There Are Plenty Of Great Washington Capitals Fans And Ted Leonsis Gets Bullied Too

7/10/11

When it comes to amount of physical and emotional abuse I can take, there’s an entire catalogue of evidence of my ability to be tolerant, understanding and good natured about all the many horrors that have occurred in my life. I don’t need to explain it, because it is openly and publicly chronicled within my blogs, vlogs and audio supplied to the internet public. If you chose not to explore the details I have provided and chose to react with no understanding of what I have endured, your opinion is uniformed and not of any concern to me.

When it comes to the Washington Capitals fans, I know many of them. Many of them are familiar with me. They know I am upset with them and I have always respect them. To any Washington Capitals fan who is not familiar with me, I will let you know that I was a committed and dedicated fan of the Washington Capitals for more than 30 years. I have been a hockey fan since I was a very small child. I gave everything I had to that organization. I promoted charities. I brought many first-time hockey fans to Washington Capitals games. I have personally met Ted Leonsis. My issue is not one comment. My issue is not one hockey game. My issue is a sum total of many years of abuse that goes beyond anything that should happen to a person in public by fans of the same team. The fact that I am a fan of the Tampa Bay Lightning now is not at all of relevance. It’s not about a rival hockey team. It’s about the fact that I have the right to stand-up for my rights.

To give a brief synopsis of the sort of hate bestowed upon me that is not by any means totally complete, but gives an overview of the abuse I have received  by Washington Capitals fans, let me begin with the 5 death threats sent to me via e-mail. There’s not one shred of evidence to be found anywhere in pixels or the physical world to indicate I did anything to merit those death threats. How many of you would not be hurt by someone sending you an e-mail that told you that your children deserved to die? How many of you would not be hurt by having the same Washington Capitals fan continue to send you pictures of puppies being slaughtered because he didn’t like the fact that I was invited to sit in Ted Leonsis’s Owners Box? How many of you would be happy about being kicked in the back in of head over and over and over and over and over and over again by a Caps fan who did nothing but talk about everything but the hockey game. Even after that Caps was asked nicely several times to stop kicking me in the head, the behavior continued. That Caps fans talked very loudly about how a tampon got stuck in her and went on to explain all the many things she tried to do to extricate the stuck tampon from her “snatch”. There were a total of ten children within earshot of this Caps fan. Three parents removed their children before the game ended as a direct result of this Caps fan.

The exent of evidence I have secured to prove beyond any shadow of a doubt in any court of law that many Capitals fans behave in horrible, nasty, unruly, verbally abusive, openly disrespectful ways in a public building is immense. I’ve stated this many, many, many times openly in publicly in many public venues and formats as well; not all Washington Capitals fans behave in the ways I describe. There are many great Washington Capitals fans. Many of those Washington Capitals are also subjected to the behavior I describe and they don’t deserve to have that happen to them either. I have openly and publicly appreciated and commented on many of the Washington Capitals blogs. I may not have agreed with all the sentiments and I may not have appreciated the way some of the information was presented, but I’ve never disrespected their rights to blog. They have done a lot of hard work over the years. They have generated a large portion of the “pixels” that Ted Leonsis is so happy to comment about in the form of the Washington Capitals social media. Those blogs are their intellectual property. There is evidence out there that On Frozen Blog used a quote from Ted Leonsis out of context and it generated a lot of angry comments. There was back and forth between some of the social bloggers regarding the On Frozen Blog post. Eventually, On Frozen Blog posted a open statement that there was a post using a quote that was a bit out of context and stated that it should have created the original in a different way so as not to promote an angry misunderstanding. I was one of the people who openly and publicly made a comment on On Frozen Blog that I appreciated the retraction and noted that it took courage to admit that perhaps the quote did misrepresent Ted Leonsis’s entire public statements. It was a very upright thing to do and it was appreciated.

In case the sentence in my previous post did not register to Washington Capitals fans, I actually care about your safety even if you hate me and wish me dead. I stated that I’d like to address the safety issues in and around the Verizon Center. As a citizen, I do have the right to notice safety issues that are present in and around a public in which millions of people frequent. I, and several other Washington Capitals fans almost became victims of one of those safety issues in February of 2010. If people believe the correct response to other people caring is hate and death, I have the right to disagree with those people.

I have also stated numerous times openly in public in many different formats and public forums that kids who enter ANY NHL arena are in public. Their parents are the people who have the right to make the decision whether or not their children should hear the following sentence; “Alexander Ovechkin is such a fag, he probably has an asshole so large a bus could park in it.” There are many other examples of these sorts of comments I could provide, but that one is sufficient to give you the gist. I stood next to a grown man at a Washington Capitals who said right out loud, in front of her mother, to a little girl who could not have been more that 10 years old, “I’d fuck the shit out you if your mom weren’t here.” How many parents of any NHL team would feel that is acceptable in anyway?

The fact is, Ted Leonsis knows I have received death threats and he knows some of the openly and public comments some of his fans make using social media, because I e-mailed him and I know he got those e-mails. I received replies to those e-mails. There is verifiable proof that I made attempts to address my personal concerns directly with Ted Leonsis. I didn’t just mention the man in public in my previous blog to hurt him and disrespect him. There is clear and open evidence all over the place that I have given Ted Leonsis respect and have not verbally abused him or bullied him. Ted Leonsis knows all about the many Washington Capitals fans who bully, hate and sit at their keyboard typing horrible and awful things to him. I don’t think Ted Leonsis should be bullied and threatened either. His rights get violated as well. Let me openly and clearly state that for the record as well.

