Wow. Did THAT Suck! ...Bruins Lose and I'm Off The Bangwagon

First off, 10 points to whomever can tell me what movie my title is from and an additional 10 points to whomever can explain why the proper grammar is "whom ever" and not "who ever." Or is it the other way around?

The answer—to the important one—is Scrooged. A Bill Murray classic. A remake of A Christmas Carol (best performed by the Muppets), Scrooged sees Bill Murray's Ebenezer-esque character, Frank Cross, through the highs and lows of his life in order to make him appreciate what he has in the world.

In the beginning, of course, Cross is the youngest Chief Executive in the history of network television, hardened by pessimism and anger. The quote above, about sucking, comes after Cross sees a rehearsal of a live holiday production they are going to air that is meant to propel the network to the top of the ratings. Ironically enough, A Christmas Carol.

Well that's exactly how I feel about the Bruins after this year's playoff defeat.

They had an opportunity, the first one since the strike—hockey's Hurricane Katrina—to rebuild their Boston hockey roots and bring back a touch of the Old Bruins' Glory. After huge playoff disappointment the previous several seasons, they come out with this awful marketing campaign about "Wanting it as bad as you do," as if to say they plan on Rohypnoling their way to Lord Stanley's Cup.

Please Read the Rest of This Column at GetOutOfMyBallpark.com

Sure, you could say I'm spoiled by championships. Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics. But wouldn't that suggest that the Bruins DON'T benefit from a championship environment? The fans of any team should expect victory. And if they don't get it, overthrow the ownership like Colonial times.

As you recall from your faithful readershiping, I had taken the stance at the beginning of the season that it is impossible to be a real Bruin's fan again until they made it out of the first round.

Even through that lens, I couldn't overlook the terrific product that was being skated out every night. Big young names like Kessel and the emergence of Blake Wheeler, point makers like Savard who had a hand in almost 90 goals (88 total points) and high potential players in the sweaters of David Krejci, Milan Lucic and Mark Stuart. All these guys led by the best goalie in the game this year (best overall save percentage) and a 6'9'' towering captain.

So now in lies the problem: The Bruins blew it and aren't getting any better.

"Several guys" need surgery in the offseason; the list isn't out yet but don't be surprised to see Savard, Rechi, and Chara all going under the knife.

The B's have a bunch of salary cap decisions to make in re-signing the right young guys... I don't really know exactly how that all works in hockey, but I guess it's something like football and in that case, I don't know that I trust the guys making all the decisions.

Bottom line: Hockey sucks again and I'm off the bandwagon. 'Till next midseason if the Bruins are good again.

StartMattCanadien