The Stanley Cup, awarded each year to the champion of the National Hockey League, has been left frozen in a canal, used as a flower pot, taken to a strip club, used to baptize a child, doubled as a bowl of ice cream and sunk to the bottom of a pool. Wednesday, it arrived in my future home country, the Czech Republic.
The person lifting the Cup is Tomas Kaberle, who joined the Boston Bruins in the second half of the season, helped them win the Cup for the first time in 39 years, and has since signed for another team. For those of you unfamiliar with the tradition, starting in the mid-1990s, each player and staff member with the Cup-winning team is allowed to hang out with (and in some cases sleep with) the Cup for one day. Most players opt to take the Cup to their hometowns, which is what Kaberle decided to do; David Krejci is also Czech, and captain Zdeno Chara is expected to bring the trophy next door to Slovakia. (Thanks, Boston Herald.)
The Czechs love their hockey. The are more Czechs playing in the NHL than any other European nationality. The World Championships, held every summer but rarely given a second thought by Americans or Canadians, was appointment TV in pubs this spring. Replica hockey jerseys are a common sight at souvenir shops. When Kaberle brought the Cup to the village of Velka Dobra (pop. about 1,000), the occasion was deemed worthy of a motorcade.
The Czech Republic has been on quite the run in sports (real or otherwise) recently. Last October, its women's basketball team stunned observers and finished runner-up to the U.S. at the world championships. Petra Kvitova recently won the women's title at Wimbledon, upsetting Maria Sharapova in the final. The previous month, Jan Vesely stole the show at the NBA draft, and not because he was picked sixth by the Wizards. And your current chip leader in the World Series of Poker? Martin Staszko. (Dealer: "To you, Mr. Staszko." Martin: "Check." Dealer: "I know you are, but are you going to bet?" Oh, never mind ...)
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