TJ Oshie… that’s one kind-looking guy, but you’ll like him more and more as the story develops…
(Edit: WordPress tells me this is my 200th post on the Blog of Funny Names. Not too shabby!)
We interrupt our regularly scheduled Funny Names in the News segment for the most adorable news story… ever?
Once upon a time there was a St. Louis Blues team, with a lot of gritty, tough, workmanlike stars. They had the hard-hitting, trusty captain Dave Backes, and the dreamy Swedish star Patrik Berglund (don’t tell Arto I said such nice things about a Swede), and well-regarded-Olympian-yet-somehow-still-not-an-All-Star assistant captain T.J. Oshie.
We’ll ignore that “T.J.” stands for Timothy Leif, and instead focus on the awesomeness of the right winger, who was a first round draft pick of the Blues back in 2005. T.J. became a fan favorite and a major contributor to the team, to the point where he was selected for the U.S. National Hockey team, and became a shootout specialist for the squad, which ended up getting 4th place, losing to a team from some country named Finland in the bronze medal game. Finland… never heard of them. Maybe Arto can help fill me in.
Well, eventually all great things must come to an end, and Timothy Leif “T.J.” Oshie was traded on July 2nd to the Washington Capitals for former Stanley Cup champion Troy Brouwer, the hilariously-spelled prospect Pheonix Copley, and a third-round draft pick in 2016. Seriously – three talented folks were necessary for the Blues to give up their assistant captain T.J. Oshie.
It hit all Blues fans pretty hard – even me, despite the fact that I was only a Blues fan because Arto told me that I should like the team due to Backes and Oshie. But nobody was hit harder than St. Louis Blues super-fan Libby Lu – a 5-year-old who lived and breathed all things Blues and Oshie. In one of the most adorable videos of… ever… her mother caught Libby’s reaction to the TJ Oshie trade. Prepare yourself for some overwhelming adorableness!
Libby Lu has her priorities straight – she’s a Blues fan first, and a TJ Oshie fan second – and bleeds true Blue. This is the type of fan all teams want to find.
The reaction made Libby an instant celebrity and – while wearing an adorable set of American flags in her hair – she got a guest spot on SportsCenter, which is something so many of us aspire to. The host asked her some probing questions, and the highlights are listed here:
1:20 Why is TJ Oshie your favorite player (“Because he gets in hockey fights!”)
4:02 TJ Oshie shows up
4:30 she asks T.J. Oshie her most burning question… “Do you have a swimming pool?”
4:50 “Do you have a diving board on it?”
Libby Lu! That’s one happy kiddo! And who can blame her!
Ultimately, all is well that ends well. Libby Lu, who was heartbroken when TJ Oshie was traded, got the chance to talk to her favorite player, and he compensated her with some pretty amazing goodies… Libby got a #77 Jersey of Oshie’s as soon as he chose his number on his new team.
The bottom line is that, although Libby Lu had to experience some tough times, it seems like everybody wins! Libby Lu got to talk to her sporting hero (I’m still waiting for Gary Payton to give me a phone call), and got some amazing swag to go with it. Oshie gets a chance to help out a new team, with some very grateful fans, and the Blues get some new life and quality prospects. But most importantly, we all get to appreciate the greatness of Libby Lu – one of the greatest sports fans ever!
