Midweek Musings...

A few reflections for your Wednesday...

The removal men are still waiting...You know all that transfer activity that was supposed to happen coming up to the deadline? It hasn't...really. Dion Darling has returned to Cardiff, Cory Morgan hasn't returned to Newcastle (although he might end up at Nottingham) and there's been a few two-way signings...but apart from that, not much.
Which is interesting in itself, especially with teams up and down the league all saying that they're looking for something to push them up and over the competition. The (many) detractors of the EIHL say that it's a league where only three teams really stand out and all the rest are much of a muchness-but this season we've seen Cardiff make a good run at the league before being de-railed by injuries, Newcastle and Sheffield go well before complacency set in, Belfast drag themselves back from an awful start to a point where they could top the league tomorrow night, and Coventry cruise along before suffering what could be the beginnings of a big wobble last weekend. Basingstoke, Manchester and even Hull have had their moments, and with Edinburgh, Basingstoke and Hull all through to the semis of the Knockout Cup, it could be said that every team still has a realistic chance at at least one piece of silverware. If you disagree, tell me you could seriously pick an outright playoff winner from the teams in the playoff places (first to eighth) at the moment-one you'd lay serious money on, I mean.
You can't, can you? This is what the Elite League bashers choose to forget when coming up with their usual "there's no balance, money rules all, and there's only ever two or three teams in with a chance of winning anything" arguments. And this with absolutely no decent enforcement of a wagecap!
See? Everything's fine in EIHL-land...

...which means that I can't wait for the new "fully-enforced" wagecap, which will well and truly put the cat amongst the pigeons if it actually happens. Certainly teams like Coventry, Sheffield and Nottingham will find that suddenly they'll have a lot more trouble keeping their monopoly on the top Brits...

Just call me Judas: Maybe this isn't a unique thing-but recently I've met with the disapproval of certain Blaze-supporting friends, mainly due to the fact that I don't actually think "my" team will win everything this year. Apparently, by daring to express this view in public, I can no longer call myself a supporter. This idea, to borrow the phrasing of Jeremy Clarkson, is....utterly....stupid. Although, interestingly, this blind loyalty doesn't appear to be confined just to the Midlands-the Stingrays fans have been having quite vicious forum fights this season over the incompetence (or, for the sake of impartiality, alleged incompetence) which Rick Strachan has brought to Humberside, even causing the official forum to be closed down-the "not a fan if you criticise them" charge has been thrown around up there as well.
So, what do you have to do to be a true fan of your team? Is it a case of having to hold the "my country right or wrong" view, or is it better to admit that they're essentially flawed? Or does it just make far more sense to get over the whole one-upmanship thing and just get on with watching the game?
I'll take the third option any time...

And on those short reflections, these midweek musings come to an end. Tomorrow we preview Belfast v Hull, and update the Hockey Top Ten now that we've had a few months to take in the music around the league..

Keep keeping your eye on the puck...