Orange and Black

With the Super Bowl days away and my team -- the Philadelphia Eagles -- eliminated in the first round, I'm free to root for a competitive game and not care too much about who wins.

But the Super Bowl also means something else to me. It's the time of year when my sports attention turns to both hockey and college basketball. I'll get to the latter in the next day or two, but first a word about my love for the Fastest Game on Ice. I'm a sports nut and while it's hard to pick which of football, baseball and hockey is my favorite, there's something about the game played with the little black disk that makes it so exhilirating: the hard hitting, the finesse, the fast pace and so much more.

Last year, I watched my hometown Philadelphia Flyers barely qualify for the playoffs, only to make a miraculous postseason run and come within two wins of capturing the Stanley Cup. It was a letdown in the end, but that they were eliminated a day before my father had major heart surgery -- speaking of miraculous victories -- so it wasn't hard to move on with more important things in life.

Now this year, riding a hot rookie goalie and a potent offensive attack, the Orange and Black headed into the All-Star Game tied for the league's highest point total and looking like one of the favorites for the crown. Of course, as I write this, they're getting shut out late in the game, but it's on the road to the second-best team in the conference. Anyways, it's good to be able to focus more on hockey as the season progresses. If nothing else, I can take out my daily aggressions by living vicariously through the players and their hard hits.