The most important distinction between Ted Leonsis and me is, however, I am not getting attention with the generation of public mentions of my NHL franchise by openly and publicly putting my thoughts of the internet. I do not own a business that uses social media to make profit or draw attention to my business to make profit. There is distinction and it is a legal distinction. If Ted Leonsis takes it upon himself to subject himself to the kind of abuse he receives from Washington Capitals fans to draw attention to his NHL franchise and all his many ventures, he has ever right to that. No Washington Capitals fan has signed a waiver stating that they are willing to be subject to such open and horrible attacks through the use of social media to be a fan of the Washington Capitals. As an NHL owner, he doesn’t have the right to expect his fans to sign such a waiver to be fans of his team if no other NHL owner is legally obligated to do so. It is part of being an NHL fan on social media when I mention the Tampa Bay Lightning on social media. If I openly and publicly continued to bully and harass any other person on the internet in social media and the Federal Bureau of Investigation game to my door and escorted me into a G-ride, because the person I bullied on the internet filed a complaint against me, I would be personally and legally held responsible for my actions via text in violating the rights of another through the internet. I would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and I would face the consequences.

Ted Leonsis did not ask me to sign a waiver giving up my rights to be a free citizen of the United States of America in order to be a fan of the Washington Capitals. Nor did the Washington Capitals. He is the only NHL franchise (majority) owner who aggressively and often expresses himself in a public blog. I have read every single word Ted Leonsis have written in his blog and all of the words he put on the Washington Capitals website before the blog existed. In other words, the evidence of which I have been speaking has accumulated for more than 10 years. The fact that he has openly and publicly continued to provoke comments from people on an open and public internet and has done it by publicly promoting the use of social media as a large and viable source of the generation of pixels for his NHL franchise does, in fact, make him ultimately responsible for that content if he has chosen to pride himself on the fact it benefits the Washington Capitals. It is not a responsible or ethical practice. There are millions of pixels openly public on the internet in the social media of which Ted Leonsis has openly and publicly promoted and touted or given his thoughts on in public that even he is aware of for sure. He knows it exists and he has commented on some of it as well. I did not have the right to be the recipient of the extent and types of abuse I have endured all in the name of the Washington Capitals simply because Ted Leonsis believes it is beneficial to his NHL franchise that hockey fans use social media. If Ted Leonsis really thinks about it, he has to admit my point is valid. I didn’t sign a waiver to become a Washington Capitals fan and because his social media get generated as a result of his open and public encouragement of them, he created the situation and claims he benefits from that situation. Does it seem appropriate for me to receive death threats in order for Ted Leonsis to generate attention for his NHL franchise on social media? Does it seem appropriate that Ted Leonsis openly and publicly encourages the generation of pixels in social media, which he receives for little to no cost to himself, to further his NHL franchise even if those pixels hurt his fans? There is a lot that doesn’t seem right about that situation.

There are plenty of Washington Capitals fans who have been publicly abused via the internet in the name of the Washington Capitals as a direct result of the social media encouraged and supported by Ted Leonsis. If everyone else has no issue with any of it and doesn’t mind the “trolls” putting public verbal abuse on the internet about them, they all the absolute right to tolerate whatever they like.

The problem I have with what transpired on January 13, 2012 while attending a hockey game in the Verizon Center is that it was so particularly harsh and openly repulsive and did, in fact, constitute many counts of public sexual harassment in front of minors (I know what lawyers are everyone and I have spoken to many of them). It was all recorded, and some of it, has been noted in a post I made at the beginning of March 2012. Not one single fan in the Verizon Center has the right to privacy, therefore every statement you make can be used against you in a court of law. It is a public building and there are devices all over the Verizon Center that are openly and publicly displayed in the full knowledge of every fan who enters the building. NHL games are recorded and sent out for broadcast. Every NHL fan is aware of that.

The fact is, I have the right to be openly and publicly concerned that minors are exposed to things outside the glass that the NHL is attempting to even stop and prevent inside the glass. Exposing minors to uncontrolled adult behavior and unfiltered pornographic language on a large scale level should be a concern to any parent. Public is public. I don’t think some of the Washington Capitals fans who verbalize rather loudly in front of minors inside the Verizon Center would be happy campers if they were at the mall and a perfect stranger walked up to their child and said “The Washington Capitals can lick the New York Ranger’s sweaty nutsack little bitch.” Public is public and hockey fandom doesn’t change the rights of free American Citizens.

I myself have dropped the F’bomb in public at hockey games. I have taken steps not to do it loud enough so the kids around me can hear, but once, at a Caps game against the Chicago Blackhawks, I did say it loud enough and both the child and the mother turned around and looked at me. I was not in the right and I did not have the right to expose that mother’s child to explicit language in public. It happens sometimes when we get all passionate about our hockey. These things are to be expected. I am not beyond fault on that count in anyway. I openly and publicly admit it all the time. There are limits. There are many Washington Capitals fans who know exactly what I am talking about when I say that the Verizon Center and the types of behavior that has been displayed in the Verizon Center has changed in a very hostile and not-s0-nice way over the years. Many of the Capitals fans like me spent many years going to Capitals games and were not subjected to most of the behavior that is common place and seems to be the rule not the exception these days.

I have been to every one of the NHL venues. I have attended games wearing opposing teams colors. I am a veteran hockey fan. No one can prove otherwise. I would rather go to a New York Rangers game at MSG wearing a t-shirt that reads “John Tortorella is an Asshole” while handing sticks to Rangers fans, than go to a Caps game at the Verizon Center wearing a Caps jersey fully armed. That should express my point clearly enough. All of angry, nasty abuse happens to Washington Capitals players as well. I will say this, many of the most vocal and openly hateful Washington Capitals fans are equal opportunity haters, that’s for sure. Caps fans bully each other, so this has nothing to do with NHL fandom.

