I’m an football guy through and through – but there’s something magical about hoisting the Stanley Cup.

Congrats Pens – you deserve it after this improbable season.

(AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn)

I got the privilege of seeing the boys win these in person. (Photos courtesy of steelers.com)

And here’s to seeing the Pens get their hands on their own on Friday.

(This is a bit of a Yinzer post, but I don’t care.  Go Pens!)

]]> http://haveagoodsandwich.org/2009/06/09/2-hardware/feed/ 3 http://haveagoodsandwich.org/2009/05/30/12-jinxless/ http://haveagoodsandwich.org/2009/05/30/12-jinxless/#comments Sun, 31 May 2009 01:55:39 +0000 Woy http://haveagoodsandwich.org/?p=922

Last year, I was convinced that I was a jinx for the Pittsburgh Penguins on their Stanley Cup run.  So much so that I only watched a few games during the playoffs.

This year?  Much different.  So far they’ve won all but one game that I’ve watched?  So – is the jinx broken?

Who knows.  They year the won the Stanley Cups I only watched the last games in the last couple minutes.

At the time me and hockey were not so much.

Go Pens!

While millions were watching the Pittsburgh Penguins snatch championship elimination from the jaws of defeat with a incredibly gutsy performance, I was in my living room wrapping up some household chores. The TV was tuned to TLC as Mrs. Woy watched Jon & Kate Plus 8. No radio. No ESPN gamecast online. No Game 5 to be found anywhere in the household. We were in a self-imposed Pens blackout.

Why?

I believe that I jinx the Penguins.

Now, hold on… before you say anything, let me present the facts.

Last season, my brother-in-law and his wife noted that the few Penguins games that I watched with them on TV that they always seemed to lose. To me, this was a throw away comment and just trying to attribute the blame to a increasingly invested hockey fan.

During the 2007-2008 campaign, I did not watch 98% of the games. I received tickets to one game at the last minute from someone I worked with, and invited previously mentioned brother-in-law to go. I can’t for the life of me remember who they played, but I know they lost.

Fast forward to the last game of the season. The Penguins were playing to determine who they would face in the first round of the playoffs. I watched that game to see how they would fare and also hope they would beat the tar out of the Flyers. No dice. They lost.

I didn’t watch any of the Pittsburgh/Ottawa series, nor did I check in on the radio broadcast. Pens sweep the series.

Pens win the first three games of the Rangers series, none of which I witness. I tune into Game 4 in its entirety, watching them give it up to the Rangers. I did half-heartedly watch Game 5 with visitors there, but as they will attest that while I was distracted with conversation the Penguins always scored.

A similar scenario evolves for the Flyers series: I either didn’t catch any of the games, or was half-watching them at best. They take the first 3 games. Game 4 basically unfolded the same way Game 4 in the Rangers series: I watched the game, they lost. I was in Colorado for Game 5 and catch any of it… and we know what happened there.

Stanley Cup series: Woy watches first two games in his brandy-new Winter Classic jersey from start to finish, both nasty losses. A “supposed” power failure renders most of Game 3 unwatchable. Win. Game 4 was enjoyed at TheJim’s pad, and that was just sad with a 5-3 blown power play opportunity.

That brings us to last night, where I said to Mrs. Woy, “I’m not watching the game tonight.” She says, “Why?” I replied, “If I don’t watch it, I bet you that the Pens will win.” My hypothesis was this: If I don’t watch the entire game, there’s a good chance I won’t jinx the team. I listened to the anxious groans of individuals in the neighborhood as the game pitched back and forth in overtime. Just before going to sleep, I heard the cheers nearby knowing that they had won.

Having gathered the data and performed extensive analysis, I’ve come to the conclusion that should the Stanley Cup be hoisted by Pens players, it won’t happen on my watch. Literally. I’m going into self-imposed Penguins exile.

Don’t misunderstand me: I don’t have delusions of grandeur or think I have some cosmic influence on the universe, nor could I make it rain mana from the heavens on demand. I’m just reasonably educated, logically sound individual who has become extraordinarily superstitious in the presence of observed facts.

Oh, and I might be going insane.