Impressions of CannonFest

Impressions - well, I normally don't do any impressions...

I went to CannonFest at the recommendation of #cbj twitter celebrity @johntkemp.  John and I have been close friends for over a decade.  John is the one who encouraged me to start blogging about hockey and the Columbus Blue Jackets.  The thought of blogging and getting on twitter really didn’t appeal to me at first. I am not at all wired to understand fandom.  It took literally 8 or 9 beers one July afternoon in 2011 for me to get a twitter account.  After a few months of tweeting, despite my “negative” persona in the #cbj twitter-verse, John encouraged me to start blogging as well.  It was my ‘perspective’ he kept saying.  “It’s your perspective that is great.”  He also mentions a little less perceived negativity might be good.

Happy Happy Joy Joy, Happy Happy Joy Joy!

I am fully aware that my expectations for the NHL Columbus Blue Jackets are high, and fairly unpopular.  The Blue Jackets have been in the NHL for 12 years and should be positioned to compete for a Stanley Cup.  Celebrating little positives from a loss in Major Pro sports is like giving your child money for getting all D's on their report card.  Yes, there are those games we two teams battle and it’s a heartbreaker that one team had to lose.  Those games are great for fans.  The Blue Jackets haven’t found themselves to be regularly competitive for some time.  When the Blue Jackets are finding themselves in that situation where they are regularly competitive, I’ll happily start drinking the CBJ Milk.  Until then, my expectations will remain high.

"You think this is mini-mites you Jack Wagon?  The fans better boo your ass for wasting their money!"

I have been on record and will go on record that Columbus is not a hockey town.  It’s ok to wish it was, and someday, maybe someday, it will become one.  But it is not.  However, that does not mean there isn’t a great core of loyal and passionate Blue Jackets fans in Columbus.  There is great levity from a core group of fans.  I think fans do open themselves up to a little ridicule when it’s suggested Columbus is a hockey town.  But honestly, there would be no Columbus Blue Jackets today if it wasn’t for passionate fans.  There would be no fun tweet ups or CannonFests without a solid foundation of fun, loyal CBJ fans.

Passion and emotion in this face.

I learned some other things about Blue Jackets fans and the twitter-verse at CannonFest as well.  I learned what a DD hat trick was.  I learned that network TV camera turn away from you when you’re talking about bathroom humor and 4 letter words. I learned that the twitter #cbj hash tag has interesing dichotomy. I learned that while I hate video editing there is a guy who really loves it and is extremely gifted at it.  I learned why the Arch City Army stands up all game.  I learned that I was not at all prepared to answer reader questions, because honestly, I didn’t think anyone other than “@mjr_pnlt” read the blog (and we’re flattered he does!).  I learned that a NATO peace keeping force will be deployed in Columbus if Derek Dorsett is ever traded.

One day, you could be this cool - totally.

I blog about some funny stuff, I blog about equipment, I blog about poetry, I blog about the glaring short comings of the Columbus Blue Jackets – I don’t blog about why Steve Mason is going to turn it around this year nor do I blog about how much better this team is without Nash.  I love hockey and wish this franchise would turn the corner, but like the old Russian proverb goes, “The fish rots from the head first.”  The new arena deal will help with some of the red ink, but other changes must be made.

At a personal level, it was good to see a core group of CBJ fans to be around other fans  to share hope and a passion at CannonFest.  This franchise cannot survive without them.  Hockey is the best sport in the world.  I realized I’m not wired for fandom, and I’m trying to learn the nuances of social media and how to best share my perspective – this is why John Kemp is paid $185,000 a year to be my director of content. I have really enjoyed sharing my thoughts and interacting with folks on twitter.  I’m sometimes unsure that despite the stats on the blog, that anyone really reads our posts.  But hope for the season and the DKM blog came to me at CannonFest in the most unexpected of compliments.  A well respected member of the CBJ blogosphere shared that they read the DKM blog because we were ‘willing to have open and honest conversation about a 30^th place team.’  When the measuring stick for all CBJ blogs has something measured to say about Distinct Kicking Motion, it lets you know that while we may not have the brightest shining goal lamp in the CBJ world, that a few folks actually do notice it when it’s on.  Thanks CannonFest.