This also has nothing nothing to do with social media in general. There are all sorts of goodies that some might find offensive out there and that also is to be expected. I’m sure I have offended people with my public expression. I have always encouraged people to let me know if that is what I have done. If I am informed respectfully, I have always addressed it, removed it and taken the appropriate steps to apologize. I have not had to do that very many times, but I am a respectful person who understand that we all have rights and hurting others is never my intention when I express myself. My issue is the sheer volume of Washington Capitals fans who continue to repeat nasty and hateful behavior and continue to believe that it is perfectly acceptable. There are federal laws against bullying and there are some Washington Capitals I have absolute proof are violating federal laws by using social media to express their hate. Some Washington Capitals fans, one of which is a fan who has been mentioned by Ted Leonsis several times over the years, have sent more than 2,000 tweets that collectively bully the same people over and over again and contain text that does, in fact, violate federal internet use laws.

I don’t randomly just decide to take action for no reason. I have dropped hints all over the place for people that should have been sufficient. I’m not a sensitive, sissy, hockey fan who felt hurt by one comment. I have physically threatened at a Caps game. All the proof and evidence of everything I have through on behalf of the Washington Capitals is openly and publicly displayed through the years. I don’t need to prove anything to any person who has the opinion I need to make some point in some specified amount of pixels. Exactly where is that written as a rule in this world? All I need to do is have all the proof I need to make a public statement about the evidence I have experienced, gathered and could include in “discovery” in a court of law to prove my point. I have it.

I care about children and I care that many of them are being exposed to and are being taught lessons about public behavior that makes hockey seem that it is a game about disrespect. I have the right to care about the game and to care about children. I also have the right not to be subjected to the threat of death or be sexually harassed multiple times in public in front of minors either. Prove to me I do not have that right?

peace – mia – singingfromthecrease@gmail.com and Twitter @creasesinger

Setting The Record Straight Ted Leonsis Style

7/6/12

This one is going to hurt. There’s no sense giving you any cause to think otherwise. Before anyone reading this gets any ideas, prudence in reaction is the best course. If that statement is not crystal clear, consider the entire whole of every single thing I have typed, said or put on Twitter. That’s quite the task, but make no mistake, every piece of information seen as the big picture indicates that no single word in this post is insignificant. Each one carries weight. This is not a light matter.

Ted Leonsis has a blog. He likes to express himself. He encourages others to express themselves. He has a proven record of generating “pixels”. He appears to enjoy informing us all he likes to generate “pixels”. He’s getting “pixels” generated by me, right now. Ted Leonsis has a problem. Because Ted Leonsis has a problem, so does the NHL, a lot of openly vocal Washington Capitals fans and, as it turns out, many other parties.

What is Ted Leonsis’s problem exactly? That’s an easy answer; me. Let’s set the record straight and all be informed that I had every intention of simply giving my hockey love to another NHL team and moving on with brand of hockey fandom. Unfortunately, on January 13, 2012, Washington Capitals fans outdid themselves in terms of their version of hockey fandom and their “self-expression” by sexually harassing me and verbally abusing me in a public building. What’s wrong with being a “passionate” hockey fan you ask? The answer to that is an easy one as well. Not a single person in these United States of America are above the law. In ANY public venue, there are laws that govern every single person. The internet is a public venue. Federal laws apply to the internet.

There are rules and regulations that guide us in a civil society. This information is vital to the NHL in this case. There’s an issue with one of its franchises. Let’s all take the time to take a very good look at every single one of “pixels” generated by the Washington Capitals and their fans. Ted Leonsis created is “media monster” and publicly and openly encourages any and all additions to that “”. He admits openly that he likes to feed that monster. The problem with that “moster” is that hurts people and violates peoples rights. The evidence is openly plain to see in public.

If we took the same good look at every single one of the “pixels” generated by media of each of the other 29 NHL franchises, that picture would be smaller. Ted Leonsis is proud of this fact. That’s the problem. Has anyone happened to notice how much hate, abusive language, threats, anger and general bullying is collected in that mass of public media generated by the Washington Capitals media machine? The big picture is pretty easy to see when viewed as a whole. Ted Leonsis is the proud creator of a very large anger and hate machine that isn’t regulated by the justice system. I’d think this problem goes far beyond just one incident of Capitals Fans behaving badly. I’d say this is going to take a lot of time, money and legal verbage all the way up to the federal level to reach its conclusion. There is very clear abuse, violation of federal bullying laws, sexually explicit material that could be seen as breaking child predator laws, human rights violations, civil rights violations, thousands of verbal attacks and this is just the tip of the iceberg. The 1st Amendment does not cover a U.S. citizens rights if the “speech” violates civil rights or breaks laws.

The problem with Ted Leonsis believing that he should encourage his fans to “self-express” and giving them a lot of assistance with that in many proven and various ways is that Ted Leonsis did not do his due diligence to protect the rights of his fans who are guaranteed those rights by a power far greater than Ted Leonsis, the Washington Capitals or even the NHL. If anyone took the time to read the legal disclaimers on all of the many blogs and even a bit of the mainstream media, you’d see that not only are they often not visible, but they aren’t particularly legal. Most of them wouldn’t hold up in a court of law. That’s a problem because there is a lot of hate and bullying out there in the public and there are laws, rules and regulations that govern every human regarding those things. Those laws most certainly extend to the human who “expressed” themselves in public. When those views are expressed on the internet, they fall under the jurisdication of federal governance. The amount of federal laws broken by “self-expressive” Washington Capitals is staggering, to say the least.

In other words, Ted Leonsis has spent years publicly encouraging people to generate pixels, but Ted Leonsis made no effort to legally protect the people those pixels hurt. Keyboard courage is not something to be encouraged, because it breaks federal laws, hurts people and violates people’s rights. I’d say that’s not a small issue. Generating a code for bloggers does not legally protect anyone’s rights in any way shape or form. Asking people to be nice on his blog doesn’t protect anyone’s rights legally, because Ted Leonsis is not law enforcement or any other legal entity in place to protect the rights of others. No one is now or ever has been legally obligated to care that Ted Leonsis wants to them to be nice.

