The Florida Panthers made a simple request to the NHL for their schedule in the second round of the Eastern Conference against their new best enemy, the Tampa Bay Lightning: “Just keep us away from the hit-Celtics so we don’t crash. They can see us every night and South Floridians for once. “
And so it happened just as you knew it would: Panthers-Lightning will be the same night as the Hit-Celtics every night except this coming Sunday, when they completely avoid basketball but have to play at 1:30 in the afternoon. The break they get in other games is that they start 90 minutes before the hit tip-off, so they have to take what they can when they can.
This is not a pity for the Panthers. They may be completely hut to look at, but they are panthers. They will deal with such insults until they are well, no. They will deal with it until the state erodes into the sea and destroys the high tide from Havana to Halifax.
The reason why the Panthers were bound by heat despite their most sincere begging was simple. ESPN was the first to choose which NHL series they would like to work on in their NBA schedule (as nominated nominee for the Eastern Conference Final, they have the right to hit-Celtic), and they also wanted the estimated ratings advantage of the New York Rangers and the Carolina Hurricanes. (Well, okay, New York Rangers. Believe us, ESPN basically gives a more pleasurable ‘zero bead of sweat on the ears.’ Broadcast, without any thought for Miami-on-Miami crime.
Thus, under the shadow of Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Jason Tatum, and cartoon Leprechaun, the Panthers and Bolts carry half of their Gary Batman’s deepest imagination in semi-anonymity বিজ the victory of his Southern strategy. His much-criticized Confederate expansion plan has finally reached its peak, only lacking Nashville, which was eliminated during the heartbeat by Colorado, which is their best team regardless of latitude. In fact, the only way to get rid of that smog smile from Batman’s Yap is to remind him of Arizona’s perpetual shame, a memorable and irreplaceable disaster that is not the only place where the franchise can achieve its true destiny in the Valley. The sun but on its surface.
But back to Cats-Ning (and yes, we know Lightning fans hate ‘Ning’ for short, but I accidentally keep typing it “Lighting” and it’s getting increasingly torque every time). If Eric Spoilstra is not right and their series with Boston is not a “throwback” directed by his boss, Pat Riley, then the ‘Thurs’ will have to make their mark on the consciousness of Greater Miami in that 90-minute window.
“Pat is probably going to enjoy it,” Spoelstra said Monday. “It’s like a throwback series. If both teams are really at the top of their game, it should be a series where neither team scores 130 points. Both teams hang their hats on rock-solid team defense and make multiple attempts and are disciplined in schemes. So it would be a lot of drama and marginal things. That’s what you expect. “
He makes it so attractive, like the oatmeal wrapped in cat litter. He might say, “If we both had a way, every game would look like that, and Pat would give me an extension to make him nostalgic harder.” She likes it. “
The problem is, of course, that other people in the new basketball population do it, so the hit-Celtics can be a pretty painful visual slog. It will still get a much better rating than the more open game of Panthers-Lightning, but it allows hockey to have a slightly wider window for more open-minded sports fans on an aesthetic basis.
Not that there are a lot of people out there. Most people will pick one and only one, so panthers will have to build their bones either in the first period, or any extra time after the second period. There is always something about players playing in the middle of the night that still thrills the senses and sensibilities.
Plus, by then the basketball game is over. Hit 73, Celtic 68 on a route. Or Celtics 77, Heat 74 in a 2OT thriller.