BRUINS!!!!!!!

Last night, I had the pleasure of watching the Boston Bruins clinch the Stanley Cup at Game On!, the sports bar below Fenway Park. I walked out of Game On! and someone with a notebook jammed a microphone in front of my face:

"Sir," he said, "you look much more calm than some of the other people out here." (One drunk guy in a Brad Marchand jersey was climbing a tree nearby, and police were waiting for him to come down.) "How do you feel right now?"

I was exhausted, and I had no idea what media outlet, if any, this guy was from. For all I know he could've been a stalker.

I put my hands on my hips and said, "I'm a little shellshocked right now. I had faith in the Bruins but it's all a little surreal right now. It's a great feeling, though. The Bruins were the last team I was waiting on."

The Patriots, Red Sox and Celtics have all won championships in my lifetime. Prior to last night, the Bruins' last Stanley Cup was in 1972, before I was born.

The guy continued with his line of questioning. "So does this rank as the greatest championship of all?"

This was a long, hard-fought, seven-game series against a very good Vancouver Canucks team. And I was still exhausted, and still had my hnds on my hips, trying to suck in the fresh air.

"It's not that it's better," I said. "It's a fulfillment. Now I can die in peace."

Finally, the guy left me alone and headed toward Comm Ave., where a mosh pit of Bruins fans chanting "Tim-my Tho-mas" was developing in the street.

I was amazed that I was able to get any words out at all, let alone speak from the heart the way I did. I couldn't have said it any better if I had rehearsed it for weeks.

I hope to be around for a long time. But I've finished a novel, albeit a rough draft. And now all four of Boston's major pro sports teams have won a championship in my lifetime.

The Bruins have completed the cycle for me. If I die now, I can be at peace.