SEASONS IN THE SUN

"TAKING PASSION FOR SPORTS TO A WHOLE 'NOTHER LEVEL"

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Scott Howson: You're Firrrred!!!!

Scott Howson...


We would like to thank Vince for doing a special appearance on Seasons in the Sun for the blog which we will review the firing of the Columbus Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson.  Scott Howson was fired last Tuesday and since then we have been reflecting on what would be the right way to get our point across about how we feel.  If you have been reading this blog for any amount of time, you will know that we do not hold Scott Howson in very high regard.  We have compared him to Mike Brown (Cincinnati Bengals owner, GM, destroyer, whatever you want to call him) as being one of the worst front office people in sports.

Scott Howson compared to Mike Brown

Scott Howson telling us Rick Nash is a trader.
That is the link to our story in which we think that these two gentlemen are quite alike.  We are going to refer to them as gentlemen in all sincerity and seriousness, because we have never met them, and for all we know they could be great people when they are not destroying teams.  We have to admit we have here at Seasons in the Sun have not been this happy about a firing since John Cooper was relieved of his duties at Ohio State.  What we must remind the reader is that we are not for people losing their job but given the line of work if you are not winning the big games, the team needs to bring in someone else.

Bringing in someone else, a great theme, the Columbus Blue Jackets brought in John Davidson before this season to turn the table, to turn things around.  Davidson, the man responsible for firing Scott Howson came from St. Louis, where he took a struggling Blues franchise to over 100 points, and was involved with the hiring of Ken Hitchcock.  Now, Hitchcock was a former Blue Jackets coach but was fired and remains the only Blue Jackets coach to have a winning record.  Enter Claude Noel as the coach which seemed that the ship might be going in the right direction but he was relieved of his interim duties in favor of Scott Arniel.  Arniel should have been fired quickly in the 2011-12 season but Howson let him run this team into the ground before his dismissal.

Columbus Blue Jackets and could it get any worse?
Jeff Carter with the Cup

This link goes into detail about the struggles of the Blue Jackets and Arniel in the 2011-12 season.  It was tough to watch.  Not only did Howson let Arniel out live his welcome, but he also threw franchise player Rick Nash under a bus when he made Nash's trade request public.  Rick Nash the franchise leader in points, goals, and assists was dealt to the New York Rangers.  Jeff Carter was sent to the L.A. Kings for Jack Johnson, and others.  Thus, Howson's destruction of Columbus' 1st line forwards and center was complete.

In none of the trades Howson made recently before his firing was there any effort to get a 1st line forward or center.  The Blue Jackets needed scoring but they went after defense instead.  We think we need to remind you that Jack Johnson whom they received was a 2nd line defense-men, all the players that Columbus received for Rick Nash were 2nd or 3rd line players.  The state of the Columbus Blue Jackets first line could be summed up none better than by Derek Brassard, "We don't have a first line on this team right now."  We here at Seasons in the Sun think that you can hear the frustration in Brassard voice when he says the truth about the team.
We hate Detroit, but Pavel is really good.

The sad thing from what we have been reading around Columbus is that maybe they should not have fired Howson.  The Columbus Dispatch proclaimed, "Some caught off guard, sad GM had to take fall."  That thought was echoed by player, Derek Dorsett, "It's just too bad that Scott has to be the guy that takes a fall."    Are people just trying to be nice or do they like losing?  This is the kind of thing that makes us here at Seasons in the Sun mad.  Do the Blue Jackets even want to win, don't they want the Stanley Cup?

We have said this before, the division is not getting any easier.  Detroit and Chicago are probably foaming at the mouth because they get to play a team that has no 1st line offensive players.  At the top you got players like, Dorsett, Anisimov and Foligno (this is yahoo sports! nhl first line for the Blue Jackets) going against Cleary, Zetterberg and Datsyuk (Detroit ) or Toews, Kane, and Hossa (Chicago).  There's no chance for the Blue Jackets they have average players going against All Stars, and that is just in their own division. All those guys which the exception of Cleary are All Stars every year.  It's not fair, but this is what Howson gave us.

