The TSA is claiming the "loss" of the Stanley Cup over the weekend was just a matter of timing. But it can't be a coincidence that Boston Bruins' forward Nathan Horton lost sight of the trophy in Buffalo, New York of all places. Can it?
The story goes that Horton was flying from Boston's Logan Airport to Buffalo, where he was switching to a car for the trip to his hometown of Dunnville, Ontario. The Bruins forward was supposed to be bringing the cup home with him to celebrate Boston's big NHL championship win. Only when he arrived in Buffalo, there was no cup to be found.
He had to make a shame-faced showing in Dunnville with nothing to show off to fans who had been camped out since the night before, hoping to see the cup. It finally showed up five hours later, at 2 p.m., but with the whole she-bang slated to end at 3, there were a lot of disappointed fans left without a look-see. Sounds like a nightmare for a Bruins fan. But I can think of a few Buffalo Sabres fans who'd be cackling at the thought. OK, I live in upstate New York ... MORE than a few Sabres fans.
So what happened? Horton's wife Tammy tweeted that the cup was "lost in Boston," but the TSA says it was never lost. It was just "delayed." They blame whoever took the cup to the airport for not getting it there in time for an early check-in.
How about another theory? A die-hard Sabres fan, a wee bit tired of the Bruins ALWAYS winning, and still smarting over that 10-year span when Boston ensured the Sabres were either eliminated early from the playoffs or unable to make it there at all, ever so casually failed to report the cup had arrived. Or, better yet, got it off the plane, and then took his own sweet time making the 60-minute drive to Dunnville to deliver the prize ...
Come on -- it sounds a lot more exciting than "Stanley Cup was delayed, along with some guy's suitcase full of Bermuda shorts and bird-watching binoculars," doesn't it? One of the most venerable icons in sports history deserves a little more backstory than that.
Do you think New Yorkers got a good laugh over this one?
Image via mark.watmough/Flickr