Back in 1928, U.S. Senator William L. Macy came up with the famous phrase: "To the victor belongs the spoils."
In other words, if you win, you deserve to celebrate a little.
After shocking the hockey world and defeating the Canucks in a bitterly contested series, the Bruins are determined to celebrate their Stanley Cup victory every chance they get.
Good for them.
The Bruins have been feted with a massive parade in downtown Boston. They've been invited to throw out the first pitch at a Red Sox game. Tim Thomas will likely never pay for another bowl of clam chowder the rest of his life.
If you think about all the years of sacrifice and heartache, they should celebrate every chance they get.
Who can blame them?
On Saturday night, after their victory parade, a number of Bruins made their way to the Foxwoods casino to do some serious partying.
Here is a list of the Bruins that were at the Foxwoods and their salary numbers for the 2010/2011 season.
Milan Lucic - Just over $4 million.
Tim Thomas - $5 million.
Shawn Thornton - $812,500.
Zdeno Chara - $7.5 million.
Patrice Bergeron - $4.75 million
Brad Marchand - $821,667.
Combined salaries of the six players involved: $22.89 million.
Keep that in mind when you find out how much their bar bill was for a night of good old fashioned "we just won the freaking Stanley Cup" debauchery.
The total bar bill came to exactly $156,679.74.
They paid a tip of exactly $24,869.80 (By the way, during my radio job back in 1993,I made $20,000 for the entire year)
They paid $7,460.94 in taxes!
According to bostonbarstool.com, the bill included a $100,000, 30 litre bottle of champagne.
Good on you lads.
Now, I love working with Greg Brady (@gregbrady590) every morning. I mean, what's not to like? But he was way off side when he called out the Bruins for having such an extravagant party.
First off, the Bruins bar bill represents just over half of one per cent of the combined yearly salaries of the six players involved. Not even one per cent, just over half of one per cent.
Put another way, if you make $50,000 a year, that would be like having a bar bill of $300.
Second, it is not a crime to spend money in North America. If you have worked hard for something and want to celebrate your achievement, you are well within your right to party away.
The Foxwoods sent out a press release afterwards stating;
"The bottle, which was signed by every Bruins team member in attendance, will be on display at High Rollers and will be raffled off at a later date to benefit the Bruins foundation."
They came, they drank their face off, and they will end up raising money for a worthy cause. How good is that?
Here is the other thing you have to remember. Pro sports being what it is; this might be the one and only time that Chara, Bergeron, and the rest of the Bruins get to celebrate a Stanley Cup victory, so why not make the most of it?
Up next, all the players and coaches will each get their day with the Cup.
I don't care much for champagne, but I would gladly quaff some lager and ale out of the Stanley Cup should the opportunity ever arise.
