Gameday Jan 8th vs CBJ

January 8th

CBJ @ CGY
Gametime 7:00pm

Why the hell is there a hockey team in Columbus, Ohio?
As far as sports goes in Ohio, there are really only two cities that matter at all: Cincinnati and Cleveland. In Cincinnati you have the Reds and Bengals, while in Cleveland there are the Indians, Browns, and Cavaliers. These are all franchises which have some pretty deep history within the cities and because of this, there is more or less rabid fan support all the time.

Then, we go to Columbus. With a population of just under 800k, this was not exactly a fantastic place to start up a hockey franchise on a whim. The reason why the city got a team was probably because Mr. Bettman thought that giving the city something to cheer about after the Buckeyes' season was finished would be a worthwhile experiment.

That is an attendance chart for the BJ franchise since the beginning of the decade. Clearly there was excitement and optimism during the franchise's early years, including 41/41 sellouts in 2001-2002. But as the Jacket's record fell so did attendance. Now, take a look at something like the Cleveland Browns.


Seriously, already by associating yourself with the city of Cleveland, it means that Drew Carry is going to endorse you, which shouldn't be underestimated. But anyways, when the Browns were supposed to move to Baltimore in the mid-1990's there was such a fuss put up that the franchise stayed in town and has experienced unreal fan support ever since (while playing awful football). You think this would happen in Columbus next year? Unlikely. Although, maybe it does come with the franchise being so young (and so bad all the time).

Anyways, the BJs have just taken home the ugly girl at the bar (spOilers) last night and are in town hopefully tired, which means this is for sure a game Calgary should win. This one-game homestand is a hiccup in the schedule as there will also be a game in Vancouver tomorrow night for Calgary which is so much more important than tonight's contest it's sort of ridiculous. Anyways lets hope the boys can pull through tonight and tomorrow. Go Flames.

Also, the Flames hate Dion Phaneuf.