KINGS!

I interrupt my regularly scheduled list of posts about my brother's wedding to mention the Kings have won the Stanley Cup, the NHL championship trophy. The Kings are the champions of the world in hockey, for the first time in their 44 year history. They marched through the playoffs as the lowest seed, beating Vancouver--the team with the best record this season; the St. Louis Blues--the No. 2 seed; the Phoenix Coyotes, the No. 3 seed; and the New Jersey Devils. They only lost 4 games in all those best-of-7 series.

While we were traveling through Europe in 2005, the idea to move to New York City not even a thought, I remember thinking that I had a goal. Some people might call it a bucket list, or, maybe, an item for a bucket list. I don't do bucket lists; I try to do things in life and not lament later.(Too bad that kind of lifestyle robs a person of stability.)

While we may not have planned on living in New York by that time, we were planning on living in some exotic and huge city, thinking likely Mexico or Central American or some island in the Pacific (we seriously thought about it). And, during the time we spent in Europe, what with the soccer being so much a part of their world, I realized that at some point in my life I wanted to live in a city where a major sports team won their respective championship. I figured it would be soccer, since where we were living.

I figured college teams would count too, if we ever lived in Chapel Hill or Austin or Lawrence, Kansas. Now that the Kings have won the Stanley Cup, I have somehow accomplished four out of the five big professional team sports, and three of the American so-called "Big Four".

I've got the NFL, MLB, NHL, three of the "Big Four", and Major League Soccer. Still no basketball championship, though, either the NBA or the NCAA tournament.

Funny how things turn out when they're completely out of your control--personnel decisions and execution. Of course, where you live is under your control, so...