Tampa, Florida					Monday, September 06, 2010

Withdrawal From Hockey Tough On Lightning Fans
Sunday, May 7, 2006
TAMPA—Miss it. Miss it already. Don’t you? Lightning hockey, I mean. And, in truth, it shouldn’t be so. The Lightning ought to be still contending in this National Hockey League Playoffs. Should be playing Buffalo, the role Ottawa earned by playing tougher, skating faster, having a better power playing unit, and surely better goal tending the opening Playoffs series the Lightning lost 4-1 to the Senators. Tampa Bay Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda beaten Ottawa in the first round of the present Stanley Cup—Ottawa, the companion new franchise created Dec. 6, 1990, at the NHL Palm Beach meetings alongside the Bolts. But we are into genuine hockey withdrawal in this great place in which we live that got better with that sport being played regularly at the dandy St. Petersburg Forum. The first opportunity losing series to Ottawa was not characteristic Tampa hockey of recent years, not by a slapshot. The fans deserved better, the full-throated fans who accepted and learned this sport about which we knew so little when Hall of Famer Phil Esposito started the move for hockey in Tampa Bay, got it, and said prophetically at that time: “Come see us play and I got you. You’ll come back.’’ Boy, was he right. Now, in this withdrawal, heck, I miss his screaming in that high-pitched voice of “GOAL!!! ... GOAL!!! ... GOAL!!! …GOAL!!!” ....and about six more times. ...into his Lightning Radio Network mike…..I miss his ragging officials unmercifully. He had the right. Phil Esposito brought hockey to Tampa Bay. He would run the club for a while trying to make the genuine fans so many of us are now. And now, when he screams Lightning on his radio network mike, he is still on his crusade to make hockey a sunshine sport. Espo is the father of professional hockey here. He refused to give up. So, Esposito didn’t like one bit being denied the opportunity this Lightning team could have given him by advancing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs instead falling on the Ottawa swords in the first round. Hey, I am already missing the big man with the thundering Forum in-house who, after a Lightning score, waits a bit, and then shouts: “THE LIGHTNING GOAL .. . . by…. . BRADDDD RICH……ARDS! ASSISTED………THE AASSISTS BY MAARTEEN ST. LOUISG……AAAAAAND……..VINNY LEY.……CAVAL……YEH!!!!!” Porter milks every word……every opportunity. And, he’s a hard-working, nice man, too. I am missing the national anthems before the game—USA and Canada when a Canadian team is in Forum. Good opportunity for showcasing. And, the people listen, and they respond. Miss Hulk Hogan and his family. They love hockey. On the Bucs, Mike Alstott is a foremost patron. Hey, wife Linda and I miss the entire pre-game show. Miss the noise—thought not necessarily banging on the head by a non-kin kid behind me. Bet a Canadian dollar the Lightning misses that noise, that general appreciation given full-heartedly by a growing fan base, base that is as loud as any, as supportive as any. But, we shouldn’t be in this need of a fix. Ought to be alive in the current Playoffs still. This club clearly	wasn’t quite as gritty, as valorous, as fast, as ready to play under new rules that favor speed and without goal-tending of the past. And those who fall into that under-achieving category know it. Have already been told and will be told again, either as a lead-in to welcome-back-now-get-to-work, or into see-ya fellow. And, when he wants to know why (after his Detroit Pistons continue their pursuits in that roundball sport, Mr. William Davidson will be told what Lightning management and Coach John Totorella plan to do to make his hockey team champs again. You know, we are talking about champs, not chumps. The Lightning has been to the mountain, the division mountain, and best of all, that high place that is home to the Lord Stanley’s Cup. Right it is among us, but only temporarily. The Lightning who won it two years ago, abdicated but still are keepers the great sports prize until a winner, new champion emerges from the on-going Playoffs.. But, that is not the purpose of this lament. It is to declare the nostalgia that haunts when we drive by the dark Forum in Tampa, or the Lightning are not available on TV with Bobby (The Chief) Taylor and Rick Peckham explaining what we are seeing, or hear those explanations from radiocasters Esposito and David Miskin. It is to declare hockey has become a part of our sports family, a big part, and, until now, a winning part. It is to admit we miss the Zamboni and the kids that get to ride it, the nutty little games in house folks put on the TV monitor when there is a break, the Ice Ladies, your busy mascot—THUNDERBUG--- the admired event staff, the occasional scuffle on the ice, telecaster Paul Kennedy’s good work on specials and those responsible for the originality of the Forum sound stars who play The M*A*S*H theme when there is injury, and The Phantom of the Opera when penalties are called. Fun stuff. Good stuff. Miss it. So you loused up, Lightning. You came to Tampa Bay with Medicine Man Phil Esposito as your scout. He and his new friends here, plus other owners, other coaches, other investors, set it up neatly for this Davidson & Company, including a lineup led by President Ron Campbell that have all jumped into the affairs this great place to become partners in the most progressive projects. Yes, the Forum will get fixed, prettied up, more profitable, and one day there will be an elevator to the press level does not also carry the garbage, and with that I open it up to you there for a laugh and likely foul comment. But, yes, you loused up this year. A tweak here and a tweak there, more work on the Power Play, improved goal-tending, you’d still be playing and defending that Stanley Cup these days against Buffalo. However, those tweaks, and others, remain in order for the new season ahead. That’s what the ex-Lightning players still living here tell me, as you will in the alumni years ahead. You’ll be surprised when you see how many of them have made this place home. And when you do, in retirement you’ll miss hockey too in a circumstance like this in withdrawal. And you will also be beefing with us when the new goalie, Nanook (The Ice Pole) Aardvark from Nome, lets one shot go through he should have stopped, slip through for an overtime loss to Nome, a new NHL expansion team. ##
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