How Real is This: Stanley Cup Finals Game 5

This is about as real as it gets. I have spent a fair share of time complaining about that the NHL is still playing hockey into June...of course I complain that the NHL is playing hockey in Arizona, Southern California, and North Carolina too, so take from that I'm a codger. Fine.

Exciting play, though, isn't decided on the calendar - it's decided by what's at risk, and in this case it's the Stanley Cup. One of the oldest trophies in professional sports, it is coveted like no other. Winning means having your name engraved on it for all time. Losing means you're a loser.

Does it get any more thrilling than to have a team with their back against the wall - lose and go home, win and continue - forced into overtime, golden goal overtime with one mistake or one phenomenal play the difference between watching someone else hoist history and playing another game for your own chance at history?

Last night, the Pittsburgh Penguins staved off elimination in 3-overtimes to force a game 6 in the NHL playoffs. With 34 seconds left in the game, the Penguins tied the score at 3-all which forced overtime. Which forced 3 over time periods; two full and almost 10 minutes of another. Over 100 minutes of playoff elimination hockey that saw momentum shifts and improbable victory.

THAT'S what competition is about.

I used to love hockey - my junior high locker was pasted with Boston Bruins schedules, tracking the results game by game. I've since fallen away from watching hockey - I've got complaints about the length of an apparently meaningless season, when most teams qualify for the playoffs. But it is moments and stories like those from last nights game 5 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs that remind me exactly what it is about the game that I used to love so much. And reinforces the notion of sporting competition as one of the most exciting endeavors humans can experience.

I don't have a dog in this fight - I have no particular allegiance to either team. I went to school near Pittsburgh at the height of the Pens' success, but the fact they ripped off the Bruins' black and gold (justified with the idea that both the Steelers - sorry, Stillers - and the Pirates used the color scheme so the Pens' should REALLY threw me over the top) kind of lost me to them. It doesn't matter who the competitors are, this was about as exciting as it gets. Having witnessed my New England Patriots lose the Super Bowl in the final 30 seconds on an improbable drive after going undefeated all season, I know what a loss like that can do to a fan base. Emotion, baby. raw emotion at its finest at work here.

Does it get any more thrilling? The answer is no.