Pep Talk for Kings Fans: Be Loud or Don't Show

NOTE: This piece is solely opinion based

This is one of those moments in a relationship that tests the ties that bind.  This is one of those moments where you have decide if you are all in or if you are just flavor of the month.  This is one of those moments where fans of the Los Angeles Kings, tried and true and desperate for success, need to decide something for themselves.

Your team needs you now: will you be there to answer the bell?

Look, lets not sugarcoat things: Friday night's 7-2 loss in Game to the Canucks in Vancouver was beyond brutal.  To say it was hard to watch is like saying you enjoy Keanu Reeves acting abilities, or that you think public executions would make for good television programming during the early part of prime time.  The team looked lost, they looked uninspired, undisciplined, and over-matched.  They looked like they could hit the reset button on the game if they could just find it.

And yes, it's easy to read other reporters takes on the game and surmise that the series is in fact over.  Of course, some of these reporters who have top-notch credentials seem to enjoy taking '3 moments in 42 years' types of shots at the team and you fans and never get called out on it.  They, and the rest of the hockey world, would have you believe that it is pointless to even bother getting behind your team Sunday night because they will simply break your heart... again.

And your team, through all the mind and body language readers attempts Friday night in the post-game and Saturday afternoon at practice, is hiding it well.  They are trying their best to put on the brave face and hoping they can have that instant memory loss and go into the game Sunday night feeling good about themselves.

So that's where I need to deliver this message to you, the fans of the Kings, whether it's been a 42 year or 42 day or 42 minute love affair: YOUR TEAM NEEDS YOU RIGHT NOW.

I'm sure you are wondering how to do this?  Very simple really, there are a couple of things you can do that can have a tremendous impact on your hockey team, and they don't require you to grab a stick or lace up skates or take a shift on the ice.  It comes down to how loud you can be Sunday night.

Let me start by saying that if you can't get into the building at Staples Center tomorrow night, you can still have an impact.  Tomorrow in Los Angeles is unofficially "Black Sunday" meaning you must wear all black.  Not black with purple, not black with white, not black somewhere in your array of colors.  Short of face painting, do what you can there.  Second, whether you are in a bar or a restaurant or a club or your home or your friend's house or outside: wherever you are listening and/or watching the game, you need to be LOUD from the drop of the puck until the game is over.  You need to make people feel uncomfortable around you.  You need to show the passion that you as hardcore fans of this team are and that every other part of the country makes fun because they think you lack.

And if you are in the building, well, first, get yourself in the building at 5PM.  I know game time is 6PM, but that doesn't matter.  It's Sunday, you have all day to figure out how to avoid traffic issues and how to get to Staples.  When the Kings hit the ice for pre-game skate, the building needs to rock loudly.  And that noise level needs to be deafening when they hit the ice to start the game, and must be sustained throughout. 

The so-called famous writers and experts and naysayers all want you to believe that you will have no affect on things.  But when that team, which let's be honest has given you a successful season and exceeded initial expectations from seven months ago, hears the roar of your thunderous ovation, it will provide that added energy boost they need. 

In the film There Will Be Blood (aptly thought of reference here for Sunday), there's the famous scene where the character played by Daniel Day-Lewis explains about how his straw reaches across the room to drink the other guy's milkshake.  Kings' fans, if you are louder than even you think is possible when they hit the ice Sunday night at 6PM, having been in your seats for a full hour revved up and ready for blood, the Kings will 'drink up the noise' (SLRRRP!) 'they'll drink it up!'

Don't think it's possible?  How do you know?  They need you to be loud and proud for one more night.  Trust me, they will respond with every fiber of their being if you respond with every fiber of your being.  If you don't feel like you played a game yourself when its over, you have no one else to blame if the lose. 

That's right, I'm saying the time for excuses, the time for 'eight years without a playoff game', the time for 'same old sorry ass Kings', the time for accepting the musings of respected writers telling you that you should just accept defeat from a team that has just '3 moments in 42 years'...that time is done.  It's over.  Aren't you sick and tired of hearing this same old b&^%$#!t over and over again?

So do your part!  Be loud, show your support for this hockey team.  Show your love, wear it on your sleeve.  Be the loyal and proud fans I know you to be.  I've met so many of you this year that love this team, have a zealous passion for it like great fans in all areas of sports have.  You aren't the fair-weather jump on the bandwagon fans that the Lakers have.  How many true fans do they really have?  Let them trade rosters with the Clippers and see how long their fans keep wearing gold and purple.  How many true fans do the Dodgers have?  Do you know how many people I've met that claim to be at Gibson's home run (about 4 times as many as would fit in Dodger Stadium) and yet none will admit to be in their car driving away and hit their taillights, as famously shown in the footage.

You are the true hardcore fans.  How many of you were tempted to leave the sect and jump on the Ducks bandwagon a few years ago?  But you didn't.  You stayed despite people badmouthing the owner, badmouthing the history, badmouthing the current group, badmouthing the coach and general manager.

So stand up!  Stand up for your team.  Be so loud that the bars surrounding Staples Center will need to stay open late and not play any music because none of you will be able to speak.  When there's a lull, stand up and scream, yell your freaking head off. 

And I would never condone violence, but you also need to make the Canucks fans uncomfortable.  Make them uneasy.  Make sitting there rooting for the opposition a difficult task.  Cut them off in line at the bathroom and for concessions.  Stare them down when they get up to leave their seat or come back to sit down.  Boo them lustily.  Be civil, don't be violent, behave.  But make it difficult.

Otherwise, listen to the naysayers as some of you always have and seemingly always will and don't even bother showing up.  You have a choice: I was super impressed with your noise level on Monday night in Game Three.  But if that were a ten, the noise level on Sunday night must be a 10,000.

There will be those who think I have drone on way too long with piece, but Kings fans, it's time to show that you can step up for your team.  You just might be surprised by how they respond, and if they can get to a Game Seven where all of the pressure is suddenly thrust upon Vancouver's shoulders, there's no telling what can happen because anything can happen in a Game Seven.  At the very least, if you cheer your asses off and they lose, you can go into summer knowing you did all you could.

Wear black, be loud, stay loud, get louder.  Game on!

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