It’s my best guess that Ted Leonsis isn’t particularly aware of human behavior, nor did he take the time to consult with anyone who has a keen insight into human behavior. Legally speaking, the Majority Owner of an NHL franchise has used his franchise to make a profit and get attention on a National level by stepping all over the rights of not only his own fans, but every single person who can publicly access those pixels. There are clear examples of human rights being violated within the media “moster” that has been generated in the name of the Washington Capitals.

Now I wonder if anyone can legally prove otherwise? We’re all going to find out. I’d take the time to get acquainted with my blogs and all that is contained within them before making any moves or making any comments out there everyone. The very last thing you want to do is give me even more ammunition.

There are some Washington Capitals who will face litigation for sending me death threats via e-mail and for their clear and publically recorded violations to my personal rights on January 13, 2012. Their fate was in their own hands and what happens as a result of this litigation is on them. There are rule and regulations that guide people in public places in America. Which one of you wants to feel it necessary to prove in a court of law that I’m making an incorrect legal statement?

I think it’s time for the Washington Capitals and the NHL to focus some attention on the fact that children have rights. They have the right to go to hockey games and not be subjected to all the publicly displayed “self-expression”, because that “self-expression” is by all legal counts not legal. Some of the public “self-expression” of Washington Capitals fans in the presence of minors could very easily land them in federal prision. I think the time has come. This is going to happen. Ted Leonsis is not beyond the law. The Washington Capitals fans are not beyond the law. I think it’s time we all consider the term “law enforcement.” I think I have been bullied, threatened, and treated in very poor ways by people who never had the legal right to do it. I’m tired of having my rights violated. I know I’m not the only one.

This isn’t going away. The record is now straight. I will take MY own time addressing each and every single case of proven, public abuse. I will take MY time addressing all the many safety issues in and around the Verizon Center. Clearly, Ted Leonsis may know many powerful and wealthy people, which he will happily inform you of in his blog, but it doesn’t seem any of them work within agencies and entities that are of the mind that sometimes, “transparency gets people killed.”

Feel free to eschew all of this and go about believing that I am simply an angry hockey fan who is making far more out of something than I should. Feel free to ignore this. By all means, don’t take me seriously. That seems to be how the pattern has evolved and I am quite used to it. When all the experts and legal folks take a look at all the pixels I have generated in public, however, it will be extraordinarily difficult to describe me as an “angry hockey” fan won’t it?

There’s work to do. Anyone getting the idea that I’m some sort of lone wolf out here, operating all by myself and have no power to make any of this happen, I’d say you aren’t really focusing on the details and you aren’t paying attention. Are you familiar with the saying,  “Money doesn’t give you power, knowledge does”? I’m 100% confident my lack of money is no concern to me in any way whatsoever.

Ted Leonsis never had the right to “welcome” me to the “blogosphere” either. I was already there, long before he was and the “blogoshpere” is not owned in anyway by Ted Leonsis. We can spend some time legally proving that too if you like. People get hurt and have their rights violated when other people are given permission to express themselves fully, without fear of reprisal. Can you prove me wrong?

peace – mia – singingfromthecrease@gmail.com and Twitter @creasesinger

Sometimes One Shouldn’t Even If One Can

7/5/12

Good morning to you. To be as open and upfront as possible, be aware this post will be harsh, course and without reservation what likely will be considered cold and hard. It’s not because I have intention of such, it’s because I’m expressing myself knowing full well that perception and understanding varies to such a degree that this post will be received by some as hurtful. There hasn’t been a time in at least 15 years that I haven’t considered others feelings before expressing myself. It isn’t my thing to say or do things that I know have good odds of hurting another person. In this case, however, I simply know there will be a reader taking in this post who will feel certain emotions. Those emotions may not be pleasant. It’s important to me that you understand this before continuing on reading this post. I like people. It’s because of this the time spent typing this paragragh was taken.

Over the span of my life thus far, the amount of human interaction I’ve had is extensive, to day the least. It’s pretty great if I think about it for any length of time. I really do like people. I like all sorts of people. People from place to place are widely diverse, but they all have one thing in common; they are all humans. Not one single shred of anything resembling empirical evidence has yet to prove me wrong on that count. Some people have spent more time in life in my life than others. Some people I’ve known in different way from some others. On the whole, it really has been great. When seen on something other than the whole, the word “great” is not applicable in my mind.

To set one record straight right from the start; unless you are a hockey team that pays me to work for you, you (as in almost everyone else, everywhere upon the face of the Earth) have not one, single right to decide or impose your thoughts on which NHL team I support. You don’t. It doesn’t matter if you have been a fan of the Lightning since 1992 or if you have been a fan of the Capitals since 1974. I’m not you. You are not me. There’s nothing written anywhere in any document that gives you that right. If there is, the burden of proof lies on you, and until it’s supplied and you can clearly show me that your brand of hockey love is the only brand of hockey love, you have no right.

Having stated that, I will affirm with absolute resolve that the NHL team I give my full, season long, game in and game out support is the Tampa Bay Lightning. I love ALL hockey. Everywhere. I rooted for the Capitals in the 2012 playoffs with the same energy I rooted for the Tampa Bay Lightning all season long. Again, the burden of proof lies upon you, not me, to prove that statement wrong. It can’t be done, but try of you must. I’ve had at least 15 more years of NHL hockey love experience than many Bolts fans. Why? Because there wasn’t an NHL team in Tampa Bay for as long as there have been some other NHL teams. There are no laws of either human or divine creation that gives a single human any power of any kind to dictate what a “true” fan of anything is to any other human.

I don’t call people “bandwagon” fans, because I don’t have that right. I don’t think more or less of any human who expresses a genuine love of the game of hockey. Here’s where my teeth will begin to show, so prepare for some written “snarl”, okay. The qualifying phrase in that last sentence is “a genuine love of the game”. Defining what that is can be tricky and I’ll not presume to have a definitive lock on it’s true, complete meaning. Neither do you. What is true of “genuine love of the game” for all those displaying all the tell-tale signs of such, is that we all see the game. “THE GAME” bears repeating, because that is the point. We don’t see most of the in game entertainment, because we are always focused on THE GAME. We don’t want to talk about the kiss-cam if that puck is in play. We don’t care if we have to pee if the puck is in play. We are right there, through every single skate stride, every single hit, every single look on every single face we see playing THE GAME on the ice.

