GO WARRIORS GO!

Earlier this year I was introduced to junior hockey in Moose Jaw. Last night, I was introduced to a side of Moose Jaw I didn't know existed. Though I realized hockey is a big deal to folks in the Jaw, I had no idea it was this big.

I took Kaitlyn for a walk today, only to see much of the team's paraphenalia at every turn and "Go Warriors Go!" plastered in just about every storefront window. While walking through the mall, signs hung above the walkway from one side of the hall all the way to the other, proudly displaying allegiance to the only team that matters right now. These signs were hanging in about half-a-dozen locations and in almost every store. It was like crossing a border or experiencing a rite of passage; once you were in, there was no getting back out. Talk about a town gone mad on the coattails of its beloved hockey team.

Last night, the Warriors lived up to their name, displaying an extreme killer instinct by putting the final nail in the coffin of the Medicine Hat Tigers season. As the underdogs in this series - and I'm not sure 'underdogs' is a strong enough word - the boys in black disposed of their rivals in a quick and fairly painless 5 games. On now to the WHL final against the Vancouver Giants.

I would be remiss if I didn't ask: could the Warriors be Giant-killers?

This series is looking a little like a David and Goliath meeting, a matchup of epic proportions. David, a warrior in his own right and just a kid from small-town Bethlehem going up against ... hmmm ... a giant. For 40 days, this massive chunk of humanity bullied his way through life until a kid nobody heard of took him down for the only and final time.

One of the teams in the WHL final are a group of over-achieving kids from small-town Saskatchewan going up against ... hmmm ... the Giants. For the month of April, this team from Vancouver has lost only once, and while going 9-1 during this stretch, has accumulated 4 shutouts, three of them coming in their final three playoff games. They are Giants, indeed.

But as Goliath teaches us, even Giants fall down once in a while.

I'm not sure why I've made a (lame?) connection between a well-known Biblical event and the upcoming WHL final. It just kind of happened that way.

As it turns out, David used five smooth stones and a slingshot to put the finishing touches on his opponent. He later chopped off Goliath's head and carried it around as a trophy.

As I continue trying to make sense of this blog ... OK, I can't make sense of it. I'm predicting the Warriors in five over Vancouver. I'm also predicting that no one's head will be chopped off in this series and paraded around the streets of Moose Jaw. I hear the trophies are much nicer nowadays.

Perhaps this blog is evidence of a fairly new Warriors fan getting caught up in the hype. And therein lies the beauty of sports: you don't have to be around for 20 years to enjoy the success of your hometown heroes. I'm sure there were a bunch of old guys - and a few younger guys - who watched a no-name warrior from small town Bethlehem do something no one had done before. But they enjoyed the success nonetheless.

For the next couple of weeks, I'll walk through the booming economic development known as "Town 'N' Country Mall," and drive through our city, left to gaze in wonder at a town gone mad on the coattails of its beloved hockey team. And inside I'll chant, "Go Warriors Go."