2002-06-14 04:08 ☼ post
When it comes to Championship traditions in pro sports Hockey wins hands down. I’m not the biggest hockey fan, but I watched parts of the last couple games of the Stanley Cup Finals and I especially enjoyed the trophy presentation at the end.
Hands down the Stanley Cup is simply the coolest championship trophy in professional sports. It’s been around for over 100 years, it’s big and silver, and it’s engraved with the name of every player that played for each year’s championship team. I absolutely love the fact that they present it to the winning team’s captain first and then he decides what to do with it. None of the that NBA and NFL crap where they present the trophy to the owner first. All the owners do is hire a few decision makers, pay the bills, and reap the profits— you don’t deserve a trophy for that.
And you’ve got to love the tradition of both teams lining up and shaking hands after the game. In most other sports the losing team simply runs off the floor once the game is over. Watching two teams share their mutual respect and admiration for each other after a hard fought title game is truly heartwarming. It’s just a shame that sportsmanship has become such an anachronism these days.