Pride. Understanding. Perspective.
As I often do every other Friday I leave my cube for a few moments and head out on the downtown streets. Marching towards my food truck of choice. Today was Mangia…oops Sicily Streat (don’t sue my site Mangia Italiano). The purveyors of wonderful Italian food on the go are big St. Louis sports fans. Mainly Cards, but they love the Blues, too.
Which got me thinking, in my five block journey, about all of the odd looks I’ve received the last few weeks.
While St. Louis area folk have been oozing Cardinals red all over their clothing choices, I have stuck with my Blues jacket and hat to wear on top of my work attire. The looks, stares, neck strains and other “how dare you not wear red” glances received are getting old. I even got one on my way to lunch.
No, sir. That is a BLUENOTE, not a Texas Star…
Can someone tell me when it is acceptable to shout at a local stranger, “F*** off, I’m a Blues and Cards fan!”?
The proud display of affection for a local sports team is nothing to be reprimanded for or disgusted by. Certainly no shame in doing the exact same thing as everyone else, just with a different team.
No, I do not deserve your cockeyed looks.
Before you go there, this is not a post ripping on Cards fans. I’m as sick as anyone of the garbage trash talk that goes on about Blues fans hating anyone not like them. It’s a stereotype that is simply not true. Don’t lump the vast a majority of solid, self respecting blue bleeders with a handfull of pot stirrers.
This is a post about pride and understanding.
I love hockey. I love the St. Louis Blues. Yes, the Blues are struggling and the Cards are the Cinderalla darlings of the pro sports world. They’ve battled hard and the spotlight is rightfully theirs. Doesn’t mean I need to jump bandwagons.
There is a lot of hockey to be played and more likely than not, they won’t play as bad as they have for the next 76 games. They’ll have their chance.
Some out there don’t think they will. After six games the troll species has emerged from hibernation and is defecating its summer slumbers worth of excrement everywhere. Panic has set in for some so much that you would think a coaching change would be made tonight if not for a full shelling of the visitors in to the stone age. If problems are not made right by tomorrow, its the end of the team.
Let’s be serious for a moment, it’s not THAT bad. How about some perspective.
At least we still have a team. The Blues are still called the St. Louis Blues. Not the Quebec Nordiques. They haven’t been moved to Winnipeg, Saskatchewan or anywhere else. Nor will they any time in the near future. Take a look at Atlanta and the fans who had their team taken away because the league wasn’t as willing to fight for them as they would for Phoenix.
Ownership has done well enough. For all his perceived faults and glaring mistakes, Dave Checketts has been a good owner for this franchise. Rebuilding a team and business gutted by years of mismanagement. He’s stuck to his guns when others would have buckled and caved in to pressure. Which would have set the course for a brick wall at ramming speed with the lack of funds allocated to payroll. The Blues are in the best position they’ve been in on paper in six years.
There are other teams worse off. The Blues record is 2-4-0. Not a strong showing, but still better than the Columbus’s 0-5-1 mark. Want to talk about a team in trouble of going the way of the Dodo? Put yourself in a Blue Jackets fan’s skates. One of the highest payrolls in the league. Your summer splashes are injured and suspended. Keeping the team in town relies upon an arguably radical scheme. Where is the hope when all they’ve had has been squashed?
The sale of the team is progressing in the right direction. With the latest news that a signed purchase agreement is supposedly forthcoming, the end of ownership instability appears near. Be grateful Goldwater Institute isn’t unloved. There has been no talk of selling bonds. No bankruptcy filing. The situation isn’t dragging out like it is in Phoenix and Dallas. A new owner with presumably deeper pockets and more of a willingness to spend than his predecessor appears to be a reality.
“The night is darkest before the dawn.”
An apropos line for a high fantasy novel, but it also pertains to the Blues.
Fans are down right now. It’s easy to see why. The team has gone through too many stretches where they stopped fighting. Putting forth the type of effort which Tom Calhoun always thanks the Scottrade crowd for. In a blue collar town in middle America, professional athletes are expected to at least try and the faithful haven’t seen it. They need it when they see baseball players not giving up.
All of the struggle doesn’t change the fact that the Blues are positioned to do what is expected of them. They’ve done it before and can surely do it again.
A little homer-ish? Too much kool-aid? Nah. Just meeting the pessimism with an equal amount of optimism and an added dash of reality. Between the two lies the the truth. Go find it.
