Anaheim Burns

Alright, Anaheim might not be burning, but there was at least a firecracker in the faint distance that had to be set off in celebration of the Ducks bringing the Stanley Cup home to Anaheim. Or Los Angeles of Anaheim. But it's not like Southern Californians need a reason to jump on any sporting bandwagon, just as long as it is not the Galaxy. Even NHL Jennifer got into the act, noting that the Ducks won a championship the year the team switched uniform color just like the Angels. And just like the Angels had the Molina brothers, the Ducks have the Niedermayer brothers. That's the SoCal bandwagon rolling, baby.

The Ducks winning is cool, but disappointing at the same time. Disney, as mentioned the other day, deserves credit for building two championship franchises. But they also robbed some fans of the joy of watching the Ducks. Anaheim started moving dirt across from Anaheim Stadium about 17 years ago. Many of us thought it was a new home for the Rams, but it was an arena for a new hockey team. Many of us grow up with teams, but how many have watched them grow from birth? People (including me) were excited for a brand new team to root for and they had many nicknames picked out, including the Orange Crush (which ruled). Instead they named the team after a movie, and if that wasn't bad enough, the uniforms were. So that turned off anybody who didn't drive a minivan. It would have been cool to watch this team grow from birth to win a title, but that lame name (right or wrong) drove many away.

Oh well, that won't stop us from wearing our giveaway hats to the parade on Friday.