Proud; Relieved

Last night my son and I watched the Wild Phlatten Phoenix but the 4-0 shutout was not the highlight of the game.

This last election was marked by an unprecedented level of rancor, mudslinging and division. The war in Iraq was a source of much of the same until the media decided winning it was a non-event. The Coleman/Franken recount is bound to hold off the healing for at least another month.

Sitting in a packed and confined space with 18,000 Minnesotans however, it appeared there was one thing that can and did unify us all, and I found myself proud…and relieved somehow.

During a break in the action, the crowd cam picked up images of wide eyed kids, young couples huddling close and die-hard fans dressed in every from of Wild apparel.

…but when the camera caught four young soldiers, dressed in field camo, the image needed only to appear for a fraction of a second.

The crowd went wild. The camera lingered. The crowd sprung to their feet, cheering louder for those four young servants, our heroes, as loud as at any time during the game.

I was so proud, and so relieved that Minnesotans still feel this way, and seemingly unanimously, and for my son to witness it.

I am not a huge sports guy; the tickets were given to me by a client. But I can tell you that I am now a huge Wild fan fan.

One thought on “Proud; Relieved

  1. The Wild, Twins and the Vikings all work with the Minnesota Military Appreciation Fund. When they have extra tickets on short notice, they give them to the fund which finds soldiers to give them to.
    It’s the simple gestures that veterans appreciate the most.

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