So I just read a story about the Alabama Crimson Tide football team, the BCS National Champions (which is a long story that I'll write about another day), suffering the unfortunate accident of their championship glass football being broken. The $30,000 trophy was on display at a team facility and accidentally knocked down and broken. The BCS National Championship football is by far the most breakable trophy I have ever seen in any sport. It's a hollow glass shaped football that is just asking to be broken. As proof, this is not the only time the trophy has broken. It also was broken in 2004 following the Florida Gators national championship.
Am I the only one scared to death of seeing this happen after every major sports trophy is awarded? College football is not the only sport that has seen its trophy suffer such a fate. Following their victory in the Copa del Rey final, members of the Real Madrid soccer team actually dropped their trophy off the top of the bus they were riding on and watched it get crushed underneath the bus. The Stanley Cup has also been dropped and dented, although never completely broken. I'm sure there are other instances just like these that have happened many other times also.
Aside from witnessing someone screw up singing the national anthem on live television, seeing a championship trophy dropped is something I would most hate to see happen with my own eyes. All that work the team put in, all that money spent on the trophy, the jubilation of finally being able to lift it above your head, and then in an instant it's shattered on the ground underneath a moving bus. As I watched the trophy presentation this past February when the Giants won the Super Bowl, half of me was excited beyond belief, and the other half was scared to death that one of our players would drop the Lombardi Trophy on national television.
The time I fear this happening the most is when the Stanley Cup is awarded. Championship trophies for all of the other major American sports are given out once each year. The Giants have won the Super Bowl four times. They have four Lombardi Trophies to display to prove that. The Diamondbacks have won the World Series once. They have one trophy to prove that. The Stanley Cup however, is not replaceable. What makes it so special is that there is only one. The name of every player that has ever played for a Stanley Cup winning team is engraved on the trophy. When Zdeno Chara was skating around the ice holding that thing above his head last year, I was praying that he didn't drop it and ruin almost 90 years worth of history in an instant.
Since the BCS national championship trophy has not been around nearly as long as the trophies of other major sports, I remember seeing the trophy the first time it was awarded and thinking to myself how easily it looked like it could be broken. The hands of all the players and the coaches up on stage trying to get a touch of the trophy and just one wrong move could knock it down in front of the entire country.
I know it's a stupid thing to think about, but I just can't help it. The Giants have four Lombardi Trophies on display at their facilities. There aren't three original trophies and one replacement trophy, and hopefully there won't be any replacements needed for future trophies. So the next time a team wins a championship, I'll be hoping that it is in the hands of someone who takes extra care of it. It cost $30,000 to replace the BCS championship trophy, and if I had to guess, I'd say that is the least expensive of all the major trophies we see handed out each year.
The next trophy awarded will be the Stanley Cup. So to whoever may be the one lifting it off that table and raising it above their head, I only have three words of advice: "Hold on tight!"
Daily Rangers Update: Henrik Lundqvist was excellent last night, coming up with multiple huge saves, and Brian Boyle has now scored in all three postseason games. A 1-0 win in Game 3 means a win in Game 4 could send the series back to Madison Square Garden with a chance to end. Game 4 is tomorrow night. Let's Go Rangers!
Daily Diamondbacks Update: Joe Saunders was shaky in the first inning, but limited the damage to only one run and cruised through the next six to pick up his first victory of the season. Chris Young hit yet another home run, and it turned out to be a nice 5-1 win. Ian Kennedy will try to get his third win of the season tonight as Jeff Karstens takes the mound for the Pirates.
Daily Giants Update: Antwaun Molden was signed to help bolster the depth in the secondary and Eli Manning will be hosting Saturday Night Live on May 5th, so I'll be watching that for the first time since Will Ferrell and Tracy Morgan left. And we're still the defending champs.
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