Post by Old Bucks Admin on Jan 26, 2012 8:23:05 GMT -5
Week 16 was preceded by the AFC Championship game—the New England Patriots vs. the Baltimore Ravens. It interested us inasmuch as it seemed less like a football game and more like a parable of Old Bucks hockey. Take New England, with their legendary offense led by an All-American quarterback with matinee idol looks—sounds just like Red and Bob Freiling. On the other hand Baltimore’s tenacious defense evokes Blue with Rich Cerbone the closest approximation to the do-ragged, gangsta-rapping Ray Lewis. When we left our home there were 4 minutes left in the game, Baltimore was down 23-20 and had just completed a pass to bring them within field goal range. We were excited. We felt this “down to the wire” ending a good omen, as if one good game foreshadowed another.
We were wrong. Week 16 was a fiasco in every sense of the word, a blowout marked by Blue’s complete subjugation at the hands of Red. Our analysis begins with the turnout, not normally an index of how close a game will be. But this was different. Championship Sunday had siphoned players from both benches, but Red’s need was more acute. With no Mike Robbins and no Millens Kenny was in a panic. He acted on instinct, raiding Blue and whisking away three players: Jim Heffern, Brian Urban and Bill Hamill, arguably changing the tide of battle before the first shot had even been fired. Blue missed Brian and Bill; Jim whom they’ve made a pariah because he hogs the puck so much—not so much. Regardless, all three players had to undergo instant deBlueification—a kind of exercise in ego detachment where the player focuses on the bars of his cage and repeats the mantra, “Kenny knows best. Kenny knows best.” When each player was done, his devotion and allegiance was beyond question.
Red led the game from the outset; early goals by Bob Freiling, Hughie and Brian Urban ensured this was so. Red played strong at both ends of the ice and Hughie’s white shirt and Huck Fairman’s orange shirt perfectly disguised their trick of putting six attackers on the ice whenever they wanted to. Facing long odds, Blue just never “got it going”. They seemed tired, wrung out, their one bright spot Rich Devlin, who scored two goals for the first time in ages. Otherwise they found themselves on the business end of another Red drubbing. So upbeat after their cathartic win in Week 16, Blue relapsed into a simmering discontent, blaming Kenny for all their woes. This is the ugly side of Old Bucks, the side that elevates one team to the detriment of the other; that makes the blog itself as tedious as a twice-told tale. It’s no wonder Blue cut out early: Rich Devlin to watch the Giants, Paul Egan to celebrate his wife’s birthday, and Kevin Saunders because he was plain fed-up. Kevin stopped by the Red bench on his way out and gave Kenny a snootful; how much of this Kenny took to heart is not known. Suffice it to say there was no after party. The game adjourned on a solemn note and everyone went home.
We were wrong. Week 16 was a fiasco in every sense of the word, a blowout marked by Blue’s complete subjugation at the hands of Red. Our analysis begins with the turnout, not normally an index of how close a game will be. But this was different. Championship Sunday had siphoned players from both benches, but Red’s need was more acute. With no Mike Robbins and no Millens Kenny was in a panic. He acted on instinct, raiding Blue and whisking away three players: Jim Heffern, Brian Urban and Bill Hamill, arguably changing the tide of battle before the first shot had even been fired. Blue missed Brian and Bill; Jim whom they’ve made a pariah because he hogs the puck so much—not so much. Regardless, all three players had to undergo instant deBlueification—a kind of exercise in ego detachment where the player focuses on the bars of his cage and repeats the mantra, “Kenny knows best. Kenny knows best.” When each player was done, his devotion and allegiance was beyond question.
Red led the game from the outset; early goals by Bob Freiling, Hughie and Brian Urban ensured this was so. Red played strong at both ends of the ice and Hughie’s white shirt and Huck Fairman’s orange shirt perfectly disguised their trick of putting six attackers on the ice whenever they wanted to. Facing long odds, Blue just never “got it going”. They seemed tired, wrung out, their one bright spot Rich Devlin, who scored two goals for the first time in ages. Otherwise they found themselves on the business end of another Red drubbing. So upbeat after their cathartic win in Week 16, Blue relapsed into a simmering discontent, blaming Kenny for all their woes. This is the ugly side of Old Bucks, the side that elevates one team to the detriment of the other; that makes the blog itself as tedious as a twice-told tale. It’s no wonder Blue cut out early: Rich Devlin to watch the Giants, Paul Egan to celebrate his wife’s birthday, and Kevin Saunders because he was plain fed-up. Kevin stopped by the Red bench on his way out and gave Kenny a snootful; how much of this Kenny took to heart is not known. Suffice it to say there was no after party. The game adjourned on a solemn note and everyone went home.