Kudos to Blue Jackets fans who plan to protest outside of Nationwide Arena! Your passion is admirable. Your standards are wonderfully uncompromising. Your belief that you can inspire change is…well, inspiring.
I just won’t be joining you.
Why, given my respect for those heading downtown, would I choose to stay away?
One: I’m going to be officiating basketball games. (Wish me luck!)
Two: Personally, I don’t want to be perceived as campaigning for someone to get fired.
(Here are some of the best tweets on the CBJ fan protest)
Yes, I understand that waiting things out is no longer an option. Too much time has been squandered already. Intellectually, we pretty much all agree that change needs to occur from the top down.
But GM Scott Howson and team president Mike Priest are good men. Their resumes are not entirely without accomplishment, and so long as there’s the slimmest hope that the Blue Jackets can become competitive by adding personnel (such as they did in Craig Patrick), or reassigning duties, that’s the avenue I’d prefer to see the team take.
What I guess I’m saying is that we can all agree it’s been an ugly season, yet have a different emotional reaction to it.
There’s a huge problem, though, for those of use whose primary reaction is one of sadness and disappointment. There’s simply no real way to express the sentiment in a way that’s productive. So I applaud those of you who are upset!
After all, every Blue Jackets supporter has come by their scars honestly and has more than earned the right to their opinion. And those in the angry mob down at the arena have found a way to share that opinion in a way that’s captured the notice of the hockey world, which is wonderful. If they capture the notice of Blue Jackets management, that’s even better.
Perhaps the CBJ front office doesn’t understand how dire their predicament is. From their track record of slow-walking change, you could certainly argue that. So maybe a run-in with a pitchfork and torch bearing throng would do them some good.
But as for me? Here’s the only sign I’m carrying today:
Angry or sad, at Nationwide or at home, there is one phrase that summarizes the situation for us all. I borrow it from Light The Lamp, which has masterfully covered the CBJ fan protest: “Love the team. Hate the direction.”
Those who are demonstrating are emphasizing one half of that message, by staying away, I hope to emphasize the other half; but we all hope the message is received.
Lori, I know the real reason you weren’t at the protest today. You’re a JOURNALIST. I know that you know your job is to report the news, not to become an activist and become part of it. I, as a fan however, was there loud, proud, and cold. There was no angry mob. You used one word though that all of us at the protest are tired of hearing. We don’t want the CBJ to be “competitive.” We want the CBJ to WIN!
I think the results of the event were perfect. Fans were rightfully angry, but from all reports more than civil. There was enough of a turnout to get the attention of management, yet not enough to warrant coverage in, say the San Jose Mercury News. (I’d hate to see that much of a light cast on the embarrassment of the Blue Jackets performance, if only because some hockey fans are already convinced this isn’t a hockey town, and news like this somehow confirms this for them. To me it says the opposite, but I believe that is the perception you’re battling.)
You’re right about being a journalist, and that is part of the reason I skipped the protest. However, I would have covered the event had I not been officiating basketball. I wasn’t kidding about that. I gave my word that I’d be available to ref, so that’s where I was.
Bottom line, this is a passionate, knowledgeable group of fans. They deserve better. And every day the organization is not getting better is a wasted opportunity.
Shoot me an e-mail sometime, Lee. Would love to catch up!
I couldn’t go but I am not completely sold that Howson should go. I do think he is on the right track by giving prospects more time to develop in the AHL. Moore is a good example. He was brought up last year but was not ready and was left there for the rest of the year and part of this year. When he came up, he was much more prepared for the NHL. I am not saying Howson hasn’t made mistakes, but I think his long term plan is on the right track. I still think that the worst thing that happened to the CBJ was making the playoffs. The team overachieved (much as the 2000-01 team) and gave the management and the fans the illusion that we were much closer to being a cup contender then we were (see 2000-01 again). I think that year, although exciting, set us back a year or two. Someone said at the time Howson was hired that he would set up the franchise to succeed and another GM would come in and reap the rewards. This may be a prophetic statement.
If I was in charge, I make Patrick President of Hockey Operations and give him free rein to hire or fire anyone from Howson down to Boomer (I still think he is lurking in the bowels of NWA). I would also encourage him to bring in additional hockey brains to help the franchise able to go toe to toe with the Wings, Sharks, Blackhawks and Pens, etc.