Let’s call this a preemptive strike.  The rumblings about the end of the season have begun – as I noted about a week or so ago, the local media contingent is winding up with their usual “end of the year”, “end of the Lynx” scripted story.  I’ve decided that I’m going to get it out of the way, blog my thoughts on the subject now and then never again.

We all know the story because it’s trotted out every year at this time – I can no longer even be bothered to make the effort to link all the stories that have been written.  But if the Lynx leave, and let me reiterate – it’s still an “if”, Ottawa will have no one to blame but its collective self.  Certainly I’ve been less than impressed with the indifference of the local media (blogger: The Ottawa Citizen being the sole exception), which makes the upcoming series of eulogies from the local scribes who will simultaneously rationalize and lament the prospective loss of the team, all the more nauseating.  Please spare us your post-mortems.  Few of us will take the hand wringing seriously, and fewer still will believe it.   Where was the media’s interest from April 18 through August?  (blogger: Answer revealed later.)

For far too long, the “story” about the Lynx has been about attendance and how people don’t care – there’s been far too much invested in this “angle” to print anything to the contrary now.  Nothing more than dismissive criticism of the owner, and certainly no ink spilled on the quiet dignity and resilience of an organization that continued to put in the hard work this year, even if the media gave it up for dead.  A “feel good” story about the Lynx at this point is anathema to the press; the best Mr. Pecor can expect now is the occasional drive by smear.  I suppose anything else would be considered biased.

 “The story” now in Ottawa is hockey.  We’re told we’re a “hockey town” – as if a City of nearly a million people wasn’t big enough for more than one sheriff.  But this is what the press appears to believe: Their readers and viewers want hockey, 24/7/365.  I’ll say this much for them: They’ve done a marvelous job painting themselves into a corner.  If and when interest in the NHL team wanes, they’ll always have the local CFL and professional baseball teams to cover.   Good job there, because heaven knows the fans in Ottawa aren’t fickle.  They’ll always support hockey, right Mr. Bryden?

But it’s not all the fault of the media. The bottom line is that for whatever reason, people have just not come out in sufficient numbers to make the franchise economically viable.  Some things can’t be explained, and perhaps, some things just can’t be changed.  To their great credit, people in the organization like Kyle have never believed nor acknowledged the latter.  And just in case this is all coming off as a little too holier-than-thou, I freely admit my share of culpability in all of this: Unlike co-blogger Patrick, people in the booster club and other lifetime supporters, I wasn’t around for this team when it mattered most. 

Here’s my last word on the subject (blogger: Promise.), and something I have held back for a while now: Ottawa doesn’t deserve this team.  Whether people realize it or not - whether the press cares to admit or acknowledge it or not, this remains true:  Ottawa without the Lynx is a poorer place.  My only consolation is that if this is the end, at least the financial bleeding has stopped for Mr. Pecor.  At a personal level, I take great comfort in the knowledge that his people here in Ottawa will be able to leave with their heads held high.  

Few of us can say the same.