When You Can’t Cast Out The Devil, You Won’t Make The Playoff Promised Land…
After the shut out last night, Scott Arniel said the team was physically exhausted. I guess there was plenty of that going around, because there was a guy very near me in the arena last night, who slept on and off thru the whole game. My kid thought he was sick or dead. When he wasn’t cheering the anemic Jackets on, he kept pestering me, begging me to let him “poke” this dead man with his foam Columbus Blue Jacket #1 finger. He even took my cell phone and we caught him just before he dialed emergency numbers to come to this man’s aid.
It’s a wonder, that EMT crews didn’t show up in force at Nationwide last night. I can imagine how flooded the phone lines must have been. “Yes, Sir. Got it. They’re just playing like crap…they’re not dying…we’re not sending a crew…they don’t need medical attention, they just need their collective asses kicked.”
We kept trying to tell the boy that the guy was just sleeping. He put in a long shift and wanted to catch the boys play…and he can’t fight being tired. And, there were no cannon blasts to jolt this guy out of his slumber. We kept trying to tell him that beer and a really boring game will do that to a body.
Maybe it was the hard fact that we’re not gonna be in the playoffs. Maybe it was altitude sickness from being in the very last-top row of Nationwide. Maybe it was the awful, hit ya right between the eyes, cotton candy-ate a flower perfume this lady had on. But I felt sick last night. I couldn’t sleep in my seat the way this man we saw, but I didn’t feel good about the game. Ethan’s mini mite team had more goals than the Jackets had shots on goal last night. The only thing that saved the night for many of us was the Rink of Dreams right before the game.
We all worried about the “little guys” not handling playing a game on full ice at Nationwide (normally, the play on half ice and have all season) so we all wondered if we’d be hefting arm loads of mini-mites off the ice…not so. My kid not only handled that, he reveled in it. He talked non-stop at Bostons Pizza after the game . He talked all thru the game. He talked all the way home (an hour and a half drive) and he stopped only when we tucked him in and insisted he STOP TALKING. And by the way, I have no idea why that boy talks so much. Must get it from his Daddy…
The best thing about last night was the Rink of Dreams where mini mite teams played games on full ice at Nationwide Arena. Ethan’s team had more goals than the Jackets had shots on goal. It’s all about energy. The mini mites had it, our beloved Jackets didn’t.
The Newark General mini mite team ended their season with a win participating in the Rink of Dreams. Jacket fans are nearing the end of this season dreaming of playoffs.