Obsessedsportsnut's Blog

with the sharks losing yesterday 4-2 to Chicago, it officially ended the Shark’s 2009-2010 season.

am i disappointed? yes. am i devastated? no.

surprisingly, i think i’ve dealt with this loss pretty well…im not depressed, sad, or mad. ive actually been thinking a bit today about this season versus last season (when it took me a month to get over the Shark’s failures), and why ive reacted differently to both “similar” outcomes (elimination).

i feel the best way to explain my behavior is if i take look back on my high school life and see the different ways how my parents reacted to my academic performance. I now understand that all my parents wanted me to do was to study and work hard and do the best that I could. There would be times where I would achieve my goal and do really well. However, there would be times when I tried my hardest, and still didnt do as well as I wanted to. In these situations…yes I was disappointed. yes my parents were disappointed…but they were never mad at me. they knew i had did my hardest, and that’s all they could have asked from me. on the other hand, there were many instances where I didnt try my hardest and definitely slacked off and of course did poorly. In these cases, my parents were more than disappointed in me. They were mad and upset that I didnt put my heart and complete effort in it.

last year when the Sharks were upset by Anaheim in round 1, I was furious. The sharks played poorly, and a lot of times, it seemed that they rolled over and gave up when things were going tough for them. They played with no heart, determination, and character. They didnt fight through adversity. It was painful to watch them last year lose. Like my parents when I didnt try my best, I mad and upset at the Sharks.

this year, they were a completely different team. Throughout the Colorado and Detroit series, they played hard…they played well. The Sharks could have just rolled over in a ball and cried after losing two games against Colorado on two fluke goals…but no. They rallied back and fought hard. they really showed their heart and character. In the Detroit series, they were down in games multiple times, but every single time, they came back and tied it up. Yes they did end up losing 7-1 one game, but they came back in game 5, and played one hell of a game to win the series.

in this series against Chicago, the sharks played well. yes, there were momentary lapses of concentration. yes there were some miscommunication that lead to unfortunate goals. but as a whole, the sharks played a very, very strong game. whenever they were down, they never gave up. they constantly battled and played hard until the very end. we had our chances…we just simply couldnt capitalize on them.

it kind of hurts to hear all the “sharks choked” comments this year. did the sharks choke this year? i will say no. they were flat out beat by a much better Chicago team. Before the series started, almost every analyst had the Blackhawks beating the Sharks. Yes. Chicago was simply better. They were faster. There defenseman moved the puck better. Jonathan Toews was a beast. Antti Niemi was on fire. (on a side note…Nabokov had an amazing playoffs. I dont think much blame can fall on him this offseason).

yes im disappointed…but it’s all right. im still extremely proud of them for making it to the conference finals for only the 2nd time in our team history. they played their hearts out…and in the end, that’s all that I can ask from them.

san jose sharks…i still love you.