The other night I caught a Blue Jackets game with a bud. We watched them destroy the St. Louis Blues 4-1 and continue their quest to make it into the playoffs. They won the following three games straight and have a fighting chance tonight against a team they beat in their previous matchup, the Anaheim Ducks. 

Last season was a tragedy. It was also the season that I started following the Jackets as closely as I do. Based on statistics of the previous decade, I got used to the idea that being a fan meant self-inducing depression on purpose. 

Then we traded our captain away to the New York Rangers. I have no bad blood over Nash switching teams, as that’s become the norm in professional sports. In all honesty, Nash needed to surround himself with better players. He’s thriving with the Rangers, and I wish him well. 

This isn’t to say Blue Jackets veterans like Prospal aren’t good players, but I’ll be honest, last season was a mess. With the Nationwide Arena not paying for itself, many fans were  offering only words of discouragement and negativity, often suggesting that the Jackets move to a different city. 

Then the NHL shot themselves in the foot. Union battles took priority over pleasing the fans, and a lockout prevented professional hockey from taking place in North America. This lockout dragged on and on as they canceled the season one month at a time. No city was hit harder by the lockout than Columbus, as the Arena District had lost not only the regular season business, but also the business expected to be brought to the city by the 2013 All Star Game. Once the All Star Game was canceled in November, many Columbus hockey fans considered the season to be done. It would be another two months still before  a compromise would allow the puck to drop. 

“Forget hockey, I’m not even sure I’ll be interested when/if they do finally bring themselves out of the lockout.”

Then the season started. It was a bumpy start and only reaffirmed the negativity that had been the norm. Jack Johnson seemed to take a leadership position even though no captain had been officially declared. The Jackets were experimenting with some young blood on the ice, but one position stood out above the rest. 

Bobrovsky stepped up and took over the goaltending duties for the Jackets. Things haven’t been the same since then, as Bobrovsky has blocked shots with the quality of a finely tuned machine. His excellent goaltending created a surge in confidence and the Blue Jackets are actually doing well. 

Then the Jackets seem to win the trade as they acquired Marian Gaborik from the New York Rangers. The Jackets are still less than perfect, but as their numbers shift from the worst in the league to a possible appearance in the playoffs, one has to wonder if this wasn’t some sort of apology to a block of fans that have all but given up. 

Regardless of whether or not the Jackets make it to the playoffs, they’ve improved dramatically and will carry that momentum into next season, pending further union battles. As a fan, I am excited. 

While watching the game against St. Louis with my friend, we discussed the season and came to wonder if the NHL is purposely propelling the Jackets to success to make up for the All Star Game, and an overall lack of quality over the past decade. Will a winning team bring the market back to Columbus? Based on the number of empty seats compared to last year, I’d go with ‘yes.’ 

With the damage of the lockout still in recent memory, a winning team with real quality will draw crowds and will quickly repair the losses our city forfeited. This will and has already ignited a new wave of fan appreciation. 

Do I believe that the NHL set up the Jackets for success? No, it was really a joke between friends. But it’s damn fun to speculate. 

Spring is here. Time to break out the allergy medication and dust off the tools associated with our outdoor passions. Live concerts, football, and public intoxication make up just a fraction of the activities in which I hope to engage as the weather warms up.

The season of the motorcycle is also upon us. Millions of Americans in the northern part of the country will be getting their bikes out for the first time since last fall to take part in a lifestyle that is a defining trait for many. As the weather warms up, more people take to the road in general.

It will be ten years this fall that I lost a best friend from my childhood. Curtis Klingbeil was only a month into the age of sixteen when he was killed while riding his motorcycle. It was only a couple of days ago that I actually read the reports online as I searched for a picture to share. Alas, the only version of the picture I can find is a small pocket photo I’ve kept in my wallet for years.

Curtis’ story is one of many. I miss him and the potential he had shown as he approached adulthood. He took an interest in mechanics and electronics, none of which I understood when I was his age.

The point of this is to remind you to drive safely as you get out and about. Your attention could spare a life.

I feel as though I am some sort of hipster when it comes to my favorite author in that he’s relatively unheard of in the States. Having never met another American acquainted with his work before my meddling, I simply want to document the unlikely events that directed me to discovering John Niven.

Niven is a Scottish author who has five published books on record with two more scheduled to be released this year, including his first nonfiction piece about The Clash. His full length debut Kill Your Friends is a scathing satire of the music industry for which he worked for the better part of ten years as an A&R guy.

The year is 2008. As an optimistic music student visiting England to play drums in the Hocking/Havering colleges theatrical production of Hair, we visiting Americans had some tourist activities planned out. Residing in Romford near the Havering campus, our class was visiting the Victoria Palace Theatre in London to see a production of Wicked before our rehearsal schedule really kicked off.

Arriving with more than an hour to spare before the show, we students scattered into the nearby shops and eateries to pass the time. After getting a bite and some coffee, I was intrigued to find a bookstore in the area and ventured in.

I found myself looking over the classics with covers I had never seen before. 1984 and A Clockwork Orange caught my attention, but I already owned copies of those books and wanted something new. Being skeptical of new things, I searched the shelves unsure of what I was actually looking for.

That’s when I found it. With the display having multiple copies showing both the spine and the front cover, I pulled one from the shelf and scrutinized it. A cassette with a pink label that revealed the title rested on the top half of the cover over a white background. From the bottom of the cassette, tape had been pulled from it and shaped into a noose on the bottom half of the cover. I read the back of it and thought that as a music major, it would be an interesting and fun read. I put it back onto the shelf and poked around a bit longer before deciding that I would actually spend my food money on the book. I had committed the lowest of my sins in judging a book by its cover, and it was the best decision I’ve ever made in terms of book purchasing. After paying for Kill Your Friends, I made my way back to Victoria’s Theatre and forgot about it for a little bit.

Reading the first fifty pages during the down time I was able to salvage over the course of a twelve hour rehearsal, I was hooked. The black comedy with scathing observations of a corrupt music industry was a perfect excuse to take the next available day for myself as I read the remainder of it in a single afternoon while my American peers spent the day at some mall in London. If it weren’t so dark, I’d suggest making the book required reading for anyone looking to work in the music industry as it is full of insightful observations and even bits and pieces of legitimate advice.

I have kept up with Niven’s publications since then and typically order his new books from overseas as the American distributors are often late in releasing the work of a man whose primary audience is in Europe.