WEBVTT
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(intense music)
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To the many who love this sport,
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It was 50 years ago this fall, with pen and pad in hand
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at old Civic Arena in Pittsburgh,
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I got my first chance to cover the National Hockey League.
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That was Mike Emrik.
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14 teams.
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Gordie Howe was a Red Wing.
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Bobby Hull was a Black Hawk.
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Bobby Orr was a Bruin.
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All three went to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
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Gordie Howe's son Mark and Bobby Hull's son Brett did, too.
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At that time, there were still scoreboard
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clock with sweep-hands
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and a lot of players with good, bare right hands.
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Time passed, rosters expanded, the league did, too.
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Now, 32 franchises.
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Patrick Kane handing back -
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Although I've decided to
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put down the play-by-play headset mic of NBC.
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They score!
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And they have graciously allowed me
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to do some essays like this in the future,
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a time like this makes me recall that
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we have seen a lot together.
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Snowy day, celebration of hockey in Buffalo.
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Not all of our games had a roof.
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Here comes Crosby!
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12 years ago in Buffalo there was
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the first replay through clouds from a plane.
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21 seconds in!
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And later, a winning goal through snow flurry.
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Score!
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Penguins win!
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Then six years later, two Original Six teams,
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Detroit and Toronto, and the biggest crowd ever:
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over 105,000 at Michigan Stadium.
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Trying to win it.
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And another shoot-out.
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He scores!
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(crowd cheering)
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The Maple Leafs win!
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[Mike] Five years later, during
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the famous victory march at Notre Dame
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and two more Original Sixers, Boston and Chicago,
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walking over that fabled gridiron.
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We saw some Olympics, too.
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Zach Parise! Out of a dead bounce scramble!
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A decade ago, a gold medal game
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that required overtime between
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the two North American powers in Vancouver.
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[Young Mike] Crosby scores!
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The gold medal to Canada!
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And four years later, in a
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memorable game in Sochi when the home-team Russians
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saw an American named 'T.J. Oshie' score
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four times in a shoot out
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Score!
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Including the clincher.
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Team U.S.A. wins!
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I don't know about you,
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but I still get chills seeing The Stanley Cup.
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And knowing how professionals paid well
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during the season, forget everything
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and raise pain thresholds above broken jaws,
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black eyes, stitches, and a lot we can't see
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to win a title and get the name their parents
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gave them engraved on this trophy.
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Oh sure, things change over the fifty years.
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When I arrived helmets were optional
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and then required of new players.
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Visors were optional and then required of new players.
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We went from one referee to two.
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Goal judges once sat in chairs behind the net.
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Now video replay helps make those calls.
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We have a goal on the ice.
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But much of what I love, perhaps
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what you love, is unchanged from then to now
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and into the years ahead.
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I love the coaches still yell, and arguments can happen!
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I love the goalies can occasionally still score goals,
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that sentiment can enter even into
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what number a player wears or gives up.
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That banners, like jerseys, aren't just cloth,
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they represent sacrifice.
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I love that when fans pay the price of admission,
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in addition to the pain, they can get to see kids
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get a lifetime memory.
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Get to see one of their number experience joy.
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Or get to be in on a surprise reunion of
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someone serving the country.
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And speaking of that, to have those who have served
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on the ice when the Anthem is sung?
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I never tire of that, do you?
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And I especially love when the horn sounds
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and one play-off team has won,
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and another, of course, hasn't.
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All hostility dissolves into that timeless
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great display of sportsmanship: the handshake line.
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60 years since I saw my first game.
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50 years since I first reported on the NHL.
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40 years of calling NHL games.
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And I am always heartened to see this.
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[Player] I'm so serious, Ted: good job.
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(woman cheers)
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I hope these days find you well.
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We are well here.
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In the meantime I will be at home with
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Joyce and the pups.
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It's a circus.
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And perhaps in the future I will have
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something to share with you,
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but hoping you can stay safe for now
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and like me: watch for the start
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of next season.
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I leave you with sincere thanks.
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Your hockey friend,
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Doc
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(spacey piano chords echoing)