If that doesn’t describe you; I certainly have no right to think anything about how you feel about hockey. On exactly the same surface, you have no right to expect me to stand up in an arena and shout “who cares” when the other team’s scorerer’s name is announced on the PA. That’s what YOU, not ME, feel is how to experience a hockey game. Usually, when fans are busy trying to see if the mascot is going to give them a free t-shirt or toss them a burito, the puck is on the ice and I care so little about all the lights, sounds, flying buritos, free t-shirts and general hoopla going on around me, I might end up being THAT fan one day who gets smacked right in the head with food tossed to me by a person in a costume. When I’m at a hockey game, there is nothing but the hockey game.

Sometimes, I’m so focused on the ice, the puck and the play, I don’t hear anything but the sounds of the game that come from inside the glass. Everything else simply does not exist around me. This only happens when I attend games by myself. I care deeply about the game and I care that newer fans of the game have questions. If they ask me anything about the game while that puck is in play, I do my best to give them the answer to the questions and maintain focus on the game. I’ve become very good at doing both over the years, but know full well total focus gets sacrificed when I talk about the game during a game. I absolutely love talking about the game during the game, don’t get me wrong. I could do that until the sun implodes and all life as we know it today is long gone. I could make Marty Biron seem like the quiet one. I love newer hockey fans who are interested in the game and have questions. I love it even more when I get to be the one to help them understand the game. It’s the epitome of hockey love for me. Why? Because the more hockey lovers in the world, the better.

This paragraph is directed to Washington Capitals fans. I was only 2 years old for the 1974 season and thankfully, I did not have endure that season. If you did experience and remember that season, then you’re older than me in physical years. I give you kudos for making it through, but my birthdate being different from your birthdate doesn’t give you total domain over everyone younger. It gets you my respect if you are still the same dedicated Capitals fan since the inaugural season. It gives you the right to say you are committed. There is NO Capitals fan who can inject their idea of what kind of fan I have been. You never could and you still can’t. I am good with the Hockey Gods on exactly the exent of my full participation in “doing my part to build America’s Hockey Capitol.” The Hockey Gods know and that is all that matters.

This paragraph is dedicated to the Washington Capitals fans who have sent me death threats via e-mail, made public comments via social media, interacted with me in a public venue (such as the Verizon Center) in uncivil, innapropriate, foul, threatening, harassing and otherwise unsavory ways. If you run across this and you have put thoughts of this variety in text anywhere, I’m doing you the courtesy of informing you to get the best lawyer you can afford. If you were one of the Caps fans who attended the Capitals versus Lightning game on January 13, 2012 and you were in the lower-level between Sections 101 and 104, you may want to take the time to think about things you said to the female Tampa Bay Lightning fan wearing the Marin St. Louis #26 shirt. If you do think about it and you’re getting the sense that you may have been one of the many who made verbal comments to me, it’s already too late for you.

I have been to many opposing team’s barns wearing my team’s jersey. I’ve been chirped, yelled at, called many unfamily friendly things and once even, in Philly, had to get a police officer to make to get the “ticket taker” to take my ticket and let me into the game. I know what giving someone a hard time is for sure. I’m a master at chirping, especially any time I’ve been defending nets. I expect to be in hostile territory and I expect fans to be unfriendly to invaders of their territory. Now, in the 2010-1012 season, an entire arena of New Jersey fans and employees proved that NOT EVERY TEAM’S FANS FEEL THE NEED TO TREAT INVADING FANS POORLY. AGAIN AND ALWAYS, I LOVE EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN AND AROUND THE PRUDENTIAL CENTER FOR THAT. PURE HOCKEY HAPPINESS FOR THAT ONE FROM ME.

In my experience, the New Jersey Devils fans and employees seem to the exception to the rule so far, but I for one don’t want any of them to go changing. There’s a reason I support the New Jersey Devils that goes beyond Marty Brodeur and Lou (who I trust too). It’s a hockey love thing. If the Devils aren’t playing the Bolts or otherwise playing games that directly affect the Bolts, I too run with Devils. In fact, if the Capitals would have managed to beat the New York Rangers in Round 2 and I had to chose between rooting for the Caps and rooting for the Devs, there would not have been easier decision in terms of last season’s playoffs I could have made. The Devils and their fans earned my support and they would have gotten it in it’s full, hockey love glory. They got my support just the same anyway. I’m proud of the Devils and I’m happy for the fans who got hit pretty hard the season before. Good for them.

My point is sharp. There will be litigation Caps fans. Now, before I go further, let me thank the Capitals fans who are good, dedicated, positive, hockey lovers who HAVE NOT acted in ways indicating they feel entitled through some right of DC to do illegal, crass, bullying things as Caps fans. One of my favorite blogs to check-in on is Russian Machine Never Breaks. They love their hockey team, but they aren’t unaware that there is humor, levity, other opinions, other teams and I’ve always appreciated what they do since they started. I let them know they are appreciated. For the large majority of people who make the trek to see the Capitals play, you may not feel that you have to act like human beings in a public place simply because you are wearing red, but I’m just the kind of human being who has no reservations about stirring up a shit-storm that will teach you how to act in public if it takes my last, dying breath.

