The Forms Must Be Obeyed (and last night's game)

Dear self,

Set the DVR next time.

Now that that's out of the way....

I wanted to have this post be about fan superstitions and how they can change from regular season to postseason, but the big stumbling block for me is "how the hell do I put it?"

Some fans don't put a lot of stock in superstitions, but a lot of us do. It's part of the fan experience. Sure, a lot of players have their own little superstitions/traditions--the playoff beards, certain articles of clothing, particular ways of taping sticks or little things that they do before games--but fans? Oy, we fans can really take the cake.

For example:

REGULAR SEASON:

Perform Ritual of the Bitter Bean if working third shift the night before a game or first shift the day of a game.
Avoid Camel Cremas.

PLAYOFFS:

Diet Coke.
Avoid Camel Izmir Stingers.

REGULAR SEASON:

Play World of Warcraft or Warcraft III before/during the game.
Listen to Chuck Kaiton, DVR John and Tripp and watch them later.

PLAYOFFS:

Play Civ3 and Neverwinter Nights before the game.
Be asleep or at work during the game. If awake during game, play Civ3 or NWN.
Listen to Chuck Kaiton after the game.

There are a few others that I have--but I'm not going to post them here because I don't want to mess up the mojo.

Because the forms must be obeyed, and that.

As for last night's game:

The Devils are playing like a team that's already been defeated--in a lot of ways, they've become a mirror of the Rangers team that they beat in the first round. They're fighting, but as hard as they could be. It's as if they're going through the motions, with a couple of exceptions--I didn't see/hear a lot of attack from them last night.

The Canes, on the other hand, are almost the opposite--but they have to be careful not to be lulled into complacency by these mooks, or this series will end badly for them.

Two days off, and then Game 4. We'll see what happens.