Dear Detroit Red Wings,



It's been a while since we've talked...I can blame you for it, only as much as I can blame myself though. In my defense though, these days you're not incredibly available. You play on a channel my provider will not carry, and you charge prices that are obnoxious given the state of our city's economy...

I'm writing this because I understand, and have forgiven you for it.

I'm writing this to say "I'm sorry".


Remember back in the days of the late 90s? I do. You had young heroes playing on your team, in which some were living legends as players already, and some would only gain that status later on. As fans, if we weren't quizzing each other on the last names of the "Russian 5", we were trying to figure out how to sneak squid into the Joe Lou, or trying to get that horrifc "I want Stanley!" song out of our heads (...I do NOT forgive you for that one :P).

You were the best that Detroit had to offer as a professional sports team...heck, you were the best the NHL had to offer. We called ourselves "Hockey Town" and we prided ourselves with that...and we showed it with the flags, and the stickers, and the vanity plates...we also showed it with the arrogance. Other fans coudln't possibly be as good as us because "WE'RE HOCKEY TOWN!!"


You brought us a cup, a parade...it was unlike anything I've ever seen (or have seen since). Detroit is not known as being a "Friendly town"...we don't wave at our neighbors, we don't say "Thank you" to people who let us in traffic, we don't help people pick up books when they stumble and drop them right in front of us...and when someone calls for "Help", we turn the other way, and are somehow able to sleep at night.

During that time though (YOUR time), people suddenly became...well...NICE! You could actually start conversations with random people as you were waiting in line at the store. You could actually honk your horn and wave at people as you were driving by, with your little Red Wing flag on the side of your car…
It was great!

Things changed though…economic collapse…corruption…and then one season we turned to you, and you were gone. Just…gone. You didn’t return my calls (I left hundreds of messages). You didn’t even send me a text message L.
I found out through other people that it was because of greed…

While you were gone though…a lot of us, were distracted by a gem called the “Pistons”…

Our heroes fell, were replaced by faces we didn’t know…

We’d look at replays of seasons past, and say to each other “Yeah remember that? Those were the days.” What we didn’t realize is that “Those days” are happening NOW. Those Faces we didn’t know are the FUTURE of the team, they are the LEGENDS of our team
You didn’t really leave us, as much as we left you.

Now, you’re 1 win away from going to a finals series that will be under appreciated, and under exposed…and before all of that madness begins, I’m wanting to say.

“I’m sorry. Thank you for keeping this sport alive here. Thank you for sticking around, and always trying to be the best, even if no one was watching. Thank you for being one of the best franchises in sports today.”

I will be watching all of the games of the finals, and I will enjoy every second of it…and I will ask myself “Where have I been?”

Please forgive me.

Yours,
Daederik

Tags: Hockey Detroit Redwings

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