The Casual Fan

So, I do not follow hockey. I want to make the record straight on that, because I have spent a lot of my life following hockey.

I watch when it's on. That's the deal. It's not that I follow the team. It's that I'm in the living room and the game is on, and it would be weird not to watch. That's my whole position, and I stand by it.

My brother-in-law asked me about a trade last winter, and I said, I don't know those teams, and I meant it, because I had not checked a single thing that year, and that was a good fact.

But here's where I was wrong, and I know I was wrong. The website. I was on the website at one in the morning in January. I've deleted it since. I want to follow hockey as much as I possibly don't.

My nephew asked me to explain offsides at dinner. And I did. And then the icing rule. And then I asked him about a penalty from a game that wasn't on.

My wife said I was talking through my dinner. And I said, I was answering a question.

The game's on tonight. I'll be in the other room, close enough to hear. That's not following. That's just where I am.