Post by phreload on Oct 9, 2011 1:40:49 GMT -6
The dream is becoming a reality.
The history of hockey in Winnipeg is storied and rich with legend but great legends don’t always have fairy tale endings. This is not a tale of victory and vindication; it is a journey that takes us through a very dark place. Despite being born in a cold dark flat nowhere this small city captured something special but it wasn’t destined to keep it. When the last fan left the arena that April 28, Winnipeg didn’t lose its soul but was wounded deeply. Hockey fans had this tragic passing embedded in their psyche and nothing could erase it, in fact for the next 15 years that connection to the team hardly faded at all. Jets fans cheered Go, Jets Go at all types of public events and even though the team was gone, the phrase still meant something to us.
It is October 9, 2011 1:47AM and I can’t sleep. I can’t stop replaying the final game and the goodbye ceremony in my mind. It’s as if the closer the game time gets, the echo of the last Jets game gets louder and louder. Time seems to be tumbling backwards, a powerful feeling that leaves one feeling a kind of motion sickness. If I close my eyes, I can hear the roar of the fans from 15 years ago and a tightness grips my chest. It’s a familiar feeling, an uncomfortable dichotomy of love for the team, mixed with the horror of watching them leave. So like many Jets fans, memories of the old team are difficult to enjoy and dwelling on them leaves me melancholy.
I wonder about today’s game and what will happen to that old wound. Will the memory of watching the Jets leave finally break free and drift into the past? Will there be a moment during the game when the reality sinks in and I can let the old Jets go? I truly hope so. I love the new Jets and since May 19 it has been a continuous Christmas filled with exciting moments and tremendous anticipation. I got some tickets and will be there to soak up the energy. I will cheer Go Jets Go with all the vigor I can muster.
Like any great story, when you reach the end there is only one thing you can do.
Write a new chapter.
The history of hockey in Winnipeg is storied and rich with legend but great legends don’t always have fairy tale endings. This is not a tale of victory and vindication; it is a journey that takes us through a very dark place. Despite being born in a cold dark flat nowhere this small city captured something special but it wasn’t destined to keep it. When the last fan left the arena that April 28, Winnipeg didn’t lose its soul but was wounded deeply. Hockey fans had this tragic passing embedded in their psyche and nothing could erase it, in fact for the next 15 years that connection to the team hardly faded at all. Jets fans cheered Go, Jets Go at all types of public events and even though the team was gone, the phrase still meant something to us.
It is October 9, 2011 1:47AM and I can’t sleep. I can’t stop replaying the final game and the goodbye ceremony in my mind. It’s as if the closer the game time gets, the echo of the last Jets game gets louder and louder. Time seems to be tumbling backwards, a powerful feeling that leaves one feeling a kind of motion sickness. If I close my eyes, I can hear the roar of the fans from 15 years ago and a tightness grips my chest. It’s a familiar feeling, an uncomfortable dichotomy of love for the team, mixed with the horror of watching them leave. So like many Jets fans, memories of the old team are difficult to enjoy and dwelling on them leaves me melancholy.
I wonder about today’s game and what will happen to that old wound. Will the memory of watching the Jets leave finally break free and drift into the past? Will there be a moment during the game when the reality sinks in and I can let the old Jets go? I truly hope so. I love the new Jets and since May 19 it has been a continuous Christmas filled with exciting moments and tremendous anticipation. I got some tickets and will be there to soak up the energy. I will cheer Go Jets Go with all the vigor I can muster.
Like any great story, when you reach the end there is only one thing you can do.
Write a new chapter.
Regardless, Go Jets Go! I'll be glued to the TV out here in Alberta, missing my birthplace even more.
