No professional team in either Carolina has ever won a championship.
The Carolina Hurricanes have a shot tonight. In their own barn.
The folks in Carolina are used to college championships. The University of North Carolina and Duke have won multiple basketball titles. Even North Carolina State won one. (Once.)
But the pros? Nope.
Tonight is their chance.
My running commentary during the game follows –
The Canes play in the RBC Center. That stands for “Royal Bank of Canada.” Why does the Royal Bank of Canada sponsor a building on Tobacco Road?
And isn’t Canada free of the yoke of the British Monarchy? Why do they have a “royal” bank anyway?
Wouldn’t the “Phillip Morris Arena” be a better name? How ‘bout the “Marlboro Center?” Or the “Vantage Point?”
When the Hartford Whalers relocated to Raleigh, I thought they should rename the team the “Golden Leafs.” It would have been both a tribute to the hockey tradition of Toronto and to the major cash crop of the region. (For those that are not familiar, about half of the tobacco grown in the United States is of the “bright leaf” variety. It is also called “golden leaf,” both for its color and what it brings to those that make money selling it.)
As it is, they chose to name the team after a natural disaster that hits the Carolina coast frequently. Property owners along the Outer Banks were almost as happy as The Scorpions, who get their most famous song played at every home game.
* Speaking of the tobacco industry, if you drive anywhere in North Carolina, you will see a bumper sticker that reads “Tobacco Money Bought This Truck.”
Apparently, this means that the tobacco industry is a good thing because it provides a living to the guy in the truck.
I kept waiting to see a pimped out Escalade with a bumper sticker that said “Crack Money Bought this Caddy.”
* One of the local investors of the Canes, at least originally, was a rich corporate hog farmer. Hogs are another huge industry in Carolina. As a paean to him, the Canes’ mascot is a guy in a hog suit on skates.
They had a contest to name him. Again, I had a great name. He was a pig and he was a hockey mascot. I entered the suggestion “Puck Chop.” I did not win. I should have. They selected “Stormy” instead. Sounds more like a stripper than a mascot.
* I ain’t sayin’ nothin’, but that national anthem singer would not have made it far during “American Idol” auditions. She was cute, though.
* The Canes score 1:26 into the game. The Carolina fans are happier than a pig in slop smoking an unfiltered Camel.
* The Carolina logo looks a little like the inside of a flushing toilet. But the all-red uniforms are cool.
* Aren’t those animated Charles Schwab ads creepy? They remind me of the previews for “A Scanner Darkly.” At least the movie is supposed to be a little creepy. As creepy as stock brokers may be, I don’t think they intend to advertise that particular trait.
* With 4.7 seconds left in the first period, the Canes think they scored. The refs review it.
NBC shows Canes owner Peter Karmanos yelling at the refs like he thinks he’s Mark Cuban or something. Except he’s in a suit. And a luxury box. But he’s still yelling.
The refs decide there is no goal. Karmanos’ reaction is not shown, perhaps because they want to avoid FCC fines.
The first period ends 1-0, Carolina.
* Carolina scores on a power play four minutes into the second period. There is no review. This one counts. Carolina is up 2-0. Canes fans are happier than a Durham D.A. at a Duke mixer.
* With 3:39 left in the period, the Canes will be down two men for almost two full minutes.
The Oilers give the two man advantage back with a penalty of their own less than a minute later. They still have a 4-3 advantage. With three men in the penalty box, the ice looks empty.
The Canes kill the penalties.
* The Oil scores quickly in the third to make it 2-1. The Cane fans are as unhappy as Matt Doherty on Old Timers’ Day in Chapel Hill.
* The Canes put it away for good with an empty netter with 1:01 to go in the game.
The party in Raleigh is underway.
* That was so exciting, my wife even watched the end of it. She really got into it, although she felt bad for the Oilers and their sad faces. She said, in consolation, “At least they can shave those beards now.”
She’s been watching too much World Cup. She asked if the Canes and Oilers were going to swap jerseys as they shook hands.
