June 20 Tuesday 4:30 p.m. Charlotte, N.C.

Good news -- I can hear clearly again!

The RBC Center was so loud during Game 7 that my ears literally hurt, and I had trouble hearing after the game. The fans were that good! And another thing -- they NEVER sat down! It was like a college student section all around the arena. You never see that at a pro game!

Ya'll probably saw the highlights, so there's no need to go into details about the game itself. So let's fast forward to the post game. I was outside doing live hits for the 11 o'clock news, so I didn't get back in the building until 11:30. I was concerned I wouldn't get into the locker room, and they were bringing out players to do interviews outside the locker room. So we talked to Commodore, Stillman, Adams, Recchi and Weight. Then...I overheard another reporter ask an NHL PR guy, "when is the locker room going to be open?" The PR guy answered that it's already open...so we head on in. After a few more interviews, we stop, waiting for some more of the big names to come in. That's when I look down to my right -- and there's the Cup!!! It's sitting at my feet! All right then, that's convenient. Then...Rod Brind'Amour walks in...picks up the Cup...starts drinking from it...then pours drinks for his teammates. That scene lasted for about 45 minutes before coach Peter Laviolette finally walked through and said it was time for us media folk to head on out. So that's the story of my 45 minutes with the Cup -- and it's something I'll never forget.

Here's one more story -- right before we left the RBC Center, we stopped by one of the media rooms for water. Someone then yelled "show me the money!". It was Cuba Gooding Jr. What is he doing screaming that in a random media work room? And does he really go around living off that? It sort of reminds me of a middle aged man, sitting at a bar, telling stories of his glory days as the high school football quarterback.

Random Thoughts:

--High school and college hockey locker rooms stink. The NHL must use some nice air freshner because it smelled all right in the 'Canes locker room.

--How 'bout this random collection of celebs at Game 7 -- Cuba Gooding, Jr., Tim Robbins and Kid Rock.

--It'll be interesting to see if the 'Canes win raises interest in the Checkers.

--The past two Stanley Cups have landed in Tampa Bay and Raleigh. That's gotta drive the purists crazy.

Ok, that's all for now...thanks for reading...and maybe we'll talk again next year during a Hurricanes repeat run.

BV