Cats Champions!

 What a night! Norman, OG Panthers season ticket holder, had his regular 4 seats and 2 Club seats for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final (no S, as Norman explained) and generously invited Barry, his old friend Jim, and me to go. The Club seats went to his boy Benji and Josh, Barry's son.

Norman and Jim came here, and we flew up the Palmetto to meet Barry at a sushi place near his house in Pembroke Pines. Barry and family often go to POC (either Port of Call or People of Color, depending on who you ask) which is an all you can eat sushi buffet. I'm not finicky, but refuse to go there -- since sushi is expensive, to me that place is salmonella waiting to break out.

Instead, we went to Blue Ginger, which was fine. Jim told us about his job as a former Federal PD -- he currently has ONE client, like Tom Hagen. His client is an accused Islamic terrorist who has been tortured and held at Guantanamo Bay for 20 years!!!! It is amazing -- guy is truly a man without a country.

After dinner, it was up to Sunrise. No one else was in the mood to drink, but it seemed to me that if you can't have a pop or two at a potential championship -- when can you? I made the aging bartender laugh with my tired line "I forgot my ID" and got my vodka. Later, Jim felt bad I was drinking alone, and he got a G and T at the bar right behind Norman's seats. Barry and Norman tee-totaled it. This concerns me.

The arena was truly electric, though the Panthers jumped out to a 2-0 lead, and the game was really well in hand. They scored 2 more times, and the low energy Oilers (Ha!) managed only one in garbage time, and the Cats won their second Stanley Cup.

There is truly no better award in sports than that silver chalice, with each player hoisting it high and kissing it and skating the rink. We stayed for the entire presentation, as did just about every other fan. Josh and Benji met us, and when the crowd thinned out, we decided to grab a late dinner meal -- it was now midnight, and we were hungry fans!

Well, Broward, at least the West part, is still kind of sleepy, and there is no 24 hour Pinecrest Bakery to visit. We settled on a Waffle House, which NEVER closes -- even during hurricanes, and drove our 2 SUVs there.

The staff was sitting outside -- they were "closed for cleaning." We discussed alternatives, but Barry was ready to go home -- he had a 730 Zoom meeting. The closure gave me grist for politically incorrect humor -- I decided the Black staff was discriminating against we cracker hockey fans. Not true, but why not play the victim of being a white fan of a VERY white sport?

We dropped Barry, and took 75 to the Palmetto, to see a sign that it was closed near Okechobee -- for resurfacing, it appeared. We jumped off at 103 Street and made our way through the heart of Hialeah, to LeJeune, and the Dolphins, and back to the Palmetto.

We got him nearly 2 am -- and it was worth it.

It's great when a region's team wins -- everyone is a bit happier, and high fiving about the ring, or in this case, Cup.

I thanked Norman for his generosity -- he could have sold our seats for thousands each, but chose, as I would have, to savor the evening. It's nice when we mules get a special night out.

So the Marlins are the third worst team in the Majors this season (and for foreseeable years to come), and the Heat were bounced from the playoffs first round. The Dolphins don't appear to be poised for greatness -- hopefully our beloved Canes can do it this year.

Just over 2.5 months until the home opener -- hosting hated Notre Dame! 

Maybe Norman and Barry will have a cocktail or two at that tailgate. The events are fine -- alcohol makes them better!

For now, though, I saw my first championship other than 3 Canes Orange Bowl ring winners.

It was quite a night!