One For The Ages

I’m a happily married, heterosexual guy, but I fear that my heart may soon be broken by another man.  It wouldn’t be the first time.

A couple hours before midnight last evening, the Washington Capitals managed to edge out the Pittsburgh Penguins in game 6 of what has been one of the greatest playoff series in sports history.  Over twenty years from now, when Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Alexander Ovechkin are in the Hall of Fame, fans and scribes will recall the 2nd round Stanley Cup playoff series of 2009.

I’ll let Hooks Orpik over at Pensburgh fill you in on what’s happened so far.  I’ve got too much on my mind, childhood trauma threatening to bring back that same recurring nightmare.  This nightmare is as real as a bird eating tarantula in Australia.  Fragmented visions replay over in my mind.  The face of the villain changes from one heartbreak to the next, and I fear this time the new face of devastation will be grinning and scruffy and Russian. 

Alexander Ovechkin, the most skilled goon in hockey history, has the most wicked wrist shot you’ve ever seen.  No matter how well the Pens shut him down, he’s always there, lurking, waiting to Capitalize on that one chance. 

He’s only the most recent villain in my string of menacing faces.  Every sports fan remembers those moments that your team didn’t win, the good guys didn’t pull it off.  Here are just four men who have broken my heart and made me wish I just didn’t care.