I don't know who the referees are that have been assigned to tomorrow's Game 5 of the Red Wings-Dallas Stars series, but I suggest they utter something like this prior to dropping the puck, to both centers in the face-off circle at center ice:
"OK, we're Even Steven now, alright? Detroit, we let you have a goal that should have been disallowed earlier in the series. Dallas, we took one away from Detroit that should have counted. Everyone should be happy. Now let's play some hockey!"
The fact that Pavel Datsyuk's disallowed goal in Game 4 was so blatantly a make-up call for what happened in Game 1 somehow has eluded many in what my friend Big Al likes to call the MSM (Mainstream Media). Big Al's favorite columnist, Mitch Albom, wrote an entire chronicle of the disallowed goal -- the referee said that Tomas Holmstrom was in the crease when he clearly wasn't -- without once mentioning that it MIGHT have been a make-up call from Game 1, when Holmstrom's body was significantly in goalie Marty Turco's personal space. All Albom did was bellyache about the call, which without question was a turning point, wiping out a 1-0 Wings lead. But his omitting the obvious over-reacting by the zebras as being made in make-up fashion made me wonder if Albom had even seen Game 1 -- or had at least overheard a discussion about it at the Free Press water cooler. HA!! As if Albom has set foot in the Freep's building on West Lafayette even once in the past 15 years -- unless it was to have a check signed, or to be presented with another award based on popularity rather than skill.
Sorry -- I digress.
But it wasn't just Albom. The "make-up theory" didn't get much ink, at least not like it should -- especially when it appeared to be so blatant. Versus analyst Eddie Olczyk -- I like him a lot, by the way -- picked up on it as the Stars exhaled after the decision had been rendered.
"Maybe a make-up call from what happened in Game 1," Olczyk said. Ya think?
So, even up in the "goals disallowed" column. At least, it should be. Tonight's game should start with a clean slate. And Holmstrom should keep doing what he does best: camp out in front of the Stars' goal. Coach Mike Babcock has rightly announced that the Red Wings will keep doing what needs to be done, and that includes crashing the net. He's not going to let one bad call stop his team from playing its game.
By the way, Albom has been splitting himself in two lately, penning columns about the Red Wings and Pistons, sometimes on back-to-back days. Clearly, some things are falling through the cracks.
Oh, and I had a feeling the Red Wings would lose. The franchise record for consecutive wins is nine. They've reached it a few times over the recent years, never able to get that 10th straight win. It happened again this season. So when the playoff streak reached nine this week, I felt a disturbance in the force. So with that loss out of the way, expect a conference trophy presentation at JLA tomorrow evening.
2 comments:
Please tell me that when you say that your buddy, Big Al's, favorite columnist is Mitch Albom, you're being sarcastic. Because if I had a friend who named Albom as his favorite columnist, I would have one less friend.
As far as your digression into a rant about Albom, I kind of wish you'd gone further. I could go on for days about the many different things in his column that I hate, but I'll spare you that. However, I will tell you about a little game I play with myself while reading his columns (and this has gone on for about 10 years or so).
Think back a couple days ago to the column Al-bomb wrote after the Pistons eliminated Orlando. He repeated the phrase "sweet 6 team" a few times during the column. My game is to read the headline, the first line or two, and then try and figure out which "catch-phrase" he's going to make up and then repeat. He does that on almost EVERY column. It's so freaking irritating. He thinks he's so freaking clever. I honestly get so angry reading his columns that I wonder why I do. But just like you get psyched up to play the Avs or the Celtics because you hate them, I get psyched up to read Albom.
And on a side note, I think Hank Azaria is talented and funny. And he was even smart enough to dump Helen Hunt. But I can't say that I like him. Why? Because he played Albom in a movie.
Gawd, yes, I was being sarcastic. Just log on to Al's page, scroll down, and you'll see him tar and feather Albom yet again about a column he wrote re: empty seats in JLA.
Albom, I also suspect, stole some of my material for a Lions column about four years ago. More about that if you e-mail me.
YES, he repeats his little catch phrases. I, too, play that little game that you play. Very irritating.
BTW, if you like baseball, you might want to check out my baseball blog: www.enotalksbaseball.blogspot.com. Not sure if you know about that one.
Great to have you on board, Brian! You sound like my kind of guy!
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