Co-blogger Patrick posts up today with his thoughts:

Dear Mr. Kiiffner,

Thank you for the note. And thanks for keeping me in the circle of fans - fanciers in my case - although sometimes I border on the fanatical.

The word “bittersweet” was bandied about liberally in the press and in the usual news/web posts this week. I used the word myself in a few e-mails and on the few blogs I respond to. My little gang of Burnham Boosters really put on a brave face yesterday. I caught Rebecca shedding a few silent tears during the contest. “Oh. It’s just hot today. And my eyeballs are sweating. That’s all.”  We laughed it off but really, we knew the score, sadly. We all felt a catch in our throats as we talked aboutbaseball in Ottawa.

I got a little choked up myself reading about Zechariahs despair last night. It’s gotta be even tougher on the wee fellows. Young Ryan actually made hand-bills and canvassed his neighbourhood last week, attempting to rally his neighbours, thinking, with a kids logic, that if enough folks came out to the final home stand it might turn the tide for the Lynx,
maybe they would stay if there were a few more fans at the yard.  He simply can’t grasp that his pure love of Lynx baseball games wasn’t enough to keep the team here. He actually took it personally, poor lad. He was grief stricken, just like Zechariah, and it broke my heart to talk to him about it. I had no positive answers for him which always sucks. It was akin to shattering the Santa Claus illusion, you know?

I too feel terrible for the die-hard fans and, of course, the fine front office staff and all the hard working game-day crew. I was actually pissed off today when I looked up Mr. Brennans Sun article on-line and spotted the “do you really care about baseball in Ottawa” poll and the negative results of said poll. What the hell? Ottawa has proved that it is a one trick pony type of city with regard to sports entertainment. What is  going
to happen when the Senators, our Golden Idol, start losing and fall out of civic favour? Is another Rod Brydon type going to have to step up again and browbeat the citizenry into buying tickets? Again? Bribing them with rock concerts in a cash grab for season tickets?

Gimme a break!

I, like you and yours, have been an emotional wreck this week. And this is really not like me at all, ever the strong stoic fellow. I am losing my beloved game and I am also losing many fine friends. I have a circle of pals who I only ever see at the yard. We may exchange an e-mail or two during the off season but between April and September we are the best of buddies, me and my rowdy baseball gang. What now? Do I just write them
off? I guess we can all go bowling, maybe have a monthly movie night?

Sigh!

I don’t even have a closing point to make here. How can I? I guess we’ll just soldier on. Someone said to me at the shop today, someone whose attendance at yesterdays game was his first of the season, “So now that there’s no more baseball, are you going to find another sport to get behind?” I gave him my typical answer which is, “I’m not a sports fan.   I’m a baseball fan. Big difference.”   He didn’t get it, I didn’t expect him
to.

There’s a black cloud over my town this week. I’ll try and find a way to keep busy and I’ll try to not get too annoyed with the powers that be regarding this heavy loss.

To quote Johnny Rotten of Sex Pistols fame, sitting down on stage at their final horrible gig after years of disappointment and managerial chaos,

“Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?”

Indeed, Johnny. Indeed.

Take good care, kind sir. I will see you around.

Respectfully,

Patrick