No hockey fan anywhere has the right to talk about your “dick” in a public place. You aren’t in the locker rooms with the teams. You are OUTSIDE THE GLASS. What happens inside the glass does not extend outside the glass. NO ONE can prove me wrong. Just because it can, does not mean it should. Well, I’ve decided to step-up and make that point. My point will be made. I don’t make idol threats. They are a waste of time. It may have escaped your attention, but there is no NHL arena that requires those in attendance to be over 18. I have a mouth that could make soldiers not only blush, but cry. There’s proof. I can hold my own in almost every situation (except who can be the nastiest just because they can contests – I always lose by forfeit). It’s not because one of you talked about Marty St. Louis and me being the “right height for cocksucking”, which is worthy of a civil suit all by itself on my part. Marty can take care of himself and I’m sure he’s heard some things in his day, so I’m not feeling any need to be protective of him. I do believe when he is inducted into the Hall of Fame, he won’t give crap what you said Caps fan. It’s not because I am a woman and you said something sexually oriented to me. I was the better person. I didn’t say “you know, you’re dad said the same thing to me last night when he was begging me for a golden shower. Does everyone in your family like water sports?” The reason I did not return fire is EXACTLY THE REASON YOU WILL LEARN TO CONTROL YOUR YAPS THE HARD WAY. There ARE CHILDREN AT HOCKEY GAMES. I RESPECT YOUR CHILDREN EVEN IF YOU DO NOT. YOU WILL LEARN.

If you want to disrespect women at hockey games, this particular woman will happily exchange locker room talk. I do not offend easily and work under the operating conditions as such; if you dish it out, be prepared to take it. The reason I’ve locked the cross-hairs on this issue is because YOU DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO TEACH YOUR LITTLE GIRLS THAT THEY MUST ENDURE THAT HORSESHIT IN ORDER TO LOVE AND ATTEND HOCKEY GAMES. YOU ALSO DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO TEACH CHILDREN THAT THE WORDS “FAGGOT” “CUNT” “PUSSY” AND OTHER ASSORTED PHRASES ARE OKAY TO SAY AT ANY TIME, ANYWHERE, FOR ANY REASON.

I’ll take a bullet and torture to make sure it is clearly understood that just because you are at a hockey game, does not mean you have walked into a place where you can do and say anything you want. If there were no kids around to witness your display, you have received a spectacular display of fiflth coming out of me. There were children and I care. This will happen. I have got A LOT of people by the short and curlies and there is not one single thing any of them can do about it. YOU F’ED WITH THE WRONG HOCKEY FAN. You did those things when I was wearing a Caps jersey as well, so don’t even think about dragging my hockey team into this. The entity that has become the Washington Capitals was unsavory before I walked into the Verizon Center to enjoy a Tampa Bay Lightning game. There will be no legal defense for you called the “but she made me do it because she wasn’t wearing red.”

It’s all recorded. Every disgusting word. I’ve done my homework. You will have to spend many years appealing the Supreme Court to prove that you have a right to privacy when you are a fan in a public place, especially considering you should also expect media to be recording the entire event.

This will happen. Prepare yourselves. Enough is enough. I’m THAT kind of bitch, cunt, asshole. You got it. You don’t teach kids that hockey is about disrespect when I’m around. I WILL END MYSELF TEACHING YOU THAT SO LOOK THE FUCK OUT.

I want nothing else from life but to see kids everywhere having at least the opportunity, to see, appreciate and at least try hockey. The very last thing I want is for them to think the game is about disrespect. NOT ON MY WATCH. YOU WANT TO SEE “GOALIE CRAZY”, you won’t like it much.

Tampa Bay Lightning fans, you don’t have to like me. You don’t have to accept me. You can call me whatever name you want. You can feel as though I’m not really a fan or that I jumped upon your bandwagon. I don’t have the right to tell you how to view me. The one and only thing I can do is love my hockey team. No matter what. Win or lose. I work that way. They get my support through the worst and the best for as long as both they and I exist. Steve Yzerman could personally tell me I can’t be a fan of the Tampa Bay Lightning and I’d have to say “locker room” things to the Captain that basically expressed the fact that he doesn’t the right to tell me what team I support either. I certainly hope I never, ever have to say “locker room” things to Steve Yzerman. I’d feel bad afterward I bet.

There is other information that some of you who believe you have the right to say to people in public places may want to take into consideration as well. Do you suppose it’s possible that law enforcement officers, federal employees and or other types of undercover operatives might just attend hockey games? You have to think, it’s not impossible right? I mean, you never know. That’s why they are called “undercover” I’m guessing. They blend in exactly as they should if they are good at their jobs I imagine. This brings me to another question. If that scenerio is possible, then it should also be possible that recording devices you cannot see are legally also in a public building such as the Verizon Center?

I love my hockey team. No one can touch that. You have no right.

Go Bolts! Goalies rule – get used to it.

peace – mia – singingfromthecrease@gmail.com Twitter @creasesinger

I have absolutely nothing to lose. What is life if hockey becomes something I can’t love? Never underestimate love.

Hockey Killed A Couple Of My Relationships; Thank The Hockey Gods For That!

7/3/12

How goes it out there world? Let me send you some healing vibes. Indulge me. Thanks.

Now, onto the good stuff. Imagine, if you will, being the only female hockey fan in a place where every person around you talks about every sport, blowling included, EXCEPT hockey. Now imagine being a steady, committed relationship for several months or even years. Now imagine being asked by your boyfriend what you want for your birthday. Of course you say something like, “There’s a hockey game that Saturday in D.C. I’d love to go see the ‘BLANK’ play the ‘BLANK’. Maybe we can go see the National Zoo and get dinner beforehand.”

Thanks for continuing to play along, because now imagine you made a similar statement right out loud when asked the question. Here’s where the stereotyping gets pulled into the mix. How many men (rarely women, but that can happen) have you heard say, “Women make me nuts. They expect to guess what they want.” There’s a host of other statements I’m sure will come to mind as being associated with the previous, but we’ll stay sharply on point. Again, play along and imagine you awake on your birthday Saturday, prepare your hockey Jersey for impending live game viewing, look at your significant other who seems pleased in every way, indicating he (obviously, you’re imagining being me, so ‘he’ is how I roll) feels pretty confident he’s done well in terms of “birthday happiness” efforts and eagerly begin getting pumped for the upcoming wonderfulness that is live hockey.

