GEEKOLOGY 101: Game on...Game on...GAME ON! Time to drop the puck.

So I have a problem. I talked about it earlier this year when I vowed to never shave until the Hockey season was back in session.

Although we all know that I didn’t make it the whole lock-out.

Beards get to be pretty itchy once they make it to a certain length.

Kudos to guys that can tolerate it and pull it off all at the same time. You all have my respect.

Me...I no likey the itchy.

Anyway, back to my sickness.

I have had this missing pang of nothing to root for since October.

With the Eagles and Chiefs quickly eliminated from all chances of Playoff contention, I was left to wallow in the fits of despair without any source of outlet.

That outlet, usually is the National Hockey League and my beloved Philadelphia Flyers.

As days turned to months, I continued to be hopeful that one day the owners & players would put all the bad blood behind and not forgo another season without Hockey.

The fanbase is so fragile, I don’t know how they ever felt they could justify it by denying the fans (the ones that are left) of their precious sport.

From the early beginnings of the lockout, I was engrossed in it, hoping that one day it would be over.

Quickly, I found myself losing more and more interest as the proceedings took on a life where it appeared the season was lost.

Much like the Eagles and Chiefs season.

Then suddenly a roar, nah, a rumble start to erupt on Twitter & Facebook.

Then I realized it was about the Chiefs signing Andy Reid to be their coach.

As awesome as that was, I was still left with this emptiness.

Then suddenly I got an texted from my brother Tony with two words only.

Those words were...GAME ON!

Could it be true? Could my months of waiting finally be over? 

Now Tony has been known to jump the gun a time or two in the past, so I jumped on all the sports websites looking for confirmation that it was indeed over.

And there it was, in all its glory, the NHL lockout was indeed over.

Glory be to the Lord most high! 

I was finally going to be rewarded with a season. I was finally going to get to see my glorious Flyers take to the ice once again with Stanley Cup expectations all around.

Plus, they were opening up the season against their bitter rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Oh joy! It is like Christmas all over again. Only this time, I get to open ALL of the presents.

Basically because no one else in my house would care about this present of the NHL coming back from the brink.

Though I do give my wife credit, she has tried to sit down and watch it a time or two with me.

And I think she actually enjoys it sometimes.

So my hope and dreams for another chance at celebrating a championship with a team I follow has begun again.

I can’t wait, at least I hope, to see my Flyers hoisting up one of the greatest trophies in sports.

Though with my history of not rooting for teams that win championships, the odds are against them.

I only hope they can break the curse of having me root for them. I know it will be tough but with a strike-shortened season, the odds could be in their favor.

So with the newly appointed caption Claude Giroux I say hit ‘em hard Flyers and bring the cup back to Philly where it belongs.

Man, I am giddy and I can’t wait until January 19th when the puck drops yet again on another NHL season.

It will be Legend....wait for it...

Gary Darling is the geekiest employee at the Maryville Daily Forum. His email is: gdarling@maryvilledailyforum.com. Drop him a line sometime!