The Stanley Cup: A sports icon that lives large--like a celebrity--but gets no special breaks from JetBlue.

It's a trophy with an interesting life like no other.  

For those who don't follow professional hockey, let's just state the obvious right up front:  The Stanley Cup is the highest trophy a team can win in the National Hockey League--it's what the prevailing team wins the rights to for a year.  What only few fans know much about is the busy and complicated life the Stanley Cup has serving as the winning teams prize for a year in between championship play-off games. 

Each year the Cup logs about 100,000 in travel.  For example, it's been the guest of George Bush and Bill Clinton at the White House; it's appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman; it's been invited to opening day at Yankee Stadium; it's visited the Kremlin.  

In it's various travels it's been the honored at weddings as well as patio cook outs; served as a baptismal font as well a flower pot; it's reportedly been urinated- as well as defecated in; the Cup's been to bed with at least one player and his wife; served as a dog food bowl; a Kentucky Derby horse has been fed from it; it's climbed mountains [all 14,133 feet of Mt. Elbert in Colorado]; it's traveled by dog sled.  

Woops!  JetBlue "loses" the famous Stanley Cup.  Or does it?

Given the celebrity status of the Cup, it appears that JetBlue dissed it somewhat on it's recent journey to Buffalo.  It was reported that JetBlue "lost" the Stanley Cup at Boston's Logan Airport five days ago, because the Cup didn't show up at baggage claim with the individual who was accompanying it on the flight there; apparently it was checked as baggage at 7.35am for an 8.00am flight.  

JetBlue spokesperson Sebastion White said that the cutoff time for checked baggage is 30 minutes prior to departure and that the Cup, thus, missed the chance for inspection; it was placed on the next flight to Buffalo, but the faux pas cut short the day it was slated to spend with Bruins hockey player, Nathan Horton; he'd planned to have the Cup in a parade planned in his honor in Dunnville, Ontario. 

[Even with the bad publicity that came from the poor reporting by the media, JetBlue was shrewd enough to capitalize on even the dubious media exposure to make the point that since the Stanley Cup was the first baggage item checked by the accompanying person--that it went for free on JetBlue!] 

The Stanley Cup ordeal even taught me a lesson!  

I have to admit that sometimes I let myself get annoyed when JetBlue doesn't give me a break at late check-in.  But now that I know that the Stanley Cup--far more famous than I'll ever be--doesn't get special treatment--how can I reasonably expect to get it?  

[If you want to read even more on the lore surrounding the Stanley Cup, you can check out a couple of interestings sites, including snopes.com and nhl.com.]
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