Blue Jacket Pride

Hockey season officially starts for the Columbus Blue Jackets on August 21st.  Well, for the CCHYA 01A Columbus Blue Jackets any ways.  Much like any hockey team, there are many new faces on our squad this year.  "Management" has made their decision who stays, who moves up, who gets cut and the coaching looks to install it's winning formula with the players management has given us.  Most decisions I support, one or two I have issues with.  But as a coach you move on and work with the squad you have.  Half the team from last year is the same, half the team is new.  All the boys are turning 11 this year and come fully equipped with a set of passionate parents.  We've had a combination of 6 on ice skills sessions and 6 hockey training sessions with the boys so far this summer.

There is still pride in putting on that Columbus Blue Jackets jersey to these 11 year-old boys.  The new boys show a slight glimpse of envy to last years boys who are wearing their fitted practice jerseys from last season.  The new boys are wearing their two sizes too big "Brand X" jersey from some camp with mis-matched gloves and helmets.  There is some pride knowing there set of game jerseys, practice jerseys, and embroidered travel gear with their name on it is coming very soon.  But it's the pride of putting on that travel gear that drives the boys.  But that CBJ logo doesn't have the shine to the boys beyond it signifying a travel team.  We could be the Tallahassee Dumpster Hornets and there would be as much pride putting on the gear if it were to signify a travel team. 

As a general rule, I forbid anyone on the team from selecting the jersey number of 99, 61,and 87.  I have nothing against those players, but feelings get hurt when kids fight over the numbers - and no one over the age of 8 should step onto the ice in any competitive capacity wearing the number 99.  But for a 3rd year in a row, no one is fighting for Derek Dorrset's number.  No one knows what number Brassard wears.  None of the defenseman fight for 44, 97, 6, 21, or 7.  My goalies avoid whatever numbers the CBJ goalies are wearing, even if it means spending $250 for a new set of jerseys.  No one wants number 18, and he was a Buckeye.

What does it say when the impressionable boys on a Columbus Blue Jackets travel hockey team start showing up with LA Kings hats, Flyers T-shirts, and Red Wings hoodies?  The day Nash was traded we had a practice.  The boys were confused and couldn't understand why the CBJ would want to trade their best scorer.  There was no ill feeling from the boys towards Nash, no convoluted talk about honor or duty.  Just confusion, but the understanding that no one wants to play on a last place team forever.  After all, the connection to the Blue Jackets isn't a strong one to youth hockey in Columbus - the Columbus Chill Youth Hockey Association has the right to use the Blue Jacket name and logo for it's travel team - that's about it.

Sure, there is the "Blue Jackets Hockey School."  Seldom, if ever, is an NHL Blue Jacket to be found at the rink during Blue Jacket hockey school.  But this year the kids did get Martin Spanhel, a guy who barely played a dozen games a decade ago.  There is great instruction at these camps, but the  Blue Jackets do very little to capture the hearts and minds of the hockey playing youth in Central Ohio.  They are missing a great opportunity to give the kids a chance to fall in love with the Blue Jackets. Because really, when you're losing 10 million dollars a year and only generating $34 of revenue per fan, getting autograph sessions at Front Street Friday is more critical than a grass roots campaign.  I guess somewhere in the marketing brilliance of of the NHL and Columbus Blue Jackets, going after the disposable income located within a few blocks of the arena is a better formula than an all out blitz where hockey is played every day.   I understand the number of people who play hockey in Columbus could barely fill the lower bowl at Franklin County, er, Nationwide Arena.  But hey, the "Nick and Rick Show" poster at Dublin Chiller is all that need remind me of the successful marketing campaign the Blue Jackets employ.

My single A travel team will start their twice-a-week practices next week.  They will pull on their Blue Jackets practice jerseys, put on their union blue socks and helmets, and talk about players from other NHL teams while they are stretching.  They will be proud to be part of a travel hockey team, despite their name sake doing very little to inspire them.  They will skate every practice not knowing that the majority owner is more passionate about a lock-out than he is about hiring the right kind of management team.  Arena deals and salary caps may fix the financial woes of an NHL franchise for a while, but those deals were in place in 2001, 2002, and 2003 when this miserable NHL franchise turned a profit and packed the arena.  Regardless of how the NHL franchise does, the 01 A Blue Jackets have a title to defend and have a banner to raise.  They learned how to play together as a team, and once they bought into that, the championship was inevitable.  Perhaps the Blue Jackets have something to learn from us.  Maybe if the franchise did come to the Chiller every now and again, they could see what passion looked like in a CBJ sweater.  Maybe just the mere sighting of a player at the rink would actually endear players to the kids on a travel team.  But that's wishing for a lot, much like wishing for anything from the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets...