10 Steps For The Wounded CBJ Fan
By Editorial Staff
Here are the ten steps of grieving altered for the wounded CBJ fan soul…
1. Yell, scream and cry…Well, yes. Do this but don’t hurt your family or friends that tell you “I told you so” or “You get this way every March” and do not tear the jerseys off of friends who happen to like Vancouver or Detroit. This, although satisfying, is counter-productive.
2. Talk when you’re ready. Go where you have support. The R-Bar, any place near the arena district…a Tim Horton’s will do if you can’t make it to the R. Get on Twitter, find the fans and let it all out. A CBJ fan is a CBJ fan and they’ll understand any stage of the Union Blues you happen to be in.
3. Escape when you need to. You may want to visit the Blue Line store. That’s OK. Remember better days. Or, go play some golf and forget about hockey. Do something different. Go to the batting cages and pretend you’re hitting the ref who flipped all of us off this season…pretend you’re smashing Adam Foote. What ever helps…you’re no doubt an adult with a credit card and no curfew, so stay at those batting cages as long as you like. What the hell? Get an Orange Crush while you’re at it…
4. Start small. Turn on NHL on the fly as you can tolerate it. Tune into 97.1 The Fan…you don’t have to listen to the whole show. Baby steps…use a chair to help you get back on your skates again. Wear the double blades..it’s OK.
5. Find your muse. If that’s some other player even in another division, that’s fine. The hope is you’ll heal and come on back to the game and your team…
6. Reach out. Nothing soothes a soul like helping someone else. Volunteer at hockey clinics over the summer, help out with the Blue Jackets Foundation…clear out the billion extra coats in your closet for the Jacket Jackets program (Imagine coats for kids only a hockey team program) or donate to Pediatric cancer via the Jackets Foundation. This step is one of the best to help you get your shit together and feel good again, about the team and life in general.
7. Channel your nervous energy. The best way to do this is Twitter. Ask anyone…find the CBJ fans and tweet away. Don’t be offended if someone tells you you talk too much…(happens to all of us, I ought to know) hit the Chiller rink and strap on some blades…good for your health and soul.
8. Help someone else. Kind of like #6 but could have nothing to do with hockey. The world is a cool place, but there’s plenty of hurt to go around…find someone who is hurting and help them. Could be as simple as dropping off a few cans of soup to a food pantry.
9. Focus on the good things…We have an awesome team. They have great uniforms…(think Minnesota…ugh…and be glad it’s not us) We have Rick Nash and Umby. We have Calvert…this is a great team. We have Donatos Pizza and the Huntington Green seats (for all of us poor folk…)
10. Take one day at a time. Try not to think of October. Don’t think of the next stupid trade deadline or any of that. Think of only today. Today, we have Nash, and they don’t. Today could hold a Mason Golden game. Today, means getting outta bed and knowing we can spend our time any way we want to. It’s a gift to be able to play, discuss or write about hockey.