To ST, or not to ST…

The Next Step. 

Just a few days left to make the decision.

Do I buy a Season Ticket on not. The money could very easily be used elsewhere. After all, photography comes first with me, and there is always a shopping list, and 640 quids can go a long way to moving stuff from the shopping list into the kitbag. After last years depressing season, would I be better off visiting a few camera shops? It’s no good me just sitting here trying to think which would give me more enjoyment, as the camera would win, every time. 

I got sick of being told last year to get behind the team, when I was sat there thinking, “where are the bloody team?” It was bad enough having to put up with the repetitive boredom of a 5 team league without having to endure such unemotional and non-committal hockey as was regularly put on show for the majority of the season. I was sick to death of the Noise, constantly telling us “your team needs you, support them” when at times they couldn’t be bothered to even try and play. And for god’s sake, don’t answer back to this by saying, they left everything on the ice on many occasions, ‘cos we saw how they could perform, but they could only be bothered to put out this sort of performance in a handful of games. 

I am on the fence at the moment and struggling to find the motivation to go and hand over a large wedge of readies to watch something which left me empty for much of last year. For me to spend, then I need a team in place that will use the shirt as an emblem of pride and not just a bit of coloured cloth to keep them warm. I want a team out on the ice that will convince me there is a reason for me to get behind them. They need to be able to turn up and perform, game after game, and not just now and then. 

But at the back of my mind, I am tempted to give in, just one more time. Mainly because I am intrigued as to what Doug Christianson will do. I know what I want him to do, I want him to fulfil the promises from last year that were, all to casually, thrown aside. I want him to lead a team of committed warriors, able to deliver as hard and as fast as they can. Not just a bunch of guys who think they can skate round for a couple of hours and then the same excuses churned up in press releases and on web pages trying to appease us by saying it was frustrating. I want a plan A, a plan B, a plan C, even a damn plan Z. Any plan really, other than plan “make it up as we go along”. I want a team that will be able to put to rest, the disappointments of all the over-hype of last season. 

Nowhere in this, have I said, I expect them to win, as this has to be earned, not given. But I do expect them to turn up, and I do expect them to play, and I do expect their commitment. I’m being asked to commit a lot of money, I want a receipt which says :-

 

The shirt says “Steelers”.

The team says “THAT’S US” 

 

At the moment, I DO NOT BELIEVE.

 

Mart.