Are The Stars Now Aligned?

Every fan of sport has their roots going back to childhood. Favorite sport, favorite player, favorite play, favorite city, favorite year ad infinitum. For the longest of times you never saw an interruption in a season or action. 

Believe it or not you also used to get a respite from each sport as if to recharge one's batteries as the seasons changed.

Not anymore!

1970 Curt Flood decided to challenge the old and antiquated Reserve Clause and 4 years later a new term was born-Free Agency. Now you saw players finally earn the ridiculous sums of salaries otherwise kept in the pockets of tightwad owners for well over a century.

Sports had stronger unions and representations and you also had the newer nuisance separate from the beat writer-The Player Agent. Certainly all of these new factions can somehow co-exist can't they?

Tell that to the NHL.

By now you have read that it appears the NHL and NHLPA have agreed to ratify a new agreement after a lockout of over 115 days. This marks the 4th work stoppage in 20 years in hockey. Twice in the last 8 years. Business as usual but unacceptable to the fan. I'll keep silent about Gary Bettman.

Don Fehr certainly no stranger to the fans of Major League Baseball. It was on his dime that there was no World Series in 1994. Only the second time since 1904 that we had no Fall Classic. (I'm still mad about that!)

The back and forth banter about being able to work together in a tighter economy, winning back the trust of the fans, getting the late apology for the stoppage. This and the usual expression of sadness for all economic hardships put forth to the people who work the arenas, restaurants, hotels, limos and the like.

Baseball was always my first love. Hockey probably a close second. Since 2001 there have been very few Stars game I haven't seen in person as a fan. With the local teams currently playing in the same tank of mediocrity it begs the question: Can the Dallas Stars make fans act like Twitter to follow them like in 1999? 

Or are the fans of this niche sport skating on thin ice?

When the Minnesota North Stars migrated South to Dallas in 1993 many wondered just how well hockey would thrive in the Lone Star State. Look at how well teams like the Texas Tornado, Allen Americans, Houston Aeros, and Texas Stars have drawn over the years. Word of mouth, sharing the knowledge, surrounding yourself with passionate, rabid good people gets the ball rolling.

Winning will bring the fans out, even if it is of the bandwagoning variety.

Granted we lost some familiar faces of the last decade this off season. Steve Ott now a Buffalo Sabre. He was a fan favorite and quite the good agitator on defense. Mike Ribeiro now with the Washington Capitals. Ribs was quite the producer of points alongside Loui Eriksson. Stars fans wish him the very best.

New faces to grace the ice at the American Airlines Center in 2013 are Derek Roy, Longtime Flyer Jaromir Jagr, and one time Coyote Ray Whitney. From the farm we now look forward to cheering on names like Ryan Garbutt, Cody Eakin, Richard Bachman, even Philip Larsen. Brendan Morrow, Stephane Robidas, Trevor Daley, Kari Lehtonen more than established starters here in Dallas.

Have I forgotten to mention the dynamic brotherly duo of Jordy and Jamie Benn? 

Much like the Texas Rangers getting all kinds of props for having a virtual army of talent in the minors the same can be said for the future Stars of tomorrow. Sure, it's only a 48 game season and chances are the schedule will be alot different than originally planned but...

Have you seen what North Texas has had to work with lately? 

1. Another mediocre 8-8 finish from the Cowboys with yet another vow of 'change'.

2. Back to Back World Series Champs reduced to chumps with a Wild Card elimination game.

3. Your last Titleholder now mired in a 14-22 season with a cast of one year contracts and new faces alongside Dirk. After ten years Mark Cuban complaining about the refs and getting fined!

Thankfully the cities of Allen and Frisco keep providing winners with the Sidekicks, Americans, Tornado, and Legends. 

On the major scale is there a team that can bring back some pizazz, some excitement, some fun, some good news copy for the good people of Dallas hungry to cheer for anything other than Uptown?

The Dallas Stars. If properly aligned they can once again own this town...at least until August rolls around. That in itself (if it were a cocktail) would be a miracle on ice.

Over and out in Big D.

Mr Will