Notes From A Good Loss…

by gallagher on Mar 29, 2008 11:29 PM CDT

By Sean Gallagher

You know, sometimes when you talk to a guy about the website as much as I talk to Brad about this one, you assume that the other guy is going to do something that he assumes you are going to do. And then the game starts and you think to yourself, "Oh fuck Detroit, I didn't tell him I wasn't going to be able to open a game thread." And he's all, "I told him I'd be working in the basement and watching the baseketball game, so I'm glad he's going to set up the open thread."

Sorry, all.

That said, I'm probably a little too drunk right now to put together a cohesive piece about the Blues 4-3 loss to the Blackhawks tonight, but quite a few thoughts are banging around in my head and luckily enough, I have this outlet.

First of all, I'm on record now that I really hope that this Blues/Blackhawks rivalry gets fired up again, but quick. I'm also on record as saying that of all of the opponents that come into our building, I actually like Blackhawks fans the best. There are a few reasons:

They buy our paper.

They seem to have a good sense of the history of hate our teams have between them.

Their trash talk is pretty good.

They're pretty funny, actually.

That said, I saw plenty of what I'd call 'good' Blackhawks fans and plenty of 'bad' Blackhawks fans. The dividing line that I saw most obviously? Older Hawks fans = good. The group of retarded college students from U of Illinois who didn't know jack nor shit about their team, the game or, well, anything else about hockey other than to keep yelling, 'Scoreboard!' when talked to = bad.

Dumbest. College. Students. Ever.

Seriously, old guys, teach the new guys. Kill the retarded ones. Move on.

Secondly, old guys, teach some of the old guys, too. I liked the Mikita jerseys. I likes the Roenick jerseys. Hell, I even liked the Dirk Graham jersey. I did not like this one:

Honey, where is my basehockeyball jersey? And my mock turtleneck?

The detail of our latest sasquatchian phote doesn't do this justice, but the pinstripes are clearly visable through the logo and the words. Weak. Very weak.

Third, telling a fuckstick sorority girl wearing her Delta Gamma/Delta Tau Delta Blackhawks t-shirt with the logo, "our high sticks will get us two minutes in the box" to go ahead and "enjoy your date rape later," might sound harsh, but I gotta tell you, in person, that shit is funny.

Fourth, if I were to raise a daughter who would wear a shirt in public that said some douchewad frat boy was going to get two minutes in her box, I would have to Honor Kill her. Only kind of a joke. Especially since most of those lobotomized frat boys couldn't find the seats their tickets were for. And yes, I'm talking mainly about you, low-rent Johnny Depp wannabe with the stupid hat and way more stupider brain. It's not too late for your family to Honor Kill you, y'know.

Fifth, I had a great time at the game. In fact, it's the most fun I've ever had at a loss in any sport. The Blues made a late rush to close the gap, and while this was our now 21st game that was lost by one goal and therefore a bit disappointing, there was a lot of electricity in the air, especially in the third period. Near fights in the stands, fights on the ice, tons of banter and thrown beer cups. My section had the security tossing people out twice and loads of trash rained down on the idiot younger Hawks fans who don't even remember when Chelios and Belfour and Roenick were about the most hated people on earth here in St. Louis.

I would have loved to have our guys get that one last goal to tie things up, but all in all, if we have to lose, at least we had an entertaining game.

Oh, and lastly, the Hawks may be one year ahead of us in the rebuilding process, but it took them at least 10 years longer to get there.

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Comments

So why the toss out(s) in 307? I only saw the one in the late third from several sections away where the usherette had hand on hip and head shaking. Why did that asshat get tossed? Was he with the college crowd? Inquiring minds want to know!!!

by Milo on Mar 30, 2008 12:14 AM CDT reply actions

Best sight of the (after)game: While walking back to my car with the lady, a group of Hawks fans were about three paces in front of me. To their left and just in front of them was a wheelchaired man in a Legace sweater. Upon going through the crosswalk toward the Hard Rock Cafe, wheelchaired man bears left and stops the entire Hawks fan group short. They damn near tripped when stopping themselves after being cut off by a Legace fan paraplegic. One man almost dropped his cigarette.

by Poor College Student on Mar 30, 2008 12:17 AM CDT reply actions

Jeffio, Bethio and I were in awe of the ’Hawk fan wearing the red sweater with “GRISWOLD” and the number 00 on it.

by Chris Gift on Mar 30, 2008 12:56 AM CDT reply actions

307 (and somewhere between 306 and 305) was definitely where the action was. The toss-outs were loads of fun, and the 306/305 incident was some sort of fight after the game while people were emptying out. Saw one ’Hawks fan sporting a swollen eye (or maybe he was just butt-ugly), and heard some at-least-slightly-drunken Blues fan say “Dude, they BASHED that CHICK in the MOUTH” over and over.

The game was great — at least 10 minutes of it that is: the first minute or two, and the last 8 minutes. Janssen’s fight was high-energy at the start, and at the end of the game McDonald of all people jumped into it with somebody.

The whole middle of the game wasn’t so great, but overall a fun, fun night.

by Mr. Particle on Mar 30, 2008 7:58 AM CDT reply actions

Best part, by far, was when I got the Game Time “BLACKHAWKS SUCK” sign on the jumbo-tron! A small victory, but I’ll take it. I was surprised to see the cameras in section 305, but it worked out perfectly. I held up the sign, the camera guy saw it and gave me a grin, before pointing the camera at the Hawks fan right in front of me. The Hawks fan didn’t even notice the sign over his shoulder, but his kid spun around to make sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him.

by claude on Mar 30, 2008 8:38 AM CDT reply actions

In 307, the two guys I saw get tossed were Blackhawks fans from the college group. The first one got tossed for standing up constantly and giving the finger to someone.

