Ahead of the Challenge Cup Final this Sunday in Cardiff, “Mike” (not the writers real name) e-mailed us an article to try and work out what he should do…
… some names have been changed to protect the Guilty.
I’ve NEVER seen us lift the Challenge Cup.
Never.
You’re thinking “So what? Giants have only lifted it twice”. But in my head it’s a little more than that. In fact, I have never seen us win a game in the Challenge Cup Final.
I’ve only ever seen us lose. So I’ve a dilemma that to many probably seems childish, but with 3 days until the Challenge Cup Final in Cardiff I still don’t know if I should go or not.
Seriously.
To explain this let me take you back to 1995. The 14 year old Mike was gifted scarf of his beloved Liverpool Football Club by his parents. That thing was a prize possession but it never left the house. It was never used as an actual scarf.
One side of that scarf was coloured Green and the other the traditional Red and it sat across the top of my bed. I developed an odd ritual, if Liverpool were playing at home or away, I had to turn the scarf over so that Red faced up when Liverpool played at Anfield and Green when they played away from home.
This began and coincided with a league and cup run of form where Liverpool went 19 games unbeaten from December to March. Every game, that scarf showed the colour Liverpool were to play in and in my head it started working.
Bolton, Away, Green, Win!
Manchester United, Home, Red, Win! (Fowler scored twice)
Arsenal, Home, Red, Win!
Chelsea, Away, Green, Draw… ooooh. Still didn’t lose though!
And so it continued week in week out. Even in the Cup, Rochdale, Home, Red, Win! (7-0!!)
Shrewsbury, Leeds, Villa (twice), QPR… No team was a match for the power of my LFC Scarf! Why Roy Evans was paying £8.5 million for Stan Collymore that year I have no idea.. What he needed was to ensure my Scarf was the right way round on a match day!
And then the day came. Liverpool away to Forest, I was in my Uncles house and he mentioned the scarf and I realised…
It was facing Red!
We were away! I had to convince myself I was being stupid. I was 14.. grow up man!
My aunt and uncle were just as football mad as I was at that time and they’d have Ceefax scrolling on a match day. And there it was.
Nottingham Forest 1, (Stone, 43) Liverpool 0.
Stan Collymore’s return to the City Ground had been fruitless and Liverpool walked away with nothing for the first time since December.
But to me it was the first time since I had started turning my scarf… and the first time I’d forgotten to!
And so that seed of sporting superstition that began to grow and grow through the months took bloom. This was my stupid fault!
Of course that’s crazy. It had nothing to do with me. But superstitions, rituals, beliefs walk hand in hand with sport. A pastime that is as much about faith and tribal allegiance as it is about entertainment. So when that young teenage me got caught up in that side of the game, despite the 23 (*sob*) years that have passed since I still remember that winter like it was yesterday and while the rationale makes me laugh, the ethos of it still lingers.
And so we return to my dilemma.
Belfast Giants in their history have reached (not including this Sunday) 6 Challenge Cup finals. With the years of 2-legged finals, that’s 10 games.
Of those ten games I’ve both had the opportunity to attend, or not based on personal circumstances. But it never really crossed my mind until last March as Blair Riley hoisted the Challenge Cup above his head that I’d never actually seen us win it in person.
I was sitting in my good friend’s house baby-sitting my god-daughter and her sister as part of a long standing commitment which meant I was unable to get to Cardiff for the final. So when the legendary Gaz Huish repeated over and over “IT’S THERE!!!” as the Giants dispatched the Devils on their own ice, I looked at the celebrating crowd in envy.
It had felt like so long since I’d the chance to see us lift a trophy like that. Memories of league celebrations and two playoff titles flooded back when I realised… I’d no memory of the 2010 Cup win in Dundonald. Because I wasn’t there to see Mike Burgoyne go coast to coast and seal that victory.
So I looked at what I had been there for.. and the sporting superstitious plight of my 14 year old self began to rear his overly spotty face and full head of hair.
I think the geek in me would rather lay this out in a nerdy table…
|
Season |
Home |
Away |
Score |
Leg |
Win/Loss (Cup) |
Attending? |
|
2001-02 |
Belfast Giants |
Ayr Scottish Eagles |
5-0 |
One Off |
Loss |
Yes |
|
2008-09 |
Manc Phoenix |
Belfast Giants |
4-3 |
1st |
Loss |
Yes |
|
2008-09 |
Belfast Giants |
Manc Phoenix |
3-1 (Agg. 6-5) |
2nd |
Win (CUP!) |
No |
|
2010-11 |
Nott Panthers |
Belfast Giants |
3-1 |
1st |
Loss |
Yes |
|
2010-11 |
Belfast Giants |
Nott Panthers |
2-1 (Agg. 3-4) |
2nd |
Win (No Cup) |
No |
|
2011-12 |
Belfast Giants |
Nott Panthers |
1-5 |
1st |
Loss |
Yes |
|
2011-12 |
Nott Panthers |
Belfast Giants |
5-3 (Agg. 10-4) |
2nd |
Loss |
Yes |
|
2013-14 |
Belfast Giants |
Nott Panthers |
5-2 |
1st |
Win |
No |
|
2013-14 |
Nott Panthers |
Belfast Giants |
4-1 AOT (7-6 APS) |
2nd |
Loss (No Cup!) |
YES!! |
|
2017-18 |
Belfast Giants |
Cardiff Devils |
6-3 |
One Off |
WIN! (CUP!) |
No!!! |
What is that about?
Not only have I never seen us lift the cup, I’ve never been to a game in the final of the Challenge Cup that we’ve actually WON?!
From the 10-4 hammering when I had the means to get to both games and my excitement was dowsed by a rampant Panthers… to the horror show in the NIC that year when Adey’s EIHL Champions fell apart in what felt like over exerted and ill-advised hubris.
And of course it all starts with “Black Sunday” back in 2002, a day where I can still, in my mind, see Mike Bales put the puck down the wall only for the Eagles to take it and fire up ice into the unguarded net.
So where does this leave me?
In the stark belief that this is utter utter nonsense. My attendance to these games doesn’t make a damn difference. To even consider it so is to delve into narcissistic insanity.
This Belfast Giants side is one of the best we have had in many years. One of the two best teams in the league, streets ahead of the baying pack. To watch the transition of Josh Roach, the leadership of Blair Riley or to see how Darcy Murphy has matured into a lights out forward over his two seasons in teal has made this season a pleasure.
On Sunday this magnificent team take to the ice in Cardiff to face the Flames with the intention of going back to back in Challenge Cup titles.
I have my ticket, I also have a flight there and back.
So what now?
My head tells me I’m stupid.
My heart tells me we’ll win it.
But the 14 year old Liverpool fan I used to be, well… I think you can guess what that eejit is saying!
PODCAST: The Fat of the Clan – This Week’s A View From The Bridge chats to Kevin Raine. The Lads look at the weekends games against Fife, Sheffield and Manchester and the preview the Challenge Cup Final!.
A View From The Bridge Podcast, Official Podcast of the Belfast Giants, part of Kingdom Of The Giants.
New Editions are online EVERY WEDNESDAY at 8am from Apple Podcasts, Spotify and all other good podcast providers.
