i haven't written about my beloved hurricanes. after my 3-1 "looks like we might actually win the cup" entry, the canes dropped two games to edmonton. not only do we have the cardiac cats, but apparently the cardiac canes.

i'm irritated tho. no one in charlotte cared about the canes. most don't even understand or know the game of hockey. but the canes have now managed to hand north carolina their FIRST professional championship. this state lives and breathes college sports, mainly basketball, and between nc state, wake forest, unc, and duke, we have owned the ncaa for decades.

the local media, the four local networks and the charlotte observer couldn't be bothered to report on the hurricanes. it was always unc and duke, nascar, the panthers, and the bobcats (before that, the hornets...and in your face george shinn, michael jordan has bought into the bobcats, while you can't sell tickets in new orleans, so once again, you want to move the team...fuck you shinn and your no talent hornets!) hell, the two minor league teams, the baseball charlotte knights and the ehl charlotte checkers, got more press than the hurricanes did.

being the old hartford whalers, the canes have just as many fans in connecticut.

now that the hurricanes have won the cup, you'd think everyone here was a consumate hurricanes fan. the local media can't stop talking about them. mayor mc crory must have hopped on the phone immediately after the game and begged the hurricanes to come to town because reports say that they are considering playing a pre-season game next year at bobcats arena.

even north carolina's bastard child, south carolina, is jumping on the bandwagon. the news showed some bar in sc where a northern non-carolina fan, was explaining the rules to the stupid sc folks. did you get that? they didn't even go to a sports bar in nc, they went to SC!

for the buffalo series and the first two games of the finals series, we went across the street to watch the game. initially, during the buffalo series, there were maybe two other people in there rooting the canes. there were more buffalo fans in there than hurricane fans. by the first two games of the finals, suddenly there were six to ten more people rooting the canes.

the same thing happened a few years ago when the canes made it to the finals against detroit. suddenly, these fair weather fans came out of the woodwork. they couldn't name one fucking team member, but they'd always been hurricane fans.

same thing happens during football season. if the panthers have a losing season, they can't GIVE tickets away. but once they start winning, you can't find a ticket anywhere.

hockey is not for the faint of heart. games change in .06 of a second. hockey has been around longer than both basketball and football, and it's not a game for fair weathered fans. true hockey fans stick by their teams regardless. whether they're winning or losing. just ask todd, a die-hard buffalo fan. he's had more heartache than joy, yet every year he's there rooting the sabres on.

the people of charlotte just need to stick with their beloved unc and duke teams. leave real sports up to the real fans. we don't need your wavering support.

and for those outside of carolina, who diss us and never give our professional teams the respect they not only deserve but EARN, let this be a lesson to ya. And let me mention three names: Michael Jordan, Mia Hamm and Marion Jones...all from North Carolina!

hell, the league did everything they could to help edmonton win with one lousy, cheap call after another, but the hurricanes did it their way, whatever it took, and it's the hurricanes, who in the end, lifted Lord Stanley's Cup!