I was going to try to capture the scene at the Wachovia Center during the first round of the playoffs. You know the drill: 50-year old women in skin-tight capri jeans with zebra striped 4″ heels mixed in with regular old throwback jerseys, the hard-hitting video montage meant to pump up the fans for some blood and gore and the ever-present dancin’ Shawny and sign man. I even had some space reserved here for the guy my husband nearly had to pummel (ahem, yes, another Flyers fan) for his inability to stop hazing a guy who was there with his kid (yes again - both Flyers fans) because he asked the offender to tone it down ‘a notch’ with the obscenities.

But I can’t. I simply cannot discuss the surreal and awesome crowd doing it’s thing in orange glory after the deflating loss to the Pens. Even the fan-on-fan transgression was no match for the ultimate violation: a team-on-fan letdown of epic proportions.

Sure, other series have their ups and downs - for example the Rangers have given up a 2-0 lead in their series, letting the Capitals sneak back in to force a Game 7 - but at least they’re still playing. At least their fans have reason to believe that King Henrick will once again grace the ice with a stellar performance. At least they can be clear in the expectation that the Rangers will not criminally squander a 3-0 lead. Same goes for the Hurricanes and the Devils, duking it out in a Game 7 of their own.

Not so the Flyers. When it mattered most - the Flyers didn’t deliver.

Securing home ice advantage by achieving a measly point in 2 opportunities over the Rangers? Almost, but no. Splitting the first two away games with a Game 2 victory, after securing the lead into the 3rd period? Almost, but no. Maintaining a degree of discipline after going up 3-0 in the first period of a critical Game 6? Um, almost…but NO again!

Almost doesn’t count.

The arch-nemesis was not about ‘almost’ winning right down the stretch and into the first round, and they got what they deserved.

Now I turn my sights to the Rangers-Caps. This series has everything: Game 7, Ovechkin, Avery and finally, John Tortarella taking on Capitals fans. Tonight will be mayhem.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 28th, 2009 at 8:45 am and is filed under Fantoo Blog Home. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.