Hockey

Tonight Vancouver plays Boston in game 7 of the Stanley Cup. It is going to be a fantastic game- there is no other sport like it come playoff time. Despite an extremely generous offer to go to the game, I will be watching the game in NY and will likely be the standout fan cheering for Vancouver.
What does any of this have to do with Mike- well Mike seemed to fancy basketball and football over hockey. I think he was starting to come around. With his brother in law ("BIL") owning a carefully nurtured outdoor rink a few blocks away (happy birthday Elliott) and with Vince Carter no longer with the Raptors- I felt like you could start to engage Mike in a little hockey dialogue. As a creature of habit- he never ventured too far from the land of comfort- so he would either try to weave in a basketball or football reference- or he would limit the conversation to a few minutes.
It makes me laugh how predictable he was in many respects. While sometimes frustrating when you wanted him to step outside the zone, it was also quite admirable how well Mike knew what he liked and how he never really felt compelled/pressured to go too far outside that. That is a rare trait I think. Lucas and Emily might have broken this down a little is my guess but that is a whole different universe of influence that even Mike would have been no match for.
So, for the Raptors sake, I hope Vancouver wins tonight.

(just as an aside- hockey has this great tradition of players not shaving during the playoffs. Mike would have had the ugliest beard in hockey history had he ever made it to the Stanley Cup game 7 playoffs. Thank goodness for basketball and football)