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thedrifter
06-04-03, 06:21 AM
Hundreds on base ogle Stanley Cup
Submitted by: MCB Camp Pendleton
Story Identification Number: 200362202941
Story by John Raifsnider



MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (June 2, 2003) -- Lance Cpl. Phil Graziano got a fan's-eye view of hockey's crown jewel here Monday -the same up-close exposure his home-state Devils are poised to get as they vie for the Stanley Cup against the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I never thought I'd see it this close up," said Graziano, a 19-year-old Marine reservist from New Jersey, who joined hundreds of others at Mainside Center on base to get a glimpse of the glistening cup, which has seen many twists and turns in its 110-year lifetime.

Graziano and fellow Marine Lance Cpl. Ted Jenkins of Philadelphia were awestruck to see and lay hands on the cup, awarded to the National Hockey League's top team. The cup, reportedly the oldest major sports championship trophy in existence, was here as part of a worldwide tour sponsored by the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Canada.

Many had their pictures taken with the trophy; others simply ran their fingers over the names of their favorite players etched in the 34-pound shining hulk of silver and nickel.

"This is unreal," said Jenkins, 19, a Philadelphia Flyers fan. "I never would have expected to see the Stanley Cup in person, especially with me being on the West Coast on a Marine Corps base."

Flyers and Detroit Red Wings fans were plentiful in the crowd.

"This is our cup, it belongs in Detroit," said Maj. Matt Cord, a Motown native who claims to be the most ardent hockey fan on base.

"We're not going to win it this year, obviously, but next year the Red Wings are going to take it back from the Devils or whoever winds up winning it this year.

"It's just on loan this year," Cord quipped. "We loan it out every now and then, but it is definitely going back to Detroit next year."

While Cord claimed a lifelong passion for hockey, Greg Engles said he took to the sport later in life.

"About five years ago, I got interested in hockey," said Engles, 40, a Buffalo Sabres fan and a cigar shop owner in Oceanside. "I used to be wrapped up in basketball, but a friend suggested I watch a hockey game. I did, and I've been hooked ever since. There is no other game like it - it's the best sport out there. It's the only game I watch anymore - and having a chance to see the Stanley Cup and have my picture taken standing next to it is awesome. It's just unbelievable."

Toronto native Mike Bolt is the Hall of Fame's designated Keeper-of-the-Cup. He accompanies it to most of its 300 worldwide destinations each year.

According to Bolt, the cup was first a bowl, created in 1893.

"Back then, it was just called 'The Bowl,' then in 1910, the name was changed to the 'Challenge Cup,'" he said.

It became the Stanley Cup in 1917 when the NHL was formed, he said.

Bolt says the Stanley Cup, which is 97 percent silver and 3 percent nickel, was first presented to the Seattle Metropolitans in 1917.

Since then, the cup has seen its share of pitfalls.

"In 1924, the Montreal Canadians won the cup, and while they were on their way to a party to celebrate their victory, the car carrying the cup had a flat tire," Bolt said.
"While they were fixing the flat, they sat the cup on the sidewalk. When they finished, they forgot to pick it up.

"A while later, when they got to the party, they remembered where they left it, and sure enough, it was still sitting on the curb when they got back to it. That was in 1924 - that probably wouldn't happen today."

Stanley Cup winners get one day to do what they want with the cup. Over the years, Bolt says, the cup has been strapped to a motorcycle, carried on a mountain climbing expedition and even spent some time at the bottom of Pittsburgh Penguins star Mario Lemeiux's swimming pool.

One of the quirkiest cup uses - it served as a breakfast bowl.

"One player actually used the cup to have his cereal in," said Bolt.

"There have been a lot of strange uses for the cup, but that one was one of the strangest."

Local interest in the Stanley Cup has been stoked by the recent success of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, who face the New Jersey Devils in Game 4 of the best-of-seven series tonight at The Pond in Anaheim.

The Devils lead the series 2-1, but New Jersey native Graziano says he's sure the cup will be back on the East Coast in less than a week.

"No way the Ducks are going to win the Stanley Cup," says Graziano. "The prediction is the Devils will win the series 4-1. I'll go along with that - the Devils in five games."

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/200362203038/$file/stan1low.jpg

Lance Cpl. Ted Jenkins, left, and Lance Cpl. Phil Graziano, both 19 and reservists from Bulk Fuel Company B, 6th Engineering Support Battalion, 4th Force Service Support Group, admire the Stanley Cup Monday at the Camp Pendleton Main Exchange as part of a worldwide tour sponsored by the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Canada.
Photo by: Daniel Raifsnider

Sempers,

Roger