Since I seem unable to get my thoughts on this situation in the limits of 144 characters on Twitter I humbly post them here. First of all after seeing Steve Mason give up three goals in the matter of minutes in the first period last night, combined with the struggles of the CBJ over the last six weeks I declared this team dead. I also declared them not making the playoffs this season. The reason: I have been watching NHL Hockey since 1971 when I attended my first game at the age of ten in Pittsburgh. Over the last 38 years I have seen certain trends of what constitutes a playoff team and what I have seen out of the Warriors of the Olentangy this season so far does not meet that criteria. In fact I think that no matter how many players meetings this team has, how much calling out of players inside and outside the locker room occurs there is one fact: this is simply a bad team. I feel they are too young and lack veteran leadership. I furthermore went on to state that one of three things will probably happen: Hitch will be fired, Mason will be sent to Syracuse or Nash will be stripped of the “C”. I also stated that I am not advocating any of these changes; I just base my guesses on past trends that I have witnessed in many seasons of being an NHL fan. This touched off a fire storm of responses accusing me of being spot on to just plain stupid. Once again these are guesses not recommendations.
This morning I read Michael Arace’s column in The Columbus Dispatch (in the actual paper and not on line) accusing anyone and everyone who blogs about the CBJ to be “imbeciles”. I vehemently condemn that statement as inappropriate especially as a Dispatch subscriber. Just because I do not have a journalism degree does that make my opinion instantly wrong? Unfortunately for Mr. Arace blogging and instant media is the new media. I will be just as sad as anyone on the day in the not too distant future when the Dispatch announces they will no longer be producing a print edition. I love reading the newspaper on a daily basis and I have done so since my childhood. However making a blanket statement slamming those who care enough about the CBJ to vent their opinions in the blogosphere as mere “imbeciles” probably speeds up the execution date of print media. Ticking off your remaining subscriber base is not a good idea.
As for the Jackets, during the end of the first period I spoke at length with my best friend over the phone (what no Twitter or texting, GASP!). I have known this gentleman since I moved from Pittsburgh to the Columbus area in 1973 at the ripe old age of 12. I taught him the game of hockey at a time when no one in Central Ohio knew the difference between a puck and Woody Hayes’ latest tirade. After we both shared our growing frustration with the CBJ and our realization that our boys would probably be playing golf come April he said simply “Just do something, I don’t care what it is.” At this point we both agreed that doing nothing would be equalivent to flipping a collective middle finger to a rabid but shrinking fan base. Some of you might think this to be extreme but please consider this. Being from Pittsburgh also means I am a lifelong Pirates fan. The Buccos have not had a winning season since 1992. That is the longest streak of losing seasons in North American professional sports history. I no longer care about the Bucs, why you ask? I feel Pirate management doesn’t give a flying f*&% about their fans since it is always “stay the course and be patient”. I am sick of that after 18 years. I do not want that to happen here. Writing this season off, we will have had only one playoff season in our history. “Stay the course and be patient” right now is flipping a collective middle finger to the “imbeciles” who support and care about the CBJ probably more than they deserve.
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