it's been impossible the last couple weeks to feel any real excitement about the upcoming season. and the odds are greatly in favor of this being a difficult slog of a season.
but i did see a tweet earlier that – however impossible this sounds (and likely is) – the best tribute the blue jackets could give johnny this year would be to win the cup and get his name engraved on it.
again, by all logic that will not happen, but purely as a fan of the team and someone who was shaken by the senseless killing of johnny gaudreau, it is hard to not read that tweet, give myself a brief second to imagine it coming to fruition, and get excited.
i am willingly turning off my cynical message board poster brain and dusting off the switch for my hopelessly optimistic fan brain, and hoping against all hope that this happens.
Nice post.
Turning off your brain in a situation like this can be a good thing.
This whole situation reminds me of 1993 and the Indians that year. In spring training, on what was their only day off, the Indians lost two pitchers in a senseless boating accident. Steve Olin was a promising reliever for the Tribe, coming off a 29 save performance in '92. He was coming into his own, as were some of the other young talent the Indians had been accumulating. He was only 27, had a wife, a 3-year old, and 7 month old twins. Sound familiar? The team struggled in '93, as expected, but found their groove the following year.
I can still remember in '95 when they clinched their first division title in 41 years, only 2 seasons later. After the clinching game ended, they celebrated, went to the clubhouse, came back out with a banner to raise, walked out as a team to centerfield to raise it, and in tribute to Olin, played his favorite Garth Brooks song "The Dance" while it went up. It was a healing moment for the team, as well as for the fans, as the long losing drought was over. It didn't matter we lost the World Series. It was all good.
I would love to see this young Jackets team do the same. It would be a great healing for the team, as well as for the Jacket fans.