By now, most of you have read Michael Arace's article titled "Jackets' failures push long term fans to the brink". That article had a couple of fantastic quotes from Carl Bennett -- an original day 1 PSL holder.
Here is his original letter from Carl to Arace that inspired that article:
Michael,
I refer you to your commentary January 6th, 2012. “Arniel Not Getting Job Done With Jackets”
Now, it is time for you to do some editing, and replace “Arniel” with “Priest and Howson.”
I am an inaugural season PSL/Season Ticket Holder and I have been more than patient with this organization.
No one expects the team to win every game, but we do have the right to expect them to ice a competitive team.
This has occurred far too infrequently, given the tenure of the team and at this point, over the tenure of Priest and Howson.
Mr. John P. McConnell should consider his father’s vision for this team. Was it simply to exist and participate? Or was it to establish itself as something more: to represent the city and the proud heritage of Ohio’s civil war history, something that the citizens and fans could be proud of. I can still recall the video of Mr. Mac, wheelchair bound, but beaming proudly at Ken Hitchcock as the team headed for the ice his first game as coach, and stating, “we hope Ken is the man to save us.” Indeed, Mr. Mac wanted to compete, and win. And Hitchcock delivered. Unfortunately, we know that he was never given a player roster allowing him to continue his modest success.
Moves can be made. Moves should be made. Yesterday’s article by Aaron Portzline citing Priest and Howson’s likely continued tenure was shocking … stunning.
I can tell you, that I will NOT renew my season tickets next year, if these two remain in control of this franchise’s operations. Quite a statement from someone who has been beaten down mightily by this economy over the last few years. I’ve given up nearly everything extra EXCEPT my PSL’s, Season Tickets.
I’m appreciative of all the organization has achieved since its inception; our fine arena, the charitable activity, etc. but now it’s time to play hockey for real. I can honestly say that this organization’s incompetency in hockey operations has nearly taken away my enjoyment of the game that I have loved for 50 years. I regularly watch other games and wonder: “why can’t my team compete this way?”
Please, take a stand publicly, in the manner you did with your article on Arniel. I don’t want this embarrassment to continue, and I want desperately for the city and state to receive the intended product from this organization. Let’s remember Mr. Mac’s vision. This is not it.
Respectfully,
Carl Bennett
That is a very powerful letter.
Carl is one of many die hard fans that will be attending the CBJ Fan Protest on 1.28.12 @ 2 PM which is intended to deliver one message:
LOVE the team. HATE the direction.
The #1 goal of this protest is the replacement of Mike Priest and Scott Howson.
If this message is something you agree with, I would like to encourage you to join him, myself and many other CBJ fans for a short and peaceful gathering.
"Protest" is a strong word and I'm certain it gives many folks pause. I know my wife's first reaction was "what, protest? What are you getting into here? Then I explained the goal and the cause and she quickly "got it".
Let me be very clear, this will peaceful. This will be 'PG'. There will be some music, some folks will speak, apparently some "hot liquids" and everything inbetween. In fact, I'm bringing my two young daughters and I would never subject them to any environment that had any hint of volatility. It will be extremely family friendly. You don't have to bring signs, you don't have to give interviews, you don't have to speak, yell, dance or sing. While those things are fine, great and encouraged -- all you really need to do is just show up in your CBJ best for 60 minutes and support the message. Sheer numbers speak the loudest.
That's it. That's all there is to it.
So I hope you'll join us as it's finally our turn with the man advantage. Let's score one for the home team!
Thank you for sharing Carl.
Much more to come!
HFBOARDS: Thread Discussion
FACEBOOK: Event Link
TWITTER: #CBJFANPROTEST
-LTL
