Things I learned last season, Part Two

You can read Part One here.

There are few things I love more about football than a last-minute pick six. Seeing one happen live, right in front of me, at the Outback Bowl? Even more incredible.

And yes, it makes total sense that my big brother, who I hadn't gone to a sporting event with since we were kids, would take me to my first-ever football game. (And it was so much fun that I could go to a football game in Florida every month and not get tired of it.)

I shouldn't try to mess with anyone else's team. My attempts to trash-talk the Steelers to my friend got the Jets eliminated from football playoffs. And it turns out my friend was right about the Dallas Mavericks beating the Oklahoma City Thunder. I'll probably try to keep my mouth shut from now on. (Exception: if someone's team has a giant douchebag on the roster, or if they're messing with my Habs for no reason.)

Basketball is just great. It's every bit as fast as hockey, but the players try just as hard to put on a show as they do to win games, and that's OK. Last October, I watched a few hours of NBA Network and wrote down all these names and notes in an attempt to do learn something. Now I know what those names mean. Some of them, at least.

If you have an opportunity to high-five a crowd of people, take it.

Shea Weber can grow a damn good beard.

Teemu Selanne is going to retire from the NHL when he's about 75 years old.

Never underestimate a prospect who you think will turn out to be a dud.

I am terrible at calling plays. Like, absolutely awful. It's probably because I wilt in high-pressure situations or whenever I'm not allowed to be pithy.

Seeing your team get knocked out of the playoffs sucks. Seeing your greatest rival win the Stanley Cup sucks even harder. But at the end of the day, there are worse things, and more important things. And even when you think you'll miss hockey the most, summer comes along and makes you forget all about it.

Sometimes people will tell you that they know more about sports than you. (If I were bolder, or thought that I was more knowledgeable, I'd take it as a challenge.) They just forget that there's no way to know everything.

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I just want the hockey season and/or TV season to start already.