I think I'm done.

so the habs just got eliminated in pathetic fashion. the mariners had their two "ace" pitchers trounced on back to back days to fall into last place in their division.

I think I'm ready to swear off sports for good. I invest too much of my happiness into the success of "my" teams, be they geographic (mariners), nationalistic (koivu/finland) or simply nostalgic (habs). my teams never win.

the habs finished first in their conference for the first time in nearly two decades. they had a hotshot rookie goaltender who seemed poised to follow in the footsteps of ken dryden and patrick roy, leading his surprising team to a championship in his rookie campaign. it didn't happen. they barely survived their first round matchup against boston, a team they had dominated (11 straight wins dating back to last season) and looked outplayed five of the seven games. they looked like utter shite against philadelphia, another team they should have easily beaten and pretty much owned in the regular season. instead, they're eliminated in five, and last night's game was fucking ugly.

I'm stuck hoping the penguins win the cup, since I placed a sports bet in vegas last year on them and would at least win some money. that, and I fucking hate the red wings and stars.

the mariners are a completely difference scenario... they're more or less ALWAYS sucked, but I've been going to baseball games as long as I can remember. they overachieved last year and gave their idiotic management the idea that maybe they were close to contending. so said idiotic management traded five players, including a future all-star outfielder and their second best pitcher out of the bullpen, for a very good but very fragile pitcher. the guy has already missed four starts. of, and their outfield defense SUCKS because of that trade. jj putz, their closer, got hurt right out of the gate and the bullpen has blown ever since, whereas having george sherrill in there would have been a great anchor to hold them over.

we have tickets to a couple more mariners games this year, and I do enjoy going out to the ballpark. but I'm not going to be turning the channel to the games anymore, and I'm not going to participate in fantasy sports after this season.

I'll reconsider my position AFTER one of my teams manages to win a championship. in the meantime, my collection of jerseys is going into storage for the foreseeable future.

now I need a new hobby.