Noun
- An apparatus with rotating blades that creates a current of air for cooling or ventilation.
- A person who has a strong interest in or admiration for a particular sport, art or entertainment form, or famous person.
I am a fan. A fan of sports - pretty much all of them. Baseball. Hockey. Badminton. Curling. If a score is kept, I want to know the rules and how to win. I delve into statistics like a madman. If I follow a team, I scout our opponents and know their tendencies. I know our weaknesses and strengths, what we have and what we need. It is a sickness - and I am afraid there is no cure. I do like to think I know what I am talking about and at nearly age 51, I have experienced a LOT of sports, HUNDREDS of teams, and THOUSANDS of coaches and players. I am not a smart ass when I talk sports, but I will not back down when I share my thoughts, especially on the rare occasion I am correct. One thing that irks me the most about being a fan - being called 'just a fan'.
I have been, on occasion, reminded from insiders that I am 'just a fan'. "You have no idea what we go through". Coaches, owners, players, and player's families have all uttered that phrase to me at some point of my years of being a fan. Of course, I have been a player, a coach, and a General Manager of teams myself, so yes, I do have an idea what is going on. I know the hurt I cause when I bench a player - I see the anger draped in disappointment emanating from their eyes. I know the distrust I got from players families when I said we needed to fund raise fast and furious or else our American Legion baseball season would be lost. Even my own family dealt with the fact of me playing 116 games for my softball team one summer and they were not the slightest bit happy about it. So I understand...completely.
With that, I offer my latest foray into fandom. I recently made a 3 word statement about our minor league hockey team for which I have purchased season tickets to the last 3 years. I have a fairly good idea how they are performing and how they have in the past. They are a solid team - make no mistake. They have great goaltenders, a good defense, a great captain that will go through walls for his team, and capable scorers. A few of them are scoring, including the captain - but just a few. With the last place ranked offense in the league, something has to give. More people needed to score or someone had to be brought in to do so. Our top scorer from the previous season then made his intentions known that he wished to come back for the last 3rd of the season and playoffs, so knowing what many sportswriters have been calling for the majority of the season - an offensive spark to augment what could be a strong scoring attack, I did what fans do and said those 3 fateful words...
Bring Back Konrad.
And the firestorm ensued. Now let's back up a little. I SHOULD have said, "We are on the cusp of breaking out but can't seem to get over the hump. Maybe if we brought back Konrad that would be the spark we need". What it turned out to be was an assault on the rest of the team, and for anyone that knows me, I do not do that...period. I am always arguing with people that are down on the team and extolling their virtues, so for this to be taken as an attack on the team was a shocker and stung a little. If I was a coach or GM and was quoted in the paper saying we need an offensive spark and we are looking at bringing someone in that has had success here in the past, I would have been looking out for the team. Since I am 'just a fan', it offended some people who reminded me that I do not know the whole story. They are right, I do not know the whole story. I also hope they know that the whole story includes a fair amount of sports knowledge and an even better amount of business knowledge. Combining the 2, you get someone that is concerned that the unhappiness fans were having with the offense parlays into seats going unsold. It hasn't happened in the regular season, but just in my section alone, I have had 5 people tell me they are not taking the playoff ticket package because they are afraid it would be a short run anyways.
From there, I go on the offensive. I remind them that in the playoffs, defensive teams generally get on a roll, and having 2 of the top 5 goalies and what now is the 2nd ranked defensive unit puts us in a good position. At the time, I told them we will get a scorer and watch out - everyone else will catch fire too. The scorer has been signed and no, it was not Konrad, but a weapon for sure. THAT is what the fans, the media, and clearly management and ownership were calling for all along. It was not to disparage the players that were on the team, it was to add another facet that makes it harder on the opponent. It may not happen, but that has not stopped me from purchasing playoff tickets. I go on the offensive on the forums stating that what we do have can carry us, but adding another weapon makes it harder to key on the weapons we have now. One more to stop opens up the floor a liiiittle bit more for the guys that have put the work in all season. A little more room on the ice gives our captain and the rest of our existing scorers a little better chance at burying more goals, but even more so, helps the ones that aren't get a better look too. Add in the scoring touch that the new guy brings and I wholeheartedly believe that we will raise our scoring, as a team, enough to be a very scary team for the remainder of the season.
And that was the only intent that my 3 word post had. A lot, and I mean A LOT, was read into it and that was simply not the case. So let me say to those one more time - I am sorry that it was taken that way, that was not my intentions at all. I have personally heard from a few people and read a lot more posts and comments from posts, but I want everyone to know, especially the players, that it was a very simple comment about bringing a fan favorite back and addressing a need with one signing. I have even had 2 players on the team say to me that they hoped they did EXACTLY what I advocated because of the need for offense, and they obviously were not disparaging the rest of the team that has been performing well.
The Statement, as it will go down in the annals of time, wasn't the grumblings of 'just a fan'. It was that of a fan that has an eye for all things sport, and understands the game, and knows what the team needed. We needed a solution, the man wanted to come back, and the answer was simple. Bring back Konrad.
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