Sports Gully: Is Ice Hockey on its way up in Tobacco Road?

The Carolina Hurricanes (based in Raleigh, NC) lift the Stanley Cup finals for the first ever time in its 27 years of existence (in Raleigh for the last 9 years). They beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-1 in the seventh game of the best of seven series. So thought I should my two cents in on ice hockey in Tobacco Road.

Nevertheless, before we go any further, what is Tobacco Road?

Tobacco Road is a legendary phrase when you refer to sports, especially College Basketball (in the US of course). It refers to the Tobacco growing area of North Carolina and it is an imaginary Road connecting the four schools in the area - North Carolina State University aka NCSU (Raleigh), which also happens to be my alma mater, University of North Carolina aka UNC (Chapel Hill), Duke University (Durham) and Wake Forest University (Winston Salem). These schools have nine NCAA titles amongst them. Folks along the tobacco road live for their college basketball.

The rivalry between them dates as back as 60-75 years. The rivalry between NCSU and UNC is as intense as the one between India and Pakistan or an England vs. Argentina. You can find many a couples at the games with one spouse sporting a NCSU jersey, while the other in a UNC jersey and their kids, well they are the ones to suffer the most with a multitude of jerseys representing their parents. During the peak of the season, you can find intense arguments taking place at the dinner table, as to which is a better team.

So when the Hartford Whalers (1979-1997) decided call themselves Carolina Hurricanes and move to Raleigh, North Carolina in 1997, which is a predominantly a basketball and a NASCAR nation, people were apprehensive about the move. How long is this franchise going to survive? The experts thought it was going to survive after the Hurricanes had a dream run in the 2001-02 season and reach the Stanley Cup finals to finally lose to the Detroit Red Wings. During their dream run, the people on the Tobacco Road went crazy over the Cinderella Hurricanes. The hopes were high so the next season started with sold out stadium, yes, ice hockey was after all going to survive, Boom...Lightening stuck and the Hurricanes were having a bad run and did not make the playoffs, the crowds attending the game took a nose dive.

I had the pleasure of watching the Hurricanes live the following season. It was electrifying, no not the crowds but the game. They were out of the playoff run when I watched them. It is so easy to forget that people are actually skating at lightening speed and controlling the puck. Everything about this game happens at a very fast pace. The reflexive saves by the goalie, the hard nasty hits against the glass walls and the fistfights on the ice makes this a very exciting game.

So, why is there a decline in crowds? It is the typical mentality of the crowd to watch their team only if they are doing well or if they are playing a long-term rival, a rivalry ala UNC and NCSU and UNC and Duke.

Now that the Carolina Hurricanes have won the Stanley Cup and brought a first of any professional league title to the area, are they going to perennially attract crowds and will it be half as popular as basketball? Titles at the big stages have evoked a sports revolution in a city or country, so can there be a revolution of ice hockey in Tobacco Road? This, only time can tell.

Things I think:

1) Not sure, when was the last time the NHL and NBA titles went to first timers? Do not think the FIFA World Cup will follow the above trend and have a first time winner.

2) There seems to be many inconsistencies when in comes to yellow carding players at the FIFA World Cup. It is not the inconsistencies in a particular game but from game to game. This could prove decisive in the final later stages.

3) Did Shaquille O'Neal need Kobe Bryant or vice versa for their three titles with the Los Angeles Lakers? Think this question was answered when the Miami Heat won their NBA title.

4) The Miami Heat is going to be contenders for a long time with the play of Dwayne Wade. He just dominated the finals invoking memories of the Jordan era.

5) I was wrong with the Indian Hockey team at the Azlan Shah Trophy. They have won the bronze. Was I being optimistic or pessimistic when I made about them having a dismal run?

Quote of the Week:

"The ball is round. The game lasts 90 minutes. Everything else is pure theory"
- Sepp Herberger (The manager of West Germany, winner of 1954 World Cup)