Parlor Spider...Step In, Little Fly

Insightful thoughts and/or rants from atop the soapbox from one who wishes to share the "right" opinion with everyone.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Now It All Makes Sense


AL THE OCTOPUS

As a childhood resident of Kansas (NO more damn Dorothy and Toto comments, please:o) I didn't have much of a chance to play hockey. There was none of it on TV...we had the Gillette Friday Night Fights for gratuitous violence, which eliminated the need for hockey. My dad watched every Friday night, sitting on the floor in his underwear. This didn't strike me as odd, but it WAS funny the night the parish priest stopped over unannounced! Anyway, back to hockey: in a place where the mean temperature is measured beginning at the boiling point, ice just wasn't an issue, and anything that resembled a "biscuit" was likely to end up in a kettle somewhere. Understand, we didn't have air conditioning...we barely had a refrigerator (being dirt poor and all). Skates? Good one...if I couldn't wear them to school or church, I didn't need them, and only girls roller skated at the time. So...I know little about hockey; that's why the octopus intrigued me.
I am willing to be corrected on any and all of the following by the more knowlegeable folks who grew up here in the North, but I gather this throwing of the octopus on the ice after a hockey game occurs only in Detroit's Joe Louis Arena, home of the RedWings. I could fathom NO earthly reason why this was the case so I looked it up (being naturally curious about stuff that has little impact on world peace). Here's the skinny:
Peter and Jerry Cusimano were brothers who owned a fish market in Detroit in the 50s. In an attempt to bring luck to their beloved RedWings, the brothers hoisted an octopus onto the ice one night. Their reasoning? At that time, it took eight playoff wins to capture the hallowed cup of Lord Stanley (that number has risen to 16). So, it seemed their choice was either to find two four-legged critters or one eight-"legged" creature, and a tradition was born.
It really took off in 1993 when Al Slobotka (now THERE'S a hockey name!), the zamboni driver who was also in charge of cleaning the ice, picked up an octopus and started swinging it round and round his head: predictably, the fans went crazy, because, well, it's hockey, and swinging a dead animal is almost like dropping the gloves and grabbing a handful of sweater. BTW, why does every other team sport have "jerseys" while hockey teams have "sweaters"? Icy cold temps? makes sense but sounds a bit sissified to me...like their mothers wouldn't let them play unless they'd dressed warmly enough.
Anyway, the octopus thing got ratcheted up to the point where even the mascot is called "Al the Octopus."
I wonder how he's do against the mascot from the Florida Marlins?
Tomorrow: the hat trick.

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