Yes, you’re feeling good. You’re feeling happy. You’re feeling the hockey love. You even spend a bit of time helping your boyfriend wash all the parts and pieces by joining him in the shower. Then following-up by joining him on the living room, and then the couch and…(it’s your imagination so feel free to use it as you wish here). You check the available media to see who’s injured and who’s returning. You are ready to have a fantastic day likely to become an even better evening.

Finally, imagine getting into the car early in the afternoon, bag prepared with hockey jersey and all the related fixin’s. You notice you are going North, away from the Verizon Center (which at the time was the ‘MCI Center’). You ask where you are going. You’re told it’s a surprise. You think for a minute and realize that the Philadelphia Flyers are playing the Tampa Bay Lightning in Philly. You remember that the week prior, you and he had a conversation about an outdoor music festival just outside Philly that would be “cool to go check-out” and since it’s a two-day festival, you remember thinking you meant it would be “cool to check out” on Sunday, also thinking he was probably thinking Sunday as well considering Saturday was “hockey day.”

You arrive at your destination. You are not in Philadelphia. You are not in Washington D.C. You aren’t even in Hershey, PA (hey, you love hockey, so you’re thinking maybe he arranged some sort of Awesome AHL Hershey Bears surprise. It’s hockeycentric if you’re imagning being me properly). You begin to feel sad. You start understanding you are headed into a dinner theatre. You’re know really stretching your imagination in a severe effort to hope somehow the show you are about to see has something to do with hockey, or features a former NHLer - something – anything. You are seated across from a person who shows all outward signs of true victory and pride. You ask if you will get to see the hockey game later. You get an answer.

Let’s take time to have some fun. What do you think the answer was? Any guesses? Have fun with this. Was it, “Yes, this show is only an hour long and Wayne Gretzky is playing a cameo?” Maybe it was, “Yes, we’re sitting on the glass and a limo is picking us up as soon as this show is over.”

Imagine that no matter who in your life you have told, in English, which is the language all of your family, most friends and all of your boyfriends could speak & understood, that what you want for Christmas, your birthday, your anniversary, or at any other point in time or occassion when asked is hockey. The only time you didn’t was in the off-season and then your answer was something related to music, usually a concert of some type, But every single time you answered people who asked you what you wanted and you told them point blank exactly what you wanted, you got an answer almost like the answer received that Saturday, “I thought you’d like going out to dinner somewhere different and know how much you like theatre.”

My school teachers should be ashamed of their poor teaching skills. I was taught very bad English, because I didn’t know until I was well into adulthood that “hockey” means “theatre”. How did I manage to graduate from high school completely unable to express words in English in full, understandable English? The education standards in the U.S. have trended downward for much longer than I’d originally thought.

There’s no bitterness to be implied if you sense slight sarcasm. I could have sharpened the proverbial knife and really sunk it in deep. This is particularly light-hearted considering my recent shift in personal perspective. Imagine that.

It’s as though they truly have no English comprehension skills, are deaf, ask questions and converse in an empty room where you don’t exist. And to think, you did that thing he just can’t get enough of TWICE in the shower that morning. You’re not having a happy birthday are you?

I imagine not.

Somewhere, in a blog archive, I typed it out before. I’ll do it again.

If you don’t really care what my answer is, do everyone a favor, don’t ask. If you wonder why I go to hockey games by myself a lot; stop wondering.

Now you know.

peace – mia – singingfromthecrease@gmail.com and Twitter @creasesinger

Here’s a tip for shits and giggles – if words come out of my mouth – I mean them – I’m all weird that way. Live hockey gets ya laid fellas & it’s a crying shame for me some of you out there couldn’t understand English coming out of my mouth. A crying shame. It’s too late now. That ship sailed and the ship is called “I’ll do it myself”. Not once did I get what I wanted when asked what I wanted. This does not bode well in a long-term relationship does it?

If Today Were The Only

7/2/12 – Edited & Updated 7/3/12 (which is also “The Only”)

NHL off-season means music prevails. Thankfully, the one guitar I have is not beyond fixing. It was a concern for me until recently. Perhaps it was my focus or perhaps it was some sort of magical music mojo I picked-up from Adam Levine singing with his boys from Maroon 5 on my television. Either scenario could be how it happened, maybe even both together, but the end result is now my guitar is playable. I still have to find a way to file the nut grooves. The action is almost unruly enough for my little digits to endure, but not quite enough for me not to push through it. I have to build the thick finger tips back up anyway, so it could be it is was it is right now for a very good reason.

I’ve been keeping tabs on all things NHL as well. It is a natural part of my world to reduce the hockey related vigilance after the UFA (unrestricted free agent) deadline on July 1st and in its void flows all things music. Last year, the transition was extraordinarily difficult. I didn’t even realize it until just this week. If I could tell you why, I would. I believe I know exactly why, but for the sake of simply moving forward, I’ll leave a mystery for any of you so inclined to be reading what I have typed here. You know I love you for taking the time right? Just in case; you do now.

Here’s the part where I tell you that this particular defender of a virtual crease has gone into permanent “wall” mode. It was only a matter of time. Often in life, leaving doors open is a much larger problem than locating an open door. If you think about it, when it rains, the logical response for those in a structure with windows and doors is to run about closing the doors and windows, not opening them. It’s raining. I closed the windows and doors. Metaphorically, this is logical. The more rain allowed to enter, the higher the chances I will drown.

To the first time adventurous eyes coming across this blog, I’m sure the notion of ”goalie weird” is quite at the forefront of the mind. To the bold and daring returning explorer of the multi-media menagerie that is my blogs and related links, you probably wouldn’t still be reading if you weren’t used to it by now.

Today’s post is only an explanation. It is almost over, in fact. In order to survive, I have to be alone. Not yet once has another human crossed my path who can remain strong in times when strength was exactly the only thing I actually needed. I’ve accepted my own strength as the only strength available. There is no fairy tale. There is no way to become less strong than one has become, hence a matching or greater strength becomes less and less likely.

