Jagr showed up.

    As promised, I finished my top ten list. I put this series at 10 (it was pretty exciting), and left the baseball at #1.

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