Cup Fever

You can easily say that I've had Cup fever now for close to 20 years. Having been born and raised in Western Pennsylvania I often wonder if I don't at times bleed black and gold. It all started at a very young age when I got my very first hockey stick at age eight. I still remember it to this day. It was made by Vic, was wooden with blue writing down the side. At this time in my life the Pittsburgh Penguins were on the verge of breaking loose in the National Hockey League and Mario Lemieux quickly became the guy I quickly began to admire. I'd have to go back and ask my parents for exact specifics but I do remember spending hours upon end in the basement of our new house shooting street hockey balls against a little red practice net. I guess you could say that these moments would simply become the start of my hockey career and the start of so many great memories and friendships I would gain for the rest of my life. Around this time when the summer weather would break I would spend every single day playing roller hockey, seriously every single day, with my new friends Rob, Scott and Dave. The four of us were practically attached at the hip and all of us had what you could easily call "Cup Fever". In the early nineties the world would witness one of the finest teams in Pittsburgh history ever to play professional sports. Obviously that team would be led by greats such as Mario Lemieux, Kevin Stevens, Ulf Samuelson and Paul Coffey just to name a few.

Over the next several years I began to play Ice Hockey at a competitive level including multiple years for a highly skilled AA travel team and eventually four years at the Varsity level for my local high school. Just like years in the past, hockey became "My Life - The Hockey Way".

Funny story, if it wasn't for Hockey and my dad forcing me to join the track team in 9th grade I would have never even began running and even further wouldn't be doing the sport of Triathlon as I love today.

Over the years the Pittsburgh Penguins would go through some lean years including bankruptcy and what inevitably looked like a move out of the Steel City.

As I got more and more into Triathlon my days as a competitive Ice Hockey player would become numbered but that in no way meant my love for the game disappeared. Over the past two or three years the Penguins would be yet again on the verge of greatness in hopes to bring Lord Stanley's Cup back to the Burgh. After a disappointing year last year I sat at Mellon Arena and witnessed the Detroit Red Wings hoist the Stanley Cup for the 11th time in their franchise history. It was time for payback.

When the Pen's advanced to the finals this year I had a friend that said to me, "If this thing goes to game 7, would you be interested in going"? How could I resist right? Having thought that chances were slim that the series would go seven I said yes with little hesitation. Well I think everyone knows what happened. The Pen's rallied through a very tough six games and it was all tied up heading back to Detroit. Now I had just spent the previous weekend in Boulder, the week in Seattle and now I had to drive to Detroit followed by a drive to Cambridge for my half Ironman race (which is tomorrow). I contemplated giving up the ticket but knew if the Penguins would win, I'd regret it the rest of my life.

So the Detriot Caravan left early yesterday morning and we arrived in Detroit around 3:00 PM. Once in Detroit we relaxed at the hotel for a bit and then went to Joe Louis Arena to the RiverWalk. Once at the riverwalk we waited for the Pen's to arrive via bus. We also saw some local Pittsburgh Sports broadcasters, so we went to see if we could get on camera. Standing in the background, my friends and I were all over the local news coverage. Then the question was asked. With the microphone in front of my face, the media asked me who was going to have a big game tonight. Without hesitation I said Max Talbot. Well good ol' Max would go on later that night to score the only two Penguin goals bringing the Cup back to Pittsburgh.

The night was magical and was everything I had hoped it to be and more. Never in my life would I have thought I'd be that close to my home team as they hoisted the Cup in the air. I still keep thinking it's all a big dream.

We embarked from Detroit very early this morning back to Pittsburgh and I'm now in route to Eagleman where I'll have my second attempt at my Kona spot. At this point, whatever happens happens. I went out for a run on Thursday and the legs felt very lethargic and my heart rate was sky high. Not good signs. Regardless I know I'll be ready to race tomorrow morning. Visit www.ironman.com tomorrow morning for live athlete updates.