I get home and call my buddy Mark to find out what time our game is tonight, and he says “Did you hear the news?”

“What news?”

“The huge sports news.”

“What huge sports news? I got SportsCenter on right now and the goddam lead story is if Terrell Owens is reporting to camp.”

And Mark then told me that the NHL Draft Lottery had just taken place, and that my Pittsburgh Penguins had their ball plucked from the drum and therefore had won the right to draft the most ballyhooed player since Mario Lemieux.

Throw in Marc-Andre Fleury, whom the Pens grabbed #1 two years ago, and Evgeni Malkin, who we took #2 last year, and other young players like Ryan Malone and Brooks Orpik and Ryan Whitney, and suddenly there’s reason to be extra excited about the NHL rising from the dead. And, oh yeah, there’s that Lemieux guy, who says he wants to play a few more years.

A new owner coming in, maybe a new arena, a salary cap, new rules designed to open the game up…could hockey be ready to make a major comeback? Well, today’s news will certainly generate a lot of buzz here in Pittsburgh, where hockey is still much-beloved.

And now, to play in the sand and to drink the beer.

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