Toews and Kane with the cup.
People want to talk about all the awesome prospects that the Blue Jacket have drafted and picked up, well what are they doing for the team?  We always go back to this, in the years that the Blackhawks were down, we hoped they would not finish in last place.  They drafted Toews (3rd) in 2006, and Kane (1st) in 2007, and by 2010 they had the cup in Chicago.  The Blue Jackets have only had one winning season since they started.  They have had high draft picks, why do they not have a cornerstone of the franchise right now?  At some point the front office needs to shoulder the blame.

We really think at some point the Blue Jackets need to say enough is enough.  At some point and we think with the new president John Davidson this will come sooner then later, you need to stop expecting to lose.  They say that winner make the plays to win, well losers also make the mistakes to lose, you need to change the culture.  We think this is a great step in the right direction for the Columbus Blue Jackets.  We would like to thank Davidson for firing Howson, it's a great step in the right direction.

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Rick Nash (Come Back to C-Bus)

Come back to C-bus!
The Columbus Blue Jackets play tonight against the Detroit Red Wongs in the shortened lockout season of the NHL and there is definitely one thing missing, Rick Nash.  Even the Nash haters out there have to be thinking of begging for forgiveness after a 2-5-1 start which places them 14 out of 15 in the Western Conference.  They could be dead last but Calgary (the last place team) has played only 5 games, and the Blue Jackets have played 8.  So, with all this losing going on, we decided we needed to write a song to get Rick Nash to come back to Columbus.

Now since, we do not play any instruments or have any musical talent whatsoever we are going to put up the original video for the song.  Once you watch the video, you will get an idea of how the song goes and we will put the new lyrics under the video.  The song which was originally done by a band called Bowling for Soup, and their song is called Ohio (Come Back To Texas).  It is a sarcastically written song about how a girl left Texas for Ohio, not sure what kind of women would do that but oh well.  So, here is the video for Ohio (Come Back To Texas) by Bowling for Soup.


Now you have an idea how the song goes...here are the lyrics for:

Rick Nash (Come Back to C-Bus)
The Lox - Wildout!!!

He said he need a break
A little time to think
But then he became a Ranger
Our team is in danger
The season's a wash
There's nothing wrong with New York
Except the yanks in the Bronx
I really like rap music
And I'd love to see
A tour with the Lox (wildout!)

So when your done
checking whatever
and when your through
5 holing whoever
You know Franklin County
Will be right here waiting for you
Nash scores the game winner against Calgary!

Come back to C-Bus
It's just not the same
Since you went away
Before you lose the Jackets
And forget all about
The Buckeye state
There's a seat for you in the penalty box
and I've got every shoot out saved
Now the first line sucks
But we love em here anyway

I think Howson made a mistake
It's not that easy to take
Nash's trade, a shocker
Then he cleaned out his locker
Guess I'll sit here and wait
LEEEEOOOO!!!
For Nash to come back home
(I wish he'd come back home)
It's shouldn't take very long
(so long, so long)
I bet he misses the cannon
And Leo's anthems
But I could be wrong

So when your done
Checking whatever
And when you're through
5 holing whoever
You know Franklin County
Will be right here waiting for you

Come back to C-Bus
Even Brutus wants you back!
It's just not the same
Since you went away
I bet you missed your exit
And drove right on through the Buckeye state
There's a seat for you in the penalty box
and I've got every shootout saved
Now the first line sucks
But we love em here anyway

Stinger wants you back
Urban Meyer wants you back
Nationwide wants you back
And the Clippers want you back
Brutus wants you back
And Express wants you back

I got a premonition
I'm taking a petition
and the whole city's gonna sign!
Wooooo Whooooo!

Come back to C-Bus
It's just not the same
Since you went away
Before you lose the Jackets
And forget all about
The Buckeye state
There's a seat for you in the penalty box
and I've got every shoot out saved

Come back to C-Bus
It's just not the same
Since you went away
Before you lose the Jackets
And forget all about
The Buckeye state
There's a seat for you in the penalty box
Suck it! Red Wongs! Nash Scores!
And I've got every shoot out saved
Now the first line sucks
But we love em here anyway

Now the first line sucks
But we love em here anyway

Now the first line sucks
But we love em here anyway, yeah!

Nash shoot, he scores!