Newsletter 006.
Playoff Hockey is one of the last fragments of Monoculture we have left.
2006 was a very, very long time ago.
Not really, and definitely not in the grand scheme of things, but…
That was the last time the Edmonton Oilers made it to the final round of the Playoffs.
They lost, of course… they actually haven’t won the Stanley Cup in 34 years, they last won it in 1990.
A Canadian Hockey Team hasn’t won it in 31 years, since the Montreal Canadiens last won it in 1993.
That being said, it’s so interesting to me, that starting today, almost every Canadian Hockey Fan out there, is now an Edmonton Oilers fan.
Albeit a fleeting, very temporary fan, that probably won’t even admit they were one the second the cup run is over.
I would assume that there are NHL Players, on other teams, that are now Edmonton Oilers fans for the next couple weeks…
The fact that so many people, so many fundamentally different people, are all about to congregate and watch the next four to seven games together with the same desired outcome is pretty astonishing.
I know things like this do happen from time to time. I mean the Stanley Cup gets won every year, not to mention all the other monumental world issues happening that actually matter.
I just can’t help thinking about how the last time we all watched something in complete unison like this, was at the beginning of the pandemic, when we all watched Tiger King together, but that was way different, that was way darker…
We were all terrified.
I guess there are a lot of things we did “together” during Covid, January 6th for sure, I feel Twitter really came together for a day or two when the Queen died, or when the Submersible happened…
The Breaking Bad finale also comes to mind, the Friends finale… those didn’t happen over Covid, but as far as Monoculture is concerned.
Like I said though, some of those things don’t actually matter. To certain people they don’t at all. Neither does the Stanley Cup, but for the next few weeks I’m pretty okay with pretending it does.
2006 was a great year.
Arguably one of the last good years.
One of the last years before Mark Zuckerberg ruined almost the entire world.
The Departed came out, incredible movie.
I wonder if this sentiment is at all lost outside of Edmonton?
I know it is.
To be honest, I barely like Hockey now, I had absolutely no interest in it back then.
It’s the civic pride, the camaraderie, and the slight mayhem of it all that’s really compelling to me.
Here’s a video that I hope might give some additional context as to how it somewhat felt to be a part of it all in 2006.
Undeniably electric.
I actually like being anxious, sometimes, within reason of course.
Anxiety can be hitting…
I really like the movie Good Time.
When I know the outcome of something in the “Culture” could never affect me in real life, I really don’t mind the temporary roller coaster of emotions.
Something can be immensely anxiety inducing, but if it’s not inherently my anxiety, I can usually compartmentalize that just fine. Again, within reason.
In this isolated incident, I’m just here to watch the games, and talk about them with my colleagues afterwards.
Monoculture is pretty important, at least it used to be.
Water Cooler Talk was once the glue that held us all together.
Everyone having their own opinion, on the same exact thing…
I wonder if my readers under a certain age will even understand what I’m romanticizing?
Analyzing, and more deeply understanding something, together. Even something as insignificant as Professional Sports, is a fairly unrivalled feeling.
I wouldn’t say I hold much optimism as to Monoculture being great again, I do feel that society pretty much voluntarily let it go extinct, but if the 2024 Edmonton Oilers Stanley Cup Run is the only way to revive even the smallest sentiment of togetherness, I’m definitely sold on that.
External Links:
Parts 1 and 2 of the Smith Sane Documentary.
Let's go Oilers!