When the usher left to get security when he wouldn’t come over to her, he tried moving seats. When security showed up, the whole section stood up, pointed out where the guy had gone and helped security toss his dumb ass.

I think the second guy got tossed just to prove a point, because he didn’t seem to me to be doing anything other than being a Blackhawks fan.

by gallagher on Mar 30, 2008 9:09 AM CDT reply actions

I sat in the back of 307, and my brother-in-law was at the front of 306. He said that when the Michael Clark Duncan-looking 300lb security guard was standing next to him on the stairs to watch the frat boys, he asked "so, are these guys as tough as they’re acting now when you get them outside?

The security guard responded: “Oh, no – they’re like: ‘please, Mr. Security Guard – we didn’t mean it – don’t call our parents!’” The upper deck staff of Scottrade Center clearly deserved the game’s Bud Light 3rd Star – shared between 307/308’s gold-toothed usher and the two security guards in black coats.

Top 11 things heard in my section last night:
11. “You guys are in the gay chapter, right?”
10. “Tone down the language – my fucking kids are here!”
9. “Your girlfriend’s roots are showing.”
8. “Whoa, Indian – you may have won this battle, but we stole your land.”
7. “Is that a Chinese guy in a Roenick sweater? Huh?”
6. “Enjoy your date rape later.”

I’ll ask anyone else who earned their Blues/Blackhawks combat stripes last night to fill in the rest…

by Adam Duke on Mar 30, 2008 9:29 AM CDT reply actions

i almost like am janssen. i liked the fight, heck i liked him playing to the crowd afterwords, i gave him a chance. his next three shifts ended up with him trying to injure people, half missing the injury check so he kinda dives ackwardly and ends up on the ice , and twice because he failed to injure/check his opponent properly, once he leg wrapped the guy ad tripped hi.

again we he does manage to cheap shot an injury, i’m done

the sad thing? after deciding to give him a look, he seems like he can skate a bit. so how come he can’t check unless his guy is unaware, standing still, and a forth liner??

answer man, you got answer to those?!?

by Childhood Trauma on Mar 30, 2008 10:44 AM CDT reply actions

Duncan Keith has been taking Downey lessons. Running a guy with intent to injure with 5 seconds left in the last game of the season between two teams? Just another case of not “manning up”. When I saw the 3 minutes on the board, I knew the refs had nailed him, I just wonder if there’s a suspension in it from the league.

Next year’s games are gonna be fun – Sean, I don’t think you have to worry about the rivalry on the ice.

by The Goalie Guy on Mar 30, 2008 11:43 AM CDT reply actions

watching the game on tv was just awful, with the exception that Particle mentioned: the Janssen fight and the last 10 minutes of the 3rd period.

I was constantly shaking my head and cursing the Blues’ ridiculous inefficiency to create offense.

by Dooks on Mar 30, 2008 5:57 PM CDT reply actions

ALL: Thanks for the 307/306 newsflashes. Nice job helping with the ejections. Keep up the good work!

OFF TOPIC NOTE: Fanball.com’s NHL news update for today had the following:
March 29, 2008 12:17 AM ET
Devils: Salvador misses sixth straight game
The News
Bryce Salvador missed his sixth straight game Friday with a leg injury, according to the AP.
Our View
The defenseman has been non-existent since arriving in New Jersey at the trade deadline, failing to score a point while having an even rating in eight games.

by Milo on Mar 30, 2008 9:29 PM CDT reply actions

a good loss. hmm…. TWO SHORT HANDED goals. a good loss. at home to our rivals. when you could eliminate them from the playoffs, thought they won’t make it, still end the hope one cecind sooner. a good loss. cause the atmosphere was fun.

by Chris D. on Mar 30, 2008 9:54 PM CDT reply actions

Milo: weird, I was just thinking about Salvador earlier today and wondering how he was doing… and couldn’t even remember what team he went to.

gallagher: the whole section pointing out the guy to get tossed was awesome. Just classic.

by Mr. Particle on Mar 30, 2008 9:56 PM CDT reply actions

Chris D: I labeled it a good loss because I had a good time and the rivalry seems to be getting fired up anew.

Lighten up, Francis, the season is over. Might as well have fun any way you can.

by gallagher on Mar 30, 2008 10:12 PM CDT reply actions

All things considered, I was happy with the game as a whole. After two short-handed goals this team would have allowed themselves to be plowed in the third if the game happened a week ago. The team is developing a personality and it’s developing an attitude.

Not the cheap-shit Janssen stuff – I’m talking about real hockey players like Jackman, Perron, Boyes, and Co. making a statement at the end of that game that earning points in Saint Louis is no longer a foregone conclusion.

Manny let in a soft goal, and the big rookie made a rookie play. It happens.

by Adam Duke on Mar 30, 2008 11:30 PM CDT reply actions

If its going to be a loss, I thought that the Blues showed a lot of heart in coming back in the third. Third period scoring has been a problem of late, its good to see that the lads haven’t forgotten how ….

I wish they hadn’t started Manny on back-to-backs … Hannu should have started, IMO ….

by Tim on Mar 30, 2008 11:40 PM CDT reply actions

The Hawks fan in 119 with the acne scars was a little bitch. Why did you tell us to meet you outside and then you went and stood by a security guard while still verbally taunting from afar? I wish you had been more like the middle-aged couple who I practically acosted on Market Street and demanded their Kariya dolls, to which they laughed and told us to look for the listings on ebay. Those are the kind of fans I can get behind!

by Guinea Pig on Mar 31, 2008 4:48 PM CDT reply actions