It happens. So be it. I can’t rely because I’ve never personally met reliable. I have myself. I can rely on that. It’s the best I can do. Today is the only.

Sometimes, all the doors and windows have to be closed. My game face is on. You will run. Everyone runs. I’m scary. Yes, run. It’s just easier for you that way. Easy often brings you back to address the situation again, so to me, easy is the hard way with far more wasted time. Please understand that when I type “you”, I may not be addressing “you” the person who is currently reading this blog. I could be, but in this case, “you” is most people based on the extensive experience I’ve had with as I’ve gone through this life. I am generalizing. Normally, I frown upon generalization, but forgive the deviation from normal; I’m making a distinct point. It’s necessary.

I’ll do what needs to be done. As per the usual, I always do. The stronger one gets, the harder it is for other people to see there is always a need to be strong for even the strongest. Sad, but true.

All channels are closed. I don’t make people guess what makes me happy. It’s not changed since I was a child. Yet, it’s as though anything I’ve said was either never heard, completely ignored or other people operated under the assumption they simply were fully within their right to do the thinking for me and chose my happiness for me. Clearly, not a single one was right. I’ll do it myself. (The whole sex-thing isn’t anywhere near as much fun that way-not even close-but like I said-I’ll do what needs to be done-boo on that though-it sucks like a zebra on ice).

peace-mia- singingfromthecrease@gmail.com Twitter @creasesinger If you couldn’t see it coming, you weren’t paying attention. I love you no matter what – don’t ever doubt it.

Go Bolts. Don’t let your guitars get dusty. Goalies do it for all 60, so back away from the goalie hate. I have nothing to lose, so if I catch-up with you there goalie hater, you may get a whole different version of “goalie running”. What are you going to do about it?!

I love my hockey team – a lot. L’amour peut-être même pas un mot assez bon pour exprimer mes sentiments. Il va bien au-delà, à coup sûr. L’amour peut-être même pas un mot assez bon pour exprimer mes sentiments. Il va bien au-delà, à coup sûr. Aller Bolts.

I’m Giving Her All She’s Got Captain

4/22/12

Almost every year, for a very long time, this time of year is a weary, often sleepless affair for the likes of me. I’m not alone. There are many who ride the roller coaster of NHL playoff hockey right along side me. In reality, under favorable circumstances, I spend everyday, all year, swimming around a pool of ice hockey. I can watch three games a day, only to be left wanting more. It’s all-consuming if I allow it to be. I’m not alone there either. Given that circumstances are not favorable in any sense of the word and my ability to temper the consumption when necessary, an ability gained over thousands upon thousands of articles, games & occasional jobs relating to ice hockey in experience, I’m far less “Hockeyfied” this season in most ways.

I had to let a lot of it go. I’m going through the process of letting the playoffs go right now as I type. It has to be done. It’s the only thing that can be done really. As I have done, in more recent blogging history (say over the last year), I point out that each post is merely part of a continuing situation and is not independent of itself. The simple reason for this is that life works exactly the same way. My blogs reflect the ebbs, flows and currents of my life. It’s my natural way, but based on a few e-mail conversations from those who have read the last three posts, I thought it best to give the previous information shape in form of text for all who read here to see (or be read if that’s the situation-I know I have at least one blind follower).

As for hockey, the only words I can summon in English to describe what hockey means to me is “hockey means everything.” I have plenty of other interests. If one roams the pathways of text included in either of my blogs, exploring the inner depths of my sharing in this form, one would have little ammunition to argue otherwise. Of that I am confident. For whatever reason, and I don’t ever search for that reason, I believe I was born because of hockey. That could mean many things. No matter what it means to you who are so gracious to read my posts and no matter how any should interpret what that means, to me, it just IS. To put it another way, if you know of the idea of “six degrees of separation”, you may understand what I mean when I say there is usually only one degree of separation between everything I see, hear, read, learn, feel, discuss, perceive, etc. and ice hockey in my world. When I say everything is relative to hockey, I literally mean it. When I say everything is relative to love I literally mean it. I love hockey and everything is relative.

More Things You Don’t Want To Know (Everything is relative to hockey)

4/12/12

Hello again. It’s been a good week to post here, so I appreciate the fact you’ve stopped by and taken in some of my thoughts. I’ve got a post working for Bolts by the Bay as well that I am very happy to have almost ready. The internet is not a completely steady fixture for me right now, so that post is still “working”. I have a tad more research to do about Clark and Brewer(who I don’t believe “suck” at all) before I feel it’ll be ready, but that’s just a matter of a day or less. As for the reasoning behind my recent posting on this blog in particular, if you’re willing to follow along, I’ll make a wholehearted attempt at giving some insight.

If you’ve taken some time to read the last few posts, at the very least, this post will be more clear. Otherwise, all I can do is type and you can take it as you like. The one thing I REALLY needed in order to overcome what is by every definition of the word “trauma”, I couldn’t get. That one thing was time. I needed to recover and that takes time. I needed that more than anything. I still don’t have it, but have managed to find just barely enough to at least still be standing. Also, to define “trauma”, let’s continue on the same page moving forward from here on out in full recognition that “trauma” is a plural concept. In other words, I’m always dealing with multiple trauma’S’ all at once. There is no other way and I accept it, so please do the same.

An example of a trauma from which I needed time to recover follows. Imagine that you have two available choices at a key moment in time when a decision must be made. One of those choices is to take your three beloved cats, all of whom require some sort of specialized medical attention, and move them into your current, rusty, old, not-so-reliable, vehicle where you will live until your security clearance investigation is complete in order to begin working and collecting a steady paycheck again. The other choice is to move into a small “room” in a barn on the property of someone you had known previously and who is willing to let you stay there for “as long as you need to get back on your feet”.