Game Two Gives Fratricidal Fan Reason to Quit

Approximately 9:30 p.m., I stood parallel to the intersection of Armstrong and Vine Streets, across from the Garage Bar… As I awaited my chance to cross, I observed a white article of clothing flying over the white fence which surrounds the venue’s patio… After I moment, I observed the number sixty-one on the jersey, which landed on the sidewalk, steps short of traffic…

Three hours prior to this symbolic desertion, I arrived at R Bar, which once again provided an immaculate scene… The venue was crushed and the nervous energy was palpable… The Blue Jackets may be playoff inexperienced, but their fans were sports experienced enough to underline (twice, in red) the importance of this contest… Clearly, they understood 2-0 and 1-1 are two entirely different scenarios…

And for half of the first period, the Blue Jackets seemed to understand that also. For almost fourteen minutes, Rick Nash and crew attacked and Steve Mason matched Chris Osgood save for save… The Blue Jackets skated with the determination and resolve that made an even series, with a momentum contest three days away, seem absolutely certain…

Then, the Red Wings responded… With less than seven minutes remaining until intermission, Brian Rafalski scored and placed them ahead 1-0. The nervous energy quadrupled… As the Blue Jackets and Red Wings completed the first frame, one could envision a scenario where game two resembled game one… Theoretically, R Bar’s crowd was already envisioning this scenario…

I am certain the anxiety of the moment must have ceased other conversations throughout the venue… Thankfully, the conversation I was immersed within, involving R Bar Co-owners Mike and Natalie Darr (and yes, let me save you thinking, they are married) continued… You expect concept venue owners (and R Bar’s hockey theme lands within this realm) to know something about their concept… You don’t expect that they will be as smart as people who have been watching the sport for forty years… The conversation, which involved the Blue Jackets, the relocation of the Hartford Whalers, and the possibility of a contest advancing into overtime and the bar closing early, was one of the most engaging sport’s conversations I have ever had…

The Blue Jackets commenced the second period as unengaged as they had concluded the first… The Red Wings governed the pace for nine of the first ten minutes and twelve of the first fifteen… They racked their second goal seven minutes into the frame and their third fifteen and one half minutes into the frame… The nervous energy was gone… The realization that the Blue Jackets would come home trailing 2-0 was essentially guaranteed…

As the second period concluded and with the thought that the agony had to be excised in some manner, Mike and Natalie ordered five stinger shots for themselves, myself, and two others we were watching the contest with… This wasn’t my first stinger shot, but that doesn’t make it not worth recounting (I actually meant to discuss the drink on Thursday and forgot)… The concoction of Curacao, Smirnoff, and Rick Nash (kidding, they wouldn’t tell me what else is in the recipe) is exquisite… With one sip, one can imagine why the drink won best city shot…

Three minutes and a second stinger shot into the third period, the Red Wings completed the calamity… Jiri Hudler became the fourth different Detroit player to record a goal, as he placed the Red Wings ahead, by the eventual final score 4-0… What had seemed impossible only hours earlier, a second consecutive abysmal performance, was now more than reality… It was hockey history… The simple reality was that Tuesday now has only one acceptable outcome…

Maybe this was what led whomever to toss their jersey into the street… Maybe they were heckled or harassed and rather than take the embarrassment, they shed the jersey…. Or maybe they were intoxicated and the toss seemed a reasonable maneuver at the moment… Whatever the rationalization, that fan, whomever they were, gave up on the Blue Jackets… This, whether in Columbus or any city, is unforgivable…